The Last of His Kind

Book 1 – Philosopher's Stone

Chapter 1 – Spinner's End Meeting

The boy's stomach growled as he stood in front of a stone pillar, a monument for the dozens of deceased victims. He shivered in his tattered clothes as cold, merciless, rain poured down from the sky. He looked down on his palms, they were clean, the rain did a wonderful job, no questions about it. If only he could ignore the lingering smell of blood. He could still feel the warmth of the red liquid, clenching his fists and shutting his eyes he turned his head to the side. Breathing in through gritted teeth he tried to keep calm.

A sudden loud crack in the distance made him jump; his wide red eyes darting around for a sign of an enemy. It was only when he looked up and saw lightning dancing through the clouds that he understood it was just a lightning strike.

"Why?! Why does it suddenly keep raining?!" the boy screamed at the skies, his voice breaking half-way through the bellowing question. A few electric blue sparks surrounded him, danced around his body and vanished in an instance.

Lightning struck him from the sky, quickly followed by two more almost as if the storm responded to him.

The boy growled, fighting against the stinging sensation just underneath his skin. "It won't work! Lightning won't hurt me again!" as if to prove a point he pointed at the right side of his face where a lightning shaped scar went over his eye. "I already made it my own!" he knew it was more of a wishful thinking, he knew he still felt it and he always would, but as much as he could, given his age he did make lightning his own weapon. A very unrefined and indiscriminate weapon, but weapon nonetheless.

The brief bursts of electricity around him attracted the wrath of the storm. He withstood the next two lightning strikes, his knees threatened to buckle and the pain was kicking in. The pain was way deeper than the burning sensation that engulfed him; it shook the very core of his soul. The sixth lightning strike made him drop to his knees and he cried out for the first time. His heartbeat quickened, his mind was blank, only aware of the pain and then it stopped.

Lightning clashed with sky blue lightning from the ground. For a moment it looked like they would simply nullify one another but the one coming from below grew and cut right into the cloud.

The boy watched as the electricity within the cloud exploded, vanquishing other clouds from the bright red sky in the process. "Grom…" he whispered, the man's name came out almost as if it was associated with the last bits of hope the boy had left in him.

Bright, soft, yellow eyes with black slit-like pupils were quickly focused on the boy. "It's not over, Vergil. Keep your head up," the devil's voice was gentle, yet firm in encouraging Vergil.

Vergil looked down; a single drop of water separated from the mess of white hair and fell onto the ground. "We've been fighting for over three years. There's no point anymore," everywhere he went he saw destruction. Towns and villages turned into a bit more than rubble, forests cut down, water polluted by all the blood and everything disposed into the rivers.

Grom remained silent for a moment, his shoulders slumped. He dropped down to his knees right in front of Vergil, he could feel the cold mud even through his uniform but he hardly cared about that. Slowly he reached out and placed his hand on Vergil's should. "Look at me."

Vergil did as he was told, blood red met yellow but that was all, the boy couldn't find strength to speak.

"Keeping the memories alive. That's the point," Grom pressed his fist against Vergil's chest, right where his heart was. "Galina, all our comrades, if we give up we'll throw their lives away."

They both looked at the monument. -Galina Leonidas; 1972-1990-, just one of the names on the grave. Name and a vague estimate of how old she was, that's all Vergil had left of his sister, well half-sister.

Vergil sighed, somewhere in the distance, by the fence of the graveyard he could hear laughter. Children and even some of the older citizens embraced the rain. For children it was naïve innocence, a game. For adults it was happiness in the last moments. He heard the talks about winning the war, rebuilding the world. He did hope, but lately he just went along with what was going on. Followed the wind that carried the stench of death…

~X~ Month and a half later ~X~

Vergil shivered and curled up on the grass, the sound of a running river and a couple of birds taking flight was all he could hear in his vicinity. He kept clutching at the wound on the right side of his abdomen, the bleeding had stopped but it still hurt.

Something pecked his cheek, something with a beak and he was too weak to do anything but swat his arm in general direction of the creature that chose to disturb him. A flap of wings made it obvious that it was some kind of a bird.

Vergil mustered up enough strength to open his eyes and turn onto his back. He saw a bird, judging by how it looked it seemed like something humans would call an owl, though he imagined they would be bigger. It was carrying a letter and seemed very adamant on bugging him as it flew down and landed on his chest. Vergil groaned and glanced at the letter.

'Mr. V. Leonidas, Under the bridge, Spinner's End, Cokeworth? I've gone mad, there's no other explanation,' Vergil looked up and realized that he indeed was under the bridge. Last night when Grom pushed him through the portal he didn't see much, he just crawled to where he currently was and lost consciousness. "Just go away," he pleaded weakly.

Much to his dismay the bird began pecking him again.

For now he chose to ignore the bird. Grom saved his life, used the last of his strength to create a rift between the worlds to get him out of the harm's way before their world was completely ruined. Grom was dead, that was the only conclusion Vergil could reach no matter how hard he tried to find a way for Grom to escape. And even if he somehow escaped his wounds were far too serious, Grom would die, no matter what.

The owl kept pestering him.

Vergil's eyebrow twitched at that, his eyes narrowed and a burst of lightning erupted around him forcing the bird to fly away quickly.

There it was, the wrath of lightning.

But once again his body couldn't follow, he lost consciousness.

~X~

Severus Snape was never an embodiment of health, sallow skin, yellow, uneven teeth and perhaps he was too thin for his own good. He had a large, hooked nose, shoulder-length greasy black hair and dark, penetrating eyes.

He had returned to his hometown a few days ago, with exams and his duties to the school done for this school year he now had a bit less than two months off. Frankly he would have preferred staying at Hogwarts if it wasn't for memories of his time with Lily pulling him back every year. He lived in the house at the very end of the Spinner's End Street; in fact he was just heading there across the bridge.

Cokeworth was never a particularly magical place; so when creatures, such as ghouls, began lurking in this part of the city three days ago Snape noticed right away. It was an anomaly, to the point where it looked almost like the creatures were lured by something, or someone.

Still, Snape was more than content with letting the Ministry deal with the matter. At least he believed he'd just leave the matters to them; and he would have, if he didn't hear something crashing underneath the bridge. He looked down instinctively and saw a child jumping to the side with a ghoul following it.

Even as unusual as ghoul being violent was, it was threatening to a child so he clearly had no choice.

Snape reached out for his wand, but what he saw next froze him on spot. A black orb appeared above the child's palm. The child fired the orb into the ghoul's abdomen. It separated from the ground and was pushed roughly five meters away. The sound of sizzling skin and a bit of smoke came from the contact area making the ghoul screech before losing consciousness.

Snape watched as the child sat down by the polluted river and hung his head; at the very least Snape needed to Obliviate the child's memories. He walked down to where the child was, certain that he was yet to be seen and then his eyes caught glimpse of a familiar envelope in the grass. Hogwarts acceptance letter addressed to V. Leonidas. He picked it up and realized it wasn't even opened yet.

"What's with all these animals?"

The voice was way too calm, puzzled more than anything and Snape looked at the child for the first time. Average child, perhaps with a bit more muscle than someone his age should have. The first striking feature, however, was the short pure white hair. The boy's clothes were torn and he didn't exactly have much of a shirt left which left cuts and a few other smaller wounds out in the open.

More importantly the child just used something very similar to the Dark Arts and no matter how hard he tried to Snape couldn't remember ever seeing something like that. There was no incantation, or wand, or any movement whatsoever from what he could see. It just appeared.

He walked closer to the boy, making his presence known. The boy, startled by someone else being there, quickly looked up and managed to hastily get back to his feet. Snape's heart skipped the beat when he saw the blood red eyes with slit pupils and then there was a scar, lightning-shaped one; however unlike the famous lightning bolt on another boy this one was horrendous. It wasn't a lightning bolt, it was a lightning, like the one that flashed through the sky when there was a storm, and it was spread across the right side of the boy's face.

The boy suddenly relaxed, a lot.

"Oh, so you're a human," the boy grinned slightly clearly growing more comfortable due to the realization. "Sorry if that was your pet," he sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

Snape could see the exhaustion in the boy's eyes and just kept looking at him, at those chillingly familiar red eyes. Even if Snape accepted the fact that a child could produce a black orb and knock out a ghoul, without a wand mind you, most children would be scared and not as straight-forward as this one. In conclusion this child was most likely an idiot… On the other hand most children wouldn't look as tired as he was.

"So… do you plan on saying anything?" and to make matters even worse the child was impatient. So, an impatient dimwit that was possibly the one acceptance letter was addressed to and had chilling similarities to Lord Voldemort. This was not something Snape wanted to get involved with, he should just Obliviate the boy and leave him, perhaps put him into Dumbledore's hands.

The boy's stomach growled loudly and Snape's eyebrow twitched just a little bit.

Now he really couldn't leave the brat, he was probably, despite obvious counter arguments, on the verge of death. Plus it would be too inconvenient to let him wander around. "Come with me," he urged the boy and pulled out his wand. When the red eyes brightened in curiosity he felt his heart skip a beat again. The last thing anyone needed was for those similarities to turn out to be more than just similarities. "Mobilicorpus," with a simply word the ghoul's body was raised into the air.

The boy watched the levitating body for a few moments and then grinned confidently. "Sure, but you have to tell me how you did that."

At that time Severus Snape had no idea just who he was taking along to his house; but he knew that he should notify Dumbledore.

"And what's your name anyway?" the boy had the guts to ask him more than eagerly.

"Severus Snape," Snape bit out, almost grumbled under his breath.

~X~

Vergil followed Snape to an old house at the end of the street. He remained silent, far from certain on what he should say. As far as he was aware humans knew about devils, his mother knew at the very least. Though he couldn't be certain about how she reacted when she met his father.

He was led directly into a tiny sitting room; the walls were completely covered in books, most of them bound in old leather. The rest of the furniture was rather scarce, a rickety table, an old sofa and an armchair. Overall the place had an air of neglect to it. Vergil looked at the man and saw him motioning toward the sofa. He took the hint and sat down as Snape disappeared into another room, a kitchen perhaps. Vergil observed the ghoul, it was still unconscious and Snape left it lying on the floor.

The doors opened and Vergil once again looked at Snape, he was left puzzled by the strange man.

"Drink this," Snape offered him a cup without a hint of foul play being involved, in fact his face was pretty much expressionless. Though there may have been a small hint of annoyance in the black eyes.

Vergil raised an eyebrow as he held the cup. "You expect me to trust you?" he questioned, showing for the first time a small amount of mistrust. He probably should have doubted the man more but he was thirsty, hungry and exhausted, there was very little space for proper reasoning.

"No," Snape's honest response made Vergil grin and without a second of hesitation he downed the drink, consequences be damned.

"Why did you drink it?" Snape asked and sat down on the armchair.

"I don't care if it kills me," for a moment Vergil's eyes widened. He didn't mean to say that, yet he did, he said the truth when he would have just said he'd taken the chance with it. He didn't want to be completely honest with the man just yet but it seemed like the truth forced its way out. It frightened Vergil and his mind quickly made the connection between his state and the drink. "What did you give me?" he asked, smallest hints of defiance echoed in his voice.

Snape, despite looking somewhat relaxed, had the demeanor of power, a kind of aura that demanded respect. "Veritaserum, a potion that makes you tell the truth," Snape saw no reason to lie to the child.

Vergil shook his head slightly, but the subtle grin on his face made it seem like he was amused by his own naivety.

"What is your name?" Snape wasn't wasting time and he seemed to be studying Vergil, particularly his eyes.

"Vergil Leonidas," Vergil responded, he figured Snape would have figured out exactly what he was if it wasn't for the red eyes, Cambions, when they were born to a human and a devil had red eyes. It made them stand out from devils that always had yellow eyes. That was probably the reason why Snape wasn't completely certain of what he was.

Snape nodded and made a short pause. "How old are you?"

"Eleven."

"Do you know what this is?" Snape pulled out a piece of wood from before, it didn't look that important to Vergil but he supposed there was something about it.

Still, Vergil looked puzzled by the question. "A stick," he clearly didn't know what it was and it seemed to put the man at ease.

"What did you use to knock out the ghoul?" Snape continued the mini interrogation.

"That thing over there?" Vergil pointed at the ghoul and then looked back at Snape who nodded. "Darkness Orb."

Snape shifted in his armchair; processing the information he received from the boy, so far everything seemed fine. A few more questions would be enough to silence his worries until Dumbledore arrived. "Do names such as Dark Lord, Lord Voldemort, Albus Dumbledore or Potter mean anything to you?" the answer was already clear from the way Vergil's face remained blank.

"Nope, never heard of them," Vergil's voice was still as calm as it was back by the river, there was no recognition. He never heard of those names, they meant nothing to him.

"Do you know what a muggle is?"

Once again Vergil raised an eyebrow slowly getting confused by these questions. "No."

"Where did you come from?"

Vergil swallowed a lump in his throat. "Thanatos."

For all the years he lived Snape never heard of such a place. There was something nostalgic in Vergil's eyes as he thought back to that place; yet underneath that nostalgia Snape could easily see the traces of anger. "Why did you come along?" it was a question he wanted to ask despite part of him knowing the answer.

"Even if it was a trap I don't care. I'd put up a fight though," Vergil said, the thoughts of Thanatos vanished from his mind and took the anger from his eyes along.

Snape remained silent for a moment. "That's all. You are to stay here," he ordered.

"Why do you think I'd listen to you?" Vergil questioned.

"You don't care, do you?" with that Snape stood up and left Vergil on his own.

Vergil chuckled to himself; he sure knew how to stumble across people. "Heh, fair enough."

~X~

Snape allowed Vergil to use the bathroom. There wasn't really a need to ask for something as trivial as that, but the boy did so regardless. Vergil cupped some water and splashed his face with it. He let the drops drip down from his face and the bangs of his white hair. The dripping sound calmed him down, even rhythm, like a heartbeat… He took a deep breath and took the towel to wipe his face off.

As long as he was in the house Snape was fine with wherever he remained; he decided to occupy the room Snape offered him, after all he was yet to feel comfortable around the man.

He lied down on the bed and look at the ceiling. Anger bubbled back up and coursed through his blood as he swiftly turned around. Vergil buried his face into the pillow. He tightly closed his eyes, fighting back his emotions. The shaky sigh escaped his lips as he let the sleep consume him.

~X~

Vergil sat up, he was breathing heavily, a nightmare, again, every single night, ever since he lost his home his mind was plagued by nightmares.

"And where is this boy you told me of, Severus?" someone was in the house. Someone other than Snape.

"In the bedroom, sleeping," Snape replied, his voice even from what Vergil could hear.

"That You-Know-Who incarnate can't be allowed to walk around freely," well that statement certainly made him curious. He's been called a lot of things but not an incarnate; especially of something that was probably specific to the people on the other side of the doors.

"What are you basing that… statement on?" he recognized Snape's voice yet again. It seemed like the man was often making small pauses when he spoke.

"As you have just told us professor Snape, he has red eyes, pale skin, white hair and he's clearly using dark arts," it sounded like a lot of reasons to Vergil, but if there was one thing he was certain of it was the fact that he was clearly not an incarnate. In fact all of those traits were combinations of his heritage. White hair and pale skin like every Leonidas before him and he assumed they were referring to Darkness Orb as those dark arts. Well it did use his soul so maybe they'd classify that as dark and it was darkness ability so maybe they weren't so off the point.

"Now, I understand your worry Cornelius. Nonetheless we should consider taking him in and teaching him at Hogwarts; the letter clearly proves that he's capable of magic," an elderly soothing voice stated. Magic? Was that what Snape used? And letter? That thing that pestering owl forced onto him, probably.

"Even if he is not You-Know-Who's incarnate he is clearly born with a power that is too dangerous!" this Cornelius guy, at least Vergil guessed so, exclaimed.

"It is not what you are born as that matters, but who you grow up to be," came the counter argument in his favor.

"I demand that he is put under strict surveillance!"

Vergil contemplated coming out but his grand entry and possibly freaking the hell out of the man that already sounded like a panicking idiot was ruined by most likely the said man marching out of the house. "And that ruins it," he muttered as he entered the room.

Immediately Vergil felt the eyes carefully inspecting him. He turned to the tall and thin old wizard with silver long hair and beard that had taken his side and calmly stood as man's piercing blue eyes clashed with his blood red ones.

"Ah, I believe it does ruin it," the elderly man agreed with him making Vergil grin at the light-hearted tone.

"Was this why you told me to stay?" Vergil turned to Snape.

"Yes," straightforward and honest, Vergil found that he liked that.

"Mr. Leonidas would you mind showing us what you referred to as darkness orb?" the elderly man requested and Vergil couldn't help but notice the complete opposite in attitude when compared to Snape. This man seemed care-free, friendly, open, but the respect his presence demanded nonetheless was even greater than Snape's.

"How about you tell me your name first? It is a bit selfish for you to ask without at the very least introducing yourself," Vergil pointed out thus making the man chuckle again.

Snape had to admit he found the kid's temperament to be somewhat amusing when it was directed at others.

"Of course. My name is Albus Dumbledore," Dumbledore introduced himself.

"Vergil Leonidas, though you already know that," Vergil grinned and raised his palm. In merely a second a black orb formed in front of it. "It's a bit destructive so I'm not going to fire it."

"Go ahead," Snape urged him.

Vergil tilted his head slightly. "Are you sure?"

Snape pointed at the armchair by the side. "Do it."

"Even if I can't pay for the repairs?" Vergil smirked enjoying a small moment, testing the waters to see how far he could push Snape.

"Vergil…" clearly the boundaries weren't that high when it came to Snape's patience and as the time went on Vergil would find Snape calling him by his first name to be either really good or, more often, really bad.

Vergil's smirk morphed into a grin and even Dumbledore seemed amused. Finally the Halfling relented and shot the ball of darkness. It collided with the chair thus shattering it.

"Quite intriguing I must say," Dumbledore commented, but Vergil already knew that neither the older man nor Snape for that matter were intrigued by the ability. They were intrigued by the red eyes. Eyes that were supposed to be yellow judging by the ability Vergil just showcased.

"Reparo," Snape said and the chair was back to the state it was in just before the impact.

"I sure know how to stumble on people," this time Vergil said it out loud, it was always a bad habit of his, stumbling into people that would in one way or another really affect his life. It seemed to be something that he inherited from his mother… He decided to get to the point that interested him at the moment and as this part of conversation seemed to end he just decided to strike a new one. "So why was that other one here anyways?" Vergil asked referring to Fudge and making the older wizard chuckle.

"Do not worry yourself with it Mr. Leonidas," Dumbledore assured him. There was no need for Vergil to know that it was merely a coincidence. People were called to take the ghoul; Cornelius Fudge got the word of it and wanted to be the good Minister… "Severus, I believe I can leave the young Mr. Leonidas in your care, yes?"

Well it's not like the child had anywhere else to go. "Yes, Headmaster."

"Mr. Leonidas, it was a pleasure to meet you," Dumbledore disappeared into thin air leaving Vergil dumbfounded.

"That's magic, right?" Vergil assumed.

"Yes," And Snape confirmed his assumptions.

"Cool."

"You never said what exactly are you?" Snape suddenly asked.

The boy looked at him, clearly not buying the supposed lack of mostly correct guess Snape and Dumbledore had. There was nothing childish or innocent in the way Vergil's eyes became cold as ice, or the way his body tensed. "A half-devil half-human, in other words a cambion."

~X~

Tomorrow morning Snape placed an envelope in front of Vergil. The boy now had a bandage covering the right side of his face. He was already 'You-Know-Who incarnate' in Fudge's eyes, a lightning scar was the last thing he needed publicly shown.

"This? I hope that owl pestered me for a good reason," Vergil commented with obvious resentment toward the bird as he took the envelope and opened it. A brief reading later Vergil folded the letter and closed his eye. "Even though I'm supposedly 'Whoever-that-is incarnate'?"

Severus made a small pause and then. "…Yes," while they could have ignored the acceptance letter it probably was for the best to keep the boy close.

The light from the candles above them flickered slightly and they heard a distinct sound of thunder rumbling in the distance. Snape subtly raised an eyebrow for a moment as the slight trembling caught his attention. Vergil was clenching his fists and keeping his eye shut. "Focus…" it was hardly even a whisper, one Snape likely wouldn't notice if he wasn't paying so much attention to Vergil.

And then it vanished just as quickly as it appeared.

The eye opened and Vergil seemed to be rereading the letter. "My owl?"

"Yes, an owl," Snape deadpanned.

Vergil blinked a few times and then shrugged. "Can I just refuse?" Vergil had to ask. He knew he was hoping for one hell of a miracle; he knew it was a wasted breath to even ask… But he just had to.

"No," of course not…

Giving up on any resistance Vergil looked at the list of all the things he needed. As he read through the list he knew it. Oh he was going to have a field day with this, really, he was. "And how will I get money for this?" it was a very logical question because Vergil was absolutely broke, he had nothing. Not a single whatever currency was in this world.

"Hogwarts has a fund for students like you. You'd normally have enough for mostly second-hand purchase," By now Vergil was used to slow, even way Snape spoke. "But I will give you enough to avoid that."

Vergil tilted his head a bit. "Why? There's nothing wrong with second-hand things."

"At the moment you are my responsibility," well that explained a few things. "Rest now, we leave tomorrow morning."

~X~

He was back home, back in Thanatos. Back with Grom… Injured, exhausted but back nonetheless. Grom was grinning victoriously at him and then the grin vanished.

For the first time in years Vergil felt fear overwhelm him. It took over his entire being the moment he saw horror etched upon Grom's face. Vergil reluctantly turned around and his heart damn near stopped. The red sky was cracking around the same spot Grom clashed with Apolion one last time. Blood red cracks quickly expanded as the energy seeped out.

The Mid-dimension was merging with Thanatos.

Vergil sat up abruptly; cold sweat ran down his chin and the clothes he was wearing were damp. He didn't know how much time passed; all he heard was an owl hooting near the house. He stood up, feeling shaky and unsure of his own steps. The creaking of the floor betrayed his movement; but he still walked out of the room intending to go outside to get a bit of a fresh air. He needed to get the image out of his head.

"You're up," Snape's statement made him look to his side; he didn't even notice the potions master sitting on the armchair with newspapers in his hands. For a moment it looked like people on the picture moved. Vergil blinked a few times, he was seeing things, either that or this world really was filled with all kinds of abnormalities.

"A nightmare," Vergil shakily offered the reason and began walking to the doors.

"You had them last night as well," again, it was a statement as Snape placed the newspapers on the table and looked at him.

Vergil shrugged looking like he had resigned to having nightmares from here on out. "There's not much I can do about them," he replied doing his best to regain his composure. His eyes were fixated on the potions master. The man somehow had a small bottle in his possession.

"Drink this," Snape placed a small bottle on the table. "Dreamless sleep potion," he named the content of the bottle when Vergil looked at it suspiciously.

Finally, Vergil relented and picked up the bottle, he could give it a try it's not like he had anything to lose. And he doubted Snape would try to poison him now, even if he did Vergil knew he didn't have enough will to fight back. That was the primary reason why he was so accepting of the entire Hogwarts idea.

There weren't any dreams, let alone nightmares, after he drank the potion. So far it seemed like he could trust Snape.

~X~

Next morning Vergil found himself following Snape like a lost puppy as they boarded the train to London. The landscape they were passing by changed as the time went on. Vergil took in the scenery, everything from the random houses near the railway to the green fields, mountains in the distance and a river that ran by their side for a few miles. It was a sunny day, a bit hot but easily bearable, especially if someone spent eleven years in Thanatos. As he turned to look at the sky a bird flew over the train, displaying its freedom for anyone who'd catch the glimpse of it.

"You're potions master, right?" Vergil asked once he got tired of looking outside the window and focused on the only person sitting with him in the compartment, Severus Snape.

"Yes," that was the first thing Snape told him ever since they left his house.

"Can you teach me how to make that potion you gave me last night?" Vergil asked, the last thing he wanted was to rely on someone he barely knew. He got lucky once with Grom, he doubted the same luck would be bestowed upon him twice.

Snape observed him for a few silent moments. "At this moment," he made a small pause. "Leonidas, you are to learn basics."

"Leonidas? Can't you call me Vergil?" Vergil looked and sounded puzzled by the distance Snape was building, rather effortlessly at that.

"No," they were meant to become student and teacher in about a month, there was no place for something like Snape calling Vergil by his first name or vice versa. Such familiarity was simply out of bounds.

"By the way will I even be able to use magic?" Vergil asked, frankly he was curious about it; after all he never heard of a devil using magic.

"Devils can't perform magic," Snape stated ignoring the fact that the acceptance letter itself offered an infallible argument that the boy in front of him was capable of using magic. "However, as a half-human… in theory you should be able to use it… I don't know how well… but you certainly will," Snape assured him.

Not that it would help Vergil's case. Devils were a rare occasion; nowadays barely a handful of people would recognize one on sight. With red eyes throwing people off it would be much easier to make him 'Voldemort incarnate'. Dumbledore had figured it out, but perhaps not even the Hogwarts staff would figure it out unless they saw Vergil actually using the powers of devils.

"Say, shouldn't I have some cover up in case anyone gets curious?" Vergil suddenly asked.

"You're a muggleborn… that way most people won't suspect anything," Snape replied, though it was obvious that he too found the lack of proper explanation troubling. Vergil just popped out of nowhere, well truthfully he crossed the worlds, but there were no past records, no documents, if someone at the Ministry chose to investigate it could cause problems.

Vergil tilted his head slightly. "You humans do have identification documents, don't you?" he sounded astonished, everyone in Thanatos had at least one document confirming their identity.

Snape narrowed his eyes. "We do," yes, they did have a problem if even an eleven year old could see it.

"How about a war orphan, documents would probably get lost or destroyed if I fled from a war zone," Vergil suggested and in a way it was true. He did come from a war infested world, though he lost his parents much earlier due to his mother dying and his father, well he pretty much abandoned him.

Snape thought it over for a few moments and then nodded. The idea would work, probably in a long run as well.

~X~

The Leaky Cauldron, on the outside it was a tiny, grubby looking pub, on the inside it wasn't that much better; simply dark and shabby. The old bartender gave Snape a curt nod but other than that Vergil didn't notice anyone paying more than simple acknowledgement to the man. Not that Snape minded that, from the few days Vergil spent with Snape he figured the man didn't think much of a social status; in fact since Dumbledore left he hadn't seen anyone visiting Snape.

Vergil fought back a smirk when he realized that if he was any more talkative or childish Snape would be fairly irritated. As things were right now Vergil guessed he was being bearable.

Snape led him behind the Leaky Cauldron into a small, walled courtyard with a dustbin. Vergil carefully watched as Snape tapped a brick on the wall three times thus making a hole appear in it. The hole grew bigger and when it finally stopped expanding it was quite big making the boy wonder why it was that large. Nonetheless he left those questions in the back of his mind once he saw the actual place.

The place was crowded, too crowded for Vergil's taste. The architecture was kind of wacky, with the walls and pillars being curved on some of the buildings. The place was a real merchant area, with shops selling all sorts of things occupying the place.

The red eyed boy felt his energy being drained by simply looking at the place. He looked at Snape, from the looks of it the man wasn't exactly thrilled to be here either. Vergil found solace in that small fact, at least he wasn't suffering on his own. Well, looking at it from the brighter side this would be a new experience. He could get a new beginning, he could enjoy this. Who knows, maybe this world would become his home.

~X~

The moment Vergil stepped into the bookshop, Flourish and Blotts he was struck by the scent of parchment, old and new alike, he could also smell sweat. The shop was crowded, it was hot, and the cacophony of noise made Vergil's world spin just a bit. He could feel a headache coming as most of his senses got overwhelmed. Everyone else seemed to be fine, unaffected; he couldn't blame them, devils had sharper senses, not by much, but it was enough to make a difference.

'Just get the books and get out,' he took a deep breath, instantly regretting that decision and moved towards the crowd of children about his age. Surely the books he needed would be there.

Quidditch Through the Ages, well that one certainly wasn't on his list. He let out a small, barely audible groan. It was getting difficult to think and the crowd seemed to be getting even larger.

"Are you feeling alright sweetie?"

Snape, he needed to find Snape.

A hand touching his shoulder made him jump, he quickly turned around and his eye widened just a bit as he took in a concerned expression on the woman's face.

"I'm sorry, dear, I didn't mean to frighten you, you just-" and she halted, realizing the color of the eye looking back at her.

Vergil blinked a few times and then realized what happened. "I'm fine. Excuse me, I have to go," he lowered his head, hiding the red eye and moved past the woman. She sounded kind, concerned, and for the first time Vergil realized just what his eye color could mean.

~X~

Keeping his eye half closed proved to be a fairly successful plan, sure, he couldn't do that for the rest of his life, but he wanted the day to end and that's all. Hell, he'd take nightmares over this shopping trip, at least in the nightmares his red eyes didn't bother people.

"And all that's left is a wand," he finally let out a sigh of relief, they'd go to whatever shop sold those, get the stick and walk out.

"Don't look so eager," Snape said crushing Vergil's hopes in a less than a dozen words. "It might take the longest."

Vergil's shoulders slumped at that and he couldn't suppress a groan. "Terrific," he grumbled, huffed and followed Snape to the final shop.

~X~

'Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C.' that was the first thing Vergil saw when they closed in on the building. They entered the tiny shop that only had a spindly chair in the corner and thousands of boxes. Vergil assumed those were the sticks humans called wands and used while doing magic. The two waited for a few moments for the shop owner to appear.

"Good afternoon," an old man with wide pale eyes spoke softly. "Professor Snape, another muggleborn?" he questioned when he noticed Snape with Vergil.

"An orphan," Snape's response was quick and short and for a moment it seemed like Ollivander's eyes softened considerably, that is until he took a good look at Vergil's eye.

It may have been a small miracle, but thankfully Ollivander got over his shock quickly and addressed the boy. "I am Garrick Ollivander, and you are?" Ollivander introduced himself.

"Vergil Leonidas," short direct answer, no need to drag this out more than necessary.

"Mr. Leonidas. Let me see. Which is your wand arm?" as he asked that he took a long tape measure out of his pocket.

Vergil looked at him a bit confused and then figured he wanted to know which his dominant arm was, thinking back he figured the right arm was the more dominant one, though he was proficient enough with his left one as well. "Right arm, I suppose."

"Hold out your arm," Ollivander instructed and the tape began measuring Vergil on its own. "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr. Leonidas. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."

Halfling felt a bit uncomfortable as the tape measured absolutely everything, even his nostrils… Luckily, the measuring was soon done and Ollivander handed him a wand.

"Mr. Leonidas. Try this one. Cedar and phoenix feather. 10 inches. Just take it and give it a wave," Vergil did as he was told and nothing happened. Ollivander took it from his hand and offered another one.

"Holly and dragon heartstrings, 13 inches."

Again with a new wand and again it was snatched from his hand.

"No. Ebony and dragon heartstrings, 9 inches."

And again it was no good.

"Yew and unicorn hair, 8 inches."

Nope, not a chance.

Vergil lost count on how many wands he had tried when the number went over two dozens and that was way too long ago for his liking. "Don't you have something lightning related?" Vergil asked feeling way too tired by the consistent lack of success when it came to finding a good wand. Honestly he didn't think much of it, it was a stick, how could it be this important.

However, his question was left unheard as Ollivander continued searching way too deeply invested into his own thought process.

Snape remembered the lightning shaped scar and thought back to the black orb Vergil could produce. As far as he knew it was rare for devils to have the ability to control more than one element but the question along with the scar made Snape suspect that Vergil could indeed use at least two elements.

"Tricky customer," despite saying that Ollivander looked pleased, way too pleased for Vergil's liking. "Let's see… Yes, why not," Ollivander went to another shelf and pulled out a box.

An hour later all three of them were exhausted to a varying degree. Ollivander was still excited at the challenging task, but his sentiment was nowhere to be found in the other two.

"I'd like to take a break," Vergil suddenly spoke up for the first time since he mentioned lightning. He didn't wait for permission, he didn't even wait for a response, he just stood up and walked out of the doors. It was his devil half, his blood. There was no way he would ever get a wand to choose him, or whatever that old man kept spouting about. "I can take care of myself, you can go home, tell the Headmaster I'm not suitable for magic."

"Follow me," Snape simply replied and in those two words Vergil heard the grand display of authority, the voice commanded respect and left him with no desire to fight back. Reluctantly the boy followed.

As they walked the mood began changing, the air grew thicker, almost as if light-hearted feeling of the frantic alley was banished from the place they were at. The buildings looked darker, more sinister to Vergil and growing up in Thanatos he was immediately reminded of the shady alleys where even shadier business was unfolding.

The Spiny Serpent, Vergil figured it was a proper name for this kind of street. Snape opened the doors and Vergil followed his inside only to find the doors closing before he could step in.

"Really?" he tried to open the doors, but it was locked. "Well, the lock is likely made out of metal, or something like that," he muttered and placed his palm next to the door handle. Closing his eye he focused on his palm, letting enough electricity through to latch onto the metal, yet keeping it from burning the wooden doors. He slowly moved his hand, directing the metal pieces he needed to unlock the doors. And then he swept his hand to the right, forcing the doors open. "See? It's pointless to use locks like these with me."

The shop owner's jaw dropped, and Snape actually glared at him.

Snape paused for a moment before walking over to Vergil. "What were you thinking? I was about to let you in," he hissed, a tiniest bit of irritation was well hidden but still there for Vergil to see.

"I couldn't know that," Vergil replied evenly, for the first time since he arrived in this world, he felt power coursing through him. He felt like he could actually do something, like he wasn't restrained by his human half. And with that feeling came the confidence to talk back, to fight back.

"Severus, he is," the shop owner spoke up, lifting the tension from the air as Snape and Vergil turned to look at him. "His eye…"

"I assure you he isn't who you think he is. Now, Cobra, do you have any wands with, thunderbird feather core?" Snape asked, apparently again if his demeanor was anything to go by.

"I do, they are expensive, so you better think this through. And I don't want you running to me when the brat accidentally curses someone just because they looked at him the wrong way," the shop owner, Cobra, warned before going to the back room.

"Cobra?" Vergil questioned.

"It's a codename, people like him need one," Snape replied just as Cobra came back.

Vergil took a better look at the man, aside from the burnt left forearm the man looked quite ordinary, a bit shorter than Snape, but obviously more muscular, it was obvious even under the robes he was wearing. He wasn't remotely as old as Dumbledore, perhaps he was around seventy years old, with grey hair and unkempt beard. The eyes were the only giveaway of how dangerous the man was. That was the look of a killer and Vergil knew it.

Cobra placed three wands in front of them. One was 12 inches, the one next to it 10 and a half and final one 13 inches. "One is unyielding, one is rigid, one is slightly yielding. As for wood, there's willow, red oak or blackthorn. So, which one?" Cobra never pointed at any of the wands to make it clear which one he was talking about and Vergil figured it was so that he would somehow choose the one he felt was right for him.

Not that it mattered, the information given to him wasn't valuable in any means. He reached out for the one on the left and then, right before he touched it something in the one on the right caught his attention. He touched it, took it and then it happened. A burst of electricity emerged, warming the boy and surrounding him. His own soul resonated with the wand and when the electricity vanished, he was met with Cobra's utterly shocked expression-

Maybe it was a coincidence but as he turned to look at Snape, he saw his eye in the mirror. His sclera turned as red as his iris, the only part of his eye that didn't turn red was his pupil, it was still pitch black, only a bit narrower. As soon as he saw it Vergil recoiled, horrified at what he was seeing, and his eye turned back to normal.

"How much?" Snape asked, if he was aware of what happened he wasn't showing it.

"Take it for free. Boy, I expect to see you again," Cobra smirked and Vergil, still affected by what he saw simply nodded.

~X~

A month and a half passed and September the first came, the destination Vergil needed to reach first was King's Cross station and then the platform nine and three quarters. Snape would guide him to the station and then he'd be on his own.

Wordlessly Snape led Vergil through the crowd mostly made up of non-magical humans, muggles as Snape called them. Strangely he stopped at the pillar between platforms nine and ten.

"Pass through," Snape said and walked through the pillar.

"Thanks a lot," Vergil grunted, but if Snape could do it he should be able to do it too. Believing that it was possible, it happened in front of his eyes after all, he just walked through.

A scarlet steam engine and a platform filled with people. That's what Vergil found. Families saying goodbye to their children, the noisy children running around, the chit-chat and some complaints as well as the sounds of carts being moved to the train. He took in the sight in front of him briefly and turned to Snape.

"Thank you for such a detailed explanation on what the hell I am supposed to do," Vergil said sarcastically. He was nearly certain Snape would have returned the sarcasm with his own dose of it, if he had the chance.

"Severus. I didn't expect to see you here," a voice made them both turn around to face a pale man with pointed face, pale blond hair and cold grey eyes carrying a walking stick with a snake head. Next to him was a tall, slim, very pale woman with blue eyes and long blonde hair, one could easily describe her as good looking as well.

"Lucius, Narcissa," Snape greeted them.

"I assume he is the reason why you're here," Lucius guessed and looked at Vergil, the red eye clashed with his grey eyes, the blood red color sent a small shiver down Lucius' spine.

"Yes," Snape replied.

"Draco is already on the train, maybe you should hurry up," Narcissa spoke to Vergil in a cold, clear voice. Both her and her husband knew what Snape's presence meant, either he was Snape's son or orphan cousin, which was not possible since they'd know that, or he was muggleborn, yet the similarity in those eyes, those cold, blood red eyes…

"And Draco is?" Vergil asked.

"Our son. It's his first year, as is yours…" Lucius waited for Vergil to state his name.

"Vergil Leonidas," Vergil stated.

"…Mr. Leonidas," Lucius finished.

"Well then, I'm off professor," Vergil said, he nodded to the couple out of courtesy and grinned at Snape before he began pushing the cart to the train.

Easily enough he boarded the train and found an empty compartment to sit in with his left eye facing the window so he could look outside.

A knock on the doors barely a few minutes afterwards made him turn, something he hated the bandage covering his right eye for. He saw a round-faced boy standing there timidly. Vergil motioned for him to come in.

"Thank you," the boy said, he sounded even more timid than he looked. "I'm Neville Longbottom."

"Don't mention it. I'm Vergil Leonidas," Vergil offered him his hand and the timid boy accepted the handshake.

"Um… Are you in the first year?" Neville asked.

"Yeah. You?" Vergil casually replied and continued the conversation.

"Same," Neville seemed to relax just a little bit. "I'll probably be sorted into Hufflepuff," he mumbled more to himself. "What house do you think you'll be sorted into?"

"Honestly, I have no idea," all Vergil knew about the houses was the fact that Snape was the head of the Slytherin house.

Neville nodded and began looking around. "Oh no!" Neville exclaimed. "I've lost him!"

That got Vergil's attention. "Lost who?"

"Trevor! My toad. He keeps getting away from me!" Neville cried out clearly panicking over his lost toad.

And the half devil didn't really know what to say to that.

"I'm going to go and look for him," Neville resigned and miserably left the compartment leaving Vergil alone.

~X~

A few hours later the door to his compartment opened, forcing Vergil to once again turn to see who came in.

"Anything off the trolley, dear?" a smiling older woman offered him.

Vergil glanced at the sweets and shook his head. "No thanks, I don't really like sweets."

The woman, though somewhat surprised nodded and left Vergil there.

For about ten minutes Vergil kept looking outside, finally his eye closed and he began falling asleep despite his best efforts not to.

"Hey, it's strange to see someone alone on the train," he was woken up by a female voice and frankly he was thankful for that, it was only a matter of time before nightmares began without the potion Snape kept giving him.

Still, Vergil covered his mouth with his hand and yawned.

"Sorry, I didn't realize you were sleeping," the girl said and entered the compartment without even asking for permission.

Vergil finally looked at her, she was obviously older than him, at least a couple of years and she was already dressed in Hogwarts robes. If green was anything to go by she was in Slytherin. She had piercing sapphire blue eyes and particularly light brown hair.

"Don't worry about it," he couldn't hide the sleepiness in his voice but he did his best to seem as attentive as he could be at the moment.

The girl grinned at him slightly. "You're a first year, aren't you? I'm Gemma Farley, fifth year Slytherin prefect," she offered him her hand.

Vergil rose up a bit and accepted the hand shake. "Vergil Leonidas, nice to meet you. You're right, I am a first year," and then he figured he had no idea what a prefect was. "What's a prefect?" he asked without a hint of hesitation.

It appeared as if Gemma found his question a bit amusing. "A student with extra responsibility and authority, I can take points and give you detention, of course if you happen to get into Slytherin," she replied.

Vergil nodded. "Why are you on your own?" he was curious, a fifth year should have someone to hang out with, right?

This time Gemma chuckled uncomfortably and scratched the side of her cheek. "Keep it a secret, okay?" when Vergil nodded she grinned a bit. "My friends are really panicking over the O.W.L. exams so I didn't feel like going back to them. Prefects' compartment is off limits because it's getting really hard to watch Weasley and Clearwater play their game of will they won't they," she made a small pause as her eyes softened up a bit. "You also looked quite lonely on your own."

Vergil just stared at her blankly after she finished her last sentence. "I was sleeping,"

Gemma shrugged. "I couldn't tell. Anyway since you don't know what a prefect is I suppose you're a muggleborn, right?" there wasn't any maliciousness in her question, she was simply curious.

"I can't tell, I'm an orphan," Vergil casually went with the cover story and began regretting it as soon as he noticed pity and obvious awkwardness Gemma seemed to be dealing with.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked," she stammered and quickly looked away.

Vergil suppressed a groan at that. This wasn't the reaction he wanted and he cursed himself for not going along with muggleborn cover. "Hey, you couldn't know, besides if I was sensitive about it I wouldn't have told you," he tried to reason with her.

Gemma finally looked at him again. "So which professor introduced you to the magic?"

"Professor Snape," he sounded really eager when he said that, it surprised him the most but over the last month and a half he really got fond of the potions master.

Gemma seemed a bit surprised. "Professor doesn't usually deal with that job, you're a lucky kid. I mean when it comes to that," she quickly added the last sentence.

Vergil actually laughed at that. "I tend to have a love hate relationship with Lady Luck; in fact I can get so unlucky that the ladder automatically closes so I can't walk under it."

Gemma shook her head in amusement at that. "You're joking."

"Maybe," the grin on Vergil's face remained, the uncomfortable moment seemed to be over.

Unfortunately they didn't have much time to continue talking. Doors opened and he and Gemma saw Neville coming in followed by a bushy brown haired girl with rather large front teeth.

"He'll turn up Neville," the girl tried to assure him thus bringing Vergil to the conclusion that Trevor the toad had not been found and was still missing in action. "How come you didn't help Neville out?" she asked Vergil when she noticed him there.

"Didn't feel like it," Vergil replied bluntly making the girl sigh and Gemma smirk.

"Well you should have. I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?" she cut to the point.

"Vergil Leonidas."

"Gemma Farley."

Granger noticed the prefect badge on Gemma's robes. "Oh, you're a Slytherin prefect. Personally I hope I'll be in Gryffindor, it sounds the best by far. I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be bad either," she certainly was talkative as she quickly struck a conversation.

Gemma raised an eyebrow at that. "Guess we'll be bound by tradition to be enemies."

"Enemies?" Vergil was the one left confused by the statement and he seemed to be the only one.

"Gryffindor and Slytherin houses have centuries long rivalry," Granger was the one to explain it.

Vergil tilted his head slightly, still confused over Gemma's choice of words. He turned to the older Slytherin. "So wouldn't word 'rival' be more fitting?"

Much to Vergil's annoyance she tried to pat him on top of the head, key word tried since he moved out of her reach the moment he realized what she was trying.

Once again Gemma found the white haired boy in front of her to be quite amusing. "Give it time and you'll see why I said enemies."

Feeling a bit put on spot Vergil tossed his robes on and went for the door. "Come on, let's just find the toad," he decided to change the topic and left the compartment.

Granger and Neville exchanged a glance and quickly nodded to smirking Gemma. "We already asked around, no one has seen him," Granger told Vergil as she followed him closely behind while Neville seemed not so hopeful.

"We'll just look around then, it's a toad, in a filled train. It's probably scared so it's hiding," Vergil guessed and began looking around for places where a toad could fit in and hide.

Hermione and Neville kept following him for about fifteen minutes. He knelt down and reached into a small space near the doors. "There you are," he pulled the toad out.

"Trevor!" Neville exclaimed and took the toad from Vergil. "Thank you!" The round-faced boy seemed really happy.

"Don't mention it," Vergil replied and just as he said that the train began slowing down until it finally stopped.

They reached the Hogwarts. As train stopped Vergil felt thankful for being near the doors as he could see people crowding the corridor. He opened the doors, the cold air hit him right in the face but he suppressed the small shiver. He stepped down to the platform followed by Neville who got surprised by sudden cold air. Timid boy stumbled a bit, nearly falling in the process as Vergil stilled him on the platform.

"Thanks," Neville whispered.

Vergil gave him a small nod as Hermione joined them. The students all seemed excited despite the obvious cold and the girl just seemed ready to start talking even more about Hogwarts.

They noticed a lamp bobbing over the heads of other students. "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry?" a large man with big hairy face, known as Hagrid, beamed over the sea of students. "C'mon, follow me, any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

Vergil wordlessly began following, it was a steep narrow path and through mixing in with the crowd he got separated from Neville and Hermione.

"Ye' all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder. "Jus' round this bend here."

And then they saw it, the beautiful castle, a large magnificent building with numerous tall towers known as Hogwarts.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid instructed as he pointed to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore.

Vergil climbed into the first boat he came across, incidentally he ended up in the boat with a blond boy that looked way too much like the man he met on the train station. Lucius was it? Yeah, that one, the one who said he had a son in the same year as Vergil. Judging by his appearance this must be him. Well, it didn't matter as all the students stared at the castle that towered over them.

Following instructions they bent their heads down and sailed underneath the cliff, slowly the boats got them all the way to the underground harbor.

The rest of the walk to their destination was pleasant with stone steps instead of steep road. The echoing sounds of children stepping toward their new school seemed similar to a march. None of them wanted to get separated, get left behind or miss anything so the first years formed a kind of rhythm, a fast paced march…

"Everyone here?" Hagrid asked and then raised his fist. He knocked three times on the castle door.

The door swung open and the students saw a tall, black haired witch in emerald green robes.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid informed her.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here," Professor McGonagall pulled the door wide open and led the students into the entrance hall which had stone wall lit with flaming torches and a very high ceiling, they could see marble staircase leading to the upper floor. She showed them into a small chamber off the hall thus they stood rather close together, mostly because of their nerves.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," Professor McGonagall began. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room," she made sure everyone was paying attention.

She proceeded to explain about the houses themselves. "The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours. The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting," her eyes lingered for a moment on a couple of students. "I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly," and with that she left the chamber.

Vergil leaned against the wall and waited. If there was a test, well he'd just have to rely on luck, even if he failed he didn't really care.

Screams of several kids made him look up and his eyes widened. 'What the hell…?' What appeared out of nowhere were ghosts, about twenty of them in fact and they seemed to be arguing. The half devil didn't really pay much of an attention to the conversation; he was too absorbed in the way they looked and moved and in the thoughts of possibilities…

He didn't even hear one of the ghosts making a question directed at them, the students.

"Move along now," the potential conversation was stopped by none other than Professor McGonagall. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start," the ghosts floated through the opposite wall. "Now, form a line and follow me," she turned to the first years.

Vergil stood behind the nervous Neville and walked out of the chamber, went back across the hall, through the double doors and into the Great Hall, which was probably one of the most magnificent places he had ever seen. Lit by thousands of candles floating in midair over four long tables with a long table at the top of the hall where the teachers were sitting. Vergil let himself grin slightly when he saw Snape; it was kinda weird, spending so many hours without the potions master.

Professor McGonagall stopped and they came to a halt with teachers now behind them and all the other students looking at them. McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of them and then put a pointed wizard's hat on it as well. The hat looked quite worn out, patched and frayed and extremely dirty. And then, much to Vergil's surprise the hat twitched and began singing.

"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty, but don't judge on what you see."

So far the only thought that came to Vergil's mind was: Humans sure make weird things.

"You're in safe hands (though I have none) for I'm a Thinking Cap!"

The hall burst into applause once the hat finished singing. It bowed to each of the four tables before Professor McGonagall stepped forward with a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she explained and looked at the first name on her list. "Abbott, Hannah!"

A girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of the line, put on the hat that was too big for her. The hat fell over her eyes and she sat down. A few moments later the decision was made. "Hufflepuff!" the table of that house erupted in cheers.

The sorting continued with Terry Boot becoming the first Ravenclaw, Lavander Brown becoming the first Gryffindor and Millicent Bulstrode the first Slytherin.

"Granger, Hermione!" the girl Vergil met on the train almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat way too eagerly on her head.

"Gryffindor!"

A few minutes passed and then.

"Leonidas, Vergil!" upon hearing his name Vergil walked up to the stool and put the hat on.

'Hmm… A half-devil, I haven't had many of those, only one before you actually,' Vergil felt his heart stop when he heard the voice of the hat. 'Now where to put you…? Clearly not patient or kind enough. There's not much overall thirst for knowledge, you're quite selective of what you are willing to spend your time on. You certainly have a nerve and you are indeed very brave, perhaps even reckless. On the other hand, you've got quite a bit of ambition and determination, you are cunning enough and loyal to those you care about,' the hat seemed to ponder between the two possibilities. 'Gryffindor might be the better choice though; you are quite a bit of a dare-devil, no pun intended.'

'Oh, it was completely intended,' Vergil remarked. 'How about Slytherin?'

'You do fit in and you want it as well. Well then, let it be…'

"Slytherin!"

Vergil walked up to the cheering table and the first thing that actually caught his eye was the house ghost. Bloody Baron, a horrible looking ghost with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face and robes stained with silvery blood.

"Hey there, I'm really glad you were sorted into Slytherin," Gemma was the first to speak to him, he went to pat him again, though this time on the shoulder and he allowed it offering the girl a smile.

"So you can exercise authority over me?" he joked.

To this Gemma feigned being hurt. "Never," but she had a teasing grin on her face.

"Longbottom, Neville!" Neville was called and he actually fell on his way to the stool. It took a while but the hat finally made its decision.

"Gryffindor!"

Neville, too happy with the house he was put in ran off with the hat still on, thus making himself the cause of a fit of laughter. The laughing filled the hall when he had to run back to give it back.

Still as he sat down he glanced at the Slytherin table and at Vergil, he looked kinda saddened by the fact that they ended up in different houses and Gryffindor and Slytherin on top of that.

"Malfoy, Draco!" if Neville's was the longest up until now this was one the fastest.

The hat barely touched Draco's head when it screamed. "Slytherin!"

A few minutes later the event of the night came.

"Potter, Harry!" There was a bit of silence and Vergil recognized the name Potter as one of the few Snape mentioned back when they first met. That was the one who defeated Voldemort, The Boy Who Lived… Whispers began filling the hall and Harry broke the current record for the longest time it took the hat to decide.

But eventually… "Gryffindor!"

It was the loudest cheer so far as the raven-haired boy shakily walked toward the Gryffindor table.

"Weasley, Ronald!" one of the last to be sorted, red haired boy, sat on the stool. Vergil remembered the last name Weasley from what Gemma mentioned earlier, this one was probably related to that Weasley prefect.

"Gryffindor!"

"Zabini, Blaise!" and this was the last one.

"Slytherin!" as Professor McGonagall rolled up the scroll and took the Sorting Hat away Blaise sat down next to Vergil.

Albus Dumbledore stood up and beamed at the students with his arms open wide. "Welcome," he began warmly. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!" he sat down and everyone clapped and cheered.

"The hell did I get myself into…?" Vergil muttered to himself and then noticed the food in front of him. All kinds of it.

The talk of the table soon became the families. As it turned out most of the Slytherin house was pure-blood.

"What about you?" Malfoy turned to Vergil.

"No idea," Vergil bit out much to the surprise of the ones around him. He didn't need anyone's pity, while Gemma seemed to get over it quickly enough he didn't feel like risking.

Malfoy observed him carefully but before he could inquire anything else he felt Gemma glaring subtly at him. "Well you're at least Half-blood, otherwise you wouldn't be sorted into Slytherin," he deduced for himself.

The conversation was cut short when Dumbledore stood up once again. "Just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well," Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed toward the Gryffindor table, more precisely to the red haired twins.

"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year; the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

Vergil had to smirk at that warning. What a way to start a year, scare students half to death.

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" Dumbledore's sudden exclamation made the Halfling's eyes widen. Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself, snakelike, into words.

"Everyone pick their favorite tune and off we go!" the Head Master said and the school bellowed.

"No way in hell," Vergil hissed. He wouldn't be caught dead singing, anything, let alone song that started like this.

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts, teach us something please, whether-"

NO, no way in Hell. None of that. He was not going to sing this.

Everyone singing finished the song at different times, only the Weasley twins were still singing their very slow funeral march.

'Fitting.' Vergil had to smirk at that.

Dumbledore was one of those who clapped very loudly when the two finished the song. "Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

The Slytherin first years followed after Gemma, downstairs and into the dungeons where their common room was. Farley showed them the way and the ten new Slytherins were sent to their rooms.

Vergil sat on his bed and looked at his roommates, Draco Malfoy, Gregory Goyle, a dull-eyed, silent bodyguard-like part of Malfoy follower duo, Vincent Crabbe, the very large second half of the already established duo of Malfoy followers. The two seemed to follow Malfoy everywhere. Blaise Zabini, a tall, dark skinned boy and Theodore Nott, like Zabini he was tall, but also rather thin. Well, so far Vergil was fine with this. He turned his gaze to the lake above them, it was one of the reasons why the room was going to be very cold as winter comes, but Vergil would take that over excruciatingly exhausting heat, plus he was a darkness devil, he like cold places. Even if it got too cold lightning would keep his body heated up to normal body temperature in most occasions.

And that's it. The first chapter, tell me what you think in reviews and see you in the next chapter.