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A flash of lightening scarred the raven sky in its fierceness, I felt myself clawing into the thin air as I fell...

Below me, the gurgling, spiraling water came to greet me...

In I splashed, like a heavy stone—it was as if a thousand needles were penetrating my skin...

I screamed, but blankets of water gagged me like two strong hands, while my burning eyes grew wide in a silent scream...

Numbing coldness, suffocating heaviness knocked me out cold... my final glimpse of the world was through the murky shield of water above me... then everything went black!

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"Honestly! What sort of a fear is that?" spat an angry voice, as I spluttered.

"I—always—d-d-dreamed—that nightmare—since I-I-I was—a child!" I gasped, drawing in lungs full of air... My terrifying experience had still left me partially paralyzed.

"Get up!" exclaimed Seth harshly grabbing my wet arm while I winced at his pinching grip.

"You can never become a great wizard if you let your senseless little fears get in your way..." he sneered returning my wand back to me. "Now stand up straight and face me like a man! When I hit you with the 'Carlota' curse, you should prevent your mind from reliving your worst nightmare! Understand?"

I simply stared. I felt my anger rising.

"DID YOU UNDERSTAND?" He screamed but I remained silent.

Seth pointed his wand at me...

"DON'T YOU DARE!" I bellowed. "CARLOTA!"

A purple jet of light sliced open into Seth's forehead and his wand fell at his feet. He yelled in pain and fell to his knees.

In my mind's eye, I could see Seth's worst nightmare; he was weeping hysterically near some dead bodies which were badly burned. Next I saw him facing a wizard with steel blue eyes; an orange light flashed and it was followed by some screams and frenzied laugher...

"FINITE INCANTATEM!"

I ended the spell and rushed over to Seth...He was still shaking but due to his mask, I couldn't see his facial expression.

"Seth, are you alright?" I asked and he nodded mutely, getting up to his feet rather staggeringly.

"That was brilliant..." he murmured in a strangled voice. "In fact its Seventh year magic...Complicated, but you used it with style and wit."

"I didn't mean to..." I replied but my voice died before I finished.

"You're a true Slytherin unlike me..." added Seth. "Much wittier..."

Dumbfounded I stared at him. There was absolute silence and I could only hear the cold wind roaring in my ears.

"Vesta was my elder sister..." whispered Seth and hung his head.

By instinct, I reached out and placed my hand on his mask; gently I pulled it off whilst Seth didn't protest...

However a cry of sheer disbelief escaped my lips because I was staring at one of the most grotesque faces I had ever seen...

"How did this happen—?"

"A curse was consigned upon me a few years before your birth... Our whole family died at the hands of Kenneth Potter..."

"KENNETH POTTER?"

Suddenly I remembered the clear image of those steel blue eyes in Seth's nightmare...The exact same copy was also embedded into Felix...

I chortled, running my hand through my hair. But soon my expression changed to utter disgust.

"HOW THE HELL DID SLYTHERINS GET MURDERED IF THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE SO COOL AND POWERFUL?" I demanded.

"Potter was excellent in Potions and he created a brew so strong that it poisoned my whole family, including me to become unstable and dim-witted!" counteracted Seth, with slight puffs of smoke coming through his slit nostrils.

"Well, I'm going to make sure that I'll give them a dose of their own medicine, then..." I retorted, my heart hardening with determination...

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The secret entrance opened and I hurried into my chamber. It was almost time for supper and I had to change out of my wet things quickly.

"Tom, where were you?" cried Zarken just as I pulled a dry jumper over my head.

"Er... I was studying near the lake."

"I suppose that you thought a swim would be appropriate as well in a cold autumn evening?" asked Zark sarcastically, emphasizing my wet hair.

"Look you aren't my father, okay?"

"Maybe I thought I was your 'friend' but obviously your education seems to be your first priority!"

"IT IS!"

"FINE! THEN HAVE FUN STUDYING TILL YOU ROT!"

With that, he stormed out of the room and I threw myself on the bed exhausted. All the terror, discoveries and shouting were simply too much for me. I almost had the notion to miss dinner, but reconsidered it when I heard a loud rumble from my stomach.

Sighing I got up and headed to the Great Hall.

Walking ahead, I caught my pale reflection mirrored on the polished suits of armor. My tan had completely disappeared.

I checked my fellow school mates around me. Comparing myself to other students, I was exceptionally tall, which really surprised me since I suffered malnutrition most my life.

"You'd make a marvelous skeleton for the upcoming Halloween feast!" hooted a voice and I looked up to see Peeves the well-known school poltergeist.

"Good evening to you too, Sir Peeves..."I answered waving at him. By processing excellent self-discipline due to laborious training, I wasn't easily provoked.

"Did you know that you look like a corpse?"

"Thanks for the compliment, very charming of you."

"Everyone thinks that you're cow dung!"

"Extremely flattering," I replied.

Some way or the other, I found Peeves' snide rude remarks rather amusing.

Luckily I lost pestering Peeves when I entered the Great Hall; I walked towards the Slytherin table.

"All full here..." remarked Zarken when I tried to sit on my usual spot.

"It's very visible, indeed," I added sardonically and moved to sit next to a brunette girl.

The meal went slowly and it was rather boring. The girl opposite to me was chopping loudly at her chicken leg and I personally felt my appetite retiring.

Finally supper got over and I hastily rose from my seat.

"Tom, a moment please?" called out Jack's familiar voice as he made his way from the Ravenclaw table.

"Zarken and Rod are mad at me."

"I know."

"It's not my fault. I simply want to make the best out of Hogwarts; it's still like a dream to me... I'm afraid that I'd wake up and find everything gone one day..." I croaked.

"I understand... But Tom, all work and no play isn't good. Come to participate in a game of Quidditch whenever you are free... Please..." Jack pleaded.

"Alright," I agreed and slapped his back and hugged him. Jack was one of my best friends while being almost a brother to me.

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"Use your wands to swish and flick the book from left to right," advised Professor Liendolf, demonstrating the sway of a thick heavy dictionary. He was the teacher in charge of the Hufflepuffs and also my Charms Professor.

I yawned and sprawled on my seat and closed my eyes. This spell was a piece of cake after mastering complicated curses and heavy hexes with Seth.

"How high?" I drawled as the Charms Professor approached me.

"Five feet would be sufficient," came in the reply but I made the book sway up till the ceiling which was twenty feet high when measured from the ground.

This particular day I felt like showing off, especially since Felix was present.

"Magnificent!" cried the Professor clapping while I could hear a series of awe-inspired gasps in the background.

"How did you learn to do that?" demanded Zarken when I placed the book smoothly back on the table.

"I was a good boy and did my class-work for home-work," I replied with a wink and all around me smiled.

Lessons throughout the day continued extremely well, except for one class... 'Care of Magical Creatures.'

"You have to actually show some affection, instead of acting revolted," proclaimed Professor Lopez in his grating accent.

I glared and tried to caress a huge yak like animal called an 'Inx' but it kept snorting at me.

"Use your whole hand, instead of just your finger tips," pitched Professor Lopez and I could hear Felix and his squad laughing feverishly.

"Why do we need to waste our time with these idiotic animals anyway?" I inquired after the Inxes were safely taken away.

"They're supposed to come in handy if you ever go into Wizarding agriculture..." snorted Rodolphus.

"I'd rather not!" I said; feeling irritated at not being good at Care of Magical Creatures. For some reason even a tiny failure made me quite unstable.

"Forget it! I don't think Felix likes it either...Didn't you see how his Inx sneezed at him?"

I laughed at the memory; Felix was bathed in gooey fluid of the Inx.

Felix Potter... That name always made blood boil in me...

I leaned against a rock and observed the grey autumn sky. It was echoing my hatred filled thoughts. Nearly every night I dreamed of the various methods which I could use... simply to kill Felix and his entire family...

"You just wait Potter... you just wait..." I mused silently before turning back to head towards the castle.

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A/N: To be continued as soon as possible and thank you all, very much for all the reviews!!!