Les Misérables | Regulus A. Black [1]

Chapter Nineteen

[Chapter Nineteen]

The world was full of hypocrites, Regulus didn't need the adults to inform him of such things, he had become aware of it by witnessing it all on his own. As the Sorting Ceremony was underway, he could see students from the other three houses clapping and cheering for students when they were sorted into Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Gryffindor. It didn't matter if they didn't belong to their house, they would simply clap or cheer to be polite or encouraging. When it came to a new student being sorted into Slytherin, it was clear that only Slytherin applauded the newcomer. Even the faculty members barely put an effort into their "polite" applause to not show any bias. 

But it was clear, it was made clear every year. 

The new students could see it too, they noticed that they received less cheering and applause as they walked towards the Slytherin table, it always left them with a confused expression. Had they suddenly done something wrong without realising it? It was only when they settled down at the table and witnessed it for themselves did they realised, they had only been discriminated against, due to the fact that they were sorted into Slytherin.

Hufflepuff, the house of the kindness kept their heads turned, Ravenclaw, the house of acceptance kept their gaze forward on the next student, and Gryffindor, the house of chivalry, took as far as allowing some of their house members to boo and hiss. Yet, Slytherin was labelled as the house that housed all prejudices and discrimination. 

The majority of Slytherins picked up on it rapidly, often taking to cheering loudly for the newcomers to their house to try and make them feel welcomed. After all, they had been worthy enough to be sorted into the house, they hoped they could make them feel as though they were worthy. When it came to other students being sorted into other houses, one wouldn't be able to tell that it lacked the Slytherin applause because the other three houses made up for it. 

There was a clear bias that the students picked up very early in their academic career, it even involved their headmaster. Dumbledore had been in Gryffindor and he made it quite clear from the beginning that he favoured students of his house. Professor McGonagall, Professor Sprout, and Professor Flitwick were the heads of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw, and they were all close friends with one another. Most of them seemed annoyed by Slughorn a great deal of the time because he loved to talk constantly, but still, it furthered the separation of the houses to see that he wasn't included a lot. 

It seemed like a vicious, never-ending cycle between the four houses, a strong rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin since the time of the Four Founders, and very much like the Founders, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff seemed to side with Gryffindor more than often, leaving Slytherin the oddball out. 

No wonder Salazar had taken upon himself to leave. 

But then, there was an ounce of hope with students like Éponine, while the rest of Slytherin kept stoic expressions and ignored the rest of the sortings, there the girl sat quietly clapping under the table for all of them. Mainly because the girl didn't know the people that were being sorted, she didn't know if they came from a line of muggles or if they were half-breeds, or from a family of blood-traitors, she simply clapped her hands for all newcomers so that they would feel welcomed. Yet, it didn't matter to really anyone outside of herself because no one paid her any mind and the faint clapping of her hands was drowned out by the other houses.