Visions of Darkness

Shattering the Illusion (2/?)

September 1, 1991

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Harry and Draco pushed their way through the crowd of students as they shuffled off the platform and out of Hogsmeade Station. The two boys made it through the large part of the crowd in one piece and followed the loud, gravelly voice calling all first years to the lake.

A giant person loomed over the crowd of small first years, waving a lantern back and forth, and when the fire illuminated his face, Draco stopped moving, looking at the giant man with barely disguised terror. Harry grabbed his arm and pulled him from the throng of first years and put his hand on his arm, in a comforting manner.

“What’s wrong?” Harry asked softly.

“He… He just startled me, that is all.” Draco quickly recovered, brushing Harry’s hand from his arm. “I am fine. Let us go before we get stuck here.”

Harry nodded, and the two rejoined the groups of first years as the last of them were climbing into some wooden boats. Harry and Draco scrambled into one with the tall black boy Harry had seen at the platform earlier and a pretty Chinese girl.

The little boats sped across the lake, passing under a vine-covered bridge as they traversed the expanse. It was as they emerged that the First Years took their first look at Hogwarts. Several of the students gasped at its splendor, and most were gaping. Harry and Draco, however, just looked at the beautiful castle with appreciation. Having grown up in Egypt, Harry was rather fond of the majestic pyramids and tombs, and he knew to appreciate the beauty of this typically European castle.

“My manor is near this size,” Draco said offhandedly, effectively explaining his lack of reaction. Harry smiled in Draco’s direction; the boy just couldn’t miss a chance to show off his riches.

By the time the little boats pulled up on the side of the lake and they had formed a line in front of two great wooden entrance doors, everyone had quit gaping and were getting nervous. “Goyle’s father told him he had to fight a troll,” Draco whispered, looking ruffled, “But I don’t know any sort of spells that could help me… legally.”

After Hagrid knocked on the door, a stern looking witch in dark green robes lead them through the entrance hall and into a chamber off to the left. As they waited for the witch to tell them what to do, Harry surveyed the crowd. A majority of them were frightened, and some, like Hermione Granger, were naming off spells that might help them in a troll battle, regardless of the fact that they had no prior training. Harry found this all amusing. He knew all you had to do was try on some sort of hat; Iris had told him so. Though he had to admit to himself that he was a bit nervous, as this was a very important event.

The witch stood in the front of the chamber, and rapped her wand against the wooden bookshelf to get their attention. “Good evening,” she said, in a soothing, no-nonsense voice. “I am Professor McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress. You are about to be sorted. Please straighten yourselves up, and we will proceed.” Harry pulled a plastic comb from his robe pocket (courtesy of Iris) and ran it quickly through his long hair, before handing it to Draco, who took it and gratefully flattened his hair so that it fell forward in one smooth motion.

Draco handed it back and Harry stuffed it in his pocket just as McGonagall pulled open the wooden doors and they filed into one of the most magnificent halls Harry had ever stepped foot in. It was a colossal room made of rose-coloured marble and pink quartz. At each end of the hall were four rectangular tables holding the rest of the school. On the wall behind each table were a stained glass window depicting the founder of each house, and below them, a banner of each House’s mascot and motto. At the head of the room was a slightly smaller table covered in a royal purple tablecloth. Behind the table was the school crest. The most magnificent thing about the room, however, was the ceiling. It looked just like the sky outside, down the last detail. It was breathtaking.

While Harry had been taking in the Great Hall, a three-legged stool with a raggedy hat upon it had come to stand in front of the first years. Many of the first years were looking relieved now that the hat had sung a song about trying it on and being sorted, and they were now all waiting impatiently.

McGonagall unrolled a long parchment and called “Abbot, Hannah” and a plump girl with blonde pigtails hurried forward and stuffed the hat on her head. It called “HUFFLEPUFF!” and she rushed over to the table with the badger banner. Harry watched intently as each student was sorted. Sometimes it took a few seconds, sometimes it took a few minutes, but every student was sorted into one of the four Houses. Hermione Granger, Harry noted, did not become a Ravenclaw. Rather, she was sorted into Gryffindor.

“Malfoy, Draco.” Draco smirked at Harry before walking proudly to the Hat. It barely touched his head before screaming “SLYTHERIN” and he dropped it back on to the stool before sauntering over to the cheering Slytherin table.

A few more people were sorted before the McGonagall called “Potter, Harry”. Harry made his way to the Hat amidst whispers of ‘The Harry Potter?’ ‘Did she say Harry Potter?’ and other such comments. Harry sat down on the stool and carefully set the Hat upon his head.

‘Ah, Mr. Potter’ a squeaky little voice said. ‘I have been looking forward to your Sorting. Hmm... Let me see…Bravery, yes. Ambition… Oh my, you have a lot of ambition. You want to be great, do you?’

‘Of course I do,’ Harry thought at the Hat.

‘Yes. You are also very clever. But, you are not one for loyalty, are you?’

‘It is hard to be loyal when you do not hand out your trust, Hat.’

‘Well then, where shall I put you? Ravenclaw would not be the place for you. I think they are a bit too studious. I see you do not have any preferences for the final two, Gryffindor and Slytherin.’

‘Of course not. Why would I? Put me where I belong, I do not want to be on this stool and in the spotlight any longer.’

‘No spotlight, eh? Don’t sound much like… Yes… Well then, I guess you’d be better SLYTHERIN!’

Harry pulled the hat off his head and was met with tension so thick he thought he might suffocate as he made his way self consciously to the Slytherin table, where Draco was sitting, looking stunned. As Harry sat down, he realized that the boy wasn’t the only one. Harry wasn’t stupid. He knew the past history of Slytherin, and he knew his parents’ murderer had supposedly been a Slytherin.

Professor McGonagall was gaping like a fish, but she closed her mouth and looked down at her parchment as Draco started clapping, which was followed by the rest of the Slytherin table performing the typical cheering routine. As McGonagall continued with the Sorting, Harry surveyed the faces around him. The Slytherins were shooting glances at him, and Harry just nodded his head at them. The other houses weren’t being so subtle. Over at the Gryffindor table, several redheads were conversing, staring openly at Harry from where he sat. Several of the older students at the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff houses were no longer paying attention to the Sorting, but conversing quietly and motioning in his direction.

At the staff table, Harry was met with several new reactions. A man with a turban was looking distinctively shocked (nothing new) and an old man, whom Harry assumed was the Headmaster, was gazing at him, his blue eyes sharp and calculating. His ‘uncle’, Snape, was watching him from the corner of his eyes, a puzzled frown on his face. A spry little witch with flyaway brown hair was looking at him in disgust, while a distinguished woman with braided burgundy hair was looking at him with interest.

As soon as the last student had been Sorted – a French boy, Blaise Zabini, who plopped himself down next to Harry - Dumbledore stood up and said, “Welcome everyone. It is nice to see so many familiar faces, and a healthy dose of new ones as well. I would like to remind everyone that the Forbidden Forest is completely out of bounds, unless you wish to die a most painful death.” He let that comment sink in before continuing. “Tuck in!” he said, smiling cheerfully, and the golden plates that were placed on each table were filled with food.

Harry speared a slice of roast duck on the end of his fork and it slid on to his plate. He looked at all the foods, not recognizing many of them. A pretty brunette seemed to notice his confusion, and pointed out several items that she herself had chosen. “The orange potato is really good, so long as you add butter and brown sugar.” She pointed to a vat of creamy white gravy. “The gravy will taste good with the mashed potatoes, if you get them, and it goes well with the steak. The mini fruit salad is really good, so long as you steer clear of the pineapples, as they tend to be very sour.” She pointed to a platter heaped with fried chicken. “Those are okay, though rather greasy. The best bread is the honey-wheat,” she pointed to a shiny brown bread, “Though the baguette’s are very good.”

Harry nodded his thanks and grabbed a little bit of everything she had recommended. “Thanks, I’m Harry Potter,” he said to her as he helped himself to the white gravy.

She nodded and smiled at him, showing some suspiciously pointy teeth. “Not a problem. I am Meridan Cypher, sixth year.” She didn’t stare at his scar, and didn’t shy away from him. They were off to a good start. She spooned some peas on to her plate and turned to Draco, who was picking at his pork. “You are Draco Malfoy?”

Draco looked up at her and nodded.

“I know your father. He used to work with my mother.” She gave Draco a significant look that Harry didn’t fail to notice. Draco just nodded, looking sullen.

Meridan turned to a muscled brunette next to her, leaving Harry to pick a conversation with Blaise, who was sitting beside him, humming. “You are Blaise Zabini, right?” Harry already knew that, of course, but he could think of no other way to start a conversation with the other boy. Blaise stopped humming and nodded at him. “I gather you know who I am…”

“Of course, Harry Potter,” he replied, pushing a bit of his dark brown hair out of his face and resting his chin on his hand, not the least bit interested in his dinner. “I suppose everyone is surprised you are in Slytherin, having defeated the Dark Lord and all.” He sipped some of his soup, seemingly not noticing the look the other Slytherins gave him.

Harry snorted and stabbed at his potato. “I didn’t defeat him, thanks.” He splattered gravy on the table, and swiped at it with his napkin. “I had nothing to do with it. Consciously. I can’t remember anything but a flash of green light. So, I would rather that you all don’t treat me like some all mighty savior,” – this was directed to the Ravenclaws that were listening into the conversation behind him – “Or like an enemy.” – this was directed to the Slytherins, who were keen on listening in as well – “I am just Harry, a relatively normal first year.” He speared a piece of cantaloupe and stuffed it in his mouth.

Around him, the Slytherins were nodding in approval, and the Ravenclaws were chatting amongst themselves, sparing looks in his direction. Draco was smirking into his plate, and both Meridan and Blaise were grinning at him. “That’s the way to do it,” Meridan said, pointing her fork at him. “You’ll make Slytherin proud.” She smiled at the other students. “You will all make Slytherin proud.”

“Here, here,” the muscled brunette said, lifting his glass in a toast. The other Slytherins did the same, and, after they had all taken a hearty drink of their pumpkin juice, the Slytherins went back to their eating and chatting amongst themselves.

As they stood up to leave for the Common Room a little while later, Draco said, “You sure did get off on the right foot.” He grinned up at Harry. “I admit, I had been rather worried about the reaction the elder Slytherins would have at you being one of them.”

“I wasn’t worried,” Blaise cut in quietly. “I could tell you weren’t going to be arrogant about it when I first spoke with you.”

Harry smiled at the two, happy to have made two friends so soon. “Well, I am glad I got that over with.” He shook his head. “I had been expecting some sort of comment, though I thought it would have come from one of the sixth or seventh years.” He shot Blaise a wry look, and he just shrugged.

“This way, first years,” a prefect said, leading them out of the Great Hall. They joined a throng of students heading for the main foyer, and while the other three Houses went up the stairs, the Slytherins broke from the crowd and started to descend to the dungeons.

“I must say, I am not looking forward to tomorrow,” Harry said quietly. Blaise and Draco gave him questioning looks, and he sighed wearily. “Tomorrow, classes will start, and with them, the whispers, and the rumors, and gods know what else.”

Blaise looked at him with something akin to sympathy, while Draco looked understanding. “I know how it is,” Draco murmured as they entered a dark, cold corridor. “Being the son of an infamous, ‘suspected’ Death Eater gets me my fair share of whispers.”

“Yes,” Blaise said, nodding. “We know how it is, us Slytherin families.” He scowled. “Ever since the Dark Lord came to power, and even before that, I suppose, Slytherins and their families have been treated different, with less respect. A majority of the Wizarding world sees us as one big Death Eater family. Evil ones at that.” He sighed.

“Not all Slytherins are Death Eaters,” Meridan said, joining in on the conversation from behind the trio. “I know not all my family were, and we have been Slytherins since the beginning of Hogwarts.”

Her brunette friend nodded and gave the three younger students a lopsided smile. “I’m not ashamed to say my family were involved with You-Know-Who, and they were all Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs… until me, that is.”

“Yes, as far as I know, a lot of his supporters were Hufflepuffs,” Draco said, sneering slightly. No one replied to this, however, as they had come to a stop in front of an expanse of empty wall.

“This is the entrance,” the prefect said. “The password for this month is Monkshood, though it is subject to change should it happen to… leak out to any of the other houses.” He gave them all a stern look before saying Monkshood to the wall. It expanded in an odd way so that it looked as though it were melting. The prefect led them through the large hole and Harry, Blaise, and Draco found themselves in a sizable dungeon-like room that was decorated primarily in forest green.

There was an elaborate fireplace around which several high backed chairs were scattered. Placed around the room were round tables that most likely served as places to study or play games, and around the perimeter room were tall bookcases filled with books and mementos. Harry made a mental note to look through everything later. All the furniture in the room was made of some dark, shiny wood, as were the frames of the many portraits that hung on the walls.

“Welcome to the Common Room, typically known as the Lair,” he smirked at them, “Although I wouldn’t recommend telling anyone who isn’t a Slytherin that detail. Behind the tapestry of Salazar Slytherin is the study, which is reserved for quiet studies and is a typical meeting place. If you pull on the beak of the rather mean looking griffin you will find the entrance to the Common toilet, girls on left, boys on right.

“The bookcases along the walls of the room hold everything from diaries of former Slytherins to books that will help you with your schoolwork. On the bookcase near the tapestry of Salazar Slytherin is a collection of works written by former Slytherins, most of which are documentary and can be used so long as you do not take them out of the Lair. The other books may be taken out of the Lair so long as you check them out with one of the prefects.

“Now, to the important part,” he smirked again. “Through the entrance to your left are two staircases. The one that leads downwards goes to the girls’ dormitories, and the one that leads upwards goes to the boys’ dormitories. Each year has their own bathroom. I shall let you find out the rest of the luxuries of the Slytherin dorms by yourself.” As they went up the stairs, the prefect called after them, “Breakfast ends at 7:45!”

At the top of the stairs was a two-way hallway, and the three boys quickly found out that they would be rooming at the left end of the hall, where a majestic door stood open, an engraved “Class of the Wyverns” plaque mounted upon it. Apparently, it was traditional for each class to have a name of some sort. Harry quickly decided that Slytherin society would be quite… interesting.

The three boys entered the room, and Harry admitted he was rather shocked at his surroundings. Instead of the dungeon-like room he had expected, he found himself inside of a magnificent room with walls of polished wood. It was circular, and five beds were placed strategically around the room. The room appeared to have no ceiling, but on closer inspection, Harry found that the roof was one large crystal window.

The five trunks were sitting in the middle of the room and, as the other two first year boys were nowhere to be found, Blaise Harry and Draco got first pick of the beds. Harry took the one farthest from the door, and Draco and Blaise took the ones on either side of him. Unanimously, they silently agreed to look around the room before unpacking.

There were three doors besides the one they had entered. Harry took the one nearest his bed, Draco took the one closest to the hall, and Blaise went to the one that appeared to lead outside. What they found surprised them greatly.

Harry had come across a room that stretched from the doorway where he was standing to a wall that he assumed separated this room from the one that Blaise was currently investigating. It was cozy and had a fireplace on the larger end, and around it were several comfy-looking couches. Three desks were spaced around the room, as were several nearly empty bookcases. Portraits and tapestries were everywhere, and their occupants smiled and greeted him. Harry grinned and entered the bedroom again, just in time to see both Blaise and Draco emerge from the other two doors.

“You have got to see the bathroom,” Draco said. “It has five shower stalls, three sinks and a huge bathtub.” He smirked. “Everything is made from a rosy marble that is quite magnificent.” Blaise and Harry inspected the bathroom, and found it to be of their liking. They then went to the door Blaise had gone in, and the three entered a small courtyard.

“Isn’t it great?” Blaise asked, gazing up at the stars. “We will be able to do our Astronomy homework with ease out here.” Draco nodded in agreement as he dipped his finger into the lighted fountain, a slight smile on his face.

The three boys went back into the bedroom and sat down on Harry’s bed. “This room is unbelievable,” Blaise murmured, looking as though Christmas had come early.

“This room is impossible, in architectural terms,” Draco said, gazing around, doing calculations in his head. “There is no way it can be like this without the help of magic…”

Harry threw a pillow at the blonde boy. “Draco, you are ruining Blaise’s moment.”

Draco looked sheepishly at Blaise, who sniffed and said, “Yes, you are ruining my moment,” and got a pillow to the head for his comment, courtesy of Draco.

“Let’s unpack. It is late, and we must get up early tomorrow, if we want to figure out how to get to the first lesson on time.” Draco and Harry scowled at Blaise, and he just shrugged, before getting off the bed and putting all of his clothes on his bed. He looked around, his brow furrowed in confusion. “Where do our things go…”

The mirror near the door answered him with a thick Scottish accent. “Tap your wand to the wooden paneling above the headboard and you’ll find a nice array of shelves to stack your personal belongings.” Blaise did so and the wall fell down to reveal a bunch of shelves, but no drawers.

“Oui,” he said, getting frustrated and reverting to his native language, “Mais je voudrais… euh, where do our clothes go?”

The mirror chuckled. “A French boy, ay?” Blaise scowled, and muttered something under his breath that Harry didn’t quite catch. “Just tap the empty wall between the beds and you’ll find a place for your clothes.” Blaise did as he was told and he was presented with, what he later described as “bloody cubby holes”. Still muttering, he put his clothes away, tapped on the space where the wall should be, and it disappeared again.

Harry put all of his clothes in the wall and then emptied the rest of his trunks contents onto the bed. His bathroom products he put in the bathroom, claiming the first sink. All of his books made their way into the bookshelves in the “Big Room Behind the Wall” as he had taken to calling it; his remaining schoolbooks and several Quidditch books he put on the shelves above his bed alongside his alarm clock and other personal items.

By the time the three boys had unpacked, their other two dorm mates, Gregory Crabbe and Vincent Goyle, still had not shown up. “They probably got lost,” Draco said as he fell back into his bed, having changed into his pajamas. “They seem a bit dimwitted.”

Harry and Blaise shrugged at that, changed into their sleepwear, blew out all but one of the candles, and fell asleep.

* * * * *

September 2, 1991

The Lair

Harry woke before anyone else in his dorm, and, after rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he peered around the dorm to see two large lumps in the other two beds. Crabbe and Goyle must have made it to the dorm after all. He shuffled wearily into the bathroom and turned on a shower. He shoved his shampoo on the shelf alongside his conditioner and a bar of soap. While the water warmed, he took a brush to his mussed up hair and disposed of the knots.

After grabbing a towel from beneath one of the sinks, he jumped into the shower, and allowed the warm water to wash over his tired body. Methodically, he washed and conditioned his too-long hair, and emerged from the stall some twenty minutes later wrapped in a green bathrobe and rubbing furiously at his hair with the towel.

Draco and Blaise came in while he was working on taming his hair, and the two boys, still half asleep, by the looks of it, got into their own showers, not saying a word to each other. Harry left the bathroom and went over to his bed, taking time to examine the elaborate black quilt with its silver leafs stitched along the seams of it.

Stifling a yawn, he pulled a set of standard black robes from the wall and slipped them on over a pair of light jeans and a shirt. It was only 6:00, and so he sat down on his bed, pulled Quidditch Through the Ages from his shelf and began to read. By the time Blaise and Draco returned it was nearing 6:30, and Harry’s stomach was growling.

“Shouldn’t we wake them up?” Blaise asked, his voice muffled by his robes that he was busy tugging over his head. Draco nodded and went over to one of the snoring forms and poked it hard.

“Go ‘way,” a thick voice rumbled.

Draco smirked at Harry and Blaise before saying, loudly, as he started out the door, “I guess they’ll just miss breakfast…”

Two large forms shot out of their respective beds.

“Huh,” Crabbe said.

“Breakfast?” asked Goyle.

Draco rolled his eyes. “Breakfast started a while ago.” The two boys nodded and dragged themselves to the bathroom.

“Well,” Blaise said, stifling a grin, “I suppose we should get there before they do, or we might not find anything left to eat.”

Harry nodded his agreement and left the room with Blaise and Draco, craving some kippers.

After a very dull breakfast, Professor Snape came over to the Slytherin table with time tables and a folded parchment for each of the first years that they were, according to Snape, “under strict orders not to open anywhere but in the Lair.”

The three looked over their schedules, and Draco immediately groaned. “Double Potions with Gryffindors,” he grumbled at their confused looks.

“They can’t all be that bad,” Harry murmured, looking at said table.

“Believe me, they are,” Draco said, glaring in the general direction of the Gryffindor table. “Every one of them I have met have been all the same; stupid, annoying, and arrogant.”

“Ah, like you?” Meridan said, sitting down across from him. He opened his mouth to protest, but she cut him off. “Not all Gryffindors are bad, Malfoy. Just like not all Slytherins are good.” Draco scowled, and Meridan smirked at him. “Take the Weasley twins for example. They have been keeping everyone in good spirits with their jokes for the past two years now. And then there is Oliver Wood. Not only is he a good Keeper, but he is also very kind, when he wants to be.”

“How would you know?” Draco grumbled.

“I tutor him in Transfiguration.”

“Oh, so he uses you?” Now it was Meridan’s turn to glare, though it was directed at Pansy Parkinson, who was sitting next to her.

“Well, we best be off. We have Charms in forty minutes, and we still need to get our books,” Blaise said quickly, before getting up and leaving the Great Hall.

Draco and Harry cast one last look at the glowering Meridan before following Blaise out of the Hall and down to the Lair. They gathered the books they would need for the day, plus quills, ink and parchment, before setting off again.

When they reached the Charms Corridor (with help from the Bloody Baron and nearly 20 minutes to go), Draco opened the notice Snape had given them, blatantly ignoring the fact that he was supposed to open it only in the Lair. Harry and Blaise peered at the note over his shoulder.

Mr. Draco Malfoy,

Please be informed that there is a mandatory meeting tonight, directly after dinner, in the study. It concerns matters not to be discussed on paper. Please do not be tardy; else it will ruin your chances for certain choice positions inside Slytherin Society.

Sincerely,

Adrian Tucker

7^th Year Representative

Draco tucked the note into his bag and shrugged at the other two, knowing just as little as they did about the whole affair. Before they had a chance to talk it over, tiny Professor Flitwick scurried over and unlocked the classroom door, waving them in and smiling, rather forcedly, at the three Slytherins.

Harry took a seat in the front row on the left side of the room, and Blaise and Draco sat on either side of them. The three watched the other students slowly trickle in, and when the bell rang, everyone was seated and watching Flitwick with interest.

“Your first lesson will be on the levitation spell, but first,” he said, picking up his wand, “we must take roll.” After he had done that, he came to stand on a stood set in the center of the classroom, and picked up a feather. “Can anyone tell me what the words for the levitation spell are?” He looked around the room. Only Blaise had his hand raised. He consulted his chart, before calling on him.

“It would be Wingardium Leviosa, Professor,” Blaise said, holding his wand eagerly.

Flitwick nodded. “Yes, now students, let’s give it a go, and remember, swish, and flick…”