The Story of a Sad Little Boy
July 30th 1972
Dear diary, my name is Regulus Acturus Black. When I grow up, I want to be a writer. I guess that’s why I write in this. My brother Sirius said that I'm good at writing, and one day, I'll write my own book! I want to name this diary, the steps to reach my dreams. Maybe one day people all over the wizarding world will read my diary.
As I said, my name is Regulus Black, I am 10 years old. I'll be 11 this December, and this year is the year that I finally start at Hogwarts school for witches and wizards. When my brother Sirius came home form school this June, he couldn’t stop talking about his new friends in Gryffindor, James Potter, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. Mother got really angry. Apparently, she is upset that Sirius is a Gryffindor and befriended a Potter. It was the first year that I've been alone in the house without Sirius. It was quite... Lonely, I just hope I'll be in Gryffindor too when I start at school so I can stay close to Sirius. I hope I'll get a lot for friends and play Quidditch with him and the other Gryffindors. I just hope that mother won’t get angry at me, I hate when I upset her. I think she wish that me and Sirius was more like our cousins Bellatrix and Narcissa, mother isn’t really fond of Andromeda. I think she is kind, but also strange, like Sirius... just in a girl-way I guess. My favorite cousin is Narcissa. She always tells me stories and make small braids in my hair. When I start in school, I'll be able to see her every day! I already started packing my trunk mother is helping me. In August we’ll go to Diagon Alley. In my Hogwarts letter it’s written that I need,
Uniform
“Three sets of plain robes (black)”
Set books
“The Standard Book of Spells, grade 1 by Miranda Goshawk”
“A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot”
“Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling”
“A Beginner’s Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch”
“One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore”
“Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger”
“Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander”
“The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble”
Other equipment
“1 wand”
“1 cauldron”
“1 set glass or crystal phials”
“1 telescope”
“1 set brass scales”
“Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad”
Sirius said that he would help me buy the supplies. His favorite class is DADA and flying. I think that I'll like potions and astronomy best. I really like the stars... the whole universe. It's so big and we are just small ants in a big world. I hope that one day, I'll be able to be big enough to see the world, the whole universe. I want the name Regulus Black to be known and not forgotten, and I want my name to be known next to Sirius.
August 15th 1972
In 15 days, I'll be on the Hogwarts express beside Sirius and we’ll start the school-year together. Today me, mother and Sirius traveled to Diagon Alley. It was my first time, I was really scared. It was a lot for noise and people, when I got scared Sirius took my hand in his and started swinging them between us. It helped me calm down and I didn’t think about the people anymore. When we got to the Quidditch shop Sirius meet his friend James. He just let go of my hand and ran towards the Potter boy. When Sirius let go of my hand, I felt sad. I wanted him back here with me. Mother dragged me out of the shop. She doesn’t like the Potter family. She says that they’re traitors and I shouldn’t be around them. I couldn’t see much of the Potter boy, but I already knew that I did not like him. Sirius stayed in the shop with James and I had to buy the rest of my school-stuff with mother. I got really angry at Sirius, I didn’t want to talk to him for the rest of the night so I hid in my room. I wasn’t hungry either... Sirius promised to shop my school supplies with me...
September 1th 1972
This was a long day diary. I’m exhausted and I'm currently laying in my drom in the Slytherin dungeons that I'm sharing with Evan Rosier, Barty Crouch Jr and Edward Selwyn. I only know who Evan is... he is my cousin. He is nice, I like him, I just haven’t talked much to him before, Barty is interesting... I think I like him. Well, I'll explain this horrible day.
It started with mother and father taking me and Sirius to the train station. Sirius took my hand and ran with me, it was scary, what if the wall wasn’t open or something... anyway, when we got to platform 9 ¾ me and Sirius said goodbye to mother and father before he took my hand and started leading me towards the train. On the way into the train Sirius meet this boy he knew... I think his name is Frank. He is a Gryffindor through and through, he was so kind and loud, he is also Sirius’ prefect. They just talked and I was standing slightly behind Sirius. He was kind of blocking me, maybe he just wanted to protect me or something. When they stopped talking it was time for the train to go. Frank had to leave for a prefect meeting or something. I remember Sirius saying, “Reggie, I really want you to meet my friends. Please, for me”. Of course I said yes... what else. So, Sirius lead me down the train to look for his friend’s carriage. When we found them, Sirius presented me to his friends. James was exactly how I knew he was. He was loud, annoying and arrogant. Sirius’s other friend Remus was quite odd and quiet, he seemed nice though. He had a lot for scars, wonder how he got them. And the last one Peter was a chubby, short guy. He was quiet but talked if James did or if James asked him. I was quite uncomfortable, at was awkward too. James asked me a lot of questions... I wanted to get out of there so I told Sirius I was going to the toilet.
Best choice I ever made. I meet Pandora. She is Evan’s twin sister. I have talked to her more than Evan. She is also quite odd, but I like her. She is herself, always. I admire it, I wish I could me myself more. When we bumped into each other she asked if I had someone to sit with. I did want to go back to that arrogant James Potter, and I knew that Sirius would understand, so I followed Pandora to her carriage. In the carriage sat Evan, a boy with straight, black, shoulder-long hair (it looked like it hadn’t been washed in ages) and a redhead girl with freckles and bright white teeth. I found out shortly after that the name of the black-haired boy was Severus Snape, and the redhead was named Lily Evans. They were both second-years... Sirius’s year. It wasn’t long before they left Evan, Pandora and me in the carriage because Lily wanted to find “Marlene and Mary”. I didn’t really care about what the second-years was doing, I was busy watching Evan. His hair was almost white-blond, his eyes was deep blue. He had pretty features. he looked just like Pandora, he was just the male-version, or she was the female-version... same thing. But their personality was completely different. Pandora was always talking, she was nice and open. Evan was a lot more quieter, he looked “closed down” and sometimes rude. Me and Evan got quite close on the train ride. We had a lot in common, and liked pretty much the same things.
When the train stopped, I walked back to Sirius. He wondered where I had been and blablabla... BUT I was finally in Hogwarts. I was exited (Merlin if I had known how this day would turn out...). The castle was HUGE. I had to say goodbye to Sirius because I had to take the boat’s over to the castle like Sirius did last year. I got into the boat with a small dark-haired boy and Evan Rosier. The dark-haired boy didn’t say anything. Me and Evan wanted to ask for his name but got distracted by the beautiful castle. I was thinking “am I really going to stay here for the next year... with Sirius”.
Me and Evan walked out of the boat and followed he gigantic and hairy gatekeeper Hagrid up to the castle. We were greeted by Minerva McGonagall, my new Transfiguration teacher. She was an old lady, she looked strict. She reminded me much of mother.
She followed us into the huge Great Hall. It was massive with four big tables with the colors red, blue, yellow and green. I spotted Sirius and his friends at once. He beamed at me, he looked... proud?
This is the worst part. First Evan was brought up to the hat. The hat almost immediately yelled Slytherin. Pandora was sorted into Ravenclaw. And then, the dark-haired boy that was in the boat with me and Evan was brought up. Barty Crouch Jr was his name. I knew I had heard the name before. When the hat yelled Slytherin, the whole hall went quiet. I think Barty might be one of the only Crouch’s in Slytherin, his father was a Ravenclaw. Barty just silently sat down at the Slytherin table like it didn’t bother him at all. I wish I was more like him. McGonagall called me up. I was so nervous. I sat down and she put the hat on my head, I remember it saying “what an interesting mind, you’re quite ambitious I see. A person pleaser... you’re brave and intelligent boy, but I think I'll put you in... SLYTHERIN”. I have always believed in the universe, but when it’s constantly trying to separate me and Sirius... I get really mad, like I want to tear something apart. I could see the hurt and disappointment in Sirius’s face when I sat down at the Slytherin table. I wanted to cry, I wanted to write, I... I wanted to disappear, to get swallowed by the floor... at least I had Evan. He gave me some kind of hope.
I hope the rest of the year goes better. Come on Regulus! This is your first year at Hogwarts! First year of freedom!