Of Magic USUK

Chapter 1

"Arthur," someone calls, shaking me awake. I blink tiredly, feeling my heavy lids struggle against the chains of sleep that still cling to me. "Arthur, wake up, or you'll be late for Care of Magical Creatures again," the same voice calls, and the thought of missing my favorite class of the day manages to startle me awake enough to sit up and rub my eyes.

My best friend, Vladimir, sits on my bed, legs draped out lazily as he leans against one of the posts of my bed. He's smirking at me with mischief glaring through those blood-colored eyes of his.

"It's Saturday, isn't it?" I ask, glaring at him as I scratch at my tangled mess of gold hair.

His ringing laugh fills the air, making other students that are asleep in their beds groan. Slamming my hand over his mouth and being careful of his unusually sharp teeth, I shush him and force myself out of bed, getting dressed because I know that the bloody Romanian won't let me go back to sleep anytime soon. 

"You fall for it every single time. One would think you'd learn," he mutters, chuckling to himself as I roll my eyes, knotting my tie with ease.

After five and a half years at this damn school, one learns how to at least knot a tie without messing up, so no one can say that they learn absolutely nothing, even if they sleep through all of their classes. He finally gets up from my bed, and steps in front of me. 

"Let's go," he says, leaving the room and forcing me to follow behind him.

"Where are we going?" I ask, and he shrugs. 

"We are going to wander around aimlessly until we find something fun to do," the Romanian returns, and I roll my eyes.

"Oh, you always come up with the best ideas, don't you?" I return sarcastically, making him snort as we leave the common room and then the dungeon.

He laughs as we exit, making sure no one discovers where our common room is. The last thing we need is for the other houses to know. It's been decades since Harry Potter's battle has been fought. Nowadays he's nothing but a mere legend among the magic world, a symbol of hope and the good that magic and friendship can bring. During those times, the Slytherin house was one of the top dogs, ruling the school against its rival, Gryffindor. Now, things have changed. The Slytherin house is not only a victim of mass bullying by the other houses but a tool that is used to degrade people, akin to that of a racial slur.

I'm the victim of bullying from this annoying, perverted trio that never seems to understand that I've never done anything wrong. They've gotten the idea that I'm some evil monster drilled into their heads, but that is to be expected. Everyone believes that wizards in the Slytherin house are evil, with very few exceptions.

Even my adopted family thought this and started abusing me, which is why I'm one of the few students that permanently lives at Hogwarts. It was a little strange at first, but now, I'm used to it and know the castle like the back of my hand. I even know where all the other common rooms are and how to get into them, but I won't be telling anyone any time soon.

We walk everywhere, in and out of towers, across moving staircases, and past the giant swinging thing that always makes me think that it's going to hit me. I don't even remember the purpose of that thing.

"You're so slow," Vladimir whines as we make our way to Hagrid's cottage.

Hagrid doesn't live there anymore, being moved to a position in the Ministry of Magic as he got too old to really handle the students that get wilder and wilder every year. It's amazing he's lived this long. If I remember correctly, he's pretty close to 200 years old. That is quite the impressive feat.

The cottage itself empty and sealed off with magic, so no one can get inside unless they have the proper training, which is learned in the seventh year at this school. That doesn't really bother me, though. I've never had the desire to do anything so unlawful that I'd need to hide from people in order to do it.