Sophia practically skipped towards Carla and Lewis after she'd caught their attentions. She could still feel the blush to her cheeks after the incident with Lee, hoping that they'd cool off in the rain. But, as she clapped Carla on the back, she could still feel the warmth of her cheeks.

Carla chuckled slightly, but carried on talking to Lewis.

Sophia grinned, knowing that they were probably carrying on some argument or another that she'd completely missed, and as such turned her attention towards the castle. Even in the storm Hogwarts was still impressive. The many towers stood out against the dark blue sky, lights flickering in a few windows as if someone's attempt to make a polka dotted pattern against the sky. There was a stream of students rushing towards the doors, like little ants marching towards their nest, with hats pulled firmly over their heads in an attempt to protect themselves against the worst of the rain.

'So,' said Carla as they ducked into the Entrance Hall; Lewis rubbed a hand over his cropped dark blond hair, as if to dry it, while Carla was trying to ring out her black hair which seemed to be shorter than normal, 'how was your summer, Soph?'

Sophia groaned, tapping her wand on the top of her head. She didn't feel the warmth of the non-verbal drying spell though, and quickly muttered it before answering. 'It would've been great, cheers, had I not had to spent time in the family house. With my cousins. And my grandfather telling us all about his Muggle triumphs,' she explained with a sigh, leaning heavily against the wall. 'How about–?' she started, but she was cut off by an annoyingly familiar drawling voice.

'Didn't get transferred to Durmstrang then?'

The hairs on the back of Sophia's neck prickled. Carla shifted slightly, allowing Sophia to narrow her eyes on Draco Malfoy, who was swaggering towards them, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle, who looked even more troll-like when wet in Sophia's opinion.

'Pity, you might've actually leant respect for Pureblood ideals there.' He gave her a highly patronising smile before turning on his heel and walking towards the Great Hall, waving towards Nieve, who Sophia was slightly proud of for brushing him off before she went back to flirting with some very muscular guy that she didn't recognise.

'One of these days that jumped up little whelp's gonna get it through his thick skull that those two don't have a brain cell between them to actually protect him with,' she mumbled darkly, the words coming out in an irritated tumble. She clenched her jaw slightly, folding her arms firmly across her chest as his blond hair disappeared into the Great Hall.

'I suppose you could do it,' said Lewis softly, 'we do finish this year, after all. Come on, we'd best get going,' he added the last with a nod towards the large oak doors that Snape was pulling closed.

Sophia followed the duo, muttering her goodbyes to them before skulking off towards the Slytherin table. She glanced along it, looking for someone familiar, before finally practically falling into the seat beside Danny.

The younger boy grinned at her. 'Someone's as cheerful as ever to be back,' he said, shifting in his seat so as to face her.

She shone him a false smile. 'Always happy to spend time with my dear cousin and her type of people,' she said, shooting a glare along the table towards Nieve. She noticed that Nieve was currently giggling at something that Blaise had said, though Sophia was glad to see that her friend looked slightly taken aback by the reaction.

But, just as she did so, she caught sight of the newest member of Hogwarts staff. She wondered how she'd missed he on the way in. She was relatively small looking, and there was something about her that reminded Sophia of a smug looking toad. The thing that made her stand out, however, was the sheer amount of pink that she was dressed in.

'Ah,' said Mitchell Zayaz softly, making Sophia jump slightly despite how she could practically hear the grin in his voice. She turned around so as to face him as he stepped over the bench beside her. His dark curly hair seemed to be messier than normal because of the storm, but there was still a smirk lighting his face. 'I see you've spotted out newest Defence professor then.'

'Her?' asked Sophia, pointing over her shoulder at pink-lady. Mitchell's smirk seemed to deepen, if that was possible. 'Are you sure she's not the new Care of Magical Creatures teacher, I mean, I don't see Hagrid.' She glanced over her shoulder, scanning the top table, just in case she'd somehow missed the half-giant.

Mitchell gave a slight chuckle, a sound which always seemed to brighten the room, even when in the darkened common room. 'I'm sure Grubbly-Plank's back,' he said, pointing towards the stern looking woman sat beside an unimpressed looking Flitwick.

Sophia was about to ask if he knew anything more about the woman in pink, but before she could the doors were pushed open and the hall fell silent. The first years trotted in, following Professor McGonagall who was walking briskly towards the top table. A few of them appeared to have the same swaggering arrogance that Nieve walked around with, but most of them looked terrified out of their minds, their eyes either darting around the staring students or else focused on the floor in an attempt to appear invisible if they couldn't see the eyes focused on them.

Sophia lent her elbow on the table so that she could look down the Slytherins. She watched in interest as the sorting went on, genuinely trying to enjoy the final one that she'd see. There was a pang of sadness in her chest because of the thought, but she knew that her lot would have something epic planned for their finale.

As the final student trotted off to their house table, Sophia could feel her stomach beginning to seemingly collapse in on itself through hunger. She always made sure that she'd have room for as much of the feast as she could, liking the selection that was put on. Yet, when she turned her attention back towards the plates in the hopes of seeing the wonderful array of food to choose from, a soft 'Hem, hem,' from the front of the hall seemed to catch the attention of every person.

Sophia felt slightly cheated, but cast a quick glance towards Hope who was sat at the table next to her. Hope's brow was furrowed in confusion, and she glanced quickly towards a very confused looking Scott. Hope quickly looked towards Sophia, who raised an eyebrow in a manner that asked 'Any idea what's going on?'

Hope shrugged slightly, giving her head a weak shake.

Sophia's attention flickered back towards the woman in pink, who had begun to talk.

The little speech that followed was one which Sophia was slightly surprised didn't put her to sleep. And, when it was finally over and the scattered applause that Dumbledore had started faded out, she was glad to see that the food was finally beginning to magically appear. Yet, she spared a glance over at Wester as she dumped a lump of mashed potato onto her plate.

'Any ideas what that was?' she asked, noticing that Scott and Hope had turned their attention towards the little conversation as well.

Wester ran a hand through his hair as he thought for a moment, his eyes darting up to the top table once more. 'I reckon,' he said slowly, as if still working it all out for himself, 'that it's the Ministry trying to keep an eye on Harry. Fudge doesn't believe that You-Know-Who's back –' he shot a slight look at Hope at this, as if worried that she might be hurt by the brushing over of Cedric, but Sophia smirked slightly as she realised the girl looked more irritated at the idea of Fudge's disbelief than anything '– so he wants to make sure he's got someone here at all times, without the excitement of the Tournament.'

'Or so he can stop it becoming big news if he turns out to be wrong, and You-Know-Who's back after all,' interjected Blaise.

Sophia looked up, noticing that the boy had slipped onto the other side of the table, a small smile on his face.

'Well,' said Wester, and Sophia looked at him just as he gave a dismissive shrug, 'it looks like he'll try to hush it up then.'

And, with that, he turned back towards his house table. Hope shrugged slightly, before turning to say something to Scott, and Sophia looked back towards her food. She was still turning over Wester's idea in her mind as she moved to pick up the gravy.

She shook her head though, she could think about it in the common room. Now, she just wanted to eat.

'So, you escaped then?' she asked Blaise, shovelling up a forkful of mash.

He grinned piling some food onto his own plate. 'Barely,' he said, casting a sideways glance down the other end of the table. 'Alright, Danny?'

Danny had turned his attention away from Jackson so as to join in with their conversation. Sophia noted that Malfoy was talking in a loud voice with Jackson about how he was glad that 'Hogwarts finally has a decent teacher.' She didn't even try to stop her eyes rolling as she put the fork in her mouth.

The feast went on as usual after the interjection from Professor Umbridge, and Sophia was proud to say that she hadn't actually hit Nieve, Malfoy or Jackson because of some Pureblood comment or another they'd made. Or because of how happy they seemed to be with the appointment of the Ministry worked. She instead spent most of her time laughing and joking with Blaise, when he wasn't flirting with a girl, and Danny who seemed to be getting irritated with the kissing up that Jackson already appeared to be practicing for the first lesson with Umbridge.

When Dumbledore finally dismissed them Sophia drifted over towards her little group of friends, who all appeared to have congregated at the bottom of the Grand Staircase.

'So?' she asked, leaning against the bannister as the twins moved up a couple of steps.

'The Ministry can't do this,' said Sami, and for once her pale grey eyes seemed to spark with something like annoyance.

'Technically,' started Wester, but the glare he received from their normally laidback friend stopped his teasing short.

'Don't worry,' said Lee lightly, patting Sami lightly on the shoulder, there was a slight smile on his face, 'she'll only last a year.'

'If that,' said George, and there was a slightly evil smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. He cast a sideways glance as Fred, who's own mouth was curved into a smirk identical to his twins; the sight of it sent a shiver down Sophia's spine.

'Yeah, Moody didn't even get that. We'll be fine, Sami,' Fred said, pulling the girl into a slight side hug as Carla and Lewis wandered up towards them.

'Anyway,' said Sophia, noticing that some of their housemates were beginning to congregate around them, waiting to pull their friends to the common rooms, 'I'll see you lot in lesson.' She heard an assortment of goodnights, mumbled a few in return, before starting off through the sea of people towards the dungeons.

She pulled her cloak closer to her as she started down the stairs, already aware of the coldness that was creeping in. Her thoughts were back on the appointment of Umbridge though. Why had Dumbledore accepted the woman for the job? Surely he knew it was Fudge's way of keeping an eye on the school? And, even though she hated to admit it, even her grandfather knew that Fudge was incapable of doing his job as Minister very well.

She sighed, walking down the corridor towards the Slytherin common room, certain that her lot would probably discuss the whole thing the following day – if they had a free… and probably in lessons too. She frowned when she reached the portrait though. She didn't know the password. She mentally cursed herself, thinking up all the overtly Pureblood comments that she'd heard over the past few months to try and figure out which one it might be.

'It's Pureblood's Rule,' someone told her, making her jump slightly.

The girl standing behind Sophia had perfectly styled blonde hair, and was very pretty. Though, there was something oddly familiar and strikingly different about her at the same time. She seemed to radiate a confidence that so many of Nieve's friends did, but Sophia was certain the girl wasn't any closer to her cousin than she was.

'Thanks,' Sophia said slowly, trying to put a name to the face.

The girl let out a tinkling laugh that seemed far too forced for Sophia's liking. 'Erica,' the girl said simply, moving so as to enter the common room.

Sophia froze for a moment. The others hadn't been kidding when they said the little, and easily overlooked Erica Reyes had undergone a significant transformation over the course of the summer.

She sighed though, before entering the common room, her thoughts back to wondering about Umbridge and the coming year.

The usual buzz of sound was gone when Sophia entered the common room, and she noticed that all attention was on Erica. A few of the boys had slacked jaws, their eyes scanning the girl over in a way that made Sophia roll her eyes. She noticed that Nieve's eyes had darkened significantly, even in the dimly lit common room.

Erica didn't appear to be fazed by the greeting though, and she shone them all a bright smile before swaggering towards her dormitory. Conversations quickly restarted, as if there had been a silencing charm over them which had lifted suddenly.

'Who was that?' Blaise was asking anyone that would listen to him when Sophia perched herself on the arm of his armchair by the glass.

'Erica Reyes,' she said simply, her attention on the water just outside, wondering if she could catch a glimpse of the giant squid.

'You are joking?' said Mitchell disbelievingly. 'I swear she didn't look like that when we were in Beacon Hills.'

Sophia shrugged, glancing towards the others as Isla Elliott wandered towards them, the usual skip to her step. The girl looked about as pixie-like as ever, the random plaits in her dark brown hair appeared to be keeping the rest of it in a ponytail.

Her step appeared to falter slightly, and Sophia knew it was because of the slightly contemplative frowns on the boys' faces, but Isla quickly recovered herself, grinning brightly as she did a little jump before quickly sitting cross-legged in front of Mitchell.

'What did I miss?' she asked, smiling brightly at Sophia.

'Not a lot,' said Sophia simply, glancing across the common room.

She noticed that Pansy was trying to regain Draco's attention; Crabbe and Goyle were still gawping at the space where Erica had disappeared; a few of the boys from her year were talking, confusion evident on their faces. And then there were the girls. A few of the younger ones were whispering, trying to find out who the girl had been; a few of Erica's year appeared to be glaring at the space, muttering darkly about some illegal potions they supposed she'd found over the summer. Nieve, however, was trying to regain her composure with some of Jackson's friends.

'So, what's your take on our newest teacher?' asked Isla, quickly pulling Sophia's thoughts away from the hold Erica still appeared to have on the common room.

Mitchell groaned. 'Oh, I think this'll be the best year yet for Defence lessons,' he said, barely hiding the sarcasm from his voice though.

It fell short of its mark with Isla though. 'See, I don't think she'll be that good,' she said simply, resting the crown of her head on the arm of his seat.

'I'm with Isla on this,' said Blaise quickly, sending a sharp glare towards Mitchell.

'Hey, think yourself lucky, Mitch,' said Danny, leaning into their conversation as Jackson appeared to have gone to bed, 'we don't have anything important this year.'

A cruel smirk slipped quickly onto Mitchell's face as he glanced around at the others. 'Oh yeah,' he said, as if only just realising the rest of the group had O. and N.E. coming up, 'I forgot about that. Well, see you again next year then,' he said, ruffling Isla's hair.

Something of irritation clouded Isla's features for a moment, taking Sophia aback slightly, but the look was gone as quickly as it had appeared. 'No you won't,' she said simply, her voice taking up a slight sing-song quality as she stood up, 'I did extra reading over the summer. Even if Umbridge teaches us how to sing the alphabet backwards in Troll for the year rather than anything useful, I should be fine.' She sent them a bright smile before waving a goodnight, and leaving them to it.

Sophia couldn't shake the feeling that they'd all sorely underestimated the pink-toad-lady. Her interruptions at the feast had shown how little regard she had for the way the school had been run thus far. And her little cough was already beginning to grate on Sophia.

'You know what, Mitch,' she said, stifling a yawn as she turned her attention back towards the window, 'you might just be seeing all of our year resitting Defence this year.'

A/N: This'll probably be the last update for a while as I have other things to work on - I wanted to edit this anyway (might try doing the one before, as was suggeted). It might possibly return - I don't know yet I'm afraid - but thanks for reading it so far, it means a lot :) and sorry about that.