The Next Day:

So, yesterday evening, when I got a chance, I told the others (Sivril Seekers) the information I had discovered.

"A Ravenclaw wizard named Spinner,"Emily said, thoughtfully.

"I've never heard of any of them,"Lotty said.

"All we know is that Moonwood was a librarian here, and Barnaby James taught Charms,"Emily pondered,"I suppose the other two could have worked at this school too."

"Why didn't he tell you what happened to this 'Spinner' person?"Anita asked.

"He fell asleep, as usual,"I said,"and wouldn't be woken up."

"I wonder if he was like that in normal life, or if that's just his portrait,"Jeffrey said.

"Well, I hope he wasn't like that in real life,"I remarked,"imagine his classes! It's one thing falling asleep in class, it's another thing falling asleep teaching a class!"

"Maybe it's because his portrait was hidden in the dark for so long,"Emily suggested,"he must have been asleep for centuries."

A Few Days Later:

The drama surrounding the Sivrils may have dried up a bit, this last week of October, but as for other drama! Well, Eric Macmillan only went and got himself transfigured into a bottle of wine by Professor Park in a rage. Apparently he brought a book on wine-making into class, instead of a book on potion-making, and then repeatedly insisted to Professor Park that it was, in fact, a book on potion-making and that Professor Park needed to learn to read!

I sometimes wonder if that boy is an actual liar, or whether he just believes all the lies he tells.

Anyway, it gets worse! Professor Park seemed to have forgotten about Eric, who was languishing on his desk-bench as a bottle of red, alcoholic liquid; and continued the class, after a brief remark about him having to 'sit there and listen' (Anita said she didn't see any ears on the wine bottle, but none of us have ever been transfigured into an object before, so don't know what it's like).

Professor Park was then called out of the class, before it was over, and Professor Livia stepped in to finish it off, and found the bottle of wine on the bench. Of course, she was horrified to find alcohol in a class of 2nd Years, and angrily confiscated it.

No one knew what to do. Transfiguring students as a punishment is not allowed at Hogwarts, and no one wanted to snitch on Professor Park. Also Eric is not popular.

"He's still in Professor Livia's office, I expect,"Anita was saying, with relish.

"How long do you suppose he'll stay like that?"I asked.

Anita shrugged her shoulders,"forever - hopefully!"

"I hope she doesn't try drinking it,"I said,"you haven't thought of that, have you?"

Anita raised her eyebrows.

"We need to do something about it,"I said.

"I suppose,"Anita replied.

"We need to tell Professor Park,"I said,"he'll know what to do."

Just as we went off to find Professor Park, we saw Eric walking down the hall in the direction of the common room, looking a bit sick, with bright red cheeks.

"How are you?"I asked.

Eric just looked like he was about to throw up, and pushed past us aggressively.

Hallowe'en:

In the morning, I saw a red fox running down the hill from the Foxhole Chamber woods towards the castle grounds.

Well, that took away my appetite for breakfast! I couldn't see where the fox went. Disappeared somewhere.

Nothing else happened, but I spent so much time worrying and thinking about it, that I didn't pay attention to announcements and mutterings and rumours flying around all day. So I was not prepared for what happened at the Hallowe'en Feast.

We went into the Great Hall, but before the feast began, Headmistress Wells was going to make a speech, and an announcement.

I noticed a young boy, probably a 1st Year, was standing next to her. At first, I thought he was a Ravenclaw, but as I approached our table, and was closer to where they were standing by the podium, I realised he had a blank uniform, the kind 1st Years have before they're sorted by the Sorting Hat.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

I found my place at the table in-between Antonius and Jared.

"Today we are welcoming a new, though late, student to Hogwarts,"the Headmistress announced,"I would like you all to welcome Llywelyn Davies; he was unfortunately unable to attend Hogwarts for the first two months, due to unusual family circumstances; but we are welcoming him now instead. Llywelyn only turned 11 at the end of August. His family are all Muggles, so please be kind to him and help him to find his way, as it is likely all very new and confusing for him."

The small boy said nothing, but stood there, looking bored. As I was looking at him, I felt a strange sense of familiarity. I took a deep breath, suddenly having a thought - a very unwelcome one.

The boy sat down, and the Sorting Hat was placed on his head.

After a few moments, it announced,"Slytherin!"

There was a look of astonishment on Professor Wells' face. I noticed some other teachers looking around with shocked expressions too, whispering among each other.

"This might be a Hogwarts First!"Professor Wells declared,"I don't think I've ever heard of a Muggleborn being sorted into Slytherin House before."

I heard some angry whispers exchanged among students at our table. Jared got up to go over and welcome him to our House.

No one was clapping him, as he approached our table - not even students from the other tables.

I looked at Antonius and nodded towards Anita, then began clapping. Antonius, Anita and Jared followed my lead as Llywelyn took his place at our table, and a slow ripple of clapping spread throughout the Great Hall.

Not everyone joined in. There was an air of uncertainty. Some of the Gryffindors had sort of confused half-claps and looked as though they weren't sure whether this was a good thing or not, especially when other Gryffindors (who I recognised as APS) frowned at them.

The biggest welcome came from the Hufflepuff table.

This was an occurrence in which both anti-Pureblood supremacists and Pureblood-supremacists shared equal disapproval of a thing, and you may or may not be surprised to know that such an occurrence is not rare.

"Now, let the feast begin!"Professor Wells announced.

Even though I didn't have much of an appetite, or at least, I wasn't in the mood for participating in a great feast, I found myself eating things without realising. I ate a whole pie while thinking things over, and before I knew it, two cakes had gone, and an entire mug of butterbeer...

When we were back in the common room, I decided to share my worry with Antonius.

"Did that boy remind you of someone?"I asked him.

Antonius frowned,"I couldn't help thinking he looked a lot like Silas did at that age."

"Exactly!"I said.

"What are you saying?"Antonius inquired.

"What if he is Silas?"I suggested.

"That's a bit - far-fetched, surely?"Antonius responded,"he's a 1st Year, and the Headmistress said he's Muggleborn."

"Yes, but what if he used some Aging Potion?"I said,"I know there's a potion that makes you appear old, and there must be one that makes you appear young, and if he is Silas he could make the Headmistress believe he is Muggleborn somehow, so we wouldn't suspect him, maybe?"

"There's a way to find out if someone's under an enchantment,"Antonius said,"when they had the Triwizard Tournament, they would always put an age-ring, a protective circle around the selector thing, and that could see through enchantments. There's also a way to find out whether he actually is Muggleborn, as well, though you probably wouldn't like it."

"Sanguis Identitatis?"I answered.

It's a sort of blood test, a way of telling whether someone is Pureblood, Half-blood or Muggleborn. It is considered Dark Magic by some (and Ministry officials are strictly forbidden to ever use it, bound by unbreakable oaths) as it has historically been used to find, discriminate against and persecute Muggleborns (some Half-bloods too). Some Dark Wizard families even go as far as to make sure people are tested before they are allowed to marry. It's frowned upon in this current state of Wizardkind, and so it should be.

Antonius nodded.

"If we have to, we have to,"I responded.

After all, we wouldn't be using it to persecute the boy based on his blood-status, just to find out whether or not he was our arch-nemesis.

"The difficult part will be obtaining a blood sample,"Antonius said.

We had to quickly stop whispering when Jared and 'Llywelyn' entered the common room. Jared was showing him around. Llywelyn followed, looking bored, until he got to the giant aquarium that is the windows looking into the Black Lake. At that point, I heard him asking Jared loads of questions.

I found Anita by one of the big fireplaces and asked her if it was possible she could keep an eye on him.

"Couldn't you - befriend him, or something?"I asked her.

"He's a 1st Year, though,"Anita responded.

"So? Emily is friends with you, and she's a 3rd Year,"I pointed out.

"Emily is actually more friends with Lotty than me,"Anita responded,"but, for the sake of the mission, I can try."

"It'll be easier for you than for me,"I said.

"If you think so,"Anita answered, sounding unconvinced.

Then my attention was drawn back to Jared and Llywelyn, as they had begun arguing.

Llywelyn was insisting that magic isn't real, yelling loudly in his strong Welsh accent,"this is a school for charlatans!"

This drew a lot of angry stares in his direction.

I heard someone whispering near me,"the audacity!"

He then held up his wand and declared,"I'll prove it!"

He attempted to snap his wand, but it was more difficult than he had anticipated.

"What are you doing?"Jared asked, looking amused.

"All you need is to see the electronics inside!"Llywelyn insisted,"I'll show you... I could show you... I need something to break this!"

"Trust me, you don't want to be doing that,"Jared said.

Llywelyn looked around,"will anybody here snap this stupid fake magic stick for me?"

Regulus immediately obliged.

"No - don't!"Jared objected,"don't do that!"

It was too late. Regulus snapped the wand in two. It sparked as it broke.

"See!"Llywelyn started, then he grabbed the bits off Regulus,"give it to me!"he demanded.

Regulus handed him the remains and Llywelyn examined them with an exasperated frown.

"It's well designed,"he muttered,"this disguise, very well disguised. Some sort of advanced technology."

"That's all magic is to you Muggles,"Regulus said,"another sort of 'technology' for you to discover and exploit! It's why we need to keep it away from you. You had no right to that wand!"

"Regulus,"Jared began, in a warning tone.

Llywelyn didn't seem at all bothered by this speech, he listened, with a mocking expression on his face, and replied slowly, and with intentional spaces between his words,"magic - isn't - real!"

Then he marched off. Jared followed him, with raised eyebrows, he looked over at me and shrugged his shoulders.

If that child is secretly Silas, he's good at acting, though he may end up over-doing it a bit at this rate. Time will tell. Just, hopefully, we will have enough time for the telling.