The Rarest Soul of All
Disclaimer/Plot/Author's Note: SEE FIRST CHAPTER
Dedication: I'd like to dedicate this story to Dominus1389 for giving me inspirations for this story: my recommended reads are The Rise of a Dark Lord by LittleMissXanda, Harry Potter: Lord of Darkness by AngelSlayer135, Dark Prince and The Allure of Darkness by LoveMyRomance, Harry Potter and the Prince of Slytherin by The Sinister Man, The Downward Spiral Saga by BolshevikMuppet99, Dark Lord Potter and To Be a Slave by loverofeevee and Harry Potter and The Serpent Chronicles Book 1 The Prince of Slytherin and Harry Potter and The Prince of Power Book 1 Birth of a Snake by ACI100
Key Pairing: Harry/Gabrielle;
Other Pairings: To be determined
Normal Speech
'Thoughts'
'Mental Speech'
/Parseltongue/
Review Answers:
ACI100: Interesting theory: I'm not saying you're right, but I'm not saying you're wrong, either;
Winged Seer Wolf: In that case, I hope this appeases you, my friend;
Vampirelord101: Probably not in this story, but one of my other Dark-Lord-Harry stories? Well…you never know;
Tempest Novastorm: I appreciate the compliment, my friend;
'Tell anyone about what you saw in my head and I will make you beg me to turn you into ashes!'
For perhaps the first time ever, the Sorting Hat trembled as Harry set it back down on the stool.
Though the emerald-eyed scion was the only one who noticed the tremble…
And yet, he couldn't seem to care.
Chapter 8: Taking the First Step
For the remainder of the Sorting, Harry didn't bother paying attention to anyone's Sorting, least of all some sour-faced weakling named Weasel or something like that, who seemed content to send Harry shooting glances of betrayal and hatred whenever he got the chance.
Unbeknownst to the redhead, Harry entertained those thoughts and glares by imagining what they might look like with the idiot's head mounted over his fireplace, the rest of him stripped down to the bone and used as a material for his table, chairs or even something to scratch his arse with.
As the Sorting came to a close with some dark-skinned boy named Blaise Zabini, Harry allowed himself a brief moment to look to the High Table where, as he'd half-expected, McGonagall had a look of abject horror and something akin to disappointment on her face whenever she looked over at the Slytherin Table.
Not only her, but the wise Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, actually seemed to be fixated on Harry, though for what reason, he didn't know; even as he made some rehearsed speech about forbidden areas and corridors that might kill you if you went looking – which only made Harry feel hungry at the thought of tricking some poor, unfortunate soul into going there and being his guinea pig – the old man's gaze never seemed to leave Harry for longer than a few seconds.
At one point, he did feel something brush against the surface of his thoughts, but a few seconds later, an icy chill swept through the Great Hall, making the flames in the torches waver, as though threatening to be extinguished, while an air of unknown dread and warning seemed to fill the hearts and minds of every student in the hall.
Conveniently, at the same time the chill hit the hall, Dumbledore actually shivered and flinched before he averted his gaze from Harry, earning a raised eyebrow from the newest Slytherin even as he moved his attention away from the High Table.
This allowed Harry to take note of the fact that the Hogwarts Welcoming Feast had begun, which resulted in the Slytherin Table being filled with a vast array of foodstuffs as well as drinks, napkins and even condiments, much to Harry's amusement.
"Would you like some beef, Harry?" asked Neville, earning a thankful nod from Harry before, to the emerald-eyed scion's amusement, Neville actually began filling Harry's plate, often switching between dishes as though seeking to ensure Harry had enough to eat.
At one point, Harry pushed Neville's hand away as he told him, "Fill your plate…and your stomach, my friend: no sense depriving a growing lord of his food…and well done on taking my advice and letting yourself choose your path."
"It's because of you I chose this path," explained Neville, though he did so in a low voice while he also did as Harry instructed, filling his plate with food even as he told his Housemate, "You were right about me, Harry: I don't need to let people knock me down. Not when I have every right to rise up and be as strong as I choose to be; personally, I'm just sorry it took meeting you for the first time in ten years and more to realise that."
"You're welcome," drawled Harry, earning a smile from Neville as he took a bite out of his food: as he tasted it, a smirk touched Harry's lips before he took a napkin from a spot next to his plate. "Riley?"
With a soft, almost-inaudible pop, one of Harry's two House Elves appeared, earning a surprised, if not curious look from Gabrielle, who was sat on Harry's other side, before the young lord told his faithful servant, "Take this to the Hogwarts kitchens and give the staff elves my thanks: then inform them that I, your master, have given you swift instructions that you and only you will be responsible for the care and cleaning and protection of my dormitory and my possessions, understand?"
"Yes Master," replied the elf, taking Harry's offered treat before she vanished as quickly as she had appeared.
Once she was gone, Gabrielle cleared her throat before she asked, "You do realise you'll be called out on this, Harry: students aren't allowed their own Elves here. Otherwise, I would have brought Dobby and Draco would have his spoon-feeding him as we speak."
"What are they going to do? Expel me for making my own life and education that little bit easier?" asked Harry, showing the same defiance in his question that he'd shown Gabrielle on the train; at the same time, Neville sniggered into his hand while Harry scratched at the back of his neck as he took another bite from his food.
"I suppose I'll just have to compromise," added the young scion, taking a sip from his goblet before, as Gabrielle had half-expected, a soft pop announced the return of Riley, who looked a little frightened at being back in her master's presence without being summoned.
Rather than acknowledge her fear, however, Harry stifled a burp before he added, "I didn't summon you, Riley: either go to my dorm and wait there, if you know where I'll be staying, or go home. And next time, if the elves won't respect the orders of a House Elf's master, tell them to come and find me and I'll remind them what it means to serve their betters!"
Again, Riley vanished, but this time, Harry noticed an eerie silence had suddenly taken hold of the Slytherin Table; as he looked up from his food, Harry saw a few alarmed, troubled and even suspicious looks being sent in his direction. Two seats down from Neville, on the other side of the table, Draco Malfoy had an impressed, if not amused look on his face while, next to him, a particularly-unfortunate-looking girl, whom Harry dimly recalled was named Pansy Parkinson, seemed to be waiting on something that wasn't happening.
Looking in the other direction, Harry blinked once before he asked, "Is there something on my face, Prefect Flint?"
"No Potter," answered the troll-like boy, earning a hum from Harry as he explained, "It's just…I mean, I'm probably just speaking for myself here, but we never would have expected you to have such a perfect pure-blood manner when it comes to addressing your servants."
"Then I suppose you shouldn't believe everything you read, should you, Flint?" asked Neville, earning a smirk from Harry as he returned to his meal.
"Couldn't have put it better myself, Neville," said Harry, scooping up a portion of mashed potatoes before, as he ate, savouring the flavour and the warm food that was helping to banish the autumn cold, he looked back to Flint as he asked, "Speaking of, I don't suppose you'd tell me what my dormitory's going to be like, will you, Prefect?"
"Most of the dormitories are either doubled up or single occupants in Slytherin," explained Flint, earning a look of interest from Harry before the Prefect cleared his throat as he went on, "Unfortunately, even us Prefects don't know who is in what dorm until we take you down to the Common Room for the Welcome Reception, but if you do wish to change your arrangements, you only have tonight to state your case."
"Noted," said Harry, looking back to his food before he looked back down the table at Draco and his female companion as he asked, "Is there a reason you're eyeing me up like a vulture, Heir Malfoy? Not that I mind it from your…lovely lady-friend there, but coming from one of the same gender…hey, I'm up for experimenting if you are, but maybe we should wait until our teens, what do you think?"
Before either one could stop themselves, Neville and Gabrielle started laughing while the blonde blushed slightly at Harry's little dig at his intentions.
At the same time, a few of the Slytherins also sniggered at the serpentine-tongued way that Harry had handled Draco, and all without giving away anything that might indicate his emotions or his motives.
It may have only been the first day, but already, there were those in the Snake Pit who agreed that Harry Potter was definitely one of them.
If only they knew…
How wrong they were.
The Rarest Soul
"Now, has anyone gotten anything to say about tonight's amazing events?"
"Harry Potter…a Slytherin…"
"And the young Longbottom boy too; now that is a surprise."
Even as the Heads of House gathered in the Headmaster's office, following the end of the Sorting Ceremony and Feast, it was clear to each and every one of them that there was only one topic that was going to be discussed in the annual post-Sorting staff meeting.
And that was Harry Potter's very unexpected sorting result of being sent to Slytherin.
Around the office, while Albus Dumbledore seemed content, or perhaps more-troubled and terrified than ever before, to relive the ceremony, as well as the shocking results over and over again in his Pensieve, the four Heads of the Houses of Hogwarts all had different reactions on their faces.
Minerva McGonagall had a small glass of Firewhiskey in one hand, while her other trembled with the signs of what she felt as a result of the event.
Filius Flitwick was switching his glances between his colleague and the Headmaster, though he seemed to be more level-headed and neutral than any of the others at that moment.
Pomona Sprout had a worried, but also sympathetic look on her face as she consoled Minerva, trying to reassure her that everything was going to be all right, even though what the woman clearly feared was what had happened.
Finally, there was Severus Snape, who was standing off to one side, half-cloaked in shadows and as still as a statue; he had his arms folded and his head bowed while, from the side of him that was out of the shadows, it was easy to see he had his eyes closed and his usually-stoic expression was now a frown while, from time to time, a twitch formed over one eye.
As Filius, who'd been the one to reply to Minerva's trembling response to Dumbledore's usual opening question, looked back to Albus with a curious air about him, the goblin-blooded professor cleared his throat as he explained, "I don't mean to sound too forwards here, Headmaster, but you can look back on that memory until you're blue in the face. It's still going to show the same thing: Harry Potter is in Slytherin and, despite all our assumptions about him, especially yours, Severus, he is not only content being there, but he appears to have already formed a pretty strong bond of alliance with young Mr Longbottom and the Delacour girl, whom, if memory serves me right, is Narcissa Malfoy's ward."
"Which also means Draco may yet find himself in Potter's circle, if he plays his cards right and makes the right moves," added Severus, though he didn't open his eyes or look up as he said it.
"I wouldn't bet on it," argued Pomona, looking from her oldest friend, Minerva, to the Potions Master as she asked, "Didn't you see when Mr Malfoy blushed as the result of some humorous remark made by Potter? At least, I can assume it was him given it was his newest companions that reacted to what was said before the others did."
"And, from the way they shared the amusement, I would say many are already believing he does belong there," said Filius, earning a low whine from Minerva, almost as though she couldn't believe what she was hearing.
Severus, meanwhile, looked to his Gryffindor counterpart as he asked her, "But I still don't understand this, Minerva: you were there in Diagon with Potter, weren't you? How could he have managed to become a Slytherin with you there feeding him tales of his Father, Lily and their greatness and legacies here at Hogwarts?"
This time, even Dumbledore looked back to Minerva, who shook her head as she explained, "It's like I told you, Albus: we got to Gringotts Bank and then, for reasons I still don't quite grasp, given what you told me, I was escorted away by the goblins while Potter went off with one of their clan."
"Which one?" asked Filius curiously.
"I didn't catch his name," said Minerva, earning a scoff from Filius while the Head of Gryffindor went on, "But he was insistent on seeing Potter alone: he also claimed that only Potter should have the key, even though it was Albus who passed it onto me to provide for Potter on our outing."
"Then he was right and you're fortunate enough that you did not lose your head," growled Filius, looking from Minerva to Albus as he addressed the Headmaster directly. "If I were you, Headmaster, I would hope that there weren't any discrepancies or signs of malpractice with whatever care you believed you had over Mr Potter's vaults…and if the goblin in question was who I think it was, I would hope our young Mr Potter made the right moves when they counted, otherwise…"
"Yes, thank you, Filius! We are here to discuss the students and the results, not out-of-school business, so if we could get back to that?" snapped Dumbledore, unaware of a glint of amusement shining in the eyes of the Head of Ravenclaw.
It looked like the rumours he'd heard were true and, judging by the volume of Dumbledore's voice, it seemed the old man had indeed paid a hefty price for attempting to control, manipulate and deceive the goblins and the customer they were tasked to protect the wealth and fortunes of.
He should just count his lucky stars that they did not ask him to pay the iron price.
At the same time, the Head of Ravenclaw House felt like he should try and keep an eye on Mr Potter and maybe try and extend a proverbial olive branch to him.
After all, if Barchoke claimed that Harry Potter was to be given as much privilege and assistance as the goblin nation allowed without making an official claim of anointing him friend and brother to the clans, then it had to be important.
Chapter 8 and it looks like Harry might have more advocates than he thought, but will our Dark-Lord-in-Training be willing to extend an olive branch of his own to someone inside Dumbledore's camp?
Also, while it looks like battle lines are being drawn and alliances forged, how will Harry ensure that no Slytherin can challenge his right to be there?
Keep Reading to Find Out
Next Chapter: Harry's first night in Slytherin brings a very surprising encounter…and not with who you might be thinking either;
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