I hear a whistle blow signifying that it is time to say goodbye to my parents and board the Hogwarts Express to set off to my sixth year of school. My mother is straightening my brother's tie as he looks around for his friends, eager to get away to what will be his final year at Hogwarts. My father is yet again lecturing me on the importance of maintaining a high grade average in the upcoming year if I ever hope to one day make something of myself. This has been a common occurrence over the summer after the family owl, Midas, showed up with my grades from fifth year revealing that I received only seven O's, one less than Elias received in his fifth year.
My father doesn't often compare my brother and I, so long as we are both excelling in our respective endeavors, but something was different this summer. Both my brother and I were named for some of the most respectable witches and wizards in our family line. Elias Cassian Rosier for my mother's uncle and my father's grandfather, both of whom were well respected members of the Wizengamot throughout their careers. With my brother's natural charisma, leadership, and dueling skills he is well on the way to following in their footsteps. I on the other hand was named Althea Minette for my father's distant great great aunts who were women of high society in Paris. My father's hopes that I might turn out like them are looking quite slim as I spend most of my time talking my way out of a fight and playing as the only female member of the Slytherin quidditch team.
With a final kiss on the cheek from both parents my brother and I race towards the shining red train. We head down the length of the train to the compartments generally claimed by the Slytherin students. We first ran into Ella Wilkins, my brother's girlfriend. They've been dating for a couple years now and I have never met someone more well suited for my brother. His girlfriends in the past had all been daft bimbos who reminded me of snakes being charmed. Ella on the other hand was quick-witted and sharp, she would never just sit and nod along with whatever Elias was saying and I admired that about her. There are very few people at Hogwarts who are able to go toe to toe with my brother.
I let the two love-birds catch up as I carried on down to the carriage that I knew my friends must be in as at that exact moment Lucian Bole and Terrence Higgs burst out into the hallway, Terrence having Lucian in a headlock.
"Terrence I swear to god if you hurt my beater partner before we beat Gryffindor this year you'll wake up with flobberworms in your bed," I say as I push past them into the small room. I see two other students sitting down, Adrien Pucey, one of the Slytherin chasers in the year below us, and one of the Carrow twins, who are in our year, I'm not sure which one because I can't be bothered to learn to tell them apart.
"Don't worry I want to see Gryffindor crushed into the dust of the pitch just as much as you do but when the season is over I'm making no promises," Terrence lets Lucian up and takes a seat across from me. Lucian settles into his regular spot next to me and starts a long winded story about the summer he spent with family in France. Terrence and Lucian have been my best friends since day one at Hogwarts. We met after getting put into the same boat to cross the lake and have been inseparable since. The three of us all joined the Quidditch team in our fourth year but after Terrence heard he was getting replaced with Malfoy last year I wasn't sure how it would affect our friendship. So far he seems pretty ok with the fact that Lucian and I are still playing but I know it will hurt his pride to see a third year playing instead of him. I'm quite lucky to have Terrance and Lucian though as the girls in my year are a disaster to get along with. The Carrow twins, Hestia and Flora, are vindictive and mean and are a discredit to our house as a whole. Whereas Imogen Stratton, the other girl who shares our dorm room, is as bland as a cardboard box.
The train ride itself was rather uneventful until the trolley lady arrived at our carriage. Our group bought enough candy to feed the whole train and had started to dig in when Marcus Flint, the head captain of the quidditch team came roaring into the room.
"Bole! Rosier! Where have you been? Team meeting was supposed to start 15 minutes ago but I had to track you idiots down so now we're not going to get through all the plays before we reach Hogwarts. Thanks to you the whole team gets to start practice at 6 am tomorrow instead of 7am." I groan and look around the cabin, I hadn't even noticed that Pucey had left to head to the meeting. Lucian and I grab some candy for the road and Flint marches us down to the furthest cabin on the train where the rest of the team was waiting. I look and see Malfoy, Pucey, our keeper Bletchley, and our other chaser Montague all glaring as Lucian and I sit down. I hear Bletchley muttering under his breath about how pissed off he is about having to get up early tomorrow but I quickly shut him up with a cold stare. As much as the guys in Slytherin can be sexist jerks sometimes I have proven myself to be not only one of the better players on the team but also someone you don't want to get on the bad side of.
At some point the train starts to slow down eventually coming to a stop. I look around at the quidditch team who all have equally as confused looks on their faces. Flint stands up and pops his head out of the carriage door, "must be something wrong with the train," he says finally after seeing that everyone else on the train has no idea what's going on either. At that moment a chill goes down my spine and frost starts creeping its way up the window like vines growing up a wall. I inch closer to Lucian and he puts his arm around me as I start to shiver. I start to see the puffs of the breath of the people in the carriage as a dark mist comes creeping by the window. A shadowy figure can be seen through the glass pane and a skeletal hand presses itself against the window. I feel like my stomach has dropped out of my body and the breath has been sucked from my lungs. Everyone in the room sits frozen for what seems like ages until the figure moves on. Even then it takes a few minutes before anyone says anything. Pucey and Bletchley awkwardly cough as they split up from where they had huddled in the far corner of their seat, and Malfoy pokes out from behind Flint's back. We all avoid eye contact and sit in silence until Malfoy's henchmen come running in talking about rumors that Harry Potter passed out on the train, he starts grinning from ear to ear as if he just hadn't been clutching Flint like he was his mommy. I roll my eyes at Lucian and he laughs in response.
The first day of school feast is always one of the best meals of the year. Don't get me wrong I grew up surrounded by some of the best food money could buy but something about being surrounded by the chattering of hundreds of other students and having over forty dishes to choose from really hits differently. The sorting takes place and the kids this year are especially small or maybe the growth spurt I went through this summer is really making a difference. Terrence steals some extra sweets from the table as our group makes the trek down to the Slytherin common room.
One of my favorite things about the Slytherin common room is how misleading it is. It is sneaky and cunning, a true home for the students who have been sorted here. Walking through the dungeons it is unimpressive and somewhat bleak. The common room itself is hidden in a blank wall that you would walk right past if you didn't know what you were looking for but very faintly on a brick in the center of the wall at just about eye level is a carving of a snake. One of the prefects says the password for this term is 'boom slang' and the wall opens up into a grand room that is doused in a soft emerald green light. The room smells of rich leather chairs, mahogany shelves, and old books. The room itself doesn't entirely make sense but hey that's magic for you. Most of the walls and ceiling are made of glass giving a view into the Black Lake outside and giving off a calming, peaceful ambience. The room has grand staircases, intricate statues, and just gives off an aura of power and wealth. I take a deep breath in and head to my favorite armchair that is hidden away underneath the stairwell but is still right beside a large window, my friends following along behind me.
The group of us stays up long into the night retailing summer adventures, discussing plans for the year, and just goofing around. I end up dozing off eventually and get shaken awake a little while later by Lucian. My long blonde hair has fallen across my face and I can feel the strain in my neck from leaning against his shoulder. As I head up to bed I can't help but be excited for the year ahead.