Heir

We were all adopted. There were five of us: Cristobal, Alex, Max, me, and Sophia. But, I was the only one to receive letters from various magical schools when I turned eleven. That's why they called me a muggle-born and sometimes a mudblood. My school had been located in a remote region of Galicia, Spain. But, we had recently received word that I may know more about my birth parents if I changed schools. Due to Hogwarts fame to safety and producing spectacular wizards, my parents found it hard to argue with the headmaster.

That's how I found myself walking through Kingscross station with my siblings and my parents as we frantically searched for the correct platform. I groaned and looked back up at my father.

“Dad, this is pointless. We’re never going to find the platform.” I said to him and pushed my thick hair out of my face.

Luckily for us, a girl that looked to be my age walked towards us at that exact moment despite that fact that she looked like she was with a group of her friends. She had curly brown hair, brown eyes, and she walked with an air of confidence around her. It was as if she knew something that other did not. I blushed softly when she was in front of me. She had been pushing around a trolley similar to mine and I hoped we were searching for the same thing.

"Excuse me, I think we're going to the same place. Do you need help?" She asked me politely, a smile still gracing her face while I smiled and nodded.

"Please. I've been looking for platform 9 3/4 for so long." I told her as best as I could, knowing that my Spanish accent was strong despite my fluency in English.

"Follow me. We'll let my friends go first so you could get the hang of it." She said sweetly as she gestured for the group she was with to walk ahead of us. "I'm Hermione Granger, by the way."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Elena Fuentes. And thank you, by the way. I appreciate it." I introduced before turning briefly to explain to my parents and siblings that I would be leaving soon.

By the time everyone said goodbye to me, my younger sister especially, I just had enough time to see a redheaded girl run straight through a brick wall. My eyes were wide and Hermione laughed a bit.

"Don't worry," she began to say sweetly as my large family stepped back nervously, "you'll get used to it eventually."

I gave everyone one last goodbye before following Hermione. The train was absolutely exquisite. It's bright red was the only thing filling my senses until I heard Hermione calling my name. A blush made its way to my cheeks and I followed her onto the train, wondering why she was being so nice to me. She brought me to a compartment and spent the next few moments introducing her large group of friends to me.

"What school were you attending before this one?" Luna asked politely in a dreamy tone that confused me a bit.

"Galicia Academy." I answered politely before turning my attention to Ron when he had the next question.

"And you're the only one in your family that can do magic?" He asked me, a bit amazed at that fact since him and his sister both seemed to be wizards.

"Well, we were all adopted." I explained simply while placing my hand over the small scar on my left arm. "I don't really know much about my birth parents."

Seeing how the conversation may begin to turn awkward, Hermione changed the conversation. Now those who filled the compartment spoke about the new professor that was added to the staff. According to the redheaded girl that I saw running through the wall, who I now knew was named Ginny, Hogwarts was constantly adding new professors.

Rather than dozing off, my dark eyes found their way out the window. I was watching the scenery and thinking about what lay in front of me. In many ways, I felt like I was leaving behind the family I loved in order to find the family that abandoned me. But, the man with the blue eyes and the long white beard insisted that I transfer to Hogwarts. After all, this is the school that my birth father attended when he was my age. I just hoped that I would be happy with whatever information I learn about my parents.

"Do you have any idea what house you'll be placed into?" Harry asked, confusing me immensely since I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about.

"House?" I repeated in confusion, watching a small smile appear on his face.

"All of the students are separated into four houses." Ron explained with a small shrug, "That's how they decide who you eat with, have classes with, and who shares the dorms with you."

"How was your old school organized?" Hermione asked me curiously, making me shrug just a bit.

"The school wasn't that big. We were divided up based on the year we were in. Then we were organized by skill level for class." I shrugged a bit and turned back to Ron and Harry, hoping to get more information about the houses. "What houses are there?"

"Well, there's Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, and Slytherin." He began to explain before Ron cut him off and made Harry roll his eyes.

"Which basically seems to translate into the smart kids, the shy kids, the best kids, and the assholes." Explained Ron as he shrugged a bit while looking down at the sweets in his hand.

"Let me guess," I began to say with the same small laugh that I shared with everyone else around me, "you three are in Gryffindor?"

"It's only the best house on campus." Harry said in a teasing tone, making me roll my eyes playfully since I knew they must be incredibly biased.

"It's true though!" Hermione began to explain, "I'm not sure how much they spoke about it at your school, but he-who-must-not-be-named was in Slytherin."

I looked a little confused. Everyone in the wizarding world knew who he was - especially those who had heard about Harry Potter. Hell, even my parents and siblings knew all about Voldemort. But, I could never really find it in myself to be scared of him despite the fact that I was a muggle-born and I was basically one of the things he was trying to get rid of.

"So, Slytherin is bad and Gryffindor is good?" I reiterated with another small laugh as Harry and Ron nodes but Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Unless you're a pureblood, you won't get into Slytherin anyway. Don't worry about the sorting." Hermione said simply, obviously trying her hardest to calm me down since she knew how nervous I was, "Now, we should probably get changed into our robes."

With a wave of her hand, both of the boys left and I was left with Hermione. One of the good things about many siblings is that changing in front of people is never uncomfortable. Within just a few minutes, we were all getting off of the train. Unfortunately, I was ordered to follow the large group of first years and transfer students rather than follow my new friends. My eyes were wide once the magnificent castle came into my view.

Hogwarts was at least three times the size of Galicia, the private school that I had been calling my second home since I was eleven. Up until now, I had never seen something more classically beautiful. Yet, I wasn’t able to enjoy the scenery as much as I had hoped due to the fact that my stomach had turned into a wad of nerves.

Before anything else could be said between the two of us, we were all shushed by Professor McGonagall. My eyes went towards her but she was avoiding my gaze, making my arched eyebrows furrow together in frustration. For that reason, I completely tuned her out when she gave us all a small speech before opening the door and allowing us to walk into the huge room.

I was only listening to every other word that slipped from Professor Dumbledore’s mouth. That is, until he mentioned that the transfers would be going first. That’s how I found myself on a stool in front of approximately 1,000 students and praying silently that I would be placed in Gryffindor as they prepared the sorting hat. I never thought I would miss the cruel way that Galicia separated students based on their academic standing. The hat hadn’t even settled on my head before it shouted “Slytherin!”

I walked over to the table that was cheering and kept my eyes on the floor nervously. Speaking of friends, the three that I shared a compartment with were now staring at me in confusion. They were the only ones who knew I was a muggle-born placed in Slytherin.

“New girl,” a voice began to say in the middle of the feast, making me look up in confusion since there was no one across the table from me a moment ago, “Where are you from?”

When I looked up, I was met with two people who were slipping into the seat across from me. The girl was pale with short, dark hair and eyes that stared down at me menacingly. The boy beside her, on the other hand, had blonde hair that was falling into his icy eyes and I definitely wouldn’t have objected to a few moments alone with him. I would later learn that their names were Pansy Parkinson and Draco Malfoy.

“San Sebastian, Spain.” I answered easily as they each took a seat in front of me, making me wish that I didn’t look worried about the house I was placed in.

“San Sebastian?” the boy questioned, obviously intrigued, “I don’t think I’ve heard of that before. What’s your name again?” he asked me, making me bite my lip since I knew that this would be enough to show everyone that I didn’t belong in Slytherin.

“Elena Fuentes.” I said sweetly, watching as his face and the face of those around him contorted into a face of confusion.

“I’ve never heard of your family.” Pansy said as she leaned back a bit and her words attracted the attention of a few people around us. “What do your parents do?”

“You are a pureblood, aren’t you?” Draco asked me, trying to confirm his thoughts.

Luckily, I was saved from having to answer that question when Professor Snape appeared behind me. Not only was he head of my new house, but he was also the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. At the time, I was blissfully unaware of the irony of his position.

“Ms. Fuentes, here is your schedule.” He said to me as he handed me a piece of paper with classes and times listed on it, “You should get going with the first years and the other transfers. They should be lining up soon to head to the common area.”

Almost as soon as the words left his mouth, people began to get up from their tables and I made sure that I was one of them. I followed the crowd through the castle, a bit annoyed that I was the same height as a majority of the first years crowded around me. I could easily be mistaken for one of them.

“The password to get into the common room is Serpens. If you get it wrong or you forget, you better hope that someone bothers to help you.” One of the prefects said as the stone behind him began to shift away in order to show off the entrance to the common room.

The common room looked like nothing more than a cold dungeon with a green tint thanks to the lake above it. There were a few black and dark green leather sofas along with wooden bookcases, and an oversized fireplace. If the room was located anywhere else, it would most likely have a warm atmosphere that I would have liked. Here, however, it made me feel cold. Everyone went up to their rooms and I decided I would take the time to write a letter to my family. Thanks to how close we were, I chose to write letters to them almost every day.

I took out a quill, ink, and some spare parchment before I began to write:

Hogwarts is definitely different than Galicia. First, the students are separated into houses based on their personalities. I have been placed in Slytherin – the dorm with the coldest common room imaginable. Second, the castle is gigantic. There are not as many students as expected, but you could fit all of Galicia on a third of Hogwarts grounds. Third, apparently your blood status is actually important here.

I haven’t met with Dumbledore yet. And I still don’t have any news on my birth parents yet. But, I guess they were both wizards. The students I sat with on the train explained that I couldn’t have been placed into this dorm unless I was a pureblood.

I’ll fill you in with more information when I get it.

Missing you already
-El

Once the letter was written and sealed, I slid off of my new bed in order to make my way to a different tower in order to send my letter. My family’s black owl, Athena, flew over to me before sitting down on the ledge of the window. I smiled sweetly, ruffled her feathers, and handed her the letter before she flew off into the night sky.

While I was walking down the stairs in order to make my way back to my dorm, I heard hushed whispers being shared by two men. I was going to keep walking. I was going to ignore it. I was even going to pretend I didn’t hear anything. But something that they said caught my attention once I realized that I recognized both voices. To make matters worse, it was obvious that they were talking about me.

“He thinks she’s dead. You should have left her in Spain.” Professor Snape said angrily, obviously upset that Dumbledore had the idea to bring me here in the first place, “He never would’ve been able to find her.”

“Don’t you see? If she’s here, we can keep an eye on her.” Dumbledore explained in a frustrated tone, showing that he had most likely had this exact same discussion with his colleague before.

“Dumbledore, if he finds out that she’s alive and here-” Snape began to say before his words were cut off.

“-he won’t find out unless someone who knows the truth tells him.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“I know who I told about this. Unless you or Minerva told someone else, I know who leaked that information.”

“He is coming back and his heir will be the first thing he looks for. Do you not realize that?” Snape repeated, letting out his frustrations.

Before I realized what was happening, Professor Snape stormed away from the conversation. Once the coast was clear, I slid away from the wall that I was pressed up against and started walking back to the dungeons since it was about time for me to go to sleep anyway.