It was strange the next morning when I woke up in a bed that was not my own. It was stranger to peer around the sky-blue curtains and see a cluster of eleven-year-old girls in the bathroom fixing their hair and dressing in their robes. They had blue-and-black striped ties on their necks. Resting on my nightstand was a tie, just like theirs. I let out a sigh. I had indeed arrived at Hogwarts and been Sorted into Ravenclaw House. Here was the physical proof. I was going to be marked as a Ravenclaw to the rest of my classmates.

"You'd better hurry up." Angelina remarked as she walked by, busily sweeping her long dark hair into a ponytail. "You're going to miss schedules and breakfast."

Stomach still sour, I grimaced as I slid from my bed and carefully made it. Food still wasn't that interesting to me.

I could feel Angelina's eyes on my back as I fixed my bedding, but she didn't say anything else. By the time I headed into the bathroom, the other girls were already leaving the dormitory. Cursing softly, I rushed to get ready. I stumbled out of the dorm with my robes halfway over my head, my wand tucked into my belt.

In the common room were the rest of the first years, swarming over a small table. I could hear the sound of rapidly rustling papers. "Now, remember!" A tiny male voice squeaked. "If you aren't sure about any of your prescribed courses, be sure to see Professor Carriage! She'll be able to help you evaluate your courses and their set level of difficulty, offer a tutor, or speak to you about any of your concerns!"

Frowning, I approached the table and the students surrounding it. Most of them were already on their way out the door. Sheaves of parchment lay littered on the table. HARKSTONE, AMBER caught my eye's attention. I plucked up the paper and scanned through it quickly.

For each day of the week, save for Sundays, I had seven courses. Astronomy, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, History of Magic, Potions, and Transfiguration. I sighed. It looked like there would be no time for any free periods, periods where I could spend reading in the library.

"Something wrong, Miss Harkstone?" The male voice squeaked, and I looked down sharply to look into the eyes of a dark-eyed little man. I tried not to show the surprise that registered within me. He was shorter than any man I had ever seen. He was only about as tall as a four-year-old child.

He cleared his throat. "Miss Harkstone?"

I blinked rapidly. "Sorry, long night." I shook my head, trying to clear it. "I was just looking over my schedule."

The little man nodded. "Very well. I am Professor Flitwick, the Head of Ravenclaw House. Welcome to the home of the wise, Miss Harkstone. I was delighted when the Sorting Hat placed you here. I was a near Hatstall myself. Took that poor old hat three minutes to decide where to put me."

My heart pounded. So I wasn't the only one? "Which was your other House?" I said faintly, hardly daring to believe it.

Professor Flitwick grinned. "Gryffindor. Can you believe it? I could be in the same shoes as good old Professor McGongall!"

His smile faded like morning mist. His eyes darted around the room nervously. "Don't… don't mention that to her. Please."

"What?" I asked. "The part about not wanting to be in her House?"

He shook his head. "No, no. The part where I said she was old."

Faintly amused, I smiled back. "I won't."

Professor Flitwick nodded to himself, but still looked slightly haunted. "Very well, then… Good. Yes. You ought to hurry down to breakfast before your first class, Miss. You wouldn't want to go throughout your morning without a good meal."

Though the idea of food made my stomach rebel, I gave him a small smile. "Yes, Professor. Thank you." Leaving him and the common room behind, I hurried outside and pressed myself close to the wall as I descended the tight spiral staircase. My palms sweated the whole way down. Why had they removed the railings? Someone was going to fall.

Breathing a sigh of relief at the last step, I hurried down the corridors, trying my best to remember the way from last night. I fell into step behind three girls talking loudly to each other, clearly older and more confident than first years. At least they had experience and knew where they were going.

I went unnoticed all the way into the Great Hall. I was late for breakfast and most of the food was already eaten. Students lingered, greeting one another and enjoying their daily morning cup of gossip with their pumpkin juice. I poured myself a glass of pumpkin juice and selected a lone croissant and nibbled it while I read a discarded copy of the Daily Prophet.

The Ministry of Magic was in the process of trying to pass a new bill that would outlaw the usage of anything other than a wand as use for conducting magic. I thought back to the giant who had used his umbrella rather than a wand. What would he think of such a law? Would he obey it?

Another section of the paper, the opinions, contained an article written about the threat of You-Know-Who. He Who Must Not Be Named bears a grudge against anyone he sees as unfit, even if his world view is completely demented and twisted. The writer, Vincent Backe, wrote. Though many believe him to be no threat, other than a madman, I know better. He is a terrorist, a man who is completely sane and aware of what he is doing. He is not crazy. He is pure evil. And we would all do well to prepare ourselves for the coming war.

The writer only had another two small paragraphs. It was a meager space for his writing. It seemed that the staff writers on the Daily Prophet weren't taking Mr. Backe too seriously. I glanced at the laughing, boisterous students of Hogwarts. They didn't seem too concerned either.

I wasn't sure what to believe. Was Mr. Backe paranoid, or did he have a point? I shivered. I hoped he was wrong, for safety's sake. But I had a feeling he wasn't completely off his hunch. I had heard Dad speaking quietly to Mum about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named sometimes at night when I overheard them in the sunporch. Dad said that he was a force to be reckoned with, a blip on the radar to be taken seriously. Mum had waved him off and accused him of a conspiracy theory.

I flipped the page to the advice section. Dear Penelope dispensed two daily columns of wisdom. Today, a reader wrote about her trouble with pixies terrorizing her garden and chickens. They're incorrigible. She had complained. They just won't stop. Please, I'm at my wits' and mental end. I need a solution for my poor farm!

I sniggered at Penelope's response, which recommended hiring a specialist to rid her of the pesky pixies. "That's easy." I muttered to myself. "Just get a barn cat or two, and they'll chase off the pixies or eat them."

I set the paper down, finishing my croissant and glass of juice, and rose. Other students were on their feet as well, filing out the hall on their way to their first classes. Suddenly distressed, I hurried toward any adult I could find. I recognized Professor McGongall from yesterday and raced to her side.

Her sharp eyes zeroed in on me. "Problem, Miss Harkstone?"

I held up my parchment. "My first class is Potions, but I don't know where that is."

Sighing, she waved her arm. "You, yes, you! Come over here, please. Yes, thank you."

A bolt of familiarity struck me as the student approached. He was smiling as he halted at McGonagall's side. "What can I do for you, Professor?"

She gestured to me. "Locke, this is Amber Harkstone. She's a first year and needs guidance to her first class with Professor Slughorn. Would you mind escorting her? I can write you a note for your first class."

Sean Locke nodded. "No problem, Professor. I'm sure Professor Sprout won't miss me too long."

Professor McGonagall nodded stiffly and headed off briskly, leaving us alone.

My face burned as Sean offered his hand to shake. I took it and shook, obliged.

His eyes widened in pleasant surprise. "You've got a killer grip for such a small girl."

I shrugged off the initial offense. "I'm a girl. Some of us are naturally tough."

Sean laughed, falling into step beside me as we walked down the hallway. "We met yesterday. I'm not sure if you remember."

Oh, I remembered all right, but I didn't want him to know how I should have been a Hufflepuff. I tried not to think of how my parents, namely my mother, would react when they learned the news. "Yeah. It was a crazy night."

"I'm sure it was. It always is for first years. Here, let me take those for you." Before I could protest, Sean took my stack of books into his arms. Unused to such chivalry, I was at a loss for words.

"So at least I finally get to know your name. Amber, right?"

I nodded. "Harkstone."

"I got that too. It's nice to put a name to a face, you know?"

I nodded again. The less words I spoke, the better. I just wanted to get to class. "So, Potions…?"

Sean smiled. "Slughorn is a hoot, I'm telling you. He's a little zany but he's brilliant. Probably the finest potion maker of his time. I bet he could even make the elixir of life, if he put his mind to it."

We descended two flights of stairs. The air was noticeably colder and staler. There weren't any windows down here, either. I bit my lit, feeling the first strains of claustrophobia.

"He loves crystallized pineapple and oak mead." Sean added. "In case you ever need a favor or a fixed grade from him. I'm in the Slug Club. Maybe you will be, too."

"I'm not sure. I'm not much a math girl." I admitted.

"You seem like a smart girl. You must be, if you were Sorted into Ravenclaw." He swept into an open doorway, leaving me floored. He wasn't going to give me a quiet sendoff. No, he was going to come right into class with me.

Face burning, I kept my face trained on the stone ground and followed him. He stopped at the first row of tables and set my stack of heavy books down. "Well, here you are." He smiled again. "By the way, a spell to lighten the load is the feather-light charm. It's leve pondus. Try it sometime."

"I will." I promised, grateful for the helpful hint.

Sean beamed and turned to leave. A man's voice boomed at him. "Why, Mr. Locke! I knew you'd want to repeat my course, you silly boy."

I turned at the sound. A portly aging man with a large nose and larger waistline was grinning at Sean. Sean waved at him. "Good to see you, Professor."

"Have a good summer, I take it?" The professor asked. "How's Bernard doing?"

"Excellently, excellently, Professor. I won't take up more of your teaching time."

The professor chuckled. "I had better see you in my class later, Locke. Our first meeting's date and location will arrive for you shortly!"

Locke smiled at him, waved at him, and then me, and left.

"Amber!"

My head whipped around at the familiar voice. Lily was sitting beside me!

I felt a rush of relief. Finally, someone I knew. Someone I could sit with for hours and be comfortable with. I almost hugged her, but stopped myself. She would be too weirded out by that.

Her bright green eyes were full of mischief. "Your first day and you already have a boyfriend?"

Heat surged to my face like fire. "No! No, I hardly know him. He's in Hufflepuff, maybe he knows about how my family was, too, and that's why he's friendly. I don't know." I hid my burning face in my hands.

Laughing, Lily tugged my arm. "He's really cute, Amber. But a little too old. Maybe in a few years."

I shook my head. "Maybe never." I never wanted to settle down. I didn't want to be miserable like Mum and Dad were, slaves to their own marriage.

Lily flipped open her textbook. "This looks so interesting. Doesn't it, Amber?"

I leaned over, reading along with her. "It does. Look, it says you can even make luck."

"Or love potions." Lily said dreamily. When I shot her an irritated laugh, she burst out laughing.

"Don't worry, Amber. I'm not into boys yet. All of the boys our age are total jerks! Especially…"

She shook her head. "Never mind. I shouldn't speak of it."

Curious, I asked, "Who?"

Lily sighed. "Two boys who teased Sev on the train. I don't know their names. But I think I heard them at the Sorting."

I felt a rise of disgust. So it hadn't just been me. Those two were bullies.

"James Potter and Sirius Black." I spat. "I know them."

She turned her head, intrigued. "How so?"

I quickly told her about what they had done to me on the train when I had been stuck in their compartment. Rage filled her pretty face.

"How awful! Don't worry Amber. We'll learn charms for them. I'll bet there's a charm for making one mute."

"Or we could hex them." I mused. "A good dose of invisibility for their clothes. They won't know what hit them."

Lily laughed. "You're so wicked, Amber."

Professor Slughorn waved a hand, hushing the chattering students. "Welcome, first years! Potion-making is an ancient art that requires skill, careful attention, and dedication in order to succeed. Now, today, we won't start brewing anything. For the first week we'll start by doing some reading and have a small quiz for review. In two weeks we will delve into our first potion, an antidote for a common poison. As for now, please open your textbooks to page four."

Lily and I shared a copy of the book for the next hour while Professor Slughorn asked for volunteers to read different paragraphs. So far, the class hadn't been intimidating at all. Only introductory.

When he dismissed us for the day, I left feeling better than I had in a week. My next two classes went just as well. As I walked to lunch, I wondered why had I become so anxious about my classes. The teachers didn't seem to be hellbent on sending me to the dungeons for not knowing the answer. Contrary, they seemed to genuinely care about their students and wanted them to succeed. Already, I felt lighter.

Lily and I cheated the system, and I had lunch with her at the Gryffindor table. I drew several curious looks and less irritated ones.

"They know I'm a Ravenclaw." I said as I ate a spoonful of fruit parfait. "It's the tie."

Lily shook her head. "You're welcome here. We're all Hogwarts students."

I could feel someone watching me as I ate. I turned, scanning the faces of students, trying to make eye contact with anyone. But I didn't. Uneasy, I returned to eating my light lunch. The unseen gaze was burning holes into my back.

"I think someone's watching me." I muttered. "I hope it's not a teacher."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Oh, calm down, Amber. If you need to, just tell them you were over here helping me with a problem."

"For what?" I asked, crunching my granola loudly.

Lily shrugged. "Say you were helping me memorize the most important ingredients in potion making."

"Which are…?" I trailed off as two boys approached and rudely pushed between us. One boy sandwiched himself between me and Amber. The other, who didn't wear glasses, leaned against the edge of the table.

"Thought we'd drop by." The boy with the glasses, James, said. "And remind you of a few things."

"Oh, joy." Lily said dryly.

I rolled my eyes. "Go away, Four Eyes."

"Four Eyes?" James said mockingly. Sirius snickered. "That's harsh for a Ravenclaw. I thought you were supposed to be nice."

"Hey, James." Sirius said suddenly. "I just remembered something."

"Your brain?" Lily snipped, earning a chuckle from me.

"I think I remember too, Sirius." James drawled. He fixed his cold hazel eyes on me. "I think it was policy about tables. Something we learned in History of Magic today."

"I remember too, James." Sirius said. "It was about how separate tables are supposed to stay at their tables. Not cross to others."

"No fraternizing allowed." James reaffirmed.

"Wow, that's a big word." I mocked. "You must have memorized a dictionary. Can you spell fraternizing?"

James shot Sirius a look. "Of course I can. I'm not stupid."

"Really?" Lily said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Because you sure look it."

"Ouch!" Sirius grinned. James looked unruffled.

I could feel anger bubbling up, just below the surface. My patience with the duo was fast ending. "Go back to your end of the table. We aren't bothering anyone."

"You're bothering Miranda Goshawk." James rebuked. "And the laws of Hogwarts. Didn't the Headmaster just talk about respecting the morals and values of his school last night?"

"Didn't your mother ever tell you to mind your own business?" I snapped.

"Watch out James, she might cry again." Sirius joked.

Hurt and embarrassment threatened to overshadow the anger. Stay angry. Stay in control. "I have just as much right to be at this table as you both do."

The two boys exchanged a look that said She's nuts. "Really. Enlighten us." Said James.

"Amber, we can sit at your table. I'm sure the other Ravenclaws wouldn't mind me."

I shook my head, ignoring her. "Don't you two dunderheads wonder why the Sorting Hat took so long with me last night?"

"Because it wanted to send you home to wherever hick town you came from?" James offered. Sirius slapped his knee.

I bit back tears. "Because the Hat couldn't decide whether or not to put me in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor." I let the information sink in before I went on. "I could have been a Gryffindor just as easily as a Ravenclaw. So, please shut up, go away, and let me finish my breakfast in peace."

Lily looked thrilled. James and Sirius looked dubious. "That's such a lie." James bumbled. "Sorting Hats don't stall."

"Not for everyone." I replied airily. All the bravado was being directed from what I had learned from Angelina last night. "They do every fifty years or so."

"Well, you're still a two-sided moron." Sirius said. "I guess this doubles your freakishness."

"That doesn't make any sense!" Lily exclaimed.

"Stupid, I'm telling you." I sipped my tea, hoping my sheen of tears didn't show. "Probably couldn't spell 'orange' if his life depended on it."

"I can, too!" James snapped.

"Then prove it."

James looked like a deer in headlights. "I don't have to prove anything to you, Rocky. What kind of name is Amber Harkstone, anyway?"

"A good one, you horrible toerag!" Lily fired back. "Leave us alone or I'm getting Professor McGonagall."

"She can't do anything to us." Sirius said loftily, but he looked a little uncertain.

Lily rose. "Professor-"

"Alright, fine!" James said exasperatedly. "Enjoy your breakfast, traitor." He brushed against me roughly and left with Sirius in tow.

Lily glared after them, slowly sitting down, an angry cobra relaxing. "I hate those two. They're complete arses."

I blinked hard. Two tears rolled down my cheeks.

"Amber?" Lily said, her voice suddenly concerned. "Amber, are you alright?"

I passed a shaking hand over my face, the bravado replaced by sorrow and confusion. "I'm fine." I lied, though inside I was shaking with rage and hurt. What had I ever done to them? "I'm just sick of their attitudes."

"Me too." Lily put a comforting arm on my shoulder. "They were awful to Sev, too. But that was much worse." She looked troubled. "Maybe we should tell Professor McGonagall. She can give them detention or something."

I sighed wearily. "I don't think that would do anything." Besides, I didn't want to become a teacher's pet and a traitor on my first day. "It's fine, Lily. I'll learn that hex."

"Me too." She said determinedly. "And I'll learn how to transfigure into Professor McGonagall to scare their robes off."

I smiled through my inner pain. "And I'll become a dragon animagi."

Lily looked confused. "A what?"

"Never mind." I drained the rest of my tea, now lukewarm, and set the empty cup back on its saucer. "Why doesn't Severus sit here too?"

At the mention of his name, Lily looked sad. "Well… He's a Slytherin. He says that Gryffindors and Slytherins are sworn enemies."

"Rivals, more like it." I didn't want to think about any more fighting. It was too exhausting.

Lily looked worried. "Are you sure you're alright, Amber?"

So she wasn't fooled by my guise. Not completely. I gave her a bigger smile. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I have two sisters at home. I'm used to cruel words."

Lily nodded. "I get that part completely. Tuney is good practice for those two."

Lily and I shared another class, Defense Against the Dark Arts, as well as Potions. But for my final class, Transfiguration, I was stuck in the lovely company of Sirius Black and James Potter.

When I saw them as I entered the room, I pretended they had never entered my field of vision and sat as far from them as possible. Which was right at the front desk. I could hear them talking quietly in the back. After two minutes of this, I saw something fly overhead and strike flesh. There was an audible moan of pain.

The entire class stared at the front of the room. A silver cat, perched on the desk, had disappeared. But in its place was Professor McGonagall. She was staring at the back of the room the way a lioness would watch a gazelle.

"You and I are going to have a very long year together, Mr. Black." She said icily. The entire room was silent. "Would you care for another eraser thrown at your head, or a Saturday's detention for your next interruption?"

I kept my back turned to them, but I could hear Sirius grumbling. "Sorry."

"Sorry, ma'am." Professor McGongall corrected.

There was a beat of rebellious silence. "Sorry, ma'am." Sirius conceded. James echoed him.

She nodded once, curtly. "I expect you to pay attention, boys, or I shall separate you."

I felt a clench of fear in my stomach. Please, no. I wanted to be as far from them as possible.

Professor McGonagall gave them one final glare, and then began her lesson. She was the only professor who assigned homework for the first night of class, earning groans from everyone but me. I welcomed the chance to delve into literature.

Transfiguration was my last class of the day. I skipped dinner and instead went back to the Ravenclaw tower, where I knew I would have a quiet place to study. The library appealed to me too, but I had a feeling that the librarian would ask why I wasn't at dinner.

The eagle knocker said, "What is light as a feather, but even the world's strongest Muggle can't hold for more than a minute?"

I paused. An elephant? A crisis?

I exhaled, and inspiration struck. "His breath!"

"Very good. Quick, too." The door swung open.

The circular common room was deserted. Outside, the sun was hanging low in the sky, casting warm light over the grounds of Hogwarts and the surrounding wilderness. Two blackbirds glided between towers. I smiled, watching the aerial display.

When I had drunk in my fill of the beautiful view, I sat down on a plushy armchair and opened my textbook to A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration. Professor McGonagall had only assigned the first two chapters, but as I absorbed the material, I lost track of time. It was another two hours before I realized I was not alone in the common room.

The sun had fully set by then, and blackness covered the windows. It must have clouded up. A fire had crackled to life in the hearth without me even noticing. The lamps were lit. And someone stood by the windows, back facing me.

Unease made me carefully close my book. I was sure it was a student, but a chill spread from my neck to the base of my spine. I remembered that I had my wand in my pocket. I slowly placed my hand over it, fingers curling around the hard wood. I coughed quietly, hoping to draw the person's attention.

It worked.

The figure turned slowly, like a door creaking open on broken hinges. Cold fear spread from my stomach into my feet. I was alone with this person, this stranger.

It was a teenage boy with a stubbled black hair. I didn't see a colored tie on his neck indicating his House. He stared at me with cold, lifeless eyes. He did not blink.

I stared back, frozen. The hairs on the back of my neck rose. Run, Amber.

But my legs were dead weights beneath me. I could only stare at him.

The student blinked, after a minute of unbearable silence. The entire room went pitch black. Panic threatened to overcome me, but a second later, the light was back. But the student was gone.

Shaken, I sprang to my shaky feet, wand drawn out. I searched the common room for him carefully, thoroughly, but could not find a single trace. I wondered if I had fallen asleep and had a brief nightmare.

Footsteps echoed up the steps, and I pointed my wand at the door, terrified, but a gaggle of Ravenclaws entered, talking merrily and completely unaware of my plight. I forced my hand down, but didn't stow my wand.

"Relax, first year," an older Ravenclaw boy said, "It's just us. Only Ravenclaws can get in. Others are too stupid."

I nodded silently. I was suddenly very afraid of my bedroom. Would the man be hiding there? Was he waiting for me?

I waited for several other first years to loudly enter the bedrooms before I dared set foot inside. Something inside of me was quaking; the cold fear had spread to my heart. Hand gripping my wand beneath my robes, I crept up the spiral staircase into the dorms. Three girls were in the midst of preparing for bed. There was no sign of an intruder.

One girl looked over. "Something wrong, Amber?"

I stared at her, then the curtains, hanging over every bed, every window. After a pause, I said quietly, "Nothing. Sorry."

She smiled, friendly. "Maybe you should try and sleep. You don't look so good."

My heart constricted at her words. "I'm fine." I lied, slinking off to the bathroom. It too was empty.

I shut the door to one of the stalls and sat on the toilet lid, burying my face in my hands. I shook hard with suppressed sobs. Was I losing my mind? Had there really been a strange man in the common room? Or had it been a mean trick? Maybe it was a ghost. Or maybe it was a senior student hazing me.

But a small voice inside told me that it had been someone. Someone who had meant to harm me.

So why hadn't they?

Shuddering, I rose from the toilet and went back into the common room. Several students remained, most talking and joking by the fireplace. Everyone had textbooks open. Trembling, I lowered myself into an armchair, eyes scanning the round room again and again, wondering if the figure would reappear.

Fifteen minutes went by, and then another. Finally, after forty-five minutes, I gave up. Returning to my room, I quietly picked up my book on Charms and tried reading. I could only pay attention for a few moments before the fear was back, bringing with it the feeling of being watched. I drew the blue curtains around my bed and held my wand tightly. I flipped through the pages and caught the word 'protective charms'.

Protego: The basic spell cast for protection. It can be used to deflect, reflect, or block attacks. Protego can even be used as an indefinite shield, with the charm Protego Maxima. This charm requires moderate difficulty. Casters should be aware of backfiring if spell is not properly cast.

"That's reassuring." I muttered, but the persistent feeling of being stalked wouldn't ease. In fact, as more girls drifted into sleep, it plagued me more. I couldn't help but feel as if whatever this was, it was waiting for me to be alone and unprotected again.

Maybe this time it wouldn't be so merciful.

Swallowing hard, I waved my wand in a small circle and made a slash down the middle, the same as the diagram showed. "Protego." I whispered. A tiny blue screen flickered and died before my eyes.

I closed my eyes briefly and concentrated on creating a large shield around my bed. "Protego." I whispered again. The iridescent blue light expanded, held for a moment longer, and then fizzled out.

Determination made me want to continue. Part of me knew I could call for help from a professor, but what if it turned out it was nothing more than a prank, or worse, my own imagination? How awful would that look, on my first real day at Hogwarts, being sent to St. Mungo's for a psychotic episode?

Exhaling deeply, I repeated the spell ten more times. Each time, it became more pronounced. "Protego!" I whispered fiercely, and the blue completely encased my bed like a blue dome. The light faded slowly.

Cursing under my breath, I swung my legs over the edge of the bed, ready to prepare for bed, when I hit a wall. Strange. I had thought the wall was on the other side of the bed.

I tried again. I blinked, realizing that there was no wall. It was just air. But the air was completely solid.

My heart began to beat fast. I reached out a hand cautiously against the air. Slowly, my hand pressed against an invisible but unmoving force. I pushed with all my might, but the wall wouldn't give.

The fear melted away like ice in summer. Relief and triumph made me want to weep. I had cast my first protection charm, and it was holding!

At least for now.

Well, at least I would be able to fall asleep. Opening the textbook, I read more about charms and spells. My eyes grew heavy and tired from their constant movement. Yawning, I closed the book quietly and tested the invisible wall again. It held.

Smiling to myself, I slipped underneath the covers and tucked them under my chin. See? I thought to myself sleepily. You made a big scare out of nothing. It was either a sixth year hazing me, or just a day nightmare. I need to sleep more.

I left the lamp on. Just before I drifted off to sleep, I thought I caught the faint scent of wet dog.

Footsteps padded softly across the floor of the first year girls' dormitory. The room was dimly lit from one side, partially blocked by pale blue drapes. It cast a soft, warm glow across the floor. All of the girls were asleep in their beds. Even the Harkstone girl.

From where he stood, he could watch her eyelids flutter in her sleep. She didn't seem too troubled. Nervous, maybe, but not terrified. She would have done well in Gryffindor with her bravery, but the Sorting Hat had made the right choice. That girl never was without a book. Half of the time, she was reading one.

The figure approached the bed, his wand held loosely in his left hand. He came within inches of the bedside, close enough to reach out and touch her…

His hand abruptly stopped. There was an invisible force blocking him from her.

Grimacing in an ugly half-smile, the man gave a small laugh that came out as a puff of air. The girl was very talented, there was no doubt about that. She had cast her own protective charms, had she? And on her first day. Not bad. Not bad at all for a Harkstone.

The man stood still, his gaze trained on the sleeping girl. It wasn't until another eleven-year-old rose sleepily for the bathroom that he disappeared, gone as quickly as a ghost.

The air still smelled faintly of dirt and sweat. And even more faintly: Blood.