Welcome To Slytherin
Dinner seemed to fly by after that, the boys had gotten more comfortable with each other by the time it was over and were talking freely about Hogwarts in general, wondering who their teachers are and who the woman who sorted them was. Regulus was still reserved but would pitch in where he could. Through him they’d learned the witch from before was Professor McGonagall head of Gryffindor house, and the man with the beard, the headmasters name was Dumbledore. He didn’t know too much, just what his brother had sent him in secret letters over his first year at the school. That basically confirmed Evans’ theory, but the boy seemed hesitant to even talk about it as he glanced towards Gryffindor table with sad eyes. Evan was opening his mouth to ask about it when Dumbledore stood from his seat and strode to the podium. “Students, I hope you have had a lovely welcoming feast, with that being said, before you are escorted to your dormitories there are a few rules I must mention. Number one being that the dark forest is strictly off limits to any student. You may not enter under any circumstances. Second, our caretaker Mr. Filch has asked me to tell you that pranking products are forbidden. And anyone who has them will have them confiscated.” Dumbledore said. Evan heard a scoff and whispering and looked to the Gryffindor table, where he could see Regulus’ brother and his friends animatedly talking to each other. Judging by the grins on two of their faces, he wonders if they’re the reason for this rule. Evan let his gaze travel over to Regulus’ brother, taking in his features. He wondered how they could look so similar but be so different in terms of personality, especially if they grew up together and were raised the same way. “Prefects, please show the first years the way to their common rooms, and dormitories. Your head of house will be there shortly to introduce themselves.” Dumbledore said. After the dismissal, a boy with pale blonde hair walked up to the head of the table with a bored expression on his face. “First years follow me, my name is Lucius Malfoy, one of your prefects. If you have any questions, come to me and I will help you.” He stated in a dull tone.
The small crowd of first years lined up behind him quickly, with Regulus, Barty and Evan one of the first behind him. “I can’t wait to see what our rooms look like. Do you think we’ll be placed together? It’d be nice if we could, you blokes seem alright." Barty rambled as they followed Lucius as fast as they could. The prefect clearly not caring if they could keep up or not. “Keep up, the dungeons are tricky to navigate, and you can easily get lost with all the twists and turns.” He called to the rest of them. Evan could see why; everything looked the same. It’ll take a while to be comfortable with navigating the halls down here. Evan was carefully trying to map out a route in his mind and making sure he found small landmarks to be able to remember the right way through the maze of corridors. Eventually, they come to a stop in front of a portrait and Lucius muttered the password “Pureblood” before turning to them. “Don’t forget the password, if you do you will not be let in. come on then.” He said, holding the portrait open for the first years to walk through.
The common room was… different than Evan had expected. As they were making their way through the dungeons, he expected the room to be just as cold, and intimidating with the faint stale smell of mildew that you got when it was too damp and never really dried right. But the room he was standing in now was the opposite. It was still cool, not too hot, not too cold. Maybe because they were under the black lake? He didn’t know really. But the green that covered the room was somehow not overwhelming, there was loads of it in the furniture, and an accent wall, but it wasn’t flooded with it like he thought it’d be. It was calming though, there were hints of silver in the upholstery, the pillows on the couches and chairs, black with silver embroidery. There was a fireplace with a glowing fire that cast a warm glow over everything and made it far more welcoming than Evan thought considering he knew Slytherins reputation. The common room was posh, the better looking of the four houses, guaranteed. Maybe that was him just being biased though, he’s never seen the other houses, and probably won’t ever see them.
“This is bloody brilliant, there’s so much green though”, Barty mumbled under his breath next to Evan. The boy snorted quietly and turned his head towards him “At least it won’t give you a headache like those Gryffindors, could you imagine all that red? Nightmare I tell you.” Evan joked with a smile. Barty hastily nodded his head in agreement chuckling, “It really would be, mate. What do you think of it Reg?” He turned to the boy beside Evan whose head snapped up at the sound of his name. “Hm?” Barty grinned, “the common room, what do you think? Better than Gryffindors?” Regulus looked around with his brow furrowed and nodded, “It looks… nice, I guess. Better than some of the rooms back home. Better than the others probably, all those colors. Probably brighter than the sun in Hufflepuff” he said quietly as he looked around. Evan giggled, imagining the common room covered in bright yellows, secretly relieved that the green wasn’t too harsh on the eyes.
Suddenly, the portrait door swung open, a stout older gentleman walking through with a smile on his face. “Thank you, Lucius, my boy, for leading our new students here, I hope they didn’t give you much trouble?” He smiled and patted the blonde boy on the shoulder and turned to the group of first years. “My name is Professor Slughorn. I am the potions master here at Hogwarts, and I am also your head of house. Should you need anything, you come to me, anything at all. I’m sure you heard Headmaster Dumbledore earlier listing some rules at the feast; however, those apply to the school as a whole. There are also rules for your houses as individuals. There will be no interhouse fighting, no using magic on anyone, no matter what house, curfew is at 9 pm sharp. You don’t have to be in your dormitories, you can be in the common room at that time, however you are not to roam about the castle at night. There is a fountain in the center of the room, that changes to whatever drink you wish except those of an alcoholic nature. You are free to try, but I guarantee you will not succeed.” He chuckled as his eyes roamed over their group and shook his head slightly as if he had the memory of someone attempting to try that before. “Now, I assume you lot are tired, so off to your dormitories, your things are already in there. Boys are on the right side and up, ladies on the left side and down. Have a lovely night, and welcome to Slytherin house!” he shouted jovially as he exited the portrait hole once more. With the closing of the portrait the students once more turned to Lucius, who was waiting with the same dull expression. “Follow me” he sighed as he crossed the room. “Girls this way” he said as he pointed to a set of stairs leading down further into the dungeons. “There are bathrooms attached to your dormitories, and there are five of you to each room. Your names will be on the doors for your first time. Once you return in your second year, those will still be your dorms. Do remember them. Boys, I will also let you know. You do not have access to the girls’ dormitories. You cannot walk there, there are wards put into place so that you cannot even go past the first step. Please, do not attempt to. I do not want to deal with that ridiculous alarm again this year, thank you.” He sneered at the thought and turned to the other set of stairs. “Your dormitories are here, same as the girls. Although we do not have any wards to keep the girls out, do not go and get any ideas of sneaking anyone up there. We will know. You are not as sneaky as you think you are. Now, go find your rooms, and get to bed. You all have a long day tomorrow, and I do not want any stragglers when we leave for the great hall in the morning. Be up and ready by 6:30 AM sharp.” With that, the boy turned and strode up the steps, leaving the first years to scramble to their respective places.
It seemed luck must’ve been on Barty’s side, because the three boys found themselves sharing the same living quarters, miraculously just the three of them. It seemed like they didn’t get as many Slytherin boys as girls, not that Evan was complaining. He didn’t really want to take the time to reintroduce himself anyway, and by the look of relief on Regulus and Barty’s faces, they felt the same. “How is there so much green?” Barty asked, staring at the four poster beds, the curtains there a deep shade of emerald, with silver and black bed sheets. Evan looked around the room, finding that the color scheme bled into their dormitory too. A deep green accent wall stood out against the dark stone of the dungeons. He wondered if they’d let them add more colors into their dormitory or if they weren’t allowed to decorate. While it was ornate, it seemed rather repetitive to him. His thoughts then traveled to him thinking of his sister, up in Ravenclaw tower, most likely surrounded by shades of royal blue. It certainly would complement her, he smiled at the thought, hoping she was getting along well with her roommates and enjoying the colors around her house. Her favorite color was blue after all so maybe she was enjoying it more than he was with all the green. “I dunno, mate but I am tired, I think I’m going to shower and head to bed” Evan said while gathering his toiletries and night clothes. Regulus nodded in agreement, grabbing his toothbrush and toothpaste “at least let me brush my teeth first? I don’t know how long you take.” He said, giving Evan a shy smile. “Right, yeah go ahead, Reggie.” he said, nodding to the door. Regulus raised his eyebrows at the nickname but strode to the other room, muttering under his breath about the nickname and how no one had called him that other than his brother. “D’you think he would tell us about him? His brother I mean.” Barty asked, staring after the boy as he disappeared into the bathroom. Evan shook his head, “I don’t know. But I wouldn’t push it. He seems shy, don’t want to make things awkward, you know?” he mumbled, Barty hummed. And turned his back to Evan, changing into his night clothes before Regulus came back out having finished brushing his teeth. “Well, if you fall asleep before I’m out I guess goodnight, guys” Evan said with a wave behind him as he walked into the bathroom, his retreat being followed with the sound of two sleepy “goodnights” from his roommates.
Evan stepped out of the bathroom after his shower to the quiet snores of Regulus and Barty, both asleep in their respective beds, and smiled to himself. It hadn’t felt like a long time, but it must’ve been if they both were out cold. He walked over to his bed, placing his dirty clothes in the small basket at the edge of his bed and collapsed into the pillowy soft mattress that awaited. Sighing with a smile he thought about today, the train ride with his sister, the sorting and how happy she looked being sorted into Ravenclaw. He was happy for her, he knew their parents would be upset she wasn’t in Slytherin, but their anger wouldn’t last too long because he was in Slytherin, and at least one half of their twins was there keeping up the family legacy. He briefly wondered what would’ve happened if he were placed anywhere else but shook his head. He knew it wouldn’t have been a possibility, anyways. And who knows, he grinned to himself, he was already making friends in his house, maybe Slytherin wouldn’t be so bad with them around. Plus, with Pandora being in Ravenclaw, and Regulus’ brother, maybe if they talk, being in different houses it would allow him reason to speak to others outside of his house. He was going to make the most of it regardless. And with that he closed his eyes, perfectly content and excited about what school was going to be like for the next seven years and faded off into a peaceful sleep.