I started only writing the first point of view, but then I got the idea to do a second. From there, two more popped out unbidden, and I figured that would round it out nicely.

All reviews are welcome and I reply to every single one.
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Slytherin

The day the Gryffindors had their goodness handed to them on a silver platter was the day I stopped caring. I, Pansy Parkinson, stopped trying to appear ‘magnanimous’ and instead began to attempt appearing vicious. In regards to Gryffindors, well, “grossly unfair” does not begin to explain the situation. The day our allegedly wise and just Headmaster bolstered Gryffindor’s points JUST ENOUGH to put them ahead was the day I set out to persecute Gryffindors (whether or not they persecuted me, though they did).

Their holy righteousness has always wholly set me off. As if they’ve worked so hard for their shiny image. We Slytherins don’t necessarily deserve our tarnished and battered image; we’ve had ONE raving psychopath among us and suddenly we’re social pariahs. We’ve had to wrench people into believing in us. We’ve never been handed anything except a free membership into the exclusive club that is certain Death.

A group of great Gryffs ganging up on me would barely demand a reprimand, let alone a punishment. But a Slytherin getting in a tiny spat with the noble Harry Potter practically constitutes a flogging. So I became apathetic, if not totally anarchic, towards the hierarchy of Houses within Hogwarts. In the eyes of the outside world, it was Gryffindors, then Ravenclaws, then Hufflepuffs, then us. Yes, infamous old us. Everyone else wanted us either exterminated, or, at the very least, removed. I suppose they think we are all the secret children of Voldemort, and evil begets evil, so there we are, left with stains we never earned.

Somewhere along the line, everyone else got it into their heads that Potter, Granger, and Weasley would save us from the fires of damnation; I’m not exactly sure when their canonization is set to be. Still, no one cares to look at the bias they foist onto us. Sure, they whine and get sympathy for having to deal with us baddies in Slytherin, but we get the same treatment from them and we merely get beaten into quiet submission over it. It’s enough to make someone sick.

A sneer is never uncommon among the Slytherin house, merely because everyone looks at us with distaste, and we are forced to reply in kind. Sure, we start as many brawls as everyone else does, but most of those are just to keep up the reputation. Or so I would imagine.

Gryffindors have no sense of sublety. Really, from the gaudy reds and golds to the severe lack of inhibitions when it comes to “helping” people, they often don’t understand the brilliance of staying out of the limelight. You’re less of a target if you’re less visible. It’s a handy thing to remember, especially if you’re beautiful, brilliant, or rich. Stay low and you may not get hurt.

This is the reason I am actually leery of being friendly with Draco Malfoy. Being associated with him could get me into trouble. I don’t mean the romantic kind; we are not destined to be star-crossed lovers. I merely mean he has a sick knack for picking fights, a relatively uncharacteristic trait among Slytherins. I’ll probably end up marrying him someday, and we’ll live together ignoring one another. But for now, we are able to have bits of conversations because there are no amorous or jealous feelings between us. I have never been a mindless follower, and now is no time to start.

Which is why I abhor the idea of following a volatile nutcase like Voldemort. Honestly, he’s destined to fail; his organization skills and battle plans are sloppy, complicated, and poor. He is a glorified child itching for something he cannot have. I will not be a lackey to someone when there is no indication whether they will still be in power tomorrow. I care too much about my own welfare to risk my neck on a poor gamble like that. I wouldn’t wish servitude to Voldemort on anyone.

My jaw clenches with some kind of fury whenever I see Harry Potter parading around the halls. It doesn’t matter that he didn’t ask for this; none of us ask for the life we get. But he doesn’t seem to be doing much to get rid of it. He only seems to be harboring prejudice towards us. He’s certainly a favorite of the professors, all the more sickening. He gets away with everything.

In younger years, that bothered me to no end. It really still does, but I’m no longer free to express it. Like the seventh and sixth years ahead of me, I am forced to sigh and tell the younger ones “that’s just how it is.” I’d like to at least appear mournful, but instead I must appear steely and calm. Underneath, however, I am boiling. I have always been passionate and this still provokes me.

It provokes me because everyone else has their outlet, their spokesperson with a box to stand on, to whom people can complain. I am left to suffer without a voice because someone would try to shut me up if I even tried. I pretend to have a voice, but it only holds any power within my own dormitory. The sarcasm tends to hide any true feelings, and it sure as hell doesn’t prompt any pity. I don’t want any damned pity. Pity is for those bleeding hearts in Gryffindor, when they fall down and skin a knee. Pity is not and never will be reserved for me. I would rather die than be pitied.

And I have the assurance that, at some point, I will die. If I don’t “join up sides” soon, they may very well both come looking for me. Draco and Millicent and Gregory and Vincent and Blaise, all of them will be pressured to join the Death Eaters. Draco is the most vocal among us, which is one reason he will be the first to go down. I have a strange urge to protect them all from something, but that something encompasses too much for me to be able to do it alone. I can’t protect everyone from the “good” side AND the “evil” side. It’s just too much to expect from a person.

A choice and its outcome really belong to the person making the decision. Even the refusal to make a choice is a decision in itself. So I am left with a decision that affects me and those around me, and no matter what I do, the outcomes are abysmal. It makes me want to run away and become some sort of gypsy. But they would find me. There are ways, always ways, and I am not foolish enough to delude myself into hoping.

And so I simply attempt to stay away from the bright light that signifies fame. I stay relatively quiet; it’s the quiet ones you have to watch. Usually, the quiet ones are dangerous. To the Gryffindors, I am not seen as someone to emulate, despite my smarts. I am seen as someone to fear, and taunt if the need arises. They know full well I am willing to bite back, and maybe that’s how they get their jollies. I tend to get mine by seeing the looks of fear on their faces when they think I am outnumbered. But my mere presence amounts to more than three of them. I have more knowledge of hexes, poisons, and healing powers than they can ever hope to hear of, let alone learn. When I am good, I am very good. When I am bad, I am horrid. People would do well to remember that.

Life’s lonely when everyone hates you.
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Gryffindor

We deserved it. I cheered as loudly as anyone. Putting up with those Slytherin snobs’ jeers all year, that’s enough to drive a girl mad. We finally beat them. Even if I had no direct correlation in the outcome, it was nonetheless a cause for celebration. We deserved the House Cup so much more than they did. All they did was taunt us, while we worked hard to get somewhere.

Sure, we got the extra points because of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger. And Neville. We deserved them; Harry did have to put up with a lot that year. Everyone thought he was the Heir of Slytherin, it wasn’t pretty. Coupled with the actual Slytherins and their leers, the rumors about Harry being the Heir were quite damaging. Oh, he never said so to me; we weren’t really the best of friends. I felt rather bad for the guy. He had to put up with a lot, but he would have been better off if, after that year, he’d paid better attention in Divination.

But no one listens to me, not really. Lavender Brown the Gryffindor. Hermione always saw me as flighty, and I think Harry was scared of any girl besides Hermione. Ron, well, he always was a little immature. He actually asked me, during Astronomy class, if he could look at my… Er, let’s just say it was highly inappropriate. Slytherins tease me and see me as weak, of course. They do that with everyone, whether it makes sense or not. It was lovely to see the looks of indignation on their faces after we won the House Cup. They’re snotty and think they’re better than everyone else. It makes me sick.

I do love being a Gryffindor. I’ve made the best of friends here. However, I sometimes worry about our chances of surviving long. Someday the whole lot of us is going to run head-long into a death trap, I just know it. I can feel it. Intuition isn’t wrong; there is such a thing as an Inner Eye. Mine tells me that Slytherins will be our undoing.

I mean, even if I’m simply walking innocently down a hallway, they think it’s necessary to pounce on me! And they usually get away with it too, especially if Snape’s around to say anything about it. There’s a creepy fellow. Not that I especially enjoy Hermione’s company, but she did NOT deserve his comments about her teeth. Those were unnecessarily cruel. Slytherins have no heart. They deserve some retribution.

Because of Harry’s dubious connections with Voldemort, people regard our house with a certain level of suspicion. They judge us before they know us, thinking it’s dangerous to get to know us or trust us too quickly. And yes, some of us tend to be reckless, and maybe some of us aren’t the quickest bulbs around. But by not getting to know us and fearing us anyway is not way to solve anything, is it?

I suppose things are changing slightly. I wish things were changing. All that’s really evolving is our sophisticated hatred of everything Slytherin and their brutal hatred of us. They don’t have the sense to ally with us. Don’t they see how strong a force we are, how powerful a unity we would be? No, they are too caught up with petty vendettas. Hiding behind Snape, they sneer and bicker and leave it at that. They don’t even have the courage to-- no, I suppose that’s the problem. They don’t have courage. They only want to save their own skins. Pathetic. They don’t see that some things need to be sacrificed in order to bring about something that’s good for everyone.

I’ve learned that. We have to give up some happiness to keep people safe. We have to give up some freedom to keep people alive. Sometimes, people give up themselves in order to keep others safe. But Slytherins wouldn’t know anything about that.

I’m not sure people know the lengths I’d be willing to go to if it meant keeping people safe. No one sees me as strong, I know that. They see me as a little Gryffindor hiding behind the grandeur of our house. They’ve never seen me do anything brave. They wouldn’t know if it they saw it. Sometimes it’s more useful to do things that don’t show as much, do things that don’t bring you attention. That way you’re still alive to help other people.

I’m willing to do what it takes to protect my friends. But I know I can’t do that alone; who could do that alone? Not even Dumbledore’s powerful enough to save us all. Then again, he’d be wise to start with quarantining the Slytherins.

Even their house colors reek of smarminess. How unseemly, that slippery green and silver. It’s eerie, it sets people on edge. Yet another reason no one likes them; who trusts a snake to not bite your ankles? And they still have the nerve to think they’re so much better than us.

I guess you could say I’m somewhat quiet. It depends on who you’re comparing me with. I’m not famous and I don’t really call TOO much attention to myself. I’m slightly more reserved than that. But really, it’s us you need to watch for, isn’t it? We’re the unpredictable ones. We’re the ones who’ll someday save the world. Like Neville. People tend to forget about him, but it was really his doing that won us the House Cup in our second year. He still doesn’t get enough recognition for that.

But the other houses don’t see that. They see a rash bunch of rogues willing to do whatever we please to get what we want. Ravenclaws say we don’t use our heads, Hufflepuffs would accuse us of not sticking together, and Slytherins, well, they just hate us outright. Like we ever did anything to them.

What is it that makes following You-Know-Who so attractive? Is it the power? That seems to be the consensus. But there will always be some tin-pot tyrant trying to push his or her beliefs on you. There’s nothing about following him that sounds worthwhile. But tell that to so many Slytherins and you risk a bodily attack. That disunity forces us apart, into our opposite ends of the spectrum “right” and “wrong.”

Like we can even define something so subjective as that. It’s lonely, this separation. I can’t help but feel a little disloyal for wanting something other than what I have. I could kill for it, if only I could figure out what it is. People can be malicious and it’s a fight just to stay alive.

It can all be so lonely, that animosity that everyone has for us.
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Hufflepuff

Susan’s so meek, they’d say, Susan’s so quiet. If I were to lead them down a hallway of my life, no one would notice I was the one leading. Everyone would run amok and I’d be no better off than I am now. Three-quarters of the school completely pities me and everyone in my House. Actually, they probably don’t remember me, they just move on to everyone else. Because that’s the kind of person I am.

Utterly forgettable. By demanding no respect, I get none. By doing nothing noteworthy, I get no praise. People only notice Gryffindor and Slytherin, because they require attention. After them, people notice Ravenclaws and their quiet brilliance. I respect the hell out of anyone in those houses; they have the courage to be seen. They don’t respect me, as I’ve said. And despite my grudging respect, I wouldn’t want to be friends with them for any and all the gold in the world.

When I was younger, I might have cared what they thought, might have tried to get noticed a little. But I don’t care anymore. That sounds as though I’m asking for pity; I’m not. I actually don’t care if they want to acknowledge my existence as long as they don’t bother me.

But sometimes they do. Everyone gets bothered sooner or later, especially by the Slytherins. But even the noble Gryffindors have been known to pester the lowly likes of us. It makes me angry, but I never get angry enough to do anything remarkable. It would simply backfire, no matter that I had righteous intentions. I really don’t want any trouble. I just want them all to go away.

I don’t quite understand the severe level of awe Harry Potter inspires. His family died at the hands of You-Know-Who. So did mine. So did… just about everyone else‘s. He wasn’t even old enough to remember it. Others were. Others saw their parents die, heard their last screams, their dying breaths. Others had their homes invaded by Death Eaters, others lived their childhoods in fear. Harry Potter lived a childhood far removed from anything remotely magical, and why? Because Dumbledore pitied him. I can understand pitying a baby, but at least pity all babies equally, for God’s sake.

It’s enough to make me sick, all this favoritism. That’s how it starts. Snape favors Slytherin, Dumbledore favors Gryffindor, and soon we descend into common street brawls. Because many of the students at Hogwarts really aren’t much better than lowly miscreants when provoked. Not that I’m the type to use coarse language, but the general baseness of the Hogwarts population is so appalling that at the end of the day I feel royally screwed over.

Not that I would really tell anyone that. Much too drastic.

I was never one to choose sides between Gryffindor and Slytherin. All the bickering got on my nerves, sadly. If I was forced to choose between the Death Eaters and the alternative, of course I would choose the alternative. Death Eaters killed members of my family and I will NOT let go of that lightly. Mark my words.

Ravenclaws, well, we tend to be neutral when it comes to them. We have no outstanding tiffs. They’re not generally bullies, they’re bright enough, but even they have their downside. Brilliance only goes so far.

And obviously, I’m no simpleton. I wouldn’t have gotten this far without a few brain cells around to remind my body to breathe. However, acknowledging that, I’m no scholar, either. I try and I manage to scrape by passably.

Dumbledore’s a good man, if slightly misguided. I wish everyone was really offered equal footing. More people would take advantage of it if it was. Instead, we have barely veiled animosity and general dislike between the foolishly feuding Houses. I’m sure it’s always been this way, which is the pathetic thing. It all amounts to a big pile of beans in the large scheme, though, doesn’t it?

I mean, how good can life be if everyone hates you?
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Ravenclaw

I am not weak. The person who called me that most recently got knocked off his broom. I play Quidditch fairly, but let’s be logical: I don’t want to be pushed off my broom, so I guess that leaves me to do the pushing. Yes, Cho Chang, pushy.

I’ve never been labeled offensive, truly. I’ve been labeled smart, I’ve been labeled gorgeous, and I’ve been labeled a weepy, teary, mess. I’m really none of those things, if the truth is to be told. People don’t want me to cry all over them and so many people avoid me. That’s upsetting.

Harry Potter. There was a big pulpy mess that could have been handled so much better on both our parts. He could have been a tad more sensitive, not that I’m blaming him. But my BOYFRIEND had just DIED and Harry was the last to see him alive. True? Well, I could have waited longer before dating him, and I could have not seen him a surrogate Cedric. We kind of had no idea what we were doing, and I think it showed.

So now every girl who loves Harry hates me. That’s the price a girl pays when dealing with the famous. I get shoved into the line of fire, and I’ll probably end up dying that way. I don’t want to rush into anything, but if all reasons point to the benefits of doing something, I’ll do it properly. I’d rather think things through and die doing the rational thing than die randomly without cause. Like Cedric did.

So I’ll probably never deal with Gryffindors peacefully anymore. They don’t much care for me, now that their savior and I are through. I have no hard feelings toward Harry himself, but never let it be said that only Hufflepuffs are loyal. Gryffindors can be brutal when they think one of their own is being attacked. And yes, I can speak with relative authority on that. Plus, some of them can be right gossipy bastards.

Don’t get me started on Slytherins. They act mean because they think it’s cool. Pathetic way to go about life, that. They’ll wind up dead following the latest trend. Oh wait, many of them already have. The latest trends tend to have no real staying power. And they have no power to see that. They’re too caught up in prowling after “powerful people” to notice that they have no power at all.

As to who deserved the House Cup that year Harry fought with Tom Riddle, well, I can’t very well say. I certainly wouldn’t have wanted the Slytherins to win, but I’m not saying it belonged to Gryffindor, either. And the Triwizard Tournament, I’m not sure you want to hear my vengeful rant on the evil joke that descended into. Cedric should have won that one, no matter how much I’ve ever liked Harry. Harry shouldn’t have even been in the competition. Cedric was rightfully entered and competed fairly. That’s how Cedric was.

Hufflepuffs, they’re alright. Again, most of them don’t really like us. They’re too close-knit to like outsiders much. Maybe they think they’re better people than the rest of us, I don’t know. I don’t particularly want to find out. I think I should just stick to Ravenclaws from now on. At least I wouldn’t have petty vendettas to deal with, that way. I’d only have to deal with every genius claiming they’re smarter than the next.

Everyone else is flashy, exclusive. The colors are bright, with emeralds, clarets, and ochers. Brains get downplayed, bowing in deference to cunning, courage, and loyalty. I may sound petulant, but I’ve been here long enough to have found some universal truths for our school. No one asks me about them, obviously. I don’t care enough to tell them, either.

But I do like the Ravenclaws. I tend to understand them. We have similar motives for doing things, and if we move in a body, en masse, there’s no reason to divide among us. We aren’t always of the same mindset, but we do the things that ensure the most rational chance of succeeding. It’s worked fairly well so far, tiffs with other houses notwithstanding. Sometimes, people just don’t understand. It’s sad that they don’t even try to understand.

The teachers are usually impressed with our efforts and potential. Unsurprising. But Snape, well, that man is downright loathsome. Blatant disrespect for neutrality. It undermines the basics of teaching if the teachers don’t remain impartial. Even he can’t work past his small differences of opinion; his pettiness is maddening.

As for Voldemort, well, I’ve always been able to see past that alleged glamour that comes with a desperate person vying for attention. I’ve seen him for the little begging, pleading snake of a man he is. He gets no respect from me, nor admiration. His plans are deplorable, his motives disturbing, and his execution is lackluster. He has no purpose. If he had a plan and a real motive, perhaps more people would actually be willing to follow him. So far it’s only the psychopaths, and they’re quickly dying off.

And the rest of us will soon be dying off too if we keep with the squabbling. As I said, no one tries to understand anyone else. It’s enough to make a person miserable.

Apathy and antipathy ensure loneliness.