Disclaimer: If you think I'm J.K. Rowling, you need your head examined. The only things that belong to me are Jazlyn, her cat Angel, and the Temaida family.

Prologue – Sorting: Jazlyn Temaida was frightened. She was eleven years old and leaving home for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. What scared her was the ceremony known as the Sorting. She wasn't sure what happened, but she was sure of one thing; she was about to be in terrible trouble. Why? Because there was absolutely no way she was being Sorted into Slytherin, the House everyone in her family had been for generations. She just didn't fit the Slytherin mold. And if she was in Gryffindor? Then she was truly dead.

Hearing a meow, Jazlyn looked down. Her kitten, Angel, wasn't too happy with the crowds here at the station. How long will we be with these people? the cat demanded. Jazlyn sighed. She had always been able to talk to cats by some form of telepathy – it was a gift her family had been known for many generations earlier (Temaida was an ancient word for tiger), but Jazlyn herself was the first in five generations who could do it. Until I leave school, she replied. Now quit complaining. The cat hissed, but made no more remarks.

The train ride took all day, but Jazlyn didn't mind. Still, they did reach Hogwarts in the end, where they were instructed to leave luggage and pets on the train. Neither Jazlyn or Angel was pleased with that, but there wasn't a thing they could do about it. So Jazlyn left the train alone.

She followed the other first years, who were following a giant called Hagrid, down to the lake, where they got into boats. It was supposed to be four to a boat, but the boats ran out and Jazlyn was left as the only one still on land. So Hagrid told her to join the last boat, which held four lively boys. As she got in, they turned to look at her. She recognized one of them: Sirius Black. His family ran in the same circles as hers did. She doubted he knew her; she'd always had a talent for being all but invisible.

They reached the castle, where a stern witch called Professor McGonagall led them into the Great Hall, where the entire student body and every teacher waited for them. Jazlyn barely heard the song of the Sorting Hat or any of the names that preceded hers through the buzzing in her ears. Suddenly, McGonagall's voice cut through the buzzing as she said, "Temaida, Jazlyn!"

Jazlyn walked over to the stool that each of the others had sat on, and waited. The hat slipped over her eyes, and she heard a voice in her ear. Hello there. I see you've got some interesting talents, eh? You're smart, and...ah. Courage, hidden so well even you can't find it, but it's there. So where to put you? Hmm...yes, that will do. You won't like this, but trust me, you'll be better off there. "GRYFFINDOR!"

Jazlyn swallowed hard, wanting to argue, but she didn't. Instead, she walked over to the table on the far left and sat down, wondering how her father would react when he found out and trying to understand how she was better off in Gryffindor. Her dad was going to kill her – or at least make her wish she'd never been born. That wasn't her idea of 'better off'.

A/N: So, I decided to try my hand at a Marauders era fic. What do you think? Let me know!