Awkwardness was the apt description for the emotion every single snake other than my friends were expressing. Daphne and Tracey were grouped together in a whispered conversation as they peeked over their shoulder every once in a while in Harry, Hermione and ours' direction. We were following behind the Slytherin prefects at a sedate pace, the female prefect and the male one chattering away to the larger group.
"Lessons are from nine in the morning to five in the afternoon every day. The only exception is Astronomy class where you will spend a few hours with Professor Sinistra late at night." The male prefect, which had introduced himself as Dominic Parkinson and also introduced his counterpart Dorilda Burke, stopped his monologue as she picked up where he finished off.
"Slytherin, as you all no doubt understand, strives for perfection. Thus, in these classes you will all strive for excellence and simultaneously avoid exposing internal conflicts to other houses." Dominic piped in with a small comment... "She means: keep Slytherin problems within Slytherin."
Dracoria giggled into her hand as she walked side by side with us. Her face, though smiling, was scrunched tightly in concern and frustration. She disliked her brother, no doubt, but he was still her brother and to witness us throw him out of her family would be painful on multiple levels. We decided to throw our arms around her shoulder, leaning into her, to offer support. A blush crawled up her pale skin into her cheeks but we ignored it in favour of listening further to the prefects.
"All of you will be guided to our dorms this single time, in future you will be expected to journey here, before curfew, by yourself." We moved down the stair cases and through the winding halls of Hogwarts as Dominic chatted on. Soon all of us first years found ourselves delving deeper into the dungeons on the behest of our guides, their steps even even as they explained some of the more esoteric lore points of the pieces of armour and such. It was all rather boring compared to the more mysterious elements of the school's past, but we listened nonetheless.
All of us came to a halt before a wooden door in the depths of the dungeons. The air was damp and humid, the liquid that these walls held back making itself known to us. Though humid the temperature itself was icy cold, close to the coolness one would expect from winters in the Scottish Highlands. A tone had been set and was only further shown when the two prefects turned in the large t-intersection, their bodies framed by the serpentine metallic snake that looped above the door and buried itself into the foundations below our feet.
"This entrance is to stay completely secret to all other houses and students! I cannot stress this fact enough. If you are found to have disclosed our secrets you shall be punished swiftly and viciously... And our head of house will be there to assist us." Many of the group, including Tracey and Daphne, flinched at the introduction whilst Harry and I simply shrugged the threat off. Hermione's expression was that of someone who had just received a present on Christmas.
Dominic picked up from the terrorising words of his counterpart, his eyes rolling as he stepped forwards towards us all. "The password for the door is Anaconda, do not forget this password and ensure that you constantly pay attention to the passwords that Professor Snape gives us at the end of every week."
As he spoke the passcode the metallic snake statue that was once ensconced onto the wall above and around the doorway shifted fluidly. Scales of a dulled bronze and dark grey rolled along the stones rhythmically from right to left as a basilisk's head; carved from the same material, shifted above the door. The sclera of the carving shone an eerie dark green before a click could be heard and the once small door shifted spatially to become thrice its former size.
Guiding us inside the prefects quickly presented the room to us. We were in a large foyer-style area with snake motifs and pedestals lining discrete corners of said space. A large chandelier swung above us in a baroque architectural style, dangling jewelled crystal glimmered in the pale blue light that shone from the left hallway. Directly in front of us was a large circular tunnel, the steps and flooring leading and continuing beyond being a polished iron grating with water flowing down from the slightly raised section. They looked like sewer sections but turned out to be our dorm areas, the female and male sections merely being separated by the wards and being on the right and left. Fortunately for all of Slytherin, the water that quickly fled through the grooves below the grates vanished into a black expanse of shadow; the distant sound of water slamming against stone barely registering amidst the awed gasps and gawking.
They decided to show us our dorms last, directing us to the left hand hallway. It was a short walk all things considered as Dorilda gestured outwards with her hands, turning back to us as if this was her favourite part of her duties; which they likely were.
"This room is the common-room of Slytherin. Here you will study with your fellow associates and friends. You will politic here, you will make deals here, you will study to become the greatest witches and wizards you can within this room. This is the hall of greatness!"
Exclamations of wonder and excitement infected everyone, including us, as the pale blue light of the windows made every nook and cranny of this common-room glimmer wondrously. Carved marble pillars stood strong and resplendent amidst the dappled light as drapery of the finest Acromantula silks and dragon hides drifted above hung paintings. Three main windows were the source of this light whilst also providing an intriguing view into the Black Lake that surrounded the majority of Hogwarts. Moss dangled down in some parts of the windows but were adrift outwards as the current washed schools of fish away from the the common-room.
Shaking our head we turned to look throughout the room. Alcoves were pressed into the walls and held studying tables and small lounge areas. In the central part of the room sat a large semi-circular table that held numerous amounts of parchment and baubles that moved or flickered with magic. To the direct left of that space there were a large assortment of couches and chairs all placed around a fireplace that's flames were a bright orange; as if to compete with the staggering amount of blacks and greens throughout the space.
We barely got a chance to continue our observations as we were dragged back to the central foyer. There we waited for a time until our head of house rounded the corner of the right-hand hallway, his black cape billowing behind him as his jagged nose stuck itself imperiously in the air. He certainly fit the attitude of someone with a wooden haft up his ass and a lilt in his speech.
"Welcome… to Slytherin." A hush fell over all of us as his drawled words creepily echoed through the massive foyer.
"We have no time for idle chatter and nonsensical niceties here, thus you will listen to what I have to say and then adjourn to your living spaces." He glowered at all of us, his eyes boring into Harry's forehead and over his features before snarling and looking away in disdain.
"You will soon discover that this House is not for the faint of heart, nor for those who mistake cunning for mere mischief. Here, we do not squander our intelligence with careless blunders. If you choose to act… you will act with precision. You will not be caught." He continued his drawling speech.
"Conflicts among yourselves will arise, inevitably. You will resolve them as Slytherins. Quietly. Efficiently. Do not parade your grievances for others to enjoy. We are a House, not a stage for petty squabbles. To outsiders…" His lips curled into a thin smile, "you will stand united. Always."
"I will not waste words on empty encouragements. Those who cannot meet the standards of this House will not find my patience accommodating. Those who can… will find power, prestige, and protection. Choose which you will be."
He swirled around in a flurry of onyx cape as he stalked out of the foyer and into Hogwarts proper, his black mop of greasy hair flopping around as he strutted with all the confidents or arrogance of a snooty noble; not that he was one, based on our research.
Harry sneered at the exit of the man, his steps smooth and steady as he reached the metal stairway into the dorms. Hermione and We followed behind him as Dracoria clung to our side. Snape had an issue with Harry for some undecipherable reason but that wasn't particularly odd seeing as how our father disliked people just for existing sometimes. As the boy-who-lived was our friend in a manner of speaking it would just mean that Snape would not be having a fun time singling him out, if he tried.
~I wonder if the greasy bat will follow his ow rules...~
'We will wait and see dear brother.'
All four of us chose a dorm room together, the rules on boys and girls being separate only applying to those without certain political capital; which we had in spades. Hermione got a fourposter bed with draping silk close to the door whilst Lunaris and I settled for one adjacent to her. Opposite to Hermione was Harry who had very little to pack away as the house elves of Hogwarts had already accomplished the task; something that was soon noticed by us all. Dracoria was opposite me, her platinum blonde hair pooling upon her bed as she lay sprawled out, giggling.
We soon settled into our bed, Lunaris beginning his work on deciphering how he would achieve different forms of Occlumency. Unfortunately for my brother I had other questions for him and needed to discuss some of our goals, a chat that went on for quite a while. By the time we reached the final part the rest of our friends had passed out underneath their blankets.
~So sis, what is left? I want to go to sleep~
'Hmmm, I was considering how we could forge Hermione a house of her own.'
~Easy, take some of our land and sell it to her family for whatever price. When they own it we just need to confirm their peerage as landowners and then we declare them a vassal of one of our houses. Preferably we would name them the vassal of the house's land that theirs originated from~
'Why didn't I think of that?'
~You haven't had a good rest in 48 hours?~
'Fine brother, I get the hint. We'll go to bed.'
Lunaris celebrated by immediately whooping for joy, his exuberance bringing forth my own as we pulled the blanket over us fully and settled back into bed for the night. Hogwarts would be fun judging by the friends we had made...
...
Grimmauld Place, 1990, 1st of September, 10 PM
Stepping into the central study a scraggly looking man scanned his grandfather's personal effects, his eyes misting slightly as he remembered the strong patriarch of the Black family.
Arcturus Black, who he held the middle name in memory of, was a man dedicated to Toujours Pur. The motto itself wasn't originally meant to signify blood purity but the purity of the magics that the family were practitioners of, Ritualistic magic. He had faced down Grindelwalds' forces over the mere fact that the man himself had caused the death of one of the family... Yet at the same time allied himself with the family when the time came. His ideology would be best summed up as 'Family before everything'. Dumbledore had apparently alienated the man and his family to the point of betraying the ICW in favour of Grindelwald; though the world didn't know this.
This had been a fact that the man standing in the office had often chafed under when he was younger. It was a part of the reason he had left his family in favour of joining the Potters and his Aunt Dorea. Now, well, now he knew exactly how Arcturus felt. He had been betrayed by a man he considered a close friend. The entirety of the Wizarding world had ignored the fact that he had been flung into Azkaban... And more than all of that, the woman he loved had merely accepted that he was guilty and hadn't even tried to look into his case. It took an eleven year old girl to save him from hell-on-earth.
He fully understood Arcturus now. Ironically, that same girl who had saved him was helping him for merely being a vassal to her. She had no reason to save him personally, no power she could achieve by doing so... She had simply done it to right a wrong. The new Lord Black fully understood the ramifications of her titles and family connections but he found himself lacking hesitancy when it came to uniting under a Grindelwald. The first one he didn't know enough about to make a judgement... This Grindelwald however was a kind hearted liege lord and had a heart twice her size.
"Grandfather, I have taken up the mantle of Lord Black."
The painting before him shifted out of its slumber and regarded him quizzically.
"It's about time you poor fucking excuse of a lord's shit." Sirius Arcturus Black, newly minted Lord Black, grimaced at his grandfathers sailor-like verbiage.
"What happened to you, mutt? Finally matured enough to abandon your petty hatred of our history and magics?"
Sirius ran a hand through his shaggy mop of onyx hair, his dull grey eyes staring back at his Grandfather's painting with all the trauma he had collected during his stay in hell.
"I experienced more than I thought I ever could and now find myself needing to help our liege lordess."
Arcturus's painting brightened immensely as he sat up from his painted throne.
"So she has arrived..."
Sirius nodded.
"Excellent! Then we must immediately prepare you for your duties and responsibilities! Kreatcher!!!" The old painting's yell echoed through the house demonically as a small pop resounded from the side of Sirius.
"Yes Masters Archy..." The decrepit house elf glowered at Sirius before bowing.
"Sirius here is now Lord Black and has my full acceptance. You are to restore this house to its former glory and to connect to our family magics once more with due haste. Once you are finished cleaning you will bring that bitch Walpurgas' painting into the main study."
Kreature looked shocked into silence, the expression upon the little beast's face bringing a maddened glow to Sirius's face as he tried his best not to giggle like a madman.
"R-right away Masters Archy!" He popped away with all the haste of an elf set afire.
Arcturus rounded on Sirius thereafter.
"Sirius, find yourself a wife! Your getting fucking old and need someone to keep you tied down and leashed, like a good fucking dog!" Sirius flinched into a scowl, scratching himself along the jawline as he huffed in frustration.
"I just got out of Azkaban..."
"Stop being a FUCKING PUSSY!"
A day later Sirius would be found scouring several tailors inside Diagon Alley all with Amelia Bones on his arm... All because of his Grandfather's rather poignant rebuttal to his prior behaviour.
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