Chapter 3 - Twins
A voice called out to all the students, letting them know they would be arriving soon and to leave their luggage and before they knew it they were there! The train pulled into a stop and in doing so it lurched ever so slightly, but this lurch caused Harry to feel one deeper inside himself and he had two sudden and rather worrying thoughts. The first was that he realised he wasn't entirely sure how he was going to get sorted into Slytherin, but the second lurch, which was really more of an aftershock than a lurch on its own, was the thought that he might not be in Slytherin. And because aftershocks continue reverberating for long after the initial tremors die down, this was what was going through his head whilst he and the other boys began to climb down off the train.
This was pushed to the back of his mind however, when he heard a familiar voice calling out, 'Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there Harry?' and with that a big smiling face was looming over him. He felt himself break into a grin as he looked up at Hagrid's smiling, concerned face. Hagrid winked at him and then continued to call out for the first years.
Slipping and sliding he led them down to a lake where a row of boats stood, four of them each climbing into one boat at a time. Looking up they could see the most spectacular sight that harry thought he had ever seen in his life! Across the lake was a row of rocky cliffs and a magnificent castle perched majestically atop them.
Before they set off Hagrid called out to a small, nervous looking boy and asked him about a toad. Harry thought this must be the boy that the girl had been helping out before. But with that they were off, gliding seamlessly across the lake. Harry looked at his three companions, Draco, Vince, and Greg and smiled. He was really happy and even more excited. His stomach was a mass of butterflies at the thought of not being with his friends, but getting to be with them now was setting them right. And just as he thought that he was starting to calm down and enjoy himself, he saw what he could only think of as a giant tentacle and began to panic that he would be eaten before he even got to the school.
A few minutes later and they had made their way up to a rather large entry chamber, and were waiting in front of some of the largest doors that Harry had ever seen. A tall, fierce looking woman was standing in front of them and was just beginning to talk.
Minerva was always very happy to start the school year of course. She was usually a fair bit less nervous than she was right now but she knew the names of some of the students she would start teaching this year and those names were more likely than any she had yet faced to give her either a nervous breakdown, or break her heart.
She thought back on the potters, remembering how intelligent they had been, how much of a prankster James was and just how wonderful of a student had turned out to be. She didn't like to think about them much now, many of her students had died in the war but those two had been some of her favourites. Thinking about meeting their only son excited her, but it also terrified her. She didn't know how she would handle being around him every day after he was sorted into her house.
Looking out on the students now she wondered if she could spot him. She began to open her mouth to explain to these little first years about the houses but paused. She couldn't quite believe her eyes. But she was almost certain. It chilled her to the bone. Another set of Weasley twins! At least these ones weren't identical, and they weren't standing all that close like the current ones tended to, but she knew lots about magical twins, having undertaken research after the first year she had taught some, and she knew how difficult they could be. Add that they were Weasley's and had brothers like Fred and George, and she dreaded to think what the next seven years would be like. She knew one of them was named Ronald but she had split supervising the quill that wrote the student letters with Pomona, due to the need to write out so many for young Harry and wasn't sure of the others name.
She began to properly introduce the houses the way she did every year, only briefly pausing to wonder why a Weasley would be standing anywhere remotely near someone who could only be the spawn of Lucius Malfoy and instead letting her mind review what she knew of young Harry's appearance. She was sure he would be quite nervous and she would've liked to give him a small smile before he was sorted. All she could really remember where his hazel eyes. He hadn't had any hair the first few times she met him, and the last time she saw him he had a blanket covering most of his face. She couldn't see any scars and she thought perhaps she ought to have asked Hagrid what he looked like, still she was sure she would recognise him in a moment out in the hall.
She finished her little speech and walked through the doors into the great hall to prepare for the new students and set up the sorting hat. All the while thinking to herself of the little lions that she would soon be able to help to thrive.
Harry looked around the entry hall that they all stood in, before turning to Draco and starting to ask the question that had been bothering him 'Draco, How do we get sorted int-...' he was cut off however, by the twenty ghosts that had suddenly appeared all talking very loudly about someone named Peeves.
'My dear Friar haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves?...' one of them who was covered in frills was saying. Harry determined to tune them out despite his shock, as it would be rude to eavesdrop, and he continued his question from where he left off, '-o our houses?'
Draco wasn't listening however, too fascinated and disgusted by the ghost as they were to pay attention to his friend, 'My father told me about them. Can you believe we're seeing ghosts for the first time?'
Harry gave up on his question curious, 'Does that mean you've really never seen them before? Don't they have them at normal wizard homes?'
'They do at some but my father would never allow our house to be haunted. Well, unless the ghost was a Malfoy.'
'Wow...' was all Harry could say, thinking of one day living in his own wizarding home with real ghosts just like Draco.
'Move along now!' A voice rang out causing the ghosts to fly off.
Harry turned to see Professor McGonagall was back and looking sternly at them, though she kept shooting firmer glances at both him and the Weasel. She ordered everyone to line up single file and began to lead them out to be sorted. Harry realised he only had moments before the rest of his schooling was decided for him and his legs felt so weak that he could hardly stand let alone walk through the door. Somehow he managed it though and when he was through he was shocked to find hundreds of students seated around him, all staring at the first years as they were led up to a stool with a large rumpled hat. Thinking quickly Harry wondered if they would have to pull a rabbit out of it as a test. He really wished he'd gotten to ask Draco how they were sorted.
It was at this moment that the brim of the hat opened and the hat began to sing, stunning Harry. Harry watched in amazement as the hat told all the students about the four houses and its own origin, thinking that if all he had to do was fool a hat then that wasn't so bad.
All too soon the song ended and Professor McGonagall stepped forward and began calling out names. Harry listened as the first name called was, 'Abbott, Hannah!' and a cry of 'HUFFLEPUFF!' sorted the first student. The list went on, with Harry only paying attention when someone he recognised from the train was called.
Harry was watching as an interesting boy named Stephen Cornfoot strode towards the Ravenclaw table when Vince's name was called. Harry gave him a weak smile before the hat was placed on his head and a sudden call of 'SLYTHERIN!' came roaring out. The big lumbering boy tottered off to the Slytherin table, making sure to leave space for the others. He was very soon joined by Greg and as Harry was watching him get settled he almost missed hearing the name of the next person called which was, 'Granger, Hermione!' Draco nudged him immediately and pointed for him to see the girl from the train.
The hat seemed to be taking a fairly long time to decide and Harry was wondering if she was trying to convince it to put her in Gryffindor. They were still waiting several minutes later and it seemed to be taking an unusually long time, with some of the students it had taken a matter of seconds but this girl was taking minutes. Some of the older students started calling out 'Hatstall!' impatiently as they waited but it took everyone by surprise when the hat suddenly called 'RAVENCLAW!' unexpectedly. The cheers were some of the loudest yet, but Harry thought that might have been because of how long the students had been waiting.
Harry started watching the teachers seated behind the hat trying to guess which teacher taught which class. He knew the nervous man in the turban, Professor Quirrell, taught Defence Against the Dark Arts, (or as they called it in one of his books DADA) and he was going to guess the woman next to him who looked like Hedwig taught transfiguration, if only because she looked so much like an owl with her yellow eyes and short white spiky hair. He also figured the man on the other side of Professor Quirrell taught potions, mostly because he looked so dark and mysterious.
While he did this he noticed absently that the boy with the toad went to Hufflepuff but he was stopped before he could guess about more of the teachers by his new best friend Draco Malfoy being called up to the hat. He gave a grin as his friend strode imposingly up to the hat and let McGonagall begin placing it on his head. She hadn't even let go when 'SLYTHERIN!' rang out across the hall making Harry grin and clap like a madman.
Draco stood and sauntered over to the Slytherin table, a smirk on his face. He sat down opposite Greg and Vince, patting the seat next to him and winking at Harry without losing his smirk. Harry nodded slightly and continued to beam as he turned back to the hat to watch the next few people get sorted.
Very soon he heard McGonagall call his name and all of a sudden the hall went quiet for a moment before whispers dominated, 'It's him,' 'He's here,' 'I wonder which one it is,' they all seemed to say. Harry felt slightly nervous walking up especially when gasps rang out that 'ohmigosh that Weasley is pretending to be Harry Potter, he must be even worse than his brothers!'
Harry just tuned them out and began chanting 'Slytherin' inside his head unrelentingly as he walked to the hat. He felt his face flushing slightly but he turned and faced the crowd with the best poised look he could get with bright red cheeks while he sat down on the stool.
Suddenly it was very dark and he felt the hat falling over his eyes when McGonagall placed it on his head. He kept chanting in his head but suddenly a voice called out 'Slytherin? you're sure?' Harry chanted it one more time and then he could hear 'SLYTHERIN!' shouted out all over the hall.
Harry felt a shaking hand lift the hat off his head and looking out was surprised to see everyone staring at him in shock. Nearly no one clapped. He felt slightly disappointed but then Draco, Greg, and Vince, led a loud clap starting at the Slytherin table, and while none of the other tables joined in, still staring in shock, harry perfected a little smirk and looked out at everyone. He slowly worked his way to the Slytherin table, uncomfortable in the attention but pretending it didn't bother him, and he sat down suddenly next to Draco.
She was shocked, she honestly didn't know what to say. This was Harry? Lily and James's Harry? She would've sworn he was a Weasley, although he was a little scrawny for a Weasley she reflected. Still, A Slytherin? Minerva didn't think she could possibly have been more shocked, Potters were not Slytherins. Still she couldn't let it affect her, she was definitely right, he would be the most likely to give her a nervous breakdown this year but that was for thinking about later with a stiff glass of firewhisky in her hand, not now looking like a circus clown standing around with her mouth open. Her one relief was that no one had noticed, too wrapped up in shock themselves.
She gave herself a momentary glance back to see how Severus and Albus were taking the news. She recalled how Severus had been ranting about how arrogant the boy would be, even before he got to school he had made them send out hundreds of letters. A real problem child if ever there was one. And Albus had been asking her to take extra care of Harry and make sure he had friends once he was sorted into her house. He'd mentioned more than once how big a change Harry would be going through, and that he'd need guidance now more than ever. She knew none of them had been expecting this any more than she had and she was excited that she would get to lord a break in Severus's decorum over his head if his reaction was over the top.
Glancing back she was surprised to see Severus looking unusually lost, but even more surprised to see Albus not only looking surprised but also very solemn, and perhaps a bit angry? No that couldn't be right. She shook herself and looked back at the list, her lips already calling out the name, 'Rivers, Oliver.'
Severus couldn't stop staring. The boy had her hair. He walked like her, his face was like hers, he'd noticed how the boy had blushed with all the attention in just the same way she had. The Slytherin part was a surprise and he could see little hints of arrogance in the boy, but he held out hope that this wasn't a potter but instead an Evans. He would have to watch him closely in the Slytherin meeting tonight to see how he reacted.
Draco couldn't stop the smirk that was holding his face captive. Harry had done that perfectly and he knew that he had made the perfect friend. Everyone was still watching him, and the time! It had taken perhaps 3 seconds for Harry to be sorted Slytherin! That was quicker than either Vince or Greg (though not quite as quick as himself of course) which just went to show that the boy was a natural Slytherin and would fit right in. He turned to watch Oliver Rivers get sorted, still smirking.
Harry was absolutely ecstatic, he was with all his friends, Slytherin seemed happy to have him, Green looked great with his eyes, this day just couldn't get any better. He turned to watch as Oliver Rivers was sorted Slytherin and cheered, then just followed his housemates reactions to the other students, cheering very loudly whenever someone was in Slytherin.
Finally they were nearing the end, and with only two students left to go he couldn't wait to eat. He had no doubt the boy would be in Gryffindor, but he wanted the sorting to end because he was getting hungry and he really didn't care where the put the Weasel so long as it was far away from him.
Sure enough in just a few moments the Weasel had been placed in Gryffindor and the last student, Blaise Zabini, was placed in Slytherin after which the sorting was over. Harry looked down at his empty gold plate and his stomach rumbled but quickly turned to the staff table when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. The Headmaster, who Harry had heard someone near him say was called Professor Dumbledore, rose and spoke, 'Welcome! Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts!' He began, 'Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!' With those strange words he sat down and Harry thought most of the hall should have stared at him but instead there were cheers across the hall.
Harry turned to Draco next to him and asked 'Is he a bit mad?' a tad uncertainly. Draco's only response was a growl but Harry made out the words, 'crazy old goat.' Which didn't fill him with much confidence. But as soon as the headmaster was seated food appeared on all the tables and everyone (including Harry and Draco) were much too distracted eating.
Harry started piling his plate, he had never had quite so much freedom to eat before, but he was stopped rather suddenly by Draco who whispered to him that he needed to have more decorum in Slytherin, whatever that meant. Harry guessed it had something to do with manners and decided to be extra polite at dinner and ask about it later.
It was around then that the head of a very intimidating ghost suddenly pushed its way through Draco's plate. Draco turned a startling shade of green when this happened as he had just been putting his fork into the space now occupied by this ghost's eyeball. The ghost floated up and around the table taking a seat at the end, near where Harry was.
'That'll take some getting used to,' Harry thought.
The ghost introduced himself rather gruffly to the students as simply 'The Slytherin Ghost' then sat mostly in silence as the students around him returned to their food.
Dinner was over rather quickly with most of Harry's new friends too tired and too polite for much dinner conversation, and Harry found himself longing for bed. It had been what was probably the best day of his life but also by far the longest. Desert had already appeared on the table and those who weren't already too full were just finishing up the last of their food when Dumbledore again rose.
This time he began by saying, 'Ahem, just a few more words now that you have all been fed and watered. I have a few start of term announcements to give you.
'First years should note that the forest in the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of you older students could do with a reminder.' Dumbledore's eyes flashed towards the Gryffindor table.
'I have also been asked by the caretaker Mr Filch, to remind you all that no magic is to be used in the corridors between classes. And Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch'
Dumbledore paused for a moment before beginning again 'I must also tell you that this year the third floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death.'
Harry began to laugh but Dumbledore quickly pinned him with a glare as if accusing him of plans to go there, and he quickly died off.
Dumbledore ended things by asking them all to sing the school song, by which point the teachers all seemed to be in pain, this was revealed to be because there was no tune to the song and Dumbledore allowed them to sing it in any tune they wanted. The noise levels quickly rose and it was clear that no one was singing in any sort of harmony at all. Finally every student had finished but two, who sat behind Harry at one of the other tables. Dumbledore slowly conducted the last two students to an end, allowing them all to leave. 'Ah, music,' he said, wiping his eyes. 'A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!'
Harry, Draco, Vince, and Greg, along with all the other first years were met by the Slytherin prefect Zane Accrington who instructed them to follow him closely in single file, and to take careful note of their surroundings. They were led through several corridors and then down, deeper and deeper into the castle, into what could only be called the dungeons. Zane warned them that they would be expected to memorise the path within the next week and also told them that they were NEVER to allow anyone from another house to follow them. The location of the common room was a closely guarded secret.
Harry stood behind Draco with Vince and Greg both behind him, the four of them took up the front of the line and were able to hear Zane the clearest. Harry wondered that he would be able to remember his way around at all and hoped they would be given maps of the castle for their first few days.
Soon enough they walked down a final staircase and stood in between two hallways that stretched out on either side. There was nothing different between this hall and any of the others they had passed but Zane stopped and asked them all to gather round. He then instructed them all to stand in one of the corridors and face back towards the staircase while he walked to the other hallway facing the same direction. Staring at a small spot on the wall he said the word 'Mudblood' and suddenly a hole shaped section of the wall fell away, leading into a stunning dark green room.
Zane led them all inside one by one and they marvelled at their new common room. The room was lit by a greenish-blue glow coming from windows that appeared to look out at the lake. Harry looked out them and watched as a silvery fish swam by. The furnishings in the room were all dark wood and plush black leather, there were luxurious couches and rugs, and a few oddly green oil lamps that complimented everything else beautifully. There were also a few tables littered around the room in some sort of pattern, with plush armchairs next to them. Some of these were taken by older students, who quickly disappeared once the first years arrived. Harry thought it all looked very fancy and very expensive. The whole room seemed to be hinted slightly green from the light shining from the windows, and though it was well lit he couldn't tell if the furniture was black or dark green.
The students had all started to relax, and Zane asked them to have a seat, telling them they would be having a meeting with their head of house soon to start the term. Harry sat on one of the couches surrounding the first of three fireplaces around the room, taking his friends with him. In fact most of the first years followed him and took seats around the fire, with only a few sitting in armchairs near the rest of the group.
They had only been waiting for a little while when the door to the common room opened, and the imposing, hook nosed man, who had sat next to Professor Quirrell at dinner, strode in. He fixed them all with a terrifying glare and began to introduce himself, 'I am Professor Severus Snape,' he started, 'and for the rest of the time that you are at Hogwarts I will be your head of house. This means that I am to be in charge of you, from making sure you get to meals and classes on time, to your punishments for misbehaving.'
'As Slytherins you will all be facing much discrimination from the other houses and I expect all of you to work together to ignore and not perpetuate it. This means that the Slytherins, at least while I lead them, are one house. I will not permit any divisions between the lot of you, and you are to help each other out whenever you see someone who needs it.'
'Whilst here in the common room you can have any disagreements you like, however, outside these rooms we are one. The older students are going to make sure that you behave, and will also keep an eye out for any plans the other houses have to get you in trouble.'
'This does not mean that you can be lax,' he said, with a stern look upon his face, 'there are sure to be things that they will miss, and I expect you to come immediately to me if anything happens.'
Harry was feeling quite nervous throughout the professor's speech, mostly because he hadn't realised that the discrimination against his house was quite this bad. He decided that he would follow his head of house's instructions explicitly, he didn't want to find out what the other houses would do if he didn't. Harry was a little confused when he noticed the way that his professor's eyes tracked his face, but wth all the attention he'd received so far, it didn't bother him overmuch.
The Professor wasn't quite done yet, and he continued with, 'I am here to help out with anything you need, and that is why I will be having all of you see our school nurse, Madam Pomfrey, sometime over the next week, who will then be giving you a basic check up and reporting back to me with the results.'
'I will also be attending meetings with your families to get to know where exactly you come from and what I will be dealing with for the next seven years. I expect you all to be highly cooperative with this.'
'For your first two weeks here you will be led around by one of our Slytherin prefects, who will take you to each of your classes and all of your meals. You are expected to go to visit Madam Pomfrey in your free time after classes and before dinner.'
He ended his little speech with an explanation of the rules around their dormitories saying, 'curfew is at 10 o'clock and I expect you all to be in bed by then. Your dormitories have also got several bathrooms, one for each of you, however, you are expected to remain in bed until 6 and not get ready before then, are also forbidden from leaving the common room between 10 at night and 6 in the morning. Breakfast will be served at 8 so you should have plenty of time to get ready.'
'Now,' he said, 'it is time for all of you to get to bed, I will be available to speak with any time before, or after your classes, so long as it falls within acceptable hours.' And with that he shot them all a look and directed them to their dormitories.
Harry felt like his brain had been fried as he walked off towards his dormitory. He noticed in the back of his head that the walls were dark stone, like that in the common room, with more of the lake windows littered above the beds. The beds themselves were beautiful dark four posters, with green silk hangings and sheets. They were arranged in something of a semicircle and Harry disinterestedly noticed that his luggage couldn't be seen. He walked to the second bed on the right side of the semicircle and sat down, claiming it. Draco chose the bed next to his with the others choosing beds on the other side.
Harry looked up and vaguely noticed two things, the first was that his chest had appeared at the end of his bed, and the second was that on the far wall was a beautiful carved wooden door, that he assumed led to the bathrooms. He rose for just a moment to get changed and with a final smile at the rest of his dorm-mates he collapsed onto the bed and fell deeply asleep.
Severus still wasn't entirely sure what to think about the new development. He had just finished giving the start of term talks to his sixth and seventh years, following his talks with the second through fifth years, and was eternally grateful he had already had the chance to speak to his prefects. He was tired but his mind was still going a million miles after having seen Harry Potter and it was all he had been able to think about during every one of his start of term talks.
The start of term talks were something he had done every year since he started teaching, and he found them endlessly beneficial during the first few months and even later into the year. He knew that Minerva didn't do them and neither did Filius, both too sure of their students, but Pomona had started after seeing how much it helped his Slytherins and she had thanked him graciously for it. He wondered, not for the first time, if that was why the Gryffindors were so uncouth, but rather decided they were just born like that.
He also liked the talks because they gave him the time to study his students, some for the first time, and if he used a little legilimency, then who would be the wiser? of course it was a little difficult as some of his older students knew, or had begun to learn occlumency, but it was a good way for him to keep tabs on them all.
Still, Severus was a little surprised at what he had found in the young Potter's mind. The boy had known nothing! of the wizarding world at all before he had received his letter (which, having grown up with Petunia Evans, he should have foreseen), but to believe that the boy was this naive was quite shocking. The loyalty he had for his friends was remarkable, and Severus was very concerned he had another set of marauders on his hands. At least this time one of them was his godson and he would therefore have some control, but he would still have to watch them closely and hopefully steer Potter on the path to becoming more like Lily.
Letting his thoughts of influencing his godson and his godson's friends rest for a time, he thought about some of the other things he had seen in some of his older students minds. True snakes they were, they were already thinking of ways to get close to and use Harry, he would have to watch them too.
Finally he thought of what was hidden in the school. He felt sure that Dumbledore had plans for it and was certain they involved Potter and he didn't entirely know how he felt about that. He was ready to abject merely because it was a Slytherin who would be involved, or because it was Lily's son, but he was a Potter too, and Severus would need more time to make up his mind on things.
Allowing his mind to wander he returned to his quarters and poured himself a glass of firewhiskey as he got ready for bed. It was going to be interesting watching what would happen next and he was going to need his wits about him.
A/N: Thank you so so so much to those of you who have reviewed/favourited/followed, I wasn't expecting any notice on this story and i've gotten quite a bit. I'm sorry for taking so long to update, after Pokemon Go was released I hardly had a chance to write, then I had a very special visitor for a while, and then the flu. But after Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was released and I had a chance to read it I felt my passion to write go through a resurgence. If you liked this please feel free to review/favourite/follow, or send me a message, I'd love to hear from you! (P.S. if you notice any mistakes, please let me know, I'm still recovering from the flu and I easily could have missed something)