Disclaimer: All rigths belong to J. K. Rowling.

The Hogwarts Express pulled to a halt. The students rushed out from the train. Riley swallowed the last of her chocolate frog (which she had at first found to be disgusting) before rushing out with the rest of them. She had lost track of the Potters and the Weasleys in the crowd. She looked around, hoping to find them.

Riley got onto one of the boats, which apparently was how everyone got to Hogwarts after the train ride. Riley managed to make her way to the boat that Rose was in. Riley noticed Rose eyeing Scorpius from a distance. She smiled. "Interested?"

"No," Rose denied.

"So what is it?"

"Don't tell anyone about this. I'm just speculating," Rose said. "When we were at the station I overheard his mother telling him to find the One. I'm thinking that maybe she means the descendant of Lord Voldemort. Apparently his mother is some psychic and follower of the Dark Lord."

"Whatever for?" Riley asked. "What good would it do her?"

"Maybe she'll try to resurrect the Dark Lord," Rose suggested. "But she's probably just crazy. Lord Voldemort having children? Whoever comes up with these things?"

They arrived at Hogwarts soon after, and Riley joined the first years who were waiting to be sorted. A man stepped up to the stage of the hall. He had a ridiculously long beard. Dumbledore, Riley thought. But it wasn't him. This guy was a lot younger.

"Greetings, students, to another year at Hogwarts. We may now begin the sorting," he said, as he Apparated in a large puff of smoke. After the smoke cleared away, an object was revealed. There was an old ragged hat on a chair. It was black and had a small tear which functioned as a mouth. It began to sing a short song.

I'm the Sorting Hat, as you can plainly see,
Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff, which shall it be?
Yes, I may be revolting, I may be hideous,
But I definitely serve my purpose,
To sort all of you,
To your houses true.

Everyone clapped as though the cacophony had been a sign of musical genius, which it hadn't. Student after student were sorted. Hugo and Lily were put in Gryffindor. There were not many who were put in Slytherin.

Riley walked up to the Hat. With trembling fingers, she put it on her head. She heard a raspy voice in her mind. She decided that it was most likely the Hat. "Interesting. The little pet project of old Maveryck has finally decided to show herself."

"What?" Riley telepathically asked. She either failed to telepathically connect with the Hat, or was simply ignored by it.

"Slytherin," the Hat said, before actually declaring it to the whole school. Riley made her way to the Slytherin table, sitting beside Scorpius as it was the only seat left. She silently cursed her luck. She stole a glance at Rose who gave her a weak smile from the Gryffindor table.

While everyone continued with their feast, Professor Bronte made her way to the Slytherin table, and quietly told Riley that she was to see some Lucas guy in the school offices after the meal. Riley nodded to indicate that she understood.

"What was that all about?" Scorpius asked. Riley chose to ignore the little blond boy as she simply could not be bothered. If his father had been a Death Eater, he had been a mere slave to her family. She wondered why anyone would want to be a Death Eater in the first place. Firstly there was the having to bear with having a hideous mark on your skin. And of course there was the inconvenience of Voldemort's midnight meetings.

After the feast Riley made her way to the school offices. It took her a while to find them, especially because she was dragging her luggage along with her. Professor Bronte caught sight of her and led her to the principal's office. On his door were engraved the words Professor Lucas. She knocked on the door and he responded by saying "Come in."

She gingerly entered the room and took a seat. On the wall behind him, she saw portraits of Hogwarts' ex-headmasters: Professor Dippet, Dumbledore and Snape. The portraits seemed alive, and they moved around freely. She heard them whisper, "Do not trust what you see."

Professor Lucas must have heard them too, for he remarked that the portraits were always saying nonsensical things. He told Riley that all of them were long dead and their words were nothing but little quotes from here and there. He informed her that her tests were to begin the following week, which was usually called "Orientation Week", the week in which students did not actually have to study anything, but instead were to focus on getting to know each other better. The Ministry of Magic had for some reason decided that this was important to make it easy for teachers to pick out first years who were on the "wilder side" and deal with them accordingly before they got out of hand.

Riley's gaze turned to a magnificent bird resting on a perch on the table.

"That is Fawkes. A phoenix. He once belonged to Dumbledore, the greatest headmaster that Hogwarts ever had. Now, it's late. Professor Bronte will escort you to the Slytherin commonroom," said Professor Lucas.

Riley had only just been able to get a close look at Professor Bronte, vice principal and head of Slytherin House. She was a tall woman with emerald green eyes, almost like that of a cat's. They were almost haunting in a way. She had an intimidating air about her.

"Excuse me, Professor, but how did I manage to get into Hogwarts?" Riley asked. Professor Bronte seemed to stop for a moment as if to consider her words. They walked a few more steps before she finally spoke.

"The school decided to not hold your lineage against you, especially since You Know Who no longer presents a threat to the school. But understand that your lineage must still be kept secret. We do not want to start a panic, now, do we?"

Riley nodded to show that she understood. She must keep her true identity hidden until Maveryck told her otherwise. Riley Shantel Riddle must be Riley Shantel Grayson for a little while longer.

Riley followed Professor Bronte to the Slytherin commonhouse. She told her that the password was Basilisk. She entered the commonroom and went to the girls' dorm. She dragged her luggage all the way to an empty bed before dumping it there.

"I'm Shanessa Covington. You can call me Shan. What's your name?" asked the girl whose bed was next to hers. She had sleek, straight black hair and a sunny disposition. Riley thought that she seemed too cheerful to be in Slytherin. She then crawled into bed. "It's late. We'd best get to bed."

She was out like a light. So was everyone else, clearly tired by their day's travel. Pocketing a small leather spellbook (the one that she had gotten from Knockturn Alley), Riley sneaked out to the commonroom, where she saw none other than Scorpius and his gang.

"You can't go out this late. It's forbidden," Scorpius said. Riley scoffed as she casually flipped through the spellbook which had been entitiled Wizardia Grimoire. She found a spell that could forcibly hypnotise someone into doing your will. Riley drew her wand and pointed it at them.

"Hypnotika amnesika," she said. A black glow shot out from her wand and hit them dead on. They dreamily trudged back to the boys' dorm. Riley was glad that there was not as much trouble than there needed to be. She sneaked out of the Slytherin commonroom, and stealthily found her way to the Gryffindor commonroom using the map that Maveryck had given her.

The map worked like the Marauderer's Map, showing her the locations of everyone at a particular place at that moment in time. The Map had been of Maveryck's own design and loosely based off the map that had been used long ago by a group of students at Hogwarts. Riley pocketed the map carefully, aware that such a thing was forbidden on school grounds.

The entrance to the Gryffindor dormitories was blocked by the portrait of a fat lady. "Password?" she demanded in an annoyingly high pitched voice.

"Go to hell," Riley muttered.

"Grindewell!" the portrait lady exclaimed loudly before covering her mouth in shock. "Oops! We're going to have to change the password." She swung open and Riley traipsed in, slightly amused but at the same time slightly annoyed by the portrait. She wondered it Maveryck would have anything against her burning the portrait of the Gryffindor fat lady.

"Hi!" Riley said to the Potters and the Weasleys who were in the commonroom discussing something in raised whispers. They seemed surprised that she could get into the house. "What are you guys up to?"

"Rose said that Mrs. Malfoy is looking for Voldemort's heir. So we're going to the library to see if that is even remotely possible. You know, to stop any Death Eater uprisings," James said. He admired his father greatly and wanted to be just like him, and it was for this reason that if there was any Death Eater attack, he would like to be on the frontlines of the battle.

"You're just looking for trouble, James," Rose said. "I'm not going. We could get killed. Or expelled! You have no idea how dangerous wandering around Hogwarts can be this late at night!"

"Well, we're going," Albus said on behalf of himself, Hugo and Lily.

"Don't drag them into this! They haven't even started school, and you're trying to get them expelled?" Rose asked in horror. Hugo and Lily, however, seemed more than eager to go on a Hogwarts adventure like their parents had used to.

"Well, there is no harm in exploring," Riley said. If there was anything in that library worth finding, Riley was not going to let them find it. There was too much at stake! Her Hogwarts education, the peace of the wizarding world, and Maveryck's big plan. She could not afford to lose all that just because some pesky Potters and Weasleys could not keep their thoughts to themselves.

She made a mental note to strangle Scorpius Malfoy's mother when she had the chance, for causing her all this trouble.