Null to Magic - Another Harry Potter Fanfiction

Chapter 1

"Hurry up, Anthony! Your food is going to get cold!"

I was upstairs brushing my crushed garnet hair. I wanted to look as neat as I could, I valued presentation quite a bit. My cold grey eyes stared back at me through the mirror.

"Coming, Madam Hilda!" I called, rushing downstairs after giving one last glance at my reflection.

The wooden stairs creaked loudly against my leather shoes and I hurriedly ran into the dining room for breakfast.

Nine other boys and girls were sat down at the table, with Madam Hilda, the owner of our orphanage, sitting at the head of the table, looking concernedly at me.

"Anthony, the other kids are almost finished. Do you want your food?" She asked.

"Yes, I do, Madam." I replied politely, taking the only seat left next to a surly looking girl, who I knew was named Alexandra.

Unfortunately, she was also the prettiest girl. She was the most likely of any of us to be adopted, Madam Hilda had said, and had wondered why couples had always returned her after only a week.

All the other orphans knew why though - she was the worst person any of us knew. She'd be your friend and use that as an excuse to be treated like a slave for her, and then betray you by spilling your worst secrets to the other boys and girls. She was the only one who ever laughed at that, since the other kids had already been through this and knew how horrible it was that she even existed.

And the worst part was, no one could even argue and refuse to be her 'friend', because she'd frame them for breaking one of the plates in the cupboard and Madam Hilda would put them in the time out zone - a room where they had to do complicated math questions and would be told off if they got a question wrong. The orphanage was strict, yes, but they desperately didn't want to make any brats. They failed with Alexandra.

Alexandra had already done it with the others, and everyone knew it was soon to be my turn.

So I was ready for when Alexandra made it look like she accidentally pushed my bowl of porridge with the back of her hand, and I quickly caught it.

She scowled at me and finished up her food before leaving.

"Madam Hilda, I don't think I can eat any longer. There was a putrid smell next to me and now I've lost my appetite." She said, pointing her sneer at me.

Insults didn't exactly do any damage to me, so I just pretended I didn't hear and shrugged it off. If you knew that the person's insult was a pointless claim, why let it effect you?

Madam Hilda seemed to not have noticed. "Oh, that's unfortunate. Well, you've finished eating anyway. Go and help Maid Linda with the laundry after you've finished washing your bowl."

Alexandra nodded and walked out of the room to the kitchen. I was met with the usual stares of pity in my direction, before a few kids followed Alexandra's lead and walked out of the room with their bowls.

I sighed and ate a spoonful of porridge. It was at room temperature, which was the perfect temperature for porridge to me - which is why for breakfast I always take a little longer than the other children to come downstairs.

For the next few hours, we were sent to different rooms to fix up the orphanage. Unfortunately, I was the unlucky boy to be sent to the bathroom to clean up. I held in my groan and walked in, almost retching at the sight.

There was a cockroach, the toilet paper was muddy, and there were puddles of who knows what on the tiled floor. Madam Hilda never chose girls to clean the bathroom - probably because of the cockroaches. They never seemed to go...