Albus Potter watched as his father heaved his and his brother’s trunks out of the car and onto a pair of trolleys. His mother stood nearby, hugging and talking softly to Lily, who was upset that she would be left behind while her brothers went to Hogwarts. Albus didn’t blame her. He remembered the previous year, when James had left for his first year, that he had also begged to be allowed to go too.
He took hold of his trolley as his father placed a cage, containing a handsome tawny owl, atop of the newly purchased trunk. James also grabbed his trolley and began wheeling it out of the car park and towards the station. Albus pushed his trolley forward and hurried after his brother. His parents followed, Lily now clinging to her father.
As they walked in the direction of the barrier where platform 9¾ was concealed, James gave a sideways look to Albus next to him
“Just wait ‘till you see the Slytherin common room, Al! I heard it’s under the lake, so the light’s all green. You might even see the giant squid, if the water isn’t too dark.”
“Will you quit it, James? I’ve already told you, I’m not going to be in Slytherin! I’m going to be in Gryffindor, the same as you, mum and dad were!” Albus said, frustrated.
“You never know, you might “”
*“I won’t! I won’t be in Slytherin!”
Ginny decided the matter was getting out of hand; James had been hassling his younger brother all the way to the station.
*“James, give it a rest!”
*“I only said he might be,” James said as he grinned at his brother. *“There’s nothing wrong with that. He might be in Slyth “”
Ginny shot a look at James, the one which had always startled her brothers into silence when she was little. James said no more, for they had just reached the brick barrier between platforms nine and ten. He flashed a cocky smirk at Albus before running through the solid-looking wall. A moment later, he had vanished.
Albus turned to his parents.
*“You’ll write to me, won’t you?” he asked them, a worried look on his face.
*“Every day, if you want us to,” said Ginny.
*“Not every day,” Albus said quickly. *“James says most people only get letters from home about once a month.”
*“We wrote to James three times a week last year,” Ginny replied.
*“And you don’t want to believe everything he tells you about Hogwarts,” Harry added. *“He likes a laugh, your brother.” He smiled reassuringly and put a hand on his son’s shoulder.
Albus returned the smile, feeling slightly better now. He grabbed his trolley again, his father beside him. Together, they walked towards the barrier, Albus breaking into a run as he neared the wall. He winced, thinking for a moment that they were going to crash, but there was no impact. He opened his eyes, only to see virtually nothing but a thick, white steam, coming from the scarlet train he could only just see ahead of him. He looked at the front of the train, smiling happily at the words ‘Hogwarts Express’ written on the front. He was finally going to Hogwarts!
Albus saw several human figures wandering through the mist, but he would not have been able to recognise anybody even if he did know them. He started walking along the platform, looking behind him every now and then to make sure his parents and sister were still behind him.
*“Where are they?” he asked. He couldn’t see his aunt, uncle or cousins anywhere. He strained his eyes to see through the white haze.
*“We’ll find them,” his mother said reassuringly.
They walked almost the length of the entire platform, Albus looking in all directions, but he couldn’t see them or his brother at all.
Suddenly his mother spoke. *“I think that’s them, Al.”
Albus looked to where her hand was pointed, and sure enough, the shapes of four very familiar people could be seen. He couldn’t make out their faces, however, until they were almost right in front of them.
*“Hi,” Albus said, relieved. His cousin, Rose, who was going into her first year like him, was already wearing her school robes. Rose gave him a very happy smile in return.
“I can’t believe we’re going to Hogwarts! We’re finally going to Hogwarts!” said Rose excitedly. She flung her arms around her cousin in a happy embrace.
Behind them, Lily and Hugo, Rose’s younger brother, were discussing animatedly which house they would be sorted into when they entered their first year in two years time.
Ron noticed this. *“If you’re not in Gryffindor, we’ll disinherit you,” he said firmly, *“but no pressure.”
*“Ron!” exclaimed his Aunt Hermione. Albus looked solemnly at Rose, who returned his expression, but Lily and Hugo were laughing.
Their mothers took note of the worried look on the children’s faces. *“He doesn’t mean it,” they said. They embraced their children, hoping to bring up their confidence levels, all the while shooting glares at Ron, who Albus noticed, was not looking at them, but away from their families.
He followed their gaze, and his eyes came to rest on three people standing a little away from the group.
There was a man with a long coat done up around his throat, with receding blonde hair, that accentuated his pale, pointed face. Next to him was a woman, shorter, with short brown hair styled neatly around her face and neck. What caught Albus’ attention though, was the small boy who looked around his own age in front of them.
He, too, had the blonde hair of his father. His face looked more like his mother’s, but was still pointed, like his father’s. He turned and looked at the group, but unlike his father, he did nothing, his face remaining expressionless.
*“So that’s little Scorpius,” Albus heard his uncle say quietly. He looked at his daughter. *“Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother’s brains.”
*“Ron, for heaven’s sake,” Hermione looked at her husband, a stern expression on her face. Her voice gave away her amusement, however. *“Don’t try to turn them against each other before they’ve even started school!”
*“You’re right, sorry,” Ron apologised to his wife. Unable to help himself from adding to his previous statement, he added *“Don’t get too friendly with him though, Rosie. Granddad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pure-blood.”
*“Hey!”
Albus looked behind him; almost dreading what was coming next. James had found his way to them through the mist. He looked to have already placed his own owl and trunk on the train, for they were absent. He looked almost bursting with some ever-exciting news.
*“Teddy’s back there,” he said breathlessly, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder at the vapour-filled platform. *“Just seen him! And guess what he’s doing? Snogging Victoire!”
He looked eagerly at the adults, his face falling slightly when they did not react. Albus looked at Rose, holding in a laugh behind his hand. She giggled, and behind her he could see Lily and Hugo doing the same.
*“Our Teddy!” he added, as if they had not understood him. *“Teddy Lupin! Snogging our Victoire! Our cousin! And I asked Teddy what he was doing “”
Albus turned away, his laughter threatening to envelope him. Teddy, his father’s godson, almost like a brother to him, snogging his cousin! Now there was something that would scar him for life…
*“…come to see her off! And then he told me to go away. He’s snogging her…”
Albus tuned out his brother’s voice. He did not want a blow-by-blow account of his cousin’s love life, not now. He looked at Rose, though she was still listening to James’ excited rambling. Looking behind her, he saw that Lily was, too. Hugo glanced back at Albus, and the two of them shrugged, both not interested in the topic of conversation.
*“…don’t mind sharing with Al “”
Albus jerked his head around to his older brother. Surely his father wouldn’t let James move into his room? Please, Dad, say no! Tell him no! Albus willed his dad to refuse James’ offer.
*“No,” said Harry firmly, *“you and Al will share a room only when I want the house demolished.”
Phew. Albus breathed a sigh of relief as his father looked at his watch.
*“It’s nearly eleven, you’d better get on board.”
Ginny came over to envelope Albus in a bone-crushing hug, which could easily rival his grandmother’s.
*“Don’t forget to give Neville our love!” she said to James as she hugged him next.
*“Mum! I can’t give a professor love!” exclaimed James.
*“But you know Neville “”
James rolled his eyes.
*“Outside, yeah, but at school he’s Professor Longbottom, isn’t he? I can’t walk into Herbology and give him love…” He shook his head before aiming a kick at Albus, which he thankfully dodged. *“See you later, Al. Watch out for Thestrals.”
*“I thought they were invisible? You said they were invisible!” Albus exclaimed to his brother.
James just laughed He allowed his mother to give him a light peck on the cheek, hugged his father quickly before jumping onto the train, which was fast filling up with students. He waved briefly, and then sprinted off up the corridor to find his friends.
*“Thestrals are nothing to worry about,” Harry told Albus. “They’re gentle things, there’s nothing scary about them.”
Albus visibly relaxed.
*“Anyway,” Harry added, *“you won’t be going up to school in the carriages, you’ll be going in the boats.”
Ginny kissed Albus on his cheek. *"See you at Christmas.”
*“Bye Al,” said Harry, as Albus hugged him tight. *“Don’t forget Hagrid’s invited you to tea next Friday. Don’t mess with Peeves. Don’t duel anyone ‘till you’ve learned how. And don’t let James wind you up.”
*“What if I’m in Slytherin?” Albus whispered, just loud enough for Harry to hear. He was terrified of what his brother had been taunting him about all summer becoming a reality.
His father knelt down so that his face was a little below his own.
*“Albus Severus,” Harry said quietly, and Albus took note of the use of his middle name, *“you were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew.”
Albus was not convinced.
*“But just say “”
*““ then Slytherin house will have gained an excellent student, won’t it? It doesn’t matter to us, Al. But if it matters to you, you’ll be able to choose Gryffindor over Slytherin. The Sorting Hat takes your choice into account.”
Albus smiled happily. *“Really?”
*“It did for me,” replied his father.
The doors on the train started to close. Parents swarmed towards windows and doors for final hugs and kisses, last-minute reminders. Albus jumped onto the train and Ginny closed the door behind him. As far as they could see through the mist, which was becoming thicker as the train prepared to move, students were leaning out of the windows. The majority of them were looking at Harry.
*“Why are they all staring?” he demanded of his parents. He craned his neck around Rose to look at his fellow students, as Rose did the same.
*“Don’t let it worry you,” said his Uncle Ron. *“It’s me. I’m extremely famous.”
Albus and Rose laughed, and on the platform, Hugo and Lily joined them. Then the train began to move, and Albus felt a wave of excitement surge through him. His father followed the train, and then when the train rounded the corner, Albus could still see Harry’s hand raised in a farewell.
He stood at the door for a few moments, still looking back in the direction where the platform at King’s Cross had just disappeared. Rose’s voice broke into his thoughts.
“We’d better find a compartment, they’re probably all full by now…”
Albus turned to Rose and picked up his trunk and the cage containing his new owl, Sabio, before heading off up the corridor after her. Each compartment they passed already had several occupants, and they continued to drag their trunks until they were lucky enough to find one that happened to be empty.
Albus, with some difficulty, managed to put their trunks into the luggage rack, and set Sabio, along with Rose’s own spotted owl, Opal, on the seat next to their respective owners. Both put their heads under their wings, and went to sleep while the children talked excitedly about Hogwarts, what the classes would be like, and whether they might have anywhere near as much stories to tell their parents at the end of the year as their parents did them.
It was nearing the time when the lunch trolley would arrive, and Albus was getting hungry. Rose was still talking, oblivious to the fact that Albus was no longer paying attention.
“…wonder what Divination would be like, mum’s always said it’s a load of tosh, but I think it could be fascinating to be able to see into the future, don’t you, Al “”
She broke off as Albus stood up suddenly. He motioned for her to be quiet, and walked over to the door and slid it open an inch. The voice of a boy could now clearly be heard down the corridor.
“…filthy little Mudblood! How you even had the nerve to come talk to me, I have no idea, but I don’t talk to filth like you. Get lost!”
With that, a trunk was thrown out into the corridor after someone who was on the floor, leaning against the wall, clutching a small wicker basket. The trunk landed on the feet and legs of the figure, making them cry out in pain. At this, a small ginger kitten leapt out of the basket and off up the corridor, into the compartment that Albus had just stepped out of, with Rose still in the doorway. It was then that Albus noticed the figure was a girl, with long blonde hair in a neat plait down her back, with a navy ribbon tying it off at the end. She had tears running down her face as her eyes followed in the direction that her kitten had just sprinted away. All along the corridor, faces hung out of compartment doors, all watching the scene unfold with interest.
Albus looked at Rose, who nodded, and they both approached the girl, who looked down at the floor as they drew closer, tears spilling onto the robes that she, like Rose, had put on earlier than needed. Rose knelt down next to the girl, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.
“Are you okay?” she asked softly.
The girl sniffled and ran her hand across her eyes to rid herself of her tears. She gave a small nod, still looking at the floor. Albus crouched down next to Rose.
“Why don’t you come and sit with us?” Albus offered. He stood and held his hand out to the girl, who glanced up at them briefly before taking it in her own. He pulled her up before he and Rose grabbed opposite ends of her trunk, and led the way to their own compartment. The girl, still wiping at her eyes, followed them slowly.
Once they were inside, Rose slid the door closed and indicated for the girl to take a seat next to her while Albus lifted the girl’s trunk into the luggage rack beside his own. He saw a pair of eyes reflecting the daylight back at him, and noticed the shape of the ginger kitten crouching at the back of the rack. He reached out his hand slowly toward the kitten, which moved backwards slightly as it drew nearer. Albus held his hand still, willing the kitten to come forward, unafraid. After a few moments it took a timid step in his direction, followed by another, until it began to lick his fingers. He smiled when the kitten began to purr as he scratched behind its ears, before he placed his other hand under the ginger ball of fur and bringing it down to the same level as his cousin and the girl, who seemed to have stopped crying now. For the first time Albus got a good look at her eyes “ they were a vivid, lively blue.
“I’m Albus Potter,” said Albus, “and this is my cousin, Rose Weasley.” He handed her the ginger kitten, which curled up in the girl’s lap and went straight to sleep
“Hello,” Rose said brightly to the girl. “What’s your name?”
“Jacinta. Jacinta Gritton,” she said quietly.
“Jacinta…that’s a nice name,” said Rose. She opened her mouth to say more, but was interrupted by the arrival of the lunch trolley. Rose put her hand in her pocket to get some money, but Albus beat her to it and bought out nearly half the trolley.
“So,” he said, handing Jacinta a chocolate frog, “what house do you think you’ll be in?”
“I don’t know any of the houses yet…” whispered Jacinta. Rose sent a scowl at Albus.
“Oh, you’re Muggle-born?” she asked in a friendly tone. Jacinta look up confused.
“Wh-What’s a Muggle-born?”
Albus spoke up. “A Muggle-born witch or wizard is someone who was born with non-magical parents. That is, their parents weren’t witches or wizards.”
“No, my mother isn’t a witch and my dad is not a wizard,” replied Jacinta.
“My mother was Muggle-born “” piped up Rose.
““ And so was my grandmother,” finished Albus.
Jacinta thought for a moment.
“Then what’s a Mudblood?”
Albus’ heart sank. He could see Rose’s jubilant expression fall, too. The poor girl hadn’t even been on the train for two hours and already she had been tossed out of a compartment because her parents weren’t magical. He sympathised with her.
It was Rose who explained this time.
“Well…’Mudblood’ is a really foul term for a Muggle-born. It’s only used by those who believe that magical lineage is superior to non-magical heritage.”
Albus could see Jacinta’s eyes begin to tear up again. He racked his brains for something to say, but he wasn’t very good at these kinds of situations. Thankfully Rose spoke again.
“Don’t worry, we don’t care whether your parents were magical or not. We’ve just said that our mother “ or grandmother “” she said, indicating Albus, “were Muggle-born, too. Really, it doesn’t matter to us,” she said comfortingly, putting her hand on Jacinta’s shoulder and squeezing gently. Jacinta gave a faint smile to Rose, before looking at the kitten still asleep in her lap.
“This is Ragazza,” she said, stroking the soft ginger fur of the kitten’s body. “It’s Italian for ‘girl’, my family likes to use words from other languages to name their pets,” she explained.
“This is Sabio,” Albus, said indicating the tawny owl in the cage next to him. The handsome bird still slept with his head under his wing, paying no attention to the three students. “His name is Spanish for ‘wise’, and he seems a very smart owl, too…” he added fondly.
Rose spoke up last.
“My owl doesn’t have a name from a different language, but I noticed how her spots seem to change colour in the sunlight, like an opal, so I called her Opal,” she said.
Jacinta continued to act as if the incident in the corridor had never happened. She asked about the houses at Hogwarts, and Albus and Rose took turns explaining everything they could think of to do with the wizarding world.
“…four balls and seven players, each with a different job,” said Rose. “There’s two beaters “”
““ like our Uncles Fred and George “”
““ and their job is to stop other players on their team being knocked of their brooms “”
““ by these heavy balls called Bludgers. Then there is the keeper “”
““ my dad was a keeper!”
““ who guards the goalposts and makes sure no chasers “”
““ they’re the goal-scorers “”
““ from the opposing team can score any goals “”
““ like they could stop Aunt Ginny if they tried “”
““ that’s my mum!” Albus added excitedly.
““ and then of course there’s the seeker, who has the hardest job of all. They have to catch the golden snitch, which is a little golden ball with wings “” continued Rose.
““ and my dad cinched it every time!” laughed Albus.
““ yes, well, Uncle Harry was the youngest seeker in a century for a reason…”
Jacinta listened fascinated as Albus and Rose went on to describe some of the fouls that could be committed during a game of Quidditch. As they talked, it slowly began to grow darker. Albus put on his robes, as Jacinta and Rose already wore theirs, while Rose explained the traits of the four Hogwarts houses.
“…and last of all there’s Slytherin, which “”
““ is full of great, galumphing gorillas according to Uncle Ron!” Albus put in.
“Albus!” Rose turned to Jacinta. “There’s nothing wrong with being in Slytherin, they’re just…uh…reluctant…to mingle with the other houses…but there are some good Slytherins...”
As the train began to slow down, they gathered together their belongings. They pulled to a stop in Hogsmeade station and started to file off the train with the other students. They wove their way along the platform, a voice gradually becoming clearer as they made their way forward.
“…Firs’ years o’er here! All firs’ years teh me! Firs’ years o’er this way! Why, hello Al, and Rosie, too. Great ter see yeh. Well, look ‘ere, who’s tha’ yeh got with yeh?”
“Hey Hagrid, this is Jacinta,” replied Albus, indicating the girl between him and Rose, who was looking up at the half giant in fear.
“Don’t worry, Hagrid’s nothing to be afraid of,” assured Rose. “He’s more like a big, cuddly, teddy bear, aren’t you?” she said, wrapping her arms as far as she could reach around Hagrid’s wide belly. Hagrid chuckled.
“Yeah, well, thanks, Rosie, but we best get movin’ if we’re ter make it up ter the castle without ol’ Flitwick sendin’ out a search par’y. Ev’ryone ‘ere?” he asked doing a quick head count. “Yeah, tha’ looks about righ’, let’s go!”
They followed Hagrid along a rather rocky and uneven trail. Jacinta, still not used to wearing her long robes, slipped on a particularly wet rock. Albus caught her around the middle, sliding a little on the rock himself, but managing to keep his footing.
“Well, of course it’ll be the little Mudblood that’ll prove she can’t even handle the walk to school,” sneered a voice from behind them. Albus and Rose turned to see the Malfoy boy they had seen on the platform, accompanied by another boy, who was shorter than him but rather round. He had short light brown hair, and the coldest brown eyes Albus had ever seen.
Rose opened her mouth to retaliate, but Hagrid cut in.
“There’ll be none o’ tha’ ‘ere, Malfoy,” growled the half giant. “An’ I’ll take twenty points from whate’er house yeh end up in.”
Scorpius looked as if he were going to send some ugly retort at Hagrid, too, but seemed to decide against it and started walking forward again. The rest began moving, too, and soon they came to the shore of a great, black, lake. Albus could see several small boats floating in the water.
“No more ’n four to a boat,” called Hagrid ahead of them, who was climbing into a boat larger than the others for himself.
“Come on,” said Rose excitedly. They climbed into one of the boats near the shore, Rose and Jacinta in front, and Albus behind them. They could see the Malfoy boy and his friend climbing into another boat further away. Albus turned back to the front, his heart pounding in excitement.
“Ev’rybody in?” Hagrid yelled from up front. A few eager nods answered him. “Righ’. Forward!” he said loudly.
Albus gripped the sides of the boat as it started to move forward. He saw Jacinta in front of him, clasping tightly to Rose with one hand, and the edge of the boat with the other. Rose patted her knee lightly and she loosened her grip on the other girl, but still clutched the boat tightly as if it might tip over at any moment.
“Yeh’ll get yer firs’ sight o’ Hogwarts in a bi’,” called Hagrid.
Sure enough, as they rounded a large bend in the lake, there was a mass of rocky mountainside on the opposite side of the lake, and perched atop of that, was a castle that looked even more majestic and regal than Albus had ever heard his parents, aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents describe. It had many turrets and towers, and the windows through which light could be seen only added to the spectacular image.
“Wow,” breathed Rose in front of him. “It’s magnificent, don’t you think, Jacinta?”
“That’s a school?” Jacinta gaped. “It’s massive! We’ll get lost in two minutes!”
“Aren’t schools in the Muggle world that big?” asked Albus.
Jacinta shook her head slowly, still staring open-mouthed at the brilliant castle in front of her. “They’re not usually castles, either...”
Her face remained in a pretty similar expression until they reached the opposite bank. As they climbed the stairs to the castle, she continued to gaze in awe at the image before her. Albus had to admit, the castle just seemed to grow more majestic before him as he drew closer to it. It seemed in no time at all that they came to very large set of heavy-looking double doors.
Albus Potter and the Resurrection Sword by gallopingurl
Story Notes:
Just playing around in the world created by the one and only JKR...
Chapter Notes: This is my first fic, so reviews wold be greatly appreciated!
Thanks to my beta, apollo13, for her ever-so-helpful suggestions.
Chapter Endnotes: For those of who are interested, Jacinta is named after a girl I knew in primary school.
Please review!
*Taken from the Epilogue chapter of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows