Why Slytherin?
Chapter 2: The House of Ambition
By Jamnaz79
Note: I do not own Harry Potter. I do not claim to own or make any money from anything to do with Harry Potter. If I did own Harry, he would not have kept Ron as a friend after fourth year, he wouldn't have put up with as much bullshit as he did and definitely would not have ended up with the ginger fangirl.
Author Note: This story Hogwarts starts at 13 years old. This is done since it is truly when almost all children are into puberty instead of 11 when some had not yet started. Because of this the school is only six years like Beauxbatons is said to be.
~~~ WS ~~~
"Why Slytherin?" Harry whispered to himself.
"Why Slytherin could make you great! You could become powerful and strong, you would become someone remembered perhaps for all time!" The Hat retorted mentally to the boy.
Harry tried to think back, "Would I be able to become strong enough for my relatives to stop hurting me?"
"You will become cunning enough to stop that Mr. Potter. If you are ambitious enough, you will become strong enough to never be picked on and the subject of ridicule again." The comment from the hat opened the eyes of Harry as the boy actually smiled. The Sorting Hat sensing this spoke yelled out, "SLYTHERIN!"
~~~ WS ~~~
The Great Hall was in shock and silence. The boy-who-lived, heroic child of the wizarding world, was called out to be in Slytherin! To say it was a surprise was would be like saying Albus Dumbledore had no idea how to color coordinate an outfit. To add to the fact this was a Potter! The Potters in recent centuries had always been a Gryffindor!
Harry hopped down from the stool and placed down the sorting hat with a smile. He looked around at the silence in confusion. The other students always got a large amount of applause when their names were announced. The stern witch met the gaze of the young man and pointed towards the bench laid out in silver and green while her lower lip trembled. Harry turned and started to take his first steps towards the table.
That finally seemed to be enough as the House of Snakes started to clap and cheer for the boy. The Ravenclaw table picked it up just as enthusiastically and the Hufflepuffs joined in politely as well. The staff table seemed to be split with muttering of surprise and polite clapping all except for the Headmaster. The man looked pale as his which beard at the sight of Harry Potter walking towards the Slytherin table.
Harry stepped over and sat down across from the twin girls that he saw earlier. Since it seemed the Hat thought he could change his fate, perhaps this would be his chance to start. The young man felt a fear gripping his chest but he would try to make his life different. He offered them a polite smile like they had given at the boats before and spoke up, "I am Harry Potter. It is nice to meet you."
The two girls across from Harry both looked almost exactly alike. Both had wavy strawberry blonde hair flowing down her shoulders, cute little noses and bright white smiles. The only difference from the two was one had deep black eyes that seemed to suck the light in from around her. The other twin had doe-like brown eyes that seemed to capture the light. Both of the girls seemed thin but they were hidden behind the bulky Hogwarts robes of silver and green.
The brown eyed girl spoke up first, "I am Hestia Carrow and this is my twin."
The black eyed girl spoke more softly a moment later, "I am Flora Carrow."
Both of them smiled brightly at the boy and he felt warmth touch his cheeks. Harry wasn't certain how to react as they looked at him. But Hestia saved that from making a choice, "It is a pleasure to meet you Harry. You seemed to have surprised everyone with becoming a Slytherin."
"The hat said…" Harry blinked and stopped himself and looked down at his plate.
Hestia reached out and touched the boy's arm. The young man had to fight with himself not to pull away. The only touch he knew was a harmful one, a dangerous one from the benefit of his relatives. But the voice of the teenager pulled him out of his shell causing Harry to look up, "You don't need to tell us what the Hat said. The only thing that matters is that you are here. Perhaps we can be friends?"
Harry turned his emerald eyes back and forth between the talkative Hestia and the quiet Flora both of them gave him a bright smile. After a moment it was that smile was too captivating but eventually Harry offered his smile for the two of them. His voice was soft but easily carried to them, "I think I would like that."
They didn't get to speak more as the Headmaster started to make his announcements. After that the food quickly appeared and the feast was under way.
~~~ WS ~~~
The dinner was served but one Professor didn't touch his meal. He instead kept his eyes leveled onto a single boy. To say that Severus Snape was confused was an understatement. Potter was in his house! Had had planned out this day, this year even that he would spend it tormenting his ancient nemesis child while keeping him protected. The boy needed to be distanced from him if he would be able to watch and listen to do what was necessary to keep the boy alive.
Severus now felt conflicted. Could be truly despise Lily's son even when he was the guardian of the child while at school? The boy may look like a carbon copy of James Potter but he had seen clearly the boy's eyes. The child had Lily's eyes. They were clear, crisp and sparkling emerald with the youth and life that has always loved in her gaze. It was heart wrenching at the same time as it was making him angry. He had worked out the plan with the Headmaster. Minerva was supposed to be the kind grandmother while he would keep his distance but now that was not possible. This boy had ruined everything. How Potter of him!
It was within his inner debate that the man started to really look at the boy. Yes, he looked like James Potter with Lily Evans eyes but the boy seemed to be more than that. The child was tiny for his age, the smallest boy in the year by far and besides the Su Li girl in Ravenclaw he was the smallest child overall. Lily had never been a tiny girl, she had grown into a healthy five foot nine inches in height. James had been well over six foot in height with broad shoulders. Even as a first year he had been the biggest of the bunch. This did not bode well for the boy. But begged the question, where was the Headmaster sheltering the boy. He had asked once of the man but been told that Harry was well taken care of. The old man wouldn't say anything further so Severus had figured it was somewhere secret. He was trusted with much but he was a spy so it made sense not to trust him with everything.
Not only was the boy small but he seemed tentative. He had watched the boy enter the hall seeming withdrawn and careful not to touch anyone else. Now he sat across from the Carrow twins, again he seemed to flinch from their touch and rarely giving a smile. This again was setting off alarms in the mind of the Potions Professor. He was raised in an abusive household. He knew the signs because he had lived them. This would take something more to look into before he tried to do anything but he was certain of one thing. Something was wrong with Harry Potter.
The thoughts of the hooked nosed man were broken up as the Headmaster stood up and started his speech. He had been argued with the man about announcing the dangers of the third floor. Who tells a group of bumbling dunderheads there was trouble and adventure to find on a third floor? It was pretty much a single for them to jump up there and get into the idle of an adventure. They would be lucky if they didn't have to write home to a parent before mid-year of a child getting eaten by Hagrid's cerebus. Perhaps if they get lucky it will be those Weasley twins that get eaten. He could do without dealing with them this year!
~~~ WS ~~~
The prefects had gathered them up after dinner and announcements. It was tradition that the fifth year prefects would lead the new students to their dorms. So after all of the other students left the first years fell in line together and walked down towards the dungeons, where Slytherin's dorms were located. It was not a long walk just a number of twists and turns around the bends to reach there.
They had stopped across from a stone wall in the middle of the dungeon. The female prefect, if Harry remembered right she had named herself Stephanie Zabini, a darker skinned girl with long black hair turned to look over the first years. Her hazel eyes slowly took in each and every one of them before she spoke with a soft gentle voice that carried, "This is the entrance to the common room. A password will be required to enter. If you forget it you will have to hope to find a way to learn it or else. We do not take kindly to those that stand out here waiting for someone to open up the doorway. We are Slytherins not Hufflepuffs and we do not tolerate fools. The current password is Salazar."
When the girl spoke the wall slowly shimmered and the bricks moved just like the entrance to Diagon Alley swallowing up together till there was an opening. The common room was a large dungeon-like chamber with a green tinge to it. The furniture mainly leather couches and leather back chairs often with snakes stylized onto them in green. There were a number of portraits on the walls. A large fireplace took up the left side of the room. On the walls were bookshelves and dark wood cupboards. From the ceiling grand chandeliers hung casting green light everywhere. Above them in the ceiling on the far side of the room were windows to the lake above giving an emerald light. Overall the room had a grand feeling to it bringing in a sensation of greatness and expectation.
The prefects stopped and silently motioned to the couches. Whenever one of the first years started to open their mouth to speak they simply shook their heads and looked down at the gathering. It was into that silence. Harry found himself seated next to the twins on a coach. Across from him Draco was seated next to the larger boys. He gave the blonde a wave and smile which was returned.
It was only three minutes later that the Head of House walked into the room with a cloak billowing after him. The man was tall and impressive with a dark look about him. His greasy hair fell backwards over his shoulders as he looked down his long hooked nose at his new charges. There appeared to be anger within the man that Harry was not expecting. He could swear when the man brought his eyes over each of them it lingered on him longest with a frown marring his face.
"You are not part of the noble house of Slytherin. We are the best and brightest students in the school. The expectations on each of you will be far more than you would find in any other house. If you are of the faint of heart then you are in the wrong house. Still, the sorting hat found you each worthy of enough ambition or cunning to find your way into this house. It will be up to you to determine if you were placed correctly. For some this could be easier than others." Snape's eyes slowly circled over the gathered first years from left to right. His words of life in Slytherin could be easier found his gaze onto Draco before it ended at Harry. The pause was only for a breath before he continued, "I demanded that each of you learn our ways and respect our traditions. The least of these traditions is that in public you act as one house. You will be hated and disrespected and treated as lesser then other houses for their jealousy. You have only each other to turn to when you are out among the sheep of the wizarding world. While you may dislike someone or struggle against them for prestige in the house outside of it you will provide a united front. If this does not happen you will not like the consequences."
Once again the man paused letting his final words hang in the air as his eyes again swept over the newly made snakes, "Whether you are successful in your career here at Hogwarts will be up to each of you. Now go to your rooms and rest tomorrow you start your life here as members of the House of Salazar."
Author note: I always wanted to continue this story. There are so few Harry in Slytherin stories that go all the way through. I am debating on Snape being a bad guy with Harry, silent protector, or father figure. I would have Harry keep an uneasy rivalry with Draco. Do folks like the Carrow twins?