The below-mentioned 'Hunter's Values and Spirit', are a direct copy of the Values and Spirit of the Royal Marine Commando's. Which is another group in which my Harry Potter/Percy Jackson universe is built. The Hunters are built up of the Royal Marines, Special Boat Services, Special Air Services and Paratroopers. With some Gurkha influence.
The Hunter's Values - Excellence, Integrity, Self-Discipline, and Humility.
The Hunter's Spirit - Courage, Determination, Unselfishness and Cheerfulness
Chapter 9: Dinner and a Show
Professor McGonagall rolled up the scroll from which she read out the names as the sorting rolled to a finish. Waving her wand she vanished the hat and the stool. Turning towards the long staff table, she made her way towards the empty chair on the right of the gold. Using the spoon on her the north of her plate, she tapped it against the golden goblet on her right as chatter began to fill the hall. "Your attention, please." From their seats, the chatter that once filled the hall was replaced with a slight pause of silence before the oldest member of staff stood up. He was a tall, thin fellow with whitened grey hair and a long beard falling below his chest, which could've been tucked into his waist. He was dressed in long dark red and black robes with a matching cap and heeled boots. He had a long crooked nose, indicating his taking a powerful blow to his nose causing his nose to take permanent damage. Sat upon said crooked noise where a pair of gleaming half-moon spectacles covered his soul-piercing blue eyes which gleamed with mischief and kindness.
"To our new students, welcome to Hogwarts. To our return students, welcome back. Now before we tuck into the wonderful food I do have a few words I would like to say; Niwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"
As Dumbledore sat down, Professor McGonagall stood up, "Let the feat begin," she called as food, cutlery and glassware appeared from nothingness. The table was filled with a wide array of foods; roast chicken, roast beef, pork and lamb chops, chicken drumsticks, steak and kidney pie, and potatoes cooked in several different ways - boiled, mashed, fried and roasted to name a few, sausages, Yorkshire puddings with mounds of gravy, and plenty of vegetables like asparagus, green beans, carrots, broccoli, parsnips, Brussel sprouts, mushrooms and many more.
Hadrian looked over the food carefully, he had grown used to a strictly healthy diet and a lot of the food was anything but, he took note of the grease which lined plenty of the platters. He also noticed the two gorillas that walked with the blonde princess further down the table and filled their plate up to look like a small mountain of various meats and potatoes drenched in gravy with no vegetables on their plate. He looked at them with disgust before he returned to his plate filled with plenty of greenery, but also with a fillet of grilled European Seabass and a small portion of roasted potatoes.
Looking at the person across from him, was the last student to have been sorted into Slytherin House, Blaise Zabini. His plate was similar but with chicken instead of fish and less greenery. Blaise looked up towards him, as Hadrian busied himself with his fish, his fork in his left and right in the other, Hadrian could be seen changing his grip on the knife, looking dissatisfied with the quality of the blade, as if it had offended him.
"Not hungry?" Blaise asked trying to be polite, but confused by the behaviour of the boy sitting across him.
"No, it's not that. It's just the knife, the blade is excessively heavier than the handle, there's no balance. It's not satisfactory." Hadrian replied with no commitment to his words, he put the knife down using his fork to guide his food into his mouth. Chewing slowly, as his eyes took note of the glowering looks he got from Malfoy, and the pug-faced girl sat next to him but also a pair of blue-grey glimmering eyes observing him from where some of the older students sat, and another small group of them, all of which wearing a green and gold pin badge with a deep emerald green 'P' on gold marking the Prefects of House Slytherin.
He also noticed that the youngest Weasley boy seemed to glare at him from the distance as if Hadrian had taken all his money away. However, he appeared to move between glaring at Harry, talking to other Gryffindors namely first years and his brothers or stuffing his mouth full of food from the mountain that lay haphazardly upon his plate.
"So Potter," a voice from his right called out to him, "You're in Slytherin, I didn't think the Gryffindor Golden Boy would be sorted into our house." The voice belonged to one of the older Slytherin students who Hadrian noted was one of the prefects, as noted by the badge on the lapel of her Slytherin green and Hogwarts black robes. She had dirty blonde hair with brown eyes, had freckles on her face and was roughly a similar height to Daphnae. "I mean everyone thought you would've gone to Gryffindor like your parents but not," she spoke not giving Hadrian a chance to speak.
"And you are," he spoke dryly.
"Farley, Gemma Farley," she said, extending her hand towards him.
"Hadrian Potter," he spoke back his eyes watching her with unnerving caution. "Simply because my mother and father were Gryffindor doesn't mean I would be a Gryffindor." Nodding along to his words, Farley watched him, as he diced up his sea bass pairing it with some of his roasted potatoes, she noted his slight grimace with the food as if the famed food at Hogwarts wasn't to his liking. Reaching his goblet, Hadrian was welcomed to the cool taste of cold water.
"You don't like the food," Gemma noted, as she moved slightly closer to the boy, disgust etched onto her face as she saw how dirty the hands of the two gorillas sat on either side of Malfoy were. Getting a non-commital hum in return, Hadrian looked around the hall, taking note of some of the teachers on the staff table. He was somewhat surprised to see the sallow-skinned, greasy-haired, crooked-nosed teacher glaring at him. His hair fell towards his shoulders, as it was part from the middle framing his face, getting close enough to meet below his chin, his crooked nose bent at two angles, one indicative of a blow to the nose and the other from the natural growth of the body. His skin was equally as greasy and gleamed with either sweat or grease as it lightly reflected the candlelight from the table, he was dressed in all-black robes in which the shoulders had a few stains which darkened the already dark shoulders of the robes. His face was a built-in sneer as he glared towards Hadrian with distaste and hatred which appeared to be directed at Hadrian or something about him.
Hadrian also took note of the indignant-looking ghost who glared down at the first-year Gryffindors as it partially pulled its head off revealing the decayed but ghostly would from its execution. Hadrian noted from the clothes and the way the ghost carried itself that the ghost was most likely Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington. The attachment of his head further gave him away as it was noted that his execution was botched in the manner that the executioner failed to completely cut his head off, causing Sir Nicholas to die with his neck still attached, something which greatly disappointed him and was as such a subject of his wallowing to students who would listen to him.
Hadrian noted a mournful-looking ghost up in the rafters, floating high above the Ravenclaw table. She was an attractive-looking woman who watched the Ravenclaw table silently if anything a slight frown could be noticed on her face as if she was displeased with the current status of House Ravenclaw. Her dark hair fell past her shoulders, as she was dressed in what was now a clean ghostly white dress which fell past her ankles. Their eyes met briefly for a second, as if she could feel Hadrian's eyes on her but she looked away immediately.
The Hufflepuff table had the Fat Friar from earlier, whom Hadrian looked at with discontent. But Hadrian paid him no further attention as he looked at the Slytherin ghost whose appearance disgusted him. The ghost who was appearance appeared to be of a similar time period to that of the Grey Lady, he wore the clothes of an 11th-century aristocrat, bloodied by silvered blood. His face was gaunt with empty soulless eyes his body was weighed down by the chains he placed upon himself. His face was in a permanent state of regret as he looked weighed down by guilt sitting across Draco Malfoy who looked displeased to have to sit across the ghost. Oddly his eyes seemed transfixed on the Grey Lady who seemed adamant in avoiding his eyes.
"Looks like Nearly Headless Nick is up to his usual display," Gemma commented aimlessly adding to the conversation, "Does it ever year at the Gryffindor table, always acts offended but is always willing to show anyone who brings it up, you know what I think, I think he enjoys it, gets to have a conversation with anyone because of it, start with his name, he then moves onto the show and then he laments about no being able to join the headless hunt." She spoke without pause, noticing Hadrian was the only first-year not listening she bristled slightly but chose to ignore it, for now. Hadrian seemed more interested in observing the room, and what it looked like to others. However, Hadrian didn't have an interest in the inhabitants of the Great Hall but more in the raw magic he could feel.
Hadrian could feel the ancient magic of Hogwarts pull at his charm, his gut felt a pull on it, as if he was in the presence of his grandmother. However, the magic felt foreign, old but very different, it felt more chaotic, war-like, a foreboding sense of doom and the intoxicating smell of death filled Hadrian's nostrils for a second before he shook his head. Closing his eyes, he scrunched his face up for a second to clear his head of all thoughts pertaining to the magic he could feel permeating through his veins. This was Hecate but something or someone else and it was coming from Hogwarts.
Daphne Greengrass, was ever the curious girl, having always been a studious young witch who had her face buried in the tomes and books of the Greengrass family library. She was also observant of her surroundings her curious eyes, hidden by an icy cerulean blue wall of impassive coldness. So as she noticed the mannerisms of Hadrian James Artemis Potter, she couldn't help but be further intrigued by the young boy that was sat just a few seats down from her. He moved with the grace expected of a pureblood heir of a House in great standing, but he was also surprisingly cold compared to even herself. Daphne had learned to be cold from her younger years when some of the older guests of events and balls would leer at her, her sister and their mother. But Hadrian moved quietly, his footsteps were silent, his eyes were cold with hidden emotion but they did conceal a glare ready to go, and his wand was ready to go, as if he was anticipating a fight.
Hadrian was an enigma to her and she was curious to learn more. However, that being said that crow familiar with his Babd, did urge her to be cautious, she hoped that he wasn't extremely familiar with the gods of old, primarily the Celtic gods, because then she would be in danger.
But as Daphne watched him she noticed a slight twitch with his fingers, but that wasn't what truly caught her attention it was the slight green that weaved itself between his fingers for that brief split second. Her eyes widened in shock, and her breath was caught in her throat, as her eyes flashed an icier blue than her standard icy look, but as she tightened her grip on the knife in her hands she failed to notice, Hadrian's eyes circle in on her in a predatory manner.
"Daphne! Daphne! Look they have treacle tart," Tracey called out to her excitedly, cutting herself a large portion.
Daphne had a fond smile in her eyes, as she looked at Tracey who still had that inner excitable child within her, something Daphne would never admit she was jealous of. But instead of wallowing in her more profound thoughts, she eyes the selection of food that had just appeared in front of her; ice cream - a wide variety of different flavours from the standard chocolate, vanilla and strawberry to the crazier flavours like butterbeer chocolate swirl, peanut butter and jam flavoured and some which Daphne wouldn't touch with a six-foot pole, cookies, cake, trifle, rice pudding, apple crumble, Banoffee Pie, cheesecakes, Eton Mess, and quite oddly pots of tea, but from what Daphne could tell it was green tea/English Breakfast tea.
Daphne herself was partial towards chocolate cake with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side, however, what seemed to catch the attention of Tracey was what Hadrian had. A simple teacup was full of green tea. From what most could tell that he didn't add any sugar or anything of the sort into his cup. And the way he would hold it. Holding it from the rim instead of the handle, his eyes watched the teacup carefully, as he raised it towards his lips slightly pursing them to meet his lips he took a short sip from the cup.
Hadrian eyes narrowed slightly at Daphne, as he noticed her watching him, eyebrow raised at her, she turned her head away from him. Tracey seeing what had just transpired had a shit-eating grin on her face before it switched into a grimace as Daphne kicked her shin.
As the deserts disappeared from the table, Dumbledore rose from his golden throne he extended his arms outspread his head slightly raised, looking down upon the students through his half-moon bespectacled blue eyes. Dumbledore apparated from the throne onto the golden phoenix stand that appeared through the ground.
"Now that we have all been watered and fed. We must make our way to bed, however, before I send you off, I have a few announcements to make. First of all, Mr Filch, our beloved caretaker has asked me to remind you that there is to be no magic performed in the corridors," Hadrian raised his eyebrows at the statement to prohibit students from using magic in the corridors made no sense, it would be logical to ban specific magics and what not. "As well as the list of banned magical items is posted outside Mr Flich's office should any of you should like to view it. First years ought to be made aware that the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds and any student caught venturing in the forest will face disciplinary actions including but not limited to, detention, controlled access to your wand, suspension and potential expulsion. On a lighter note, we at Hogwarts are pleased to note and welcome, Professor Quill as our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Quirnius Quill," Standing up was an average-looking man, clean shaven, a twitch in his eye and he appeared to be extremely nervous. His left hand seemed to shake a little and it was been held roughly by his right. His head was encased in a purple turban, an unusual look to see on an Englishman, usually, Hadrian had found himself encountering those with turbans to be of the Sikhi faith and usually came from South Asia, although he had met a few Muslims who wore turbans. Hadrian also took note of the fact the greasy-haired professor who was glaring at him was now glaring at Professor Quill as if Quill had taken something of value from him. "In regards to Quidditch, all Quidditch trials will be held during the second week of September, and if any of you from the second year up who have an interest in joining your House teams please speak with the wonderful Madame Hooch, our beloved Quidditch referee and Flying Instructor. Now on a more serious note, I must warn every single one of you that the third corridor on the right-hand side of the school is now out of bounds to all students for those who do not want to die a horrible and painful death." At this, some students laughed at the ridiculousness of the statement it mainly caused a rise of questions to grow among them. "Now before I send you off, we must perform to school song pick your favourite tune and sing along with me;
Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,
Teach us something please,
Whether we be old and bald,
Or young with scabby knees,
Our heads could do with filling,
With some interesting stuff,
For now, they're bare and full of air,
Dead flies and bits of fluff,
So teach us things worth knowing,
Bring back what we've forgot,
Just do your best, and we'll do the rest,
And learn until our brains all rot."
The song was a jarring experience, to say the least. The staff had forced grins on their face, well all but Dumbledore. Hadrian had never felt his ears be so assaulted by the horrific sounds of the students and the different themes that surrounded him, rock 'n' roll, pop, classical, and opera and a lot of it was out of key/tune. And most annoyingly it ended with a funeral tone by a pair of identical ginger twins.
"Ah music," he spoke wistfully, "a magic beyond all we do here." He smiled down at the students but as his eyes looked over Hadrian he wasn't as happy as his eyes failed to convey the same feeling plastered on the rest of his face. "Ah but look at me, taking up more of your precious time. I believe it's time for you to return to your beds. Off you trot!"
It was clear some students took offence to the phrase 'Off you trot,' a lot of them were the older students and a few of the younger students, including Hadrian and Greengrass to name a few. As the first years looked towards the senior students, the dirty blonde that sat next to Hadrian stood up clapping her hands to catch the attention of the first-year students, "First years! First years! Follow me!"
Seeing all the first years congregated in front of her, she turned on her heel, joined by male 5th-year prefect Graham Montague. Following them, the first years began the descent down into the basement of Hogwarts. The students passed by various standing torches, portraits who seemed interested in keeping a keen eye on them as they passed and plenty more ghosts.
As the students made their descent down the stairs, they noticed the tan stone walls changed into a cool black and dark brown of a dungeon. The light began to dim further in the dark, as the number of lit pillars decreased heavily. They could still see but the light was heavily dimmed. Some of the students could chatter amongst themselves, light meaningless dull conversation.
Hadrian just walked into the back of the group and tossed one of the coins given by Daphnae and Daphnis up and down, before letting the coins slide over his hands. Hadrian looked at the coin in his hand closely and noted the carved-in-red Amaranths and Lily flower mix, a beautiful combination of red and pink which stood out against the silver of the coin. With another toss of the coin, Hadrian looked over the other side the stag stood tall underneath the shade of the most beautiful embossed palm tree. Looking a little closer Hadrian noted the worded carvings on the outermost rim on the outside of the coin, Courage, Determination, Unselfishness, and Cheerfulness, the other side wrote out, the Hunter's Spirit. Hadrian pulled out the other side and noted the words on Daphnae's coin, Excellence, Integrity, Self-Discipline, and Humility, with the other side writing out, the Hunter's Values.
Daphnae and Daphnis had instilled those values and the mentality into him as a young growing boy and as he continues to grow they had always made sure to remind him of the values they had determined he should live by, the values the hunters lived by and the values his mother lived by. The ideals and values of the hunters were something that had existed throughout the history of the Hunt for centuries as the group grew older and the other Olympian gods lost a level of influence over the Hunter primarily after the lustful actions of Zeus and the vengefully lustful actions of Aphrodite. Artemis had limited her time around the general majority of the Olympians save for a few; Athena, Apollo, Demeter - for the occasional conversation, Hephestus and mainly Hestia - although she wasn't an Olympian it was her birthright and Artemis saw her favoured aunt as a true Olympian.
Daphne's eyes wandered over the coin with a slight hitch in her breath as she noted the Ancient Greek carving on the coins, she knew what they meant and could feel the sweat on her brow as she watch the raven-haired green-eyed boy cautiously. She noticed Tracey watching her, but she softly shook her head slightly to prevent any questions at the current moment.
As the group approached an ordinary stone wall lit by a torch on the high side and a blackened bronze chandelier holding onto a set of four torches. As the group settled in front of the wall Farley turned around to face the assembled group. "Here lies the entrance to the Slytherin Common Room and Dormitories. For the first week, we the password, Aspiration, and you will see the next password which will remain until the end of the term, December 31st." Turning around to face the empty wall, the surly boy who accompanied her remained silent, her eyes glaring down at the new students. Hadrian returned a harsh look at him when he felt the angry eyes of Graham Montague on him. Brown met silvery green in a harsh contest which only lasted a few seconds as they were interrupted by Gemma's call of "Aspiration." Immediately the body of a snake appeared from the ground moving from the right side and moving its body into an arch as an ornate dark sherry oak door pushed through the wall. As Gemma and Graham walked towards the door, it threw itself openly as they led the first years through the door towards a staircase that spiralled further down into the depths of the school's dungeon.
Walking into a large common room space, which split itself into three common spaces and two sets of stairs which led towards the dormitories. The group were led to stand by the fireplace by the entry/exit stairway.
"Welcome to Slytherin," Gemma started, clapping her hands together, opening her hands back up she seemed enthusiastic about the upcoming speech she was to give. "The house of those who are ambitious, resourceful, determined and clever. The house of those who understand that in life to achieve anything you must be understanding of the schematics of power, grace, and elegance. In this house, you will make connections amongst those in your year and those above who will influence the way your life outside of Hogwarts is set. You can make, enemies, friends, acquaintances or any word connection you deem appropriate. However, that being said, any personal issues between yourself and another Slytherin will be handled in-house, we do not take our issues no matter how big outside the confines of the Slytherin Common Room. We show a united front outside of the common room, because of the history of our house we are seen as public enemy number one, and because of that we stand together outside of the common room, moving together in groups to make sure we are safe from any unwarranted behaviour from the other houses."
Gemma spoke that in a confident leading manner. "And with that a few words from our head of house, Professor Severus Snape." Immediately heads turned towards the greasy sallow-faced professor who looked at them with his hawk-like gaze, although he glared down towards Hadrian who dismissed his expression with a cold gaze that ignored him.
"You have entered the noble Hogwarts house of Slytherin, the house of legendary witches and wizards like Merlin and Morgaine Le Fay, former Headmaster of Hogwarts Phineas Nigellus Black, Charles Rookwood, San Bakar and Leta Lestrange to name a few. Our house exists on the fringe of Hogwarts but is one that has a long and distinctly honourable history. We have created some of the most influential witches and wizards that have made their place in our noble houses' history which have impacted the venerated history of Magical Britain. That means I will not accept the behaviour of those who dishonour and besmirch our history." At this moment, he locked eyes onto Hadrian but was surprised to see the dark hateful glare coming from the young boy which reminded him of the frozen green eyes he was met with from Lily on that fateful day in their later years at Hogwarts. Shaking his head he continued his speech, "We keep ourselves united on the outside of the Common Room and all probably within our house must be handled within these walls. Now it's late and I expect all first-years to make their way back to their dormitories. For now, it's two per room, choose amongst yourselves, leave now!"