Lumos (Book One)

Chapter Three ~ Lessons

After dinner the houses were dismissed to our common rooms. From there we could go to our dorms between then and whatever curfew our prefect had set up.

Our head girl led us to the dungeons. I hung near Malfoy, who surprisingly seemed to slow down once he noticed I was close.

"Are you glued to me, Potter?" he asked eventually.

"No, you're just the only Slytherin I know. You aren't a total stranger so I'm more comfortable around you than the others."

He eyed me carefully. "How the bloody hell are you a Slytherin, exactly?"

"Ask the hat then tell me what it says because I want to know, too," I said, rolling my eyes. He smirked and allowed me to stick close to him on the way to the common room.

The head girl spoke to a wall ("You have to say the password to the hidden door. The password changes every two weeks."), which slid open slowly. The common room was impressive. Green light filled the room. While I was admiring the scenery, a girl stood in front of me and the first years.

"Congratulations! I'm Prefect Gemma Farley, and I'm delighted to welcome you to SLYTHERIN HOUSE. Our emblem is the serpent, the wisest of creatures; our house colours are emerald green and silver, and our common room lies behind a concealed entrance down in the dungeons. As you'll see, its windows look out into the depths of the Hogwarts lake. We often see the giant squid swooshing by – and sometimes more interesting creatures. We like to feel that our hangout has the aura of a mysterious, underwater shipwreck.

"Now, there are a few things you should know about Slytherin – and a few you should forget. Firstly, let's dispel a few myths. You might have heard rumours about Slytherin house – that we're all into the Dark Arts, and will only talk to you if your great-grandfather was a famous wizard, and rubbish like that. Well, you don't want to believe everything you hear from competing houses. I'm not denying that we've produced our share of Dark wizards, but so have the other three houses – they just don't like admitting it. And yes, we have traditionally tended to take students who come from long lines of witches and wizards, but nowadays you'll find plenty of people in Slytherin house who have at least one Muggle parent.

"Here's a little-known fact that the other three houses don't bring up much: Merlin was a Slytherin. Yes, Merlin himself, the most famous wizard in history! He learned all he knew in this very house! Do you want to follow in the footsteps of Merlin? Or would you rather sit at the old desk of that illustrious ex-Hufflepuff, Eglantine Puffett, inventor of the Self-Soaping Dishcloth?

"I didn't think so." I suppressed a giggle as she pressed on.

"But that's enough about what we're not. Let's talk about what we are, which is the coolest and edgiest house in this school. We play to win, because we care about the honour and traditions of Slytherin.

"We also get respect from our fellow students. Yes, some of that respect might be tinged with fear, because of our Dark reputation, but you know what? It can be fun, having a reputation for walking on the wild side. Chuck out a few hints that you've got access to a whole library of curses, and see whether anyone feels like nicking your pencil case.

"But we're not bad people. We're like our emblem, the snake: sleek, powerful, and frequently misunderstood.

"For instance, we Slytherins look after our own – which is more than you can say for Ravenclaw. Apart from being the biggest bunch of swots you ever met, Ravenclaws are famous for clambering over each other to get good marks, whereas we Slytherins are brothers. The corridors of Hogwarts can throw up surprises for the unwary, and you'll be glad you've got the Serpents on your side as you move around the school. As far as we're concerned, once you've become a snake, you're one of ours – one of the elite.