D.R.A.R.R.Y Supremacy

8 - Slytherin Dungeon

During dessert, Harry glanced at the High Table and saw one of the professors wearing a purple turban.

It happened very suddenly. A sharp, hot pain shot across the scar on Harry's forehead.

"What the fuck?" Harry cursed and clapped a hand to his forehead.

"Mind your language, Potter," Snape told Harry then proceeded to the other table to deduct fifty points from Gryffindor after hearing Ron Weasley say "bloody hell".

"You okay, Potter?" Draco quickly asked, taking Harry's hand away from his forehead to have a look himself. "What happened? Does it hurt?"

"It hurt when I looked at that professor in a turban," Harry mumbled, looking at the professor. "Who is he, anyway?"

"That's Professor Quirrell," said Blaise. "I heard he teaches the Dark Arts."

"Defense against the Dark Arts," Pansy corrected him.

The desserts disappeared, and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet. The hall fell silent.

"Ahem - just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well. I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

Harry and Draco laughed, but they were one of the few who did.

"Now off you trot!" Dumbledore said.

The Slytherin first years followed Gemma Farley, their House prefect, through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall, and down a passageway until they finally reached the Slytherin common room, also known as the Slytherin dungeon, located under the lake.

Gemma paused by a stretch of bare, damp stone wall.

"Slytherin Supremacy," Gemma said, and a stone door concealed in the wall slid open.

The Slytherin common room was a long, low underground room with rough stone walls and ceiling from which round, greenish lamps were hanging on chains. A fire was crackling under an elaborately carved mantelpiece ahead of them, and several older Slytherins were silhouetted around it in high-backed chairs.

Gemma directed the girls through one door to their dormitory and the boys through another. They found their beds at last: six four-posters hung up with dark green, velvet curtains. Their trunks had already been brought up.

Crabbe, Goyle, Blaise, and Theodore Nott pulled on their pajamas and went straight to bed. Salazar slithered off Harry's neck, down his body, and coiled himself up at the foot of Harry's bed.

"I'm gonna take a shower," Harry told Draco, walking towards the bathroom. "My hair must be covered in dandruff after that sorting hat situation."

"Me too. I'm covered in food. So are you," Draco replied, following Harry.

"I'm more concerned about getting head lice than being swarmed by ants in my sleep, thank you very much," Harry joked as they entered the shower room with six shower heads separated by curtains, six toilets, six urinals, and six sinks.

Draco sniggered and shut the door behind him, and the sound of Crabbe's loud snoring disappeared completely.

"Think you'll be able to fall asleep with that noisy bloke snoring away?" Draco asked Harry as they entered separate shower sections and closed the curtains behind them, not bothering to close the one in between their sections, so they could see each other clearly, their sections unseparated.

"Obviously not. Do you know any spell that can shut him up?" Harry asked as he took his clothes off.

"You can use the silencing charm. Just point your wand at him and say 'silencio.' That will shut him up," Draco replied, completely naked and staring at Harry.