The Rise of Harry Potter

The room was… surprisingly large actually, very spacious. There was an open area immediately upon entering. From there, there was a two step lip along the left and right walls. On the elevated platform sat a pair of ordinary-looking beds and matching drawers were pressed flush to the back wall. Adrian spotted his black trunk as well as the 'cage' he had placed Lutain in at the end of one of the beds.

Blaise Zabini went directly over to his things, opening his chest to look at its contents critically.

Adrian didn't bother, already he took out his wand. With an elaborate flourish, he pointed his wand at the set of drawers. "Rigaterim."

They expanded, sliding upwards and shifting into a double door wardrobe. He repeated the action with the single bed, turning it into a double.

"Exuo," he then muttered, watching with a small sense of satisfaction as his clothing removed itself from his trunk and slid into the wardrobe almost identical to how he preferred at his home.

Once he had everything set up and resting in an acceptable way, he glanced back to see how Blaise had set up his segment of the room. Somehow the other had managed to alter the colour of the walls into a tasteful shade of dark charcoal. It was more aesthetically pleasing compared to the shocking white on Adrian's side.

"You mind birds?" It didn't sound like a question.

Zabini reached into his own trunk, more exotic-looking than Adrian's, and somehow pulled an entire bird perch from the depths and set it up challengingly near a bedside table. Adrian frowned slightly, the bluntness of Zabini's action caught him off guard. He had a feeling that the boy would have ignored him even if he didn't want a bird in the room.

"Don't attack my snake," Adrian responded, his voice clipped. He pulled out the charmed box for Lutain before restoring it to normal size. The box rested easily under Adrian's bed.

He noticed how Blaise's eyes seemed to light up when Lutain slid out the first time. Evidently he had been expecting a smaller snake.

"Strix," Blaise offered once he pulled out a rather impressive black bird with red eyes. It looked far too delicate with feather crests and thin claws to partake in long flying like owls. It truly was just an exotic pet, one that looked far too composed for having been hiding in a trunk for hours.

"I hope it isn't an actual strix," Adrian jabbed. The appearance of Zabini's bird wasn't what an actual strix supposedly looked like. Blaise simply smiled thinly.

"Lutain," Adrian offered, watching as his familiar in question glanced around interestedly before trying to get into Adrian's trunk where he knew a couple stunned mice were stored.

Zabini gave a jerk of his head, and left his bird perched on its dark stand like it was a wall decoration. The bird looked at the snake with sightless eyes and Lutain hissed in retaliation.

Blaise didn't offer to accompany Adrian back to their common room. Instead the boy simply left, leaving Adrian a precious few moments alone.

"How was the train?" Adrian smiled, stroking down the smooth scales of his companion's back.

"Terrible!" Lutain hissed, seeming very upset. "It was dark and loud with many hisses! Not good!"

Adrian shrugged, it would be the easiest way to smuggle Lutain into the school. Although considering Blaise also had a pet that evidently broke the school rules, he figured most of the Slytherins ignored the rule anyways.

"You'll enjoy it here much more. I don't think the others will find it too odd for a snake to be in the common room. Just don't bite anyone."

Lutain managed to somehow look affronted, "I am not vermin-brain."

Adrain chuckled lowly, allowing Lutain to slide up and over his robes. Lutain nestled into his usual position, looping around his neck and upper right arm.

Adrian turned, exiting his room and ascending the stairs where the rest of his Year had already gathered under the direction of the two Prefects.

"Welcome all, to Slytherin," the boy started. "My name is Terence, that is Vaisley. We are your Prefects for this year. That means if any of you have questions or problems with the other Houses come to us or our head of House, Professor Snape."

"Let's get this in the open," Vaisley chimed in, her expression falling into something serious. "Some of us come from more… reputable families, but we are all in this House now. We stick together and present a unified front. There will be no insulting each other for whatever reason outside these walls. No-one in the other Houses will make the distinction between if you are or aren't dark. And for Merlin's sake, don't attack the Gryffindor's alone."

Vaisley had the proper amount of exasperation in her tone to imply that such a thing had occurred before.

"Everyone in this House has strengths and weaknesses. We don't care if you're good at charms or rubbish at astronomy, if you need help, you get help. We don't tolerate laziness, or poor marks," Terence stated bluntly. "Most upper Years are decent at healing charms. Ask one of us for help before going to the infirmary and making a scene."

Vaisley sat herself down on one of the dark leather chairs, pulling out a rolled up scroll from in her pocket and produced a quill. "Alright you lot, I'm assuming most of you brought either something illegal or something not directly permitted by the school rules. Thankfully, the Slytherin rooms have their own set of wards- once you're older you can place whatever wards you want on your room itself. Or pay someone to do it for you. How many of you brought pets?"

Adrian grudgingly lifted his arm, alongside a decent portion of the incoming students. "It's fine. If something goes missing it's your responsibility. If anyone gets injured from it, it's your responsibility. You feed it, you control it, you keep it."

Lutain twitched and peered around the room curiously. Adrian spotted Draco staring at Lutain in slight disbelief.

The rest of the meeting continued rather blandly. At one point their Head of House stopped in. He was a tall man with pale skin and greasy hair. He had a large hooked nose and what seemed like a permanent sneer. He didn't seem that interested or enthusiastic for the year, but once again did reinforce the concept that the older Years were the ones to go to if they had need.

The First Years were directed to a bulletin board on the opposite side of the open common room. The board was split into multiple sections, some scrolls were pinned up advertising events or tournaments likely to occur on a weekend. Adrian learned that this was where students sometimes posted questions that they needed answered, as well as services or goods that they were willing to sell. He also spotted a bright red flier, boldly forbidding the breeding and sale of pets to one another.

The rest of the night was spent with an open question-and-answer session. Most of the questions were asinine and if anything, proved who were lacking the proper intelligence. (A lumbering duo stuck close to Malfoy, they seemed to have half of anyone's intelligence held collectively between them.)

Adrian instead opted to return to his room. He started attempting to construct the few wards he knew, simple things he had tried to create once moving into the Lestrange household. Having some forewarning when someone was outside his door gave him precious moments to prepare for whatever rabid attack Bellatrix conjured.

Adrian linked the ward to a small glass ball he brought with him, alongside a leather bracelet. It would last for now, but later on, once he actually knew and studied more wards, he would be able to make something longer lasting. A silencing ward was also constructed; he didn't want to have to hear all of Zabini's bird's chirping titters.

He wasn't exactly pleased to have to share his room. It was tolerable, but he'd have to establish some sort of set rules with Zabini. If he was lucky, he could perhaps bargain the boy into shifting to another room. The boy, Nott, seemed rather awkward but held potential.

Adrian smiled to himself. It was going to be an interesting year.

....

Want to read ahead by more than 60 chapters. Then join my pa*treon now.

Link: pa*treon.com/Amelie796 (Remove the *)

Free members will get 2 chapters for free.