There were nothing but two giant wooden doors, a sea of black robes and the excited murmurs of the returning students. As they neared the entrance, it suddenly opened by itself, revealing the enormous entrance hall of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I was among the first ones to enter the breathtaking castle, staying behind to admire the ancient beauty.
A little way ahead a tall and lean figure had noticed I wasn't following her anymore and was stomping towards me with her long, sleek hair waving fiercely. She was my sister Lucretia; overly stylish for her age and always painfully meticulous with her appearance.
"Hurry up, you slug!" she rushed impatiently. Lucretia was about to begin her third year and thus considered herself superior to me, which only fed her delusion of authority when our mother had instructed her to guide me safely to the castle.
"Coming!" I protested as she proceeded to steer me further into the hall. "I'm just... nervous."
The gaze in her dark eyes softened in the warm gleam of candles and she crouched to look me in the eyes. "Don't worry, you'll be fine. All you have to do is to sit with a hat on your head."
"Okay, I have to go now but just wait here, the headmaster will be here in a minute", she guided and stroked my short hair swiftly before following the other students heading toward the Great Hall. Soon after a man with long brown hair and a matching beard marched toward us.
"My name is Armando Dippet and I am the school's headmaster. Welcome to Hogwarts!" he said, smiling warmly.
"Come after me, we shall enter the Great Hall where you will be sorted."
Dippet led us through the huge oak doors of the Great Hall. I followed along in the long line of first years, feeling slightly nervous yet extremely thrilled at the same time.
We stood in a neat row ready to be sorted while Dippet brought the hat and set it in front of us. He took a long piece of parchment from his pocket and rolled it open.
"Evelyn Abott!" he called, reading the list. A blonde girl who looked like she was about to faint crept to the hat and sat down.
"HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat declared after a while. Only a few other names were called before my own. I marched to the chair with a pair of unsteady legs.
Here we go, I thought as I set the hat on my head.
"Hmm... Another Black, eh? Well, let's see if you have what it takes to join the long line of Slytherins in your family", the hat said in my head.
"I see you have quite the amount of Slytherin qualities, but you could find your place in Gryffindor, too...", the hat mumbled. What did that mean? Was I not fit to be in Slytherin?
"Should you join the house of the cunning and resourceful? Or perhaps, would you be better off among the bold Gryffindors?" wondered the hat. My body felt cold with all the nervousness in me, yet all I could do was to sit still and wait those tormenting moments the hat took to sort me.
"Hmm, SLYTHERIN it is", and the Hall was filled with cheers. I sighed with relief and couldn't stop smiling as I headed to the Slytherins table.
"That's my sister!" Lucretia congratulated when I sat next to her. "I would have disowned you if you had become anything else!" she teased. I snorted at her and sat back relaxed after all the tension was released.
At last all of the new students got sorted and headmaster Armando Dippet stood up from his chair, facing all the students.
"Welcome, welcome, to another great year at Hogwarts! As many times before, new students are sorted, excited and hungry, but before we can begin this magnificent feast, let me once more remind you of the school rules..."
I let his voice become a silent murmur in my ears and fiddled with my fork instead. I knew the rules. My parents had insisted that Lucretia should teach them to me before I got here so she had lectured me thoroughly on the Hogwarts Express. Not that she had much respect for rules, instead she always told me I must know the rules so I can learn how to break them.
The students clapped politely when the headmaster sat down and finally the food appeared in front of us. I couldn't decide what to eat so I took a little bit of everything on my plate. I laughed and chatted with a few of the other Slytherins, mostly with my sister and her friends, and ended up having quite a delightful evening.
It was getting rather late when he caught my eye. A black haired boy sitting alone near the end of the table. His eyes were wandering all over the Hall, but they never made contact with any of the other students. I wasn't sure why but I found his behavior extremely fascinating.
"What are you staring at?" Lucretia asked, mouth full of dessert. Then she followed my gaze to the boy.
"Who's that? Elara, where are you going?"
I stood up and marched to the boy. He startled and lifted his gaze slowly, as if he was surprised that somebody dared to approach him. He then raised his eyebrows arrogantly at me.
"What?" he blurted out in a rather ignorant tone. Now that's a friendly start...
"I was just wondering if you'd like to join our company? You could make some friends", I tried. Now that I was closer I could see that he was very thin and pale and his dark eyes had a distant and cold look in them.
"I don't need friends. I'm used to being on my own", he snapped and turned away.
"Okay...", I mumbled slowly. "Well, I'll sit down anyway if it's okay." I wasn't going to give up now. There had to be a way to break the ice.
"Elara, what on earth are you doing?" Lucretia yelled with an amused manner from the other side of the table. I grimaced at her and turned back to the boy, who was staring at Lucretia.
"What's your name? I'm Elara Black", I chatted on. He glared at me suspiciosly.
"Oh come on! You can at least answer when someone asks you a question! Lighten up, will you?" A strange expression flashed across his face briefly.
"Tom. Tom Riddle is my name."
I grinned. "Riddle, eh? Well, I guess you're one big mystery then, right?" I laughed jokingly and punched his arm lightly. He turned toward me with his eyebrows raised.
"No? Well, maybe not then...", I muttered awkwardly. Tom sighed and rolled his eyes.
"You're very hilarious indeed."
"Fine then, no joking", I snapped playfully. I glanced up to the enchanted roof that was currently showing a clear night sky full of stars.
"What do you think about Hogwarts? I think it's very beautiful", I sighed.
"Yes...", Tom looked up at the roof in a dreaming manner. "This place.. It's not for regular kids, right?" he muttered to himself.
"What do you mean by that?" I asked, but he never answered me.
The feast had come to an end and it was time to go to sleep. I searched the stream of students for Lucretia, but she was already heading outside with her friends. She had obviously forgotten that she was supposed to show me the way to the common room. Next to me Tom got up from his seat to leave but before he had time to take one step I grabbed his wrist firmly. He glared at me hostilely.
"Do you want to walk with me?" I asked coyly before he managed to object. "I don't know where to go."
"Fine", he replied unexpectedly. Perhaps he didn't know where to go either and didn't want to wander around alone.
I let his wrist go and led him deep into the mass of people crowding by the door. Outside the students rapidly gathered with their housemates and headed for their common rooms.
"Let's just follow the other Slytherins", I suggested. Tom nodded briskly and marched after a pack of older Slytherins. I tried to catch a glimpse of my sister once more, but she had vanished a long time ago. We followed the older students through a door that led to the dungeons.
"Is our common room here?" whispered another first-year behind us.
"Yes, it's a little further ahead", explained a voice from up ahead. Soon we stopped in front of what looked like a regular wall. But as the older Slytherin who had spoken up before said the password, it moved away, revealing an entrance to the common room.
It was a large room with a fireplace, lots of chairs, sofas, tables and portraits of famous Slytherins. One of these portrayed my great-grandfather, Phineas Nigellus Black, who had been the headmaster of Hogwarts in his time. There were also emerald and silver curtains, and a curious greenish glow entered from the windows. A few older Slytherins gathered beside the fireplace before going to bed.
"Wow, is that the lake?" I gasped and ran to the window. I could see the bottom, with fish swimming around and water plants swinging softly in their own, slow rhythm. "Cool! I thought Lucretia was kidding when she told me that the common room was under water!"
"Well, anyways, I'll go to bed now. Good night Tom", I smiled to him as I climbed the stairs to the girls bedroom. Tom said nothing, just stood there staring at me all the way to the dormitory. As I got to the bedroom I sneaked discreetly into my bed and shut the emerald curtains. I laid awake for a while, thinking about everything that had happened during the day. Hogwarts, the sorting and Tom Riddle, that strange kid. He was my last thought before drifting to restless sleep.