Of Slytherins and Smiles

Chapter One: We're Off to Go to School!

Raya Sunshine Solita  POV

Another year of Hogwarts. I thought to myself happily. It's so nice to be going back. It would be my third year going to the magical school. I stood on the busy platform of 9 and 3/4s, watching as all the students, 1st year through 7th year, said goodbye to their parents.

My mother had taken all the pictures she wanted to earlier in the day, but unfortunately couldn't come with me to the platform because my brother had a gymnastics meet, and my sister had a dentist appointment.

I was wearing an informal black dress with a yellow belt, accentuated by my trademark yellow bow, yellow stone necklace, bracelet, mood ring, and my favourite black shoes with yellow bows on them. In case you couldn't tell by the obscene amount of yellow on my outfit, I was sorted into Hufflepuff.

It's my personal goal in life to look for the best in each and every person I meet, no matter what their circumstances. Although, to be honest, not all Hufflepuffs are as friendly as I am. Most have the same prejudices and judgements of the other houses as the other houses do for us. I took a deep breath and walked on the train that took me to one of my favourite places in the world.

Last year I had started a program for first year students so that they, no matter the house, would have an older student to show them the ropes. I started to look for the first years I was supposed to mentor. Most people only had one mentor, but due to a shortage of volunteers, I chose to take on four students. I walked into the closest compartment, and asked "Is there a Dennis Creevy, Tommy Hayes, Alec Lovecharm or Alex Lovecharm here?"

The others in the compartment looked at me as if I were crazy and so I said, "I guess not. Thank you for your time, and if you are a first year student who signed up for the student mentor program, please begin to look for your mentor."

I went into a couple of other compartments with no luck. I was about to try the next compartment when Ron Weasley started to walk past me, but paused a moment and said,

"Don't even bother going in there, if your mentees are in there, then they'll just probably end up being in Slytherin." Then he walked away.

What the actual heck? I get that Ron was a firm believer in house rivalries, he hated Slytherins, thought Ravenclaws were stuck up and rude, and he pretty much ignored Hufflepuffs, but he didn't have a right to pre-judge these kids based on which room they walked into. That's ridiculous.

I walked into the compartment, regardless of Ron's warning, and shouted,"Is there a Dennis Creevy, Tommy Hayes, Lexi Lovecharm or Alex Lovecharm here?!"

I heard a boy's voice say, "Um, I'm Tommy Hayes, and that's Lexi and Alex Lovecharm."

I looked around and saw that the Slytherins in the compartment, including Draco Malfoy, notorious for being a bully and fighting with Harry Potter, were helping the three first years figure out how to properly put on their robes. Pansy Parkinson was even helping Lexi with her Hogwarts pin.

"Ok, good." I lowered my voice so that I was speaking at a normal volume, "I've been looking for y'all for a while, do you know where Dennis Creevy is?"

"I think he's with his older brother three compartments down the hall." Alex said quietly with his eyes downcast. He seemed a little shy.

"Well, it's super nice to meet y'all," I said as cheerily as possible, "I'm Raya, your student mentor for the rest of the year, and it seems that you've found some of the nicer students here, who are more than willing to help first years."

The Slytherins in the room shifted uncomfortable at the prospect of being called nice.

"Do y'all mind if I ask you guys to come with me to go get Dennis, so that I can explain everything at once, do some fun games and activities, and answer any questions you might have?"