TORMENT (Harry Potter Sequel)

Chapter Six

The usually green grass had an overcoat of frost as each house marched over the grounds of Hogwarts towards the Quidditch Pitch. It was a wintery morn and each breath that escaped a student's mouth was visible. A lot had already happened since the start of the Hogwarts year but not as much as it was about to with the new Quidditch season. It was the first match: Gryffindor vs Slytherin and the atmosphere around the school had been electric. Like every year, the rivalry between the two houses was reinvigorated whilst the rest of school eagerly spectated. Amongst the students there was excited chattering and even the teachers were anticipating the event.

Outside of the friendship groups and bubbles of students, there was one that walked alone, slightly behind the rest of his house; the four students in his dorm who were meant to stay near him, leaving him in the dust. Unlike the rest of the students, he was wearing a long scarf or a warm coat so he was left to shiver in the freezing cold as he followed behind everyone. Tom was not so happy about this event as everyone else was. Apart from the obvious fact that he didn't have the clothes spare to begin going out this early and in this weather, the fact that tensions between Slytherins and Gryffindors were so high caused him a large amount of stress.

Tom had quickly learnt that his magical skill (or skill with anything for that matter) was lacking. Nobody seemed to have much sympathy for the fact so he was left to deal with it himself. He was getting better at reading but still not to that good a level. Without someone to teach him he could only go so far. Something that also didn't help was his lack of popularity: Tom Malumis had no friends in his house. He wasn't the most talkative person but even when he did speak, nobody ever bothered to listen. His dorm had effectively kicked him out of the friendship group. The three Slytherin boys: Jon Vanis, Levitt Haulson and Mohammad Sadaq quickly got on well and were practically inseparable. They were all young, outgoing boys who enjoyed stirring trouble and playing pranks; quite the opposite of Tom's personality. They weren't rude necessarily or mean but it did hurt Tom whenever he would be in his bed trying to sleep and he would hear them, all still awake, discussing things, talking like friends; but he never had the courage needed to try and join in. It was probably too late now anyway.

There was only one person who Tom would consider a friend but even now, he was losing faith. Aubyn Young: the prodigy of the first-years. Even after being sorted into different houses, the two had been friendly with each other. Out of everyone, Aubyn was definitely the guy who Tom had spoken to the most. Even though Aubyn was very popular, whenever they talked it was always just the two of them. They didn't talk every day but usually once a week, but that was enough.

That was all changing now though. Only a few months after the first term had started, something incredible happened. After showing off his skill with a broomstick, Aubyn Young had been placed on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. And not only that, he was their seeker. The seeker, Tom had quickly found out, was one of the most important roles in the team. Tom didn't know exactly why but Tom also didn't understand the rules of Quidditch at all so he didn't mind. All that really mattered was that Aubyn Young was a seeker; the youngest seeker in over 2 decades. The last person to be a seeker in their first year was none other than Harry Potter... and the fact that someone shared a lot of traits with Harry Potter... well it got a lot of people excited.

Ever since that announcement though, Tom had seen considerably less of Aubyn. He had seen him being flocked by crowds of people, being congratulated by older years, surrounded by his large and seemingly always growing friendship group and obviously in their classes but he'd never had the chance to talk to him.

'Maybe that's at least one reason to be excited,' Tom thought to himself as he forced himself against the brutally cold wind, clutching at his sides for warmth, 'I might be able to talk to him afterward.'