It felt like an eternity before Denlin stopped spinning, and he landed hard on a wooden floor of a large room. He had no idea where he was, but he knew it wasn't home. As he pushed himself to his feet, he realized he'd never let go of his broom, but being indoors, that wouldn't help him much. There was very little light in the room, and the cup laid at his feet, and he grabbed it hopefully, wondering if it was a 2-way Portkey, but when nothing happened, he dropped it.
He looked around, in the dark, realizing that he was in a dungeon of some sort, by his guess, from the lack of windows, and heavy wooden door. As he prepared to push said door open, the room lit up with green light, and he was startled for a moment when his father emerged from the fireplace, looking exhausted and rather beaten up, but not drastic injured.
"Dad!" Denlin about shouted, running over to Snape, hugging him tightly. "I have no idea where we are or how you found me, but I was not intending to use a Portkey to here."
"I know, Denlin." Snape said, out of breath, as he waved his wand, and the torches around the room sprang to life, lighting up his office at Hogwarts. "That was the point of that Portkey." He said, sinking into his chair.
"That was the people who had cleaned out your vault at Gringotts. Apparently they were part of your parents' Soothsayer Society, and felt you should belong to them. They refused to believe or acknowledge your Doomsayer abilities. I figured they would come for you eventually, so I made and placed that Portkey in the closet for you to escape here."
Denlin had been wandering about the office, looking at, handling, and smelling different potion ingredients on display. "I'm guessing they are gone?"
"Yes, and I think I was rather...convincing...that they should leave us alone. However, I don't think this will be the last we see of them. There are other Portkeys here to my office hidden around the house. If they, or anyone else intending to do you harm, ever show up at the manor again, find one, and it will bring you here to safety, and I will join you via Floo Powder shortly thereafter. If for some reason I do not, after a full day, then the handle of the left-hand door of the cabinet behind me is a one-way Portkey home."
Denlin nodded firmly, before almost jumping out of his skin as Peeves flew up through the floor, being pursued by the Bloody Baron, who began to admonish him for scaring the boy.
"C-can we go home now? I think I've had enough excitement for...ever."
The rest of the summer seemed to fly by as Snape did his best to prepare Denlin for classes, including having him read all of his textbooks. It was almost natural that Denlin was going to succeed in potions, but his knowledge of most other forms of magic was lacking in some aspects. By the time August had come and gone, Denlin's head was swimming with all sorts of things, and he hadn't even started Hogwarts yet.
Thankfully, another wizarding family that lived nearby offered to take Denlin to the station to catch the Hogwarts Express. In the future he might take his father's offer to Floo over, but for the first year, Snape wanted him to ride the train. This was how he found himself standing on Platform 9 ¾ alone, trying to find a compartment with available seats. As he came to the last one, he saw that there were a couple others, possibly first years, there as well.
"Mind if I sit here, there's no other available seats?" He asked nervously, nodding to a seat on the near-side of the compartment.
"No, go for it."
Denlin nodded in thanks, taking a seat right before the train began moving. As he settled in, Draco Malfoy came in to torment the other two, and Denlin thought he'd not be noticed, but instead, as Malfoy was leaving, he spotted Denlin.
"Well well, what do we have here? I've heard of you. Surprising they let you in, considering what you are."
"What, a wizard like you?" Denlin said, standing up and pulling his wand from his pocket. What he would do with it, he had no idea, maybe he could poke Malfoy in the eye.
"Please, you know what I'm referring to, just wait till Dumbledore gets wind of what you can do, you'll be expelled before the end of the term!" And with that last remark, Malfoy stormed off, leaving Denlin fuming in the compartment with who he later found out was Harry and Ron.
The rest of the train ride was a blur, as he desperately tried to ground himself by burying his face in Spark's fur and snuggling the cat, who always seemed to know when he needed him.
"What was Malfoy referring to?" Harry later asked him as they stood gathered in the entrance hall waiting for be sorted.
"Later." Denlin said, as McGonagall came to collect them. One thing Denlin was grateful for was Harry's fame, he was no longer the one being whispered about. Instead that honor went to Harry, and Denlin was concerned about the sorting, Soothsayers were often longer decisions for the hat, and Doomsayers could be hatstalls. His own name was called very quickly—under the proper surname—for his tastes, and there was a murmur of recognition of the surname, before the hat was plopped on his head.
"Oh hello, I recognize some of this, a very interesting set of abilities you have. Could be a good fit for Ravenclaw. Desire to learn, highly intelligent, plus your abilities could be of good use." Denlin heard the voice in his head as the hat mulled over where to put him.
"Hmm...but also a soft kindness and desire to help people could make you a good fit for Hufflepuff as well."
"Ah, and also a courage and bravery not seen for ages, makes you a good fit for Gryffindor as well."
"Oh, but also the cunning and loyalty, strong traits for Slytherin, could put you there, would be a strong member. What do you want?"
"Slytherin." Denlin whispered, desiring to be in the same house as his father.
"Very well." The hat said quietly to him, "SLYTHERIN!" It called out, as the hat was removed and Denlin quickly dashed over to the table. As he sat down, he scanned the staff table for his father, who gave him the briefest smile, before going back to the hardened persona he put on to scare students.
While he wasn't looking forward to being in the same house as Malfoy, the look on the other boy's face when he realized who Denlin's father was, was worth every second of torment he'd have to endure.
It wasn't long before the feast and post-feast messages were over, and the first years were making their way to their common rooms. As he got to the bottom of one of the many staircases, Snape pulled Denlin out of the line, pressing a potion into his hand. "I heard about what happened on the train. This should prevent any midnight...mishaps...with your abilities if you have nightmares."
Drinking down the potion, which tasted horrible and even made him gag slightly, Denlin grumbled. "I haven't had nightmares trigger anything in over a year!"
"No, but you also didn't have Malfoy tormenting you during that time." Snape pointed out. "Tell me if you have nightmares tonight, if you do, I'll make more of this and this will become a nightly ritual. Now go." He gave Denlin a gentle shove to catch up with the rest of the first years for Slytherin.
Rowan Hatch, one of the Prefects, had done a head count when they were leaving the Great Hall, and had just finished another one, realizing they were one short, when Denlin caught up. "Sorry, Professor Snape needed to speak with me for a minute." He huffed, out of breath from his run to catch up.
"Very well. Welcome, first years, to Slytherin dungeon. To get into the common room, it's simple. Simply face this wall/." Rowan said, spinning on his heel to face the empty wall behind him, "then say, loudly enough the wall can hear you, 'Salazar Slytherin'."
As the words flowed from his mouth, a large stone snake slithered out of nothing to form the door trim, a door magically appearing in the center. As Rowan opened the door, he began speaking again.
"I'm sure you all are eager to get to bed, but I have a few important matters to discuss, not to worry, they will also be written down and distributed to everyone tomorrow. First and foremost, when not in classes, you are, indeed, allowed to wear whatever you wish. However, do be mindful it needs to be appropriate for the school environment. If it is not, you likely will be forced to change."
"Secondly, and this is very important, nobody unauthorized is to open the cabinet in the boys dormitory. If you're authorized, you will receive a key. That is all."
Rowan pointed the first years through a door, where the dormitory was, and Denlin spotted the cabinet next top the first years door. As he got to his bed and pulled back the sheets, he spotted an envelope, with very familiar handwriting on it.
This is for emergencies only. There are extra suppression potions in the cabinet. Only your Prefects and the Head Boy and Girl know the contents of the cabinet. Keep it that way.
Affixed to the parchment note was a key, no doubt to the cabinet outside. Stuffing the key into his pocket, Denlin flopped into bed, exhausted.