The Darkening of Your Soul

Chapter 11

Harry spent another hour or so strolling through the room of requirement, casually cataloguing the kind of things he saw. It was a mishmash of items, everything from classroom furniture, beds, decorations, trunks and school bags, broomsticks and gobstones, cauldrons and scales, to lots of clothing and lots of books. His appetite had returned and he munched on the Welsh cakes Kreacher had given him the day before. He found some cardboard and paper amongst the stuff around him and used it to wrap up Ravenclaw’s diadem.

His next stop was the owlery where Hedwig eagerly accepted the package. Even Harry whispering to her to take it to Voldemort didn’t bother her and she gave him an affectionate nudge of her head on his chin before taking off into the sky. It was still early afternoon so Harry figured Voldemort would receive his present in the early evening. Little Hangleton was in Yorkshire, Northern England, so it wouldn’t take Hedwig more than a few hours to get there from Scotland.

Harry couldn’t wait to talk to Voldemort that evening and see his response.

Feeling lighter and with his mood much improved, Harry joined his friends in the library. He was pleasantly surprised to see his whole study group there. Not just his Slytherins but Neville and the Hufflepuffs were all sitting together at what Harry thought of as their table.

“You look better,” Neville said, pulling his bag off a chair he’d been saving for Harry. “Do you feel better?”

“Yes, Neville told us what happened,” Susan said, looking him over top to bottom. “I found the potions classroom very suffocating as well during our class yesterday.”

Harry held up a hand to ward off further concerns. “I’m feeling good, I promise. A walk and some fresh air did the trick. Now, what are you all working on?”

That worked to distract his friends and Harry sat down and got his own books out to start work on the essay Snape had assigned them.

“We’ll have the entire weekend off,” Daphne noted after they’d all finished all of their homework. “We should explore the castle tomorrow.”

“Harry can show us where the kitchens are,” Theo said with a pointed look at Harry.

Laughing, Harry gathered his things and stuffed them in his bag. “Fine, tomorrow after breakfast, for those who are interested. I’ll show you the kitchens and we’ll go exploring.” There was a chorus of agreements around him as they made their way to the Great Hall.

After dinner, Harry experienced a first at Hogwarts. Quite the feat considering he’d spent more than six years there already. Every Friday right after dinner Slytherin had a House meeting, something that Harry had never seen happen in Gryffindor. Not even once.

All Slytherin students, plus Snape, gathered in the common room. Younger years in the front, older years in the back. The six Prefects stood facing them and addressed whatever issues had come up that week. If someone had earned more points than average for whatever reason, they were publicly congratulated. But if they’d lost more points than a handful, they were called out and made to promise to not repeat that behaviour. They took the time to address any grievances between Slytherins that they hadn’t been able to work out in private. And finally, Snape introduced Harry as the new reserve Seeker. This was met with many curious stares and murmurs, and one mighty scowl courtesy of Draco. After that Snape held a little speech about the end of a successful first week and how he wished for them all to carry on in a similar fashion.