Aoife had walked from Hogsmeade to the castle on this, the first day of her third year at Hogwarts. Over the past summer she had lived in Hogsmeade renting a small room in The Three Broomsticks. Coming from a wealthy family meant she did not need to work for her keep, but she choose to late in her first summer there, realising that two months of living alone got very boring. She helped carry food and drink to the customers on quiet days and on busy days helped with cleaning duties to avoid the crowds. Summer was over now, and Aoife couldn't wait to get back to the library.

As she walked up to the main entrance to the castle she watched as the Black siblings and their twin cousins arrived dramatically. She didn't care for the boys, the twins creeped her out a little bit, but she always liked Avice. She liked Avice but was also jealous of her, wishing that she could be so pretty and confident and full of energy.

Aoife looked away from the Black's carriage an made her way towards the castle passing another group of students who were dismounting from carriages which seemed to pull themselves. She didn't know any of the new comers to the school as everyone she knew was still in Ireland. She had yet to meet another Irish student at Hogwarts but then again she did tend to keep to herself.

During the summer she had decided that she was going to try too mix more with her classmates and other students this year. She had not figured out how to do this yet but was now considering turning back to talk to Avice Black. Yes, she would do it. She kept heading towards the castle. [i]"Come on Aoife, you can do it,"[/i] she thought to herself. 

She slowed down.

She stopped.

She slowly turned.

She froze up.