Chapter 5 – Slytherin

It took a considerable amount of time but eventually everyone had had their fill of the food Hogwarts could offer. Between courses I had become briefly acquainted with our house ghost, The Bloody Baron and had been firmly instructed by an older student from up the table to never ask him how he got so bloody. Not that is mattered greatly – it could be the first thing I could research in the library. It was a library I'd heard so many good things about and I couldn't wait to explore the vast amount of books that it held.

After the older years had gone to their common rooms, The Head Boy and Head Girl of each house had stood and began leading the their own first years out of the hall and giving us all directions to our own common rooms. I managed to catch Alec's eye as he waited on the staircase leading toward Ravenclaw tower with his housemates whilst I followed mine down into the depths of the castle. He mouthed em'speak tomorrow' /emto me and I nodded and waved before he went out of sight.

"I'll be right back," Mia whispered to me suddenly, squeezing my hand before she shot off and onto the main landing. The tall, stone walls were adorned with moving paintings of famous witches and wizards from years gone by. Some waved as we passed and others showed displays of contempt. Some even yelled at those who got a little too close. I supposed it must get boring going through the same process every year – having the same questions asked of you time after time.

"One perk is we won't have to climb all those horrid steps every day." Mia noted, having returned to my side as we stepped down a wide staircase into the increasingly dark depths of the castle, her sudden appearance made me jump a little. I really needed to pay more attention to what was going on around me.

"Alec once showed me a spell that turns stairs into a slide. It could be fun to trick people with." I remembered suddenly as we reached a dark hall, "I'll show it to you sometime." She nodded in agreement and I made a mental note to mention it to Alec when I spoke to him the next day. My trail of thought however was quickly cut short as the group of students we had been following came to a sudden halt. Two single torches held in black cast iron holders lit either side of a block of plain wall. The bricks were grey, dimpled and cool to the touch and I was sure I could hear water trickling somewhere like a garden fountain but everywhere was dry. Mia and I exchanged confused looks along with all the other first years.

"Slytherin Common Room is easily the most secure in the castle." The Head Boy began. He was very tall and thin with teeth at awkward angles and a shock of messy black hair that looked as though he hadn't paid much attention with brushing it that morning. If he hadn't been in Slytherin, I may have had a private laugh to myself. But if nothing else, I knew Slytherin taught you to have respect for your fellow housemates, no matter what their shortcomings. Luckily for me, that was also a lesson I'd been taught thanks to my upbringing.

"Our common room requires a password just like the other houses but one thing that sets us apart is that few other students can even find the door." The Head Girl said as she stepped to her left and then took one step back, showing that there was actually a gap between the two walls, it had been invisible to us due to its strategic placement in the darkness.. She disappeared, everyone gasped and quickly followed into a dimly illuminated passage. The only light provided were more medieval looking iron torches mounted on the wall. Soon, it widened into another hallway where a single ornate black door was adorned with serpents intertwined amongst one another. The Head Boy muttered the password, something that sounded like Latin and the door swung open, allowing us to enter.

"The Slytherin common room was rather dark when I first stepped inside and it took a few moments for my eyes to adjust. The floor was a deep cherry-hinted mahogany and the walls were carved ornate stone that stretched high above our heads. Much higher than I thought a dungeon common room would be. But it gave the room a feeling of space, despite being under the castle, it felt like we could fly around the room if we so chose. The windows were thick panes of glass that allowed us to look out into the waters of the Black Lake. They stretched from the floor to the heights of the ceiling, flooding the room in a faint green glow. But it also felt as though we were bathed in moonlight, a silvery sheen touching everything in the large room, I hadn't seen any of the other common rooms in the castle but I struggled to believe that any of them would be grander than ours. In the centre of the far wall was a large stone fireplace, above which an emerald-eyed serpent was mounted on a plate. Its single eye glinted in the dim light and almost seemed to follow us around the room as we took in our surroundings. Leather sofas and velvet green armchairs were placed strategically around the room as well as in secluded corners, draped in grey cushions and fluffy blankets they looked perfect to have a nap in. The sight of them alone caused exhaustion to quickly overcome us all and some followed the older student's advice and skulked off to find their dormitories straight away. As I gazed up at the high, vaulted ceiling, I heard Mia yawn next to me.

"I'm exhausted. Coming to bed?" she queried and appeared grateful when I agreed with her idea. We both wandered through a wide, stone passageway to the right of the Common Room, where all the other first year girls were heading. Several doors lined the hall with names scribbled on sheets of parchment. Under the silver '3' on the door in front of us, were both our names along with three others.

"Hey, look! We're in the same dorm!" Mia smiled as she pushed open the door to the large and rectangular room. The far wall that was directly opposite us was an ornate floor to ceiling window with intricate gothic metal carvings keeping the panes of glass in place. The waters on the other side were murky and strangely intriguing. Creatures flitted past, their shadows clear but never revealing what they really were to any of us. There was a large black bookcase against the window already filled with books and in the corner near to it was a small furnace with yet more armchairs and a soft fabric green sofa. Two beds were along one wall and three along the other. Each was a dark wood four poster with green velvet curtains. Our trunks had all been placed at the ends and I spotted my own on the wall with two beds, the one closest to the window, the trunk emblazoned with the N.R of my initials. The trunk in front of the bed next to mine had A.C painted in delicate gold lettering, flowers intertwining the words.

"I got excited over summer and thought I should personalise it." Mia clarified as if she could hear my thoughts. I smiled as I spotted Iris stretched out lazily on my plush covers, the end of her tail flicking from side to side in contentment. However, I quickly got the vibe of her mood when she shot me a death glare and hopped off the bed, sliding underneath. I knelt at the end, opened my trunk and removed her soft grey bed, slipping it under for her. I felt a grateful lick of my hand which also served as a truce between the two of us. As I got back to my feet I noticed that our school uniforms were already laid out for the next day on the velvet green armchairs that were next to each of our beds. The three other girls whose beds were across the dorm from ours introduced themselves as Pansy Parkinson, Millicent Bulstrode and Sally-Anne Perks. I recognised each of the girl's names from the sorting ceremony and if I wasn't mistaken, Parkinson and Bulstrode were also alongside my name on that same piece of parchment. We'd certainly attended a number of social events together, though I can't say I had a great deal in common with them other than that.

Exhaustion quickly overcame the dorm room as we all wound down from the excitement fuelled day. Each girl quickly changed into their pyjamas - my own were a dark navy with stars on the bottoms – and receded under their covers, wriggling as they acclimatised to the cold sheets. As I laid under my own soft and heavy blankets, I decided that I liked the Slytherin common room, and our own dorms – a great deal. I was happy to have a new found friend too, but I was mostly relieved that Iris got on with Jinx – many a previous attempt at friendship had been foiled by my cat's instinctual dislike of most other people.

So far, Hogwarts was turning out to be everything I'd dreamed about and more.