If Things Were Different: The Sorcerer's Stone
Chapter Seven: Welcome to Slytherin
Summary:What if Harry left the Dursley's behind? What if he grew up far from Privet Drive?What if he wasn't a Gryffindor? What if he had different friends? What if he wasn't the golden boy that they wanted him to be? AU first year. NOT slash. R/R
A/NSo here's the next chapter, I wrote it a little bit rushed so sorry if it dissapoints you. R/R! Thanks to:
SlytherinDamian - Wow. I'm still surprised that people like this fic so much... glad you aren't one of those Ron lovers... cause there is still a lot of anit-Ron to go in this fic. I understand the your apprehensiveness what with the 7 yr old thing, but hey, at least you kept reading and ended up liking it. Thanks for the html advise. I was attempting to do it with wordpad instead of notepad, I should have know better. Thanks.
knot2be - Happy you find it intresting, hope you continue to like it. And its bound to have some similarites to some other fics out there, afterall, great minds work alike (well, I try to have great mind.).
PheonixManl - Yeah, I hate goody two shooes too. Which is one reason why I'm making Harry out as I am. hope you continue to enjoy the story.
Byproduct of Evil - Thanks for continuing to review, I need them for inspiration. And Slytherin is the only house my-Harry could ever be in. He'll get even more Slytherinish as this fic goes on..for better or worse.
Mystical Witch - Yeah, it is gonna get good. mwahahaha. And for the Hermione issue... time will tell.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of this, except a bit of the plot and/or new characters. Also, I may use some descriptions/quotes from the book. Don't sue.
*****
Silence. Thats what greeted Harry as he removed the hat from his head. Could the great Harry Potter really be a Slytherin? Weren't all Slytherin's evil?
Harry set the hat slowly back down on the stool and began walking over towards the Slytherin table. That's when the whispers broke back out. All across the hall students where leaning over and muttering in their friends ears, giving Harry dirty looks and undiscreatley pointing long, accusing fingers at him.
As Harry continued his walk towards the Slytherin table a tall, pale-faced Slytherin with a Prefect badge posted on his billowing robes stood up and began clapping. Soon the rest of Slytherins had joined in, standing up and clapping Harry on his back as he made his way towards Malfoy. The first-year boy whom Harry recognized as Nott went as far as to stand up on the table doing some sort of crazy tap dance sreaming "We got Potter! We got Potter!"
As Harry took his seat next to Malfoy he was relieved to see that the Ravenclaw table gave him a polite applause. He also noticed that the Weasley Twins seemed to be taking his sorting lightly, as they were standing atop the Gryffindor table doing a slighlty more elaborated tap dance singing "They got Potter! They got Potter!" Which caused them to recieve many death glares from their fellow housemates.
Soon Dumbledore was forced to call for the students attention so that the sorting could continue. There were only a few people left and Dean Thomas and Ron Weasley (glaring at Harry) soon became the last Gryffindors and Lisa Turpin became a Ravenclaw.
"Zabinin, Blaise!" Was the last student to be called up to be sorted and most of the hall had stopped paying attention to the sorting by now. Most of the Slytherins had begun to form little groups around the table, all leaning in a muttering silently to eachother and occasionally sending dark glances at members of other houses.
"What's the deal with all the little...goups?" Harry questioned Draco, motioning to the different groups of Slytherins at the table as Blaise walked nonchalantley up to the stool.
"Slytherins have always formed their seperate little groups. It's in our blood, you know, to watch eachother's backs. Dosen't always work that way though, obviously."
"Oh, I see. Hope Blasie is in Slytherin." Harry said, motioning to the sorting hat where Blaise had been sitting for several minutes.
"He will be, there's no way he won't be in -"
"SLYTHERIN!"
"Told you." Draco mumbled as he motioned Blaise over to a seat across from Harry.
Blaise made his way to the seat and sat down. "Had to blackmail the bloody hat. Wanted to but me with the Ravenclaws."
"Anyone that blackmails the sorting hat deserves to be in Slytherin." The a girl said from a seat next to Blaise. Harry recognized her as Sally-Anne. "Names Sally-Anne, but to call me that is a deathwish. Call me Audrey."
Harry raised a questioning eyebrow. "How do you get Audrey out of Sally-Anne."
Audrey turned to Harry, "It's my middle name, if you must know."
"Don't have to be all bitchy."
"Shh, Dumbledore's standing up." Draco said, motioning to the head table where Dumbledore was standing, beaming down at all the students with his arms opened wide.
"Welcome. Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin out banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddmint! Tweak!...Thank you."
"As I said, brilliant but mad." Blaise said, shaking his head.
"Ahh, food." Draco said. Harry looked down and, to his utter amazement, the golden plates that had seconds before been very empty were now overflowing with all the foods that he could ever imagine. He looked up and was surprised when his new friends didn't seem the least impressed with the sudden appearence of the food.
It wasn't only the way in which the food arrived that had surpised Harry, it was also the shear amount of food. Having raised himself for the last several years, Harry had never once gone hungry, but he had never had enough that he could eat more than he needed.
"Hey Potter, close your mouth, your starting to look like a Weasley." Audrey said, and then pointed at Ron over at the Gryffindor table, who seemed to be having some sort of inner conflict. Draco looked up and shouted out in glee when he saw Ron's face:
"Hey Weasley! Bet your golbet's worth more than what your family makes a year!" Ron glanced up and shot a furious glare at Draco and turned beat red back to his housemates.
"Damn, he's too easy to piss of." Blaise mumbled and turned back to his plate and placed two large pork chops on it.
"Yeah, but it's funny as hell." Draco replied.
Harry tossed a juicy steak onto his plate and started to cut it up. "Mmm..Can't stand people like him who jump to conclusions."
"Hey, who's that." Blaise said, looking down the table where a horrible looking ghost sat, staring straight at Harry with with blank eyes to match his gaunt face and blood covered eyes.
"Don't know, but he seems to have an intrest in me." Harry said and looked away, hiding his slight fear of the ghost with an emotionless expression plasterd on his face as he stuffed his mouth with mashed potatoes.
"The Bloody Baron. He's the Slytherin gost." Draco seemed to know a lot about Hogwarts, Harry figured his dad must have told him.
"How'd he get all...bloody." Audrey asked with a digusted look on her face. Draco shrugged. A few moments later he looked up at Harry.
"You know, I'm surprised you got such a warm welcome in Slytherin. What with it being the house You-Know-Who was in and everything.
"Yeah, we might all have to be watching your back this year. Probably a lot dumbasses in this house still support him." Blaise voiced in his silent, cold voice.
"Yeah, we can be the PPA. Potter Protection Agency." Audrey joked.
"I'm serious." Blaise responded.
"And somber. You need to lighten up." Audrey piped.
"Go screw yourself. It's not like I asked for your opinion."
"Shut up. Both of you." Harry mutterd darkly. What if there really were some people in his house that might be out for him, for doing something he couldn't even remember? Guess I'll just have to watch my back then, won't I? He thought to himself.
"What's on you mind." Draco had been watching Harry again and had noticed his sudden change in demeanor.
"Nothing. Just tired, what with the time difference and everything."
"Guess your in luck then, Dumbledore is standing back up." The hall fell silent once again.
"Ahem -- just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have few start-of-term notices to give you
"First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to rememeber that as well." Dumbledore glanced at the twins.
"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors." A seventh year a few seats down snorted at this.
"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone intrested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch.
"And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor is out of bounds to everyone who does not wsih to die a very painful death."
Harry frowned, Dumbledore was serious. "That's strange."
"Yeah, we'll have to check it out." Audrey whisperd. Draco, Harry, and Blaise spun around and looked at her as if she had lost her mind. "What?" She asked, innocently.
Next Dumbledore announced that they would sing the school song. He flicked his wand and words poured out of it. Harry rolled his eyes but sung the song nevertheless. When the song was over the Slytherin first years got in a group (Draco crammed himself between Harry and Blaise to avoid a girl named Pansy) and followed a yellow-toothed Slytherin Prefect down through many seemingly random corridors down into what could only be the dungeons.
Harry figured that the prefect tried to get them confuesed because it was nearly a half hour of climbing through portraits and doors hidden behind suits of armour later that they came to a patch of bare damp stone wall.
"Basilisk" The prefect said to the blank wall.
"That's the password, I'd remember it if I were you. But don't worry, it's liable to change without you knowing." The prefect let out a sadistic laugh as the wall opened up.
The first years walked into what Harry thought must be the Slytherin common room. It was a long, low undergound room with rough stone walls and a ceiling which had long greenish lamps hanging from it, dangaling from large chains. A fire was crackaling under an elaborate mantalipiece and Harry thought he spotted a large bloodstain on one of the walls.
"Boys dorms to right, girls to left." The prefect informed them and then headed over to one of the plumb green armchairs next to the fire.
"Well isn't this place cheery?" Audrey piped in a sarcastic voice.
"Might as well get used to it." Harry said and headed down a steep staricase to the right. The first year dorm was the last one, at the very bottom of the long staricase. It was a dark, damp and chilly circular room with seven beds situated around it and a doorway leading off to a bathroom.
Harry found his trunk placed next to the bed farthest from the dorms entrance and closest to the bathroom. He stripped down to his boxers and climbed under the green and silver blankets, relieved that his bed was both soft and warm, unlike the rest of the Slytherin quarters. A couple minutes later he heard Draco, Blaise, Moon, and Nott enter the room and get into bed. He rolled over and placed his head into the plush green pillow and was soon fast asleep.
A/NHope you enjoyed this poor excuse of a chapter. If you did (or didn't) let me know by R/Ring. So until next time...