Valley of the Shadow, Act II

Britain, Summer of 1980. The world isn't made of good people and Death Eaters—and that's true whichever way you cut it. Prophecies have been spoken and heard, children born, Horcuxes hidden, and one Tom Riddle is losing his grip even as his power builds. Hogwarts is coming. The first smoky tendrils of war are in the air, if you know what to look for, if you know how to see.Sod all that.This is Slytherin: family first.

As the title should indicate, this is not a solo/new piece—the original Valley of the Shadow post was just getting unwieldy and we came to a good stopping point. So if you're new, know you have entered in the middle.But here's a reminder of the most important thing:Canon Compliance:It is advised that the reader be familiar with the biography of Harry Potter written by Ms. Rowling. The reader should be aware that this seven-volume series was fact-checked by Ms. Skeeter rather than Miss Granger, and cannot be relied on in the matter of dates. Furthermore, Ms. Rowling's books are written from the point of view of the subject, and not only contain a distinctly pro-Gryffindor bias but largely confine themselves to what Mr. Potter saw, heard, assumed, and speculated.This is a Slytherin story, and the truth is subjective:One moment and two people means at least two truths, and probably seven: yours, mine, Rowling's, what the video camera/pensieve would show, what Character A experienced, what Character A will remember... and the two to fifteen ways Severus will look back on it, depending on what kind of mood he's in, who he's with, and how hard he's occluding at the time.