DURSLEY ― harry potter

‣︎︎ CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER NINE:
BATMAN

☍︎︎

THE PREFECTS LED DAISY AND THE REST OF THE FIRST-YEAR SLYTHERINS TO THE COMMON ROOM AFTER THE FEAST.

Daisy thought it would be a bit harder to find, but once entering the Entrance Hall, they simply took a door on the left and down steep stairs into the dungeons. Behind a barren stretch of wall, one said a password and entered inside.

At first, Daisy worried about the word "dungeons." It seemed sinister, eerie. But upon reaching the common room, her worries slipped away. While substantially colder than the rest of the castle, and far dimmer in lighting, it felt homey. Long chains hung big round lights throughout the room in seemingly random correspondence, but each lit up a different shadow, just enough to cause light silhouettes.

A sleek, dark marble floor stretched across a long oval-shaped room with tall windows harboring a blueish hue. Something swam past the window furthest from her, and Daisy jumped into Theodore -- Theo, she reminded herself, he'd prefer she call him that -- who laughed at her expense.

"That's the black lake," he explained as the Prefect, Gemma Farley explained other details of the common room. "My dad told me about it. We're literally at the bottom of the black lake. Brilliant, isn't it?"

Daisy nodded, breathless, her mind encompassed in wonder at her surroundings. She could smell fresh peppermint and old leather, and something distinctly clean. Neat.

Large green sofas and dark oak tables are scattered throughout the common room. A tall, steep, dark green brick fireplace flickered to life at the swish of Gemma's wand. Silver and grey knick knacks stood triumphantly on pieces of furniture, and large green tapestries hung down across the windows, open to the blue waters outside. Tall, heaping bookshelves filled with novelizations, potions, and spell books sat proudly on the dark wooden shelves.

Blaise glanced over at her. "You still worried about Slytherin?"

Daisy gave him a questioning glance. "What do you mean?" She asked. "How'd you -- how'd you know?"

"You need a better poker face. Pay attention, flower, it's time for bed."

He nudged her in the direction of the dormitories, which were just up a small flight of stairs. Daisy bid him goodnight with a sheepish smile and rushed after a few other girls, following them into the large dormitory. Inside, sat six beds, all in a line with a large window on the opposite wall. A long, heavy curtain drooped over the window, but Daisy could make out a small sliver of greenish-blue light peeking through.

"Oh."

Daisy looked up, her small smile dropping when Pansy Parkinson, the pug-faced girl with food on her nose from earlier, looked her up and down. Then it hit her. Pansy Parkinson would be one of her new dormmates.

"Pansy, let her be," the pretty blonde that sat near the third years during dinner spoke up. "Honestly, we're supposed to be on the same side here."

"Shut up, Daphne!" Pansy shrieked, glaring at her. "You don't know anything. Your family doesn't understand how to really be a Slytherin."

Daphne crossed her arms, and Millicent looked between the two, and, as if sensing the tension, walked to the bed closest to the bathroom. She opened her trunk and began to change. Daisy stood near the entrance, spotting her trunk in between Pansy and Daphne's beds, unsure if she should walk past them.