Slytherins, Kisses and Other Disasters
Copyright© 2026 by Caroline Stanton
Chapter 53: The Sound of Slytherin
The first indication that something unusual was happening in the Slytherin common room came when Blaise Zabini began humming. This was sufficiently unexpected that Pansy Parkinson looked up from her magazine.
“What are you doing?”
Blaise stopped.
“What?”
“That noise.”
“It’s called humming, Pansy.”
“I know what humming is. Why are you doing it?”
Blaise considered.
“There’s a song stuck in my head.”
“What song?”
He hesitated.
“Something by Nirvana.”
Pansy stared at him.
“By whom?”
“Nirvana.”
“Is that a person?”
“No. It’s a band.”
“A wizarding band?”
Blaise smiled.
“Not exactly.”
Pansy’s expression darkened.
“Oh, no.”
Across the common room, Adrian Selwyn looked up from the small portable CD player resting on his lap.
“Oh, yes.”
Adrian’s interest in Muggle music had begun as a curiosity. Then he’d bought an electric guitar. Then an amplifier. Then several compact discs. And somewhere between learning his first three chords and discovering that his roommates preferred not to be awakened by distorted guitar at seven in the morning, he’d become something of an unofficial ambassador for Muggle rock music. His collection wasn’t enormous, but it was growing.
There was Nirvana’s Nevermind, Green Day’s Dookie, Oasis’s (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, and a few other albums he’d acquired during his shopping trips. The portable CD player had been magically adapted to work within Hogwarts, much like Draconia’s mobile telephone. At first, Adrian had listened through headphones. Then Blaise had asked what he was listening to. Then Theodore Nott had borrowed the headphones. Then someone had suggested connecting the player to a pair of small speakers.
And now, several days later, a surprising number of Slytherins had developed opinions about Muggle music.
“Play that one again,” Theodore said.
Adrian looked up.
“Which one?”
“The one about the basket.”
Adrian smiled.
“Basket Case?”
“That’s it.”
Pansy looked horrified.
“Why would anyone write a song about a basket?”
“It’s not literally about a basket,” Blaise explained.
“Then why call it that?”
Adrian laughed.
“Just listen.”
He pressed play. A moment later, the opening guitar of Green Day’s Basket Case filled the common room. Theodore nodded appreciatively.
“That’s rather good.”
Blaise began tapping his foot. Pansy stared at them.
“You’ve all lost your minds.”
Victoria and Georgina entered just as the song reached its chorus. Victoria stopped. Her green eyes widened.
“Oh, I like this one!”
Georgina grinned.
“Adrian!”
He looked up.
“Hello, beautiful.”
She crossed the room, bent down, and kissed him.
“What’s playing?”
“Green Day.”
“Brilliant.”
Victoria dropped into an armchair.
“Turn it up.”
Pansy looked scandalised.
“Victoria!”
“What?”
“This is the Slytherin common room!”
Victoria glanced around.
“Yes. I recognised the green furniture.”
Pansy folded her arms.
“We’re supposed to have standards.”
“We do. That’s why Adrian isn’t playing his own guitar.”
Several students laughed. Adrian placed a hand over his heart.
“That was cruel.”
Georgina kissed his cheek.
“But accurate.”
Draconia arrived a few minutes later. She stopped just inside the entrance and listened. Then she smiled.
“Ah. The cultural revolution continues.”
Adrian looked up.
“Would you like to choose something?”
Draconia considered.
“Have you anything quieter?”
Victoria looked offended.
“Draco!”
“What? Some of us appreciate music that doesn’t sound as though someone is dismantling a motorcar.”
Blaise laughed. Adrian reached for another CD.
“Oasis?”
Draconia tilted her head.
“Isn’t that the band Alex likes?”
“Among others.”
She smiled.
“Then yes.”
Adrian changed the disc. A moment later, Wonderwall began playing. Draconia listened. Her expression softened.
“Oh.”
Victoria looked at her.
“What?”
Draconia smiled.
“Nothing.”
“Thinking about Alex?”
Draconia gave her a look.
“Perhaps.”
Victoria leaned back.
“Hopeless.”
Draconia smiled sweetly.
“You’re one to talk.”
By the end of the week, Adrian’s CDs had become an unexpected source of entertainment. Students who would previously have dismissed Muggle music without hearing a single note were now borrowing his player, asking about particular bands, and arguing over which albums were best. Blaise preferred Oasis. Theodore had developed an enthusiasm for Green Day. Victoria liked anything loud enough to make her want to move.
Georgina liked whatever Adrian played for her, although she was beginning to distinguish between songs she genuinely enjoyed and songs she enjoyed because he was sitting beside her. Pansy maintained that Muggle music was vulgar. Nevertheless, she had been caught humming Wonderwall twice. Draconia found this particularly amusing.
“You’re enjoying yourself, Pansy.”
“I am not.”
“Of course not.”
“It’s merely a catchy tune.”
“Naturally.”
“That doesn’t mean I approve of Muggle culture.”
“Perish the thought.”
One evening, Adrian found himself surrounded by a small group of Slytherins who were examining his collection. Theodore held up Nevermind.
“What’s with the baby?”
Adrian looked at the cover.
“It’s the album artwork.”
“Why is he underwater?”
“Artistic expression, I suppose.”
Blaise examined another disc.
“Do Muggles really buy these things?”
“Millions of them.”
Theodore looked impressed.
“Millions?”
“Some of these bands are enormously popular.”
“Interesting.”
Draconia, sitting nearby, looked up.
“What is?”
Blaise shrugged.
“That Muggles can produce something this good without magic.”
For a moment, nobody spoke. Then Victoria grinned.
“Careful, Blaise. That almost sounded like a compliment.”
He gave her a look.
“I can appreciate good music without changing my opinions about everything else.”
“Of course you can.”
Adrian smiled.
“That’s how it starts.”
Blaise raised an eyebrow.
“How what starts?”
“Curiosity.”
Later that evening, Draconia sat beside Adrian while he sorted his CDs.
“May I borrow one?”
He looked up.
“Of course. Which?”
She pointed to the Oasis album.
“That one.”
Adrian smiled.
“For Alex?”
Draconia’s cheeks coloured.
“Perhaps.”
He handed it to her.
“Does he have a CD player?”
“Of course.”
“Then you could listen to it together sometime.”
Draconia smiled.
“I’d like that.”
She turned the case over, studying the track list. Then she looked at Adrian.
“You know, this is rather extraordinary.”
“What is?”
“A few months ago, none of us would have been caught dead listening to Muggle music.”
“True.”
“And now half the common room is arguing about which Muggle band is better.”
He grinned.
“Progress.”
Draconia laughed.
“Father would have a fit.”
Adrian’s smile faded slightly.
“Probably.”
She considered. Then smiled again.
“Well, fortunately, Father isn’t here.”
That night, the Slytherin common room echoed with Muggle music. Some students came for the guitars, some for the melodies, and some because their friends were enjoying themselves. Nobody made grand declarations; they simply listened and danced. A small change had begun.
The trouble began when Adrian Selwyn decided that the Slytherin common room needed better acoustics.
“It sounds perfectly fine to me,” Blaise Zabini remarked.
Adrian shook his head.
“Not enough bass.”
“What’s bass?”
“The lower frequencies.”
Blaise considered this.
“Why do we need more of them?”
“Because the music sounds better.”
“Ah. Naturally. How foolish of me.”
Adrian ignored him and pointed his wand at the two small speakers beside his portable CD player.
“Sonorus Harmonia.”
The speakers shimmered briefly. A faint blue glow appeared around their edges, and the music suddenly acquired a richness and depth that made several students look up. Victoria Crabbe, stretched comfortably across one of the green velvet sofas, grinned.
“Now that’s more like it!”
Georgina Goyle leaned over Adrian’s shoulder.
“Can you make it louder?”
“I can make it considerably louder.”
“Don’t,” Draconia Malfoy said immediately.
Adrian looked at her.
“Why not?”
“Because Professor Snape’s office is only a few corridors away, and I have no intention of explaining why the dungeons are vibrating.”
“Tell him it’s an experimental form of Muggle torture.”
“Knowing Professor Snape,” Theodore Nott observed, “he’d probably ask whether it could be used on first-years.”
That earned a round of laughter. Adrian adjusted the volume to something reasonable and settled back beside Georgina.
Over the past fortnight, his growing collection of Muggle compact discs had become an unexpected attraction in Slytherin House. Several students had developed favourite bands. A few had begun asking Adrian to bring back particular albums from his next shopping trip. Theodore had even expressed an interest in buying a portable CD player of his own.
Pansy Parkinson remained publicly unimpressed. Privately, however, she had borrowed Adrian’s Oasis album twice. Draconia knew because she had seen her do it. Naturally, she hadn’t mentioned it. Yet.
“What’s next?” Victoria asked as the current song ended.
Adrian examined his collection.
“Something different, I think.”
“Different how?”
“Slower.”
Victoria groaned.
“Oh, come on.”
“Not everything has to be loud, Vic.”
“That’s a matter of opinion.”
Adrian selected a disc.
“Bryan Adams. Reckless.”
Blaise raised an eyebrow.
“Another of your Muggle bands?”
“One of the better ones.”
“According to whom?”
“Several million people.”
“An impressive argument.”
Adrian slipped the disc into the player.
“Let’s try Heaven.”
A gentle keyboard melody drifted into the common room. Victoria opened her mouth to complain, then stopped. The singer’s voice followed, warm and sincere, carrying a song about finding someone whose presence made everything else seem unimportant. Georgina smiled.
“Oh, that’s lovely.”
Adrian looked at her.
“I thought you’d like it.”
Draconia, who had been reading a letter from her mother, folded it and placed it aside.
“Actually, I rather like this one.”
Victoria leaned back against the cushions.
“All right. I withdraw my objection.”
“How gracious,” Blaise murmured.
Then something curious happened. The enchanted speakers began to glow. Not brightly. Just a soft, golden light that pulsed in time with the music. Adrian sat forward.
“Oh.”
Georgina looked at him.
“What?”
“I didn’t do that.”
The golden light rose from the speakers in thin, shimmering strands. They drifted upwards like smoke, then gathered beneath the vaulted ceiling. A moment later, dozens of tiny golden stars appeared overhead. Victoria sat upright.
“Adrian!”
He stared.
“That’s new.”
The stars began moving slowly across the ceiling, following the rhythm of the song. Draconia smiled.
“Well, that’s rather beautiful.”
Blaise tilted his head.
To read the complete story you need to be logged in:
Log In or
Register for a Free account
(Why register?)
* Allows you 3 stories to read in 24 hours.