I May have helped an Evil Wizard. (rewrite)

Slytherin, house of the snake.

The delicious feast drew to a close. Harriet felt, for the first time in a long while, full. She also felt slightly sick. That last treacle tart had been one too many, apparently.

The tinkle of a knife against a water glass drew the students attention.

Dumbledore stood up and said," Now before we go to bed let us sing our school song. Everyone pick their favorite tune and here we go. "

The hall became a cacophony of what only few with selective hearing could call music.

'Hogwarts, Hogwarts hoggy warty hogwarts,
Teach us something please,
Wether we are old and bald or young with scabby knees,
Our heads could do with filling of some interesting stuff,
For now they're bare and full of air,
Dead flies and bits of fluff,
So teach us things worth knowing
bring back what we forgot,
just do your best we'll do the rest,
and learn until our brains all rot.'

The last ones singing were George and Fred who had chosen a long funeral March as their tune. If their tales of their exams were to be believed, it was appropriate.

After the wailing came to a close, Dumbledore sent everyone off to bed. The Slytherin first years followed their prefects through the entrance hall and down a flight of stairs, past a few oil paintings and through a sort of labyrinth. The prefect pointed out points to look for if they ever got lost.

Soon, they came to a dead end. Harriet exchanged a glance with Pansy who was standing next to her. Were they lost?

The prefect smirked and said, "Dragonsbane."

The bricks shifted without a sound and revealed an entrance into what was one of the fanciest rooms Harriet had ever seen.

The common room itself was painted a pale green colour with black pillars that had snakes crawling up them. Moving snakes of stone. There was posh black furniture all around the room and two fireplaces at either end.

There were signs showing the location of the girls and boys respective bathrooms and dormitories. The common room had a glass cieling that showed that they were under the lake. Harriet hoped there wouldn't be a leak.

The prefect (Higgs as he introduced himself) told them where they needed to go and where they could find him during the day should they ever have questions.

"No questions after 8 o'clock in the evening though," he said. "I have other things to do, like study for my owls. Anyway, if you don't have questions, Good night."

Pansy immediately hooked her arm through Harriets.

"Harriet, right?" she said, smiling. "I guess we're roommates as of today. Let's be friends."

"Sure!" Harriet shrugged.

"Great!" Pansy grinned. "Now, come on, I want to see our dorm!"

"Goodnight guys," Harriet called to Draco, Blaise , Crabbe, Goyle.

"Goodnight, " was the last thing she heard before Pansy had dragged her into the girls dormitory and was introducing her to the other slytherin girls: Millicent Bulstrode, Amina Cheng and Elizabeth Whitemore.

"So, Potter," Bulstrode said, seemingly casual, "How come you're in Slytherin?"

"Well, erm - " Harriet had no clue what to say. Why was she in Slytherin? Did she need a reason? Didn't the hat sort you by personality?

"Geez, Bulstrode," Whitemore said, "you really are as tactless as a bull in a porcelain shop, aren't you? The hat placed her here so she belongs here."

"We were all expecting her to be in Gryffindor." Bulstrode shrugged. "I thought I'd ask."

"Doesn't mean you can just throw the question at her, three seconds after you've been introduced," Pansy said, rolling her eyes.

"Sorry, but why was everyone expecting me to make Gryffindor?" Harriet asked, confused.

"Because you're the hero of the century," Cheng drawled. "Defeated the darkest wizard as a baby and all that. Ring a bell?"

"And that's supposed to determine my house?" Harriet raised an eyebrow.

"No," Pansy said. It's just that - well..." She started to fidget. "Slytherin is usually associated with, um, dark magic." She hung her head. The air in the room became uneasy, like everyone was waiting for something to explode.

"Dark magic?" Harriet was confused again. That was actually a thing? She had only read about magic giving and taking.

"Well, you know," Whitemore said, "The unforgivable curses, amongst other things."

"Oh. Ok." Harriet didn't know what to say.

"I've always found that ridiculous." Pansy huffed. "We're eleven! It's not like we can even use magic properly yet!"

"Besides, everyone judging us by our parents is stupid!" Whitemore added. "I know a lot of our house has relatives in Azkaban but they can't expect us to be the same, right?"

"Right!" Cheng agreed. "I think we should make a pact. We should all promise, right here and now, to stay as far away from the dark arts and unforgivable curses as possible. We'll help each other keep the promise, of course!"

"But how would we even do that?" Bulstrode asked. "Our parents all have expectations! The world has expectations! Every damn thing is going to push us towards them!"

"Then push back!" Cheng said. "My parents are both in Azkaban! The world sees me as a dark witch! Never mind that I am still a kid! The only useful thing I've learnt so far is how to stick up for myself and prove people wrong. It's my intention to do that. I am not evil and I am going to prove it. You might consider doing the same!"

"Alright." Whitemore said. "I'm in."

She stepped forward placed a hand on her heart and raised her wand in the air. "I, Elizabeth Whitemore, swear to do my absolute best to not use what is considered dark magic and never to use the unforgivable curses, so mote it be!"

Cheng smiled at her and stepped forward. "I, Amina Cheng, swear to do my best to not use unforgivable curses and dark magic, so mote it be!"

Bulstrode made a face and stepped forward. "I, Millicent Bulstrode, swear to never use dark magic or unforgivable curses on innocent people, like my father before me, so mote it be!"

Pansy and Harriet exchanged glances. Vows like that in a spur-of-the-moment decision? They exchanged nods. Pansy stepped forward first.

"I, Pansy Parkinson," she said, "swear that I will not harm innocent people except in self defense. I will never use the unforgivable curses or dark magic, so mote it be!"

Then it was Harriet's turn. What could she say? She didn't have the same past as these people! She took a deep breath, stepped into the forming circle and placed a hand over her racing heart. She raised her wand like the others.

"I, Harriet Potter, swear to do my best to help those in the circle uphold their vows. I swear to not judge anyone by their relatives and I swear to listen to as many sides of a story as possible before I make my judgement, so mote it be!"

The girls wands lit up momentarily. The girls all exchanged glances.

"I think," Cheng said, "That we are crazy."

"So crazy," Whitemore grinned, "that this could work."

"It will work!" Pansy said.

"Yeah," Bulstrode said, "besides, we have someone to help us keep our vows." She smiled at Harriet. "I think we can manage this. It's not like you-know-who is coming back!"

"Thank goodness for that!" Whitemore whispered.

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So..... I think we'll be seeing more of the girls. You think the guys have similar opinions?

Hope you are enjoying the story so far! Thanks for reading!

XOXO, Drachma