So begins another year at Hogwarts. Harry, Ron and Hermione, like everyone else, were eagerly rushing into the Great Hall at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As they passed the Entrance Hall, they caught a glimpse of the First years, all quivering with fright... nervous about the sorting ceremony which was about to begin momentarily. "Look at the little gits... I hope Peeves pulls a prank on them.. at least that might lighten up their moods..." sniggered Ron. Harry laughed as he knew Hermione's retort was soon to come. "RON! Don't make fun of them just because we're their seniors! It's our job to make them feel at home..." Hermione's voice trailed off as Harry peered into the Great Hall... The ceiling was bewitched to look like the starry night sky and the First years were finally strolling in a single file... ready to be sorted into their respective houses... Harry, Ron and Hermione took their usual seats in the Gryffindor bench... as the various house ghosts (Nearly Headless Nick, The Bloody Baron, The Fat Friar and as usual Peeves, the only ghost which manages to cause more mayhem than Fred and George.. ;) ) flooded the corridors and filed into the Great Hall...the sorting hat began to sing it's song for all of Hogwarts to hear...

"A thousand years ago or so
I was sewn by the Founders four,
Whose castle you now reside in
Where you feast till you can no more.
Twas then the Hogwarts founders,
Whose names are still reknown,
Thought they needed a thinking cap
When they were dead and gone.
So there you have it. Here I am
To give you all a nudge,
Into the various houses
Where you'd go and have your munch.

In Gryffindor the boldest go,
They'd never waver in their daring.
In Slytherin the ambitious go,
For they are always cunning.
In Ravenclaw the smartest go,
Witty and forever sure.
In Hufflepuff the rest will go,
For their hearts are just and pure.

Godric, Helga, Rowena,
And last but not least Salazaar,
All put their thoughts inside me
So I can tell your House to be.
So try me on. Don't tug with might
As I will never bite.
For I'm the clever Sorting Hat
And you can't deny that fact!"

The students as well as the staff in the Great Hall all broke into tumultous appalause as the Sorting Hat finished it's rhyme once again. Professor Mcgonagall read out the names of the first years one by one as the sorting hat sorted the trembling students into their respective houses.... Each of them greeted by thunderous applause as they joined their Houses on the respective benches... After the sorting, Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts rose to the occasion, goblet at hand and started to speak..."Welcome to Hogwarts all First years.. and to all returning students... Welcome back! Before we start the feast let us sing the School Song! Everyone.. pick your favourite tune.. and off we go!"

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,
Teach us something please,
Whether we be old and bald
Or young with scabby knees,
Our heads could do with filling
With some interesting stuff,
For now they're bare and full of fluff,
So teach us things worth knowing,
Bring back what we've forgot,
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,
And learn untill our brains all rot!"

As Fred and George Weasley, Ron's older brothers, sung their last mournful note everyone else sat back down and enjoyed the magnificent feast as all their plates magically filled with scrumptious food... yet as everyone ate to their heart's content... somehow.. Harry knew that this year won't be anything ordinary at all.. as he looked over at the Slytherin table... Draco Malfoy met his gaze... and at that moment Harry knew that his stay at Hogwarts this year is definitely going to be one full of surprises... both good as well as bad...

[Tonks was grooving to Eagles' Hotel California | ~ bored]

~Nymphadora~

As I open the letter bearing the familiar spiky handwriting that is so elegant yet so cold as the owner himself, I wonder what will this year bring. His hatred towards that potter boy is overwhelming him.. he is obsessed with doing anything to bring him down. He is so much like his father.. where people die to love, he would die to hate, destroy, avenge himself. Should I be proud? my boy has proven his worth more than anybody his age. He doesnt cry, he feels little pain & I wonder if his heart still beats. I cant know, obviously. I havnt felt him in years. But its the malfoy tradition & he is just being faithful to his roots and the mark that lingers on our arms.

As I peer again into the letter, I know this year would bring much more than silly pranks on Griffindors and attempts to win them over in the Quidditch match.

And on accounts of the tournament this year, I can only expect greater things... greater danger, greater strength... but is it really strength that keeps the mark going? i wonder... decades ago, i used to see this same scrawl that i see now in this letter clenched in my hand... & he too used 2 talk about power & strength & loyalty to the dark lord... i wonder how i ended up in this place, at this time...

Talking to Tonks yesterday, I discovered smthing I might havnt noticed otherwise... Our discussion turned to the topic of soulmates. She told me one's real soulmate would be exact opposite of the person... like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that join to form a complete picture. We are not supposed to have anything in common. But alas, we dun always find 'the one' & thats when we see two people having similar interests.. that reminded me of the Venn Diagrams we learnt in the arithmancy lessons long ago... two people who are not made for each other wont fit perfectly... they tend to intersect.

How foolish of me to have thought we actually seek a different version of ourselves. That we are so smitten with our own selves that we desire another one of 'us'... or maybe I was right. Sometimes I feel I need the pensieve too; despite the malfoys' rule against 'leaving our thoughts floating about to be discovered' by others.

And I again look back into the letter. Of course, this year wudnt be teh same for either Draco or that other boy... not after all that dark lord has been planning... keeping lucius busy many days at a time. The whole of ministry is excited... only if they knew that the dark mark bearers have much bigger reason to be more excited than them.