I woke up much later and half expected for it to be midday. The events of the previous day had knocked me out, and I struggled to believe they had all taken place. I shook my head in my pillow fighting the headache that was slowly drilling my brain.

Out of habit, I tried to reach for my phone to check the time, and when I didn't find it, I lightly facepalmed. Thankfully I had learned the spell for it, so I grabbed my wand from under my pillow (Constant Vigilance! Moody would be proud) and slowly flicked it.

6:45 AM.

How on earth am I up this early?

Quite surprised with myself, I tried looking around the pitch-black room and could just make out the sleeping forms of my roommates. I had neither intention nor desire to wake them up; it was their job to get ready in time.

With a swift motion, I rolled out of bed, trying to be as quiet as possible. After years of sneaking out of bed late at night, I was as silent as a cat. My hands reached for my hair and pulled it into a messy bun, my eyes still sleepy and unfocused.

With a low Lumos I searched for my uniform and toiletries and headed to the bathroom at the end of our room. I made quick work of cleaning and getting ready for the day, and as soon as I was done I got out of the sleeping quarters.

The common room was more populated than I expected, apparently, Slytherins were used to waking up early. I searched for familiar faces, but when I saw none, I decided to go to breakfast on my own.

My ascent from the dungeons helped me wake up a little more, as the cold, large corridors and staircases were very much a labyrinth and required my full mental abilities. I wrapped my arms around my tiny body under the cloak, and soon I arrived at the entrance of the Great Hall. The doors were wide open, and a low chattering was filling the room.

As one would expect, at 7:30 in the morning you could mostly find Ravenclaws and Slytherins at breakfast. I walked swiftly to the very end of my House table, towards the professors' one, where I caught a glimpse of Blaise and Theo.

"Morning!" greeted enthusiastically Blaise as I approached. His smile was too big and bright for the time of the day. I eyed him suspiciously.

"Morning to you too, Mr. cheerful" was my response, as I sat next to Theo and opposite him. The brown haired boy seemed to mirror much more my distaste for early rising, judging by his grumpy expression.

"It's our very first day at Hogwarts, we need to be fully ready for what's ahead" announced Blaise as he bit into his toast and looked around himself with an enthusiastic expression.

Theo was busy reading the Prophet and didn't even look my way when he spoke.

"Don't mind him, he's always like this in the morning" muttered and then took a sip of tea. "Bloody annoying if you ask me, but he can't seem to stop".

This response got a reaction out of Blaise, as he immediately frowned at his friend. Then, a split second after, he turned towards me and flashed another smile.

"I am only trying to start the day with the right foot! I need to make a positive impression on our upperclassmen if I want to make a name for myself here" exclaimed proudly. His Slytherin ambition was quite apparent, and the fact surprised me considering his young age.

I cocked an eyebrow at him, looked at Theo who just raised his shoulders in response.

Blaise was unperturbed by our lack of enthusiasm and continued with his rant.

"Have you all met your mentor? Mine is a seventh-year girl called Zoe Accrington, I made sure I introduced myself last night. A bit stuck up, but I'm sure I can work with her".

My brows furrowed in thought as I recalled the other night's speech by our Perfect. I completely forgot to check who mine was that morning, and honestly, I didn't think it was that big of a deal. I shrugged and turned to Theo, who was now folding the prophet and finishing his breakfast. I snatched it from him and poured myself some juice.

"I read mine is a certain Peregrine Derrick, I don't know who the bloke is yet", admitted the boy with a seemingly worried expression.

"I have no clue who mine is" I replied nonchalantly, biting into an apple and opening the newspaper. When silence met my answer, I looked up to see a livid Blaise.

He was evidently appalled by our nonexistent sense of initiative, and he leaned forward with a contrite face.

"That's no good! You both need to make the effort to go and find them", insisted Blaise with urgency. "This was the only thing my mother made me swear I wouldn't forget to do here, she repeated more than a hundred times that I needed to treat my mentor extremely well." Immediately after he finished the sentence, he made sure to politely nod at a group of older Slytherins passing by.

"What do you mean? How is that important?" I wondered out loud, puzzled by the whole concept. "I mean, I get that we have someone to go to if we get lost or need help with a professor, but I don't see how I need to pester this seventh year as soon as I walk in here".

"You don't know, do you?" said a voice to the right of us. I turned and saw Daphne as she made her way next to Blaise. The latter eyed her curiously but kept silent as she took a seat next to him.

"Our house is not like the others" she hesitated a little and looked around to check if someone was overhearing the conversation. "Things… happen, especially for first years. The key to it all is our mentors".

My skepticism must have been coming out of my pores since Theo intercepted the conversation before I could rebut.

"She's telling the truth, even my father warned me about it" he adjusted his hair anxiously, "He wouldn't ever share the full story, but there is some sort initiation to Slytherin. A series of trials and a ceremony of sorts".

I rolled my eyes at that. "What is this, some kind of stupid test to see if we're worthy?", I chuckled at the thought. We weren't trying to rush into some kind of fraternity, we were just a bunch of 11-year-olds in a British boarding school.

Blaise glared at me. "This is not a joke. I've heard stories of it, and they were all terrifying". The other two nodded at that.

"My cousin told me it's been a tradition for over five centuries" Daphne sputtered, "He said he will never, ever forget it".

This didn't make sense. How was it that no one knew about this? The books never mentioned any kind of special initiation for the Slytherins or any strange behavior of the first years.

"Does anybody know about this? How do they keep it a secret from the parents?" I asked curiously. "If it's that scary, I'm sure some crybaby couldn't handle it and spilled the beans".

Theo shook his head at that. "I heard they make you take an oath that forbids you from saying anything about it to anyone who isn't from Slytherin".

I had to pause at that and consider his words. It started to sound more and more suspicious by the second.

"How bad is it?" I dared to ask. Daphne's blue eyes grew darker at that.

"Very bad. If you don't do as they say you most likely will get bruises, some broken bones even."

"WHAT?" my exclamation momentarily caught the attention of some nearby Ravenclaws. My fellow housemates were not pleased and proceeded to shush me.

"I'm sorry! I just can't understand how can the school not know of this if all the Slytherin first years get sent to the Hospital Wing by the end of the month".

A smirk suddenly appeared on Theo's face. "No worries there, my father told me Gryffindors are still the number one most hospitalized house of the whole school, even without any kind of initiation."

"Serves them right for being a bunch of reckless tossers" snickered Blaise.

"Still," I said unconvinced, "I can't imagine what the hell they'd have us do that's so dangerous".

"I once heard of a kid that was told to jump into the Black Lake to poke the Giant Squid" blurted Blaise, "He hasn't set foot in water ever since".

"Another one had to sneak out after curfew and run around a group of Red Caps without a wand" muttered Daphne conspiratorially "And there was the story about the girl who had to steal a pair of Flitch's underwear". She grimaced at the thought, and my nose wrinkled in disgust.

"I know that they will play psychological games on us, to scare us" chimed in Theo. "And from what I've been told, they always find a way to make you do what they ask".

"Who's they?" my brain taking in all of the crazy tales took a moment to put it all together but quickly asked "The mentors?"

"Yes, they are the ones in charge of the trials" Theo was now growing apprehensive as the Great Hall was filling up with students.

I felt a light kick under the table and saw Daphne signaling us a group of older students sauntering up the Slytherin table. They were a group of boys, most likely in their final year, robust and intimidating. Their grins were growing wider just by looking at us all, their new victims. I could see them laughing and pushing each other excitedly. Most likely, this whole ordeal was some kind of revenge for whatever they were asked to do on their initiation.

The four of us sat in silence for the remainder of the time, the mysterious trials looming over our day.