The Dark Angel

I woke with a strangled scream. Sweat coursed down my back as I remembered the dream. Those strange eyes, glowing like fire...My window was open and the curtains were flapping, the first glimmers of dawn creeping over Knockturn Alley. I groaned and went back to sleep.

I suppose there's no nice way to put it. I'm strange. My name is Alisha Aliya Riddle. I am 11 years old, with long, flowing black hair and green-blue eyes. I am very short, only around 135cm. I have a very freaky birthmark, of a skull and a snake on my shoulder. The freaky thing is that the mark is actually the sign of Lord Voldemort. There is always some sort of gossip around me. The most persistent rumour is that when I am angry I get an aura, which I think is positively stupid. Just because I have a black osprey instead of an owl. Just because...Oh, never mind.

A few hours after I rolled back to sleep, Melissa opened my door with my breakfast. She's the manager of the inn where I live, The Rats Nest. Don't worry. The name is misleading. It's an out of the way place in Knockturn Alley, and it's the only place I've ever called home. Some people might say that Knockturn alley is no place for a child to grow up, but Melissa has always been there for me. In a peculiar sort of way, she's my mum. I have no real parents. My mother died in labor and my father died soon after she became pregnant. He was killed by what Mel calls the 'curse of you-know-who'. Maybe he was killed by Voldemort.

"Morning dear! Mail came for you today!"

She handed the bundle to me. There was a package and a letter. I put aside the package (I get one every week) and looked at the letter. It had a Hogwarts seal!

I tore it open in excitement. I was invited to Hogwarts! How wicked! I leapt out of bed and danced around in my pyjamas. Mel smiled tolerantly and began to tidy my bed.

"I suppose that you'll be busy today. And probably tomorrow. And probably every day until you start school."

I nodded, starting to shove down my toast.

"Will you be needing this?"

She shook the package playfully, and a jingling noise entering the room. The package! That's right!

"Um, yeah, it'd be pretty helpful. How much is in it?"

"The usual, I'd expect."

I suppose I should explain that. Every week I get a package containing 10 galleons. I don't know who it's from or where it's from, but Mel says that it's from a relation. I think that if they actually care, they'd tell me who they were. But what do I know? After all, I've never had family to be rude to.

I picked it up and left the room, humming as I walked towards the stairs.

"Ah, dear, do you really want to shop in your pyjamas?"

Halfway down the hall, I stopped and walked back, a pink tinge on my cheeks.

"Oh, shut up."

Mel laughed even harder.

***

"I would like to visit my vault, please."

The goblin examined my key. I've never really liked goblins.

"This all seems to be in order. Silar!"

A goblin with short, fuzzy hair took me to my vault. I hated the cart ride. I was on the verge of being sick when it halted. I was wearing white, and I didn't think that puke green was a good accessory. The faintly amused goblin waited until my legs stopped shaking, and unlocked my vault.

I make no secret of the fact that I am far, far beyond rich. I could have a solid gold mansion if I really wanted to, and still have left overs. But that isn't practical. Why am I the richest kid ever? Mother. She was an heiress, and she left it all to me. I love my mum.

I took a handful of galleons from one of the many piles and added it to the ten I already had. That ought to do it. I left the bank and headed into Diagon Alley. I needed robes first, so I headed for Madame Malkins.

"What would you like, little dear."

"Don't patronise me, Malkin."

She grinned. Madame Malkin and I are old friends. Can you tell?

"Hogwarts! Well done, dearie. Well, you just pop in and we'll measure you up."

Towards the back of the shop are the fitting rooms. There is one for girls, and one for boys. I began to walk towards the one for girls, but something odd caught my eye. It was some space-case witch dressed in pink. Pink! Sure you would!

I shook my head and headed for the room. A boy with dark hair and glasses walked towards the exit. I brushed past him and entered the girls' fitting room. There was another girl in there already.

"Hi! Are you going to Hogwarts too?"

She asked. She had long, silvery hair and an open, truthful face. I was thinking: Veela blood. But she really didn't seem beautiful, or anything, but maybe it's because I'm a girl. But aren't Veela supposed to be beautiful? Weak strain, I decided.

"Oh, hello. Yeah. I'm in first year."

She grinned. "Hey! So am I! My name is Natasha!"

Malkin handed her some robes and she left. My robes took a little longer, as they had to be adjusted a lot more. She gave me my robes and I hopped off the stool. I walked out of my dressing room, just as a boy walked out of another.

*

Draco Malfoy stepped out of his dressing room as some short girl stepped out of another. He was preoccupied, his father was being stubborn about a racing broom. So what if he wasn't going to get on the house team this year? A racing broom would still be necessary. Besides, he deserved it. It wasn't easy being cruel.

"Watch out," he snapped at the girl in irritation. Honestly, didn't she know who he was? But she just stood there, her blue-green eyes gazing at him under a slight frown. He paused, and a shiver ran down his spine. He sank into the eyes, unable to keep himself out of the piercing gaze. What was wrong with this girl? Was she stupid? Why was he still there?

"Draco! Where are you, boy!"

Draco blinked as his father's voice cut through the air. He looked at the girl a final time, and left to find his father. Maybe a racing broom isn't necessary, he thought, dazed. Maybe I'll get something father wants me to get instead.

*

I stood there for a few moments after he left. Why hadn't I said anything? A hundred nasty comments ran through my head now that the pale boy was gone. It was if I had stopped thinking! What was I, stupid?

At the end of the day, I had only one thing left to buy. A wand. I walked into Ollivanders and sat down. It didn't take long for me to be noticed.

"Ah, Miss Riddle. I thought I would be seeing you soon. Seems like only yesterday you father bought his phoenix feather wand..."

The silver measuring tape flickered around me as Mr Ollivander took down boxes. He handed me a wand, but it didn't feel right.

"Unicorn hair, 9 inches. Give it a wave..."

No.

"Try..."

Nope.

"Possibly..."

I wonder how much of the shop I'll destroy before I get the right wand?

"Tricky! Try..."

Oops. Finally, he handed me one that felt familiar, like an old friend. "Give this a try. Oak, 13 inches, Roc feather..." He trailed off as black mist surrounded me.

"Very good! Powerful wand, that one. Fine Roc, almost gouged..."

My attention wandered as he wrapped the wand. I looked outside and something caught my eye. It was that guy from Malkins. Dorko, or something like that. I looked at him until Mr Ollivander drew my attention.

"Do you plan to pay for that wand, Miss Riddle?"

I shook myself and paid for the wand. When I looked for the pale boy again, he was gone.

***

"I'm back!"

I walked up to my room and dumped my stuff on my bed. I walked over to my mirror.

"Have you seen Impa?"

Impa is my osprey. I was planning to send my reply to Hogwarts straight away.

"She left this morning with a letter. Oh, and flatten your hair!"

I ignored its last comment and frowned. I hadn't sent a letter! Mel walked in.

"I sent Impa out with your reply to Hogwarts this morning after you left."

"Thanks. I was about to send her myself."

She turned to leave, and I got the compulsion to ask something I had been wanting to ask for a long time.

"Mel? What was my father's name?"

She sighed, as if she had known that I would ask this.

"I don't know, dear. All I ever really knew about him was that he went to Hogwarts."

I sat there on the bed, lost in thought.

***

The days passed very quickly. I memorised all of my books, of course. Who wouldn't! The day before I left, I was walking down past Gringotts when I spotted Natasha and a friend. I waved and walked up to them. The other girl was average, with brown eyes and hair. Next to Natasha, she was just plain.

"Hi! Natasha, wasn't it?"

She nodded.

"Oh, this is Elyse. I never got your name last time."

"It's Alisha. Hi."

"Yeah, like I said, this is Elyse, and we were just talking about one of our friends, Shantelle..."

They went on about this girl, who had a major crush on Harry Potter, who she'd seen a while before. Elyse groaned. I liked Elyse, a bit. Not much, but a bit.

"I can't believe she thinks he's meant to be with her. Why does she have to be so persistent?"

I'd heard about her kind. Always wanted to be the center of attention, always wanted things their way. I hated those kind of people.

"She's crazy," Natasha muttered. "Oh well. At least she doesn't have a crush on that old guy, yunno, what's his name, Gilderoy Lockhart."

I'd read Lockhart's books. Talk about a load of trash! Think about it. Would a man who spent so much time trying to make himself look better have time or the guts to learn and use the complex charms needed the banish a banshee? Or cure a werewolf? Come on, people! Be serious. He'd probably ripped it off from somewhere.

"Oh him!" Elyse laughed. "A lot of girls are crazy about him, but I don't think he's handsome..."

"Yeah! Who'd want to love that guy?!"

We all laughed. I'd met two people coming to Hogwarts, and it was looking pretty good.

***

The next day I woke very early. Who wouldn't? I was so excited! Just to calm my nerves, I made Mel quiz me on all of my books. I put on my favourite black robes, heaved my trunk downstairs and stuffed it onto a cart. I said goodbye to Prisma, Catzy, Avery and Bertie, four sisters who stayed at the Inn. They were my favourite customers, always full of information about the Dark Arts. I love the Dark Arts! I wheeled the cart outside, as I had to go through Diagon alley to get to Muggleland.

Once through, I called for what muggles call a taxi.

"Kings Cross Station, please."

The muggle man looked oddly at Impa, but just grunted. We started off with a jerk, and almost hit another muggle. I bounced against the door. Jeez! What does it take to get a driver's license out here? This muggle didn't seem very good at it, and I was feeling decidedly delicate when I got out. I grabbed myself a trolley and walked in. I got some funny looks from muggles, and a man asked me where I had gotten a permit to keep Impa. Weird people.

Platform 9 ¾ was crowded. Students chatted, almost drowned out by the sounds of cats and owls talking to each other. I walked to the second last compartment, which was empty. I hauled my trunk up a few centimetres, then dropped it. The damn thing was so heavy! I took out my wand and did the levitation spell. Still holding the spell, I got into the compartment. Whew!

I sat on the window seat and played with my wand until I spotted someone I had seen before. It was the pale boy again. Why did he always show up near me? But then I was distracted by a silver flick of hair. It was Natasha, and Elyse, and some other girl I knew I'd seen. Then I recognised her; it was the freak girl in pink I had seen the same day as the pale boy...why did I think of him? I shook my head and called Natasha over. I guessed that the pink-wearer, she was in pink AGAIN, was Shantelle. No wonder she was flaky.

"Hi guys! Hello, er, Shantelle?"

She glanced at me and said, "Oh, hi. So what house do you guys want to be in? Personally, I want to be in Gryffindor."

I decided then and there that I didn't like her very much.

"I'd like Ravenclaw," Elyse ventured. Natasha nodded.

"Yeah. Ravenclaw or Slytherin, I say!"

I nodded.

"Definitely, but I'd prefer to be in Slytherin. Anything but Hufflepuff."

They laughed, but Shantelle frowned. I was really starting to dislike her.

"Isn't Slytherin that evil house?"

She asked. I went pink, but Natasha just shrugged good-naturedly.

"Anything but Hufflepuff."

After a while the witch with the trolley walked past. I'd brought some money, so I got some for all of us. I even gave some to Shantelle, since it would be totally rude not to. She targeted the Chocolate Frogs, which really annoyed me, as I loved those Frogs, and she ate so many. Then some guy came in. He sniffled.

"H-has anyone seen a t-toad?"

We shook our heads and he left. We changed into our robes, just before a girl with puffy hair and a bossy voice came in. I wondered if she had a puffy brain to go with that hair.

"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one."

I pointed my wand around the compartment and said the summoning spell. I was good at that spell, so I knew that when nothing happened there was definitely no toad in this room.

"Sorry. No toad. Would you like the consolation prize?"

She sniffed in annoyance.

"Well, maybe the spell just didn't work, like that Ron who was with Harry Potter."

Shantelle choked on a Chocolate Frog and ran out, the Frogs clutched in her hands. I wondered if she realised that she had them. Probably not. I sighed. Then I became angry. How dare that girl accuse my spell of not working! I'd met two people I hated, and we weren't even at the bloody school yet! Great start! I put my wand in my pocket. Then something which was nagging at me leaked out.

"Do you guys know any guys with pale hair and blue eyes? I keep seeing this boy, and I don't know who it is!"

They shook their heads. Elyse gave me a sly glance.

"Sounds like you're obsessed, Alisha. Got the hots, eh?"

I blushed furiously, and grinned.

"Hey, I've been thinking about that guy every night for a month. I think I'd know if I was obsessed!"

They laughed, and the blush retreated.

"Seriously, though, I think I know who it is, but I can't put my finger on it. I hate having a piece of information out of my reach."

Elyse nodded knowingly, but I was unable to question her, as the train began to stop. I got off the train. The hots, indeed!

A huge figure in the crowd called for the first years. We headed towards him. We followed him easily, as his bulk parted the crowd for us. We walked down a narrow path, and I was stuck behind Neville, who kept sniffling. I wonder if I'm the only one who found that gross. We rounded a bend and a loud 'oh' rang out. A vast lake stretched below an castle. It was amazing.

The giant man pointed to a fleet of boats. Shantelle, Elyse, Natasha and I climbed into one. We set off, but Shantelle kept trying to steer us into another boat, one with a dark-haired boy with glasses. I'd seen him on the same day as the pale boy...God, I WAS OBSESSED!!! But really, I really think that was Harry Potter. He wasn't very impressive. Shantelle was such a wannabe.

We bent our heads as we sailed under a curtain of ivy. We reached an underground harbour and scrambled out. We walked up a flight of stairs and the giant man knocked three times on a large door. It swung open almost immediately, emitting a tall, elderly witch. She looked mean. The man left and she addressed us.

She talked about houses and stuff. I already knew tons about Hogwarts, as I had read Hogwarts: A History. I let my attention wander, and, surprise, surprise, guess who I had seen. The pale boy again. He was next to two gorillas, who looked tough and stupid. And they probably were. But he stood at ease, as though he owned the building and everyone in it. I started to dislike him, even if he was incredibly cute.

After a while the witch led us into the great hall. This was where we were to be sorted. I flattened my hair nervously, and looked around. The ceiling was spectacular, simply amazing. I didn't stop my jaw from plummeting the 125 centimetres to the ground, I simply dragged it along. WOW.

The witch, who I heard was Professor McGonagall, set an old hat on a stool in front of us. To my amazement, the hat began to sing. I hadn't heard about this! The song was a bit of a let down, however. But it told me all I need to know. It was the sorting hat, and we had to put it on to be sorted.

I didn't pay very much attention to many of them. Natasha was in Slytherin, Elyse was in Ravenclaw, and Shantelle was in Gryffindor. The pale boy was Draco Malfoy, Slytherin. So this was the famous Malfoy boy. I knew I'd heard his description somewhere, and here he was. I disliked him more now. His father had been a supporter of Voldemort, but denied it. I hate liars, especially those who lie to get out of Azkaban. Besides, I don't think that Voldemort is dead. No...he's waiting to return, and when he comes, Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy would be punished. The hat had barely touched his head when it made its choice. EVIL DRACO!!! For some reason, that made me feel better.