The Battle of Wills-Slytherin, vs Gryffindor

Severus' and Lucius' Assignment

Lucius and Severus were held back in the class by Lord Slytherin. As anyone, they was terribly nervous. Lord Slytherin never asked someone to stay behind in class unless they had been caught doing something bad, or the Lord was displeased. Suddenly a bolt of terror chilled their spines. had they displeased the Lord? What had they done? Were their fathers angry them then? Would they be...would they be punished?

It was the thing that terrified Lucius more than anything. All the Slytherins knew that Lord Slytherin was not one for doling out harmless punishments. It was well known that he took to fancy and extremely painful punishments, the more displeased he was, the more painful the punishment. It also varied. He may or may not show you forgiveness, and than you feel as if you are in his favor, and must please him. Well, all the Slytherin's felt that they had to please him. Not only was he the Lord of the House of Slytherin, Heir of Salazar Slytherin himself, he just had that sort of demeanor. You wanted to please him, more out of respect than anything else, as he was the only one who knew what a manipulative coot Dumbledore was, and he was head of the Basilisk Snakes' Party. Otherwise known as the party in which all the Lords of Noble Houses which where in Slytherin, were under. Those such as the Malfoys, the Snapes, the Lestranges, the Blacks, the Morzansson's and others. Lord Slytherin demanded respect, and he had good reason. The highest grades of anyone at Hogwarts, several titles to his name, a wealthy inheritance, heir to Salazar Slytherin himself, and a direct descendant too! Not to mention the man had wits like nobody else. You did not even realize you were being manipulated until after the deed was done, half the time. It was an appealing trait to all Slytherins, and one only Lord Slytherin seemed to pull off with such perfection. Except the odd Malfoy and Morzansson every here and there. Even the odd Snapes had managed to produce a son that was expertly talented in such endeavors.

As for Severus, though he was worried about the possibility of punishment,as anyone in their situation would be, he was confident that he had done nothing to severely anger his Lord.The bigger question was why? Why were they called back? It was possible that the Lord was annoyed at his inability to defeat the newest Slytherin,though he doubted it. After all the boy was a Snake 🐍 himself. If the boy had been a Gryffindor student, that was an entire different ball game. Lord Slytherin would never stand to have one of his house be taken down by a Gryffindor in a fair duel. Naturally, if a Gryffindor cheated, or even ganged up on a Slytherin, it was different. Allowances were made. Lord Slytherin did not have unattainable expectations for those of his house,despite the popular misconception.

"My Lord." Both Lucius and Severus said whilst approaching the desk.Tom Marvolo Riddle heir of Salazar Slytherin looked up at them,and smiled. At one booth Malfoy and Snape drew an inconspicuous sigh of relief. The Lord was not angry,as they had feared. Just the opposite actually.

"Tell me,what did you think of young Morzansson?" Lord Slytherin asked. They both thought about that for a moment. Neither of them knew the boy particularly well, barely spoke more than a senchoos to him in fact, so the question required a good deal of thought.

"He is very smart." Lucius began. " That much is obvious. He is a year younger than everyone else and yet he seemed to have no trouble keeping up on any of the classes. The idea that he has never been taught magic by a tutor or my type of teacher was surprising. He is clearly skilled,above his age, possibly more than he lets on. "

Lord Slytherin devoured this news and nodded. From what he had seen, it was true. The boy was talented, remarkably so. And yet he was clearly, for any Slytherin at the very least, downplaying his own abilities. The boy undoubtedly had a good reason for that. The question was what? Why would he feel it necessary?

"Severus?" Despite the truths of Lucius's statement, Severus was more capable at putting puzzles together and this boy was most certainly the biggest puzzle Tom Riddle had come across in a long, long time.

"I think..." Severus paused, and Lord Slytherin allowed him to think on what he was going to say. "I think he is hiding something. Something important." Lord Slytherin leaned back in his desk chair. He thought on everything the boy had shown.

"What makes you say that?" He wondered.Severus chose his words carefully. Lord Slytherin could see he was trying to put his observations into words.

"Well," the young Slytherin started. " Every once in a while it is like he will retreat inside his mind. But I don't think that it is always on purpose. When he comes back to reality,it seems as if he just finished a conversation with someone. " Severus thought a bit more quietly before continuing. "I know telepathic connections are rather rare between two people, and wizard familiars. It may be possible that he has a rare familiar, one that can establish a mind link. He is obviously powerful, which increases his chances of having such a familiar and it may even be that he found his familiar before he came to Hogwarts.It would explain his knowledge of magic. And we all know that most of the time, a wizard's familiar finds them, not the other way around."

Tom Riddle though deeply about this. It made perfect sense. In fact,it answered a lot of complicated questions about the young wizard's magical knowledge.It would explain his magic aura too, which was an unseen color. His aura seemed to change, such things have never been common. When a wizard's aura first changes it is when they find their familiar and it coincided with something about the familiar. His own aura changed from a deep plume of emerald green, to brightly lit silver. Silver was his own aura, while the green showed his familiar's. Most wizard's aura entwined with that of their familiar, unless you have a rare, or a powerful familiar or both.

"I think you may be right Severus. Which is why I have an important task. For the both of you." Slytherin continued clearly. "I believe this child may be the key to bringing down Dumbledore's political party. As you know, I have been attempting to do so for years. But...I'm order for us to do this, we must gain his loyalty, and trust first. Which, given his upbringing,will not be easy."

" why us? " Lucius asked. Slytherin smiled. Why them indeed.

"Because, it is your parents who first met him,who helped him attain access to Hogwarts. That means that he may have a small degree of trust, or at the very least, respect, for them, and therefore, by extension, you. Gaining his loyalty can change the political outcome. The boy has smarts, skill, and he is unassuming, and if I have heard correctly, acting skills like no other. Not to mention he already gained the favor of the minister of magic."

" i see. Very well, we shall do our best, my lord. "

"You had better." And than the head of Slytherin dismissed them, the threat hanging over their heads.