Chapter Three: Of Princesses and Knights

A hush came over the hall.  Ron turned to Harry at the Gryffindor table and whispered, "She's a descendant of Salazar Slytherin?  But she wasn't all that nasty!  No wonder why she went to Durmstrang."

Natalia could hear the people behind her whispering.  As she had done all her life, she ignored them.  Changing her last name to her mother's name would not help in England.  Here, she would always be a Slytherin.  With poise, she ascended the stairs and sat down on the stool.

"You'll have to take off your hood my dear, I'm afraid the Sorting Hat will not be able to sort you properly through your enchanted cloak."

Natalia sighed softly.  She knew this was going to happen; she just hoped it would not cause too much of a commotion.  Slowly, she lifted the hood off her head.  The entire room fell into a silence.  Her black hair cascaded onto her shoulders in soft silken waves, causing a strange soft glow to appear around her.  The lucid green of her eyes made a bright contrast against her pale porcelain-like skin.  Dark lashes rimmed those same eyes like butterfly's wings.  The crimson flush from the cushion of her lips and the black arches of her eyebrows were the only two other things the made a great contrast to her translucent complexion.  Looking upon her face was like looking into the sun itself: so bright that it is almost painful but all the same, strikingly and indescribably beautiful. 

She sat down quietly on the stool and took the Sorting Hat from the stunned Professor McGonagall.  Upon putting on the Sorting Hat, it chuckled softly to itself.

"So, you thought you could run away from destiny didn't you?  Well, I must say, you have caused quite a shock amongst the students.  Though I wouldn't blame you, it's not every day that they see a descendant of Salazar that is also part veela."

Natalia inhaled sharply at this.

"Oh, don't be so surprised," it whispered in her ear, "I know much more about you than you think.  But don't worry, no one will suspect you are a veela – after all, you do have dark hair.  But getting back to the sorting…now I know you want to be in Gryffindor, and Merlin knows you have the heart for it, but it might be a bit…shall we say risky?  Yes, risky for you to be in that house.  Therefore, for your own safety, I shall put you in…SLYTHERIN!"

The Slytherin table erupted in cheers and applause.  Hermione frowned and turned to Harry.  "That's really too bad.  I had thought that she would get sorted into Gryffindor."

Natalia made her way over to the Slytherin table, looking discreetly for an empty seat.  A blond boy with a severe and sly face called out to her, "My lady, may I be of service to you?  You can sit here beside me.  I'm sure Pansy will move over for the heir of Slytherin."

He turned toward the girl named Pansy and gave her a look of death.  Pansy haughtily glared back at him and moved to the end of the table.  Natalia seated herself and turned to thank the blond.  "Thank you for obtaining a seat for me, but I assure you, it really was not necessary."

The boy looked at her for a moment and said, "You're right, you deserve my seat at the head of the table, since you are truly of Slytherin blood."

He got up and offered his seat in a graceful sweeping gesture.  Natalia fought a blush that was creeping up her face.  "I assure you, it is not necessary.  I am quite comfortable where I am – "

"But you are the heir of Slytherin.  It would be wholly disrespectful of me to–"

"It is even more disrespectful of you to ignore the wishes of Miss Slytherin and not give her the courtesy of finishing a single sentence, Mr. Malfoy."

They both turned around to see that one of the professors had come to inspect the dilemma.  Natalia looked up and saw a person that very much mirrored herself.  They both had intensely black hair that was a shock against their pale features.  The only difference between them was she had the strange glow of a veela about her and he did not; she was beautiful like the moon and he looked like a vampire during a full moon.  Quite the unconventional knight in shining armor aiding a maiden in distress, she thought to herself.

"I suggest you oblige to Miss Slytherin's wishes before you make a bigger fool of yourself on your climb up the social ladder Malfoy."  The professor turned curtly on his heel and left toward the staff table in a flurry of black robes.  The Malfoy boy looked quite flustered.  He sat down again, scarlet with embarrassment and anger.  Natalia lowered her eyes.  What a lovely way to start the year.

Natalia left the Great Hall after eating barely a bite and having a brief stressed conversation with Draco Malfoy.  She had heard of their family from her mother before and now she understood why she had called them cowards.  They were so eager to stay on the list of exclusive wizarding families that they did not see how transparent their motives appeared.  Natalia nearly collided into Professor McGonagall while she was walking out, lost in her own thoughts. 

"Miss Slytherin, good thing I found you.  Professor Dumbledore would like to see you in his office.  I shall show you the way to his studies." 

Getting in trouble with the headmaster on the first day, Natalia thought, Mother is going to be livid

            Natalia followed Professor McGonagall to the second floor of Hogwarts.  They walked toward the end of the hall, stopping in front of a gargoyle statue.  "Lemon Drop", the Professor said clearly to the statue. 

The gargoyle slowly rolled into the wall with a groan, showing a spiral of wooden stairs. 

"Please situate yourself on the stairs.  Professor Dumbledore will be waiting for you in his office."

Natalia gingerly stepped onto the staircase, not trusting it to keep her on.  A slow rumble resonated from the ground as the staircase slowly rose toward the tower above.  Natalia arrived in a large, ornate circular chamber full of wondrous magical gadgets and trinkets.  The walls were covered with the portraits of past Headmistresses and Headmasters, most of them snoring softly in slumber or staring off into oblivion.  Professor Dumbledore sat at a gargantuan desk with clawed feet for legs.  He appeared to be filling in a crossenchantments puzzle in the Daily Prophet as Natalia waited patiently by the entrance for him to notice her.

            "Ah, Natalia, please sit."

She moved toward one of the hefty velvet cushioned chairs, sat, and folded her hands neatly on her lap.  Dumbledore took out a piece of chocolate from a jar that appeared to be made completely of smoke. 

"Chocolate?"

In a polite voice, the girl replied, "No thank you, Professor."

The Headmaster frowned slightly but wore an amused look on his face.  "You are the first person to ever refuse chocolate from me."

Natalia lowered her eyes.  "I apologize if it is rude Professor, but I have a dire weakness for sweets and I do not wish to indulge my weakness in your presence."

He smiled at this.  "My dear child, it isn't a weakness unless we do not realize it and refuse to contend with it."

Natalia smiled as the Headmaster placed the chocolate on the desk in front of her.  Somehow, Professor Dumbledore reminded her of her father. 

"I wanted to discuss your courses with you.  In your application for the fifth year courses, you wrote that you wanted to take all advanced classes.  Are you sure you will be able to handle this?"

Natalia looked sincerely at the old wizard.  "I do not mean to sound arrogant sir, but I have been taking advanced courses since my first year at Durmstrang.  I am quite certain that I will be able to handle the amount of work."

Professor Dumbledore smiled warmly, saying, "I am sure you will be able to handle it, but I must inform you that the advanced courses at Hogwarts are quite different than those at Durmstrang, particularly Advanced Potions.  Our Potions Master is the best and well, the most…demanding in the wizarding world right now.  But I am sure you will manage just fine.  Headmaster Karkaroff informs me that you are quite brilliant in Potions."

Natalia blushed slightly at this remark.  She heard someone enter the office behind her. 

"Speaking of Potions, Natalia, I want you to meet your Potions Master and Head of the Slytherin House, Professor Snape."

            She turned around to find her unconventional knight facing her.  Her developing blush increased to a bright crimson.  How embarrassing that the head of her House had to be the one who saw her weak in front of a Malfoy.  She gave a polite smile and brisk nod of acknowledgement to Professor Snape.  Instead of returning the gesture, he sauntered behind Dumbledore's desk and leant against the bookshelf on which the Sorting Hat lay. 

"We were just discussing her exceptional aptitude for Potions, Severus.  It seems that Natalia is quite capable in the subject, according to Karkaroff."

Snape masked his eyes with a look of indifference.

"We shall see about that.", he replied curtly, "What Potions class will you be taking, Miss Slytherin?"

            Natalia raised her eyes to the daunting Potions Master.  She felt like she had broken into a vault at Gringotts and was being forced into confession.

            "I will be taking Advanced Potions, Professor."

Snape raised an eyebrow skeptically.

            "Advanced Potions?  Really…and I thought after all those years at Durmstrang, you would be taking a sixth year Defense Against the Dark Arts class instead."

Natalia sat quietly, not knowing how to respond to him.

            "Natalia will be taking all advanced courses, Severus.  She is quiet an impressive student.", Dumbledore said to her aid.  "Now if you will, please show Natalia to her dormitories.  If my senses are correct, your luggage should be waiting for you in the hallway as you leave due to special…circumstances, Natalia.  Here are your courses for the year."

            Natalia accepted the list from Dumbledore with both hands.  Taking a quick glance at it, she saw that she had an incredibly challenging arrangement of courses:

            Advanced Transfiguration

            Sixth Year Defense Against the Dark Arts

            Advanced Potions

            Advanced History of Magic

            Advanced Charms

            Sixth Year Astronomy

            Advanced Herbology

Sixth Year Arithmancy

Sixth Year Ancient Runes

Natalia sighed at the bulk of the schedule.  At least the amount of work would allow her to fill the void of socializing with what little friends she had – or those that she could not be friends with.

Snape and Natalia descended the spiral staircase and found her luggage waiting in front of the gargoyle. 

"Wingardium Leviosa." Snape said briskly as the luggage rose and followed him down the hall.  Snape lead her down the stairs to the Ground Floor.  Suddenly, Natalia felt the ground shift under her. 

"What is happening to the staircase?" she asked in panic.

Snape gave her an impatient look.  "The stairs tend to have a habit of moving.  If you wish to stay on the stairwell, I suggest you hold onto the banister."

The staircase finally came to a rest, allowing them to descend onto the Ground Floor.  Snape quickly walked to the right, leading her down another flight of stairs to the dungeons.  They fell into an awkward silence as they descended into darkness.  Natalia still felt humiliated at the fact that she had acted cowardly in front of her Professor.  After a moment, she broke the silence.

"Professor, I must apologize for my actions during supper.  I did not mean to cause a disruption."

A smirk appeared on the professor's masked face.  "I would not call that a disruption, Miss Slytherin.  A disruption is the sort of thing a Gryffindor", he said the word as if he were spitting up bile, "would attempt to do."

"But I still insist on my apology.  Next time I will know better than to coward in front of a Malfoy."

Snape stopped abruptly and slowly turned around.  He looked her in the eye and said very directly to her,

"And I suppose you do not think that even they are worthy of your presence, Lady Slytherin?"

Natalia's brow furrowed at this remark.  "I do not approve of partaking in the Malfoys' indiscreet political motives.  I find their actions of obvious flattery rather insipid and distasteful."

Snape stared intently at her and answered after a beat, "I see that I am no longer the only one that thinks so."

They continued down the dungeons to the Slytherin Common Room, no longer in need of conversation.  Coming upon the Potions Classroom, Snape suddenly stopped.

"Wait here, I have to acquire a sleeping draught from my office."