First Day Part 1

Chapter 13: First Day Part 1

Heather's eyes shot open the next morning, and she groaned as the memory of the previous night hit her like a brick. She had sent Evan Rosier, an older student, to Azkaban. On top of that, she had somehow declared herself the queen of Slytherin House. She reached behind her, grabbed a pillow, and pressed it over her face before letting out a long, muffled scream of embarrassment. When she couldn't hold her breath anymore, she let the pillow fall to the side and sat up, her cheeks still warm with the memory.

After a moment, she forced herself out of bed. A quick rinse in the bathroom cleared her head, and she slipped into her Slytherin robes, tying her green and silver tie with practiced efficiency. When she returned to her dormitory, she realized all her roommates were already gone. Even Daphne. She pouted a little as she brushed her hair. Being left behind stung, but she figured everyone was probably hungry. She certainly was.

Heather left the dormitory and stepped into the Slytherin common room. A group of older students was chatting near the fireplace, but they fell silent when they saw her. One by one, they nodded at her with respectful expressions. She blinked, caught off guard, but managed a small smile and a polite nod in return before hurrying past them. Her cheeks burned, and she couldn't shake the odd feeling of being watched as she climbed the stairs and left the common room.

The walk to the Great Hall was familiar now. Heather's time living on the streets had made her quick to memorize routes, and the winding corridors of Hogwarts were no challenge for her. She reached the large double doors without hesitation and pushed one open. The hum of conversation and the clinking of cutlery echoed through the hall. She stepped inside, taking a deep breath to steady herself.

The moment Heather entered, the entire Great Hall fell silent. It wasn't just her imagination. Hundreds of students turned to look at her, their conversations halting mid-sentence. She froze, her stomach twisting uncomfortably. Then she forced herself to keep walking, her head held high, and made her way to the Slytherin table. She spotted Daphne and quickly slid into the seat beside her.

From across the hall, two red-headed boys at the Gryffindor table stood up on their seats, grinning mischievously.

"All hail the Queen of Slytherin!" one of them called out.

"She's already taken out a junior Death Eater, and it's only her second day!" the other added.

"We salute you, Queen!" they shouted in unison, raising imaginary glasses in a toast.

Laughter erupted from their end of the hall, and Heather couldn't help but giggle at their antics. The rest of the hall gradually returned to normal, though she caught a few lingering stares from students at the other tables. She turned to Daphne, who was smiling at her.

"You look less freaked out than I expected," Daphne said as she reached for a slice of toast.

Heather rolled her eyes. "Oh, I'm freaked out. I just… don't want to show it." She grabbed some eggs and bacon from the platters in front of her. "Last night was crazy. Evan just wouldn't stop trying to curse me."

Daphne laughed. "Well, he underestimated you. That was his first mistake." She took a bite of her toast. "His second was forgetting I was there to back you up. Stunning him was the least I could do."

Heather smiled. "Thanks for that. I was running on pure adrenaline. I kind of forgot I was a witch for a minute there." She paused, glancing at Daphne. "I was about to… you know… use my sword on him."

Daphne's eyebrows shot up. "That would have probably been bad. Your magical guardian Amelia Bones already looked exasperated with you last night and that was just for defending yourself.

Heather cracked a small smile. Amelia had run over with her best Aurors almost immediately after getting Heather's letter to her. Magical owls flew very fast. They could deliver letters across the whole country in only a few minutes. "Amelia was worried about me… It was nice to experience." Heather said as she reached down and started filling her plate with all the breakfast food on the table. It wasn't as much food as the feast last night, but there was still a whole lot.

Heather took another bite of her eggs as she listened to Daphne talk about their plans for the day. The noise of the Great Hall was a steady background hum, but it quieted slightly as a shadow fell across their table. Heather looked up to see a pale man in dark robes standing before them. His sharp eyes lingered on Daphne for a moment before moving to Heather.

"Miss Greengrass," he said with a curt nod, then turned his gaze fully to Heather. "And... Miss Potter." He said her last name with a distinct hint of disdain, making Heather's frown deepen. To her surprise, the man flinched slightly before clearing his throat.

"I am Severus Snape, head of Slytherin House. Here are your schedules," he said, handing the parchments to Daphne and Heather with a curt motion before moving on to the next group of students.

Heather glanced at Daphne, who was already examining her schedule. "Our first class is Defense Against the Dark Arts," Daphne said. "Followed by Transfiguration. That should be fun."

Heather looked down at her own schedule. "I guess so. I just want to learn some real magic."

As they were discussing their upcoming classes, two boys stumbled inside the Great Hall, their robes slightly disheveled and their hair uncombed. 

Heather sighed as the hall fell silent once again. She was beginning to wonder if the awkward silences were going to become a regular thing.

Neville Longbottom hesitated for a moment before reluctantly heading toward the Hufflepuff table. Walking beside him, Ron Weasley had a big grin on his face. Heather arched an eyebrow as she watched them. Heather guessed he really wanted to stick close to a celebrity. She gave him some credit for persistence, at least.

Hufflepuff wasn't so bad, she thought. Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott were both in that house, and they seemed nice enough. Heather didn't understand why everyone acted like Hufflepuff was a joke. Susan was always nice to Heather.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Draco Malfoy suddenly stood up on his seat at the Slytherin table. He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "Hey Longbottom, how's it feel to sit at the loser table!?"

Half the Slytherin table burst into laughter at Draco's words. Heather's eyes flicked to the Hufflepuff table, where several students looked down at their plates in dejection. She set down her fork and cleared her throat loudly, the sound sharp enough to cut through the laughter. Then, she stood up on her own seat.

Draco's smug expression faltered as Heather's eyes locked onto his. He paled visibly.

"I told you all last night that I don't like bullies," Heather said, her voice carrying across the hall. "You and Neville might not be friends, and that's perfectly fine. But that doesn't give you the right to put down all the other students in Hufflepuff." She pointed across the hall at the Hufflepuff table. "Go over there and apologize."

Draco gaped at her, his face a mix of disbelief and outrage. "What? I'm not going to –" His protest was cut off with a grunt as Theodore Nott, sitting beside him, smacked him lightly on the arm and shook his head.

"Just do it," Theodore said quietly.

Draco's jaw clenched, and he grimaced before turning back to Heather. "Fine. I'm sorry," he muttered, hopping off his chair. With slow, reluctant steps, he walked across the hall toward the Hufflepuff table.

Heather sat back down as the hall buzzed with whispers and murmurs. Daphne leaned toward her, a smirk tugging at her lips. "Well, that was... something."

Heather shrugged and picked up her fork. "I meant what I said. I don't like bullies and won't tolerate them for as long as I'm the Queen."

Daphne smirked. "I'm pretty sure you're going to be the Queen of our house for the next seven years. I don't see any other Archmages rising to challenge your position. Unless maybe you want to tell me your secret on how you got so strong?

Heather shook her head. The Absolute Yin Cultivation method was not something she'd ever share with anyone else. It wouldn't be nearly as effective for anyone else either. It was entirely because of the Obscurus that was living inside her that allowed Heather to advance as quickly as she did, even if she was possibly a heaven defying genius. Without being able to feed on it anymore, her cultivation would naturally slow down. Heather figured it could take her a few years to get out of the Golden Core Realm and advance to Nascent Soul. Of course, if cultivators from Shen Yue's world heard her say that they'd probably cough blood in envy since reaching Nascent Soul can take hundreds to thousands of years for the untalented and most end up getting themselves killed by other cultivators long before then. 

As for other cultivation techniques, Heather had been gifted a couple from Shen Yue… Probably because the woman figured Heather would want some well trained servants or something in the future. Heather wasn't willing to teach anyone just yet though. She and Daphne were friends, but they'd only been friends for all of one day. 

Across the hall, Draco reached the Hufflepuff table. Heather watched Draco as he moved down the Hufflepuff table, muttering apologies to each student he passed. His face was set in a grimace, and he didn't look at anyone for longer than a second. He deliberately skipped over Neville Longbottom and Ron Weasley, but Heather didn't care. There were some people you just couldn't get along with, and pretending otherwise was a waste of time.

She sighed and turned her attention back to Daphne, who tugged on her sleeve.

"I'm sorry too," Daphne said. "I was talking bad about Hufflepuff last night, and I forgot that Susan Bones—your sort-of sister—was sorted into that house."

Heather gave her a small smile. "It's okay. I forgive you." She finished the last bite of her toast and pushed her plate aside. "Should we start heading to classes now?"

Daphne nodded, standing up and brushing crumbs off her robes. Heather followed, and the two of them made their way out of the Great Hall, the murmur of conversations picking up again behind them.

…

Theodore Nott watched Heather Potter and Daphne Greengrass leave the Great Hall. He leaned back in his seat, his arms crossed as he studied them with a complicated expression.

"Well, that was certainly interesting," Blaise Zabini said next to him, his tone light.

Theodore glanced at his roommate and shrugged. "I guess so." He wasn't sure how he felt about Heather Potter. On one hand, she had cut off his father's hand and taken a fortune's worth of gold from his family's vaults. On the other hand, his father was an abusive, drunken bastard most of the time, and Theodore couldn't deny that the man deserved it. Still, ever since losing his hand, his father had been even… meaner.

"Come now, Nott. Don't you want to be friends with our house's new queen?" Blaise asked with a chuckle. "When my mother found out about her, she practically ordered me to try and get closer to Heather Potter. I'm sure all our parents did."

Theodore scoffed. "My dad told me to kill her if I got the chance." He shook his head. "And he wasn't joking, unfortunately."

"Good luck with that," Blaise said, standing up. "You coming to class, or are you playing hooky on your first day?"

"I'm coming," Theodore muttered, pushing himself to his feet. He followed Blaise out of the Great Hall, trailing after Heather and Daphne as they made their way toward their first class.