Disclaimer: Anything recognizable from Harry Potter, The Vampire Diaries or anything else that doesn't belong to me belongs to the copyright owners. I do however own everything that I made up! XD Great disclaimer I know!

Chapter 1

The beginning

The steady chattering of the black and red train comforted Katerina a little bit. But there was still some concern left in her thoughts. What if they were wrong? What if it had been a mistake?

Katerina had always known that she was different from all the other children. She was able to sense when something wasn't right and she was always the one to find wounded animals in the forest who – if Katerina hadn't helped them – would have died.

Everything had went fine for the eleven year old girl from Bulgaria but one day a very strange looking letter arrived at the orphanage where she lived. And since then her whole life was turned upside down! The writer of the letter – a certain Professor Dipett – had told her that she was a witch and would attend the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from now on.

At first Katerina didn't believe in such things as magic but as she showed the letter to the director of the orphanage the lady had said: "Oh my dear Katerina! How nice of Headmaster Dipett to give you a scholarship that allows you to attend this school for orphans!" Obviously the letter had been enchanted to appear like a scholarship offer from an institute for orphans to non-magical people.

And in the following weeks Katerina realized that maybe she was a witch! She could levitate objects without touching them and do other weird things.

Now the brown haired girl from Bulgaria was on the Hogwarts Express that would bring her to that school called Hogwarts. She looked around the compartment which was empty except for her. After a while she decided to take a look around the train so she stood up and left her compartment.

The aisle of the train was completely deserted so Katerina didn't pay much attention on where she was going. Instead she looked out of the windows at the magnificent landscape that lay in front of her. Green-brown grass covered the great plain which turned into huge mountains far far away.

Suddenly she felt her body collide with another and she fell to the ground. With frightened eyes Katerina looked up to meet the cold gaze of a boy – maybe a year older than her - who was dressed in an entirely black school uniform with green and silver trimmings. On the breast pocket of his robe a stitched snake was emblazoned in front of a green and silver crest as background. "Watch where you're going you filthy mudblood!" he hissed at her while she straightened herself up. Katerina was frightened by his tone although he really seemed to be only a year older than her.

With a last glare the boy with black hair entered the next compartment, leaving an insecure Katerina behind who was wondering again if Hogwarts was the best place for her to be.

"Who was that inattentive and clumsy girl that ran into you, Avery?" demanded a dark haired boy with piercing green eyes as the boy he had addressed as Avery entered the compartment. He shrugged: "I have no idea. Seems to be a first year and a mudblood!" Avery lazily sat down opposite of the dark haired boy with green eyes who was now looking around the compartment which was filled with five other boys: "I think we should keep an eye on her!"

After a few more hours of travelling an older student opened Katerinas compartment door and told her: "We're almost there. You have to change into your school robes!" And after that he left as quickly as he had appeared. The dark haired girl pulled all curtains shut and dutifully put her black skirt, white shirt, black tie, grey pullover and her black robe on. After she was fully dressed she left the compartment and made her way through the now overcrowded aisle of the train. Then she saw a group of young boys come in her direction. With a shock Katerina realized that one of the boys was the one she had ran into earlier today.

As the tall boy in the front – obviously the leader of the group – went past her he brushed her shoulder very hard with his and made her stumble against a glass compartment door. During that brief contact Katerina felt a strange feeling run through her entire body. She didn't know what that meant but it was some sort of dark power which made her shiver.

Katerina didn't know particularly why but her instincts decided that it would be the best for her to stay away from that boy.

After they had left the train all first years were brought to a lake as pitch black as the sky above. Countless little boats bobed up and down on the water. Katerina was one of the last ones to enter a boat but eventually she did and as if started by an invisible sign all the boats began to sail on the slightly wavy lake.

Shyly the petite Bulgarian girl looked at the three other girls who sat with her in the dark brown boat. The two across her seemed to be twins because they looked totally alike. They didn't pay much attention to her because they were engaged in a conversation about the upcoming school year.

"Hey! You look a bit worried."

Katerina turned around to find the speaker sitting next to her. A beautiful young girl with green eyes, red hair and many freckles on/in her face. After she hadn't received an answer she smiled sympathically and extended her hand to Katerina: "I'm Sylvia Prewett, nice to meet you!" After another moment of silence the brunette girl took Sylvia's hand and shook it: "My name is Katerina Petrova." She smiled a little. In the redhead's presence she felt for the first time in many years that she had found someone who made her feel accepted.

Katerina didn't know why but a feeling deep inside her told her that she had found a friend. The first one she ever had! For the rest of the journey the two girls talked about Hogwarts and – as Katerina wasn't as acquainted with the wizarding world the way Sylvia was – mostly about the four different houses and the sorting that would take place in a few minutes.

Katerina felt a sudden buzz of excitement run through her veins and although she was afraid she kind of looked forward to it, too.

She only distinctly noticed how an elderly woman with grey hair and a blood red robe awaited them at the foot of a magnificent castle that towered upon a high mountain, its windows alight with thousands of candles.

The young Bulgarian didn't remember their way into a great hall where all the other students sat at four long tables; all dressed in black robes but as Katerina took a closer look she could recognize different crests on the breast pockets and different colours around the trims.

Out of the corner of her eye she spotted the tall and dark haired boy from the train who had made her stumble against the compartment doors watching her closely with his friends. They all sat at the table on the far right and the colours of their house were silver and green and she could make out the silver snake in their crest.

While Katerina tried to figure out to which house they belonged she heard Sylvia's words echo in her head: The Slytherin house has the snake in its crest for a reason! Most of them are snakes themselves! Sneaky, slithery and evil. Almost all dark wizards and witches were former members of Slytherin.

Katerina now knew in which house she absolutely didn't want to be sorted! All the other students from Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff seemed to be way nicer!

She didn't notice the beginning of the sorting ceremony but she remembered how her name was called out and as if she wasn't in her body and watching everything from a distant spot she saw herself walking up the few stairs to where the Professor in the red robe stood beside a small chair waiting to put a rotten looking hat on her head. Katerina briefly saw the teacher's table behind the Professor then she sat herself down and suddenly found thousand pairs of eyes staring at her. At that moment Katerina seemed to wake from her trance and her nervousness came tumbling down on her again.

And if all of that wasn't bad enough she suddenly heard a voice inside her head: "Hmmm. So we're going international now? From Bulgaria is it then? Well… although you've got a different nationality I still have the same dilemma! Which house is the best for you? Hmm… Let's see…"

With a relieved sigh Katerina realized that the voice belonged to the hat on top of her head. She instantly started praying to the lord above that the hat wouldn't choose Slytherin- "Slytherin? Are you mad? You don't have the evil core inside you nor the temper to survive in that house for at least a week!" With a small laugh the hat continued: "No no! Hufflepuff would be the perfect choice for you but… I sense something inside you, something powerful and strong… You don't know of it yet but I have a feeling that you will discover that sooner or later! Yes, I think that's what it is going to be…"

And audible for everybody else he shouted: "GRYFFINDOR!"


Hopefully you liked it! ^^ Review!