Chapter 2 -
Harry's cart gave a wobble as he swerved to avoid a particularly oblivious muggle, the bloody wheel had been wonky the entire time and his dad wouldn't fix it with magic just because a few muggles were around, he managed to steady the cart before he crashed into anything or anyone. Kings Cross station was packed to bursting point with muggles, Harry had spotted a few people with trunks or owls, but on the whole muggles were everywhere.
Smells of smoke and warm foods hit him and left an unpleasant sensation, between that and the sheer noise of the place, it seemed like everyone was shouting even if they weren't with anyone, it was all Harry could do to stick close behind his dad. Whistles and the loud speaker, his mum called it, were constantly blaring making Harry feel a lot smaller than he was. The muggles rushed past him for both directions, even with his mum and dad and his sisters too, he still somehow felt very isolated here.
He noticed his dad finally turn down to a platform, relief flooded into Harry, not long to go. He had never felt this way about coming here before, although both other times he had been pretty upset that he wouldn't be seeing Jasmine for months at a time, but still it was unnerving he had never really been scared of anything before. But something about walking through hoards of muggles put a tightness in his belly, he swallowed a mouthful of saliva before stopping his cart next to where his dad had stopped.
This patch of the platform was almost suspiciously empty, had it not been clearly so full of wizards to his eyes he might have gotten a bit more nervous. Before long the two families who were preparing to use the entrance to platform nine and three quarters noticed the Potter family, without much shame they approached his dad and kept their eyes on Jasmine. She had a small frown on her face, almost hidden behind he auburn hair that was as disarrayed as harry felt, he knew this wasn't her idea of fun, but she put up with it for the most part.
It turned out the first family to reach them wasn't so much rabid well wishers of Jasmines, it was actually his dads boss. Madam Amelia Bones, was her name although dad had called her much worse after her got comfy enough, she was flanked by a young red haired girl who had a small smile on her face. "Hello James, seems like I've running into half my staff here today, its a wonder our whole ministry doesn't collapse on Hogwarts days." Madam Bones said with a small laugh, according to dad this woman made Professor McGonagall look like a timid kitten, but she seemed nice enough to Harry.
"Most of the people who would cause any trouble have kids who go to Hogwarts too." His dad replied sounding a bit cold. He had heard of his dads opinion of all the families who had claimed some kind of bewitchment during You-Know-Who's reign, none were thought well of. "Lily, you remember Madam Bones of course. Jasmine, Harry and Rosie, this is my boss. Be careful she bites." He added with a wink.
Jasmine was the first to walk forward to shake her hand as she was more used to meeting people, Harry was second and was surprised at how hard and from her hand was. His dad always talked down about 'ministry types', apparently they never got their hands dirty and left it to the aurors to clean up the mess. He gave her his best grin, it always seemed to work on his mum and his dad did the same from time to time, but Madam Bones just chuckled and moved on.
"This is my niece Susan, she's starting this year. Just like your middle one i guess." She said with a warm smile to hear niece. Harry met Susan's eyes and gave a big grin, which she matched just as quick. Feeling the pit in his tummy lighten a bit he moved forward to talk to Susan as the other family reached his parents.
"You're new too, I am as well." Harry said in a hurry. "What house do you think you'll be in?"
"Probably Hufflepuff, that's where my family has been you ages." She said with as much excitement as he himself felt. "And its right next to the kitchens." She finished with a grin. He would have to ask his dad about where the kitchens were, he knew Hogwarts better than anyone to hear him talk.
Harry gave her another smile. "I'm sure you'll be great in Hufflepuff, my dad says that Hufflepuffs have the best parties other than Gryffindors." Before Susan could reply Madam Bones was trying to lead her through the magical gateway, he gave her a wave before turning back to his family. Apparently he had missed the introductions but he didn't mind, the student with them was much too old for Harry to care about meeting them. The tall black haired boy shook Jasmine's hand and quickly stepped back, than they too were walking off to go through the gateway.
"Bloody cowards." His dad was muttering.
"Oh shush James, It's not the place for all that." His mum said with a clipped tone. "Also remember he's the head of international transportation now, you cant just go running your mouth." Harry looked to see the family walking away and noticed the sickly green of the tall boys robes, Slytherin.
They were three in all, and all three had some for of green to their clothes as if being in Slytherin was the height of their pride. The boy was tall and pale faced, he looked boring he doubted he had ever smiled. The adults however were very different, the man was taller than his son but had a sharp pointed face, a harsh dagger of a chin with a short oiled beard. Harry watched the mans eyes sweep over the small crowd of people, his eyes were dark gray beads that held a sharp intensity. He felt that his gaze lingered a little bit over his own family.
The woman however seemed to be oblivious of everything, she kept her head held high and her eyes forward as she led her son to the gateway to the Hogwarts express. Before Harry could get a look at her anymore the passed through the wall, Harry was still surprised that's the wall didnt open up to them like it did for Diagon Alley, they just melted through the wall.
"That was the Yaxley's" Jasmine told him in a whisper and a significant look, the conversation they had overheard was one of their most common talking points over the summer. "Dad says that he was a big supporter of him." Harry gulped and nodded, suddenly realizing that he would be around all sorts of new and maybe dangerous people.
His dad gave one last disgusted look at the gateway before giving his kids a weak grin, he loved his dad a lot but he really couldn't keep his emotions off his face. Without any fanfare they began to walk, well run for Harry and Jasmine, towards the barrier. Even going through it a few times now Harry still felt a tiny bit of doubt creep into him as he approached the wall that looked so solid, he guessed it would be solid too if he were a muggle, gulping slightly he ran a little faster.
Suddenly the loud noise and horrible smells were gone, there were still a lot of people here but it was a lot more private and somber than the busy muggle world. The Hogwarts express loomed like a dragon over the crowds of people, the crimson train had never looked so imposing to Harry, it stretched out well out of sight and managed to fit the hundreds of Hogwarts students.
Harry hadn't noticed he was staring like a fool until a soft hand was placed on his own. Looking up he met the amazingly green eyes of his mother, her smile was as warm as her touch, before he knew it he found himself walking along again but this time holding his mum's hand.
His dad picked out a quiet path behind most of the families so they could have some time to themselves, a few were close but they seemed to pick up on the mood or had already had the pleasure of meeting the Potters before, as they ignored them. "Well you two, this is it." He said trying to sound casual, but dad never made a good show of it.
Jasmine rushed up to give him a hug, his dad wrapped her up in his arms and spun her around. Harry meanwhile gave his mum a gentle hug, he would miss her so much, something in his hug must have betrayed some emotion, because as he pulled away she took him to the side a little way away from his other family members. Rosie was also now hugging Jasmine.
"Harry, everything's going to be all right, you know that right?" His mum said patiently
"Yeah of course mum." He said confidently.
A small laugh tickled his ear as his mum lent in to him. "You remind me so much of your father, lucky you have my eyes though, much better that way. But Harry, I'm your mother I know when something is bothering you. What is it?"
Harry gulped, he hadn't meant to worry his mum, she always worried about Jasmine when she left for Hogwarts. The least he could do for her was make sure she knew he would be fine, apparently it hadn't worked. "Well mum, I'm just worried I'm not going to be in Gryffindor. Every other house sounds horrible."
"Oh Harry, your dad and i went to Hogwarts ages ago so our stories of the houses then are very unreliable." She ruffled his hair with a grin. "I would be very surprised if you ended up in Gryffindor to be honest. You have the best traits of a few houses, and any of them would be lucky to have you."
"Every single house has its good and bad points, Harry. The important thing is that you don't forget that wherever you get placed there's a good reason for it, the sorting hat isn't going to throw you in the deep end." She gave him a kiss on the forehead. "And your house isn't that important, i had friends in all the houses when i was at Hogwarts. I loved every second of it because i made sure to not let anything stop me from loving it." She finished with a hug that made Harry's eyes sting with a tear or two.
Trying to hide what he was doing he wiped his eyes, but he felt a little better. Rosie wouldn't like to see him cry and his dad was a big baby most of the time too. They made their way back towards the rest of the family, Rosie was crying now, she usually did, it wasn't easy to say goodbye to your loved ones. He had given her many a promise to write and he intended to keep them.
"What were you two whispering about?" His dad asked curiously, probably suspecting some kind of attempt to make him look silly.
Before Harry could think of anything to say his mum spoke. "He was asking me for advice on girls, apparently you and Sirius have confused him a little bit."
The look he gave harry was ridiculous, he was actually pouting. "Harry you said you understood what we said. Its all about compliments. Anyway if you were confused why did you ask your mother? She doesn't know anything about girls."
Jasmine and his mum seemed to find that very funny as they both broke down into giggles. He gave his dad a shrug and wrapped his arms around his shoulders, he found himself muttering all kinds of soppy things. When his dad put him down he gave him a kiss on the forehead that lasted for a long time. They both didn't seem to want to pull away, it was only when a whistle went off that they did.
"Give Hogwarts hell, Harry. Remember to have fun, I know yore excited to learn some real magic, but there is so much more that Hogwarts has to offer." His dad said seriously, Harry fervently nodded and gave his dad a grin. Maybe he gave his parents too little credit, they weren't completely hopeless after all.
With many 'I love you's' Harry and Jasmine were standing behind a door to the Hogwarts express waving as the train began to move. Rosie, on their dads back, managed to run alongside the train for a little while before the platform got too crowded. Jasmine gave harry a one armed squeeze, and pushed him forwards slightly. His feet seemed to not work well with the movement of the train below him, but he found himself in an empty compartment, Jasmine followed in behind him.
"I'm going to go find my friends, Harry, you're more than welcome to join us." She said. Harry found himself nodding, he just didn't want to be alone right now. After a few minutes they found a compartment full of girls and went in. It turned out these were Jasmine's house mates and most of them were also teammates on their house quidditch team. After some introductions Harry felt a bit intimidated, they were all so much more mature than he was, and he noticed his sister seemed to be acting different too, she joked a bit less and was clearly in charge in the friend group.
Harry felt his face getting warm, his mother had made sure they all went to a nice muggle school when they were younger, to learn some really important things she claimed. So it wasn't as if Harry wasn't used to being around people, or girls for that matter most of his days were spent with his mum and his little sister. And yet, for some reason Harry's tongue felt dry and overly large in his mouth.
Katie Bell was sitting opposite him, she was pretty with dark brown hair that stopped about her shoulders and had big honey colored eyes. She was wearing some casual muggle cloths, a red sweater and some jeans, but Harry couldn't stop himself for staring at her. She had noticed him looking a few times and gave him a small smile and tried to talk to him, but Harry blushed and looked away. If his dad or uncles could see him now they would tease him for the rest of his life, the way they talked about girls it was meant to be them who were doing the blushing,
He tried to look around to distract himself, but Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet were hardly trolls. Both girls were tall and slender, and they were animatedly talking about their summers. Angelina finished a story about how a boy she met on holiday had tried to flirt with her and they erupted into giggles, when she was smiling she Harry would bet she was one of the prettiest girls in school. Alicia was already wearing her school uniform but she had left the robe off for now, he had never really seen anyone in the school uniform before, and he struggled to keep his eyes of the golden lion embroidered on Alicia's chest.
Feeling a little bit out of place and awkward he decided to go out and look for new first year students. His sister gave him a smile but didn't mind that he was leaving, the other girls said kind words about how nice it was to meet him. Much to Harry's shame he felt his face grow ever hotter, Katie gave him a smile and Harry all but darted out of the compartment. Girls weren't simple, his dad had clearly been lying.
He must have passed ten or so compartments before he finally saw someone he recognized, Susan, she was sitting by the window seat and was already changed into her plain Hogwarts robes. There were four other people in the compartment, a girl with bushy hair was in the middle of talking, so Harry waited for a minute. As conversation seemed to stop he knocked on the door and opened it up, he gave Susan a grin and poked his head in.
"Hey, i was wondering if i could sit in here with you all." He said, when no one protested he walked in and introduced himself. "Hi Susan, Hi everyone else, I'm Harry Potter nice to meet you." He felt his face getting warm, he didn't know wether to give a wave or shake someone's hand so he just stood there with a smile and looked at them.
"Potter? As in Jasmine Potter, are you related to her?" The girl with bushy hair said eagerly before Harry could even think of replying she had started talking some more. "Ive read all about her of course, its amazing how after all these years no one can say what actually happened that night." Harry just nodded, he had heard this before, not from someone his own age though, usually it was adults who asked his parents as if they were hiding details for them to discover. To most of the wizard it world it was a compelling mystery, but to the Potters it was just a reality they had to live with, and they didn't think too much about that night, his dad had lost his parents that night after all.
A blond haired girl had stood up and reached out a hand to Harry, she gave him a smile and nodded to the bushy haired girl. "She's Hermione, shes a bit excitable. And I'm Hannah Abbot, its nice to meet you Harry." She said kindly. Harry noticed Hermione had an embarrassed look on her face, wether for not introducing herself of being 'excitable' he wasn't sure.
"Hey Hannah, my dad talked about an Abbot he works with at the ministry, is there any relation?" He asked.
"Oh yeah, that would be my dad too. He's an auror so i guess your dad is too?" At Harry's nod she smiled. "Both stuck under Susan's aunts thumb." She said with a laugh, Susan joined her, Harry found himself grinning these girls were very friendly. Not to mention easier to talk to, not that they weren't pretty or anything, it just seemed the third year Gryffindor girls had something about them that they didnt.
"What's an auror?" Hermione asked, Harry guessed she was a muggle born student if she didn't know what an auror was, Harry had heard his mum tell him how tough it was when she first learned about magic, apparently if it weren't for a friend she knew before school she would have known nothing before reaching Hogwarts.
"It's magical policemen i think. That what my mum always says to her family." Harry said, he hated his mums side of the family but apparently it was worth making efforts to smooth things over. According to his dad there was not much love lost from his mum's sister, but his mum clearly still loved her though.
"Oh wow, that's really amazing, what kind of things do they do?" She asked sounding honestly intrigued. So Harry and Hannah started to explain, with the occasional correction from Susan. Apparently the Bones family had always had deep roots in the magical law enforcement side of the ministry, although as family started to get mentioned Hannah and Susan got a bit quiet. Harry had heard that lots of families had lost loved ones when You-Know-Who was around, and decided to chalk it up to that.
They searched for other topics to talk about, Hermione seemed fascinated by just about anything magical, so they found talking really easy, it was quite nice having someone think your day to day life was 'completely amazing' he mused. The other occupants of the compartment had introduced themselves as Neville Longbottom and Terry Boot, Harry had heard of the name Longbottom his dad mentioned them before.
After an hour or so a smiling old witch pushing a trolley knocked on the door, Harry hadn't realized just how hungry he had been. It seemed as though the witch had just about everything he could hope for, he was the first one to get up but was quickly followed by Hannah. After he bought himself a few chocolate frogs and a pack of Bertie Bott's every flavored beans he went to sit down, he noticed Hermione peering at the cart. "Have you ever had these kind of sweets?" He asked her.
She sat down and shook her head. "My parents are dentists so they don't like me having many sweets." At Harrys blank look she added. "Dentists take care of teeth so sugar is a big no go for them."
"Oh, wow that sounds horrible. Sugar is the best." He joked. "You should get some, its not everyday you go to Hogwarts for the first time, and we promise not to tell your parents." He added conspiratorially giving his best grin.
Hermione just stayed sitting down looking a bit sad. "I don't have any money, we didn't think I'd need any at school." She muttered. So Harry pulled her up and ignored her protests as he approached the old witch, Hermione was hanging back a bit.
"My friend hasn't tried any of this before so what would you give a muggle born student?" He asked her, they were all perfectly normal to him, but he could see a chocolate frog or cauldron cake being a bit off putting for a muggle born. "I'll pay for her if it's alright." He added not letting Hermione get out of trying some sweets.
"Come on up dear, don't be shy." The old witch said kindly, she gestured to the licorice wands. "These are a safe bet, i know muggles have licorice. Then you have sugar quills, sour drops, melting chocolate balls, cockroach cluster and maybe some blood pops."
Hermione looked almost awed until the mention of cockroach cluster, it wasn't like it was real cockroach, he hoped. After a little deliberation she settled for some sugar quills and a pack of sour drops, she thanked Harry as he gave the witch a silver sickle. Hermione had been a very good sport when one of Harry's chocolate frogs had jumped on her, after she stopped crying even she had to admit it was funny, although with her glaring at Harry maybe she thought it was his fault.
They all had great fun playing with the Bertie Botts every flavored beans, Hermione was shocked to learn they actually meant every flavor. Neville swore he got a vomit flavored one, but Harry noticed he had eaten it all the same so he wasn't sure what to make of it, Susan had the strange idea of eating three at once. She had been unwilling to spit it out, she despite her clear disgust she had managed to chew it up and swallow it, after she was done she swore she would never eat another one again, but she did when Harry offered her again. Hermione stayed away from them much to everyone's amusement, and Terry seemed to have all the luck. He had seemed to enjoy all the ones he had eaten, to the point where he seemed disappointed when a particularly sickly yellow one didn't turn out to be rotten egg. Hannah stayed away from them as if they were poisonous, despite Harry's best efforts.
Before long Hermione had warned Harry that he should get changed soon, the train journey was a long one but having been caught up in all the fun he had lost track of time, the sun would be setting before long and that meant Hogwarts was close. He hurried to get dressed out in the hall, he noticed lots of people out in the hall doing the same, all boys for some reason, he shrugged into his robe and walked back in.
Apparently they had similar thoughts to him, as when he got back to his seat they were all talking about what spells they knew or wanted to learn. Neville gave a short demonstration of a tickling jinx, he tried to hit the chair but missed and hit Hannah, as she laughed and writhed under the effect the other giggled too, until it wore off at least. Then Hannah cast a tickling spell back at Neville.
Unfortunately they were noticed. The tall boy from the entrance to the platform entered the compartment, Harry suddenly remembered the words his sister said, big supporters of him meaning You-Know-Who, he realized the laugher had died. A chill ran down his spine. "What do you think you are doing?" Came a cold snap of a voice. The boy's face was twisted with anger, he didn't walk into the compartment, but he didn't need to. He pulled out his wand and said. "Expelliarmus" and Hannah's wand was ripped from her hand, she looked as though she was going to yell at the boy.
He had caught her wand out of the air with practiced ease, but his wand was still in his other hand. Harry saw Hannah take notice of that fact too and watched as she sunk into her seat. "You are lucky i caught you, otherwise you might be sent home as soon as we got off the train." He said with a tight unpleasant smile. "It's illegal to use magic outside of school you know? Luckily I'm a prefect so that rule doesn't apply to me." He tucked Hannah's wand into his robes. "I will give this to that foul oaf Hagrid, you wont see your wand until you are supervised by a teacher." And with that he walked out.
It took a while for the braver members of the group to speak up, Hermione was outraged and Susan was muttering about the lies he said, Hannah was crying quietly. It took Susan a second to shake her anger enough to start comforting her friend, Harry just watched on. He had never quite realized that he could be so scared of anyone, he knew that some student had parents who had supported You-Know-Who, but it never sunk in that they might be dangerous.
He could do a few thing with a wand now, his mother had seen to it that he would at least be able to look after himself a bit, but he had never seen what that prefect had done to Hannah. He swallowed and realized his mouth was very dry, he noticed Neville looking like he was going to cry too, Terry just looked embarrassed. It was a very quiet last hour of the train ride, all the good mood seemed forgotten in the wake of their intruder. As the train came to a stop they grabbed their trunks and stepped out into the cold night air, hundreds of students poured out of the train like a flood.
The first years found themselves being led to a lake with a fleet of small boats, a huge man called Hagrid had escorted them, and soon Harry found himself in a boat with Susan, Hermione and Hannah. They bobbed along in the water with only the light of some small pole-lanterns, so it was a relief to reach the end of a bend that came out to a magical sight.
Hogwarts stood tall and proud at the end of the lake, it was illuminated by thousands of candle. Harry could only stare, this was what he had been waiting for for what felt like his whole life, even with his parents and sisters descriptions he hadn't imagined it would look half as beautiful.
As they climbed up the stairs to the huge entrance way Harry noticed a lot of students walking around with eyes as wide as they could get, a few people even bumped into each other as they walked. When they reached the doors Hagrid knocked loudly, the swung open immediately and the first years swarmed in. Hagrid reached out to Hannah and spoke, "This your wand girl?" He asked gently. Hannah gave a relieved nod, and he passed it back to her with a kind smile, "Dont know what happened but it wasn't right of him to take your wand. Gotta make sure you keep your wand safe." He said with a pat on her back that nearly buckled her knees.
A severe looking woman stood at a set of doors as large at the ones to the main entrance, she had grey hair bunched up in a tight bun, a small frown marked her face as she watched the first years approach. Harry knew from his dad and sisters descriptions that this was Professor McGonagall, he met her eyes as they came to a stop in front of her, he could have sworn she had smiled but he couldn't be sure when she looked over the rest of his classmates. Very severe.
"My name is Minerva McGonagall, the deputy headmistress of Hogwarts and sort you will all be sorted into your houses." Harry had begun to tune her out as he saw a gaggle of ghosts flying off through the corridor they had just walked down, they even flew through the walls, Hogwarts was amazing he concluded.
The doors opened and the students began to file into the great hall, Harry was shocked at just how massive it was, there were four long table stretching almost the whole length of the hall and a fifth table was at the end of the hall and Harry could see that it was for the teachers, as even from this distance Professor Dumbledore's long white beard was unmistakable.
The whole hall was unnaturally quiet, even filled as it was with students, they talked here or there but only in hushed whispers. He saw some students wave towards the first years, probably siblings, and began to keep his eyes out for Jasmine. the Gryffindor table was easy to find but not his sister, and before long he found himself at the back of the group of student standing in front of an old hat.
Professor McGonagall waited until everyone had stopped moving before calling out her first name to be sorted. "Hannah Abbot." Harry gave a small start and felt a huge swell of sympathy for his new friend, he gave her an encouraging pat on the arm as she walked forwards. She sat on a old looking stool and looked wide eyed at the great hall, before too long the sorting hat was placed on top of her head, it covered most of her face so all he could see was her blond hair move as she shook her head slightly.
Without much warning the hat shouted out. "Hufflepuff" Hannah gave a great sigh of relief and quicker jumped down off the stool and Professor McGonagall waver her towards the Hufflepuff table.
A few students later Harry heard another name he knew 'Susan Bones.' She bounced up to the stool with a grin, the hat hardly touched her before it shouted out "Hufflepuff" Harry started to feel a bit put out, Hufflepuff was meant to be a bit of a joke house, with most of its occupants were supposed to be a bit dumb, he obviously didn't think any of his new friends were dumb of course. But Harry didn't think he would be sorted into Hufflepuff and felt a loss, he knew it was selfish but he wanted his new friends to be in his house.
Terry Boot was sorted into Ravenclaw afterwards and Neville was sorted into Gryffindor with Hermione. The number of students were quickly dwindling down to only a few, a Draco Malfoy was sorted into Slytherin along with Theodore Nott neither boy seemed happy about it but they were far from unhappy.
"Harry Potter." Came the voice of Professor McGonagall, Harry gulped and walked slowly to the stool and hat, he met her sharp eyes and she gave him a tiny but firm nod. He took a deep breath and sat on the stool, he looked over the Gryffindor table and saw his sister sitting near the first years, she gave him a wave and so did her neighbor Hermione. He felt himself smiling and saw McGonagall walking over to him with the hat in hand.
The hat was placed slowly onto his head and her began to hear a voice in his head, or at least he hoped it was in his head. "Well well well... what do we have here, another Potter. Hmmmm, oh, oh yes." It's words said in his head. "Fascinating, how did that get there?" Harry tried to look up at the hat but the wipe brim made it impossible so he settled for just gripping the stool tightly.
The hat sounded almost play when it spoke, as though he was getting some joy out of this. "Lots to work with here then, but where should i put you? Gryffindor wouldn't do you any favors I'm afraid." Harry felt something in him quiver at that,on some level had had expected to hear something of the sort, but to actually hear it he felt like he had failed in some way. He tried to blink away the bitter disappointment.
"Rowena wouldn't have minded a student like you I feel, so much thirst for learning in you. Ah well, somethings aren't meant to be, She never did like to fight Salazar after all. Better be SLYTHERIN!" The hat cried out to the hall.
There had to be some mistake, his eyes fell on the Slytherin table and he gulped, they were a sullen and miserable looking bunch. McGonagall coughed lightly at Harry, and he stood up his eyes wander back to where his sister was, and he noticed her stunned expression. Professor McGonagall was trying to usher him forwards to the room against the far wall. He heard a few people laughing at his reaction.
His feet felt heavy as he made his way to his table. He found a seat next to Theodore Nott and a Black haired girl, most the first years seemed to be keeping some distance from each other. He hardly noticed what was going on as his mind was scrambling to understand what had happened. His dad was going to be so disappointed. After the last student, Blaise Zabini had join them on the Slytherin table, Professor Dumbledore led the school through a bewildering rendition of the school song, he made a few announcements afterwards.
Apparently the forbidden forest was turn to its name and actually forbidden to students, spell work too was banned in the halls, Harry had expected this and he had heard many stories of his dad getting detentions for it. After he introduced a few new teachers, one who wore a bright purple turban called Professor Quirrel, and another who was a kind faced witch who would be teaching muggle studies.
Food appeared on huge serving platters along the house tables, there was a bit of everything, from roast pork to smoked salmon and everything in between. Harry couldn't help himself as he piled food up on his plate, he hadn't realized how hungry he felt.
"Your family been starving you, Potter? Can't be easy being in the shadow of Dumbledore's little pet." A cold voice drawled, he looked up to see Malfoy looking at him, with a sneering smile.
"Not at all, Malfoy." Harry replied evenly, Malfoy was a popular name at his families dinner table. Apparently Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father was one of the worst death eaters who had avoided imprisonment, and that was the kind of person he was now resigned to share classes with for the next seven years. He could only assume 'Dumbledore's little pet' was Jasmine, he almost laugh at how ridiculous it sounded but he felt like Malfoy actual believed it.
"Pass me the ham, please." Said the girl to Harry's left, she was a pretty girl with long black hair and warm brown eyes. holding the platter of baked ham out to her she gave him a small smile as she piled ham on her plate. "Thank you Potter." She said.
"Just call me Harry, please." He said with a genuine smile. She nodded and turned to the person sitting next to her, another girl he noted with long blonde hair that was so straight it had to be done with magic.
Harry turned to make polite conversation with his other neighbor, Theodore Nott looked as though he didn't want to talk but Harry tried none the less. "Hey Theodore, I'm Harry nice to meet you." He said reaching a hand out to shake with his. But Theodore hardly raised his eyes from his plate, he just nodded and went back to eating.
Harry repressed the sigh that was building up in him, he remembered the name Nott from what his dad had talked about that night in the kitchen, normally Harry wouldn't have tried but it seemed like the reputable members of this house were few and far between. Harry also remembered how his uncle Sirius had talked about his first year at Hogwarts, the Black family wold have fit in perfectly at the Slytherin table, and somehow Sirius had turned out alright. A long while later, when the food from the tables had been eaten or just taken away, a female prefect with curly red hair called Pucey announced that the first year students would follow her to the Slytherin house common room.
Harry found himself walking with Tracey Davis, the black haired girl, and her friend Daphne Greengrass who was the blonde haired girl. Neither of them were what Harry would call kind or even good company, but they had at least talked to him and shared their names. As they walked down another flight of stairs Harry began to notice how dark it was getting, apparently the were actually going to the dungeons, he had assumed Pucey was joking about that.
The prefect gave the password to the portrait that guarded the Slytherin common room and it opened to show a dimly lit but warm room. A large open fire stood on either end of the room with lot of seat scattered around the place, there were some bookshelves here and there and not too many people were hanging around. Harry had been expecting much worse after he learned they were in the dungeons, he didn't even see any torture devices.
Most of the room had some green to their design, wether it was the large green run on the stone floor or the green chairs alongside the table. Harry liked what he saw even if the color wasn't what he had always imagined, and considering it was the dungeons it felt a lot warmer than he would have expected. Not to mention it didn't smell like a sewer or smoke or something, he knew little of dungeons but they had a certain reputation, even if this was at a school. He mused on how strange it was that a school even had dungeons, but then again at Hogwarts if you tried to make sense of it you would quickly find yourself with a headache, his mum had told him once.
They stopped near the closest fire and another prefect walked up, Harry recognized him instantly, Yaxley. From what Harry could tell Yaxley didn't notice him his eyes hardly swept passed the first years before he started to talk. "You represent Slytherin house now, so i expect you all to act like it. You will be organized and tidy. Your robes are as important as your studies, keep yourselves clean and well dressed. The other houses think we are the worst house, but we have an honored reputation in Slytherin and i expect all of you to uphold it." He said sounding as though he had learned this by memory.
"We have to share this common room with every other Slytherin here, and if you don't do your part we have permission from Professor Snape to correct your behavior. This includes not putting books back on the shelves, leaving personal belongings out in the common room and being too loud in the common room." He said with a clipped tone, almost like he was inviting someone to protest.
"You will receive your schedules tomorrow morning at breakfast. Do not be late. Professor Snape has better things to do that look after you fools." He gave a small smile and walked off calling behind him. "Boys your sleeping quarters are this way. Come along." His quiet order gave all the first year boys a spring in their step, and not out of excitement.
Harry felt relief well up in him as soon as he saw that they had individual rooms, he had been a bit nervous about sleeping in the same room as some of these boys for seven years. Harry had managed to slip into the one closest to the common room before the others had even noticed Yaxley had left. It was a small room, but it was better than the alternative, a lone tall mirror stood along one wall and there was a dresser for his clothes, an over sized four poster bed was dominating the far end of the room.
It had green covered drapes to block out light, thought being in the dungeons he felt it was a bit of wasted effort. The bed sheets and pillows were a mix of green and black, the house colors after all, it wasn't an unpleasant affect. Harry decided he would empty out his belongings before going to sleep, he didnt have his mum to make sure he was tidy and organized anymore so he would have to make efforts to keep on top of things.
He popped open his trunk and started by moving his books out, there was a small shelf next to a desk in the corner of the room where he placed his books. He separated his school books from his own personal interests, he had quite a few extra book with him, after all there was lots he could learn now. Before long he had ran out of space and left some of the more advanced books in his trunk, he could always rotate them out if needed.
His clothes were put away next, a few changes of robes all now in the silver and green of Slytherin house. It still felt a bit crazy to him, but he felt comforted by his mothers words on the platform earlier that same day.
At the bottom of the trunk was a small hand mirror, he had known it was there but had been avoiding it. His father had given it to him the night before he had left, they had a similar one back home that they used to contact uncle Sirius or uncle Remus. It was a brilliant piece of magic that could make owls obsolete if his dad wanted to, he claimed keeping them a secret was better though.
With a sigh he balanced the mirror between the desk and the wall and sat at the desk. It wasn't too late but he sincerely hoped his family were all asleep, but he couldn't hide this from them so it wasn't worth trying. "Mum, dad, are you there?" He said after he tapped it with his wand.
Almost instantly he saw a ripple pass in the glass, and then his mother and father looked back at him with great big smiles. Despite feeling pretty dreadful he did feel a lot better from just seeing them, he felt his own smile before he was really aware of it.
"Hey honey." His mum said as soon as she laid eyes on him.
"Hey son." His dad followed his wife soon after, he remembered how it had been when Jasmine had first gone to Hogwarts, the day had felt longer than any other. Until today that was.
Harry gave them both a warm smile and greeted them, he decided he would just come straight out and say what needed saying, but seeing them be so happy to see him he put it off a bit longer. "Hogwarts is so beautiful." He exclaimed. Before long they were laughing sharing how they felt seeing the castle for the first time, he almost felt like he was back at home.
They had only been talking for a few minutes but topics were coming to Harrys mind slower than ever before, and his parents noticed his unease. His mum was the first to say anything though, and as usual she cut right to the matter. "So Harry, what house did you get placed in?" She asked casually.
Harry gulped and looked at his hands. "Slytherin." Was all he replied with.
He had expected his dad to be angry and his mum to make too much of pretending it was fine. What he got though was something entirely different. The laughter from his dad made him pull away from the mirror, he was way too loud. He looked into it to see his dad smiling and laughing, while his mum watched Harry with a smile.
"I knew you would be Harry." She said quietly. "You really are far too sneaky and cunning to be anywhere else."
His dad had managed to get his laughter under control, and he looked at Harry then his wife. "She really did you know, cost me five galleons because i thought you'd be in Ravenclaw." He said with a grin. Harry tried to work his mouth. His dad had noticed continued. "Give me some credit kiddo, I'm not stupid enough to think you'd only ever be a Gryffindor."
Harry laugh and mumbled an apology. His parents loved him more than anything and he was foolish to doubt that for even a second. With Harry feeling much better about the whole situation he started to talk more freely about how he felt. "Almost all the people in the house are kids of death eaters, what should i do?" He asked.
His parents looked at one another and after a few seconds his dad turned to him and smiled. "Don't judge any of them based on their family names Harry, if i had done that i would have lost out on the best friend i could have asked for." He spoke with a fond tone. "Just watch what they do and how they act and you'll do fine, I've seen you cast a couple of your mothers favorite hexes so i know you can defend yourself." He finished sounding proud and not at all worried.
His mother though wasn't nearly as confident. "Harry, be very careful. your peers are still young kids so I wouldn't be to worried about them, but the older students can be very unpleasant if they want to be, and considering who your sister is i think they might try to take it out on you." She warned him, she was usually the one to put their concerns to rest with soft reassurances and warm words.
Harry felt the knot in his stomach redouble. "Lily don't be silly they are still school kids." His dads voice said, Harry barely noticed though.
"Harry listen to me, i want you to promise me you will take care of yourself. No acting out in front of older students, do you promise Harry?" His mums voice had a sharp tone to it.
"I wont mum, i'll keep my head down and stick with the first years." He agreed, he had asked for their advice after all. It was still just weird that this was coming from his mum and not his dad, he had been sure that dad would be more likely to see evil in Slytherin's than his mum.
"Look Harry, I don't want to scare you. But you need to be careful. Those families are up to something, the are working together for something big." His mum said to him urgently. Harry saw his dad turn to her in shock and started to protest to her but she went over his complaints. "James he needs to know why he's got to be careful. Harry, death eater families are working together publicly for the first time in a long time. I don't know what it means but it cant be anything good." She sounded a little bit scared Harry realized. "So please Harry, keep your head down and you ears open. You'll do amazing as long as you're careful."
Harry felt stunned, he had heard them talking about this exact topic not too long ago but the fact his mother was mentioning it meant she was afraid of the possibilities. Suddenly it all felt too real, as if death eaters were walking the halls of Hogwarts right now. He felt a huge flood of relief wash over him as he remembered he had his own room.
Their conversation naturally died down after that, not that Harry was complaining he was exhausted. After some 'goodbyes' he found himself laying on his new bed. The words his mother had said rung in his mind and haunted him until he fell asleep.
AN: Well there's a second chapter. Please review and let me know what you think
So my first thoughts were to give the boys a shared sleeping area to give some sense of dread for Harry but i decided against it, I don't want the poor boy being overly paranoid. I hope things will start moving soon, i plan on giving maybe another chapter up to learning how things work in Slytherin and Hogwarts in general, maybe another two before picking up the pace.
As always thanks for reading i appreciate it a lot.