PROLOGUE
Fifteen years ago, strange things had started to happen. People had been kidnapped and tortured, families had been attacked and soon, the world as they knew had changed. Nobody knew what exactly was going on, and yet, they all knew why. The kidnappers, torturers, murderers dressed in black, with weird, terrifying masks. They called themselves Death Eaters. Their leader was unknown, which made him even scarier.
Rachel Berry was not completely ignorant about these strange events taking place in her world. Her fathers wouldn't allow their only child to go to Hogwarts without her understanding just how dangerous it could be. And so, the night before she got on the train, Hiram and Leroy had sat her down and told her everything they knew.
After that particularly enlightening, and also frightening, conversation, Rachel had nodded, mostly to herself, but also to her fathers. Yes, she had always known that being the daughter of two men was something that their world frowned upon. She was used to that type of prejudice, she knew how to ignore the looks of disdain people threw at the Berry family whenever they were out. However, Rachel had never felt threatened because of it. But now she knew better. Now she knew that homophobia was just part of the problem.
Blood. That was the big issue. Blood.
Blood was the reason why her grandparents were dead. Hiram's parents, Rachel's savta and saba, had mysteriously passed away two years ago. It had been quite the shock, since they were both relatively young and completely healthy. And also since there had been no cause of death. They had been found on the floor of their kitchen, as if they had simply decided to literally drop dead.
They were Muggles. And they had been murdered. And now she knew.
Rachel stood up and hugged her fathers. She assured them that she'd never forget that conversation. She had always been a very intelligent girl, Hiram and Leroy knew that she had meant those words. And after many tears, the Berry family had dinner. Their last dinner before Rachel's departure to Hogwarts.
Their last dinner as a family.
The First-Years had tried to get to know each other on the train. While they had all been somewhat polite, it was clear that some of them had different opinions when it came to what was acceptable and what was not acceptable in their world. Four girls obviously knew each other already, and so they sat together in a compartment. Rachel ended up sitting with three boys and another girl.
"Hi, I'm Rachel Berry." She announced, happy to notice she hadn't received any of the looks she usually did for being a Berry.
"Hey, Rachel. I'm Finn Hudson." The tallest eleven-year-old she had ever seen in her life replied, a smile on his face. She returned the smile, grateful that he had been nice to her.
"Evans. Sam Evans." Another boy muttered. Oh, Rachel knew of the Evans family, of course she did. They all did. A very old, traditional family. She wasn't sure why exactly, but everybody acted like the Evans family was made of dumb, worthless people. The way Sam was eyeing them when he introduced himself told her that he knew that.
"Pleasure to meet you, Sam." Rachel said, trying to keep her voice as soothing as possible. He didn't seem very comfortable, but she couldn't think of anyone who looked like they were happy to be there. Now that she thought about it, that was weird. They were going to Hogwarts!
"Tina Cohen-Chang." The other girl in their group whispered. Her cheeks were red and she wasn't looking at anybody. Definitely uncomfortable.
"My name is Kurt Hummel." The last boy said. He sounded sure of himself, Rachel noticed, but she could see he was trying to be as aware as possible of his surroundings. He seemed to know that things could get dangerous.
During the train ride, the five of them shared food and a little bit about themselves. Rachel told them she had two fathers, which was confusing for Finn and Sam, but interesting for Kurt. Tina was scared of everything, mostly because she was a Muggle-born. She was weary of this new world she had been thrown into. Finn was very easy-going, and he told them he lived with his mother. When asked about his father, he stayed quiet for a few seconds, looking at the four people around him, considering whether or not he should trust them. He finally told them his father had died years ago. Rachel instantly knew he had kept something from them. Sam was very open about his family once he realised nobody was going to judge him for being an Evans, and so he smiled, made jokes and shared stories about his much younger siblings. Finally, Kurt said he lived only with his father, as his mother had been killed when he was a child. He shared a knowing look with Finn, a look that screamed of understanding and pain, and Rachel felt her heart ache for them.
When they finally arrived, Rachel was speechless for the first time in her life. Sure, she had heard all about the Hogwarts castle. She knew all about it, or at least as much as she could. However, it was so much more than what she had expected it to be. It was glorious, and the thought of living there for seven years, learning all there was to be learnt about magic, made her eyes water.
The sixteen children waited until Professor McGonagall introduced herself to them and told them they would be sorted into one of the four Houses. Nobody seemed particularly eager to get that done. But, once they were called into the Great Hall, they momentarily forgot about the sorting. Once again, Rachel wished there were enough words in her vast vocabulary to describe her feelings. Before she could make a mental note to write to her parents asking for a new dictionary, the Sorting Hat started to sing and, as soon as the song was over, Professor McGonagall announced that they should walk over to where she was when she called their name.
"Abrams, Arthur." And a boy wearing glasses looked around, clearly not happy about being the first one to be called. Still, he walked to the front and was told to sit down. The Hat was put on his head.
"Ravenclaw!" And Arthur smiled, relieved.
"Anderson, Blaine." McGonagall called. A short boy smiled a little as he made his way to the Hat. Rachel noticed he could be very charming if he wanted to.
"Gryffindor!" Blaine's smile got wider as he ran to his new table.
"Berry, Rachel". Oh, no. She took a deep breath and started walking, trying to block out the poorly-concealed laughter at her name. She sat down.
"Ah, plenty of courage and loyalty! A thirst of knowledge too!" The Hat said. Rachel nodded in agreement. Naturally. "But your path is very clear to me. There's no other House I could possibly send you to. Slytherin!"
Rachel stood up once the Hat had been removed from her head. Both of her fathers distrusted people who were from Slytherin. Last night, they had told her to be careful around Slytherins, as most Death Eaters came from that House. And now she was one of them. Rachel sat down, as far away as possible from the older Slytherin students, trying hard to keep her eyes dry. She focused on the sorting, as Chang, Michael went to Ravenclaw. And then it was Tina's time.
"Hufflepuff!" Of course, the only person who could maybe have become her friend was gone to another House. A better one. Of course. And then Sam joined Tina at the Hufflepuff table, the two of them sharing a smile. Rachel watched as Fabray, Quinn went to Ravenclaw, followed by Flanagan, Rory. Hart, Joe was sent to Hufflepuff, and finally Kurt was the one being sorted.
"Slytherin!" The Hat announced and Rachel let go of the breath she hadn't noticed she had been holding. Kurt grimaced at the Hat, and she wondered if she had done the same. Probably. He sat down next to her.
"You seem as excited as I feel." He whispered as they watched Finn going to Hufflepuff.
"My fathers told me about Slytherin last night." She whispered back while Jones, Mercedes was announced to be a Gryffindor.
"The House of future Death Eaters?" Kurt asked. Rachel gasped and almost missed the fact that Lopez, Santana had been sorted into Slytherin too.
"You know?" She hoped that he'd answer before Santana got there. Kurt bitterly chuckled.
"Who do you think that killed my mother?" He replied in a low voice, before smiling. "Santana, hi!"
"Hummel." Santana said, rolling her eyes and barely looking at them. She sat close to them, but not too close. She clearly didn't want to associate with them. Rachel was fine with that. They were soon joined by Motta, Sugar.
"Hey, guys!" She pretty much shouted before she reached their table. "I'm so glad to be here with you, we'll be the best friends ever!"
"Hi, Sugar." Rachel replied, a big smile on her face. She was slightly taken aback by the girl's enthusiasm, but it was much better than moping around. Or being around Santana. Sugar sat next to her and they watched as Pierce, Brittany and Puckerman, Noah went to Gryffindor.
"Well, at least we got each other." Kurt whispered in her ear when the feast began. Rachel nodded.
AN: This is just the prologue... The next chapter will begin with them starting their sixth year already... it should be fun!
