It was a decent while before the girls left their dorm, but both of the boys would be lying if they said they didn't enjoy their presence. For a first day, that could have gone a lot lot worse, Blake thought. It seemed as though groups within the year were already forming, especially within Slytherin - there was already a clear divide, as noted by Zabini during their conversation.
"Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode - essentially the Sacred 28 families that care about blood status. Well, actually, technically there's a couple more," he said looking at Charlotte and Greengrass.
Charlotte blushed with what seemed like embarrassment and averted her gaze, whereas Greengrass seemed relatively unfazed.
"I was actually wondering that too, Charlotte," Blake inputted. "I don't mean to pry, but I heard that your family cares about blood status - if that's the case, why are you talking with me and Zabini?"
Charlotte remained looking down, refusing to make eye contact, but she eventually responded.
"My- my father was a Death Eater." Blake's blood froze. "But he died in a battle with the Order of the Phoenix. And my mother does care about blood purity - but I don't!" Charlotte's voice was wavering but grew louder with the last sentence, as she looked up.
"I think it's stupid! My-" Charlotte stopped herself, and drew in a deep breath. Her what? "The point is, I don't care about all that - I'm not my mother."
Charlotte looked around and saw the surprised faces of everyone in the group - even Daphne looked interested, and the shy girl quickly ducked her head. Blake, meanwhile, felt that familiar feeling of pride swell in his chest for Charlotte. Her dad was a Death Eater. I don't get the feeling she's lying. Her mum hates muggleborns, and Charlotte's naturally shy too - but even so, she's willing to be friends with me? Why? Either way, Blake promised himself one thing - where he could, he would help Charlotte.
"If that's the case, why aren't you in Hufflepuff?" Zabini asked, and Blake had to admit, he was thinking the same too.
"That's a stupid question - it's not like if you're sorted into a house you only have that specific house's traits, Blaise. If her Slytherin qualities outweigh her Hufflepuff qualities, then she'd be in Slytherin," Tracey interjected. While Zabini argued with her for calling him stupid, Blake confirmed what he already speculated - it was entirely possible for people to have traits from multiple houses, of course, but their final house likely depending on the most prominent ones. But even then, I technically got a choice, didn't I? The Hat asked me if I was willing to sacrifice, and I said yes - would he have put me in Gryffindor if I said no? Should I have said no?
Either way, Blake was thinking. What were Tracey and Charlotte's Slytherin traits? He already had a decent grasp of Zabini's - typically calm and collected, refusing to showcase his emotions. Even with Tracey and occasionally Blake, he only gave emotional responses because he knew that (for now) they were on his side, and even then, it wasn't like he was actually divulging anything important. Greengrass was also pretty obvious - she was as Slytherin as it gets. Observant, intelligent and analytical, probably to further her own gain, although I haven't got any evidence of that last one.
But then, what about himself? What part of him was Slytherin? But even as he asked himself that question, Blake knew that he was already aware of it.
He thought back to his first reaction to realising Harry Potter was the 'Chosen One'. Cunning.
His refusal to befriend Ron. Shrewd.
His refusal to let Malfoy disrespect him and get away with it. Pride.
His unwillingness to show Zabini the true extent of his magical power. Self-preservation.
The sheer disappointment he felt after losing to McGonagall in a duel, even though it was only his second day of learning magic. Ambition.
Slytherin indeed. But is that a good thing? he wondered to himself. What would Mum say? What would Dad say? His parents were good people, he knew that. They were kind, even though they struggled, and his brother was too. But then why do I think like this? Why am I the one that tries to take advantage of every situation I can?
"Oi!" Zabini called out to him, breaking his thoughts. "What're you doing?"
Apparently, Blake had spaced out, and probably for a decent amount of time if Zabini had called him out for it.
Blake climbed into his bed, but he had a question for the half blood.
"What's up with Greengrass? Why's she acting so…" he trailed off, unsure of how to put it.
"Neutral? Even though she's prejudiced?"
"Yeah."
"The Greengrass family is weird - they make sure to be strictly neutral, but they're just very old-fashioned. Probably why she said she doesn't associate with muggleborns, but she didn't say 'mudblood'. Strictly neutral, because she's trying to emulate her family's position. They're rich as Merlin too."
Blake was surprised for a moment.
"You say mudblood?" he asked, his voice neutral.
"Does it offend you?"
Blake paused. It doesn't. Not from him, at least.
"Nah. Not from you, anyway. Do you care about blood status?"
"Nope."
Suddenly, though, another question came to Blake's mind. At breakfast, Greengrass didn't mention that she wouldn't associate with halfbloods. But Snape said that halfbloods were discriminated against, and Malfoy also mentioned it against Zabini - is it just that Malfoy's just more bigoted than Greengrass? But if her focus is on maintaining strict neutrality, or even slightly right wing, then surely Zabini would be someone she'd also refuse to associate with? What the hell is going on?
If there was one thing Blake hated, it was not understanding something. But he couldn't ask Zabini, or Malfoy or Greengrass - so who could he ask? If Snape had lied to him, he couldn't ask him either. And Tracey might tell Greengrass he'd asked too.
It's either Charlotte or Professor McGonagall.
Even if the chance is small, Charlotte might tell Tracey or Greengrass about me asking - I rarely see her by herself anyway. And McGonagall doesn't really have anyone to tell, and I can pass it off as just trying to learn more about blood status because it's relevant to my House - not like she's going to tell any Slytherin about it.
That night, Blake went to sleep with convictions.
I need to find out what wizarding society thinks of half bloods, and I need to organise my whole Hogwarts life, he thought, thinking back to Granger, Greengrass and many of the Ravenclaws' academic capabilities.
And most importantly, I need to find a way to make some money here.
Blake's mind suddenly rushed back to one of Tracey's complaints.
"Why's Snape already set us an essay! Due so soon as well!"
"I'd rather let a Hippogriff bite a finger off!"
Apparently, Slytherins, despite their cunning, were not Ravenclaws, and hated homework as much as anyone else. Blake smiled to himself - so far, the only people that could challenge him academically (so far at least) were Granger, maybe some of the Ravenclaws and Greengrass - Granger seemed like far too much of a teacher's pet to do it, Ravenclaws, from what Tracey had said, were far too serious about academics, and Greengrass probably didn't need or want to.
I can work with that.
AN: If you would like to view up to 20 more bonus chapters on all my fics so far including this one, and would also like to support me, please visit my P@TR30N, at pa tr eon.com / GhidorahWriter (remove the spaces). Thanks for reading and make sure ADD to your COLLECTION and VOTE with POWER STONES! The target is 100 POWER STONES for the next BONUS CHAPTER!