Fitting in
The feast was fantastic!
Harry had eaten pretty much one of everything, except for the strange mint humbugs that sat untouched on the table. He spoke with his friends about subjects and about anything else that crossed their minds.
Everything but Colin's family. Harry could almost feel their stares as he ate. He might've looked at them too, if he hadn't been too busy laughing at Blaise, who sneezed out his potatoes.
"Eww!" Theo and Pansy had squealed as they laughed with all the others.
Also, at the feast, Harry had become acquainted with the ghost of Slytherin Tower, the Bloody Baron, who was sat further down the table with some of the older years. He gave Harry the impression, with his hollow eyes and silver blood that stained on his clothes, he wasn't a ghost to be messed with.
Eventually the feast was over and all that was left to do in the hall was to sing the Hogwarts song. Harry sang very quietly like many of the other Slytherins, including Blaise, Draco and Pansy. Theo just mouthed the words in silent rebellion.
"Good idea!" Harry thought to himself, and he began to silently mouth the song until most others were finished.
Eventually there were only two boys singing at a very slow pace. Both boys had red hair and looked identical.
Harry found himself smiling at them, holding in a laugh at their nerve. The boys caught his gaze after they finished and returned his smile, they even bowed dramatically at him with a laugh as the hall began to clap loudly.
Harry decided to make a conscious effort to talk to them at some point.
Dumbledore then dismissed them.
Harry and the rest of the first year Slytherins followed the two Slytherin prefects to their common room, which turned out to be in the dungeons and under the lake.
As Harry stepped into the common room, the first thing he noticed was how green the whole place is and how old fashioned the interior was, he reasoned that was how Slytherin had wanted it to look, and he wouldn't be disappointed. The room definitely had a noble feel to it.
The girl prefect led the girls to their dorms, while the boy led the boys.
Harry was a little disheartened to wave goodnight to Pansy, but was glad that he, Draco, Theo, and Blaise would be sharing a room.
"This bed is mine!" Harry called, running and jumping onto a bed in a corner close to a window that showed the green water.
"I'm next to Harry!" yelled Draco, grabbing the bed next to Harry's.
Theo took the bed on the other side of the room, directly in front of Draco's, Blaise took the one next to Theo's and opposite Harry's.
The boys, too tired to do anything else, pulled their trunks to their beds, changed into their pajamas, closed their bed curtains, and fell asleep without another word.
But, for some reason, Harry's mind took him back to a moment at the feast when he'd been looking at all the teachers. His gaze passed over a man in a weird turban and then-
"Ouch!" he had said holding the scar on his forehead.
"What's the matter?" Blaise had asked him.
"Nothing, never mind," the pain had gone as quickly as it had come.
The pain had felt like a nasty burn, similar to one you'd get after touching an ironing machine. But he was sure he hadn't done anything to cause it.
Harry had had that lightening bolt scar for as long as he could remember. But he had baby pictures that he had taken with him the day he left Colin's family which showed him without a scar until Colin had his scar too. Harry had always guessed that he'd gotten the scar after the ceiling fell on That Night. But do scars just randomly hurt?
*
The next day the boys met up with Pansy and they all made their way to the great hall for breakfast.
They were quite early so the hall was a little quiet with only a few teachers and a couple of students sat at the tables.
"Well, that was an interesting night," said Draco as he put some bacon onto his plate.
"Definitely!" Harry agreed, as he poured ketchup over his sausages.
"Did you see that brat's face when he was put in Ravenclaw?" Pansy giggled.
Harry grinned and nodded as he put a piece of sausage into his mouth.
"Believe me, if that hat had a hand, I would have shook it!" Blaise smirked.
The quiet Theo, on the other hand, looked lost in thought.
"What's on your mind, Theo?" Harry asked before he took a sip of his orange juice.
"I just... I don't understand why the hat would put Colin in Ravenclaw? It's a house for people with brains, he seems..."
"As thick as two short planks?" Harry supplies.
They all chuckled quietly, trying not to bring too much attention to themselves.
"Yeah, I guessed he'd be in Hufflepuff or something," said Draco.
"What's Hufflepuff done to deserve him?" asked Theo, curiously.
"It's just Hufflepuff's reputation-"
"That's all rubbish, my mum was in Hufflepuff!" said Harry with pride.
They all turned to look at him.
"Allyssa Rose in Hufflepuff, really?" asked Draco.
"Yes, because she's caring, hard-working, dedicated, and loyal. People just think Hufflepuff is the worst house because Helga would allow anyone who wasn't welcome in the other houses into her own. People just mistake Hufflepuff as the house for the "leftovers"" Harry answered.
"So Colin fits Ravenclaw more than falling into the "leftover" category, how?" asked Pansy, she was clearly very confused.
"Well-I don't know if this is the case for Colin or not-but, I read in a book once in Father's library that said Ravenclaw house's definition of wisdom or wit can be defined as being gifted in one aspect. Like gifted in... love potions for example. As long as you have strong talent in that way, you can still be defined as having wit and be accepted into the house," Theo explained, unsure about his answer.
"So what's Colin gifted in? Being an obnoxious, whiny, brat?" asked Pansy, her eyebrows raised.
Then everyone broke into loud laughter, no longer able to contain the volume. People turned to look at them curiously, but they didn't care. They just kept howling with laughter.
"What's so funny?" came a snooty sounding voice from behind Harry.
Harry turned and came face to face with his brother.
Colin was stood up very straight with his arms folded, he was coldly glaring at them. He was wearing black robes, but his Ravenclaw symbol wasn't visible. Clearly he wasn't a proud Ravenclaw.
And he was, also, not a proud brother. He appeared to be looking down his nose at Harry.
"Your face," answered Pansy with a snap.
The boys grinned at her. All but Colin.
"I'm the Boy Who Lived, little girl, I deserve more respect than that!"
"Ooh!" sang Draco. "I'm the Boy Who Lived, bow down before me!" he mimicked.
Harry couldn't help but laugh, Draco's mimicking voice reminded him of Alvin from the TV show Alvin and the Chipmunks that Michi and him used to watch all the time.
"I don't know why you're laughing!" Colin snarled, clearly shocked and angry that he wasn't being treated like the king he thought he was. "I'm not surprised no one loves you-"
"My Mum loves me," Harry shrugged with a grin. Keep throwing it Colin.
Colin smirked nastily. "No, she doesn't. She only loves me-"
"No, not your mother, my mother. Allyssa," Harry kept his smile on his face.
Colin rolled his eyes, he was clearly just trying to annoy him. "Oh, come on. Look at you! You're the most pathetic-"
"You watch your mouth, little boy, before I run my fist down it!"Pansy yelled as she stood up and slammed her fist on the table so hard the plates rattled.
Everyone in the Great Hall went into silence and turned to look at the commotion.
"Now, leave us alone, you little cockroach! You're putting us off our food!" Pansy yelled pointing at the Ravenclaw table.
Colin, clearly embarrassed and flustered, stormed away grumbling something about "stupid little Slytherin snakes".
Pansy sat down gracefully and smiled at her stunned friends while running the hand that had smashed against the table down her brown locks.
"Pass the orange juice please, Harry," she said sweetly.
Harry passed it to her without a second of hesitation.
Apart from a few glares from Colin, breakfast was fun, they discussed classes and what lesson they had first, charms with Professor Flitwick.
"Excuse me, which one of you is the other Potter twin?" asked a red haired boy Harry recognised as one the Gryffindor prefect.
"That'll be me," said Harry with a sigh.
"Professor Dumbledore has given me the task of delivering you to his office," said the prefect, he sounding quite similar to Colin.
"He's not a package!" Draco objected.
"It's okay," he smiled at his friends in reassurance before turning to the prefect. "Let's go then."