"SLYTHERIN!" boomed the Sorting Hat.
Giljaras blinked with surprise as he found himself making his way toward the Slytherin table. He liked the sound of the cheers, however, from the side of the Gryffindors, there was stony silence. Perhaps it was ignorance, but at the time he didn't see anything wrong at all about being sorted into Slytherin, and in fact, that green snake emblem was kind of cool. Maybe not as cool as dragons, but still kind of cool.
"Heh, better than Gryffindor!" sneered one student.
"Huh? Why's that?" replied Giljaras, honestly curious.
The older Slytherin student stared at him as though he had grown an extra head. "Because they let in half bloods and mudbloods! They don't have the magic aptitude we have or the ability!"
"I don't know about that. That Granger girl seems like the smartest of all the 1st years to be honest, at least in terms of knowing her books," said Giljaras.
"She's a filthy mudblood!" he replied.
"Right... whatever that means," he replied. It didn't take Giljaras long to learn that mudblood was an insult used for wizards that did not have wizarding blood, which struck him as immensely stupid, and it was with dismay that most of the Slytherins actually bought into that kind of thing. For one, Crabbe and Goyle did not strike him as people who displayed any sort of magical talent, in fact he thought they would have trouble writing their own names.
However, his sorting into Slytherin was quickly overshadowed by Harry Potter being sorted into Gryffindor, which caused the Gryffindor table to erupt into cheers, while Giljaras gave polite applause.
Whatever.
The kids continued to be sorted, until at long last, Blaise Zabini was sorted into Slytherin, and the feast began. Soon, all the children forgot about their little quarrels as they dug into their meal.
"By the way, how do you not know about the Slytherin/Gryffindor rivalry?" asked one student.
"I'm not from here. I'm a foreigner," said Giljaras.
"From the States I take it?" said Zabini, the tall black kid who was just sorted into Slytherin.
"Yeah," replied Giljaras. The States were apparently another country across the sea from England, which shared a common language but separated from them about a couple hundred years ago. "Before you ask, I can imagine that none of you have ever heard of the Dragoner family, but we're traditionally dragon tamers, where we make sure that they don't burn down villages or destroy stuff, as you can imagine."
He hoped that it would not occur to any of the kids to check with their parents to see if his information was true. Malfoy seemed like the one who would care about this sort of thing. While Malfoy had been arrogant to the Weasley kid, Giljaras still had to find friends where he could, and Malfoy seemed to be the 1st year Slytherin who had the most charisma and intelligence.
"You're pulling my leg," said Malfoy, though he seemed honestly intrigued by what Giljaras was saying.
"No joke. Dragons are prideful and arrogant creatures, so you have to be careful with them. However, if you consistently flatter them and tell them how great they are, they'll be a lot more satisfied. They're a lot smarter than they look though, even though they appear to be beasts. I always got the sense that they're just pretending to be stupid, because my parents swore that they're actually super smart and can cast magic, and if they decided they felt like it, they could take over the world."
"No way..."
"Believe me if you want to or not, but if I'm putting on a contest between a dragon and say... Crabbe to see who can count to twenty first, I'm betting on the dragon," said Giljaras.
That attracted a number of laughs, including from Crabbe.
"Huhuhuhuhuhuh err... wut?" grunted Crabbe, only now seeming to realize that the joke had been at his expense. The kid then began to count his fingers, and sadly, it did seem as though he was having trouble counting to 20. Damn, Giljaras hadn't meant to be so literal about Crabbe being unable to count to 20.
The thought lingered with him as Giljaras continued his meal, of seeing Crabbe seething, with his big round face red with anger at him. Worse was the fact that Goyle showed no desire to help his fellow Malfoy crony save face. That did make him wonder why Malfoy kept those two morons around.
"So, um... Draco," said Giljaras. "I didn't really mean to put down your friends like that. So, how long have you known Crabbe and Goyle?"
"Their parents were friends of my father, and so we grew up together. I don't blame you for thinking that they are stupid, but they have their uses," said Malfoy.
"Ouch... that's pretty blunt," admitted Giljaras.
"Its no less true," said Zabini with a snort.
By now, the groups had finished their meals, and the kids were all headed downstairs to their respective dorms. The Slytherins were all being led downstairs to an admittedly dark and dank dungeon-like area, which at the very least had a green-tint to it. Hey, green was cool, deal with it.
The rooms were surprisingly cozy though, and all their stuff was already sorted out. Giljaras checked over his belongings, which included many things from Draconia, and to his relief found that most of his stuff was still there.
However, while he was checking his belongings, he heard thumping come up from behind and a shadow emerge. Instinctively, Giljaras stumbled away from his bed and turned around. Crabbe had thrown a punch at him.
"What was that for?" growled Giljaras.
Crabbe beat his fists together, "You think you're so funny an clever don't you? Bloody wanker!" he grunted.
Giljaras stared up at Crabbe, who for all of his stupidity was undeniably larger than him and physically stronger.
"Crabbe, it was only a joke. We've all been laughed at now and then right? I didn't mean to really make you angry okay?" he said.
The other Slytherin boys sat back and watched with curiosity, not willing to intervene, or rather, giving Crabbe the leeway to beat the crap out of Gil if he so chose. In a sense, it was a test to see how Giljaras could respond. His treaty to try to negotiate with Crabbe had only seemed to be interpreted as weakness.
"Oh yeah? I don't care bout your fancy words! But uh... it sounds like you want a hard poundin'! We'll see how much you're laughing once you're spitting out teeth!!"
Giljaras frowned. This moron was serious!
"You don't want to fight me," growled Giljaras, putting up his fists, glaring straight at Crabbe. He was an initiate dragon rider after all, and even when small he had been trained how to defend himself and had been taught a couple of basic spells. While there were definitely other initiates who were stronger than him, he didn't think he would have any problem dealing with someone like Crabbe. For a moment, Crabbe seemed to hesitate, but perhaps he was too dumb and oblivious to notice the danger.
Crabbe stomped forward to throw a punch, which Giljaras dodged out of the way from. Crabbe seemed surprised that he had missed, but seemed to put it down to luck.
"Last chance Crabbe. Back off or I can't guarantee what will happen to you!" he warned.
Crabbe charged forward again, but Giljaras ducked underneath and got there first and delivered a devastating punch to the belly. Crabbe let out a gasp, as he staggered as he held his belly. When he tried to stay on his feet, Giljaras then used both hands to push him to the ground and then give him another solid kick in the midsection. He didn't try to get up after that, as he remained prone on the ground. Giljaras backed away from Crabbe as the rest of the Slytherin boys looked upon him with a combination of shock, fear and awe. Perhaps Giljaras wasn't kidding when he had said that his family were 'dragon tamers', considering how easily that he had punched out Crabbe.
"If the prefects come by asking what happened, tell them that Crabbe tried to punch me for no reason and I had to defend myself," said Giljaras, giving them a silent warning of what might happen if they did not.
"You'd think I'm going to rat you out after that? I thought that was bloody awesome!" said Malfoy.
"It wasn't that cool," said Zabini, rolling his eyes dismissively. Vain bastard.
Then, Giljaras did something that none of them could have expected.
"Um... are you all right Crabbe? I'm sorry about what happened," he asked and offering a hand to him. It didn't feel good to act like a bully, even if it was to a mentally challenged kid like Crabbe. Crabbe looked at him with utter incomprehension, as did the rest of the Slytherin boys.
"Come on, get up," said Giljaras. "We got classes tomorrow."
It was one thing to beat up someone who had tried to beat you up, but it was another to offer forgiveness...
Guess that made Giljaras a very odd Slytherin indeed.
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