Chapter 4

A/N: yes finally I completed this! It took me more than two weeks of writing everyday to finish it. It's pretty long, 3556 words but it just gives a basic description of certain places and some foreshadowing in the smallest of details. Also, cliff-hangers up ahead! You have been warned.

Ari stepped off the boat and into the halls of Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. Professor McGonagall met them a few flights of steps up, in front of a set of large double doors. She started speaking to them, but Arianna let her mind and eyes wander around the room they were in at the moment. "…while you're here, your house will be your like family…and any rule breaking will lose you points." Yawn. Apparently, according to her parents, she said the same thing to every group of first years. She scanned the crowd and saw that a few people were looking bored and yawning or rolling their eyes but there were also some who were rapt by McGonagall's speech, looking at her with shining eyes and awed expressions. Muggleborns, she guessed. She listened to the conversations that muggleborns were having with each other with amusement once the professor left but one caught her attention.

"I did my research before coming here and I think Slytherin is by far the best. I hope I get in." said a girl with brown skin, black hair and an Indian accent. The girl next to her who was clearly the opposite of the Indian one said, "the evil house?" "it's not evil Katelyn" said the other girl, frustrated. "every bad witch or wizard was in Slytherin." Katelyn tried to reason with her friend. "Merlin was also in Slytherin!" the Indian girl snapped. "are you saying he was evil?" "No! Look, Nisha, I-" "it's fine Lyn. I get it. You think Slytherin is evil, and you can think that. It's just that I believe that they aren't." Nisha sighed. "any way I feel like Slytherin is the right house for me." She said, putting an emphasis on feel. The other girl, Katelyn's eyes went wide. "you mean feel as in-?" Nisha nodded and they both broke off into very hushed conversation, impossible to hear over the other noise.

Well, that was interesting. Ari felt slightly sorry for the muggleborn because she knew how rare it was to have one in Slytherin. The last one was probably like 80-100 years ago and she only knew that because of her dad's secret sources. But she did seem so sure that Slytherin was right for her…

The professor came back in and guided the first years through the great hall. The sorting hat burst into a song from where it was on a stool. After it was over and the applause died down, the sorting began.

Ari tuned out after Kelly Abel was sorted into Hufflepuff. She looked around the great hall instead, starting with the other house tables. The Gryffindors were at the far-right end and she could see that most of them were talking and laughing with each other and clapping when a student got sorted into their own house. She saw Percy Weasley and glared at him.

The Hufflepuffs were next to the first years and the Gryffindors and were smiling cheerily at them. They hugged everyone who was sorted into Hufflepuff and one boy, Jeremy Dole, even did a group hug with all the Hufflepuffs near him. One even gave her a thumbs up.

On the left, there were the Ravenclaws who were a pretty great bunch. Some were listening, some were reading, some were just looking bored, and some were even studying them and muttering under their breath, as though the first years were a difficult math problem for them to solve.

The Slytherins were in the far-left corner and most of them were looking grumpy or amused or even glassy eyed as everyone was sorted. Her eyes then wandered towards the staff table, where all the teachers sat. Right in the centre sat the headmaster, Dumbledore with Professor McGonagall on his right and a grey-haired teacher to his left. Farther down the table, her godfather Professor Snape sat.

There were more teachers, but Ari's attention was snapped back to the sorting as a very intriguing person was called out. "Kapoor, Nisha" called Professor McGonagall and she walked up to the stool confidently. The hat waited for about 2 seconds and then cried "SLYTHERIN".

The hall was so silent you could hear a flake of glitter drop. There was no clapping or cheering or any reactions. Even from the teachers and even from Arianna. It was like a hall full of shocked statues. Ari couldn't believe it. This was a one in a million occurrence, there was no way it could have happened. The spell was broken by Professor McGonagall shaking her head and taking the hat of Nisha's head. Others started to recover too but the entire Slytherin table was still in shock and none clapped for Nisha. A few more people were called during the time Ari was still in a daze until her name was called. She walked up to the stool and put the hat on.

Everyone expected the Sorting hat to say Slytherin immediately but…

"you're a Malfoy yet you aren't obsessed with blood purity" remarked the hat in her ear after a few moments had passed. "You like to speak your mind and are sometimes very reckless. Quite Gryffindor of you I must say" "I am like a Gryffindor?" Ari asked, confused, and horrified. "Yes, but not enough to be one. You are loyal and very hardworking so Hufflepuff…" the hat trailed off as she shouted "DON'T YOU DARE HAT" in her head. "Never mind not Hufflepuff after all. Ravenclaw? Perhaps as you are quite smart and eager to learn. Yet you are also ambitious and cunning, a natural leader. The marks of a great Slytherin. Hmm" the hat was saying. Ari suddenly realized that it had been around 7 minutes since she had got on the stool. She was a hatstall! She could hear murmurs coming from the used to be silent hall. "Slytherin or Ravenclaw. Slytherin or Ravenclaw," the hat debated. "Just hurry up already!" Ari hissed. "Well, I think it better be…SLYTHERIN!" shouted the hat, a little ruffled. Ari sighed in relief and walked over to the green and silver table.

Arianna noticed that no one was sitting next to Nisha, so she did. Nisha smiled at her and said "Hi, Arianna, right? I'm Nisha but I think you know that." Ari nodded, smiling warmly. "You're the first muggle born in Slytherin for nearly a century!" "Yeah, I'm not really that popular around here" she sighed wistfully, gesturing to the clear circle next to her and the dirty looks she kept getting. "Hey, this is a big shock to a lot of people. I'm sure they'll get over it." Ari replied, nudging the downcast Indian girl. "Thanks" she said. They ate and chatted about themselves and slowly, as Ari had predicted, the other Slytherins let her in. Medusa and Hades were having the time of their lives as all the kids kept feeding them or cooing at them or petting them.

There were 3 other people sorted (a girl called Dabria into Gryffindor, one called Mai into Hufflepuff and another called Athena in Ravenclaw), then they were able to follow the prefect into the common room. The line of Slytherins followed the Hufflepuffs down where the dungeons would be. Then they split off at separate staircases, the Slytherin one being shorter, and Ari and her group ended up in front of a beautiful painting of two snakes, one silver and one gold.

"Here we are." Said the female prefect with a friendly smile. "The password is power, and it changes every month or when another house overhears it." She said the password and the two snakes in the painting twisted around each other, leaving a stretch of the painting that slowly dissolved into an open entryway.

Everyone gasped as they entered. It was beautiful and elegant, grand but cosy at the same time. There was a giant fireplace, the fire crackling merrily that was decorated with snakes. One wall was made entirely of glass that looked into the black lake. A few merpeople were swimming there and signing at some of the older students. Ari remembered her lessons and signed "hello" at them in sign language and they delightedly responded. On another wall, there was a portrait of Salazar Slytherin with quotes written underneath it.

It's better to be hated for what you are then loved for what you're not.

If we let the world decide, are we not puppets?

Take what you want but just not from us.

Don't be afraid to give up the good, to go for the great.

The strong don't win, whoever wins is strong.

Without ambition, there is no accomplishment.

On either side of the entrance were 2 stairs, one curving left and the other curving right. There were couches and beanbags strewn around the room as well as some silk pillows that looked like they had been in too many pillow fights. On the fourth wall there was a set of double doors with cabinets on either side. A few people, including Arianna, went through the doors and found themselves in a mini library. There were tables for studying and bookshelves lined the walls. The entire room was brightly lit from an unknown source of light.

As Nisha's eyes swept around the room in wonder and landed on a slightly different looking shelf, she suddenly cried out and collapsed, clutching her head. Before she fell, a Slytherin boy caught her but then dropped her on a beanbag, blushing. Before her eyes closed and she tensed up on the beanbag, Ari noticed a change in her eyes, as if curtains fluttering, but didn't quite catch it.

"Nisha!" she yelled in her ear and shook the seemingly unconscious girl. Slowly, Nisha's muscles unclenched, and she opened her eyes. She mumbled something like "ye kya tha?" (It means "what was that") that Ari guessed was Hindi but then stood up and acted like nothing had happened. "Should we go up to the dormitories?" she casually asked, heading out of the library and towards the right staircase that had a silver G carved on the bottom step. Ari, Star and a few other girls glanced at each other and walked up the stairs after her.

They came to a marble hallway, painted a yellowish white, that had a soft, lush carpet that was a rich dark green colour. There was another staircase at the far end of the hall that was also painted the same shade as the walls, the steps white with wooden tops, and the female prefect was standing there smiling. The left wall had a series of black wooden doors with names written on them in beautiful silver writing, each door having a magnificent pot plant on either side of it.

The entire right wall, excluding a few inches at the bottom, was covered in a pleasant-smelling climbing plant that was broken up with giant floor to ceiling windows framed with elegant silver and green curtains. The sun streamed through the glass and gave the whole place a welcoming glow. Ari marveled at the difference between this and the hallways at home which were dark and dingy. Her own wing of Malfoy manor was the only comforting part of the house. She and Star walked over to a window that Nisha was peering out of and gasped at the view. The gates of the school and most of the black lake were visible and the far away mountains and forests completely topped of the breathtaking scene in front of them.

The prefect, whose name turned out to be Louisa, explained that there were seven floors above the common room and that every year you move up a floor. She also said that six students had to deal with sharing the same space, but they had tried to put you with your friends. That was something Ari could handle.

Students walked up to the doors and found the one they were supposed to be in. Arianna was sharing with Star, Nisha and triplets called Violet, Heather and Rose. "Hey" Violet greeted them. "Hello" Nisha greeted back "what's your name?" "I'm Violet and these are my sisters Heather and Rose. What's yours?" she said, gesturing to two bickering girls. "I'm Arianna" she smiled. "Star" she answered, looking bored. "and I'm Nisha, the muggleborn in Slytherin" she said cheerfully. "Nice to meet you. HEATHER! ROSE! STOP ARGUING AND GET YOUR FAT ARSES OVER HERE! I FOUND OUR DORM!" The other two stopped reluctantly and went over to the door. Star pushed it open, and they stepped back, startled.

Arianna had expected a large dull room with beds lined up and a single bathroom but WOW it was different. The floor had an amazingly soft navy carpet with beanbags strewn everywhere. On the wall directly opposite to the door was a flat black thing that, if Ari remembered right, was a muggle invention called a Televisor or something like that. There was a silver couch in front of it with green cushions and a glass table with a small device on it. "Sweet, a television!" Nisha cried. So that's what it was called. On either side of the TV were two doors with names on them with the same silver writing. There were another two doors on the right wall and in between them was a kitchenette! The left wall was almost the same as the right wall but instead of a kitchenette, there was a fireplace.

On either side of the main door were cabinets that turned out to contain a whole bunch of games. "Hey, this door has my name on it! I think all of us get our own room!" Cried Heather and ran into the room. Arianna scanned the room and saw that the door on the right of the fireplace was hers. She opened it and walked in, smiling at the prettiness of it. Right in the middle of the room was a queen-sized bed that had a clean white sheet and black and green blankets and pillows. The bedside tables were plain and had lamps you could change by just turning them on and asking them. 3 inches away from the bedside tables was where the floor to ceiling windows started. There was also a window running along the upper part of the wall. So basically, the entire back wall was a window excluding the area taken by the bed and bedside tables and about a meter or so above them.

The left side of the room contained a desk with drawers that contained spare quills, inkpots, envelopes, seals, empty parchment, Etc. Arranged on a shelf above the desk were 10 inkpots in different colours and a cup with new quills. Coloured pencils, pencils, erasers and a sketchbook were lying on the table. Arianna laughed at that since she had never even tried to draw. Maybe I could start…

On the right side of the room, there were two doors with a bookcase in between. Arianna deposited her sleeping pets on the bed and opened the first door on the right side. It turned out to be a walk-in-robe and she saw that all her clothing was neatly organized. Her trunk was lying in the middle of the robe filled with the things that the house elves didn't know where to put. The other door opened up to a luxurious bathroom that was white and black with a touch of green. There was a wide bathtub that took up an entire wall and a spacious shower next to the toilet that also had a lot of features. She inspected the toilet and saw that it had options for: Auto clean, music, seat warming, massage, and a whole bunch of other things.

The vanity took up the last two remaining walls. The counter was empty apart from her toothbrush, toothpaste and face wash but it was probably because they didn't know how to arrange her makeup items. It was almost time to go to bed and she wasn't planning on wearing her robes to bed, so she undressed and put her Hogwarts uniform into a basket labelled as laundry and took a relaxing shower.

She wrapped herself in a fluffy black bathrobe and entered her wardrobe to pick what she would wear. She scrutinized the side of the wardrobe that held her casual clothing and decided on a red shirt that said BOW TO THE QUEEN in big white letters and white shorts. She brushed her hair but left it open and headed out into the common area where her roommates looked like they had showered too.

Star was in her usual style, her curly hair left out and her bright red nightdress mostly covered by a green shawl. Nisha had her hair in two plaits and was wearing a shirt with a full moon on it that had the words FULL MOON PARTY underneath it and plain white leggings.

Heather was wearing a white long-sleeve cropped shirt with ripped jeans and had her dusty pink hair up in two buns. She was lounging on a beanbag with a small contraption in her hand.

Violet had her dark purple hair up in a ponytail and was wearing black knee length pants and a shirt with a skull on it. She was locked in a game of wizard chess with her sister Rose who was wearing a white nightgown with little roses on it. Her dyed red hair was done up in a half bun and her eyes, blue like her sisters', were screwed up in concentration.

Ari walked past Star who was composing a letter and Nisha who was reading a book called Wings Of Fire that looked interesting and sat next to Heather. She looked up from the thing in her hand and smiled at her. "Hey" Ari said to her. "What's that thing?" she nodded her head at the black and lilac object. "Oh this? It's a muggle invention called a cell phone, or just a phone really." Heather laughed. "How does it work in the wizarding world? I mean, I heard that muggle inventions don't work here." Ari said, confused. "There is a spell that lets them run on magic. I'm guessing it's the same on that TV." She shrugged. "D'you want to see how it works?" she asked with an amused expression at the enchanted expression that Ari probably had on her face. "YES!" she enthusiastically replied. Heather laughed again and then started to explain, "so, this button turns it on which shows a screen called the lock screen because if you have a passcode, you can't go any further. You can only see the stuff on this screen like the time or …" She talked Ari through the different features of the phone and also suggested some books about muggle technology. They were in the middle of a fascinating conversation about messaging until Nisha interrupted them.

"Hey guys! Let's watch some TV before bed. I know some good movies I'd be happy to watch again with you all." Everyone agreed so Nisha took the device on the table which was apparently called a 'remote'. While everyone settled on a beanbag or the couch, Nisha was looking at an app called Netflix. That is the weirdest name ever. Like honestly NETFLIX?

There was a bit of arguing as to what we would watch between everyone except Star who was staring at the TV like she had just discovered that the sun was her mum. It was kind of hilarious to see. Finally, they decided on a movie called Dumbo and watched the whole thing while eating popcorn Rose had made in the mini kitchen. It was almost as good as the popcorn Ari herself made back at Malfoy manor when she was reading a particularly exciting book.

By the time the movie ended, it was nearly midnight, and everyone was in some state of tears. The prefect had yelled at them to go to bed, but they had discovered that the door would become un-enterable from the outside and soundproof if they just asked it nicely. Everyone bade each other goodnight and went off to their rooms to sleep.

When Arianna entered, the lamps were on and were casting a cosy yellow light in her room. Her eye immediately went to the painting above the bed. There was something odd about it, but she couldn't make it out. It was a beautiful painting; There was a silhouette of a bare tree in the very centre and one half of the painting was day and the other half was night. There was a circle above the tree in the painting that was half sun and half moon. Ari squinted her eyes. Was the Sun-Moon rotating? It wasn't a moving painting as far as she could tell from the other time she had looked at it and anyway, nothing else seemed to be moving. So then what is going on? She climbed on top of the bed and touched the Sun-Moon. When her finger brushed that part of the painting, the Sun-Moon started spinning really fast and Ari jumped back. The spinning stopped and the Sun-Moon was now facing the wrong direction. The sun was in the night half and the moon in day.

As it settled into place, a satisfying click was heard . . .

A/N: Told you, cliff-hangers. I know that the Slytherin common room are nothing like this but it's my fanfic so I can change as many details as I like. BTW, the triplets are not muggle born, they are just from a family that likes muggle things.

I'm not sure when I will be able to update cause if the lockdown goes away then I MIGHT go on a holiday and plus I will be busy with school again. Because remote learning is easier, I had enough time to write everyday but otherwise this chapter would have probably taken a month!

I am humbly requesting you to please comment because it breaks my heart every time I check my email and find it empty. It really encourages me, and I don't think I'd get far with this story without your support. I would also like to thank these three people who halve followed my story.

Thank you so much to:

tooker86

Thank you to everyone who has read my story and remember, if you have any feedback, feel free to comment. See you on the next update! Bye!