“And he pushed me,” said the small pale blonde boy who was dressed in a sleek, black silk robe. “Why would he do that?” the high pitched voice added as the boy looked up toward his father.
Draco Malfoy looked down into the face of his beloved son and berated himself. I should have had this talk earlier. Now, on a train platform, is neither the time nor the place for this. Yet his son needed an answer - not the full answer, but an answer anyway. Keeping his back straight and bending his knees, he looked into his eleven-year-old son’s grey eyes, and said, “Scorpius, do you remember what your grandfather told you about the mistakes he made when he was younger? How he hurt a lot of people? How he went to prison?”
Scorpius swallowed and gave a small, wary nod to his father.
“Well, the children of some of the people he hurt are on this very platform, and will also be at Hogwarts. I wish it wasn’t so, but it is and shall be,” he added. Draco took a breath, searching for the right words. “Until they get to know you, you will be judged by what they know or think they know about him and me. And some of them will never let you live it down. It is not fair, but it is the truth.”
Scorpius looked to his left toward the older boy who had taunted and shoved him. He continued to scan the crowd close by on his right. The normally joyful and pleasant boy’s face looked tense. Children can be so thoughtlessly cruel to each other. I know because I had been that way myself.
Draco followed his son’s gaze to his right. Through the fog of the steam engine exhaust, where a large party was just barely recognizable across the distance, Draco saw Harry Potter. He had not seen Potter since his parent’s trial. At the trial, ‘the great Harry Potter’ had surprised many when he had testified for the defense. He had affirmed that Lucius Malfoy had lost his wand almost a year prior to the final battle. He had also testified as to how Narcissa Malfoy lied to the Dark Lord about his ‘death’ in the forest. Potter had even glossed over their actions at Malfoy Manor stating it had been his Aunt Bellatrix who had been the sole perpetrator of the torture of Hermione Granger. Mostly because of Potter’s testimony, the Wizengamot had not sent Narcissa Malfoy to Azkaban and they had added no additional time to his father’s previous sentence. Coming out of the recollection, he noticed Ronald Weasley and Potter staring over at him. He nodded his head in acknowledgment and smiled. The nod had been a small gesture, a silly thing to do, but he hoped it conveyed his appreciation.
Almost before he could reflect on what had just happened, a family of four stopped in front of him. A big black man wearing a red shirt and blue dungarees looked lost. He unsuccessfully attempted to hail a few passing couples. He next turned toward the Malfoys, and with a deep voice flavored by a West Indian accented English, he asked, “Excuse me, sir, this is our first time here and-” The sentence ended with an arm gesture of helplessness.
Draco’s first reflexive thought was Mudbloods. He caught himself, and through a somewhat forced smile, he responded, “Do you see the man wearing the blue coat and blue hat with the red strips? He’s the porter. He will see that your child’s luggage gets stowed. You’ve got about ten minutes before the all aboard is sounded.” The man smiled in appreciation, and then he and a thick set boy about Scorpius’ age carried forth a trunk toward the porter with an owl cage on top. A tall distinguished-looking woman in a modest tan dress held the hand of a girl who appeared to be around nine years old. While the mother’s eyes followed the two men in her life, the girl, who was standing in front of her mother, faced behind her, and eyed Scorpius curiously.
“My name’s Bethany,” she said in a near whisper.
The young Malfoy stiffened, taken by surprise from the strange girl’s forwardness. He looked up at his mother with widening eyes. “You’ll have to forgive my son, Bethany. He is a bit shy around girls,” said Astoria Malfoy, using the tone of voice mothers use to simultaneously embarrass and instruct their sons.
The boy took his mother’s hint. “I’m Scorpius Malfoy,” he answered with an exploratory smile and a half bow. Bethany responded back with a giggling smile of her own.
The girl’s mother turned toward the Malfoys, appraised the family, and smiled at them. “Bethany Dokes, you should not be troubling the family. They are about to say goodbye to their boy let them be, child,” she admonished.
Bethany pouted for a second, and as she was being turned by her mother toward her returning father and brother, whispered, “Bye.”
Astoria gave Draco’s hand a light squeeze. They had just watched their son’s first awkward encounter with a girl. She remembered her own first encounter with Draco as a gangly, scared, first year who had just been sorted into Slytherin House; and sitting next to the Prefect was the dreamily handsome Draco, who had taken her hand to welcome her. The memory evaporated as the conductor shouted, “Five minutes! Five minutes!”
Astoria looked down at her son. He looked so handsome and grown-up dressed in his best black robe. Her eyes filled with moisture, but she resisted, just as Mother Malfoy had reminded her “Malfoys do not cry on platforms. They go home and cry in private.” She and Draco said some encouraging words to Scorpius. He was not listening; the excitement (and maybe dread) had seemed to have cut off the connections between his ears and brain.
As the boy began his walk from his parents toward the lonely world of Hogwarts, Mr. Dokes turned. With his big hand outstretched, he said, “Thanks for your help, sir. No one seemed to be willing to come to our aid. Your kindness will not be forgotten. My name is Isaac Dokes, my wife is Rebekka, our son is Jimber, and I understand you’ve met Bethany.” The last words were amplified to show his displeasure without being unpleasant.
Draco hid his annoyance at the man’s interruption - he smiled and introduced himself, Astoria and Scorpius. He noticed that the two boys had taken the time to introduce themselves. The boys each thought that the other’s name was cool, and Jimber was showing Scorpius something on a silver chain around his neck. Malfoy eyed the two boys and asked, “Mr. Dokes. Isaac, if I may be so familiar?” Dokes nodded. “The train ride up to Hogwarts is a long one and since my son has no friends going to Hogwarts, and most likely your son doesn’t either, perhaps they could ride up to the school together?”
Dokes smiled. Draco stopped, caught his breath and in a soft voice added, “However, I must warn you that Draco’s grandfather was a criminal who has paid his debt, as they say. Yet some will not easily forgive. If your son were to travel with my son, he might get painted with the same brush.”
Dokes’ smile did not falter; he leaned toward Draco’s ear. Draco fought the urge to pull back from the Mudblood. “Well, to tell the truth, back on The Island, my father was a bit shady, as they say, and people there are like people here. I appreciate your concern and admire your honesty, sir.”
Draco felt surprisingly relieved by the stranger’s acceptance. He reached into his pocket, retrieved a little leather change purse, sifted through a half dozen or so the round pieces of scrap metal and pulled out the only two real coins in his purse. He reached forward toward his son “Scorpius, when the food trolley comes by, you can introduce your young friend to Mr. Bertie Botts and to Chocolate Frog cards.”
Scorpius’ eyes exploded from his head. Draco felt a pang. The coins in his hand represented the money he and Astoria had been going to use to buy food for their evening meal. However, a parent must sometimes make sacrifices. The young boy took the treasure and showed his new friend the large gold coins. The two boys got their last hugs from their mothers and disappeared into the steam toward the line of students filling the train.
A hollow feeling appeared in Draco’s chest. At Scorpius’ age, his parents had had dozens of stacks of Galleons in their vault that had been taller than he was. However, after the fall of the Dark Lord, the Ministry had confiscated almost all of the Malfoy family’s gold, treasure and property and the Malfoys were now poorer than the Weasleys had ever been. However, he would never let anyone, especially his son, know that.
The metallic lurching sound of the rail cars brought Draco back to the present. He stepped forward, finding his son through a window. Without thinking about it, he walked slowly after the moving car his right hand raised in the air in a frozen wave. Scorpius disappeared. Draco turned, almost walking, into Harry and Ginny Potter. They were whispering, and he was keen to avoid an awkward moment.
As he moved around the pair, Draco discovered that the three interlopers were still grouped around his wife. Astoria must have said something witty, because both of the adult Dokes were laughing.
Astoria said, “The Dokes would like to take us to a Muggle café they saw near the station.”
Draco answered, “I’m sorry, Isaac. My wife and I don’t have any Muggle money.” Actually, they did not have any Galleons either.
“Please, you were so helpful. Let me repay your kindness with a bite to eat,” the father earnestly requested.
Draco replied, “Your offer is most kind.”
Astoria took her husband by the arm. “Draco, maybe just some coffee and a sticky bun, so we can get to know our son’s new friend’s family,” she said, giving him that pouty little smile, that even after all these years of marriage always seemed to disarm him.
“Very well,” Malfoy said surrendering to his wife. He took his wife’s left hand and led the five of them out from Platform Nine and Three Quarters onto the Muggle railway platforms. Ahead of them, a mob of Weasleys and Potters were all saying goodbye to each other. Draco moved next to Isaac and asked, “After being raised in the tropics, how did you find our English summer?”
“When one occurs, I’ll let you know,” joked Dokes.
Draco laughed; out of the corner of his eye he saw Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley following him with their gaze. Draco walked on with his wife on one side and his new acquaintances on his right.
He half-dreaded what awaited Scorpius at Hogwarts. He also half-envied the fact that his son’s path, unlike his own, was up to him. Scorpius’ life was a clean slate.
“First years, over here,” boomed a hairy mountain from the end of the platform of the Hogsmeade Station. Scorpius had been warned by his father about Hagrid, but nothing could have prepared him for the actual experience. As the steam exhaust from the Express escaped, it temporarily hid the figure bellowing toward the young students. The large man towered over all of them and he had to bend over double to talk to a questioning dark-haired boy. Scorpius squinted through the gamekeeper’s dim lantern light to check out the beast that sat next to giant. The creature was definitely not a mad Hippogriff, and nor was it a fire farting giant crab; rather it was the ugliest dog Scorpius had ever seen. For a second, the night breeze changed direction and Scorpius and Jimber caught a whiff of the duo.
“Back on The Island, a neighbor of ours once had a dog that smelled that bad. My grandfather shot it,” Jimber said his teeth shining. Scorpius had to laugh.
“That’s not funny. Not funny in the least,” sniffed a girl with bushy hair.
“Sure it was,” Scorpius defended.
“Hagrid is a teacher and a family friend. You should show him the proper respect!” Rose Weasley announced.
Jimber started to reply, but Scorpius touched him on the sleeve and answered, “My friend meant no disrespect. Yet you can’t deny someone up there is in need of a bath.”
“All right, you three, you’re falling behind. Best be getting down to the boats lest you’ll have to ride over together,” shouted Hagrid from the front of the now moving pack. The booming warning made the girl jump, and she quickly zigzagged her way to the front of the pack while the two boys trailed the group.
Just in front of them a large boy, for no apparent reason, tripped a small blonde girl. The tripping boy said something to the sprawled girl that Scorpius couldn’t hear. Jimber reached down and helped her to her feet. Malfoy watched as his friend aided the stranger. When the girl started to blindly reach down to the ground for her dropped items, Scorpius took out his wand and lit it. Jimber and the girl both looked on surprised, to see that one could produce light from a wand. While Scorpius held his wand aloft, the other two picked up the small items that had fallen out of her purse.
“Thanks. It was nice to find someone willing to help a stranger,” said the girl after she had dusted herself off and rejoined the others at the side of the lake.
At the lake, the hairy man motioned to the giant grey Mastiff and instructed, “In you get, now, Olympe’; that’s a good girl. Now, who wants to ride with my dog?” No one volunteered until the bushy haired girl and a dark-haired boy stepped in. As the girl sat down in the boat, the light from the boat’s lantern showed her make a slight face as the smell of the dog reached her. Scorpius grinned at Jimber.
As it worked out, the two boys had to share the trip across the lake with two other people. A light-skinned black girl named Grenda Zabini who had a narrow face and high cheek bones. Scorpius knew the girl’s last name from stories told by his father. Her dad had been a Slytherin. The fourth boat mate was a boy with slanted eyes and a Scottish accent who was named Cedric Wallace. Wallace was of mixed blood. The boy’s mother was a Ravenclaw witch and his father a Muggle minister.
Scorpius turned to ask Jimber a question. However, he paused. Jimber was looking up at the castle. He was simply awe struck, “It’s like something out of a picture book.”
Scorpius looked up at the brightly lit castle. The multi-colored window lights danced upon the lake water as the ripples of the other boats wakes broke before them. Although he had seen the school from the Daily Prophet and his parent’s photos, he looked up at his new home with fresh eyes. A “yea,” escaped his lips as the boat came into shore.
Hagrid motioned for all them to follow him up from the dock through a hidden door that led to a long flight of flagstone stairs and up into the hallway. Scorpius and Jimber moved up through the gaggle of students passing their fellows who had stopped to gape at the Entry Hall. The giant man stopped at the bottom of a giant stairway and motioned his charges to climb up the stairs past the statues of winged pigs.
At the top of the stairway stood a tall thick man who was approximately Scorpius’ father’s age; he wore a soft smile. The man quickly counted the assembled students and looked down at a scroll in his hand. “Okay, I’m Professor Longbottom, and I’d like to welcome you to Hogwarts. Does anyone need to use the loo?” he asked. About a quarter of the newcomers raised their hands in response to his question. Longbottom smiled and motioned to his right. A tall boy and the most striking girl Scorpius had ever seen stepped forward. They both wore an H on their robes. “AJ and Victoire, will you please take those with their hands up to the appropriate lavatory? The rest of you will follow me,“ Professor Longbottom added.
Professor Longbottom led the rest of the students into a small waiting room. As some of the students sat down on the few wooden chairs and others stared at the tapestries, Scorpius looked at Jimber and found he could not speak. It had just hit him- he was at Hogwarts! In a few hours the rest of his life would be affected. When the Head Boy and Girl returned with their charges, the teacher went over what would happen to them and when. Scorpius heard every word the man said, and none of it sunk in.
Scorpius found his feet walking out of the room and through the double doors without even realizing he was doing it. As he walked down the center aisle, he heard a boy’s voice exasperatedly say, “I know, Rose, your mom read to us all about the enchanted ceiling from that book of hers.”
Scorpius turned to grin at Jimber. He wasn’t there. Malfoy stopped. By stopping, he had caused a blockage in the aisle as he sifted through the moving crowd for his friend. Jimber was missing. Scorpius started walking back out of the hall toward the entrance. He was stopped by the girl called Victoire. He panicked and announced in a voice louder that he wanted, “My friend, Jimber- he’s not with us.”
The girl smiled and bent over to whisper into his ear “Two boys had to make a last-minute lavatory run. Now go up to the front. You can wait for him at the back of the group.”
Malfoy had no choice. He walked back to the crowd, but his focus was on the door at the back of the room, not on what the teacher was saying. He barely noticed that someone was singing. Finally, Jimber and a boy with blond hair and a large smile walked up to the group. Scorpius turned toward the front as Longbottom said, “Apphia Austin.”
The girl stepped up to a small wooden stool. Professor Longbottom took an old wizard’s hat from off of the staff table and placed it on the girl’s head. After a few seconds under the hat, the hat shouted, “Ravenclaw.” The table to their left exploded in applause, and the brunette girl bounced her way to the cheering table.
Harry Baird became the first Gryffindor. Thomas Bodes, the girl tripper, was the first Slytherin, and Derek Crestfeld became the first Hufflepuff student. While Scorpius was wondering how many people were ahead of him, the announced name caught his attention “Jimber Dokes” announced the Professor.
Scorpius watched his only friend in the school slide under the brim. Scorpius held his breath. “Gryffindor,” announced the hat. Scorpius watched his friend walk to the table of his family’s traditional house enemy.
More Slytherins, Hufflepuffs, Gryffindors and Ravenclaws were created, but Scorpius took no notice at all. Finally the man said, “Scorpius Malfoy.” Scorpius blinked. He had heard his name, but the significance had not sunk in. The silence finally caused him to look up at the teacher. The professor motioned toward the lonely little wooden stool on the raised carpeted platform. Malfoy stepped forward. He turned toward the audience, and before sitting down his eyes found Jimber, who was sitting on his knees to get a good view. Scorpius turned toward the Slytherin table and saw the boy who had tripped the girl on the path. Where did he belong? Longbottom placed the hat on his head.
Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy waited for the inevitable.