Chapter 1
Harry sat under the sorting hat, mumbling to himself, “Not slytherin, not slytherin, not slytherin”
“Well, I am sorry but it is where you belong and I have never yet been wrong”, the sorting hat whispered into his ear and then, called out to the whole hall, “SLYTHERIN!”
Harry turned pale as he walked towards the Slytherin table. This was the house that Voldemort, the murderer of his parents had been in… could things go any worse? Even his one and only friend so far, Ron, wouldn’t be in the same house as him. He had said that his entire family had been in Gryffindor, so he would be there too.
“Hey, great to have you here, Potter”, an older student said. He was ugly, his eyes were unaligned, his teeth crooked and he looked eternally confused but his tone, it was so nice, so caring.
“Call me Harry”, he offered weakly.
“Don’t look so down, Slytherin isn’t so bad… definitely better than Hufflepuff! Hahaha, the names Flint, Marcus Flint”, the ugly boy smiled.
“Yeah… I guess”, Harry stared at Ron as the other students got sorted. Flint took his mind off of it though, as he began introducing his mates to him. They were all so friendly. Maybe being in Slytherin wasn’t so bad after all…
What really sealed the deal was however what happened next. He was being introduced to the older Slytherins and wasn’t paying attention to the sorting until someone sat next to him. He glanced over and it was… Ron?
The red haired boy was looking mortified.
“Ron? You were…”
“Sorted into Slytherin”, he whispered, as if he had just discovered this, “what will mom and dad think?”
“Well, well, well, looks like the Weasley’s aren't all hopeless brutes, like I thought”, Flint grinned, “welcome to Slytherin house, you will love it here”
The last student to be sorted, a black kid called Blaise Zabini, sat down at the Slytherin table and Dumbledore stood up, clearing his throat, “before we begin our banquet, I have a few words to share with you. Here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you”, with a wave of his hand, the tables filled with food.
“Is he crazy?”
“It's Dumbledore, of course he is crazy”, Flint chuckled.
“I thought he would be, y'know, wise? He just sounds barmy”, Ron looked conflicted, “all my life, my family told me he was some genius but that? That doesn't sound like a genius, that sounds like a mad man”
“Of course the Weasleys would think that. Not to offend but the Weasleys have been Light fanatics for years on end”, Flint shrugged.
“But… isn't that good?”, Ron asked, “the light is the good side and the dark the bad, right?”
“That is exactly the brainwashing I would expect from the Weasleys… if you ever want to learn the truth about dark magic, just come to me, I'll show you”, another older student said.
“There is light and dark magic? What is the difference?” Asked Harry, whom hadn't known about magic for that long.
“I won't tell it in the great hall but my offer also extends to you, if you want to see the truth, find me in the common room, the name is Jon”
Harry nodded at Jon, intrigued. It wouldn't be much harm to learn about it, right? Ron seemed to think it was bad but he was still eleven, like himself and Jon was way older, he had to have more experience, right?
As they continued to chat, they ate the delicious food in front of them, roast duck, smoked ham, chicken wings, mashed potatoes, chips, fish, an assortment of vegetables and so much more. For once in his life, he could eat as much as he wanted without Dudley interfering. Ever since he could remember, Harry never got to completely fill his stomach, Dudley always ate everything Harry liked, even if Dudley didn't like it personally, leaving him with barely enough. Now, he had free reign to eat as much as he wanted. For the first time in years, he felt full.
“Who cooks the food here? It is divine” Harry asked, rubbing his stomach.
“The house elves of course”
“House elves? What are those?”
“You don't know what a house elf is? Where have you been living, Siberia?”
“No, I lived with my muggle relatives in Surrey”, Harry scratched the back of his head. Immediately, the table around him went quiet. Everyone's eyes were on him.
“Muggles? You, the boy who lived, living with muggles?” Flint’s voice barely hid the anger bubbling inside him.
“What are they like?”, Malfoy asked, already having forgotten their earlier argument.
“Well, my uncle and Cousin are gluttons and my aunt is obsessed with maintaining their image. For the longest time, they kept me in the cupboard under the stairs”, he said, as if talking about the weather.
“The cupboard under the stairs? Did they not have an extra room or something?”
“Oh, no, they do. When the letters first came, they moved me to my cousins second room”, he shrugged.
“When the letters first arrived? So they only kept you there for a year or two? Still not nice but not as horrible as-”, Jon said but was interrupted.
“No, my letters only started to arrive a couple of months ago”
“A couple of months?”, Flint echoed.
“Yeah? Who would write me other than the school?”
“You really don't know? Wixen all over the isles send you letters over the years, most at your birthdays. A couple dozen gifts should be arriving to your dad every birthday and Christmas!”, Flint furrowed his brows, “if you haven't been receiving them then… someone must've been intercepting them!”
“But who would do that?”, Harry asked, shaking his head in confusion.
“Someone with a lot of influence, enough to cover up that you have been living with muggles this entire time…”, Malfoy drifted off, “there are only a few people with enough political power to pull that off… the minister for magic, a head of one of the wealthiest houses in Britain or- or Dumbledore”
“Hagrid did mention that Dumbledore left me at the Dursleys”, Harry remembered. It had been in the subway station, when he asked why he had to stay with the Dursleys. All Hagrid had said was that Dumbledore knew best.
“I'll have my father look into this”, Malfoy promised, their animosity from the train completely forgotten.
For once in his life, Harry felt at home. All these Slytherins had barely known him for a day and now, they stood up for him like that, it drove a smile onto his face.