Grams always goes on about the balance of things, Mike recollects. She says every bad occurrence has something spectacular come out of it. Mike thinks that in situations like these the opposite can be true too because the train ride was spectacular! Laughing and chatting with those other boys was more fun than playing monopoly with Grams or having ice cream and cake. He pet Trevor's pet cat, had magical sweets off the trolley, and even opened his Charms book and read a few chapters. Trevor teased him about skimming the pages and Mike was embarrassed. He knew he read abnormally fast, so he didn't want to correct Trevor's assumption. He just let him believe that Mike just wanted to quickly find a neat spell.
On the flipside, Mike hopes he never ever has to cross that lake again. Sure the man leading the way was gigantic and could probably stand in the deepest part on his tippy toes or something, but it was still pretty scary. Mike could see things moving, squirming around, but couldn't make out what they were because it was so dark. Mike spends the ride listening to those of Trevor's friends (and Mike's too by association) who are first years sneer and chuckle every time Hagrid, the large man, stutters or mumbles in an unbecoming way.
Mike wants to fit in with these kids, but isn't a cruel person by nature. Although Hagrid's manner makes him seem a little slow, he has a warmth about him that makes Mike feel safe even when sailing over dark waters, so Mike doesn't participate in his peers' merriment.
When Mike's finally back on land (Thank Merlin), he has the idle thought that compares Hagrid to the Pied Piper and all the students as the little mice following him.
Mike sees Hogwarts up close for the first time and he feels in awe of it. It's beautiful, not because of the stars gently shining around its background or because of the fact that Hogwarts is a castle, Mike's from England thank you, he's seen a castle or two. No, it's beautiful because Mike can feel the power radiating off of the walls, windows, and floors in giant waves.
Mike frowns and remembers that he has a way of over imagining things. Maybe those waves are just another idle fancy he made up to keep his overactive mind out of trouble. He still thinks Hogwarts is awesome in a mysterious way.
When he makes it inside the castle everyone's whispering excitedly. Somewhere in all of the hub-bub Mike's lost the friends he made on the train and he's just wandering past other kids to the front of the large room they are occupying.
He bumps into a young girl with bright red hair and soft doe eyes and Mike can't help but offer a little smile. "Sorry," he apologizes even though he's pretty sure everyone's connected to someone else somehow.
"No problem. My friend has been knocking himself into me four times a minute it seems like. You bumping into me is a good change of pace," she says with a wink. Mike thinks that with that small gesture she seems kind of impish, like a fairy waiting to play a trick. He looks beside her to see which friend she was talking about and thinks the boy behind her must be the one.
The other wizard's looks are more boyish than Mike's and Mike finds himself slightly envious. He's tall for his age, Mike can tell because Mike is tall too, but Harvey is slightly taller. He has a light tan and dark hair and a pair of unfortunately broad eyebrows that Mike might crack a joke at, but the intensity of the boy's chocolate eyes and broad nose sort of tie those eyebrows into a decent looking bloke.
Mike holds his hand out to the young witch he bumped into and introduces himself.
"My name is Donna Specter and this is my brother Harvey," she replies boldly, giving his hand three firm strokes. "What house do you think you'll get into?" Donna questions and Mike feels puzzled.
"Houses? I thought we were staying in the castle," Mike says in confusion. At Harvey's smirk Mike thinks he should have read Hogwarts: A History before starting on his charms book.
"The students are divided into four groups; Slytherins, Hufflepuffs, Gryffindors, and Ravenclaws. Where you stay at in the castle depends on which house you get accepted into. This is common knowledge, so you must be muggleborn," the young boy states in a lecturing tone.
Mike blinks trying to process the information. "What's a muggleborn?" Mike isn't sure he wants to know. It doesn't sound good. Harvey and Donna chuckle beside him.
"Don't get insulted. A muggle is a wizarding term for someone who is without magic," Donna says and this time she sounds more snobby than playful, which makes Mike uncomfortable.
"Well, my dad was a wizard. He just died before he could tell me anything about this place," Mike admits.
"Hmmm. I'm sorry to hear that," Harvey says with all the sincerity of an eleven year old who doesn't intimately understand death or the effect that death can have on your life. "Our parents are both Gryfindors, so that's where we'll hopefully be put. Oh that's McGonagall. We have to form a line now."
Mike proceeds to the line with Harvey and Donna but realizes that they are being forced in alphabetical order. Thinking about their pride and snobbish tones, Mike thinks it's probably a good thing that there are a few people separating him from the Specter children. He finds his place next to Jennifer Rosend, a girl he met in Trevor's group.
"Jen, What house is Trevor in?" Mike whispers to the girl in front of him.
"Slytherin, of course," she smiles back.
"Of course," Mike echoes.
So when it's finally time for Mike to place the sorting hat on his head, (Why can't teachers ever start with the letter "z" instead of "a", Mike wonders) Mike thinks, " If I have any power at all in requesting where I'll be put, I'd prefer Slytherin. Please."
He tacks the please on quickly, not wanting to be impolite, but still feeling weird about talking to an inanimate object. He feels even weirder when it talks back.
Hmmm. Are you sure? You have a thirst for knowledge that is quite Ravenclaw in its strength.
"Yes, but I don't know anyone in Ravenclaw. I have friends in Slytherin. They can help me get along in this world I know next to nothing about.
Well, that is a very Slytherin thing to say, so I suppose that is where you will go.
When the hat shouts out, "SLYTHERIN!" in its boisterous tone, Mike can see Trevor smiling and waving his arms while his friends cheer along with him. He can also see the Specter twins looking indifferent and that reassures him that Gryffindor is no place for him.
He sits down with his classmates at Slytherin table and is only slightly surprised when his tie magically turns the color of his house and his robes weave the Slytherin crest on the upper left side of his chest.
It only takes a week for Mike to form opinions on all of his classes. They're all surprisingly easy and Mike struggles with concealing his genius brain more and more every minute. Trevor warns him that his classes won't be like this forever. Right now, Mike is only facing the basics. The mandatory classes are taken first through third year and extracurricular are added after that, or in some cases during third year.
Trevor has been so awesome at mentoring Mike and showing him around the castle. Mike doesn't want to make his first friend mad by showing off. He doesn't want to come off as a pompous know it all, or anything, so he downplays his talent.
A purposefully wrong flick in Transfigurations has his feather turning a neon purple instead of lifting into the sky like it is supposed to. He sleeps in History of Magic, and still passes his first test in the top ten percentile. Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts are the two classes that are the exceptions to Mike's rule of hiding his genius for two separate reasons.
Snape warned everyone the first day in his class that potions are not to be taken lightly and Mike is fascinated with the subject. There are so many interesting things you can do with potions. Different ingredients have different effects depending on variables of measurement and conditions. It's a precise art with difficult rules. It's a giant puzzle. Mike's always been good with puzzles, and Potions is no exception.
Mike lets his real potential shine through in Potions arguing with himself that Slytherins are supposed to excel in Potions, so it isn't inconceivable that he could be good at it. Plus, potions are too unpredictable to purposefully sabotage. Someone could get hurt because of Mike's own cowardice, and Mike doesn't want that.
Mike also tries his best in Defense Against The Dark Arts, not because it's logical to like it is in Potions, but because he royally sucks at DADA. None of the spells want to work for him, so the only thing Mike has going for him is his eidetic memory which insures that Mike passes all the pop quizzes. As far as practical use, Mike doesn't get it. He tries a 'simple' protection charm and watches the end of his wand blow smoke and spark while the majority of the other kids' wands cast a blue glow around them.
Mike watches Harvey Specter smirk over at him in triumph and Mike is proud at his self control as he resists the urge to punch the Gryffindor in the face.
It's a well known fact in Hogwarts that Gryffindors and Slytherins have a rivalry that started at the beginning of time, and yet for some reason the headmaster deems it prudent to shove them into classes together at every opportunity. Mike wonders if the teachers think prolonged exposure to the other house will cause a deeper understanding of their schoolmates. If that is the case, he also wonders if their hypothesis is correct or if by forcing the Gryffindors and his house to compete in class for house points and the teachers' attention/affection they are simply making it worse.
"Harvey Specter, would you like to inform the class of three potions the Mandrake root is used in?" a cutting voice filled with ire and derision is directed at the boy sitting at the table parallel to Mike's.
Sometimes Mike is glad he joined Slytherin house simply because Severus Snape, the Potions Professor as well as Head of Slytherin house, treats his Slytherin students kindly.
Well, maybe not kindly.
Nicer than he treats Gryfindors to say the least.
Harvey sputters out one correct potion that has the Mandrake root. Mike recalls vaguely that Mandrake root is used in many antidotes such as the deflating draught and of course the Mandrake draught, but does not offer the Gryffindor any help.
"Mandrake Draught? Really Mr. Specter, I never would have guessed. Ten points from Gryffindor for your lack of originality and your sarcasm," Snape drawls out before flicking his wand at the chalkboard at the front of the room. The instructions for the potion they were to attempt during class today slowly started writing itself in pale chalk. Cauldrons clatter to the tables on their own as well. The noise that emits drowns out the groans of protest from the Gryffindors.
This time they were to brew the potions solo. Professor Snape informed them on the first day of class that once they graduated to Third Year Potions the class would be partnered up, as the potions from that point onward were a two person job. Today's assignment, Mike notes, is a weak sleeping draught that he read about earlier in the week.
Gently, he gathers the sopophorous beans and begins dicing them into neat even squares. Mike's pace is slow and patient. He does everything deliberately, reading the instructions carefully before each step. He's interrupted by Professor Snape.
"Mr. Ross, perhaps you would care to explain to Mr. Specter the difference between dicing and chopping," Snape says, a snarl apparent in the undertone of his voice.
Mike doesn't want to lecture Harvey, Merlin knows that they dislike each other enough. To make himself feel better Mike justifies this as payback for Harvey's gloating in Defense earlier.
"Dicing is cutting your ingredients into small cubes. Chopping is to cut with no defined shape," Mike says while looking directly in the dark haired boy's direction.
"Very good. Twenty points to Slytherin," Snape says with a self satisfied smirk. Of course he would reward the Slytherins for a question so trivial and simple being answered correctly after deliberately punishing the Gryffindors for not knowing a third year question.
Mike looks at the anger in Harvey's eyes and wonders if his anger is a matter of pride or if Harvey really dislikes him that much.