Betrayal of the Black

twenty

"He's only one Gryffindor, Slytherin is full of evil," spluttered Ron, his jaw set.

"Cedrella Weasley, that's your grandmother, isn't it, Weasley? She was a Black before that, and in Slytherin too. Does you prejudice extend to family, or are you just hypocritical?" continued Celestia. Ron opened him mouth to speak, but she cut him off. "You know, I am so fucking tired of you being prejudiced towards Slytherins for no other reason than the colour of their robes, and the bloodline of their family. It's not right."

"It's not just me—" responded Harry gruffly.

"That's the problem. It's everyone in this godforsaken school. They curse you, and hex you, and they jinx you, because you are the ones that outcasted us. It is within Slytherin that you will find loyalty like no other because we understand each other like no other. In the years that this school shunned me because of my father's reputation, it was with them I found solace. Not the house dubbed kind, caring, patient, and fair. Not the house dubbed wise, intuitive, observant, and acceptant. Not the house dubbed chivalrous, valiant, trusting, and honourable. No, it was the house of ambition, power, cunning, and assertion."

She was aware that she had more attention on her than just the trio's. They had stopped near the entrance of the Great Hall, right in the line of sight of everyone eating breakfast. It was so cliché that if it had been anyone but Harry Potter standing in front of her, she might have laughed.

"I would tell you not to make an enemy of them, but I think it is too late. You underestimate how cunning, how self-reliant, how clever they have become while you shun them. As your allies, Slytherins would lead you to victory with a strategic plan like no other, especially if they had a Ravenclaw by their side. But as your enemy, it will be your downfall when they read your plan and counter it perfectly.

     "When the time comes, you can not expect Slytherin's to stand by your side. Not when asking them to ally with you would mean betraying their family, and for what? People who had bullied them the moment the Sorting Hat decided their fate? Even then, when they are not willing to betray their family, you will call them evil and you will call them selfish, and wonder why, when the next war comes, that still, you do not have full capability to destroy this new threat. And if this new threat was Slytherin, it would only solidify you prejudism. But one thing you forget, no matter how cliché it is, is that villains are not born, but made. The next time you face one of You-Know-Who's followers, I hope you remember it was you and your predecessors who made them join Him," ranted Celestia.

Perhaps she was being hypocritical, saying that not all Slytherins were evil, when she bore the enemies to mark on her skin.

Perhaps, though, she is evil. She realises as she talks to Harry, that she would accept that fate gladly. But she will not allow him to slander every Slytherin who had done nothing but exist. Because she sees the tear-stained face of the first years after being bullied by other houses, she sees the other three houses bound together in arrays of red, blue and yellow, she hears the boo's of three quarters of Hogwarts as a Slytherin makes a goal in Quidditch. She remembers it, how they have treated her, and her house. She would not let them forget it.

"Celestia, I'm—I'm trying to understand where you're coming from but I just don't see it. Maybe Peter was a bad apple, but he is only one in hundreds. But how many Slytherins have supported Voldemort over the years?" She shook her head, as if Slytherins standing by Voldemort truly pained her. "My offer of friendship is still open, Celestia. The Slytherins are not who you think they are. They're bullies, full of self-preservation. When they betray you, I'll still be here," interjected Hermione.

"I thought you smart, Hermione, and, oh, how I hate to be wrong. You call their actions bullying, when rather it is retaliation. I will not deny that some Slytherins are relentless bullies, but do not put the blame on us, when the true bullies have band together to fill three quarters of the school to pick on the outcasted," replied Celestia.