Bloodline chapter 7

Chapter 7 -

Dan couldn't help but stare as he and the other Ravenclaw first years followed their prefects towards the Ravenclaw common room, there was so much to see and he hadn't even stayed here a single night yet. There were moving staircases, the portraits were all alive and ghosts flew about wherever they damn well wanted to. And Dan had so many questions.

'Can the ghosts touch the other ghosts?' He wondered in his head. 'Can anyone become a ghost? What's it like being a portrait? Do they have a lot of space behind the frame? What if someone ruins the portrait? What happens to the painted beings inside? Can you just add anyone into a portrait anytime you like? Were the stairs built to move or did that happen over time? Is there a safety net to catch students if they fall? How many people have fallen? What do we do if the prefects fall? How many calories will I burn climbing up and down these stairs every day?'

Many more questions filled Dan's head during the walk, questions that he knew would probably not be answered today, not all of them at least. It wasn't long before they finally arrived at the Ravenclaw common room entrance. Standing in front of them was a large brown door with a large bronze knocker in the shape of an eagle.

"Now," The male prefect said, a neat-looking boy with brown hair. "This is your common room, basically where you'll be staying for the next seven years or so. Every common room is different, ours operates via riddles. Basically, you come up to the door and every time you want entry, it'll ask you a riddle. Get it right and you can enter,"

"If you get it wrong then you'll have to wait for someone else to get it right," The female prefect spoke next, a blue-eyed blonde. "Any questions so far?" Dan's hand shot up. "Yes?"

"What if it finds a riddle that everyone gets wrong and we can't work out the answer to it?" He asked curiously, the two prefects shared a look before turning back to Dan.

"Well, it'll ask for a new riddle each time, so that's not likely," The female said eventually. "Anyway, let's get started-"

"Sorry, one more question," Dan said, hand raising up again. "If it answers to riddles then does that mean that just anyone can get into our common room?"

"No," The male prefect said easily. "That's the thing, it only gives the riddle options to Ravenclaws."

"What about everyone else?" Another boy asked.

"They can bloody well get lost," The knocker spoke suddenly, surprising the first years.

"The knocker has a bit of a personality," The female prefect said, looking quite used to the fact that knockers can speak. "It took a while to stop him from cursing, let me tell you. So, can we please enter?" She asked the knocker.

"A man was out for a walk when it started to rain. He did not have an umbrella and he wasn't wearing a hat. His clothes were soaked, yet not a single hair on his head got wet. How could this happen?" The knocker asked.

"Anyone want to give it a guess?" The male prefect offered to the first years.

"Did he use a spell?" One of them guessed.

"Fuck off, did he use a spell?" The knocker demanded incredulously. "That's your answer for everything, is it? Spells, huh? You tie your own shoelaces with those, do you? You want me to teach you one so you can wash your backsides as well?"

"Guess we couldn't keep him from swearing for long," The male prefect sighed.

"Umm..." Dan raised his hand again. "...Was the man bald?" He guessed."I mean, you can't get hair wet if you don't have any, right?" 

"An acceptable answer," The knocker said, a lot more patiently this time before the door opened.

"Come on then," The male prefect said before guiding the students in.

Dan couldn't help but blink as he looked around at the large circular room that had arched windows punctuating the walls. By day, the Ravenclaws would have a spectacular view of the surrounding mountains. The ceiling was domed and painted with stars, which were echoed in the midnight-blue carpet. There were tables, chairs and in a niche opposite the door stood a tall statue of white marble. A statue of the house founder, Rowena Ravenclaw. Though what quickly caught Dan's eye was the rather large bookcases, yes, he was going to like it here.

"Alright, listen up," The first years all turned their attention back to the prefects. "Time for introductions, I am Penelope Clearwater and with me is Leroy Courtson." She said, looking around to make sure they were all paying attention. "Now, you can come to either of us or any of the older prefects if you ever need anything."

"Though if it's really serious then you can go to Professor Flitiwck as well," Leroy added. "He's the head of our house and he'll be your charms teacher. Now, you can read any book here if you want but you're not allowed to take these ones out of the common room. However, you are allowed to donate books to the collection if you want. We got a nice mix of books designed to teach and entertain, but I'd recommend going to the Hogwarts library for your school work."

"Yes," Penelope agreed. "Anyway, be prepared to wake up nice and early tomorrow, we'll escort you to the great hall for breakfast and then you'll get your timetables. Now, it's time for bed. Boys go up the stairs to your right, girls do the same on your left. Night everyone."

(.)

"You're amazing!"

"I know," Tonks replied with a grin.

The first year Hufflepuffs were all sitting, gathered around the metamorph as she changed her hair to the oddest colours and styles she could think of. Everything from black and blue mohawks to red and white buzz cuts. After a while she went back to her normal shoulder-length pink hair and then started showing off her animal transformations, giving herself a duck's bill before switching it to a pig's snout and then following up with cat eyes.

"Can you turn into animals as well?" A first-year redhead named Susan Bones questioned her with an awed look.

"Nah, can make faces and a few body changes but can't make the full change," Tonks said in an almost apologetic voice. "I can give myself a few feathers and scales, can't turn into a bird or a fish though. "

"Still, it's cool!" Another girl with blonde pigtails blurted out, her name was Hannah Abbot if Tonks remembered right.

"True," Tonks smirked.

(.)

Iris smiled as she entered the Gryffindor common room along with the other students, the common room was a cosy, round room full of armchairs and sofas along with the occasional table. There were large windows which allowed one to look outside the castle and a large fireplace under a portrait of a lion. The common room was guarded by nothing but a portrait of a woman that was apparently known as the 'Fat Lady', a bit rude in Iris's opinion. To be honest, she also found it disappointing, she was kind of hoping that there would be a couple of lion statues or something guarding them. 

"Listen up, everyone," Said the prefect, Percy Weasley, if she remembered his name correctly. "Welcome to the Gryffindor common room, now, boys will be up the stairs and on the left, while the girls will be upstairs and on the right. All your stuff will already be there, now, it's time for bed. Go up and try to wake up early tomorrow so you can be escorted to breakfast. Off you go then,"

Iris and the other girls did as they were told and headed up to their room, once inside she looked around the room. It was a circular room with a bed for each girl, all equally spread out. Next to each bed was a desk with a mirror on top along with a chair. The beds had large headrests and a frame that allowed curtains to cover the bed. At the end of each bed were their trunks. It didn't take long for Iris to find her bed, placed in the middle of the room. She quickly walked over and sat down on it, enjoying the comfortable mattress. Yeah, this bed was better than the Dursley one in about every way possible.

Once she and the other girls got settled in, they eventually started introducing themselves. There was Lavender Brown, a girl with curly brown hair. Then there was Parvati Patil, an Indian girl who if she remembered right had a twin in Ravenclaw, she had light brown skin and black hair tied in a ponytail. And then there was Hermione Granger, a bushy-haired girl with big buck teeth.

"Your brother is really nice," Hermione told her. "He helped poor Neville find his toad,"

"Harry is really nice," Iris confirmed with a grin. "He's the best,"

"Let's see the lion he gave you," Parvati giggled. Iris proudly held up the lion ball and tapped it with her wand, it shifted into its lion mode. "Your brother is so cool," Parvati said in an awed voice.

"And handsome," Lavender added, earning giggles from the two. "Is he looking for a girlfriend?" Lavender asked hopefully.

"No," Iris said bluntly and quickly.

(.)

Harry let out a sigh as he entered the Slytherin common room along with the other Slytheirns, he looked around and saw the new first-year students scattered around, all looking around the common room. Most of the Slytherins went to do their own things like read books or catch up with each other, a few went to talk to the first years. The common room was exactly as Harry remembered it, dark and green and calm. The windows allowed the Slytherins to view the black lake, occasionally the giant squid would appear in view. Many portraits and statues of snakes were spread throughout the room.

"So," Daphne said as she stopped next to him. "I suppose you're happy now," She told him. "Your brother and sister and finally at Hogwarts, does that mean we'll see less of your infamous 'Potter brooding'?"

"Perhaps," Harry said thoughtfully. "I haven't yet considered if I should brood less or more, I'll inform you as soon as I make a decision." He informed her with the utmost seriousness.

"As well as you should," Daphne nodded in a satisfied manner. Harry opened his mouth to respond when a rather loud voice cut in.

"And then just as I was about to secure Iris Potter's friendship, her dull brother interrupts," Harry's gaze snapped to the owner of the voice. Sitting in a green chair, surrounded by the other first years and a couple of older students. The boy had slicked-back blonde hair, grey eyes and a cocky look on his face. "The imbecile went to Ravenclaw, surprisingly enough. I have no idea how an idiot like him managed that. Still, he better stay out of my way if he knows what's good for him." The boy continued on, sitting on the chair as if it were a throne and the people around him were his subjects. "Maybe we should set an example with him,"

"Excuse me," Harry politely said to Daphne before he walked towards the boy, Daphne didn't say anything and looked rather resigned to what was going to happen.

"You shouldn't be talking about the Potters like that," One of the older students warned the boy in a serious tone.

"Why not?" The young boy scoffed.

"I think he's right," A seventh-year boy growled. "The Potters are hardly friends of ours,"

"They..." The first Slytherin trailed off as Harry stopped behind the first year.

"Firstie, you're in my seat," Harry said calmly. The boy looked back and sneered at Harry, not noticing the older Slytherins deciding that they wanted some distance from him and walking off to a respectable distance away.

"Your seat?" The boy snorted, staring at Harry like he was something that had been pulled out of a gutter. "I think you'll find that right now, this is my seat." He smirked before turning back, only to blink when he saw the upper years gone. He was about to open his mouth when suddenly he found himself and the chair rising into the air. "What the..." He yelped as the chair suddenly started rushing towards the fireplace, pulling him along with it. With a scream, he threw himself off of the chair before it could land in the fire. He landed roughly on the floor with a groan, pulling himself up he looked at the fireplace and didn't see any sign that something had been tossed in.

Looking back, he saw that the chair he had been in was still in its original spot and was now sat in by the older student who had just been talking to him—an older year with messy hair and emerald eyes that glinted with amusement. 

"H...How dare you?!" He shrieked as he got to his feet. "Do you know who I am?! I'm Draco Malfoy!"

"Malfoy?" Harry repeated softly before a small grin appeared on his face. "Ah, you're Lucius's son. You're father's on the school board, is he not?"

"Exactly!" Draco sneered at him. "You had better apologize to me or my father will hear about this,"

"I look scared of old Lucy to you?" Harry smirked just as Daphne sat down on his chair's armrest.

"I must say, I'm rather disappointed in the quality of our new Slyhterins," She told Harry. "Already joining the most prestigious school in the world and he's still stuck calling for his 'Daddy' as soon as something goes wrong. Perhaps we accidentally picked up a Hufflepuff instead," Many people laughed at her joke, some because they thought it was funny, some out of healthy respect and fear and some just because they wanted to pick up brownie points with one of the most beautiful girls in the school.

"Who do you think you are?!" Draco demanded, face flushed with embarrassment and anger.

"I, you arrogant little boy, am Daphne Greengrass, heiress to the 'Ancient and Noble House of Greengrass'." She said, staring down at him like he was a bug that she was considering stepping on. Draco froze as he realised just who he was talking to. It occurred to him that he was no longer surrounded by groups of mudbloods and blood traitors like he had been in the school hall, no, now he was in Slytherin house where a lot of other purebloods happened to be. Draco knew of most pureblood families, especially the important ones, and the Greengrass family were definitely some of the more important ones.

"And I am Harry," Harry spoke up as he stood from his seat and stared down at the young Malfoy. "Harry Potter, the big brother of the two siblings you wanted to set an example of," Harry added, giving the younger boy a hard stare. "You are young, you don't know better. So I'm willing to let it slide, just this once." He then turned to the seventh year who had agreed with Malfoy earlier. "You, on the other hand, are old enough to know better."

"I'm not scared of you, Potter!" He snapped, pulling out his wand and nearly dropping it. "You forget, your precious little brother and sister are here now and that means -"

"That means I am far less forgiving than I was previously," Harry said before he flicked his wrist out and the the older student's wand flew out of his hand. "You had learnt not to mess with me when I was just fighting for myself, yet now you think you can do so when I have real motivation to fight? The summer must have dulled your brain, allow me to fix that."

"Potter, I..." The boy trailed off as black smoke poured out of Harry's hand and swam towards the older boy. The smoke travelled up his nose and into his mouth, causing him to drop to his knees. The seventh-year gasped loudly, his eyes growing wide as he stared up at Harry who was calmly staring at him for only a moment before turning to the now horrified Draco.

"Listen well, you little prat," Harry told him in a cold voice. "You think you can do anything to me? You can't, these Slytherins here know that I will come for each and every one of them if they speak out against me. Of course, you have the occasional idiot like this one, but for the most part, they remember. I am in charge here, anyone want to disagree with me?" He asked, looking around. The majority of the Slytherins bowed their heads, none of them spoke up against him. "You want to talk to my brother and sister then do so, you want to be their little rival, then go on. But if I get even a hint that you're planning to hurt them then I don't care what your dad says, the next few years will not be comfortable. Do you understand me?"

"Y...yes," Draco said shakily, looking like he had swallowed something disgusting. He could hardly believe what was happening, he was supposed to be the one in charge here. His own father had told him that the other students wouldn't dare act against him, not if meant having the full might of the Malfoy family bearing down on them. Yet, here this older student was, talking down to Draco like he was a filthy mudblood. This would not stand! First thing in the morning, he was going to write a letter to his father!