Alya Merope Black, twin to Sirius, beloved sister to Regulus and daughter to Walburga and Orion Black.
The complete opposite to her twin Sirius, Alya is the typical pureblood Slytherin, full of ambition and arrogance.
But something strange is going...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
1 September 1976. King's Cross Station.
Platform nine and three quarters was swarming with young wizards, as it always did on the first of September every year. Parents and relatives, as anxious as their children, were mouthing recommendations, mixed with hugs and tears of farewell. A great hubbub hovered around the platform, while the placid scarlet train waited patiently, stationary on the tracks.
The Hogwarts Express puffed with a sonorous whistle of white steam, announcing its imminent departure. Those who had lingered in emotional farewells began to crowd feverishly at the carriage doors: seen from above, the scene resembled a great disorganised anthill.
Alya accidentally inhaled a puff of smoke spewed from the train and coughed annoyedly as she climbed onto the imposing steel serpent, together with her brother Regulus. The two young Blacks, who had grown conspicuously over the summer, abandoning any remaining childish semblance, set off in search of an empty compartment to sit in, dragging their heavy school trunks behind them, not without effort. The two siblings had parted from their parents with the cold, detached leave-taking that characterised their imperious family: a glance of understanding and an admonition to keep up the honour of the lineage during the school year. No hugs or kisses, no sign of emotion. Sirius, on the other hand, had vanished a second after crossing the passageway that separated the magic platform from the common Muggle world. His only goal was to immediately reach his little group of Gryffindor friends, determined to put as much distance as possible between him and the hated family. That little band of hoodlums, of which Sirius was proudly a member, represented for him the only corner of happy freedom.
As she walked briskly through the train corridor, Alya imagined, with a certain amount of annoyance, her twin brother locked in some nearby compartment, laughing and joking with his obnoxious little friends, laughing his head off as he invented colourful insults to be addressed to his mother and father (and, in all likelihood, to her and Regulus as well).
Alya and Regulus hurried to the head of the train, an area the Slytherins had made a habit of occupying during their long journey to Hogwarts. The Black brothers proceeded swiftly, displaying their haughty expressions of snobbish scions and glaring at all those - particularly the younger students, and even more hostilely those from Gryffindor - who stood in their way. It was clear how superior and worthy of a certain reverence they considered themselves. Regulus, moreover, had one more reason to demand respect from his younger pupils: he had been appointed prefect of Slytherin House and was eager to show off the privileges that position afforded him. He was already wearing his school uniform, with the gleaming prefect pin carefully - and conspicuously - pinned to his chest. Another happy event welcomed with honour in the Black household, after Alya's excellent O.W.L.s results. Orion and Walburga didn't fail to show all their pride towards their second son, calling him their favourite child, the only one truly worthy of carrying on the noble family name.
As Alya and Regulus walked, the compartments became more and more crowded with noisy and trembling youngsters. Finding an empty carriage would have been a difficult task.
