Dream's Deduction, Part I

I decided to split this chapter in two so that I wouldn't tax the lovely folk who run this place or myself. It's all written – just copy-writing remains.

Oh, and I'm sure there are Alarm Charms and whatnot, but I thought Scruffy was an interesting House-wide twist. You'll see.

Chapter 6: Dream's Deduction, Part I

The entire Hall held its collective breath. In the back of my mind, I knew that our Sorting was being closely watched. And not because it paused overlong like it did on Ali's head, nor was it because we had family in two different Houses like Regulus. To my inward fury, the entire British wizarding community for one reason only closely scrutinized us – because we were the Obliviated Twins.

The Hat's voice rang out in the Great Hall.

"GRYF – "

"NO!"

The whole Hall stared at the Hat and the boy on the stool. Not a person had not heard my brother – my brother – distinctly turn down Gryffindor. I glanced across the Hall at the red-swathed table, at Remus and the three other Marauders. Remus looked hurt, but unsurprised. The other three buffoons were beside themselves with indignity.

"SLYTHERIN!" Scorpius half-ran over to the green table, his entire face a particularly nasty shade of puce. He sat by me and immediately buried his face in his arms. Still, as though there were more to be seen, they stared. I scowled at the three tables beyond ours, and slowly backs began to turn.

McGonagall cleared her throat, and the Hall turned its eyes to the final boy. I didn't even catch his name before he became a Gryffindor. Away went the stool and the list, and the Hat, and up on his feet went Dumbledore. There was a pensive quality to his stature for only a moment. He morphed before our eyes back into the doddering old fool he usually appeared to be.

"Good evening!" he said, his voice bouncing off the walls jovially. "I think we're all a bit peaked, so I'll be short. Eat up!"

As he sat back down to raucous applause, food in platters, tureens, and bowls appeared on the table before us. I could almost hear the wood creaking under the weight. Carafes full of pumpkin juice and iced water appeared close but not enough to get knocked over. Ali pointed to the roast chicken to my right. I pulled the whole platter over for her and I.

"It's good to see a Slytherin who already protects their own," Lucius said, smiling gently at little Ali. "What might your name be?"

"Alioth Mulciber," she whispered, her hand frozen over a boat of broccoli and rice. "But my friends call me Ali."

"That's a beautiful name," he said smoothly. She smiled shyly at him and then silently offered me the broccoli. To ease her mind, I accepted it and some boiled potatoes before settling in to eat.

Lucius continued as everyone turned to their individual plates. "Hecate, Scorpius, Ali, Regulus, welcome to Slytherin House." There were a few other first-years down the way, but they were out of earshot.

"Thank you," I said, taking a sip of pumpkin juice. I noticed that every one of the elder Slytherins ate with grace, something Molly had never mentioned before. Not an elbow on the table or a single twine faced up. I suddenly felt entirely uncouth. "Er, Lucius..." I trailed off, trying to figure out how to voice my concern.

"Don't be frightened to ask questions," he said, his tone light. "We know that you have lost much of your recollections. As I said, it is wonderful to see a Slytherin who already has the inclination to protect our own." His grey eyes smiled briefly at little Ali again. "It is what Slytherins do – we are a family here, Hecate."

I blushed and glanced down at my plate. "I... well, I noticed that everyone else is well... eating different than Score and I."

"Oh, that," Lucius chuckled softly and gestured to a black-haired boy at the far end of the table. I barely recognized him. "Severus, too, did not learn pureblood table manners at home. It's all right. We will help you once you've settled in a bit more."

"And Cissa, Illi, and I are in your dorm," Bellatrix pointed out. "So we'll help you with your hair and make-up and such."

I frowned. I didn't like make-up – Molly'd already tried it – though doing up my hair for Potions class would be most welcome. "I'd like to skip make-up, if you don't mind."

"Of course," the elder Black sister said before the younger two could protest. "You possess a natural beauty, Hecate, just as the goddess you are named for. You don't require paint." She cast a stern gaze on her two sisters for emphasis.

"She is right, you know," Lucius said, smiling into his spoon of stew. "You do."

"Of course she does," Scorpius said. "She's my sister!"

"And we can be grateful she doesn't have your arrogance," said little Regulus Black with a teasing grin.

"Hey!" Scorpius protested.

Ali coughed into her pumpkin juice.

"He's joking, Score," I said.

"Score," Lucius said. "I like that nickname. Heck and Score."

Regulus grinned over his goblet. "I like it. My brother's been talking about you nonstop since mum sent him over to the hospital. 'Hecate's so cute, but I think she hates me.' 'Scorpius this and Scorpius that.' He and Potter are enamored, I think."

I blinked at the eleven-year-old. "I only hung around him once after St. Mungo's. Why would he think I hated him?"

Lucius laughed and ruffled the smaller boy's hair. "That would, I think, be precisely the reason he thinks so, Heck. Men of Sirius' constitution are easily wounded by slights."

"I didn't slight him, I just didn't want to sit 'round and talk about a game I've never seen before," I retorted. "It's not like he isn't a pleasant person. He's just... odd. So is Potter, to be honest. Remus is better. He's smart. And Muggle or not, his mum's fudge is to die for."

Scorpius shifted in his seat beside me, slowly nibbling away at a hot roll.

"Well, I should point out that Slytherins rarely get along with Gryffindors, though there are exceptions," Lucius said, glancing down at the end of the table. I followed his gaze. Severus Snape sat all alone at the end, eating politely. He had a book open in front of him.

"Well, I still like Remus," I said, shrugging.

"As Severus still, despite our hints, likes Evans," Lucius mumbled. I didn't think I was meant to hear, so I ignored it.

The main dishes cleared soon after that. The afters included anything you could possibly imagine: puddings and treacle, éclairs and biscuits. To my delight, hot chamomile tea and scones appeared at my elbow. I sipped at my tea and ate one scone and one biscuit. Molly had told me that desserts were to be taken in small portions.

"So what are the teachers like?"

"McGonagall is the worst of them," said Narcissa. "She's super strict, and she rarely gives points to anyone. She teaches Transfiguration."

"But she is fair, especially for the Head of House for Gryffindor," Lucius contended. "She awards and takes points by actions alone – I think she may be color blind except she does know what House you're in when she does take or give."

"Who's our Head of House?"

"That'd be Slughorn," Illi said, pointing up at the table. "He's the walrus-y lookin' fellow there on the end. Potions master. He's a big ole pushover, though, mark my words."

"What about the Charms instructor?"

"Oh, that's Flitwick. They say he used to be a dueling champion, but... I don't know about the truth in that," Illi said. "He's the really short one there. Head of Ravenclaw House."

"Defense?" Scorpius asked around me.

Narcissa and Bellatrix scanned the table. "Don't know. Nobody new up there."

"New?"

"The position's cursed," Illi clarified. "So we get a brand-new Defense teacher every year."

"Every year?" I sighed. "Isn't that a bit... uneven?"

"Don't worry too much," Lucius said. "We self-study in our House. There's a class every Friday night by the prefects. We also do dueling on Saturdays."

"And we girls have swimming at seven every morning," Narcissa added. "To keep up our womanly figures."

"I'd love to learn how to duel and swim," I said, smiling.

Scorpius didn't comment, but shifted in his seat again. His head was ducked low, his eyes firmly on the golden plate before him.

"Don't worry, we've got great activities all the time," Lucius said. "It's all student-run, no teacher involvement."

He said this as though this was preferable, but a nagging feeling at the back of my head spoke otherwise. Ali tugged on my sleeve lightly.

"Do I get to go swimming with you, Hecate?"

"Of course you do," said Narcissa from beside her. "Do you know how already?"

Ali nodded, blushing cutely.

The platters cleared then, leaving behind only carafes of iced water. Dumbledore reclaimed his feet and the Hall went silent. I leaned in carefully to listen to him. I did, however, notice that many of my Housemates did not.

"Again, good evening, welcome, and welcome back! In these troubled times, it is doubly important that you each follow school rules closely, as they are there for your safety." Dumbledore looked especially gravely toward the Gryffindor table.

"First-years will note that the forest on the grounds is strictly forbidden. I ask that all students exercise extreme caution while out on the grounds. We have several new security measures up, but it is not prudent to test those measures.

"On a lighter note, Quidditch sign-ups will go through to the end of the week. Contact Madam Hooch for the particulars. We would also like to extend our condolences to our two new third-year Slytherins, Hecate and Scorpius Taylor, on the loss of their family and memories."

A dreadful blush colored straight through to the ends of my toenails as the whole Hall turned to stare at Scorpius and me. Again. Whispers hissed from the other three tables. Even some of the teachers leaned over to their neighbor's ears. Dumbledore's voice rose over the whispers.

"Our new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor arrives tomorrow. She will get a proper introduction tomorrow evening at supper. With that last bit of news, I bid you all good night."

Lucius stood up abruptly and lightly called out over the table. "First-years, please remain near at least one prefect. Scorpius, Hecate, Alioth, Regulus, follow me, all right?"

The rest of the first-years gathered around another fifth-year and two sixth-years. There were a total of nine new first-years, plus Scorpius and me as the new third-years. The other seven attached themselves to the prefects, and we left the Great Hall in one rather large group.

"The Slytherin Common Room is quite near, but do keep up, you will need the password," Lucius said over his shoulder. Even then, he was graceful. His school robes billowed out behind him in an elegant sweep.

After leaving the Great Hall, we took a right through the arched doorways beyond the white marble staircase. Several doors lined this corridor, including a recessed doorway with a gargoyle seated ominously in front. Ali's hand found mine yet again; I kept pace with her.

"That's the staff room. Most of these classrooms are unused," Lucius explained, waving his hand over the doors. "Professor Slughorn allows us to use classroom six there for our study groups after supper. The door there on your left is the caretaker Filch's office. You'd do well to avoid him and his cat Mrs. Norris at all costs." On this door was a long list of banned objects.

At the end of the corridor was a set of stairs that went down and another long corridor of what looked like more unused classrooms. Exactly how many classrooms did a school need, anyway?

A door was ajar at the bottom of the steps, and a light on in the far side of the room it held. Lucius poked his head into the room.

"All right, Professor?" he said.

The portly man from the Head Table toddled out, a grin on his broad face that stretched just as wide. "Of course, Lucius, me boy, of course. I see we have our new batch of first-years." His eyes lit on Scorpius and I. "Oho! And the Taylor twins, as well. I'll see you on Friday."

With that, the man spun away, back through the door. I caught sight of a sliding panel in his office that led into what looked like a plush sitting room.

"If you ever need anything, come and see Professor Slughorn," Lucius said, continuing toward the left. "He is our Head of House."

We passed several other dungeon rooms, all of which had a silver number at the top. After passing Dungeon One, we came to a blank stretch of wall. The end of the corridor contained nothing; no other doors, no art, no gargoyles, no suits of armor. Just an empty space of wall leading to a dead end. I opened my mouth to ask where we were going when Lucius stopped. Ali kept walking forward, and I squeezed her hand to stop her from running into Lucius.

"The entrance to our dorms and common room is here," Lucius said, pointing to what looked like a perfectly solid bit of wall. "The password is 'snake charmer.'"

At the words, the wall responded by simply vanishing. No rumbling as bricks moved apart, nor moving to one side or up or down; no, it simply went away. A pale green glow came from within. Ali's hand slid in my hand as she tried to get a better grip.

Lucius led the way again. The common room was huge, about the same size as the entrance hall, but Lucius' head almost brushed the ceiling. I was glad for once I was so short. I was certain Rabastan Lestrange and Severus Snape weren't so happy for their height. Of course, Severus did not look so happy anyway, with anything.

The common room was full of armchairs in green leather and coffee tables carved with snakes. An enormous fireplace, big enough for every person I knew by name to fit in at once, stood off to the left. Two large tapestries, one green and one silver, both with our Slytherin crest hung on the far wall. Windows shimmering with pale green-blue light sat in the far wall. On closer inspection, they opened not to the night air, but the bottom of the lake. Sconces and floating candles shaped like vipers lit the remaining room.

At first glance, it looked rather terrifying. On the second, however, it had a sort of ebb and flow to it, a soothing sort of melody. That is, until Ali's hand clenched harder still than it had all night in mine.

"M-Mister... Mister Malfoy?" she murmured, her voice tight with fear. "I-Is that a-a human skull?"

My head turned so quick that I cricked my neck, but I didn't care. Sitting on the mantel of the fireplace was, in fact, a white skull. A single candle whose green wax was not melting stood inside of it, casting an eerie glow from within it.

"Oh, no," Lucius said soothingly to the girl. "That is a house-elf skull. I was just going to get to Scruffy; thank you for pointing her out, Alioth." I could feel my mouth quirk at the corners. They'd named a dead house-elf's skull? "You see, first-years, our House is much like a family. Scruffy here," he patted the skull on the top of the cranium, "is our morning wake-up call. She comes to life every morning and wakes us all up, beginning with the seventh-years and working down."

Far from looking soothed, Ali's eyes widened in terror. One of the sixth-year prefects, a girl with plain brown hair, stepped forward.

"Don't worry, she won't hurt you," she said. "Scruffy is an illusion, and she will mimic that which will make you feel most at home. The skull is just to frighten away people who are not of our House."

I glanced at the skull. "So basically it's a charm that mimics whatever means of waking up will be most familiar to an individual? For instance, if a person was used to a Muggle alarm clock – that's what they'd hear?"

"Precisely," Lucius said, nodding. "I, for example, have a bucket of water dumped on my head." He gave a toothy grin, but did not elaborate.

"Are you wet in the morning, then?" I asked.

Lucius just grinned wider. "Are you?"

Several of the older students snickered, but Ali and I exchanged a confused look at the quip. Why was that funny? Scorpius, however, was glaring at Lucius, his neck and cheeks a deep pink. I decided to ask him later what it had meant.

Lucius cleared his throat. "At any rate, Scruffy will wake you at six o'clock. The second-years will help you get ready – Hecate, Scorpius, your roommates will assist you. Ladies, your dorms are under the silver tapestry, gentlemen, the green. Good night."

With that, Narcissa, Bellatrix, and Illiad appeared from out of nowhere and dragged me down under the silver tapestry.

I turned around and called, "Good night, Score!"

I hoped that he heard me.