The Hogwarts welcome feast had no real entertainment.
Just eating, drinking, and the school song.
After the feast, prefects led the first-years to their house common rooms.
Theodore Nott limped along at the very back, thanks to the two hard kicks Hylan had given him.
“Are you all right, Mr.
Nott?” Professor McGonagall asked.
Hearing a professor notice his injury, Theodore felt a rush of self-pity.
He opened his mouth to pour out every detail of Hylan’s brutality.
He was already picturing Hylan in detention.
Before he could get a word out, Hylan appeared from nowhere and took his arm.
“No need to worry, Professor McGonagall.
Mr.
Nott just twisted his ankle.”
Theodore felt like he’d been dropped into ice water.
Every word died in his throat.
Hylan offered the explanation, then put on a mask of concern.
“Mr.
Nott, should I take you to the hospital wing?”
The words sounded warm and kind.
But Theodore felt those hands clamp down like iron pincers, biting into his arm.
A threat.
Blatant and naked.
“I’m fine.
Thank you, Mr.
Prewett,” Theodore said.
“Good.
Let’s go.” Hylan even remembered to say goodbye.
“Goodnight, Professor McGonagall.”
McGonagall watched him go, proud and a little wistful.
How did a model student like that end up in Slytherin?
Theodore was boiling inside.
He wanted to scream, “Professor!
It’s all an act!
Don’t believe him!”
Once they were out of McGonagall’s sight, Hylan let go.
“Mr.
Nott, I suggest you don’t do anything stupid.
Though of course, I welcome stupid decisions.” Hylan smiled, the picture of boyish innocence.
“Next time, my price goes up.”
Hylan walked off.
Theodore spat a curse through clenched teeth.
Then his eyes landed on the prefect at the front of the line.
William Rolle was an acquaintance.
The Rolle and Nott families moved in the same circles.
Theodore started calculating.
Once they got back to the dormitory, he’d ask William Rolle for help.
They’d teach Hylan Prewett a lesson.
A real Slytherin didn’t care about rules against attacking other students.
And a first-year was no match for a prefect.
The thought put steel back in Theodore’s spine.
His leg stopped aching.
His back straightened.
Unlike the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw towers, the Slytherin common room was underground.
The prefects led the first-years down a long spiral staircase of stone steps.
The deeper they went, the more the atmosphere turned cold and still.
More torches lined the walls, but they couldn’t chase away the creeping chill.
Hylan found himself thinking that Scourgify must be a lifesaver down here.
Otherwise you’d never get your clothes dry.
After the long descent, the first-years stopped in front of a damp, blank stone wall.
Prefect William Rolle tilted his head back so far the first-years could barely see anything but his nostrils.
“Entry requires no knock or specific spell.
Only the correct password.” Rolle addressed them entirely through his nose.
“Pureblood.”
A concealed stone door appeared in the wall.
Hylan stepped inside and let out a quiet breath of relief.
The Slytherin common room wasn’t the cold, damp dungeon he’d imagined, piled with wet seaweed and muck.
It was a long, low underground room with surprisingly luxurious decor.
The walls and ceiling were rough-hewn stone.
Green-tinged lamps hung from chains overhead.
Directly across from the entrance, a carved marble fireplace crackled with a roaring fire, keeping the whole room warm and dry.
The real showpiece was the enormous window.
Through it, you could see the dark, rippling lake water and all kinds of strange aquatic creatures drifting past.
The furniture was elegant, every piece radiating old money.
That made sense.
Plenty of Hogwarts governors came from Slytherin.
Their common room was never going to be shabby.
While the first-years took it all in, Theodore and William huddled in a corner, whispering.
Their eyes kept flicking toward Hylan, mouths curled with mocking amusement.
“Prewett.” William walked over and adjusted Hylan’s collar with practiced elegance, looking down at him.
“We’re all pureblood families here, but I should remind you, there are gaps between pureblood families.
Some houses don’t have many members left.
I do hope they manage to survive.”
“Oh, and I’ve put you and Nott in the same dormitory.
If he gives you trouble, you can come to me.”
And I’ll join him in giving you trouble, you idiot.
William smirked inwardly.
“Prefect Rolle, was it?” Hylan slapped his hand away and shook his head.
“I’m actually disappointed.”
“Disappointed?” William didn’t follow.
The nearby first-years started drifting closer, sensing something.
Malfoy noticed too.
He waved his two cronies over to watch.
“Slytherin disappoints me.
I expected clever schemers, not fools who preen over their bloodlines.” Hylan’s voice was calm and even.
“What you’re born with isn’t worth boasting about.
Glory and power you seize for yourself, those are worth admiring.”
As he spoke, his gaze drifted deliberately toward Theodore.
The meaning was unmistakable.
“Arrogant!”
With a prefect backing him, Theodore’s courage surged.
He dropped the cowering act and drew his wand, ready to teach this loudmouth a lesson.
He was a pureblood wizard.
He’d grown up around magic.
He’d even learned a few spells before school started.
Hylan was faster.
Wand and incantation together, he cast a Severing Charm with clean precision.
“Diffindo!”
Theodore Nott’s hair fell like autumn leaves, drifting through the air.
It left him nearly bald.
Theodore froze, his wand arm stopping mid-swing.
He’d always played with magic like a toy.
Faced with real combat, his body locked up.
He couldn’t make it move, let alone fight back.
Beside him, Prefect William Rolle was just as frozen.
As a prefect, he had some experience with dueling.
He recognized the spell immediately.
Nothing advanced.
Just a simple Severing Charm.
It was a minor spell from The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1.
Nearly everyone at Hogwarts knew it.
But its effect depended entirely on the caster’s skill and focus.
It could be used for crude destruction, or for extremely delicate cutting work.
William raised a trembling hand and touched his collar.
The fabric was sliced clean through.
A thin red line marked his neck.
He had no doubt that a fraction deeper would have opened his artery.
But Hylan had held it exactly there.
How much time and effort did it take to wield a basic first-year spell like that?
William didn’t know.
He only knew Hylan Prewett was not someone to cross lightly.
Was this really first-year ability?
You could flip through every Hogwarts alumni record ever printed and probably not find a talent to match him.
Getting on this person’s bad side for the sake of an idiot like Theodore Nott was a terrible trade.
The crowd saw Theodore’s vanished hair and burst out laughing.
A few with sharper eyes recognized the Severing Charm.
They were quietly stunned.
Advanced spells showed talent.
Basic spells showed foundation.
Using a basic spell like that showed a terrifying foundation.
Even Malfoy had to admit, privately, that this Prewett was probably only a little weaker than himself.
The laughter and the loss of his hair pushed Theodore past reason.
He shouted at the prefect, “Let’s take him together!”
William’s wand was out in a flash.
“Expelliarmus!”
Bang!
Theodore sailed through the air in a neat arc and crashed into a chair.
His wand flew from his hand.
Dizziness swamped him.
The room spun.
“Prefect, what are you doing?”
William was cursing him inwardly.
Idiot!
Moron!
Can’t you see he held back on purpose?
And you tried to drag me into it!
A complete, utter fool.
“Mr.
Prewett, I believe this is a misunderstanding.” William forced a smile, his voice trembling slightly.
“Slytherin welcomes you.”
“The prefect is right.
Just a misunderstanding.”
Hylan glanced at Theodore, then walked over to William.
He stood on his toes and adjusted the prefect’s collar with elegant precision.
“Ah, look at that.
I lost control and cut your collar.
I’m only a first-year, after all.
Still can’t quite manage my spells.
You don’t mind, do you?”
“Not at all, not at all.
It’s nothing.” William shook his head frantically.
His eyes were fixed on the hand near his throat.
It felt like a snake slithering across his skin.
Terror locked him in place.
He didn’t dare move.
Hylan gave him a brilliant smile.
“Don’t worry, Prefect.
I’ll fix it for you.”
He waved his wand and cast a Mending Charm.
“That’ll be one Galleon.”
William’s mouth twitched.
I could’ve cast that Mending Charm myself.
And now he was being charged a Galleon.
But looking at Hylan’s smiling face, he didn’t dare refuse.
He fished out a gold coin with shaking fingers and dropped it into Hylan’s palm.
Having paid his way out of trouble, William wanted nothing more than to leave.
He’d taken two steps when Hylan called him back.
“Mr.
Nott doesn’t seem keen on sharing a dormitory with me.
I’ll take the bed tonight.
Mr.
Nott can sleep on the common room sofa.”
“Of course.
No problem.” William agreed instantly.
Who cared where that idiot slept.
Hylan flicked his wand and sent Theodore’s luggage flying out the door.
Neither of them had asked Theodore’s opinion once.
“Oh, I just remembered.
Mr.
Nott still owes Mr.
Longbottom an apology.” Hylan smiled at Theodore, who was staggering to his feet.
“And he owes me twenty Galleons.
Our wager.”
“I never agreed…” Theodore forced the words out.
“I said you bet, so you bet.” Hylan cut him off with a smile and held out his hand.
“You lose, you pay.
Money today.
Apology tomorrow.
Understood?”
“You said ten Galleons.”
“I also said my price goes up.”
Theodore shot a desperate look at William.
The prefect turned his head away fast, pretending he saw nothing.
Theodore knew then that no help was coming.
Furious and terrified, he pulled out a coin pouch, head hanging.
Hylan counted out twenty Galleons and tossed the pouch back.
He had to admit, these purebloods had money.
A random student walking around with this many Galleons.
“Goodnight, Prefect Rolle.
You can go now,” Hylan said.
William’s mouth worked.
Finally he managed a stiff “Goodnight.” He lifted his proud head and walked out, rigid as a board.
Hylan went to his dormitory and unpacked a little.
The Slytherin dormitories were large, and each room held only two students, which made them feel even more spacious.
The elegant four-poster bed was draped in green silk hangings.
The bedspread was dark green too, embroidered with silver serpents.
Hylan approved.
It beat the orphanage by a mile.
He stretched, walked to the window, and watched a giant squid drift past outside.
Slytherin was really something.
The people were polite.
The conversation was pleasant.
The money flowed freely.
He really liked it here.