A/N: Okay, I know this is probably a shorter chapter, but I was really excited about it. Hope you like it. Please read and review…

Chapter 3:

Serena did not know exactly what she was supposed to do. Professor McGonagall had left her, saying that the other students would be arriving tonight. She scrambled off her bed and decided that she might as well put her new belongings away.

Wondering what subjects were taught here, she started off with her books.

Serena raised her eyebrows in wonder as she flipped through the various books that lay on her bed.

Yep, she thought to herself, I won't be learning Math and Science here…

Slowly, she managed to put her heavy books in her desk. She then picked up a set of robes that were folded neatly on her bed.

"Why do I need robes?" she wondered aloud.

"Well, actually, the robes are part of your uniform…"

Serena jumped out of fright: she had forgotten that the paintings could talk.

"Oh, ummm, thanks…" she said to the lady in the painting.

------------------------------------------------

Serena stifled a yawn as she looked out of the window. The clock tower somewhere in the distance had just struck noon.

She had completely cleared her bed except for the one box that lay royally on her pillow. It was a rectangular, black box. She picked it up with one hand and gently opened it with the other. Inside, there lay a long, thin wooden stick.

"A wand?" she asked herself quietly.

She picked it up and carefully examined it. It definitely did not look like anything magical to her, but she could feel a warm, tingling sensation running up her fingers. She smiled.

"Abracadabra!!!" she yelled, swishing the wand around. Around her, the inhabitants of the paintings burst out laughing.

Blood gushed up to Serena's cheeks, embarrassed. "Yeah, I knew that wasn't a real spell…"

-----------------------------------------------------

The pale boy carefully examined the creature that paced furiously in front of him.

A creature, that was all the pale boy could name him. What else could you name a living being whose face resembled more of a skull than an actual human face? With red eyes, whose pupils were slits? With a nose, that was as flat as a snake's?

However, it was not only the creature's face, even his hands resembled large, pale spiders, with long, white fingers.

"Simple tasks," a high, cold voice said.

The pale boy snapped his attention to the words the creature spoke rather than his physical appearance.

"Simple tasks," the voice repeated. "This is all I ask of you…and yet, even those are made complicated."

The creature turned to face the circle of people around him. His slit-like eyes turned to everyone in turn, as if expecting a response. His followers, however, all of whom were masked and hooded, remained silent.

The Dark Lord continued to pace the floor, stepping over the remains of the shattered photo frame of a family of three. He glanced back at it again.

He suddenly stopped, mid-stride, as if something seemed to strike him.

"Hold on," he whispered, his eyes back on the photo. "How many people did you kill?"

"There were only two, my Lord," a frightened response came from the circle, "a man and a woman."

The creature seemed to smile fanatically at the photo. He bent down and quickly picked up the picture from the ground.

"And yet, in this photo, there are three people: a man, a woman, and a teenage girl…"

He looked up at his followers again.

"Draco?"

The pale boy froze as the Dark Lord said his name. "Yes, Master?"

"I need you to do me a favour…"

A/N: Okay, I really want to know what you guys think about this chapter. Please review!!!!!!!! =D