...
It didn't have the same effect as the rest of the students that had found themselves in the house of snakes; which in itself was more than likely due to the lack of a second name. Not that Rodrick had any place to complain in the first place. After going through everyone else's sorting, most houses met their newcomers with applause or cheers.
After his own, he only found silence.
Sure some of the older years might've looked happy, but even he could tell it was forced.
Honestly, if anything, the most honest reaction, barring the two girls he'd met, came from Malfoy. The boy's excited look was almost worrying; if not for the fact he knew he could likely hold his own no matter what the blonde had in store for him.
An orphan surrounded by a majority of Purebloods would nine times out of ten make for an easy target.
Standing up from the central seat, he promptly started making his way over to the Slytherin table, avoiding any eye contact where he could. Spying a place in front of Daphne, he decided to take it. At which point he simply kept his focus ahead of himself, having no intentions of engaging any of the strangers around him, especially considering the wary looks everyone seemed to give him.
Until he had a much better idea of who he was dealing with, he felt it best he didn't grab any unnecessary attention.
Still, that was, of course, the moment Malfoy, his seat been four places down from his own, decided to speak up.
"I didn't know orphans were allowed in Slytherin," Malfoy stated, the boy's tone, to his own surprise, was almost...
He blinked once, his mind unsure if he was imagining things or not. As he could've sworn the blonde sounded controlled, practically careful in his delivery.
Frankly, he'd expected quite a bit more arrogance.
Still, the words themselves brought out a better question.
'How did he know I am an orphan?'
His first suspicion went towards Daphne or Tracey telling Malfoy themselves before he shook said thought away when he remembered Harry Potter had also been targeted out of nowhere earlier.
'Leave it to an extremist pureblood to set up a spy network.'
He'd certainly heard of the Malfoys, particularly from his guide, on his way through Diagon Alley. They were well known for their dislike of Muggles, and frankly not much for anything else, nothing positive anyway. Though in all fairness, he hadn't exactly paid said guide much attention, his focus set on the literal magical world he'd finally been allowed to witness for himself.
Outside of his dreams at any rate.
Turning his eyes towards the blonde, his gaze immediately narrowing at the smug face that took over Malfoy in return-
"Suppose' that's a good thing for you then, ain't it?" He shrugged back, briefly earning a very confused look in return.
"...And I care, how, exactly?" The blonde remarked back. Daphne, as well as a few of the Slytherins around them, seemed to have their attention focused on them.
"Well, if your family ever decides they need a more likable heir, you'll still be welcomed here!"
He really hoped Malfoy was a lonely child, lest his rebuke would quite literally fall flat. He wasn't entirely sure what the repercussions of that were, nor did he want to find out. Not that he had much to lose in terms of a reputation. All things considered. It would likely take a miracle for him to make his family's history somehow worse than it already was.
'Grandfather would probably be proud, actually.'
Still, admittedly alienating Malfoy would under normal circumstances be a bad idea. And if not for the fact he more than likely could acquire the boy's and his family's loyalty by just revealing his family name, he would've taken more care.
Not that actually having said support would help his cause in any way.
Might make his grandfather happy, sure. But that wasn't exactly reassuring when it came to the rest of the world.
Rodrick turned his attention back ahead of him, his gaze noticing most of those around him had trouble keeping the smile off their face at this response, while Malfoy looked positively radiant with anger, or bemusement. The blonde's face wasn't exactly very easy to read.
If nothing else, Draco Malfoy had a good poker face.
Greengrass was positively glowing with amusement, while Tracey settled for looking nervous.
Thankfully, before Malfoy could form a response the Headmaster chose that moment to start his speech.
"Welcome!" He said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are. Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you."
'...Well. Seems grandfather's right again. He really is a nutter.'
The mixed reactions throughout the hall weren't exactly much of a surprise. Daphne herself had looked towards Tracey with mild confusion covering her expression before she'd turned back towards him; only to watch him shrug off his own bemusement.
Naturally, Malfoy, having decided to get in the last words, promptly questioned the headmaster of Hogwarts's sanity, in all eleven years of his wisdom.
It did not bode very well for his own sanity knowing he was going to be sharing a dorm with said wizard for the next seven years.
And as if to save him from his latest train of thought, every table in the great hall chose that moment to magically fill itself up in food.
And, well, he definitely didn't need to be told twice to dig in.
...
Rodrick found himself, mid-meal, striking up a conversation with a wizard to his right.
A boy named Blaise Zabini, who was slightly closed off from what he could tell, which made it all the easier to start talking to him, given it was something they had in common.
After explaining his situation, sort of, Blaise seemed more intent to listen, of course, it was only after mentioning he wasn't a muggle-born, to begin with.
Telling him he was pureblood would cause more harm than good, given the only proof he had would more than likely put him on a watch list. Half-blood however was a little more open. though of course, Blaise still asked the question, but he'd kept his response simple enough.
"What muggle-born willingly goes to Slytherin, exactly?" it was vague, but it seemed to help lighten the mood between them.
The boy was still stuck up, to say the least. His opinion was blunt though a small part of him was grateful for it, which was far more than he can say for his fellow other Slytherins, his two friends aside.
Whether they could be friends or not was another matter. Rodrick wasn't entirely sure how to even start. It wasn't like there was an out of control trolley and frozen sibling around to help him this time. Nor was it like his social skills were anything to be proud of; half a lifetime been taught by an imprisoned former Dark-lord, whilst growing up in an orphanage certainly didn't help it.
His friendship with Daphne had literally started due to him helping her sister, the rest essentially falling into place after the fact. Tracey Davis practically came along with it.
There wouldn't be such luck with everyone else. Though there certainly was no harm in trying either. They had, up until this point, been talking about their different lifestyles, which was comical, to say the least.
Blaise had grown up with more fathers than he'd ever wanted and a mother who may or may not have smothered him a touch too much was talking with an orphan who had no idea what having a family in the first place felt like. (And whose only idea of what a family entailed, came from a convicted mass-murderer.)
Yes, it was comical to say the least. Which was why it was so easy to talk to each other, they both got to see a glimpse of what the other side was like. Which while it may have been true for the other first-year Slytherins, They seemed to be slightly too discriminating towards him for some unexplainable reason, other than insulting Malfoy but that was bound to happen sooner or later.
He'd seen Daphne's family first hand and felt for whatever reason uncomfortable talking to her about what it was like, nor could he fathom why, so he didn't.
Tracey seemed to have too much energy to stay stuck in one conversation.
But Blaise seemed to, again surprising him personally, be easy to talk to about such things. Even if he couldn't exactly reveal too much.
A small shriek promptly echoed out, grabbing both of their attention. The sound had come from a Slytherin girl near Malfoy; said girl currently haphazardly pointing to-
A ghost... A ghost with blood on his shirt, which evidently had his entire year entranced.
Idly turning towards Daphne, he found the girl either making an effort to avoid their evident house ghost, or simply trying to catch a glimpse of the rest of them.
The rest of which, unlike their own, seemed to be blood-free.
Except the one pulling his head back almost completely. That one was just plain weird.
Next to Daphne, Tracey was currently staring at the collection of ghosts in awe and excitement.
After a momentary look towards his own houses ghost, Rodrick shrugged and promptly tried to get into a conversation with it. Completely missing the bemused look Daphne seemed to be giving him.
...
-Daphne-
It quite frankly surprised her how easy Rodrick seemed to accept everything. For an orphan, he was acting like he had known about magic his whole life. "That there is The Bloody Baron, he's the ghost of Slytherin," One of the older years remarked, at the very least introducing-
It took her a moment to process the ghost's nickname.
'...Of course, he is...'
"Leave it to Slytherin to get the bloodiest ghost available," Rodrick sighed, idly going through another of the green-colored desserts.
She couldn't help the chuckle that came out. For someone who'd seemed so set on joining the house, he didn't seem to be as impressed having gotten in.
...
The first years soon found themselves been escorted out of the hall; all of them following the two prefects signaled out by their head of house. Towards there would be rooms for the year.
Rodrick was in the middle of chatting with Daphne on the way.
Tracey, determined to make new friends, was currently attempting to converse with the other students.
"So, is it just me or does the Bloody Baron look like he could pass off for Malfoy's ancestor?"
It took the girl a second to process his question before-
"...That's rude! He's your classmate, you really ought to take care of what you say!" Daphne had pulled him closer to whisper and attempted to come off as serious- "And it really depends if you mean in looks or personality,"
Rodrick turned his head towards the girl and gave off a deadpan look at her clear hypocrisy before rolling his eyes.
"I don't understand you at all!"
Daphne snorted at the words before rolling her eyes. "Well, if you keep those remarks to anyone else besides Tracey, then you'll understand me well enough!" She grinned towards him.
"I see. Well, you'll be glad to know I value our friendship far too much to not do that in the first place,"
"...You've barely known me a day, that's hardly enough time to warrant such value,"
"Indeed, says quite a bit about my social abilities, doesn't it?" He'd attempted to say this with as much sarcasm as he could, but all he'd managed was more than likely pity. At which point a more resigned look took over his expression.
Daphne however just tugged at his sleeve, grabbing hold of his attention.
"Maybe, but you're not as bad as you think you are," She tried to cheer him up. Only for the twinkle in his eyes to return as he deadpanned a response back to her.
"Try to convince our fellow Slytherins of that,"
"I am afraid that's impossible, even with magic," She replied, a playful expression on her face.
The group of students promptly reached the end of their destination. One of the prefects currently had a hand motioned to a wall, explaining the password system in place with practiced ease. After mentioning said password, they emphasized the importance of why it needed to stay as a secret from the other houses. The prefects led the way down the dimly lit corridor whilst explaining more of the rules surrounding the wizarding school and of course, more importantly, their head of house's own personal 'guidelines.'
"Basilisk," He deadpanned the chosen password. "Is it any wonder the other houses are so wary of us?"
...
The Slytherin dungeon, otherwise known as Slytherin common room, was a long low underground room, surrounded by rough stone walls and ceiling. The light looked to have been drained out with how dark the room was. Only a dark shade of green seemed to echo through; round lamps appeared to intensify the shade even more. In the middle of it all stood a fireplace underneath what looked like a stone tablet with a large snake etched onto it; snakes were engraved everywhere it seemed, from the pillars to the walls to even some desks. There were two large glass windows that revealed the lake, and a few of its inhabitants, outside Hogwarts.
Rodrick turned to see Daphne examining one of the nearby pillar drawings, Tracey was staring around nervously. Nor was it long before the students were split up by gender, each one led to a separate area. The prefects gave warnings of punishment if either gender attempted to enter the other's dorm. Rodrick took one last look at his friends before catching up to Blaise.
As soon as he reached his bed, he changed clothes and practically melted into the mattress.
It was far more comfortable compared to the one in his orphanage, unsurprisingly.
The Slytherin prefect had told them all what time they were expected up; Rodrick couldn't remember anything else after that.
It wasn't long before he was jostled awake. Only he wasn't in Hogwarts anymore.
He stared at the mirrors surrounding him once again, taking in his appearance. His face slowly started to change, a regular ritual for him.
The mirror showed no lies, it showed him his reality, and to anyone else, it would show them their sorrow.
His face slowly turned narrow, instead of the previously square-jawed. His hair was slowly changing, while still mostly black, loose strands of blonde highlighted it.
The only feature that remained the same was his eyes.
If it weren't for that, and his hair, he would've looked like a twin.
Soon enough an older man appeared by his side, his eyes locked onto the mirror before he turned them towards him.
"Your control is wavering; I can still see through your thoughts," the elder man had a grim line on his skeletal face.
"This is your own magic in the first place, it can hardly stop you if you know it so well," He calmly replied.
The old man turned away before the mirrors disappeared, forming a single wand out of thin air before handing it over to him.
"How is your transfiguration?" he asked coolly, ignoring the previous subject.
"It only turns back in this place; I don't believe any of the professors have noticed," He answered, idly pointing to his own face.
"Good, keep it like that for as long as you can..." There was a small silence before the old man continued, "The girl, Who is she?"
Rodrick took in a quick breath before answering, "She's a Greengrass, is there a problem?"
"Oh, that is your choice alone, of course, I am glad you're looking to befriend purebloods."
He'd never quite understood why the man had insisted on him at least reaching out towards the Purebloods he'd meet on his journey; the only reasoning given to him for it been that it helped lower the odds of him running into muggle related issues. Whatever that meant.
It wasn't like Purebloods never dealt with muggles after all. Personally, he'd figured the man had his own reasons, whatever they were. And given he didn't feel like telling him, despite everything else he'd willfully taught him, Rodrick didn't exactly want to find out.
Still, he took it for what it was, a compliment.
"Thank you, grandfather."
"Where did we stop off last time?" Gellert Grindelwald questioned after a grunt, likely ignoring, or not even hearing his words as he immediately settled into teaching mode.
"In the middle of learning a new charm, I believe? One of your earlier creations,"
...
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