Summer was rather lonely. Jamie was traveling for his Quidditch team and Sola was transferring between Paris and New York for her modeling career. The positive side was that I had the privilege of spending time with my loving parents, but some part of me was rather glad when third year came around again. This was also Sola's last year at Hogwarts, and predictably, as Head Girl and Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain.


I managed to find Lily in the ever-pushing crowd of King's Cross and before long, we'd bumped into Dorcas and Alice. Alice introduced her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Baker to us. They left us after wishing us all the best and an invitation to come visit them during the Christmas holidays, and soon after, the whistle blew and all the students began scurrying to the train.

"Where's Marlene?" Lily asked, but no sooner had the question been asked, when Marlene showed up, breathing heavily. "Will you take that on the train for me? Thanks!" She threw a rather cumbersome and very heavy bag at me, which I instinctively caught. I literally think the bones in my arm bent, it hurt so badly. Without another word, Marlene dashed off to store her trunk at the end of the train and Dorcas said, "Well, we'd better get on unless we preferred being stranded here?"

We got on, me with some difficulty. Because we were so late, almost all the compartments were full.

The corridors were filled with people as well, looking for friends and already-misplaced luggage.

Some fourth year boy running after his toad accidentally bumped into me, shouted a quick apology over his shoulder, and continued running. Meanwhile, my bag, which contained a few picture frames of my family and other small fragile valuables was perched precariously on top of Marlene's lumpy bag, which I was holding with my arms, began to tip over. I tried to balance them, but I knew it was hopeless-

As it started to fall and I prepared to scream, someone's hands suddenly reached out from behind me and steadied it.

"Whoa, there," I heard that person say behind me.

I turned around to thank that person, and though I could barely see over the two bags, found that it was James Potter standing right in front of me.

My breath caught. "Er- thanks", I managed. Zayne, who had just come out a nearby compartment and had seen the whole thing, said, "Here, come in our compartment." He helped me store the bags away above the seats, before turning to me and instead of saying hello, said "Ray, why are you one of those girls?"

"Hm?" I tried to play it off like I had no idea what he was talking about. "What are you talking about?"

He rolled his eyes, "Please. The word 'starstruck' was written on your forehead."

"It was not," I protested, trying to retain my dignity.

I turned around to find the others, but I couldn't find them.

"Here, come with me," Zayne offered kindly. "I've already got a compartment."

I took up his invitation and soon enough, I was meeting new people in Zayne's compartment, mostly fellow Ravenclaws.

"Hello, Jamie and Sola's sister whose name I don't know," a cheeky, smiling young girl with short purple hair waved to me from the window seat.

"Her name is Raylynx," Zayne responded quickly, hoping I wouldn't be offended by the comparison to my siblings.

But I sucked it up and smiled back.

"I'm Hestia Jones", the purple-haired girl continued. "A fourth-year Hufflepuff on the Quidditch team."

Oh, so that's how she knows Jamie and Sola.

"Hi, I'm Emmeline Vance," an athletic, short blonde-haired girl introduced herself kindly. "I'm a fourth year Ravenclaw."

"Sturgis Podmore, third year Hufflepuff, I think I've seen you around," a rather built boy with short hair said to me.

I nodded to him. "Yeah, I think you're in my Herbology class."

"Kingsley Shacklebolt, fourth year Gryffindor," a very tall boy told me. He had a very deep and appealing voice, one that made you want to trust him. As a fellow Gryffindor, I'd seen around the common room every once in a while but this was the first time we had been formally introduced.

"Mary MacDonald, I'm a fourth year Ravenclaw," a girl sporting very owlish glasses and light brown hair waved to me.

"Oh, you're the Quidditch commentator, aren't you?" I asked aloud, recognizing her voice. "You're very good."

She smiled at me ecstatically, very lively and quirky.

"Amelia Bones," a very strong-voiced and tall girl with straight dark brown hair introduced herself. She had a serious, but not at all off-putting demeanor. "Fourth year Ravenclaw."

"It's really nice to meet you all. But look, I'll be right back", I told them. "I just need to find my fri-"

"No need, we've already found you" I turned to see Dorcas opening the compartment door. She was with Marlene and Alice.

"Lily's gone with the greasy git," Marlene said shortly, before I could ask.

"Speaking of gits, I think you owe Zayne and me a 'thanks' for carrying your heavy bag all the way in here. Did you put your whole house in there, why is it so heavy?" I asked her.

Marlene suddenly laughed and said, "Oh Merlin, I actually put all my books in that bag, now that I think of it. I didn't think about that before I threw it to you, sorry."

My mouth dropped open in indignation. Marlene tried to say something else, but was jostled from behind as the compartment was very overcrowded.

"We should get back. Listen, Ray, we found a compartment with some Gryffindor girls, but there's only room for three", Dorcas said apologetically to me. "We'll find you at the Great Hall, though."

"See you later," I said, and they left.


As it turned out, the train ride was loads of fun anyways, as the eight of us whiled away the time, chatting (the fourth years could tell us about Hogsmeade and taking extra classes), playing Wizard's chess and Exploding Snap, and eating a ton of candies and pastries even though the Feast was only a couple hours away.

"Don't take Muggle studies," Mary warned us, dealing out cards for Wizard's version of poker. "Hoult's a balmy old bat."

"Arithmancy's very difficult, lots of analytic work, but worth it, I think," Kingsley said, looking over his cards.

"Bets?" Sturgis asked us, and we all bet appropriately.

"What's wrong with Hoult?" Zayne asked.

"Well," Mary began, "to be frank-"

"YES!? Yes, that's me! You've seen my toad?!" A messy-haired, anxious-looking boy burst into our compartment so suddenly that Hestia shrieked.

"Frank, for Merlin's sake, why are you bursting into people's compartments like that?" Hestia asked, clutching at her chest.

"But- didn't you call my name? I thought you found my toad…" Frank said sadly. I knew Frank Longbottom by sight. He was a fourth year Gryffindor.

"No… You've lost your toad again? Why don't you just use magic to find him?" Kingsley suggested.

"You know we don't learn the Summoning Charm until fifth year. Besides, we're not supposed to do magic-" Frank started to say.

"For heaven's sake, you're a Gryffindor! Break the rules every once in a while, will you?" Mary said, shaking her head.

"Here, Frank," Emmeline said kindly, "Accio Trevor!" Suddenly, a frog slammed into the compartment door besides Frank.

"Trevor!" Frank kneeled down and picked up a rather dazed frog. "Thanks, Emmeline."

"See you later, Frank," she said, smiling when he immediately ran into someone in the corridor.

"You won't get in trouble for that?" I asked her.

She shook her head, "The most the Ministry can do it track down where the magic is coming from, not the particular spell-caster. Search a train full of witches and wizards for one Summoning Charm? Not likely."

Mary shook her head and said, "All right, continuing on, all bets are now pla-"

And the entire deck exploded cheerfully.

"Damn it, I had a royal flush, I did!" Sturgis muttered.

"Not anymore. Whew, I could've lost a lot there," Amelia said, and grinned at me.


With an unusually cold September came my first Quidditch try-outs. Whenever Sola or Jamie had declared a position that they wanted to try out for, usually they were the only ones to try out for that position. Everyone had already given up on the possibility of defeating either one of them and picked another position to try out for.

But that certainly did not apply to me. I stood in a queue of Gryffindors that wanted to try out for Seeker and obviously, none of them were intimidated by me. If anything, I was intimidated by them.

The Keeper Position was already taken by the Captain, sixth year Alexander Wood.

Beater Tryouts were absolutely brutal and the last two standing, fifth year Benjamin Spinnet and sixth year Hayden Knight were chosen.

Chaser Tryouts were next and they involved all sorts of maneuvering, catching, and throwing. It was a game of cat-and-mouse with extremely intelligent players at high speeds. The Chaser position was definitely the most popular choice and tryouts were long and unrelenting.

Finally, sixth year Harper Bell was welcomed back for his third year, while surprisingly, third year James Potter and shockingly, third year Sirius Black were chosen as Chasers.

People began to whisper. Third years were rarely chosen for Chaser spots. And though one might have expected the slender James Potter to fly like a bird, how did Sirius Black manage any sort of grace at all when he was as imposing as a dragon?

Nervous and feeling extremely uncoordinated on my own broomstick after witnessing such a display of fantastic Quidditch by Black and Potter, my Seeker try-outs did not go half as well as I hoped. After failing to find the Snitch after one minute, the whistle blew and I touched down back onto the ground. My heart sank when seventh-year Beaufort Williams caught the Snitch at fifty-seven seconds. I turned away to leave the Pitch when Alexander called my name, "Hey, Kingsley! Kingsley!"

I paused and spun around to see Alexander jogging up to me. "What's your first name again? Raylynx?"

I nodded, curious as to why he would be speaking with me after I'd so miserably failed try-outs. It never took me more than fifty seconds to find a Snitch on an empty field… but as always, under pressure, I could never live up to the expectations. In the end, what does it matter if you're good at it, if you're not good at it when it matters?

"Did you hear me? I want you to be our alternate Seeker. So come to every other practice and be at all our matches, all right? Beaufort's the Seeker, but he's a seventh year and I can't just let your talent come to waste. You obviously fly well, only second best to Beaufort."

Alexander held his hand out solemnly and I shook it and replied, "I'll be at practice tomorrow." He smiled warmly at me and then left to congratulate the others. I felt a blossom of warmth in me despite my terrible performance- at least he was generous enough to see the potential in me.


At dinner in the Great Hall, Sirius Black unexpectedly tapped me on the shoulder. I nearly choked on my soup when I realized it was him. We'd never even talked before. What if he'd found out about the wand?

"Your sister is Sola Kingsley? The gorgeous, smart one?" he asked.

I slowly nodded, swallowing the rest of my soup in my mouth carefully.

"I guess it makes sense you'd be good at Quidditch, too. But I never would've guessed you were related to her," Sirius mentioned casually before turning back to his mates.

Though they were just casual words, the impact of those words hit me very hard. What he was saying, essentially, was that I wasn't near as gorgeous nor as smart as Sola. I wasn't like her, and I certainly didn't measure up to her. Suddenly, any previous hunger faded and I just sat there in my seat, numb, alone, and sinking in a puddle of hurt and worthless jealously.


Third year not only meant Quidditch, but also the start of extracurricular subjects. I'd chosen Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, and Divination. Divination was an interesting class with Professor Elliot, though it didn't quite seem like you could teach someone to see. You were either born gifted or you didn't have it. Arithmancy was difficult from the start, as Kingsley had predicted, but Lily, Dorcas, and I put our heads together and began to enjoy the different puzzles each equation represented. My favorite elective was Ancient Runes, which Professor Maudrick taught. I was quickly taken by Professor Maudrick's incredibly insightful lectures, though he was quite young, having only graduated Hogwarts three years ago himself. He honestly seemed more like a good-looking rogue than a legitimate professor because his messy light brown hair was always pulled back in an unkempt ponytail and he often had dark circles under his eyes. But he never failed to fascinate me about the meaning found in Runes, and how even today, they influenced the way we spoke and even thought about certain things. Ancient Runes became one of my favorite subjects, along with Astronomy and Charms.

And I was reading my Ancient Runes textbook at dinner one October day when a sneering voice from Ravenclaw table distracted me. I looked up to see Mulciber, a sixth year Slytherin, jeering at my sister.

"You think all your accomplishments mean anything? They only single out how pathetic you are. In the end, you know what you are? You're a dirty fucking Mudblood!"

My blood boiled, but I sat there at the Gryffindor table, too cowardly to make a move.

"Lay off her!" Chris, one of Sola's friends, growled. Sola calmly held Chris back with her arm and turned to Mulciber. "Slytherin's green is a terribly ugly color, Mulciber, when all it stands for is jealously" she spat, her words harsh and grating.

I'm too scared. But that's your sister. She doesn't need my help. That doesn't matter! This isn't about her, this is about you. Are you going to defend her or not?

Mulciber's eyes flashed and he gritted his teeth, hissing, "I'll show you, you fucking Mud-"

"I'm sick and tired of hearing that word! If that's all you have against my sister, then shut up!" I found myself standing up and shouting.

Everyone was absolutely stunned. Even some of the Professors looked up. Then, I realized that Mulciber was livid, his eyes boring into me, and Travers quickly strode over to me. He touched my cheek demeaningly and laughed when I flinched and moved my head away.

Marlene was itching to stand up, but Lily held her down. Dorcas and Alice had their wands tightly in their hands, but really, what could we do against sixth year Slytherins?

"I suppose you're her sister?" Travers asked. He seemed rather amused. "You know what makes you? Another dirty-blooded Muggle-born."

Professor McGonagall had nearly reached us.

"Until next time, then," Travers said, smirking. He and Mulciber quickly left the Great Hall with three other Slytherins.

Professor McGonagall hesitated, and when Sola and Chris sat down, and Dorcas pulled me back down into my seat, McGonagall slowly walked back to the Head Table.


When I left the table to go to class shortly after, Sola whisked me away though, into a corner of the castle, and proceeded to yell at me.

"You realize what you did, Raylynx? Nobody even knew you were my younger sister, that you were a Muggle-born, but now you've made yourself a target with all Slytherins! And I won't even be here to protect you next year!"

"Well, I wasn't going to just stand by and applaud the guy who was insulting you," I defended myself.

"You're really an idiot. What do you think makes me feel worse right now, the fact that a few stupid Slytherins said some meaningless things to me or the fact that my little sister put herself in the line of fire because of me?"

"Are you telling me that if the situation was switched, you would have done nothing? Or that Jamie would have just let it happen?" I asked her skeptically.

"It's not the same thing. Jamie's different. But the point is you're my responsibility. I'm not yours." Sola retorted sternly.

I know Jamie's different. You trust him because he's capable, and I'm not.

Still. Sola was my responsibility too, in that I was her sister and I needed to stay by her side, even if she would never need my help.

"That's what you think," I responded honestly.

Sola bit her lower lip, which she always did when she was upset but had nothing to say. Finally she just sighed and shook her gorgeous mane of raven black hair before walking away.

I let out a breath I had been holding.

Somehow facing my own sister was more frightening than facing a group of mean Slytherins.


"Today, we shall learn the Dragon Transformation Spell. It turns any object into a dragon; a small, transfigured dragon that cannot breathe fire. The movement is fairly simple, a simple slashing movement at the object. The incantation is such: Draconifers. Your pronunciation must be clear. Draconifers!"

"All right," Zayne said with a deep sigh, "Let's crack on then, shall we?"

"Yeah. I went first last time, so the honor goes to you, Zayne."

He smiled a little, crookedly, just the left corner of his mouth.

"What?" I asked him.

"What-? Nothing. I'll go, shall I?" He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then made a slashing motion with his wand and said, "Draconifers!"

The book suddenly transformed in a flash of fiery red light and a small red dragon was suddenly on our desks.

"It's so small! Unexpectedly, it's pretty cute. Wait! It's not going to mew, is it?" Zayne asked apprehensively.

"Well, McGonagall said it won't breathe fi-" My words cut short as the dragon suddenly extended its wings and let out a roar of fire- melting a small hole in the desk.

"Er- I think McGonagall might have overestimated our non-inflammatory abilities," Zayne said anxiously. The dragon bellowed again, a stream of fire burning another hole in the desk.

"Zayne-" I started, about to tell him to revert the spell when the dragon raised its little head and blew a stream of fire that lit our Transfiguration books.

"Oh Merlin, move!" Zayne shouted and shoved me back.

"No, just put it out, you fool!" I yelled back. "Don't let the fire spread!"

Zayne waved his wand to put the fire out, but tripped backwards at the wrong moment. The fire suddenly exploded in size, incinerating our books.

"Finnigan! Again!?"