Here you go everyone, Chapter 3! Sorry for the late hour!

The Prefect led them from the Great Hall and down towards the bowels of the castle. As they trudged tiredly along behind her Lizzie could hear the shuffling of their feet echo on the stone walls and the whispers of the portraits they passed. They were just turning a corner when a massive set of staircases was presented to them. Lizzie shared a look with Pansy and they both craned their necks up to try and see the top.

"Careful now," Gemma said. "The staircases are a little unpredictable. They like to change whenever they feel like it." At some of their worried looks she chuckled. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it. Most of them have some sort of pattern they like to play, you'll figure it out. Now," She turned back to face the empty space in front of them. "We just wait a moment." A staircase came swinging 'round and ground to a halt, meeting the landing they stood on with a rumble of stone meeting stone. With a grin Gemma led them on, down further and further.

Eventually they found themselves in a long, dark corridor with flickering torches. Lizzie shivered. It was cold this deep in the castle. Gemma led them on before stopping in front of a seemingly solid bit of wall. They gathered behind her as she turned and peered searchingly into the shadows on either side of the hall. She raised a hand and pointed to the torch she stood under.

"Now, everyone see this torch?" She asked, "Look close right here, see that?"

Lizzie squinted her eyes and just made out the worn, carved shape of a coiled snake. It had obviously been there for so long and touched by so many hands that it might have been mistaken for a simple knot on the wooden handle.

"This is how you know you've got the location of the entrance right, our entrance moves around a bit too so don't rely on counting torches. Look for the symbol of our house and you'll know you've found the way home. But that's not the only safeguard we have against intruders." Gemma smirked at them all and turned around, clearing her throat.

"Argent."

The wall made a great cracking sound before sliding backwards and then to the right, revealing a small yet grand entryway of elegantly carved stone. Lizzie and her fellow first years couldn't help their gasps of awe. Gemma led them through into the common room where they milled around, drinking in every detail their eyes could take in.

A fire crackled in the fireplace to the left, covered by a huge mantel. Bookcases dotted the walls here and there and a chess table sat to their immediate right. The black leather couches gleamed in the torch and firelight with a small table between them. Two stationary desks and a large round table were set up for studying and for writing letters home. But the best part was floor to ceiling windows that peered into the depths of the lake. The quiet sound of water against glass was soothing and Lizzie knew that, come morning, sunlight would filter through the water and mottle the common room. A very large shape with numerous long arms drifted past and Lizzie gasped. Gemma went around them to stand before the glass, turning to face them.

"There he is! He usually likes to sweep by for the first years." Gemma said happily. "That, boys and girls, was the Giant Squid. You'll see him from time to time along with a few other of the lake's inhabitants. The Mer might swim by too and they might try to scare you; they think it's funny. Other than that it's a great idea to speak with them, although it's a little difficult to get the hang of the signing at first it's worth it. You'd be amazed what you'd learn. Only," Gemma winced, "they give terrible dating advice so whatever you do don't ask them about that sort of thing. Well, one last thing before bed then. I can see some of you nodding off even now."

Lizzie glanced behind her to see Tracey and Daphne leaning against one another and trying valiantly to keep their heads up and their eyes open. A few feet away Crabbe and Goyle had forfeited that fight already, practically snoring where they stood. She noticed Draco roll his eyes before elbowing them both hard in the stomach. They barely flinched but their eyes did open a little wider. They all returned their attention to Gemma.

"Remember, you've been chosen by this house because you've got the potential to be great, in the true sense of the word." She let that sit in their heads before she gestured to her left at the short hall, lined with tapestries and notices. "Down there are the dormitories, boys you'll be downstairs and to the left, girls, same on the right. Get a good night's sleep all, welcome to Slytherin House."

Lizzie woke slowly, rippling greenish light falling over the edge of her bed. She sat up, a smile building on her face. She was at Hogwarts! She was a Slytherin! And she was going to be the best Slytherin ever! With that thought she slid out of her bed, a four-poster hung with emerald, velvet curtains. The heavy material slid through her fingers with a soft whisper as she pulled it aside fully and joined her yawning dorm mates.

"Morning Pansy!" She chirped. Her feet hit the stone floor and she quickly retreated with a yelp. "Oh it's freezing! Pansy!" She wailed. Her friend was laughing at her from her own bed. The both of them had tucked their feet under their nightgowns to relieve the chill. Lizzie scowled at her. "You might have warned me!" She scolded. Pansy giggled.

"And miss your reaction? Not a chance!" She said. Lizzie stuck her nose in the air primly, refusing to acknowledge the fact that she would have done the same. Daphne drifted by with a sigh in a satin dressing gown and delicate little slippers to protect her feet from the cold floor. Lizzie and Pansy shared a glance.

"Truce?" Lizzie offered. Pansy nodded.

"Truce." And with that they both untucked themselves and reached over to the trunks laid neatly between their beds. Laying on top were her favorite black slippers with the gold embroidery. She took them and slid them on her feet before sliding out of bed and joining Pansy and the other girls in traipsing downstairs to the bathrooms. After brushing their teeth and washing their faces amongst cheerful, excited chatter they all returned to their dorm to finish getting ready for their first day at Hogwarts. Lizzie braided her hair and pulled on her robe, the inside lined with green. With a smile at the Slytherin crest she pocketed her wand and made her way to the common room.

The common room was rapidly filling with people on their way to breakfast and Lizzie joined the throng happily. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed a flutter of movement and she turned to peer through the windows into the lake. Pressing her hand against the glass she squinted. There-

"Oh!" She yelped as a little creature with tentacles and sharp claws and teeth cackled at her. It floated in front of her, tilting it's head this way and that, it's inky black eyes watching her.

"Lizzie? What are you, what is that thing?" Draco appeared at her side with Pansy in tow. All three of them stared at the creature with slightly disgusted fascination.

"I don't know. I saw something move and then when I went to look closer it swam up and scared me." She told them. Pansy squealed as it tapped its claws against the glass as if searching for a weakness. Draco made a sound of disgust.

"Ugly thing it is, whatever it is." He said. "Come on, Crabbe and Goyle have already gone up to breakfast already." He turned away and Pansy and Lizzie joined him, the lure of jam and toast a much better prospective than staring at a strange creature all day. As they crossed the common room Lizzie glanced back at the window. But all she saw was the tip of a tentacle as it disappeared into the kelp. She shook her head and turned her thoughts to breakfast and classes.

After breakfast they made their way back down to the dungeons for potions with their Head of House. Though she waved to both Hollis and Megan all three of them sat next to someone from their own House. The dim room filled with chatter and Lizzie twisted in her seat to face Pansy.

"I'll be right back." She said and darted through the rows to Hollis. "Hey, meet up after lunch? In front of the Great Hall." Hollis nodded with a smile as she set up her parchment and quill and Lizzie moved on to Megan.

"Hey, meet at the entrance to the Great Hall after lunch." She told her. Megan smiled brightly and nodded.

"You bet! You can both come see my common room!" She whispered excitedly. Lizzie blinked.

"You can do that? I've never heard of anyone coming to the Slytherin common room. Sure." She waved and scurried back to her seat, settling down just as the door flew open with a bang and her Head of House strode into the room. A hush settled firmly on the class as he reached his desk with a sharp turn, his black robes billowing around him as he faced them all. The class seemed to hold its breath. He lifted a piece of parchment and began taking roll, stopping only once.

"Ah, yes." He said softly. "Harry Potter - our new celebrity."

In the row before her Draco and Crabbe and Goyle sniggered. Professor Snape finished roll and looked around at them all with dark eyes.

"There will be no foolish wand-waving or silly incantations in this class. You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making." Though he spoke softly they heard him clearly over the hush of the room. "I don't expect many of you will understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins. However," he paused, gaze flicking to Draco, "for those select few who possess the predisposition . . . I can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses. I can tell you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even put a stopper in death." His gaze shifted again, this time landing somewhere to Lizzie's right. "Then again, maybe some of you come to Hogwarts in possession of abilities so formidable that you feel confident enough to not pay attention."

Lizzie finally spotted the target of Snape's ire. Harry Potter was bent over his notebook, quill in hand. It did rather look as though he wasn't paying proper attention to the Professor. Lizzie shook her head as the Granger girl gave him a nudge.

" Mr. Potter . . . Tell me, what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" Snape asked. Lizzie frowned and looked to Pansy but her friend only shrugged with a smile. Granger's hand shot into the air.

"I don't know, sir." Potter said.

"You don't know, well let's try again." Snape sneered. "Where, Mr. Potter, would you look if I asked you to find me a bezoar?"

"I don't know, sir."

"Tut, tut - fame clearly isn't everything. Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?" Snape continued, ignoring Granger's still raised hand. Lizzie fervently hoped he wasn't going to call on her like that. She decided to study Potions with Draco for now. "And what is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

Granger actually stood a little out of her seat, her hand stretching towards the ceiling. Lizzie rolled her eyes at Pansy and they stifled their giggles.

"I don't know," said Potter quietly. "I think Hermione does, though, why don't you try her?"

Lizzie gave a shocked laugh as the class erupted into snickers. Potter had nerve to stand up to Snape like that! Snape quieted them with low "Silence." He stalked through the rows to loom over Potter. "Sit down you silly girl." He snapped.

"For your information Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite." He paused, the quiet resting heavily over all of them. "Well, why aren't you all copying that down?"

There was a sudden cacophony as they all scrambled for their notebooks, unstopping ink wells and struggling to remember all that Professor Snape had said. The frantic scratching of quills filled the room.

"And Gryffindors, note that five points will be taken from your House, for your classmates cheek." Though they glared and scowled mutinously none of the Gryffindors risked Snape's wrath for themselves. Lizzie, for her part, was trying to reconcile the quiet boy she'd met in Diagon Alley with the cheeky boy who'd just lost his House five points because he couldn't keep his mouth shut. Little did she know at the time the trend Harry Potter was setting.

He didn't improve Gryffindor's lot as the lesson went on. Snape put them into pairs and set them to making a simple cure for boils. She and Pansy worked together weighing the dried nettles and crushing snake fangs. The fangs gave them a little trouble, the powder rising into the air and puffing into Pansy's face. She coughed so hard Lizzie had to thump her on the back and Snape had to chide them for keeping their faces so close to their ingredients. The only person to escape criticism was Draco. She sighed and Pansy shrugged.

"What do you expect?" He's had tutors since he was seven." Pansy said as Snape praised Draco for his perfectly stewed horned slugs. She was just about to tip in their own slugs when clouds of green smoke and a loud hissing filled the dungeon. Someone's potion was seeping across the floor and shouts of pain rang out as it burned holes in their shoes. Soon enough the entire class was standing on their stools. Everyone was shouting and shrieking as the burning liquid spread. No one wanted to end up like the boy who had caused the mess. The student in question was a Gryffindor and he was moaning in pain because of the angry red boils he was covered in.

"Idiot boy!" Snape snarled. He waved his wand and the potion vanished. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?" Lizzie stepped gingerly back onto the floor, relieved that it was indeed safe again. Snape rounded on the other Gryffindor boy who had been working with the boy covered in boils.

"Take him to the hospital wing," he spat. Then he rounded on Potter and Potter's ginger-haired partner. "You - Potter - why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? That's another point you've lost for Gryffindor."

They climbed out of the dungeons not long after to make their way to their History of Magic lesson which most of the Slytherins were decidedly not looking forward to.

"I've already had to memorize all the family trees of the Twenty-Eight and more besides!" complained Theo Nott. Millicent, Pansy, and Malfoy nodded crossly in agreement. Lizzie shook her head.

"You've learned all that before coming to school? Mother said I wouldn't need to learn that until I was thirteen. Alex only just started last summer." She giggled. "He took notes and everything, they're in his trunk."

"Oh laugh it up Blishwick, while you can. Just wait until you have to remember which of your ancestors fought in which war, or married into whose family, or made up some law or other." Pansy complained. Lizzie shrugged, still smiling.

But it turned out that the Slytherins had been right in not looking forward to History of Magic as it was easily the most boring class of all of them. Their teacher, Professor Binns, was a ghost. Apparently, as they'd heard it, Binns had fallen asleep one day in front of the staff room fire and gotten up next morning to teach, leaving his body behind him. It took a tremendous effort of will for Lizzie to stay awake, half remembering to jot down notes as Binns droned on and on. She rested her chin in her hand. And was awoken by the ringing bell.

"Thank Merlin!" She groaned, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. It was finally lunch time! She shook Pansy awake and they followed the rest of their sleepy classmates to the Great Hall. She joined her Draco, Pansy, and the rest of her dormmates at the table and loaded her plate full of mashed potatoes and corned beef. She swallowed a mouthful before turning to Pansy and Draco.

"Hollis and Megan are going to me their common rooms. Would you like to join us?" She asked.

"What Houses are they in?" Draco asked. She hesitated.

"Ravenclaw." She said. "And Hufflepuff."

"Hufflepuff?" Draco snorted. "No thanks. I'd rather not." Lizzie nodded, she hadn't honestly thought he would accept. Pansy shrugged.

"No thanks, I'm knackered. Think I'll just sit here till Charms. Thanks anyway Liz." She said. Lizzie stood.

"Right then, well I'm finished. See you in Charms!" And she bounced over to where Hollis was sitting at the Ravenclaw table. Her friend was just finishing a bite of broth when Lizzie plopped down beside her.

"Ready to go? Have you seen Megan? There are too many blondes in Hogwarts honestly." She said, tugging lightly on a piece of Hollis's own light locks. Hollis rolled her eyes in response.

"She's right there, how do you expect to be a Seeker if you can't spot one Hufflepuff." She teased. Lizzie stuck out her tongue but looked to where Hollis had gestured. Indeed, once she had focused on the faces of the yellow and black figures, she found Megan sitting between two other girls. After a moment of chatter Megan seemed to feel the eyes on her and looked up. Lizzie waved happily and Megan grinned before excusing herself and trotting over to join them.

"Are we ready to go?" She asked once she had stopped at the Ravenclaw table.

"I am, I'm really looking forward to seeing your common rooms. Hollis?" She asked, turning to her other blonde friend. Hollis nodded. "Right then! Where first?"

"Well we might want to save the Tower for last, it's closer to the Charms classroom. Hufflepuff is near the kitchens right Megan? I read that somewhere in Hogwarts, A History." Hollis mused. Megan nodded.

"Practically right next door according to the Prefects. There's always food everywhere." She giggled.

"Then Hufflepuff it is!" Lizzie called out.

The three of them stopped before a round door, rather like a barrel. Megan smiled and raised her hand to knock on the door in a precise rhythm. She dropped her hand and waited for a moment before the door swung open with a hearty creak.

"That's it? You just knock?" Hollis asked incredulously. Megan smiled and led them through into a spacious, round room filled with sunlight.

"No of course not. The knock is a password. If you get it wrong you're doused with vinegar." She laughed. "Anyway, welcome to Hufflepuff House!" She swung out her arm and Lizzie took it in. The windows just below the ceiling that showed grass and feet, the plants that covered nearly every available surface - not a surprise given their Head of House, the plush seats and sofas, and the smell of fresh bread filling the room. It was the coziest place she'd ever been.

"I like it." She said. Does it always smell like this?" She breathed in deeply as Hollis wandered over to a nearby plant, it's vines covering the surface of a worn, wooden chess table.

"Pretty much. Oh and if you ever want snacks you just send a request down to the kitchens." Megan smiled softly. "After our Prefect led us all down here after the Sorting she asked for some cookies and hot chocolate. And then she told us all about being a Hufflepuff and how great it was going to be because we were all a family now."

"Our prefect said something similar. But it was more about teamwork." Hollis said. She glanced at her wristwatch. "It's nearly one, we should get going if you want to see the Tower."

With laughs and smiles they tumbled past a few older Hufflepuffs and out into the corridor for Hollis to lead them up, up, and up to Ravenclaw Tower.

When they reached it they were all a little out of breath. But Hollis strode up to the wooden door and lifted the brass ring held in the beak of an eagle. She let it drop.

"Greetings." A disembodied voice filled the space and Megan jumped. "Are you ready?"

"Yes." Hollis answered.

"Very well. Feed me and I live. Give me water and I die." The voice said clearly. Lizzie shared a look with Megan.

"You have to answer a riddle? Every time?" Lizzie asked. Hollis nodded absently as she frowned down at her feet.

"Could you repeat the riddle please?" She asked.

"Certainly." The door replied. "Feed me and I live. Give me water and I die."

"Feed . . . live. Water . . and I die . . ." Her expression cleared. "Fire."

"Correct." And the door swung open silently. Hollis led them through into a world of blue and bronze and stars. High windows filled the far wall and bathed the room in sunlight. Bookshelves curved around them and in an alcove stood a statue of a lady crowned with a silver diadem. Lizzie wandered over to it, drawn to the dazzling sapphire lodged in the center of the crown.

"That's Rowena. Rowena Ravenclaw. And that's her diadem, well, a replica anyways. The real one's been lost for centuries." Hollis said. She pointed to the inscription at the statue's feet. "Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure." She read.

"Pretty." Megan whispered as she and Lizzie gazed at the sparkling stone. Lizzie nodded but Hollis elbowed her.

"It gets better." She said grinning. She led them up a set of stairs nearly hidden in another alcove. And straight into the night sky.

Lizzie gaped. She stood in the middle of all her favorite constellations, shining brightly around her, and gaped. The room was large enough to fit twenty or so people and lined with plush cushions though the floor itself was covered in a thick enough carpet they were almost unnecessary.

"They follow the natural pattern of the stars. See how the move? They're mirroring the real stars in the sky." Hollis whispered. "But you can ask to see a certain star or planet or constellation."

"Hollis. Promise we'll come here again? I think it's just become one of my favorite places in the whole world." Lizzie sighed. There was a hushed silence before they all broke into giggles. She felt a hand slide into her own and Hollis tugged.

"Sure. This'll be our place." She said. Lizzie felt for Megan's hand in the darkness. When she found it she squeezed.

"One of our places. I love cookies nearly as much as I love stars." She said lightly. They tugged each other closer and collapsed onto the soft floor, watching the stars wheel by until the warning bell rang. And then they were off, sleeves brushing as they ran to their next class, laughing all the way.

Sorry for the short chapter, more to come I promise. Tune in next Sunday for Chapter 4!