THE GREEN-HAIRED SLYTHERINS
After the feast, Professor Dumbledore asked to speak again and explained the school rules like a headmaster does, such as the fact that the forest next to the school, the Forbidden Forest, was not named by coincidence, and that no magic was allowed in the corridors, unless they were attacked by a troll. Then they sang the school's scandalously bad march and were finally able to go to their rooms.
The Slytherin common room was located in the dungeons. The first years followed Narcissa and the tall Head Boy to the stone door hidden in the wall. The password this time was dragon blood . As the door opened, a dark room was revealed to the students, lit only by a few green lamps – although the fire crackled in the fireplace, the air was cooler than upstairs, and several people had pulled their cloaks and coats on.
“Well, we're here,” Narcissa said. “Welcome everyone to Slytherin! This is our common room. On the left there is the girls' dormitory, on the right is the boys’. You can find the room assignment on the doors. Your trunks have already been delivered here. I advise everyone to go to bed on time, even if there is no class tomorrow. During the weekend, you will also receive the ties and class schedules. In these two days, try to get to know the castle as much as possible, because starting from Monday you can no longer use the excuse of getting lost for being late!”
“That's right,” They heard a voice from the end of the line. A short, fat man with grey hair entered the Slytherin common room. He was wearing some ridiculous brown velvet jacket and was smiling strangely. “I'm Professor Slughorn, head of Slytherin House. I am glad that you are all here! I hope most of you have serious plans!”
How could an eleven-year-old have serious plans? Of course, you can want a family, a job, money, fame, but it's not as if they know how to achieve them. Adults and their stupid expectations of children... Not that Regulus wasn't used to it.
Professor Slugorn said a few more words, then ordered curfew and left the common room. Narcissa went to the left with the girls, and when she saw how miserably lost the boys were standing, and moreover their leader had just left them there in the meantime, the girl sighed and muttered something about the male gender, which was just enough for them to gather courage and go to their rooms on the right side.
As he passed the bedrooms, Regulus looked to see where his name might had been written. He hoped that, like the sorting, it would also be by name, because the letter B is quite far from R, but of course, he was out of luck. He found his name on the fourth door along with four other boys: Sun Chen, Roy Horton, Midas Parkinson and of course who else but Evan Rosier.
Sighing, he pushed the wooden door. There was only one roommate in there, who raised his head when he arrived.
“Hi!” The boy had pitch-black hair and pale, porcelain skin covered with pale freckles that could only be seen up close. Despite his tiredness, he was full of excitement. He must have been one of those who were biting their nails waiting to come here. “I'm Sun Chen, and you?”
Regulus quickly wiped his sweaty hands on his robes and walked over to the boy, then after they shook hands he walked over to the bed where he saw his trunk.
“Regulus Arcturus Black…”
“...the youngest child of the noble and most ancient house of Black!” Evan Rosier's entrance could not have been more effective. He almost kicked the door open and greeted his two roommates inside with a beaming face.
“Are you making fun of me now?” Regulus raised his eyebrows. He really didn't want to start an argument this late, but he also didn't want to become a silly joke by just such a boy. His father had always taught him not to let himself get into situations like this.
“Merlin’s beard, pas du tout !” He waved with a chuckle and then approached Sun. “Did I hear correctly that your name is Sun?”
"Yes."
"Merlin, another star in the room!” Evan laughed at his own joke. “I'm Evan Rosier.”
No sooner had he said it than another boy entered. Regulus immediately recognized that he had seen him on the train rejecting the friendship of a Muggle-born. Well, maybe there are still real Slytherins.
The boy didn't say hello, didn't even look around when he saw his trunk on the other side of the room, he hurried to the bed and started looking for his pyjamas. He sat with his back all the way, so only his light brown hair was visible.
“That’s Midas Parkinson,” Evan whispered into Regulus' ear. Regulus almost jumped up, so scared of the lurker.
“When did you sneak up behind me?”
“I didn't sneak! I came here in normal steps! Besides, this is my room too, so you’d better get used to it.”
Regulus muttered something about a man's private sphere, then he too began searching his trunk for his pyjamas. Neither Sun nor Evan were in the mood to talk so much, and a few minutes later their last roommate, Roy Horton, arrived.
By the time he was eleven, he was at least a head taller than everyone else. He wore thick-rimmed glasses, his skin was dark brown, and his hair was curly and tousled, similar to James', but more well-groomed. He shook everyone's hand kindly, even Midas’, who didn't even then feel the urge to maybe introduce himself to the others.
So I'll be living with them for seven years, thought Regulus. It wasn't that terrible but he had expected better. But he put this thought aside for the next day and, like the others, went to sleep.
The very first night at Hogwarts was restless. Regulus couldn't stop his mind from racing, he heard that in the bed next to him, Evan was constantly rolling and someone was sniffing loudly. In the morning, almost all of them were as exhausted as when they went to bed.
“Good riddance, it's the weekend,” muttered a girl at breakfast in the Great Hall. “I wouldn’t be able to survive even one class now.”
Many people had a similar opinion. Regulus was just listlessly slurping his scrambled eggs, Sun could have won the best zombie impersonation category, Roy didn't even come down for breakfast, Midas was probably sleeping with his eyes open over his toast (or was just speechless as usual), and the scariest thing was that even Evan wasn’t tiring the others either.
However, they revived upon the arrival of the owls – everyone was curious to see what they had received and from who, or they were waiting for the new issue of the Daily Prophet . Regulus immediately recognized his mother's handwriting on the envelope, which made him shudder a little, but he knew that if he didn't get scolded, it could only be good, so he opened it.
The letter was just a few lines, written in neat letters:
My dear son!
Congratulations on getting into Slytherin! Your father and I are very proud of you. We ask that you try to bring the best reputation to the family and build suitable relationships! Now that you are around him, keep an eye on your brother's behaviour as well. If any problems arise, write immediately!
Best regards,
Walburga Black
Regulus smiled. It may not be the nicest letter anyone could have received, but his parents were proud of him. That was the most important thing right now.
He raised his head at a noise coming from the Gryffindor table at the other end of the Hall. A screeching voice filled the room. Someone got a howler. Oh no.
“SIRIUS ORION BLACK! HOW DID YOU DARE SMUGGLE HAIR DYE INTO YOUR MOTHER'S SHAMPOO? YOU SHALL WRITE IMMEDIATELY HOW I MAY REMOVE THIS, OTHERWISE I SHALL DRAG YOU HOME BY YOUR EAR!”
The howler fell to pieces. Sirius blinked a few times, then he and his friends burst out laughing, then many more joined them in the room.
Regulus stood up angrily and hurried to the Gryffindor table with a red face. “What have you done?!”
“It was just a joke! I can't help that our mother doesn't like green even after all these years…” Sirius laughed even more.
“This is not funny! Tell her you're sorry!”
“Oh, Reg, come on! Now why are you upset about this?”
Regulus leaned closer so that only his brother could hear what he was trying to say. “Because I don't want to listen all year long about how you undermine the family's reputation.”
“You talk like our parents... It's lucky that I have the perfect child to fix things for me, isn't it?” Sirius wasn't in nearly as good of a mood anymore. His grey eyes sparkled angrily. “Congratulations on being a Slytherin, I hope they are proud of you.”
“You said at home that... It doesn't matter which house I'm in…” Regulus whispered. More and more people were curious, especially at the Gryffindor table, about what was going on, but James and Remus shooed them away. Peter, seeing that there was a conflict, finished his breakfast and hurried away.
“I don't care where you are. But you do care that I'm a Gryffindor, don't ya? Tell me, Reg, are you ashamed of me?”
The words caught in Regulus' throat. Of course he wasn't ashamed of his brother... Everything was just so confusing. A person will not brag about the fact that someone from their family moved against them, not only because it’s not something to be proud about, it is also a huge painful wound. It wasn't that he was denying Sirius or that he didn't understand his point of view. He understood, onlyhe didn't agree with him.
“No, I'm not ashamed of you,” he finally answered. “I'm just asking you not to upset Mother for no reason. That's it.”
Regulus didn't even wait for an answer, instead he walked out of the Great Hall with his head low. He lost his appetite, he was tired, and he wanted someone with whom he could have a normal conversation. He even missed the dark 12 Grimmauld Place, or rather everything it had once meant. Home. Security. Childhood.
By the time he reached his room, Roy was no longer asleep. He was just hiding behind the Daily Prophet while munching on sweets (probably from home). Regulus didn't want to disturb him, so he quietly began unpacking his trunk and arranging the room. He was just putting his books in the drawers of his nightstand when Sun, Midas, and Evan arrived.
The boys only said to each other things like “this place is not that bad” , “d’you think it will be difficult?” or “I'm so tired” . No one had the desire or energy to get to know each other at the moment. Regulus was glad that none of them brought up what happened in the Great Hall, not even Evan, who was very busy writing a letter.
That's how the weekend went. The only exciting thing was that they got their schedules and ties, so they were officially Slytherin students. Professor Slughorn checked in on them many times to make sure everything was going as planned and seemed excited about their first Potions class.
Regulus' first week was a rush. Not only was the castle huge, but the stairs also made him go crazy, so he got lost more than once on his way to class.
On Monday, they started with Charms. Professor Flitwick proved to be a good teacher, although it seemed that he would be one of the causes of afternoons in the library hunched over assignments. However, Flying was no problem with Madam Hooch, nor was Herbology with Professor Sprout. Not that Regulus knew all that much about plants, but it didn't seem difficult from the first couple of hours. Regulus liked Potions the best, he even liked Professor Slughorn – of course, this was also helped by the fact that in that one year of boredom he read a lot from the family library, including about potions, so he collected more than one point for the Slytherin house. He also excelled in Transfiguration at McGonagall, although he found a worthy rival there in several people. In History of Magic, he tried very hard not to fall asleep to Professor Binns' dictation, although Roy seemed very interested in the subject. Evan was enthusiastic about Astronomy, he already knew the names of the stars and constellations one by one. Finally, there was Defense Against the Dark Arts, which everyone was looking forward to, but Professor Doves almost only wrote notes with them, and then he also submitted an essay on ghosts for the second week.
Regulus still had trouble sleeping at night. He noticed that almost no one else had such a problem anymore, he was the only one who heard Evan's tossing and turning many times from the bed next to him.
As for Evan, he sat next to Regulus in every possible class. Without question. However, he became much quieter, he wasn’t grinning all the time, and he didn't talk to Regulus much outside of class. Sometimes they went to the library together, but even then they only talked about school. It was starting to look like Hogwarts had driven him crazy when, on Saturday afternoon, hunched over the ghost essay in the library, he felt like talking again.
“I know how you feel.”
“Sorry but…”
“Your family is ashamed of your brother, isn't it? And you should be too, but you can't.”
“How do you know...?”
“I've been through it too.”
“I thought you didn't have a brother.”
“That’s right.”
Regulus waited to see if he might continue with some story about his family. For once, he wouldn't have minded his honesty to make him feel that it wasn't just his family that was having problems. However, he was not Evan, who would have asked about this openly.
The ghost essay was one of his first and worst essays. He couldn't put together a meaningful sentence, he couldn't organise the information, and he was sure that Professor Doves would call him an idiot. Now that was the least of his interests, after so many things were on his mind, none of them related to learning.
By the time they both finished studying, it was almost dinner time. They first headed towards the Dungeons with their books, but Evan stopped after a few steps.
“I left one of my books there. I'll run back for it, okay?”
“Don’t bother, I'll handle it. Here, take my stuff and drop it off in our room. Then let’s meet in the Great Hall for dinner.”
Evan nodded with a smile and took Regulus' books. The two boys walked in two opposite directions. Regulus didn't know why he suddenly wanted to help Evan. Maybe because he felt a little guilty about the way he treated him at first. Or he wanted to pay back for what happened on the train. Maybe it was a way of saying “thank you for being tolerable all week, good luck, maybe I'll last until the end of the seventh year” .
There was actually a book on the table. As he got closer, he saw that it was the leather-bound book that Evan and his mother used to keep notes about the stars and all that. He picked it up quickly, but something fell out of the pages due to the rush.
It was a photo. There was a man, a woman and a little boy on it – they all smiled. In the background there was a meadow. The little boy, in whom Regulus thought he discovered Evan, who was a few years younger, clung to the woman's (probably his mother's) neck, and the man, who might have been his father, hugged him from the side. They looked like a happy family. Happier than Regulus had ever been.
Regulus opened the leather-bound book and slid the picture into the front. However, it could not escape his attention that the following message was left in huge capital letters on the first page:
À MON CHER FILS, EVAN
FOR ME YOU ARE THE BRIGHTEST STAR OF THEM ALL!!!
WITH LOVE,
MAMAN
Regulus smiled. Now he understood why Evan was the way he was. If he was raised by such a kind mother and a probably similarly kind father, this can only be the result. Where does Evan's sadness come from then? Maybe something happened in the last couple of years that changed everything? Something that is so hard to talk about?
He closed the book and hurried out of the library. Evan must have made it to their room and back to the Great Hall in that amount of time, so he had to hurry so that his tardiness wouldn't be noticeable.
Not many students and teachers were having dinner yet. Evan was sitting with Sun and Roy, who had almost become best friends over the past week. Let's say, maybe it just seemed like it because they were just studying together all the time and were sometimes talking outside of class, but everyone in their room found company, apart from Midas. The boy had been looking for friends among older Slytherins almost all week, and apart from that, he still rarely spoke to the others. As if he wasn’t satisfied with the first years…
Regulus handed the book to Evan. “There you go.”
“Thank you!”
Sun and Roy turned out to be better company than anyone could have imagined. They discussed their week's experiences, made fun of their teachers together, and for a moment they really looked like students. Roy imitated Doves’ monotone talking perfectly, causing Sun to spit the pudding in Evan's face and Regulus to choke on the pumpkin juice. This made them laugh even more, until Narcissa's piercing glance silenced them.
After dinner, they headed back to the Dungeons. They were laughing at Roy's Slughorn impersonation when they were confronted by a Slytherin boy – Regulus remembered that he was the boy who was sitting next to him during the Sorting Ceremony. His shoulder-length hair was usually greasy, but now… somehow it was also green?
“Severus Snape,” Evan whispered in his ear. “Second year.”
Whoever this boy was, he was not happy with his new hair colour. Regulus had a clue as to who might be behind the prank, but Snape was probably fully aware of it too, because he seemed to be muttering something to Regulus as well.
“I think it suits you,” Sun assured him kindly, but he immediately regretted speaking up.
“Very funny,” Snape muttered as he stopped in front of them. “It was your idiot brother and his friends.” He looked at Regulus. “Half of the Slytherin house has green hair.”
“I had no idea…”
“At least you see what kind of person your brother is.” Snape was at least a head taller than him, and his face, originally sullen, was distorted even more by frustration. Regulus’ first thought was that he looked like a scarecrow. “Welcome to Hogwarts, Black. Here, everyone shows their true colours.”