Disclaimer: Of course, I do not own Harry Potter.
Settling Into A New Routine.
'I would like to congratulate all of our new First- years once again.' The blonde Prefect sat straight-backed on the bench seat at the table, managing to look both regal and menacing at the same time. He had long platinum blond hair that fell to his shoulders and icy blue eyes. 'I am Lucius Malfoy, your Sixth-year Prefect and this is my betrothed Andromeda Black, your Seventh-year Prefect.' Lucius gestured towards the girl sitting next to him on his left-hand side.
Andromeda Black was tall and slim with long, thick, light brown hair that cascaded down her back as she looked over at the Gryffindor table. When she turned back to the Slytherin table she had a thoughtful look on her face as she gazed at Severus and the rest of the First-years with a kind look in her grey eyes that crinkled in the corners when she smiled.
'Another exemplary Slytherin is Miss Narcissa Black a fourth-year.' Lucius gestured to the girl next to Andromeda, she was blonde, tall and slim with grey eyes that Severus was starting to associate with the Black family. 'She is on her way to being one of Hogwarts' brightest students.' such high praise from Lucius caused Narcissa to send him a look of adoration.
A loud whoop was heard throughout the Great Hall emanating from the Gryffindor table.
'Poor Aunt Walburga and Uncle Orion,' Narcissa sighed in a soft melodic voice. 'They are going to be devastated that their heir has not ended up in Slytherin.'
'Aunt Walburga and Uncle Orion would have been much more embarrassed if cousin Siri had set the hat on fire, as he had threatened to do if he did get sorted into Slytherin.' Andromeda quipped
'I'm only commenting, Meda!' Narcissa hissed softly
'And I am merely stating my opinion, Cissy!' Andromeda hissed back quietly, but not quietly enough as several people from the Ravenclaw table next to them were turning around to look.
'Enough! Slytherins do not argue in public.' Lucius ordered sharply. 'While it is a pity that Slytherin did not get your oldest cousin, perhaps it is a blessing in disguise, given the way Sirius Black acts at social functions.'
Andromeda turned to glare at Lucius who stared back at her with a look of disdain on his face. Severus wondered why Lucius and Andromeda were betrothed to be married if they hated each other. Lucius would be far better off with someone who fancied him like Narcissa, who was still gazing at Lucius like a love-sick puppy.
When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plates leaving them sparkling clean. A moment later the desserts appeared. Blocks of ice cream in every flavour you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate eclairs and jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, Jell-O, rice pudding...
As Severus helped himself to a chocolate eclair, the talk turned to their families.
'I know that Garreth Avery, Alecto and Amycus Carrow, Alexander Greengrass, Peony Parkinson, and Augustus Yaxley, are all part of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. What I would like to know is how the rest of you belong in the Nobel house of Slytherin.' Lucius' blue eyes turned hard and unforgiving, warning them that there would be dire consequences if they didn't have an appropriate family. Lucius turned his eyes to the first girl.
'Nicolette Elder' the first girl blushed, 'my family have been the makers of Elderberry and Elderflower wine for the last four generations.'
Lucius' eyebrows raised in a rare show of emotion 'I do believe I have seen bottles of your family's Elderberry in our wine cellar.'
'I am Jasmine Hunter and my grandfather is Gunnar Grimmsonm, one of the great Gellert Grindelwald's followers.' Hunter boasted raising her chin in a haughty look as Lucius turned to her
'My name is Naomi Knox and my mother is Sarina Selwyn,' the third girl mentioned. 'one of the families listed in The Pure-Blood Directory as part of the Sacred Twenty-Eight.'
'Aloysius Mulciber' the boy sitting next to Avery spoke, 'My father was part of the Knights of Walpurgis led by Lord Voldemort himself and a member of Professor Slughorn's Slug Club.'
'My name is Edith Thyme,' spoke the fourth girl as she introduced herself. 'My cousin Lucretia Fawley is the new Fifth-year Prefect for Hufflepuff?'
Lucius looked at him one eyebrow raised expectantly. Severus swallowed the lump in his throat
'I am Severus Snape and my mother is Eileen Prince. The Prince family goes back to a magical child of the Roman Emperor Hadrian who built Hadrian's Wall, a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Britannia. With construction starting in AD 122, the entire length of the wall was built with an alternating series of forts, each housing 600 men, and manned milecastles, operated by between 12 and 20 men
Running from Wallsend on the River Tyne in the east to Bowness-on-Solway in the west, the wall covered the whole width of the island. In addition to the wall's defensive military role, the wall also kept people within the Roman province. Since the Romans had control over who was allowed in and out of the empire, the wall was invaluable in controlling trading and the economy.
The magical child of Emperor Hadrian was stricken from muggle records had his name changed to Severus Princeps and was hidden away to keep him safe from Emperor Hadrian's enemies.
'Impressive' Lucius said acknowledging his heritage, and then turned to the boy on Severus' right
'Cuthbert Wilkes' the boy spoke with a heavy lisp 'my mother is Laurentia Fletwock a distinguished breeder and racer of winged horses. She mostly works with Abraxans but has had experience with Aethonans, Granians and even Thestrals.'
'She is quite well known.' Lucius acknowledged before turning to the last girl who was on Severus' left.
'Amara Zabini' The last girl spoke in an Italian accent. 'My father King Umberto Nicola Tommaso Giovanni Maria di Savoia was the last King of Italy. When not attending this cold and draughty castle, I spent as much time as often on our private beach in Cascais on the Portuguese Riviera.
When Italy was declared a republic my Father decided to change our family name before marrying my mother so that I could attend Hogwarts with a little anonymity.' Considering the Italian beauty was boasting about being an actual Italian Princess, it was safe to say she certainly didn't share her father's view about anonymity.
'Impressive lineage. I'm sure you and your fellow First-years will make exceptional additions to Slytherin.' Lucius praised
Severus, who was starting to feel warm and sleepy, looked around the Great Hall, he quickly found Petunia at the Ravenclaw table chattering to the new Ravenclaw First-years. Looking over at the Gryffindor table it took Severus a little longer to find Lily. Finally locating her Severus felt dismayed at the fact that she was sitting close to Potter and Black who were now throwing food at each other like toddlers.
It must have been time to finish dinner and head to their dormitories because the desserts disappeared and Severus saw out of the corner of his eye that Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again … The hall fell silent.
'Just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First-years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all students as is the village of Hogsmeade to all students below Third-year.
We also have a brand new tree that has been planted on our very grounds. The Whomping Willow is a very valuable, very violent species of magical plant, it is being re-planted here to preserve one of Nature's Natural beauties. I urge you all to please not get too close to it as a Whomping Willow will attack anyone and anything that comes within range of its branches.'
Severus glanced at the Headmaster wondering if he had seriously planted a dangerous tree on school grounds.
'Now onto something more cheerful. As you know, last year our dear caretaker Apollyon Pringle left our lovely castle. Please welcome our delightful new caretaker Mr Argus Filch and his lovely cat Mrs Norris.' The Headmaster gestured to a thin grey-haired, hunchbacked scowling man holding a scrawny-looking cat. The cat had bulging yellow lamp-like eyes, a skeletal body and dust-coloured fur.
'I would also like to remind you all that no magic is to be used in the corridors between classes and Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing should contact Madam Hooch, our Flying Instructor. And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!' cried Dumbledore.
Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick as if he was trying to get a fly off the end, and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself, snakelike, into words.
'I would like everyone to pick their favourite tune,' asked Dumbledore, 'and off we go!' And the school bellowed:
'Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,
Teach us something please,
Whether we be old and bald
Or young with scabby knees,
Our heads could do with filling
With some interesting stuff,
For now, they're bare and full of air,
Dead flies and bits of fluff,
So teach us things worth knowing,
Bring back what we've forgot, just do your best, we'll do the rest,
And learn until our brains all rot.'
Everybody finished the song at different times. At last, only one or two were left singing along to a very slow funeral march. Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand, and when they had finished, he clapped the loudest.
'Ah, music,' Dumbledore joyfully exclaimed while wiping his eyes. 'A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!'
Severus followed Lucius, Andromeda, Narcissa and the other Slytherin prefects out of the Great Hall, the rest of the house falling in behind them, walking deeper and deeper under the school, into the dungeons of the castle, down a long and dimly lit labyrinth of corridors
One of the prefects pointed out the Potions classroom and Professor Slughorn's quarters as they walked past them, and various empty rooms along the way, finally coming to a stop in front of a stretch of a bare, stone wall. A fifteen-year-old wearing a prefect badge turned to address the First-years.
'My name is Antonin Dolohov, I am one of your Fifth-year Prefects, and this is the entrance to our Common-Room. The password is 'Cunning', do not forget it or you will end up being stuck outside the common room.' When the password was uttered a stone door concealed in the wall slid open.
The Common room was a long room with stone walls, a large fireplace dominated one wall. Above the fireplace hung a portrait of an ancient and monkey-like bald man, he had a small thin triangular white beard. A locket of heavy gold lay on his chest, it had a serpentine emerald S glittering on the front. The name Salazar Slytherin was engraved on the nameplate at the bottom of the portrait.
Large, low-backed black and dark green button-tufted, leather armchairs and ottomans decorated the Common-room, their seats looking plush and inviting, there were several study tables situated along a window that took up one wall of the room, the Common room looked as though it was located under the lake, and Severus could see shadowy aquatic life swimming past. The other three walls were decorated with tapestries featuring the adventures of famous Medieval Slytherins and round candle chandeliers were hanging from the ceiling, it had quite a grand atmosphere.
'Now the boys' dormitories are through the door to the left, and the girls' are through the door to the right. On the doorway to the girl's dormitories, there is a nasty little hex, placed so that no boy can go into any of the girls' rooms.' Antonin Dolohov continued.
Dolohov said nothing about a similar hex on the doorway to the boy's dorm so Severus made a mental note to keep his trunk locked at all times. Severus walked through the left door and into the first room along the corridor, a silver sign on the dark wooden door read First-years.
There were seven, very plush four-poster beds in the square stone room, each had green and silver covers and curtains. Their trunks had already been brought in and were arranged in front of the bed they were assigned to.
Locating the bed he was allocated Severus unlocked his trunk and pulled out his pyjamas, not wanting to get changed in front of the other boys who were happily throwing their uniforms onto the floor, Severus climbed into his bed and closed the curtains. Despite hearing sniggers and comments about being a "shy little Half-blood Prince"
Smirking to himself at their unintentional discovery of his nickname, Severus changed into his pyjamas, left his uniform neatly folded at the end of the bed and crawled underneath the covers, he fell asleep almost at once.
The next morning before breakfast all the prefects had the students organised by year level, sitting facing the common room entrance waiting for their Head of House. The wall to the common room slid open and a great velvet-covered belly preceded a very fat, balding man, walking into the common room. The glimmering light sparked on his shiny head, and the highly polished buttons on the jade velvet jacket he was wearing.
'Hello, Hello my new little snakelets. I'm Professor Slughorn.' Professor Slughorn boomed in a loud voice, opening his arms to them all. 'Welcome to Slytherin! Now before we head to breakfast let's get our new First-years settled in with their Second-year buddies.
'First-years just to let you know I tend to match boys with boys and girls with girls and go in alphabetical order. But if you end up not liking your buddy or have some other problem with them you can come to me if you would like to petition for another person, or if you would like to be paired up with family.'
'Our first little snake is Mr Garreth Avery and his second-year buddy will be Mr Abacus Bulstrode, Miss Alecto Carrow will be partnered with Miss Heather Burnley, Mr Amycus Carrow with Mr Victor Crabbe, Miss Nicolette Elder with Miss Megaera Carrow, Mr Alexander Greengrass with Mr George Goyle, Miss Jasmine Hunter with Miss Chelsey Grant, Mr Aloysius Mulciber with Mr Thaddeus Nott, Miss Naomi Knox with Miss Persephone Huntington,
'- Mr Severus Snape with Mr Urkel Ogden. Looking over at the weedy, red-headed boy that he was partnered with, Severus hoped that the boy wouldn't be too put out when Severus ended up spending all of his time with Petunia and Lily.
'- Miss Peony Parkinson with Miss Tasha Kirke, Mr Cuthbert Wilkes with Mr Powel Parkinson, Miss Edith Thyme with Miss Dolores Umbridge, Mr Augustus Yaxley with Mr Michael Warrington - and last but not least we have Miss Amara Zabini partnered with Miss Elizabeth Vine. Now!' Slughorn clapped his hands together. 'I do believe it is time for breakfast!'
Severus shook his head in bewilderment as he and his fellow First-years followed Professor Slughorn out into the Slytherin Labrinth.
For someone who was the head of Slytherin, Professor Slughorn didn't seem to possess any ambition, resourcefulness or determination, perhaps he had cleverness considering he was a Potions Master at Hogwarts.
The four long house tables were laden with tureens of porridge, plates of kippers, mountains of toast, and dishes of eggs and bacon, beneath the enchanted ceiling (today, a dull, cloudy grey)
Severus had only just started his bacon and eggs on toast when, sure enough, there was a rushing sound overhead and a hundred or so owls streamed in, circling the hall and landing in front of their owners in the chattering crowd. Severus who wasn't expecting mail jumped in shock as E.B.O landed in front of him and dropped a note next to his plate:
Sev,
Despite Lily's nagging this morning, I have forbidden Lily from writing home on your behalf. Mother and Father have already said you can use E.B.O to send letters, so they along with Rose and Tansy will be expecting a letter from you about what house you have been sorted into and anything else you want to write to them.
Your friend, Petunia.
ps. Lily and I agree that the best time to help you two with your homework would be after dinner in the library, if you would like to have help with your homework, please let us know.
Digging into his bookbag Severus took out his quill and ink and wrote Yes please, see you later on the back of the note. Taking out a clean piece of parchment Severus wrote in his nicest handwriting:
Dear Mr & Mrs Evans, Rose and Tansy,
I am pleased to say, I have been sorted into the House of Slytherin, we haven't had any classes yet, but I am looking forward to Potions and Defence against the Dark Arts. I'm still waiting on my timetable for the rest of my classes but with Petunia's gift for Transfiguration, I should hopefully not fail that class.
I'll write to you again in a week when I have been to all my classes.
All my best Severus
While waiting for the letters to dry Severus finished off his breakfast and then fed E.B.O an owl treat. Noticing the ink was finally dry, he made a mental note to learn the hot air charm as soon as possible so he wouldn't have to wait in the future and sent the owl off with his two correspondence.
Suddenly a roar of sound filled the huge hall, shaking the dust from the ceiling;
'SIRIUS ORION BLACK! - YOU WAIT TILL I GET HOLD OF YOU, I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU STOPPED TO THINK WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I WENT THROUGH WHEN WE HEARD –'
Mrs Black's yell, amplified by the Howler, made the plates and spoons rattle on the table and echoed deafeningly off the stone walls. People throughout the hall were swivelling around to see who had received the Howler, and Black sank so low in his chair that only the top of his hair was visible from the Slytherin table.
'WE GOT A LETTER FROM YOUR COUSINS LAST NIGHT, I THOUGHT YOUR FATHER WOULD DIE OF SHAME! GETTING SORTED INTO GRYFFINDOR! WE ARE ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED — YOUR FATHER'S REFUSING TO EAT AND IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT! IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT BACK HOME!'
A ringing silence fell. The red envelope, which had been screaming in Black's face burst into flames and curled into ashes. He sat there looking stunned as A few people laughed and, gradually, a babble of talk broke out again. Finally, when breakfast was finishing up Professor Slughorn handed over Severus' timetable.