Roommates and Rivals

As William walked down the halls of Hogwarts, guided by Professor Weasley, he thought, 'This place is beautiful. The architecture is immaculate, and the walls are lined with expensive art. Sets of armor, opulent paintings, and statues so smooth they feel to be carved by god himself.'

"So, where exactly are we heading, Ms Weasley?"

After the sorting ceremony, William ate. He ate a lot, with six plates full of food disappearing into his stomach. He must have broken the Hogwarts record for how much one could eat. 

"We are headed to the Slytherin common room, where the dormitories are located. You'll stay in room S-2; your roommates have been notified and told to help when needed. Sebastian Sallow and Ominis Gaunt, if you're curious."

William repeated their names over and over, trying to burn them in his mind. They walked down many flights of stairs and arrived at an unfamiliar statue.

"What's That?" William inquired as he looked towards the statue depicting a man struggling to ride a semi-aquatic horse.

"That is a Kelpie; I'm sure you've heard of them; they're drowned in the muggles 'mythology.'" Professor Weasley said with disgust evident in her voice.

"We may be better as witches and wizards, but that doesn't mean they're not useful," William said, examining the statue with a keen eye. 

Professor Weasley looked away and pondered for a moment before she looked back at William and said, "What good could a muggle do that we couldn't do better?"

"Firearms, weapons of mass destruction the world is just now adjusting to, and a vast amount of numbers no witch or wizard can hope to stand against alone."

"Muskets and numbers?" Ms Weasley asked. Her face showed confusion as her wrinkles disappeared for a moment. It was just simply impossible for her to believe that some muggles with guns could terrorize the wizard population.

"Lord," William rubbed his eyes. He uddered an exasperated sigh that escaped his lips. He thought, 'Everyone here will die if the rich waged war on Hogwarts. Take Muggle Studies, Fig said, earn house points, he said. I'll probably fail the class because of the teacher's incompetence.'

"Well, then, let's continue to your common room." They walked down one more flight of stairs before reaching an empty room with two decorated black pillars. They stood in the middle of the room, with jade snakes carved into them. The snakes were so detailed that they almost looked real.

"This is it," Professor Weasley said as she turned to look at an empty stone wall. Then she continued, "All that's needed now is for you to say the password to be let in, Perseverance."

William looked to Ms Weasley as she spoke, then towards the door, "Perseverance," he murdered.

The ground started to vibrate, and a snake emerged from the ground, forming an ark. It reached towards the ceiling, and once it peaked, it turned its face towards William. Its eyes glowed red, and its cold green body emanated a killer aura. It stared into William's soul with two motives: sensing blood purity and looking for fear. 

As if William knew what was happening, a smirk appeared on his face. He didn't know if he was pure blood for sure, but standing here with green and black robes meant something. As for fear, William moved his cloak from his waist and put his hands in his pockets. Relaxed would be an understatement. He stared the snake down, his blue eyes contrasting with the snake's red. 

As if it gave up, the jade snake lowered its head in submission and then returned to its post. As it completed its ark, its head returned to the ground. On the wall, a door standing two heads above William appeared under the snake's belly.

"Well, aren't you full of surprises, Mr Louis? I've never seen the guardian do that before." 

With a light-hearted smile, William turned to Professor Weasley and said, "He was just scared, that's all."

"Don't get too brave, Mr Louis. Your journey with Professor Fig may have given you confidence, but what doesn't kill you today could kill you the next."

"I don't think it's very formal for a, what was it," William paused as he put a finger to his chin, "a deputy headmistress to talk to a student like that."

A thin smile appeared on Ms Weasley's lips as she shook her head and said, "Room number S-2. Sleep well." She then walked off without saying another word.

'Here we go,' William thought.

He walked forward, expecting a beautiful room with high ceilings, but all he saw was another staircase. 

"At least I'll get a workout. Every day is leg day."

He made his way down the stairs to see a sizeable place-esque room with blues and greens permeating through the surroundings. He walked in further and took everything in. It had everything one could need or want: a large fireplace to warm the hall and a cozy place next to the fire, a massive lounge room for school work, and wizarding board games. Then, there was a built-in aquarium that was, undoubtedly, a window into the lake.

"Hello, Sebastian Sallow, pleased to make your acquaintance." A voice came from behind William and towards the fireplace. 

The young man named Sebastian held his hand out and had a friendly smile on his face. He looked quite average, with brown hair swiped to the left, covering his forehead, and freckles covering his face. William only looked down at him slightly, as their heights were similar. 

"William Lee Lewis, I think you're my roommate," William said, shaking Sebastian's hand. 

"Right, you are. We've had an empty bed in our room for years. Ominis even moved it over to make his bed double its size," Sebastian said with a light laugh escaping his lips and pulled his hand away. "Well, anyway, welcome to Slytherin. Not every day someone arrives at school with a ministry escort."

"He was a friend of Mr Fig's, just riding to Hogwarts with us. I didn't know word had spread that fast."

"Yeah, Professor Ronin spilled the beans; shame what happened to him; it's a dreadful way to go out. I'm glad you and Fig are alright, though."

"It was terrifying, but now that I've experienced it, I don't think anything could scare me again."

"Heh, you've never met a dementor then! Go to Azkaban, and you'll see your worst fears come to light."

A small chuckle escaped both their lips before William asked, pointing to the book Sebastian held in his hand, "So what're you reading?"

"It's just a book of spells. You'll learn in your time here that not all spells are taught at Hogwarts," Sebastian said with a curmudgeonous look on his face.

"Spells not being taught at a magical school? That's troubling; I've come here for a reason, and now I have to claw my way to the answers I seek." William responded with annoyance, which was evident in his voice.

"I think I've met a kindred spirit," Sebastian said with a smile as he continued, "but don't get too excited. The library opens at 7 O'clock most days. You can find tons of books there. If you ever need any help, I'll be happy to help."

"Thanks; I'm going to look around now and familiarize myself with the common room." 

"When you're done, why don't you talk to Ominis? He's over by the lake windows."

"Alright, I'll make my way over there."

William then spent time searching the common room. It was massive, with high, luxurious ceilings and armor sets that reflected the room's cool lighting. He eventually found himself in Slytherin's lounge. Many students were getting their stuff ready for classes, and new students were waving their wands with a sense of awe.

William was looking around when he saw something familiar. It was chess, but not any standard chess. The pieces were moving as the players called out to the tiles. 

One wrong move and the knight drove his lance through the king's heart. "I told you that was the wrong Move. If you had just listened, you might have won," a girl watching the board said with an arrogant smile plastered on her face. She was quite beautiful, with her dark hair and eyes. Her tan skin gave an exotic allure, and her hair, modestly tied in a ponytail, left one wondering how beautiful she would be if she let it down.

"If you're so good… could we play a game?" William said with somewhat of a sarcastic tone.

"Oh, you're the new student. I'll take you up on that offer. Imelda Reyes, it's a pleasure," she said as she extended her hand.

"William Lee Louis, a pleasure, but I don't shake hands with women" William said in a neutral tone, his face the very picture of stoicism. 

Imelda's face contorted from a calm confidence to gleeful indignance. "Fine, if you want to be that way, it'll be good to see you drown in your own tears. Move!" She said to William, then turned to the chess player with an expression filled with anger.

As William and Imelda sat, she said, "I was going to go easy on you, but you brought this on yourself."

The broken and battered chess pieces returned to their immaculate form and regained their starting positions. The two opponents locked eyes, and the competition began. 

In just 5 minutes, Imelda was left with nothing but a white king being stared down by four big black queens. 

"You took everything…" Imelda looked at William. Her dark brown eyes looked empty. Her face had lost its gleam, but in just a moment, she perked up. "Chess never was my calling." She stood, her arrogance radiating off of her. 

"Flying and Quidditch have always been my areas of accomplishment. You might have beaten me today, but couldn't hope to beat me in those fields.'' Imelda's face was full of arrogance, but William could see the cracks of fear as if they were visible.

"Sure, whatever," William got up and walked her away as if pushing her to the side.

"You must have been scared, real scared, when that dragon attacked. If I were there, the dragon wouldn't have killed anyone." Imelda's face was contorted in rage, as if she was trying to prove herself but was just being ignored. 

And that's just what he did. He walked away with his hand waving in the air and a slight smirk on his face. 'Children,' he thought.

The water was dark at the top, as the night sky did no favors in lighting it up. The lake bed, though, was gleaming as tiny stones illuminated the lake's floor. It was a breathtaking sight. William walked over to a tall young man who was just a bit taller than him, although he was quite lean. He had clean-cut hair and a smile on his handsome face. He looked to the observation window, where kids dressed in Slytherin uniforms were waiting patiently.

"Hello, there Ominis Gaunt, at your service." The young man introduced himself. He guided his wand towards and around William's face in a delicate manner.

'What the hell,' William thought. 

"Excuse me, William, is it? If you've noticed, I'm blind and use my wand to see."

A smile appeared on William's face as he said, "So, do I look handsome, charismatic, charming, maybe?"

"You look better than the more handsome goblin in the world," Ominis said with a smile and a hardy laugh. His laugh sounded like that of a grown man, shocking William.

"So, you're my roommate-" 

"Hold that thought," Ominis said as he walked over to the child-looking first years. His wand was pointed to the ground, but his eyes were wide open. He pointed with his other hand and said, "Look! It's a mermaid! Can't you see it?"

The tiny eleven-year-old first-years had their eyes glued to the glass window. Their collective chatter was one of awe. "I've never seen a mermaid," one said. 

"There it is! I see it," said another.

"You enjoy messing with them, don't you?" William said in a low voice as he walked behind Ominis.

Ominis turned to William and said, "I always wanted to be in Slytherin to see the mermaids. I never saw them, but it is quite fun teasing the first years each September."

"You expected to be in Slytherin?"

"Yes, the Gaunts track their ancestry all the way back to Salazar Slytherin, one of the four founders of Hogwarts. My family has always been obsessed with continuing his legacy," he paused for a moment, "even the parts I deem morally reprehensible, like their fixation on blood purity."

"I have a question you may be able to answer," William said with furrowed brows.

"Go ahead," Ominis said.

"I was an orphan and adopted into the muggle world, but I'm here, in Slytherin. From my understanding, only purebloods are allowed in Slytherin, so does that mean I'm a pure-blooded wizard?"

"Hmm," Ominis put his hand to his chin and looked at William with his pale green eyes. "You may be, but although they are exceedingly rare in Slytherin, you might be a half-blood."

"Good to know. Could you show me to my room, please? I think I'm ready to retire."

"Sure," Ominis said as he turned and walked towards the dormitories. "You know, it's just Sebastian and me for years. It's good to have someone new around."

"Thanks for the hospitality. You both have been quite kind in our small encounters."

"Don't mention it," Ominis said as they walked through a circular tunnel with rooms to the left and right. They walked on a metal bridge raised just above the water. To William, it felt as if he were walking through a sewer, although the smell was quite pleasant in comparison. 

Ominis then stopped at the door, motioned to it, and said, "Your bed is to the right. Feel free to sleep. Sebastian and I will probably go to bed in a few hours.

William then entered the room. He walked over to his bed, which, unlike the other beds, was devoid of personal belongings. His body fully relaxed as he arrived, and he fell face-first onto the bed. He probably would have taken off his clothes and tucked himself under the covers, but his drowsiness overcame him. His eyes shut, and he fell into a deep sleep.