He's a Ravenclaw and He's okay.

Starring Michael Corner. As Hermione Granger said "...the dark one..." of Ravenclaw.

Michael Corner woke up feeling excited. It was September the first, and he picked his Hogwarts Express ticket up from his night-stand, where it lay on his unfolded Hogwarts letter.

'Hogwarts Express to Hogsmeade Departing Platform 9¾ at 11am sharp, September 1st.' and the next line 'One Passenger.' And the fine print 'Luggage allowance one Trunk, one familiar in carrier.'

He got out of bed and hurried over to the bathroom and got clean, and went back to his room, and got into his good jeans and sweatshirt, and his favourite trainers. Mum had charmed them to smell nice, which was Michael thought, rather helpful if a little intrusive. Still, he opened the top of his school trunk and checked – everything was still where he'd packed it yesterday.

He pocketed his train ticket and his fingers grazed his Hogwarts letter. A faint sensation shivered up his arm, and for some reason, the faint taste of butterscotch toffee.

He pulled his hand back and glared at his fingers. They hardly ever did that – apart from the one time he'd touched the angry letter from his maternal grandfather – that had tasted of bitter almonds.

He sighed. Being a wizard was hard enough, but he was the first wizard in his family to go to Hogwarts. Not that mum or dad thought their schools (The Shoe, puddle-on-the-woad, or Hull, in well, Hull) were bad or anything, it's just that Hogwarts was, well… Hogwarts. It was where all the people who got promotions to higher offices in the ministry went, even if, as dad had said 'They were just pureblood idiots who barely knew which end of a wand spells came out of.'

Michael closed and locked his trunk, pocketed the key, made sure he had his wand and train ticket, and started dragging the trunk to the hallway. Once it was on the carpet it slid easily, and thump thump thumped down the stairs quite satisfactorily to end up in the front hall.

"Michael!" called mum from the kitchen "Is that you?"

"Yes mum" said Michael, and he left the trunk, and went to the kitchen.

Mum was standing by the kitchen bench, wand out, heating the frying pan up.

"Now it's a long trip, so I'm packing you a lunch" said Mum. Behind her, a paper bag swallowed a banana and a sandwich wrapped in greaseproof paper, then rolled it's top down into a handle.

Michael looked over at the kitchen table where dad sat in dark blue robes, with a pair of glasses on his nose, reading the paper.

He looked over at Michael and smiled. "Mikey" he said "How's the next minister of magic this morning?"

"Dad!" said Michael, and he sat down in his chair, and poured out some cereal. The milk jug poured itself onto his cereal as soon as he put the box down.

"Don't spoil him, dear" said Dad.

Mum somehow got Esme to come along to Platform 9¾, and she looked out over the crowds of families, loads of trunks, owls and broomsticks.

"It's a bit of cluster, isn't it?" said Esme.

Dad hugged Michael, and pressed a small money bag on him "In case you need stationery" he explained. Michael pocketed it.

Mum gave him his bagged sandwich, and kissed his cheek.

And Esme tilted her head and looked at Michael. "Got anything to drink?" she asked. Michael shrugged. Esme conjured up a water bottle, and with a tap of her wand, filled it with clear liquid – hopefully water.

"I 'spect if you run out there's taps in the loos" said Emse. "Take care squirt – I hear Hogwarts can be a bit dangerous if you go wandering around."

"Then don't wander around" said mum firmly "One whiff of trouble and I'll come and see how they like having the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes do a site visit." It was, Michael knew, an empty threat. But his stomach warmed, and he felt a blush on his cheeks.

Michael, with a bit of help from dad got his trunk on the train, and lugged it down a narrow crowded corridor, impulsively skipping the first compartment he came to, and going in the second one, where he dragged it in behind himself.

A boy wearing a black cardigan looked up at him. "Are you first year?" asked the stranger, who was roughly Michaels age.

"Michael Corner" said Michael. "Is it okay if I sit in here?"

"Perfectly fine with me" said the boy "Tony Goldstein." he paused. "I'm um… Jewish."

"Right" said Michael, trying to lift his trunk. Tony got up and helped, and the somewhat battered trunk stencilled in white with "CORNER" was finally on the brass luggage rack, next to a new-looking trunk.

Michael sat down.

"So you're from a magical family?" asked Tony.

"Dad was the first wizard in his family" said Michael "Mum's from a magical family."

"Oh" said Tony "They – that's a thing is it?"

"Well, it explains why my big sister and I look like both of them" said Michael sarcastically.

Tony smiled slightly. "So… I haven't really got a feel for what Hogwarts is going to be like."

"Me neither" said Michael. "Dad went to Hull, mum went to Mother Goose's academy, and Esme, my sister, she went to Hull too. Dad decided he'd put my name down for Hogwarts when I was born… cos… "

"Because?"

"Well, the ministry department heads, the minister, all the to jobs.. they're all Hogwarts graduates." said Michael "With little house badges on their robes and all these…. "

"Oh bloody brilliant!" said Tony, grinning "I can fall upwards!"

"Fall upwards?"

"Before … I started doing magic mum wanted me to work in a bank. I'm good at maths." said Tony.

"So?" said Michael.

"Well, then dad bought us a computer, and the first one broke after a week." said Tony.

"Yeah my friend Steven's brother's one broke too. It was one of those Speccies." said Michael.

"No… dad got it replaced, and … after I touched the next one, it went wonky" said Tony "There's no way I can work in a bank, computers hate me. I got a D in computer class… broke four before the teacher told me to just read the textbook."

"Oh" said Michael. He didn't know what to say.

"So does weird stuff happen when you touch computers too?" asked Tony.

"Um" said Michael "We don't have one… dad stopped paying the power bill when mum complained about the cost." And he didn't mention the way the computer at school had felt… wrong. It sort of seeped misery into his hands.

"Not even at school?"

"I um" Michael felt his face heating up "I don't like the way they … feel." he said, and went to the window and stagily looked for his family to wave, hoping this Tony character would drop it. Feeling things when you touched things was weird – mum and dad never mentioned it, and Esme had no qualms in talking about everything to do with magic.

"So um, what do your parent do?" asked Tony plaintitively.

"Oh, dad predicts the weather, and mum works at Magical Accidents and Catastrophes – covering up magical things to preserve the statue of Secrecy."

"So its like...a firefighter, but for magic?" asked Tony from behind him.

Michael finally spotted his parents on the platform and waved. Dad waved once, and Mum blew a kiss. Esme covered her face with her hand.

"Your parents can come on the platform" said Tony.

"Um yeeah" said Michael, sitting down. "I dunno how they got Esme to take time off this morning. – she's a professional potion brewer, she graduated um… ages ago. She's um twenty."

"Your whole family?" asked Tony.

"Well, nobody in my family's ever gone to Hogwarts" said Michael. "Dad says some of the pureblood families are so inbred, they're deformed."

"Pureblood?"

"Dad says it's all bollocks" said Michael "they only marry families who've had magic for so long nobody knows when they first got it."

"Are there a lot of magical people?" asked Tony.

"Mum said there's ten thousand registered dwellings" said Michael. "A few people don't tell the ministry where they live… just makes it harder to make sure the muggles don't see things."

"Oh" said Tony.

"Are there a lot of jewish wizards?" asked Michael.

Tony sort of froze awkwardly "Not that we know of," he said, "My sisters aren't."

"Trust me you dodged a bullet there," said Michael, "Esme can be horrific when she's in a mood. One time she vanished my mouth before lunch on Saturday, and mum didn't get home to fix me till half-five. She bloody ate all the Quiché."

"Vanished… your mouth?" asked Tony.

"It's a curse, apparently." said Michael, licking his lips to check "Mum had Esme by the ear and yelled at her. She was supposed to make sure I got lunch, not hog it all."

"Does… does she do that a lot?" asked Tony.

"Nah – that was the worst, apart from the time she talked about her period." said Michael.

"Oh – yeah. My big sister Helen did that." said Tony, nodding.

Michael nodded.

-==0==-

Hogwarts was far more magical looking in person, than the pictures in the book.

And the Sorting hat was… well it was amazing. How could it possibly work?

Corner, Michael, was sorted into Ravenclaw in twelve seconds flat.

Goldstein, Anthony, was as well. Tony sat next to him on the bench seat.

When the all the banquet food suddenly appeared, a little note appeared on Tony's plate, that he picked up, read and pocketed… then helped himself to roast beef.

"What was that?" asked Michael, a chicken quarter doused in gravy later.

"Apparently everything except the pork and ham's kosher" said Tony. Whatever that meant.

Michael was motivated to have a slice of baked ham with pineapple… it was delicious.

"It's good" he mumbled around a bite.

"Not for me, thanks" said Tony.

The next fellow along – Rivers, Oliver, had some baked ham too.

There was a Terry Boot over the table,– and Michael had felt a sense of being a kindred spirit when Professor McGonagall had said "Boot, Terry.", and an 'Entwhistle, Kevin.'

Michael wondered if Ravenclaws just had odd surnames.

-==0==-

Michael liked the Hogwarts library. There were a lot of really interesting books. Some of them even felt odd.

Theodore Nott was a boy in Michael's year, in Slytherin house. He spent an awful lot of time in the library.

And Michael was a Ravenclaw – he had a lot of fellow bookworms to judge from. Hermione Granger, the Gryffindor with the big bushy mess of hair, she spent positively ages in the library ,but also, she had no friends because she was an annoying know-it-all.

Nott would sit and try to skim thick tomes. He'd turn pages quickly and stare. Then he'd mutter to himself, and twitch. Michael suspected that there was something ...not right about Theodore Nott.

Time passed, and Michael got used to Hogwarts. And Hermione Granger started hanging around with Harry Potter and his red-haired friend. (Which was worse than being alone in Michael's opinion: Potter was the only celebrity at school, and some of the professors clearly treated him differently. (The rumour was that Professor Snape, who hated everyone, even hated Potter more than everyone else put together.)

The Defence Professor ran off before the end of the year AND Potter and chums wrested the House cup from Slytherin at the actual leaving feast.

In second year they had Gilderoy Lockheart as a Defence Teacher. The strange thing was that he acted the fool in class and made everything about him. And then someone started writing errors in the books on the Ravenclaw house chalkboards. It was like he was a fraud.

Harry Potter talked to a snake and told it to attack Justin from Hufflepuff. And something was petrifying people. There was some rumour about the Heir of Slytherin doing it, whatever that meant.

Somehow that all ended on the last day of school, with Professor Lockheart going to St Mungo's long-term spell damage wing.

Before third year dad had a talk and made him take the Divination elective. Michael took Runes and Arithmancy as well.

And the fabled murderer Sirius Black escaped, and the Ministry sent Dementors to guard Hogwarts.

The new Defence Professor was a tired looking man called Professor Lupin, who was quite good at teaching – it felt strange really, to have a decent teacher for a change.

There was a study group that started up for third-year Ravenclaws. 'But open to other houses'

Theodore Nott came to the study group – as did Davis and Moon from Slytherin.

Nott didn't twitch as much as he used to; though everyone was a bit quieter this year from the Dementors.

Michael met a girl called Luna in the Ravenclaw common room who talked complete nonsense, and she also had no shoes or socks. Michael shook her hand and got the strangest feeling of strangeness, that everything was somehow the wrong colour, or not properly solid, and felt woozy. The odd feeling passed within a minute. People said she was weird, but … he'd felt so strange when he shook her hand.

And time passed.

At Halloween, Sirius Black had got into Hogwarts, and attacked the Gryffindor common room's secret door. Which was clearly no longer secret. The whole school spent the night in sleeping-bags in the great hall, which was actually rather fun, like a massive sleepover. (Michael heard things he suspected were people snogging once the lights were out.)

Obviously, at Christmas dad asked him how Divination was going.

Michael got an E in Divination that year. And spots. Lots of spots.

-==0==-

In fourth year they had an international three schools contest – but being magic schools, it was dangerous feats, not like, spelling and stuff. Well, it was spelling, of a sort, Michael supposed. And the contestants were chosen by a 'Goblet of fire' which was pretty strange – Michael spent ages looking up everything he could about the goblet.

Harry Potter, obviously, got himself entered as a fourth contestant.

But on the night of the contestants being drawn , he looked very unhappy – and Professor Dumbledore had held the parchment with Harry's name on it still for ages, and Michael was sitting quite close to the lectern – Harry's handwriting was atrocious. A fragment of parchment with 'Harry Potter' written on it… well nearly illegibly.

Harry Potter somehow didn't die getting past a dragon – he summoned his broom and flew like a madman – almost escaping injury.

The second event was a horrific Yule ball with having to dance with girls. Fortunately, the Ravenclaw girls were basically a bunch of nerds like the boys, so it was easy to get a partner. Except Padma Patil, who went with either Potter or Weasley.

Potter couldn't dance worse than Michael – and had to do so in front of everyone. Michael felt a bit sorry for him, but had to contend with being spotty, thirteen and dancing with a girl, so he ran out of sympathy, once the utter cringefulness of it all got to him.

At least Megan's hand didn't make him suddenly feel strange. Sweaty, awkward, but nothing… odd.

-==0==-

The second task, not event, was really boringly waiting for four swimmers to come back from under the lake.

The third and final task was – as expected boringly watching a hedge maze for hours.

And somehow Diggory the Hufflepuff had died- Potter looked half-dead and… and pronounced that Voldemort was back.

The Defence Professor – Moody went mad(der). Old Moody hadn't been playing gobstones with a full set all year.

-==0==-

It was fifth year. The ministry had sent a stooge, a man disguised as a woman surely, who was ruining Defence against the Dark Arts class.

Hermione Granger (with her prefect's badge on) , of all people, organized a Secret Defence club with Harry Potter as the instructor. Michael went along to see what the big fuss was about.

And Harry Potter stood there and just dodged every spell fired at him like it was nothing, then disarmed Zach Smith. So the first lesson was an hour of dodging drill.

One day in the Library, Theodore Nott distracted Michael from the book on Transfiguration theory by shouting out, rather loudly "That's IT! It's PERFECT!" and running out of the library.

Michael doubted that was wise – Madam Pince came over and tided his books away. She glared at everyone and went back to her desk.

Nott had… carved the words 'NO REGRETS' on both his forearms with some sort of curse.

Michael decided Theodore Nott was very weird – and he talked to Luna Lovegood most weeks.

There was something VERY weird about Luna Lovegood – he avoided touching her hand again.

Ginny Weasley (the kid sister of Ron Weasley in his year) had grown up over summer and was very… fit.

And a really good kisser.

But into every sunshine a little rain had to fall….

"You can't not come to Quidditch!" said Ginny angrily.

"Um. Exams" said Michael, whe wold have said 'Gryffindor beat Ravenclaw and you're bineg insufferable' but she was really good at Bat-Bogey hexes, so, whatever, and Ginny Weasley turned on her heel and headed towards the quidditch pitch. Michael couldn't help watching the way her hair swayed. Well, not just her hair.

But… exams were coming. He went back to the castle, got his notes and went to the library.

He would, he thought, have more free time for studying now.

-==0==-

Harry Potter, it transpired was a phenomenal Defence tutor.

Michael even managed a noncoroporal Patronus – which meant he was now safe from Dementors.

At the end of fifth year, Harry Potter had a fit during the History of Magic exam and had to be taken away. It really sucked to be him, thought Michael.

The day after end of term, Michael was sitting at breakfast with mum and dad when Esme came down the stairs, and slumped into a stair.

"Esme," said mum. "Didn't hear you come in."

"Prob'ly cos you were asleep," said Esme, summoning coffee.

Dad caught the Daily Prophet, and unrolled it.

"Fucking hell!" exclaimed dad. Dad never swore.

"Gerald?" said mum.

"Voldemort spotted in the ministry atrium. Duelling Albus bloody Dumbledore" said dad.

"Fucking hell!" said Mum and Esme in unison.

"Esme don't do that, it's annoying," said mum.

"Any explanation of why he's not dead?" asked mum.

"Well," said dad, turning pages "Ah. Yes. Harry Potter was on the scene, and apparently he wasn't lying last year." Dad looked over at Michael who tried to look innocent.

"Michael?" asked dad "Care to explain?"

"Well, this year the ministry pretended he was a liar. And he wasn't. He's actually brilliant at Defence against the Dark arts" said Michael. "Ran a secret tutoring club…. Only reason I could pass the O. Defence practical."

"And the club was secret because?"

"Well, there was a ministerial Educational decree banning any non-approved clubs." said Michael.

"Fudge can't possibly keep his fecking job" said Esme.

Esme was right : HE didn't – and Rufus Scrimgeour from DMLE scowled out of the front page the next day.

Sixth year at least didn't have that awful Umbridge woman. They kept doing DA though… as Death Eaters were on the loose, obviously.

And Harry Potter dated Ginny Weasley in the second half of the school year.

And then, at the end of Sixth year, for no obvious reason, Professor Snape murdered Professor Dumbledore and, accompanied by a mob of Death Eaters, left Hogwarts raided.

Michael couldn't make sense of that. The funeral was awful, and the whole school had to go.

By the end of summer Minister Scrimgeour had 'resigned' and was replaced with Minister Pius Thicknesse, who seemed intent on passing some very dubious laws. Like the one that made it illegal for muggleborns to hold jobs, and put them into re-education camps.

And in the Hogwarts letter was an official letter from the ministry informing Michael that attendance at Hogwarts was compulsory, punishable by Azkaban.

Michael got a letter from 'a friend' with the Floo Address of a safe house his dad could disappear through. The bottom of the letter had a Phoenix stamped on it.

-==0==-

Michael and the guys resolved, on the train before it even got out of London, that they were going back into the D.A. and were going to do everything, to do something about the Ministry interference at Hogwarts.

As they sat down for the sorting feast for their Seventh year, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and well… most of the muggleborns were not at Hogwarts. But the new Defence Teacher, Professor Carrow, and Professor Carrow the Muggle Studies Teacher…

And more worryingly, Professor Snape was back, as Headmaster. His dark presence on the golden chair was like a beacon of black awfulness. Hogwarts, it was clear, was under Death Eater control.

-==0==-

The DA coins showed a time, and Michael went. Neville and Ginny were standing at the front, Neville looking very pale but standing tall – he was as tall as Michael, and looking like… someone had replaced three of the teachers with murdering Death Eaters.

"What do we do?" asked Seamus Finnegan.

"We fight" said Ginny Weasley.

"I think," said Neville, "That we make life hell for Carrows and Snape."

Unfortunately, the Carrows were prepared – and the Unforgivable Torture curse started being used in detentions, taught in class…

Michael did what he could…. And might have spent a few days in chains in the dungeons at one point. But the firsties were safer, and that was what mattered.

-==0==-

The year dragged on and there was no news about Potter.

Rumours circulated that he'd gone to America.

Ginny Weasley just shook her head curtly. "He's got things to do" she said, and wasn't drawn on what they were. Or interested in 'dates' either. For a girl broken up-with she seemed very not single.

The Carrows ramped up the torturing and abuse till people started having to live in the Room of Requirement. Michael spent a lot of time there, and eventually had to become a 'resident.'

Just as it was all looking impossibly difficult, suddenly, out of the painting door Neville used to get to Hogsmeade, out stepped a taller, gaunt Harry Potter, and equally gaunt Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. They all had cuts and dirt and burns, and after Harry Potter spoke two words to Ginny, they were organising.

Snape, and the Carrows faced off against McGonagall… and somehow her spells felled the Carrows, and Snape just … flew out the broken window behind him. Harry had claimed Snape could fly without a broom. And he could.

And then Voldemort attacked Hogwarts.

Michael remembered that it had all been very loud. And, obviously he got hit by a few spells… and cursed a lot of Death Eaters and monsters in Voldemort's army.

Someone had told him to guard the entrance of the Room of Requirement, so he … fought Death Eaters and giant spiders and monsters to keep their base safe. It was easier than running.

Then there was a bang and Michael Corner was knocked across the hallway by flying stones.