I hope you all are enjoying this. All the usual disclaimers apply. Cooments are life.
Here's Chapter 7.
-Victoria
Some things were simply ingrained in Harry, after a lifetime of early wake up calls. According to his pocket watch, which he'd left lying on the bedside table, it was a quarter past five in the morning. The only noises in the dorm room were the rustling of sheets as his roommates tossed and turned in their sleep. And Draco Malfoy's obnoxious snoring.
He winced at the sound of wood dragging across wood as he pulled the drawer of the bedside table open. Morgan hissed at him, and pressed her head beneath the length of her body.
The First Year boys bathroom consisted of six sinks surrounding a central column with mirrors mounted around it. The taps were in the shape of snakes, with the water falling from open mouths. Four toilet stalls were lined along one wall, with a deep cupboard behind the door. Inside the cupboard were stacks of bright white towels and flannels with the Slytherin crest embroidered in one corner. The opposite side of the room held four wood-clad antique baths, with shower heads from at least a hundred years ago. Across from the door, on the back wall of the room, was a large window that looked out into the same black nothing as the one in his dorm.
After a blissfully warm shower, with surprisingly decent water pressure, he tried to make his hair lay flat. The length helped somewhat, but it still went every which direction at random. So far, nothing had worked. He planned on growing it out farther, but that would take time. He settled for brushing it down, and hoping for the best.
Bright emerald peeked out from his stack of clothing. Sometime in the night, the Slytherin crest had replaced the Hogwarts one on the breast of his robes. The inside lining was what caught his eyes. It was no longer solid black inside and out. Even the pockets had green lining. When he returned to the room, three new silver and green striped ties were laid across his trunk.
He had just slipped his boots on when Theo noisily climbed out of his bed.
"Morning," Harry said.
Theo grunted something unintelligible and stumbled his way to the bathroom.
Tucked beside the large staircase in the room from the night before, was a small cluster of sofas. He sat down, with his back to the stair, and a perfect view of the large windows at the far end, in the room on the other side of the lounge. Blue-green sunlight filtered through them, casting an eerie glow. A few other older students were already up and moving around the other parts of the common room, steaming cups gripped in their hands.
He pulled the history book out of his bag, and picked up where he left off.
"I wouldn't take that around with you," Theo said when he joined him.
"It's just a book. I'll keep it out of sight, though," Harry promised.
"Good. I'd kill for some tea," Theo said. "Slept horribly."
An hour later, Daphne and Tracey emerged from the girls' dorms, both looking murderous.
"We have to share with Roper and Parkinson," Tracey said, flopping down next to Harry.
"All night, we had to listen to them complain about simply everything," Daphne said. "Like they didn't know they would have roommates. No one gets a private room."
"You didn't help. Refusing to sleep next to either of them or Bullstrode," Tracey said.
"Have you met her? She's worse than both of them," Daphne said.
"At least you don't have to share with Malfoy. His snoring has only gotten worse since we were toddlers," Theo said.
"Did they really stick you with him?" Daphne asked.
"Both of us, actually," Harry said.
"What were they thinking! The room assignments make no sense," Daphne said.
"They really don't. Last night was filled with screaming fits, half the girls in our year are rooming with someone they hate," Tracey said.
"It's the same for the boys," Zabini said, walking up to join them.
If Daphne's robes were perfectly pressed, with not a wrinkle or speck of dust in sight, then Zabini's were pristine. He looked like a piece of art, with not even a single hair out of place. And he moved with a grace Harry would have never expected from someone their age. Zabini glided into the room, and leaned on the wall next to the sofa like a perfectly placed statue.
"I thought you didn't like us?" Harry asked.
Zabini made a show of examining his nails, and said, "Ah, but I know you. I've never been much of a loner, I'm much too pretty for that."
Tracey and the quiet blonde girl that had joined them giggled. Daphne did not look impressed.
"Introduce your new friend?" Daphne asked.
"Only if you do yours," Theo replied.
The girl turned out to be Lilly Moon, the only other girl in their dorm that Daphne didn't hate. According to Daphne, Moon's father was an elected member of the Wizengamot that often worked with Daphne's father on different committees.
Just before seven, the common room went from almost empty to almost full. Older students gathered in groups before heading up the stairs that led to the rest of the castle.
Leonore Rosier waved at them as she wandered towards the other prefects, which were congregating on the balcony.
Durant broke away from the others, and called them to attention. "First Years!" he yelled over the noise.
Everyone fell silent. Harry had to turn almost completely backwards to see.
"Prefects Sallow and Rosier will walk you up to the Great Hall for breakfast. There, you will receive your timetables. Breakfast is served from six thirty to eight thirty. After that, you are on your own until Dinner. After which, you will meet back here no later than a quarter after eight. If you do not own a watch, I suggest you owl order one. Today.
Durant then left to join the group of seventh years waiting just on the other side of the curtains.
Sallow led them on a different route up to the Great Hall.
"The Turis Magnus, or Grand Staircase, is the central hub of this part of the castle," he explained as he led them up the short staircase across from the common room entrance.
They went down a short, wide hall, and through an archway. They were at the base of a twisting stair that rose up and up.
"You should all stay together today," Rosier said as they mounted the stairs. "Hogwarts is a maze, and no map can exist of the castle. There will be a packet with instructions as to where your classes are located. Some of the professors will be on hand to help direct you. Do try not to get lost."
"It may take days to find you, if you do," Sallow added.
Some flights of the interlocking stairs curved around the exterior rounded walls, passing beneath portraits that spoke to them as they walked by. Others spun up a central column that went all the way to the vaulted roof of the tower.
They went up five flights, before turning off at one of the many landings, which led to another portrait-filled corridor that rose up three different levels. Then they were back in the Reception Hall with its giant hourglasses taking up an entire wall, glinting in the early morning sun.
Each had a different house name carved into the base, and filled with hundreds of jewels that corresponded to that house. Decorating the outside of the hourglasses, were the house mascots in the secondary colour of each house. Slytherin's hourglass had dour silver snakes surrounding the glass, with more etched into the glass itself, twisting around one another.
"Enjoy your classes," Sallow said, and he and Rosier left to join their own friends.
"Go on," Harry told his group as the other Slytherin First Years followed the prefects into the Great Hall. "I want to check on Neville."
"We'll stay," Tracey said.
They waited for an eternity before they heard Neville and Hermione talking loudly as they came up the same
hallway the Slytherins had entered from.
When they spotted Harry, they both ran over.
"How's Slytherin?" Hermione asked.
"Perfect. How's Gryffindor?"
Neville looked around them worriedly, as if checking to see if anyone was paying attention to them.
The students streaming past them ignored the little group of First Years.
"Awful," Neville sighed, while Tracey patted him on the shoulder. "Me and Alex are sharing a dorm. And Ron spent half the night sucking up to him."
"Ron?"
"Ron Weasley," Hermione supplied.
"At least we haven't seen them this morning," Neville said.
"Alex was the worst last night. Him and his friend, what was his name?"
"Cormac, Harry and Neville both said.
"That was it. They spent at least half the night ranting to anyone that would listen about your sorting, Harry. When people grew tired of it, they ran off somewhere," Hermione said.
"To write James," Neville said. "Him and Ron told everyone about it when he finally came to our dorm."
Harry winced. He could easily imagine the things Alex was saying.
"I'm sorry," he told Neville.
And he was. Sharing a house with Alex with plenty of places to hide had been difficult enough. He'd have gone crazy if he had to sleep in the same room as his twin.
"I'll teach you a few warding spells to make things safer. Some that will burn his fingers off if he tries to touch your bed," Theo offered.
All of them turned to him. Harry didn't know something like that was possible.
"Er, thanks?" Neville said.
"Do you even know how to do those spells?" Daphne asked.
"In theory," Theo said.
"You'll have him blowing up Gryffindor tower," Daphne said.
Theo grinned. It was all teeth.
Neville flinched.
"Knock it off," Tracey said.
"Please do," Rosier said, her dark blonde curls bouncing around her head as she came back out of the Great Hall. She glared at the six Slytherins with sharp, honey brown eyes. "Get to breakfast. Blaise, a word?"
They all scurried off, leaving Blaise to the prefect's ire.
"Are they related?" Harry asked.
"Somehow, if Blaise is the Rosier heir," Theo said.
"Most of us are related somehow, especially those of us who will inherit titles someday," Daphne told him.
The only open seats left at the Slytherin table were all the way down by the Head Table. They all dropped into the open seats and began filling their plates.
"First day of classes, what's everyone looking forward to the most?" Tracey asked.
"Charms," Mood said.
"Really?" Daphne asked.
"Our fortune was built on enchanting. I can't wait to learn the skill, follow in my ancestors footsteps," she said.
"It's potions and history for me," Harry told them.
"Potions will be good. Snape is supposed to be one of the best," Theo said.
"History's taught by a ghost," Blaise said, joining them. He didn't look at all like he'd been told off. "Leonore said Binns is dreadfully boring, and only talks about the Goblin wars."
"How are the two of you related?" Tracey asked.
"Our grandfathers were brothers. My grandfather being the elder sibling. Mother was already married," Blaise said.
Theo whispered in Harry's ear. "To her second husband. She's had six, all dead. The last one was three months ago."
Not hearing them, Blaise continued talking. "To my dad. After Mother's little brother died, the line passed to her upon Grandfather's death."
"Evan Rosier. He died during the war," Theo whispered.
"Was he…" Harry asked in a whisper.
"A Death Eater? Yeah. Mad-Eye Moody killed him a few months after he left Hogwarts. It was tragic."
Having met Moody, Harry could believe it. He never wanted to be on the wrong end of the gruff Auror's wand.
There was a rushing of wings from above them. When Harry looked up, he had to hold in his gasp. Hundreds of owls were streaming into the Great Hall, circling tables, and landing across from different students.
Two owls u
Unexpectedly landed in front of him, both of them offering a leg with letters tied to them. When he took the letters, the owls flew off with a hoot.
The first one was completely blank, sealed with plain white-yellow candle wax. Curiously, he tore it open.
TRAITOR
It was scrawled in large, blocky red ink, taking up the whole piece of parchment.
"Who would send that?" Moon asked, looking away from her own letter.
At the Gryffindor table, sitting between Cormac and Weasley, Alex was smiling maliciously at him.
Harry rolled his eyes.
"Who do you think? He said wryly.
"How…childish," Daphne said.
"I'll take care of it. Set it down," Theo said.
Harry let the parchment fall to the table.
The second Harry let go of it, Theo pointed his wand at it and said, "Incendio."
It went up in a flash of flames and curling smoke. Within seconds, the letter was nothing but ashes on the table between them.
"You're teaching me that one," Harry told him.
"What have you got to teach me?" Theo said.
"Locking spell?" Harry offered.
"Done."
The second letter was much less dramatic, but somehow even more infuriating.
Harry,
Alex wrote me last night, said you sorted Slytherin. I didn't believe it until I saw the paper this morning. Did you know they publish the sortings in the paper every year? They've been doing it since the Prophet first came out. It's a big thing in some of the more traditional set of our society.
Honestly, as much as I hoped to see both you and your brother go to Gryffindor, to be the next generation of leaders in my old house, you were far too quiet for it. I truly did believe you would go to Ravenclaw. You showed a lot of traits associated with the house. A month really isn't all that long to get to know one another though. And I spent most of it at work.
I'm not mad. Like I said over the summer, my mother was a Slytherin, but she was from a different time. I'll be honest with you, it is shocking you were sorted there. The house does have a certain reputation. A lot of your new housemates come from families that fought for You-Know-Who. People who wormed their way out of Azkaban to raise a new generation with those same beliefs that tore our family apart. A lot of them would seek to use you to get at Alex and I.
I fear for the way you could be treated, the beliefs and magic you'll be exposed to in that house. If things get bad, and you want out, there's no shame in doing the right thing. Just let me know. I'm sure I can set something up with Albus to get you resorted into a more fitting house.
Be on your guard around them, especially the older ones. Some of them are dangerous.
Love,
Your Father
James
"They publish our sortings, for everyone to see?" Harry asked.
"Yeah. It's tradition. A lot of families frame the issue, along with the acceptance letter," Daphne said.
Muggles did similar things. The Dursleys didn't, but that was because they would never have done anything for Harry. And Dudley was too stupid to ever win any sort of award.
"Everything okay?" Tracey asked, noticing Harry's disappointment with the letter.
"James seems to be under the impression my being in Slytherin is a danger to Alex. Warned me off you all, and offered to have me resorted," he said.
"Thats…" Moon started.
None of them knew what to say.
"It's impossible," Theo said. "Father said there was a girl when he was in school that begged to be resorted. She was bullied horribly by her housemates. When she tried, the hat told her it never made mistakes, and she needed to learn what she was meant to. The next year, the Hat's song said all sortings were final," Theo said.
"I heard the same story. Didn't the girl die?" Daphne asked.
"A few years later. Killed in some tragic accident as a fourth year," Theo said.
"Her ghost haunts a girl's loo," Zabini said.
When they all looked at him, he said, "What? I had Leonore tell me everything she could over the summer. Until a year ago, Mother planned to send me to Scuola di Magia di Herculaneum."
"Never heard of it," Theo said.
"It's not one of the big eleven. It's in Italy, one of the oldest schools in continuous use though. Roman Wixen attended it," Blaise said.
At precisely eight o'clock, the four Heads of House stood up from their table, stacks of parchment floating next to them. Snape stalked towards them. With a wave of his wand, packets floated off the stack beside him to land in front of each of them. As he moved past them, he shot a glare of complete loathing in Harry's direction. He was gone before anyone else caught it. The packets got smaller the farther down the table he went. And he moved slower, speaking with the upper years as he handed them theirs.
The packet turned out to be their timetables, along with a set of directions to each of their classes from a place called Central Hall.
After comparing the timetables, they realised the Slytherin First Years shared all of the same classes.
First up, was Charms.
Hogwarts was split by a deep gorge in the mountain it sat on, with the four houses, as well as the professors' living quarters on one side. All of the classrooms were on the other side of the gorge.
To reach the other side, they had to go back to the Turis Magnus, which was the central artery of the residential part of the castle, and up one floor to. Then they had to walk to Ravenclaw Tower. Inside the tower, which was decorated in blue and bronze, it was down to flights of stairs, across a hall that stretched over the gorge. Then it was across a corridor, and up another flight of stairs.
That landed them in what, according to the directions, was Central Hall in the Library Annex. It was a wide open hall, with wood clad walls. The floors varied, from wood with intricate patterns to red carpet, to marble. It was somewhat of a later design than the Great Hall, but still hundreds of years old, with decorative wooden carvings set into the bannisters. A balcony wrapped around three sides of the upper level, more stairs branching off of it in every direction. Hanging from the vaulted ceiling were banners of all shapes and colours.
Students were moving everywhere. Some rushing to their first class of the year, others milling about in clumps, catching up with friends in different houses. In the center of it all, stood a tall fountain with statues of magical creatures.
Professor McGonagall stood in front of the fountain, shouting directions above the noise. She pointed at various students, and in all different directions.
"I think we go this way," Tracey said, reading the directions written out for them.
She followed the flow of students out an ornate set of doors and into a courtyard with towering trees and shrubs, Harry and the others pulled along behind her. Directly across the courtyard was another set of doors which led them to the Dark Tower.
The Charms classroom was three flights up. It was a long room, with a narrow walkway down the center. Three rows of long desks set upon wooden risers lined the length of the walls. At the front, back, and center of the room. The desks were broken up by steps that led up to each level. A large desk stood at the front of the classroom.
Standing atop the desk was a tiny man with dark hair and a dark moustache. He wore black open robes that flowed down to brush the desk, and black trousers. Beneath the robes was a white waistcoat over a matching white oxford shirt and a black bowtie.
Harry and his friends took a set of desks in the middle of the room, across from the blue clad students they shared the class with.
Padma joined them a moment later, pulling one of her housemates along with her.
There wasn't any time to talk, because once the last student was seated, the professor immediately took the register.
"Welcome to Charms, First Years. For those who do not know, I am Professor Flitwick," he said in a high, squeaking voice. "During our time together, you will learn to cast one of the most versatile forms of magic. Charms is, at its core, the foundation of nearly all magic you will do. It can be used for everything from cleaning your home to defending yourself. In fact, most of the Dark Arts, and the spells to defend against them, are Charms," he said, launching right into his lecture.
There was a scramble of quills and parchment being pulled out.
For such a tiny man, Professor Flitwick spoke quickly, and Harry's hand was cramping halfway through. By the end of class, he'd filled three pages, front and back, in one of the leather bound notebooks he'd bought.
He was disappointed though, that the only thing they had done was take notes. They hadn't done any magic. Instead, their homework was assigned reading and twelve inches on the various uses of charms.
"You got what you wanted," Padma told them when they were dismissed.
"So did you," Harry said.
"I did. I'm incredibly pleased," she said.
Ravenclaw shared Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Slytherins as well, so she and her friend, Sue Li, walked with them down to the basement of the Dark Tower.
"Ravenclaw is incredible," Padma gushed. "There are books simply everywhere, and it's so quiet."
"Almost too quiet," Sue, who demanded they all use her first name, said.
"Well, I love it. After living with Parvati screaming about everything for my whole life, its a nice change," she said.
"One of the many reasons I'm glad I'm an only child," Sue said.
The Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom was a cramped, dark space, with small dirty windows set high into the walls. Incense drifted through the room, the scent mixing with the garlic strung from every possible place. The smell was overwhelming, making Harry's eyes water before he even entered the room.
Professor Quirrel stuttered his way through the register, and his lecture was a rambling mess. It was disappointing, because Harry had been looking forward to the class.
Less than ten minutes in, Quirrell had lost the attention of the class. Students whispered to one another, ignoring the stuttering man.
"Leonore said we might want to self-study, the Defense professor changes every year, and it's impossible to know what you're going to get," Blaise told them quietly.
"Some of the older Ravenclaws told us the same thing," Padma said. "Apparently, Quirrell used to be the Muggle Studies professor before taking a sabbatical all of last year."
"Was he a good professor before that?" Harry asked. He was having a hard time believing the bumbling man had ever taught so much as a rock.
"From all accounts, he wasn't great. But he had a high OWL pass rate," Sue said. "My Mum's one of the examiners."
"How did she ever manage that? All of them are ancient," Theo said.
"She's the youngest, by about fifty years. And she's almost sixty!"
They all laughed.
Harry wanted to cheer when class was finally over. Everyone rushed up to the courtyard, desperate for fresh air.
"That was awful! I smell like garlic now!" Daphne whined, digging a bottle of perfume out of her bag.
She doused herself, then the rest of them in a light, floral scent.
"Great, now I smell like garlic and a girl," Theo said.
"It's not so bad, reminds me of home," Blaise said. He turned to Daphne and asked, "Is that Amatia Vulso?"
"My favourite of hers. Fiori d'Amore."
They lounged around on the benches near the small fountain for a while, enjoying the sunlight. Blaise, Daphne and Padma talked fashion, with Tracey adding her input occasionally. Moon and Sue bonded over their love of a band called the Weird Sisters. Harry vaguely knew of them, but wasn't familiar enough to join their conversation.
The Slytherins had Herbology after the break, but Padma and Sue didn't have another class until after lunch.
"Meet in the library during our free periods?" Padma asked when they stood up to make their way down to the Greenhouses.
"We'll probably spend the rest of the day there," Harry said.
"If we can find it," Theo added.
Professor Sprout was a kind, plump woman, who immediately set them to repotting squirming flowers as she lectured about all the uses of plants, both magical and mundane. According to her, the best way to learn her subject was to do it. Harry found it hard to pay attention to what she said, too busy trying to keep the vibrant blue flower from wrapping up his arm.
And Daphne was next to him, complaining about having to deal with dirt immediately after the garlic. Her and Blaise were seemingly competing over who could be the most dramatic.
They shared the class with Hufflepuff, but Harry couldn't seem to get to Susan with the way they clustered around one another. She waved brightly at them from her table on the other side of the greenhouse.
Despite the mess, Harry rather enjoyed himself. It was worlds better than Defense had been, and he'd always enjoyed gardening more than most of his other chores. Parts of it, at least.
Their homework was several inches on the different types of soil and their effects on magical versus mundane plants. It was interesting, though it would probably never be his favourite class. Surprising all of them, Tracey loved it, and spent all of lunch going back over the lecture, which was immensely helpful for Harry.
Unfortunately for Harry, the day had been going far too well. He barely made it out of the Great Hall when Alex came chasing after him. Trailing behind him was Weasley, Padma's sister, and two other Gryffindor students in their year. Cormac, thankfully, was nowhere to be seen.
"Traitor," Alex spat.
"Yeah, I got your message. Did you see what we did with it?" Harry asked. He didn't lnow why he was antagonising Alex, but it felt good to fight back.
Alex growled at him.
"Good. Now, go away," Harry said and turned to walk away.
Alex grabbed his arm and forced him back.
Gasps from Harry's friends went off around them.
"Should have known what you really were. Creeping about the house for half the summer, stealing things that weren't yours to touch. Then that nasty little spell on the train. Now you're hanging out with Death Eater spawn,' Alex said.
"What hex?" Theo asked.
"Stinging hex."
"Nice."
"Shit up, no one's talking to you," Alex said.
"Let's just go," Harry said, and tried to walk away again. He barely made it two feet before Alex was jerking him back again.
"I'M TALKING TO YOU ASSHOLE!"
Several students stopped to stare at them.
"Let, Me. Go," Harry said, snatching his arm back.
His wand was in his hand, held down by his side. He had one, maybe two spells, if he needed them. They wouldn't do much, but they'd buy him time to get away.
They stood there staring at one another.
"If you've got anything worth listening to, say it. Otherwise, go away," Harry said.
"You really are the worst. First you come back, just in time to steal everything from me! And then you go and join the Junior Death Eaters!"
"Junior Death Eaters?" Daphne asked.
"That's definitely a new one," Theo said.
Harry ignored them.
"What is wrong with you!" Hermione shouted at Alex, hurtling towards them from the Great Hall. Neville trailed behind her, looking as if he wanted to run away. He followed her to them all the same.
Alex laughed at her. "And now you're corrupting poor little muggleborns already," he said to Harry.
"And they say we're the prejudiced ones, Oh Savior of the Light," Blaise commented.
"Why you!" Alex said, outraged. He pulled his wand out.
Harry was faster. It was probably one of the best things he'd discovered about magic so far. It put them all on the same level. Harry had spent his life running from boys bigger and meaner than him under the threat of broken bones if they caught him. With magic, it didn't matter how big or strong someone was, if all you had to do was shoot a spell at someone. It was a powerful feeling.
Blaise shoved Hermione behind the group of Slytherins, all of whom had their wands pointed at the Gryffindors. The boys standing next to Alex had their wands out, but the girls hung back.
"Do you even know any spells?" Harry taunted.
He knew for a fact James had taken Alex's wand along with the broom.
Before anyone could shoot off a spell, Professor McGonagall came up, furious. "What is going on here?" she demanded.
"Just a bit of sibling bonding," Theo said.
"Yes, well, get to class. All of you," she said.
"Bye Hermione, Neville," Harry said as the Slytherins rushed away. "Meet us in the library after classes!"
When they were far enough away, Harry asked Theo, "Sibling bonding?"
They were all out of breath and panting.
"The official rule is no magic in the hallways. Didn't think you fancied detention on your first day," he said.
"I'll leave that to Alex," Harry said.
It took them an hour to find the library, and Harry felt like an idiot when they finally did. They had passed the doors at least six times, asked four students, a ghost, and half a dozen paintings trying to find it. And it was through two small doors right there in Central Hall.
When they did finally enter it, it was the most magnificent thing Harry had ever seen. Two floors, with rows and rows of books, set off to either side. On each floor, the long rows of shelves stretched up to the top of twenty foot ceilings. There were study tables and chairs set about all across the main floor, most of them out in the open.
On the second level, the rows weren't quite as deep. Small alcoves, set up at study areas, behind the stacks were all over the space. They chose a large one, tucked near the back corner, with two tables and a squashy looking sofa. The sofa was set against a small window with the afternoon sunlight streaming through it. The space was lit by balls of light in clusters on the ceiling.
"Hopefully none of the upper years come to kick us out," Tracey said as they gathered around the table.
There were four chairs covered in dark blue fabric at each table, and two more in the corners. They had to drag them up as they all crowded around one of the tables.
"Which essay first?" Harry asked.
"Defence. It'll be the easiest," Theo said.
The Defense essay was six inches on defining what Defense Against the Dark Arts was and its potential uses. The whole thing took less than an hour, and none of them had to read past the first page of the text.
"I hope you don't mind, I invited Susan to join us," Neville said when he and Hermione joined them, smelling of garlic.
Daphne doused them in her perfume.
"I'm going to have to write Mother and have her send another bottle," she said looking at it. "You should all carry your own." She slipped it back into her bag.
"Is that the Charms essay? We haven't had that class yet, but I am ever so excited. Can I look it over? What about your notes? Hopefully the professor assigns everyone the same homework, and I can get a head start," Hermione said in a rush.
She snatched the essay Tracey was working on up.
"I was working on that!" Tracey said.
It was the first time Harry had heard her tone be anything but pleasant.
"I just wanted to look," Hermione said.
Tracey snatched it back, "Then ask first!"
"Sorry."
Hermione and Neville pulled out their Transfiguration work, and they all worked quietly for some time.
However rude she had been, and both Tracey and Daphne were glaring at her every time they glanced up from their own work, she wasn't wrong. If their professors assigned the same work to the whole year, then they could all work ahead. It would give them time to do more independent work on classes like History and Defense.
Susan showed up a few minutes after Padma and Sue joined them.
"This is a nice spot. A little hard to find, but nice," Susan said.
"We needed a space large enough for everyone," Trace said.
And there were a lot, there was barely enough space at the tables. And while not the largest they'd found, it had the most seats.
"The other Hufflepuffs wouldn't let us talk to you earlier," Daphne said pointedly as Susan pulled her things out.
"They're protective. Slytherin does have a certain reputation, not that I don't trust you all," Susan explained. "Hannah is upset I'm meeting you all, said if I'm not down to dinner at six, she's coming to find me"
"There's a lot of prejudice in this school," Hermione said.
"It's..complicated," Theo said.
"I'd gather that much, thanks," Hermione said. "I mean, hating people because of the color of their tie and where they sleep! Or who they're parents were. It's preposterous!"
"It's not really so different from the muggle world," Harry said.
"I'll give you that. People come up with the most insane reasons to hate one another," Hermione said.
"There's a lot more to it than that," Susan said.
"You read about my brother, right?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, which by the way, I owe you an apology. Alex is worse than you said."
"Thanks, but you didn't have to," Harry said. "But, er, the war. It was…"
Homework forgotten, they spent the rest of the afternoon, right up until dinner, explaining the Blood War to Hermione. Harry managed to learn a few things that weren't in the books he'd read. Things James definitely wouldn't have told him.
Hermione stayed behind, checking out a stack of books almost as tall as her, while the rest of them rushed down to the Great Hall. All of them were about the Blood War.
Dinner was much less rigid and the food less decadent than the night before. There were, thankfully, no bizarre speeches. Everything was more relaxed, with some students sitting at other house tables, though none of the Slytherins joined them. Nor did any of the other students join their table. It passed quickly though, and before he knew it, the First Years were being told to head to the common room, all of the Sixth Years had long since disappeared.
They were waiting for them in the same part of the common room the First Years kept being ushered into. The Sixth Years were split on the balcony, girls on the one closer to the girls dorm, the boys on the opposite side. More of the upper years stood around the edges of the room, packing them all into the center.
Durant stood on the stairs again.
"Any stragglers?" he asked.
Harry glanced around, as did most of his yearmates. No one Harry recognized was missing, but he barely knew any of them, and there had to be more than thirty of them.
"Alright, let's get started," Durant said. "Some of you may have noticed we run a little differently to the other houses. As explained to you last night, we are defined by our secrecy and tradition. This is one such tradition. Each of you will be assigned a mentor, who will work with you over the course of the year. Your mentor will make sure you are on track academically, and help you where you are struggling," he said.
Harry didn't know what to think. He knew some schools in the muggle world had a mentorship program, all volunteers that worked with younger students. It wasn't something he'd have thought to find in the wizarding world.
"Step forward when I call your name. Malfoy."
Malfoy strode forward, seemingly pleased he was the first one called. Harry wondered why he was called first, as alphabetically, his name was halfway down the list.
He was taken off by one of the Sixth Years. He was tall and skinny, with light, short cropped hair and a narrow face.
Daphne was called next, and taken away by Leonore. That set off a round of whispers through the other upper years.
Theo was next, and was taken away by a short boy with shoulder length curly hair. When Parkinson was the next person to be called, and Harry really wanted to know about how they were being called. The girl that took her away had auburn hair that went down to the bottom of her back.
Then it was his turn. The other prefect, Sallow, said, "Come along, Potter. We're going somewhere quieter," and he too was led away.
Like Daphne, whispers went around the room as they left.
He heard another girl being called up as they left.
Throughout the rest of the common room, other students sat, their attention on what was happening with the first years. Eyes watched as they climbed up the stairs. Sallow took him out of the common room, and deep into the dungeons.
"In here," Sallow said.
It was a cosy room, with a warm fire burning in the corner fireplace. A few small, but comfortable couches were scattered around it, and a full bookshelf sat in a corner.
"Where are we?" Harry asked.
"A spot to relax with my friends," Sallow said. Then he added, "The common room gets crowned. It's nice to have a private place to go where you're not being watched all the time."
That gave Harry ideas. Doubtless, Sallow was the first student to find an alternative place to go. How many abandoned rooms were in the castle? It was old, and bigger than any castle had the right to be.
"I can see you thinking. You're sworn to secrecy on this location," Sallow said.
"Er, right," Harry said.
"Don't do that. Be sure of what you say, when you say it," Sallow told him.
"No one will stop you if you find your own place," he added as he settled into one of the sofas, and invited Harry to sit across from him.
"What were you thinking about, when we left the Assembly Hall?"
"I was trying to figure out Durant was calling us in," Harry said.
"Observant. That's good." He paused and looked closely at Harry. "It was based on social standing. Not within the House, you're all Firsties. But many of you come from influential families."
That made sense, somehow.
"You were the biggest shock. We had to do a lot of last minute rearranging to add you to the list."
"How'd I get paired with you?" Harry asked, hoping he didn't just get assigned Sallow out of pity. He rather liked the older student.
"I asked for you. I originally had the Malfoy Heir," Sallow said smugly. "Couldn't tell if Higgs was upset or not, their families know one another."
Harry didn't know what to say to that, but he thought Theo would find it hilarious.
"Honestly, you should have gone first, but no one wanted to offend Lord Malfoy, then we had to put the Nott Heir next. Politics, you know."
Harry didn't.
"You're new to all of this, aren't you?"
"Er, yeah. Is it obvious?"
"In another house, likely not. The Ravenclaws might have noticed, but most of them wouldn't care, and you'd learn eventually."
"So everyone can tell, great," Harry said, flopping back onto the sofa.
"Not everyone. For one thing, it hasn't been long enough. And most of us don't pay much attention to the lower years."
"Ah."
"How sheltered were you, so we know what we're working with?" Sallow asked.
Harry decided to be honest, and explained how his life had drastically changed over the summer.
"That's…bad. I'll be honest, you're going to spend most of this year playing catch up, socially at least. Did Lord Potter take you to get any potions after he picked you up?"
"No. Should he have?"
"Yes. I'll talk to Professor Snape. We'll keep it quiet, but there are some potions you should have taken before getting here," Sallow told him.
He pulled out a piece of parchment and wrote something down.
"There is good news though. The Ravenclaws offer an introductory call on the Wixen World for their muggleborn and muggle-raised students. It's not exactly sanctioned, but it is technically open to all houses. The Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors rarely go. And it's not often we have a student that needs it.
"That would be…" Harry couldn't even put it into words.
"I'll pass the message along, one of the Ravenclaws will contact you about it," Sallow said, writing something else down. "You'd benefit some some of their extracurricular classes too. Take some of them, see what you think you need over the next few weeks."
"Now, onto business. You did well today, with how you handled the argument with your brother."
"Thank you?"
"Word of advice for next time. Let him cast first. I saw it on your face, you were seconds away from hexing him. If he casts first, it's self defence. If you do, it's a Slytherin attacking the Boy-Who-Lived."
And a Slytherin couldn't be seen attacking him, even if the Slytherin in question was his brother.
"How bad is it, with him?"
"He's been awful since we met." Harry explained the chair incident and the ensuing chaos of that first weekend.
"That's..Everyone has heard stories about how he behaves. I never thought it was real, just over exaggerated gossip from the wrong side."
"He's worse than the rumours," Harry said. Then he added, "I don't mean to be rude, but was your family…"
"No. We fought hard to restore the reputation of our family after my great grandfather almost destroyed it. My family kept out of the war as much as we could."
"Oh."
"It's fine, and a valid question, coming from you. Which brings us to the rules. Memorise them, live by them," he said and slid a piece of paper to Harry.
House Rules
1. House Unity. Act as one among other students.
2. Keep all conflicts to the dungeons. Related to rule one, a divided house is a vulnerable house.
3. Don't get caught
4. If you do get caught, have a good explanation.
5. Academic Standards of Excellence.
6. No Unsanctioned Duels in the Common Room or Dorms.
They were reasonable rules. While rule six meant he couldn't shoot spells off at Malfoy for saying something stupid, it also meant Harry couldn't be attacked by unexpected spells when he was trying to sleep.
By the end of it, Harry only had one thought. Slytherin was much more complicated than he thought. He was assured nearly all of the upper years would leave him alone, as they didn't care too much what the first years got up to.
"Hadrian," Sallow said as he ushered him back to the dorms thirty minutes past curfew.
"Yes?"
"You can call me Killiam. As your mentor, we can at least be on a first name basis. You're welcome to come to me at any time.
"Thank you," Harry said.
He was the last one back to the dorm. Blaise and Theo crowded onto his bed, telling him about their mentors.
"I got Crowley, could barely understand a thing he said, his accent so thick," Blaise said.
"Crowley, like Lord Ashley Crowley?" Theo asked.
"His great-grandson," Blaise said.
Harry made a mental note to look up the Crowleys. Both boys spoke the name with reverence.
"Lucky. I got stuck with Clarence Ashe," Theo said. "You got Sallow though. I've heard he's first in line to be the Head Boy next year."
"And the Swallows are influential, if untitled," Blaise said.
"Were. They've got a reputation. Some relative of his caused some huge scandal aeons ago and ended up in Azkaban," Theo said.
"They're still respected on the mainland."
"He's interesting. Serious, but he was helpful. He's going to set me up with some extra classes taught by the Ravenclaws," Harry told them.
"Leonore," Blaise started.
"Leonore told you," both Harry and Theo said. They'd heard the same thing all day.
Blaise glared at them. "She told me it's become a joint effort between Ravenclaw, Slytherin, and Hufflepuff. They've been petitioning the board to add the classes to the official curriculum for decades. Most of the professor's know about it, but don't say anything. Leonore teaches one of the classes."
It had been, probably, the longest day of Harry's life, and when his head finally hit the pillow, he passed right out.