A/N: Well, I've finally got the new chapter up. I'm sorry that it has taken so long, but my mom was in the hospital for about three weeks in July, so I didn't really have a lot of time to work on this chapter. I was going to make it longer, but I didn't want you guys to have to wait any longer for an update. Hopefully, I will be able to get back on a semiregular update schedule in the future. Thank you all so much for your patience. Without further ado, Welcome to Slytherin!
Severus Snape stood staring at the outside wall of the entrance into the Slytherin common room. Usually, he would wait a little while for the prefects to give the first years the run-down of how Slytherin worked, but he was so floored by the fact that a Potter was sorted into his house that he didn't want to wait. He just wanted to get this over with so he wouldn't have to stress over the fact that Potter was in his house. Finally gathering his wits about him he gave the password to the common room and the door swung open to admit him. He swept into the room like he always did, with his all-black robes billowing about him in a dramatic flair that he had adopted to scare the students in the school. It was how he got the ridiculous nickname that the student body believed he had no idea about, "The Dungeon Bat." As he entered, the students all got quiet, not expecting to see him so early since the prefects had not even begun their lesson for the first years. Gemma and Marcus had just sat down across from the little firsties when he had arrived.
"Professor Snape, sir what are you doing here already?" Marcus, not being the brightest wizard of his age, questioned.
Snape simply raised one thin eyebrow at his question, and the boy seemed to realize his mistake.
"Uh, no disrespect meant, sir. It's just we haven't had a chance to go over anything with them yet. We were just about to start when you got here." Marcus mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.
"Obviously, I can see that, boy. There's no need for it. Since I arrived early, I will take care of the rules of the house, as well as my normal welcome speech." Snape dismissed the prefects and the older students to their dorm rooms, before he sat down in one of the armchairs that had been situated across from the first-year students. He observed them as he sat for a few minutes before beginning to speak. He noticed that none of the students from the traditionally dark families made much of an effort to include Potter in their groups, aside from Malfoy that is. The Malfoy heir, and Snape's own godson, sat right next to the Potter boy but made sure that it went unnoticed by the other purebloods. Draco was a smart boy, and he was unwilling to let a potentially powerful ally slip through his fingers simply because his family was considered blood traitors. He would assess the Potter boy's views before he made the final decision on whether he would be friends with him or not. Potter, on the other hand, didn't seem too concerned about the other excluding him from the groups that had already formed. He simply sat on one end of the couch and looked as if he was trying to blend into the fabric as much as possible. Whether it was intentional or not Snape did not know. Deciding to put the children slightly at ease Severus opened his mouth to speak.
"Welcome to Slytherin House. I am your Head of house, Professor Snape. I am, for all intents and purposes, your guardian here at the school during term. Any rule breaking that is caught by the prefects shall be relayed to me, and I shall decide your punishment on it. Any issues that you are having that cannot be addressed by a prefect, can be brought to me if you feel the need. First, I would like to discuss the rules of our house. You see, Slytherin has a bad reputation among the other houses, especially Gryffindor. They will feel the need to bully and berate you, for insignificant things. While you are inside the common room, you can hash out any differences you and another housemate might have. Rule number one of this house is that outside of these walls, Slytherins stick together. If you see another snake in trouble, no matter what your personal feelings on that person you help them out or get someone who can. Do you understand?" Snape eyed every child individually until all of them had nodded their comprehension of rule number one.
"Rule number two don't get caught. If someone has wronged you in any way that you feel deserves retribution, by all means get even but do not get caught. I will not have the other teachers and houses look down on my students because they were caught getting revenge. Like I said, we have a bad reputation even among the teachers. They will favor the other houses over you, simply for who your families are. Don't give them even more reason to. And rule number three is keeping your grades up. I won't have you embarrass the house by failing your classes. If you are having trouble in any class, ask a prefect for help. Breakfast is at eight sharp, I expect all Slytherins to be in the great hall no later than seven forty-five. You will arrive together, and you will depart for classes together. I will be handing out your schedules at breakfast tomorrow morning. Any questions?" Snape's expression warned them away from asking any questions, for he was ready to go to bed himself since he had been up early this morning brewing to restock the hospital wing with all the potions Madam Pomfrey would need for this term. When no one asked anything, Snape continued, "Good. Now if you follow me, I will show you to your dorm rooms." Severus stood and began walking towards a hallway that was situated off to one side of the common room, there were multiple different hallways around the room each with a plaque next to them with the year of students on the wall. The one Snape led them to said first year.
"If you follow the hallway down some you will find two doors, boys will be on the right and girls on the left. At the end of the hallway is a small communal study nook for you to use if you would like some privacy and quiet. It is available only for the first years, and every year has one at the end of their hallway. There are also two bathrooms attached to the dorm rooms for you to use, again each year of students have the same. Curfew begins at nine for first and second years, and ten for third and up. Anyone caught outside of the common room after nine will be severely punished. Lights out is at ten. Good night." And with that said Severus swept out of the common room and made his way to his personal quarters that were not far from his snake's den.
As Snape came upon the unassuming door that led to his quarters, he removed his wand from the inside pocket of his robe. He usually carried his wand in a wrist holster, but since he had gotten up early this morning, he had forgone the holster not wanting to deal with it that early. Now with his wand in his hand, he waved it in the specific pattern needed for the counter spell to the advanced security charm he places on his rooms when he is out. After performing the counter spell, he gave the password that would open the door for him. The door swung open, and he entered the room heading straight for the cabinet that held the firewhiskey he kept for when his stress and anxiety got the best of him, and poured himself a glass, taking a seat in an armchair. Having a Potter in his house qualified for that. He had only met the boy once before school started, and hadn't even met him to be honest, had only seen him floating around in the background last year at the birthday gala that Severus had decided to finally attend after Lily had all but begged him to come for years. He had not seemed like his father or brother in any way, other than looks. He was quiet and reserved, much like Lily had been when they first met as children. Snape supposed that if he had to deal with a Potter twin living in his house for seven years, then Harry would be the one he would choose. How Harry was sorted into Slytherin however, was a question he was not able to answer just yet. He would have to watch the child for a while to see if he truly belonged in the snake house.
As Severus Snape sat in his chambers questioning reality, back in the Slytherin dorms the first years were getting ready for bed. When the boys had walked into the dorm room meant for them there were six giant four poster beds, three on each side of the room. Their trunks and all their belongings had already been placed at a bed for them so there was no need for them to choose a bed. On the right-hand side of the room, Harry's stuff had been placed at the bed farthest from the door. Draco was in the middle on that side, and Theodore Nott had the last bed closest to the door. On the left-hand side, Blaise Zabini had the bed across from Harry, Vincent Crabbe had the middle, with Gregory Goyle taking the last bed. Harry knew of the Notts, the Goyles, and the Crabbes but had never met any of their children. His family and theirs did not run in the same circles. They were traditionally considered dark families, having supported Voldemort in the war. They all claimed to be imperiused, as had the Malfoys, but everyone knew that they were lying. Harry was nervous to say the least to be sharing a dorm with them, but he didn't think that eleven-year-old children could do anything to really harm him yet. Zabini was not a family that he was familiar with, due to them being from Italy and not Britain. He only knew that from Blaise saying that at the feast tonight. So, he was not sure how he should act around Blaise, as he wasn't sure what Blaise's view in politics were. Now I know what you're thinking. How could any eleven-year-old have a political view? Well, they don't, but their families do, and they were raised to believe what their parents do. Which is why all the Slytherin first years were all pureblood supremacists. All of them were purebloods except for Harry, who was a half-blood which was barely better than being a muggleborn to these kids. Draco was the only one who had shown any sort of kindness to Harry and even then, it was not much. He just didn't ignore Harry completely like the others did.
Harry made his way over to his bed and opened his trunk by whispering the password making sure none of the other boys could hear him. He took out his night clothes and toiletries and went to the bathroom to take a shower and get ready to go to sleep. As he did this, he made sure to close and lock his trunk back before he left so the others could not get into it. None of the other boys even seemed to notice that he had slipped away to the bathroom, which was a good thing in Harry's opinion. The others would underestimate him due to his inferior, in their eyes, blood status. So should they ever try to bully or harm him in any way they would not expect him to be able to fend for himself. He entered the bathroom that was attached to the boy's dorm. The floor was all black marble tile, as was the large bathtub located in the middle of the room. It looked more like a swimming pool, but with about fifty silver taps on one side. Harry was sure that each tap had a different function, and he would be sure to test it out sometime but tonight was not the night for that. He walked over to the shower stalls that were located on the right-hand side of the room, of which there was eight, that were each covered with a black silk shower curtain. He chose the one that was farthest from the door and glanced around just to make sure that he had not been followed into the bathroom before he proceeded to strip off his school uniform. As he was going to step into the shower and close the curtain, he didn't see the other boys coming into the bathroom to do the same as him. However, the other boys noticed him this time. They all noticed the scars that ran across his back. There was only two, but they were big enough that they were noticeable from across the room. As the pureblood boys caught the glimpse of his back, they couldn't help but wonder why the golden family of the wizarding world would allow their own child to walk around with injuries that could have easily been healed with magic.
"Potter, what are those ugly things on your back?" Theo asked in disgust.
Harry, not having even realized that the other kids were there, quickly turned around to hide his back from them.
"None of your business, Nott." He mumbled out as he stepped into a stall and drew the curtain back so he could hurry up and get his shower over with and avoid the other boys. He turned the shower on, and the noise of the water drowned out the quiet muttering he could hear from the others.
"What do you think happened to him, and why would his parents allow him to scar like that?" Theo quietly asked the others. They all shared a look with each other, not sure what to say, but knowing that something wasn't right with the Potter boy.
"I don't think they care much for him, to be honest." Draco finally said. "When I was in Diagon Alley this summer shopping for my school supplies, I ran into him while we were getting our robes fitted and his parents weren't with him. I later saw them in Flourish and Blotts with the boy wonder, but Harry was nowhere in sight."
"Weird. Why would they shop with one child but not the other?" Zabini questioned.
The other boys just shrugged and started getting ready for their showers and the conversation was over. Harry scrubbed all the dirt from his hair and body and then peeked out of the curtain to see if the other boys were still there, but it looked as if they had finally gotten in their own stalls to shower. So, he turned the water off and grabbed a fluffy green towel to dry off with, putting his pajamas on before he left the stall as a precaution. He didn't want to hear the others disgust if they saw his back again. He could understand why they were disgusted; he was himself over his scars as well. When the accident had occurred, he had known better than to go to his parents and ask them to fix the wounds with magic. They had still been upset with him over something that he could no longer remember now, with the list of things that they got upset with him about growing ever longer each year. He remembered the incident that had resulted in his scars like it had just happened yesterday, however.
Harry had just turned seven a few days before. He had not gotten any presents for his birthday this year, but Chris had gotten a new broomstick to replace the one he had already had. Harry knew that he wasn't supposed to be playing with his brother's toys, but he couldn't help himself. He had grabbed the old broom, wanting to feel the wind in his hair and the freedom of flying. As he had been soaring over the grounds of Potter Manor, he hadn't really been paying attention to where he was going. He had been watching the ground fly by, which was a dumb thing to do, when he looked up, he was too close to the wall that surrounded the property. The wall that signaled the start of the protective wards that also surrounded the property. He tried to bring the broom to a stop, but he was going too fast, so he then tried to turn parallel to the wall. But he had been going so fast that he got too close and tumbled straight onto the metal posts that were on the top of the wall. He cried out in pain as he felt the two sharp arrows slice his skin open as he fell to the ground. He felt the warmth of his own blood seep into his torn robes. He tried to stand, to stumble back to the manor, but found that he couldn't move without a white-hot searing pain shooting through his whole body. He weakly called out to Moxi for help. He heard the loud pop of the elf and groaned since he couldn't do much else at the time.
"Master Harry! You is injured. Moxi is going to get your parents to help you."
"No! I'm okay Moxi. I just need help getting to my room." Harry managed to rasp out to the elf. His parents couldn't know that he had taken Chris' broom and managed to injure himself so badly. They would be so angry at him.
Moxi looked torn between wanting to get help for the boy and having to follow his orders. The elf was wringing her hands nervously, but Harry's soft "please" finally broke her. She snapped her fingers and they both appeared in Harry's room. Moxi then began to bandage the wounds after using what little healing magic she knew to stop the bleeding and knit the flesh together some.
Harry was pulled out of his trip down memory lane by the other boys beginning to emerge from the shower stalls. He quickly brushed his teeth and combed his hair before leaving the bathroom to crawl into his bed. He pulled the curtains around his bed closed and put up some basic protection wards before laying down.
"Tomorrow is a new day." He thought to himself, as he wondered what was in store for him this year at Hogwarts.