Chapter Text
For centuries every single student in Slytherin house has been a pureblood. Until Dan Howell came along. No halfbloods or 'mudbloods' are allowed in the the rich green and shimmering silver common room unless they want to be jinxed. When the ancient, singing Sorting Hat bellowed "SLYTHERIN" when placed upon the boy's head only the Hufflepuffs clapped encouragingly. Ravenclaw kids shook their heads, pitying the poor first year while the Gryffindors laughed loudly at the horrified look on every Slytherin student's face. Twelve year old Dan Howell didn't understand why all his house members grumbled under their breath when he slowly shuffled past or why the head boy and girl went to Professor McGonnagal, claiming that the Sorting Hat had made a mistake.
Over the years Dan has grown used to the boys he shares his dorm with ignoring him and making plans to go to Hogsmeade without him. Every year when new, pureblood first years arrive in the Slytherin common room they ask the head boy or girl about Dan and they reply with something along the lines of, "The stupid old hat made a mistake and placed a mudblood in our house. I'm surprised he even can perform magic because he looks exactly like a mangy Squib." Dan likes to think that they only say he's rubbish at magic because he learned how to create a patronus in his second year, while a few fifth years struggled and groaned. Even though his parents are muggles, he definitely has a gift when it comes to magic.
Now Dan's in fifth year and is certain that this year will be better than the past ones. He has his new books, repaired wand (a few of his peers snapped it when Dan tried to ask them about their Herbology homework last year) and a bit of confidence. Since the new term started Dan's been doing his best to stay out of everyone's way, in hope that they'd forget that he's not pureblooded for once and maybe even the boys his age would invite him to Hogsmeade.
Students from all over Britain gather in the Great Hall to feast on the magnificent food prepared for them by willing House Elves and to watch the first years be sorted into their houses. Remembering his horrific sorting experience, Dan frowns and tries to find something to take his mind of the embarrassing memory. His caramel brown eyes scale the bustling hall full of chatting children and silent teachers. Nothing seems too out of place this year. Eventually, the newly erected headmistress, Professor McGonnagall, leads a large, shivering group of eleven and twelve year olds. A few of them look confident and wave at older brothers and sisters while some simply gaze at the floating candles and rows of students in awe like Dan had.
Every year Dan likes to keep a count of how many new members each house gets. So far Gryffindor has a whopping total of fourteen, Ravenclaw has it's usual number of nine, Hufflepuff has a smiling bunch of six and Slytherin falls shortly behind its rival with twelve.
By the end of the ceremony, there are no halfbloods or people with nonmagical backgrounds in Slytherin, making Dan frown. However, that frown is soon replaced with a giant grin when the world famous food is served. Immediately he grabs some pumpkin juice and and slides a slice of pie onto his squeaky clean plate.
The night is filled with laughter for everyone apart from Dan.
Later on, around one o'clock in the morning, when Dan is back in the cosy common room and about to slip up to his dorm to get into his cotton pyjamas, someone has the brilliant idea to throw a party. Most of the responsible students laugh and pad up to their dorms while the younger ones stay, knowing that Thomas Threadnig, Slytherin's head boy, has a crate full of bottles of Fire Whiskey ready to break open. Dan only stays in hope that it would earn him some respect. In previous years, he's been known for going to bed extra early so he had time to finish homework in the morning while the common room was empty and no one could magically launch scrunched up pieces of parchment at his head or dump pots of ink onto his work.
By three o'clock, everyone apart from Dan is extremely drunk and casting weird and wonderful spells left and right.
"Impedimenta!" Someone yells, causing a fourth year to freeze on the spot.
"Aguamenti!" A girl giggles.
"Expecto patronum!" As soon as the words leave the student's mouth, everyone copies and soon brilliant blue, ghostly animals are dancing around the air along with one boy whizzing around of a broomstick.
Suddenly, Dan has an idea. Why doesn't he cast a patronus? He doesn't like to brag but his patronus is pretty amazing and maybe he can impress everyone with it! Slowly, Dan pulls his wand out from the inside pocket of his midnight black robes and raised it.
Dan closes his tired eyes and tries to block out the sounds of his peers bragging about their corporeal patronuses. To cast the patronus charm, you need to concentrate on a happy memory so he thought back to the moment he found his Hogwarts letter in the mail many years ago. At first he and his parents were confused but soon rejoiced and celebrated with tea and cakes. To this day, it's still remains the greatest moment of Dan's life because it changed everything for him. He might not have any friends at Hogwarts but he loves to learn and aims so become as great as Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter.
"Expecto patronum." Dan quietly whispers. A great, tall grizzly bear is whooshed out of the tip of his dark wand and bounds higher than any other patronus. At that exact moment, Thomas Threadnig casts his own patronus and scowls in embarrassment. His measly dog was nothing compared to Dan's grand, silver protecter. When Dan sees the look is his green eyes, he knows he is in for it.
As the dog and bear gracefully prance around the room, Threadnig growls animalistically and points his twisted wand at Dan. Gleefully, some people continue to laugh at Threadnig for not being as great as the muggleborn but only a few understand that he is going to go after Dan.
"You think you're better than me, Howell? You're just a disgusting mudblood!" Threadnig snarls, "Levicorpus!" Immediately Dan rises into the air by his ankle and nearly drops his wand.
"Liberacorpus." Dan whispers, making him fall back down onto the smooth rug. After quickly wiping his robes, Dan takes one last look at furious Threadnig and dashes up to the dorms. The older boy is right behind him.
"Finite Incantatem!" He yelled, making poor Dan unable to cast any spells. The only thing he can do now is run around until he finds a broom and fly out the window. The first place Dan goes is his down dorm because he knows his four roommates all have the newest broomsticks. Groaning, he pushes the heavy door open and scans the room in search for a room. In the hurry, Dan forgets to close the door and Threadnig finds him rummaging through one boy's trunk for a broom. Smiling smugly, he closes the door with a bang and watches as Dan flinches and slowly looks up. Pointed at him is Threadnig's wand.
"Burn in Azkaban, mudblood. Incendio!" He laughs before a jet of orange flames fly out at Dan, causing him to be set alight.
He screams and writhes in pain and desperately tries to stand and find his wand. Unfortunatly, it has rolled under a bed and he can't reach it. Dan's robes burn and his skin melts making him scream and cry. He has reached his end and he hasn't even made a single friend at Hogwarts. Dan can already see the welcoming arms of death so he stops struggling and closes his eyes for one last time. Like another person, he doesn't want to die and is terrified of the thought. Dan knows that he has lost this battle.