Chapter 7 First year at Hogwarts
One week later
"Seraphina, Seraphina!" Albus yelled, running up to me.
"Go on, I will catch up to you later." I dismissed my friends, the few I was able to sway to my side within the first two days, Athena Greengrass, Arcturus Black, Hesper Gamp, Alvis Rosier and Lestia Yaxley. They nodded, then began walking towards the Slytherin common room from dinner.
Athena was the easiest to befriend, she was shy, and her family had already been imprinting on her the sexist ideals, like women are weaker and won't amount to much other than trophy wives. She also happens to be my roommate. Unlike the chaos of Gryffindor dormitory, Slytherin allocates two students to each room. When I wandlessly summoned my pyjamas from the bathroom after leaving both my wand and my change of clothes in front of Athena on the first night, she almost jumped at my offer to be friends. Even more enthusiastically once I agreed to help her with her spells. After successfully performing the levitation charm silently, the minute Professor Lemlift allowed us to try a spell in the first lesson, most Slytherins in my year gained interest in me. After all, as far as they know, I seemed to be a talented pureblood. That was how I got Arcturus, Alvis, Hesper and Lestia to talk to me in the first place. They thought I was a pureblood, I mean, I can pass for one, with my wizarding last name, and etiquette lessons and after devouring the books on pureblood etiquette. The next step was easy, I simply turned my charisma up to eleven, then acted friendly.
I thought my reveal as a halfblood during the second week would put a damper on things, and it did…For about one night. I then demonstrated wandless levitation in the middle of the common room. It was enough to draw them back in, afterall, power always attracts people. Especially if they have been ingrained since they were young that wandless magic can only be performed by the extremely powerful.
I smirked, and turned around to face Albus.
"Albus, have you finally decided that befriending a Slytherin is not too much of a risk to your reputation?" I drawled.
Albus flushed, "Umm, well, look, I am sorry. I really did not want people to associate me with the rest of my family and blood purist stuff, and well, Slytherin is infamous about the importance of blood purity, and the few people in Gryffindor who don't look down upon me are against Slytherin, and I don't want to risk being an outcast, and- "
"It's fine." I interrupted. Honestly, I was expecting a lot less than this. I knew about the enmity between Gryffindor and Slytherin, and judging from the books, Albus was supposed to be a biassed old coot with a god complex. But I can't really reconcile that guy with the auburn haired eleven year old boy in front of me. Besides, I saw him staring at me almost with longing for the past few days. And my 'friends' are all so dull. It is almost like talking to people whose brains are in slow motion…Like most of the world. If not for the political power they wield, I would just isolate myself, the way I did…a lifetime ago. I am almost desperate to talk to a person like Albus again, he is so much more alive. Even a blind person can see that he is a genius, no wonder they called him the second coming of Merlin in cannon. And me? I have been a tested and certified genius in my past life…You can connect the dots.
"Right, um, so, can we be friends?" He asked, awkwardly sticking out his hand for me to shake.
"Friends." I agreed, shaking his hand firmly.
"Great!" He exclaimed happily, "Now, would you like to join me in my, so far, futile, search for the library?"
"Absolutely."
We walked towards the upper grand staircase, in silence.
"So…How long have you been using magic?" He finally asked.
I raised an eyebrow, "What makes you think that I have?"
"Oh come on! It's obvious, the way you casually and perfectly perform every spell in class? There is no way you have not been using magic before school!"
"How can I? I would not have access to a wand." I replied, trying my very best to not let a smirk creep up my face.
Albus stopped, then turned around to face me, his eyes wide, I could almost hear the click as his mind made the connection to wandless magic.
"You can do it too." He whispered, almost in awe.
"Do what?" I asked, purposely being thick.
"Wandless magic!" He exclaimed, as he pulled out a quill from his bag, then he closed his eyes, scrunching his eyebrows together, as he waved his hand over the quill. Slowly, the quill levitated up into the air.
"Impressive." I commented.
It was hard hiding my excitement, when I 'accidentally' showed off my wandless summoning charm in my room to Athena, she was ecstatic. Why? Turns out wandless magic is a lot rarer than I thought. It made sense, since I almost could not do it until I had my epiphany, seeing magic as what it truly was. The purebloods have tried to give their children an edge over their peers by training them with their own wands, but they basically never succeed in training for wandless magic because they did not understand magic, and if they did, they would be bragging to the whole world. I think the technique of meditation that I used to connect to my core must have been once very common but now lost, kind of like…how to make damascus steel. There are no books on it because long ago it was so common, the dominant way of making strong swords, parents taught their heirs and so on. But over time it became lost, no longer something that anyone knows anymore, making the skill very impressive. Albus opened his eyes, which were sparkling in excitement then he shoved his quill towards me.
"Your turn!"
I raised my eyebrow, trying very hard to hide my glee. But obviously, something slipped through, judging by Albus's triumphant expression.
I lifted my hand, pointing it towards Albus's messenger bag, and grabbed my magic and pulled. Instantly, the bag slipped off a surprised but joyous Albus's shoulder, and floated towards my open hand. The strap landed gently on my palm.
"I knew it!" He exclaimed, almost jumping in joy.
Albus POV
"I knew it!" I exclaimed.
I regretted staying away from Seraphina after the sorting. But it was hard to try to talk to her, with the older years reinforcing the idea of the enmity between Slytherin and Gryffindor. But the truth is, I missed her. She was sharp, and ideas seemed to just flow in her head, not to mention so quietly mysterious yet lively, like she had a heavy secret that she had to hide but at the same time was bursting with energy. I found an interesting but isolated classmate named Elphias Doge, he has green pot marks all over his face, the tell-tale sign of his recent recovery from dragon pox. I tried to ask my friends about their views on magic, but they gave me blank stares, and at most, answered, "It's why we are here, innit?" Where was their curiosity? Do they truly not care about what else we can learn outside of the classroom?
It was every time that they brought up quidditch again that I thought of Seraphina. She is so different from everyone else here, with that burning curiosity and flame in her eyes. When we had charms together, I almost stared at her in awe, the way she cast the spell suggests that she has done it many times before, not even sparing a second thought at it. I had wondered if she, like me, had tried wandless magic? I had always been fascinated by how mother and father waved their wands and took care of everyday life. Since I could not get a wand and I am too stubborn to just leave it be, I learnt wandless magic. It took me forever, but I found out that if I focused desperately on what I truly wanted to happen, there would be a tugging sensation in my head, then what I wanted to happen, will happen. It just took a ridiculous amount of concentration in the beginning. Mother and Father used to pay little attention to my siblings and I, and Aberforth was always much closer to Ariana than I was, seeing how they had a smaller age gap, so they pretty much ignored me…Until I showed wandless magic. Mother and Father then spend a lot more time paying attention to me, but they don't really listen to what I have to say. Almost like they only see my powers but not me as a person. Now that I finally found someone who seemed to be similar to me, of course I am very excited!
After excitedly chattering to Seraphina about how I found my magic and how she found hers, although it was a little odd how her description of her meditation resulted in her discovery of her magical core. We stumbled upon a great hall, and beyond that? The library.
We stood there in quiet awe of the cathedral of knowledge. Surrounded by the scent of old tombs. The shelves towering above our heads. Around us, the occasional book flapped their covers like wings, as they arranged themselves into the shelves.
"Come on! Let's see what books they have!" Seraphina whispered as she quickly walked towards the shelves. Her eyes sparkling. I followed her deeper into the library.
"This seems interesting." She commented, as she pulled out a black tomb, almost as big as her head. On its cover, were blood red words.
"Secrets of the Darkest Arts." I read. Interesting, I thought this book was banned. "Are you sure? This seems a bit dangerous." I commented cautiously.
Seraphina froze, then she turned to face me, her golden eyes almost piercing my soul.
"You don't have to read it with me." She said, her voice low and cold, almost monotone, with a hint of disappointment.
"No, no, that's not what I meant!" I quickly back tracked, she is the first person who seemed to understand me, I really, really, don't want to lose her as a friend, not when I just barely got her back! "It's just, I thought it was banned, and I just didn't expect it to be here!" I explained. Please don't be mad at me! Please don't ignore me, not when I finally found someone who listens to what I say!
A smile graced her lips, "Thank you for looking out for me, but aren't you curious what is inside? Why would the ministry ban a simple book? If it really is dangerous, it would be locked up in the restricted section, no?" She asked rhetorically.
I was torn, what she said made sense, but…I don't want to end up in Azkaban like my father. I don't want to lose my first true friend either.
"Besides, is it not better if we knew what the dark arts are, if we are to better understand magic in general?" She asked gently.
"Yes." I agreed.
"Good! I knew that you would be like me and would understand!" She exclaimed happily, taking the book and placing it in her arms.
I smiled, a warm feeling rising in my chest. I finally found someone who is similar to me, and listens to me, too!
"Now, let's find a place and get some reading done!"
Two months later
"Stop!" I heard a yell behind me.
Spinning around, I ran towards the source, someone's in trouble! Just as I turned around the corner, hidden by a suit of armour, I saw Seraphina command a seventh year Slytherin, just as he was about to send another hex towards a cowering Hufflepuff first year, I watched in horror, along with Seraphina's friends Hesper Gamp, Athena Greengrass, Alvis Rosier and Lestia Yaxley, while Arcturus simply observed the scene with interest. The hallway was otherwise deserted.
"What did you say to me?" The seventh year growled. His face contorted in rage. Oh no, this is bad. I grabbed my wand, about to rush towards the group, when Seraphina flicked her finger towards me, and my entire body froze. She smirked.
"Well, well, well. I guess you are not too stupid after all, being capable of understanding human speech." She drawled.
At this point, my heart was leaping in my throat. What is she doing! She will get herself killed!
"You…How dare you! You filthy halfblood!" He snarled.
At this point, the muggleborn fainted. Seraphina laughed. Laughed! Then she dramatically slowly clapped.
"Very original! Much better than I expected!" She drawled, "Afterall, I expected a muggle like you to be incapable of understanding something as sophisticated as an insult."
My brain short circuited. I really do not want to lose a friend! I thought she was smart! Yet, here she is, digging her own grave!
"How DARE you! I am a pureblood! Of the proud house of Flint!" He pulled his wand as his face turned dangerously red.
Seraphina raised an eyebrow, "Oh really? Then why do I see you engaging in a behaviour only befitting of a lowly muggle? Afterall, the purebloods of Slytherin hold their pride in being cunning, not being an insecure prick who bullies others that are unable to defend themselves to raise their self esteem!" She sniffed, looking down on Flint.
"How dare you insult my heritage! How dare you insult my upbringing!" Roared Flint, a spell beginning to form at the end of his wand.
"The only one who insulted themselves here, is you." Sirius Black interrupted, as he leisurely strolled towards Flint.
"B-Black!" Flint backed away.
"Ruining Slytherin's reputation now, are we? We can't have that! Leave." Sirius Black snapped out. Flink scrambled back, and ran. Sirius Black turned towards Seraphina and her group.
"Next time, leave the unsightly business within the common room." He commanded in a low and cold voice. Seraphina's group all backed away, their heads bowing low, except Seraphina herself.
"I would love to. If idiots like him were not running around, ruining our reputation." Seraphina replied, her eyes boring into Sirius'.
Sirius moved closer to Seraphina, their faces almost touching. "Make no mistake, halfblood. I interfered not to save you, but to prevent any harm from befalling my brother." He hissed threateningly, staring down at Seraphina, who did not even flinch. Abruptly, he turned and walked away. I shivered, Sirius was terrifying.
"You can come out now, Albus!" Seraphina's voice rang down the hall, as I felt my limbs function once more.
Sheepishly, I walked around the armour.
"Hiding behind a pillar? Where's your courage, Gryffindor?" Taunted Arcturus.
I opened my mouth to retort, when Seraphina snapped, "Enough Arcturus! I petrified him just before he could interrupt my confrontation with Flint!"
Arcturus raised an eyebrow, then tilted his head slightly, acknowledging Seraphina.
"Albus, can you please take him to the hospital wing? I need to deal with the fallout of this."
"C-Certainly." I replied, internally wincing at my stutter, I am trying not to show weakness, but Sirius, Flint and Seraphina's actions really scared me a bit more than I thought. Somehow, I feel like I witnessed something that is important that I should probably not have seen.
"Thank you. Goodnight." Seraphina called, as she turned on her heels and walked towards the dungeons, her entourage trailing behind her.
I had wondered how she managed to get those purebloods to become friends with her, but now, looking at her retreating form, I wondered how I missed that she is their leader.
Arcturus POV
I trailed behind Seraphina, slightly lost in thought. She was so different to all the other witches I have ever met. She did not seem to care overly much about her appearance like most others, nor did she ever show up to anything looking dishevelled. She was also much more confident too, not giggling behind a fan. I had immediately written a note to Father the night Seraphina was revealed to be a halfblood and casually showed off her wandless magic as she collected her homework and went to bed. Father and Mother always enforced the idea of blood purity and making connections with powerful people. But they never explained a situation quite like this. Where I am faced with a powerful female halfblood. I know that Father is powerful, but even HE can't use wandless magic. He gave me a note telling me to befriend Seraphina, since it would be a terrible idea to get on the bad side of a person who is powerful enough to use wandless magic at eleven.
Even though our friendship started as nothing but an alliance, I can't help but gain respect for her. She is unique and sharp, often dragging me into a discussion on matters I have never thought to doubt. Matters like Why do we dislike mudbloods?They are as different from muggles as we are, so why should they be met with scorn if they never had a chance to learn how to behave properly? Should we really despise people who are basically infants to our world? She also did not seem to care about marriage contracts, always politely rebutting us if we made a comment about them. Father had never mentioned witches to be anything other than someone to help carry on the bloodline and help manage the internal affairs of a house like introducing children to magic as expected of a lady, but I cannot help but wonder if he was inaccurate after seeing Seraphina. She behaves a bit like Father while maintaining the etiquette expected of a pureblood lady. Only being a lot more outspoken and so…alive. Like she was filled with fiery power that was barely contained. Slowly, I found myself agreeing to her more and more. Afterall, it is obvious that the weaker blood of muggles and mudbloods should not be able to dilute the power of purebloods. How else do you explain Seraphina's immense power?
I know that she is strategic, afterall, she hid her blood status without lying about her heritage, and by the time someone pulled out a family tree, she already established ties with us, the other first years. She even proudly owned up to it! I do not believe for one second that her reveal of her wandless magic is an accidental slip. But it was enough to make people leave her alone…For now.
Which is what puzzled me so. She clearly has a plan for everything she did, and yet, she broke the Slytherin rule of confronting and insulting one of our own outside of our common room. A pureblood, no less. If my brother did not show up, she could have been in serious danger. What could she have gained by this confrontation? Is this just pure petty vindication for being called a Ravenclaw earlier? But it seems unlikely.
It was pretty impressive that she did not baulk when Sirius stared her down. I could feel that he was pushing out his magic, a trick he learned from Father, making the air slightly oppressive, but what was even more impressive was Seraphina pushing back. She should not be able to do that, much less completely overwhelm Sirius' magic. While Sirius' magic felt like a dark mist, hers felt like a black gauze blanket. So much more tangible, and beautifully dark. If her eyes were grey instead of gold, I would have sworn that she was a Black, who had been trained by our ancestors who invented the original Family Magick since birth. I could tell that Sirius was thinking along these lines too, when he stalked away in shock. Flint's sulking and new enmity towards Sirius would no doubt reveal our clash to the rest of the Slytherins. Pair that with the loose lips of the Hufflepuff mudblood and Seraphina's pet Gryffindor halfblood, the whole school would know that Seraphina stood up to Flint by tomorrow dinner. It almost seems that Seraphina planned this. But why?
These thoughts spun inside my head the whole way down the dungeon. When we reached the Slytherin common room, I froze.
The entire house was gathered there.
"So" Septimus Malfoy drawled as he stepped towards Seraphina, "You are the little hero who had to humiliate Peter Flint."
I gulped, looking to Sirius for guidance. He ignored me, and instead stared intensely at Seraphina.
"Yes." Seraphina replied, her pose somehow still confident, bordering on arrogance.
"Have you no respect for our rules? Why, pray tell, did you embark on such an idiotic endevour, halfblood?"
I slowly backed away. If I am not mistaken, Malfoy just threatened to turn Seraphina into an outcast, who will be basically excommunicated from the rest of Slytherin if she does not salvage this situation.
"I respect rules, when they deserve respect." She replied sternly. I have never heard her sound so…cold. A shiver ran down my spine, I am suddenly filled with an urge to turn tail and hide where no one would find me anytime soon, my instincts screaming she's dead. I might as well start digging her grave…But a tiny voice in my head yelling at me to tell Malfoy to run.
"I respect rules, when they bring us safety. I respect rules when they help us, and are logical in turn." She began, as she slowly walked towards Malfoy.
"What I do not respect is when the rules harm Slytherin!"
"And how does presenting a unified font, so that Slytherins will not be torn apart by the other houses harm Slytherin?" Barnabus Lestrange questioned, amidst the outraged murmurs in the room.
Seraphina slowly turned to face him.
"Tell me, why are we being united against?" Seraphina asked in a low voice. Even so, everyone heard her, the common room silent as a tomb.
"What makes us so different, so horrible, that the entire school fights against us? What makes the muggleborns avoid Slytherins like the plague?" She asked, slowly turning and pacing to face every person in the common room.
"Is it simple gossip? Prejudice? Do we not deserve their respect? Their awe? We, the house with the most noble members, with the most powerful members. We have more connections and family history than any other house. Yet, why are we met with scorn? We should not be! We DESERVE their respect, we DESERVE their awe. Yet, our name is SULLIED by the behaviour of idiotic individuals!" She exclaimed. "When we step aside and let the muggleborns be bullied, we pave the way for a worse reputation. We insult the Slytherin name, by making US the bullies! As an orphan who lived in the muggle world, I have seen their behaviour. I have experienced their barbarity, how they assert false dominance by bullying those who cannot fight back. I came to the wizarding world, expecting the superiority of wizards, I expected us to behave better than the muggles. Yet here I see members of the most noble house of Slytherin swoop so low, as to mimic the behaviour of the worst of the muggles?" She asked, to the extreme outrage of several students. Then she turned to face Malfoy.
"You asked why I interfered. Here is why. I am ashamed that our own acted like an idiotic muggle. I am ashamed that Slytherin is disgracing its own name. We are better than muggles, we are Slytherin. And I, for one, refuse to shame the Slytherin name." She hissed out, glaring into the face of Septimus Malfoy.
Without another word, she turned, and walked towards the dormitory. Just before she entered, she paused, tilting her face in our direction.
"We are wizards, it's time we show our superiority."
When she left, the room rapidly became warmer, the tension seemingly eased out of the whole room. I had not realised during her speech, but her magic had chilled the room to the point where frost had crusted the windows.
Was she right? Was our behaviour making us as bad as the muggles? She had a point, we, as members of the greatest house of Hogwarts, should be looked upon in awe, not sneered at when passed by.
Her speech replayed in my mind as I went to bed. We are better than muggles, we are Slytherin. And I, for one, refuse to shame the Slytherin name.
Albus POV
I walked anxiously towards the Great Hall during breakfast. I hope Seraphina is fine, I have never seen a Slytherin go against another. Will she be ostracised for her courage? Why can't she be in Gryffindor with me?
I reached the Great Hall, but immediately froze, something was wrong.
The atmosphere was too tense. Instinctively, my eyes searched the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor tables, trying to see if anyone had been sent to the hospital wing. When I found none, I cautiously sat down. My eyes found its way across the hall to the Slytherin table. Where I finally found the source of the disturbance.
The Slytherins were tense and subdued.
Unlike usual, they were almost completely silent, as if they were observing others. Quite a few of them shot contemplative looks to someone near the teacher end of the table. Following their gaze, I saw Seraphina.
Unlike the others, she looked truly calm. Casually and elegantly spreading butter on her toast without a care in the world. I frowned, there is no way she did not know about the stares, from my failed attempts to jump behind her, I know she is situationally aware enough to the point where I had thought she had eyes on the back of her head.
Suddenly, the tension in the air increased tenfold, as the hall became quiet and most Slytherins snapped their heads between the Hufflepuff table and Seraphina's end of the table.
"Isn't that the muggleborn, Sam Greene or something, you dragged into the hospital wing last night?" Elphias asked, while chewing on a piece of bacon.
Sure enough, walking towards Seraphina with trembling legs, was the muggleborn, he faltered in his step as the entire hall went deathly silent.
"Um…e…excuse me?" He squeaked at Seraphina.
She looked up from her plate. Putting on a small and polite smile on her face.
"Good morning, how may I help you?" She asked.
"I…I just wannasaythankyouforhelpingmeyesterday!" The now very nervous muggleborn gushed out, his cheeks turning pink.
"I'm sorry, but can you please repeat that slowly? I can't understand what you are saying."
The muggleborn- Greene took a deep breath, "I just want to say thank you for helping me yesterday." He announced, in a way too loud voice.
Seraphina smiled, "You are welcome, but I was just doing what anyone else would do in the same situation. I am sorry if this affected your impression of Slytherin, I promise we are usually better than that."
Seeing quite a few of the Slytherins incline their heads or likewise express their assent, the muggleborn nodded, then quickly darted back to his seat. My eyebrows flew up into my forehead. Exactly what did Seraphina do to them? Did she imperioused the lot of them into behaving cordially? Did she practise all those horrible but impressive spells in Secrets of the Darkest Arts on the rest of her house?
I shuddered, resolving to confront her about this soon.
The following months were…weird. Seraphina was very tight lipped about what she did to make her house behave so…cordially. Slytherins bullying seemed to have decreased, instead, even the extreme blood purists seemed to start to act like muggleborns do not exist. Seraphina, well, she gained a following. Many times our study sessions were interrupted by a random muggleborn first year with a question about their homework. She gained the reputation of being the nice Slytherin. Sam Greene, the muggleborn she helped became bolder, and tried to chat with her even when she was politely dismissing him, only leaving when Seraphina's friends basically chased him away. It was kind of hilarious.
The months passed without much fanfare, Seraphina and I met up at least once a week in the library to study magic and debate ideas. Oddly enough, Seraphina seemed interested in divination. She always put away books on it when I arrived. Before I knew it, it was the end of the year. With it, came our exams.
"How did you go?" I asked, as I walked up to Seraphina, who was reading in front of the Black Lake. Her friends briefly looked up at me before going back to their games of gobblestones and exploding snap.
"Fairly well, I believe. " She replied, looking up from her book, as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "And you?"
"Fairly well as well!" I replied, "In fact, I believe I did better than you!" I teased.
Arcturus snorted as Athena and Lestia giggled at my boast. Seraphina merely raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.
"Would you like to bet on it?" She asked, "Or are you not confident in your prediction?"
"Sure, you got yourself a bet!" I exclaimed, "What should we bet though?"
Seraphina hummed.
"How about a box of chocolate frogs?"
"Sure…Per subject that I win." I agreed, sticking out my hand to shake on it. She shook my hand.
"You own me three chocolate frogs." She said sweetly.
I rolled my eyes, "Sure, you own me seven." I predicted.
The day the results were released, I proudly seeked out Seraphina during breakfast. I got Outstanding in every single subject, there is no way I could have lost the bet. I got there just in time for Professor Lemlift to hand her her results.
"Congratulations for topping your year."
"Thank you!" Seraphina beamed. A ball of dread began creeping up my stomach as Seraphina smiled at me.
"Come on, Albus, show me what you got!"
I shoved my report card in front of her, trying to maintain a proud smile. Her eyes went wide.
"Impressive! Consider me impressed!" She praised.
"Well, your turn! Show me yours!" I beamed.
Slowly, she handed me her report card. I quickly read its contents, my smug smile slowly dropping from my face.
History of magic: Outstanding
Herbology: Outstanding
Potions: Outstanding
Astronomy: Outstanding
Defence Against the Dark Arts: Outstanding*
Charms: Outstanding*
Transfiguration: Outstanding*
"You own me three chocolate frogs. " she beamed.
Sulking, I walked back to my table, to the immense confusion of my friends.
"Aren't you happy that you won the bet?" Hendrick Prewett asked, confused.
"I lost." I replied.
"But how?"
I ignored him in favour of glaring at my empty goblet.
"…and the house cup goes to…Slytherin!"
…This day can't get any worse.