Ch. 3 Lake

Hogwarts was like a castle. It was even better for Leah because she could see every detail perfectly. She allowed herself to be caught for a minute in the pure magic of this new world when she heard someone yell. She spun around.

"You!" the child yelled again. Leah found the source of the noise towards the end of the train. It was a sixth year, yelling at her to get in line for the boats.

I will take a moment out of the story to tell you that Hogwarts has changed a lot in the years since Harry Potter graced its halls. There is somewhat different curriculum, different teachers, and all sorts of magical discoveries and breakthroughs have been made.

Leah sat in the boat and leaned back, holding X's note close to her hand. As she rowed by, she heard a child mention the phrase, "School for Differents nowadays!" She listened in, which wasn't hard as she found she had hypersensitive hearing.

"Not a pureblood at the school!" the small boy said, his dark red hair swept neatly into his eyes.

"Even in Slytherin?" another, darker haired boy asked, his face a mask of concern.

"Please! These days Slytherin is nothing but the kids with the darkest minds and pasts, most of em' are half bloods!" He lowered his voice on half bloods as if he had cursed.

"But what about the kids who aren't smart or brave?"

"Hufflepuff!"

"Oh no!" the dark haired boy exclaimed. "I can't be in Hufflepuff!"

Leah zoned out and spotted a black haired boy talking to one with bright red hair. She tilted the boat that way and listened in.

"Albus, whaddaya think you'll be sorted into?" the red haired boy asked.

"Dunno. I hope Gryffindor, like my dad."

"Doesn't matter, I s'pose, you'll be a legend!"

"I don't wanna be a legend, I wanna be Albus!"

"Yah, but your Dad's Harry Potter!"

Leah rowed over, gliding faster than even the strongest rowers. She tapped Albus on the shoulder and he jumped.

"You said your Dad was the Potter boy, right?" she asked.

"Your eyes are red!" Albus recoiled.

"Wha- Oh, um, spell went wrong," she said. The red haired boy pulled Albus away and whispered something in his ear.

Leah rowed away. She was surprised the burning no longer bothered her, she supposed it was the shield Isaiah said they put up to dispel evil magic. The artificial sun they had made for the first years grand entrance was shining above them. All the sudden a boy yelled.

Leah spun to see what was wrong and saw everyone staring at her she glimpsed her skin, which was, to her horror, sparkling. She yelled and jumped off the boat. As soon as she hit the water, she sunk. She didn't bother to stop sinking, she could hold her breath. All the sea creatures fled from her as she fell.

She knew what she was now. It was obvious now that all the clues were aligned. She was a vampire. She hit the bottom of the lake gently and she laid there, her rock hard body allowing her to stay still.

She knew someone would come after her. She would have to fake faint. The world was green at the bottom of the lake, peacefully green. She moved her hand around and felt something hard and papery. She turned to see a laminated card.

She wanted to grab it but something began to pull her up. The gamekeeper was helping her up. As she was tugged to the surface she glimpsed the words on the card.

Keep the secret

-X