Chapter Six – Slytherin
Professor Snape swept down the eagle's spiral stair case, Raven followed behind; easily keeping up with the professor's brisk pace.
While heading across a moving staircase, Snape said, "Miss Raven, I am offering an extra Defense Against the Dark Arts class with curriculum that would adequately suit your needs. It is only offered to Slytherin students, and I highly suggest you take it."
"You have been informed of my predicament with my teammates?" Rave inquired, a little suspicious.
"I have. The class will meet every other day after regular classes." Snape said. Raven nodded and stayed silent. Snape continued to lead her down flights of stairs and through long corridors. They didn't meet any student along the way. Raven assumed that they were all either in their respective common rooms or still taking a tour of the school.
Eventually, Snape descended one more flight of stairs. Raven felt the instant change of pressure in the air, along with a drop in temperature. Looking around, she notices a lack of windows and came to the conclusion that the Slytherin common rooms were underground, in the dungeons of the Hogwarts's castle.
Snape suddenly stopped in front of her at a blank wall. Facing Raven, he spoke to her, "I will only say the password once, so listen carefully." He faced the wall and said, "Venom."
Immediately an archway appeared in the wall. Snape and Raven entered the tunnel. Raven felt the air go slightly damp and a slightly green tint color everything around her. Finally they entered what was the Slytherin common room.
What she noticed first were the large windows on the other end of the room. Looking through them, she saw that the common room was on the bottom of the lake, and the windows gave a view into its depths. Next she noticed her fellow Slytherin classmates that were scattered throughout the room, and they were all staring at her.
On the black leather couches, on green armchairs and sitting around silver tables, everyone was silent, and staring at Raven. Snape seemed not to notice, "Draco." He called.
Raven recognized the name of the blonde boy from the train. She watched him get up from lounging on one of the leather couches and walk over to her and Snape. Before Snape spoke to Draco, he gave a glare around the room, and the Slytherins continued their conversations.
"Yes, Professor?" Draco said, nodding a slight greeting to Raven.
"You will be Miss Raven's guide. You will teach her of the rules she is required to uphold as a student here at Hogwarts, and as a part of my House. If there is any mishap, I will hold you responsible." Snape told Draco. Draco nodded and Snape left the common rooms.
"Hello Raven, Welcome to the Slytherin Dungeons." Draco said, smiling at her.
"Hello." She said back. Draco then turned around and addressed the common room.
"Hey!" He yelled across the room. The Slytherins stopped their conversations and stared up at Draco, satisfied he had everyone's attention, he continued, "This is Raven. She's the new Slytherin. As you can see, she's not a first year, so she needs to get acquainted with how things are around here, and as fellow Slytherins, I expect you guys to help her out." Draco said. Raven figured that Draco was somehow a leader to the Slytherins, seeing how they all listened to him.
Draco turned back around and faced Raven, and the conversations picked back up. "Shall we start with a tour around the common room?" He asked Raven, offering his arm.
"Sure." She said, and started to walk, ignoring Draco's offered arm.
He caught back up with her, "Hey, I'm sorry if my friends offended you on the train." Draco said, running his hand through his platinum hair.
"Why would I be offended?" Raven asked.
He ran his hand through his hair again, "Well, you might be part muggle or something, and my friends have a very biased point of view."
"I'm not part muggle." Raven said.
"Really? Then what are you. You don't look like any your part of any pureblood family that I know. Are you part Veela or something?" Draco asked.
"I'm part demon." Raven answered.
Draco stopped in his tracks. "Demon? You mean, like, evil spirits or something?"
"No." said Raven, "Demon, as in, a physical incarnation of evil."
"Woah." Draco said. He was silent for a moment, "Does that mean you're part evil?"
"No." Raven said again. "I choose not to be. If I were to let my evil side to take over, it would mean the destruction of this dimension."
Draco ran his hand through his hair again, "Heavy stuff. So you're good, right?"
Raven smirked, "Mostly."
Draco stared at her, "Funny."
"Indeed."
Raven resumed walking around the common room. Draco fell into step with her, he gestured to the lake windows, "So, the Dungeon, as we call the common room, is located under the Black Lake. Occasionally, if you look out long enough, you might see a mermaid." Draco said, smirking at her.
They passed one of the groups of Slytherins sitting on a black leather couch. On it she recognized Pansy and the two boys from the train, plus an olive-skinned boy she had not yet seen. One of the boys called him over.
"Draco! C'mere, we wanna meet the new girl!" He called.
Draco sighed, but led Raven over anyway. "Hey guys, meet Raven. Raven, meet Blaise, Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle." He gestured to each one respectively. Blaise was the olive skinned boy, and he flashed a charming smile in her direction. Pansy just scowled at her. Crabbe turned out to be the big-boned guy, and Goyle the skinny kid, they just waved.
"Hello." Raven greeted.
Pansy scowled even deeper, "So you never really answered our question from the train, what are you?"
Draco sneered at Pansy, "Geez, way to greet someone, Pansy. And for your information, she's half-demon."
"Demon? Awesome! What can she do?" Exclaimed the heavy-set Crabbe.
Draco ran his hands through his hair, looking embarrassed, "Crabbe! Seriously?"
Blaise spoke next, "What? I want to know too." He smiled up at Raven, "So do you have any talents, Raven?"
Raven fidgeted, not really knowing what to say. "I can move things." She said.
Goyle rolled his eyes, "So can we." He took out his wand and moved a heavy book off of the silver coffee table in front of them so in hung in the air.
"Without a wand." Raven added, then enveloped the already-floating book in her own black energy and set it on a table across the room.
"No way! What else can you do?" Crabbe asked, looking at Raven in wonder.
Raven decided to have some fun. She used her energy and melted into a circle of her energy on the floor, disappearing. She reappeared on the ceiling above them. Beneath her, she saw the group look around frantically for where she had disappeared to.
Draco looked up and saw her. "She's on the ceiling, guys." He said. They all looked up and saw Raven, feet flat on the ceiling and her cape and hair defying gravity.
"How are you going to get down?" asked Pansy, who's scowl had been replaced by a look of wonder.
Raven smirked, "Fly, of course." And with that she flipped the other way around and gently flew back to their little group.
"Amazing!" Blaise exclaimed. "Do you even need a wand, or have one?" He asked.
Raven retrieved her wand from the storage void, and held it up.
"What is it made of?" Blaise asked, as he stood up to get a closer look.
"Blood wood." Raven answered.
"I wanted blood wood. I thought it looked pretty," said Pansy, who was still sitting on the couch, "The old man said I didn't have enough discipline."
"Really." Said Draco sarcastically as he, too, looked at her wand.
"What core does it have?" Asked Goyle, "Mine's a Billywig stinger, I had it imported from Australia." He said, brandishing his own wand.
"It has a Chimera scale core." Raven said. The group froze.
"Chimera scale? That's one of the rarest cores in the world!" exclaimed Blaise, who looked amazingly at her wand. "How did you get one?"
"Ollivander said that it was the wand for me." Raven said.
"Interesting…" Blaise said, still looking at the wand.
"Blaise wants to go into wandlore." Informed Draco, which somewhat explained why Blaise was so nosy about Raven's wand.
Pansy abruptly stood up from her place on the couch, "Well! It's getting late. I'm going to bed."
Looking around the room, she noticed that they were one of the last few people still in the common room. As Pansy started to ascend a set of stairs was the next to the area that the group occupied, Draco stopped her, "Hey, Pansy, would you mind showing Raven to her dormitory?"
Pansy looked at Raven and shrugged, "Sure. C'mon Raven, I think you're the one whose taking the last bed in our room." She said.
With that, Raven stored her wand again, much to the disappointment of Blaise, and followed Pansy.
"Night, boys!" Pansy called down.
"Night!" They called back. And with that, Pansy ascended the staircase until they came to what she assumed was their dormitory. Opening the door, the pair entered.
Inside were three beds and one window, which showed another view of the bottom of Black Lake. On one of the beds had its silver and green curtains drawn, indicating that there was someone sleeping.
"That's Millicent." Pansy whispered, as she claimed the bed to the left of Millicent. "Millie usually stays up later, but she's preparing for Quidditch tryouts tomorrow." She explained as she grabbed a change of clothes from the trunk at the end of her bed. Without another word, she strode into what Raven assumed to be the bathroom and closed the door.
Raven claimed the last bed, which was to the right of Millie's bed, and only separated by the underwater window. Without even bothering to unpack her things from her storage void, she closed the curtains around her bed and snuggled under the covers.
She laid in the bed for a moment, then opened the curtains just an inch so that she could see out the window into the Black Lake. Raven fell asleep watching seaweed sway in the currents.