When Darkness Falls

Chapter Three - Into The Dungeons

By the end of the feast, Harry Potter had decided that Dumbledore was, in fact, insane, which meant that he was not even the slightest bit surprised that he had been left with the Dursley's for ten years. Harry suspected that Dumbledore had committed many acts like that, but had never thought about what consequences they would lead to. That meant that it was nearly time for Dumbledore to learn that he could not expect everyone to obey to his every whim, particularly when his whims usually led to the manipulation of masses of people. Harry had learned a lot about Hogwarts too, particularly about how the houses worked. Slytherins had to rely on each other due to the bias that the other houses had towards them, therefore, only Slytherins were allowed in the house itself. Their house was a sanctuary, a place for them to feel safe from scrutiny, where they would discuss any problems within the house or any problems they may be having with students outside of the house. Harry did not find himself wanting to converse with any of the other houses anyway, for one, the Gryffindor table was far too loud to even be considered civil, the Hufflepuffs sounded even worse than the Gryffindors for their helpfulness and as for the Ravenclaws, they appeared to be too far into their own heads to ever accomplish anything productive. Harry had decided that Slytherin was indeed the best house to be in. The house itself was fascinating, but the students were even more so, Harry himself was treated as a normal student as so many of the Slytherins came from powerful families. Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle were Draco's designated 'bodyguards', they had been chosen by Lucius Malfoy to increase Draco's visibility within the school and to show to the other students that he was a person of influence. Despite that, Crabbe and Goyle were both Slytherins to the core and together they contained all of the predominant house traits. Crabbe was the leader of the two, he called the final decisions and was the spokesman, whereas Goyle was the planner, he ensured that anything they did went smoothly and did not cost them anything of value. Harry knew that one day, the two would be unstoppable in anything that they wanted to do. Pansy Parkinson was part of a family who belonged to a group called the Sacred 28, which are the lines of the truest pureblooded families, also included on that list are the Malfoys (and the Weasleys despite their blood traitor status). As a member of the Parkinson family, she had been taught that she was above anyone who had a lesser blood status than her, which was rather prominent in her actions towards Hermione upon her discovery of Hermione's blood status. However, as the Parkinson family was not as powerful as the Malfoys, she followed Draco's lead and respected Hermione, even if she did not know why at the time. For her individual ambitions, Harry could not observe anything that was not obscured by the views of her family, which appeared to be a common theme within the Slytherin house. The last of Draco's chosen friends was Blaise Zabini, whose mother was currently on her sixth husband, as her previous five had all mysteriously disappeared. Blaise was an interesting character, who had learned a lot during his childhood about different types of people, he was excellent at deducting the personalities of other people and he was also rather charismatic. He believed that it was not the blood that made the witch or wizard, but instead the power of the individual. His step-fathers had been of many different bloodlines, but his mother had chosen them for their inheritance rather than their intelligence or blood status, as it meant that she was able to carry out the murders in the end. Despite this, he remained neutral on the subject and preferred to not choose a side because "that is how you end up dead" as he said in his own words. Harry was intrigued to learn more about the students in his year and the rest of the house, he had been informed by a prefect that there would be a meeting on the house system later that evening. Whilst Harry had been learning, he showed the other members of his house that he was not the Harry Potter that they had been expecting and had earned the respect of a few of the house members who had disliked him before due to his hero status.

After dinner, the prefects Gemma Farley and Cameron Boyle lead the first year students to the house and gave them a brief tour along the way. The castle was as incredible on the inside as its outside suggested, huge paintings covered the towering walls, each one moved and spoke as though there were people inside the paint itself. Harry found himself being led deeper and deeper into the castle as the light became darker and the air became cooler. "The Slytherin house," Gemma explained. "Is situated underneath the Black Lake and is in the dungeons of the school. Moreover, despite the temperatures in these dungeons, the house itself is rather warm, though this should encourage you to learn your heating charms more quickly." Gemma smiled at all the first years before she passed onto Cameron.
"The password is changed every two weeks on a Sunday evening, make sure you attend the Sunday meeting in order to learn it. Do not tell anyone the password and do not let anyone inside. Our house is our home, it is where are secrets lie and we do not exploit the safety of our brethren, no matter who the outsider is." Cameron turned to face the wall and said clearly for the first years to hear. "Viridian Vindictus." Slowly the wall began to fold itself away to reveal a large mahogany door that was embellished with a snake with glistening green eyes. The door opened itself to reveal a large common room lit up by the light of the fire, its walls glowed softly in the light and enhanced the many portraits that hung there - all of which were famous witches and wizards from Slytherin. Above the fireplace hung a portrait of Salazar Slytherin himself, he inspected the first years from his portrait but said nothing as they hustled into the room. Within the room itself, were large leather sofas, tables for students to work at, bookshelves full of mysterious old books decorated with strange runes. In the corner of the room was a space for potions work and more explosive spellwork. However, the most impressive part of the room was the large windows that looked out into the Black Lake. Harry could see dozens of creatures as the swam lazily passed the windows, some peered inside to get a glimpse of the new students, whilst others waved.
"And so, welcome to Slytherin," Gemma said proudly. "Each and every one of you has the potential for greatness, otherwise you would not have been placed here. Even those who appear to be unassuming have greatness in them. Stand by each other in your ambitions and see each one through, for there is no point of dreaming of something if you never take it for yourself. As a Slytherin, you will be pushed to be the greatest you can be and it will do well to push others too, the more competition you have, the more you will have to improve yourself."
"Live by your own rules, not forget your own morals, but do not jeopardise the house or its chances of winning the House Cup. Aim to win, but be loyal to those you consider family, for a family does not always end or even start with blood. Study hard and use whatever skills you have to win. Remember every Slytherin is a comrade to you, even if you are competing against them. It always goes by well to have friends in high places." Cameron finished the main portion of the speech before moving onto the basics. "Girls dormitories are in the left corridor, where you will find your name assigned to a room. Boys the same on your right. Each room holds three people, boys are forbidden to go into the girls' corridor and girls are forbidden to go into the boys' corridor."
"As for rule breaking," Gemma continued. "If you plan on that, make sure you have a plan and our number one rule is - do not get caught. If a professor or prefect from another house catches you, you will put the house in bad form. But you will not only face the detention, you will also face a task given to your housemates. This is a perfect opportunity for any rivals to get a spot of revenge, but it is also to encourage you to take precautions for whatever the professor sanctions you with will be nothing compared to what the house does. As previously mentioned, there is a house meeting every two weeks on a Sunday, which starts tonight. Tonight's meeting will be a general introduction to the new school year for older students but for first years it is your first true introduction to the house. First impressions are everything and it will be your starting point for the future you will have in Slytherin. During your first year, we will determine which one of you will be the Princeps for your year, you will take on these roles during your second year and will report to the fourth year Vir. If you have any problems that need to be addressed before a meeting, report to your Vir, who is Peregrine Derrick, or you could report to a prefect. Our current Regem is Janus Selwyn, he is the leader of our house and its most powerful member, whatever the Regem says is the final decision. Emergency meetings can be called, to get the message to Professor Snape tell him '242', after this he will discuss with you whether the meeting is needed and if it is the meeting will be called immediately. Any questions?" Gemma asked.
Harry thought carefully about what he had just been told, being the Regem appeared to be the most desired position in the house and he knew that most people would be vying for the Princeps spot for their second year. He also knew that he had a lot to prove to this house, as Slytherins more than anyone would be wary of Harry Potter, as he has been made out to be the opposite of everything they stand for. Gemma was right, first impressions were everything and he had to make sure that he got his right. Harry was cut out of his thoughts by Hermione Granger, who had been the only one to ask a question. "How do you become a Princeps?" She asked. 
"The Princeps are chosen by the Vir and the Regem from that year. Janus Selwyn can give suggestions for next years Regem if he wishes to, the thoughts of everyone who has any power within the house counts. Nothing can be done without power." Cameron answered and Hermione seemed satisfied. "No more questions?" Cameron waited for a few moments. "You are dismissed."