After the crowds of students disperse, Slytherin leads me to their dormitory. Down a glorious marble staircase onto a creepy passageway. The boy who met me before positions himself ahead of the group, permitting the dark doors to gradually open for us. It creaks like a living horror film, or so my anxiety makes it seem... We prod down the stone steps and plunge further into the deep dungeons of Hogwarts. It kind of feels like I'm being steered to my death.
We arrive at a tall stone wall, a marvelous six-paneled door with impressive detail coloured dark turquoise and swamp green, stands pretty in the middle of the wall. The boy still in front murmurs something to it, a password I assume, and once again doors open for him.
"Welcome to Slytherin, fresher."
The boy beside me lets out as I stride in to gawk at the sight. Good thing green's my favored color because that's pretty much all I see.
We step down another small staircase to reach the common room floor. The interior is gorgeous, with luxurious green ornaments, a grand serpent portrait, old fashioned dark green couches, light green lamps, mostly green everything with black and light blue now and then. It's very snug altogether, the smell of damp earth, petrichor, and burning firewood in the chimney corner undoubtedly tops it off.
"Hey fresher!" I spin my head around to see a few girls lounging on the couches waving their hands. "Come sit over here!"
How bad of an idea could it be?
"Hello," I greet timidly.
A girl with beautiful tanned skin snickers, "Nervous are we? Don't worry, you'll be safe with us. I'm Pansy Parkinson, this is Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis."
She motions first to a blonde girl and then to a brunette girl reclining on the seater across from us.
Daphne smiles wickedly, "Pleasure to meet you, Ersula."
The first person to call me by my name.
"Just Eris is fine," I try to smile.
"Why're you so shaky? We won't bite, I swear." Pansy assures me, a terrible liar really.
Tracy stoops forward, speaking finally.
"Eris, tell us about yourself. Where do you come from and who are your parents? I've never heard the surname Harris before."
Her questions fire "thee" one and only bullet I am avoiding while I'm here. Literally, of all the things she could've asked... I haven't actually prepared a good tale to tell because bound, this question was going to be asked. But where could I have found the time, everything's been happening so fast..?
"Right, neither have I--"
"--Pardon me, but where is the bathroom?" I exclaim a little too hastily.
Pansy cackles almost unsure how to react at all as she looks at my clearly tense figure preparing to pounce off the couch and run.
"First floor, but--"
She is a second away from finishing her sentence when I get up, thank her, and hurry out of the room. It's as if I'm begging them to cross-question me and have no reason to trust me at this point, and I just got here. The girls exchange perplexed glances.
"A funny one, isn't she?" Daphne comments.
Pansy nods as her thoughts trail off. She birthed theories that she shouldn't say aloud just yet, not without proof. She couldn't help but think of them anyway, especially after I just gave her every reason to.
"We better keep an eye on her."
She proposes and with an affirming nod from the two of them, they all stand up to follow me. Unaware of what they'll find but anxious to find a sort of reason as to why I'm so skittish. Anything will be worth beginning to understand who I am.
