Death's Gift - Chapter Seven
Slytherins
The hall fell silent. First Hermione started clapping, then Neville, then the twins, and soon the whole hall had burst out in a big applause. Harry smiled and went to take a seat next to Draco.
"How does it feel to be the first Potter in Slytherin?" The blond asked.
"Honestly, I thought that I'd be wearing blue instead of green." Harry said.
"After that thing with Weasley earlier, how could you not expect to be a Slytherin?" Theo told him.
Harry shrugged, "I guess being in Slytherin had always been in the back of my mind, and I had to do something about Ron. My old 'Ron and Ginny have cooties' excuse wore out last year. I can't believe it lasted that long in the first place."
Theo laughed but quickly covered it up, Draco smirked. Harry turned to continue watching the sorting. Neville and Ron both went to Gryffindor while Blaise joined them at the Slytherin table. Before the feast Harry caught the eye of a certain Professor.
Snape was surprised when he saw the Potter boy walk into the Great Hall. The boy barely held any resemblance to his father at all, other than the round glasses and the wild, untamable mane of the Potter men. His face was almost the spitting image of Lily's, the most stunning being his big, emerald green eyes that mirrored her's. His jawline resembled that of a Black and his build being a mix of all three. Harry was much taller than he was before, since he never had the years of malnourishment he'd had before when living with the Dursleys, and already had the bit of muscle on him that came from playing quidditch. What intrigued that man most was that Harry had been sorted into Slytherin and how the boy held himself, like a pure-blood. Snape had a feeling that he didn't pick it up from Sirius seeing as the man was as far away from a Black as you could be, though he had a feeling that Harry would fit right in with the noble family.
Looking away from his potions Professor Harry could feel another set of eyes on him, and it wasn't the ever present stare that he got from Dumbledore. Harry glanced at Quill before looking over at Dumbledore, who had stood up to give his before the feast speech.
"A warm welcome to all of our first years." He began, getting a small applaud from the students, "Before we eat it is my duty to remind you all that the forbidden forest is strictly forbidden to all students. Mr. Filtch, our caretaker, has asked me to remind you that the third floor corridor on the right side is prohibited from all students who do not wish to die a most painful death."
Dumbledore locked eyes with Harry who's own widened. How had he never seen it before?! Why else would Dumbledore announce to the whole school exactly where the stone was?! He was basically screaming at him to try and find it. That's why a mere group of first years managed to get through every single protection that was set up! The whole thing had been a set up to make Harry want to go after Voldemort! Harry narrowed his eyes at Dumbledore and his fists balled. The old man immediately tried to gain access to Harry's mind which took the boy by surprise. Ever since the Voldemort incident Harry made it his mission to learn Occulmency and had achieved it a few years before his death. He'd even started learning Legilmancy and could recognize when someone tried to use it on him. Harry raised an eyebrow at his headmaster who immediately looked away, continuing his speech. Harry scoffed.
"What?" Draco asked.
"Did you know that use of Legilmacy on students by staff is against the law?"
"How did you know that?" Blaise inquired.
"I almost got put into Ravenclaw." Harry pointed out, the others seeming to take this as a sufficient answer, "Anyway, our 'beloved' headmaster over here just tried to gain access to my mind when I glared at him." Harry made sure to do air quotes around the word "beloved".
Draco scoffed, "Doesn't surprise me. The old coot thinks he'd above very one else. My father always does say that Dumbledore was the worst thing to ever happen to Hogwarts."
"Mine too." Blaise added, "He removed a bunch of subjects and even got rid of every copy of Hogwarts Official School Rules."
"Not every copy. I found one in the Black Library. The removing subjects thing does surprise me though, which ones did he remove?"
"Spell creation, offensive magic, experimental magic, necromancy, things like that."
Of course he did," Harry said bitterly, "Gotta remove everything that can even be linked to the Dark Arts. It's stupid."
"You're into the Dark Arts?" Theo asked, surprised.
Harry shrugged, "Sure, after all, it doesn't really matter what kind of magic you use, it's y'all about the intent you have behind it."
"Exactly." Blaise agreed, "Use a dark curse to save someone's life they ship you off to Azkaban for life but use a light spell to murder someone you get a slap on the wrist."
Harry nodded, "The whole Ministry is flawed. You can behead someone with a simple levitation charm and merely get put under house arrest."
"You've got to teach me that." Draco said, "It'll come in handy for threatening people."
Harry laughed, "It's the first spell we learn how to do in charms."
They all exchanged a look.
"Harry!"
Harry turned around to see the twins who had scooted down at the Gryffindor table so that they were seated behind him.
"What do you filthy blood traitors want?" Draco sneered.
Harry shot him a glare and turned back to the twins, "Ignore him, what's up guys?"
Draco gave Harry a confused look but Harry didn't pay him any mind.
"You were right about what you said two years ago." Fred told him.
"About Quirll, he got the Defense Against the Dark Arts position." George added.
"Plus he started wearing a turban this year out of nowhere." The finished together.
"Yeah, just try not to piss him off. You don't want to know what's under that turban."
The twins shared a look, a look that Harry knew very well.
"No, whatever your thinking of pranking him with, stop. I'm serious."
"Then why don't you tell us what's really on the back of his head?" George asked.
Harry sighed, "If that's the only way that you won't do what I know you're thinking of doing..."
He whispered in their ears, "Voldemort."
Their eyes widened.
"Har, you've got to be kidding." Fred said.
"He's dead, he died years ago." George added.
Harry shook his head, "He's back, he's harboring Quirll's boy until he can regain in his own."
Fred and George both made a pact that they wouldn't prank him and went back to their food.
"So..." Blaise began, "Are we supposed to present that we all didn't just hear what you and the two Weasleys were talking about?"
Harry bit his lip.
"Someone's under Quirll's turban?" Draco asked.
Harry sighed, "You all have to keep this a secret."
He knew that wouldn't be a problem for them, after all, this was a group of the jr. Death Eaters. They all nodded.
"Voldemort's back and is residing in Quirll's body until he can get his own." Harry told them quietly.
They all paled.
"What?!" Blaise breathed.
"How do you know?" Draco asked.
Harry shrugged, "I saw it two years ago and told the twins to watch out for Quirll before they left for Hogwarts."
"Are you going to kill him?" Pansy asked, finally having something to say in the conversation.
Harry paused. He could kill Voldemort again when he went after the stone but what good would it do? He didn't have any of the Horcruxes, minus the locket that Kretcher kept, so he'd just come back in fourth year anyway.
"I dunno." Harry said, "Probably not, I am only a first year after all."
This surprised the group of Slytherins. Draco laughed.
"What?" Harry asked him.
"Nothing," he said, waving off his laughs, "It's just that now I know why the hat chose to put you in Slytherin."
Harry grinned, "Oh yes, because I just love befriending the possible next generation of Death Eaters just so I can betray them and reveal how much of a Gryffindor I actually am." His voice was practically dripping with sarcasm.
The others started laughing.
"That's gotta be a shock for the Daily Prophet." Theo said.
"With the-boy-who-lived in Slytherin I'll be surprised if you don't make the front page." Blaise added.
Harry scoffed.
"What? Don't like being on the front page Potter?" Draco sneered.
Harry shook his head, "Not at all. I've spent my childhood being recognized and crowded by people wanting a picture or an autograph. People also see it fit to write fictional stories about me without my consent or believe me there would be none, and when it got out that I was a protege as well as possible having inherited the gift of sight, they only got worse! It's bloody ridiculous. Being everyone's so called savior is more of a pain in my arse then anything."
Draco raised an eyebrow while the others nodded. Conversation kind of came and went after that, everyone starting to eat before the food would go away. When it did go away dessert appeared in its place, Harry helping himself to some Treckle Tart, his favorite dessert. When the feast came to an end they followed their head girl and head boy down to the Slytherin dormitories. When they entered the common room through the stone wall, Harry was surprised to find that he found it much more welcoming then he ever had before. It was probably because the last time he was here he was pollyjuiced as Goyle, as well as a Gryffindor. The first years waited in the common room for Snape to show up and give his speech.
"Welcome to Slytherin. We all have a reputation to uphold, as you may have noticed the other houses view us as evil, or bad. However, this is not the case. Slytherin's are about pride and dignity as well as we are cunning and ambitious. We will hold ourselves with such. Whatever happens within these walls stays within these walls, do not be foolish enough to start unwanted drama. If you are to cause any trouble make sure it is not traced back to you or I will be required to punish the one responsible. My door is open only to those who need it, if you are having a mere squabble do not waste my time and go to one of your prefects or head boy or girl."
Snape signaled the head boy and girl, two seventh years that Harry didn't recognize, to take over, leaving the room.
"Ok, first years, curfew is nine-o'clock, if you are out do not get caught. If we catch someone coming back in we say nothing, got?" The boy looked around the room, everyone nodding.
"Good, girls dormitories are down the stairs to the left, boys to the right. Don't get caught sneaking into each other's dorms or you will be punished accordingly." The girl said, again, gaining another round of nods.
"You will receive you time tables tomorrow morning at breakfast from our head of house."
"And your things have already been taken to your dorms, just look for the door with your name on it. Dorm parings cannot be changed."
They then dismissed everyone and Harry went off to find his dorm with Draco. They were together with Blaise, and Crabb. When Harry entered the room he realized how different the dorms were from the Gryffindor dorms. For starts there were only four students per dorm instead of five, as well being a rectangular shape instead of circular. There were four, four poster canopy beds with green drapes, two on each wall, and each one was accompanied by a desk and a bedside table. Instead of a community shower they had their own bathroom as well as a small, four chaired, seating area. Harry noticed his trunk at the bottom of his assigned bed and made his way over. Opening his trunk he realized that he had no place to put all the books he'd brought. Pulling out his wand, to keep up appearances, he transfigured his bedside table into a bookshelf and started un-shrinking his books, putting them away in order of which ones he'd read first.
Draco stared at him from where he'd started unpacking his own trunk, his mouth open and closed a few times before he managed to say anything, "Now I know why you'd thought you'd be a Ravenclaw."
"How do you read so much?" Crabb asked.
Blaise walked over from his bed, the one right next to Harry's, and started looking at the books.
Harry shrugged, "It's easy if you want to learn."
"And where did you learn to transfigure a bedside table into a bookshelf? That's high level magic." Draco asked.
Harry looked down at his wand and held it up, almost lazily, and grinned his lopsided smile, "I did say I was a bit of a protege."
Blaise laughed, "Must be. You've got a book on Parselmagic Harrison."
Harry smirked.
"I thought only parselmouths could do parselmagic." Draco said.
"You're right." Blaise told him, "Got something to say about that?" He asked Harry.
Harry's smirk widened, "Nope, I merely enjoy reading about many different subjects."
Blaise smirked and rolled his eyes, "Yes, many of which are illegal. Where'd you get these anyway?"
"The Black family library has proved to be a very valuable source of knowledge. Almost read half of it."
Draco's jaw dropped while Blaise shook his head, amused. Every pure-blood knew about the Black family library and how you needed permission to enter it, how much knowledge it held.
"I gotta say Harrison, you're not at all like I'd thought you'd be."
Harry grinned, "I do try. By the way, call me Harry, all of my friends do."
Blaise smiled, "Alright then, Harry."
. . . . . . .
Harry made his way down to breakfast with Blaise and Draco. When they entered the Great Hall Harry spotted Hermione at the Ravenclaw table right away with her nose buried in a book.
"I'll catch up with you guys in a bit, save me a seat." Harry told his friends before walking off.
"How's Ravenclaw?" He asked, sitting down next to Hermione.
"Oh-Harry!" Hermione put her book down and gave him a hug, "It's wonderful! You have to answer a riddle to get into the common room and they even have a separate bulletin board for each subject with set up study groups each week!"
Harry smiled at his best friend, "Have you made any new friends yet?"
"I'd rather stick with the ones I already have. Although there is this one boy named Anthony that's interested in a lot of the same subjects I am."
"Anthony Goldstine?"
"Yes, do you know him."
"I've met him once or twice before through the Ministry but we've never really talked."
Hermione nodded, "How's Slytherin?"
"Good. Turns out that the jr. Death Eaters are actually a really fun lot of people."
"Harry..."
"I know, I know." Harry put his hands up in mock defeat, "I shouldn't befriend the 'enemy' but in my defense Dumbledore, Ron, Ginny, and Molly are my enemies right now. I could care less about Voldemort."
"Harry. You know you can never be friends with them. You have to kill Voldemort so you'll have to betray them. No relationship that you have with any of them will last."
Harry bit his lip. He knew that Hermione was speaking the truth, but for some reason it made him mad. Why was he always the one who had to kill Voldemort?!
"Yeah, Yeah. I've got to go."
Harry got up and made his way over to the Slytherin table where Blaise and Draco had saved him a seat between them.