"...Slytherin!"
The Sorting Hat had bellowed, making Pansy happier than ever. Remembering something, she looked at Draco who was not happy with this development: "He's strong, Draco. He'll make a good pet."
Her words had seemed to show Draco a new light and he remembered his plan, to grow his forces in the school and to grow out of his father's shadow, bit by bit: "You're right. He's coming, I'll act shy, you do the work." She nodded.
Meanwhile, further off the table
"Harry Potter, in Slytherin?" It was Gemma Farley, a prefect who expressed interest when others chimed in: "Did you hear? Apparently, he used a non-verbal spell earlier." Miles Bletchley added to the flame.
"Catching a death eater on his way here does not seem to be a coincidence, then." Marcus Flint, the Slytherin Prefect and Quidditch Captain, said calmly whom everyone listened quietly.
"We need to make an interaction, don't you think?" Someone said and Gemma nodded.
"Alright. I have just the man for the job."
-
"Said his name was Pike." Cassius Warrington finished explaining about the muggleborn: "Anyways, Marcus Flint wanted to say hi. His friends told me to tell you that you could always go to them if you needed any sort of help or guidance."
The faces of Draco and Pansy started to drop: 'No way in hell are we going to hand over our pet to them!' Pansy thought.
'This is their way of maintaining the hierarchy by sending a 3rd-year to convey their greeting. You may be strong, but we are stronger, that's what they want to say.' Draco sighed inherently.
"Well, you can tell them I'm grateful for it, but I don't think they will be of much help." Harry replied nonchalantly and thought: 'Because I have Diablo.' And the faces dropped even more. 'He didn't!' Pansy gasped for air.
'Not only is he is sending him back for his reply, to mark them their equal. He is also refusing their help, this boy. We might be catching a bigger fish than we can handle. Harry Potter... knows how to deal with things.' Draco perspired nervously.
'Did I say something wrong?' Harry thought: 'No! It's better like this. I can't have them pushing me around if I want to make a difference.'
"I will say just that. See you later." Cassius Warrington left without wasting another moment leaving a table colder than ever.
And then, the Hall grew more silent than ever. Pansy pointed at the High Table for Harry to see that the headmaster had stood up, a goblet in hand: "Now, a few more words now that we have all been well fed. I have a few start of term notices to give you."
"Firstly, the new students will do well to keep in mind that they Forbidde Forest is forbidden to all and secondly, no magic is allowed to be used between classes in corridors. Now, I shall leave you all to a wonderful song. I am terribly upset that I cannot accompany you. But I am confident in the abilities of Professor Flitwick and know that I will not be missed amidst the wondrous music."
As he said this, he left while Professor Flitwick gave his wand a quick flick: "And off we go!"
"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts!" The Hall resounded with all the tunes combining to strangely resonate into one.
At the end, Professor McGonagall said: "Now I shall have to instruct each Prefect to gather their first years and show them their houses. As for Slytherin, Mr. Flint and Mr. Potter are required to follow me to the headmaster's office. Ms. Farley will have to guide all the first year Slytherins herself."
By the time she had stopped speaking, a boy with weird teeth was already approaching Harry. "Marcus Flint. I think we should move, Potter." He hurriedly introduced himself to follow Professor McGonagall out of the hall. Harry followed too.
After reaching the staircase with the phoenix statue, McGonagall instructed Flint to stay there, his job would be to guide Harry back when he is done. She then told Harry to follow her inside Dumbledore's office. When they got in, a balding redhead man and a redhead woman stood there at a distance from another man wearing a neat suit. They look like Ron, must be his parents, Harry thought.
Harry and McGonagall stood side by side in front of a seated Dumbledore: "Ah! Here you are Minerva. The Weasleys and the minister were getting anxious. Tell them what happened."
"It is exactly as we reported to the ministry, that day; Peter accidently -and fortunately- transformed back and Potter here with his quick thinking-" McGonagall pointed at Harry who maintained his composure: "-trapped him in his trunk in the presence of two students who can stand witnesses as well. Afterwards, a prefect sent us an owl with the report and we simultaneously, reported to the ministry. Moments later, Scrimgeour and Shacklebolt were dispatched to apprehend the said criminal. That is all."
After this, the man -presumably, the minister- said: "It still baffles me how fast of a thinker young Harry is, even when I've heard it so many times. I thank you, Harry Potter, in place of the ministry of magic and Sirius Black, the man wrongfully put in prison for the crime of-"
"I'm afraid its getting quite late, Fudge." Dumbledore interrupted him: "Why don't we let Arthur say what he wants to the boy and send him back to sleep?"
"Sure, sure." The minister said rejoicingly still but McGonagall had noticed that the headmaster interrupted him on purpose: 'Could it be?'
Just then, Arthur and his wife looked at Harry warmly: "Thank you, dear." The woman said, grabbing both of Harry's hands who nodded modestly as Arthur commenced: "We are very grateful to you. As a thanks, you and Sirius-" Dumbledore flinched while the woman continued: "-are welcome to our house whenever you want."
Harry didn't understand, and as he was about to speak, McGonagall said: "You should go back to bed now, Potter. If you have any questions, ask them in the morning." Harry understood that the professors were not going to tell them, even then he left. It was because he knew that Diablo would surely know.
-
As the pair headed back and entered the dungeon, a flurry of spells and charms flew straight at Harry and before he knew it, all of them were blocked.
'Amazing..' Marcus flinched. As the smoke from the spells subsided, the Slytherin common room became clear. It was a spacious room but it was filled with strangers. 'That means that they have forced all of the first years to go to sleep.' Harry deduced, heart still racing. He knew that he was nothing without Diablo, but showing any kind of weakness here would only lead to the Slytherins bullying him more and more.
But that didn't mean that he could be fearless and get into more fights, he had to be careful here and he knew it.
Step Step
He started walking towards the only other room which may lead to his dorm, he thought.
And then someone shot a spell at his back. It was Marcus himself who had shot it but Harry wasn't able to block it and he fell straight down.
Flint thought: 'I knew it! No matter how skilled you are!'
"You can't have eyes in your back, you blood traitor!" Someone yelled and all the others roared.
The roaring subtly subsided when Harry stood back up. *Wait for me.* The snake had fell out of his sleeves and everyone saw as it enveloped Harry's leg and slowly moved upward.
'Is that a snake?' Someone whispered.
'What breed is it?' Someone else inquired as it slithered up to stand on Harry's shoulder.
"Its an adder! A venomous adder!" Draco, who had been hiding in a group of older boys exclaimed and Harry turned to look at them in a zap.
*We should go.* The snake nudged Harry and he turned back.
*You're right.* Harry said to him and slowly headed back for the door.
Creak Step Step Shut
"D-D-Did you hear that?"
"Was that the snake or was it Potter?"
"Parseltongue?!?"
Everyone was surprised... and scared. But two of the boys were fascinated. Draco Malfoy and Marcus Flint started to see Harry Potter in a new light.
***
Hey guys! The story that all of us want starts to unfold! Thanks for coming till here!
Here! Have some butterbeer!