Adding Potter to his house was not a surprise.
The Weasley boy was.
Potter silently, and wandlessly, summoning a dish across the lengthy Slytherin table, causing his housemates to immediately silence themselves, was not a surprise.
Seeing his godson goading him in to doing it, all but giving up any chance of becoming the top of the hierarchy in Slytherin, was.
Honestly, Severus wasn't sure whether to smirk in amusement or sigh in exasperation. A feeling he assumed he should become accustomed to now that Potter was officially 'his problem'. Life may have been simpler if Potter had been a mini James and went to Minervas house, creating chaos and mischief and been the Headmasters little Golden Boy.
Instead they were all faced with an immensely powerful and traumatized Silver Prince.
He would have laughed at the idea until he saw the look of upmost terror on Albus' face. Albus stared at Potter as if seeing the ghost of Tom Riddle.
Nothing good could come of Potter making an enemy of the Headmaster.
Severus had tried, fruitlessly, to speak with Albus the day after taking Potter shopping about the suspected abuse. He attempted to downplay the child's power and cynicism, but once an idea has taken root in the headmasters mind it was impossible to change it.
Stubborn fool.
Albus believed that Severus' grief over Lily Potters murder had caused him to turn from the Dark Lord to his Order of the Phoenix. Which was only half true. He had indeed turned from the Dark Lord- he had no wish to serve a man intent on murdering infants and destroying over half of the magical population. Yet he also had no interest in serving Albus either. His bond was carefully worded to protect Potter- Lily's beloved child. And that was what he intended to do.
Regardless of where the threat to the child came from.
He'd once read a passage on the oath of enlistment that American soldiers made and thought that his vow to Potter was similar. He would defend the child against all enemies- both foreign and domestic.
The fact that the child was undeniably powerful, intelligent, ambitious, and (if his readings were anything to go by) less than completely light oriented did not hurt Severus' dedication to the cause at all.
He carefully watched his older Slytherins during the feast, knowing many of them will not take kindly to the Boy-Who-Lived being sorted in their house.
He caught some glares and mutters being shot from the older Travers, Dolohov and Lestrange boys aimed at Potter. Unsurprising, considering their kin were in Azkaban for acts committed during the Dark Lords reign.
Unsurprising but unacceptable. He would need to speak with them quickly and carefully to shut down any notion of revenge on Potter.
He continued watching his snakes carefully until the end of the meal when the Headmaster made his customary speech highlighting the common rules of Hogwarts.
Curiously, Albus merely made the third floor corridor a footnote.
'Closed for repairs', indeed.
"I thought you intended to stress the importance of avoiding the corridor?" Minerva murmured to Albus under the cover of the evacuating students.
Albus shook his head grimly.
"No need, my dear. No need."
Curious.
***
Severus waited his customary five minutes outside the Slytherin portrait; giving the prefects time to seat everyone in the common room for his welcome speech.
When he swept in the room, he almost snorted in his absolutely unsurprising shock that there was a wide berth around Potter- only Draco and the Weasley boy stood on either side of him. The rest of the students stood at least four feet away from the trio.
Fear or reverence? A mixture of both?
Severus stood in front of the students, a mixture of the first years clear to his snakes in their final year of studies. He fixed them all with a hard stare. Attempting to make eye contact with each student for at least a moment.
"Slytherin is the home of the cunning, the determined, and the ambitious," Severus said softly, knowing his words were punctuated with a sense of importance. "When you search through history you will find that the our house has created the most politicians, theorists, publishers, and the overwhelming majority of past Ministers of Magic."
A few students grinned at that, shooting each other smug looks.
"However," Severus continued, "you will also find that our house is often considered to be the darkest house in Hogwarts. We are discriminated against, bullied, targeted, and treated universally as budding dark lords.
"Make no mistake- Slytherin has its share of dark wizards who have taken their prejudice and ambition to extremes. Yet, nobody speaks of Sirius Black, a mass Muggle murderer from Gryffindor. Nor of Esme Hughes, an infamous black widow from charming Hufflepuff. And history is littered with bodies from Oliver Whyte, the muggleborn murderer from Ravenclaw who killed over 20 witches and wizards before taking his own life."
Severus eyed them all, knowing his older students have heard this before but it would be a first telling for the first years.
And god damn if Potter didn't have his head cocked to the side with the most intrigued look on his face.
"I tell you all this to remind you that the prejudice of others does not need to dictate your actions," Severus said. "When the other students call you evil, turn the other cheek. When your professors ignore your successes and harp on your failures, stand out more.
"Most importantly- and this is the number one law in my house; outside of this portrait you will operate as a single unit."
He made sure to make eye contact with his older students, knowing the difficulties Potter is sure to bring in this rule.
Severus lowered his voice subtly, adding to the severe effect he hoped to give. "You will not fight, mock, tease, bully, or exclude another student wearing these green robes outside of this room. Ever. I say this is the law and you should know that I will be the judge, jury, and executioner shall you decide to ignore it."
A few students shifted uncomfortably. Severus was interested to see Weasley's chin lift, as if being issued a challenge.
"First years will know that within the next two weeks they will have mandatory scheduled physicals. Anyone wishing to play Quidditch this season shall speak with me about one as well- you are unable to tryout, join, or rejoin, the team without a current physical on file.
"Turn to your prefects for assistance, and seek me out for any difficulties you may have that I can assist with. You will find your life here in Slytherin more comfortable if we are able to communicate clearly and effectively. Is that understood?"
The older students dutifully responded with variations of "Yes sir", while the younger ones nodded with mixed looks of awe and fear on their face.
Damned Potter still looked amused.
Severus nodded sharply at them and strode to the door where he turned and told them all, "Welcome to Slytherin."