I’ve known for a while about the Death Eaters. After all, I have two in the family. Dad and Uncle Demetrius may not be the most widely-known Death Eaters, but they’re definitely two of You-Know-Who’s strongest supporters. They expect me to join the ranks of the Dark Lord’s ranks once I’m old enough. I don’t know if I want to or not, but I probably will. But then again, I’ve never been very brave.
My name is Oliver Flynn. I’m a Slytherin, and a proud one. I possess almost every Slytherin characteristic that you can think of--I’m clever, resourceful, sly, determined, and don’t mind getting into trouble now and then. The only characteristic that I don’t have is a hatred of Muggleborns.
I may be a Pureblooded Death Eater in the making, but despite the way I was raised I just can’t see how Muggleborns are so different from the rest of us. I mean, they can still do magic and play Quidditch and Gobstones and Wizard’s Chess. They still have feelings and fall in love and get their hearts broken. They can still do well in Transfiguration and flunk in Potions and love Arithmancy.
My head hurts now from all of the insight that I just displayed. That’s Astoria’s job, not mine. Speaking of Astoria, she’s not looking quite as smug as I expected her to, with her new Prefect’s badge gleaming from the front of her robes. She’s just staring at the surface of the table and glancing up towards the Headmaster’s seat every now and then.
I know my friend well enough to understand that she’s watching Snape. Snape. I know that he’s the former Head of Slytherin and a Death Eater, but I still don’t like him. He knows that, and he doesn’t like me either. I’m awful at Potions; thank God I’ve gotten better with Professor Slughorn as the new teacher. But I still don’t know why she’d be watching Snape with such terror in her eyes, her face pale and lips trembling. Her dark brown hair is scraped back from her face into a ponytail and her dark gray eyes look scared.
–What’s wrong, Astoria?†I ask her softly. The Hall is almost completely quiet, and I don’t want to speak too loudly.
–He’s a murderer, Oliver,†she murmurs, her lips barely moving. –He killed the Headmaster last year.â€
Before I can say anything, my best friend, Matthias Avery, who is sitting on the other side of Astoria, leans over to kiss the top of her head. –Don’t worry, Tori,†he tells her. –He won’t hurt you, you’re Pureblood.â€
Astoria purses her lips, but Matthias doesn’t notice. I do, though, and I know that it is for two reasons. The first is that Astoria hates it when Matthias calls her Tori. The second is the she doesn’t approve of Matthias’s hatred of Muggleborns. But after a moment she leans into my friend and lets him hold her hand.
I’ll admit that I fancied Astoria in second and third year, but when she and Matthias started going out I quickly lost interest. Matthias is my best friend and much more important than any girl, even if I privately disagree with his Pureblood-mania.
Suddenly, the doors to the Hall burst open and the First Years are led in by, not Professor McGonagall, who should be leading them but is seated at the staff table, but by Alecto Carrow--one of the Death Eaters who’ll be teaching on campus. I don’t particularly like Alecto and she doesn’t like me--or anyone else, for that matter, except for maybe her brother and the Dark Lord.
The first years look terrified. There really aren’t many of them this year, and it takes me a moment to realize that this is because there are no Muggleborns.
–Were we really that short?†whispers Astoria, a small smile playing across her glittery pink lips. I shrug.
There is a silence as all eyes in the room shift to face the Sorting Hat sitting on the three-legged stool at the center of the room. We all are waiting for the Hat’s song, but nothing happens. A first year coughs.
Several minutes go by before Alecto Carrow clears her throat loudly and proclaims, –BAXTER, HENRIETTA.â€
A short girl with a head full of frizzy black hair stumbles up to the stool and crams the Hat over her eyes as if to shut out the rest of the world. After a few seconds, the Hat finally speaks, proclaiming her as a Hufflepuff.
The Sorting goes by rather quickly as there are very few first years as of the lack of Muggleborns. When all of the newcomers have been placed into their respective Houses, Severus Snape stands up.
–Welcome, Hogwarts,†he says in a voice that is both quiet and demands attention. Snape has always been that sort of person. He can scare kids without even trying (though I suspect that he does), especially now that he’s been deemed a murderer. No one saw him –kill†Albus Dumbledore accept for Harry Potter, who is now on the run and wanted by the law.
All I can remember from that terrible night is a jumbled up series of scenes and noises. I had been unsure of who to fight for--the Death Eaters or my friends. I had therefore run around firing hexes in every direction. I had hit a Gryffindor girl from my year named Romilda Vane with a rather well-aimed Curse of the Bogies (taught to me by my Uncle Demetrius), and I remember that this had caused two of her friends to come and duel me. One of them, the blond one, had hit me with a Stunning Jinx at the same moment that the dark-haired one disarmed me. I had lain on the ground until Matthias came to get me.
As he’d helped me up and handed me my wand, my friend had told me that the Death Eaters had gotten away and our fathers were safe. He’d also said that we were supposed to be looking at something near the Astronomy Tower, but he wasn’t sure what it was. We had run through the corridors as fast as we could, and when we arrived I had been shocked.
I suppose that I’d just never thought of Dumbledore as vulnerable. He’d always been around to reprimand Matthias and I in our third year when we went about hexing the Gryffindors for going against Umbridge and to talk to me in my fourth year about resisting the influence that my Death Eater relatives might have on me. And then, later on during that year, when two older boys--from Hufflepuff, I believe--had been tormenting me about those very Death Eater relatives, Dumbledore had come along, taken points from them, and told them to meet him in his office. After they’d gone, he’d told me that I was better than them and that I was not like my father.
And yet I had partially fought for the Death Eaters at the end of that year. And now Dumbledore is dead. And now his supposed murderer has taken his place.
There are lots of new rules this year. The ban on Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes objects and the restrictions from the Forbidden Forests are normal, but it’s the new rules that shock me. No Hogsmeade trips unless at least three teachers sign your permission form. No Quidditch. No leaving the Common Room after 5:30. No Dueling Club, no Gobstones Club, no Frog Choir. Dementors will be patrolling the grounds. Defiant students will be punished more severely than has been allowed in the past seventy-six years. All letters will be monitored.
After the speech, we are dismissed to our Common Rooms. Astoria and the other prefects lead the first years--there are only six of them this year--to the dungeons while the rest of us follow closely behind.
–Le Serpent D’Argent,†says a sixth-year Prefect when we reach an old stone wall that seems to have a thin film of green mold growing over some of the bricks. We are under the Black Lake, and the air is damp and cold. The first years do their best to cover their surprise as the bricks move out of the way, allowing us to get inside of the passage to the Slytherin Common Room.
Despite everything, our common room hasn’t changed a bit. The low-ceilinged room gives off the same cold atmosphere, but it also has a sense of grandeur to it. The leather armchairs and sofas are in the same place, and the same greenish light shines dimly.
Although the younger students immediately head up to their dorms, a few of the older kids among us make for our old positions in the Common Room. A clique of gossipy seventh year girls--including Astoria’s older sister, Daphne Greengrass--take over a ring of couches near the fireplace, and are soon joined by a tall, dark-skinned boy. Three other boys begin to make their way towards the group, but one breaks away at the last moment and heads up the stairs to his dorm. I recognize him as Draco Malfoy.
–Oliver, are you coming?†asks Matthias, gesturing to a low-backed green sofa across from an unoccupied black armchair. Astoria stands next to him, her wide eyes and pale face eerie in the dim light.
–No thanks,†I say, running a hand through my hair and stifling a yawn. –I think I’ll just head up to bed….â€
Matthias shrugs. –Suit yourself.â€
With that, he and Astoria turn and begin to walk away. I do the same, but heading off in the other direction towards the stairs to the boy’s dorm. I eventually find myself bathed in the familiar silver light of the dormitory lanterns. One of my classmates, Amos Gamp, has already passed out in his bed without bothering to change out of his robes. Two other boys, Nathan Audiurn and Hadrian Rosier, are talking in hushed whispers.
–Oliver!†calls Hadrian. –We were just discussing the movements of the Death Eaters. Care to join us?â€
Nathan scowls at me from behind his friend’s back. Although neither of Nathan’s parents are Death Eaters, it is well known among us that he greatly supports the organization and envies those of us who have followers of the Dark Lord in our families.
–No, thank you,†I reply, doing my best to give Hadrian a carefree grin. The other boy shrugs and returns to his conversation with Nathan.
Frowning, I collapse into my green four-poster bed and draw the curtains shut around me. The green silk shields me from the rest of the world, and I am glad for it. There is a deep gnawing in the pit of my stomach, and I can’t place what it is. Shaking off the feeling of uneasiness, I drift off to the sound of the lake’s waters lapping at the castle’s walls.
Fighting for the Cause by PeppermintToads
Chapter Notes: I apologize for the wait--my life has been quite hectic lately. This chapter is about the second main character of this story, and the plot will pick up soon.
Chapter Endnotes: I would like to thank BrokenPromise for submitting the first review to this story. Even though it may not seem important, it really motivated me to keep writing.