Early Morning Trip to the Owlery

“The prefects aren’t here yet…” Tracey Davis pointed out while you ate breakfast in the Great Hall. “When are we supposed to get our schedules?”

“Professor Snape’s here…” Daphne Greengrass noted. “Maybe someone should ask him?” The expression on the dark haired girl’s face showed that she was clearly intimidated by your Head of House and that the ‘someone’ in her statement translated to ‘anyone but me’.

You glanced over at Draco Malfoy. Professor Snape was supposedly his godfather but the pale, blonde Malfoy heir didn’t seem inclined to approach him this early either.

And that’s when you realized how you could separate yourself from Malfoy in the race for Slytherin leadership. Draco came from money. His father is likely the richest man in the magical United Kingdom. He was so rich that he didn’t have to work for a living. The Malfoy line could be traced back even further than the Sacred Twenty-Eight. It went all the way back to Armand Malfoy who came to England from France during the Norman Invasion in the tenth century.

You had been pleased to discover that you actually had some money in the Gaunt Family vault. But you knew that measly collection of galleons was mere pocket change compared to the vast wealth that Lucius Malfoy had at his disposal. But to your advantage, you were currently the only one at the table who could compete with Malfoy’s noble pureblood lineage and come off as the victor. Your magical ancestry went all the way back to Salazar Slytherin who also lived during the tenth century and had died by the eleventh. But unlike Armand Malfoy, your ancestor had been born in fen - in eastern England. And the fact that you were currently residing in a castle that was founded by your magical ancestor essentially made you royalty in Slytherin.

Draco Malfoy may have had the wealth… but you had the prestige. If there was anyone who could rival him in his claim for leadership of Slytherin House - it was you. You could easily tell that Draco was spoiled and entitled. He was used to people following his orders and having things done for him. This morning when you had rounded everyone up for this early outing you had been the one to show initiative. You had led the way out of the common room and the others had followed you. The way to usurp Malfoy’s claim on the house was to show initiative and lead by example.

“I suppose I should do something about that,” you announced as you rose from your seat. You were aware of everyone watching you as you left the table and made your way to the Head Table where the professors had gathered. Professor Dumbledore was there as were Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, and Professor Sprout. And, of course, so was Professor Snape.

“Er… good morning, Professor Snape, sir,” you greeted the intimidating Potions professor.

“Mr. Gaunt,” Professor Snape returned in a cool, clipped tone.

“Sir, we took your instructions about Slytherin unity to heart,” you explained, “We got an early start today so that we can go to the Owlery before our first lesson. A number of my classmates have letters to send their parents. You know, to share the good news about being sorted into Slytherin.”

You could have sworn you heard Professor McGonagall let out a quiet huff but that could have just been your imagination.

“Anyway,” you hastily continued, “since none of the prefects are here yet... I was wondering if we could get our schedules now so we know which lesson we have first.”

“A sound decision, Mister Gaunt,” Professor Snape replied. He picked up the stack of parchment schedules that you just noticed had been set on the table beside him. Come to think of it, the other three Heads of House had schedules stacked beside them too. Professor Snape took the top ten schedules off the stack and handed them to you. “You may hand these out to your classmates. Your first class today is Double Herbology with the Ravenclaws at nine o’ clock. I would suggest that you retrieve your books and anything you believe you’ll need for that class after breakfast. That way you can avoid returning to the castle and can go straight to the Herbology greenhouse from the Owlery.”

“I… thank you, Professor Snape, sir, we’ll do that,” you were quick to agree. You turned and gave a polite nod to Professor Sprout. “Professor Sprout, we’ll be seeing you in class.”

Schedules in hand, you turned away from the Head Table and made your way back to the other first years at the Slytherin table.

“Alright, our first class is Herbology with the Ravenclaws,” you announced. “Professor Snape suggested that we swing by the common room and get what we’d need for class so we can go straight to the greenhouse from the Owlery.”

“Ugh… Herbology,” Pansy Parkinson complained. “A wonderful way to start our time at Hogwarts... by playing in the dirt.” She glanced down at her neatly manicured nails. “Greengrass, remember that favor you owe me? Your family deals in plants. You’re going to help me pass that class.”

“Fine,” Daphne agreed. You could tell from her expression that she wasn’t overly happy about it.

You felt the need to remind Pansy that she wouldn’t have to worry about her nails since Herbology was the reason you had to buy dragon hide gloves. But you decided against it. Greengrass could handle herself and you had your own house politics issues to deal with.

“Right, I’ve got everyone’s schedule right here,” you stated. “Millie, here’s yours... Crabbe, you’re next… Davis… And then there’s mine… looks like we’re going with actual alphabetic order.” You slipped your schedule to the bottom of the pile and continued to distribute the schedules. “Goyle… Greengrass… Malfoy… Nott… Parkinson... and Blaise, you’re last, but we both know you expected that.”

“Do we all have to go all the way back to the common room?” Malfoy asked sourly. “Maybe just a few of us could go back and fetch the books for everyone.”

“That won’t work unless we send someone from every room,” you were happy to object. “While I was making my rounds this morning, I discovered that the doors are charmed so that they can only be opened by someone residing in that room -- and most likely authority figures like prefects and professors. Also, do you really want to give me permission to rummage through your things?”

“Fair point,” Draco conceded.

“Hold on!” Pansy called out before she gave you a hard stare. “Whose room were you trying to enter when you discovered this?”

The cruder students would describe Pansy as ‘pug-faced’. But even with her hard features, she couldn’t hold a candle to Professor Snape when it came to intimidation. Plus, Severus Snape was a grown man while Pansy Parkinson was merely a thirteen-year-old girl so you barely flinched under her scrutiny.

“It was an experiment,” you explained, “I tried theirs…” you gestured to Crabbe and Goyle and then Nott and Zabini, “And theirs. And then mine. The only knob that I could turn was my own.”

“So long as you don’t try to enter my room,” Pansy insisted.

“Are our doors charmed for the right people?” Daphne wondered.

You gave a casual shrug, “Since it doesn’t seem like you had any problem going in and out of your room this morning, I suspect that the castle switched the charms last night along with your name plates.” You pulled out your wand and gave it a flick. “Tempus…” 8:10 “We should probably get going. We have a schedule to keep.”

Crabbe and Goyle looked disappointed since there was still food in their plates. But they’d probably gotten seconds while you were retrieving the schedules from Professor Snape.

“Double Herbology is our only class this morning,” you pointed out, “You can make up for leaving early now by eating your fill at lunch today.” You quickly snagged your copy of Magical Drafts and Potions off of the table and pinned your schedule to it. “Anyway, I’m done. And if any of you don’t want to have to bother with common room password, you’re welcome to come with me.”

You were pleased to see the others rise to follow you. You were aware of Draco walking a half a step behind you as you led the way out of the Great Hall and back down to the Slytherin common room. You gave a quick hiss when you reached the door.

§Open§

The stones rolled away to reveal the entrance to the common room. You made your way inside with the rest of the Slytherin first years. Everyone already knew what needed to be done so you wordlessly split up and returned to your respective rooms. You swapped Magical Drafts and Potions for One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi which you slipped into your bag along with your schedule and gloves.

You left your room and realised that you didn’t actually know the way to the Owlery yet. You called out to a group of older students that had been about to leave. They looked to be in the fifteen to sixteen age range so you guessed that they were third or fourth years. “Excuse me!” They stopped and you paused to introduce yourself. “Marvolo Gaunt.”

“Cassius Warrington,” the lead student replied.

“The first years and I wanted to head to the Owlery to send some post before our Herbology lesson today,” you explained. “Would you be able to tell me the best way to get there? We wouldn’t want to give Slytherin a bad name by stumbling around and getting lost on our first day.”

You were aware of Draco Malfoy and Theodore Nott materialising at your shoulder as the older boy began his answer. Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis came hurrying over too.

“It’s a fairly straight-forward route,” Warrington informed you. “The only way to get lost is if you have absolutely no idea where you’re going. Head out of the castle through the entrance hall. Turn right and go out into the Clocktower Courtyard. Going straight across the courtyard will bring you to the Herbology greenhouse. The field there is where you’ll have your first Flying Lesson. Instead of going straight across the main courtyard, turn right and go passed the fountain and through the doorway with the giant swinging pendulum. That’ll lead out into a grassy courtyard, go right and you’ll find a path that leads you to the Owlery. You first years took the boats across the lake but if you kept going through the grassy courtyard you’d see the path us older students take when we ride the carriages up to the school.”

You filed away the route and all the extra information that the older student had given you then looked over at the other first years. “Everyone got that?” You received nods of confirmation then turned back to Warrington. “Thanks for your help.”

Warrington nodded. “We want Slytherin to keep the House Cup this year. It wouldn’t do for you firsties to get lost and lose us points for being late to your first lesson.” He led the rest of the older students out of the common room while you remained behind to wait for the rest of the first years to show up.

Millicent was the last to arrive and gave a hasty apology, “Sorry, Mittens had my glove...”

“Now that we’re all here, let’s get going,” Malfoy resolved. This time he made sure that it was him leading the way out of the common room. You hung back and found yourself walking at the back of the group with Bulstrode and Zabini.

But when you reached the entrance hall you spotted two familiar students coming down the marble staircase. It was Harry Potter and Ron Weasley making their way down to breakfast. Malfoy had completely missed them as he continued to lead the way out of the castle.

“You go on ahead,” you instructed Blaise and Millicent, “I’ll catch up.”

Professor Snape had said last night that friendships between houses weren’t discouraged but that only truly exceptional witches and wizards could manage to maintain those friendships. You had been sorted into Slytherin for a reason. You were ambitious. You had a family legacy to revitalise so you weren’t going to be content with just being an ordinary student. You aimed to be exceptional.

“Challenge accepted, Professor Snape,” you thought to yourself as you approached Harry and Ron. You had been friendly during the train ride. The only thing that had changed since then was the fact that you’d been sorted into separate houses.