The table below a snake-emblazoned banner of green and silver erupted—some student clapping and celebrating the new addition to their house; others, a loud and vocal group led by a familiar young man with blonde hair and a ferrety face, stood up and began crying foul. I couldn’t make out their words, but I could see their angry faces. They didn’t want this new student in Slytherin. And the worst part was, the new student was me.

 

I looked up past my eye sockets to the brim of the tattered gray hat sitting on my head. Slytherin? Did it just sort me into Slytherin? The house where the bad witches go? The house that Draco Malfoy, who hated me for my blood, called home? I slowly stood up and put the Sorting Hat back down on the chair, then slowly crept over towards the Slytherin table. A tall bony girl who looked grim invited me to sit next to her. Half a table down, Draco Malfoy and two large boys on either side of him sat scowling. Most ignored me and continued to watch the Sorting. I noticed that Sypha Aulin, who I now realized would be a dorm-mate of mine, was among them.

 

A few of the students were friendly to me at least. A black boy a few years older than me on the other side of the table gave a nervous smile and introduced himself as Terrance Austin, a Muggleborn in his fifth year. Some of the students cringed at the mention of his heritage.

 

After Czasz, Victor was sorted into Hufflepuff, I heard a familiar name called.

“Danesti, Grant!�

 

The creepy albino boy approached the hat silently and placed it on his head. A moment later, The hat called out his house: “Slytherin!�

 

This time, nobody cheered.

 

They just stared at him and his oddness as he joined us at the table, taking the seat next to Terrance Austin. The fifth-year Muggleborn also made attempts to be friendly to him, but Grant Danesti shrugged them off. He sat staring at his plate in silence, and I wondered if he were perhaps more pitiable than creepy.

 

I looked up as John Edgecombe was sorted into Ravenclaw, and kept watching, trying not to stare at Grant, as the sorting of more students passed. To my dismay, Endymion Summerby was also sorted into Ravenclaw.

 

Finally the sorting was done, and after brief congratulations, Albus Dumbledore stepped forward in his blue, star-and-moon-spangled robes.

“Greetings and welcome!� he intoned, his voice carrying over the hall without any amplification. “I welcome all students, both new and old, and I will have further remarks following dinner. For now, suffice it to say that our kitchen staff has worked very hard on this feast and I hope you all will enjoy!�

 

As Dumbledore finished, the sparkling plates and ceramic jugs in front of us suddenly filled with food and drink; plates piled high with chicken legs, stews, and shrimp, jugs filled with all sorts of juices. I stared dumfounded for a moment. The other students—everyone who hadn’t just been sorted, at least, immediately began digging in. I looked towards Terrance for approval, but he was already scarfing down a helping of bangers and mash. Even Grant, sullen though he was, began picking at a chicken leg. With that, my hunger managed to subdue my irrational fear of poisoning. I pulled two great big slices of bread into my plate, as well as a cross section of the meats that were within arms’ reach, and made myself a composite sandwich.

 

It was a thing of beauty.

 

A while later the dinner vanished and desserts appeared instead. I watched as a thin man with greasy black hair strode in, a strange look of smug satisfaction on his face. He spoke to Professor McGonagall and to Dumbledore before leading the former out of the Great Hall. I soon let them slip out of my mind and stuffed my face with a custard tart. Eventually, the night was wearing on and I began to feel sleepy.

Dumbledore stood again at the front of the room, and again welcomed everyone to Hogwarts.

 

“We hope to have another successful year of magical education. I would like to thank all students ahead of time for their cooperation in following all the school rules, as well as the directives of your Heads of House and prefects. I would remind everyone that, as usual, you need to contact your Head of House as soon as possible if you wish to join your house Quidditch team.�

Dumbledore turned to his right and motioned towards a blond professor in flamboyant clothing and bright aquamarine robes. I thought I’d seen him somewhere before, but I couldn’t place his face.

 

“I’d like you all to extend a warm welcome to Professor Gilderoy Lockhart,� Dumbledore said. “He is replacing the Qurinius Quirrel as our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher after his unfortunate—and much-gossiped about—demise last year. Suffice it to say that Professor Lockhart has nothing concealed in his turban. I’ve checked myself.�

 

There was a sudden flood of uncomfortable laughter from the students tables, while several professors stood in gaping awe at Dumbledore.

 

“Professor Lockhart is an accomplished adventurer, as I’m sure many of you have already read about in his bestselling autobiography, Magical Me, and I am proud to have him as a member of the Hogwarts staff.�

 

Several of the teachers, particularly McGonagall, stared at the headmaster skeptically.

 

Just as Dumbledore was about to say something else, Professor Lockhart stood and raised his voice above the Headmaster’s.

“Thank you, Albus,� Lockhart said. “Allow me to say that I relish the opportunity to teach a new generation of witches and wizards the fine science of defending against the Dark Arts. It’s just as I wrote in Year with the Yeti: a young person is like an empty bowl, only it’s not quite empty. It’s full of mushy stuff: ideas, beliefs, aspirations. What we teachers do is rip all that nonsense out, wipe the brains and guts on our Gilderoy-Lockhart-embroidered aprons (available at Madame Malkin’s for thirteen Galleons), and refill the empty children with knowledge. Because ultimately knowledge is the key to success and happy futures.�

 

The students stared at him, a few clapping politely but most sitting in silence.

“Thank you,� the headmaster said, “for those inspiring remarks. Though I would prefer if you address me as Professor Dumbledore before the student body.�

 

“Of course,� Lockhart said with a smile that made me think he missed the undercurrent of reprimand in the headmaster’s voice.

 

Dumbledore made a few more odd announcements about the year and then dismissed us to our dorms. Dozens of students began filing out of the Great Hall while the first years were directed to line up with their house prefects. Three Slytherin prefects tried to round us all up and get us in something resembling a line; there were ten first years in all, five boys and five girls. I only knew the names of Grant Danesti and Sypha Aulin. One boy in particular stood out because he was taller and thinner than the rest, with a squarish face and messy brown hair. His skin was slightly darker than your average Caucasian too, and I thought perhaps he was half Latino.

 

The prefects led us down a flight of stairs and through a series of winding corridors under the castle, until we came to a blank stone wall dripping with stale water.

“This is the entrance,� one of the prefects said. “You can only enter if you know the password.�

 

Another prefect, a girl with long curly hair the color of moss, smirked. “Don’t tell the pass word to anybody, especially Gryffindors. They say Salazar Slytherin would come out of his grave and punish the school if a Gryffindor ever sets foot in our Common Room.�

 

“Why is it in the dungeon?� Sypha said. “Couldn’t we have a nice high place atop a tower?�

“Naw,� the boy prefect said. “Underground is better in case the Muggles ever decide to drop one of their Adam Bombs on us. It could happen.�

“Enough,� the tall wide-jawed boy said. “Just tell us the password.�

 

I noticed that he had an American accent, the sort of practiced, neutral American accent you see on television.

 

“Right, right,� the boy prefect said. “Patience is a bloody virtue and all. The password is Camelot. It’s subject to change every few weeks, so pay attention.�

 

As the boy said ‘Camelot’ the wall slid open, and we all entered. Slytherin Common Room was a long room with a low ceiling, green lamps decorating the ceiling and chairs with high backs and green cushions placed along the walls. In the center of the room was a long green rug with silver and gold embroidery with two coffee tables and couches on either end. Across one wall a beautifully detailed mantelpiece that looked like a massive snake head sat over a fireplace, a small fire dancing in the snake’s mouth.

 

The prefects pointed us towards two opposing hallways that led off to the boys and girls dormitories. The green-haired prefect led the girls on to a room near the far end of the hall. Inside, five enormous four-poster beds were made with sheets. The way they were all aligned against the wall gave it a utilitarian look, like a military barracks or a hotel. The same green lamps lit the room, casting heavy shadows. I saw my big nylon bag at the foot of one of the beds, and quickly found my way to it. The other girls pulled their robes off and began exchanging names. Sypha Aulin’s I knew. Another girl, thin and wiry with curly red hair, was named Emma Taggart. Another girl with cropped hair a darker blonde than mine was called Artemis McFly. She bragged about how her entire family for (mumble) generations was pureblood wizards; she said they’d recently moved from Ireland because the bottom had fallen out of the leprechaun gold speculation market. She then launched into an explanation that I did not comprehend in the slightest.

 

The last girl was called Josie Cohen, and she had black hair and a soft smile. She was not very talkative, and mostly nodded along to nearly every word that came out of Sypha’s mouth.

 

Finally they turned to me.

“What’s your name?� Sypha said with an overly-polite smile.

“I’m Michelle,� I said. “Your friendly neighborhood video game enthusiast. Kind of new to the magic thing.�

 

Josie laughed. “What’s a video game?�

I stared at her blankly, having no idea how to explain the concept of a video game to someone who didn’t actually know what ‘video’ was. I told her that it was a Muggle toy and left it at that.

Sypha smiled and leaned forward on her bed. “I know you! You’re that girl who was behind me in line at Ollivander’s.�

“Yeah,� I said. “Behind you.�

 

“So you’re a Muggleborn?� Sypha asked, staring at me as though I were a shiny trinket. “That’s fascinating. My daddy says that you shouldn’t be allowed into Hogwarts.�

 

I frowned. I wasn’t sure if I ought to be here myself, but for a rather different reason. “What do you think?�

“I think you should,� she said. For a moment I felt better. “After all, it’s not your fault your parents are Muggles. Without us you’d be so ignorant and lost. I can’t imagine what it’s like to live like that. I feel sorry for you.�

 

The good feeling evaporated. I glared at Sypha, who still had a big self-congratulatory smile plastered on her face, until she seemed to get the point that I was livid with her. She looked perplexed for a moment, but then Emma called her over to help her with something, and I took the opportunity to get dressed for bed.

My mind was a swirl of activity when I sat down, but as my head hit the pillow all that seemed to slip away and I fell into a deep sleep, dreaming that Rupert and I were riding on the back of a massive dragon and burning goblins with its flaming breath. Then I accidentally burned up my parents and it startled me awake.

 

0000

 

I fell back asleep for two hours after the dream woke me up, but after that it was useless. No matter how I tossed and turned, I couldn’t get to sleep again. I got out of bed and took a cool shower, then pulled on the typical grey skirt and blouse, green tie deal that many of the girls wore beneath their robes. I fiddled with the tie for five minutes, then tossed it aside, listening to Emma snore. After that became tiresome, I hesitantly walked out into the hall and made my way to the common room, finding a chair and sitting down. There were only one or two other students up this early, and none of them paid any attention to me. A clock above the mantelpiece said 7:00 AM.

 

I opened the Bible that Amanda had bought me in my lap and began reading in the dim greenish light. I must have read for quite a while, because the lights gradually brightened. I flipped around through various books, reading words from which I tried to glean comfort and direction, before coming upon a familiar passage in Matthew.

 

Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
       Blessed are those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted.
       Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth.
       Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled.
       Blessed are the merciful,
For they shall obtain mercy.
       Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God.
       Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God.

 

In all honesty, I would prefer not to tell this next part because it reflects badly on several people who I now count my friends, but everyone I’ve spoken about it with has encouraged me, prodded me to share it, and it speaks to the atmosphere present in the Slytherin house in those years.

 

By the time I looked up from my reading the Common Room had filled up, with at least two dozen students milling about, going over the schedules and chatting excitedly. I overheard the words Quidditch and Snape quite often, and had deduced from conversation the previous night that Snape was the Slytherin Head of House, the greasy-haired man that had removed McGonagall from the feast. Others were saying that Harry Potter and Ronald Weasily had eventually shown up in a flying car and had crashed it into the Whomping Willow outside the castle. So much, I thought, for his not liking to be the centre of attention.

 

A shadow fell over me from the periphery of my vision, and I turned to see Draco Malfoy, flanked on either side by one boy that towered over him and another that seemed twice as wide. Behind him, a girl and a couple more boys, both older and even smugger-looking than Malfoy stared down at me. I pulled my feet up into the chair, as if my knees could provide an adequate shield.

 

“I caught a whiff of something foul when I opened the door to my dorm,� Draco said.

 

One of the older boys, who had a prefect’s badge drew his wand. He spoke in a raspy voice. “It was bad enough when that stupid hat Sorted Austin in here with us, but now we’ve got another Mudblood in our ‘ouse, and before the first one’s even taken ‘is bloody OWLs.�

The word Mudblood drew gasps and stares from several of the other students. I quickly gathered it wasn’t something you were supposed to say in polite company.

“What’s your name, Mudblood?� The girl said, poking me with her wand. “Something stupid, I bet.�

“Who cares about its name?� the prefect said. “It’ll be gone soon enough. Petrificus Totalus.�

I tried to react, but I couldn’t move, couldn’t blink, couldn’t even hold my breath. Every voluntary function ceased, and my heart sped up. Ice-cold fear rushed through me and I wanted to scream and run and hide. I couldn’t do any of it. The smiling slowly raised his wand and I lifted off the chair, gravity defied. My Bible fell to the floor.

Then he flicked the wand towards the other side of the room and the room and I flew in that direction. Several younger students shouted and ran out of the way; the wall was fast approaching. Inches before I slammed into it, I stopped in mid air. I couldn’t move my eyes to look around, but I could hear the smiling prefect still laughing.

 

Suddenly I reversed direction, then sailed sideways, hovering closer to the fire. I heard several cheers as he slowly lowered me towards the dancing flames, the heat doing its best to sear my skin. Tears began leaking from my eyes. Then I stopped again, hovered away from the flames, then back towards them, my attacker scoring his torture with makeshift music, as though from an ancient Tom and Jerry cartoon. Finally he walked over to the fireplace next to me. I could barely make out his open-mouth smile because of the stinging tears.

“Here you go, Tim,� the prefect said, and flicked his wand back across the room. I flew that way, stopping dead when the boy known as Tim raised his wand. He gave me a few half-hearted twirls.

“Don’t worry,� Tim said. “We’re not gonna hurt you. We’re just having our fun.�

 

“Don’t tell her that,� Draco said. “Spoils the fun.�

By this time a commotion I could barely comprehend had started amongst a crowd that I could barely see. I heard Grant Danesti’s voice shout above the crowd.

“Stop it! What the hell are you lot doing?�

“Keep out of this, freak,� the prefect barked at him. “This is none of your—�

 

“STUPEFY!� Grant shouted. There was a flash of red and the prefect hit the ground.

Wands flashed again, along with a shout of some incantation I couldn’t make out from Draco Malfoy, and Grant was blasted back and slammed into the stone wall of the dungeon.

I heard more shouting, more spells flying, and arguing. The green haired prefect knelt by me and waved her wand over me. There was a warm feeling throughout my body and I could finally move again.

 

“I’m so sorry,� she said.

“Get away from me!� I spat, climbing to my feet and staggering away from her, only to run into two other witches, stumbling on shaky legs.

 

I felt my lungs working in over time, trying to get enough oxygen to carry me back to my bed room. I kicked open the door, nearly smashing Artemis in the face, and ran to my bed where I curled up and began sobbing, sucking in air until the sick feeling in my stomach lessened.

“This place is horrible,� I said. “I hope it burns, I hope it burns to the ground.�

“Michelle, what happened?� Josie was immediately sitting on my bed, her arm on mine, trying to comfort me. I didn’t answer. I just lay on the covers until I was no longer afraid to move.

 

0000

 

Breakfast that day was delicious, but I wasn’t very hungry, both from the shock of the attack and because I had eaten so much the previous night. My appetite lessened further when the OWLs came and some loud, ear-puncturing shouts erupted from an enchanted envelope. The others at the table told me that it was the mother of one of the boys who had crashed into the tree the night before.

 

After Josie and Emma left the table, the green-haired prefect sat down across from me.

“Listen. Michelle, right?�

I nodded, only vaguely wondering who had told her my name.

 

“I’m sorry what happened to you this morning.� She extended a hand. “Arianna Davis. Look, I’m no bleeding heart; I don’t care about Muggleborn rights. I don’t want you to think I’m going to fight your battles or help you with your homework. I’m talking to you as Head Girl, not as your friend. What they did to you was stupid and cruel and I’m not going to tolerate it. Can you tell me how it started?�

 

I told her about what Draco Malfoy had said and that the first one to actually attack me was the prefect.

 

“Yes, Daniel Rosier,� Arianna said with disdain. “How that boy became a prefect I’ll never know.�

“And his partner, the one called Tim,� I said.

“Tim Shepherd. Not quite as vicious. He’s more of a follower than a leader.�

“And the three that were my age, the ones with Draco Malfoy.� I looked down the table where Malfoy and his accomplices were sitting, talking animatedly about Rosier’s feats of terrorism.

“Goyle, Crabbe, and Parkinson,� Arianna said. “Okay. I’m going to tell Snape about all this. It should be sorted out. Hopefully you’ll learn to defend yourself soon enough, though with Captain Vainglory as our new Defense teacher, you’re probably better off learning from another student.�

 

“I’ll keep that in mind.� I went back to eating my bacon and ignored Arianna until she left.

 

When breakfast was over I consulted my schedule and found that my first class was Charms. I was still bubbling over with trepidation as I made my way—through liberal inconspicuous tailing—to the classroom of one Professor Filius Flitwick. Flitwick was standing atop the desk when I walked in—he was incredibly tiny, sporting a gray beard and mustache that seemed overly large for his head.

“Welcome, students, to your first Charms lesson!� he said brightly. “Now I believe for this first class we’re just going to have the Slytherins on the right side and the Ravenclaws on the left. You may choose to mix and match later once you’ve got the hang of some basics.�

I looked across the room and smiled when I saw Endy Summerby and John Edgecombe. They didn’t see me, though. They found seats together near the front of the room and I found one in the back next to Emma.

“Wands out,� Flitwick said. “Prepare to learn some magic.�

 

He flitwicked his wrist and suddenly a large feather appeared in front of each of the students. Everyone began murmuring about what we were supposed to do with the feather, but Flitwick silenced us and raised his wand. There was a feather on the desk in front of him as well.

“Now, we’re going to practice the Levitation Charm. Normally I don't teach this until much later in the year, but last year it proved incredibly beneficial during an unfortunate cave troll incident and I hope that it will prove similarly useful for students this year. I must caution you, of course, that this spell can be potentially dangerous and should not ever be used on something heavy enough to crush bones--or of course, on another student. The incantation for this spell is Wingardium Leviosa. Swish and flick your wrist as you say it and focus on buoyancy and weightlessness.�

He demonstrated, pronouncing the incantation carefully for everyone. The feather on his desk hovered into the air, and he guided it with his wand across the room and onto a windowsill.

“Any questions? If not, I’ll allow you to begin practicing.�

 

I stared at the feather, my heart beating harder again. My wand felt like it weighed a kilogram as I picked it up. Here it was—beyond this point I could no longer torture logic to make myself innocent of witchcraft.

 

I aimed my wand, swished, flicked. Trepidation.

“Wingardium Leviosa.�