After Mark was sorted into Slytherin, there were only three students left to be sorted.

"Derek Rachel!" Professor McCuskee announced.

Rachel walked up to the hat and it immediatley yelled out, "SLYTHERIN!" and Rachel sat down next to Mark.

The two other students were sorted into Ravenclaw and Gryffindor.

The headmaster, Professor Milek, began to speak.

"Welcome to another wonderful year at Hogwarts. Just a few reminders, the Forbidden forest is, as its name suggests, forbiddn. And I would like to remind students to stay in their own common rooms and dormitories. Other than that, pip pip, gallifan, and haliflax!" Milek yelled.

Mark thought that Milek had lost his mind, then he saw the tables were filled with delivious food. Mark and Elaina were eating away.

"I saw you shaking your head during the sorting, why was that?" Mark asked while helping himself to some roast beef.

"Oh that," Elaina exclaimed while putting some soup into a bowl. "The hat was going to put me in Hufflepuff, but I really really wanted to be in Slytherin," Elaina explained.

Mark looked over to see Kelly eating at the Gryffindor table, and Kevin eating at the Ravenclaw table.

"Why?" Mark asked.

"Both of my parents were in Hufflepuff. When I was born, I was their life. They would leave work early just to come see me laugh and smile. Then, when I was five, my younger brother was born, and I was almost forgotten. Except for meals and holidays, they didn't even know that I existed. But on Platform 9 ¾ they told me how they hoped I'd be in Hufflepuff, so I wanted to be in Slytherin. I wanted them to notice me!" Elaina verified.

"Wow, I didn't know it was like that," Mark said horrified. Then, Mark's wand fell out of his cloak. He bent down and picked it up. It was a stylish wand, with branches extending almost to the tip, and it was pale white in color.

"Nice wand, what kind is it?" Elaina asked.

"Birch, Dragon Heartstring," Mark answered. "What about yours?"

Elaina pulled out her wand, which was dark black, but had white lines around the tip.

"It's Oak and Dragon Heartstring," Elaina responded.

Then it was time to go to the Common Rooms. The Slytherin prefects led the first years to the dungeon.

"First years, keep up please," the prefect said. They arrived at a wall with a snake creating a circle. "They password is 'parselmouth!'"

At that word, the serpent circle opened and it led to the common room, which had a dim green glow, but had lamps giving off more light.

"Boy's dormitories are this way. Girl's that way," the female prefect said, pointing to two different hallways.

"Well, see you tomorrow," Mark told Elaina.

"Yeah, see you," she said, and they both left to the dormitories.

THE NEXT DAY

Mark and Elaina sat next to each other during breakfast of that day.

"What do we have first?" Mark asked Elaina, taking some bacon.

Elaina looked at her schedule for first years.

"We have Transfiguration first with Ravenclaw, then Potions with Gryffindor, Charms with Hufflepuff, Defense Against The Dark Arts with Gryffindor, Astronomy with Ravenclaw, and finally Herbology with Hufflepuff," Elaina informed Mark.

"Great, we have 1st period with Kevin then," Mark exclaimed.

"Yeah, well, we best be going," Elaina said, and they left for the transfiguration room.

"Hey Kevin!" Mark yelled when he saw Kevin.

"Hey, how's it going?" Kevin asked.

"Good, Ravenclaw common room is the best, but it can be confusing to get into. How's Slytherin?" Kevin asked.

"It's great! It's comfy, large, and a great place to hang out. It's a shame we're not allowed to bring outsiders into our common rooms," Elaina said. Then, Professor McCuskee entered the room, and Mark, Elaina, and Kevin sat down next to each other.

"As all of you have met me, I am Professor McCuskee, and this is transfiguration. Here, you will learn to transform objects into something different. Today, we will start with one of the most simple transfiguration spells. You will be turning an apple into an orange. The incantation is pomumut. Go ahead, try," McCuskee instructed, and with a wave of her wand, oranges were passed out to the students, and they all took out their wands.

"Pomumut!" Mark said, pointing his wand at the apple, but it only turned slightly orange in the place where his wand was pointing at.

"Let me try. Pomumut!" Elaina said, pointing her wand at the apple, but nothing happened.

"Pomumut!" Kevin yelled, and about ¾ of the apple turned orange.

"How did you do that?" Mark asked.

"I was told by one of the older students that you have to really want for it to happen," Kevin explained.

"Pomumut!" Elaina yelled, but her apple only gained a small yellowish spot.

Mark began to concentrate. I want it to become an orange. I want to learn. I want to become a great powerful wizard, Mark though.

"Pomumut!" Mark screeched, and the apple completley transformed into an orange.

Elaina and Kevin looked at Mark with their faces in awe.

"Wow. That's amazing. Are you sure that you shouldn't be in Ravenclaw?" Kevin asked.

"Being smart doesn't mean being in Ravenclaw Kevin," Professor McCuskee intervened. "Good job Mark, you're one of the only first years to do this spell on the first day," McCuskee congratulated Mark with a smile.