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phantoms-lair · 5 years

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for scooby prompts, slyerin Shaggy if you could! just how the whole school takes in this sneaky sweet roll and his dog.

Gonna @cirilee for this since she did SlytherinShaggy first and this is gonna be at least somewhat inspired

~~~

Acton Carmack was sorted into Slytherin because he father had wanted him to go there, and he swore it was the last time he let his father make such an important decision in his life.

Tradition and family honor meant little in terms of port-war Hogwarts. Slytherin house had been nearly gutted and no one wanted the association with Voldemort and the few that remained tend towards the old blood purist tendencies. It didn’t matter the Carmacks had remained neutral, he had found himself tarred with the same brush.

He didn’t plan to stay that way. And after being quiet and observing, he knew exactly who could help him. He was scruffy looking and far too casual. And quite possibly the most devious mind Slytherin had seen in decades, if Acton was right.

“Rogers, may I have a moment of your time? I need some advice.”

The fourth and a half year (his first year unfortunately being the year the wizarding world went insane, which required the entire student body to repeated it) turned in surprise. “Uh sure. Oh guys, this is Acton Carmack, he’s in his second year. Acton, this is Alice Kissenger, Robert Medera, Velma Dinkley, and Jim Lovette.”

Two Hufflepuffs, a Ravenclaw, and an actual Gryffindor.

“Like, you guys don’t mind if I cut out for a bit, do you?”

Velma, the Ravenclaw, waved him off. “It’s fine, Shag. We can work on Arithmancy and pick up on Potions when you get back.”

“Sounds great, Velms. Be back soon. You can stay if you want Scoob.” Roger’s Great Dane familiar was rarely far from his human’s side, but he was obviously distracted by the snacks still on the table. In the end the dog decided to stay where he was and Rogers left with him. “Anywhere in particular you wanted to talk?”

“An unused classroom would be fine.” This wasn’t a conversation he wanted overheard, but going too far out of the way would be suspicious.

Thankfully there were many such rooms and it didn’t take long to find one. “So what can I do for you?”

“I...I need to know how you did it.” Acton did his best to keep his desperation out of his voice. “Did what?” Rogers asked, the picture of innocence.

“Now perhaps more than ever Slytherin’s are seen as evil monsters, but somehow you’ve managed to avoid it, despite being in Syltherin during the war. Not only that, you’ve managed friends in all the houses. You even inspired enough loyalty that the other houses worked together to let you get your dog here. I’ve been trying to figure out how you escaped it since last year and I can’t.”

His would-be mentor was quiet for a moment. “Because, like, you want to escape the stigma of Slytherin House too?”

Acton gave a tight nod.

“Okay, so.” Rogers leaned back and appeared to think. “like the first thing is an advantage you don’t have. You know I’m a halfblood, right? While that’s technically true, my Mom’s family have been squibs for so many generations even my grandparents didn’t know about magic. Making me effectively-”

“A muggleborn.” Acton said as several thing clicked into place.

“Right.” Rogers nodded. “So it was hard to see me a one of Moldyshorts lackeys when I could talk about wrestling and Commander Cool, but have no idea what quidditch teams or Martin Miggs was. That was, like, my foot in the door. Also I never even pretended to support ol’Snake Puss. I kinda spent my first first year hiding and crying.”

“It couldn’t have been all though?” Acton pressed.

“It was the start.” Rogers agreed. “Before Hogwarts me and Scoob tended to get in over out heads all the time and I just used the same strategy I did then.” “Which was?” Acton leaned forward.

“Make a character.”

“A...character?” Acton repeated, dumbfounded. “Yeah,” Rogers shrugged like it was obvious. “Decide who you want to be in that moment. Just an innocent paper boy on his route. The son of a rich business mogul that someone might think twice about picking a fight with. Of course back then I only needed to be in character for a minute or two, until whoever was chasing me left. This was different. If I tried to act like one thing, and the next day I was someone else, like, everyone would know.”

“So you needed a character your could stick with.” Acton mused. “How did that work, though?”

“The first friends I made were Hufflepuff students. We met in the kitchens. Apparently it’s a tradition to take homesick first years there for a warm drink on the first night. I shared my cocoa with them and told them I how homesick I was, even though it was technically my second year, especially given how my first year went.”

“You showed weakness?” Acton asked in disbelief. That was the first thing you were trained not to do. “Slytherin family?” Rogers guessed with a wry smile. “It’s a quintessential Slytherin value, which is something I thought we were both trying to get away from.” He bit his lip. That was a true point. “Showing a weakness, even a small one, is a display of trust. And nowhere is trust valued more than Hufflepuff. I trust them, and so they trust me. And I make sure their trust is well placed. I help when I can, sometimes food, sometimes potions tutoring, sometimes just listening, and make sure I never betray them. As long as I do that, I know they’ll never betray me.” And in helping his cohort and underclassmen ensured he’d gain the loyalty of most of the house. “And Ravenclaws?” Rogers looked sheepish. “That’s, like, the one house the hat didn’t try to put me in. So Ravenclaws are smarter than most everyone else, and don’t you know it, they like it when other people notice. So I noticed. I’m pretty good with Potions and Transfiguration, but my History was a mess and my best ‘Defense’ against the Dark Arts is to run away. So I ask them for help, cause they’re smarter than me any day. Sure it means I owe them a favor or two, but it saved my grades, plus sometimes my Hufflepuff friends are having trouble too, so I can ask for help for them.”

Which would not only further validate the Ravenclaws, but also get him in even further with the Hufflepuffs by helping with their grade. “And the Gryffindors? I can’t even imagine getting close to one.”

“Well, like, to be honest, I kinda had to let them make the first move.” Rogers admitted, looking sheepish. “A Gryffindor approached you to be friends?” Acton wasn’t sure he could believe his ears.

“No, er, a Gryffindor approached me to curse me in the halls. Not exactly my finest moment.” Rogers chuckled self deprecatingly. “But my friends found me, and well, they weren’t happy. You know how Gryffindor’s supposed to be the house of the brave and noble? Well, questions started going around about how ‘brave’ or ‘noble’ it was for a fifth and a half year to be hexing a first and a half year essential Muggleborn who couldn’t cast a tickling jinx, much less a shield charm.”

And Gryffindors hated to be painted as villains. It wasn’t a far stretch that some would reach out to Rogers just to avoid being associated with the one who attacked him. “What about Slytherin? I haven’t seen you with people as much from our own house.”

Shaggy looked like he’d bitten into a lemon. “Well, if you want to impress them, just act snobbish and superior. But, like, that’s not my jive, man.”

That kind of behavior would be counter to the ‘character’ he had built. So he had chosen to forgo one small dwindling sphere of influence for three greater ones.

Rogers had shown vulnerability, put himself in another’s debt, and allowed himself to become a victim, all things his parents told him a Slytherin should never do. And yet from those actions he had complied the greatest social network in Hogwarts, filled with people bound not just through obligation or ambitions, but who were truly willing to go out on a limb for him.

Norville Rogers was, without a doubt, the greatest Slytherin to ever live.

“How long did you have to plan that all?” Acton asked, slightly starstruck.

“Like, who says I planned any of it?” Rogers’ grin was back. “That’s what happened, but none of it was on purpose. Well, except for asking the Ravenclaws to help me study. I mean, I asked to be put in Slytherin because green was my favorite color.”

A lifetime in training to comport himself was the only thing keeping Action from gaping. That...that couldn’t be, right? Rogers couldn’t have stumbled into this? The hat wouldn’t put someone in the House of the Ambitious and Cunning just because they liked green.

Of course it wouldn’t. But to say otherwise wouldn’t be in ‘character’. “Do you have any advice to get me ‘in the door’ as you stated before.”

“First of all, you don’t have to be so stiff and formal all the time. And if you let me know what classes you’re having trouble in, I can try and hook you up with on of the group study sessions for your year.”

“Charms and History.” he admitted. A study group rather than person tutoring meant a possible in with multiple houses. Rogers was showing him trust not to offend his contacts, as he initially showed trust to the Hufflepuffs. And he would do his best not to betray that.

“Thank you, Rogers.” Rather than suppress his gratitude, Acton let it show freely. He needed practice in not being ‘stiff’. “I really appreciate this.”

“Not a problem, man, That’s what friends are for.”

Friends, was it. Acton wasn’t sure he felt that open yet. But he was honored the older Slytherin had taken him under his wing. He was ready to learn all Rogers was willing to teach him.

#writing frenzy #Scooby Doo #Harry Potter #Ghost Writing #Shaggy's 'character' was basically him being more comfortable that he was due to the trauma of his first year.#Acton maaaay be projecting his 'idea Slytherin' onto Shaggy #But lets be honest #there are worse role models

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