Choi Junhong sat in the Great Hall, nibbling on his dessert and waiting for the Start-of-Term Feast to end so he could retreat to the Slytherin commonroom and go to sleep. The Sorting ceremony was a bore, and nothing interesting had happened. Two new teachers sat in the staff table, but other than that, everything was the same.

Finally, the food disappeared from the tables and the Headmaster, Mr. Park Jeongsu, stood up.

"Good evening, and welcome to all students - new and old. Another year at Hogwarts has started, and I hope you will all embrace it by learning new things, perfect the things you already know, and most of all, have fun!

"Now I would like to introduce our two new teachers, Mr. Park Joonhyung, who will be teaching you Potions, and Ms. Penelope Midwinter, who will be responsible for your studies in Defence Against the Dark Arts.

"That is all. Now go to bed!" the Headmaster finished off with a wide smile, and the students stood up at once, starting to file out of the Great Hall. Junhong followed his fellow Slytherins down to the dungeons, already yawning. When he finally got to the fourth-years' dormitory, Junhong knew he wouldn't be getting much sleep that night. Kim Jongin and his loud, annoying friends were sitting on the beds and the floor, laughing about something.

"Oh, isn't it our favourite boy?" Kim Jongin, who liked to be called Kai, because "there are too many freaking Kim's in this school, and it's a cool name", shouted when he noticed Junhong.

"What do you want, Kim?" Junhong sighed, and sat on his bed, his back towards the snickering students in the room.

"How was your summer? I heard your uncle got killed by Death Eaters. I was just wondering when they're going to get your mother. Didn't you two go hiding somewhere? Was little baby Choi Junhong scared?" Kai's friends laughed, but Junhong stayed quiet. He was used to Kai's remarks and bullying - it had been going on from the first year since they arrived at Hogwarts - but this time the boy's words had hit him hard. It was true: Junhong's uncle had been killed by Death Eaters, and now they were looking for his mother.

Three years ago, when the famous Lord Voldemort was defeated, the Death Eaters went into hiding. Slowly their numbers have been increasing, despite the Ministry of Magic's great efforts in eliminating the threat that the new Death Eaters present. For the past year they had become more bold in their actions, and had started killing and torturing the Ministry's workers and those who actively tried to prevent the Death Eaters' power from growing.

Junhong's uncle had worked as an auror at the Ministry, and had been tortured to death by the Death Eaters. Junhong's mother was also an auror, and had took off in the beginning of the summer, going undercover somewhere, leaving Junhong alone at home.

Being alone wasn't new for Junhong - he had always been alone. His father had left before Junhong was born, and his mother was rarely at home because of her work. Because of Kim Jongin, he had been left alone at school too. No-one wanted to befriend him, because Kim Jongin didn't allow them to. Somehow everyone wanted to be friends with Kai, because they thought he was cool, his parents were influential, he was an excellent wizard, and he was some kind of a rebel. Almost every girl fawned over his looks, and Junhong couldn't believe how no-one saw Kim Jongin for who he really was; a guy with a terrible personality, a bully, and a very likely future Death Eater.

Junhong wanted nothing to do with Kim Jongin, and decided to go sit in the library until Kai and his friends would go to sleep. The library was empty when Junhong arrived there, and so he chose an interesting looking book, went to sit in one of the comfortable chairs, and started reading.