April's new pet was a Puffskein. This breed were the colour of custard, extremely fluffy and they never objected to being cuddled or prodded. She named her Alverna,  which meant 'wise friend'.

"Be careful with 'em," Hagrid had said, "I've 'eard they like to eat all yer leftovers."

April just laughed it off. She was prepared to take on any measures for the adorable little ball of fluff she'd bought. Harry screwed his nose up at it, but April had figured that he would have anyway considering his unexplained distaste towards her.

The sorting and the start of term came sooner than April expected. Standing in the crowd of first-years who were eagerly awaiting their sorting, she rubbed her palms which were coated in a nervous sweat.

She found herself stood next to a blonde boy with grey-blue eyes who stood proudly and she wondered what house he'd be in. Before April could reach a reasonable conclusion based on first judgement, her name was called and she stepped forwards.

She sat on the little stool provided and gave the Sorting Hat an odd stare. It was old, dusty and certainly not the sort of thing she'd believe would figure out which house she'd be in until she left Hogwarts. Nevertheless, April trusted the school and waited patiently as the hat began to talk.

"You're cunning, most brave... Hmm, it appears that you are rather about your wits, too... Maybe you'll grow to be a powerful witch, if you trust yourself enough. Yes, I think that's right. You show the loyalty of a Hufflepuff but it seems that just isn't the right place for you," the hat continued to speak for another three minutes until it finally reached a conclusion seven minutes later and bellowed, "I think your most dominant traits say you should be in... Slytherin!"

April felt her body fill with relief and Dumbledore began to speak, "One of our first Hatstalls!"

April had been told about the term and felt proud that she'd managed to stump the mangled old hat about where she should be placed.

She was greeted by both familiar and unfamiliar faces. They clapped as she approached and was welcomed by the Slytherins as she went to sit. Turning back to the sorting, she saw the blonde boy on the stool.

"Slytherin!" The hat shouted for the second time. The boy smirked as if he got the answer he was expecting and sat a few seats away from April, who by that point had turned to attempt to engage in conversation.

No one was really interested. People seemed to have met on the train or knew each other before and she felt left out. The feast began in a short amount of time that felt like ages to her and April immediately dug in to distract herself from her new-found solitary state. She didn't really mind - after all, she felt no sentiment. But April was not one to hide in the shadows; she enjoyed being noticed.

Soon enough, dinner was over soon and April sluggishly headed to the Slytherin common rooms. She felt as though she had to follow the Prefect even though she knew where she was going. The blonde-haired boy wasn't within her view. He seemed... interesting.

Barging into her dorm, she found Alverna chewing up some of the study notes she'd been making already. Shaking her head, April pulled the paper out of her Puffskein's mouth and thanked Salazar that her pet had only managed to eat the corner. It was mere minutes until two girls joined April. Their names were Pansy Parkinson and Daphne Greengrass. They seemed to have met during dinner but nevertheless were kind to April.

"She's so cute!" Daphne squealed as she saw Alverna perched on April's shoulder, attempting to chew her coffee-coloured hair. April giggled and pushed Alverna away from her hair. Daphne continued, "What's her name?"

"Alverna," April responded. She wasn't particularly interested in her new dorm mate's cooing over her pet but she wasn't going to reject her.

"What does that mean?" Pansy asked from the other side of the room. She was sorting out her things.

"Wise friend," April answered, placing Alverna on the floor. She scuttled over to Pansy and planted herself down on her foot. Pansy laughed at April's pet.

"I think she likes me."

The three girls got on quite well. Considering that April was a very secluded person, they spoke a lot.

"Do you two know anything about... You-Know-Who?" April inquired nervously, her dark mint eyes travelling anywhere in the room apart from her two sort of friends.

"You-Know-Who?" Daphne repeated, gulping, "Well, he's a very powerful wizard, isn't he?"

"He's seen as evil," Pansy added passively, more focused on the letter she was writing to her parents.

"Ah," April said quietly, "He killed Harry Potter's parents."

"Yeah," Daphne agreed. She nodded then spoke again, "Harry Potter isn't as great as anyone makes out. On the train, he was stuffing his face with candy. As well as that, he was with a Weasley boy. I've heard the Weasley twins are quite the pests."

Pansy laughed, looking up from the letter she was now folding up and putting in an envelope, "Of course they are. They're blood traitors. Not to mention pranksters."

Pansy turned to April curiously, "Say, what's your blood status?"

"My blood status?" April questioned, "Well, my father is a half-blood and my mother is a pureblood."

"You're as good as a half-blood yourself!" Pansy squeaked, but then calmed herself down as Daphne shot her a look, "I mean, that's not necessarily a bad thing..."

April just ignored the pair for the rest of the evening. She continued studying, making sure that Alverna didn't eat any more of her work.