"Change is the constant, the signal for rebirth, the egg of the phoenix." - Christina Baldwin
"A new day...
I was waiting for so long
For a miracle to come
Everyone told me to be strong
Hold on and don't shed a tear..."
September 1st, 1938,
This is my first night here at Hogwarts. It's quite a chilling place - all dark and gloomy - not to mention that with all the twists and turns, one can become very lost. On top of it, we had to take a scary boat ride over the lake to get here, but overall, it is much, much better than being in that retched orphanage.
So far I don't know how Tom is handling the change, as we got sorted into different houses. I was sorted into Gryffindor, and he into Slytherin.
Here is my account of what happened during the sorting ceremonies: They ordered all of us First years to stand in front of the Great Hall, and when they called your name, you'd walk up to where an old stool and a decrepit hat waited. A wizard with auburn hair began placing the hat on the students, in which it would call out a house for each of them.
As the wizard read the students names off the list alphabetically, I knew it would take awhile for Tom and I to get called, so we patiently waited. He whispered into my ear how he hoped the hat placed him in a "respectable" house.
Eventually they made their way to the "R's" and we knew our turn would be coming up momentarily. His odd comment still befuddled me as I heard my name being called....
--
"Riddle, Miriam," the wizard announced. A small girl with long dark hair made her way up to the chair and the wizard placed the tattered hat on her head, the brim of it slipping down past her eyes. The hat began to speak in her ear...
"Hmm, interesting, yes. An intelligent one, I see... yet, also brave. Hmm... difficult, very difficult... Where should I place you? Better be..."
"GRYFFINDOR!" it shouted aloud.
The auburn-haired wizard took the hat off her head as she ran over to the Gryffindor house table. Everyone there gave her a small round of applause as she took her seat among her new fellow house mates.
Once she settled in, the ceremony recommenced.
"Riddle, Thomas," the old wizard called out as he continued to read aloud from the long parchment he held in his hands. Miriam turned around in her seat and watched as her brother got up onto the stool and the hat was placed on his head.
"Not a bad mind... but a need to prove yourself," the old hat muttered into his ear. After that, it said nothing more for an exceedingly long time, only mumbling a few "hmms" occasionally. Tom's lips appeared to be moving, as if he were talking to the hat.
I wish I could read lips, she thought.
Finally, after an excruciatingly long time, the hat spoke again to him. "There's only one choice for you, then... "
"SLYTHERIN!" it yelled out, echoing around the Great Hall.
Cheers went up from the Slytherin table as Tom made his way over to them. Miriam was stunned. She was so sure her brother would be placed in the same house as herself. Being in a strange new place, she didn't want to be separated from her only remaining family. Sighing, she stayed quiet throughout the rest of the sorting ceremony.
When the hat finished sorting the rest of the First years, the feast began. All the other First years seated at her table were clamoring around and making noise - all except Miriam. One Fifth year girl sitting across from Miriam noticed how extremely quiet she was.
"Are you alright?" enquired a girl with long red hair, which she wore in a braid. Miriam looked up at the girl and merely nodded.
"I was hoping I wouldn't have to be separated from my brother."
The red headed girl looked around the table and scratched her chin. "Was your brother Thomas Riddle? The one whom the Sorting Hat put into... Slytherin?" she asked, scrunching up her nose.
Miriam nodded again and inquired, "I wonder why would the hat sort us into different houses?"
"I don't know," the red-haired girl replied. "The Sorting Hat must have seen something in your brother in order to place him in Slytherin. Poor thing."
"What do you mean by 'poor thing'?"
The girl leaned in closer to Miriam and whispered, "Slytherins don't get along that great with us Gryffindors... or any other house for that matter. Slythern House has a bit of a reputation for turning out the most dark wizards ever." Miriam gulped. This was not what she wanted to hear... her brother being influenced by the dark side.
"By the way, my name's Abby. Abby Bones. What's yours?" she asked cheerfully, changing the subject.
"Miriam Riddle."
"This person," Abby said pointing over to a boy stuffing his face with food, "this gluttonous creature here is Peter Longbottom. He and I are school Prefects, which is just a fancy term for school monitors. If you have questions or anything, just give one of us a hoot and we'll help in any way we can."
Abby then introduced her to some of the others at the table. "There's Minerva McGonagall, Hannah Evans, Markus Johnson, Carl Potter, Aaron Wood, Sarah Spinnet, Maria Bell, and this here is Chris Pettigrew." Miriam shyly waved to them.
"So," Miriam asked, looking over at the front table of the Great Hall, "who are they?"
"They're the teachers," Abby replied. "You see the person in the middle, the one with the wispy white hair? He's Professor Dippet, the Headmaster."
When the feast was over with, Professor Dippet stood up and addressed the school. "Mr. Maugi, our groundskeeper would like to stress that he takes very serious care to keep the school clean and if anyone is caught dragging in mud, or in some other way, shape, or form, dirtying the school, they will be swiftly reprimanded. Let us now turn in and get a good nights rest. We want to be refreshed for our first day of school tomorrow."
Once his speech was completed, Abby and Peter rounded up the First years and lead them through the castle, up to the Gryffindor common room. Unfortunately, as they were leaving the Great Hall, Miriam wasn't able to catch a glimpse of her brother.
They walked up many long and winding staircases and through hallways until they reached a portrait of a large lady in a pink dress.
"Password?" she asked.
"Caput Draconis," Abby replied.
The painting swung open to reveal a concealed opening. Abby was the first one to go in, then Peter, followed by the rest of the students.
All the First years gasped in astonishment at the size of the common room. It was roomy and spacious.
"If you follow the stairs," Abby instructed, "they'll take you to your dormitories. Girls' rooms are on the left, boys' to the right. All of your suitcases should be here, if not... you're outta luck!" She gave a small laugh. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding," she continued, noticing the frightened looks on some of the First years faces.
Miriam followed the other First year girls to the top of the stairs and into the girls' dormitories. There she found a large, four-poster bed by a window that she just had to have. After she claimed it, she settled down into the soft, comfy covers and instantly began to doze off. She wasn't sure how long she had been asleep, but she was awakened by whispering. Slowly opening her eyes a bit, she saw two girls leaning over her bed.
"Is it true? Your brother got put in Slytherin?" one of them asked. Miriam opened her eyes the rest of the way, and with the moon providing a tiny amount of light, she could make out the face of a blond-haired girl.
"Yes," she replied darkly.
The girl giggled then whispered something to another girl who was sitting up in her bed right behind her.
"What's so funny about it?" Miriam demanded as she sat straight up in her bed. The blond-haired girl looked ashamed and said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to laugh. I just find it quite interesting that your brother was placed in a different house than you. My mum has a brother and she told me the hat sorted them into Gryffindor together. She declared that generally as rule, brothers and sisters are placed together into the same house."
Miriam stared intently at the girl for a moment before responding, "Really? I didn't know that."
"Do you come from a wizarding family or are you Muggle-born?" the girl inquired.
Miriam thought about that for a second before answering back. "Just our mother was a witch. So, I don't know what that would make us precisely."
"That would make you a half-blood," the blond-haired girl answered. "Was your dad surprised when your mum told him about being a witch?"
"Can't say," Miriam replied. "We don't know if our father is alive or not. Our mother died not too long after my brother and I were born. She lived only long enough to name us. After that, we were sent to live in an orphanage."
"Oh! I... uh, didn't know that you... um, lived in an orphanage and that your mum died," the girl said, feeling somewhat embarrassed.
"It's all right," Miriam replied, noticing the girl's reddening face.
The girl looked at Miriam and through the moonlight, she saw her smile. "My name is Sophie Prewett. This here is Marcella Thomas." The other girl stepped forward and Miriam saw that she had dark hair and chocolate-colored skin.
"My name is Miriam Riddle."
Suddenly someone poked their head into their dorm and announced, "Okay, it's time for all good First year girls to go to sleep." Miriam recognized the voice as belonging to Abby. The three girls laughed and replied, "Yes, Abby."
Sophie and Marcella climbed into their respective beds and lay down. Miriam lay back down and grinned. She had finally made a friend. Not just one, but two. She felt exceptionally cheerful.
As she lay there, Miriam didn't feel sleepy at all, in fact, she was excited. She leaned over her bed and pulled out her small book and pencil from her suitcase and began writing in the moonlight.
September 1st, 1938
As I left the common room for breakfast today, Marcella and Sophie walked with me the whole way to the Great Hall. I was grateful for that as I didn't want to be alone. Being a newcomer, I didn't want to stand out like a sore thumb.
Upon entering the Great Hall, I immediately began searching for Tom. I scanned through the Slytherin table and saw him sitting next to two boys who were laughing hysterically over something. Tom sat there, watching them, looking so lonely... and so left out.
While the other Gryffindors were settling down at our table, I thought I would go over there and try talking to him.
--
"Hey Tom!" Miriam greeted. She saw an unoccupied spot next to her brother and plopped down next to him. "I didn't see you last night after the feast so I wasn't able to talk to you."
Tom looked around nervously and replied, "Hi, Miriam. What did you want to talk to me about?"
Miriam never got the chance to respond as a Slytherin Prefect came over and barked, "What's a Gryffindor doing here at the Slytherin table?"
"I... was... just... talking to my brother," Miriam answered nervously, looking up at the person before her.
"Well, just so you know, we don't allow any Gryffindors here at the Slytherin table."
Miriam glanced over at the Gryffindor table and saw Abby getting up and walking over, her face grim.
"Stephane, please leave Miriam alone. She was merely visiting her brother, no need to get all defensive over it."
"Tom! You didn't tell us you had a sis in Gryffindor!" Stephane exclaimed, ruffling up Tom's hair.
"It just didn't come up," he said quietly while trying to fix his mussed up hair. He turned to Miriam and whispered, "Sorry about that. We can talk after class."
Miriam got up and followed behind Abby back over to the Gryffindor table. There, the other students met them with all sorts of curious looks. "I was just talking to my brother," she said and the inquisitive looks slowly faded from their faces.
"Who was that person?" Miriam asked, to which Abby replied, "Stephane Lestrange. Biggest prat in the entire school."
Breakfast, thankfully, took her mind off of Stephane. Pancakes and waffles with butter and syrup made her smile as she sat beside Sophie.
Once breakfast was finished, Miriam asked what their first classes of the day were.
"Oh! Thank you for reminding me!" Abby exclaimed as she smacked her palm to her forehead. She reached inside her robes and pulled something out. It was a small stack of papers. "These are your class schedules," she announced as she handed each student the piece of paper. When she handed Miriam her schedule, she looked down at the list. It didn't seem too bad for the first day.
"Yuck!" Sophie exclaimed, breaking her concentration. "We have Transfiguration with the Slytherins!" Miriam scanned down at her list again and noticed that Transfiguration was their first class of the day. Marcella, who was sitting across from Miriam, also looked every bit as revolted as Sophie.
~*~
"Welcome class, to Transfiguration. My name is Professor Dumbledore," said the wizard with the long auburn hair. Miriam recognized him as the same wizard who was placing the sorting hat on the First years during the ceremonies the night prior.
"Good morning, Professor Dumbledore," chimed the class as they walked into his classroom.
The classroom had been divided into two: one side for the Gryffindors, the other for the Slytherins. Miriam, Sophie, and Marcella grabbed three seats together toward the front of the classroom. Once they sat down, she looked over at the other side and noticed that Tom was sitting not far from her.
"Transfiguration," began Dumbledore, "is a difficult subject to learn. It takes much practice to learn to do it precisely. Take this feather, for example. If I wanted to transfigure it into a pincushion, what do I have to do?" He looked around the classroom waiting for a response. Slowly, Miriam raised her hand.
"You'd need a wand," she answered nervously.
Dumbledore smiled gently and replied, "Yes, the most important thing in transfiguration is a wand. Five points to Gryffindor."
Sophie and Marcella nudged Miriam and whispered excitedly. "Also," continued Dumbledore, "you need to concentrate very hard on what it is you want to transfigure." He pulled out his own wand and transfigured the feather into a beautiful pincushion This equally amazed both the Gryffindors and Slytherins.
Dumbledore transfigured the pincushion back and set it on his desk. "Would anyone here like to try it?" Someone from the Slytherin side got up and headed to the feather... it was Tom.
"Now before you begin, try going through the arm movements," Dumbledore instructed. "A gentle glide of your wrist and tap the object. It's very simple." He turned and placed the feather right in front of Tom.
"Says you," Tom muttered, causing the Slytherins to place their hands over their mouths to keep from laughing out loud.
Dumbledore looked Tom squarely in the eyes and said, "Is there something you'd like to share with the rest of the class, Mr. Riddle?" Tom shook his head no.
"Alright. Now, remember what I told you: a gentle glide then tap the object."
Tom stared fixedly at the feather, almost as if he were attempting to transfigure it with his mind instead of his wand. This lead to some heavy snickering from the Gryffindors.
"Remember, Tom, a gentle glide of your wand and make sure to tap it," Dumbledore quietly reminded him. Tom pulled out his wand and followed his advice. He tapped the feather just like Dumbledore instructed him to, but suddenly smoke began to appear from out of nowhere. It started filling the room and everyone inside began to hack and cough. Dumbledore raised his wand and with a twirl, he cleared the smoke away.
"Not bad for your very first tr--," he began, but stopped abruptly as he looked down at the table where a small pincushion lay. "Well, well, Mr. Riddle, it looks as if you got it. Congratulations, and twenty points to Slytherin," Dumbledore said cheerfully.
Those at the Slytherin side grinned and slapped Tom on the back, while everyone at the Gryffindor side stared, completely stunned and puzzled.
"He just got lucky," Miriam overheard Sophie whispering to Marcella.
When transfiguration class let out a little while later, Miriam held back so she could talk to her brother alone.
"Well, that was certainly an interesting stunt you pulled today," she gibed, trying to poke a little fun at him. "Nearly choking half the class and the teacher to death...."
Tom frowned angrily at her and yelled defensively, "I didn't mean to do it on purpose! It was an accident!"
Miriam gaped at her brother in disbelief. "Honestly, you can't take a joke can you?"
Tom shook his head. "Uh, yeah, whatever."
They didn't say any more until Miriam said, "At any rate, it was great that you could turn that feather into a pin cushion."
"Yeah, well, it wasn't too difficult."
September 6th, 1938,
They already regard Tom and me as the two smartest kids in class and we've only been here a week. Most unfortunate though, this has lead to some badgering and being called insulting names behind our backs.
Monday, Tom could transfigure a feather into a pin cushion in his first attempt... in only his very first class! Dumbledore said that he has yet to meet a First year student who could do that. It thoroughly impressed Dumbledore, to say the least.
Nevertheless, I bested Tom in Charms a few days later....
--
"Remember... it's just a simple swish, a flick of the wand and a tap of the object," Professor Ambley, a short and squatty woman, instructed. Everyone in class imitated the essential arm movement. "Now repeat after me," she announced, "Wingardium Leviosa." The whole class chorused, "Wingardum Levisa."
"No, no, no, it's not 'Wingardum Levisa', it's Wingardium LeviOHsa."
The students chorused the line again and this time getting it right.
"Correct!" Professor Ambley said. "Now let's try it with a piece of parchment, shall we?" Professor Ambley passed each student a piece of parchment. "Remember the movements."
Miriam, who happened to be sitting next to Tom that day, watched him as he furiously tried to stab the parchment with his wand.
"No! You're doing it wrong," Miriam hissed. "You're not supposed to stab the paper... you might wind up hurting yourself! This is how you're supposed to tap it...." She showed him the swish and flick movement.
Tom looked at Miriam, looked at the Slytherins, then back to Miriam. An unreadable expression on his face, almost as if he was waiting for the Slytherins to start teasing him. "Fine!" he whispered. He went through the swish and flick motion, tapped the parchment and said, "Wingardium Leviosaaa!"
Oh the humanity, Miriam sighed.
After watching a few more of his pitiful attempts, she heaved a long and deep sigh. "Now you're saying it wrong. It's not Leviosaaa! It's LeviOHsa!"
"You do it then if you're such a genius!" he shot back to her.
"Fine!" she answered. "Wingardium Leviosa!" The moment she said it, the parchment flew gracefully into the air.
"Look here everyone! Miss Riddle got it right!" Professor Ambley exclaimed. "Take ten points for Gryffindor!"
After doing a few loop-de-loops in the air for added effect, Miriam bought the parchment back down onto the desk and the rest of the Gryffindors applauded. Miriam turned and gave Tom a smug grin. He scowled at her as he rested his head in his hands.
Just as they were preparing to leave the classroom once Charms was over with, Miriam overheard one of the Slytherins saying in a sarcastic tone, "It's Leviohhhhhsa! Not Leviosaaah!" Miriam was offended. She glanced over at Tom, but he was hurrying out of the classroom, stuffing things into his bookbag as he left.
~*~
"We saw what you did in Charms! You were fantastic!" Marcella exclaimed.
"Yeah," Sophie agreed. "Nobody else could make their parchment fly!"
"And add loop-de-loops," Marcella imparted.
Miriam smile as her friends tried their best to cheer her up that night at dinner. She had to admit, that they were right about that much.
Miriam forced a modest smile onto her face. "Yeah, but you didn't hear what one of those awful Slytherins said about me. They said in a sarcastic tone of voice, 'Levioohhhhhsa', not 'Leviosaaah'! They were insulting me!"
"Pffft! Don't listen to them," Sophie grumbled, rolling her eyes. "The whole Slytherin house is made up of nothing more than a bunch of dumdums anyway."
"Well, hopefully all but one at any rate," Marcella quickly added, looking at Miriam. She knew exactly who her friend was talking about.
Poking her steak with her fork, she suddenly didn't feel very much like eating. Sighing, her stomach began to feel weird at that moment. A deep gurgle vibrated her innards. Covering her mouth with her hands, she felt like she was going to be sick.
Miriam saw one of the Slytherin girls muttering under her breath from the corner of her eye, but when she turned, the girl was eating like nothing had happened, so Miriam tried to go back to her dinner.
"Are you okay?" Marcella asked fearfully. Miriam couldn't open her mouth, if she did, she was most certain she would have thrown-up....
"Buuuuurp!" Her eyes went wide with embarrassment, though it was nothing compared to the blood she felt rush to her face as she ran out of the Great Hall amid howling laughter from the Slytherins.
Sprinting up to the common room, she quickly blurted out the password and ran into a dark corner sinking down into the shadows, wishing the floor would open up and swallow her.
~*~
"It wasn't that bad!" Sophie comforted, later that evening once everyone had returned from dinner. Miriam narrowed her eyes and had a truly difficult time actually believing her.
"C'mon, please be honest with me!" she pleaded. "What happened when I left?"
Sophie and Marcella looked nervously at one another. "Well...," Sophie began slowly, "one of the Slytherin girls called you the ‘belch queen' but..."
"Ugh, I will never set foot in there again!" she wailed, covering her face with her hands.
September 12th, 1938,
Thank the powers that be! Everyone seems to have forgotten about my little gas expulsion. Unfortunately, it took a few days, a few UNCOMFORTABLE days I should say, in the Great Hall for it to subside. I literally had to be dragged into the Great Hall by Sophie and Marcella that next morning for breakfast.
I am now going to try and shut that awful moment from my memory....
Today, we had our first flying lesson, and let me say... what an experience that was!
---
"To grab a hold of your broom, just stand right beside it with your hand over it and yell 'UP'!" their teacher, a tall, lanky, gray-haired woman complete with steely eyes named Professor Luchtig, ordered the students.
Miriam walked alongside her broom and yelled "UP!" like she was required to and the broom flew right into her hand. She looked around to see if anyone else had gotten their broom to rise. A few other students here and there had managed it, one of them being Tom. He grinned at her as he held his broom proudly in his hand. She grinned back as she held hers.
Glancing to her side, she saw that Sophie and Marcella were both having some problems with getting their brooms to rise.
"UP!" they yelled. Their brooms just flopped around on the ground. Finally, Marcella got hers to fly up in her hand. Sophie, meanwhile, was still having some issues with hers.
"Up. Up! UP!" she yelled. "Why won't this bloody thing go UP?!" At that moment the broom flew up... but it bypassed her hand entirely and whacked her in the face. Miriam and Marcella had to exercise their restraint to keep from snickering. Unfortunately a few giggles made their way out of their mouths.
"Shut up, you two," grumbled Sophie as she rubbed her head.
"Now that you have your brooms in hand, mount them and keep both your feet firmly on the ground. When I say 'go', gently push off, hover for a moment, then gently bring the broom back down," ordered Professor Luchtig, marching in front of the students.
Miriam sat on her broom and gently pushed off the ground. As she did, a cool breeze blew through her hair. It was a marvelous feeling to fly. She felt so free and light she didn't want this feeling to end.
"Miriam, please bring the broom back down, now," their teacher ordered. The sound of her voice snapped Miriam out of her daydream and back to reality. "Just lean forward to bring the broom back down."
She gently leaned forward on her broom and the moment her feet hit the ground her euphoria was over. "Very good, Miss Riddle," complimented Professor Luchtig. "Now," she said, facing the rest of the class, "let's see if anyone else can do what Miss Riddle just did."
The remaining students mounted their brooms and pushed off the ground. Unfortunately, only a few could others balance, the rest had to descend right away as they couldn't balance correctly on the broom.
"It's quite alright," the teacher said, walking back and forth between them. "Not many people can learn to balance on a broom on their first try." She looked approvingly around her class when suddenly she realized that something was wrong... someone in her class was missing! As she went around doing a quick head check on the students, it was then that Professor Luchtig realized who it was.
"Mr. Riddle?!" she asked looking around for the lost student. Tom was sailing around the grounds of Hogwarts, totally in control of his broom. Professor Luchtig looked up at Tom, her face set with anger.
"Mr. Riddle, get down here this insant!" she yelled. As Tom slowly began to bring the broom back down to the ground, he (feeling brave), decided to do a few loop-de-loops on his broom. On his second turn around, he lost his balance and the broom almost went speeding out from underneath him.
"HELP!" he screamed. All the students started clamoring and pointing at the spectacle.
"Hold on, Mr. Riddle!" Professor Luchtig shouted. She pulled out her wand and exclaimed "Mobilicorpus!" Tom was ejected off the broom and drifted about lazily in midair. Professor Luchtig slowly brought Tom back down to the ground. The moment his feet touched the grass, the teacher gave him a look that signified that he was in deep trouble.
"What do you think you were doing?" she admonished. "You could have been seriously injured... or worse! Fifteen points from Slytherin for that little stunt of yours!"
"But... but --" he objected. "I –"
CRASH!
Everyone looked around to see what had produced the racket. The broom that Tom was on just moments before had crashed to the ground and broke into many small pieces.
"Flying lessons are over with today," Professor Luchtig sighed.
A/N: Music lyrics used above are from the song "A New Day Has Come" by Celine Dion