Swallowed in Silent Darkness

I turned around immediately after hearing the very familiar voice. The person standing in the doorway was a boy around my age with long, messy black hair with bright green eyes. Sitting on his nose was a pair of broken glasses. He looked at me for a few seconds before he gasped in shock.

"Hey, you're the girl from the zoo, aren't you? Alexandria, right?"

"That's right. And you're Harry?" He nodded, smile appearing on his face as he walked into the cabin with his trunk and owl. The owl, sitting in its cage obediently, was a beautiful owl with white feathers and amber eyes. Gaven, from atop his cage, hooted lowly but calmly. Harry's owl replied with its own cry, and I smiled.

Harry said, putting his trunk up top, "I still have a hard time believing this isn't a dream. How've you been?"

"Okay, I s'pose. Although I thought I wasn't going to be on the train today."

"Why's that?" I went on to explain how my aunt and cousins were always treating me badly, as if I were a sort of servant, even though my uncle treated me like family. Harry seemed to know what that was like by the way he was looking at me.

"That's terrible," Harry commented, running a hand through his hair.

"What about you Harry?" I asked, waiting anxiously for his answer.

"I was lucky to have Hagrid show up when he did, or else I wouldn't be going to this school."

"Hagrid?"

"Yeah, he works at Hogwarts. If you want you could meet him, too." I nodded happily, hoping he would continue with his story. However, the door to our compartment slid open again, and we both looked up. A boy with noticeable red hair and freckles on his face appeared and asked, "Anyone sitting here? Everywhere else is full."

I shook my head and said, "Sit anywhere you like." He quickly pulled in his trunk, putting it in the area above our heads. He sat in the spot in between me and the door.

"Thanks for letting me sit here. I'm Ron Weasley."

"I'm Harry Potter, and this is my friend Alexandria Melrose." At this, Ron's eyes grew wide. It wasn't at all fear, but it was a sort of astonishment.

"Whoa, so you two survived You-Know-Who's attack!"

Harry and I exchanged a glance, and I asked, "I'm sorry?"

"Loads of people talk about you two. I mean, you both survived the Killing Curse, and You-Know-Who hasn't been seen since then." Turning to Harry, he asked, "So is it really true? That you have a...?" Harry gave him a confused look, and Ron continued, "...A scar?"

Harry smiled and brushed away his hair, revealing a lightning bolt-shaped mark on his forehead. Ron whispered, "Wicked!"

The three of us talked some more before a kind, elderly woman opened the door. "Anything from the trolley, dears?" She pushed along a cart full of what looked like candy, although it wasn't anything that I'd ever seen before. Seeing that Ron didn't have much, Harry decided to buy everything off it. After she had gone, Harry shared it with Ron and I. Warily, I picked some of the safest candy there was. A box of something called Bertie Botts' Every Flavor Beans, a few Pumpkin Pasties, and a few Cauldron Cakes. I fed a few owl treats to Gaven, who still refused to get inside his cage. Ron had taken a good assortment of candy, and he looked genuinely happy. And I noticed, looking between the two boys, that I felt genuinely happy. I had already found two friends.

Ron had just finished showing us the Chocolate Frogs (which had trading cards with pictures that moved) and was about to use magic on his rat Scabbers when a girl with bushy brown hair that reminded me of my aunt appeared in the doorway. She seemed nicer than my aunt, though. Much, much nicer.

"Has anyone seen a toad? A boy named Neville's lost one." No one got a chance to respond before the girl spotted the wand in Ron's hand. Sitting down next to me, she asked him, "You're doing magic? Let's see then." Ron got a bit nervous, but he cleared his throat and said a long sort of spell. Nothing happened though. Scabbers remained the same gray colour he was before.

"Is that a real spell? It's not a very good one is it?" She continued on, saying something about reading all of the books before she pulled out her own wand. Pointing it at a very uneasy Harry, she said, "Occulus Reparo." Just like that, Harry's glasses had been fixed, tape gone and no cracks in the lenses. It made me want to learn the spells now, even though it might not be completely safe on the train.

"I'm Hermione Granger, and you are...?" She looked first at Ron, whose face began to turn red.

"Ron Weasley."

"Pleasure," she almost forced out, before turning to Harry and I. "I know you two! Harry Potter and Alexandria Melrose! I've read all about you." Read? By the sound of that, Harry and I were famous in this Wizarding world.

She got up to leave after telling us that we should change into our robes, but before she actually left, she turned back to Ron and pointed out, "You've got a bit of dirt, there-" she rubbed a place on her nose-"Did you know?" Ron immediately went to clean off his nose, and soon afterward, Ron and Harry left to go change into their robes. I pulled my trunk down, taking out my own robes. Leaving my trunk on my seat and nearly fighting with Gaven to get in his cage, I went after them. The windows outside showed that it was becoming dark, and I was stunned at how quickly the time went by.

After changing my robes, I returned to the compartment where my two friends were. Before opening the door, a hand stopped me. To my right was a pale boy with blonde hair that almost matched his skin. "You don't mean to tell me that you know those people in that compartment. Do you?"

His grey eyes gleamed, and I cautiously answered, "So what if I do? What does it matter to you?"

"Well, well. It appears that we have someone with a tongue here. You're Alexandria Melrose, part of the famous Melrose family." He said that last part with such certainty that I did not dare to say anything else. "The name's Malfoy. Draco Malfoy. With a name like yours, it's only certain that you're going to be in Slytherin, just like me." He removed his hand from the door, and without another word he carried on to his own compartment, leaving me to wonder why he believed that I would be in Slytherin.

Shaking off the small confrontation, I went back into the compartment. Harry and Ron smiled at my return, and I gave them a smile of my own as I sat in my spot. The three of us continued to chat on our way to Hogwarts, and before we all knew it, the train began slowing down. A voice told us to leave our things in the compartment, and Gaven let everyone in here know--down to Hedwig, Harry's owl, and Scabbers--his dislike. I took some time to explain to Gaven that he had to behave and remain in his cage for a while. The barn owl quieted down after I promised I would see him soon, and I sighed in relief. I told the two boys, who stared at my owl, "Yeah, Gaven's got a personality on him, but he listens to me most of the time." The train came to a stop, and the three of us managed to get to the corridor before a lot of students came out.

As I walked out with Harry and Ron, I noticed a very large man standing on the platform, holding a lantern. He was easily two or three times my height--probably even more--with a beard that matched his hair. The man shouted, "Firs' years over here!" After getting the attention of all the new students, he noticed Harry and asked with a smile, "All right there, Harry?" Harry nodded, and the man shouted for all of the first years to follow him.

I walked with Harry and Ron down the platform and onto a small path. We all looked up and saw a large castle in the distance, some windows brightly lit against the dark night. I tried taking in all that I could of Hogwarts, but I stopped myself so I would stay close to Ron and Harry. Soon enough, we were being put into boats in groups of four. I ended up getting into a boat separate from my friends; Instead, I was with the boy with light hair. Draco Malfoy, he re-introduced himself. He also introduced me to two of his friends, Crabbe and Goyle.

I forced a smile and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you." They all looked convinced that they had befriended me, but as soon as they turned away, I rolled my eyes. Still, if I was going to be in their house, then it was best if I didn't make enemies, just like my uncle advised me. I took another glance at the castle that was coming into better view, and I gasped silently. It was an amazing sight, and I hadn't even been inside the place!

After climbing out of the boat with the three boys, all the first years assembled into one large group again, following the man I assumed was Hagrid up another path to Hogwarts. I smiled, seeing Harry and Ron just a few steps ahead of me. Draco moved up the steps to where they were, Crabbe and Goyle following him. They had exchanged a few words that I couldn't hear, but in the end, Harry and Draco seemed to be anything but friends. In that moment, a woman appeared at the very front of the group. She wore a black pointed hat over her greying hair with dark green robes. She looked like she would be a strict teacher.

She began telling us what we were to do when a boy yelled, "TREVOR!" The boy came up to the front step, kneeling down to what looked like a toad. That must have been Neville. The woman, Professor McGonagall, finished giving us her instructions and led us into what she said was the Great Hall. When the doors opened, I realised just why it was called "The Great Hall".

Inside this large room were four tables, all mostly filled with older students. Over each of the tables were different banners, one for each of the houses. I continued inside the hall, looking up at the ceiling. I found myself standing next to the girl on the train, Hermione. She told me as we walked on, "The ceiling's bewitched to look like the night sky. I read it in Hogwarts, A History." At the very front was another table, filled with many other teachers and staff. In the center stood a man with a long, white beard who wore burgundy robes and a small hat. His hair looked as long as his beard, and behind his glasses were wise eyes. Another person at the table caught my eye quite easily, and I held in a gasp as I stood beside Hermione.

Black hair that nearly reached his shoulders, black eyes, pale skin...The man in the Apothecary. He was going to be one of my teachers.

I looked away quickly before he could spot me, instead choosing to listen to the man who now stood in front of us. According to Professor McGonagall, his name was Professor Dumbledore. He addressed all of the first years, telling us that the Dark Forest was forbidden to everyone (it didn't sound like anything I wanted to go into anyway, day or night, by the way he spoke). There was also part of the third floor that was off-limits, and there was a feeling of uneasiness that went through everyone in the first year group. After Professor Dumbledore finished his words, Professor McGonagall continued, "When I call your name, you shall come up here, I shall place the Sorting Hat upon your head, and you will be sorted into your houses."

She picked up an old hat that sat on the stool, and at once, it came alive. I watched and listened as it sang about the four houses. When it stopped singing, I clapped along with the rest of the hall, half because of the song and half because of my amazement that it could even sing. Professor McGonagall resumed, picking up the Hat and unrolling a long scroll, "Hannah Abbot." A girl approached the stool and sat down, facing the other students. Professor McGonagall put the hat on her head and the Hat shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF!" Students from the table with yellow banners overhead cheered, and the Sorting continued.

Hermione's name was called next, and I smiled to her, wishing her a "Good luck." She smiled back at me and went to the stool. When the Hat was placed on her head, it howled, "GRYFFINDOR!" Her face looked relieved as she went to sit at the table under the red tapestries. Later on, Draco was called to the front. The boy looked very smug as he sat on the stool, and at once the Hat shouted, "SLYTHERIN!" Draco at once went over to where his friends sat, the table on the far right, green banners hanging boldly.

"Alexandria Melrose." Professor McGonagall's voice rang out, causing a lot of murmuring that I couldn't quite make out. I carefully stepped up to her and sat, feeling the Hat being placed on my head.

"I haven't a Melrose to sort for years...You've got much potential....Brave and intelligent, a brilliant combination for one as yourself....That is from your mother....My my...So much ambition and skill, as well as hard-working....From your father, of course...." Its chuckling echoed in my head, before its words flowed on. "Though you know nothing of that night...One day you shall learn....Aside from that, such a difficult decision....But what's this? Such a noble purpose you have...I assure you that you are destined for greatness, and this will be the house to get you there..."

"SLYTHERIN!"