Darling Artificial Starlight's birthday was on Saturday. This chapter is just a filler, setting grounds for later chapters, but at least it's out, right? :P


"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Matthew gave a huge sigh and walked over to the cheering Hufflepuff table.

"What took you so long?' Katyusha asked. Matthew just shook his head and sighed. The Sorting finished with a "Zwingli, Vash" who got Sorted into Slytherin amidst cheers.

The Headmistress, war hero Hannah Longbottom, nee Abbot. She stood up, and called for attention.

"Thank you," he said, when the noise stopped and all eyes were on him-more than a few in blatant hero worship. Hannah Abbot had not been one of the premier fighting forces in the war, but she had still been part of Dumbledore's Army, and had married Neville Longbottom, famous for his efforts in the war.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. I won't keep this long," she said wryly. "I know what it's like to be eagerly waiting for the Hogwarts Feast. Anyways, I just want to say that our dear Groundskeeper, Hagrid, has stepped down from teaching Care of Magical Creatures, and Charlie Weasley has stepped up to take his place." The brawny redhead stood up, and girls immediately took note of him.

"Since that seems to be it for now, let the Feast begin!"

Professor Abbot (it cleared up differences between her and her husband) waved her wand and the food appeared on the table. People immediately dug in. Matthew looked at all the French and international food around him, and briefly wondered if Hogwarts was still British with all the international influences. He put some boeuf bourguinon on his plate along with some vegetables.

The purple eyed boy caught his gaze again, and Matthew quickly looked away. The moment before was oddly intimate, too intimate for Matthew's liking. Before he could ask anyone who the boy was, someone called for his attention.

It was his blonde cousin, Francis Bonnefoy. Beside him was his friend, Antonio Fernandez Carriedo. Canada noted the similar last names and made a note to ask Antonio what his relation to Carlos was.

"Félicitations, mon cousin!" Might we add that although Francis was as French as could be, his parents chose to put him in England as a disciplinary exercise.

All the maids were sorely disappointed to know that the Young Master was going to go to England.

"Merci beaucoup Francis. Qui est-il?" Although he already knew Antonio's name because Francis had described him to Matthew in a letter, he wished to be formally introduced. He wasn't the scion of the Williams Family for nothing, you know.

Antonio beamed at him and held out his hand. "Antonio Fernandez Carriedo, second year." It seemed that Matthew didn't have to ask Francis for an introduction. He shook his hand, and Antonio continued talking in rapid Italian with the bubbly first year beside him, Feliciano Vargas. A blonde with a bob commented every once in a while in English. She wore a ribbon the colour of the Belgian flag as a headband, keeping her hair away from her face. Matthew caught a boy who looked a lot like Feliciano, except that his colouring was darker with striking golden eyes, scowling at Feliciano and Antonio. Matthew looked more closely, puzzled.

It was then that he noticed Arthur was beside the brunet. He placed a hand on the brunet's shoulder, who then softened and went back to eating. Arthur smiled at him. Smiling wasn't usually what the green eyed blonde did. Mostly, it was scowling. That was very, very interesting.

Were they friends or more? Matthew mused.

He was half French, after all. Romance, or l'amour was in his blood.

He looked around at the teachers. According to Hogwarts a History: Self-Updating Version there used to be a ghost called Professor Binns who taught History of Magic, but when the Castle was taken over by the Carrow siblings, they had exorcised him. Professors Flitwick, McGonagall, Sprout and Trelawney had retired. In their place were Lavender Brown as the Divinations teacher, Padma Patil as the Transfigurations Mistress, Neville Longbottom as the Herbology professor, and Astoria Greengrass as the Charms teacher. Hermione Granger herself was the Defense teacher.

Matthew looked forward to when she and Alfred would meet. He had posters of the Golden Trio plastered in his room beside his superhero posters. It would be hilarious how the war heroes handled the over energetic teen. Well, he was in her house now after all.

Katyusha and Tino were eagerly discussing classes. Matthew came into the conversation every once and a while, but he had found poutine near him, and manners be damned, he was going to stuff his face.

"Herbology is my favourite class," Katyusha told Matthew, who smiled at her through a mouthful of fries, gravy and cheese curds (He had still closed his mouth. Only Alfred wouldn't). He swallowed, and then politely said "What's it like?" Her eyes lit up, and she excitedly said "It's amazing! Professor Longbottom is really down to earth. I'm joining the Gardening Club this year. You should too! We're starting with magical plants used for cooking and healing for the Hospital Wing and the Kitchen."

"I'm joining too." Tino said. He smiled, and then Matthew nodded. "I'll join it then." he said quietly. Katyusha rewarded him with a beaming smile. They gradually started talking about the different classes that they would have, along with the other classes.

"Supposedly Gryffindors and Slytherins usually have classes together to 'get rid of the inter-house resentment'." Tino put air quotes around the words and rolled his eyes. "That means we're usually with Ravenclaws, who aren't too bad to us."

"What do you mean, too bad to us?" Matthew asked warily. Bullies? He inwardly gulped.

People like him were usually huge targets for bullies. The only reason why it had stopped the year before was because he joined the hockey team and the Quidditch team, and people learned that he wasn't to be messed with. Especially after one of the Beaters decided to try and have him killed, and Matthew, losing his temper, had taken a Beater's Bat and knocked a Bludger right at his head, giving him a grade 3 concussion and both he and Matthew out for the season.

Needless to say, he was avoided by bullies from then on.

Tino sensed Matthew's wariness and soothingly said "It's okay. Hufflepuffs travel in packs, and after the Battle of Hogwarts, nobody really messes with us anymore. The Gryffindors still think we're 'duffers', but they save their ire for the Slytherins."

"And the Ravenclaws?" If a bully was in Ravenclaw, then good bye peace of mind. Tino did say that most of the classes that Hufflepuff had was with Ravenclaw.

"They approve of hard work." Katyusha said, and Matthew relaxed. Hopefully, he would avoid any incidents.

He looked around at the students for faces he recognized. Scanning the tables, he saw the stoic blondes from earlier, the ones with the puffin familiar. He nudged Katyusha, and asked "Who are the people over there? The stoic ones with the puffin familiar?"

It was Tino who answered him as Katyusha was busy chewing her meal of Borscht. "I don't know the name of the new kid, but the one with the barrette is Soren Bondevik-presumably Puffin Guy's brother-and the scary and stoic one with the glasses is Berwald Oxenstierna." Matthew chuckled at his descriptions and thanked him.

Matthew twisted his body to look behind him at the Gryffindor table. As usual, Alfred was the center of attention, laughing with everyone. His heart gave a pang of envy. Katyusha caught his look of longing, as did Francis and Tino, but they said nothing, opting instead to ask for more information later.

Carlos and the Korean student were far from Alfred, at the end of the table, chatting energetically.

Matthew turned back, and looked ahead of him at the Slytherin table. He saw the boy with the scarf and strange, purple eyes again. He was picking at his bowl of soup, not eating much. He noticed that the scarf-wearing boy was far from everybody else, with no one making a move to socialize with him.

Matthew frowned, puzzled, and looked into Katyusha's eyes. His eyes widened and he bit back a gasp.

He knew who those purple eyes belonged to.

"Katyusha, who is the scarf wearing boy in Slytherin? The one with the vivid purple eyes?" He said pointedly.

Immediately Tino tensed, obviously recognizing the description, and Katyusha avoided his eyes.

"He's my brother." she said, looking at her plate, away from Matthew's inquisitive gaze.

Matthew was surprised, but not by her admission. It was more of the fact that she acted as if she didn't acknowledge her brother. It was obvious from the way she acted. They looked so alike, however. With the same distinctive eyes, and the same shade of hair, if you looked at them together it was clear that they were brother and sister.

However, he could understand why she was reluctant to speak of her brother. Matthew didn't even want to be related to his brother at times.

Katyusha turned large, pleading eyes towards Matthew, and he hesitated on asking for more details. It seemed to be a rather touchy subject, and she was his friend...

Tino watched the battle of wills with amusement, head flickering towards Matthew, naturally inquisitive, and Katyusha, who wanted to hide her relation to the Slytherin. The air grew tenser and tenser, and it almost seemed that there was a stalemate until...

"Fine!" Matthew held up his hands, and softened. Tino laughed loudly at Matthew's expression as Katyusha smiled, and the topic of her brother was not spoken of again that night.


After dinner ended, the Hufflepuff prefects led them to their dorms.

The Hufflepuff common rooms were on the ground floor. When they spoke the password, fidélité , to a painting of a pretty, dimpled redhead lady who bid them hello in a Welsh accent, the portrait swung open and they climbed into the common room.

Immediately when they entered, Matthew's inherited designer's eye went to work in absorbing the common room. It was warm and inviting, with the walls in yellow with edges of black. The Hufflepuff coat of arms took up a large amount of room on the wall opposite from the entrance. The floors were black stained wood covered with yellow rugs.

"Welcome to the Hufflepuff common room! Here is the general area. Boy's rooms are to the right and down the hall, and girls are on the left and down the hall. We have considerably more space then the Gryffindors, so you will only have to share your room with one other person." The prefect said. Sighs of relief were emitted from the First Years. Matthew smiled, relieved. He liked his space.

"Hufflepuff House dormatories are quite close to the kitchens. To get there, simply go down the hall and turn right until you see a tapestry of a bowl of fruit. Tickle the pear in the painting, and it will turn into a handle for you to open the door with. However, you are not allowed to leave the dormatories after lights out." The prefect levelled glares at the older years, whose faces looked blank or innocent.

"I'm pretty sure that's it for now! Remember the rules, First Years! It's lights out for you at 9:30!" They groaned goodnaturedly and went to the Boy's Dormatories.

The bubbly Italian from the Sorting approached Matthew, who looked at him with a questioning look.

"Ve~ Do you want to be my room mate?~ Everyone else already chose their partners." The Italian said dreamily.

Matthew looked over him. The brunet seemed ditsy, but really nice and would probably be a good room mate for the year. He smiled, and stuck out his hand. "My name is Matthew Williams. Pleased to meet you."

The Italian beamed and shook his hand. "My name is Feliciano Vargas, but you can call me Feli, ve!~" The pair then went to their rooms after bidding goodbye to Kaytusha, Tino, Antonio and Francis.


Matthew couldn't sleep.

It was around 10:00 or 11:00 at night, and he was sitting on the edge of his bed. Flopping back down on the mattress, he looked back on his day and everything that had occured. From his meetings on the train-which he tried not to think about because of Toris and Feliks-to his Sorting into Hufflepuff, to the fabulous dinner, and the Hufflepuff common room. His thoughts drifted to the people he had met throughout the day, and he came back to the topic of Katyusha's mysterious brother.

There must be some reason why they didn't seem to be close. Wait, that was an understatement. There must be a reason why both of them pretended that they didn't have other siblings.

When Matthew finally drifted off to sleep, his dreams were filled with thoughts of vivid purple eyes.


Matthew woke up suddenly from his sleep. He blushed when he remembers who those purple eyes belong to, the eyes that were haunting his dreams. Casting a quick Tempus, he sees that it is 7:00, and he hurriedly jumps out of bed. Waking up his room mate, Feliciano, he rushed to the bathroom and took a quick shower.

Matthew and Feliciano cleaned up their covers and dress in their robes-his mother had sent over hand tailored uniforms for him, and the House Elves had transfigured the hem and ties Hufflepuff colours. Looking over at Feliciano, he saw that his uniform had also been changed. As he quickly checking everything in the mirror, he noticed Kumawire waking up. With a sly glint in his eyes, Matthew wraps one of his Hufflepuff scarves around his polar bear familiar. Feliciano giggled and exclaimed on how cute the bear looks.

They head out of the dormatory, catching up with Tino and Katyusha.

"I want food."

Tino, Katyusha and Feliciano turn inquisitive and disbelieving glances towards the polar bear, who drowsily muttered something about seal.

"He speaks?" Tino's tone was disbelieving as he stared at the familiar.

Matthew hoisted Kumayaya up so that they could see him. "He's my familiar. Of course he can speak." Putting Kumatater back down and holding him, he looked at them apologetically. "I have to go get some meat for Kumamarou. He's picky about which type of meat he wants, and it always has to be raw." They waved him off, and promised that they would save food for him come breakfast.

Heading down to the kitchens, he quickly got some seal meat from a House-Elf, and headed back to the Great Hall. It was now 8:00, and he was going to get pancakes if he had to steal from others.

You could safely assume that Matthew loved pancakes with a fiery passion if he was willing to bend his morals for them.

As he rounded the corner, he slammed into a warm body. As he fell back slightly (years of hockey had given Matthew a fabulous sense of balance and control-it was very hard indeed for him to completely fall over), he took a look at the person who he had slammed into.

It was an androgynous Chinese student-Matthew guessed him to be in Year 4. He had long hair in a ponytail. Frowning, he said "That's odd, aru." The student waved a hand in the air in front of him. "I must tripped. It's impossible to bump into thin air." Calmly, the Chinese walked away, brushing dust off his robes.

Numbly, Matthew stood there.

It was all going so well. Tino could see him. Feliciano could see him. Katyusha could see him. Even his cousin Francis and his friend Antonio could see him.

It was stupid, Matthew decided. He was stupid. Just because some people could see him, doesn't mean that he should have forgotten about the curse.

From in his arms, Kumamello pawed at the arm holding him up. Matthew's fists were clenched rather tightly, to the point that he was nearly bleeding. Kumamattie twisted himself around to hold his owner's face. Lifting his face with one paw, the bear's beady eyes met his own blue-purple eyes. He softened, and then took the seal meat-it was in a bag, so it was protected when he stumbled- and Matthew walked to the Great Hall, forcing himself to forget the incident.


He sat down beside Tino in the Great Hall. Students were filing in slowly, some yawning and sluggish, others happy and up beat. Sitting beside Tino, he put on a small smile, pretending to be tired. Tino looked at him with an odd look in his eye-he could tell Matthew was really a morning person; there was no way he would be tired at 8:00. However, he said nothing, turning back to his food.

Matthew put the seal meat on a plate for Kumanearo, and quickly took the entire plate of pancakes and put it in front of him, using food to console himself.

What? It works. Thousands of rejected girls who have taken up chocolate and ice cream could attest to that.

Tino nudged him and nodded towards the front of the table. It seemed that their Head of House was handing out timetables. With a start, he realized that the Head of House was the Headmistress, Professor Hannah Longbottom.

"She fills in as our Head of House because none of the new teachers are from Hufflepuff." said Katyusha, answering his unspoken question. Matthew thanked her quickly and continued devouring his pancakes which he smothered in maple syrup that he checked with the House Elves when he was in the kitchen. It was indeed Canadian, and so Matthew could eat his syrup without obsessing over its quality. Tino noticed that despite him eating rather fast, his manners were still in place-he used his napkin, his fork and his knife, didn't chew with his mouth open, and more.

Looking behind him, he winced at the sight of Matthew's twin, Alfred (it was obvious to anyone and everyone that they were twins) pigging out on food with atrocious manners. Tino looked between the twins in sheer disbelief. How could two people who looked almost exactly alike be so different? Matthew had the manners of a pureblood, Alfred was more unrefined. One was quiet and passive agressive, the other wore his heart on his sleeve. He shook his head as if to clear it, and turned back to his food.

The mystery of Matthew Williams could always be solved after breakfast, Tino decided, turning back to his food.


Matthew's timetable was handed to him by the Headmistress. He briefly looked over it, and decided that it could be worse. It was as follows:

Monday:

Period 1: Herbology with Ravenclaws

Period 2: Potions with Ravenclaw

Period 3: Transfiguration with Gryffindor

Period 4: Charms with Ravenclaw

Tuesday:

Period 1: Herbology with Ravenclaw

Period 2: History of Magic with Slytherin

Period 3: Potions with Ravenclaw

Period 4:Defense Against the Dark Arts (alone)*

Wednesday:

Period 1: Herbology with Ravenclaw

Period 2: Defense Against the Dark Arts (alone)*

Period 3: Transfiguration with Gryffindor

Period 4: Charms with Ravenclaw

Thursday:

Period 1: Herbology with Ravenclaw

Period 2: History of Magic with Slytherin

Period 3: Potions with Ravenclaw

Period 4: Defense Against the Dark Arts (alone)*

Friday:

Period 1: Transfiguration with Gryffindor

Period 2: Charms with Ravenclaw

Period 3: Potions with Ravenclaw

Period 4: Defense Against the Dark Arts (alone)*

*Defense Against the Dark Arts is alone for the safety of the students.

Damn! Did he really had to face his brother four days a week? The teacher would confuse them for one another for sure. It'll be elementary all over again. Matthew would constantly get blamed for Alfred's wrongdoings, and he would exploit it, asking his brother to continually cover for him.

Would he ever catch a break? Matthew thought bitterly. No, he supposed not.

Looking down at the timetable in his hands, he felt an familiar sense of dread creep up his spine.


I don't think that this classifies as a cliffhanger, so you're not allowed to kill me. XD At least I finished it fast.

Matthew dislikes his twin, but due to passive-agressiveness, he doesn't show it. Alfred doesn't know this, and due to Matthew's impeccable lying and Alfred's own obliviousness, he can't tell. Observant little Tino can tell that Matthew has at least some resentment towards his brother, but they've only known each other for two days, so he doesn't/can't tell everything yet.

Francis doesn't seem to be that close to Matthew because he already has his own friends. Plus, Matthew lives in Canada while Francis lives in France, so they're not the closest.

Anyways, review and I'll get more incentive for the next chapter!~