A.N. : FINALLY! I have finally been able to overcome my severe case of Writer's Block and be able to present a new chapter! I hope you guys enjoy it! Don't forget to review! I actually pull some inspiration for chapters from the reviews so if there are no reviews, then I have less inspiration! Anyways, thank you so much for reading!

Chapter 6 – A Turn for the Worse

Scorpius awoke to the sound of voices and of feet shuffling around the floor. He groggily sat up in bed and sleepily rubbed his eyes as he let loose a loud yawn. Jasper, who had been rifling through his trunk looking for a pair of socks, looked up and smiled widely at the just-awoken Scorpius.

"Morning!" He proclaimed happily before going back to his task of locating his elusive socks.

Scorpius reluctantly got himself out of bed and went over to his trunk. He undid the clasps and opened the lid. From the trunk, Scorpius pulled out his essential school supplies that he would need for his first day of classes. He carefully removed his ivy wand that was 10 and ½ inches long with dragon-heartstring core from its wand box and stowed it away in the pocket of his robes. After Scorpius has finished gathering his supplies and Jasper had located his missing socks, they headed off together for the Great Hall. Upon their arrival, Scorpius scanned the other tables for his friends. He saw Albus with his brother, James, at the Gryffindor table in the same spot that they were sitting at after the Sorting. He spied Rose chatting avidly with a group of girls at the Ravenclaw table and finally found Gelert happily spreading jam on a bit of toast while talking with some other boys at the Hufflepuff table. Scorpius wished desperately that he had been sorted in one of the other Houses so that he could have been with a friend, but he figured that Jasper was better than nothing.

"Scorpius! Come sit over here!" Jasper called from the Slytherin table.

"What? Oh, I'll be right there," Scorpius replied as he came out of his reverie.

Scorpius quickly walked over and took a seat across from Jasper. As soon as Scorpius sat down, dozens of owls flew into the Hall. Various letters and packages were dropped on the four tables to their respective recipients. A large eagle owl landed in front of Scorpius with an envelope in its beak.

"Hello there Adonis," Scorpius said to his owl as he took the envelope. Obviously, Adonis expected a reply as he stayed on the table instead of flying off like the other owls. Scorpius saw that the letter was from his parents and quickly opened it. Once he removed and unfolded the parchment that was inside the envelope, he began to read.

"Dear Scorpius,

We hope that you are having a good time at Hogwarts and that you've made some friends. What House were you sorted into? Your father and I are dying to hear the news! Don't forget, we love you no matter where you were placed. I've included a blank sheet of parchment, some post marks, and a blank envelope so that you can reply as soon as you get this. As a reminder, Adonis will be in the Owlry at Hogwarts should you ever need him. We will send him back once we get your reply. Oh, and good luck with classes! Should you ever need help, just ask your father. He wasn't second in his year for nothing!

Lots of love,

Mum and Dad"

Scorpius folded up the letter and stashed it away in his pocket with his wand. From the same pocket, he pulled out a pencil and began to write on the blank paper that his mother had included with the letter.

"Dear Mum and Dad,

I've been having a good time so far at Hogwarts. I was actually sorted into Slytherin, just like you two were. The Sorting Hat was having some trouble with where it wanted to put me, so I'm rather confused as to why I'm here. Gelert got sorted into Hufflepuff, in case you wanted to know. I've made some new friends here already, which is nice. I met a boy named Albus and a girl named Rose while on the train. They're very nice. Albus is in Gryffindor and Rose is in Ravenclaw. I met a boy in Slytherin named Jasper. He says that his dad and Dad used to play Quidditch when they went to school together. His last name, Flint, doesn't sound familiar so maybe you would know if he's telling the truth. Anyways, I'm really excited to be here and I can't wait to see you during Christmas.

Love,

Scorpius"

Scorpius hastily finished the letter as he wanted to have time to eat his breakfast. He sealed the letter in the envelope and gave it to Adonis, who then flew off to deliver it.

"What was that all about?" Jasper asked curiously.

"Oh, it was just my parents asking about what House I was sorted into and the like," Scorpius replied dully.

"Ah. Hey! Take a look at this! Do you know this man?" Jasper exclaimed as he held up the copy of The Daily Prophet that his owl had dropped on the table for Scorpius to. Scorpius took the paper from Jasper, his mouth agape in surprise. The title of the front page read: "Ex-Death Eater Released from Azkaban Prison – Has Lucius Malfoy Been Reformed?" Underneath the title was a mug shot of an old-looking man with long white hair.

"I've never heard of this man, but he has my last name," Scorpius muttered.

"I haven't read the article yet. Maybe it'll reveal some clues," Jasper suggested.

With that, Scorpius began to silently read the article to himself.

"Today, the infamous ex-Death Eater, Mr. Lucius Malfoy, was released from Azkaban Prison. Mr. Malfoy had served a nineteen-year sentence in the Wizard Prison under the charges of usage of the Unforgiveable Curses, false claims of allegiance to the Ministry of Magic, and conspiring with the Dark Lord, Voldemort. Malfoy's spouse, Mrs. Narcissa Malfoy, and son, Mr. Draco Malfoy, another ex-Death Eater, had been spared from sentence due to evidence from Mr. Harry Potter who testified that they were innocent and free from any wrong-doing. With his release, many are asking questions about whether or not it was wise of Minister of Magic, Mr. Kingsley Shacklebolt, to sentence Mr. Malfoy to such a short term….."

Scorpius scanned the rest of the article, but found that it talked mostly about reforms at Azkaban Prison and about other ex-Death Eaters that were also imprisoned there.

"Hey Jasper, what's a Death Eater? And who was Voldemort exactly?" Scorpius asked.

"You mean that you've never heard of a Death Eater and you don't know who Voldemort was?" Jasper replied in disbelief.

"Nope. It says here that my grandfather was a Death Eater and that my father was one too, but I don't know what that means," Scorpius said, "My father never mentioned anything about him being a Death Eater. Hell, he never mentioned that I have a grandfather. I've only known my grandmum. And I only know that Voldemort was a bad guy that killed a lot of people and thought that Muggle-borns are inferior to "pure-blooded" wizards and witches."

"Well, a Death Eater was a person that was a follower of Voldemort. They were basically his henchmen and would do whatever he said. They did most of the killing too. Wait, you didn't know that your dad was one? Even I knew that," Jasper replied.

Jasper's words hit Scorpius like the Hogwarts Express going at full speed. 'Dad was a follower of Voldemort? Was Dad a murderer? How come no one ever told me?' A million questions bombarded Scorpius' mind all at once. He held his head in his hands, not wanting to believe what he had just found out. A solitary tear drop splattered onto the table below. After a few minutes, Scorpius picked his head back up.

"Hey Scorpius, you okay?" Jasper asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

Scorpius didn't answer Jasper's question. Instead, he was too preoccupied by looking around the Great Hall. As he looked around, he noticed that most of the other kids in the Hall had copies of The Daily Prophet too. As the seconds passed, one by one, dozens of pairs of eyes turned to look at him. Many of the other students started whispering loudly to each other.

"That's him over there?"

"Yeah, I saw him yesterday."

"He's the spitting image of his father."

"All Malfoys are alike."

"I wonder how this one will turn out?"

Without a word to Jasper, Scorpius got up from the table and stormed out the Great Hall. He quickly walked back down to the dungeons and found the smooth, blank expanse of wall that concealed the Slytherin Dungeon.

"Atropa belladonna," Scorpius mumbled angrily.

The stones of the wall moved out of Scorpius' way as he walked inside. As he entered the Common Room, he saw a few other Slytherins lounging on the couches, talking amongst each other. He eyed them with a dark look and envied their happiness and their carefree outlook. He walked over to a lone black armchair that was in a far corner by one of the large green windows that looked into the Black Lake. He plopped down in it with a heavy sigh and stared out into the waters of the Lake with troubled eyes. He had barely started his career at Hogwarts and already everything was taking a turn for the worse.