Right off the bat, I want to state that I would never have written a Harry Potter story had it not been for the wonderful, and sadly unfinished, story 'The Other Side' by Asterix Tutnix. I suppose my story is really a continuation of what she started. As such, the first two chapters are heavily influenced by that story though it does go its own way from then on.

Another huge influence is Rebecca Webb and her 'The Smallest Slytherin' trilogy. To my mind, this is the best fan fiction writing ever (not just Harry Potter). I re-read it so regularly, I'm worried it's seeped into my subconscious. If I've snaffled anything from Ms Webb, I apologise. It was unintentional and purely a result of my slavish adoration!

What else prompted me to write? Despite loving the books (and films), I was disappointed at the fate of Slytherin. It seems to me that disowning and alienation is the cruellest fate society can inflict on anyone. But more than that, it's dangerous - it's where Tom Riddle came from, after all. My story is an attempt to fix that. I should warn that I'm hugely pro-Snape and Slytherin. I should also warn that the story contains some corporal punishment, most probably because the aforementioned stories did. But also because I think Snape would have had no qualms about whacking someone. He was incredibly young when he started teaching, untrained - and I somehow don't see him going off for professional workshops on dealing with 'disengaged youth'! Added to that, it was my experience at school - and it's so much easier to write when you can draw on your memories (thank you Mr Heinrich!).

The first draft of this story had accurate dates, but I've since fiddled around so much that that accuracy may have been lost. Apologies for that and please don't trouble yourself to tell me - I don't care enough! I hope someone enjoys the story, but if they don't, that's okay - I enjoyed writing it. It's a bit of a romp and not to be taken too seriously.

Thank you very much to Ms V. (in California) for encouraging me to post and reading the snippets that I sent you.

Sorry! I've written on other sites before, but this is the first time I've posted a story on this site. This story has a lot of chapters - I got confused and ticked the complete box. I meant it wasn't a work in progress; it is all complete sitting on my computer. My apologies if some of you were puzzled thinking it's just these two chapters!