Chapter 35: The Slytherin Common Room
Chapter 35: The Slytherin Common Room
Among all the ghosts at Hogwarts, the Bloody Baron is the one feared by every young wizard, so much so that even the more timid ones might burst into tears when encountering him alone, terrified by his ghastly appearance.
The Bloody Baron is also the highest-ranking and most powerful ghost at Hogwarts. Even the mischievous poltergeist Peeves, who fears nothing, dares not disobey the Baron's commands.
At that moment, a blonde young witch sitting opposite Goyle and Crabbe nudged another, rather robust young witch beside her and whispered, "Millicent, don't you think he looks so handsome?"
"Daphne, I still think Goyle is handsomer", the robust Millicent replied, turning to glance at Jerry and then at Goyle.
The blonde witch: "…"
After the brief commotion caused by the appearance of the ghosts, the feast resumed its lively atmosphere. Everyone enjoyed their food and drinks, introducing themselves and engaging in conversation.
Unlike the young wizards at the neighboring table, who recounted their quirky experiences after receiving their Hogwarts acceptance letters, the conversations among the young Slytherins were mostly about their families' wealth and their parents' social status—topics that highlighted their identities.
Among them, the Malfoy family, to which Draco Malfoy belonged, held the highest status. They were one of the ancient and noble Twenty-Eight Families, and the elder Malfoy was a governor of Hogwarts with close ties to high-ranking officials at the Ministry of Magic.
The wealthiest, however, was a boy named Blaise Zabini. His mother, Madame Zabini, was a beautiful and famous witch who had had seven husbands.
Each of her husbands left a substantial inheritance to her and Blaise upon their deaths, making their family even wealthier than the Malfoys.
As the feast drew to a close, Dumbledore stood up again and gave the new students a few important reminders for the start of the school year.
Jerry summarized the key points: students were forbidden from entering the dangerous Forbidden Forest, were not allowed to cast spells in the corridors during breaks, and those in their second year or above who wished to try out for Quidditch could sign up with Madame Hooch in the second week.
Most importantly, no one was allowed to enter the corridor on the right side of the fourth floor.
After the reminders, it was time for the school song.
Dumbledore waved his wand, and a long golden ribbon appeared, twisting and coiling like a snake to form the lyrics of the school song.
When the school song ended, the feast officially concluded.
"First-year students, follow me. I am your prefect, Gemma Farley, and I will lead you to the common room!"
As the feast ended, a girl of about fourteen or fifteen in a long robe stood up at the Slytherin table and called out to the somewhat bewildered first-year Slytherins.
The young wizards gathered around her and followed her through the crowd, heading toward the Slytherin common room.
"Huh, isn't the Slytherin common room supposed to be up in the castle?"
Jerry, mingling among the young wizards, was surprised to see Prefect Gemma leading them toward the dungeons. He remembered from the movies that Harry and the others had walked up a series of moving staircases and entered the common room through the Fat Lady's portrait.
"Gryffindor and Ravenclaw’s common rooms are on the eighth-floor towers, while Hufflepuff and our own Slytherin common rooms are in the dungeons. But I can tell you, our Slytherin common room is the best, and you’ll see why in a moment!"
At this point, Gemma, who was leading the group and explaining the school rules, happened to be discussing the locations of the common rooms, which also cleared up Jerry’s lingering doubts.
Following the grand marble staircase to the right of the entrance hall, they descended into the dungeons and navigated through the maze-like, dimly lit corridors. Jerry soon saw a stone wall.
"Noble!"
As Gemma spoke the password to the stone wall, a stone door immediately appeared and slowly opened.
"To enter the common room, you must use the password. The password changes every two weeks, and the new one will be posted on the notice board in the common room in advance.
Remember, the password for the next two weeks is—Noble!"
Gemma explained to the young wizards with a tone of pride and superiority.
The young wizards nodded proudly, clearly impressed by Slytherin’s password.
"True to form, Slytherin!"
Jerry watched as everyone held their chins high, all displaying a unified expression of arrogance. For some reason, he found these little Slytherin wizards rather endearing.
Following the young wizards into the common room, the first thing he saw were the green-glowing magic lamps hanging from chains and the animal skull decorations adorning the walls.
His first impression was—so green!
What kind of eccentric taste did Slytherin have?
But it wasn’t all bad. The fireplace, sofas, tables, and chairs in the Slytherin common room were all exquisitely crafted, with beautiful carvings.
On the wall opposite the fireplace hung a medieval tapestry, depicting famous adventures of the Slytherins of old, which was quite intriguing.
What Jerry found most fascinating, however, was the large window that took up two-thirds of the wall opposite the common room door.
Looking out of that window, he could see the bottom of the Black Lake, where giant squids and various lake creatures swam leisurely by, giving him the illusion of being in an aquarium from his past life.
It turned out that the Slytherin common room was built under the Black Lake, with magical barriers preventing the water from seeping in. This allowed the Slytherins living here to experience the mysterious feeling of being in a sunken ship at any time.
"Boys to the room on the left, girls to the room on the right. Your timetables should be in your rooms. If you have any questions, come find me!"
Gemma, seeing the young wizards standing by the large window, marveling at the view outside, gave her final instructions before leaving.
While the view from the window was indeed magical, the young wizards were also quite exhausted. After a brief look, they dispersed to find their respective rooms.
Jerry was no exception.
He left the common room earlier than the others and headed to the boys' dormitory on the left.
Each dorm room door had the names of the young wizards staying there, so he quickly found his own.
"Jerry Carmen, Draco Malfoy, Gregory Goyle, Vincent Crabbe."
Looking at the four names on the door, Jerry smiled wryly.
"I guess it’s fate that I’m sharing a room with these three kids!"
(End of Chapter)
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