Peeves the Masochist

"What's wrong with Slytherin? How can just anyone get in?"

Ignoring Malfoy's ceaseless muttering, Glenn followed the crowd of Slytherins toward the common room.

Just now, Gemma Farley, one of Slytherin's prefects, had come all the way over to dock them ten points for being there before they were even enrolled.

She hadn't said anything too harsh, just reminded them a few things in a cool tone.

Still, for first-years who hadn't officially begun their studies at Hogwarts, it certainly made for a terrible start.

"Just you wait, Howard. I'm going to tell my father about this."

As Malfoy finished speaking, Gemma, walking ahead, suddenly stopped. Malfoy froze, thinking she'd heard him.

"Get lost, Peeves." Gemma looked at the cane floating in midair.

In response came a loud, shrill series of raspberry-like noises.

The next moment, a little man dressed as a clown appeared.

"How amusing! A whole bunch of first-years." Peeves floated in midair, cackling maliciously.

Before Gemma could say another word, he lunged straight at the new students, leaving them rooted to the spot in fright.

"Peeves! Get lost at once! The Bloody Baron will be here any moment."

"Ha! I don't think it'll be that soon. He just chased me out of Ravenclaw Tower." Delighted that his prank had worked so well, Peeves doubled over with laughter.

As Hogwarts' self-proclaimed prank king, he rarely got the chance to scare so many Slytherins at once.

Gemma furrowed her brow slightly, about to threaten the annoying poltergeist with the Bloody Baron again, when Peeves abruptly stopped laughing.

His gaze swept over the crowd, and then he suddenly shouted.

"Oh! Besides this whole bunch of first-years, there's a fifth-year newcomer here, too!"

With that, he darted over to Gemma Farley and scrutinized her closely.

If he were a boy, one might have thought he was admiring the fifth-year prefect's lovely face.

But that was impossible for Peeves.

He wasn't even looking at Gemma.

It just so happened that from this angle, he could see a certain new student behind her out of the corner of his eye.

Feeling the gaze from those beady black eyes, Glenn sighed.

Honestly, he suspected Peeves had a bit of a masochistic streak in addition to his love of pranks.

In fact, when Glenn and Sebastian had snuck into the library back then, they had taken every precaution to avoid being discovered—if Peeves hadn't barged in halfway through.

Sebastian had been so furious that even while studying Dark Magic, he hadn't forgotten to learn all kinds of spells that worked on Peeves.

Whenever he saw him, he beat him up.

As for Glenn, he had been more merciful. He'd only used a spell modified with Ancient Magic to teach Peeves a little lesson, and never laid a hand on him again.

Ahem. Of course, he hadn't had the chance.

It was said that Peeves hadn't appeared in Hogwarts Castle at all during those six months. At least, nobody had seen him...

Remembering this, Glenn started to pull his wand from his sleeve.

Blaise, standing beside him, frowned.

But wanting to get some rest after nearly a full day of travel, he still reminded Glenn in a very quiet voice, "Don't take out your wand. It'll only encourage him to cause trouble."

That was what his mother had told him.

But to everyone's surprise, the next moment Peeves let out a rather comical shriek and vanished without a trace.

"What did you just say?"

"...Nothing." Even so, Blaise's furrowed brow didn't relax at all.

This wasn't right! It wasn't what his mother had said!

Clearly, Gemma, the prefect, thought so too.

She glanced at the spot where Peeves had vanished, then looked back at Glenn, who had drawn his wand.

Confusion crossed her usually cool face.

Normally, if someone dared to threaten Peeves with a wand, all they'd get was mockery and even worse pranks.

She had never seen Peeves simply run away like this.

Just as the awkward silence settled in, a scream came from the back of the group.

Following the sound, they saw a terrifying ghost slowly drifting toward them.

He had vacant eyes and a gaunt face. His robes were covered in silvery bloodstains. It was the Bloody Baron, Slytherin's ghost.

Well, that needed no further explanation.

As everyone at Hogwarts agreed, Peeves was only afraid of the Bloody Baron.

There might be someone at Hogwarts who could make Peeves flee in terror just by drawing a wand, but that person was probably sitting in the Headmaster's Office right now—let alone a new student.

After this little interruption, Gemma continued leading the Slytherin first-years onward.

"Peeves usually doesn't dare bother us on Slytherin's turf. But if you run into him, use the Bloody Baron's name to scare him off. Don't try to deal with him yourselves; it'll only waste time. All right, we're here."

Despite what she said, all that lay ahead was a bare wall.

"Desire."

As Gemma spoke, a huge iron serpent emerged from the wall and curved into an arch shaped like a stone snake.

Beyond the arch was a spiral staircase leading underground.

Slytherin's common room was beneath Hogwarts.

It was a long, dim stone room beneath the lake, glowing with a faint green light and furnished with black-and-green leather armchairs.

"Girls, come with me. Boys, head that way." With that, Gemma led the Slytherin girls away.

Following her directions, Glenn found his dormitory without any trouble.

Since there was one student too many, he had been assigned a single room.

It was a little smaller than a normal room, but that wasn't a bad thing; he had more personal space.

His luggage had already been brought there.

On top of his trunk sat an envelope woven in emerald green and silver. The neat handwriting on its front read: For the New Slytherin.

Glenn changed into his pajamas, lay down on his own four-poster bed, and opened the letter.

Dear New Slytherin,

I'm Prefect Gemma Farley, and it's my pleasure to welcome you to Slytherin House.

Our emblem is the serpent, the wisest of creatures; our colors are emerald green and silver; and our common room lies beyond a hidden entrance deep in the dungeons.

You'll find that the common-room windows look out onto the bottom of the Hogwarts lake. We often see the Giant Squid swimming past, and sometimes even stranger creatures.

I have a particular fondness for the room's mysterious atmosphere, like a sunken ship beneath the water.

You may have heard rumors about Slytherin—that we're all involved with Dark Magic, that we only care about prestigious wizarding families, and other such nonsense.

Don't believe everything you hear from rival Houses.

I won't deny that we've had Dark wizards, but so have the other Houses. They just don't like to admit it.

A truly evil person won't become good just because they belong to a particular House, and the reverse is true as well. It's simply that, in recent years, the most evil person happened to be in Slytherin.

We do have a tradition of taking in members of old wizarding families, but these days you'll find plenty of Slytherins with at least one Muggle parent.

You may think some people you meet in the common room have no potential at all. But remember: if the Sorting Hat placed them here, they must have something special about them. Don't forget that.

There's another fact the other Houses rarely mention: Merlin was a Slytherin.

That's right—the greatest wizard in history.

Do you want to follow in Merlin's footsteps? Or would you rather sit in Hufflepuff at the old desk of the remarkable inventor of self-cleaning dusters?

We fight to win because we value Slytherin's honor and traditions. Ravenclaws may be a bunch of hardworking swots, but they love competing with each other and often end up divided.

For the sake of a common goal and victory, we Slytherins can stand united, and even in times of danger, we can trust our brothers to watch our backs.

Many say Slytherin and Gryffindor are two sides of the same coin.

Personally, I think Gryffindors are no less ambitious than Slytherins. Some say Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor valued the same kinds of potential in their students, so perhaps we're more alike than either side would like to admit.

But that doesn't mean we should try to win them over. I would much rather beat them than get along with them.

The walls of Slytherin are hung with medieval tapestries depicting the great adventures of Slytherins, and silver lanterns hang from the ceiling. This is a place of ambition, cunning, and glory.

You are now one of the greatest Slytherins.

Remember: the password changes every two weeks, so never reveal it.

Students are strictly forbidden from entering the woods on campus.

Quidditch team tryouts will be held in the second week of term. Anyone who wants to join the House team should contact Madam Hooch. We'll be fighting to win the House Cup for the seventh year in a row—glory never belongs to those who give up easily.

Lastly, a notice from the Headmaster: anyone who doesn't wish to suffer an unexpected and painful death should stay out of the Fourth Floor Right-Hand Corridor.

Well, I think that's about it. I'm sure the sound of the lake lapping against the windows will soon lull you to sleep.

Welcome home.