Mudblood

A Slytherin Welcome

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The silence that fell over the great hall was overwhelming. As Lyssa stood up and made her way over to the Slytherin table she couldn't help the way her eyes darted all over the room scanning the faces that had turned towards her.

"But she's a muggle-born." She heard one whisper.

"She must be a liar." Came another voice.

"No wonder she was a hat stall." Lyssa's list of words she had to look up was growing longer than she would have liked. After what felt like an eternity she reached the Slytherin table and sat down with the other first-year Slytherins. Most of them ignored her while others made no effort to hide their loathing for the house's most recent addition.

It seemed like every single student at the table made a move to scoot down the table and away from Lyssa. She was so taken aback by their reactions to her sorting that she didn't even notice the final first-year join her at the table. When Professor Dumbledore began his announcements it took every ounce of Lyssa's discipline to keep her eyes trained on the eccentric old wizard.

The feast was good. Well as good as Lyssa could have hoped for after her less than warm welcome. The food was delicious and she was perfectly content to sit around and observe the magic taking place around her. Once everyone had had their fill and the headmaster had once again addressed his students they were dismissed, free to hole up in their respective common rooms until classes began in the morning.

An older boy and girl from her table stood up and gathered the first years. Lyssa stood at the back of the pack as they were herded away from the great hall and down a wide set of stairs.

"The Slytherin common room is in the dungeons," Gemma Fawley, the female prefect explained. She led them to a patch of wall at the end of a long corridor. It seemed to be nothing more than a dead-end until Gemma spoke the password into the stone. "Oleander," She whispered.

At first, nothing happened, but then the wall slid open to reveal a large archway. Beyond was the most beautiful place she'd ever seen. The common room was huge, with vaulted stone ceilings and sturdy stone walls. There were many fireplaces dotted about the room, no doubt to combat the chilly temperatures that result from residing beneath a lake. There were many grand pieces of furniture, couches, chaises, and armchairs upholstered in various shades of green, silver and black. Tapestries covered the walls depicting the adventures of many great Slytherins. But nothing compared with the windows, nearly fifteen feet high and arched to mirror the curvature of the ceiling they flooded the room with an eerie green light. Outside the windows Lyssa could see the depths of the great lake, creatures she didn't recognize swam past barely faster than she could track.

"Now the ground rules," the male prefect, Anthony Rowle, said, "What happens between Slytherins stays between Slytherins. I don't care if your best friend kissed your boyfriend, or if they insult your family, or even if they burn all your clothes and try to feed you to the giant squid naked, do not let the other houses see you fight. As far as they're concerned we are the bad guys, we always have been and probably always will be. But if they believe that we are completely united they'll be a lot less likely to try anything. They won't ever like you, but they can easily fear you. That being said I expect much more than for you all to braid each other's hair and make daisy chains all day, this isn't Hufflepuff. Be a credit to our house, by whatever means necessary."

With that, the group was split into boys and girls to be shown their dormitories. The room was a fair size with a grand four-poster bed with emerald green silk drapings for each girl. The dark bedspreads were embroidered with silver thread and silver lanterns hung from the ceiling above each nightstand. The windows in the room were tall and slender making each one seem like a painting of the deep.