Professor McGonagall read off the long roll of parchment, “Aeterna, Lux.” As soon as the name was uttered, all the kids in the Great Hall who were waiting in silent anticipation very quickly broke out into a loud series of murmurs. None of the students knew of the ten-year old personally (or even the fact that he existed in the first place), but they all recognized his surname - Aeterna. His brother, roughly eight years his senior, was infamous within Hogwarts. Orpheus Aeterna, the man who went insane searching for the mythical Cursed Vaults to obtain great wealth, ancient magic, or whatever else was rumored to be inside the Vaults. In order to reach his ambition, he had violated several school rules, a few laws and even jeopardized the lives of everyone in Hogwarts. As consequence, he was expelled after having his wand snapped in half and hasn’t been seen by anyone since.
Now his little brother was here, and most thought that he’d come to finish his brother’s business - or at the very least, be just a problematic as he was. As Lux approached the stool to put on the Sorting Hat, his little footsteps echoed all throughout the Great Hall. Everyone shushed their gossiping neighbors and waited with bated breath to see who he was. He emerged out of the small cluster of first-years who were still waiting to be sorted into their houses. He was a gaunt and haggard boy who was a little tall for his age, with knotty, scruffy jet-black hair that reached down to the bottom of his ears. He limped, slightly hunched, using a wooden cane he carried in his right hand. He looked like a walking corpse. As he sat on the stool, the people closest to the front got a good look at his face. Although his messy bangs covered up almost half of his face, they could still make out his eyes. His cold, sharp, lusterless eyes that saw everything. He saw the thousands of lit candles floating in mid-air. He saw the four long tables and the hundreds of students sitting there. He saw the glittering golden goblets and plates that lined those tables. He saw the velvety black ceiling dotted with stars that was bewitched to look like the sky outside, and he saw the all the wary, mistrustful and curious eyes everyone gave him.
But he didn’t notice any of it. He didn’t care. He had only one purpose in attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: to find his brother. At most, those pale faces would all be tools him. He didn’t care what he had to do to get what he wanted. He didn’t care who or what he had to sacrifice to win. Winning is everything in his world. And in the end, he was going to win. That is all that matters to him. The Sorting Hat was dropped onto his head, and the grand colorful sight he saw was replaced with the pitch black inside of the pointed wizard hat.
“Hmm,” the hat said in his ear. “Difficult. Interesting. Very interesting. I haven’t seen one like this in a long time. Hmm... You’d do well in any of these houses.” The Sorting Hat fell silent for a while and contemplated. It thought for a bit, then for a little more. The boy was brave and incredibly daring: a good fit for Gryffindor. With intelligence that surpasses anyone else his age, his quick-thinking, sharp wit and thirst for knowledge, he’d fit in well with Ravenclaw. And curiously, contrary to his appearance and to even the boy himself, he was caring, hard working, had inhumane levels of patience and was loyal to an unbelievable degree: personality traits highly valued in Hufflepuff. But he was nothing if not ambitious and determined. By God, he was nothing if not determined. The Sorting Hat could see he also had a hidden talent for leadership. He possessed some kind of trait that would command the respect of all those who follow him. They’d observe and deeply admire him and his actions without him even realizing it. Ambition, determination and leadership are qualities highly valued in Slytherin. As the Sorting Hat mulled over what house was best to put him in, every student in every house sat still, hoping - praying - for the same thing.
Please don’t put him in my house.
“Well...” The hat spoke up again. Everyone froze and some even held their breath. After all, the house he was in was the house to avoid, and nobody wanted to miss what house they should steer clear from. “Best make it SLYTHERIN!”
Normally when a first-year was sorted into a house, the house would erupt and fill the hall with cheers and applause. But this was the first time in memory that the Great Hall was as still and silent as a dead calm sea, and it remained that way as Lux lamely trot to the table on the far left where all the Slytherin students were seated. All eyes in the hall were on him. And just as if nothing happened, Professor McGonagall called out the next name, and the Sorting Ceremony continued...
After the ceremony was over and McGonagall had rolled up her scroll of names and took the Sorting Hat away, the Headmaster Albus Dumbledore stood from his seat at the High Table where the faculty sat at the top of the hall. He was a spry and healthy old man adorned in purple and golden robes who had a long crooked nose and flowing silver hair, moustache and a long beard that reached down to the middle of his sternum. He was beaming at the students, his arms open wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.
“Welcome!” he said. “Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. Nitwit, blubber, prattle and brummagem! Thank you all!”
He sat back down. Everybody clapped, cheered and laughed. Lux was confused. It was his understanding that Dumbledore was considered to be the most powerful and greatest wizard of modern times. He defeated the Dark Wizard Grindelwald, discovered the twelve uses of dragon’s blood and made history with his work on alchemy. He was expecting something like an hour long speech, and seeing the greatest wizard of the modern age act so aloof caught him off guard. What threw him off guard however, was the fact that all the empty dishes in front of him had now been piled with food out of nowhere. He had never seen so much food in his life: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops, lamb chops, sausages, bacon, steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, chips, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup and a whole variety of foods he had never even seen before. Seeing as how this food magically appeared out of nowhere, he wondered if it was even edible. A perfunctory scan of the Great Hall lead him to believe that it was, seeing how everyone was already gulping it down. He reached over the table for the biggest lamb chop he could find and grabbed it by the bone. He ate with his hands, sinking his sharp fangs into the meat. After he ate the meat, he ate what little meat there was on the bone. After he ate what little meat was left, he ate the bone. As if it was just the most normal thing in the world, he placed the bone in between his fangs and effortlessly crunched down on it like he had done it a thousand times before. After he ate the bone, he grabbed another chop and repeated the process, completely oblivious to the stares of utter shock and disbelief he received from those around him. The kids who sat beside him had widened the already wide distance between them in horror.
An hour after the feast started, all the food vanished and a teacher approached the end of the table. He was a tall man with greasy black, shoulder length hair and sallow skin. It seems three other teachers went to their designated table just as this one has done.
“The feast has ended,” he declared in a nasally voice. “All Slytherins will immediately proceed to the Slytherin Common Room.”
The Slytherin first-years trailed behind the rest of the house out of the Great Hall and up and down marble and cobblestone staircases. Lux quickly adapted to the oddities of Hogwarts after what he witnessed at the feast, so he wasn’t surprised when he saw the people in the portraits along the corridors whisper and point as they passed by, or when pearly-white, transparent ghosts glided across the corridors, some even giving a smile and wave as they flew by. They came to the entrance of the common room that was located behind a bare stretch of stone wall in the dungeons of Hogwarts Castle. The Slytherin common room was a long, low underground room with rough stone walls and ceiling, from which round, greenish lamps were hanging on chains. A fire was crackling under an elaborately carved mantelpiece ahead of them. The dungeon extended partway under the Black Lake, giving the light in the room a green tinge. The common room had lots of low backed black and dark green button-tufted leather sofas; skulls; and dark wood cupboards. One of the wooden tables had a Wizard's Chess set on it. The room was decorated with tapestries featuring the adventures of famous Medieval Slytherins. It had quite a grand and cold atmosphere.
Lux stood near the entrance and took it all in. He saw that most first-years had already made and were talking amongst friends. Some kids were chilling on the ground in front of the fireplace, some were reading, and some of the seniors were entertaining the first-years with advanced magic spells, getting them worked up for the years to come. As soon as he stepped further in, a boy Lux judged to be a third-year he had never seen before called out to him from his group of friends. He had very neat hair.
“I can’t believe they even let you in here after your brother got expelled,” he scorned and began to approach him. “You should’ve gone to Gryffindor like your brother so you don’t ruin Slytherin’s good reputation.” Lux was very confused with this boy’s open hostility. He had never seen him in his life, was there a need to act like that? Was he trying to assert his dominance over him? Perhaps he was just trying to impress his friends by showing them how tough he is. Maybe he wasn’t being hostile at all, but was genuinely confused as to why he was in Slytherin when his brother was in Gryffindor, and he just wasn’t good with words. He should probably clear things up for this boy. That would make the most sense, seeing as how he had no reason to openly hate him for no reason.
“O-Oh, I didn’t choose to be put in Slytherin,” he fumbled over his words. Good going Lux, way to clear things up. “The hat chooses what house to put students in. My brother was put in Gryffindor and I was put in Slytherin. I had no choice over the matter” Nice save! Now Lux just had to hope that the confused boy with the suave demeanor understood.
“Well we certainly didn’t choose you,” he spat in Lux’s face. After giving a smug grin and proudly striding off back to his friends who were now snickering, Lux came to the conclusion that the boy wasn’t confused. He was just an asshole.
“Ha! He can’t even stick up for himself!”
“What a fucking loser.”
“What’s wrong, little boy? Gonna cry?”
The third-year bullies taunted and laughed at him as he wiped his face clean with the sleeve of his robe, utterly apathetic towards the whole situation he was in. Deeming them and their actions as less than frivolous, Lux shoved the encounter into the back of his mind and forgot about it entirely. He gently lowered himself down in an armchair in front of the fireplace and lost himself in thought, thinking about tomorrow. He had a lot to expect from his first day of classes: Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall, Charms with Professor Flitwick and Potions with Professor Snape to name a few. He pondered how he would find the time to investigate his brother’s whereabouts whilst keeping up with classes. Lux was concerned that if he only focused on finding his brother and neglected his lessons he’d attract unnecessary attention from the professors, which would hinder his investigation. It was decided that it would be best if he were to just stay out of everyone’s minds and go unnoticed, but he didn’t really know how to go about doing that.
Lux’s thoughts were suddenly interrupted when a short downpour befell him. He looked up and saw a boy he judged to be a third-year he had never seen before smiled a shit-eating grin, holding a goblet upside down over him. The boy had very neat hair.
“Oh, so sorry,” the boy with the suave demeanor said sarcastically. “I didn’t see you there and spilt my drink. You know how it is.”
"No no, it’s fine,” Lux gave an understanding smile. Then he tapped his cane he held against the ground. The instant that he did, boiling steam erupted from every pore of his body, shrouding him like a cloak before vanishing as quickly as it appeared. Lux completely dried himself.
He rose from his chair and hobbled to his room completely dry. He left the bullies and everyone else stunned. Maybe he'd be better off sleeping for now.
Oh this is interesting take on HP, although I don't know what the crypts are based on.