'Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts!' said the silver-robed woman. 'We'll get better acquainted in a while. For now, bon appétit!'

Gideon watched the former healer return to her seat and begin to converse with a woman to her left. He knew from the Daily Prophet that Minerva McGonagall had retired and that there would be a new headteacher, but he hadn't expected it would be anybody he knew. He supposed the head of the wizarding hospital would be a good candidate but wondered whether she had been appointed by Hogwarts' Board of Governors or by the Ministry.

'Aren't you eating?' asked the ever-curious girl, Emma Barrington.

Gideon turned to respond and saw that gleaming platters of food had appeared from nowhere! There were all kinds of meats and pies, potato dishes of every sort, vegetables of every kind and steaming boats of gravy full to the brim. With all the delicious smells, Gideon couldn't understand how he hadn't noticed sooner.

'I'm Vinny. Did the hat speak to you guys?' Gideon heard the boy across from him ask openly.

'Yeah, but it didn't say much, it was like it was just thinking out loud.' said the boy next to him. 'I'm Brendan by the way.'

'I didn't hear anything, I was sorted pretty quickly,' said Emma a little louder than necessary. 'How about you, Gideon? It is Gideon, isn't it?'

Gideon was beginning to find the girl a little annoying. He noticed once again that people around the table other than those closest to him seemed to be listening.

'Yes, it's Gideon, but no, the hat didn't say anything,' he lied.

'Really?' said Emma with intrigue in her voice. 'That's odd! All that time, and nothing? It's supposed to be rare for anyone to take longer than five minutes to be sorted. In fact, I don't think any of the other first-years were sorted for that long, let alone nearly ten minutes!'

The girl was definitely annoying. Gideon stuck by his story, 'Nope, didn't say anything.'

'That was pretty weird. I thought you might have fallen asleep under there!' Joked Vinny.

'Well, it didn't feel like very long while I was wearing it,' Gideon told him.

'People were getting really antsy, you know, even the teachers were whispering about you,' added a brown-haired girl.

'So, why do you think we were sorted into this house?' Gideon asked, attempting to change the subject.

'Probably because we're the best!' Vinny stated plainly. 'I hear Slytherin's are supposed to be the most skilled.'

'Slytherin does produce powerful witches and wizards,' said an unfamiliar, raspy voice. To the first-years' surprise it was a translucent figure hovering above them.

'It's the Bloody Baron!' said a boy near the end of the table whose name Gideon couldn't recall from the sorting. 'You're the Slytherin ghost, aren't you?'

'That's right, my boy! A fine-looking bunch of recruits we have here. Do let me know if you need any assistance, or if the other ghosts give you any trouble!' he told them as he floated away.

Gideon saw that multiple ghosts had entered the hall and were conversing with students as if it were the most natural thing in the world. He watched as the Bloody Baron brandished an ethereal sword at another spectre across the room. His pearly-white victim lurched, and a nearly severed head fell off their high-collared neck.

'I've heard some bad things about our house, you know,' said Brendan with trepidation. 'Most dark wizards were Slytherin's when they were in school.'

'That's old news,' Emma's older sister told them. ‘Don’t pay attention to that kind of talk, it's just the other houses and their jealousy! Just be glad you're not in Hufflepuff!'

'What's wrong with Hufflepuff?' asked the girl to Gideon's right. 'Didn't the sorting hat say they're loyal? That's not a bad trait.'

'The hat also said that Hufflepuff takes "The forgotten few",' the older blonde girl replied with a raised eyebrow and a knowing smirk.

Gideon didn't think much of the Barrington sisters. They seemed a bit judgmental. He turned to his left and quietly prodded Brendan about what he had mentioned, 'What did you mean about dark witches and wizards?'

'Well, they say that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and most of his followers were in Slytherin,' Brendan whispered. 'My parents told me it's because ambition is one of the traits Salazar Slytherin favoured. That's the sort of thing that can drive people to do bad things.'

'Oh, Lord Voldemort? I've read about him some. I'm sure it's just a coincidence.' Gideon considered, not noticing Brendan flinch at the mention of the dark wizard's name. 'There's only four houses, not everyone at our table can be bad, can they?'

'I guess. Even so, I'm not sure my mum and dad will be happy about my sorting,' Brendan said grimly. 'So, what's with the eye patch?'

The rest of dinner was spent exchanging small talk, such as who people were, where they were from and what their families were like. Gideon did a lot of eating and moving food around his plate to avoid addressing those sorts of questions.

Soon the dinner leftovers disappeared and were replaced with a mouth-watering selection of desserts. Gideon enjoyed a bowl of jam roly-poly with hot custard while listening to Vinny and Brendan talk to people on their other sides about Quidditch.

After everyone was full of food, some painfully so, the remaining tableware disappeared, and Dandridge rose from her seat again. The previously empty chair on her right had been filled by Professor Long. The room fell quiet, and everybody turned to hear her speak.

'I hope you all enjoyed the banquet! I'm Professor Dandridge. I would like to say a special welcome to our new students. For those of you who are unaware, this is my first year at Hogwarts too. So, we'll be discovering the magic of this great school together!

'For our returning students, I would like to acknowledge your former Headmistress. Professor McGonagall was a witch of wide renown and a woman I admired greatly. I don't expect to fill her shoes, but I hope you'll allow me to show you mine!

'Now, I have just a few start-of-term announcements, and then you can head to bed. I'm sure you all want to be well-rested for your first classes tomorrow!

'First, a reminder that the forbidden forest is indeed forbidden to all. Magic is not to be used in the corridors between classes, which includes the use of magical objects. A list of banned objects can be found on the noticeboard outside our Caretaker, Mrs Mills' office.

'Finally, Quidditch trials will take place in the second week of term. Those interested in playing for their house team should contact their Head of House before Friday. I think that's everything—'

The distinct sound of someone clearing their throat came from the end of the staff table.

'Ah, yes, of course,' said Professor Dandridge, 'Professor Keane is going to lead us in a rendition of the school song before we head off.'

Some of the students groaned at this, and Gideon noticed that some of the staff members appeared less than pleased, as an attractive young woman with flowing, waist-length blonde hair walked around to the front of their table. Her purple robes were tailored to her curvaceous figure and even had a long slit up one side. They reminded Gideon of something his sister might have designed, but he wasn't sure they were all that appropriate for a schoolteacher.

'On your feet then, everybody!' announced Professor Keane enthusiastically.

The room was suddenly full of the sound of benches scraping as many of the older students, the boys in particular, happily leapt to their feet. Professor Keane waved her wand and magenta ribbons shot from the tip, taking the shape of the lyrics.

'All together, now!' she commanded excitedly.

Gideon liked to sing alone in the shower, and sometimes in the car, but never in front of anyone other than his mother. He also had difficulty focusing on the twisting ribbons with his one eye. So, he tried to mouth out the words and murmur as the rest of the students sang:

‘Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,

Teach us something please,

Whether we be old and bald,

Or young with scabby knees,

Our heads could do with filling,

With some interesting stuff,

For now they're bare and full of air,

Dead flies and bits of fluff,

So teach us things worth knowing,

Bring back what we've forgot,

Just do your best, we'll do the rest,

And learn until our brains all rot.’

Gideon was mildly amused. The lyrics he had caught certainly weren't the sort of thing one would hear at Middling Academy. Professor Dandridge stood and led the room in a round of applause as Professor Keane clapped and whooped wildly.

Gideon thought he detected a note of disapproval from Professor Long before she rose and departed with the other staff. Students followed suit, and an older boy and girl made their way through the shuffling crowd to Gideon's end of the table.

'Hello first-years! We're the new Slytherin Prefects. I'm Jack Jones,' said one.

'And I'm Rebecca Page. Follow us and we'll lead you to the Slytherin Common Room and Dormitories,' said the other.

The Prefects led the group from the Great Hall, but instead of taking them up the grand staircase as Gideon had expected, they directed them to a nearby door off of the Entrance Hall. Many of them were relieved by this when they witnessed a floating man pelting students on the stairs with water balloons.

'That's Peeves, the resident poltergeist,' Jack explained. 'Try not to get in his way and he'll leave you alone. For the most part.'

They made their way through the door and downward until the walls became bare stone lit by torches in brackets, then they took a number of turns.

'You'll learn your way around the school soon enough, but you can always ask a prefect or one of the ghosts if you get lost,' Rebecca informed them. 'Though, the location of each house common room is secret and secure. Ours is down here in the dungeons and you need a password, which we update monthly.'

The prefects stopped in the middle of a corridor at a bare stretch of wall and uttered together, 'Forked tongue!'

A section of the stone wall sunk inward and swung open to reveal a passageway. Gideon and the rest of the first-years followed the prefects through it and into the hidden Slytherin Common Room. It was a strange and beautiful room; well-lit but somehow with a dark feel to it, gloomy and yet with an air of glamour, its contents clean and polished but full of old-world charm.

The high ceiling echoed the castles elaborate architecture and the windows had an eerie glow about them. The furnishings reminded Gideon of the drawing room at home, though here were shades of green and black instead of the warm red tones at Maxwell Manor. The ornate mantelpiece reminded him of the one at the British Library, but grander still. It housed a roaring fire, the glow of which silhouetted a tall man, standing deathly still.

'Good evening,' said the man in a deep voice. Several of the children who hadn't noticed him jumped. The prefects encouraged them to sit in the four large leather sofas surrounding the fireplace. They did so, a little wary of the unmoving man, whose impossibly dark eyes seemed to follow them like one of those strange Muggle paintings.

'Thank you, prefects,' he said.

The older students then waited by a door on the opposite side of the room. Gideon noted that, like the room, the man appeared to be a contradiction in terms. He had an intense presence and yet hadn't been immediately noticeable. His voice was deep but had a silky cadence to it. He was rather pale yet undeniably handsome.

Straight, shoulder-length brown hair framed his high cheek bones, chiselled jaw and cherry red lips. A lean but muscular physique was discernible through his well-tailored robes.

'I'm Professor Voronov,' he announced with the faintest trace of an eastern European accent. 'I am Head of Slytherin House and Transfiguration Professor. I wanted to introduce myself and welcome you to Hogwarts before you head to bed.

'Despite our house's proud history, Slytherin have not won the House Cup for five years now, last year even coming in second behind Hufflepuff, as Professor Keane continues to remind me. I am determined for that to change. Therefore, I expect nothing less than your best effort in all your classes. I shall deal with anyone who lets us down personally.'

Like Professor Long, this man seemed to have mastered the art of the veiled threat.

'Please be sure to report any problems or concerns you might have to your prefects. Copies of your timetables and a basic map of the castle are wating for you in your dormitories, which Jack and Rebecca will now show you to.'

The group got up and moved toward the prefects, who opened the door between them to reveal a single long corridor.

'The bathrooms are the first doors on each side, and the first-year dorms are the fourth doors down on each side this year,' Jack instructed.

'Girls' doors on the left side, boys' doors on the right,' explained Rebecca.

'Mr Maxwell, could I have a moment?' called Professor Voronov unexpectedly.

Some of the students turned to Gideon questioningly, Emma Barrington looking especially intrigued. Gideon returned to the sofa area as the others filed through the door, leaving him alone in the common room with the intimidating professor.

'Nothing to worry about,' said the man, apparently sensing Gideon's apprehension. 'I've been asked to relay a message for you from the Hospital Wing. You're to stop by tomorrow after your lessons are done for the day, to make arrangements for treating your injury.'

'Oh, right,' said Gideon.

'Also, before breakfast tomorrow, you'll have a brief meeting with me and the Deputy Headmistress. Obviously, we've been treating you like a first-year today, but I'm told that you have had two years of magical education elsewhere. We just want to gauge your ability to see what cohort it's best to place you with.'

After—eventually—being sorted by the hat, Gideon had hoped he was firmly part of the student body now, at least for a while. However, it looked like he, unlike other students, would have to have a proper magic test to confirm if he was meant to be at Hogwarts.

'Out of interest, Mr Maxwell, might I ask what the sorting hat told you?' Professor Voronov enquired.

Gideon wondered whether he should be honest since it was a teacher asking him this time. However, he didn't feel like sharing anything about the experience, especially the hat's stranger comments. 'It didn't really say anything. Just lots of umming and ahhing,' he fibbed.

'I see,' said the professor, and then nothing for an uncomfortably long time. 'Good night, then. I shall see you at eight-fifteen tomorrow morning in my classroom.'

'Good night, Sir,' Gideon replied before heading through the door to the dormitories. He found the fourth door on the right and hoped he had heard correctly. Sure enough, inside were the first-year boys; Vincenzo "Vinny" Romano, Brendan Dixon, Jaden Zabini and Harjeet Thakur, unpacking their belongings.

The dorm room was a lot longer than it was wide. Five fourposter beds were spaced out evenly next to each other with a trunk at the foot of each one. Gideon's was at the foot of the furthest bed by the far wall, which had two more of the spooky green windows.

When he saw a fish-shaped shadow moving slowly across them, he realised they were under water, which actually seemed like a fairly cool feature of their new home.

'What was that about?' Vinny asked Gideon as he walked down to the end of the room.

'He was just telling me that I need to visit the Hospital Wing tomorrow. For my eye,' he said casually.

'That guy freaks me out, man!' said Jaden with a shudder.

'There's a rumour about him, you know,' Harjeet offered. 'My cousin told me, she's a third-year in Hufflepuff.'

'Same as my bro, though, he's a Slytherin. What's the rumour?' said Vinny with interest.

'Apparently, he's a vampire!' Harjeet revealed.

'No way!' Jaden exclaimed.

'He can't be, can he? They wouldn't let a vampire teach here, would they?' asked Brendan worriedly.

Gideon, however, chuckled.

'What's funny?' asked Vinny.

'The rumour's fake, isn't it?' Gideon replied as he pulled out his pyjamas and dressing gown from his trunk to get ready for bed.

'How do you know?' Vinny quizzed him.

'Oh, well, he told us he teaches transfiguration,' Gideon said simply.

'Yeah, so?' Vinny replied.

'Well, vampires have certain special abilities of their own,' Gideon explained, 'but once a witch or wizard becomes a vampire, they lose their magic. Since transfiguration is some of the most difficult magic there is, I doubt Hogwarts would hire a transfiguration teacher who can't cast spells.'

Vinny looked put out by this answer, but the other boys seemed impressed.

'That's a relief,' said Brendan, 'but he is a bit creepy!'

'Well if there is something weird about him, at least he's our Head of House. He's probably less likely to attack one of his own!' Jaden suggested, leaving the boys in a fit of giggles.

***

Gideon slept well that night in his comfy new bed. Despite how the day had begun, and the confusion with the sorting hat, his first real interaction with the other kids had gone well. Unlike at Middling Academy, the children here wanted to engage with each other. He figured that people he didn't know would still think he was an odd ball, but at least those he shared a room with were basically forced to get to know him.

The morning light made their submerged window glow much brighter than it had the night before. Gideon was once again quickly filled with a strange mixture of excitement and anxiety. If he could somehow make it through the obstacle ahead of him, his first real magical lessons would start today!

Gideon dressed, packed his book bag and fished out his second-hand wand from his trunk, for all it was worth. He also pocketed his channelling rod, hoping an opportunity might arise for him to use it covertly. He then waited for the wall-mounted pendulum clock to strike eight o'clock and headed out as the other boys began to stir.

The basic map of the school that Professor Voronov had mentioned turned out to be anything but. However, Gideon managed to find his way to the Transfiguration classroom with a little help from the Bloody Baron, who pointed him in the right direction with his sword.

'Ah, here he is!' Professor Voronov said to Professor Long on spotting Gideon in the doorway. 'Good morning, Mr Maxwell. I trust you slept well?'

'Yes, Sir,' Gideon answered as he nervously approached the front of the room where the two teachers stood. He wasn't sure if it was because of his impending test or the impressive aura the two teachers gave off, but his knees were shaking.

'Right, then,' said Professor Long, 'Let's see what you can do!'