There was a ringing silence in the common room. All faces were turned to him and Harry swallowed. What should he do? Was he supposed to say something? But what should that be? Hello, here I am, as thrilled about this as you are? No, better not say anything.

Hesitantly Harry looked around in the common room. Where should he sit? With his classmates? Harry dismissed the thought at once. He would have to spend enough time with them as it was and voluntarily sitting down at the same table as Malfoy wasn't something he was keen to do. He could imagine all too well the kind of snide remarks that Malfoy would make, and Harry hadn't forgotten the boy's punches, either. At the thought of punches, he considered whether he should sit down near the prefect? Appealing as that idea might be, Harry knew his pride wouldn't allow that. It was bound to be interpreted as a weakness by his classmates, and if Harry had learned anything during his years at primary school when he had suffered from Dudley and his gang, it was that it was always bad to show weakness.

Harry scanned the room for a deserted table where he could sit down on his own and do his homework. To his dismay the only free table was a low round one in a remote dark corner, suitable for settling down for a comfortable talk with friends, but definitely not for studying. His gaze next fell on a large table where a few first years were studying and that still held a few free seats. Among the students he recognized the two boys that Ron had spoken to two days ago. Unlike most of the older students, they didn't glare at Harry, but rather scrutinized him with ill-concealed curiosity.

Harry remembered how these two boys had openly snickered when Ron had made fun of Malfoy and decided that this definitely spoke in their favour. Hesitantly he approached the table.

‘Is it all right with you if I sit here?' he asked and was immediately angry at himself for how insecure his voice sounded. Get a grip, Harry! You're a third year! And they're just ickle firsties! he scolded himself.

‘Er... okay,' said the smaller boy slowly, then he turned towards his friend and whispered something into his ear which made both of them grin. Then they went back to their homework, ignoring Harry completely. That suited Harry just fine. He hadn't done any homework over the week-end so he really needed to get someting done. Being busy would make it easier to ignore the stares from the other tables anyway.

Sighing, he started on his transfiguration essay. He found it extremely difficult to concentrate. He felt the looks of his new house mates burning into his back, and the conversations at the other tables were getting on his nerves. How was he supposed to do his homework with all this noise?

Of course, an annoyingly honest voice in his head pointed out, it's just as noisy in the Gryffindor Common Room, even noisier in fact. The difference was that in Gryffindor the conversations seemed friendly, and he knew he could always join in if he wanted. Here, he was constantly wondering if they were talking about him or planning an attack on him.  As for the first years at his table, their shuffling and giggling didn't enhance concentration either. He wondered if he had been like that two years before.

At last he finished his essay. He was sure he hadn't done done a very good job, and normally he would have asked Hermione to read it and tell him if he had forgotten anything important. He sighed again. Then he was struck by the horrible thought that he couldn't even be sure he had done the right homework. Did McGonagall set every group the same homework? Probably, but could he be sure? Maybe he should have asked about the homework before doing it. Who could I have asked, Malfoy? he asked himself. No way. Surely Mc Gonagall would understand his situation even if it wasn't the essay that she had assigned the Slytherins. When was the Slytherins' transfiguration class anyway? It seemed as if he couldn't avoid asking his classmates about things sooner or later. Better later than sooner, he told himself sullenly.  One thing was certain; he would still have Care of Magical Creatures on Monday, as Slytherins and Gryffindors were taught together. Still, due to the abrupt ending of the lesson when Malfoy had been injured by Buckbeak, Hagrid hadn't set any homework. Still, he probably could do some reading.... Carefully ho opened his copy of Magical Beasts and Where To Find Them and started on the chapter about hippogriffs.

‘First years, ten more minutes!' A groan greeted the prefect's loud announcement. Harry looked up in puzzlement as the students at his table started packing their stuff together, with the exception of a stout boy who scribbled away frantically.

‘Come on, Richard', a bossy looking girl nudged him.

‘I need to finish this, it's due tomorrow....'

‘Well if you hadn't left it until the last minute, you would have it finished ages ago!'

Harry suppressed a laugh. This scene was oddly familiar with the girl reminding him of how Hermione would scold him and Ron. But, he told himself sternly, Hermione was much nicer, she only wanted to help them whereas this girl was just self-righteous and full of herself...

He looked down at his book once more but was distracted again when the shuffling noises around him grew  even noisier. Looking up he noticed to his surprise that Snape had entered the Common Room again and was approaching their table.  The man looked silently around the table. If he was surprised to find Harry among the first years he didn't show it.

‘I expect you all in your dorms in ten minutes,' he said. ‘You too, Mr Donovan, and I hope for your sake that it is not your potions homework that will remain unfnished.'

‘No, sir', the stout boy muttered and, sighing, rolled up his parchment.

‘Mr Potter.'

Harry forced his face into a neutral expression and looked at his new Head of House.  ‘Sir?'

‘You still have a bit of time left. However, you should go to your dorm soon and unpack your belongings, I am sure they are there already. And before I forget, here is your new timetable.'

Snape dropped the piece of parchment in front of Harry, and without waiting for an answer he went over to where the older students were sitting and started a conversation with the prefect. From the way the tall boy quickly glanced his way Harry got the impression that he was the topic of their conversation. He gritted his teeth and looked once again at the students at his table. The boy that Snape had addressed, Donovan, was stuffing his unfinished parchment into his bag.

‘Bit of a control freak, Snape is, isn't he?' Harry whispered to nobody in particular. Donovan briefly met his eyes and gave an affirmative grunt. The girl next to him, though, looked daggers at him.

‘He's doing his job, nothing else!' she hissed furiously. ‘That's nothing to make fun of!' With that, nose in the air, she threw her satchel over her shoulder and left the table. The others followed, some of them glaring at Harry, too, who found himself abruptly alone at the table, feeling bewildered. Why did they react with such hostility when he had just said what they all must have been thinking? Well, all but one, he corrected himself, thinking of the bossy girl.

He looked at the timetable Snape had given him in order to check what lessons he would have the next day. Divination first thing in the morning, that was good news for a change as it meant he would still be together with his fellow Gryffindors. Well, former fellow Gryffindors, he thought bitterly. But how was it possible that he hadn't noticed that Gryffindors and Slytherins had divination together? Was there not a single Slytherin taking this class? Harry thought hard but couldn't remember seeing a single one. Definitely good news then. After Divination there was Defence with Professor Lupin, not bad either, and then, after lunch, Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid, no surprise there as this class was together with the Gryffindors. It looked as if Monday was going to be rather a good day.

Harry decided to heed Snape's advice and go unpack his things. He had no desire to stay in the Common Room anyway. Avoiding looking at the table where the prefect was still talking to Snape, he got up and left through the door through which the first years had disappeared. He found himself in a dimly lit corridor with several alcoves from which various stairs led up into different rooms. He turned to the right and found to his dismay that the heavy oak doors were not labeled. Under the first door, however, there was a trace of light and he also heard some muffled voices. He tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge. Annoyed with the whole situation he knocked forcefully. When the door opened and a head was stuck out between the door and the frame Harry was glad that he hadn't been able to open the door. The head belonged to The Bossy Girl, as Harry had named her for himself. That would have been a great start in Slytherin indeed if he had barged into a bedroom full of undressing first year  girls!

‘What now?' she snapped when she saw who it was.

Harry groaned internally, but there was no choice really.

‘Can you show me where my dorm is?' he asked neutrally. He heard giggling behind the door.

‘Oh. All right.' She came out into the corridor and Harry was glad that at least she wasn't giggling. ‘This side is all girls.' With quick steps she walked along the aisle, past the door to the common room and said, ‘Here, left of the Common Room, are the boys' rooms. You're third year, aren't you? Then it's this door, the third one, right beside the portrait of Desmond the Devious.'

She pointed to a portrait that showed a sinister looking dark-haired man who stared at Harry suspiciously and spit a stream of tobacco juice through a gap in his teeth.

‘Charming,' muttered Harry and upon seeing the girl glare he added sarcastically ‘No offence, I'm sure he is a really likeable guy.'

Her glare intensified and Harry felt a bit sorry for teasing her. ‘Thanks for your help', he said and meant it. She turned around and without another word walked back to her own dormitory. Harry shrugged and opend the door.

After the dimly lit corridor with its rough stone walls, the dormitory came as a pleasant surprise. The walls were evenly plastered and painted in a light color. The room was spacious and there was plenty of room between the four-poster beds. Each bed had a huge wardrobe at its side. A large green and silver carpet muffled Harry's steps as he walked over to his bed in a corner, recognizing it straight away due to his trunk's sitting in front of it. He sat down on his bed and scrutinized the room. Opposite to his bed there was a door, presumably leading to the showers and toilets, and beside it was a huge green curtain, reaching from the floor to the ceiling. Curious, Harry crossed the room and peered behind it. There was an enormous window. Harry wondered what the view might be given that they were in the dungeons after all, but at the moment it was just dark, so it had to wait until next morning.

He slowly started putting his clothes into his wardrobe. As he didn't have that many, he finished quickly and his wardrobe still looked almost empty. He hesitated. Snape had said the trunk was private, while the wardrobe might be inspected. His photo album and cloak would stay in the trunk then. But surely it couldn't hurt to put his books and some other school things in there as well.

Again he looked at the other beds with the different trunks beside them and the different pictures and posters at the wall.

There, the bed next to the beautifully carved mahagony trunk at the other side of the room was surely Malfoy's; the trunk looked by far the most expensive. The quidditch poster over the bed on the other hand could have belonged to anybody.

Harry's eyes fell to the bed next to his and he sighed. This should be Ron's bed, and he already missed the bright orange of Ron's Chudley Cannons poster. Instead here there ws a poster of two dragons that were hunting each other through the air and a picture frame that obviously held the boy's pictures from his home. Curiously Harry went closer. Most pictures were of animals, mostly cats and owls, but there was also a picture of a house that reminded Harry a bit of the Weasley's home, just much tidier and in better condition, and one picture that showed an adult wizard. Harry decided it had to be the father of whoever it was that would be sleeping next to him and watched the picture intently to see if he could guess from any possible resemblences. It was an elderly, portly man in grey robes, with only a little remaining grey hair. Unlike most wizarding photographs Harry had seen so far, he wasn't smiling and waving but rather had a slightly worried expression on his face. There wasn't a picture of a woman to be seen.

Voices could be heard approaching in the hall. Not wanting to be caught watching the other boy's pictures, Harry hastily grabbed a random book out of his wardrobe, threw himself on his bed and pretended to read. He was just in time for the door flew open and all his Slytherin classmates came in.

Harry swallowed. This was the moment he had been dreading all evening. He slowly lowered his book and looked at the five boys who were watching him with open dislike.

‘Hi,' he said and hoped he didn't appear as insecure as he felt. ‘Here I am.' He realized how stupid that sounded as soon as the words had left his mouth.

‘We wouldn't have noticed if you hadn't told us,' Malfoy said sarcastically and went over to his bed. It was the one that Harry had thought was his. It came as no surprise either that his bed was flanked by the beds of Crabbe and Goyle, just like Draco was flanked by Vincent and Gregory during the day. Harry was glad that neither of them would be sleeping next to him. Instead, a pale, nervous-looking boy approached the bed next to Harry. Theodore Nott, Harry reminded himself, and the boy with the dark complexion was called Blaise Zabini. Harry's and Theodore's eyes met for a moment but neither said a word. Harry raised his book again and tried to read, but he found he couldn't concentrate.Would he have to fend off any verbal or even physical attacks?

At the moment it didn't seem like it. Everybody ignored him and his body slowly relaxed while the others were chatting to each other or going into the wash-room to get ready for bed.

‘Potter.' He turned his head and met the dark eyes of Blaise Zabini.

‘Yeah?' he said slowly.

The other boy shrugged. ‘Not that it's any of my business, but I was just wondering if you thought you could impress us by breaking the rules on your first night. I mean, I know you Gryffindors think that Snape is soft on us, but I don't think you should try that out over something so stupid as refusing to get yourself ready for bed on time. But as I said, your choice.' Without waiting for an answer, Zabini walked briskly back to his bed.

So the prefect actually reports to Snape if they are in bed on time? Or Snape checks for himself? Control freak indeed! Bewildered, Harry got up and went into the bath. He felt a bit embarrassed that it looked as if he did what Zabini had told him and was just glad that Malfoy was still in the bath and hadn't witnessed their short conversation. Maybe Zabini wouldn't have bothered to give that advice if Malfoy had been around, Harry guessed.

He turned on the shower and was impressed by the sheer luxury of the washroom. He briefly wondered why the standards were so different in the houses but decided he didn't really care. What does it matter, the water is still wet, he thought.

He was the last to return to the dormitory. The others were already lying in bed, pretending to read, by the time he was done. The big light of the room was out, and each of the boys had lit a small individual light on his night-table. Without a word Harry went to his bed, not bothering to light his own small lamp, and crawled inside. He had just stretched out, when he felt a burning sting first on his foot, then higher up his leg. With a gasp of pain he shot out of his bed, yanked his covers down and put his light on. Hundreds of fire ants were crawling over the foot of his bed. Harry quickly killed the ones that were still on his legs and looked at his roommates, who didn't bother to hide their smirks.

‘Oh, how very witty,' Harry snapped.

‘We thought you might like some company,' Malfoy said. ‘After all, we don't want you to feel lonely on your first night, do we?'

‘This really is the most amusing prank I've ever seen,' Harry said sarcastically. ‘Fred and George Weasley would be so jealous of  your ingenuity!'

He looked onto his mattress. The ants had spread in the meantime, and Harry wondered how one vanished live animals. He was pretty sure it hadn't been covered in class yet. He tried stunning them, which worked although he had to apply the spell for several times because it only worked on small groups. With his hand he swiped the motionless insects out of his bed and let them fall on the floor. That done he hopped back into his bed trying to ignore the giggling sounds from the other beds.

‘You're rather trusting, Potter. What makes you so sure nobody will enervate those lovely creatures during the night?' Malfoy said and the giggling got louder.

Harry angrily bit his lip. How could he have been so stupid not to think about that? Just when he had decided to get up again, collect the ants and go flush them all down the toilet, the door opened and Snape came in. The silence in the room was absolute, one could have heard an ant breathe.

‘Hm. There are some undeniable facts of life,' Snape said calmly. ‘One is that if you enter a room full of boys and it is as quiet as this one, you can be sure that something improper has occurred. So, what has happened?'

There was an awkward silence, then Malfoy spoke. ‘Not much, Sir, just a bit of fun.'

‘Ah.' Snape's gaze wandered around until his eyes fell on Harry. ‘Mr Potter, how would you describe the situation?'

Harry swallowed. He couldn't rat out his room-mates, could he? ‘Malfoy's right, Sir,' he said slowly, though the words nearly choked him, and he added with a bit of sarcasm in his voice, ‘It was all good fun.'

Snape nodded and looked at each of them in turn. ‘I see. I think you've all had enough fun for the day, is that clear?'

A muttered chorus of ‘yes sir' answered. Snape nodded again and turned to the door. ‘Good night, boys.'

‘Good night, sir.'

Harry suddenly felt the urge to laugh. He managed to suppress it until Snape had left the dorm, then he couldn't help it any longer, he snorted with laughter. Snape coming to say good night? No one in Gryffindor would believe this! What did he do to the first years, tuck them in?

The others looked at him, perplexed, which only made him laugh harder.

‘Barking mad,, Malfoy muttered.

Theodore Nott, who had looked extremely worried during Snape's short interrogation got out of bed and took an empty jar out of his wardrobe. He held it out to Harry.

‘Here, you can put the ants inside and take them outside tomorrow.' When Harry took the container, Theodore quickly averted his eyes and crawled into bed again.

‘Theo, who are you concerned for, Potter or the animals?' Malfoy teased and Harry for once didn't mind the comment, for that was exactly what he had been asking himself.

‘Come on, Draco, leave him alone,' said Blaise.

Harry knelt down on the floor and levitated the ants into the jar. It wasn't easy, as they were so many of them, but he managed. Closing the jar, he put it into his trunk and went back to bed for what he hoped would be the last time that night. Nobody said anything any more.

One by one, everybody extinguished their lights. Harry felt a bit more at ease now. Yes, his reception hadn't been friendly, but he hadn't been beaten up. And the prank with the ants, well it hadn't been too bad and he should have expected something. He was pretty sure that after Snape's warning nothing more would happen that night. But what about the next night? And the night after that? Would he always have to be on his guard? Harry sighed. How he missed his own dorm with all his friends! It took a long time until he fell asleep.