Redemption - A Draco Malfoy Story

year 1 part 4

The feast had been excellent. Every food the heart might desire was there, opulently spread: garlic mashed potatoes with chives, heavenly beef Wellington, Yorkshire pudding, a selection of vegetables including roast parsnips, carrots, and Brussels sprouts (which went, for the most part, untouched), huge steaming boats of rich gravy, broiled turkey, and Shepherd's pie. The sweets from the trolley on the Hogwarts Express seemed like ancient history, and we ate as if we hadn't seen food in decades. After everyone was seemingly tuckered out, bellies swollen, a round of pudding came and suddenly all the students were ravenous again; Eccles cakes, platters of lemon custard tarts, trifle, and apple pies seemed to vanish almost as soon as they had appeared.

I had been so engrossed by the luscious food that any thoughts of Draco Malfoy evaporated from my mind.

The feast had put my mind into a haze, so I was only vaguely aware as Dumbledore gave a few parting words, the dishes suddenly vanished magically from the tables, and we began to form a line behind the prefects. Iderius was putting on a steely face for the first years, and it seemed to be working; they all gazed at him in admiration as he stood stiffly, chest puffed, at the head of the group. We left the Great Hall through the back door into a stony gray corridor. Following the corridor was a narrow staircase which spiraled seemingly forever downwards. There was a faint green glow emanating from the very bottom.

"The Slytherin common room is in the dungeons," a prefect announced.

"We're not going to go down that entire staircase, are we?" Pansy whined, pouting huffily.

The Prefects just laughed.

"And later, you'll have to go up again!" A female prefect with short, dirty blonde hair and a hawk-like nose declared teasingly, causing Pansy to groan loudly. We began our descent, the light around us becoming slightly greener with every step. It was not as long of a trek as expected; a single step seemed to overtake the distance of at least five, and soon we had come to the base of the staircase. I glimpsed above us at the point from which we had travelled, the staircase itself circling endlessly upwards like a coiled snake and the ceiling looking impossibly distant.

The corridor was damp and noticeably colder, and the students whispered among themselves quietly as the prefects led us along. We passed by a few classrooms, filed through a narrow stone doorway, and ventured through a more well-lit and seemingly empty corridor lined with small chalices. Suddenly, the prefects stopped in front of a very solid-looking wall, faintly engraved with a lightly chiseled image of a snake. The blonde prefect spoke once again, addressing the group.

"Now, you best not forget the password. If you do, you'll be stuck out in this moldy old corridor. We wouldn't want that, would we?" She said, smiling rather darkly. She turned back to the carving of the snake.

"Veritaserum." The shallowly etched lines of the engraving began to glow green. The seemingly solid wall parted effortlessly into two, revealing a pair of emerald green velvet curtains with silver tassels, the soft light of the room behind them peeking from underneath them. Without a word, the prefect lifted the curtain and ducked underneath. We warily followed her.

The Slytherin common room was dripping in opulence and projected a noble sense of comfort. The wealth of its occupants was clear. It was dimly lit by a collection of silver candelabras and a large, glittering emerald chandelier. The expanse of the room was circular in shape, in the very center of which stood a large column with a stone snake spiraled around it. Green gemstones shone in the eye sockets of the statue, looking almost alive and glimmering in the flickering light of the grand fireplace. A collection of plush, dark green leather chairs stood beckoningly near the fireplace, accented by velvety green pillows. There were a few dark wooden tables and desks, presumably for studying, a Wizard's chess board, and a very expensive-looking dark green upright piano. The stone floor was made more pleasant by a thick, sophisticated-looking rug. Above the mantle of the fireplace was a portrait of an enormous green serpent, slithering within the confines of its frame and eyeing us hungrily.