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"…" Speech
Bold parseltongue
'italics' thoughts
Chapter 5:
There was stunned silence in the hall. As Harry collected his money from a dazed Pansy, he sneaked a glance at the Weasleys sitting at the Gryffindor table. They were all staring, frozen, at the front of the hall. 'Well, at least their not yelling or throwing things', thought Harry, trying to find something positive about the situation. The Slytherins began muttering to themselves and Harry caught the words, "Impossible…" "All Weasleys in Gryffindor…" "Slytherin" from his housemates along the table.
After a small nudge from Professor McGonnagal, Ginny unsteadily stood up and shakily removed the hat from her head. With hesitation, she slowly began walking towards her house table, her limbs moving woodenly and a shell-shocked look on her face. Harry raised his hands and began clapping, a few of his housemates half-heartedly joining in when he glared at them. Harry pulled another chair towards him and beckoned the red-haired girl over. She slipped into the seat with a grateful glance, took one look at her brothers' faces, and burst into tears, incoherently mumbling into Harry's shoulder. Harry was never any good at comforting people, and was starting to panic at being in such close proximity to a sobbing girl. He turned to his friends for help, but Draco, sneering in disgust, pointedly turned his back and started talking to Pansy Parkinson. Blaise was also not much help. Harry looked at her with his most pleading expression on his face, but she was staring at Ginny perplexedly and didn't notice. Knowing that the other Slytherins were a lost cause, as they were all either ignoring or glaring at her in suspicion, Harry realized that he would have to deal with the situation himself and, sighing, cautiously patted the crying girl on the back. Five minutes later, his arm exhausted and sore, she was still bawling her eyes out and the Slytherins were beginning to look at her askance or with manipulative gleams in their eyes.
"Ginny," hissed Harry in her ear. "You have to pull yourself together. Showing weakness is not an option." Unfortunately, all he got in reply was an increase in sobs and Harry frowned in concern. If Ginny didn't pull herself together and start to assert herself, the other slyths would ruthlessly exploit her, thinking her to be weak and an easy target. Harry did hold some sway in Slytherin, because of Quidditch and being close friends with the Malfoy heir, but Draco was making it quite clear that he would not back Harry up in this. Harry himself might be able to keep the first, second and third-years from being outrightly cruel to the youngest Weasley for a couple of weeks, allowing her time to settle down. He could also probably get the other members of the Quidditch team, and maybe a couple of fourth-years, to leave Ginny alone, but it would be hard work, and Harry would most definitely not be endearing himself to anyone. A lot of the Slytherins had been victims to Fred and George's pranks, and were probably already plotting how to manipulate Ginny against her brothers. The other Weasley boys were also not well liked in Slytherin House. Percy's pompous behaviour grated on every student's nerves, and Ronald Weasley's prejudice and hatred against anything Slytherin was well known. Even the more tolerant Slyths hated the Weasleys. No, Ginny really needed to pull herself together if she wanted to survive.
"Come on, Gin, stop crying," Harry whispered desperately, trying to remember the incantation for a silencing charm to stifle her loud sobs. However, this time Ginny appeared to listen to him, and he was rewarded with her tear stained face turning towards him, but, before Harry could say anything else, a loud voice rang through the hall.
"Dear students, I am delighted to welcome you to another school year…" It was Dumbledore giving his annual speech, which Harry promptly tuned out. Giving Ginny some time to attempt to control herself, he turned and examined the new Slytherin first years, who were all listening to the headmaster's speech with quickly degenerating looks of interest.
There were only five new students this year, an unusually small amount. There were two boys, and two other girls besides Ginny, namely Aunja Baddock and Helen Vandall. This worried Harry slightly. Aunja Baddock came from a mostly Ravenclaw family, so she probably wasn't that prejudiced against Gryffindor families such as the Weasleys, but she would maybe be strongly influenced by Helen Vandall. The Vandalls were one of the most Slytherin and snobbish families in the whole of Britain. They rivalled even the Malfoys in their belief in their own superiority. The Weasleys were viewed by such families as utter disgraces, and if Helen Vandall decided to take the same view on Ginny, she would no doubt make the red-head's life hell. So far the Slytherins were ignoring Ginny, but that probably wouldn't last for long.
With a sigh, Harry saw that Ginny was still leaking tears, allowing a small puddle to form on the table. Making another attempt at cheering her up, he said, "Slytherin house isn't that bad you know. The preconceived notion that we're all dark wizards is wrong, no matter what the Gryffindors proclaim. You'll enjoy it here in the end." His words did not have the desired affect.
"They hate me!" she wailed, bursting into fresh tears.
"Who? Other Slytherins or your family?" asked Harry, slightly confused.
Way to be tactful, Harry, hissed Nemesis from under his cloak, where she was hiding.
Shut up! She'll hear you! hissed Harry angrily out of the corner of his mouth.
Luckily, Ginny was in no state to hear the strange hissing coming from Harry's robes, and merely answered, "Both!"
"Well, your family may be a tad annoyed at first," admitted Harry, adding mentally 'that's the understatement of a century,' seeing the glares directed at them from the Gryffindor table. "But I'm sure they'll come around, they are, after all, your family. And as for the other Slytherins; as long as you stop crying, you'll be okay. Come on, why don't you eat something."
Dumbledore had finally finished his boring speech, and food had materialized on the plates in front of them. Wiping away her tears, Ginny started helping herself to some shepherd's pie, visibly cheering up at the sight of food.
The Slytherin table was silent for the most part, some people eating quietly, while others talked in hushed voices to their neighbours. The atmosphere was oddly tense, with the older Slytherins muttering amongst themselves with curiously dark looks on their faces. Normally the Slytherins waited until they had at least reached their common rooms before beginning to scheme amongst themselves, and Harry made a mental note to send Isis to spy in the seventh year dorm. Keeping tabs on everything was imperative to have any sort of social standing in Slytherin house.
The first years were completely silent, until Ian Bulstrode broke it by saying, "So, what's with the insane headmaster and his incredibly tedious speech?"
"Well, everybody, even his loyal Gryffindor followers, agrees that he's insane, and after tonight I definitely see their point," said Aunja Baddock with a slight sneer. "One more minute of him droning on about forbidden forests and I would be forced to do something drastic."
"You think he gives speeches often?" asked Fion O'Keith, looking suitably apprehensive.
"Oh, don't worry, apparently it's only a start-of-term thing," assured Ginny, suddenly speaking up. Harry looked at her, pleasantly surprised, while the other first years stared at her with speculative looks on their faces.
"Well, that's good to hear," replied Helen Vandall, finally. Then, leaning across the table towards Ginny, she held out her hand and stated "Helen Vandall, of the ancient and noble house of Vandall."
"Virginia Weasley," replied Ginny, firmly shaking the proffered hand. Immediately, the other first years began introducing themselves to each other, while Harry looked on in shock and not a little relief. Ginny's classmates seemed to be acknowledging her existence, and not in a negative way, which was definitely more than Harry had expected. But then, mused Harry, they haven't had to put up with the Weasleys here in school. It was a stroke of good fortune that the first-years had decided to recognize her as a Slytherin, it meant that, even though it was doubtful they would be very friendly, they were at least not openly hostile. As long as Ginny didn't make a drastic mistake and insult someone like Helen Vandall, she would be okay. Now all he had to do was get the older years to back off for a couple of weeks, and give Ginny a few pointers for surviving in Slytherin house. The Sorting Hat may have thought that she was Slytherin material, but she had, after all, been brought up as an innocent little Gryffindor. Her emotions were too easily read- her every expression betraying her thoughts, and she was full of skewed beliefs, although this was through no fault of her own. She needed to learn that dark did not necessarily mean evil, and she needed to become less sensitive to insults and scorn directed her way. Slytherin house was the complete opposite to Gryffindor, and the only way she could learn all this and survive was if she had help.
"So, Harry, what do you say?"
"Huh? What?" Harry was broken from his reverie by Blaise's voice blaring in his ear.
"We were wondering if you agreed with the plan?" elaborated Pansy in her usual high-pitched tone.
"What plan?" asked Harry, feeling rather foolish.
"Really Harry, stop mooning over the Weaselette and pay attention," drawled Draco leaning back in his chair.
Seeing Harry was irritated by this comment and was about to snap back, Theo interrupted and explained.
"We were discussing Gilderoy Lockhart, the smarmy imbecile. I overheard some Ravenclaws talking, and, according to them, the entirety of Lockhart's books do not make any sense whatsoever. They are unclear, contradict one another, and mostly focus on Gilderoy Lockhart's heroic nature, rather than on any helpful information on defence."
"Well, that sure as hell doesn't surprise me," drawled Harry.
"Mmm, but the point is that they give us ample ammunition for annoying the man. If we analyze the books, and then point out all the wrong and missing information, he can't take away points since we are not being outwardly impolite. By reading the books we can see on what points he is unsure, and then ask strategically planned questions so as to unbalance him. Hopefully this way we will be able to partially deflate his overlarge ego."
"Yeah," continued Louisa eagerly. "And we figured that two of us could outwardly show our disgust, maybe Draco and Vincent could do that, while the rest of us pretend to be incredibly impressed by him. Pansy could act like a brainless fan-girl, which would make Lockhart be filled with his own importance. He probably won't be able to resist bragging about himself, which will hopefully give us lots of extra information. Also, if he feels threatened by Draco and Vince, he'll probably turn to the rest of us, thinking we admire him. This will make him more open to attack, as he won't be so defensive to the rest of us. What do you think?"
"Well," said Harry to his surrounding classmates, after thinking it over, "The idea has merit, but I think it requires too much effort. I for one do not want to read a single one of those books, and I'm sure Draco will agree with me." Here Draco nodded fervently, looking horrified at the thought of extra reading. "I think that we should first go to a couple of classes and try to evaluate the situation more closely. If Lockhart is truly as conceited as he seems to be at present, then I vote we go ahead with the plan. But it might be that he'll just waffle on harmlessly and generally leave us alone, letting us ignore him completely."
"Well, I think you're making a mistake regarding Lockhart's character, Harry," said Theo. "But I suppose that it could be a waste of time and effort to read through all his worthless texts, so yes, I agree to proceed more slowly."
The other Slyths nodded and murmured their assent, and the subject was allowed to drop.
Slowly the plates in front of them were emptied of food and the chatter in the great hall took on a distinctly sleepy note. Once everyone was finished with their meal, Dumbledore again stood up, a big smile on his face and his customary twinkle in his eyes.
"Well, now that we have eaten our fill, I believe it is time for all of you to retire to you dormitories, pointedly not listen to your professors, and instead stay up talking for at least half the night. So, run along."
Immediately prefects started calling first-years towards them, and Harry saw the Weasley prefect bustle around with a look of great self-importance. Slowly the hall emptied, the pupils splitting up and heading to their respective common rooms. As the Slytherins headed down towards the dungeons, a passing 6th year prefect named Andrew Bode called out to Harry and his friends,
"There's a meeting in the common room in half an hour. Unpack, then come straight down. Don't be late."
"Sure," replied Harry, nodding in acknowledgement, not at all surprised yet slightly excited. Every year the Slytherins held a meeting to discuss strategies on how to win the house cup, and occasionally problems that affected the entire house. The first years were always excluded from these debates, however, so this was the first time Harry would take part. Reaching the common room entrance, Gregory Goyle intoned
"It's only illegal if someone finds out," in his usual dull, monotonous voice and a hidden panel in the wall slid open.
Walking through the common room, the boys headed down one passageway, the girls down another. The dormitories were always kept separate, although Harry had heard a rumour that there was a secret passageway between the two areas. When Draco heard this, he had insisted on them searching for it, but so far it remained elusive.
Entering their dorm, Harry went straight to the bed furthest away from the door, and began unpacking his thinks. Finishing, Harry uncurled Isis from around his arm, and placed her on the bed, where she immediately fell asleep. Muttering about lazy snakes whose only talents were sleeping, Harry followed Draco to the common room where they were soon joined by the rest of Slytherin house. When everyone was settled, Melanie Rookwood, a seventh year prefect, stood up.
"Okay, listen up everyone. The sixth and seventh years have formulated a plan to win the house cup, so first we'll explain it to you and then everyone else can add their bit. Alright, Fion, you're up."
"We have decided to first split everyone up into their year groups," started Fion Morag. "The seventh years will mainly just earn points from teachers for right answers in class, etc. Apart from that we'll just act normally. The sixth years, since they don't have any important exams or anything, can try and discover plans and secrets from other houses that are against the rules. They can then manipulate it so as teachers find out and take away points. Preferably go for McGonagall, as she takes away the most points. It shouldn't be too hard, as they're not that good at discretion.
"Now, fifth years," here Morag began to smirk maliciously, "You have the honour of working on Gilderoy Lockhart. Make him like you. Flatter him as much as possible, stare at him dreamily, say things like 'oh professor you're so brave,' and generally give him all of your attention."
"What!"
"No way!"
"Are you freakin' crazy!"
The fifth years were yelling in outrage, while the rest of the house smirked in satisfaction, incredibly glad that they did not have to take part in such humiliation.
"Why us?" shouted Bole, a fifth-year beater on the quidditch team. "We have our OWLs this year. Relegate it to the fourth-years instead." This caused the fourth years immediately lost their smirks and began to look extremely worried. Luckily for them, however, Morag remained adamant.
"Look, the man is completely dim; he'll never notice that you're faking it no matter how insincere you sound. It'll be incredibly easy to prize points out of him, therefore it won't take up much time at all. So you really don't have any cause to complain."
"So what, you want us all to bat our eyelashes and simper at that ego-centric creep?" asked Ingrid Cartwright, a stunningly beautiful girl, who was currently glaring daggers at the seventh year prefect.
"Yep, sounds about right," said Morag happily.
"Well, what about the guys, we can't flirt with him," pointed out another fifth-year.
"Well," mused Morag, "We can't rule out the possibility that he might be gay." Seeing the utterly horrified looks directed his way, he relented. "Okay, fine, anyone of the same sex just has to admire him, and say that Lockhart's their role model, etc. Right! Now that that's settled, fourth years: You have to run errands for the teachers. Offer to work in the Greenhouses for points, that sort of thing. Got that?" There were mumbles of complaint, but Morag carried on regardless. "Third years, I want you to do the whole 'Slytherins are so misunderstood' thing. Be all hurt and innocent when you're insulted by Gryffindors, act all happy when the teachers acknowledge you, and stay out of trouble. Oh, and you'll probably have to do that next year as well."
"So you're telling us we can't insult Gryffindors for two whole years!" said Michael Wane in disbelief.
"No, I'm saying you can't insult Gryffindors in front of teachers for two whole years. They're the ones that give points. Oh, and try and target sympathetic teachers like Sprout or Flitwick. And don't try it on Sinistra, I found out this summer that she used to be a Slytherin, so no way will she fall for it. Now, second years." Here Harry sat up started listening more attentively, having been watching the proceedings so far with amusement.
"Okay, you lot, as well as the first years, have to antagonize students from the other house, preferably Gryffindors. Normally it would just be the firsties, but you guys did such a good job last year that you may as well continue. Also, I want you to follow the teachers and work out their schedules and where they're likely to be at different times during the week. This will help us to get other houses into, and for us to stay out of, trouble. And try to work out when they're likely to be in a bad mood, like when they've had a lesson with their worst class, or when they do most of their marking. Is that alright with everyone? No questions?"
After a chorus of 'No' and shaking of heads (along with hateful glares from the fifth years) Melanie Rookwood again stood up.
"Now, prefects, listen up. We two seventh year prefects will be fair when dealing with other houses, but favour this house slightly. In the last couple of weeks of school, however, we'll start being really hard on other houses and take away lots of points. This will hopefully stop the teachers from revoking our badges, as they will only find out when it's too late. And since we're leaving after this year, they won't be able to punish us. Sixth year prefects, I want one of you to be really unfair towards other houses. Then, after the teachers start lecturing you, swap to one of the fifth year prefects. Other fifth year prefect, I want you to scout around the school and warn the rest of us when teachers or prefects are coming. Then Ann Eldar," she gestured to a pretty and rather kind looking sixth year prefect, "You can baby all the first years and look after them. Make sure teachers notice, so that they get the impression that you're helping them, therefore making them think that we Slytherin prefects aren't all unfair and vindictive. So that's the plan, what do you think?"
"I think that it's a bit too clear cut," drawled Adrian Pucey, a chaser on the quidditch team. "I think that we should mix it up a bit. Have one or two people from each year swap with another class."
"Who agrees?" said Fion Morag, glancing around the assembled students. Most of them nodded, and a deafening yell of agreement came from the fifth years. "Okay, we'll go with that, but you guys sort out who'll swap yourselves. Any other ideas?"
"I think more people should suck up to Lockhart. We could get loads of points from it," said a girl who Harry didn't recognize. This suggestion met with mixed approval (most people looked sickened, but others wanted an easy assignment), so Morag merely replied that whoever wanted to could try it, but it wasn't compulsory. After that there were no more suggestions, so Melanie said,
"Okay, the plan's finalized. If anyone thinks up another strategy, let us know. But the rules we've laid down now are not going to change. Now, onto another subject, I suggest all Slytherins keep their heads down this year. I'm certain most of you have heard the rumours, so I'm sure you'll agree that it would be best if we stay out of trouble. Make sure you don't get caught breaking school rules, and avoid staying out after curfew. None of us sure what's going to happen, but its best not to give any reason for the teachers to target us. Well, that's all, the meeting is now closed."
There was silence for a while as they mulled over what had been said to them. Some people looked totally confused, obviously not having heard anything, while others looked resigned. The silence was broken as people began bargaining with each other to swap duties with a student in another year. Harry, deciding it would be best not to enrage the Gryffindors (he didn't want to alienate Fred and George completely, as he hoped that he would be able to talk them into accepting Ginny's house placement), walked over to Warrington, a sixth year chaser.
"How about we swap? I know how dedicated you are to infuriating Gryffindors and torturing Hufflepuffs," said Harry with a slight smirk. Indeed, Warrington's dangerous and twisted sense of humour was well known, and almost always directed at those two houses.
"Indeed, that is very true," replied Warrington in his low, slightly hoarse, voice. "But no way am I running after the teachers for a whole year. So, sorry, no deal." He turned to leave, but Harry reached out to stop him.
"Okay, how about this. I still follow the teachers and spy on the other houses, and all you do is insult them."
"Huh, you seem desperate," said Warrington, slightly suspicious. "But sure, I agree." Harry held out his hand and they shook on it, the elder Slytherin smirking slightly, pleased that he had practically nothing to do. However, his smile disappeared when he heard what Harry said next.
"I have a favour to ask you."
"Uh, uh, I don't do favours," scowled Warrington, obviously displeased.
"Look, all I want you to do is leave Virginia Weasley alone. Don't target her because of her brothers."
"The first year?"
"Yeah,"
"Hmm, I guess I could do that," said Warrington thoughtfully. "She is a Slytherin after all, and therefore must be slightly more deserving of attention than her infuriating brothers. And hey, I'll even prevent a couple of friends from harassing her."
"Cool, thanks, I'd appreciate that" said Harry sincerely, surprised that the chaser had agreed at all, let alone decided to stop others. "I owe you."
"Don't bother. Consider it part of out deal."
With that the sixth year nodded slightly and strode off to a group of students near the entrance of the common room.
'Well, he's in a good mood,' thought Harry, staring after him in surprise. 'Anyway, next stop, Flint." He was not at all looking forward to speaking with the fanatic Quidditch captain, as he would probably rant on about Quidditch tactics for at least half an hour. Looking around, Harry saw him seated in an armchair near the ornate fireplace, scribbling on a scrap of parchment. As he walked towards him, Harry's heart sank as he saw that it was covered with different Quidditch plays.
"Flint, can you please leave Virginia Weasley alone." Harry said it very fast and directly, deciding that the quicker he finished, the less likely it was that he would be cornered and lectured on Quidditch. Flint didn't even look up as he answered, "Leave the baby Weasley alone, yeah, will do," and continued working.
'Well, that was easy,' thought Harry, slightly bemused. Unfortunately, just as he was walking away, Flint yelled after him, "Quidditch practice on Saturday, four a.m, don't protest!" and Harry wandered over to the two beaters looking dejected. Derrick and Bole turned out to be slightly harder to convince, as they had already started planning on using Ginny to enrage Fred and George, who were Beaters for Gryffindor. Harry had to resort to parting with his most cherished blackmail material on Flint, namely that he slept with a toy bunny rabbit named Twinkles under his pillow. He had discovered this through Isis, and had been hoping to use it to skip a few Quidditch practices. However, Harry was slightly mollified when, in return, the two Beaters agreed to leave the Ginny alone and inform Harry if they heard of anyone plotting against her. Not being able to see Adrian Pucey or Bletchley (who were the other members of the Quidditch team) Harry decided he may as well work on the third years. After talking to Anthony Wrath, who was one of the most influential of that class, and making it perfectly clear that he would protect Ginny and would be most displeased if she was harmed in anyway, Harry happily wandered up to bed, knowing that Anthony would warn the other third years unless he wanted McGonagall to accidental find out exactly who charmed the transfiguration classroom bright green last year.
A/N Well, there you go. Not my best chapter, but more will happen in the next one. Sorry for the long wait, but I've been really busy lately. Please REVIEW!
Arianna Riddle: Glad you like it.
Hermione10148: Thanks for the review. I heard from another reviewer that it was coming out in the middle of june, after the GCSEs (exams) in England.
lOStTeArS: Thanks, glad you like it. And I might write something like that, but not right now. I have way too much work!
ryan88: tack! Jag hoppas att du tycker om detta kapitlet. Den är inte min bästa, men jag har haft så mycke att göra. Ja, jag vet att det skulle vara bra om jag tränade min svenska. Just nu försöker jag att läsa svenska böker. Finns det nåra böker som du skulle föreslå?
Hjlavery: Sorry for the wait, hope you like the new chapter. It won't happen again. Please put away the knife. : )
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Shadow of the black abyss: Thanks for the info!