Chapter 11

The Magical society was a strange one, as a whole, with all their weird but interesting traditions.

He was glancing around the platform with a curious gaze, after all, it was his first time at platform 9 ¾.

"You'd think the parents would have bought some type of leash for these wild children" he heard his great aunt Cassy stiffly say as she covered her nose and mouth with her handkerchief as though she would be prone to receiving some type of disease. She definitely wasn't used to the loudness and the children. The woman would rather have some small tea party within the comfort of her home instead of having to leave it.

Though today was the day she decided she had to come out of her comfort zone, so she could see her great-great-nephew off on his first year at Hogwarts. "None of that" Arcturus snapped from beside her.

He could hear them both start to bicker, instead of cousins they acted more like siblings. He smiled up at them, a sad one. There was someone missing, his great grandfather Pollux. The man was more excited than him and he was here like he said he would be… but in some ways he was. He looked to the old owl in his cage, though he didn't dare put his finger anywhere near his cage, seeing as last time the old cranky bird bit him- it was just like his previous owner.

He wished the old man was here with his unnecessary commentary, but at least he has Aquila. He would be with him through Aquila, his old companion. He never would have thought he would pass between him going to Diagonal Alley and going to Hogwarts.

It only took a few months, and he was gone.

"Alright. Grandfather, Aunt Cassy, I'll see you in winter, then- try to stay alive by then, yeah?"

Aunt Cassy squeezed him into a hug, "You cheeky brat, I'll have you know I'm more likely going to live longer than the old coot you call grandfather."

Arcturus didn't bother responding to her childishness.

"Do your best to show the others that you are Leonis Black, prove to them you're more than just a name." Leonis nodded at his grandfather with a smile.

"And Leonis?" his grandfather called out.

"Yes?"

"Do try to make friends, will you?" the old man suggested as Leonis rolled his eyes in response when he heard his aunt Cassy snort behind her handkerchief.

With a few steps taken, he looked back to see both of his family members had already gone towards the Floo exists, cutting through the crowd easily. It was strange, he felt… alone? He sighed looking back to the train.

There was no going back now. This was the next step to this life.

Inside the Hogwarts Express was a bit of a surprise. He shouldn't even be surprised; he was raised with magic but for some reason, he just assumed that the corridor would be… hm somehow narrow. It was spacious enough that two people would be able to walk side by side with no problem.

Expansion charms then. Once again magic has broken the laws of physics. Now he just needed to find a carriage, luckily, he was at the far end of the train. Merlin, he wishes the people on the other end luck, with how much chaos is occurring on that end. Why were children so unnecessarily loud?

He just kept walking and walking, passing all the carriages that were occupied with older students… so eventually, he did what he wished he didn't have to. He walked towards the loud noise. "Sorry about this Aquila" he mumbled to know awake owl staring straight at him with its sharp eyes so similar to an eagle.

It was no wonder his grandfather Pollux named him Aquila, a star name no less. The bird nipped at the cage, as he glared at Leonis. Leonis still wasn't sure if the bird hated him or not, but apparently his grandfather Arcturus seemed to believe the bird did like him, at least more than anyone else other than his previous owner.

Finally, he found an empty and quickly relaxed, settling his owl down, who happily decided to close his eyes once more. They could no longer hear the noise- the door was pushed open, the loud noise of the train rushing in passed through the broken charms of the now opened door.

There stood a girl with wild auburn hair, freckles and glasses that seemed too big for her small face. She was most likely a first-year Leonis deducted.

"I'm Anna Foley" She introduced herself, she stuck her hand right in his face, he stared at it for a few seconds before he decided to introduce himself too.

Before he could get a word out, she snapped at him as she lowered her hand, "Aren't you going to shake my hand? I knew people could be rude but come on it's just a nice introductory handshake."

"…I'm Leonis."

She grinned after getting a response and slammed the door shut, then took a seat opposite him.

"I hope you don't mind me coming in here, maybe I should have started off with that instead of demanding your name and asking for a handshake, but I wanted to get it out of the way. The train is so loud you know, I thought my eardrums were going to explode- is that your owl? She looks quite old yet majestic in some way- ow!"

She stopped talking, carefully inspecting her hand which was just scrapped by Aquila after she got too close to the cage.

"…Um sorry about that- Aquila isn't too fond of people. I think she did that because you called him old and, 'she's' a boy" Leonis replied to her after being attacked by the old coot. He then proceeded to pull the cage closer to himself.

"Oh… I shouldn't have gotten so close to his cage anyways. Are you a first-year too?"

"Yeah, I am."

"Great! Me too! I'm the youngest out of four children. So, all my siblings are in Hogwarts already or have graduated. First, there's Liam, he graduated a while ago, he was a Gryffindor. Then there's Adam he graduated as well, he was also Gryffindor. Then we have my sister Ella, she's a fourth-year Ravenclaw. I'm actually a half-blood, my dad is a muggleborn, he was a Gryffindor. My mum, was in Ravenclaw like my sister so I'm not sure which house I'll get into- I just know they'll have a laugh if I got into Hufflepuff, I hope I get into Gryffindor… sooo, what about you?" After her whole rant, she finally looked back towards Leonis with a curious gaze.

He shifted under her piercing gaze, her glasses making her eyes seem larger than they actually are.

"Well, I'm a pureblood and I guess on both sides, they're known for being Slytherins… my dad was actually a Gryffindor, my mum I guess she was a Slytherin… the only other person I can think of that wasn't in Slytherin is my great grandmother, she was a Hufflepuff. I don't have any siblings, but I have a younger cousin, Draco. He'll be joining Hogwarts next year along with our other friends. They'll all most likely be Slytherins"

She nodded along to every word.

"Then does that mean you'll be a Slytherin too?" She asked unsurely, with suspicion in her gaze. Leonis just shrugged his shoulders.

"…What family are you from? You know since they're known to be Slytherins."

"Black" He answered her question. She stared at him for a few seconds, her mouth slightly opened as she gapped at him. "…Like Sirius Black? Like that type of Black?" he just nodded.

When he did nod, she just looked away as she immediately started to awkwardly fidget with the hem of her cardigan, looking anywhere but where he was. He was surprised she hadn't just run out of the carriage. It would seem that would be the end of any actually talking for the rest of the trip and he didn't have it in him to continue a conversation she obviously 'now' didn't want to be a part of.

--

He had yet to even start a conversation with anyone else since the departure and exiting of the train. There he was clustered together with the other first years, all of them waiting for the sorting to commence. He was supposed to be trying to make friends, but he had no idea how to do that. All the friends he had all started the conversations not him. Even Draco did most of the talking at times.

Finally, he decided to talk, "So, what house do you think you'll get into?" he whispered to the boy on his right. The boy looked towards him with raised brows before shrugging.

"Dunno. I think I want to go to Hufflepuff; I heard they have a secret entrance to the kitchens… that would be nice to have- although Gryffindor could be a whole lot of fun to be in, I heard they have the best parties. Now Ravenclaw… I'm not too sure about that, I'm not too great with books, can barely read without mispronouncing something every sentence." The boy with dark brown curls whispered back.

"What about Slytherin? Ambition and resourcefulness sound like a good combination to emphasise-"

"-Absolutely not. Are you a muggleborn or something? Everyone knows that all Slytherins are evil. I'd never be a slimy snake" the boy more so mumbled to himself and Leonis awkwardly looked away as he too mumbled a 'right'.

Lovely…

Then the hat began to sing, and the hall rang with silence as they listened. As the hat finished, he watched as the woman, Ms McGonagall, the lady- the professor who had led the first years into the hall they were now in and just like that names began to be called. Name after name.

Each student getting into different houses. Either Hufflepuff, Slytherin, Ravenclaw or even Gryffindor. So far, all the house had received students-

"Black, Leonis!"

There it was his name had finally been called out. The hall reigned in silence as they heard the name 'Black'. It of course was a very well-known name for many reasons, whether for being known for the 'Black madness', the purity, the wealth or because of Sirius Black, they all knew the name Black and there he was a Black.

He pushed past the cluster of students who all watched as he walked towards the hat. He ignored it all, all the stares, the hushed whispers and just sat on the stool.

"Very interesting," the Sorting Hat commented, as he fished through the Leonis' head.

His brows furrowed having not expected the hat to actually speak in his head, "…What's interesting?" he questioned the hat through his mind, hoping it would respond.

"You have great ambition- very great indeed, fit for Slytherin indeed. Yet… your thirst for knowledge is remarkable, Rowena would simply love for someone like you to join her house, most definitely. However, you are incredibly hard-working, as well as brave. Now there seems to be the problem. Do you have any preferences whatsoever?"

He could understand the ambition… maybe even the thirst for knowledge, he was in a world of magic of course there was still so much for him to discover ad explore, but hardworking? He could somewhat understand that too, but brave? He was nowhere near brave. The only times he was brave, were all accidents, moments he doesn't use his brain, doesn't think, he just does stuff.

Preference? No. Wasn't the hat suppose to just decide? Why the need to ask for his opinion?

"Er- no. Not really. Whatever house you choose for me will be fine, I'm sure." He responded because it really didn't matter which house he was put into. It didn't matter, seeing as he couldn't see any house really helping him in his endeavour, he couldn't exactly just spit out what it was he was doing.

The Sorting Hat sighed. "No really, I do insist. No preferences at all?" The Sorting Hat let out a weary sigh. "I suppose you really don't care. Which is very impressive, yes, however, I must sort you."

Leonis shifted awkwardly as he waited, before unsurely asking another question "But aren't you supposed to choose where I go?"

The Sorting Hat straightened slightly. "Yes, and no. Normally students - unlike yourself - already have a house in mind. While there might be two houses that they could go in, students usually already have somewhere they want to go in mind. The song I sing usually brings forward some type of preference based on what a student wants to be thought of, however, in your case, you simply do not care."

Leonis didn't like that answer at all and fidgeted once more. "Does that mean you can't sort me? Look if it's that much of a problem, just choose Slytherin, I could really care less if I'm there or not but at least it'll have my family happy" he finally gave the hat what it wanted, a house.

"See, that wasn't hard at all was it?" the hat grumbled. "BETTER BE SLYTHERIN."

He huffed in slight annoyance. He should have just put him in Slytherin in the first place, then he wouldn't have been seated on the stool longer than needed. He could feel the curious gazes of the students as he hopped off the stool. There were a few polite claps from around the hall, but the most noise came from the Slytherin table of course.

He sunk into his seat and turned to the next person and was clapped lightly on the back, "Welcome to the house of ambition, Black. We'll see how long you last." The person said hauntingly. Instead of feeling intimidated like the person probably expected Leonis just nodded and smiled in response before promptly ignoring their existence.

--

He stood awkwardly like an idiot in front of the large stone door carved with a coiled snake that seemed to have real emerald eyes. It was a wonder they would actually allow such a thing in a school filled with children. He raised his fist and knocked on the door to announce his presence.

A moment later, the door was opened, revealing his new head of house, who was indeed scowling at him, obviously annoyed by his presence. Severus Snape, the man's hair just as how it was last time he had seen the man at the Malfoy manor, his hair was still long and black, maybe just a little less greasy than last. "Well, it is nice to see you are as loquacious as always, Black" the man seemed to greet him.

He snorted lightly, 'loquacious', it would seem the usually silent man could joke around too.

"Snape" Leonis causally greeted the man as he strolled leisurely into the classroom when the man walked away from the door. "Professor Snape" the man corrected.

"Right" Leonis mumbled as he walked around the classroom, looking around with curiosity.

"Is there something you actually need? Did you not get your timetable?" the man questioned him. "Oh, yeah, I did. It's back in the common room" he replied to the man who then snapped his dark gaze towards him. "Then why, pray tell… are you lurking around my classroom this evening? Surely you would be better suited attempting to make friends in the common room."

"Friends… about that, I think I'll try to make those tomorrow or something. Besides we're friends right Snape?"

He watched as the man's eyes narrowed at the last bit.

Not friends then? right...

The man was actually his cousin, Draco's godfather, so there were times he would often see the grumpy man. At times he would show Draco and Leonis's a few brews of potions and the logic behind the ingredients. At first, the man seemed to loath Leonis' presence, but soon enough he had just gotten used to him, seeing he was apparently different from Sirius Black.

"I will not make it a mission to have to correct you every time we meet. It is now Professor Snape, am I clear?"

"Crystal- How come you don't use Prince? Isn't your grandfather dead or something, surely you can just take the-" Leonis decided it was best to just stop talking after meeting the stone-hard gaze of Sna- Professor Snape.

He watched as the man then proceeded to continue brewing whatever it was, he was brewing. Leonis stalked around the large desk the man was standing at and sat on a stool and watched quietly.

Then the silence was ended, unexpectedly by Professor Snape.

"Would you like a drink, Leonis?" It was surely an odd question. Leonis definitely, not have expected something like that to come from the gloomy man, but then again, Leonis must have looked pitiful where he sat, he back hunched a frown marred on his face.

"Um, sure. Thanks."

He watched as the seemingly older man, strode over to a side table with many decanters and some fruit. Leonis watched patiently, as his long nimble fingers worked at the table, just as deftly as he works with potions. He found it to be a fascinating process.

The man handed the glass to him, and he stared into the cup full of colour. "What is it you want to ask me?" the man drawled out, Leonis looked up at the man who began to walk away. There wasn't really anything he wanted to ask the man, but it must seem that way seeing as he marched his way over to the man's office on not even a day after the ceremony.

It's just, that he hadn't wanted to stay longer than needed in the common room, listening to bratty children argue about who was more important in terms of blood, while the others hid themselves away in their rooms. It would definitely be awkward trying to make conversation with someone who's somehow already buried in a book in the corner of their shared dorm room. He wasn't even sure of all their names.

Hm, what could he ask him… maybe Sirius?

"Strangely enough I never asked you about my father. Were you friends with him?" Leonis finally asked as he took a sip, savouring it. Hm, lemon? Was that passionfruit?

He heard the man scoff, "Friends? No."

Leonis rolled his eyes at the man's tone, it was obvious they hadn't gotten along then. Maybe he'll question him another time, deciding to change the topic before the man decided to kick him out.

"When did you decide you wanted potions to be your career?"

"Leonis?" Snape called out.

"Yes?" Leonis dutifully answered back after taking another sip.

"Go back to the common room."

"...Yes sir."