The Unity: The First Death

"Wake up Kay, It's today," said Cory.

"Meh," slurred Kaylan.

"Wake up!"

"I said meh!"

"Fine then. If you don't want to go to Hogwarts, that's fine with me." That sentence got Kaylan's brain ticking.

"Why didn't you tell me? If I'm late it's your entire fault and I really mean it, you bloody snake."

"But-"

"No buts. You should have tried to wake me up at least." Cory started to mumble something about people who never listen when they should, but listen when they shouldn't.

"I never knew a snake could be so moody! Lighten up!"

"Speak for yourself."

"And what is that supposed to mean, hmm?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all that would mean anything to you, anyway." Kaylan smirked, and then turned back to the matter at hand.

"Right, anyhoo. Let's get down to business." Kaylan took a deep breath and began yelling the house down. "Mum! Lorraine! I'm being attacked by mad rabid dogs!" the two rushed into her room, her mum clutching her wand tightly. Kaylan laughed out loud when the duo saw that she was perfectly fine.

"Okay Kaylan, you can stop laughing now." said Mrs. Ravenclaw. Kaylan smiled.
She loved crying wolf. She turned to her sister, who was glaring daggers at her.

"Awww, did I interrupt the ickle babykins beauty sleep?" She said, as if she were talking to a toddler.

"I have been awake for hours Kaylan, so don't even try it." said Lorraine.

"No she hasn't," said Cory.

"Nuh uh Little Miss Liar," Kaylan tutted, shaking a finger at her sister. Lorraine glared.

"I'm not even going to ask how you knew that, as I don't think I want to know. But I can safely say I have been up since five."

"I have been slithering round this house since dawn. I would think that I knew everybody who was asleep or not thirty minutes ago."

"Sorry, wrong answer. Try again." Kaylan grinned. She could see how weirded out she was getting. She started singing ominously. "I know if you are sleeping, I know if you're awake, I know if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness' sake..."

"That is quite enough, Kaylan Ravenclaw. I will not tolerate you doing that this early in the morning." Kaylan had the decency to look ashamed as her mother reprimanded her.

"I don't know how she knows," her sister whispered to her mother. "But, okay then, I've only been awake for a few minutes."

"She's not lying Kay," said Cory.

"See Lori? That wasn't so bad! Tell the truth and let the devil be ashamed." Her younger sister just shook her head. She hated all of Kaylan's muggle phrases.

"Fine, o most evil one. You have gotten your way, and severely freaked me out, so could we please go back to bed." She turned to go back to her room, but was stopped as she got out into the hallway.

"You won't be going back to bed any time soon, unless you'd like to have a Banshee screaming in your ear for the rest of your life as soon as I graduate. I bet I could get one, to do it as well. After all, we do have Banshee ancestry."

"Jeez, no need for that. Kaylan doesn't want to be late on her first day, does she?" Lorraine said through gritted teeth..

"Nope. Glad you could see it from my point of view," said Kaylan happily.

*/*

At breakfast time Cory decided that she was now a vegetarian. This was fine with Kaylan because she was a vegetarian too. But there was one slight problem...

"Why don't we have toast?" said Kaylan.

"Doesn't have mouse in it," said Cory. Cory refused to accept she could no longer eat her favourite food.

"Cory, do you even know what a vegetarian is?"

"Yeah. It means you don't eat meat."

"Mouse is meat."

"No it isn't. Mouse is mouse. Humans eat meat, but they don't eat mouse, so a mouse can't be meat. It's obvious."

"Right Cory. You were born a carnivore. You will always be a carnivore. It is not in you to be an herbivore."

"Carnivore? Herbivore? What are those?" She then added as an afterthought, "What about mouse on toast? Would I be a vegetarian if I ate that?

Kaylan sighed. She'd have to give the thing a dictionary...

*/*

"Hurry up!" Kaylan yelled up the stairs to Lorraine.

"Okay, okay. I'm coming down." Lorraine said.

Lorraine was wearing what she called her 'Goth Look'. It consisted of taking all her sister's dark clothes, and wearing them even if they were too big. Currently, her 'look consisted of a black designer turtleneck, and a pair of baggy black jeans. She wore black lipstick which she had stolen from her mum's room, and blue mascara, which she had taken from Kaylan's costume drawer. Along with the mascara she thieved from her sister's room, Lorraine had taken the real gold knuckleduster that Kaylan treasured. Because of her pale skin and dark straight hair, Lorraine actually looked like a Banshee.

"How do I look?" she asked, with one eyebrow raised.

"Disgusting," replied her mother, still in shock. "Now, you are not going to wear that outside of the house," said her mum again. She waved her wand and Lorraine's Goth look turned into blue jeans and an I myself T-shirt.

"Hey! The mirror said that I looked great!" Lorraine cried.

"Obviously a very messed up mirror then isn't it?" Cory muttered to her. Of course, Lorraine didn't hear, but Kaylan did.

"Don't be so rude Cory. It's not nice to-"

"There you go again, hissing away between yourselves. I wouldn't be surprised if some muscled people in white came in, strapped you to one of those wheelie things, and carted you off to a loony bin."

"Nice to know you think that way of me. However, in future, keep your dirty hand away from my jewellery!"

*/*

"55 minutes till I'm on the Hogwarts Train," said Kaylan.

"55 minutes till I'm on the Hogwarts Train," said Cory.

"55 minutes till Kaylan is on the Hogwarts Train," said Mrs. Ravenclaw and Lorraine.

They were almost at King's Cross-Station. Kaylan jumped in her seat when she got there. It was so big! Kaylan was a pureblood, and even though she had a car, she wasn't used to most vehicles yet. When they got to the car park Kaylan stepped out into the fresh air and sighed. This was going to be her last day here for a long time. At least, until the Christmas holidays arrived.

*/*

There it was. The barrier was right there. After wandering aimlessly around for a bit, waiting for her mother to come back with a trolley to put her stuff on, she had found a quiet place to go sit down. It was okay for her mum, she was used to all this. She was a muggle-raised pureblood. Kaylan decided that when she was older she would take her children to King's Cross-Station beforehand so they wouldn't be so shocked.

She soon caught up with her mum again, and heaved her trunk onto the trolley she had got. They took directions from a wizard on his way to platform 9 and ¾. When they gt there, Kaylan faced the barrier and looked like she was about to charge it like a bull. She scraped the floor with her foot, then slit her eyes. Then she stopped and walked through the barrier. Unlike other people she wasn't scared of a little magic.

When she got onto the platform, she stated on word to her mum, which was,

"Cool."

The train station wasn't littered like normal ones. Kaylan supposed that was because people only came in here a few times a year. It must have been the cleanest place she had ever seen in her entire life. No, actually that was a lie. The cleanest place Kaylan had ever seen was their house. Every time even a little dust settled on the furniture, Kaylan's mum wiped it off. With a combined effort and a bit of magic, they managed to heave her trunk onto the train. Kaylan reminded her mum to feed Dexter whenever she came home, and that he didn't eat his tinned dog food unless it was still in the shape of the can and that he didn't drink his water unless it was freezing cold with bits of ice in it. She also reminded her mum to keep polishing the motorbike in the garage. It had belonged to her dad while he was alive but now it was Kaylan's. As soon as she was old enough to ride it, it would be hers properly.

Kaylan boarded the train and went to the cabin in the back. Then she leaned out of the window and waved to her mum and sister until they were just tiny specks in the distance.

*/*

"Wake up!" Cory shouted into her ear.

"Why? I wasn't asleep. I was merely daydreaming," Kaylan said.

"Same thing. I thought you were supposed to be turning me invisible anyway," said Cory.

"Oh yeah."

Kaylan told Cory to go to the in the middle of the room and be very still. She flicked to the last page of the invisibility chapter, got out her wand and started to read,

"Invisa Diss-" Just then, a tall slim girl with sleek black hair ran into the compartment, then stopped still as she saw who was on the floor waiting to be turned invisible.

"Oh my gosh! Stay still. I'll get it for you," she shouted frantically. She quickly put the body bind hex on Cory and sat down.

"Hi. My name's Yuriko Maiya. Bet you're glad I paralysed that snake, aren't you?" said Yuriko happily

"Help."

"Hello. My name is Kaylan Ravenclaw. No, I am not glad you paralysed that snake," Kaylan replied stonily.

"Help."

"Why? Were you trying out curses?" Yuriko asked.

"Help."

"That snake, is my pet."

"Help."

"Oh. Sorry." Kaylan ignored her and shouted Finite Incantatum.

"Thank you."

"Now if you would kindly get out, I will get back to charming my pet," said Kaylan.

"It's a free country. I'll watch if I want," said Yuriko, her cheerful mood gone.

"Fine." Kaylan said, turning to Cory.

"Invisa Dissaperum!" There was a blinding flash of light as Cory disappeared.

"Oh cool! Could you teach me that?" Yuriko was seriously getting on Kaylan's nerves now. She had some serious mood swings.

"Riko! There you are. I've been looking all over for you," a girl who had just run into the cabin said. Yuriko ignored her and walked through the door, her head held high.

"Sorry about her, she's always like this. I'm Kimberly Jace, her stepsister. I'm in seventh year. She doesn't like me much."

"That's okay." Kaylan looked at Kimberly's sashes. They were scarlet and gold.

"You're in Gryffindor," she said in amazement. According to nearly everyone she knew, Gryffindor was the best house.

"And proud of it. I'm hoping that Riko will get into Gryffindor like me. Well anyway see you around," and with that she turned on her heel and walked out. Now Kaylan could enjoy the scenery in peace. It really was a breathtaking view. Her mother had told her how beautiful it was, but it was a sight you couldn't believe until you saw it for yourself.

*/*

"Hey Cory, come up and look at this."

No answer came from the floor.

Kaylan smiled weakly. "Cory? Stop pretending you're not here."

Kaylan stood up in fright. Where had the damn snake got to? She groaned. An invisible snake could get into a lot of trouble. She could see it now...

"Paralyse me with that magic stick, would you? I'll show you, evil witch. It's a good thing humans are humans, not meat, otherwise I'd feel bad about eating you."

"Cory?" She heard a scream. Then she heard someone stamp on the floor. Kaylan hoped they had missed. Although Cory was tame and had been stunted in growth by Kaylan's mother, she was still a boa constrictor. And one of the people in there would be minus one foot if they had stepped on her. She rushed into the cabin where she heard the screaming. Kaylan knew that the spell ran out quickly but she never imagined it would this fast. When she got into the cabin she saw four girls with their wands pointed at Cory. Kaylan scooped Cory off up of the floor and exclaimed,

"She's only a snake!" A girl who looked a bit older than Kaylan stood up.

"I'm sorry but my friend Marlie hasn't had the best time around that particular species."

"No reason to try and stamp on Cory. Look how small she is!"

"You named your snake." The girl looked amused.

"And the problem with that is? You haven't even told me what your name is."

"Deanna Tyler. And these are my friends." She made a gesture towards the other three girls in the cabin.

"Marlene Lovegood."

When Kaylan asked if it was true that she had been poisoned in her first year Marlie said she preferred not to talk about it.

"Rianne Stormosi."

"Luella Martin. Now would you please tell us what your name might be?"

"My name is Kaylan Ravenclaw." And when she saw their sashes she sneered, "And I am completely sure that I will get into the house of Ravenclaw like my mum and not Slytherin. I wouldn't want to end up anywhere near you," Kaylan sneered.

"With an attitude like that you'll probably get into Gryffindor." Deanna commented.

With a look that could melt metal Kaylan stared at Deanna and with that she turned around and stormed out of the room, Cory wrapped around her neck. Luella looked at Deanna.

"That's a Slytherin if ever I saw one."

*/*

The train soon shuddered to a halt. An announcement called out.

"Please leave your belongings on the train. They will be delivered to your dormitories." Kaylan trooped out of the train with the rest of the students but she told Cory to get into her trunk.

"Firs'-years! Firs'-years over here!" This, Kaylan thought, was Hagrid. The infamous half giant of Hogwarts. To Kaylan he didn't look very impressive at all. He looked like her mum's old leather sofa made to fit fifteen, burst open at the top.

"Any more firs'-years? Mind yer step, now! Firs'-years follow me! Don' get lost!"

In the big crowd they trooped forward and followed Hagrid. Kaylan thought: 'It's almost impossible to get lost, what with him being half giant and all.'

"We're nearly there!" Hagrid bellowed to the crowd.

"Pretty." Kaylan commented as she got her first sight of Hogwarts from over the lake.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid shouted at them

They drifted slowly across the lake, which kept rippling, even though the boats were practically floating on top of the water. Every now and then Kaylan saw a thing that looked like a rope, but she thought it was a trick of the light. Wait a second, she said to herself, it's dark, there is no light...

*/*

As they reached the door Kaylan saw a tall stern looking witch. Even before she spoke, Kaylan knew who this woman was. She was her great aunt.

"I am Professor McGonagall. I will be taking you into the castle. I am also the Transfiguration teacher."

"Can you really turn into a cat?" asked Janice.

"Yes, I will be showing you at your first lesson." With that an enormous cheer erupted from the crowd. McGonagall allowed herself a little smile. All the first years were like this when they came to the school for the first time. She would soon still their innocent happiness with... Transfiguration.

"Come along now." With that they trooped in through the doors.

*/*

The Entrance Hall was enormous. It was probably tall enough to fit three fully-grown full giants in it, one on top of the other.

"Welcome to Hogwarts School," said Professor McGonagall.

"The banquet will be starting after you have been sorted into your houses. The four houses are Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. While you attend Hogwarts you will soon learn that good deeds are rewarded with house points and having house points taken off you punishes bad deeds. At the end of the year the house with the most points wins the House Cup. Please try not to look scruffy while you are going up to be sorted." The girls straightened their hair and hats and the boys straightened their cloaks, each trying to look the best.

"I will return shortly. Please wait here until I come back." A little girl who looked like she was nine came up to the front of the line and asked feebly,

"Does anyone know what we have to do to get sorted?" A whole load of people started talking but Julie silenced them with one of her slit-eyed stares.

"Everybody knows you just have to put on an old hat." A lot of people seemed to sigh with relief. The whole group had been pretty quiet but now the children started to talk among themselves. The short girl looked like she had just had a huge burden taken off her chest. She introduced herself to the twins.

"Hi, I'm Jessamy Lorenz. I'm probably going to end up in Hufflepuff. All my family have." she said.

"I'm Janice Spencer," Janice said, then added,

"The oldest of the Spencer Twins."

"I'm Julie Spencer. The cleverer of the Spencer Twins," said Julie. Kaylan felt she should add,

"I'm Kaylan Ravenclaw. Their cousin. Way cooler than them."

"Excuse me, but I believe Jessa was talking to us, not you Kaylan," said Janice and Julie nastily. Just then Professor McGonagall came back and said that they were ready.

"'Bout time too. It's freezin' out 'ere," An extremely tall boy whispered to another boy next to him.

"Get into a line. A single file line." She was looking at the untidy bunch in their ragged line. Most of the boys lingered at the back, so they could pull the girls' hair. McGonagall pushed open the double doors and the line gasped. Inside the hall there were hundreds, probably thousands, of candles floating in the air around four long tables. The tables had golden plates and golden goblets, which looked like they'd been polished a million times each. Kaylan looked up and saw that the ceiling was exactly like the sky outside. It was a clear night with stars shining brightly in the pitch-black sky. Professor McGonagall placed a sturdy four-legged stool on the floor near the line of nervous first years. On the stool she put down a frayed, patched and extremely dirty hat. Kaylan's mum wouldn't have even let it in the garage. The hat opened what was probably a mouth and started to sing.

They call me the sorting hat

For that is what I do

If you put me on you will see

Which house is best for you.

You may be of brave heart

And courage is your thing

Then the house of Gryffindor

Is the one I'll put you in.

Then again, you may be wise

And then you will see

That the house of Ravenclaw

Is where you ought to be.

Hufflepuff could be for you

If you work hard and are kind

For that is the place you go

If you have peace of mind.

Last, but not least, is Slytherin

For the cunning and the shrewd

There you will meet

Others of your brood.

So now you know just what I do

I've nothing more to say

Apart from quickly put me on

So I can send you on your way!

The whole hall clapped for a while then it was silent almost instantly after.

"When I call your name, you will sit on the stool and put the hat on, then wait until the hat calls out a house," McGonagall said.

"Appleby, Jennifer!"

The hat shouted out "GRYFFINDOR!" after a moment's pause.

"Appleby, Sean!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Creevey, Colin!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Crowley, Darren!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

The list went on and on. Finally it was Jessamy's turn. She waited for her name.

"Lorenz, Jessamy!"

"Hello Miss Lorenz. I see that you really want to be in Hufflepuff because you don't want to embarrass your family. But remember that this could determine your whole life. I think it would be best if I put you in

"SLYTHERIN!" Jessamy could see her five sisters in Hufflepuff go red as everyone turned round to look at them. She walked proudly up to the Slytherin table with everyone staring at her and whispering.

"Maiya, Yuriko!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Soon it was time for

"Ravenclaw, Kaylan," to go up. When her name was called out she became very nervous because everyone was whispering things about her, thing which she as sure weren't all that nice.

"I bet you 2 Galleons she's not a real Ravenclaw."

"Yeah right."

"What an act. How much of a wannabe can you get? The Ravenclaws died out years ago!" But Kaylan remembered what her mum had said about all these people. They were just jealous of her heritage. So she tried to ignore the sneering faces watching her every move and walked up to the stool then sat down. She soon heard a voice.

"You look like you should be in Ravenclaw, you seem very clever and determined to be top academically. Also, you know that it is expected of you."

"Well I know I should be put in Ravenclaw, but I've always wanted to know what it would be like to be in Slytherin. I know what my life would be like if I was in Ravenclaw, boring without any adventure. That's what I want: Adventure. And I think that being in Slytherin would give me that." Kaylan almost hated herself for doing this, but she knew she didn't want to be in Ravenclaw. She wanted to be a cool Ravenclaw, not a clever Ravenclaw. After the conversation with the Slytherin girls on the train, she had thought, though she would never admit it, they had seemed rather cool. Especially that Stormosi girl.

"Well then, if that's your choice, I will put you there, but you know, Ravenclaw will always be your true home."

"Without a doubt," Kaylan thought.

"Then I know exactly where to put you..."

"SLYTHERIN!" People started muttering again.

"If she was a real Ravenclaw, she wouldn't be in Slytherin."

"Told you she was faking it."

"You owe me 2 Galleons."

"Spencer, Janice," and "Spencer, Julie." Even though they wanted to be put in Ravenclaw, if Kaylan had ended up in Slytherin, then they would follow her, just to make her life miserable. And they always did it together. So for both of the girls the hat called out,

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Weasley, Ginevra!" was sorted into Gryffindor, where people who where obviously her relatives cheered. McGonagall rolled up the scroll and took the Sorting Hat away. Then she stood up to say something.

"Welcome to another cheerful year at this school! I hope that you remember these words of advice through your year at school. Hard work equals Fun!" Nobody did or said anything except a redhead on the Gryffindor table with loads of freckles, who was clapping, going red because he realised that no one else was. Then Professor Dumbledore stood up, ushering a red-faced McGonagall to her seat at the teacher's table. The older members of Hogwarts just thought she was a bit drunk.

"Thank you for that inspiring speech Professor," said Dumbledore beaming cheerfully. McGonagall looked like she wanted to bite his head off. The younger population of Hogwarts was not even that sure why McGonagall had even bothered.

"Well as Professor McGonagall was saying, welcome to another cheerful year at the school. May I remind everybody that Mr. Filch will give you a detention if you are caught out of bed after nine. Now enjoy the feast!" With that, piles of food suddenly surrounded the golden plates. After everyone had stuffed himself or herself, Professor Dumbledore got up to speak again.

"Now we are all satiated it is time to retire to the dormitories which you have been assigned. The prefects will take the first years up to the dorms but I trust the rest of you know the way. Before we go let's sing the school song. You can do whatever tune you like." He waved his wand and words started flowing out of the tip. The school started singing, although some of the Slytherins didn't bother:

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,

Teach us something please,

Whether we be old and bald

Or young with scabby knees,

Our heads could do with filling

With some interesting stuff,

For now they're bare and full of air,

Dead flies and bits of fluff,

So teach us things worth knowing,

Bring back what we've forgot,

Just do your best, we'll do the rest,

And learn until our brains all rot."

*/*