Chapter 6- One Step at a Time

The call was so sudden that Professor Flitwick threw the hat backwards in a jerk, almost falling off the stand. There was a complete silence. For a moment Albus glanced at the Gryffindor table, seeing his brother in complete shock. Evidently, James didn't truly believe he will end up in Slytherin. He turned to the small, stunned Professor, wanting to ask him for another chance, an opportunity to speak to the hat, convince him to put him in the right house, but the words got stuck in his mouth.

"Go on, go to your table", Albus turned to the speaker. Next to Hagrid, who had comical shocked face, his mouth wide open, sat Minerva McGonagall. He saw her before in various meetings, but right now she seemed alien to him. Her face severe, the eyes behind the thin square glasses unflinching, emphasized by the grey lines crossing through the black hair on each of her temples. "But…", he began weakly, "Now, Mr. Potter", her serious manner left no room for discussion.

He got up unsurely, his body naturally attracted towards the Gryffindor table. Suddenly he could recognize all his family members- their bright reddish hair prominent amongst the students. Lucy, Louis, Molly, Dominique, Roxanne and Victoire all sat together at the back, two vacant sits between them. One of them, Albus woefully understood, was for him.

He tried to walk as fast as he could, avoiding the surrounding looks by staring at the floor. He finely reached the Slytherin table and sat next to Scorpius, heading the wall. The loud silence continued until Professor McGonagall cleared her throat, "Professor Flitwick, if you may". "Right,", Flitwick shook his head, "where was I? - Prince, Amare". The pale girl with the black braids and heavy glasses stepped forward. The hat again did not take long, shouting "Slytherin" right with impact, and she as well approached the table, seating herself in front of Albus.

He felt the stinging stares at his back as the sorting continued, and heard the chats beginning behind him, some did not even bother to lower their voice. "Didn't see that coming…", "you think the hat can make mistakes?", "what would his father say?". Albus slumped down, all his fears expressed around him. The ceremony suddenly seemed to prolong, and he just wanted to cover his ears and run outside, to a secluded and quiet place.

"Cheer up mate", said Scorpius and tapped awkwardly on Albus' shoulder, barely managing to hide his delight, "we'll be fine". Albus wanted to reply something but was afraid to open his mouth in case he will throw up. " What's the big whoop?", Albus raised his head and was taken aback by the speaker, he didn't know how he haven't notice her before, with her flowing bright brown hair and purple eyes who seemed to glow a bit in the candlelight, "what, you really wanted to go to another house that bad?".

"You don't know?", a thin kid with Irish accent next to them asked her, "are you a mud-blood or something?". "That's not necessary…", Scorpius began saying, but was cut off by the kid next him, "Quiet you", he said in a low tone, playing lazily with a golden spoon on the table, checking his aquiline nose, "Traitor's blood is more worthless than those of mud-bloods", he turned his head, his yellow eyes meeting those of Albus.

He smiled, somewhat uncomfortably, his vulturine features sharpened, "I'm joking of course, we all should live together in peace and harmony". Albus turned his head, his fears of the inhabitants of Slytherin quickly getting confirmed. "What in the queen's name are you all talking about?", the purple eyed girl angrily asked, "And what is a mud-blood?". "You really don't know?", a small burgundy haired girl with pink scurf asked her, "Know what?", the girl beautiful face contorted in anger.

"Are you adopted?", an arrogant looking girl who sat next to the hawkish kid, asked her. The anger disappeared from the violet eyes, "How did you know?", she asked in shock. The girl also momentarily looked at Albus, her piercing blue eyes only briefly scanning him, "no reason", she finely said. Before she could respond, the girl with the pink scurf started to speak so fast that her words were barely tangible, "You see, only wizards from magical families can get into our house…", two additional kids, one boy and one girl, reached their table, but the new students were so deep in their conversation they didn't even notice.

Albus was glad the attention was swayed away from him as he pretended to listen to the rest of the sorting that was about to end. "Weasley, Rose", was called forward, almost unheard on the background of all the chatting. He hoped that she would get into a different house as well, perhaps Ravenclaw, it certainly suited her. But, nevertheless, she was called into Gryffindor, greeted warmly by them. Albus turned his head, he didn't want to watch her go to her table. Finally, "Wright, Skyler", was sorted into Hufflepuff and the ceremony ended with Professor Flitwick vanishing the stand and taking away the hat.

Professor McGonagall stood up and the hall immediately went quiet. She slowly scanned the tables, examining the new students with a strict glance. "Welcome to Hogwarts, old and especially new students", she opened, "Before we start to dine, I'll begin with some of the basic rules of this establishment. Firstly, students are prohibited to enter the Forbidden Forest, common rooms and dormitories who are not their own and the teachers' lounge. Secondly, sparring outside the Dueling Club area, as to regular scuffles are strictly restricted. And finely, I want to remind everyone that the trade of unapproved merchandise will carry heavy punishment", she glared at Freddy, who hummed innocently, as she stated it.

"Further rules will be given by your house heads and prefects. I know that all of you are hungry, so I will skip the school anthem and conclude", her face contorted a bit and finely, with great effort, she said: "Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!". She sat back down, Hagrid on her right and Flitwick on her left, both clapping enthusiastically with the rest of the students (although she made sure to keep some distance from the giant, who could probably knock down a horse with his hands).

In any other day Albus would have checked what was the meaning of this bizarre statement, but right now he just wanted to end all this ruckus. Even when delicious food appeared before him in the golden plates, his mood did not change, if anything he felt even sicker from all the sweets he ate on the train with Scorpius. "C'mon", the former pushed him, hardly managing to speak with a full mouth, and unlike Albus, seemed utterly starved.

Albus examined the Slytherin table, it wasn't stacked as the rest, so each grade year were able to sit with their own. He counted twelve new years' overall, six boys and six girls, almost half as the rest of the houses. None of them seemed overly happy with their place, especially the violet eyed girl, who just stared blankly at the air. Albus understood her, it probably was devastating to find out that you just got into the house who hated the people you grew up with. He wondered if she knew who her real parents were as he half hearteningly listened when she refused to share the information.

They were also the only ones who kept silent, and after the first volatile exchange everybody simmered down, busy with themselves, only the pink scurf girl keeping trying to reignite a conversation. Albus couldn't help but feeling the glares sent at him from every direction. The only one who didn't sneak peaks at him was the girl with the heavy square glasses, Amare, who was busy nibling on her stake. He could imagine what were they all thinking, he may have been sorted into their house, but he still could carry their words to powerful people, especially his father.

The memory of his father enraged him, why couldn't he imagine a situation where the world didn't surround him? When things didn't always went his way. The thought that the hat wouldn't give someone else a choice probably didn't even cross his mind as he reassured Albus. He felt the same power he experienced in the wand shop surging again, and it took him some time to notice that he was caressing his wand absentmindedly. He quickly removed his hand, the feeling fleeing as he did it. Albus carefully touched the handle again, but this time he sensed nothing. He wondered if his wand triggered it or whether it was unrelated.

The sounds around suddenly grew stronger, and he noticed everybody rising. He was so deep in his thoughts he hasn't even noticed that the food in front of him disappeared. "First year Slytherins, over here", a couple of older students with prefect badges- a curved 'P' shaped snake with a on a green background, called them. They all rose, Scorpius still chewing leftovers from his food. Albus tried to ignore the rest of the students, following the prefect as close as he could. At least the new students weren't as tall as the others, so it was easier to bland into the flowing crowd.

Fortunately, Albus hasn't come across any of his family on his way, only viewing Victoire and Dominique from afar, they as well were prefects, their red budges shining as they were busy directing the students outside the hall. As they hurdle past the gate Albus noticed that whenever he came close to people from other houses they began conversing loudly, and, on the inverse, whenever he past Slytherins, they went quiet. From the main lobby the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws students went up the main stairways and the Hufflepuff and Slytherin students went down.

Not before long the other house turned to another big hallway and the Slytherins continued down. The corridors narrowed, the air became colder, and the lights deemed. All of it felt like a bad dream to Albus, one in which he is drowning and can't swim back up. They went from one passage to another, and he promptly lost track. "Over here", a bright hair tired looking teenager with piercing blue eyes directed them into a small side room that had a slight scent of mold in it.

There, they sat on preprepared chairs that were arranged in a U shape, with Scorpius, Albus and the violet eyed girl sitting on the edge of the shape, separated from the rest. The prefects stood in front of them, behind their back, instead of a board was placed a real-sized portrait of a long bearded old man, the same from Albus' frog card.

"Welcome to Hogwarts, new students", a squat pig faced seven-year teen stepped forward, "we wanted to catch you all before you reached the dormitories, make sure you start your way here on the right foot". He inhaled suspensefully, in a way that reminded Albus a hog, "I'm Alden Carrow, the first Slytherin in twenty years to be a head boy ", he proudly pointed at his badge. "And those", he sluggishly waved at the rest, "are Hayden Flint, Alaina Farley and Brennan Mortimer". The two girls, one mean looking with crooked teeth, and the other, blond with flower shaped necklace, gestured their head coolly, only the tired kid gave them a smile.

"There are two more prefects, you will meet them in the future, they are currently making sure that nobody is taking his time after hours in our common room". "Are you going to reach the point? I had enough lectures today for a lifetime", the snobbish girl interfered him. Alden was taken aback by the disturbance, "is that the niece you talked about?", he turned and asked Brennan angrily. "Indeed, and she usually even less pleasant so count yourself lucky", he weakly smiled at her, "What's up, Royal?". "Why even accept the position if you don't want it?", she returned with high braw. "Nicer than ever I see", Brennan sighed.

"Enough with all this nonsense", Alden exploded with anger, "this is exactly what I wanted to talk about, this attitude. It won't win you any favors, you must assimilate if you want to be accepted here". The smile vanished from Brennan face and the other two prefects looked at the head-boy like he is a filth on a shoe. But they didn't say anything as he continued, "the Slytherin name has enough bad reputation as it is, you all must work to fix it, this is why I brought you to this room, so you can take inspiration from another Slytherin, one who happened to be the greatest wizard of all time- Merlin".

He turned dramatically, only to find himself in front of an empty picture, the man walked away mid his speech. The new year's snickered as Alden doughy face contorted in an ugly rage. He turned in fury and got out of the room, slamming the door behind him with such force the handle fell off. "Be careful when you interact with him", Alaina said, "he may be an idiot, but he makes sure to lick the boot of the right people, he got more of us in trouble than all the Professors combined". "Yeah, snitches started to become real problem in our house", Hayden added, leering at Albus and Scorpius.

All the eyes turned towards them, Albus moved uncomfortably in his chair, wishing he knew the vanishing spell as Scorpius froze in his seat, white faced. "It's no way to greet our new members", Brennan broke the tension, "lets instead welcome them with open arms, Albus and Scorpius, and your name, dazzle?". "Violet, Violet Ostrum ", the girl next to Scorpius finely said, distorting her face in displeasure.

They continued with the names, and Albus was thankful for the prefect, both for the distraction and for the ability to learn who is new house students were. He already knew Rollo Burke, the boy with the long arms and small head; Amare Prince, the pale yellowish girl with black oily hair and heavy square glasses and Royal Loxias, bright haired and blue eyed, with consisted look of snobbishness on her face. The thin Irish kid was Oliver McClivert, the vulturine one with yellow eyes Tucker Gore and the small girl with pink scurf and burgundy hair was named Poppy Murk.

In addition to them were Mia Flint, the sister of Hayden, the prefect, who appeared like a small version of her, with a mean look and crooked teeth; Jacob Rowle, handsome blonde with heavy squared jaw and Ella Ross, a tall dark-haired Scottish girl with a bushy brow. None of them, apart from Scorpius, seemed overly nice or welcoming to Albus, and the thought of spending time with them gave him chill. A wild idea came up within him, to just run out, find professor McGonagall and demand her to move him to Gryffindor.

The scene of her severe face came into his mind, and an understanding that she will probably expel him before agreeing to move him to another house downed on him. Yet, he thought to himself as they got up and advanced towards their dorms, he will send a letter to his parents and will talk to Hagrid or Longbottom as soon as he will be able to. They stopped before a random looking part of a wall, that apart from being a bit moist seemed completely normal.

"The password will change every fortnight", Alaina said to the crowd, "so make sure to be updated with the prefects and don't spill it to anyone outside our house". "Wait, we never had an outsider in here", Hayden said, squinting at Albus. "Don't be ridiculous, you heard the hat, there is no coming back from that", Brennan replied impatiently. Albus had a feeling that the statement was partially aimed at him as he watched Hayden staring furiously at Brennan, who just smiled back at her.

Alaina watched them unsurely for a couple of moments and then decided. She turned to Albus, "are you going to try and move to another house?", she asked him. It seemed like everybody held their breath, only the sound of distant drops heard. "No, there is no turning back now", Albus didn't even know why he said that. It seemed enough for her, she turned, ignoring Hayden disapproving glare and faced the wall, "Legion", she said in insured voice and a hidden stone door suddenly animated from it. They got inside one by one, Albus trailing in the back, questioning of what he just did. "Don't worry", Brennan pressed him forward gently, "we not as bad as we seem from the outside".

And with that, feeling like his legs are made from lad, Albus finely entered the Slytherin common room. He was surprised by the sudden contrast, from the undistinguished damp and dark corridor into a well-lit fancy elongated room. The underground space had a huge window that presented the greenish water of the lake, and as they entered, a massive form with multiple tentacles passed outside, drawing gasps from the new students.

Albus scarcely managed to avert his eyes, exploring the empty space with owe, forgetting for a moment about his fears. The ceiling was low, with emerald lights dangling from it, illuminating the stone walls and all the medieval tapestries depicting the adventures of famous Slytherins across them in a mysterious green aura. Even the big and majestic fireplace in front of the curved wooden chairs didn't harm the dark feel that the place had, that of an underwater shipwreck, although still quite cozy.

They passed over a big painting of an ugly yellowish man with hooked nose and long oily hair who looked at them with disapproval and then separated into two groups beneath an ancient poster with green silky hangings. The boys were headed left and the girls right. They went further down a twisted staircase, small snake shaped lights guiding their way. "Here you go, don't let the sea folk scare you, they can be quite nosey", Brennan pointed them at the bottom, "Sweet dreams, toddlers. Have fun sleeping with the fishes". And with that he turned and went back up, leaving them behind.

Their dormitory was in a heptagon shape, with a bed near each of its walls except the one with the entrance stairs and lavatory, a round view into the water above all of them. Although not as lit as the common room, it was still spacious and comfortable. He recognized his belongings and advanced to the elegant wooden bed with sea serpents expertly curved onto it, lethargically laying down on the soft bedsheets.

Except from random glances from the rest, Albus didn't seemed to get too much attention now. He quickly changed his clothes and entered his bed, dragging his silvery curtains to isolate himself from the rest. There were sounds of chatter beyond them, but they were dim and incomprehensible behind the heavy drapes. Only now, when he lied in his new bed, finely did he manage to feel somewhat alone.

Albus always enjoyed small and quite spaces, and this place, being underwater and with its overall mysterious aura, gave him, weirdly enough, some rest of mind. The tiredness of the day downed on him, and his stomach growled loudly, he should have probably eaten something, he thought to himself. He felt weird, the thought of being in Slytherin continuously disturbed him, but it wasn't its values, it was the people who were associated with it that made him worry. And, as he learned tonight, the worry was justified. Though, not all seemed that bad, some, like Scorpius, Violet and even Brennan the prefect appeared to be quite nice.

But the rest took over his mind, with all their snarky remarks and appalling behavior. Albus wondered if his parents will try to change his house and how the rest of Slytherin will response. He pondered whether his agreement to get in will deny him future movement. He hit his pillow irritably, he should not have given up to pressure, he should have needed to refuse to get in, show that he prefers to stay in the outside cold rather than accept their offer.

All this turmoil tired him, and he was surprised when sleepiness crawled on him, it never came to him that easily. As he closed his eyes, the look on the face of his brother came to him. At some place he felt satisfied, he showed him. James would have hated this place, unlike Albus, he didn't like neither the water or the dark, and now he will have to be stuck with Tom. He remembered the chubby kid holding to dear life the boat's sidewalls, who would have probably lost his mind if he saw that place. And, with this nice thought, he finely fell asleep, feeling like a baby inside of a warm womb.