Introductions and a Potions Lesson

Edward took off the hat to total silence. Looking around, the great hall was openly gaping at him. Unknown to him, even Dumbledore had his eyes wide, and Snape looked as if he had sucked a sour lemon. He placed the hat back on the stool, and, with Lilith still on his shoulder, he walked over to the Slytherin table. As he moved to it, Draco moved across to allow space for him. As he sat down, the supposed reality of the situation hit the hall. There was a muggleborn in Slytherin. Immediately there was talking all around, and Edward again tuned out the sorting. "You should have seen Dumbledore's face." Draco said, hitting Edward on the back.

"Snape looked like he was having an aneurysm." Daphne said, and she and Pansy burst into laughter. As they did so, the hat shouted out again, and Draco nudged him.

"Budge up Edward, let Blaise sit down." Edward moved as the boy, now identified as Blaise, sat down between the two.

"Hi Blaise." Draco, Pansy, and Daphne said to him.

"Hi guys." Blaise said, before turning to Edward. "Blaise Zabini." He said to him, holding his hand out to him.

"Edward Thorn." He replied, taking the offered hand. The hall fell silent as Dumbledore stood.

"Welcome first years. For all others, welcome back. Just a few words before your meal. Nitwit, blubber, oddment, tweak. Thank you." When Dumbledore sat down, all five Slytherins looked at each other, and in perfect unison said,

"Mental."

As the feast ended, Edward had made a few more friends. With the help of Draco, he had become friends with Theodore Nott, whilst Daphne and Pansy had introduced him to Millicent Bulstrode and Tracey Davies. Edward was just placing his cutlery down when it all disappeared and Dumbledore stood again. "And now, I have a few announcements to make. Firstly, the Forbidden Forest is off limits to all students. A list of banned items is on the list outside Mr Filch's office. Lastly, the third floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to all those who do not wish to die a most painful death. Off to bed all of you." As he finished, everyone stood. Slytherin were the first house to leave the Hall, and the group of eight followed their prefects.

They slowed down when they entered the dungeons, copying the other students in rubbing their hands together as the temperature dropped. They all came to a stop in front of a wall, and the prefects turned around. "This is the entrance to the common room. The only sign that it is here is the small snake in the top right corner of the wall. This month's password is Sanguine. Remember it, as no one else will tell you." As the prefect finished his speech, the wall had fully opened from him stating the password, and they all entered inside. Waiting for them, was Professor Snape.

"All non first years, go to your rooms." He ordered, not raising his voice.

"Yes Professor." The second to seventh years replied, and they disappeared quickly. Then, Snape turned to the first years.

"You have been sorted into the house of Slytherin. As such, you must be worthy in some way. We are stricter than other houses, but we are also more successful than the others are. First through fourth years are not allowed to walk around school alone. Bed is at nine o'clock no exceptions. There is no arguing or fighting outside the common room. I know your families may get into feuds, but here it is Slytherin against everyone else. We must present a united front. Finally, if you decide to break the rules, don't get caught." As he finished, he took out a piece of parchment. "Find someone you wish to share your room with. You will be with them for your entire time in Hogwarts, unless there are special circumstances that you must explain to me." Draco and Edward looked at each other quickly, and then walked up to Snape.

"Professor, Draco and I wish to share a room." Snape looked at Draco with some concern, then nodded.

"Very well, left hand stairs, first floor down, first door on the left. Mr Thorn, a moment please." Draco looked at him apologetically, then walked down the stairs to their room. "Mr Thorn, because of your muggleborn status, the Headmaster fears for your safety. He wishes for you to be resorted." Edward pretended to look thoughtful, then with absolute conviction said,

"No."

"What?" Snape said, and every first year looked at him as if he were going mad.

"I won't be resorted."

"And why not?" Snape almost hissed at him.

"Because I don't care what the Headmaster thinks. I won't allow him to dictate where I am. Perhaps he wants to choose my friends for me next." Edward almost shouted, losing his temper.

"Actually, he would prefer if you ..."

"I don't care what he prefers!"

"You will be resorted." Snape said, calm as ever despite Edward's shouting.

"No I won't!" Edward screamed at him, and Snape became aware that everyone seemed to be frightened. When he thought about it, he was too. It was then that he decided to stop pushing him.

"Very well, I will inform the Headmaster. Off to bed." When he had finished, Edward had already disappeared. He still needed to talk to him about the raven. Sighing, he turned to the first years. "Next room."

Draco had just finished unpacking when Edward stormed through the door. "You alright?" Draco asked. Edward whirled upon him, and Draco gasped as he looked into the purely black eyes.

"Do I look like I'm alright?"

"No." Draco managed to get out. At this moment, he was terrified.

"Of course I'm not. All because an interfering old man wants to dictate to me what I do, and I won't have it!" Edward then fell backwards, and lay still. Draco, realising that Edward was in danger, went to get Snape. He didn't notice Lilith land on Edward.

When Draco got up the stairs, Snape was taking down the last pair, Daphne and Tracey. "Sir, something is wrong with Edward." Snape turned to him.

"He is just annoyed at the Headmaster."

"No sir, he's unconscious." As Draco said this, Snape looked a lot more concerned.

"What happened?"

"Well, he just came through the door, really angry. I asked him if he was alright, he turned on me and went through what had happened, but I've never been so scared in my life, and his eyes" Draco trailed off.

"What about his eyes Draco?" Snape asked.

"They were nothing but black sir." Draco said. Snape then dropped the list and ran down the stairs to the dorm.

As he entered the room, Lilith cawed at him, and he stopped. He slowly moved towards Edward. Draco, Daphne and Tracey watched from outside the door. All the time, Lilith was cawing at Snape. When Snape got within touching distance, Lilith flew at him. Startled, Snape jumped back and missed the bird, which then went back onto Edward. He exited the room. "You three stay here and make sure nothing happens. I'm going to see Madam Pomphrey." Snape said, before heading back up.

It had been fifteen minutes, and Snape had returned with Madam Pomphery. She walked into the room, and Lilith cawed at her. She looked at it, then turned around. "It seems that the bird is very protective of him. Perhaps if we had someone he trusts, it will let us get to work." As she finished, Draco stepped in. Walking past Madam Pomphrey, he held out his hand to it. Lilith looked at it, and then flew to it, perching itself on his hand. Smiling, Pomphrey got closer to Edward, and Lilith looked at her in the eye. Seemingly satisfied, it flew over to the headrest, and Pomphrey got to work. A few minutes passed, and Pomphrey turned around. "There is nothing serious, he is just tired out. He will be fine in the morning." She left, Snape and the two girls following, and Draco got into bed.

Edward woke up the next morning, relaxed and refreshed. When he came out of his shower, Draco was there, and he remembered the previous night. "Sorry about last night. I haven't lost control like that since ..."

"Don't worry about it." Draco said, walking over. "What happened to make you that angry?" He asked, and Edward looked at him.

"Dumbledore wanted to resort me."

"For what reason?"

"Too dangerous for me as a muggleborn. He should just leave his bloody hands out of ..."

"Calm down Ed." Draco said, as Edward prepared to rant about it. "Your eyes are going black." Edward stopped and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they were his usual blue.

"Thanks Draco, let's get some breakfast." With that they got dressed and headed to the Great Hall.

When they reached the great hall, there was no stopping of conversation as was expected. They approached the Slytherin table, and Draco sat next to Blaise, whilst Edward sat between Daphne and Pansy. "How are you?" Daphne asked, starting to put food on her plate.

"Fine now."

"Good, now start eating." Daphne said, about to give Edward some food.

"I will." Edward said, and he started to eat everything she put on his plate.

"How come I don't get food put on my plate for me?" Draco whined, and Daphne looked at him.

"You weren't unconscious yesterday, shush." Everyone apart from Edward laughed.

"Where's Theo?" Draco asked.

"Up near the older students. Doesn't want to be associated with ..." Blaise stopped and looked at Edward, who also looked up.

"Mudbloods." Edward said, and Blaise nodded. Before the conversation could move further, Snape walked up behind Pansy, and placed several pieces of parchment in front of her.

"Your schedules. Do not lose them. They may be the same, but they are charmed that only the correct student can read them. Only the name of the student is visible to everyone. Lessons start with me in ten minutes." He stated, before moving further down the table. The seven of them grabbed their schedules from the pile, picked up their bags, and left for the dungeons.

They had been the first to arrive, and had quickly split into pairs. Blaise volunteered to work with Nott, as his family was traditionally neutral during the blood purity debate. Pansy would go with Daphne. Millicent would work with Tracey, and Draco would be with Edward. However, as the rest of Slytherin and all of Gryffindor arrived, they were let in and told to stand at the back. Snape looked at them. "There will be no stupid wand-waving or silly incantations in this class. I am sure that many of you will fail, but those who possess a certain predisposition, I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory and even to put a stopper in death." Here Snape paused. Edward had become even more interested by the putting a stopper in death part of the speech. "I am going to assign you into pairs, which you will be in for the year. You may not change. Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson." He started off, and they moved to their seats. In the end, Daphne was with Edward, Blaise with Tracey and Millicent was with Nott. They were halfway through the lesson when a cauldron exploded. "50 points from Gryffindor." Snape shouted as he walked over to the cauldron, which had paired together Longbottom and Potter. Longbottom was on the floor screaming. "Weasley, take Mr Longbottom to the infirmary." He looked at Potter. "Well Mr Potter. It appears fame isn't everything. Class dismissed." Snape said. The rest of the class packed up their things, and left without a word.