September 1st, 1991

"Draco, you must push your luggage cart harder! You are a Malfoy, meaning you cannot be weak!"

Draco replied, "Yes, Father," and pushed his cart harder in order to accelerate its speed. When his father turned back around, Draco stuck his tongue out at him.

"Mimble Wimble!" Lucius Malfoy said, pointing his wand at Draco.

"Son, you may not know this, but it is wise to not mock your father when his back is turned. Believe me when I say I can tell what you are doing."

Draco trudged along, following his parents, until they got to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. Once Draco had emerged from the brick wall, Lucius undid the curse.

"When you board the train," he instructed, "find Vincent and Gregory."

"But Father," Draco started, "those two have got more hair than brains."

"They are also guaranteed to be in Slytherin."

"Why can't I sit with Blaise?"

Lucius's face darkened. "You have not seen him in a year, and there is a perfectly good reason for that. Blaise Zabini's father and I have a bet on The Dark Lord."

"What bet?"

Slap.

"Malfoys do not ask so many questions!" Lucius snapped. "Malfoys respect silence, and the knowledge they are intended to know approach them at the correct-and only the correct-time."

"Yes, Father," Draco said, still clutching his now-red cheek.

The train blew its whistle.

"Go now," Narcissa said, then when she caught Lucius's eye, she added, "you sorry excuse for a wizard."

"Narcissa, is that any way to bid your son goodbye?" Lucius drawled.

"You're right. Draco, you are a Malfoy. Do you know what that means?"

Draco sighed and replied, "Malfoys always get top marks in their classes and are the star players of their Quidditch team. They are expected to be Slytherins, and while they are to be the most respected in Slytherin House, they must be proper purebloods and behave themselves. Got it, Mother."

"Do not forget it," Narcissa replied before she and Lucius left.

Draco boarded the train and went to search for Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, as his father had instructed. However, he was met by a pleasant surprise on his way there.

"Blaise!"

"Draco! It's been a year," the other boy said.

"I know. I reckon it's got something to do with a bet."

"A bet?"

"Earlier today, Father let it slip that he and your father were betting on something related to The Dark Lord."

Blaise frowned. "So that's why Father told me to stay away from you. No offense."

"None taken. My father had asked me to do the same to you. I'm supposed to find the dimwits Crabbe and Goyle and spend the year bossing them around."

Blaise chuckled. "Good luck, mate. I've got Theodore and Adrian to deal with, but they're our friends."

"I wish the four of us would share a room at Hogwarts."

"Perhaps we will. Then Crabbe and Goyle can't spy on you and tell your father you're not with them."

"Speaking of which, I'd better get going."

"Alright, see you, mate."

"Right." Draco continued through the train until he found Crabbe and Goyle snoring in a compartment. He sat down about two feet away from Goyle and stared at his hands until the train stopped.

"Malfoy!" exclaimed Crabbe when he woke up.

"No, I'm Potter," Draco said sarcastically.

"Hey Goyle," Crabbe nudge him, "wake up! It's Harry Potter!"

"Shut up, you dimwit!" Draco roared. "I was being sarcastic. I'm really Malfoy."

Crabbe frowned and started, "What's sarcas-"

Draco groaned and stormed out of the compartment. He sat in a boat with Blaise, Theodore Nott, and Adrian Pucey.

"Adrian, I thought you were a third year," Draco said.

"I don't know why," Adrian answered, "but my father found it funny to trick people into thinking I was two years older than I actually am."

"I don't find that particularly funny," Theo said.

"It's not," Draco said.

Draco stood with Crabbe and Goyle (much to his dismay) during Professor McGonagall's instructions.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," she stated. "Now, in a few moments you will pass through these doors and join your classmates, but before you take your seats, you must be sorted into your houses. They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Now while you're here, your house will be like your family. Your triumphs will earn you points. Any rule breaking, and you will lose points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup."

Suddenly, a frog croaked, and a chubby first year rushed forward to pick it up, yelling, "Trevor!" He looked up at McGonagall and said, "Sorry."

The irritated professor waved it off and continued, "The Sorting Ceremony will begin momentarily."

Draco looked around at his fellow classmates and recognized one with a lightning bolt scar on his forehead.

"It's true then," he said, "what they were saying on the train. Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts."

There was a collective gasp and murmurs ran among the students.

Draco marched up to Harry Potter and said, "I'm Malfoy. Draco Malfoy."

A redhead, standing next to Potter, snickered.

Draco's jaw clenched. He turned to the mocker. "Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask you yours. Red hair, and a hand-me-down robe? You must be a Weasley."

"It's not nice to make assumptions," a voice called. Draco spun around to see a girl with bushy hair and large front teeth.

"And you are?" Draco asked.

"Hermione Granger. If I am unfortunate enough to share some classes with you-"

"Granger?" Draco said, frowning.

"Yes. Have you heard of me?"

"I met you when we were younger. Your aunt, Celeste, was my mother's nurse." Draco then gasped in realization. "Your parents are squibs!"

There were more gasps from the students, similar to Draco's.

"And what is the problem with that?" Granger snapped. "What is the problem with being a squib or a, what did you say, a Weasley? Whatever that means."

"The-" Draco started but was cut off by Potter.

"You shouldn't say anything if you're stumped."

"If you wouldn't keep interrupting me, you wouldn't think I was stumped!" Draco groaned in frustration.

The Great Hall doors swung open, and McGonagall stepped out, saying, "We're ready for you now. Follow me."

Draco snapped out of his current mindset and kept repeating, "Malfoy, Slytherin. Malfoy, Slytherin. Malfoy, Slytherin." in his head. If he was placed anywhere else, his father would personally come to Hogwarts to kill him.

He put on a smirk when his name was called, and walked up to the stool. As soon as the Sorting Hat was placed on his head, it called out, "SLYTHERIN!"

Draco walked over to the Slytherin table and sat down. On his way there, he heard the Weasel say, "There's not a witch or wizard who went bad and wasn't in Slytherin."

Theo and Adrian were sorted into Slytherin, and finally, Blaise was, too.

"I hate having my last name start with a 'Z' because I'm always last," Blaise complained.

"It's no big deal, I suppose," Draco said. "Let's just eat. I haven't had a proper meal all day."

"I think they should serve lunch on the trains, don't you?" Theo said.

"Definitely."

Back at the Gryffindor table, Harry Potter was enjoying the feast. A roar of laughter erupted from the Slytherin table, and Harry spun around to look at them.

"I bet they're making fun of me right now," Ronald Weasley said.

"Why would they do that?" Hermione Granger asked.

"The Malfoys are the richest and most popular pureblood family in the wizarding world, but they were also in league with You-Know-Who. That's why the other Slytherins will follow whatever Draco Malfoy does. Plus, they're Slytherins. They hate everyone."

"But what's that got to do with you?"

"I'm a pureblood, too, but I'm not rich like the rest of 'em."

At the Slytherin table, Draco was sharing a story with his friends. "My father went to the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff game in his fifth year. As captain of his own team, he was responsible for keeping track of the other teams. So he's watching the game from where the teachers were when the snitch appears right next to him. Being a seeker, he's just itching to reach out and grab it. He's so oblivious to the rest of the world that he doesn't notice the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff seekers zooming toward him from either direction at full speed. When he looks up, he sees only twelve players in the Quidditch Pitch. He doesn't duck in time so the two seekers completely crash into him."

A roar of laughter erupted from those who were listening.

Draco continued, "My father was in the hospital for weeks, and he recovered only to serve a detention for being in the staff section."

Blaise said, "That was absolutely brilliant of your father." He wasn't being serious, of course, and he was grinning.

"Well, it's time to go now," Adrian informed them.

The four of them followed their prefects to the dungeons.

"Congratulations! I'm Prefect Gemma Farley, and I'm delighted to welcome you to SLYTHERIN HOUSE. Our emblem is the serpent, the wisest of creatures; our house colours are emerald green and silver, and our common room lies behind a concealed entrance down in the dungeons. As you'll see, its windows look out into the depths of the Hogwarts lake. 

"Now, there are a few things you should know about Slytherin – and a few you should forget. 

"You might have heard rumours about Slytherin house – that we're all into the Dark Arts, and will only talk to you if your great-grandfather was a famous wizard, and rubbish like that. Well, you don't want to believe everything you hear from competing houses. I'm not denying that we've produced our share of Dark wizards, but so have the other three houses – they just don't like admitting it. And yes, we have traditionally tended to take students who come from long lines of witches and wizards, but nowadays you'll find plenty of people in Slytherin house who have at least one Muggle parent. 

"Here's a little-known fact that the other three houses don't bring up much: Merlin was a Slytherin. Yes, Merlin himself, the most famous wizard in history! He learned all he knew in this very house! Do you want to follow in the footsteps of Merlin? Or would you rather sit at the old desk of that illustrious ex-Hufflepuff, Eglantine Puffett, inventor of the Self-Soaping Dishcloth?"

Many no's were heard from the first years.

"I didn't think so," Farley continued. "But that's enough about what we're not. Let's talk about what we are, which is the coolest and edgiest house in this school. We play to win, because we care about the honour and traditions of Slytherin. 

"We also get respect from our fellow students. Yes, some of that respect might be tinged with fear, because of our Dark reputation, but you know what? It can be fun, having a reputation for walking on the wild side. Chuck out a few hints that you've got access to a whole library of curses, and see whether anyone feels like nicking your inkpot. 

"But we're not bad people. We're like our emblem, the snake: sleek, powerful, and frequently misunderstood. 

"For instance, we Slytherins look after our own – which is more than you can say for Ravenclaw. Apart from being the biggest bunch of swots you ever met, Ravenclaws are famous for clambering over each other to get good marks, whereas we Slytherins are brothers. The corridors of Hogwarts can throw up surprises for the unwary, and you'll be glad you've got the Serpents on your side as you move around the school. As far as we're concerned, once you've become a snake, you're one of ours – one of the elite. 

"Because you know what Salazar Slytherin looked for in his chosen students? The seeds of greatness. You've been chosen by this house because you've got the potential to be great, in the true sense of the word. All right, you might see a couple of people hanging around the common room whom you might not think are destined for anything special. Well, keep that to yourself. If the Sorting Hat put them in here, there's something great about them, and don't you forget it."

Draco thought about why Crabbe and Goyle were sorted into Slytherin, but then again, he couldn't imagine them being in any of the other houses.

"And talking of people who aren't destined for greatness, I haven't mentioned the Gryffindors. Now, a lot of people say that Slytherins and Gryffindors represent two sides of the same coin. Personally, I think Gryffindors are nothing more than wannabe Slytherins. Mind you, some people say that Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor prized the same kinds of students, so perhaps we are more similar than we like to think. But that doesn't mean that we cozy up with Gryffindors. They like beating us only slightly less than we like beating them.

"The password to the common room changes every fortnight. Keep an eye on the noticeboard. Never bring anyone from another house into our common room or tell them our password. No outsider has entered it for more than seven centuries. 

"Well, I think that's all for now. Tabula Rasa."

When the prefect spoke the password, which meant blank slate, the stone wall slowly dropped through the ground. It rose back up once everyone had entered.

Draco went straight up to the dorms, followed by his friends.

"Which room's ours?" Blaise asked.

"This one," Draco said, opening a door with their four names on it.

Draco immediately entered the bathroom for a nice, cold shower and changed into his silky green pajamas.

"Going to bed so soon, mate?" Theo asked.

"I'm tired, and it's already eleven," Draco answered. "Besides, we've got classes tomorrow, and being a Malfoy won't get me out of detention."

A/N: I encourage you all to share this book with your friends, comment, vote, and keep on reading! Thank you all so much!