Let's Do It Right This Time, Chapter 14: Power Play
Aurelius Gaunt stalked into the common room, grey eyes gleaming with anger, his rings still glinting on his slender fingers. Without a word, he started going towards the first-year dorms. He was waylaid halfway there.
"Who let him in?" asked Gabrielle Nott, twirling his wand idly like a baton. The rest of the firsties watched in fear and admiration as several of the prefect's thugs surrounded the thin young halfblood.
"That would be me."
Heads whipped around, some of the Slytherins jumping as they noticed the dour Head of House standing in the shadows. Aurelius didn't remember seeing him come in.
"But-" Gabrielle began as Aurelius studied Snape confusedly.
"But nothing. The first rule of Slytherin is that all fights and disagreements must be settled inside the common room. We are the most hated house, and because of it we must always be outwardly united. Besides, simply because you are a prefect does not mean you may abuse your power. Talking back does not warrant a "punishment" of that sort. I may reconsider the awarding of your prefect badge if there are more incidents of this sort. And Gaunt," he added, turning his attention to the firstie, "You would be wise not to antagonize the upper years."
"Yes sir," Aurelius replied, finding his voice. "I'd just had a long day; sorry Nott."
"Apology accepted," Nott returned, very grudgingly. Aurelius chose to ignore his tone, especially as Snape had turned to address the house as a whole.
"Welcome, and welcome back to Hogwarts and to Slytherin," Snape began, his voice taking on the almost majestic quality he always used when addressing his students. A circle of glittering eyes gave him their attention under the cold green light of the Snake Pit, mesmerized. "This is the house of cunning, the house of ambition. I will warn you now that we are not well liked. We have accrued a reputation for being Dark, for being cutthroat. Other teachers will deny you points for excellence and good conduct, and take points for altercations that are not your fault.
"Thus the first rule of Slytherin, as has been demonstrated, is unity. We are disliked and passed over, and thus, we must always pretend that we are united, at all times outside of our own chambers, regardless of actual feelings. You would do well to remember this.
"The second rule of Slytherin is excellence. We will never be applauded for ordinary feats, so we must strive to be the best, to be the greatest, to be the most accomplished. We must keep are actions above the table whenever possible, as any foul play on our part is always punished more harshly, but in the end we must stay alive, must win whenever possible, however possible.
"This, then, is your house. Your years at Hogwarts will not be easy, but easy is not what matters. What matters is the name, good or bad, that you forge for yourself, what matters is how well you survive. If you survive all seven years, you have already won."
Several of the other firsties squeaked at the implications. Aurelius was too busy contemplating Snape's behavior. The man had covered for him. But why?
"A few quick announcements before you go to bed for the night. There will be chess club on Tuesday evenings, and the interhouse gobstones tournament is November 10th; gobstones club will be meeting every other Friday from October 4th to prepare for that. Quiddich practices and tryouts have not been finalized; for more information about that talk to Marcus Flint. All muggleborns and muggleraised are required to attend Wizarding etiquette tutoring in first year; that will be led by Peregrine Derrick.
"For students new to Hogwarts, orientation maps are on the table by the cork board; also any later announcements or clubs that are not urgent will be posted on said board. Hogsmeade weekends are for third years and up; the first weekend will be on September 21, and permission slips must be turned in no later than September 19th. Lastly, while I do not often take points from my own house, any rulebreaking will be punished by long and unpleasant detentions." Snape smiled very lightly; Aurelius was personally surprised that he could. "Fifth and Seventh years, you will be required at my office for councilling; you should already have your schedule. First years, you will be taken to Madame Pomphrey for a check up on the first weekend here, so don't forget that. And all of you should know that my office will always be open to you. Any questions?"
Some questions must have been asked, but whatever they were, Aurelius didn't hear them. He was still trying to figure out Snape's behavior. What was Snape's motivation for keeping his secret? He must have seen everything.
Aurelius went to bed that night still dressed, and still lost in thought.
AGRWAGRWAGRWAG
As he had become accustomed to, Aurelius rose early, showered, and went down to the common room to study, pointedly ignoring Nott, who was also in the common room with several of his thugs, as if just waiting for a chance to jump him. Aurelius made sure to have his wand close at hand, but nothing actually happened, and soon Aurelius was making his way down to breakfast, following Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini so as not to seem overly familiar with the castle.
Breakfast itself was a simple affair, marked only by small talk and the schedules being passed out, and Aurelius was starting to enjoy the peacefulness of it all. That is, until the mail arrived.
Aurelius had been in the middle of a piece of bacon when owls started to rain down, dropping letters and packages and rolls of parchment, screeching as they went. And suddenly, amid the general avian chaos, there were gasps from all of the nearby Slytherins, and Aurelius looked up to see several sealed letters fall the bowl of cut grapefruit he'd been about to dig into.
"Oh, hey Majestic," he said distractedly, still focused on his schedule. Majestic bit his ear. "Hey! Alright alright!" he said to general astonishment; after all, phœnixes are almost as snooty as hippogriffs, and a phœnix will only tolerate such behavior from his or her bonded. Aurelius grabbed a grape from a nearby bowl and peeled it with one tap of his wand, then tossed it to her. She caught it and trilled disapprovingly. "If you want more peeled grapes, talk to Tippy." Aurelius told her. "I need to finish my own breakfast."
Majestic let him pet her and feed her a few more grapes before pulling away and launching into the air with a burst of song, vanishing in a flurry of fat flakes before she got halfway across the hall. Aurelius packed his schedule in his bag and got up, ignoring the glances shot his way from every table, and was about to leave the Hall when he heard a voice behind him.
"My boy, I need to see you in my office for a few minutes."
It was Dumbledore. Great.