Shadow's first morning at Hogwarts was eventful. She had a short meeting with Professor Sprout, her head of house, who had seemed a little upset, unlike when she saw her last night, before breakfast after she'd been to the Owlry to send her letter to her mother. Then, at breakfast, a Howler exploded at the Gryffindor table, so it was lucky Ginny had decided to sit on the Ravenclaw table with Luna like Shadow. Apparently, Weasley and Longbottom had both been seen by seven Muggles, when they had flown a car to Hogwarts, hit the Whomping Willow (which was what her head of house had been so upset about), and had been caught by Snape when they had been saying bad things about him.

She had Potions with the Ravenclaw students first. Snape stormed in, mood blacker than his robes, and snapped at them that the instructions were on the board. It was a simple boil reducing potion. Nobody's potions blew up, but most people's were the wrong colours, but Luna's and Shadow's were perfect. Snape merely grunted at them, but her mother had warned her that this meant he was pleased.

Secondly, she had Defence. This was where things got...interesting. Black and Lockheart had decided to take first years together, so they'd know both of them. Black was handsome, with black hair, rather like Shadow's, and blue eyes. He actually looked rather like her father, or the photographs she'd seen of the man. His name had been Nigel Black. Black was a very good teacher, he didn't let them get confused about things, he explained it in a way that made it clear to them all. Lockheart, however, was a terrible teacher. He'd taken the second years, and apparently had had to wait for Black to sort out the pixies he'd set on the class.

That wasn't what was weird, however. What was weird was that Black kept looking at her like he'd seen a ghost, or something. She wanted to ask what was wrong with the man, but she couldn't work up the cordage. And this was how it went until Halloween.

On that night, she was at the feast, until the whole hall heard someone scream. They ran towards the screamer, apparently Hermione Granger. There was Mrs. Norris, the caretaker's cat, hung there, dead! Ginny was crying, Luna was staring, shocked, and Shadow was watching Longbottom, Weasley and Granger. Had they done this? But why would Granger scream? And why wouldn't they have fled, leaving someone else to find the body of the cat? If they were trying to get back at Filch, why not hang her in his office? None of it fit! And why write 'enemies of the heir beware'? Did it mean the Heir of Longbottom house or another, more important, family? Was it even connected? Someone could have written it earlier, and they put the dead cat under there to make it seem like the two events were connected? And, if they were trying to get back at Filch, why not just get Filch? Possibilities ran through her mind like lightning. "We didn't do it, I swear," blurted the red-haired boy.

We didn't see much after that, just Malfoy mouthing off about, "You'll be next, Mud-bloods." I wanted to hit him for that, but I got swept away by Dumbledore and Snape arriving on the scene, next to a gaping McGonagall. I bid goodbye to Ginny and Luna and went back to the common room. All the Hufflepuffs lay down on the floor by a silent agreement. "I'm worried," the silence was broken by Cain. "I'm a Muggle-born and if it is muggle-born kids they're after, I'm dead." Several Hufflepuffs, along with Shadow, agreed, even though she was a half-blood, and she piped up, "However, I heard whispers from the Ravenclaws it was Slytherin's heir, and that means he'd go after Gryffindor muggle-born and half-blood students first, and then the light families, and then the rest of us. And that would take a while, right? So Dumbledore might have caught both the culprit and, since the Dark Magic wards didn't go off, the killer."

"I heard she wasn't dead," offered the female prefect, who was called Marie. "Percy Weasley was proclaiming it as loud as he possibly could."

"Yes, but it's his little brother found there, and Ginny, his sister, was really upset," Shadow argued. "I think he'd do anything to get his brother out of Askaban, or a lighter sentence, at least."

"Perhaps," allowed Marie. Jonas, the male prefect, looked at her like she was mad. "Marie, I know Percy, he's a stickler for the rules. He wouldn't make anything up. He says she's not dead, she's not dead."

"What he believes is true," Shadow pointed out. "He perhaps could have thought he saw her breathing, but it was just a trick of the light, so he says she's not dead, believing it to be true, with the added bonus of his sister not being as upset, and his brother not thought to be a murderer, along with getting the boy-who-lived in his good books."

"Maybe," he said, "but first, before we try and work it out, let's get some sleep, see if we can talk to Professor Sprout in the morning." As if he'd called her up by his words, their head of house appeared in the doorway. She smiled at the sight of them all laying together, comforting one another. They sat up, looking at her.

"Now, Mrs. Norris is not dead." Cheering broke out at this, until Shadow spoke, effectively bringing the mood down, "But what could...petrify something like that without killing it? And why was the hallway flooded? Was that something to do with it? And did you find out why Longbottom, Weasley and Granger were there?"

"Many things, Miss Evans, something big, powerful, and dark, a dark beast, could have done it. The Hallway was flooded because Myrtle had a tiny temper tantrum, because Peeves was teasing her. It could have been, I'll suggest it to Professor Dumbledore. Mr's Longbottom and Weasley and Miss Granger were there because Sir Nicholas had invited them to his death-day party, which they saw as a great honour and attended."

"But why not go to the feast? I heard that the food's not good for living beings to eat."

"They say they weren't hungry," said the teacher. "But we're making a Mandrake Restoring Draught with some mandrakes we were going to use in the second year Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw classes. But I don't trust the Ravenclaws not to take one while I'm not looking, because they'd do anything for knowledge. And I've got that shifty Terry Boot in that class." Shadow made a note to warn Ginny away from Terry Boot: she had a slight crush on him. "Anyway, I want you to always travel in pairs: I don't trust that Professor Dumbledore has done enough to protect the students. Nobody else will listen to me, of course."

"Maybe we could travel with our friends?" Shadow suggested. "From other houses, I mean. It's a sneaky way of helping protect them."

"Good idea. I don't think it's a younger student, and if it is an older student, they might not attack their friends. 5 points to Hufflepuff, now, I think it's time to sleep, if nobody else has any questions?"

"What can I tell my mum?" Asked Shadow.

"Tell her the truth, that Mrs. Norris has been attacked, but we're keeping searching for the attacker and doing our best to keep the students safe." Shadow nodded, and their head of house left, bidding them goodbye. She hurried to her room, eager to share what was happening with her mother.

Dear Mum,

I'm sorry I haven't written sooner! My first lessons were brilliant, but I've been so busy I haven't had time to write! Tonight, Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat (remember Filch?), was attacked! Professor Sprout is doing her best to make sure everyone's safe, and she thinks Dumbledore's not doing enough. I have to go to bed now, but I miss you and I promise I'll write sooner.

Love, Shadow.

Later that night, she awoke with a bad feeling. She knew something had happened, something bad. Rolling over, she tried to go back to sleep.

In the morning, the feeling was forgotten in the wake of the fallout of another attack...