Meeting Severus Snape

The six of you were led back out into the common room by Prefect Perriss and were soon joined by the four girls and Prefect Farley. You noticed that some of the older students were milling about on the couches near the fire. They were sharing quiet whispers and their attention seemed to be focused on your group of ten thirteen-year-olds.

“What’s the big idea showing us to our rooms if you’re only going to bring us back out here before we can see them?” Pansy Parkinson protested.

“Quiet,” Gemma Farley hissed at her. It wasn’t Parseltongue but it almost sounded like it. “Our Head of House likes to meet with the incoming students on the first night.”

Almost as if on cue, the stones at the common room entrance started to roll out of the way and revealed a man standing in the open archway. He strode into the Slytherin common room with his black robes billowing dramatically behind him.

The man had shoulder-length greasy black hair, sallow skin, a large hooked nose and penetrating eyes that resembled tunnels. You knew who this man was instantly... Severus Snape the Potions Master and the Head of Slytherin House. He required no introduction but he gave one anyway.

“Welcome… to Slytherin…” he spoke slowly and quietly which caused the common room to go completely silent. “I am Severus Snape - the Potions professor and your Head of House. You will address me as Professor Snape at all times. You were sorted into Slytherin because you are cunning and ambitious. Most of you come from a noble family so perhaps that ambition lies in your desire to live up to your family legacy… or perhaps you wish to form a new one.”

You can feel those dark eyes focused on you. Professor Snape’s words register and you recall your desire to restore your family name. The Gaunt Family has been considered dark and evil for over a century. You want to change this perception and not just restore the Gaunt Family to its former glory but to improve upon it and make your family name synonymous with nobility.

The dark eyes moved onward and it was only after they were gone that you realised you had been holding your breath while under Professor Snape’s intense scrutiny. The man had intimidation down to an art form. You heard Tracey Davis let out a quiet squeak as she became the focus of your Head of House’s attention. You knew that the small blonde girl was a half-blood, which explained why she was glued to her pureblood friend Daphne Greengrass’ side.

“Many Slytherin alumni have become the most influential figures in our society,” Professor Snape continued his speech. “But that legacy comes with a cost. Because we hold a high stake in tradition and use our cunning to achieve our lofty ambitions, no matter what it takes… the majority of your fellow students will see you as cheaters obsessed with dark magic. I will not lie to you, three-quarters of the school is going to be against you. While friendships between houses are not discouraged... it’s only truly exceptional witches and wizards who are able to maintain them in the face of such uniform hostility.”

Professor Snape’s words struck you hard. You had shared a compartment with Harry and Ron on the Hogwarts Express. You had gotten along well and it seemed like you would become friends. But now they were both in Gryffindor and you were a Slytherin. Would your different houses cause that fledgling friendship to deteriorate into nothing like your Head of House seem to think?

“It is because of the animosity that the other students have for our house that I expect my Slytherins to present a united front,” Professor Snape stated. “The students standing beside you are your allies. I expect you to support each other. Any squabbles you have amongst yourselves are to be dealt with in the common room. If I discover that any of my Slytherins have been seen fighting one another in public… you will suffer my displeasure.”

The room actually seemed to get colder from the intimidating professor’s threat. You felt a chill go down your spine. You certainly didn’t want to ‘suffer his displeasure’. But his talk of house unity still unnerved you. Did that mean you’d have to support Draco Malfoy when he tried to have a go at Harry and Ron? That would make maintaining your strained friendship even harder.

“As your Head of House, it is my duty to ensure that your time in Hogwarts is as painless as possible,” Professor Snape said. “However, I have selected six highly capable prefects. If you come to me about some issue that they could have resolved… I promise that you will regret wasting my time.”

There was a pause and Professor Snape gave a curt nod of his head which told you that his speech was winding down. “Your first Potions lesson will be on Friday. I expect all of you to be well-read on the subject. I will not have my Slytherins performing poorly in my class.”

Professor Snape’s robes swirled around him as he spun and strode out of the common room.

“Wow…” you remarked. “I’m glad the scary professor’s on our side.”

“He’s my godfather,” Malfoy boasted as a small smirk formed on his pointed face.

“Is he always that intense?” you asked. “You know, outside of Hogwarts?”

The pale blonde boy hesitated for a moment, “Actually… yes.”

“Then you have my sympathy,” you stated.

The large and intimidating sixth year Marcus Flint stepped forward and looked amused. “No criers this year… but for a second it looked like Davis might wet herself.” The blonde half-blood went beet red.

The dark-haired Daphne placed a hand on her flushed friend’s elbow. “She didn’t, though.”

“Hmph,” Flint grunted. “Then I guess I owe Pucey a galleon. None of them broke.”

The older student skulked off. Apparently, Professor Snape’s annual tradition of staring down and terrifying incoming first years was a source of amusement for the older Slytherin students. That explained why all the older students had been sitting around like they were waiting for a show to start. You suppose it might have been entertaining if it hadn’t been you staring into those dark tunnel-like eyes.

“Show’s over then,” Gemma Farley resolved.

“Alright, first years, clear out!” Damian Perriss ordered. “You’ve got your first day of classes tomorrow and you’re expected to be well-rested. Off to bed.”

You saw Daphne Greengrass having a quiet discussion with Pansy Parkinson as the headed for their hallway. When you strained your ears you were able to pick out the words ‘switch rooms’. Ah. The girls were likely in alphabetical order like the boys were on your side. That meant the rooms were arranged Bulstrode, Davis and Greengrass, Parkinson. It appeared as though the Greengrass heiress wanted to room with her friend.

“Alright,” you managed to make out Pansy’s response. “Millicent will help you switch your things. But you’ll owe me a favor.”

“Fine…” Daphne quietly conceded. And like that the hierarchy for the first year Slytherin girls had been formed with Pansy Parkinson as the queen. Politics and powerplays. There would likely be a lot of that in Slytherin. It made you grateful that you had about that book on history and family politics back in Diagon Alley.

And then you remembered who your own roommate was. You headed down the boys’ hallway and saw that the other five had already entered their rooms. You paused and took a deep breath before turned the knob and entered your shared dwelling with Draco Malfoy.

The stone room was fairly spacious despite the fact that it was only made to house two first year students. Two four poster beds were set on opposite sides of the room. They were made up with green sheets and green curtains. Your trunks had been set at the foot of your respective beds. It seemed as though you had been assigned the right side of the room.

Behind you, there were closets on each side of the door for you to hang your robes and maintain the dignified appearance that was expected of a pureblood heir. Ahead of you was a single window that offered a view out into the Black Lake. Two candles framed the window and shined dim light down on the two desks that were positioned back-to-back below it in the space between the two beds. Draco was seated at the desk in his left side of the room and appeared to be writing a letter on a bit of parchment.

“I’m writing a letter to mother and father to inform them that I was sorted into Slytherin as expected,” your roommate informed you without being asked. “I suppose I’ll mention you as well. At least you had the sense to sorted into a proper house, unlike Potter.”

You realised that he was trying to be friendly. Or at the very least civil. Apparently, he’d taken Professor Snape’s words about house unity to heart. You decided to make an effort to be civil as well. You would be living with the other boy for seven years.

“Professor Snape was right about that ambition bit,” you replied. “I have a family legacy to revitalise. The Sorting Hat must have sensed that, so it sent me here.”

“Good,” Draco said. “You know, my father was one of the main driving forces behind all the effort the Ministry put into keeping your family alive.”

That was news to you. “He was?”

“Of course,” the Malfoy heir answered. “My father is one of the most influential men in the Ministry and he’s always known the importance of maintaining Sacred bloodlines. Once the Imperius Curse he had been under was lifted, he showed his true colors by donating money towards the preservation of families that had nearly been eradicated during the war.”

You had heard colorful alternative stories from some of the Aurors and Ministry officials who had been fighting against Lucius Malfoy during the war. So you were able to read between the lines in Draco’s explanation and realised that the slippery Lucius Malfoy had used your family as a way to avoid persecution and to support his claims that he only became a **** Eater because he was under the Imperius Curse. You had been a convenient distraction to keep the unwanted attention off of him.

Still... you were trying to be civil...

“Well… that’s news to me,” you admitted, “But please tell your father that I said thank you.”

“I will,” Malfoy replied in a clipped tone. “I’ll need to stop by the Owlery to send this off at some point between breakfast and our first class.”

You didn’t actually have anyone to send a letter. Besides, with your recent celebrity status, your and Harry Potter’s house sortings were likely to make the front page of tomorrow’s Daily Prophet. Anyone you could think of sending a letter to would have learned of it from the newspaper.

You realised quickly that he expected you to come with him. Slytherin unity.

“I don’t see why we couldn’t swing by,” you reasoned. “I suspect a lot of the Slytherins in our year will have similar letters to send. I don’t have one myself, but I should probably check to see how my owl’s settling in. And it would also give us a chance to learn a bit more about the castle’s layout. It wouldn’t be very Slytherin of us to get lost on our way to classes.”

There. You had agreed to his ‘request’, but provided enough reasons to explain why the trip to the Owlery would benefit you as well.

Malfoy gave a stiff nod. “That should work.”

You made your way over to your trunk and took a moment to sort through your things before you selected your nightclothes. You changed and settled into bed. Your roommate followed suit once he finished his letter and blew out the candles by the window.

So far your Hogwarts experience had been what you expected. But as a first year Slytherin, you now felt the desire building up inside of you to make the most of it.