"Oh look, here's this morning's entertainment." Daphne commented as a very old owl flew towards the Gryffindor table while carrying a red envelope.

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked, wondering why all the other Slytherin's at the table were looking in the direction of an owl. In fact, every person in the hall was looking in the same direction.

"It's a howler." Tracy replied, "You'll see in a sec." She said when Harry still looked confused. A second later the owl crash landed on the table, ending up on his back in front of Ron.

"Ha," Malfoy snorted. "how long do you think they've been using that owl for?"

"Probably since Weasley's grandfather was a boy." Nott joked. Before anyone could say anything else, the red envelope rose into the sky, it shifted so it now had a mouth.

"RONALD WEASLEY!" A loud and shrill female voice cut through the silence, causing many people to jump in their seats. "HOW DARE YOU SAY SUCH HORRID THINGS?! YOU'VE NOT ONLY EMBARASSED OUR FAMILY BUT NOW YOUR FATHER IS SUFFERING THROUGH QUESTION AFTER QUESTION AT WORK! ASKING HIM ABOUT WHAT KIND OF SON HE HAD RAISED! I'VE NEVER BEEN SO EMBARASSED IN ALL OF MY LIFE! YOU HAD BETTER FIX UP YOUR ACT OR I WILL PERSONALLY COME UP TO SCHOOL AND BRING YOU STRAIGHT HOME!" The envelope stopped talking - shouting loudly - and instead ripped itself apart, leaving bits of itself on the plate of a red faced and mortified Ronald Weasley.

"That's a howler." Tracy whispered to Harry as many started laughing, causing Ron to scowl before getting up from his seat and storming out of the hall.

"Don't get me wrong, Weasley is a git, but did his mother really just shout at him in front of the whole school?" Harry couldn't help but ask. "No wonder he acts like an idiot if that's what his mother is like." Harry added, shaking his head with disbelief. Harry was not, nor would he ever claim to be, an expert in parenting but he was pretty sure that embarrassing your child in front of the whole school was the last thing that you were supposed to do.

As Harry and the other Slytherin's walked out of the great hall they stopped when they saw Ronald Weasley stood in front of them, glaring at them with pure hatred.

"I bet that made you really happy, didn't it?!" Ron snarled at Harry.

"It's not like I planned that," Harry shrugged. "I mean honestly, how was I supposed to know that your own mother would shout at you in front of the whole school? At worst I thought that she would pull you away from everyone and shout at you."

"Because of you the whole school is laughing at me!" Ron growled.

"How was it his fault?" Daphne scoffed, looking very unimpressed. "You're the one who has been antagonizing him, and you were the one who made that horrible comment after Tracy nearly died. Some 'noble' Gryffindor you are."

"You can shut your mouth, snake!"

"You do realize that that is just a mascot, right?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow. "Like, has nobody told you that you're not actually a lion?"

"Shut up Potter!" Ron spat. "You might think you're so tough but you're not! In a wizard's duel I'd beat you in seconds!"

"I'm sure you would." Harry rolled his eyes. "Now if you're done, we actually have important things to do." Harry said before walking past Weasley with the other Slytherin's following behind him.

"You should have dueled with Weasley," Malfoy said as they walked away. "he's a pathetic wizard, you could have easily beat him."

"Maybe," Harry nodded. "but if I fought him then I risk getting in trouble, plus that would make Weasley think he's important. I'm just going to ignore him."

"That'll just annoy him even more." Tracy commented.

"He raises his wand against me then I'll show him just how much better I am than him, until then let him be the one to keep getting into trouble." Harry said dismissively.

"So, how did it go?" Daphne asked when Harry and Draco came back into the common room after their tryout for the quidditch team, they were both the only first year Slytherin's who attempted to try out.

"I didn't get in." Malfoy grumbled as he plopped into a seat.

"I did." Harry said calmly just as he calmly sat down.

"Are you sure you've never played quidditch before?" Malfoy asked, looking at Harry with disbelief.

"Today was my first time." Harry answered honestly.

"Merlin, you'll be bloody brilliant once you've actually got some experience." Malfoy said, shaking his head.

"So you got on the team?" Blaise said excitedly. "That must mean you're like the youngest chaser in a century."

"You should have seen him out there," Malfoy commented. "he looked like he had been playing all of his life."

"I wasn't that good." Harry said in a modest voice.

"Please," Malfoy scoffed. "you got more goals than anyone else and you only missed one out of ten. Gryffindor won't know what hit them."

"Flint has reminded me to threaten you all into staying quiet," Harry said to the group. "so...be quiet." He shrugged.

"You need to work on your threats," Daphne said in a dry voice. "so when will your first match be?" She asked.

"Right after Halloween." Harry answered.

"Oh yeah, the Halloween feast is coming." Pansy commented.

"Is it mandatory?" Harry asked.

"Is what mandatory?"

"Attending the feast, is it mandatory?" Harry asked.

"I...I don't really know."

"Not really," A voice said as Angela arrived, holding a letter in her hand. "it's expected for you to come but you won't really get in trouble if you don't go."

"Hmm, good to know, thank you." Harry smiled.

"You're welcome," Angela smiled before turning to Blaise. "pass us your letter." She said, Blaise nodded and pulled a letter out of his robes and handed it to Angela who gave him a small nod before walking off.

"What was that?" Theo asked.

"Just a letter to my Mum." Blaise answered. "She expects letters monthly."

"Mine too." Draco nodded. "It's such a headache."

"You poor souls." Harry said in a dry voice.

The Slytherin first years currently found themselves sat in charms class with the Gryffindor's, Harry was currently sat in-between Tracy and Daphne with Blaise sat on Daphne's left and Draco sat on Tracy's right. The Gryffindor's sat on the opposite end of the classroom, naturally, though Harry couldn't help but wonder if it was planned or just a horrible coincidence that he was sat opposite Ron. Ron was limited to glaring at Harry as he was never able to find Harry when he was on his own.

"Bring it, you redheaded baboon." Jet hissed at Ron while perched on Harry's shoulders. Ron was not a parslemouth and could not understand what Jet was saying but understood that it was not something nice, he turned away. "That's what I thought." Jet hissed.

"Good morning everyone," Professor Flitwick said as he arrived and stopped at the front of the class. "let's begin, shall we? Now, one of the wizards most rudimentary skills is levitation, which in simple terms is basically the ability to make objects fly. Now, do you all have your feather's?" He asked, he paused and looked around to make sure each student had a feather in front of them. "Ah, that's good. Now, don't forget the nice wrist movement, a swish and a flick. Not a flick and a swish or a flick and a flick, remember it's a swish and flick. Show me everyone." Professor Flitwick paused and allowed the class to show him the movement. "Very well done, now remember that the incantation is 'Wingardium Leviosa', be careful to say it properly. Now go on everyone, give it a try." He said

"Why isn't it working?" Daphne wondered after three tries.

"I don't know, Harry?" Tracy asked Harry who hadn't yet attempted it.

"Brain thinking, hush." Harry said with a thoughtful look on his face. "Alright, let me try. Wingardium Leviosa." Harry said calmly as he pointed his wand at the feather, a second later it rose up into the air, expertly controlled by Harry.

"Oh well done Mr Potter," Professor Flitwick exclaimed in a happy voice. "very well done Mr Potter, five points to Slytherin."

"Thank you, sir." Harry smiled before lowering his feather.

"How'd you do it?" Daphne whispered once Professor Flitwick turned his attention back to the other students.

"You guys are saying it wrong." Harry replied. "You need to make the 'gar' part a bit longer then..." Harry was cut off by the sound of speaking from the Gryffindor students.

"You're saying it wrong." Hermione Granger said to Ron in a condescending voice. "It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long. And remember to say 'Levi-o-sa', not 'Levios-a'."

"You do it, then, if you're so clever." Ron responded in an annoyed voice. "Go on then."

"Fine," Hermione huffed before pointing her wand at the feather. "Wingardium Leviosa." She said before the feather rose into the air.

"Ah well done Miss Granger, you're the first Gryffindor to get it." Professor Flitwick smiled. "Five points to Gryffindor."

"Thank you Professor." She said with a smile, one that wasn't as bright as it usually was when she got points, it seemed more like a half-smile.

"I think Granger might be jealous that she wasn't first." Blaise whispered to the others. Harry didn't respond but thought that was probably it, he hadn't talked to Granger much but she seemed obsessed with always raising her hand whenever she could in class. And Merlin forbid a teacher not pick on her right away because she would start waving her hand if given ample time to do so, she would do so every lesson without fail if a teacher wanted students to answer questions.

"Look at Weasley," Malfoy snorted. "he's so pathetic that even the mud..."

"Ahem." Harry coughed, interrupting Malfoy. Harry looked at Draco with narrowed eyes, a look on his face that clearly said 'choose your next words wisely'.

"Uh...even the muggleborn is better than him." Draco quickly amended. It was Angela who had explained to Harry what the word 'mudblood' means, it basically meant filthy blood and was an insult to muggleborns. Harry, who knew that his mother was a muggleborn, did not like that at all. The last time someone used the word in front of him was a fourth year and she ended up getting held upside down by the snakes in the common room until she nearly passed out, then she was dropped on the floor, only to be picked up again a minute later, nobody in Slytherin dared use that word in front of Harry since.

"Careful Draco," Harry warned before he continued. "Weasley is an idiot, blood has nothing to do with others being better than him, my theory is he simply got dropped on his head too many times."

"Alright, so the disarming spell makes a person's wand fly out of their hand but it's also like a knockback jinx?" Harry asked. He, Jet and Angela were currently in an abandoned classroom, today was the day of the Halloween feast, the majority of the student population would be in the great hall. Harry on the other hand had decided - despite his friends objections and offers - to not go. Why? Simply because this was the day that his parents died, he didn't much feel like spending it eating and partying.

His friends had tried to convince him to come, and when that failed they offered to stay with him. He refused on the basis that they shouldn't be denied their fun, they reluctantly left him, leaving Harry alone in the common room. Or at least he was before Angela came and offered to help teach him some more spells.

"Yes, but not always." Angela nodded. "It's easy to use it to get a wand out of someone's hand, but you have to put more power into it if you want to knock someone off of their feet. A good disarming spell that connects will guarantee that your opponents wand fly's out of their hand, a great one will possibly blast them off of their feet."

"Right so if I want to knock someone over then I should stick with the knockback jinx." Harry replied.

"Yeah, but personally I would always chose getting rid of their wand over knocking them down."

"Why not both?" Harry asked with a smirk.

"Fair enough," Angela chuckled before she held her wand out. "alright let's try it one last time."

"Alright." Harry took a deep breath before he aimed his wand at her. "Expelliarmus!" Harry said, a white flash shot out of his wand and Angela's wand flew out of her hand and into Harry's.

"Well done, Harry." Angela smiled proudly.

"Thank you," Harry blushed slightly, still not used to compliments, he handed her wand back to her. "was it good or do I need to practice more or do something better?" Harry asked.

"You did great, the fact that you got it makes you better than I would expect from a first year." Angela said as she walks out of the classroom with Harry following after her. "I think some practice to help build up your speed and power, then you'll easily be throwing people back with your spell."

"Awesome," Harry grinned for a second before his face turned thoughtful. "Angela, if you don't mind me asking, how come you didn't go to the feast with everyone else?" Harry asked.

"Before I answer, why didn't you?" Angela asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Well, today's the day that my parents died." Harry sighed. "I don't know why, I just...I didn't feel like I should be out eating as much as I can and enjoying myself. I was going to spend the night quietly reading a book before you came along."

"Well Harry, it's simple," She said as they turned a corner. "I just want to..." Angela paused when she and Harry stopped to see who was standing in front of them. "...fuck." She blurted out.

Standing in front of them with a big club in its right hand was a twelve foot, grey troll. It wore no clothes beyond a loincloth and a small, open brown button shirt that really didn't cover much apart from the shoulders and upper back of the troll. It had hair under its nose that looked more like whiskers than a mustache, it had a bald head with long ears, big feet with two toes on each foot and a pot belly.

"Uncle Vernon?" Jet asked in a confused voice.