Next to you

Chapter 1

The Slytherin dorm was chaotic like every start of the year. Students were excited for the beginning of the new semester in Hogwarts and they were getting ready to leave all their cases in their room so they could go to greet their long-term friends.

It was his second year here in Hogwarts but Hu Yetao couldn't still get used to this magical life. Everything was still new and foreign to him. He didn't really make friends during his first year, because he was busy catching up to his studies. But after all he wasn't a sociable guy, not really. He couldn't trust people easily, because of childhood experiences.

His parents were both Muggles and Yetao didn't even know he had powers until his second year in middle school, when some bullies were having fun tormenting him for his long hair and the boy set their pants on fire in rage.

As a child, Yetao was quiet and introverted. He was always alone sitting on his desk at school with a book in his hands and without interacting with other students. Teachers didn't know how to help him: all the children had their friend groups and they avoided Yetao. On the other hand, he was a smart boy. His grades were excellent! But he couldn't really... fit in.

Troubles began during his first year in middle school when Yetao decided to let his hair grow. He liked them like that. He felt more like himself. Yetao was different from other students, he knew that. But he didn't know why. Maybe changing his appearance was what he needed to do for himself. If he was different from others, then he would also look different.

But his schoolmates didn't welcome his change. Before he was avoided by them, but now they looked at him in disgust. How can a boy be so strange? It was just a matter of time before some of them started to bully him. They started with glueing him to his chair, but with time their pranks became more and more dangerous. Yetao was scared of them, but couldn't talk because bullies threatened him. He was cornered on the roof of the school when the incident happened. The boys were pointing a scissor to him when their pants were magically set on fire.

His parents were horrified when the school principal called them and told them what happened. Of course, everyone thought that Yetao had used a match or something to start the fire, but no one believed him when he said that it just... happened. Like, he was very very angry and scared, and just like this the fire started out. But it was ridiculous. Fire doesn't just appear from nowhere, right?

The bullies, who had burn marks all over their legs, cried their eyes out in front of their own parents and Yetao and his parents had to apologize for the incident, even though he was the one who was targeted and bullied. His parents forced him to change schools after the incident hoping to avoid any kind of disciplinary action and started treating him like he was a plague or something. They couldn't look at him in the eyes anymore and started being cold, well, colder to him. Yetao had never received so much love from his parents since he was a child. They were too busy with their daily life to care about their son. However the incident changed furthermore their behavior towards him. They were like strangers to him now.

Meanwhile he started questioning himself. Where did the fire come from? After that episode, Yetao noticed that there were strange things happening to him. Like, flying objects coming to him when he needed them, some kind of barrier that manifested itself when he was going to get hurt in P.E. classes, water becoming ice when he touched the glass... Yetao thought he was going crazy. Soon he noticed a pattern: whenever he felt some kind of strong emotion, like anger, desperation, fear, happiness, something happened. But at the same time he couldn't just control those phenomenons. They were unpredictable, just like his mood. He could be triggered by anything, it was impossible to monitor the evolution of his feelings after all. 

Yetao felt vulnerable and lonely: he couldn't talk about these episodes to anyone because he didn't have friends (he didn't want to have friends – he preferred to be alone than having people around him bulling him or making fun of him; even in the new school he was a lonely wolf) and his parents ignored his existence. Plus, he didn't think someone would take him seriously, so he preferred to go on in his life pretending that nothing was wrong.

Well, at least until a young man came knocking on his door when he was fifteen years old. The man's name was Zhou Zhennan and he introduced himself as the Professor of Defence against Dark Arts at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"I beg your pardon, our son is what?" his father was standing and almost screaming in the living room where they welcomed their guest.

"As I said, your son, Yetao, is a powerful wizard and we would like him to enroll in our school to study Wizardry." Zhennan repeated coldly.

Yetao was stoned. Me? A wizard? H-how...

"My son is just a weirdo. How can he be a wizard?" This time it was his mother speaking. She was clenching her fists on her lap looking completely terrified, just like when he set the clothes of the bullies on fire.

Zhennan rolled his eyes and turned to look at Yetao who was becoming paler and paler. "Listen Yetao. Has anything strange happened to you? Like flying objects around your room or fire starting from nowhere?" His tone was warmer now that he was talking to the boy.

Yetao forced himself to look up to meet Professor Zhennan's gaze and nodded slowly.

"That's because you are special. You don't need to be scared. Hogwarts is a place for people like you who have magical powers. In school you will learn to control them."

Yetao stopped breathing. "You mean that there are other people like... me?" He has always thought that he was an outcast or something.

"That's enough! This kid is already out of his mind. We don't need you to make him stranger than he already is. Get out from here!" His father's face was red from rage. The veins on his neck were vibrating.

Zhennan looked at the man calmly, without even blinking. "Sir, it's dangerous for your son to be left here without control of his powers. He needs to come to Hogwarts. Plus, we have already discovered him very late. He could have been in Hogwarts a long time ago if only you could investigate further on the fire incident."

Yetao was speechless. "How did you-"

"We did some research before we found you." Zhennan smiled at him. A tiny smile.

"Are you some stalkers or what?" His father was about to throw the tea cup he was holding in his hands to the Professor, when Mrs. Hu decided to speak up.

"Let him be, dear. Maybe it's better like this."

After her intervention, Mr. and Mrs. Hu decided to talk privately for a bit in the kitchen, while Yetao was sitting on the couch in front of the Professor unable to say anything. His mind was racing and the puzzle that was his life was finally taking a shape. He wanted to go. He hoped that his parents would understand that enrolling in Hogwarts was the best solution for him.

Finally his parents agreed with Zhennan's request and sent Yetao away that same night. The family goodbye was quite pathetic: a short nod from his father and a brief hug with his mother. He exited his house with his case and backpack, ready for a new life.

Unfortunately for him, he enrolled in Hogwarts just a couple of months before the end of the school year. Zhennan told him that his case was quite particular, so he decided to take Yetao under his wing and teach him all he could in those two months. Usually students started school at eleven years old, but teachers couldn't find Yetao until now because of his lowkey lifestyle. At his arrival the Sorting Hat classified him as a Slytherin. Yetao couldn't even understand what that meant, but Professor Zhennan was quite satisfied with the hat's decision.

Everything was strange in the school. Yetao had to try his best to study and catch up to others, but he had no time to make friends. He spent most of his time in the library or in Professor Zhennan's studio and the only people who he met were his Slytherin roommates, who didn't even consider him because they were older than him. Yetao didn't get the chance to fully enjoy his first experience in Hogwarts, but was absolutely determined in learning all he needed to start anew the next year.

That's how Yetao spent his first year (or two months) in Hogwarts. During the summer he didn't even come back to his parent's house, but stayed with Professor Zhennan who helped him with his studies. Zhennan was quite happy with his student. Yetao was smart and he learned quickly. Everything was new in Yetao's eyes, but he never gave up. In only 5 months he managed to catch up to 5 years of school. Now he was ready to face his actual first year in Hogwarts.