By the time Blake made his way to the door of the common room, it was just past 10pm – curfew had just commenced.
I need to be careful of any Professors and Prefects when I'm coming back, Blake thought. Wouldn't want detention on my first day.
Blake inched open the door, only to see the same Prefects that he had just wanted to avoid walking towards the door.
Damn! Where am I gonna hide?
Having been left with no other choice, Blake shamefully hid in the corner of the hallway, just behind where the door would swing, making himself as small as possible and holding his breath.
If I get caught now, this is going to be so embarrassing.
Luckily, the Prefects didn't turn around once as they walked out of the door, but Blake didn't dare move as he heard them speak.
"This has got to be the worst start to the year ever for us," a tall male said.
"Not only is Harry Potter in Gryffindor, but there's a mudblood in Slytherin too?"
As the rest of the group murmured, another male spoke up.
"Give it a rest, Marcus. He's still in Slytherin, and Professor Snape literally told us there's nothing he can do. If you mess with him, it'll only create problems for yourself."
"So what? Am I meant to get along and be friends with a mudblood? He's a disgrace to our House!"
"And I agree – but I'm not stupid enough to create problems for myself, or for Slytherin. I won't give the mudblood any favours. I'm just going to ignore his entire presence and life. As far as I'm concerned, he doesn't exist."
Marcus grumbled, not fully agreeing, but didn't reply, as the group of Prefects continued down the hallway and turned left, disappearing.
Finally, Blake breathed out a sigh of relief, before slipping through the common room and into the Slytherin common room before the door fully shut. After guessing and going up the wrong spiral staircase, for which he was promptly thrown back down the stairs (painfully), he went up the other one and roamed around a bit, trying to figure out which room was his. Eventually, he came across the room at the end of the hallway. All the other rooms are evenly spaced between each other, but this one's not – it's smaller.
Taking a deep breath, Blake turned the door handle, then opened it and walked it.
Although Renshaw kept his surprise masked, Blaise Zabini was already sitting down on his bed, and facing him with a neutral expression, as if he had been expecting this.
The 2 boys stared at each other, as if sizing each other up.
"So, you're a muggleborn, then?"
He didn't call me a mudblood. He is a halfblood, after all. The Slytherins probably won't make life easy for him either, but that doesn't mean he's not just hiding racist views.
"And you're a halfblood?"
Zabini didn't respond, continuing to stare at Blake, as if trying to analyse his face.
"Your presence is probably good for me."
"I'm aware, but I doubt they'll welcome you any more just because of that."
"That's true."
The two boys stared each other down again. He's smart, they both thought.
"I've been told there's no rules against boys going into other boys' rooms," Blake said, lying. Zabini nodded in response.
"I'm assuming that you don't want Malfoy and his fools, or anyone else, coming into here?"
"Are you suggesting we what, set traps? Curses?"
"That's exactly what I'm suggesting."
"If someone gets hurt it'd be against the rules."
"It's also against the rules to enter someone else's room without permission. Besides, do you think anyone would grass?"
Zabini stared him down again. He likes staring, doesn't he? Is he trying to intimidate me?
"Fine. Do you know any?"
"Nope. Not a clue," Blake lied. That's the first thing I learnt from Professor McGonagall.
"You?"
"Neither." Is he lying too? "But we have all the books we need," Zabini said, rummaging through his bag, and finally producing a book – 'Standard Book of Spells'. Zabini looked at Blake expectantly. "Sit down, then," he said, gesturing to the part of the bed next to him.
Blake sat down, and as Zabini flicked through the pages, the boys read together, and they eventually decided on 3 spells.
"You try first," Blake told Zabini, who stood up, and faced the door, pointing his wand.
"Colloportus!" An audible click sound was heard from the door, signifying that it had worked, and both boys couldn't help but smile – after all, this was their first time using magic properly and for good reason.
"You next."
"Alarmus!" Blake wasted no time and thought long and hard about what he wanted out of the spell, thinking back to what McGonagall had told him.
"It's all about intentionality, Mr Renshaw. The best wizards are those that understand that magic isn't a rigid force, confined by spells – it is constantly moving, flowing and the wizards that understand that flow are the ones that can use it the best."
I don't want Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle or anyone else coming into my room. If they even try, I need to know – and Zabini does too.
Immediately after the spell was cast, Blake felt an odd sensation in his mind – like a… ping? A ring? He couldn't place his finger on it, but nevertheless he turned to Zabini.
"Did you feel that?"
"Yeah, it worked," Zabini said, causing Blake to smile even wider. It worked! "Now, the last one."
"You try first," Blake offered. Zabini concentrated, and Blake looked on in anticipation – they both knew this one was more advanced than the others.
"Claudo Invito!" Unlike the other spells, this one didn't have the same small rush of air accompanying it, and Zabini turned to look at Blake, trying, but unable, to hide the disappointment on his face.
"Didn't work. You try," Zabini said. If I do it, will he be jealous? I don't want any unnecessary problems. But, if he's going to be in all my classes, and if I'm planning on doing as well as I can, there's no point in trying to tone it down. Might as well…
"Claudo Invito!" This time, there was a rush of air – still small, but greater than the ones before. Blake beamed, and Zabini looked surprised for a moment, before looking at Blake in an odd way. I really hope he's not jealous.
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