Anaia loves books!

I awoke to the sound of owls screeching in the Owlery, which was right next to the Hufflepuff dormitories. I stumbled out of bed, the thought of going to any lessons making my heart sink. I tiredly got dressed and staggered out of the dorm. I was walking down the hallway towards the Great Hall when I felt a nudge on my ankle. Confused, I looked down to see Smudge sitting there, peering up at me. I laughed and scooped him up. “How do you always manage to find me, little guy?” I whispered in his ear. He just looked at me with his big, dark eyes and let out a small meow. I smiled and set of again, this time with Smudge cradled in my arms. After breakfast, I checked my schedule to see which class I had next. Apparently, I had potions class first with a man named Professor Slughorn. I sighed. Potions wasn’t my strong suite, but that was mainly because my teacher at Durmstrang wasn’t very supportive. Maybe Hogwarts would be different. With that in mind, I headed down to the dungeon where my first lesson was to take place. It was incredibly dark in the dungeon and I could barley see my hands. I was already late, and, not wanting to miss anything, I sat down at a random desk. It was only once I had sat down that I noticed who I was sitting next to. It was the boy from the night before. “Oh, hey er…,” I stuttered. That was when I realised I had never caught his name. “Magnus. My name is Magnus,” he told me.

“Nice to meet you Magnus. I’m Belladona,” I said. We had to cut our conversation short though, because a voice rang out across the room. “Ah, welcome class!” said a man at the front of the room, whom I suspected was Professor Slughorn. He had a large belly and a loud voice. I noticed a bottle of beer on the teachers desk and wrinkled my nose. A teacher, drinking during a lesson!? I thought. How disgraceful!

“Now, today we are going to learn how to brew Amortentia,” Professor Slughorn announced. “Who can tell me what Amortentia is used for?”. A Slytherin girl put her hand up. When Professor Slughorn selected her she said “Amortentia is a powerful love potion. It has a different aroma to everyone, depending on what that person loves the most,”.

“Very good!” praised the Professor. “Five points to Slytherin!”. The girl made a smug face. I sighed. Slytherins were so self absorbed. “As you can see you see, there is a set of instructions on your desk,” continued Professor Slughorn. “You must succesfully brew Amortentia with your partner. You have forty-five minutes, starting now,”. The rest of the lesson was dull, all our time spent prepping ingredients and stirring mixtures. When the bell rang for the end of the lesson, I heaved a sigh of relief. Then I dashed out of the classroom and hurried to my next lesson, not wanting to be late again.

After the feast, the prefects led us to our dormitories. Me and Ivan said bye to each other at the hall doors, then ran back to our respected groups. Me and the other Hufflepuffs walked down endless corridors and walked up moving staircases until we reached the Hufflepuff common room. Everyone piled inside. I looked around, surveying the scene. Everything was draped in yellow and black, and banners that bore the Hufflepuff crest, which was a badger hung on the walls. At the far end of the room was a large hearth, a fire flickering in it, warming the room. Around the fire sat comfy armchairs, also in the Hufflepuff colours. The prefect shooed us up to our dorms. Up in the girl’s dorm, I plonked my things down on a random bed and began to unpack, when I noticed that my Hogwarts robes and schoolbooks had been laid out for me, probably by some little house elf. I picked the robes up and folded them, then put them at the end of the bed. Once I had finished unpacking, I got dressed into my pyjamas. I clambered into bed and pulled the blankets over my head. I fell into a deep sleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. That night I dreamt that my house, the one I left behind was on fire and my parents were inside the inferno screaming, pleading for help. In my dream I ran towards them and tried to call out, but my voice caught in my throat. Then the house collapsed with my parents still inside. I imagined my sisters standing behind me saying “This is all your fault,”. I woke with a start, my body sticky with sweat. It was just a nightmare, of course, but I had never had such a vivid dream. Breathing heavily, I slipped out of bed and into my slippers. Then I pulled on my night gown and wandered out of the dorm. Since I knew I would never be able to get back to sleep, I decided to take a midnight stroll around the Hogwarts. I walked around the school, thinking about my nightmare when I bumped into someone. Startled, I jumped backwards to see a boy standing there. He looked a lot like Ivan, but was slightly taller and instead of green, his eyes were misty blue. I blushed. “Oh, uh, hi,” I stammered, still as red as a beat. “Sorry,”.

He smiled and said “It’s alright. It’s partly my fault anyway,”. We stood in silence for a minute. “So, you couldn’t sleep either?” the boy asked finally. I nodded, my usual shy self taking hold again. Just then, we heard footsteps coming towards us and Filch’s voice rang out. “Who’s there?”. Not wanting to be caught, we both waved goodbye and went our separate ways. I dashed up to my dorm and buried my face in my pillow. That night was sleepless, with me tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable. Tomorrow is going to be a long day I thought.

Thank you, Argus,” the man at the desk, whom I presumed was Albus Dumbledore, said. “You may leave now,”. Filch nodded and glared at us, then left the room. I heard him go back down the spiral staircase and down the corridor. “So, what brings you here?” Dumbledore asked. Me and Ivan looked at each other hesitantly. Could we trust this man? Eventually, I began to speak, filling him in on what had happened to us. Occasionally, Ivan would speak up, reminding me of certain parts that I missed out. He waited patiently for us to finish, and when we did, he stood up. “It seems like you are smart and kind children, so I shall offer you a place at my school,” Dumbledore declared. My heart leapt. Go to Hogwarts? Was this a dream? “Yes, of course!” I exclaimed, jumping up and down. Dumbledore smiled and turned his gaze to Ivan. “Well, if Bella’s game then I’m game,” he said.

“Well then, in that case you had better get to the sorting ceremony. It starts quit soon,” Dumbledore told us. “I myself must hurry there,”. Me and Ivan exchanged puzzled glances.

“But Professor, we can’t go to the sorting ceremony,” exclaimed Ivan.

“And why is that?” asked Dumbledore.

“Well, we would already be in our third or fourth year by now. The sorting ceremony is for first years,” I explained.

“First years are really just people who are new to the school, like you, so there is nothing wrong with attending the ceremony,” said Dumbledore. Just then, there was a tap at the window. We all turned to see a magnificent bird of fire hovering outside. Fawkes! I had almost forgotten about him in the excitment of the morning. I rushed to open the window and Fawkes swooped inside. He landed on one of the various book shelfs and squawked loudly, causing us all to have to cover our ears. “Shush, Fawkes, you’re ever so loud,” I scolded.

“We had better get going if we want to get to the sorting ceremony,” stated Ivan, looking at his watch. It was a strange contraption, with strange patterns and symbols engraved on it instead of numbers like a normal watch, but Ivan seemed to understand it all the same.

“You’re right!” I cried. “Thank you, Professor! Bye for now!” Then I grabbed Ivan’s hand and pulled him towards the great hall. Excitement bubbled in my stomach. It flowed through my veins and filled every bone in my body. Yet when we arrived at the large oak double doors, I hesitated. What if they don’t like me? I thought, my head spinning. What if they think I’m evil like my family? No, I wouldn’t let those negative feelings control me. I would power through and show people I wasn’t as bad as my family. I could do this. I took a deep breath and swung the doors open. Everyone stared at us as we walked into the room. We were unfashionably late, that I knew, but I didn’t let that discourage me. I was determined to escape my family’s dark past and prove to them that I could be trusted. Me and Ivan took our places beside the other first years who were huddled in the middle of the hall. We were much taller than the others and stood like elephants in a crowd of mice. A woman, who I would later discover was called Minerva McGonagall, although we were to address her as Professor McGonagall, stood at the front of the huddle calling out names. Each child would walk up to the front where Professor McGonagall would plonk an old, worn hat on their head. The hat would then call out which house you were in. Finally, after what seemed like all eternity, my name was called. “Black, Belladona,” called Professor McGonagall. Nervously, I made my way to the front of the room. Professor McGonagall lowered the hat over my head. It was far to big and drooped over my eyes so I couldn’t see anything.  “Hufflepuff!” the sorting hat shouted almost immediately. I beamed as I walked over to the Hufflepuff table. I had always admired Helga Hufflepuff for her kindness and how hard working she was. Her ability to forgive inspired me to be like her. Being sorted into her house felt like a dream. Ivan was next. He strutted confidently up to Professor McGonagall and even waved at me from his place at the front of the room. I wish I had his kind of confidence. I was just a shy girl. The Sorting Hat hesitated before calling out “Ravenclaw”. He marched to the table for Ravenclaws and plonked himself down in his seat. I peered around at the people sitting at the table. There were lots of different people with lots of different personalities. Some were loud, others were quiet. Some were tall, others were short. I gawked at the diversity of it. At Durmstrang, everyone was the same.  There, everyone was purebloods and had cold hearts, whereas here there people were so different. Suddenly, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I spun round in my chair to find a girl with fluttering blonde hair and baby blue eyes. “Hi,” she said, smiling at me. “I’m Selena. What’s your name?”.

“Oh, hey, I’m Belladona, but you can call me Bella,” I replied. “What house are you in?”

“Gryffindor,” she answered proudly.

“So why are you here on the Hufflepuff table?” I questioned.

“Well, I’m not supposed to be here, but I thought I’d come and introduce myself,” Selena explained. Just then, Professor Dumbledore, who had arrived shortly after us, stood up. “I should go now,” whispered Selena.

“Alright, bye,” I said as she skipped back to her table. After that, Professor Dumbledore made a short speech before saying “Now, let the feast begin!”. At his words, food appeared on our plates. There were pies, stews and chicken legs by the dozen. As I tucked in, I stole a glance at the Gryffindor table where Selena was happily munching on her food, and I smiled. I had never had a proper friend before, apart from Ivan whom I had only just met, and now I had the honour of meeting someone so kind and confident like Selena. I grinned again. This was going to be a great year.

Bella, Bella, wake up,”. I awoke to some one shaking my shoulders. “Come on,”. I groaned and opened my eyes to see Ivan leaning over me, a look of concern on his face. Fawkes was sprawled on the ground, injured but alive. “You alright?” he questioned. I nodded, rubbing my head. Then I looked down at my leg and realised that there was a tree branch pinning it to the ground. Ivan followed my gaze and his eyes fell upon the branch. “Oh, I’ll help you with that,” he said and heaved the branch off my leg. I tried to stand up, but my leg gave way and I tumbled to the ground. Ivan rushed to help me and lifted me up. I leaned on him, using his shoulder to steady myself. I winced every time I took a step, but he helped me limp towards the great gates of Hogwarts. “What about Fawkes?” I asked.

“He’s too big to move,” replied Ivan. “We should get help, then come back for him,”.  It was dawn and the sun was rising. You could just about make out the top of the sun coming up above the canopy. Just then, there was a noise behind us. “Well, well, well,” a voice said. “What do we have here?”.

We both jumped and very slowly turned around. Standing there was a man with grey hair that fell down to his waist. There was a cat curled around his feet who hissed at us when we looked down at it. Oh no I thought. It’s Filch. “Uh, who’s that guy?” Ivan asked.

“Filch,” I whispered back. “I met him when my parents were looking for schools to send me to,”.

“Come with me,” Filch said and led us down the winding path towards the gates. He led us into the castle, through its endless corridors, past various doors and stone statues. Filch stopped next to a large gargoyle that was backed up against the wall. “Cockroach clusters,” Filch said and the gargoyle moved to one side to reveal a spiral staircase leading upwards. He beckoned for us to follow him up the staircase. Reluctantly, we obeyed him and trudged up the stairs, dragging our feet. When we arrived at the top, we found ourselves in a  small study. The sun shone through the windows, a beam of golden light, dancing around the room like a ballerina. Paintings of previous headmasters and mistresses hung on the walls. But what was most noticeable were the books. They were everywhere; in stacks that stretched up to ceiling, strewn across the floor and on shelfs that lined the walls. My eyes sparkled. I loved reading, and now I had found a whole room of books. I was so stunned that I didn’t notice the man sitting at a desk in the middle of the room, holding a feather quil. “Professor Dumbledore, we have visitors,” announced Filch.

We soared through the air, Ivan in front and me behind. I wrapped my arms around Ivan’s waist and closed my eyes. I have always been afraid of hights and I had never gone up this far Suddenly, we plunged down wards, plummeting towards the ground. “Ivan! What’s happen!” I wailed.

“Fawkes is exhausted! He can’t stay up in the air for long!” Ivan cried back. He had to shout to be heard over the noise of wind rushing past. We clung to Fawkes who was flapping his wing, desperately trying to slow our decent. We both screamed. I’m not ready to die I thought as we fell towards the ground. All of a sudden there was a thud and everything went black.

We walked in silence for the rest of the journey, glaring at each other angrily. Ivan tried to start up a conversation, but I ignored him and walked on. Who does he think he is I thought.

He has a huge argument with me and now he’s trying to make small talk! Just then, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around to see Ivan standing there. “Hey, Bella. I-I just wanted to say I’m sorry,” he said quietly. I looked into his green eyes, searching his soul the way he had searched mine when we first met. Finally, I stepped back and said “I forgive you,”. He smiled at me and I smiled back. We chatted as we walked discussing where we should go. Eventually, we decided to go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. “I hear there’s a new headteacher. I think his name was Albus Dumbledor,” said Ivan.

“Oh, yes I’ve heard of him!” I exclaimed. “People are saying that he’s the greatest wizard of all time!”.

“Hey, which school did you go to?” asked Ivan.

“My parents sent me to Durmstrang, but I didn’t like it much,” I replied. “What about you?”

“I was home-schooled by my parents,” answered Ivan. We walked a little further when a thought struck me. “Ivan, how are we going to get to get to Hogwarts?”

At that Ivan grinned and produced a bottle of pink powder from his pocket. “Like this,” he said. Seeing my confused look, he added “It’s growth powder. It’ll turn any baby creature into a grown up,”. Then he opened the baby phoenix’s mouth and poured the powder down it’s throat. As soon as he did, the phoenix chick (whom I’d named Fawkes) grew to the size of a fully fledged phoenix with a wingspan of nearly five metres! My eyes widened as we clambered on. I was so mesmerised by Fawkes that I almost forgot Smudge, who was sitting on the grass, staring up at us. Luckily, I managed to scoop him up before we took of and place him on my lap. Once everyone was on board, Fawkes spread his wings and lifted of the ground, then swooped of into the distance.

Ivan was pacing around, his eyebrows furrowed. We had taken the chick to a small field where it could flap about freely, screeching and squawking. “What are we going to do to?” Ivan exclaimed. “I mean, it’s not like we can keep it,”.

“Why not?” I asked. “He’s so cute and we can’t just leave him hear,”.

“Listen, Bella, he’s a magical creature and is very powerful. We just can’t keep him, alright,”.

“Oh, please Ivan. Just this once,” I pleaded. Ivan sighed.

“Fine, but no more adopting strays,”.

“Yes!” I cried, throwing my arms around him, then blushed furiously and stepped back. “I-I mean thanks,”.

“Uh, no problem. We should-er-get going now,” he said awkwardly.

We were about to leave when there was a rustle from a nearby bush. We turned to see a little black kitten standing there, leaves and twigs entangled in his fur. “Smudge!” I cried, overjoyed at the sight of my tiny black cat. “You followed me!”.

“I said no strays!” said Ivan, interrupting our reunion.

“He is not a stray! In fact, he belongs to me!” I shouted back at him.

Ivan groaned. “Okay, the kitten can stay, but no more taking in strays. AND I MEAN IT!”

The last part he said particularly loudly, so loud that I had to cover my ears to prevent my eardrums from popping. “Well you don’t have to shout,” I said and flounced off, the two animals trotting at my heels.

We walked all the way to the park when Ivan stopped. “Here we are,” he said.

“What do you mean?” I asked. “There’s nothing here,”. He didn’t answer and instead led me down another alley. This one was darker and narrower, with tall brick walls that stretched up into the heavens. “Why are we here, Ivan?” I questioned.

“That’s why,” he replied, pointing to the corner. That was when I saw them. Two sleek red motorcycles, their paint glinting in the moonlight. My eyes sparkled. I had always wanted to ride a motorcycle, but had never been allowed to. “Are-are they yours,” I said, still staring in awe at the mighty vehicles. “Yup,” Ivan answered. “So, what do you say Bella? Are they cool?”

“Yes!” I cried in delight. “They are amazing!”.

He grinned and swung himself onto one of the motorcycles, gripping the handlebars. He then plonked a helmet on his head. “We get to ride them?” I squealed.

“Of course,” he replied. “What else would we do with them?”.

Beaming, I clambered onto the second vehicle and picked up my own helmet. Once I had gotten it on, Ivan asked “Are you ready?”.

“Oh, I was born ready,” I said, revving the handlebars. Then we sped off into the night, the wind whipping at our hair until we came to the edge of town. “This is as far as these baby’s will take us,” stated Ivan. I nodded and we both dismounted. We carried on on-foot, trying not to fall asleep. “So, where exactly are we going?” Ivan asked sometime later.

“I don’t really know. Anywhere but here, I guess,” I replied. He was about to question further when I saw a glint coming from a cluster of trees. “Did you see that?” I asked.

“See what?” he replied, looking around.

“That glint coming from over there,” I said, pointing to where I had seen it. I led him towards it, taking my wand out. When we arrived, we couldn’t find anything. ‘I must have imagined it’ I thought. As we were turning to leave, I fell and tripped over something. Turning, I realised that it was an egg, half buried in a pile of leaves. “Ivan, Ivan! Get over here!” I cried in surprise. As he walked over to me, cracks spread across the egg’s surface. We both drew our wands and pointed them at the egg. My heart was racing and all my instincts told me to run, but I stayed put. Just then, a little head covered in flaming feathers popped up out of the egg. The creature had deep brown eyes that seemed to hold all the wisdom in the world. It was a phoenix chick.

I walked for miles on end until my feet couldn’t walk anymore. I groaned, wishing I had my broomstick with me. Then I could just fly away. But I didn’t have my broomstick and was probably never going to see it again. Sighing, I realised that I was going to have to face the facts. I was exhausted, didn’t have a lot of supplies and had nowhere to spend the night. “What was I thinking,” I said under my breath. “I can’t do this. I should have just stayed at home. Running away was a horrible idea,”. I was about to give up and turn back when I noticed a narrow alleyway leading into the darkness. Curious, I edged closer and poked my head around the wall. It was lit by the glow of a nearby streetlamp and looked comfy enough. I crept down the ally and set up camp with the little supplies I had in a corner next to some dustbins. Yawning, I lay down on the makeshift bed I had created out of newspapers and some bubble rap (it had already popped, otherwise it would have woken up the whole street when I lay on it). As soon as I fell asleep, there was a noise and I my eyes shot open. I looked around, fear written all over my face. “W-who’s there,” I asked holding up a bit of pipe for self defence. Suddenly, a figure stepped out of the shadows. It wore a leather jacket and a wand poked out of it’s jean pockets. As the figure moved into the light, I saw it was a boy, about fourteen years old, the same age as me. He had floppy, black hair and pale skin. He drew his wand and pointed it at my throat. “Who are you?” he questioned, moving closer. “What are you doing here?”

“I-I mean no harm,” I stammered, backing up against the wall. “Please, let me go,”.

He looked deep into my eyes, searching my soul for any traces of lies. Eventually, he released me and sat down on the cold ground next to the makeshift bed. “Alright, fine, I’ll let you go, but on one condition,” the boy said.

“Go on,” I pressed.

“You have to tell me who you are and what you’re doing here,” he finished.

I sighed. I figured he would say that. “Okay, I’ll tell you, but you need promise me not to tell anyone where I am,” I said.

“Deal,” he replied. Then I poured out my story; who I was, why I was here and how cruel my family was. The boy listened intently, sometimes asking questions, but mostly staying quiet. When I had finished he stood up and brushed himself off. “Well, you seem nice enough and I’m feeling kind, so I’ll help you as much as I can,” he declared. “Oh, and I’m Ivan, by the way.

“Thanks,” I said, smiling. “We had better leave now. “My family is probably searching for me already and I don’t want to get caught. Ivan nodded and we walked of, sharing stories and secrets of our past. That was the first time I had actually felt happy in a long time.

“Belladona!” called Mother. I rolled over in bed and groaned. “Belladona!” Mother shouted again.

“Uhhh, I’m coming!” I called back down as I slipped out of my old, rickety bed. Sleepily, I got dressed and headed down the creaky staircase. I emerged in the kitchen where my mother was standing by the stove, tapping her foot. “There you are!” she said as I stepped through the doorway. “Your breakfast is going to get cold! And you were supposed to polish the magical artifacts! We have guests coming!” she scolded angrily.

“Sorry” I mumbled. Just then, there was a shout of “Crucio” and a yowl of pain. I dashed into the living room and saw my little black kitten, Smudge curled up in a ball, shaking and my twin sister, Bellatrix pointing her wand straight at him. “Smudge!” I cried scooping the terrified creature up. “Oh, the poor thing. Bellatrix, leave him alone!”.

“I was just practicing,” she replied.

“Well practice on someone else!” I said, then stormed out of the room. I plonked myself down in my seat and ate my breakfast as I stroked Smudge. Me and Bellatrix are not identical twins. In fact, I looked more like Narcissa, my other sister then her. After I had eaten I headed upstairs to get changed into my dress robes, Smudge trailing behind me.

That evening, we all set the table for dinner. Each of us had certain jobs to do. I was in charge of decorating the table with fairy lights, candelabras and little flowers. Just as we were adding the finishing touches, the doorbell rang. Narcissa rushed to open the door. She turned the knob and swung the door open where Lucious Malfoy was standing. “Lucious!” she cried joyfully and swung her arms around his neck. My third sister, Andromeda and I groaned. Lucious was Narcissa’s boyfriend and my worst enemy. I despised him because I thought he was far to cruel and he looked down on me because he believed that I was weak and foolish. Narcissa, however thought otherwise and would sometimes spend days with him, not even sparing us a thought. I glared at him as he sat down, right next to Narcissa, of course. We all tucked in and I tried to ignore Lucious’s snide comments that he continued to make all through dinner. “So, you are death eaters, right?” he asked my parents at one point in the meal. “Oh, yes, we are death eaters,” replied Father. “In fact, we are in The Dark Lord’s inner circle.”

“And we hope that our three lovely girls will be to, once they come of age,” added Mother.

“B-but I don’t want to become a death eater,” I whispered quietly. The room fell silent.

“What did you just say,” said my Mother.

“I-I said that I don’t want to become a death eater,” I answered, slightly louder this time.

As soon as I said those words, all hell broke loose. Everyone started shouting, some at me and others at each other. Sensing my opportunity to escape, I hurried upstairs to my room, slamming the door behind me. That was when I realised that my family would never accept me for who I was. All they wanted was children with cold hearts, not someone like me who wouldn’t hurt a soul. At that thought, I began to cry. Tears rolled down my cheeks and my whole body shook with sobs. Suddenly, an idea popped into my mind. I could run away. But no, I couldn’t. This was my family, no matter how awful they were. I couldn’t just leave like that. Still, I came to realise that I was never going to get them to listen. The rest of my life would be hell if I stayed with them. And with that, I packed my bags, unlatched the window and clambered out into the cool night air. As I was walking along the driveway, I stole a glance at the house I had grown up in, but I shook my head. This was my chance. I had to take it. Then, with one last look, I disappeared into the night.