I felt quite small in the scheme of things. It was quite humorous to me, actually, feeling small, because most people saw me as a very large and intimidating person. Not physically, of course, but strong and intimidating nonetheless.
I sat alone on the train to my new school, Hogwarts, it was called. I was quite alone, which bothered me. I hadn't met anyone on the way to the train, nor did I have to go into someone else's compartment in order to find a seat; I was quite early. We had just departed, and surely there were still people walking around, wandering, trying to find a compartment that had room for themselves.
I, of course, would be friendly, outgoing and welcoming. I would act as though I'd been in this school 5 times before, as everyone else my age would have. I would play with my blonde hair, I would tuck it behind my ear so everyone could see my green eyes contrast with my pale skin. I would smile, and I would flash my white teeth I spent so much time up keeping.
They would be taken with me, and I would win again.
By the end of the year, I would run the school. It was all a game, a routine. It was what happened every time my father moved.
He moved frequently, by the way. He creates potions for the ministry in every country imaginable. We just came from Russia, it was very beautiful there. Very large. The school didn't reflect the amount of poverty that was found in the muggles in that area.
Truth be told, the reason there was poverty found in that area was because of wizards.
We're selfish, terrible people, us wizards. But who am I to change such a thing?
Anyways, someone knocked on the compartment. "Come in," I called sweetly, and the door rolled to the side. Lead by a charming lad with black, shaggy hair that looked as if he had just gotten off of a broomstick and black glasses, a group of four walked in. Directly to the boy in glasses' right, there was another boy with elegant, longer black hair and grey eyes. He was deathly pale, but handsome nonetheless.
Another boy had blonde hair and honey eyes that melted me. He looked sickly and was covered in scars. Werewolf, I thought knowingly. It was quite obvious to someone who was in a family affected by werewolves. Behind the werewolf was a short and somewhat chubby boy who looked fairly average in such a group.
After analyzing them, I gave them a sweet smile, looking up at them through my lashes. "Hello."
"Hey," the one with grey eyes and a charming smile, "I'm Sirius Black, and here are my mates. Mind if we intrude?"
"Oh, not at all intruding," I smiled, shooting them all a flirty smile. "What are the rest of your names?"
The one with the glasses ran his fingers through his hair them grinned at me, looking genuine. "I'm James Potter, grand to meet you."
"Peter Pettigrew," said the short one in a rather squeaky voice. Poor lad, he looked rather pitied in this group of boys.
"Hello, Remus Lupin. Pleasure," said the lanky blonde one in a voice smooth as honey, as his eyes were. His voice was deep, but not overly so as some peoples were.
"What about you?" Sirius piped up.
"Me? My name's Seraphina Hawkwood. It's a long name, though, just call me Sera." I smiled again, playing with my hair. The only part of my hair I could really play with was the front of it, because the rest of it was too short for me to be able to look natural doing so. I had a crop cut, with the front grown out and styled in a fringe.
The boys sat down, Sirius and Remus on either side of myself with Peter and James sitting opposite of me. I enjoyed feeling in the middle of the group; It was what I was used to. What I was accustomed to.
"Well, you're definitely not a first year," said Sirius, giving me a one over and looking as though he approved, "But I also haven't seen you in Hogwarts before. So, where'd ya come from?"
I laughed at the one over. "I just transferred from Russia." I saw Remus's eyebrows shoot up.
"You're Russian and you've already improved your accent to that good of an English accent?" He seemed very impressed.
I laughed again. "No, actually, my father works for the ministry as a potion creator, so he moves around a lot for his job. I'm originally from Canada; I've learned how to get the languages and accents very quickly."
James grinned. "That's wicked." We all laughed, and then continued talking on with different subjects.
By the time we had to exit the train, I knew quite a bit about all of them. James was a Quidditch addict and played chaser, was madly in love with Lily Evans, a short tempered redhead who was in no way interested in James, and was, like Sirius, acing all his classes with ease.
Sirius was quite the stud, and he moved on from girl to girl as if he only had a month to live. He was a beater and he loved eating.
Remus was actually quite quiet throughout the trip, but from watching him, I learned he cared about his mates quite a bit, he loved reading, and he loved chocolate. He also has a great laugh, and when he smiled, his face lightened up. He didn't look sickly or too old for his years anymore. He just looked… happy.
Actually, come to think of it, I didn't really learn anything about Peter, either. I just kind of found out from watching him with his friends that he was a follower and he was only really there for the social security. He was quite the git, actually. Quite the sneaky bloke.
Not my business, either way. They're his friend, and I don't have to like him to act friendly to him. I don't have to like him for him to like me.
Anyways, throughout the trip, we had gone our separate ways at one point in time to change into our school uniforms. We all got off the Hogwarts Express and caught a carriage. The entire thing was rather surreal, Thestrals were pulling the carriages; I'd never seen it done that way in any other school.
It was rather clever. I suppose it was an interesting concept; perhaps the headmaster was looking to see how many children went to the teachers, asking what the creatures were. Seeing how many kids had gone through such a terrible thing.
One couldn't deny that Headmaster Albus Dumbledore was a brilliant man. Eccentric and quite his share of loopy, but brilliant mind, nonetheless.
We all talked on the way up to the castle, as well.
"Do you know what house you're gonna be in?" Sirius asked unexpectedly, looking at me with something in his eye. I couldn't quite place the emotion, as he hid it very well.
"Nah, I have no idea. The headmaster told me to go up to his office when I arrive so I don't have to get sorted among the first years, I can just do it privately."
"Ah. Well, if you can help it, stay away from Slytherin. Nasty bunch. Don't want to get yourself involved with the lot of them. I haven't ever met a Slytherin that wasn't twisted," Sirius told me stiffly. I saw James nodding in agreement, but I wasn't so sure. It was just houses, right? One house couldn't be completely evil. I didn't believe that.
I glanced at Remus, and I think he didn't agree as much as James did. He seemed tense, as if he didn't like what was being said, but saw no point in disagreeing. Like they'd been here before and there was no gain from it.
I, however, was more curious and had stronger values than that.
"Why would you say that? I'm sure there are some people in Slytherin that are completely decent people, they just can't be seen through the stereotype they obviously have," I said lightly. Remus looked up and gave me a sharp, warning look. One that told me that I was going to cause something he didn't want to deal with.
It was James who replied to this. "Trust us, Sera. We know our fair share of Slytherins. One of the worst happens to be a slimy git named Severus Snape. He's a grease ball who has been trying to steal Lily from me since day one of Hogwarts, and he thinks he's so far above everyone else. He gets on your nerves and makes you want to wash your hair yourself.
There's another group lead by Lucius Malfoy, and he's a slimy snake if you've ever saw one. Sweet talks all the ladies and then crushes them, uses them, abuses them.
Regulus, Sirius's dear brother, is part of Malfoy's admiring fan group. It's a terrible group that terrorizes people and finds joy in causing innocent people pain.
Believe me; we didn't accuse these people for no reason. They're evil, Ser."
James looked out of breath and very worked up after his rant, so it was a good thing when the carriage got to the castle and I had to bid the group farewell and head up the stairwells, following the instructions I was given in the letter I was sent.
After quite a few flights of stairs, I found myself at a spiral staircase with a gargoyle on a podium in front of it. "Pumpkin pops," I said at the discretion of the instructions in my hand. The gargoyle sprang to life, sliding quickly out of my way. I swiftly found a place on the stairwell just as the spiral whirred into motion.
I felt myself rising in a screw-like motion for a while, when finally I found myself standing in a corridor. I went to the end of this hall, and then I knocked on the ordinate wooden door.
Almost instantaneously, a gentle voice said, "Enter."
I felt a little surprised, but I didn't show it. I opened the door with what felt like a solid silver doorknob, and then found myself in a cluttered room that was somehow clean at the same time. Little trinkets lingered everywhere, probably trophies of the many memories one of his age must have.
On the walls, I found moving paintings of the previous headmasters and headmistresses. It seemed that every headmaster or mistress that ever controlled Hogwarts had been painted when they either passed away or retired.
It seemed, from the age of the people in the paintings, that most of them had probably passed away.
I looked straight forwards and found a desk on a raised bit of the floor. On one side of the desk in a grand chair was the headmaster himself, white hair and beard garnishing him with half-moon spectacles and piercing blue eyes that had a certain sparkle to them and no sign of aging in them.
On the other side of the desk was two chairs, neither of them occupied; it was just me and the headmaster.
She swallowed, and then smiled. "Hello, Headmaster. My name is Seraphina Hawkwood, as you know." I extended my hand to him, offering him a handshake.
The man took my hand and shook it briefly. He was very gentle. "Very pleased to meet you, Miss Hawkwood. I hope you had a pleasant journey."
"Yes, sir, I did. The Hogwarts Express is quite a nice place, especially with pleasant people to share a compartment with," I told him, giving him a smile.
"Glad to hear it. Who was this pleasant company, if I may ask?"
"Sirius Black, James Potter and Remus Lupin." I left out Peter, because to be honest, he had no impact on how pleasant my trip was. Actually, he was a little worrying.
"Ah, splendid," he smiled. "I suppose you're excited to get sorted, no?"
I swallowed. If I was completely honest with myself, I was nervous beyond belief. I was remembering the look on Sirius's face as he talked about Slytherins.
But, I smiled, and replied, "Yes, I can't wait."
Before I knew it, I had been placed in a wooden chair hat looked its fair share of years and the Headmaster was holding the sorting hat with both hands by the rim, hovering just above my head.
"Ready?" He asked me gently, as if he could sense my slight nervousness. Bloody hell, I'm sure he could.
"Of course," I said in a smiley voice. He gently placed the Sorting Hat upon my head, and I heard a gravelly voice in my head.
Well, well, well. You're not a first year, are you? Your head doesn't belong under me. Ah, you're a transfer student? From Russia, you say? Well, then. Ahh, you love potions as your father does, and he's from the ministry? Clever girl. I swallowed; I didn't like having someone in my head.
Very brave girl, I see. You keep a lot of the pain you feel hidden, that's for sure. But you also are quite manipulative, aren't you? In my head, I argued that. I'm not manipulative. People just like making me happy, I don't control that.
The voice ignored me completely. You have so many traits from each house; I really have no clue where to put you. Not Hufflepuff, that's for sure. Not Ravenclaw, no no. So that leaves me with the question; Gryffindor or Slytherin?
I stayed silent, for I didn't want to affect the Sorting Hat's decision.
After a few moments of the sorting hat deciding, it finally yelled out, "Slytherin!"
I felt my heart sink as Professor Dumbledore raised the hat off of me head. I was not looking forwards to having to go down to the Great Hall and sitting down at the Slytherin table with the four charming boys watching.