DISCLAIMER- I don't own the creations of JK Rowling

Cassandra & Mizzrazz- you can refer to at least the first two chapters of the story- Lily's changes by arekay, story id-6992471, it's a bit extreme though.

Chapter 16- Settling down

"Have you any special schedule for the Potter boy, Albus?" I had asked innocently at the staff meeting before the students arrived. As a result, I had then received a negative and now find myself facing the headmaster alone in the latter's office the next morning.

The headmaster looked at me sharply "I have issued perfectly clear guidelines that he would receive the same treatment as all other students. May I know why were you concerned for the boy?"

"I am concerned? Why, you yourself had said that the boy will be in terrible danger when the lord returns. Surely you have not forgotten what you had said yourself? I hoped you will give the boy special preparation when he would attend school. Or you have already seen to it?"

"Oh, I see. Of course I have plans for the boy, but I prefer to keep the details to myself. You need not be concerned for that and must treat him like any other student. Surely you have not lost your faith in my abilities, Severus?" the blue eyes looked at my face very seriously over the half-moon glasses. My mind is sealed against reading, so bad luck with that for you.

"Of course not." I mumbled, only to be dismissed by a wordless wave of the headmaster's hand. I stood on the revolving stair and do not know whether to laugh or get angry at you. You expected a Slytherin to tell the truth to you in such a case? I lost faith in you years ago; it only increased over time. I will continue with my plans, like putting him in detention in front of the entire class. Otherwise people will doubt why I am spending time with the boy.

Or am I actually gaining faith in you over time, Albus? To be precise, faith in your incompetence and overconfidence, plus maybe stupidity?

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Harry now began his new life at Hogwarts, as a Slytherin. He had his own room but could not understand how sunlight came through an opening in the top, or in the common room. Maybe it was the magical equivalent of fiber-optic cabling. He did not yet know how the lamp in his room worked.

He was shown how the entrance to the common room worked. The stone heads of the snakes were made to recognize the fingerprints of the new students. Simply put, it was a system controlled by the prefects where the statue would sense the hand placed upon it and if it was a known pattern, it would give way to the person. There were about fifteen identical heads sticking out from the walls, a prefect announced that it was a different entrance every week, it would be announced which one. Going out was simpler; they have to simply push from behind. Similarly, the rooms assigned to each boy had doors that could magically sense the hand placed upon it and recognize the rightful occupant.

The way to the great hall was straight from the dungeons. The prefect announced that the house head would hand over the class schedules on the first day, so they had to be present within nine. On the other days, it was a more casual affair; anybody can go within the assigned hours and find food. Even this time, the Slytherin head boy and girl supervised the seating so that all students from each year sit in a continuous row. Apparently, it made handing out the class schedules easier for the house heads.

They sat down for breakfast at their table; the utensils seemed to have changed and the choice for food was very simple after last night's grand feast- porridge with milk, honey and some strawberries. Harry spotted Neville at the Gryffindor table and waved, he waved back with a small smile on his lips. He could not spot Hermione or the twin girls, so focused on eating. The quality of the food was good but except the strawberries, it was his regular food back at his relatives place.

He glanced at the staff table, it was not as full as last night. At the Slytherin table, almost the same sitting pattern from last night was there in the table. At his side, he heard Malfoy flanked by his cronies and talking to them "There are different sorts of food served through the year, my father told me. Stop whining and eat." Other boys in his year- the tall blonde and the dark skinned boy were eating silently too. Daphne and her friend were again wrapped around each other, ignoring the rest.

Hermione was spotted at the Ravenclaw table, talking to a small group. Harry finished his helping and glanced at the giant clock atop the staff table- there was twenty minutes time. He felt an urge to talk to his new friend and walked over to her. He asked her how was the Gryffindor common room, only to be drowned in a barrage of words from the excited girl.

Apparently, she had already talked to the other muggle-born students and found out what the other common rooms were like. Apparently, both the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw common rooms were atop separate towers, with great view of the mountains beyond the lake. The decorations were different, just like the house colours and so was the method of entrance- Gryffindors have to give a password to a talking portrait of a lady while Ravenclaws have to solve a riddle asked by a giant stone eagle.

Hufflepuff house had their common room not in a high tower but a wing of the castle from where they had a great view of the lake and the grounds, along with the forest beyond. They had their own wall decorations too, in the house colours of yellow and black. She did not ask Harry about the Slytherin common room but excitedly said that she had found out the location of the library.

Hermione then proceeded further, displaying her newfound knowledge from the book Hogwarts- a history. Apparently, the houses were named after the founders of Hogwarts. Ravenclaw tower had a statue of the witch, while Hufflepuff had a painting in their common room. Godric Gryffindor had never allowed any painting or statue of him to be created; he wanted to live only through his achievements. However, his description was a very tall and broad-shouldered man with reddish brown long hair and bread. Before she could proceed further, the heads of houses arrived in the hall carrying a heap of parchments on their hands, so both went back to their respective tables.

Harry went to sit at the Slytherin table. Snape walked in a straight line from one end, had come to him and had passed him the schedule wordlessly before moving to the other students. He looked at the teachers at the other tables and now knew who the other heads of houses were and felt a faint curiosity to know how the teachers would teach in their classes, particularly to Slytherins.

The tour of the castle began immediately after the breakfast, the Slytherin first years following two prefects. As they began to show the various parts of the castle, particularly the location of the classrooms, Harry felt that the insides of the castle was much more spacious than what it seemed from outside, perhaps the whole castle had an extension charm within it. He felt fascinated and ignored Malfoy's threat "I don't like people being smart with me, Potty."

The castle was really great from inside too. The prefects also told them that they need not try to remember the layout of the staircases, those change on a regular basis. There were many paintings of people hung in certain corridors, they seemed to be moving, talking to themselves and pointing at the students. Even the Slytherin common room had a few such portraits, so it was not new. Sometimes a ghost or two could be seen floating high above in the air, wearing medieval style clothes and very faint in the bright sunlight lighting up the corridors. There were metallic suits of armour with weapons and stone statues, both human and other forms, standing here and there.

While walking, the students also came across Peeves, the resident poltergeist of the castle. He was a short man in bright clothes floating in the air, who made faces at the first years and called them rude names before floating away. The prefects warned them that Peeves should be watched out for; he can turn invisible and be really troublesome. Only the baron could control him, Harry learnt.

Midway through the tour, they came back to the Great hall for lunch, which was also good but simple compared to the opening feast. Harry ran into trouble that afternoon with some senior students of his own house in the common room, to be rescued by others.

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Afternoon tea at Hogwarts was delicious- with cupcakes, scones and sweet buns. After they had sat down at their table, one of the prefects said "The tour is finished. Now you can eat and go back to the common room. Classes start from tomorrow, be prepared and punctual. All the best."

Harry could not spot his friends, so ate silently and went down to the Slytherin common room. As soon as he entered, he found three huge senior years coming towards him. Before he could do anything, he found himself pushed against a wall and a wand pressed against his face. He had only looked at the boy who had pinned him- a heavily built dark haired boy when the situation changed.

The boy had just begun speaking in a rough voice "Potter, you deserve…"

A silvery ball of light seemed to drop right through the ceiling and passed into the body of the boy. The eyes glowed silver for a moment and the boy staggered backwards, releasing the grip on harry and lowering the wand. The huge boy then pointed his wand at the other two and said "Step back now."

All the students present in the Slytherin common room had stood up at the event. Harry himself was baffled but his attacker continued pointing his wand at the other two and spoke again "Back, now." The room fell into a deadly silence, to be broken by the entrance swinging open and Snape stepping in.

At that moment, one of the mysteries became clear to Harry. His attacker turned back at him and smiled, then his eyes glowed silver again. The baron seemed to simply walk out of the boy's body the next moment and stood a little away. So, the baron had somehow sensed trouble and took over the body to prevent trouble. The head of house was also alerted somehow.

The huge boy suddenly had a confused look in his face and looked around the entire room, then spotted Snape staring at him with cold eyes. He however defiantly stared back at Snape.

Snape's ice cold voice broke the awkward silence in the room "So, Marcus Flint, are you suffering from any loss of memory at present? What about two of you- same condition?" while at the same time, cold black eyes directly stared into the angry eyes of Marcus Flint.

The three of them, including Flint shook their heads in confusion. The cold voice continued "So, you must know what I say at the beginning of each term every year. I spoke this very morning. Yet, you attacked and pointed a wand at a first year student. May I know why?"

Flint spoke in an angry voice "Sir, there are many people who had seen Potter this morning, not only us. He walked over to the Ravenclaw table and talked to a Gryffindor. Ask the other students if you wish."

Draco's gleeful voice could be heard "Yes sir, I and my friends have seen.." only to be stopped by a sharp rebuke from Snape "Silence! Nobody will speak unless I ask them to." Snape then bored his eyes into Flint's and said "So, what else has he done, Mr. Flint?"

Flint now had a satisfied look in his face. He smiled "Nothing else that I know, sir." The smile however vanished at the next words that came out of Snape's mouth.

"Fifty points from Slytherin for attacking a junior housemate in an act of aggression and pointing a wand at him. You seem to ignore what I have said this very morning. Another twenty points deducted for a pathetic excuse. There is no rule barring Slytherins from talking to students of another house or making friends with them, else I would have notified the students myself. I will give detention the next time this is repeated, the whole house may take notice of this. Also, I assume you all have normal memories."

Flint had a shocked look in his face, but again spoke in an angry voice "Slytherin house is the best."

"Another ten points for speaking rudely to a teacher, I am overlooking your stupidity. In what way this house is the best at present, Mr. Flint? Shall I comment on the academic marks of the three of you?" Snape then took his eyes off a silent Flint and surveyed the crowd standing in silence.

"Listen, all of you. Remember that you all are students of this school- what matters is your conduct and academic marks. If you do not like a student of this house, avoid him or her. You can talk to other house members if you wish to, though I do not expect the tactics of the quidditch team to be divulged. Don't behave like these three oafs in future, or else you will be facing detentions. This house is currently on top in only one thing- former house members filling up prison cells. If you want to follow their footsteps, then know that what you do after leaving school is not my concern. Good evening everybody, behave yourselves." With a swirl of his cloak, Severus Snape walked out of the common room.

Harry suddenly felt very embarrassed, he did not dare to look up and see whom his housemates were staring at. He walked towards the boys dormitory, went to his own room and sat down quietly. The room was quite dark by now. He changed from his school robes, washed his face and sat down quietly.

He suddenly heard a knocking on his door. Feeling a little tense after the incident, he went to the door and opened it, to find two boys from his own year- the wiry blond and the dark skinned boy standing outside. Before he could say or do anything, the blond extended his hand and spoke.

"Hello, Potter. I am Theodore, from the house of Nott. Nice to meet you."

Harry shook Nott's hand silently, then the dark skinned boy introduced himself as Blaise Zabini. Zabini then spoke "As we are in the same year and house, Nott and I thought that we three must know each other."

"Nice to meet you two, but why only the three of us? Will Draco Malfoy and his friends come later?" grinned Harry.

Nott looked around the empty corridor and replied "It seems that you are mistaken. Malfoy does not seem to have any friends, Potter. He has two pet trolls as bodyguards whom he orders around. We two will not follow orders from Malfoy, however rich his father is. As you do not look like them, I may assume you will not be with them."

The three of them laughed together, it was the beginning of a friendship. Harry now felt more at ease being sorted into Slytherin

-Thanks for reading