I must have slept off after some time because when I looked outside the window again, it had gone dark.

If I looked closely, I could see dense forestry and huge mountains. The train was also gradually slowing down.

An announcement was broadcasted through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

The train gradually slowed down to a stop and the doors were opened. Students hurried out, moving quickly and with a bit of pushing and shoving.

I nearly fell from being pushed too hard because I got distracted staring wide-eyed at Hagrid, the half-giant was there to lead the nervous first years.

"Firs'-years! Firs'-years over here!"

The first year students were led away from the rest of the students for their customary boat ride across the Black Lake.

I knew what was coming next but I half wanted to join the first years to experience it myself.

The sounds of arriving carriages made me lift my head up. I knew Thestrals drew the carriages but I wasn't expecting to be able to see one.

Which was a bit redundant, my entrance into this world was filled with a lot of death.

So I wasn't prepared for their appearance and was startled badly, this caught the attention of the people around me and whispers started up.

Thestrals were nightmare fodder, they looked cool but were also creepy. They looked like huge skeletal horses with large bat-like wings.

They had dragon-like faces with sharp fangs and empty white eyes which stared right through you. I couldn't wait to get on the carriages, keeping to myself the entire time.

I could almost imagine how Harry felt when he first came to Hogwarts but I was popular for all the wrong reasons.

Fortunately, the carriage ride was peaceful and in no time we got to the huge castle that was the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The castle doors were wide open for the arriving students. It opened up into a large entrance hall, flaming torches were hung up on the stone walls.

We marched to the right, heading for the Great Hall where the Start of Term Feast and Sorting Ceremony would take place.

We filed into the Great Hall and I forgot all about the eyes on me and the whispering about me, I was mind blown by everything around me.

The floating candles, the bewitched ceiling, and the ghosts hovering over their Houses' tables. Headmistress McGonagall and the other familiar-looking Professors.

I found a spot to sit, noting that I was given a wide berth. It was fine with me, the fewer people around, the less trouble I got into.

The Sorting Ceremony was about to begin but I paid it very little attention, still looking around, unable to get enough of how magnificent the Great Hall looked.

Magic was pretty awesome.

The Hall went quiet at the start of the sorting. Fresh-faced, young witches and wizards sat stiffly with the hat down over their faces.

It was soon over, the seated students cheering on the newcomers as they all made their way to their House tables.

Headmistress McGonagall was seated on a throne-like chair at the center of the raised platform where the Professors sat.

She got to her feet after the sorting was all done, she was dressed in ceremonial robes and a pointy hat.

Her expression was as pinched as it was in the book series and the movie franchise, her signature glasses in place.

"Welcome, everyone, to a new year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." She announced in a measured voice. "For now, enjoy the banquet." She said simply.

I knew there were more instructions to come but it would be for later. I was really hungry.

I glanced down at my gold plate, unsurprised when food materialized on the table. 

It was the same for the other tables, a variety of mouth-watering meals lining the entire length of the tables.

Excited chattering immediately went up when we were all allowed to eat. I got comfortable and filled my plate up with everything that caught my fancy, quietly eating my food.

I only took a couple of mouthfuls when I stiffened, it felt like a block of ice was placed on my entire back.

I looked behind me only to find wide black eyes from a gaunt face staring right past me.

It was the Bloody Baron!

He had chains around him and splatters of silver blood all over his old-fashioned outfit. He was also standing right behind me.

It was very uncomfortable to have a ghost touch you but he didn't seem to notice that he was practically on me.

"Um," I cleared my throat nervously. "Bloody Baron… sir, could you move a bit?"

He seemed startled by my address but at least he moved on, solemnly moving up the table.

I breathed a sigh of relief when the ominous and uncomfortable feeling faded, only to turn back to my food and have it return.

It was Sawyer. Blythe and Crawley were nowhere to be found this time, instead, an older-looking Wizard accompanied him.

The taste of food in my mouth soured, Sawyer was bad news.

The Wizard that had accompanied him was dressed in the Slytherin house colors and had a silver badge on his robes. This was our Quidditch Captain.

"Audric, you're off the team." The Captain said, not looking me in the eye.

'So I am on the team.'

"What! Why?" 

I knew this was all Sawyer's doing but it didn't make sense. They couldn't kick me off the team for something my dad allegedly did.

"For losing points for Slytherin." He continued in an unsure voice, looking down at his feet.

It was obvious that Sawyer was the one making him do all this.

I had to silence my scoff. "I didn't lose points for Slytherin…" I tried to argue but the Captain wasn't having it.

"Submit your uniforms to me tomorrow." He cut me off in a stiff voice, hurrying away.

"But!" I tried to call after him but he was long gone.

I didn't hold back my reaction and glared at Sawyer. The bastard just had a smug look on his face.

"You heard Jon, submit your uniforms." He repeated haughtily, walking off.

I was in a bubble of rage for the next couple of minutes, mentally convincing myself not to tackle Sawyer down and leave imprints of my fists on his annoyingly smug face.

He must have used my family's reputation against me to convince Jon, because there was no way I would get kicked off the team for losing something as measly as 10 points.

Points I wasn't even responsible for losing in the first place.

I couldn't even blame Roxana for my current predicament. Sawyer would have found a way to get me kicked off the team or worse even if she hadn't tried to help me.

I resumed eating, thinking deeply. There was no way that they would get away with kicking me off the team for no valid reason.

I just had to report the issue to the right person. It sucked though because it meant that I would have to work much harder to stay on the team even if I got in again.

I knew that my life would be shitty once I got to school but it was already starting off on a really really bad note.

It was just the first night but I had already gotten jinxed and kicked off the team. Even the guys on the right side of the law, which were the other Houses, didn't want to associate with me.

Being outcasted sucked, how was I supposed to rise to the pinnacle of the Wizarding world when the Wizarding world didn't even want to associate with me?

I had my work cut out for me. I had to try and fix or improve my reputation somehow.

I absent-mindedly ate the rest of my meal, nursing my goblet of pumpkin juice as the food cleared out and desserts appeared on the table.

I picked up my fork to dig into an apple pie when something compelled me to look up.

Initially, I avoided looking at the other tables because there were many eyes on me, they didn't even try to be subtle about the staring.

But now, my eyes were dragged all the way to the other end of the Great Hall, to the Gryffindor table.

I was staring at a girl, I couldn't really see her features clearly from this distance but it wasn't that hard to make her out.

She had curly, reddish-gold hair and was talking to a boy beside her who was giving her all of his attention.

I frowned, why did I feel jealous watching them? 

'Who is this girl?'

She looked up like she could hear me and although she was too far away for me to make out the color of her eyes, I instinctively knew.

Gray eyes.

Hazel Hamilton. 16 years old. Sixth Year at Hogwarts. Top of the year. Gryffindor Prefect…

"What the fuck?" I muttered under my breath, unable to tear my eyes away from her beautiful smiling face.

She wasn't looking at me and went right back to talking to the dude beside her, the dude that I currently wanted to stab in the eye with his own wand.

"Oh wow, okay, time out." I mumbled to myself in a rush.

The past inhabitants memories and emotions were a pain, I was suddenly relieved that this didn't happen all the time.

It was shocking though, even for my precious pet owl, the only information I had been provided was her name.

But for Hazel I had gotten a whole ass spreadsheet of information.

She looked up again this time and stared straight at me, I was still staring at her without even realizing it.

A loud ringing immediately started up in my head.

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<ATTENTION!!!> : Key Character Introduction acquired

<REWARD!!!> : 150 SP Awarded

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<ATTENTION!!!> : Romantic moment lv1 acquired

<REWARD!!!> : 5 SP Awarded

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Hazel looked away first, I couldn't tell her reaction because she was sitting too far away.

I reluctantly looked away, staring down at my uneaten apple pie, feeling a mix of emotions.