The table farthest from Ian's fellow First Years gave a few lighthearted cheers and clapped for a few moments as Ian made his way to sit down. Clearly the enthusiasm had worn off after the first few students were sorted into the house.
As he sat down he saw that the Slytherins were wearing green and silver ties and vests underneath their black cloaks. For a fleeting moment he wondered when he would get one, but that thought was stopped short when he saw the girl he met on the train, Nicola, step forward to the hat when Professor Worme called out "Galbert, Nicola".
She stuck the hat on her head and pulled it down to her nose, but nothing happened. She must have sat there for nearly three minutes before the hat finally pronounced her a "SLYTHERIN!"
She looked heartbroken as she sat down the hat and ran off towards the Slytherin table, sitting down beside Ian. She gave one last glance at the Hufflepuffs two tables over before drying her eyes to look at the next students to be sorted. She nervously patted down her smooth brown hair and straightened her robes as "Goslin, Joseph" was sorted into Ravenclaw.
A bony girl sitting on the other side of the table who had blond hair and green eyes, as well as a green Prefect's badge, gave Nicola a reassuring smile.
Meanwhile, Ian jolted at the sound of "Hatherford, Dirk" being called forward to the hat. Even though they had only met once, Ian liked Dirk and secretly hoped he would be sorted into Slytherin. While the older students at the back of the table had already began whispered conversations, he watch as the hat sat on top of the taller boy's head before breaking open just above the brim and shouting "GRYFFINDOR!"
Ian sighed as he watched Dirk jog off to the table on the far side of the Hall. His parents had told him that Gryffindors and Slytherins rarely got along, so he figured that his short-lived friendship with Dirk was probably already over.
A boy on his right nudged Ian, and he turned to see a second year boy wearing the silver and green of Slytherin. "Hello mate." He whispered. "Welcome to Slytherin. I'm Newt Geiger." He said, surreptitiously holding out his hand, which Ian shook.
"Oh, hi. I'm Ian."
Ian's attention then turned to the hat as "Kevin, Liam" was called forward by Professor Worme. While he had no had a terribly fond impression of him on the Hogwarts Express, it would be nice to have the black haired boy in his house; it would be one more person he knew.
The hat had barely touched Liam's head before it called him off to the Gryffindor table, just as Liam had expected. Oh well, thought Ian, at least Nicola is here, and Newt seems friendly.
As the list of First Years went on, everyone in the Hall seemed to be losing interest, even the teachers, who had devolved into whispered conversations just as the students had. Ian had rested his head in his arms, and completely missed the Sorting of his last compartment mate Ethan McCubbin, but noticed him sitting at the end of the far end of Slytherin table as "Zender, Jacob" walked off towards the Ravenclaws.
As Professor Worme flicked his wand and the hat disappeared into nothingness, to gasps from the muggle-borns now seated at the table, a wizard seated in the middle of the staff table stood up and cleared his throat. Ian recognized him as Waldemar, Headmaster of the School. He was one of the more famous living wizards in Britain!
Even so, he dreaded another long speech. All he wanted to do now was eat.
"I would like to welcome back our students who have previously attended Hogwarts School, and to give greetings to our new students. I am sure that you will all do very well here. There are many rules and regulations I would like to impress upon you, but I think you will all pay better attention with full stomachs."
The Headmaster then pulled a longish wand from his robes and flicked it from side to side, causing heaping plates of food to appear up and down the house tables.
Ian's eyes widened as he took in the spread before him. Roast beef, mashed potatoes, and a dozen different kinds of puddings… And as he watched his fellow Slytherins dig into the bowls before them and filling their own plates, he noticed that not one of the serving dishes ever seemed to get empty, or even close.
After the first few mouthfuls Ian began to slow down, allowing time to breathe and drink. Now that he wasn't quite so hungry, his mind began to wander beyond the more pressing matters of food.
He'd heard all the rumours, of course, that Slytherins were famous for the Dark Arts. They were sneaky, and devious… and now HE was in Slytherin!
Newt, the other boy sitting next to him, seemed to have read his mind. After swallowing a mouthful of potatoes, he turned to speak. "Aw, don't believe half the stuff you hear about Slytherin House. We're mostly decent folk, we just know how to-" here his sentence was interrupted by downing an entire goblet of pumpkin juice in one go, after which he continued. "-look out for number one!"
This did not entirely put aside Ian's fears, but it did help, at least for the moment. While he was not sure how to respond to the information, he settled for something halfway between nodding his head and giving the thumb's up, and the whole thing must have given the effect that he was choking because he quickly found himself being given the Heimlich Maneuver by a Third Year who had been sitting on the far side of Newt.
"N-no, I'm f-fine!" He managed to splutter before the violent movements caused him to vomit into Newt's lap.
"Blimey, Ian!" He exclaimed. "Thanks for that!"
"Er, sorry." The third year muttered, his face flushing red as the rest of Slytherin table turned to face him.
With a sneer, an older boy several seats down and across the table muttered a spell that Ian was too embarrassed to hear, and the vomit was siphoned away quickly.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
After the entire Hall had eaten their fair share, and more, the Headmaster stood up again to resume his speech from earlier in the evening. His hair glistened in the bright candlelight, and his amethyst eyes twinkled happily, but sharply. He may have been a cordial old man, but he definitely had all his wits about him.
"Now then," he began, his voice ringing out through the room and silencing the last few private conversations taking place at the back of the Hall. "On to the regulations."
"There will be no magic cast in the hallways, nor will there be any magical creatures set lose within them. Anyone caught dueling will be subject to punishment, and any students who value their freedom will not go anywhere near the Forbidden Forest, the lake, or the West Dungeons."
After this Professor Waldemar began listing off a long list of banned substances and items, which Ian soon realized were too many to remember and it would only hurt his head to try.
He snapped to attention, however, when the Headmaster mentioned First Years. He missed the first part of the sentence, but caught the last.
"…Heads of House are the following: Professor Worme of Slytherin, Professor Brill of Ravenclaw, Professor Prince of Hufflepuff and Professor Potts of Gryffindor. Now, I bid thee all a good night, and hope that you are well rested for classes tomorrow."
So that was why Worme had seemed proud of Slytherin House in his welcoming speech. He was their head!
"Alright then, little gits. Follow me." An older boy's voice commanded, and Ian turned to see a tall, heavy-set blond with a Prefect's badge pinned to his chest. His blue eyes darted all around the table, and he looked like he might hit any First Years that didn't do as they were told. "I'll show you to our Dungeons."
"Didn't the Professor say the dungeons were forbidden?" Another first year asked, and as the Prefect turned around to answer with an air of arrogance, Ian was incredibly glad he ahd had the presence of mind not to ask any questions.
"He said the WEST dungeons. OUR dungeons are in the EAST. Now shut up and follow me. Unless you have another stupid question to waste my time with, anyways," he sneered.
The First Year, who Ian saw was the first girl sorted into Slytherin, Georgina Avery, quickly shook her head no and hid her eyes behind her long black hair.
Ian quickly realized he was going to be in for a long seven years. It was a twenty minute walk to get up and down the stairs to the Dungeons he would be living in for the rest of his school life, and then from there he still had to find his class rooms, which looked like a formidable task, what with moving staircases and changing floor plans.
After they finally reached the dormitories, Ian found himself sharing a rather cold room with three other Slytherin First Years, all of which seemed to know each other from previous encounters, and he ended up feeling even more alone than when he'd gotten to the school.
With a sigh he heaved himself onto a four-poster bed covered with green and silver Slytherin sheets, and buried his face in a large, feather pillow. Hopefully things would look better in the morning.