The Rules of the Game

There is a change of view point in this chapter, I mark it by ~~~~*****~~~~ but don\'t say who\'s POV it is because it\'s obvious (I think) if you want me to say whose POV it is in the future let me know.

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\"Well that was interesting.\" I heard the woman ground out and knew questions were coming. I contemplated obliviating them both and giving them the memory of retrieving me with no problem, but with the man\'s shields that I had yet to examine, I wasn\'t positive if I could get past them.

\"I fear we haven\'t been properly introduced, I\'m Professor McGonagall and this is Professor Snape.\" The strict witch told me.

\"I\'m Harry Potter, but I believe you already knew that.\" I said and gave a small smile. It was all fake, but before my hopes of coming here had been dashed I had begun thinking about what I would have to do to convince these people that I was just another innocent, happy child. I watched them carefully and was pleased that neither of them saw that it was a farce but I believe Snape was a little confused by my swift change in attitude.

\"Now Harry, about your Uncle...\"

\"Excuse me ma\'am but can we get to where ever this school is? It\'s late and I actually haven\'t had dinner yet.\" Not that I ever had had dinner before but she didn\'t know that and it was the best I could come up with on the spot. At this point none of the excuses I would be able to come up with would explain my Uncles behavior or anything that went on in that house, I had to just hope that they stopped trying to ask and then let it slip from their minds. I would definitely be helping the witch with that, she seemed more concerned than the other anyway and more likely to cause trouble.

\"Oh yes, we\'ll be taking a portkey that will take us to just outside the Great Hall, everyone should be sitting down to eat so we can have you sorted, feed, and then off to bed.\" She said and then pulled out a small tattered book from her pocket and after we had all taken a hold of it I felt something pull from behind my navel and we were gone.


*****

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Outside Great Hall Entrance
September 2nd 7:15 pm


I don\'t think I\'m going to put \'portkey\' down as one of my favorite ways to travel, it was most unpleasant and it took me a moment to regain me feet. When I did I looked around and was amazed at where I was. What I had read about Hogwarts was quite interesting but to see it was a whole different thing.

\"Severus, why don\'t you go in first and let Dumbledore know that we have him, then we\'ll come in in a minute.\" McGonagall told him and with a sneer he opened the doors, letting through the loud collection of voices for a moment before the door closed again.

Without waiting any longer I turned to McGonagall, pushed my magic easily into her mind wiping out the memories she had of the Dursleys and building up new ones. It took a bit longer than usual but when I pulled out I saw that her eyes were glazed over and then they slowly began to clear as she blinked and I knew it had worked. I gave her mind a minute to adjust while I slipped on the school robe I had taken from my trunk.

\"Should we go in Professor?\" I asked and she blinked again before she smiled.

\"Yes of course.\" She said and stepped forward, pushing open the doors and revealing the most amazing room.


The amount of magic active in the room made me dizzy for a moment after I entered but I quickly recovered. I played the shy new boy and followed the professor to the head table where there was a stool with a wizard\'s hat waiting on it. I recognized the Sorting Hat immediately and felt excitement stir in the pit of my stomach. As I listened to the old man speak I studied him and had a feeling he would be trouble. I scanned his mind lightly and caught that his top thoughts were already planning in ways to use me. I struggled to keep the sneer off my face from that and followed the orders when asked to sit and put on the hat.

Now that meeting was amusing, I think Salazar managed to slip more of himself into the hat than the other founders realized because I liked the old thing instantly. He had had to ask me to lower my shields to see in my mind and after exacting an oath that nothing he saw would be mentioned to Dumbledore I lowered them. I chuckled in my head as I watched the hats mental jaw drop at the site of my fortress but since he did amuse me I led him in a back door and allowed him to skim over a bit of my life. He had known his decision as soon as he saw what was past my shields but we talked to each other for a while longer, amusing each other and speculating at what must be going through the heads of those waiting impatiently in the hall. When ten minutes had gone by we decided we better part so with a shout from the hat I took it off and through the silence in the hall, (except for the clank of a cup that reminded me of something I had to do) walked over to where I belonged, with the Slytherins.

~~~~~********~~~~~

When McGonagall had come in the hall all smiles I was surprised, I didn\'t know that she had the ability to hid her anger so well because I was certainly still pissed by what was said in that house. I had known that there was something weird by the lack of evidence of Potter even living there and then when I saw his \'Uncle\' and compared him to Potter and what the boy looked like and had been wearing I grew more worried.

If I had been surprised by that it was nothing compared to what I felt when the hat finally announced the boy as Slytherin, I actually dropped the cup that had been in my hand but I don\'t think anyone noticed, I barely did. The boy in Slytherin? The son of the two most Gryffindorish people I knew, the son of that bastard that tormented me was in my house? Belonged in my house? Ugh, I knew that boy would be trouble, how could a Potter not be?

I was so caught up in my thoughts that it took me a moment before I realized that there was some one daring, and stupid enough to believe that they could get past my shields but then right as I thought that they did. Instinct took over and I threw up another shield, protecting my mind, but then who ever it was touched the shield and I could feel it unraveling. I had never seen something done to a shield like that, it wasn\'t possible, who had that kind of power? Desperate I threw up the strongest shield I knew and then struck out at who ever it was and pushed them out of my mind. I caught a sense of surprise from it before it was gone, as if it didn\'t know that that could happen which only confused me more. I snapped my gaze to Dumbledore immediately, reasoning that only he could have the power to do that but he was talking joyfully with Flitwick and I couldn\'t think of a reason why he would be trying to break into my mind. My gaze shifted to Quirrell, I had been sensing something strange from him since he got back but he too appeared... innocent. The rest of the meal I spent paranoid of everything but as the brats began to leave my eyes turned back to my house. They instantly found the Potter boy and I noticed there was nothing on his plate and no sign that anything had been on it; so much for not having had dinner. With a sneer I got up and left the room and headed down to the dungeons for a drink of firewhisky and maybe some research on powerful mind shields. I got half way when I remembered the meeting I had with Dumbledore, a meeting that I had set up.

\"Damn.\" I hissed to the empty hall and turned around heading back the way I had come.

*****

When I entered the office I found Dumbledore already there with Minerva but froze when I heard what she was saying.

\"It was rather simple retrieving the boy, the only problem was his family seemed so upset to see him go.\" For the first time in years my mask slipped entirely and I was sure my jaw just dropped open, stunned by her words. Minerva had been just as outrage by what those muggles had said as I, what changed her mind? No, there was no reason, it was like the woman had been obliviated... ah shit.

But the only other one who knew, or would want that kept quiet was Potter and he doesn\'t have the power to obliviate someone, he probably doesn\'t even know the spell. For some reason my mind flashed back to diner where someone powerful had tried to get in my mind, and it all began to fit a little more. No, it couldn\'t be.

\"Ahh Severus, there you are my boy, now what exactly did you need to talk about?\"

\"I think Minerva has summed it up, and it\'s been a long day.\" I told him, not even knowing why I was protecting the boy.

With that same damn twinkle he bid me good-night and I once again began my trek towards my rooms, feeling like I was going in circles. This had been a trying day, and if what I suspected of Potter was true, then he was a true Slytherin; deceptive, intelligent and powerful.

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Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Slytherin Common Room
September 2nd 8:00 pm

The first night in the dorms had been quite entertaining. Evidently once the shock wore off of the fact that I was in their house, the Slytherins decided that they would show me who was in charge... it didn\'t go so well. I had known from what I had read of the Slytherin house and from the feelings I was picking up from around me that the same façade that I used on the school wasn\'t going to work on them. So when they sat me down and then surrounded me in the common room about to dish out the threats I showed them what a true Slytherin was.

I had always had to suppress this part of me before and it was exhilarating to finally release it. It was almost like I had split personalities, but what I had realized when I came here was that this was a different world and for me to fit in it I would have to become something different. This world didn\'t want a broken boy for them to fix; they wanted a weapon that would be able to protect them. The idiots, I would give them their image of the boy they wished for so desperately, and enjoy the moment when they realized the truth. The truth, ironic because even when I did show them what I thought of them and what I am capable of, it would just be another façade. The same one that I would now give to these snakes, one of power, heartlessness; never would I let them see what I truly was, the freak the whore, no they would only see the side of me that wished for power, for the strength to win in this life.


The other 1st year Slytherin (Draco Malfoy I think) who took charge of the interrogation got about three words into his speech before I stopped him.

\"No...\" I interrupted standing up and dropping all pretenses of being scared and innocent; and that alone startled them to silence. My face was cold and uncaring but inside my heart was going a mile a minute. Though this was more me than my other facades this roll went against every rule that I had lived under for the past ten years. \"First you all need to know that I don\'t give a shit about what you think or say, just leave me the fuck alone. I\'m not the \'golden child\' that I will let the rest of the world believe I am, so don\'t think for one second that you can fuck with me.\" At that perfect moment a hiss came from my wrist and Persephone \'innocently\' stuck her head out from beneath my sleeve.

~Sssleep well my love?~

~Until I wasss ssso rudely awoken.~ She said sounding most annoyed and made me smirk.

\"Y-You speak parseltongue!\" The same white blonde haired boy asked.

\"Well, glad to see that you\'re all quick. Oh, and I set up a privacy binding spell so don\'t even bother trying to tell my little secret to someone.\" I sneered and then left to go find my room leaving all of them jumping out of my way and unable to speak; it was so much fun.

*****

When I woke in the morning my amusement from last nights event was gone. Sleeping in this strange new place had been difficult but it was the comfort that was disconcerting. I had had to change my mattress into basically nothing but had to leave the bed at the same size or someone would easily notice. I slept in the far corner curled in a ball but even with the curtains drawn it still felt too open, the air too fresh. I woke up at 5:30 in the morning like always to discover that my roommate was the very same boy that had been my interrogator. It was odd sharing a room with someone else and I was glad I had mastered keeping a glamour up all the time long ago. I heard the other three houses shared one room with all their year mates so once again I was glad that I was a Slytherin. After dressing and leaving Persephone warm in my bed I left the Slytherin dorms to explore the castle, and after visiting Erebus in the owlery I went to find what I was really looking for, the library. I think Madam Pince was surprised to find a student up so early, but she said nothing and left me to my exploring. I was half way through a book on the techniques for transfiguring clothing when I noticed it was time for breakfast.

The first breakfast down at the Great Hall was as awkward as it had been last night and I decided I wouldn\'t be coming for breakfast again but would go to the library; not like I ate anything anyway. The whispers and eyes of the other children that were so blatantly directed at me were not only disconcerting but bloody annoying. Not to mention that each time someone with enough courage called my name I didn\'t respond to it until I realized they were talking to me. After living so long in a place where I was only \'boy\' or \'freak\' it seemed to take my brain a couple extra seconds to connect \'Harry\' to me.

As classes started I was eager to finally get to use my wand and begin learning magic. What I quickly discovered was that using a wand just allowed me to do spells while restricting the amount of power put into it meaning I couldn\'t change the strength. Sure that would be helpful for those who are weak or have no control but compared to my wandless magic it was exceedingly inferior. It was disappointing and frustrating though I suppose it was a way to save my energy and of course I had to keep up the pretense of needing one. After easily performing the levitation charm on my first try and seeing the reaction of my peers and Professor Flitwick I realized how pathetic the others were. Everything in all the classes was so simple, but after the first time I didn\'t want anymore eyes on me and pretend to struggle along with the others. The only class that I found not disappointing was potions where I finally got the chance to brew something.

When the first potions lesson came for some reason I got the impression Snape was testing me, not sure what gave me that impression, maybe it was the 50 questions he was snapping at me. He seemed both annoyed and pleased at the results, pleased most likely only because of the points he award his house, but I allowed him to have his amusement, this was the one class where I wouldn\'t hide my talent... well not all of it. I could tell that the man was intrigued by me and I would show him that I deserved his attention. I wasn\'t sure what it was about him but for the first time I actually wanted someone\'s approval. The mere thought made me cringe internally, long ago I had promised myself that I needed nothing from another human, and here I was wanting to impress one, despicable. But despite it all the feeling didn\'t go away and part of me wouldn\'t let me push it away so I settled for being efficient while not drawing undue attention.


Besides the joke that most of my classes were there was also a problem of the number of people. At my old schools everyone stayed away from me, but here we were packed into halls and everyone was running into you trying to get somewhere. It was all a bit over whelming and I struggled to stay calm with everyone so near, it was probably the one good thing that came with my fame, everyone for the most part gave me some space making it slightly bearable; unfortunately it also came with the staring, pointing and whispers.

Waiting until everyone else left the class usually worked in avoiding the large groups but I should have known it wouldn\'t last. It was one of the times after potions with the Gryffindors when the idiot Neville managed to destroy his cauldron and release one of the most horrid smells. Everyone was gagging from it but Snape refused to let us out or disperse the smell, making everyone even more pissed at the stupid Gryffindor. When the bell finally rang everyone rushed from the room, desperate to get away. It wasn\'t until someone hit me from behind, knocking me into another person on my right that I realized that people were too close, way too close. I felt my heart pounding in my chest and I tried to get away but I was being pulled along with the others. As my panic grew I felt my magic begin to react to me and fight to get free and relieve me from what ever was causing my panic. I tried to relax and pull it back under control but they were too near, I didn\'t want anyone touching me, anyone near me. I could feel energy crackling in my clenched fists but before I lost control I saw a door that I knew lead to a currently empty classroom and lunged for it. I ignored the cries of annoyance from the others as I was finally released from the crowed and slammed the door shut behind me. The room was dark, the dust protesting the classrooms non-usage but the voices were still too loud and I couldn\'t breathe. I gasped for breath as I staggered to the other side of the room to one of the far dark corners tempted to collapse in the comforting corner but wouldn\'t allow myself that show of weakness, even alone. But I wasn\'t alone, in my gasps for air I hadn\'t heard the door open again but as I leaned in the corner with my eyes closed I heard the soft sound of shoes against the hard stone. I couldn\'t believe it; someone had dared to follow me to almost witness this weakness. With anger burning in my eyes, hiding the terror I still felt, I snapped my eyes open landing on the taller silver haired boy. I felt a flash of surprise but allowed none of it to show, I had expected the suspicious Snape or one of the foolish and nosy Gryffindors, but here was my fellow Slytherin Prince, but what was more surprising was that there was concern in his eyes. It was ridiculous, after that first night and the following days Draco and I had been dubbed the Slytherin Princes, both cold and uncaring and yet opposites; not just in appearance but because of the fact that the other boy thrived on attention while I wished to be left alone and would \'politely\' ignore anyone who was of no importance (which to me was everyone; they usually finally got the idea).

\"Harry?\" I heard him call softly over my heavy breathing. I stared at him for a moment confused... oh yeah, that\'s me.

\"Draco?\" I snarled in a tone I never used in public. But my biting tone seemed to snap him back and I watched as a mask fell back over his face.

\"Any problem?\" He asked nonchalantly, but concern still evident, confusing me. No one cares about me, no one asks what\'s wrong, it\'s too weird.

\"I\'m fine.\" I said, my voice coming out cool, calm and indifferent but my ragged breaths still giving me away.

\"Oh. Cause it seemed that being in that small crowd gave you a panic attack or something.\"

\"Don\'t be an idiot.\" I told him as I pushed off the wall, straightened my robes and walked out past him perfectly calm again despite the silvery eyes piercing skeptically into my back.

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A/N:
Erebus - in Greek mythology, son of Chaos and husband of Nyx, meaning night. Their children were Aether, the upper air, and Hemera, day.
Persephone - in Greek mythology, the daughter of Demeter and Zeus who was abducted by Hades, king of the underworld. She spent half the year in the underworld and half the year on earth with her mother.