Here's another one! :)

Disclaimer- I don't own Harry Potter. It all belongs to JK Rowling.

Chapter 4

The next morning I awoke early, before any of the other boys in the dormitory. I escaped quickly into the cold corridor outside of the Slytherin common room, happy to get away from all the ridicule. I decided that I would go down to breakfast early. The details of the Great Hall I remembered vividly. How to get there, not so much. I resigned myself to wandering aimlessly through passages and corridors, up and down staircases, falling into trick steps and opening fake doors. The portraits watched me. I watched them just as carefully — I had never seen a moving painting before. I was so fascinated that I didn't even notice the approaching footsteps.

"Potter!" a deep voice demanded. Startled, I spun around, turning my back to the portrait I had been examining. It was Professor Snape, the dark, frightening Potions professor who I had seen at dinner the night before. "What do you think you are doing?"

"I-I couldn't sleep, sir. And I got lost trying to get to the Great Hall."

"The Great Hall is on the other side of the castle, Potter." He spat my name like I had done something wrong to him. Everyone spoke to me that way here.

"Sorry, sir. I'll get over there right away," I stammered, and turned to hurry away. Professor Snape grabbed the back of my robes.

"Not so fast, Potter. Why did you not simply wait in your dormitory or common room for the other boys to wake?"

"Well, sir, you see, the other Slytherins don't exactly like me." I averted my gaze. The stone floor suddenly seemed very interesting. Maybe he could help. . . . He was the Head of Slytherin.

"Well, I advise that you learn to get along with them. They will be your classmates for the next seven years."

"Y-Yes, sir." I should have expected it. No one ever cared enough to help me.

He gave me a calculating glance. Then he turn and stalked off, pausing only to call over his shoulder, "I would get going if I were you, Potter. Next time I catch you wandering, I won't be quite so lenient." The professor's black robes twirled dramatically as he left, and I watched him march off, transfixed for a moment. Then I too left the place of our meeting.

By the time I had made it down to the Great Hall, breakfast was already served. Half of the school sat at the tables for their respective houses. The other half, I suspected, were still in bed.

As I made my way over to the Slytherin table, Professor Snape sent me a suspicious look from the head table. I ignored it and peeked at the golden platters on the table. They were all piled high with fresh food — steaming eggs, sizzling bacon, buttered toast with a multitude of jam flavors on the side, fluffy pancakes stacked atop one another, thick square waffles with cool maple syrup dripping temptingly off the edges. I quickly spotted Draco and the rest of the first year Slytherins, and I moved to the other end of the table where a couple of older boys sat.

"Hello!" I said cheerfully as I began spooning eggs onto my plate. They glanced at me briefly before returning to their own plates. "I'm Harry Potter. Who are you?"

"Marcus Flint," the first boy said quietly. He was muscular, with dark hair and deep-set black eyes. The other boy didn't answer. Flint glanced at him before looking back to me. Then he realized who I was. "Why are you sitting here?" he snarled.

"What? I was just looking for a place to sit. I'm sorry if I offended you." I looked up, confused about his sudden personality change.

"You most certainly did," Flint snapped, gripping me under the arms and hoisting me out of the seat. "Now, leave." Too shocked to say anything else, I listened.

I ate in silence, all alone at the very end of the table like the night before. The food must have been good, because I had eaten it quickly and everyone else was scarfing it down, but I was unable to taste it. Marcus Flint's reaction when he had realized who I was played through my head over and over. Upset, I stood up and suddenly stomped out of the Great Hall. Maybe Ron would talk to me.

I sat in the entrance hall, next to the double doors that led into the Great Hall. The doors to the rest of the grounds were before me. Suddenly the doors to the Great Hall burst open and Professor McGonagall, the Transfiguration teacher, emerged. She handed me a thick piece of parchment.

"Your schedule, Mr. Potter." I took it politely.

"Thank you, Professor." I glanced over my classes. My first lesson was Potions with Professor Snape. McGonagall granted me a curt nod and slipped back through the doors.

After a few long minutes, Ron and a girl with bushy brown hair left the Great Hall. I ran forward and grabbed Ron's arm.

"Oi! Get off of me, you stupid snake!" he exclaimed, pulling his arm free of my loose grasp. I recoiled, shocked and hurt.

"But-but Ron!" I protested, fighting the tears of rejection that were threatening to fall. "We hung out on the train! We had fun! Remember?"

"Of course I remember. But if you were going to go off and get yourself sorted into Slytherin, you should have gone and sat with Malfoy." He spat the words in my face.

"Draco Malfoy is a prick."

"Agreeing with me won't get you anywhere," Ron snapped.

"That wasn't my point. Can't we still be friends?" I begged.

"You're a Slytherin. No. The answer has to be no."

"Don't be like that, Weasley! It's a stupid prejudice — a petty hatred. Can't you get over it?"

"No, Potter, I can't. Go hang out with your fellow snakes and leave us alone. We don't associate with evil little liars." He began walking away. The bushy-haired girl followed.

"What?" But Ron was already gone.

Turning quickly, I ran to my dormitory. I threw myself onto my bed and drew the curtains around me hastily. Then I just sat there and cried until it was time to leave for Potions.

I cried because I had been wrong. Hogwarts was no different than Privet Drive. No one cared.

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