Introduction

Chapter 1

I looked out my window as the train came to a complete stop. I had already donned my school robes that had yet decorated according to my house. I gulped as I stood up, just wishing the entire sorting ceremony deal would be over with. After all, I knew exactly where I'd me; Hufflepuff. My father was a Hufflepuff, and his parents before him, and their parents before them and all of their siblings, and so on and so forth. I was bound to continue the Scryer legacy of Hufflepuffs; Scyers were only ever Hufflepuffs.

I walked off the train and took in the sights around me. I could see the gigantic castle looming in the distance. I saw multitudes of thick trees covering the hills leading to the castle like a thick carpet; it was hard to see grass where there were trees. In fact, the only visible grass were in clearings or along the paths leading up to the castle. All of it was so much more beautiful than my father described.

"First years!" A large man shouted. I went in that direction, as did other first years behind me. I felt my heart racing in my chest and my palms start to sweat as I walked with the first years and the large man. I gulped and sighed.

"Nervous?" a boy with messy brown hair to my left asked. I nodded. "What house do you want to be in?"

"I'm going to be a Hufflepuff. All Scyers are Hufflepuffs," I said.

"Ah," he said. "I want to be in Slytherin." I nodded. My father would have considered it a sentence of hate to be in Slytherin. However, over the years Slytherin has gotten a better reputation. It's no longer considered a breeding ground for Dark Wizards, but it still the most hated house at Hogwarts. We came to a dock with many boats waiting for us.

"Six to a boat!" the large man told us. I climbed into the boat with the brown-haired boy, as well as a girl with bright blonde hair, a girl with dark skin and dark hair, a girl with long, wavy brown hair, and some boy with white-blonde hair. Once we were all in the boat, we sailed across the Black Lake (which I could easily earned its name; I couldn't see a single thing in the dark, dark waters) towards the giant beast of a castle looming ahead of us.

"I'm Tim Dorny," the brown haired boy said. "Who are you guys?"

"Uriel Scryer," I said. The super blonde girl looked at us and smiled.

"Lysandra Mitchell," she said. The brown haired girl didn't look up.

"Evadne Ryan. Though most people call me Eva," she said, her voice an almost complete monotone. The last girl let out a very faint smile.

"Belladonna Travers. Just call me Donnie. I can't stand being called Bella. It reminds too much of the flat, emotionless character in the cliché that is Twilight," she said. I smiled and gave Donnie a nod of approval. I had heard of that series and my muggle friends often ranted about how stupid it was. Lysandra, Tim, Evadne, and the other boy looked confused at the mention of Twilight.

"Is that a muggle thing?" the white-blonde boy asked. Donnie nodded. "So you're muggleborn?" Donnie nodded. "Be careful about who knows that. Some of these kids come from families who are still pureblood elitists. Luckily, my father has lost that perspective and accepts muggleborns and halfbloods."

"Who are you?" I asked. The white-blonde boy looked at him and gave me a quick once-over. I suddenly felt extremely self-conscious.

"Scorpius Malfoy. I've heard of the Scryer family. Pureblooded until your father married a muggle," he said. I nodded. "I guess I won't see you outside of Slytherin-Hufflepuff classes then?"

"Most likely," I said. "Scryers are always Hufflepuffs." Scorpius nodded, understanding the tradition of some families to all be in the same house. At last we made it to the docks by the school and I took a deep breath. We made our way up to the castle that still seemed to loom over us. It was almost intimidating; I wasn't sure I would ever get used to it. We were led inside the castle and told by the large man to wait in the hallways outside a set of very large double doors. Soon, a stern looking woman came through those doors and motioned for us to follow her.

I bit my lower lip and looked down as I walked through the Great Hall. I could feel the eyes of the older students on us, wondering which of us would soon be their housemates. I looked at the Hufflepuff table, trying to figure out which of the older Hufflepuff students looked friendly enough to answer my questions. Ahead of us, there was a stood with a ratty old hat sitting on it. I immediately knew this was the sorting hat. "When I call your name," the woman said, "come forward and I will place the sorting hat on your head." She looked down at the list in her hands. "Artelt, Madeline!" I didn't care about her placement. This Madeline meant nothing to me. She ended up in Ravenclaw. She read down the list until she came to, "Dorny, Timothy!" Tim went up to the chair and sat down. The hat was placed on his head and remained there for almost five minutes. Apparently the hat was struggling to sort this kid. Finally the hat made a decision.

"SLYTHERIN!" it shouted. When it came time for Scorpius Malfoy to be sorted, there were absolutely no surprises with the house he ended up it. "SLYTHERIN!" the hat shouted. It figured; All Malfoys were Slytherins, just as all Scryers were Hufflepuffs. Next was Lysandra Mitchell, who was placed in Gryffindor. I guess I woudn't be seeing much of her. A few more names were called and then Eva Ryan was called up. The hat barely touched her head and called out, "RAVENCLAW!" I wasn't surprised in the slightest.

"Scryer, Uriel!" the woman called out. I gulped and made my way up to the stool. I felt the eyes of everyone in the room on me. I turned around and sat down. The hat was lowered onto my head and sort of sunk down to my eyes. It was both too big and too heavy.

"Hmm... another Scryer. Little Uriel... I see they keep up with the tradition of naming children after angels, even though muggle blood has made its way into the family... hmm... You're fully expecting to be a Hufflepuff, but I don't feel like you'll flourish in the way you can there... no, you're more suited for SLYTHERIN!!!"

Cheers emerged from the Slytherin table. I furrowed my brow in confusion. I was in Slytherin? Why was I in Slytherin? Scryers were always Hufflepuffs... who knew the tradition would end with me. I nervously made my way to the Slytherin table and sat between Tim and Scorpius. "I guess not every Scryer is a Hufflepuff," Scorpius said with a smirk. I shook my head and watched as Donnie Travers, the muggleborn, got placed into Hufflepuff. When they reached the last student, the headmaster gave a brief speech and the food appeared on the table. As I grabbed a fluffy, warm bread roll, I thought about what was to come. I had no idea what would come from me being in Slytherin, but I'm sure the hat had its reasons... right?

Who knew what would come from the next seven years now? I mean, I'm not in the house I expected to be in. Perhaps my classes will be what I expect. Whatever happens, hopefully everything works out for the better instead of the worse.