Chapter 1: Ugly

The boat ride to the castle had almost made up for the necessity of being in a crowd of people. As Astoria's boat gently journeyed across the still lake, the lights from the fleet's lanterns added a new constellation to the starry map that was reflected in the black water. She dipped her hand in the water, wanting to tempt up some strange lake-dweller. A wave of nervousness washed over her as her gaze turned to the looming castle on the horizon, and along with it came the scattered thoughts and emotions of her peers. Elation, wonder, and trepidation were mixed in with the all-too familiar thoughts of casual hatred.

That ginger girl is so fat. Her face reminds me of a monkey. I bet I'll get about twenty times as many –

I hope my magic is good enough. I'd better size up the competition. I think I could at least beat this guy in –

Did you see the way that skinny, makeup-caked girl was looking at me? I bet she's the most heartless tart who ever –

Astoria sighed angrily and shook her head vigorously. Her parents, both harmless enough, had contacted the headmaster beforehand, hoping he could find a special tutor to help her control her legilimency. Apparently she was an oddity, possessing such an unconscious ability at such a young age. It was especially weird since she only had an average ability at best in every other magical field.

That will change, Astoria thought with determination. After all these years of enduring the thoughts of those around her, she knew she had to rise above the standard set by these ordinary backbiters. She was better than them. Even as much as she despised the constant influx of hateful thoughts, they made her feel pure.

The boat ride brought the first-years into the cool, stone interior of Hogwarts. The children looked with awe around them. Astoria was especially impressed with the tall vaulted ceiling, which was lush with lovingly sculpted details of water and fish (to match the indoor docking area for the boats, she assumed). A tall, black-haired woman led the first years up a long flight of stairs into a huge entrance hall, big enough to fit a whole house. Through a gigantic pair of oaken doors on the right on the hall, Astoria could hear a loud rumble of voices, as well as whisperings of a myriad of mental impressions from the students inside. She could piece together a rough picture of the Great Hall from them: long, wooden tables with black-robed children of many ages sitting at them. There were shining plates and goblets sitting on the tables, and all of them were empty. Astoria scurried quietly past the woman (Professor McGonagall, as the big groundskeeper had addressed her) to try and get a better look through the doors.

The Great Hall was just as beautiful as the exterior of the castle. Through the small aperture of the slightly opened grand doors, Astoria could see hundreds of floating candles hovering like glowing minnows under the sky-like ceiling, with its clouds shifting and swirling to dapple the light of the painted moon. The sight made her gasp unintentionally, her fingers and toes tingling with excitement.

"Try to control your eagerness, young lady. You have to stay in line just like the other first-years." The tall, severe witch who spoke looked down at Astoria sternly, waving her away from the door. Astoria obliged grouchily, making an impatient growl in her throat. McGonagall looked at her quizzically for a moment, but quickly proceeded through her usual beginning of the year routine.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but first you need to be sorted into your respective Houses. This is a very important event, because while you are here, your House will be like a new family to you. You will, of course, attend most of your classes with children of the same House, and you will dine and live with them as well. As you triumph in your endeavors here, your house will earn points. If you misbehave or otherwise fall short of your responsibilities as a student of this illustrious school, your House will lose points. At the end of the academic year, the House with the most points wins the House Cup, which is a much sought-after honor. For those of you children who do not already know, there are four Houses here: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each of these Houses has its own illustrious history and has produced outstanding members of our community. I hope each one of you will be a credit to whichever one you become a member of."

The other children were wondering which house they were going to be sorted into. Some had a preference, either from that house's reputation or from family or friends. All of the Greengrass family that Astoria knew of, whose list of magical members stretched back to at least the time of the Anglo-Saxon invasion, was either in Hufflepuff or Gryffindor. Her older sister Daphne, however, had been sorted into Slytherin, a fact that worried her parents and elated Daphne. As for Astoria, she wasn't sure which house she wanted. She certainly didn't want to see much of Daphne, but there was sure to be someone else she hated in the other houses. Well, the choice wasn't really up to her, anyway. McGonagall continued with her procedure after the chattering of the first-years subsided.

"I will require you to line up in alphabetical order by last name. First, Aalders, Jane…" The children shuffled into place nervously, muttering to each other about what could be in store for them behind the great oaken doors. After McGonagall went into the Great Hall to prepare whatever the Sorting Ceremony entailed, a brown haired-girl who towered over her (which wasn't saying much) started in a nervous voice,

"H-hi, I'm Sarah Grieve. Nice to meet you, uh…" Astoria looked up at Sarah coolly, trying to focus her legilimency her way. Just the normal sweaty palms, beginning of school anxiety, plus longing thoughts of the home she'd left a few hours ago. There wasn't anything to be alarmed about at the moment. After what must have been a few awkward seconds, she replied,

"I'm Astoria. Astoria Greengrass."

"Oh. Um…what house do you want? I personally want to be a Hufflepuff. I don't know, from what I've heard, they seem less demanding."

"I don't really care which house I get," Astoria replied in her surprisingly high voice.

"Oh. I guess that's good. Y-you know, I hear most people marry someone they meet in school. I wonder if I'll meet the one here, you know?" Sarah hastily said to fill up the uncomfortable silence. Luckily for both of them, McGonagall returned just as she finished that thought.

The Great Hall hushed its clamor as the fist-years filed in, only to stop before a stool with an old wizard's hat on it. Something Daphne always said was that the fashion sense of the magical world was perpetually stuck in an age where everyone dressed like a senile old cat lady. Seeing this sad thing, Astoria had to grudgingly agree with her for once. A rip opened on the hat, which then proceeded to sing about the four Houses and their founders.

Oh God. It's singing. Do I have to sing too? Does everything in this place sing? Astoria thought with chagrin. When the song finally ended, McGonagall sounded out their names in alphabetical order, just like before. They came up to the stool and put the hat on. When her name was called, she walked up to the hat slowly, trying to mask her fear. The patchy, brown fabric slid over her eyes, covering up the sea of curious faces, all staring at her.

Don't like my singing, do you? Hmmm. Well, it seems you're not a Hufflepuff, that's for sure… a scratchy voice said in her head. Astoria yelped in absolute surprise and nearly tipped off the stool, resulting in a murmur of soft laughter and shushes from the older students sitting at the tables. An influx of derisive thoughts gathered at the edge of her mind. She was so used to reading other peoples thoughts, it was a shock to have someone else be in her own head, which she had never questioned the sanctity of before. The hat chuckled and went on.

So, you want to rise above the common rabble, eh? Gain control over this power of yours? You wouldn't do badly in Ravenclaw with this curiosity, but I'm going to have to say…. "SLYTHERIN!"

The table of students with green and silver ties at the far end of the hall applauded loudly for the short little girl as she hurried to their table, red spreading over her pale face. She tried to shield herself from looks by pulling some of the prodigious amount of her wavy, dark brown hair over her face. She sat down at the nearest open seat, which happened to be a few seats away from her sister and right next to a blonde boy who looked like he was in Daphne's year in school.

"Well, you made it the best house, Tori. Congratulations," said Daphne with her lips covered in bright red lipstick. With her lipstick, thick eyeliner, and dyed, teased hair, she was definitely attempting a "rocker" look. And succeeding. Daphne was trying to cover up her Welsh accent to sound cool, and Astoria could tell even without legilimency that she was embarrassed by Astoria's outburst under the Hat. She looked darkly back at her sister, her shame growing.

"Yes, welcome, dear! We've heard so much about you!" chimed a pretty sixth-year who was sitting across from Astoria cheerily, trying to calm her. "You certainly seem like an interesting person! I'm Gemma Farley, a prefect. Don't worry, you'll be well looked after here!" Astoria gave her a small smile, trying to resist reading any thoughts coming from her. She didn't want to ruin the friendly image she had.

"This is Graham Montague. I think you've met before now, right?" said Gemma, gesturing to a rather muscular third-year with straight, black hair sitting in between Gemma and Daphne. He gave a polite nod and smiled. He was one of Daphne's best friends, and had come to visit her at their house before. "The boy sitting next to you is Draco Malfoy, and next to him are Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe." Before, Draco had been talking to Gregory about dementors making someone faint on the Hogwarts Express. Hearing his name mentioned, he turned to her and said,

"Pleased to meet you, Astoria. I'm interested to see how such a powerful legilimens turns out. I hope we can be friends." He offered a hand to her smugly, expecting a shake. Astoria looked up at him, picking out his thoughts in particular from the rest of the random barrage of images trying to get into her mind. She remembered Daphne mentioning him in annoyance, along with the other Slytherin kids who were into pureblood ideology. This one was apparently the worst of his year. What could he be like, really?

Draco had started to withdraw his hand when she finally shook it, grinning toothily.

"You know, people aren't usually so eager to be around someone who can read their thoughts, Malfoy."

"Well, I –"

"You know what else? I think envy is the ugliest emotion," Astoria said slyly, still grinning as she glanced quickly at the Gryffindor table, where a bespectacled boy with black hair and a buck-toothed girl were just sitting down together. Draco's face reddened, and he looked away angrily.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Greengrass." He retorted firmly. A few of the other students listening snickered, guessing at what Astoria was getting at, but most of the other students were turning to the headmaster, who was about to commence the year. The Great Hall quickly quieted, and Astoria couldn't help but be filled with hope and excitement at the prospect of the year beginning.


With the warmth of the opening feast still on their minds, the Slytherin first years made their way down into the dark, cool dungeons, led by Gemma Farley and her twin brother Aurelio. As they went deeper and deeper into the dungeons of Hogwarts, the quieter the surroundings got. Where the décor in the main area of the castle was clamorous with its colors and movement, the paintings, tapestries, and light in the dungeons were generally more subdued in tone and subject, with a few points of bright, jewel colors to break through the darkness. Eventually the group got to a black stone wall with a large blank spot in the middle.

"Alright, this is the entrance to our common room," said Aurelio. "The password to get in changes every two weeks, and when it does you'll see it on the notice board." Gemma turned to the blank wall and said,

"The password now is chiaroscuro." At the last word, uttered firmly, the dark stones disappeared to reveal a short passageway that led into a grand-looking room. The back windows showed the green depths of the Great Lake, with its many strange creatures. At the moment, a small merman was floating near one of the windows and tapping the glass with a stick. The low, vaulted ceiling of the room had green and silver lanterns hanging down alongside black stalactites. There was a lot of dark wooden furniture (especially bookshelves), as well as black and green leather chairs and sofas. Between the back windows a large fireplace, which was situated under a snake emblem hewn into the wall, provided heat and light. All around the walls of the Common Room elaborate, medieval tapestries depicted scenes of people. Some were speaking, some were singing, some were working at some magical experiment, some faced some strange beast or foe, among many other diverse feats. The Farley twins went and stood in the middle of the Common Room, where several other upperclassmen were waiting. Gemma waited for the first-years to quiet down, smiling, before saying proudly,

"Welcome to Slytherin, the House of ambition, determination, resourcefulness, leadership, and cunning!"

"All of us here have ambition, the seeds of greatness. Who here knows what they want to do?" asked Aurelio. A few seconds ticked by before a red-haired boy raised his hand.

"What's your name?"

"I'm John White," the boy replied.

"And what's your ambition?"

"I'm not going to be poor anymore!" he confidently said. The Farley twins smiled and clapped appreciatively, joined by a few of the other students. More first years raised their hands after this, and one by one all of them were called upon. A tall girl with her hair in a bob, named Caroline Odell, wanted to start her own fashion line. Jerome Katz, a short, chubby boy, wanted to become a powerful Auror. A very skinny girl named Zlata Alkaeva wanted to create new laws in the Ministry of Magic. When those who knew what their ambition was had been called on, Gemma continued,

"If you don't know what you want to do yet, that's O.K. You still have ambition, and a will and ability to pursue that ambition. That's what separates us from the other Houses. Everyone has dreams, but we have the drive to achieve those dreams no matter the cost. Some past members of Slytherin have been Kingsley Shacklebolt, who is currently a highly respected Auror working for the Ministry of Magic, Phineas Nigellus Black, a former headmaster of the school, and Merlin, the greatest wizard of all time! Really, I can't think of why anyone would want to be in another House. Now, you need to know a bit more about your new Housemates and the rules we have."

"Professor Severus Snape is our Head of House," stated Aurelio, shifting to sit casually in a large, green armchair. "That means he's in charge of most things pertaining to Slytherin House - including disciplining Slytherin students in most cases - and also, of course, what happens with the Slytherin Quidditch team. Unless there's an unusual circumstance you can't join that yet, unfortunately. When you're in your fifth year, he'll give you advice on your future careers. He's also the potions master, so you'll have a lot of classes with him. My sister Gemma and I are some of your prefects. The other ones are Galatea Petras and Gerald Armistead, who are the fifth-year prefects, and Agni Bhasmatas and Lobelia Kirkland, who are the seventh year prefects." A few of the upperclassmen came forward at the mention of their names. "It's our basic job to make sure you all behave. We can take away House points from other Slytherin students if we feel you aren't living up to our House's great legacy."

"But, you see," Gemma continued, leaning on Aurelio's armchair, "we're a House that pulls together, so that's not all we do. We make sure all is well in Slytherin, so to speak. Or, we make sure you all make it that way. It's inevitable that not all of us will get along, but we are in the same House so that we can help each other achieve the greatness that the Hat saw in each of us. No, we're definitely not all best friends, but we won't stand for feuds between our members, and we present a united face to the other Houses. If we catch you harassing another Slytherin, or if you can't stop bickering with one, we'll take care of the problem. There is another side to this, though. If we find out that you're being treated badly by anyone, even a teacher, we'll do all we can to make the situation better. Professor Snape is especially insistent about this policy. You'll feel a lot more confident in Hogwarts with other snakes getting your back."

"Hmm, what else are we missing?" Gemma mused. "Oh, our House Ghost is the Bloody Baron. You probably noticed him at the opening feast just now. He's the ghost with the chains and bloodstains all over him. We like to think that he's the scariest ghost in the castle. He barely talks, and then only to Slytherin students when he's in the mood for it. It's often hard to understand what's he's getting at, and there's a chance he won't quite remember your name, but he has been known to give people good advice – or at the very least interesting advice. If you really get on his good side he'll sometimes even agree to scare someone in particular for you."

"Now, your dormitories are this way," she said, gesturing to a stone archway to the left of the room. "You'll find green and silver ties to add to your uniforms there. The girls' dormitories are to the left down that hallway, and the boys' are to the right. But before you go, there's a word of warning we've had to add on to our welcoming speech." At this, the first years who had eagerly started towards the hallway leading to their waiting beds stopped and turned back towards the prefects warily. Astoria could feel their trepidation, as well as a cold feeling settle in her own stomach.

"We've always been the least popular House in Hogwarts almost since the beginning, since we're supposedly all Dark Arts enthusiasts or pure-blood supremacists – which isn't true, obviously, as I'm sure some of you are muggle-borns. I suppose those are the type of people the other students like to pay the most attention to, though. Last year, however, things have changed a bit since the incident with the basilisk. I'm sure you've all heard of it by now. If not, you can ask one of us about it later. But anyway, this basilisk – a giant, magical snake, basically - was hiding in a secret part of the castle built by our founder nearly one thousand years ago for security purposes. It almost killed a few students until it was finally put down, and the whole school was terrified. Including us, mind you, but no one seems to remember that. Anyway, that really put us on the school's blacklist." At this, Gemma sighed. The room was quiet now except for the sound of gently moving water outside the windows.

"Now, we're not necessarily saying that you should be paranoid and not socialize outside of our family here, but just don't get your hopes too high. Try not to get into trouble, because it will probably end up being your fault, even if it really wasn't." A few upperclassmen, including Graham Montague, added their assent from behind Gemma.

"Be on the lookout for 'jokes,' especially from Gryffindors," he interjected. "Well, mostly just the Weasley twins. They aspire to be the proud owners of a joke shop, but it's more likely that they'll end up in Azkaban for a particularly whimsical manslaughter or two. Never accept anything from them, especially candy."

"Oh, don't worry too much," Aurelio quickly added, trying to make his demeanor as cheery as it was before. "Remember what we said earlier. We look out for each other. No one can hurt us if we stick together." A bit of the fear in the group of first-years was lifted, but Astoria went to her bed without any of her anxieties assuaged. After an hour or so of tossing under the comfortable green sheets and listening to the thoughts of her peers, the sound of the push and pull of the lake lulled her to sleep.