The fruit and desserts vanished from the golden plates.
The feast was clearly coming to an end.
Ivy Doom looked toward the staff table and saw Albus Dumbledore rise to his feet once more.
The noisy Great Hall gradually fell silent.
“Now that we are all fed and watered,” Dumbledore announced, his white beard trembling slightly as his voice echoed through the hall, “I have a few more words for you before the term begins.”
“First-years should note that the Forbidden Forest is strictly off-limits to students.”
“And certain older students should remember that as well.”
Ivy knew perfectly well that Dumbledore was talking about the Weasley twins.
Still, for someone who practically treated the forest like his second home, even Dumbledore’s warning carried a certain amount of intimidation.
“Secondly,” Dumbledore continued, “Mr.
Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to remind everyone that magic is not permitted in the corridors between classes.”
The anger of a Squib was understandable.
“Also, Quidditch trials will be held during the second week of term.
Anyone interested in joining their House team should contact Madam Hooch.”
A high-risk sport fueled by personal heroism.
Watching from the sidelines was more than enough for Ivy.
There was absolutely no way he planned on participating personally.
“Finally,” Dumbledore said gravely, “I must inform you that anyone who does not wish to suffer a painful and possibly gruesome death should avoid the corridor on the right-hand side of the fourth floor.”
Ah yes.
Ivy remembered this one.
The hiding place of the Philosopher’s Stone.
Also known as the Sorcerer’s Stone.
The greatest masterpiece of alchemy.
An object capable of turning base metals into gold and granting immortality.
Its creator, Nicolas Flamel, was famous even in the Muggle world.
Known historically as Nicolas Flamel, he supposedly left behind numerous alchemical works.
Even Isaac Newton had reportedly studied his manuscripts.
Although Flamel and his wife still lived thanks to the Elixir of Life created by the Stone, “alive” was honestly the most generous description possible.
Once youth and vitality faded, the body became useless no matter how long it endured.
Ivy had absolutely no intention of ending up like that.
After all, he himself was already one hundred and forty-four years old.
As long as he could uncover the secret behind the ancient magic that had reversed his aging, immortality was practically guaranteed.
Maybe even eternal youth.
Wasn’t that infinitely better than becoming so fragile you could barely survive a handshake like Nicolas Flamel?
“And now,” Dumbledore suddenly declared cheerfully, “before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!”
The professors seated nearby instantly developed frozen smiles.
Dumbledore raised his wand.
The Hogwarts school anthem.
“Everyone choose your favorite tune,” Dumbledore announced happily.
“And off we go!”
Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,
Teach us something please…
(Except during winter, Ivy never wore hats.
Now that he had magic, he didn’t wear them even in winter either.)
Whether we be old and bald,
Or young with scabby knees…
(Apparently hats have social classes now.
Fascinating.)
(…The song continued with enthusiastic nonsense…)
For our heads could do with filling
With some interesting stuff…
(My hair is about to become dirty again.)
For now they’re bare and full of air,
Dead flies and bits of fluff…
(Infusing thought into objects…
still worth researching.)
The song ended in absolute chaos.
Everyone had chosen wildly different melodies and tempos.
Some students screamed the lyrics.
Others mumbled.
A few attempted opera.
The Weasley twins somehow transformed it into a funeral march.
“Wow,” Ivy remarked lifelessly, “they actually managed to sing a school anthem like a tavern brawl.”
“Good thing there’s only one magical school in Britain.”
“Otherwise Hogwarts would definitely place dead last in a school choir competition.”
Dumbledore happily conducted the twins through the final notes of the Funeral March before dabbing at his eyes emotionally.
“Ah, music,” he declared.
“A magic beyond all we do here!”
“And now, bedtime!
Off you go!”
The moment he finished speaking, the Opening Feast officially ended.
Naturally, Ivy immediately transformed his plain school robes back into his magnificent Slytherin relic robes.
Under the guidance of their respective prefects, students from each House began heading toward their common rooms.
Ivy, Draco and his two bodyguards, Cassandra, and the remaining first-year Slytherins followed the female prefect, Gemma Farley, through the crowd and down a staircase leading underground. This story is hosted at NovelPing.
Slytherin House’s common room and dormitories were located beneath the castle near the dungeons.
The entrance appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary stone wall.
But when Slytherin students approached, a massive stone serpent slid writhing from within the wall itself.
Only after speaking the correct password would the serpent transform into the entrance door.
“Glory,” Gemma Farley announced.
The stone serpent arched its body and became a doorway.
Before leading everyone inside, Gemma turned back toward the first-years.
“‘Glory’ is the current password,” she explained.
“Normally it changes every two weeks.
The new password will be posted on the notice board inside the common room.”
“So remember to check it.”
“And whatever you do, don’t forget the password.
Otherwise you’ll be stuck waiting outside until someone lets you in.”
The first-years nodded obediently.
Only then did Gemma guide them into the Slytherin common room.
The room resembled a long, low underground chamber.
Which, technically speaking, it was.
Even the dormitories themselves had mostly been converted from old prison cells.
Green-shaded lamps hung from chains attached to the ceiling, casting eerie emerald light throughout the chamber.
Still, the furniture inside was extremely luxurious.
As the House with the largest concentration of pure-blood aristocratic families among its alumni, Slytherin regularly received extravagant gifts.
Velvet cushions.
Beautifully carved tables.
Expensive chairs.
Decorations of every imaginable kind.
Among the four Hogwarts Houses, Slytherin might not have been the warmest or most comfortable—
But it was unquestionably the most lavish.
One side of the common room featured enormous windows overlooking Black Lake.
Because the room sat beneath the lake itself, very little light entered even during daytime.
Now, at night, the windows revealed nothing but dark water pressing endlessly against the glass.
Waiting inside the common room was another older student.
The badge on his chest clearly marked him as a prefect as well.
“Welcome,” the older boy announced proudly.
“Welcome to Slytherin.”
“Before your arrival, Slytherin had already won the House Cup six years in a row.”
“So this year, our mission remains exactly the same.”
“We keep it here.”
(End of Chapter)