Chapter 24
As they walked down to the dungeons, many of the students Harry had shared a compartment with congratulated him and patted him on the back in welcome. This earned them several questioning looks from their house-mates and one quick scowl from his new head of house, Professor Snape. A final turn and they were in front of the hidden entrance to the Slytherin dormitory. They all watched as Professor Snape spoke the password "scientia debello obscurum" and the previously solid wall turned into an archway – similar but smaller than the one into Diagon Alley. He ushered them all in, and instructed them to gather in the center of the common room.
Once all the students were thus assembled, Snape went to the front of the common room and started to speak, "Welcome to all our new Slytherins, we hope you will bring pride, not to mention house points, to the house of our noble founder, Salazar Slytherin. Prefects will direct you to your sleeping quarters and escort you once to each of your new classes and other areas of the castle you may need to get to – just ask; curfews for all students and clubs are posted on the Slytherin board," he said, directing their attention to the post-board on the right of the east-most wall. "While magic is forbidden in the hallways, you may use personal comfort charms and spells in your common room and dormitory, but, and I cannot emphasize this enough, only on yourselves! If another student cannot perform the charm or spell, you may direct them to the Slytherin Prefects who will assist them in learning these properly." Here, he gestured to a group of students with Prefect badges on their robes who all nodded at the group. Harry wondered at this, 'Maybe that's why they always seem comfortable, even in the Potions room.' Harry started listening again before he missed more information.
"Now, Slytherin is a noble house, and I hope your behavior will reflect pride in your House. That said, I do not want to see any of you fighting or arguing amongst yourselves outside of these rooms. Yes, you can disagree, but private debate in these rooms is encouraged instead of fighting. Remember, you are now a family! That means that family problems get resolved by and with family – not with outside interference or attention." Snape eyed them all to see if any of the new students appeared to disagree with his statement. Looking at each of them, he saw nods of agreement as he met each students' eyes. All at once, he had to look away from Harry. It seemed to Harry that something was making Snape angry at seeing him there among his Slytherins. 'Oh no! What has that old goat done! No wonder I was so miserable in his classes!' thought Harry. 'I'll have to see if I can do something about it.' With difficulty, he pulled his attention back to Snape.
"Any student who needs to, may speak with me in full confidentiality. There is a connecting door to my office through here," said Snape as he pointed to a door on the left-hand side of the room. "I am there most evenings, and in between classes, should you need to consult with me. And of course, I am available at any time should there be an emergency." This last statement surprised Harry, as he had always thought the older Slytherin somewhat cold. 'How many misjudgements did I make with that old goats' help?' thought Harry.
Snape then instructed the Prefects to show them their dormitories and bid them goodnight. As the new Slytherins made their way into the room, Harry noticed that the set up was different from Gryffindor. The beds were arranged in a circle, similar to his old room, but each bed had not only a night-table but also a bookshelf compartment built into the head of the bed and a small desk on the other side of the bed. On top of that, there were compartments underneath the bed for their belongings and a few small cubbyholes in the headboard for more personal things as well. No more rummaging through his trunk for things any more. The bedding and hangings were silver, black and green and of higher quality than he had previously had and when he sat on it, the bed seemed to adjust to him. At that, he stood and looked at his bed, while Draco chuckled from the bed next to his. "I forgot that with you being in the muggle world, you would have no idea of this stuff.", he continued, "the beds are self-adjusting – some spell a Slytherin put on all the beds in our House after he invented it – so they conform to you with warmth, cooling, and comfort charms when you sit or lay on it. Very handy when you're sore from Quidditch!"
"What about those other charms Professor Snape mentioned?"asked Harry, now curious about how different it really was in Slytherin.
"Oh, you mean the personal comfort charms? Well, that means we can use warming and cooling charms on our robes, hair and make-up charms for the girls (and some of the boys, he said in a small aside), alarm spells, featherweight charms for our book bags, unpacking and packing spells for our belongings, and any spells to secure our belongings, as long as they're not Dark."
Harry looked surprised at this.
"What? You heard Slytherin was full of Dark magic?". At Harry's nod, Draco continued, "And you still wanted to be here?" he said, smiling. Harry looked uncomfortable at this. "Snape would never allow us to use Dark magic in his house. He, more than anyone, can tell you about current thoughts on Dark magic and it's uses, if you're interested though." said Draco, thoughtfully.
"So, if you need help with any of those spells, let the Prefects know."
"No, I know them already."
Draco looked surprised at this.
"I got a book of household and personal charms when I got my school books," Harry said, hastily, lest Draco suspect something, "I'm pretty sure I can do them, but I'll ask if I need help."
Draco shrugged, "If you want, I can watch you when you first cast them, and let you know if they're correct."
Harry thought about this. 'I better mess some of them up. I'm not supposed to know this much and I don't want him or anyone else getting suspicious.' "That would be great, Draco, thanks!"
Draco then turned to start unpacking his belongings. Harry did the same, mimicking his wand movement for the unpacking spell. He noticed that Draco's things were put away a little more neatly than his. Draco noticed too.
"Not bad for your first time." he said, "You need a little more concentration to get it neater, but still pretty good!" Harry smiled at this, and proceeded to prepare for bed. Setting a Tempus Charm to wake him up at 6:00 am, he settled into his new bed, still thinking about the look Snape had given him. Deciding to deal with it before breakfast, Harry's thoughts calmed and he slept, knowing that he was finally doing what he was supposed to: Living his life for him!