Welcome Home
Tuesday, 1 September 1998
As they made their way out of the Great Hall, Harry followed his fellow Slytherins down to their common room. A glance at his watch told him it was only 8:00, but he was utterly exhausted. He’d been up early with Teddy. The train ride had been mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausting. Taking on the wards had taken a bit of a toll on his power stores. Now, he had to introduce himself to his new house, find his way to his quarters, and get Teddy settled. He was in for a long night.
When they reached the empty stretch of wall in the dungeons, one of the prefects spoke the password which Harry immediately forgot, knowing he’d be able to use the door in the 3rd floor corridor outside the Founders Tower entrance.
Once in the common room, everyone seemed to turn toward Harry as if he had all the answers. Harry, to be honest, was quite sick of people looking at him like he has all the answers.
Harry looked to his fellow 8th years, hoping one of them might step up. When none of them made any move to speak, he turned toward Draco and Pansy, who were, you know, prefects. But both of them, the absolute assholes that they are, just gestured for Harry to carry on.
While thinking about how, exactly, to get back at his so-called friends, Harry started introducing himself to his new house. A guy can multi-task.
“Alright,” he started, “many of you know me as Harry Potter. I probably look a lot different from the last time you saw me –”
He was then cut off by Astoria Greengrass, who had apparently been spending far too much time under the influence of Ginny Weasley, saying “yeah, you got hot.”
“Thanks, Greengrass, that was incredibly helpful,” Harry said over the sounds of agreement coming from most of the common room, “anyways, the reason I look different is that over the summer I spent a good amount of time in the Goblin healing hall, they did a lot of things but the one that matters is that they removed a block that had been on me since I was a year old and that, among other events, allowed me to grow and actually put on weight. I now look like all of my blood parents.”
That statement got a reaction out of the normally stoic Slytherins.
One of the Carrow twins, Harry couldn’t possibly be bothered to guess which one, gasped, drawing the attention of the entire room, when all heads turned toward her, she started to shy away. Harry simply said, “I think you’ve guessed.”
After a moment of silence and an encouraging nod from Harry, she said “you look like a Black.”
“Right in one,” Harry said with a wry grin, before sobering slightly and turning back to address the room at large, “my full name is Hadrian James Arcturus Ignotus Peverell Potter Black Slytherin, Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble Houses of Peverell, Potter, Black, and Slytherin. Son of Lily Evans, James Potter, and” he paused for a moment, “Regulus Black.”
While he was busy starting his introduction, Harry hadn’t noticed the entrance of the common room opening again. He hadn’t noticed his new Head of House in the back of the room.
As such, he was a little surprised when he heard Slughorn’s laugh echoing through the room.
At Harry’s confused look, Slughorn shook his head, saying “oh, my boy, that explains so much.”
Deciding to take that as a compliment, Harry simply smiled at Slughorn and moved on, “anyways,” he continued, “that’s why I asked McGonagall to address me as Potter-Black. Of course, each of my Lordships is important to me and the Slytherin Lordship is especially important to the school and to each of you, I don’t want to use all of my names on a day-to-day basis, I’m happy to continue being called Harry, but I’d like to honor both of my fathers in my surname.”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Harry decided it was time for bed, “alright, well, welcome to Slytherin House, first years, all of you, of all years, should know that I’m here to help. Please find me if you have any issues. Anything from bullying to feeling homesick to getting entirely lost in the castle, I’m happy to help however I can. However, right now I’m going to head up to my quarters and get my son settled in.”
“Hold on a moment, my boy,” Slughorn said, sounding slightly confused, “did you just say your son?”
Harry honestly thought that was common knowledge at this point, “yes sir,” he said, “well, he’s my godson, but his parents were Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks, so I ended up with custody of him and his grandmother, Andromeda, and I decided it’d be best if I fully adopted him, so he’s my son now.”
“Well,” Slughorn said, “I’m happy for you, Harry.”
Nodding his thanks, Harry made his way toward the door that would take him to the 3rd floor corridor. Slughorn was standing near the door and when Harry got closer, he said in a quiet voice, so only Harry could hear, “if you’d ever like to hear stories about any of your parents, please let me know. They were each incredible students and people, they’d be very proud of you.”
With a slight lump in his throat, Harry nodded again and said, “thank you, sir, that means the world.”
He then spoke the password, gras es noster, Latin, meaning ‘the future is ours.’
After a single flight of stairs, he found himself exiting a door in on the 3rd floor. Standing in front of a portrait of a dragon were Susan, Neville, and Luna. Wondering why they were all just standing in the hallway, Harry asked exactly that.
“Waiting for you,” Susan answered, “Luna said you knew the password.”
“I didn’t think we’d set a password yet,” Harry responded, looking to Luna in confusion.
“We haven’t,” she agreed, “but you know it.”
Harry thought for a moment before he heard the voice of Hogwarts echo inside his mind, place your true wand to the portrait’s frame and speak the password. It shall respond and the password will be set.
Nodding his thanks to the castle, Harry thought a moment longer about what the password should be. Then, suddenly, the perfect phrase came to mind.
Stepping forward, Harry dropped the Elder Wand out of his wrist holster and placed the tip against the frame before speaking in a clear voice, “once more we saw the stars.”
As he spoke, the frame briefly glowed with golden light. The dragon lifted her head and nodded once at Harry before settling back down. After a moment, the frame swung open, allowing them entrance into their shared common space.
“What’s that from?” Neville asked.
“Dante, isn’t it?” Luna responded.
Nodding, Harry simply recited the passage,
“To get back up to the shining world from there
My guide and I went into that hidden tunnel,
And following its path, we took no care
To rest, but climbed: he first, then I - so far,
Through a round aperture I saw appear
Some of the beautiful things that Heaven bears,
Where we come forth, and once more saw the stars.”
After letting the meaning of the passage sink in, Susan simply nodded. Neville then said, “I think it’s perfect, Haz.”
“Now,” Harry said, clearing his throat, “I think we have to set our individual passwords. I’m guessing the process is much the same.”
In answer, Hogwarts spoke to each of them, Lord Slytherin is correct, simply find the entrance to your personal quarters, place your wand against the door, and speak your password. You each have control over the wards of this tower, they are separate from the Castle’s wards so you will have to adjust them to allow entrance to your guests. The ward book is in the communal study.
After they each thanked the Spirit of Hogwarts, they made their way up the stairs. They first came upon the communal study that had been mentioned. For now, the only additional people added to the ward book were Teddy and Andromeda. Harry was happy to see that the wards prevented anyone but the four heirs from entering the armory and training room. Though Teddy couldn’t move about on his own yet, he’d be crawling before the end of the year and Harry wasn’t exactly keen on seeing what an infant could do with a sword.
They decided they’d meet later to see who else they’d add to the wards and what areas they’d allow visitors entrance to.
Climbing further, they first reached the Ladies’ rooms. On the right was the suite for Lady Ravenclaw while Hufflepuff’s was on the left. Placing her wand against the door, Luna thought for a moment before saying “moon frogs.” She then turned and nodded to each of them before saying “goodnight,” and stepping into her quarters.
Susan then placed her wand against her door and spoke “meles meles,” at Harry and Neville’s questioning looks, she laughed slightly and said, “the scientific name for the European badger.” Then, like Luna had, she said “goodnight,” before opening her door and disappearing from sight.
Harry and Neville continued up the stairs. The next landing held the doors for the armory and training rooms. After a second’s thought, they decided to rely on the wards for each of these rooms, choosing not to set secondary passwords. If the need arose, they’d have the option to do so.
After the next flight, they found the entrances to their quarters. Harry’s on the right and Neville’s on the left. Neville immediately placed his wand against the door and said, “mimbulus mimbletonia,” which caused both he and Harry to laugh slightly at the memory of the only password Neville ever consistently remembered for Gryffindor Tower.
Neville then placed a hand on Harry’s shoulder and said, “goodnight, Haz, let me know if you need any help getting Teddy settled. I’ll be right here.”
Before Neville could step into his quarters, Harry spoke the password he’d chosen, “caput serpentis,” the head of the snake, a nod to the first password they’d ever had to Gryffindor Tower.
Knowing that they’d be able to get into each other’s rooms if need be, the pair split off and headed into their suites.
Stepping inside, Harry immediately paused, looking around in shock. These rooms were beautiful.
The furniture in the sitting room was gorgeous, made of shades of green and dark, polished woods. The walls were painted cream with various tapestries hanging around the room. The floors were stone, like most of the castle, but were covered in beautifully woven rugs. At one side of the room, Harry saw a well-stocked kitchen area with a small dining table with six seats.
But the most incredible feature of this room was the portrait above the fireplace.
Harry had honestly thought that there were no surviving portraits of the Founders. He was wrong.
Perched above his fireplace, looking incredibly excited, was none other than Salazar Slytherin.
Now, over the summer, with access to the Slytherin vault, Harry had been able to read about the life and opinions of the most controversial founder. He found out pretty quickly that Salazar hadn’t been a blood purist of any sort. He was simply concerned for the muggleborn students with the threat of witch hunts that plagued their time. He wanted to allow these students to remain at Hogwarts year-round to protect them. Somehow, the centuries had turned this wish to protect all of his students into the belief that Slytherin didn’t want any muggleborns in the school. How, exactly, that opinion became so perverted was beyond Harry’s understanding.
However, even with the knowledge that Salazar didn’t want to kick students out and that he wasn’t, in fact, an evil overlord of the dungeons, the man was still intimidating.
So, to see the revered founder practically doing a jig in his frame the moment he saw Harry was a rather confusing experience.
“Good evening, my heir,” Salazar practically sang, “it’s wonderful to meet you!”
After taking a moment to pick his brain back up from wherever he’d left it at seeing Salazar Bloody Slytherin dancing, Harry replied, “Good evening, my Lord.”
“Oh nonsense,” Salazar said, “none of that ‘My Lord’ malarkey. What’s your name my boy?”
“Hadrian, sir, it’s great to meet you.”
“What is your surname, Hadrian?”
With a slight laugh, Harry responded, “which one?”
Laughing at his heir’s sarcasm, Salazar responded, “all of them, then, my boy.”
“My full name is Hadrian James Arcturus Ignotus Peverell Potter Black Slytherin,” Harry said, before muttering to himself, “boy am I getting sick of saying all that.”
“I notice you don’t have a middle name of the Slytherin family?” Salazar said, more than asked.
“Technically,” Harry began, “I am the Lord of Slytherin by right of conquest, but I am also related to the Gaunt line which were the last known descendents of yours through my mother, though she was descendent from a squib child of the Gaunt family.”
“Ah, so the magic of conquest was ready and able to accept you as heir because you were also an heir in blood, that makes sense,” Salazar said with a nod before asking, “which Peverell brother do you call an ancestor? Though, your middle name probably answers that question.”
“Yes, sir,” Harry responded, “I am an heir of Ignotus, the youngest brother.”
“I know that an heir of mine married into the line of the middle brother, Cadmus, though the Peverell family magic much preferred the heirs of the youngest,” Salazar responded, “though, if I may say, I sense that the magic is incredibly strong within you, is that because Magic has recognized you as an heir to several branches of the family, or might there be a different reason?” he asked with a knowing smile.
“You’ve got me, sir,” Harry said with a slight smirk, he then dropped the Wand out of his wrist holster and reached out his left hand, the one with the Peverell ring set with the Stone, and summoned the Cloak.
With all three gifts on his person, the power emanating off of Harry was palpable.
Salazar simply nodded, saying “a worthy heir.”
Harry then returned the Wand to the Holster and folded the Cloak, setting it on the coffee table before saying, “well, sir, it’s been an honor to meet you and I truly look forward to learning from you and getting to know you better over the year but right now I need to get settled before I call for my elf and have her bring my son. He’ll probably go right to sleep but I’ll be sure to introduce you to him in the morning.”
“Oh,” Salazar said, sounding incredibly excited, “a son! How exciting. What’s his name?”
“Edward,” Harry responded, “named for his maternal grandfather, but we call him Teddy. He was my godson and after both his parents passed, I claimed custody of him and chose to adopt him.”
“What’s his full name, my child?” Salazar asked, “names have power.”
“Edward Remus Hadrian Lupin Potter,” Harry responded.
“A beautiful name,” Salazar complimented, “I look forward to meeting him.”
“Thank you,” Harry said, “goodnight, sir.”
With that, Harry started briefly exploring the rest of his quarters. The door just past the kitchen opened to reveal the office which was beautifully decorated in shades of cream and green with dark wood furniture.
The door directly next to that led into Teddy’s room. It was perfect. The back wall had a large window that looked over the clock tower courtyard with the forest in the distance, the walls were all the same cream as the rest of the quarters, but on the wall with the window there was a beautiful mural depicting the very forest the window looked out over. Unlike the rest of the castle, this room was carpeted and seemed to even have some time of cushioning charm on the underlying brick.
All the furniture Harry had picked out was there and assembled. A crib, wardrobe, changing table, and comfortable reading chair.
It was perfect.
Harry stepped out of Teddy’s room and checked the last door. The master bedroom was absolutely lovely. The color scheme was the same as the rest of the place. This room had two large windows, one with the same view as Teddy’s and the other with a view of the lake. The furniture was made of the same dark wood, and the bed had incredibly soft cream-colored sheets with a fluffy emerald green duvet. There was a large rug covering most of the floor, woven in shades of green, yellow, and cream. The Hogwarts elves had already put Harry’s belongings away and stowed his trunk below the bed. He opened the wardrobe to find that the other two sets of school robes had also changed to Slytherin.
Harry looked at his watch realizing only an hour had passed since he left the Great Hall. He decided to take the time to shower and get himself ready for bed now so he could focus on Teddy when he arrived.
There was a jack and jill bathroom between Harry and Teddy’s rooms that had both a large bath and a stand-up shower. There was a linen closet, with a permanent warming charm, that was stocked with fresh, fluffy towels. Harry grabbed a towel and stepped into the shower, mindful that it was getting late he did his best to just shower instead of zoning out and thinking about random shit.
20 minutes later, Harry was clean and dressed in his favorite pajamas. He stepped through the bathroom and into Teddy’s room and called out for Mimi. A minute later, the trusty elf appeared with Teddy in her arms.
Teddy had been asleep when they left Grimmauld Place but stirred slightly during the journey.
Harry grabbed his wand and cast a quick patronus, sending Prongs to tell Andi and Narcissa that Teddy was here safe, all was well, and he and Draco would be sure to send letters in the morning giving more details of their first day.
Harry made quick work of settling Teddy down for bed. The sweet boy fell back into a deep sleep almost immediately.
After casting charms that would alert him if Teddy woke up, Harry stepped back through the bathroom and crawled into bed.
It had been an incredibly long day, so no one could blame him for being asleep by 9:30.
* * *
Across the school, the other 8th Years were making their way from their House common rooms up to the 3rd floor corridor.
The prefects relayed the message that the password to their tower was victoria in unitate.
Turns out the school was incredibly into Latin this year.
The password to the corridor from Slytherin was, of course, gras es noster (the future is ours. The password from Gryffindor was fortes fortuna adiuvat, meaning “fortune favors the brave.” From Ravenclaw it was scilicet supra modum, which translated to “wit beyond measure,” and Hufflepuff’s was aboris non timens, meaning “unafraid of toil.”
The 8th years tower had a large common room at the base and then had four stories going up, each floor with two or three rooms. Each room held two or three students from one of the four houses.
Like McGonagall said, their room assignments were posted on the notice board.
The first floor was taken up entirely by the common room. The second floor had two rooms, each housing three girls. The Gryffindors – Hermione Granger, Parvati Patil, and Lavender Brown – were to the right, while the Ravenclaws – Sally-Anne Perks, Padma Patil, and Lisa Turpin – were to the left.
The third floor had the remaining three girls rooms, each housing two students; two rooms for Slytherin and one for Hufflepuff. The first Slytherin room housed Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode while the other housed Tracey Davis and Daphne Greengrass. The Hufflepuff room housed Hannah Abbott and Meghan Jones.
The fourth floor held the first three boys rooms. One Gryffindor and two Slytherin. The Gryffindor room housed Ron Weasley, Dean Thomas, and Seamus Finnegan. The first Slytherin room had Draco Black and Gregory Goyle while the other had Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott.
The final floor held the other three boys rooms. One Ravenclaw and two Hufflepuff. The Ravenclaw room held Terry Boot, Michael Corner, and Anthony Goldstein. The first Hufflepuff Room had Justin Finch-Fletchly and Ernie MacMillan while the other housed Wayne Hopkins and Oliver Rivers.
The rooms were decorated exactly as their old dorms had been. Each student found their trunk placed at the foot of a bed.
After a long day of travel and excitement, they all quickly showered, put on pajamas, and fell asleep.