Third Part
They didn't have to wait long. A minute later the stone wall behind slid open and a relatively young man clambered through it. Albus assumed this was the infamous Professor Perrine. Shane immediately approached the Professor to assist him, but was waved off.
"I'm fine Shane, but thank you," Professor Perrine said as he limped towards the middle of the room. He used a cane to support his right leg, punctuating every step with a soft thud. He had short, brown hair and a crooked nose that had clearly been broken at least once.
"Do you think that's a swordcane?" Sophie whispered. Albus merely arched an eyebrow in response. That sounded preposterous, even by his standards
"Well he is a Slytherin, you never know," Sophie continued.
"He's a wizard, why would he need a swordcane? For that matter, why would anyone need that?" Albus responded. Sophie just shrugged.
"To stab people with?" she offered. Albus just rolled his eyes and continued to watch Perrin's slow progression. Once their head of house had made it to the middle of the room, he paused, cast a look at the eight first years before him and then turned to the two prefects who nodded.
"These are all the new ones Professor," Claire said as she waved at the first years. Albus couldn't help but feel like cattle that was being inspected.
"Brilliant. Hello first years, thank you for indulging me. I so like to speech," Perrine said with a wry smile, "Older years, feel free to listen if you want, but it's the same speech as every year, so I won't hold it against you if you leave or just ignore me. Do try not to make too much noise though," Perrine continued as he craned his head to the rest of the room, before turning to the first years once more.
"Now, welcome to Hogwarts and above all, welcome to Slytherin. I am Professor Perrine, your head of house and Defence Against the Dark arts teacher. I am here to introduce you to your new house and tell you what is expected of you as a Slytherin," he began, pacing across the room and punctuating his words with his cane.
"Some of you might be afraid, fearing judgment from your elders or peers for being sorted in a dark house. Or perhaps you fear this house is filled with dark wizards eager to kill you in your sleep," Perrine continued, his voice barely louder than a whisper. He paused and let his gaze sweep across his audience. For a second his eyes seemed to rest on Albus, but he quickly resumed his pacing.
"Others of you might be ecstatic, already dreaming of the dark magic you'll learn here and the power you'll grasp as a Slytherin. Such a tempting prospect, no?" he mused.
"All these preconceptions, while understandable, are flagrantly wrong. This house has an unsavoury reputation, one that was once well-deserved, but not anymore. These past few years your housemates have done an excellent job of changing Slytherin. We have not just won the house cup several times, but have also improved our reputation," he said as he waved at the blasted-off motto underneath the Slytherin coat of arms.
"Nowadays, none can doubt that Muggleborns, half-bloods and pure-bloods are equally welcome here. Our beloved Prefect Claire for instance is a Muggleborn, so I warn you that if you still hold to that ideal, you better do something about it or keep it quiet," Perrin warned. Claire twisted her wand in her hand while smiling viciously.
"However, the other ideals Salazar Slytherin espoused are still valued. Cunning is a virtue. Excel with your wits and show Ravenclaws that book knowledge is only a poor substitute for real wiles. Let your ambition inspire you to for the sky, but do so in an appropriate manner. If it drives you to acts that not even the most courageous Gryffindor would dare perform, wonderful. However, dabbling in the dark arts or anything along those lines is unacceptable!" Perrine said, raising his voice above conversational level for the first time.
"In short, be a Slytherin of the 21st century. This is your chance to prove that your background and heritage do not matter. Prove you are your own man or woman. Believe me, there is no better house to help you with that, than Slytherin," Perrine concluded. Once more his gaze seemed to rest on Albus, but also on Malfoy
The entire common room was dead silent; you could hear a pin drop. Most looked serious, some outright grim, but Albus couldn't wipe the smile from his face. If what professor Perrine said was true, the Sorting Hat might have found the right house for him after all.
"With that said, I am certain all of you will do great here and make plenty of friends. I will see all of you tomorrow at breakfast and of course in class. If you have any concerns or questions, you can come find me, or one of the Prefects," Perrine said before leaving the dungeons, dragging his right leg along and leaning heavily on his cane.
"I agree with the sentiment, but honestly, his inspirational speeches suck," Sophie said once the door had closed behind Perrine. The ensuing laughter broke the tension and all first-years seemed to visibly relax.
"Okay, that's enough. Silence please!" Shane shouted, "I agree that professor Perrine can be a bit gloomy, but the point still stands. All of us here at Slytherin have worked hard these past few years to get where we are now. We certainly hope you newcomers won't ruin it for us."
"However, that does not mean you can't make mistakes. We all do and there's nothing wrong with that," Claire chimed in, "But to echo Professor Perrine, any pure-blood nonsense or dark magic will not be tolerated. Be cunning, be ambitious, by all means, but above all be worthy. Or as worthy as children can be at least," Claire said with a lopsided grin, "As the professor said, if you have any concerns you can seek him out. However, given his busy schedule, do try to come find me first. Or if you're really desperate for help, and there's no one else around, you can try Shane," she added with a gesture towards the male Prefect who grinned back at her, "now the dorms are over there. Find yourself a bed and if you have a cat, please keep it away from me as I'm allergic. Any jokes in that regard will have grave consequences, just ask James Potter," she concluded as she tapped her wand.
Albus nodded solemnly before heading towards the direction Claire had indicated. He was quite eager to see their dormitory but above all, he needed time to digest all those speeches.
"Do you now feel slightly less terrible about being in Slytherins Albus?" Sophie asked as she caught up to him.
"If he truly meant what he said, yes. I'm not averse to helping Slytherin improve its reputation. After all, we're all stuck with it."
"True enough. In that case, I count you to use the famous Potter charm to make us the most beloved of houses. It would not do for me to lose my status of most beloved of the Gatry twins solely because of my Sorting. Well see you tomorrow. Sleep tight and don't let the bed snakes bite" Sophie laughed before walking through the door of the girls' dormitory.
Albus headed through the opposite door and found himself in the boy's dormitory. It was a relatively spacious room with four four-posters with green silk hangings, two on each side. Lanterns similar to the one in the Common Room hung from the ceiling and several windows provided them with a nice view of the lake.
"Great, I can't wait to wake up one morning and discover that a Mereperson is staring at me," Albus muttered as he suppressed a shiver. From what he'd heard about the Triwizard Tournament, they were neither the friendliest nor the aesthetically most pleasing of magical creatures.
He walked towards the bed on the left side of the room that was the furthest away from the windows and dropped down on it. Romulus sat down on the bed next to him. Malfoy walked into the room as well but paused when the fourth boy cleared his throat.
"Hi, sorry to be annoying straight from the start, but I'm not sleeping on the same side of the room as Scorpius Malfoy," he said, "that can only result in trouble."
"I can assure you, I am not looking for any trouble," Malfoy stammered in response as he turned to the speaker.
"Well, you'll find it regardless. I remember what your family did during the war," the boy snapped back. He was taller than the rest of them, had auburn hair and wore glasses.
"Okay, let's all calm down here," Romulus said, approaching the two with his hands raised, "we're going to be dorm mates for the next seven years so we should really try to get along."
"I'll ignore him, that's the best you can hope for, but only if I don't have to sleep this close to him," the boy replied.
"Does that matter though, really? We're all in the same room anyway," Romulus replied.
"It matters to me," the boy spat back.
Albus repressed the urge to groan. He was way too tired for this, but judging by the boy's expression he wasn't going to give in anytime soon. James could occasionally act like that as well and then he wouldn't budge until he got what he wanted. Albus really didn't feel like standing up for a Malfoy, but he also really wanted to sleep. Besides, Perrine's words still rang strong in his ears. Perhaps it was time to forget about their parents' legacies and if Malfoy turned out to still be a git, James would be more than willing to hex him for Albus.
"Fine, fine. I don't mind sleeping on the same side as Malfoy. That is, if Rom here doesn't mind switching and sleeping on the same side as, what was your name anyway?" Albus asked.
"Oh sorry, I'm Joshua. Joshua Burke," the boy said, immediately affable again now he seemed to be getting what he wanted.
"No problem," Romulus said as he moved his stuff to the other side of the room and dropped it down on the bed next to Joshua's.
"Thanks guys," Joshua said as he started to unpack. In the meantime, Malfoy walked to Rom's former bed and looked mildly surprised at Albus.
"Thank you. I'm sorry for the trouble," Malfoy whispered.
"It's fine," Albus replied, slightly uneasy by Malfoy's gratitude, "as long as you don't snore."
"Oh no! I wouldn't dare. I'll be quiet like a mouse at night. Otherwise people might think I'm up to something and decide to hex me for good measure," Malfoy added.
With the drama over, Albus quickly donned his pyjamas. He was quite relieved he had chosen a black and white pair, rather than James who had immediately gone for a gold and red pair, even before his Sorting. As Albus got in bed, he cast a final look at Malfoy who, of course, wore green and silver pyjamas. While he couldn't say he was happy that Malfoy was being bullied, the boy's reaction to it was at least promising. Rather than snap back like a proper junior Death Eater, he just rolled with the punches.
"Hey, Malfoy," Albus whispered.
"Yeah Potter?" Malfoy replied, stifling a yawn.
"For what it's worth, I'm sorry for the treatment you've gotten so far. What do you say, shall the two of us at least try to look beyond each other's last name?" Albus asked. For some time Malfoy was silent, opening his mouth and then closing it again. Malfoy dropped down in his bed and replied.
"Yes, I'd like that. I'd like that very much… Guess that means we'll need to start using each other's first names though."
"Yeah, guess so," Albus grinned, "good night Scorpius."
"Good night Albus," Scorpius replied.
Albus closed his eyes, feeling slightly relieved. For a bit, it had seemed his stay at Hogwarts would be a disaster. But now, it seemed Slytherin wasn't that bad, or at least not anymore. Moreover, with a little bit of luck he wouldn't spend the next seven years fighting with one of his housemates. Then again, now he'd need even more parchment to not just explain to his parents not just that he was in Slytherin, but also that he had struck up a tentative friendship with Scorpius Malfoy of all people.
A/N: Maybe I should have just named chapter 2 "Speeches" with all the monologues I have in there. This Chapter's for Kamikaze Black whose reviews were a most pleasant surprise this morning.