Hey you, you're finally awake-

Alphard was the first to wake among his friends. For the first few minutes after he woke up, he sat dazed and confused on his bed. The surroundings were unfamiliar to him. His room usually had a grey theme, unless it was his birthday, so the sudden green theme was a bit confusing to him. It was only after he saw Adrian and Cassius that it hit him. He was at Hogwarts! He quickly got out of his bed and went to the washroom, best get ready before the other two woke, so that it wouldn't get crowded. By the time he got out, Cassius was awake while Adrian still slept. Once Cassius had gotten ready as well, both Cassius and Alphard took pleasure in kicking Adrian out of bed and sending him to get ready. The three boys were messy, if nothing else. Alphard didn't know how to tie his tie. Adrian refused to tuck in his shirt and Cassius kept complaining about the outer robe that they were wearing. They joined Diana out in the Common room, who was dressed primly, with her black hair neatly done in a braid and her uniform perfect. She fussed over them, forcing Adrian to wear his uniform correctly while she tied Alphard's tie and told Cassius to stop fiddling. The group chattered happily as they made their way to the Great Hall for breakfast. After breakfast, the head of the house, Professor Snape came by to give them their timetable.

Just from the look Snape gave him, Alphard could tell that the man despised him. Alphard didn't know why, but he guessed it was probably because of his father. Alphard knew that he looked exactly like his father, which meant that while the younger generation wouldn't be able to make the connection based on looks, the older generation could. Alphard simply grinned at the man as he thanked him, reveling at the fact that the man made a disgusted expression before leaving. After Snape left, Gemma beckoned them over. She led them to their first class, Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"-or DADA, as most students call it. This year, it's taught by Professor Shastry- you know, the person Professor Dumbledore introduced yesterday. I can't tell you how the classes will be, you're the first batch yet, however, if the teacher is good, DADA is probably the best subject." She told them as she led them through the hallways. However, Alphard wasn't paying attention to her, his attention was captured by the light blue- glowing artefact by the staircase. As he followed his senior, he found more and more Glowing objects, as though they were a trail leading to something. He decided to follow it later on, after his classes. Maybe it was the ancient magic that Grandfather Ominis always spoke about? He put it out of his mind as he walked into the classroom with his fellow classmates. They were having DADA with the Gryffindors. The moment he stepped into the classroom, Alphard was whisked away by the twins.

"Well then, heir of Slytherin, how's your house?" Fred asked as the three of them sat down on a bench. Alphard smiled apologetically at his housemates, who shrugged before sitting with their own friends.

"Gryffindor tower is simply amazing, I'll tell you." George said as they pulled out their books.

"Slytherin dorms are down in the dungeons. It looks into the Black Lake and I must say, it's quiet beautiful." Alphard said as he set up his ink and quill. He looked around a bit, not spotting Lee anywhere. "Where's Lee?" He asked.

"Running late." Fred replied.

"Hadn't woken up when we ready to leave." George continued

"We threatened to leave him behind if he was late."

"He told us to bugger off and so we did."

Alphard laughed. He told them about how he and Cassius had kicked Adrian out of his bed that morning. They shared a few more details and jokes till the professor entered.

Ramchandra Shastry was an old man from India with a heavy accent that was hard for Alphard to grasp, but there was no denying that the man new his subject material very well. He started off with a basic introduction and history of the subject, the dangers of the dark arts themselves and the foundation of the DADA. The first lesson they had was on the difference on jinxes, hexes and curses. While the professor was talking about hexes, the doors to the classroom suddenly burst open, revealing a very ragged looking Lee.

"Sorry sir!" He said as he stepped inside, searching the crowd for the twins. "But I sort of lost track of time."

"Come in, Enter!" The old man said with a smile. "Do keep in mind, as this is only the first class, I shall let you in. From the next class onward, you'll be left outside the doors, young man." He warned as he continued with the class. Alphard and the twins grinned and sniggered at Lee as he bashfully took his place beside Alphard on the desk and quickly pulled out his books.

"Can I copy your stuff later on?" He whispered to Alphard who nodded as he let his attention fall back on the professor.

Overall, Defense Against the Dark arts was a good class. The professor was deeply insightful and was easy to approach for doubts. Alphard noticed that he even dumbed down a few topics to make it easier for the muggle-born students to understand. Right now, Alphard had no qualms against placing the subject as his most favourite class. He was pretty confident that even at the end of the week, the subject would be on the top three of his list.

As he exited the room, he bid farewell to his Gryffindor friends after asking them to meet him by the DADA tower after their classes, standing next to the Sixth year prefect who would take them to the next class. He reunited with his housemates, talking about the class and the potential spells they could learn in it.

Charms was with Ravenclaw students. Professor Flitwick was a little half-goblin with far too much enthusiasm. At least it brought up the spirits of the class. Alphard partnered up with Diana for the class while the two other Slytherin boys partnered up with each other. The class was again an introduction class, but Flitwick did start teaching them the wand-lighting charm, Lumos and the wand extinguishing charm, Nox. Alphard got the spells right in two tries, earning the envy of most of the Ravenclaws and five points for Slytherin. He then spent the rest of his class helping Diana with her charms. The girl seemed to be struggling a lot with even the most basic spells, but Alphard didn't give up and helped her by explaining the spell and the feel it gave. By the end of the class, Diana was able to get a feeble light on her wand. She smiled excitedly at Alphard, proudly showing him the light and Alphard grinned back at her.

"You did it!"

"Thanks to you." She replied bashfully, casting the wand-extinguishing charm. She took two tries before the light went out. "I've been trying that spell since I got my wand and text books and yet this was the first time I got it right!"

Alphard only smiled more brightly. "Glad to be of help." He said as he closed his books, offering Diana a page in which he had written a few stuff down. "Maybe in your free time you can read through it? I've written down some tips."

"Thank you!" She said as she took it from him, immediately going through them.

Once class was dismissed, the four of them walked towards the Great hall for lunch. Diana was engrossed in the notes that Alphard had written for her while the three boys joked about, shoving each other playfully and talking about their classes. They had one other class left for that day, Transfiguration. After a quick lunch, the Seventh year prefect took them to their transfiguration classroom that they were again having with the Ravenclaws.

Professor McGonagall was a strict teacher, but her teachings were precise and to the point. She informed them that they would only be doing basic theory and would try to turn a matchstick into a needle that day. She also clearly told them that she didn't expect any outcome, for the subject was a difficult one. Alphard looked over to Diana, who was furiously taking down notes and chuckled to himself. She was much more studious compared to his other two housemates, one who was sleeping and the other who was daydreaming while he half-heartedly wrote down a few stuff. At the end of the class, Diana had managed to turn her matchstick pointy while Alphard's had gotten a silver colour while retaining some of the matchstick-like shape.

Once class was over, the four Slytherins wandered around the castle, mapping out where each classroom or other important rooms were. They then spent the rest out their time outside, in the courtyard, by the fountain. A few seniors were playing exploding snap and it was a fun match to watch. Once the first year Gryffindor students made their way to the courtyard, Alphard excused himself and set off to find the twins and Lee, who were exactly where he had asked them to be. Alphard told them about the traces of magic he could see and led them to where the trail ended. Underneath the staircase leading to the defense class rooms was a huge cabinet-like clock. Fred tried the unlocking charm which surprisingly worked. The four boys went inside the cabinet to discover a sort of ancient elevator. It led them down to large spacious room with a single empty photo frame on one wall and a big tryptic on the other side. There also was a table on one side with many pages strewn across and a book in the center.

While the trio of Gryffindor boys examined the room, Alphard went straight to the table. He picked up the book and opened the first page.

To the person who reads this,

If you've found this book, you're either a descendant of Slytherin, or a wielder of ancient magic.

If you are the latter, I've written this book in hopes that it can aid you through your trials.
You are not alone, dear friend, though your strange ability may make you feel so. You are not alone. You can always trust your true friends.

If you are the former, I hope this book can help you through your hard times or maybe, help you not face any hard times at all.
Though, this is not a diary, I have recounted some stuff here that I would never tell anyone other than my friends in the real life.

This place is called the Undercroft. Let this be a special place for just you and your friends. Let this be a secret you share only to those close to you.
Let be a place for your comfort, a place of respite when everything is going haywire int the outer world

I hope you have a great time at Hogwarts, dear friend.

With lots of love,
Elana Fig.

Alphard couldn't believe it. It was a book written by his own Great-grandmother! He flipped through the book and the few letters strewn about. There were so many different handwritings about, one which he recognized was his great-grandfather's. Strangely, there was no dust on anything lying on the table. Alphard concluded that a very strong stasis charm must have been placed on the stuff to keep even dust out of it. Alphard flipped through the book, noticing that some pages, while to the normal eye may have seemed blank, had letters written in the same blue, glowing magic that had led Alphard here.

"What have you got there, Alphard?" Lee looked over Alphard's shoulder to the book.

"A book." He deadpanned as he turned around to show the other three the book. "It was written by my great-grandmother." He said as he sat down on the floor and set the book on the ground. The three boys also sat down around the book in a circle.

"Your great-grandmother?" Fred asked as he turned the book so that he could get a better look at it. "Does it have anything interesting?"

"Not sure..." Alphard said as the book was passed from Fred to George. "But from the book, I now know that this place is called the Undercroft and that we should keep this a secret just between the four of us."

"Ohh!" George exclaimed as he passed the book to Lee. "We could plan our pranks here! We could even stash some stuff here!"

"Like dungbombs!" Fred supplied

"Or maybe even some other stuff that's not allowed in the school!" Lee added.

"Potion supplies that we shouldn't technically have?" Alphard pitched in.

"Think of all the things we could do here!"

"It will be our secret spot." Lee promised Alphard and the twins nodded in agreement.

"Our secret spot." Alphard grinned. "I like that." He said as he pulled the book closer to himself again, reading through it's contents while his friends cooked up more ideas for the usage of the room. From the basic glance, he could tell that his Grandmother Elana was not a prankster like him. Those traits must have solely come from his father, then. but there was a lot of resemblance between him and his great-grandmother. At the end of the book, Alphard found a few pictures. The oldest of which were three Slytherin students standing next to each other. Alphard recognized one of them as his grandfather Ominis. He turned over to read the inscriptions and found that the other two people were Sebastian Sallow and Anne Sallow, Ominis' childhood friends. In the next photo, there were more people with his great-grandfather, who now looked a bit older. He read the names, remembering the stories his grandfather had told him about Natsai, Poppy and Garreth. Next to his great-grandfather stood his great-grandmother, Elana. The picture after that was a bit more new. Three people were in the photo again, two of them Slytherin and one Hufflepuff. He found out that those people were his grandfather Eleazar, a girl named Leta Lestrange and Newt Scamander. The next photo was very dear to Alphard. Two young people stood in the photo. The man looked an exact copy of him, without the moles while the woman looked a lot like Eleazar. They were smiling at the camera, giggling and laughing.

Alphard didn't have any photos of his parents together. He kept this one for himself as he closed the book and placed it back on the table. With that, the four boys exited the Undercroft, making their way to the great Hall for dinner. Alphard sat with the boys at the Gryffindor table. It earned him a few weird looks, but no one said anything against it, so he ate with his friends, joked with them and had a great time before joining his housemates and going back to their dormitories. Once back, he wrote a letter to his Great-grandfather, telling him about the house he had been sorted into, the great friends he made, his first day of classes and the undercroft with the strange magic he could see.

The next day, he woke up early again, getting ready before Cassius and Adrian before waking them up. Diana once again fixed his tie when they met each other in the common room before they headed for breakfast. The first class they had that day was Herbology with the Hufflepuffs. Since they were required to make groups of four, the four Slytherin students teamed up for the class. They had a basic gardening class where they looked after muggle plants that day, but it was fun, nonetheless. They went in for Lunch after cleaning up a bit, a lot of dirt had been thrown around after all, before it was time for potions. The four Slytherin students shared a table, Diana and Alphard once again in a single group while the boys made their own. Just behind Alphard, sat Fred and George, so he was close enough to all of his friends.

Alphard knew Snape didn't like him, but this? This was unexpected. Snape made him answer questions that no first year should know answers to. Unfortunately for Snape, Alphard had been reading his godfather's journal for about a month now and a few answers were from the journal. He always snapped at Alphard or entirely ignored him when he tried to ask questions. Alphard felt grateful that he wasn't in Gryffindor, or Snape would have been sure to dock a few points because of him, as he did with the twins. Snape was clearly showing favouritism. But after the double class of potions, the Slytherin students were free till night, when they would have astronomy with the Hufflepuffs

Professor Sinistra taught beautifully. Alphard found himself being immersed in the lesson, even though all they did in the class was talk about how different their class was going to be from simply stargazing. She told them about the various muggle technologies used for viewing the stars and the vast difference between their instruments and the instruments used by wizards and witches. She was the first to assign them a homework, asking them to note down any more differences that came to mind before sending them off to bed.

The next day after classes, the four Slytherins were summoned back to their common room to meet their student mentors. Alphard was paired up with Matthew Bulstrode, a fifth year student who happily answered all of Alphard questions and even gave him helpful tips on how to manage classes and homework. He even encouraged Alphard to attend the dueling classes held by Snape on the weekends.

"I mean, you won't actually know unless you attend a class"- Matthew was telling him. "-There are spells taught there that you won't find in your normal syllabus, but are pretty darn helpful in a fight. These classes prepare you for what's out there, you know? Any respectable wizard should be able to handle his own during a fight."

"I thought we'd learn good spells in the classes themselves?"

"Yeah, sure we do. There are some jinxes and hexes that are taught in school." Matthew replied with a nod. "However, you don't get any actual experience, do you? The best way would be to attend these classes. Trust me, you won't regret them."

That was all that Alphard needed to sign up for the dueling class. He and Adrian were the only first years who had signed up. Snape took one look at them before tossing a book in their direction and telling them to learn the shield charm. Adrian and Alphard poured over the book, reading as much as they could about the spell before trying to cast it. While Adrian had been struggling with the spell, Alphard got it down in less than fifteen minutes. Snape made him face off against one of the seniors, all while wearing a displeasured look on his face.

"Get closer to your opponent, Mr. Gaunt." He instructed and Alphard did so. He met his opponent mid-way on the platform. "Raise wands and greet each other." Alphard was confused. Raise wands? And then greet? Shouldn't it have been the other way round? And weren't they supposed to be at the edges of the platform? He looked to his senior for guidance and followed exactly as his opponent did, only then did he realize what raise wands meant. Snape then barked out another order and the two of them separated. "Take your stance." Snape instructed and Alphard did so, not looking away from his opponent, wand raised and ready to cast the shield spell. The moment Snape gave them the green sign, The senior cast the disarming charm. Before it could hit him, Alphard cast the shield charm.

"Expelliarmus!"

"Protego!"

A magical shield covered him and the moment it went down, Alphard was ready to use the basic cast, forcing his opponent backwards. He didn't know any other spells to use other than the shield charm and the knockback jinx, which he was keeping for the last. He cast the shield charm one again as his opponent sent another spell his way, quickly following it with a few more basic casts. One he was done, both he and his opponent stood, staring at each other, both obviously tired, but Alphard more than the senior. The next time he cast the shield charm, Alphard decided to end it with his ace. The moment the shield went down, he stood straight and aimed the wand at the opponent.

"Flippendo!"

The opponent not having expected that got knocked off the platform, falling to the ground. Alphard grinned as he reveled in his first victory while the other students surrounded him, congratulating him on his victory. The look on Snape's face was anything but proud, when Alphard glanced at the man, but as long as he had the student's support, he wasn't complaining. Snape could go sulk in a dark corner for all he cared.

Oh, how he wished to see his great-grandfather's expression when he would find out that Alphard had won a duel against a senior! He would probably go on another spiel on how his entire family was known for dueling, but in the end, it would have been worth it.