Harry walked out of the hall, his ears still ringing from the cacophony that was the Hogwarts school song. While practically none of the Slytherin students had partaken, the rest of the school had more than made up for their silence. Two of the Gryffindors, twins if he wasn't mistaken, had sung to an extremely slow funeral march that had gone on for nearly twenty seconds with just the two of them. Harry had been laughing hysterically by the end, along with Tracey, while Blaise and Daphne merely looked on with amused expressions. The school had been dismissed shortly thereafter, and Harry was now following the rest of the Slytherin first years to their dormitories.
Harry continued to look around in awe as they continued on their way. He saw a multitude of portraits covering the walls, most of which were looking back with equal curiosity, many of them whispering to their neighbors. Harry waved discreetly towards a portrait of a rather rotund man, which then proceeded to wave back with unbridled enthusiasm. Harry shot a grin to the portrait before passing through an archway leading to a descending staircase.
"Who were you waving at, Harry?" Tracey asked as they continued down into the depths of the castle.
"Just some portrait. I read about moving portraits in some of my books, but there are so many of them here!" Harry replied. Tracey smiled in return.
"At my house, we have pictures of my family going back over two hundred years. Some of them are pretty interesting to talk to, and it makes my family seem a lot bigger than it really is," Tracey told him. "I'll admit, though, some of them are pretty damn sexist," she added as an afterthought.
Before he could reply, the crowd came to a stop before a nondescript wall of stone. The prefect at the front of the group spoke, "Victory," in a clear voice, and several of the stones collapsed into each other, forming an archway in the wall. Harry followed his housemates through a narrow passage nearly twenty feet long, before they emerged into the Slytherin common room.
The room itself was deceptively large. One entire side was covered in arched windows that, apparently, looked out into the lake itself. The water was remarkably clear and illuminated, and several fish could be seen swimming past. Along the opposite wall was an impressive bookshelf, filled entirely with books from any imaginable genre. Another wall was dominated by several passageways that led to the dorm rooms. On the same wall the passage entered through was a massive fireplace, flanked by two large stone snakes halfway through a strike, and surrounded by a number of cushy green armchairs. The room was filled with a variety of tables, chairs, and couches, all decorated with numerous, yet tasteful, serpents.
The prefect instructed the first years to circle around the fireplace. The instant they had all found their place, one of the windows to the lake slid to the side, and Snape walked out of the dark passage revealed behind it. He swept through a gap that quickly formed between the students, and turned to face them, his robes swirling ominously around him as he did so.
"Welcome to the noble house of Salazar Slytherin," he began in a quiet, but commanding tone. "Slytherin has given rise to some of the most powerful and influential witches and wizards in the last millennia, and is one of the most respected names in the wizarding world. Your first duty in this house is to uphold the name of Slytherin. Those who fail to do so," here he leveled a glare at Harry, "will not enjoy the consequences. Public dissent is not permitted. Any and all disputes will be settled here, either amongst yourselves or by me. And trust me, you do not want me to settle it. All first years will walk with at least one other student at all times when outside the common room. I will not lie to you, Slytherin has a poor reputation in this school. You will be ridiculed, you will be an outcast, simply due to your sorting. Some members of the other houses will take a more… active approach to showing their dissatisfaction. Avoid these situations where you can, but do not be afraid to defend yourselves."
Snape made eye contact with each of the first years in turn, then continued. "Present yourself well in classes and don't make a fool of yourself in public, and we won't have any issues. My office is the door down the hall, next to the portrait of Slytherin. If there is something you need that you absolutely cannot solve on your own, come and see me. Breakfast starts at 8:00 tomorrow, do not be late. Goodnight." Snape pulled his robes around himself as he turned back to the window he entered from. With a wave of his hand, it slid aside, then back into place as he strode through.
After Snape left, the prefect who had let them into the common room stepped to the forefront. "My name is Peregrine Derrick, I'm a fifth year Prefect. I'm also a Beater on the Quidditch team. First through fourth year dormitories are through the middle two arches over there, boys on the left, girls on the right. Between eight in the morning and eight at night, you can be in the rooms of the other gender, if you have explicit permission, meaning they said aloud in the common room that you could come in. If you enter without permission, or are there outside of those hours, I guarantee that you will not like the consequences. First through fourth year, you will share rooms with one other student, and upper years get their own rooms. Feel free to make changes to the rooms, but they must be returned to their original state by the end of the year. Again, you will not like the consequences." Harry turned to Blaise, a questioning look in his eyes. Realizing after a moment what Harry was asking, Blaise gave a slight smile and nodded.
Noticing the yawns and expressions of exhaustion on most of the students faces, he decided to wrap things up. "Last thing. If, for some reason, you decide to break a school rule, just don't get caught. Any loss of points or detentions will be directly reported to Professor Snape, and he will certainly be… displeased. Remember, be at the Great Hall by eight." With that, Derrick pushed past them and ascended the stairs into the upper year dorms.
Once there were only first years remaining, a pale boy with platinum blonde hair shoved past Blaise and came to a stop in front of Harry. "Harry Potter. I am Draco Malfoy," he said, thrusting his hand forward expectantly. "I expect you'll be needing somebody to help you get started in the magical world. I can help you there." After a moment of consideration, Harry decided that he didn't need to make any more enemies today. He grabbed Draco's hand and firmly shook it twice.
"I would invite you to room with me, but Nott and I already talked about it," he said, nodding towards a tall, skinny boy with dark hair. Nott completely ignored Harry. "Anyways, I'll be seeing you all in the morning," Draco finished, and walked towards the boys' dorms, with Nott and the two massive first years in tow. A skinny girl with dark hair and a tall heavyset girl walked to the girls' dorms. Harry and Blaise turned to Daphne and Tracey.
"Well," Daphne said, "I guess we'll be seeing you tomorrow. Goodnight," she said with a smile, then linked arms with Tracey and entered the girls' dorms as Harry and Blaise said "Goodnight" in unison. Then, the two remaining Slytherins followed their peers into the dorms.
"Wow," Harry said. "I wasn't expecting a five-star hotel, but this is a little ridiculous," he said as he looked around the room. There wasn't much to see. Two four poster beds in opposite corners, a dresser at the foot of each, and a desk between them was the entirety of the provided furnishings. On the plus side, there was a small bathroom for only the two of them. "Looks like we'll have to do some decorating of our own once we know how," Harry said to Blaise.
"It doesn't matter too much right now, I'm pretty exhausted," Blaise replied, flopping unceremoniously onto the bed on the right. As he did so, there was a dull crack, and a trunk appeared next to his dresser. "Huh. I was wondering when that would show up," Blaise said, standing and beginning to rummage through it. Harry cautiously sat on the other bed, and watched as his own trunk popped into existence just as Blaise's had. He hopped off the bed and pulled his pajamas, as well as his Transfiguration book, out of the trunk. Tossing the book on his bed, Harry entered the bathroom and quickly changed into his pajamas. He then hung his robe next to his dresser and his underclothes into the nearby basket.
He had just cracked his book open when he shot up, eyes wide and slightly panicked. "Shit!"
"What's wrong?" Blaise asked as he exited the bathroom.
"I forgot about Hedwig! Oh, man, she's gonna kill me tomorrow. I knew I was forgetting something," Harry groaned.
"Who's Hedwig?" Blaise asked in confusion.
"My owl," Harry replied, dreading how she would take revenge on him come morning.
Author's Note: Here's another chapter. Quick turnaround, I know, but I had a bit of inspiration. A little on the short side, but this felt like a good place to end it. Hopefully, my chapters will be getting a bit longer now that classes are beginning. As always, thanks to anyone who reviews or favorites, it all helps.