After many hours of watching the changing landscapes from the windows of the Hogswarts Express Severus was relieved, when the train finally reached its destination in Hogsmeade Village. The evening was already late and as soon as the students got out with their luggage they were herded towards the traditional carriages which would bring them to the medieval castle of Hogwarts.

Mulciber, Avery and Travers insisted on Severus traveling with them. While they sat on a moving carriage, Mulciber told self-importantly to others how the carriages weren´t really pulled by sheer magic as it seemed but how it was actually creepy horse-like creatures, which dragged them along. He informed the others how thestrals could be seen only by those, who had seen death.

Severus was not impressed. He had been able to see thestrals since last year (and he had known about them from books long before). Mulciber had depicted the creatures as disgusting, but Severus didn´t agree even on that. Thestrals were bizarre but in their own way beautiful beasts: black, skeletal, quiet and serene. As if sorrow itself had taken a form of a creature.

/

As soon as the carriages had reached the school yard, students were lead to the Great Hall, where the annual sorting ceremony for the new students would soon take place. The student body gathered around their respective house tables and after a while the sorting began.

This year too, the old Sorting Hat had created new lyrics to the song that it performed to the old and new students alike. The first-year-students stared at the singing hat in wide-eyed awe. Older students, on the other hand, had learned to expect the traditional number and were therefore harder to impress. Despite this, especially many seventh-year-students experienced a wave of nostalgia while watching its yearly performance for the last time.

/

When times are dark, in my silken core,

I greatly miss our founders four.

They were all one of a kind,

somewhat batty (but I didn´t mind)

Gyffindor was brave and Ravenclaw wise

Slytherin cunning and Hufflepuff nice.

They had their faults I admit that

(At times they seemed completely mad...)

But as long as they loved each other

like sister loves her brother,

Godric did think and Rowena feel

Salazar forgive and Helga steel.

For a long time, unity as their principle,

Four Founders stayed invincible.

They valued each other´s talent

until the day of their predicament.

Bitter fight made a big rip.

There was a chance to mend their friendship,

but none of them did bother

Instead they saw all fault in each other.

Hogwarts was a shadow of its former glory.

and that, my dear children,

is a lesson found in Founders´ story.

To this I will end my song and do what I was made for:

Perform a task too difficult even for my inventors.

I will fairly sort you by

your blessings and faults alike.

/

During these seven years Severus had come to know that usually the Sorting Hat preached only of the great qualities of each house and the biggest accomplishments of their founders. Hearing it mention the faults of the Founders reminded him of the only private conversation he had ever had with the magical artifact. He remembered how, seven years ago, he had sat on the old stool in the front of the Great Hall waiting for his sorting to happen. He remembered having clenched the rim of the hat with trembling fingers so hard that the old fabric had been left with visible fingerprints. Then the hat had slumped on his eyes and the Great Hall with all of its voices, sounds and smells had slowly distanced to the background. There had been only him and an old, thoughtful voice in his ears.

'I see... An young occlumens? And such a skilled mental defense...'

Severus´s already sturdy occlumency walls had immediately detected the intrusion. The Sorting Hat had been thrown out off his mind as though it had run head first to a bouncy rubber wall.

'Makes one wonder, how can a child manage that...? Blood-heritage must play a part. Hardworking... truly hardworking. Magnificent mind, no doubt. And ah, so much determination!'

Severus had frowned at the words. After a couple more of unsuccessful attempts to break through his walls, Severus had more felt than heard the sigh of surrender, which came from the hat.

'So be it. Keep your secrets, little occlumens. I can´t get past your walls. Therefore I, unfortunately, can´t sort you like I usually do, Mr. Snape.'

For a moment he had feared that it would mean that the hat would sent him back home as an unfit student, but luckily that was not the case.

'I will ask you a question instead. Answer to that as well as you can and I will sort you where you truly belong', the hat had announced. 'This is something that was once asked from the Four Founders themselves. A traveler had come to Hogwarts from far away to seek their wisdom. He wanted to know a definite way to tell the good apart from the evil. He had heard of the Founders and was sure that they could help him. He wanted to became a great and righteous ruler for his country and avoid becoming dark at any cost.

Godric, who was always bold, answered first. He said: "It is obviously the intentions that matter the most. The will to do good is crucial."

But Salazar disagreed with such a hasty decision. "Many people with good intentions have done horrible things, Godric", he said, "Anyone can lie to themselves that they are doing good. Instead it should be the results that matter."

When Helga heard this she complained that Salazar was being too ruthless in judging someone´s heart based on something that was as hard to predict as the final result of one´s actions. She admitted that also intentions were fleeting. She took more practical approach herself by suggesting that one should only mind the methods used as those were the only thing that could really be chosen. She claimed that if everyone used only righteous methods to accomplish their goals, the world would be much better place.

In Salazar´s opinion Helga was being too gullible. In the real world people did not act according to such idealistic principles. Godric agreed with him and added that abiding by Helga´s principle would mean that many great and important things would never be accomplished because no-one would ever dare to try anything really new.

After listening quietly, what others had to say, Rowena now shook her head and stepped forward. She claimed that all of them were wrong and one could be sure of one´s righteousness only if one acted according to all previously mentioned principles. If their intentions and methods were good and even the result was good they were doing good.

But now the others disagreed with her. Helga reminded that as much as an act can be evil so can be inaction. Salazar added that if one only takes action when one is absolutely sure of one´s righteousness in other´s eyes, they are actually being pretty selfish. Godric agreed and claimed that it would be coward´s way out.

So, after hearing the answers of the Four Founders, what would you have said to this traveler in their place, Mr. Snape?'

"Relying on complete strangers to solve this kind of question? I would have called him lazy idiot and unfit ruler", eleven-years-old Severus had stated dryly.

Needless to say that he had ended up in Slytherin.

/

Mulciber rammed his big fist to the table and cursed Dumbledore with great vigor. The loud noise made Severus realize that he had paid barely any attention to the usual formalities of the welcoming fest. Without his knowledge it had proceeded to the part when Dumbledore, after few dramatic reminders of the school rules, gave the house-elves permission to fill the long tables with food. From his housemates frantic arguments, he understood soon that Lily and James had just been announced as the new head students. Knowing his obvious hostility with the Marauders and the new head boy personally, others seemed to expect him to lose his mind over the matter, but truth to be told, he had known about it ever since seeing their badges at the Kings Cross. Well, Lily becoming the head girl was hardly a surprise to anyone but choosing another Gryffindor, infamous Marauder at that, showed poor tact from the headmaster. Now Mulciber and many other hotheads had blown their tops over the matter and even some Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were bitter about the blatant favoritism. Gryffindors wouldn´t be very well-liked among the other houses for some time.

Surprisingly, Severus realized that he cared very little. So many things had happened during the summer. He had other things to worry. For example, the Marauders were staring daggers at him and Severus could not think of a plausible reason for their escalated animosity. Last year, Potter had seemed satisfied after finally getting, what he had always wanted (in other words, Lily) and Black´s imagination with pranks was cut to half without Potter. Lupin had never actively partaken in bullying and Peter had nothing personal against Severus (he just wanted to be in good grades of the alpha baboons of his group). The end of the last spring semester had been nicely quiet what came to their always ongoing feud. Now the truce was apparently over.

The Marauders weren´t the only people staring at him. Sudden change in his appearance was too drastic to go unnoticed. At first, Severus made his best to turn all of the oglers into stone with his icy glare. After realizing his disadvantage to the sheer number of others, he eventually gave up and simply focused on his plate like it was an enemy that he needed to kill as painfully as possible.

/

Most of the students had already left the Great Hall, when Severus finally got on his feet and aimed his soundless strides towards the Slytherin dungeons. He would have done it much sooner, had that not endangered him to the many questions of curious housemates and other daredevils. Avery and Travers had gone beforehand with Mulciber, talking about organizing some kind of a start-of-term party. Severus hoped that it would keep them too busy to pay any attention to him and he would manage to slip into bed quietly without anyone taking notice. After reaching the bed, he would cast noise muffling charm and anti-opening charm on the curtains and would be relatively safe from any human contact until the morning.

Severus was so focused on his plan that he almost walked past the tiny form sitting on the floor, next to the medieval armors, on the second floor corridor. He halted his steps and stealthily checked bawling girl´s robe color. Green. Oh well. A brand new Slytherin...

Severus looked around, searching for a prefect or a teacher. No-one was around and suddenly the little girl rose her teary eyes and looked straight at him. She got the same puppy dog eyes as Regulus on the railway station. (Damn it!) Severus reluctantly took a step closer.

The frightened girl retreated closer to the wall.

Severus stopped. "Exactly what it is, that you think that I would do to you?" he grunted.

The girl blushed, but her big eyes stayed suspicious.

"You were sorted in Slytherin", Severus stated as he casually inched closer to the girl.

The girl nodded and looked at him warily.

"Too bad. Now, you can decide, whether to mope about it for the next seven years... Or if you want to find a way to cope."

"To... To cope?" The girl stammered.

Severus rubbed his nose. He didn´t want to play babysitter. Admitting his faults, just about anyone else would have been better choice than him. He sighed and slipped to the ground next to the girl, his back against the wall. "So, what´s your name", he asked.

"Lucinda Talkalot."

Severus nodded. "Well, I am Severus Snape. Seventh year. You are obviously half-blood, Miss Talkalot."

The girl stiffened. Her eyes glimmered with hurt.

"I am. So what? Are you going to tell me that I am sullying the name of the Slytherins, too?! That I should take the train back and just live quietly in the muggle world?" Her voice rose higher and she held her chin up in defying way. Then her eyes suddenly filled with tears and she quickly buried her face back into her hands.

Severus simply, calmly, flicked her forehead.

"Outch! WHAT? You bloody idiot, what are you doing!" She yelled and rubbed her head, ready to bolt.

"One would mistake you for a four year old with a temper tantrum... or a Gryffindor, Miss Talkalot", Severus scolded. "Your so-called 'blood status' interests me just about as much as who won the latest Witch Weekly´s Most Charming Smile award. Of course, this will not be the case with most of our dear housemates. It is naive to blind oneself from reality, Miss Talkalot."

The girl was about to say something, but Severus beat her in it.

"I know that they left you behind, Talkalot. No-one told you, where the Slytherin common room is and how to get in. And you´ve been crying your head off because you are completely lost in this huge maze-like castle." It was not a question, more like statement. "Yes indeed. Petty bullying on the level of any unimaginative preschooler is how our our pure-blood elite tries desperately to hold on their superiority. Kind of sad if one really thinks about it..." Severus grumped. His soft voice was dripping with sarcasm. He clicked his tongue. "Let me guess, they claimed that were only showing you your 'rightful place', right?"

Girl´s eyes widened. That gave away that Severus had hit the mark.

Severus scoffed. "Would you believe me, if I told that they have been doing exactly the same ever since my first year? Maybe longer even... Because of this 'tradition' Slytherin keeps losing nearly hundred points during the first weeks of the semester, every year. The wandering first-year-students are bound to get caught after curfew by Filch or some of the professors. This is only natural, but with that point difference we would have won house cup from Hufflepuff two years ago." He rolled his eyes. "But, of course, stupid traditions are considered the most important."

"They have really done this to others too?"

Severus smirked. "I can assure you, Talkalot. Even from personal experience."

"Y-you too?"

Severus nodded.

"No way... A-are you half-blood?"

"Oh, my father is as muggle as they get."

The girl seemed shocked by the revelation for some reason. "Then... Then they did this to you, too? How... How long did it take for them to stop and tell you the password?"

"Ha! Had I waited until they decided to stop, I´m afraid that someone would have had to die. People say that I don´t have much patience for idiots. Or human beings in general", Severus said and snorted.

The girl looked confused.

"But, of course, I was considered especially rude and ugly and they hated me maybe more than normal. Besides, I was too stubborn for my own good. Usually one gets it easier, I suppose." Severus shrugged.

"Don´t professors do anything?"

"I, personally, would not recommend babbling to them", Severus told honestly, "Our house head, Horacio Slughorn is a comfort-seeking, lazy socialite."

The girl stared him, deep frown on her small face.

"It means: Dealing with students personal life, especially when the bullies come from important and rich families, is, oh, so very tiring. Dear Horacio doesn´t find that part of the job description all that interesting and spends his time organizing fancy parties instead. According to him children make friends through rivalry and occasional fights and it is better to let them solve their problems themselves than look too closely. And naturally, Slytherins don´t take tattling to teachers lightly at all", Severus clarified.

"Seems like there is no way to win", the girl muttered.

"No. There is always a way to win", Severus denied. "We may be half-bloods, Miss Talkalot. But not half-wits. We were sorted in Slytherin. The house of cunning and ambitious." He smirked. "And what do we Slytherins do if odds are against us, Miss Talkalot?"

When the girl didn´t answer immediately, he did it himself. "We tamper the dice to suit our needs. Obviously."

Sudden cackling and a ear-shattering rumble of something heavy and metallic such as an armor falling down nearby interrupted their discussion. Severus knew that the noise meant almost surely that the poltergeist, Peeves, was near and would reach their quiet corner at any moment now. Peeves was not friendly at all. The poltergeist loved to torture students of all ages with its pranks. If they did not move immediately they would soon have to deal with the pest.

Severus quickly rose to his feet and gestured to the girl to follow his example. "Come. I will show you, where the common room is", he whispered.

The girl, surprisingly, took up his offer and quietly scuttled after him.

/

"Mr. Snape, could you at least tell me, how you dealt with the bullies, please?" the girl pleaded Severus while they walked side by side down the stairs. Severus noted that she was becoming braver and more talkative now. She looked at Severus with her big blue eyes, using her cute little face like any true Slytherin.

Severus sighed and decided to reward the clumsy attempt at cunning. It was not like he would lose anything by telling.

"Almost anything can be accomplished through blackmail, bribery and threats, right, Miss Talkalot?"

The girl nodded with enthusiasm.

"So, which one you think I used?"

After a moment of waiting, he answered himself: "I´m surprised. Do I look like I have a secret vault in Gringotts to be used for bribery?"

Even with that particularly good set of new robes, his shoes were worn out and well... he had just admitted being half-blood. The answer was easy and the girl shook nervously her head.

"Obviously, I had no usable connections or I would not have been in that situation in the first place. And how much of a threat you imagine a lone first year wizarding student to be for someone, whose surname is Mulciber or Nott or Malfoy?"

Girl´s eyes widened with comprehension. "You blackmailed them? How did you do that?"

"People have secrets", Severus stated pensively. "Slytherin secrets are juicy, but I am not going to spill them to you, Miss Talkalot. Neither will I reveal how I got to know those, so erase that question from your mind immediately."

The girl swallowed and hastily pressed his lips together. Severus had gotten right, what had been on her mind.

Severus made them turn sharply to right. "If you ever attempt blackmail, do me a favor and at least choose the victim well. Too insignificant and they can not give you anything special. On the other hand, If you try to catch too big of a fish, you could easily choke on it."

"Sounds so complicated", the girl huffed and shook her blond head.

"Well, you managed to land yourself in the most complicated beehive in Hogwarts, Miss Talkalot."

"At least they accepted you eventually."

Severus snorted. "Actually no. They did not. They still hate me, but I´ve made myself... useful for them."

The girl frowned. "At least, you are not being bullied anymore."

They walked in silence for some time.

"How do you advice me as my senior, Mr. Snape?"

"First of all, you should stop relying on me."

The girl made a long face. "Well, at the moment, I don't have anyone else", she muttered mutinously.

"There are hundreds of students here, Mss. Talkalot. You get to choose."

They walked in silence for some time as the girl seemed to pout.

"Are you any good in academics?" Severus asked, looking at the shady corners of the corridor.

The girl perked up and then shook sadly her head. "I get sleepy after barely ten minutes of reading."

"Anything else that you are ambitious about? Something in which you are better than the others?"

The girl pondered. "Do they play football here in Hogwarts", she asked.

Severus scowled. "No. Just Quidditch. Every house has their own team. Idiotic sport, but if you are good in sports, you should pursue quidditch with all of your heart. They don´t usually take first years in the house team, but if they see real potential in you, that could be your ticket to easier life in Slytherin."

The girl looked at him sheepishly. "Should I take notes?" she asked half seriously.

Severus sneered.

"Anything else?" the girl asked eagerly.

"I will give you one more advice, but remember that you are in debt for me for helping you. Make friends with the other houses. Pure-blood old families are most useful, but avoid Gryffindors. Slytherins do not take well at anyone, who gets chummy with the lions. Not that the Gryffindors want to have anything to do with us either. A Hufflepuff would probably be your best bet. Ravenclaws tend to be more prejudiced and if academics aren´t your forte finding common ground could be difficult. A boy, preferably."

"Why boy?" the girl asked, curious of his reasoning.

"Naturally because in couple of years, your looks will provide hindrance to any relationship with other girls, especially with those in Slytherin", Severus told in matter-of-fact way.

He totally missed the blush that crept on her doll-like face.

"Not a pure-blood will ever admit that a half-blood is prettier or more clever than them. You need allies. Alone you are an easy target."

Immediately after he had finished the words, Severus heard a voice shouting an incantation and saw a shadow of movement in his peripheral vision. He ducked down, the small Slythering tightly under his arm. True to his instincts an angry red light bolt avoided them by inches. It hit the wall ornament above their heads, evaporating black smoke. Severus´s mouth tightened. He hastily cast a shield charm around them.

Severus held the frightened girl close to his chest and whispered to her ear: "I think, I was able to identify the voice. They are after me, therefore you should be fine. When I tell you, run ahead. In the other end of this corridor there are stone steps that lead down. After you reach the end of them, the common room should be right in front of you. You will see just a bare stretch of stone wall, but say: 'Sacred Twenty-Eight'. That is the password. It should let you in."

"B-but..."

"Stupid girl! They won´t kill me. Now, GO!" Severus groaned.

With those words he cast a furious sequence of various curses and detection spells to the direction from where the red light and the voice had come.

"Ambush from the back... Real brave Gryffindors here!" he muttered to himself.

The girl was fast on her feet. Severus saw her turn to look back once, but Severus only urged her to go once more.

Next, he had to use all his skills to shield against escalating bombarding of vicious spells and curses.