Chapter Text
“My labor and my leisure too,
For His Civility –”
The first of August brings him back to Diagon Alley, dressed in stuffy clothing that consists of: a turtleneck that’s green but looks more black, a brown overcoat, and black slacks. One of the castle elves, Hodky, had been very eager to explain the intricacies of “British clothing”.
Sasuke hates it.
But fit in he must, so uncomfortable he will be. At least he isn’t sweating in the heat thanks to the past owner’s addition of a cooling charm on the clothing. The gloves, much to his despair, don’t have that feature.
The Leaky Cauldron is, unfortunately, familiar by now. The place is dreadful on the best of days, layered with grime and poorly kept tables. Now, it’s filled to the brim with people bustling about, talking without a care in the world. There’s a new wanted poster up, which is unfortunate. People escaping from prison only a month before the new school year begins can’t be a good sign.
A quick check of his watch tells him that it’s 12:57pm, and he’s not sure if who they’re sending will come in late or early, so he’s made good time. Apparently, he was supposed to have received a letter beforehand, but thanks to the wards on his properties he has yet to receive anything at all. He assumes whoever is going to “show him around” will carry a copy or at least know what the school requires.
A person stares at him from across the bar and begins to walk in his direction. That must be them, then.
The man has hair that goes to his neck and a grim face. He looks about average height, but it’s hard to tell because he’s completely covered in black, his robes are black, his shoes are black, his shirt, pants, everything. He’s almost completely camouflaged with his surroundings if not for his pale face.
“I assume you are Lord Slytherin?” The man drawls. His voice is low and irritated, which is probably more because that’s his natural state and not because of anything Sasuke personally has done.
“I am. You are?”
“Professor Severus Snape.” He scrutinises him for a moment. “Do you have your list of books?”
“I didn’t get one.” Sasuke stands and they walk towards the back of the Leaky Cauldron, where the entrance to the rest of Diagon Alley is. “The wards on my residence do not allow owls.”
Snape says nothing to this and they stop in front of the brick so he can tap it with his wand and open the entrance. Sasuke, since he can’t do this, usually has the in-keeper to do it, which is annoying. He should be getting a wand today, so he’ll be able to open it himself in the future.
He briefly considered getting a wand before today, since that would make practice easier, but needing to explain why none of the wands in the shop would take to him because he already has a different one isn’t a conversation he wants to have.
The trip is mostly silent, Snape only speaks to tell Sasuke where they’re going and what he needs to purchase there, which is how Sasuke prefers it. He does know that Snape was a Death Eater, thanks to Death (he wonders if Death laughs at the name whenever they hear it), but he doesn’t know, or care about, the circumstances leading up to his joining or leaving.
Snape’s dislike of him probably stems from a dislike of Tom Riddle. Although, if Snape intends to continue pretending to be a spy if the next war breaks out, he really ought to be nicer to the person supposedly related to his Dark Lord.
Sasuke will likely have already collected the horcruxes before Tom Riddle is able to resurrect himself. He hopes so, anyway. Not that Snape knows about that.
They go to Madam Malkin’s first, who seems happy to see him and asks how the clothes he bought are. They look good, especially since they fit the elves so well and they seem happy to wear them.
They get the robes and Sasuke tries not to scoff audibly when he sees them. The list calls for 3 day robes, a hat, gloves that he already has, and a winter cloak . He buys 4 robes and is fully intending to ditch the hat but apparently it’s mandatory.
“You’ve been here before.” Snape doesn’t phrase it as a question but it’s clear he’s asking about it.
“I have.” No use lying about it. “Why do you ask?”
“The Headmaster is convinced you’re an amnesiac.” Snape says with a sneer.
“So is the Ministry.” Sasuke says, neither agreeing nor denying. Carrot and stick, meet pig.
“ I am not convinced.”
“I see.” It doesn’t really matter to him if one person doesn’t believe him. Especially not someone like Snape, who, at first will be quite the nuisance, but will ultimately be able to do very little to harm him in the long-run.
Snape doesn’t seem to know what to do with his lack of response, so he doesn’t say anything.
They get his books next and Sasuke isn’t surprised to find out that he already knows the curriculum, it’ll make the year easier, since he won’t need to do any studying related to his classes.
Eventually, he can’t carry all his things in one hand and Snape isn’t offering to help, so he calls for a house elf.
Mitsy appears with the crack that Sasuke now knows is thanks to apparition. Before anyone can so much as glance over, he angles himself so most people won’t be able to see the elf.
“Would you mind putting this stuff on the desk in the library?” He asks though he knows she would do it anyway.
“Of course, Lord Slytherin!” She takes the things and disappears again.
Snape seems torn between glaring at him and ignoring his existence, which suits Sasuke fine. There’s a flash of curiosity too, but Snape doesn’t act on it. It’s not like Sasuke would’ve said anything anyway.
When they step into the wand store, Ollivander’s, Snape says he’ll be back in half an hour once he’s gotten his wand.
“You… are strange.” A man appears out of seemingly nowhere and stares Sasuke right in the face.
Sasuke very nearly breaks the man’s wrists, but he clenches his fists instead.
“I’m here for a wand.” Sasuke replies dully, wanting to get out of the shop as soon as possible. The magic in the air makes his skin tingle.
The man eyes him eagerly for a moment before measuring tapes come whizzing out from behind one of the shelves. Sasuke is too well trained to flinch, but he does eye them warily as they take his measurements.
If the man had wanted his measurements, Sasuke would’ve told him. He eyes the man’s slight hunch and the near feverish look in his eyes and decides that maybe social niceties aren’t too much of a concern for him. Fair enough.
“Give this one a wave.” The man says, thrusting a piece of wood into Sasuke’s hands. “12 and a half inches, aspen, dragon heartstring core.”
Sasuke gives the man a dubious glance before waving the wand in the air. It tears out of his hand and back into the box, magic pulling the box’s lid back on and keeping it shut.
“Not that one, then.” The man mutters to himself, sparing a sole glance at Sasuke before disappearing into the back of the shop.
He re-emerges with 3 boxes. He hands Sasuke one. “Fir, phoenix feather, 13 inches.”
Sasuke waves it again and it sputters uselessly, a few sparks bursting forwards, nearly lighting the shop on fire.
“Mm. Nope.” The man takes the wand from Sasuke and quickly replaces it with another… and another. Soon enough, they’ve gone through 17 wands.
Sasuke begins to wonder if maybe he’d be better off without a wand. Afterall, magic is about intent, if he wants something enough, it’s possible he could just do it without the words or stick-waving.
“Yew, manticore blood core. 11 inches.” The man presents the wand to Sasuke, looking more interested than he should in a wand.
Sasuke waves the wand and a deep red glow surrounds him. His skin prickles and the lights in the shop flicker. In the end, there’s no destruction and everything is as it was. The only evidence that magic was used is the room feeling slightly colder than it did before.
“That there is the only manticore blood wand I have.” The man mumbles, sounding a bit frightened. “Paired with yew too….”
He breaks off into useless muttering and Sasuke leaves 20 galleons on the counter and makes a swift exit, hoping that’s enough for the wand.
A quick check of the time tells Sasuke that it’s been about 25 minutes since he first entered Ollivander’s. Not much time to wander around, then, though he doesn’t really want to. The only place he really ought to go is somewhere he can ask about the wards on Castle Slytherin, since it’d be very inconvenient if no mail was able to get to him. But he isn’t too interested in talking about the protections on his home with a stranger, so there’s that. He can always just ask Death.
The 5 minutes pass easily enough, though Sasuke is a bit irritated that he wasn’t given a location to go to in the event that it took less than half an hour to get his wand sorted.
He sees Snape a few metres away and walks over to him, pushing down his mild discontent and focusing on finishing up the shopping and getting out of the alley.
“You received a wand?” Snape sounds almost disappointed, like up until now he had been hoping that Sasuke was a squib.
“Yes.” He says nothing more, still slightly apprehensive about the wand maker’s reaction to his wand.
“Do you own a cauldron?” Snape asks.
He probably does, actually. There are potion labs in the basement of Castle Slytherin, and there are surely some in any of the other properties, but since he’s here, he might as well buy a new one.
“No.”
Memorising the map of Diagon Alley is turning out to be more useful than he thought, since now he’s able to tell where they’re going based on what he needs.
Sure enough, Snape stops in front of Potage’s Cauldron Shop.
The front door opens soundlessly as they both walk in. Snape, as the potions teacher, is clearly familiar with the place. He’s on a first-name basis with the shop owner and easily points out the cauldron that will suit Sasuke’s school needs.
They go to two more stores from which Sasuke purchases some vials and a telescope.
“That is all you will need for your schooling.” Snape says, sounding like he very much wants to leave. “If you wish to get an animal of some sort, you may purchase a toad, cat, or an owl. Any other animals will need to be cleared with your head of house.”
Sasuke stares at the man for a beat too long. Surely Snape doesn’t think the Lord of Slytherin will be put anywhere else than Slytherin House? It’s probably just wishful thinking on the older man’s part.
Even here, Sasuke can’t escape the pressure of a last name.
They part ways and Sasuke returns to the castle library.
Severus isn’t sure what to make of the transfer, the new Lord Slytherin. Originally, he’d been planning to wheedle some answers out of the boy, as Albus had requested, but upon meeting him, the impression he got was completely different than what Albus had described.
Albus had told him of a naive, slightly timid boy with an eagerness to learn. None of that was present when Severus met him. He saw an intelligent, aloof child with no care for the perceptions of others. A young Lord, wise beyond his years. Someone well trained, clearly.
Severus doesn’t buy the amnesiac act for a second, even if Albus does.
He relays all of this to Albus, who merely shakes his head, saying that they’ll only truly begin to understand him when they see more of him. It’s something Severus does agree with, partially, but with Sirius Black on the loose and the public’s discontent with Hogwarts rising, he doesn’t think it’s worth it to bring a completely new player onto the field.
But, for now, the Headmaster’s word is law. If he wishes for Sasuke Uchiha to attend Hogwarts, then so be it.
Severus can only hope (futilely, he knows) that the boy will be put with the Ravenclaws.
August comes and goes with a flurry of planning and preparing. Sasuke finished the entire Hogwarts curriculum three weeks into the month and spent the final week looking into mixing Chakra with magic.
It’s possible, obviously, but that’s when they’re applied separately. Chakra and magic seem to use different conduits, but in the end, it pretty much all boils down to intelligence and talent.
The beginning of September sees Sasuke at a train station unlike anything he’s ever seen before. If he thought the Ministry was busy, this is something else. People are everywhere , most of them are civilians too. Sasuke wonders why, for people who seem set on staying hidden , they’ve decided to put the entrance to the only main transportation to their school in a place filled with civilians. Sure, there’s “hidden in plain sight” and all that, but most of them aren’t even hiding. They wear their robes into the station without even trying to blend in, speaking about Hogwarts loudly, anyone who was bored enough to eavesdrop would clearly be able to hear.
Regardless, he boards the train, deciding to summon a snake once the train gets moving. It’s been a while, and he’s sure they’re bound to wonder why he hasn’t called on them sooner, but it quite honestly slipped his mind. He did, of course, summon them to explain things at the beginning of July, but after that week of explanations and going over mission perimeters, he hasn’t really needed to summon them. They’re an invaluable asset in a place far too large to explore if he was on his own.
He summons two snakes, Chie and Akako. Both of them are well into their adulthood and have a good skill set for this mission. Apparently, when he speaks to the snakes it will be registered as Parseltongue, a language that Harry Potter and Voldemort can also speak. The former because of his connection to Voldemort and the latter because of his Slytherin heritage. It’s the language of the snakes and several other reptiles, though they have their own dialects and the like. There’s a heavy level of suspicion associated with Parseltongue in Britain, enough so that Sasuke has decided that he won’t speak Parseltongue while anyone is watching. They may suspect that he can speak it thanks to his supposed ancestor, but not giving them audio confirmation would make it easier.
Chie and Akako are a hognose snake and a tiger snake, respectively. Chie is nonvenomous and around two thirds of a foot long. Sasuke likes her because she’s ruthless, more so than the other snakes, and has the ability to absorb Chakra. The ability extends to magic as well, Sasuke checked, which makes it particularly nice.
Akako, on the other hand, has barely-there Chakra signature and is venomous, which makes her a good assassin. She has an uncanny talent at blending into her surroundings, so much so that even Sasuke struggles to find her at times. She’s much thinner than Chie, but longer. She doesn’t like to speak much and follows orders with an unfailing loyalty.
“Chie, Akako.” He greets before explaining: “We are currently on the way to the school where I will be completing my mission. I will give you a target to follow for most of the year and I’d like reports once a week unless anything particularly important happens.”
“Yes, Sasuke-sama.” Akako blinks slowly.
“Akako, I’d like you to follow Harry Potter.” He gives her a description of what he looks like and who he’s likely to hang around. “He has the ability to speak the language of snakes, but it would be best to disregard this. Naturally, do not be seen.”
“Of course, Sasuke-sama.” Akako nods. “Shall I go now?”
“In a moment.” Sasuke turns to Chie. “You will follow Albus Dumbledore. He is in possession of an item I need, a stick. You do not need to take it, but know where it is at all times. You may start your mission when we get to the school. For now, observe Ginevra Weasley.” He gives Chie her description as well.
He probably won’t bother with the youngest Weasley for very long, but she was the last one to touch one of the horcruxes (with the exception of Harry Potter, obviously) while it was still working.
“Yes, Sasuke-sama.” she nods.
“To both of you: the mission is terminated if you are spotted or believe yourselves to be in mortal peril. Understood?”
“Yes, Sasuke-sama.” They chorus.
“You may begin your missions.” And with that, they both nod once and slither out of his cabin in the train.
Sasuke leans back on the bench and stares out the window. The train has yet to start, since he’s early. The platform has children waving goodbye to their parents and giving hugs, parents fussing over their children and making sure they have everything, siblings parting ways or racing each other to get to the train. They all smile jubilantly, completely unaware of the danger they’re all in. Their smiles are unburdened by war like they would be in Konoha.
He decides to push those thoughts away for now, since they’ll do him no good.
“Now that you are on the train, I will be returning to my realm. I will know when you have a horcrux or one of the Hallows, so you needn’t concern yourself with communication. Goodbye, Uchiha Sasuke.”
Sasuke blinks at the sendoff, but doesn’t otherwise outwardly react. It makes sense, afterall. Death itself can’t just take a vacation for a bit.
The train begins to move, giving Sasuke little time to contemplate Death’s parting words. The bells and whistles chime as the horn on the train blows. The metal rumbles and creaks before the train inches forward, accelerating to pull out of the station.
He turns his thoughts to how he’s going to spend his time during the school he now has to attend. Because this mission could potentially turn out to be quite a bit longer than he wants it to be, he has, regretfully, planned ahead for the next year. There’s a good chance that it won’t take that long, but there’s only a slightly smaller chance that it will and he doesn’t want to blindside himself with wishful thinking.
So, this leaves him with two options. Lie low, or don’t. It’s not like he has very much to hide, and he doesn’t have to worry about legilimency or veritaserum since he, apparently, is an excellent occlumens. The people who know about his supposed heritage will have expectations and most of them will be suspicious either way. It’s better if he becomes someone with allies instead of someone who could very easily disappear. He doesn’t have the bonus of an information network or people to rely on here.
Really, he can spend as much time here as he wants. Whatever he does, he’ll return to the battlefield right where he left off, so theoretically he could live an entire life in this world and go back to his own like nothing’s changed. He won’t, but the knowledge that he isn’t on a time crunch does abate the worst of his concerns.
He spends the train ride reading and revising his plan for the school in his head, or at least, that’s what he intends to do.
About four hours in, the train screeches to a stop, metal grinds against metal and the train makes one last aborted jerk forward before ceasing motion entirely.
He hears the sound of compartment doors opening and shutting as children voice their confusion. No one knows what’s going on, then.
Sasuke sends out a Chakra signal for his snakes to return to him, which they do a few seconds later. He asks if they know what’s happening, which neither of them do.
“The train has not broken down, it seems as though the conductor has been taken out? Though he lives, still.” Chie explains thoughtfully.
“One of the younglings is not as small as the others.” Akako says. “ Sensei , they called him.”
A professor on the train? That’s unusual.
The train shakes and wobbles as the air begins to cool. The lights in his compartment flicker out and Sasuke brings a knife to the palm of his hand. He doesn’t think anything here is capable of fatally wounding him, nothing that could fit on a train. The shadows outside grow as the sky seems to darken further, despite the sun having already set fully.
They’re stopped over a thin bridge, which only adds to the fear permeating in the air. The children, naturally, are terrified.
The lights in the corridor go out as well and frost begins to creep up the side of the train. The vehicle jostles again as creatures (or several) board the train. The windows freeze over and Sasuke’s breath becomes visible in the air as it condenses when it leaves his body.
The train lurches forwards again and a hooded figure becomes visible through the internal windows of the train.
For a moment, Sasuke feels fear. Fear, the same as he felt when he was staring down Itachi at 8. It makes his breaths come out shorter than they should and his mind bring up memories he’d rather forget before he realizes that this thing is a dementor.
They can only harm anything in close proximity and don’t do well against flame. Not that anything does well against Amaterasu.
He’s about to turn the dementor to ash when the thing shrieks, curling in on itself like a drowning bug. Its long fingers grasp at its head(?) and claw at the small amount of skin there. It wails and moves back, Sasuke would call it stumbling but it doesn’t appear to have feet.
He steps forward and the dementor moves further backwards before it turns and flies off. The frost recedes and the warmth in the room returns.
Sasuke blinks once, twice, and sits back down.
It makes sense, he supposes, in a weird roundabout way. He’s the Master of Death (despite the fact that he’s yet to understand what that means), so obviously creatures born from the death and torment of others would fear (is that what that was?) him.
As long as it doesn’t affect the job, he can deal with it later.
“Sasuke-sama?”
“Things should be fine, now. Chie, check on the conductor and report back here. Akako, check on the teacher you mentioned.”
They both go to do just that while Sasuke inhales deeply and pulls out a book. They could be stationary for a while longer, since the train doesn’t bring the teachers to the school and he’s not sure if any of the other students will think to go and wake the conductor. Worst case scenario, they have to sit for the rest of the night, but the train is rapidly warming up so that shouldn’t be a problem for the students.
Sasuke wonders why he always gets dealt the worst missions.
The train lets them off in Hogsmeade, the village adjacent to Hogwarts. Sasuke briefly wonders if they were named by the same person, but casts that aside as he waits for the crowd of children to move along.
A man with a large beard and curly hair walks up and down the platform with a light. Though his beard and hair are impressive, the truly impressive thing is his height. He must be at least 8 feet tall. Hagrid , his brain supplies.
Right, the half-giant.
(He spares a thought for how Hagrid was conceived but it soon becomes too disturbing to think about.)
Hagrid motions for all the first years to follow him, but seems to be looking through the crowds for someone. The man’s eyes land on Sasuke.
“You must be our new third year, eh?” Hagrid booms.
“Yes, sir.” Sasuke replies, his voice even despite the uncertainty he feels. Hagrid seems much taller up close.
“I thought y’might be, you’ll be joining the first years in the boats, so follow me.”
Sasuke had hoped he’d be taking the carriages like the rest of the students in his year and older, but it appears not. Sasuke doesn’t mind boats, not that he’s taken one in a long time since they’re usually less efficient than water walking, but these are magical boats that go over a magical lake where any number of dangerous and deadly magical creatures could eat the children alive. He knows he’d most likely be fine, but it’s still not an experience he wants to have.
Well, no a lot of people have died yet so it’s probably mostly safe.
He follows the rest of the children to the boats and sits in one with a blonde child with eyes as dark as charcoal and a slightly pudgy face; a taller, brown haired child who also has brown eyes, but their face is pulled tighter around the bones; and finally, the smallest one who has long black hair, brown eyes, and looks terrified.
“Why’re you coming this way if you’re a third year?” The blonde one asks.
“I’m a transfer.” Sasuke replies curtly.
“So you’re new?” One of the other ones asks, Sasuke is slowly tuning them out.
“Yes.” Sasuke is never having children.
“Why?”
He thinks maybe Madara’s sword killing him was mercy and that he should’ve stayed dead.
“Because.”
The children tilt their head to the right simultaneously. Like puppets.
Sasuke refuses to be disturbed. He’s seen worse.
“Because why?” They parrot like a group of toddlers.
Sasuke spends the rest of the boat ride fielding questions about the reasons behind his sudden choice for schooling, the nature of his “funny looking” clothes, his hair, his eyes, his face shape, everything.
Children , Sasuke decides, are annoying .
The boats dock and they’re shown to the castle by Hagrid. The castle is gigantic. Sasuke wonders what they need this much space for if they don’t actually have that many students. There’s no way they’re using all the classrooms. Given what he knows about the exercise programs at Hogwarts (i.e: there are none), the children are probably out of breath all the time. Especially in those god awful robes. Maybe they don’t need a physical education class because they get enough of it dragging giant textbooks up hundreds of stairs daily.
Hagrid points them to a staircase and Sasuke waits for most of the kids to go up the stairs before following suit. The staircase is wider than it is tall and the lighting doesn’t seem to be coming from the windows, since it’s night time. Instead, there are a few lamps embedded in the walls and pillars that are apparently the only light source for this section of the castle.
Lightbulbs would be much easier , Sasuke thinks. Candles have long since been phased out of use throughout the Elemental Nations and replaced with more modern LEDs since they don’t generate heat. Some civilian households use other kinds, but all Shinobi tend to use LEDs.
At the top of the staircase is a woman dressed in fine green robes and a pointed hat. Minerva McGonagall . Her face is wrinkled but she doesn’t hold herself like an elderly woman. Her posture is good, she doesn’t use a cane, despite the age her features suggest. Her lips are twisted into a thin line, but her eyes are kind.
Again with the hats , Sasuke refrains from sighing. None of the children wear hats, so maybe the lack of sense is more an adult thing.
She speaks with an accent Sasuke has come to know as Scottish. “In just a few moments, you will walk through these doors and join the rest of your classmates. Before you do so, you will be sorted into your houses.”
She goes on to talk about the houses, all of this is information he already knows. The house points, the dormitory system, it’s all familiar to him in the sense that he’s read about it, but the practice of a house system is new to him.
McGonagall leaves, which is odd because it means Sasuke is now surrounded by 11 year olds. Unsupervised 11 year olds.
He comes to the unsurprising conclusion that perhaps wizards don’t have any common sense. Not even a little bit.
It’s an odd thing, to miss the life of a soldier.
McGonagall leaves for long enough that the children begin to feel comfortable chatting. Sasuke makes sure to position himself far enough away from the crowd that anyone who approaches him will have to make the conscious choice to single themselves out from the group. Obviously, in a group of nervous prepubescent kids, no one is willing to make that choice.
McGonagall returns and leads them into the Great Hall.
Really, out of everything Sasuke’s seen, this is probably the most impressive. Especially considering he knows the kind of work that would have to go into enchanting the ceiling to portray a moving, realistic image like that.
The great hall is a mix of brown, beige, muted yellow, and grey. There are 4 long tables and benches full of students with the exception of some seats at the very front that are probably for the first years. There are no windows on the side walls, only at the front of the room above several paintings. It’s better than no windows at all, but the fact that there’s only one still makes Sasuke feel claustrophobic.
When they enter the Great Hall, there are other students singing in what looks to be a choir. Most of them hold frogs on pillows, for some reason. The frogs barely do anything during the song so maybe it’s an aesthetic thing.
(The Hogwarts Frog Choir, founded in–)
A small man who seems to be a goblin (Professor Filius Flitwick, born October 17 1952. Fought his first duel in–) is directing the choir.
Sasuke shakes his head minutely to dispel his growing migraine.
When the group of students reach the front of the tables, they stop.
McGonagall steps forward and begins to speak. “Now, when I call your name, you will come forth and I will place the Sorting Hat on your head and you will be sorted into your houses.” She looks down at her list and calls the first name, “Abrahams, Vicky!”
It’s the terrified one who shared a boat with Sasuke. He pays half a mind to her sorting and she ends up in Slytherin.
Next is an Accurso, Mara, who goes to Ravenclaw and Sasuke tunes the rest of them out afterwards.
By the time Sasuke is paying attention again, most of the crowd has thinned out. It’s just him and a few other people left. “Uchiha, Sasuke!” the hat calls.
He walks up to the stool and sits down, slightly wary about the hat being put on his head but reasonably certain that it will not gain any knowledge that Sasuke doesn’t want it to.
The hat is placed on Sasuke’s head and the chatter from the Great Hall goes silent. The hat says nothing for long enough that Sasuke begins to get concerned. He makes an effort to push forward a few harmless memories and emotions, trying his best to dial back the anger-hatred-betrayal he felt when he was younger.
“Quite the mind you’ve got, boy.” The hat says eventually. Sasuke glances around to make sure no one else heard. People just look confused, so this must be just him hearing this.
“You don’t want your sorting on display, do you?”
“No, thank you.” Sasuke replies quietly.
“It looks like you already know where to go, too.” The hat laughs. “Well, no other choice then. Better be… SLYTHERIN!”
The clapping from the Slytherin table is much more enthusiastic than from the other tables. Sasuke recognizes one face, and it’s that of Malfoy, Draco. The boy looks startlingly similar to his father, so it’s not a hard connection to make. The other names come slower, more thanks to the info-dumps than anything else. Zabini, Blaise; Parkin, Pansy; Nott, Theodore; Crabbe, Vincent; Gregory, Goyle; and Greengrass, Daphne.
Sasuke slips off the stool and heads to the Slytherin table where Malfoy has already made a space between himself and Zabini.
He nods his thanks and introduces himself. He doesn’t want to add all the bells and whistles but he gets the feeling that doing so will make his life just a little easier.
“Sasuke Uchiha. Lord of Slytherin House.” He doesn’t stick out his hand to shake, since he’s sitting next to and across from the people he’s introducing himself to.
“Draco Malfoy. Heir to the Malfoy line. Pleased to meet you.” Malfoy dips his head a bit lower than he probably does for other people bar maybe the Blacks but from what Sasuke understands, they’ve been on pretty equal standing for a decade or so.
The others make their introductions, though only the purebloods do, which is interesting. It doesn’t matter that much, he’ll learn names eventually.
Once the crowd has settled, the Headmaster steps up to a conveniently placed podium.
“Welcome, welcome, to another year at Hogwarts!” Dumbledore says, and the crowd claps. “Now, I’d like to say a few words before we all become too befuddled by our excellent feast.”
Sasuke wonders why the man speaks like someone’s shoved a thesaurus down his throat.
“First, I’m pleased to welcome Professor R. J. Lupin, who’s kindly consented to fill the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher.”
Dumbledore talks about other new teachers that Sasuke doesn’t really care about, and neither do the rest of his classmates, since they spend most of the speech making small talk.
Sasuke listens in when Dumbledore mentions the Ministry.
“Finally, on a more disquieting note.” The Great Hall quiets considerably. “At the request of the Ministry of Magic, Hogwarts will, until further notice, play host to the dementors of Azkaban until such a time when Sirius Black is captured.”
Whispers immediately rise throughout the students, mutters about Sirius Black and murderers. Sasuke wonders why they don’t just have people watching the school. Or, better yet, strengthened wards to keep Sirius Black in particular out . For such a powerful wizard like Dumbledore, it can’t be that hard. Especially since they had a month to do it before school starts. Magic is all about intent so they could probably figure something out that could keep anyone with the intent to murder a student or faculty member out, that would probably solve a lot of their problems.
Well , he reminds himself , you can’t look to wizards for critical thinking skills, though it does make the mission more annoying.
“The dementors will be stationed at every entrance to the ground. Now, as I’ve been assured that their presence will not disrupt our day-to-day activities… a word of caution. Dementors are vicious creatures.”
So what are they doing in a school? Even the Academy supervised the children when they were learning how to kill.
“They will not distinguish between the one they hunt, and the one who gets in their way. Therefore I must warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you. It is not in the nature of a dementor to be forgiving.” Dumbledore’s tone goes from serious and foreboding to light and airy. “But you know, happiness can be found even in the darkest of times. If one only remembers to turn on the light.”
“Well,” Nott says with a scowl, “I suppose I’ll just cast a lumos if I’m being attacked by a dementor, then?”
“At least the rest of us won’t faint like Potter over there.” Malfoy says as if the boy in question isn’t only a handful of feet away.
Wow, subtle.
Once the Headmaster has finished speaking, food appears on the tables in front of them. There’s a depressing lack of vegetables and generally healthy cooking, but the food here is different than it is in the Elemental Nations because the people here don’t have Chakra to burn through. As long as he maintains his training schedule, he should be fine to eat pretty much whatever within reason.
That doesn’t mean he will , but the option is still there.
He’s lived too long off of rations and ill gotten food to be able to stuff his face like some of his peers.
So, he eats light. Enough that no one will notice but not so much that he’ll feel sick.
There are a lot of eyes on him, anyway. They burrow under his skin, resting there with discomfort. He breathes out and pushes it to the side.
The meal ends late into the night and Sasuke can see some first and second years dragging their feet in exhaustion. The prefects are quick to swoop in and lead the group of tired students away from the Great Hall before the other students leave, making it much easier to navigate the halls.
Sasuke knows where the Slytherin common room is, thanks to some maps he memorised, but everyone is heading in the same direction anyway.
“Find a place to sit or stand.” One of the prefects says, gesturing to the room around them. Most of the older years have already taken the available seats, so very few remain. Sasuke watches, apathetically, as some first years clamber to the only available seats. Sasuke remains standing in a corner.
“Now,” the other prefect begins, “Professor Snape will be around to give the full introduction later as well as speak to a few of you. You know who you are. I am Antares Whitlock, you may call me Whitlock. I will be one of your prefects this year. Next to me is Gemma Farley.”
“You can call me Gemma.” Gemma interjects.
Whitlock continues as if Farley hadn’t spoken, though it doesn’t seem like they dislike each other. “The most important thing we can impart upon you, something I’m sure Professor Snape will hammer into your heads by the time the year is over, is that above all else you cannot get caught. I do not care what you do or whom you do it to, as long as you keep in mind that housemates are absolutely off limits. ”
Gemma continues from where Whitlock left off, explaining that the odds are already stacked against them and that there is no one in this school who will wholeheartedly support a Slytherin who is not a Slytherin themselves. All things Sasuke already wagered given the general air of distaste around anything related to Slytherin. Both the person and the house.
Professor Snape enters and says pretty much the same thing with a few additions. Namely: curfew, do not argue with housemates in public, dorm inspection, all meals are mandatory, house meetings are mandatory, setting up a medical appointment within the first two weeks is recommended if the students didn’t see a healer over the summer.
Well, if nothing else, it’s good to have a set of rules of what he can and can’t do. It makes it easier to blend in.
The man leaves and the room immediately breaks out into chatter. First years talk excitedly about how cool everything is, which, well it’s true. The room is quite nice, though the snakes give Sasuke an Orochimaru vibe that he does not like.
It’s easy to ignore, in the grand scheme of things. Orochimaru was more into purple than green, at any rate.
He moves to go and find his room but is intercepted by Whitlock.
“Professor Snape has asked to see you.” He says, quietly. Sasuke sweeps his eyes across the room and notes that only a few people from the older years are looking at him.
Sasuke nods his thanks and huffs quietly when Whitlock is gone.
He mentally prepares himself to play nice with children 24/7. He’ll have to if he wants to have a shot at getting the cloak from Potter legally. It’s not likely, but he doesn’t want to steal the thing. I mean with magic and Chakra combined, he could probably figure out how to make a new one, right?
He shelves those thoughts for now and knocks thrice on the door to Professor Snape’s office.
“Come in.”
Sasuke steps inside, feeling a bit like a genin receiving his first mission. It’s not a feeling he appreciates.
“You asked to see me, sir?” The ‘sir’ isn’t as hastily tacked on as it once would be, so Sasuke counts it as a win.
“Yes, take a seat.” Professor Snape motions to a chair in front of his desk and Sasuke sits down. “Small talk is useless here so I’ll cut to the chase. On the matter of a medical appointment, Professor Dumbledore thought it prudent to move it up to Madam Pomfrey’s earliest availability thanks to your… amnesia. That is, in two days' time.”
Professor Snape practically spits out the word “amnesia” with the vitriol he injects into it.
Sasuke doesn’t visibly narrow his eyes, but it’s a close thing.
“I’m sure someone of your status has nothing to worry about.” Professor Snape grumbles. Sasuke wonders where all the nonsense about Slytherins sticking together went.
Ah, well. He didn’t go into this expecting people to like him. He hasn’t gone into anything expecting people to like him. Maybe if he were actually 13 he would be affronted but it makes sense from Snape’s point of view.
“I’ve already seen a healer,” Sasuke lies easily, keeping his body language neutral. He’s not about to subject himself to someone else poking and prodding at him. Subtly, he weaves a suggestive genjutsu over Snape.
Believe me, let this go…
He’s a little surprised when he meets slight resistance, but whatever mental protections Snape has going on are nothing to Sasuke.
Snape frowns deeply, eyebrows furrowing as he regards Sasuke. “You… have? Right, yes. Give Mme. Pomfrey a signed slip and that will count.”
“If that’s all?”
Snape nods and Sasuke leaves the room, a little agitated.
Socialisation is exhausting. He should’ve just stayed with the elves.