another life

chapter 3

Ravenclaw! The sorting hat yells as the next young wizard runs down to their seat at the ravenclaw table. I take my attention away from the ceremony for a second to see if I can spot Hermione, Ron and Harry at the Gryffindor table but instead my eyes lead me to the slytherin table where I spot familiar platinum blonde hair. The same boy from the train is sitting next to another girl and two boys but he is not engaging with them at all. He's leaning forward, placing his head in his hands and it isn't until he notices me staring that he acts normal again. He makes side glances towards me until he locks eyes with me again and squints.

"ATTICUS SILVERCROWN" Mcgonagall yells as Atticus nervously sits on the stool. The sorting hat is placed on his head and it eventually exclaims "GRYFFINDOR" His anxiety vanishes and is replaced with glee as he skips his way down to the gryffindor table where he is greeted by an applause.

"ALIS SILVERCROWN"
As soon as I hear my name the butterflies in my stomach become elephants stomping inside of me. I sit on the stool and close my eyes. 'Please gryffindor, please gryffindor' I mutter under my breath. The sorting hat is lowered on my head and immediately bellows

"SLYTHERIN"

My heart sinks and my vision goes blurry for a split second. Any other house. I would've taken any other house. I look over to the gryffindor table and I can't tell if atticus is annoyed or disappointed by the look on his face and Hermione, Ron and Harry are looking at each other with wide eyes. My plain black robes turn to dark green ones as I stumble my way down to the slytherin table. I see the students whispering and snarling at me as I sit next to a girl who seems to be around the same age as me. I pick up the courage to greet her. "Hi, I'm Alis," I say timidly. She rolls her eyes. "Pansy Parkinson" she says and laughs. There's an evil look in her eye, she's a true slytherin unlike me. There had to have been some sort of mistake. I don't belong in Slytherin.

Suddenly a tall figure appears behind me. He's wearing a black cloak and his greasy hair sits just above his shoulders. "Severus Snape, head of the Slytherin house" his robotic voice says uninterestedly. I plaster a tight smile on my face to cover my disappointment and accept the timetable that he so aggressively shoves in front of me.

Transfiguration first I read.

Dumbledore begins his speech and mentions the new defence against the dark arts teacher referring to this small woman wearing everything pink with a perfect curly updo. I don't pay attention to the rest of the speech but when an enormous feast magically appears on the table I can't believe my eyes. Everyone starts reaching for food so I grab a plate and start to pile food up onto it.

After the delicious feast everyone is dismissed to the dorms. I can barely walk. I'm so full and all I want to do is sleep but I need to owl my mother about me getting put in slytherin. I talk to Atticus briefly but he seems to act a bit distant since we're in different houses and I'm sure the stories mother has told us about how bad Slytherin is, probably aren't helping.

I quickly remove myself from the group of slytherins heading to the dorms and make my way to the owlery. I'm pretty sure I know where it is.

I eventually find it and look for the eagle-owl, Fester, my father got me for christmas. I spot him sitting on a perch next to another owl that happens to look exactly like Fester. The name tag says 'Forrest. Father said eagle owls were very rare and you can only get them in a certain part of the world, and the funny thing is that the Fester and Forrest are the only two in the whole owlery.

After a couple minutes admiring and thinking about the owls I drop the subject and start to write my letter.

'Dear Mother,
I hope all is well at home. Everythings fine here and Atticus got into gryffindor like he always wanted but I got slytherin...It has to be a mista-

I pause for a moment as I notice the owlery door open. I duck down behind the furthest desk. It's probably past curfew by now and it could be a teacher. I hear them walk over to the first desk and start scribbling a letter down onto parchment as if they're in a rush. Once they're done I hear them roll it up and give it to their owl who then swoops out the window. I don't hear anything for a couple of seconds until a familiar voice says "You can come out now".

My arms start trembling as I realise they're talking to me. I slowly stand up and standing before me is the blonde boy from the train. My body is frozen as he says "Remember next time, that if you can hear someone coming, they can most likely hear you too" he says with the signature smirk that he displays oh so often. His tall posture is nothing but intimidating so I look away for a brief second and look at Fester instead. I notice Forrest is now gone. "Eagle Owls, the most superior owl of them all" He says strolling over to Fester. He picks up his tag "Fester" he reads. He then flips the tag around where the name 'Silvercrown' is engraved into the copper.

A look of shock mixed with concern flashes over his face for a split second. "He was my christmas present from father, They're quite rare yes?" I question moving towards him. "Rarest in the world," he says, vulnerably. All of a sudden he hexes me and I fall to the ground and before I can look up he vanishes from my sight and out the door without another word.

I groan as I get up. My head is spinning. What in merlins name was that? A second ago we were having a conversation and the next minute he spells me. I hate that boy but I can't block out the image of the mask he puts on in front of his friends and the look on his face just before he left.

I dust off my legs and head back over to my parchment and quickly finish my letter and send it off with Fester still trembling slightly. The thought of his owl comes back to my mind. The only other eagle owl belongs to him. It has to be a coincidence right? I think to myself.

I soon turn to leave but I notice something in the corner of my eye. It's a piece of parchment. That couldn't have been there before. I would've noticed it before. I pick it up and open it. Its completely blank other than the initials DM printed at the top. The parchment seems thicker than any other one i've felt before and it seems like there's meant to be something on it. I shrug it off and place it into my pocket.

I leave the owlery at around 12am and make my way down the staircase towards the dungeons. Suddenly a figure appears in the shadows directly in front of me. I gasp and freeze in my tracks "Out after curfew are we?" he says revealing himself. It's the new teacher Umbridge. My heart is beating out of my chest. She notices my speechlessness and smiles fakely "This will not be tolerated, detention with me next week"

As soon as she leaves I run to the common room and just make it to my dorm before I burst into tears. This has been the worst day of my life. I don't even bother changing out of my robes and I end up crying myself to sleep.

authors note - I probably won't post another chapter for a day or two as I have an exam that I have to study for