Year 1:
Kai and I sat on the Hogwarts Express, in our own compartment. Neither of us really cared for each other, seeing as how our dad cheated on her mom with my mom. Yeah, complicated family story. We both met for the first time over the summer and it's been a fight for Dad's love ever since then. Honestly, Dad loves my mom and I more. That's why he had an affair with her. Clearly, Kai's mommy wasn't pleasing him. But enough about that. Dad wants Kai and I to be friends. Despite his affair, he's quite the family man. So he's paying for all of our schooling and books, just so we can go to school together.
So I'm a half-blood with little knowledge about the magical world. Mom was a muggle and Dad just didn't care to teach me about the wonders of magic. Kai, being a pureblood, already had some basic spell-casting abilities. Her mom raised her to be the most powerful little wizard she could be.
"So what house do you think you'll get in?" I asked Kai, trying to make polite conversation. This was a very difficult task, since Kai is slightly racist. You know, against half-bloods and mudbloods and junk like that.
"I'm not sure, Nikki. Probably the house meant for powerful wizards, such as myself." Kai said, putting on a haughty pose.
"Oh. Well good luck with that." We sat in silence for a while, avoiding eye contact. Slight tension was in the air. It was half an hour before the train pulled up to the castle.
Us first years were herded into boats by some half-giant. I think his name was Hagrid. Despite my dislike of my darling half-sister, I stuck by her. It was nerve-wrecking to be alone in such a big school. And blood needs to stick together, right? So we rode across the lake toward the castle. Then we were herded into a hallway and prepped on the sorting ceremony.
Gryffindor was the house for the brave, courageous folk. Yeah, I'm paraphrasing. I didn't really listen to the details of what was being explained.
Slytherin was for the ambitious. I heard some students mumble about how it was the house for the evil. Purebloods only. Blah. Blah. Blah. Some blonde named Draco Malfoy claimed that Slytherin was the best house in the world and then he started talking to my sister. They seemed to get along well.
Ravenclaw. It was for the witty, wise, smart people. Students of that house were known to be quirky, but brilliant. Sounded like my kind of house.
Hufflepuff was for the people who cared. The helpers. The lovers. The sweeties. I had a feeling that nobody really cared about them. It didn't seem like too bad of a house, though.
First years were led to the Great Hall, were everybody, staff and students and even some parents, were watching. Professor McGonagall read names out loud one by one. Each first year nervously walked up to the Sorting Hat, awaiting to see their fate. By fate, I mean how they're going to spend their seven years in school. I really didn't care much about my house. Just as long as I wasn't in Slytherin. But that's okay, they wouldn't want my half-blood self anyways.
"Kai Aaomori." McGonagall said. Kai walked confidently and placed the Hat on her head. She sat there for a few seconds before it cried out that she would be perfect for Slytherin. Totally never saw that coming. That Draco kid got placed in Slytherin as well. He waved to what I assumed to be his dad, sitting at a guest spot at the teacher's table. I didn't pay no mind to it, I figured it would be normal for a kid to wave at his parent. I know I would if my mom were there. But she's a muggle, and apparently it's taboo for muggles to enter the magical world.
Because my last name is near the end of the alphabet, I was one of the last kids to be called. Lucky me. I sat down and put on the Sorting Hat, feeling a bit irked that I was in the center of attention.
"Why do you want to attend Hogwarts?" the Hat whispered to me.
"I'm just trying to please my dad and try to get along with my half-sister."
"Really, is that all?"
I shrugged. "I guess it would be nifty to actually learn magic. I could help people with it. Make contributions to this world. All that jazz."
"I can see that you value knowledge."
"Yeah. My mom is a teacher. Education is important to me."
"I see, well then the perfect house for you would be RAVENCLAW!" There was a thunderous applause and the next thing I know, I'm walking toward the Ravenclaw table. I took a quick survey of the teacher's table. The headmaster seemed to contain wisdom beyond anybody I've ever seen. Very befitting of a leader of a school. But what caught my eye was Draco's father. Now that I was really looking at him, there was something intriguing about him. I couldn't put my finger on it, but something about this man was interesting. To my embarrassment, he caught me staring at him. And we made eye contact. Awkward eye contact. He gave me a wink and waved his hand toward the Ravenclaw table. I smiled uneasily and sat myself with my new classmates. I was greeted with friendly gestures.
Overall, I was happy with how my Hogwarts life was going. The teachers seemed professional. My house was amazing. I already made some friends. And best of all, I didn't have to stay in close contact with Kai. Thank God for Slytherin.
The first day of classes was quite an adventure. I had already made friends with a first year named Emily. She was a shy girl, and I was a girl who was naïve about the magical world. Her knowledge and my…my awesomeness worked well together.
She woke me on the first day of class two hours early. I know good friends don't hit each other, but I could not help but feel rage against her.
"Why did you wake me up so early?" I demanded, discarding my pajamas for the regulated school uniform.
"Our first class is potions and I've heard scary stories about Professor Snape," Emily shifted her weight to her left foot, looking at the ground. "I've heard of nasty things he says to students who are late." I rolled my eyes and grabbed my book bag.
"I guess we might as well eat a bit of breakfast then, since you insist on waking so early. You are so ridiculous sometimes." I walked out of the Ravenclaw common room, leaving Emily to run behind me. I am not a morning person. I am especially not a morning person when I am woken up early.
Breakfast passed, and I ate my weight in rolls. Feeling well nourished for the first half of the day, I headed towards Potions. No harm in being early to class and making a good impression on the teacher. So Emily and I made our way to the dungeons and chose to sit near the back on account of Emily being scared of Snape. My best friend is a wussy. Awesome.
I started unpacking my supplies, getting prepared for class. I was one of those people who always came to classes fully prepared. And I always got excellent marks. Always. If I did less than my best at school, then I was letting my parents down. That is the worst thing in the world. Emily just fiddled with her quill, looking around the room. Nobody else was there, not even Professor Snape.
The classroom began to fill with students. Ravenclaws and Slytherins were having class together, what a joy. I was going to have class with Kai. Five minutes before class started, she and Draco walked in together and sat next to me.
"Hey, Nikki," Kai smiled, "How is your first day of class going for you? Made any friends?"
"Yeah. This is Emily," I gestured toward my right, where a nervous Emily sat. "She's my housemate. Woke me up early, she did. But she's a good friend. Who's this blonde dork next to you?" Of course I knew that this "blonde dork" was Draco Malfoy, but I couldn't help but mess with my sister. Draco scowled.
"I'll have you know, filthy half-breed," he sneered, "That my father is a very powerful wizard. You would be wise to show me some respect."
"Wow, sis," I raised my eyebrows and mocked a frown, "Your friend isn't very nice at all. Is this the type of person you hang out with?"
"Draco is just not used to punks like you disrespecting him," Kai replied in a snarky tone. "He's a very good friend of mine, so please be nice."
Our conversation would have continued, but our professor finally decided to show up to his own class. In a dramatic entrance he claimed that he could teach us to bottle fame and put a stopper to death. Or something like that. I was doodling little dragons instead of listening to his long-winded speech. It was useless information. No real learning. Emily prodded me to listen a few times, for fear of us getting in trouble for not paying attention or some junk. I glared at her and continued to doodle. By the end of the class I learned nothing special. Hopefully the next potions class would be better. Kai and Draco went off after class was over. My own sister didn't even bother to tell me goodbye, and I was sitting next to her.
"That's okay," I said to myself. "I don't like her much anyways."
