1st September 1971. Hogwarts.

Evening was falling when the scarlet train began to slow its course. A metallic voice spread through all the carriages, announcing to the passengers that the stop for Hogwarts was imminent. There were only five minutes to go and the students were advised to get ready. They were also advised to leave their luggage on the train once they reached the stop, as it would be transported to the castle at a later time.

Hearing the announcement, Alya sprang to her feet and hurriedly slipped into her long black robe, which covered her up to the tips of her shoes. Melyssa and Philippa did likewise. Melyssa bit her fingernails, fidgeting. Alya was also in a state of agitation: she could hear her heartbeat clearly.

Before leaving the compartment, Alya cast a quick glance at the glass made black by the darkness of the night, which reflected her image like a mirror: she proudly looked at herself in her school uniform. She and her friends exited the wagon and joined the mass of students crowded into the corridor. There was a great buzz in the air.

The train finally stopped and a horde of boys and girls jostled down the narrow platform, shrouded in night. The air outside was cold and crisp, it tickled Alya's bare face.

Suddenly, a light appeared above the sea of heads crammed on the pavement and Alya saw the figure of a giant, bearded man, the most imposing she had ever seen. It had to be a giant, she thought in astonishment.

"First year this way!" the hirsute giant shouted in a gruff voice, gathering around him a small crowd of hesitant, lost-looking kids, all trembling inside their long black robes.

"Come on, come on, follow me!" the big man encouraged them, jovially.

Uncertain and frightened, the young wizards proceeded behind their mammoth guide in small steps along a narrow path.

"Be ready. You will soon have a spectacular view of the castle," the giant warned them proudly, giving them a wink.

He kept his word. The moment the path ended, a large black lake appeared under the astonished gaze of the young boys. A high mountain towered above the vast patch of water, over which there was the monumental Hogwarts Castle, its towers silhouetted imperiously against the background of the night sky. A lot of windows reflected their golden light into the dense black waters of the lake, blending in with the stars which dotted the celestial vault.

Alya, like all her classmates, stood open-mouthed before that breathtaking spectacle. Many had heard and read stories describing the bewitching magnificence of the school, but observing it live, with one's own eyes, had a completely different effect.

"You may board the boats. No more than four people each," the thundering voice of the bearded giant interrupted the general wonderment which hovered around the small group of wizards, bringing them back to reality. Stumbling through the darkness, one by one the young students took their places in the various boats, which had come out of nowhere. Within minutes, they were ready for departure.

"Good. We're off!" shouted their massive chaperone, and the little boats glided silently over the smooth, dark water surface. No one dared speak, keeping their gaze fixed on the castle that towered placidly over their heads.

After passing through a long dark tunnel, the small boats landed in a small underground harbour.

The giant signalled to the huddle of children, frightened and trembling at the same time, to climb up the jagged rocks that surrounded them. The young wizards obediently climbed up the stone staircase hidden among the rocks, stumbling and risking slipping several times on the smooth, wet surface of the weather-worn and time-worn steps, until they all reached the majestic oaken door, the entrance to Hogwarts.

At the head of the crowd, the big man with the hirsute face raised his huge fist and knocked three times on the door. The door opened at once: a tall, black-haired witch with a stern frown appeared on the doorstep. She wore a long dress of dark cloth, not unlike the clothes Alya's mother usually wore.

"The firs'-years, Professor McGonagall," the giant announced solemnly.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here." replied the raptor-eyed witch, revealing the giant, bearded man's name.

The woman opened the door wider so that all the pupils could enter the castle. As if carried by a stream of water, Alya was dragged into the huge entrance hall, which presented itself to her eyes in all its grandeur. The walls were adorned with numerous torches whose flaming lights irradiated the entire room. The ceiling was so high that it was difficult to see the end of it. As she looked up, Alya felt dizzy, so strong was the sense of depth.

"Wow!" whispered Melyssa, trotting beside her and Philippa. The latter tried hard to mitigate the wonder in her faded blue eyes, but in vain. No one could remain indifferent to the magnificence of Hogwarts.

Professor McGonagall led the kids into a small empty room. The small group crowded in, peering about nervously.

A distant excited buzz could be heard coming from another room nearby. The first-year students stood with bated breath, united by a general nervous expression. Everyone seemed a little worried about what lay ahead; all except Sirius, as Alya noticed, spotting his brother amidst the myriad of faces crowding the small room. Next to him there was the black-haired, dishevelled boy whom Alya had seen on the train. They both looked relaxed, showing an excessive self-confidence. Alya found them terribly irritating.

A few metres away, Alya also recognised the profile of the red-haired girl she had bumped into in the corridor of the Hogwarts Express: she looked enchanted, her gaze rapt in all her surroundings. Her green eyes rested questioningly, from time to time, on the little yellowish-skinned boy who stood next to her, faithful as a little dog. He whispered in her ear, as if to reassure her about what lay ahead.

Professor McGonagall's stern gaze embraced the crowd of students in front of her.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," she said in a solemn tone. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your Houses. There are four Houses at Hogwarts: Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, and Slytherin." As soon as the teacher pronounced the name of the last House, Sirius and his friend exchanged a conspiratorial glance, simulating a disgusted mouthful. The yellow-skinned boy noticed them and glared at them maliciously.

"The Sorting is a very important ceremony. While you are at Hogwarts, the House you are sorted into will be something like your family. The triumphs and successes you achieve will earn your House points, while any rule-breaking will lose House points. At the end of the year, the House with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever House becomes yours." Professor McGonagall concluded with an austere air.

Everyone returned her with fearful eyes.

"Good. The Sorting ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I shall return as soon as everything is ready. Please wait quietly." the woman said before leaving the small room.

An excited murmur soon spread through the small room. Many kids had started talking among themselves, exchanging the most imaginative guesses about the kind of test they were to face during the sorting ceremony.

Alya didn't join in the chatter: she knew perfectly well what it consisted of (her cousin Andromeda hadn't spared herself in telling her in detail how she had been selected for Slytherin). However, despite the fact that she was well aware that she wouldn't have to face mythological creatures or take difficult magical exams, as many were imagining fearfully, Alya felt her heart give a horrible jolt. She feared the verdict of the Sorting ceremony.

After a few minutes, which seemed as long as hours, Professor McGonagall returned.

"Well, everything is ready. Follow me, the Sorting Ceremonyis about to start." she announced.

The air in the small room vibrated with shared excitement. The students walked out of the chamber, back across the hall and through a pair of double doors into the castle's famous Great Hall.

It was a very large room, hosting four long tables packed with students, plus another smaller one surrounded by the school's teachers. Golden plates and goblets glittered on the set tables, reflecting the light radiating from the myriad of candles floating in midair over the room. Alya's eyes were dazzled as she entered the room. To defend her vision from such brightness, she tried to look up: instead of the ceiling, she saw a vast night sky, dotted with stars which towered above everyone present. During her summer reading, she had read in the book History of Hogwarts that it was just magic, allowing the wall to faithfully reproduce the sky outside, but Alya was still amazed.

A cheerful chatter made the buzz of waiting palpable, which subsided instantly as soon as Professor McGonagall appeared on the doorstep of the room, with the huddle of freshmen behind her. The new students, caught up in the inevitable embarrassment of all those curious eyes on them, trotted insecurely behind their teacher's determined stride; they resembled so many chicks scurrying after their mother hen.

The woman led them to the teachers' table, exposing them to the merciless gaze of the older students. Alya felt like an object put on display, at the mercy of the crowd; she had never experienced a more embarrassing moment. Unconsciously, her curious eyes lingered over the four tables, divided into the corresponding Hogwarts Houses. The one on the far left of the room undoubtedly belonged to the Slytherins. Alya managed to catch a glimpse of Narcissa's long blonde hair, who was intent on giving sugary smiles to a boy with hair even blonder than hers. Seeing a familiar face, Alya relaxed a little.

In the meantime, Professor McGonagall was setting up a wooden stool in the middle of the room, on which she placed a worn-out, pointed, wizard's hat, looking terribly old and worn. There were many patches of dirt all over the fabric and Alya wrinkled her nose in disgust. She wondered haughtily if it was safe to wear it: it looked anything but hygienic.

Now the attention of the students sitting at the tables was completely focused on the old hat. There was a few moments of absolute silence, then the hat contracted, opening a mouth-like tear along the edge. He began to intone a long rhyming rhyme, which the audience listened to respectfully.

Once the talking hat had finished, Professor McGonagall positioned herself in front of the new students, unrolling a long scroll in front of her nose.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she explained concisely.

Alya swallowed hard, excited.

"Adams, Ginnifer!" the witch said loudly.

A young girl with a long blonde braid emerged from the small crowd and hesitantly approached the wooden stool. She put on the hat, which covered her face over her eyes, so that she had to sit down blind.

"RAVENCLAW!" shouted the hat.

The table on the left cheered and clapped as Ginnifer went to sit down at the Ravenclaw table.

Professor McGonagall proceeded with her list of names. She called a couple more frightened students, who were sorted into the Houses of Hufflepuff and, once again, Ravenclaw before arriving at Alya's name.

"Black, Alya Merope!"

Alya instantly assumed a nonchalant and haughty attitude, although her heart started beating wildly again, due to the excitement. With a firm step, she reached the stool, grabbed the hat and put it on her head.

"An interesting little head, I see --" said a small voice in her ear. "Ancient magical heritage, a nice thirst to learn and to prove yourself, a good dose of pride -- no doubt about it. SLYTHERIN!"

As Alya heard the hat shout the last word to the whole Hall, she felt her body lighten at once.

Light as air, she stood up and trotted to the table at the far left. Smug faces and warm applause greeted her at the Slytherin table. With a long, satisfied sigh, Alya sat down among her new schoolmates. From a distance, she saw Narcissa give her a complicit wink.

However, Alya didn't even have a moment to enjoy the moment, which Professor McGonagall called out loudly:

"Black, Sirius!"

Alya stiffened again. It was her brother's turn. For some absurd reason she felt even more agitation than she had felt during her selection. As a member of the Black Family, also Sirius should have been sorted into Slytherin. Nevertheless, Alya had a bad feeling about it. Her stomach was in knots

Sirius crossed the hall with a brisk stride. He put on the hat and sat on the stool. As soon as it touched his head, the old hat exclaimed without hesitation:

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Sirius emerged from the hat with a radiant smile, a satisfaction Alya had never seen on him. He reached the Gryffindor table, on the far right of the Great Hall, which had erupted in a roar of enthusiasm.

Alya watched Sirius for a long time as he introduced himself to his new schoolmates, as happy as he had ever been.

The girl felt something rip inside her. Although they had never been united by a deep fraternal bond, to see him shunted to a different House from her own - and that of their entire family - was an ominous sign for Alya. She felt the weak thread which united them as twins break forever. Alya was a Slytherin now, Sirius a Gryffindor: they belonged to two opposite Houses, as opposite as the two extreme Poles of planet Earth.

Alya had the feeling that her brother had gone to a faraway place, where she could not reach him.

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A/N:

Hi Beauties!

In this chapter, Sirius and Alya's paths separate once again. Sirius is sorted into Gryffindor, Alya into Slytherin. Although they are twins, life seems to want to split them apart.

What do you think about it?

I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Thank you for reading ❤
☆Valentina