Chapter Nine – The Newest Gryffindor

Darren just stood still, surrounded by Gryffindors that were very obvious in their dislike of him joining them. Dean, Seamus and Ron looked particularly upset, but Neville and Harry did not seem too angry, at least on the outside. Ron, Dean and Seamus just turned away and sat down in front of the fire leaving Harry and Neville alone with Darren. The rest of the students started to break away as well and to return to what they were doing before Darren had arrived. Harry made a half-hearted attempt at a handshake and Neville almost looked like he was ready to run at full speed out off the common room and never come back. When Harry and Neville had left him alone, he saw that he had nowhere to go, nor did he know where his new dormitory was located. He could see two sets of staircases on the other side of the room, but he did not know where they went, or which one to use to get to the dormitory, even if he knew which dormitory he would be staying in.

He also saw that there was nowhere available to him to sit down so he just sat on the floor. He pulled his legs up close to himself and rested his arms on his knees. It was not the most comfortable position, but at least the was not standing and he thought that maybe he might look a bit more inconspicuous at least.

He sat there for what seemed hours, but was only thirty minutes by his watch. The portrait hole opened and he saw two house elves carrying his trunk while another carried his school books, new sets of robes, and other belongings. Professor Dumbledore was behind them and he was looking around for someone. His gaze fell upon Darren and he smiled and reached down to help him up to his feet.

"What are you doing on the floor Darren?" he asked politely, yet loudly enough to be heard by the entire common room.

"There was nowhere to sit Professor", Darren replied.

"Hmm, then we must then go upstairs to your new dormitory. Follow me Darren."

Darren followed him to the left side staircase and up to the dormitories. Finally they reached their destination and the elves put down Darren's belongings. Dumbledore stood in the middle if the room and said "Engorgio" as he pointed his wand at the walls. The room swelled and there was now room for a new four poster bed that Dumbledore started to levitate up from the ground through the window he had just opened. The headboard came first and then the rest and the elves quickly began to put it together and put on a set of sheets that Darren wondered where they had come from. His trunk was placed at the foot of the bed and the elves smiled and bowed as they left.

Darren looked at Dumbledore with an obvious look of inquisitiveness that Dumbledore did not mistake.

"You are wondering why I levitated a bed instead of just conjuring one, correct Darren?"

"Yes sir, I was."

"Well, you see, a conjured object is not permanent, while this bed is made by hand and will not disappear in the middle of the night. After all, we would not want you to fall on your backside and injure yourself, would we?"

Darren just cracked a weak smile and said, "No, sir, I guess not."

"Well then Darren, how about you get changed into these Gryffindor robes and we will go down to dinner. I hear there is an excellent Shepard's Pie that will be served tonight."

Darren just smiled slightly again as he took off his Slytherin robes for the last time and put on his first set of Gryffindor ones. They felt the same, but different, because the weight of being a Slytherin was finally off his shoulders and replaced with a new one; the weight of having left his house and joined another, the enemy's house to be precise. He had not thought about it before, but how would Blaise react to this? The only thing he could think was that he hoped that Blaise would still be his friend, because he had none in Gryffindor, that was for sure. And what would Cho think of him. She knew he hated the fact that he had to share dormitories with Malfoy and his cronies, but did she know about this yet? 'Probably not,' he thought to himself. 'Not yet, but it won't take long for the news to spread.'

"Darren, are you ready?" he heard Dumbledore ask.

Dumbledore's question brought him out of his dream like state and he just nodded his head in reply. Together they went down the stairs to the now empty common room and out into the corridor. In the hallway Dumbledore addressed him again.

"Darren, I hope you realize that this change will not be easy on anyone. You especially, but it will also be difficult for your former Slytherins and your new housemates. Please try to remember that when you talk to them they are not being hateful, just unsure of the situation and I am confident that they all will come around sooner rather than later."

Darren just walked and listened, not sure if Dumbledore knew how badly he was going to be treated by the Slytherins, especially Malfoy. If he had endured innumerable injustices and mistreatment and the hands of the Malfoys, it was nothing to what he would have to put up with now.

"Yes sir, I understand that. I will try to keep what you just said in mind."

They just continued to walk together and had descended to the first floor when Darren stopped and said, "I just want to thank you sir."

Dumbledore eyed him over his spectacles and said, "Thank me for what Darren?"

"Well, for putting me where I need to be sir."

Dumbledore just smiled at his statement. "Darren, neither I nor the Sorting Hat put you where you need to be, you put yourself there. The Sorting Hat just saw it in you and made the decision for you. That is all. After all, no student would ever be sorted if they had to make the choice for themselves, now would they?"

Darren was a bit confused, but he said, "No sir, I guess not."

"Well hen, since we have that cleared up, I think we should go in and have a bit of that Shepard's Pie, don't you Darren?"

That brought a smile to Darren's face. "Yes sir, I think I would like something to eat. It has been a long day so far, and I think it will only be getting longer tonight."

"Very well Darren, then let's go, shall we?"

Darren followed Dumbledore into the Great Hall and started towards the Slytherin able out of habit but was stopped short by the looks from the Slytherins and the fact that he had remembered that he had on Gryffindor robes now. He turned back to go to the other side of the room and he could feel the stares of the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs coming down on him. A murmur had broken out in the Hall, and he could hear snippets of the conversations.

"...heard he switched houses today..."

"...overheard Snape threatening to...."

"...how did Clarkson pull this off?"

He looked up at the Ravenclaw table and saw Cho smiling at him with a look of encouragement on her face. It emboldened him a bit as he approached the Gryffindor table for the first time in his life and took the only seat available to him. It was at the very front of the table, right next to the staff table and he had to walk the entire length of the Hall the get there. He could feel everyone's eyes on him as he walked and he fought the urge to run to his seat. When he sat down he was amongst a group of first years and they slid down to get as far away as possible from him on the bench.

Darren then heard Dumbledore call for quiet. "May I have all of the student's attention please?" he said. "I have an announcement that I would like to make to the entire school."

Darren could not help but think, 'Please, no. Just let me eat in peace.'

"We have a new member of Gryffindor today. He is Darren Clarkson, who is formerly a member of Slytherin house." Dumbledore started to applaud Darren, and some of the staff did as well, but Darren could see out of the corner of his eye that McGonagall was only barely putting her hands together and that Snape still had him locked in the same murderous stare from earlier in the day. The students were almost silent with their lack of applause, but Darren heard boos and hissing coming from the Slytherin table and took heart in the fact that a small bit of clapping came from the Ravenclaw table. He did not turn to see who it was, but he hoped it was Cho.

"I hope that Darren's new and former housemates will treat him with the same respect he is sure to treat you with. I would expect him to be accepted in Gryffindor as if he has always been there and that he will be respected by the Slytherins as well. Thank you, now everyone please enjoy tonight's dinner." Dumbledore clapped his hands and the platters and bowls at the table magically filled with their dinner for the night.

Darren only looked up to see what he was putting on his plate. He did not really taste the food; rather he just chewed by instinct and was unable to finish even one helping of Shepard's Pie before he started to feel sick to his stomach. He sat silently for a while after he had finished because he did not want to get up and be the first one to leave the Great Hall. If he was, he would be the focus of everyone's attention again, and that was something he wanted to avoid right now. The Gryffindors at the table began to trickle out after about an hour; an hour that Darren spent completely alone and in absolute quiet. Not one student had addressed him or even acknowledged that he was even there at the end of the table. He could not really blame them. How would the Slytherins have reacted if another student from one of the other houses had been re-sorted and allowed to join them? 'Not well," he admitted to himself.

He turned slightly and tried to look for Cho, but the Ravenclaw table was almost empty now and she was nowhere to be seen. Ten more minutes passed and most of the student body had left and Darren waited for another twenty so that he was the only one left. He got up to leave when he heard a voice say "May I have a word with you Darren?"

He looked up to see Professor Lupin standing next to him. Lupin was the only other person in the hall and Darren just responded with a feeble "If you want, sure."

"As you may know, I am aware of what happened with you today. Quite remarkable that Professor Snape did not try to get you expelled."

Darren just smiled weakly and let out a small laugh. "Actually, he did, sir. He told Professor Dumbledore that he would not welcome me back into Slytherin and he hinted that he would make sure the other students would not accept me either."

Lupin pulled his lips tight into a grimace. Darren knew full well that Lupin and Snape did not get along at all. After all, Snape had been the one to tell the Slytherins that Professor Lupin was a werewolf at the end of Darren's third year. Darren had never seen the real problem with Lupin teaching, but the potential reactions were enough to make Lupin resign before the end of the term. Darren had started hating Snape then.

"Well, I am sure you can see his point Darren, can't you?"

"His point? What point? The point that he is a bully and enjoys tormenting students that he considers inferior?"

"Darren that is not the way to talk about one of your teachers."

Darren stopped himself before he said something that he would really regret. He wanted to tell Lupin that Snape was a complete bastard and that he was the most horrid teacher at Hogwarts, but he did not. He kept it to himself, not wanting to receive any further chastisement from Professor Lupin, no matter how gentle it may be.

"I take it from your lack of an answer that you do not agree with me?" Lupin asked.

Darren just stayed silent, not wanting to be drawn into a long and drawn out argument about Professor Snape. Then he thought 'Why not say what I think?'

"No, I don't agree with you sir. Have you ever seen the way Professor Snape treats the other students? Have you ever seen the way he bullies Neville Longbottom and how he tries to torment Harry Potter? I bet you haven't, have you? I loathe him with every bit of my soul, and I hope some day he gets exactly what he deserves."

"And what would that be Darren?" Lupin asked.

Darren snorted. "To get treated like he treats everybody else. Some day he will pick on the wrong person and that will be the end of his pathetic act."

"Now, Darren, I am sure you feel that way now, but..."

But Darren was not in the mood to be discussing Snape like he was a decent person. He cut Professor Lupin off in mid-sentence. "It's not just me that feels this way either. The whole school hates him and I think you would be surprised how many of the Slytherins can't stand him either."

Professor Lupin did not say anything for a moment. He just sat on the edge of the table and looked at the floor. Occasionally he nodded to himself and then said, "I think it is best if you go back to your new common room now Darren. I think you need to take time to think about how much anger you are carrying around inside of you and how best to get rid of it. I will see you in class tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay Professor, see you then." Darren stood to leave and looked at Professor Lupin who had a look of concern on his face.

"Good night Darren."

"Good night sir," Daren replied as he turned and left the Great Hall, leaving only Professor Lupin to be alone with his thoughts.

"Pixie Dust," he said to the Fat Lady as he stood in the seventh floor corridor outside the Gryffindor common room. It had taken him almost thirty minutes to reach the right portrait. The first time he had come to this dormitory, he had been led here by Professor McGonagall, but now that he had no one to follow, it was a lot harder to find the way. The Fat Lady looked at him suspiciously, "What?" Darren said to her, but let him enter. The common room was bustling with activity which stopped as soon as the students realized he had come in. Darren stood in the entrance way for a minute before deciding it would be better to just go up to bed and try to get some assigned reading done. He headed up the stairs and had to push his way past two seventh years that would not move for him. Apparently Dumbledore's speech had nit sunk in on everyone yet. He apologized to them for some reason, and then had to walk up and down the steps until he found the correct dormitory. The only reason he knew it was the correct one was because there was six beds in it.

He lay down on the covers of his new bed and stared at the ceiling for a while. His thoughts were on his family and what they would think of today's events. He figured his father would understand, while his mother would be worried about his safety, as she had always done ever since he had left for Hogwarts six years ago. His thoughts were about to turn into dreams when a noise shook him from being half asleep. He looked up and saw Neville trying to be quiet as he was rummaging through his trunk, apparently looking for his school books. Neville looked up suddenly and saw Darren watching him.

"Sorry," he squeaked.

Darren sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Don't worry about it Neville, it is no problem."

Neville looked terrified to be addressed by Darren in such a way and started to dig faster in his trunk for whatever it was he was looking for.

"What are you looking for Neville?"

Neville did not answer him. Instead he looked at Darren and turned a deep shade of red and began to look for the thing he needed again.

"Neville, what are you looking for?" Darren asked again.

"I need a quill. I lost the one I had earlier today, but I can't find one now," Neville squealed.

"Hold on a second, I have a bunch of them that my grandfather gave to me in my trunk. You can borrow one of them if you want."

"Umm, yeah, sure. Thanks Darren," Neville told him.

Daren knelt down in front of his trunk and noticed that the lock had been forced, but was set to look like it was still closed. The fact that the day's activities were still on his mind made him not really think about the fact that it could mean that his trunk had been tampered with. When he raised the lid, the contents of the trunk exploded out and started to attack him. His shirts wrapped around his neck and attempted to strangle the breath from him. He felt something hard whacking him on the head and he was able to see a towel that was flying around him and that it had a lump in it. His comb was hitting him in the face. He tried to remain standing but his legs were being bound by the pants that had formerly been in his trunk and he heard Neville whimpering in the corner.

Darren was fighting to remain conscious, but he was losing the battle. He could feel the shirts puling tighter and he was unable to get his fingers under the fabric to try and pull it away from his throat. He could not reach his wand because a pair of pants had wrapped its legs around his chest and had pinned his arms to his sides. He thought he was going to die, choked to death by his own belongings when he heard "Finite Incantatem!" from the corner. The clothes fell limp and the towel with the lump fell to the floor with a thud. His comb fell on his chest and rose and fell with his breathing. He lay there for a minute while he tried to catch his breath and then he heard footsteps rushing up the stairs. He could hear students rushing into the dormitory and then yells from downstairs. A loud murmur broke out among the other Gryffindors, and Darren was able to catch parts of it.

"What happened in here?"

"...a great big green snake is flying around the common room."

"Did Neville do this?"

"...must have been somebody that hates Darren, I bet it was..."

But Darren stopped listening after this. He knew instinctively that it was definitely not a Gryffindor, especially Neville that had done this to him. No, he knew exactly who had done at, and he thought to himself that he should not have been surprised at it. In fact, he chastised himself for not expecting it.

Darren pulled himself up and looked at the students that had gathered in the dormitory. He could hear a loud bang and then a hiss down stairs. It had to be coming from the common room, and Darren pushed through the throng of students that had crowded into the room. He hurried down the steps and when he entered the common room, there was a giant green and silver serpent flying around the room, banging and hissing and slamming into the walls. It was spelling out epithets as it whirled. One said Gryffindor Stinks and another said Mudblood Lovers. In addition to the phrases, it left green and silver marks everywhere it smacked into the walls or portraits. The room was covered in Slytherin colors and Darren just stood and watched it happen, unable to think of anything that he could do to stop it.

Suddenly the entrance swung open and Professor McGonagall crawled through with a look of absolute fury on her face. She took one look at what was happening and then at the snake and then took a cold, scathing look at Darren. She pulled her wand from her robes and pointed it at the snake that was now flying at the heads of the Gryffindors and sticking its great tongue out at them as if to poke someone with it.

"EVANESCO!" Darren heard her cry. The snake stopped in mid-air and then just disappeared. The students all stood back up and a loud talking started. It did not take much to determine that they all thought that Darren had done this to them. Professor McGonagall then called for quiet and then turned to Darren, as he had expected her to do.

"So, Mr. Clarkson, I don't suppose you would like to explain what has happened here, would you?" Her gaze was withering and Darren saw that her lips were so tight that they were white and she was looking down her noise at him.

"I don't know what happened ma'am. I opened my trunk and everything flew out of it and attacked me. The snake must have been in there and flew out then too."

Professor McGonagall leaned back as if to say she did not believe him at all.

Darren started to try to tell her what happened again, that the contents of is trunk did indeed attack him. That the snake came from his trunk as well. That he did not do this. Didn't she see? Why would he do this anyway, especially on his first night in Gryffindor?

"Mr. Clarkson that is the most ridiculous story I have heard in quite some time. I do not appreciate you attempting to make a fool of me, especially in the common room of my own house."

Darren was exasperated. "I'm not trying to make a fool out of you Professor; that is the truth."

It was obvious though that she did not believe him. "Darren Clarkson, I am prepared to take fifty points from Gryffindor right now. Not only for what has happened tonight, but also for you lying to me about what really happened here. Do you understand me young man?"

"Yes Professor, I understand, but I didn't do it, I swear."

The other Gryffindors were on the side of McGonagall, as Darren could hear angry voices all around him. It was making him very angry to feel that they all believed that he had done this to his new house. How much sense would it make to get re-sorted ad then pull a Slytherin prank? None at all; didn't they see that? Were they all that dumb?

"Mr. Clarkson, I do not want to hear another untruth coming from you. I want to know exactly what you have done, why you did it, who put you up to this, and why. Do you understand me?"

"Professor, I..."

"NO MORE LIES MR. CLARKSON, IS THAT CLEAR!" she screamed at him.

Darren was about to explode at her, but he heard a small voice say "He didn't do it." Darren looked in the direction the voice came from and saw that it was Neville that had spoken up in his defense.

"What did you say Mr. Longbottom?" Professor McGonagall asked him.

"I said he didn't do it Professor."

"And just how would you know whether he did or didn't?"

Neville looked quite terrified, but he managed to find the courage to answer he sharp question. "I was upstairs in the dormitory when he opened his trunk and the stuff in it attacked him and then that snake thing went rushing down the stairs and into the common room."

"And why pray tell were you in the dormitory with Mr. Clarkson then?"

"I went up to look for a quill, but I couldn't find one and Darren was going to loan me one, but when he opened his trunk, everything went crazy."

Professor McGonagall looked at Neville as if she didn't believe one word he said, and was only pulled away from him by a noise at the entrance hole. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were crawling through the entrance, and it was well past curfew. When they saw McGonagall and all the other Gryffindors in the common room, it was obvious by the looks o their faces that they knew that they had wandered into a bad situation.

Professor McGonagall rounded on them immediately. "And just where have you three been now?"

They tried to answer, but she cut them off quickly. "Nevermind. I probably don't want to know. Ten points from Gryffindor, each, for being out later than you are allowed. I want everyone to use the Cleansing Charm to clean this mess up, and then I want everyone to go back to bed, or your schoolwork, whichever it was when this incident happened. And if I hear another peep out of anyone," she looked straight at Darren as she said this, "I will make sure you spend the rest of the month in detention, and there will be no Hogsmeade visits for the rest of the year. Good night."

And with that she headed out the portrait hole and not one person said anything until they could no longer hear her footsteps in the hallway. Once they all were sure she was gone, the students erupted in a flurry of questions and accusations. Darren just sat down in front of the fire and tried to ignore the things he was hearing around him. Neville was being bombarded with questions and he was trying is best to answer them but he just ran up the steps to the dormitory after a few minutes. The students then were looking at Darren, but he had the feeling that the look on his face told them to leave him alone. After a few minutes, all the students except for four Gryffindor fifth years had left the common room. Seamus Finnegan was in a far corner and he was telling Harry, Ron and Hermione what had happened. Ron was letting out a few vehement exclamations, and Darren could see him looking at him out of the corner of his eye. Hermione kept telling Ron to be quiet, but Harry was just listening quietly. Suddenly Darren heard Ron tell them he was off to bed, and then he swept past Darren so close that their legs banged together. Darren had every reason to believe that Ron had done it on purpose. Hermione just told Seamus and Harry good night and headed up the stairs to her own dormitory. Seamus left soon after, leaving Harry and Darren alone in the now quiet common room.

Darren heard Harry take a deep breath and then he saw him walk over to him. Harry was right in front of him, but Darren ignored him for a minute, hoping he would just leave him alone for now. Harry did not leave him alone; in fact he pulled a chair up and sat down in front of him.

"Darren, can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked.

"Why, so you can accuse me of setting of that thing in here too?"

"No, Seamus told us what Neville said, and I want you to know that I believe him. We all saw how you stood up for Neville today, and I want to tell you that I think it was a good thing that you did. That is all."

Darren leaned back on the couch, letting his head fall over the back. He looked up at the ceiling before he spoke again.

"I didn't do it to be accepted or for any other reason but to set the record straight. I am not a fan of Snape and if I had any idea of what it would lead to, I probably would have kept my big mouth shut."

"Well, you didn't, and there is nothing you can do about it now, so we will just have to live with it now, won't we?"

Harry stood up to leave and asked Daren if he was going to go upstairs to the dormitory.

"No, I think I will just stay down here tonight Harry, thanks."

"Well then, good night then Darren."

"Good night Harry," he replied.

And with that Darren stretched out on the couch and tried to go to sleep. The last thought he had before falling asleep at three in the morning was how ironic it was that even though he was no longer in Slytherin, he was still sleeping on a couch because of Draco Malfoy.