A/N: Some of these names are pulled from the HP wikia page. And I know Flint wasn't a prefect, but I had to do something.

Chapter 4 - Prefects and First-Years

"Hello, first years. My name is Gemma Farley, and I am one of the fifth-year Slytherin Prefects. I am here to talk to you about more of the rules of Slytherin House." Gemma Farley stood with the rest of the Prefects in front of a group of ten eleven- and twelve-year olds. "Now, Professor Snape has already said some of the things you need to know. We're here to tell you the rest."

"My name is Marcus Flint. I'm the sixth-year Prefect and Quidditch Captain. The first rule you'll have to learn here is actually a quote. 'The blood of the covenant is thinker than the water of the womb.' Once you're sorted into Slytherin, your family is Slytherin. That means that you support your family whenever possible." Flint took a step back and another Prefect stood forward.

"Amrish Gupta, fifth-year, at your service," the Prefect said. "You'll find that there is a hierarchy in this house. For obvious reasons, you lot are on the bottom. But that does not mean that you are unimportant. You will each get a 'mentor' of sorts. That mentor will likely be in their fourth or sixth year. None of the Prefects will be your mentor, not will someone with irregular duties. Montague and Pucey, for example, won't mentor anyone because they have Quidditch to deal with."

Another Prefect stood forward.

"Hello. My name is Sylvia Melville. Sixth-year Prefect. Your mentor is your confidant. You will go to them if you need help with homework or if you have personal problems, and they are your first line of defence against bullies. If you can't find your mentor, go to a Prefect. If you can't find a Prefect, hope Professor Snape is in a good mood. Other than that, talk to your friends."

"There is an inner-house points system divided by year. You can earn points by finishing your homework, which will be checked, or any outstanding services. Say Professor Snape needs help and you volunteer, that will gain you points. But detentions and being late to class will lose you points, as will confrontations outside of this common room. By the end of the semester, the year with the most points gets certain prises, like extra Galleons. The year with the least points will get clean-up duty for Professor Snape's classroom when there are no detentions." Gemma looked around at the young faces staring back at her.

When she saw the guarded expression on Harry Potter, her face softened.

"Alright, you lot, let's go to breakfast," she said. The Prefects stood either in front of or behind the group, making sure that nobody got left behind.

Harry made sure to remember which direction they were headed so he wouldn't get lost in the future.

When they got to the Great Hall, Harry noticed how the dynamics of the Slytherin table worked. The seventh- and sixth-years sat in the middle of the table, with the lesser years filling in beside them. The first-years were stationed nearest to the High table.

"So, Harry Potter in Slytherin. What a surprise," Malfoy drawled from across the table.

"Yeah, and here we thought you would go to Gryffindor like your parents," a girl wit brown hair and light skin said. "Oh, where are my manners. My name is Pansy Parkinson."

Harry nodded his head in her direction, but kept his eyes on his breakfast.

"And you already know Draco, obviously," Pansy simpered while Malfoy sneered. "That's Millicent Bulstrode. Theodore Nott. Daphne Greengrass. Blaise Zabini. Vincent Crabbe. Gregory Goyle. Tracey Davis."

With each name called, Parkinson pointed to another first-year.

"We, of course, already know each other," Parkinson smirked. "But I'm afraid none of us know you. What a shame."

Titters followed that statement. Harry glanced around and saw that all of the other first-years were staring at him expectantly. Putting down his silverware, Harry addressed the group.

"Hello. My name is Harry Potter, and I'm sure it's a pleasure to meet you all." With that, he turned his attention back to his plate and continued eating.

"You know, I'd think that you'd have a better attitude now that you share a room with us," Malfoy said. "We wouldn't want any accidents to happen would we?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't associate with snobs or prats. And since you seem to fit in both of those categories, I'm sure I want nothing to do with you." Harry turned to the rest of the group, who were all silent and watching the confrontation. "And if the rest of you are like that, you might as well not speak to me at all. I don't care that I'm in Slytherin, or that my parents were in Gryffindor. I didn't know them. But I'm not going to put up with any harassment from this house, which if you remember correctly, is supposed to be your new family."

Silence followed those words, and Harry finished his breakfast. He didn't really like the fact that most of his other house-mates were bullies, but he knew how to deal with them if they were.

Harry could see Professor Snape get up from the High table and head towards them, schedules in hand.

"These are your time tables for the year. Make sure you're on time for your classes." That last statement was directed at Harry, and the group of first-years seamed to know it. Professor Snape had apparently given the rest of Slytherin permission to make Harry's life agony.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, and the follows! If you have any ideas about the story, I'd be glad to hear them. Love you all. -Michel