The first year Gryffindors all followed Victoire up the castle stairways. Darren gawped as he saw the staircases move around all on their own. Victoire was about to open the door to the seventh floor, when suddenly what looked like a coloured ghost popped through the door, and started blowing raspberries at the crowd.

"What the…" gasped Darren.

"Hello Peeves" muttered Victoire.

"What's the password perfect prefect Victoire?" asked Peeves.

"I don't know" Victoire sighed.

"I'll give you a hint" Peeves said maliciously. "It's what you and Teddy were doing by the quiditch pitch, the last day of…"

"Enough" Victoire bellowed out of nowhere. "Get out of my way, or I'll fetch the Bloody Baron."

Peeves having had his fun cackled, and floated away. Victoire looking highly distressed all of a sudden, opened the door and continued onwards. James began chuckling to himself, as he began to imagine what the poltergeist actually saw.

"What was that thing?" Darren shouted, so that Victoire could hear.

"That thing is Peeves" she scowled. "That thing is a bloody pest. Do your best to ignore him; he's always trying to cause havoc."

At long last, they reached the end of the corridor; a portrait of a woman being placed there instead of a door. Harry had told James that she was called the Fat Lady, but he was still surprised to see just how fat she was.

"Password?" she asked.

"Dumbledore" Victoire replied.

"Ah, I still miss him you know" the Fat Lady sobbed, and opened the passageway as she broke down into tears.

"The password will change on a regular basis" Victoire warned, as the first years began scrambling to get inside. "Make sure you check the noticeboard regularly."

James couldn't wait to get inside; this was the place that his dad called home for six years. Once he separated himself from the crowd, he could easily see why. The common room just looked so cosy, with its large amount of soft chairs, a roaring fire for cold nights, and just a welcoming atmosphere to the place.

"Where are all the cases?" Darren asked urgently.

"Sorry" James muttered.

"The train people said that all our cases would be taken to our new rooms" Darren explained. "Where are our new rooms."

"Up the staircase" Victoire overheard, and pointed in the right direction. "All your suitcases should be there by now."

Darren ran up the stairs like there was no tomorrow. James wanted to spend some more time with Sebastian before he went to bed, but decided that Darren needed looking after as much as possible. He followed Darren upstairs, and entered his brand new dormitory. Five beds were surrounding the circular wall, each with their owner's suitcases right next to them.

"I hope they're still there" Darren murmured.

"What are you on about?" asked James.

"Yes, they're all here" cheered Darren.

He got out a large pile of certificates from his case, and began pinning them to the back of his bed. James walked over to take a look.

"All of these look like football awards" James muttered.

"Hogwarts needs to know who the best striker here is" Darren grinned.

James had to think for a few seconds in order to remember what a striker actually was. He vaguely remembered the term used, when his classmates in primary school were playing football in the playground. Before he could ask Darren if the striker was the player who stood in goal trying to block the shots, the dormitory door opened and two more boys entered the room.

"It's so cool" the boy James recognised as Dranzebar Lang spoke.

"It certainly looks identical to the photos my dad showed me" the other boy replied in a high pitched, squeaky voice. "I wonder if we slept in the same bed."

"Your dad?" James muttered, before realising who the boy was. "Hang on" he interrupted. "Aren't you Nigel Thomas?"

"Yes" Nigel replied eagerly. "And you're James Potter."

"Your dad isn't Dean is it?" James asked eagerly.

"You know it" Nigel grinned.

"And here I thought my mum was famous" Dranzebar chuckled. "Before she married dad, her name was Alicia Spinnett."

"The name rings a bell" James said thoughtfully.

"She's another member of Dumbledore's Army" Nigel explained passionately.

James turned round to Darren. As expected, he was utterly confused as to what they were talking about.

"I think you need to introduce yourself more carefully to Darren" James said. "He's muggle-born, and not yet up to date with wizarding history."

"Do any of you know…" Darren fumbled around his suitcase, trying to find his Famous Witches and Wizards card. "Zacharias Smith?"

Dranzebar looked at him with disgust, but Nigel was jumping up and down excitedly at the sight of the card.

"Is that Zacharias Smith?" he asked. "Can I trade you a Dean Thomas for it? I've got plenty of dad."

"Just take it" Darren replied. "I don't need it."

Nigel skipped over and snatched the card from Darren's hand. He then leapt to his own suitcase, and unpacked a cylindrical card holder, about the size of a lamp. He rotated the holder in circles, but even though it travelled in circles, the cards showing up were always different.

"Here we are, the Dumbledore's Army series" he declared, placing Zacharias Smith in its appropriate slot. "I'm trying to collect every single Famous Witches and Wizards card there is."

"That sounds expensive" James remarked.

"One set at a time" Nigel replied. "I'm only missing Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and of all people Michael Corner from the Dumbledore's Army set now."

"You got my mum then?" Dranzebar asked.

"Yeah, come here and I'll show…"

The dormitory door then slammed open so hard, it crashed hard into the wall. Jackson Lestrange marched forwards, breathing heavily.

"What the hell is going on Potter?" he demanded angrily.

"Back off Lestrange" Dranzebar warned, walking to James' side like a bodyguard.

Nigel crouched behind his own suitcase the moment Jackson entered the room, whilst Darren just watched on gormlessly.

"Now you're doing it" Jackson screamed. "Not one person cheered for me when I got called a Gryffindor, and when I tried to talk to the people next to me, they all ran away."

"You expected us to cheer for you, after what your parents have done?" Dranzebar spat.

"No Dranzebar" James held up a hand, telling him to stop talking. "Sorry Jackson, I didn't know that your surname was Lestrange."

"What's that got to do with anything?" Jackson demanded. "I don't know anyone else called Lestrange, but a surname's a surname."

"You don't know about Bellatrix?" Nigel asked curiously, after raising his head above his suitcase.

"Can someone please talk sense to me" Jackson screamed.

"Us three had parents who were members of Dumbledore's Army" James explained. "The Lestrange family were perhaps the greatest enemies that they actually fought."

"So when we hear the name Lestrange, we're going to think about Bellatrix" Nigel added.

"Who are your parents, if you're not related to Bellatrix?" demanded Dranzebar.

"I don't know" muttered Jackson. "I was abandoned at an orphanage when I was born. I was just left with my name, and nothing else."

"Isn't it possible that Jackson's surname is just a coincidence?" asked Darren. "Potter. Lang and Thomas are pretty common surnames after all."

"Possible, but unlikely" Nigel murmured.

"You know what, I don't care" Jackson sulked.

He stormed to his bed, and jumped into it without getting changed.

"Jackson, it's not my fault that…" James tried to console him.

"Save it Potter" Jackson replied moodily. "Goodnight."

Jackson's sudden outburst had the knock-on effect of making everyone else go to bed as well. James got changed into his pyjamas, then tucked himself in. It felt strange. All his life, he was waiting for this moment. But now that it had happened, he never expected it to feel so sour.

James woke up bright and early for the first day of education. He got dressed and ran downstairs, before any of his roommates even stirred. As he made it to the Great Hall for breakfast, he noticed that Bella and a few of the Gryffindor girls were already eating toast at the Gryffindor table.

"Had a good night James?" Bella asked as James sat down.

"I had better" James replied, as he grabbed himself some cornflakes. "Jackson was unhappy because people reacted to his surname."

"What did he expect?" asked Aoiffe sarcastically. "If I was related to a death eater, I would change it as soon as I could."

"Jackson's a muggle-born though, he never knew about Bellatrix" Dave explained. "Or at least he thinks he's muggle-born; he was abandoned at an orphanage since he was a baby."

As James finished speaking, Darren walked into the Great Hall with Teddy Lupin by his side.

"Hi Darren" Bella greeted him.

"You need to more caring about your friends" Teddy scolded James.

"What did I do?" James protested.

"I found this poor boy heading towards the dungeons, not knowing at all where he was going" Teddy replied.

"When I got up, you were gone" Darren elaborated. "I forgot where the Great Hall was."

"Sorry Darren" James apologised. "But to be fair if you were lost, you should have asked Nigel or Dranzebar."

"Not Jackson?" Darren questioned.

"I don't think Jackson's in the best of moods right now" James said ominously.

"Jackson Lestrange wasn't it" Teddy murmured. "Is he really related to…?"

"Probably not" James answered before Teddy could finish the question.

"I see" Teddy sighed. "Well if he was related, he's always welcome to share the contents of my vault."

"I'm sure he'll be delighted" James remarked.

"I'll leave you" Teddy declared. "You need to get your breakfasts down. Always a difficult time, your first day at Hogwarts; especially for muggle-borns" he nodded at Darren. "We'll catch up later" he said. "Work hard."

"Maybe" James teased, before Teddy went to talk with Travis Gant on the Slytherin table.

"What was he on about?" asked Bella. "Why would he want to share his Gringotts vault with Jackson?"

"Because Teddy inherited the Lestrange family fortune" answered James. "Bellatrix died, Rodolphus and Rabastan both got life sentences at Azkaban and the Malfoys all waived their right to the inheritance as one of the many conditions of their pardons. All of which leaved Teddy Lupin as the Lestrange's closest relative."

"He's so lucky to have been given all the money in the world from birth" complained Aoiffe. "And it didn't even belong to his parents."

Jackson walked into the Great Hall soon afterwards. He initially tried to sit next to some sixth years, but they all suddenly became as wide as possible, blocking any gap that once existed. Jackson scowled, and moved to the very end of the Slytherin table, where nobody was sitting. The gap that was closed off, mysteriously reappeared again when Sebastian Gorren came to sit down.

After James helped himself to his breakfast, it was time to start his first even lesson at Hogwarts. He got out his timetable to check which lesson he had first.

"Charms first" he said approvingly. "Dad said I'd like Professor Flitwick."

"What do all these words mean?" Darren asked anxiously.

"You'll learn as we go on" James replied.

Since they didn't know the layout of the castle yet, Victoire Weasley escorted all of the first year Gryffindors to the Charms classroom. Jackson Lestrange followed them as far back as he could, without losing them. Whilst they were waiting to be let in; a tall, female Slytherin prefect walked over with Travis Gant.

"Here's the Charms classroom" she told Gant. "After class, you'll have to follow one of the Gryffindor prefects I'm afraid."

"That's fine" Gant replied. "Thank you."

The Slytherin prefect left, and Gant waited in line with the rest of the Gryffindors.

"What are you doing here?" demanded James. "It says on the timetable that we only share Potions with the Slytherins."

"Well in case you haven't noticed, I'm the only Slytherin" Gant replied. "Montague didn't like the idea of me being taught on my own, so Professor Longbottom agreed to have me share your timetable."

"Is everybody here?" a voice squeaked from the now open door. "Come in, come in and sit down."

James let off a huge smile. It was time for his first ever Hogwarts lesson. The Charms desks were all designed for two people to share. James sat with Darren, whilst Bella sat with Hyacinth. James and Gant however decided to sit all on their own, despite there being an even number of students in the class.

Professor Flitwick stood on a large stack of books. James thought that he looked exactly as his father described, with him being short, grey haired, but seemingly quite energetic at the same time.

"It's always a pleasure to meet new students" he beamed at the class. "I'm sure all of you have introduced yourselves to each other already, and are beginning to learn all about one another."

"I've barely met anyone" moaned Gant.

"Yes, I believe you are the only new Slytherin this year" Flitwick said analytically. "But think on the positive side; you have that big dormitory all to yourself. And you don't need to worry about being woken up by people snoring in the middle of the night."

"True" smirked Gant.

Bella glanced at Hyacinth as the conversation happened, which resulted in Hyacinth jabbing her in the ribs in response.

"Settle down everyone" Professor Flitwick shouted, as Bella and Hyacinth began squabbling. "Right; from my experiences, a lot of teachers here don't like to have students practise magic for their very first lesson, but I think differently. We're going to be practising Lumos, the enlightening charm."

The class was then taught on how to successfully perform the Lumos spell, which included how to grip the wand, how to pronounce the name, and even the feelings that had to be felt in order to make the spell as powerful as possible.

"Right then, only one way to test how much you've taken in" said Flitwick. "Arabella, come on up and have a go."

Bella walked up to the front of the class and shouted the incantation. It resulted in a small, but noticeable light at the end of her wand.

"It's not very bright" moaned Bella.

"That was your first ever spell you did in Hogwarts; pulling it off successfully is an achievement in itself" Professor Flitwick comforted her. "And to tell you the truth, your cousin still has trouble with that spell even today."

Bella grinned slightly, as she walked back to her desk. The students then took it in turns to practise the spell, to varying degrees of success. Gant and Aoiffe were able to produce a respectable amount of light, whilst Dranzebar and Violet kept on having theirs flicker on and off.

"James Potter" Professor Flitwick called up. "I've seen you sniggering at Ms. Gordon's wand; let's see if you can do any better."

James got up, and confidently walked to the front of the class.

"Lumos" he roared.

A bright light beamed from the end of his wand. To his delight, it wasn't disappearing like it did some of the others; and he was certain it was brighter than the efforts of Gant and Aoiffe.

"Well done Potter" Flitwick congratulated him. "A fine effort. Mr. Crawford, care to replicate your friend's success?"

James sat back down, whilst Darren walked up.

"Lumos" he shouted.

No light appeared at all at the end of his wand. Darren repeated the spell, but his wand was as dim as it was previously.

"Try it again Crawford" Flitwick told him gently.

"Lumos" Darren repeated, sounding slightly more agitated.

Still no light emerged. James couldn't help but feel bad for Darren. Everyone else up to this point was at least able to cast the spell.

"You shouldn't feel disheartened" Professor Flitwick said sympathetically. "That was the first spell you've ever done wasn't it?"

"Yes" Darren said, not hiding the disappointment in his voice.

"You should not view this as a failure" Flitwick said. "With more practise, you can definitely nail the spell."

"Thank you" Darren moaned, and stropped back to his seat.

"What are you upset about?" James asked.

"I'm the only person not to do it" Darren sulked.

"You're muggle-born" James pointed out. "The rest of us are all from wizarding families."

"Jackson Lestrange" Flitwick called up, with an edge of uneasiness. "I see you smirking to yourself, come and see how it's done."

"I bet you he's not going to do it well either" James whispered to Darren.

"Lumos" Jackson shouted confidently.

The light that came out of Jackson's wand was so bright; James and many other members of the class had to cover their eyes. After a few seconds the light went away, and Jackson could be seen grinning smugly.

"Bravo, bravo" Flitwick congratulated. "Was that your first spell too Jackson?"

"Yes sir" replied Jackson.

"That was an extraordinary effort for a first attempt" Flitwick went on. "Best of the class today, and thirty points to Gryffindor for that wonderful display."

Jackson thanked Flitwick, then swaggered back to his seat, but not before passing by James' desk.

"Best of the class today Potter" he boasted, then left chuckling to himself.

The bell rung the second Jackson sat back down, and everyone started to pack their bags.

"I won't be cruel and give you homework on your first day" Professor Flitwick shouted over ten students scuffling about. "But I would advise some of you to practise the spell, so you can get a handle on things."

Several people glanced at Darren as he said this. He became the first person to leave the classroom, wiping his eye as he went. James tried to run forward and catch up to him, but he was blocked by Jackson Lestrange.

"How does it feel to be beaten by a Lestrange Potter?" he asked rudely.

"I'm not in competition with you Jackson" James replied bitterly. "And you're not in competition with any of us."

"That's easy for you to say" Jackson muttered. "You didn't get turned into a rat on the way to breakfast."

"Wait, you got turned…"

"Yes" Jackson replied. "Some seventh year transfigured me, because their parents were killed by Bellatrix seventeen years ago."

"Jackson I'm so sorry" James said.

"I don't want pity from you" Jackson roared. "I don't want protection from the son of the heroic and justly Harry Potter."

"You boys stop arguing" Flitwick shouted. "You've got a lesson to go to. Chop chop."