Chapter 1
Albus Potter made his way down the crammed train corridor, closely followed by his cousin Rose. There were kids of all ages trying to walk from compartment to compartment, chattering excitedly to each other. Al could not blame them; they were off to Hogwarts! First, though, they had to find a compartment. Al inched past the windows of the train, throwing a look out the window at the terrain rushing by him as the train began its journey to the magic castle in Scotland.
“James will be off with his friends, but Lysander will save us seats, he arrived especially early,” Al reassured Rosie Weasley over his shoulder. Rosie smiled nervously, pulling her trunk behind her.
Al maneuvered his owl’s cage safely in front of him and glanced into each compartment they passed by. He was soon relieved to see Lysander, accompanied by a strange girl, sitting in a compartment. After he hauled his trunk up on to the racks and put Cassiopeia’s cage safely out of the way, he took care of Rosie’s, and dropped into a seat across from Lysander, who greeted them cheerfully.
“Hello,” Rosie said politely to the strange girl sitting across from her.
Lysander quickly introduced her, “This is Siobhan Finnigan. Siobhan, this is Rosie Weasley and Al Potter.”
Siobhan smiled at them awkwardly. Everything about her was very awkward. She was skinny, with long thin limbs. Her hair, as poker-straight as the rest of her features, was a dark auburn that reached past her shoulders and fell into her eyes. Her nose was pointed and her mouth wide and thin. She had nice enough skin, Al supposed, and ruddy cheeks. Al noticed that her eyes were a deep brown, possibly the only reconciling feature to Siobhan’s rather comical appearance.
“How long have you been here?” Al inquired.
“Oh, Dad got us to the station at nine. Mum wanted to go later, since mid-morning is the best time for picking Flickletums, but Dad insisted. It’s my first time to Hogwarts after all.” Lysander chattered away, completely unaware that his friends were staring at him. “I told her not to worry, Flickletums are fine to pick until quarter to twelve, and they ought to have gotten back by then.”
“Er… what are Flickletums?” Al asked, while Rosie stifled a laugh.
“Oh, I forgot, Flickletums don’t grow in Ottery St. Catchpole. They are flowers with magnificent stomach healing powers, quite like daisies, the difference is if you drink the stew, they make your stomach aches heal. Mum was hoping to stew some for a good winter stock, just in case.”
Al nodded sagely, pretending he had understood everything Lysander had said. He was quite used to his friend flickering from normal to weird; Uncle Ron said it was due to his mother Luna, who apparently was even weirder, although quite funny. Dad said she wasn’t weird, just different, and he mustn’t laugh at her or her children, no matter how weird stuff they said was. Al wasn’t tempted to laugh at him; he thought it would be quite interesting if anything they said ever turned out to be real.
Grassy terrain flashed by under the dull sky outside the window of the train, cottages and small towns mixed in. Finally, after two years of James acting like he was so great because he was a real wizard, Al was going to go to Hogwarts!
“Can you believe it, though? We’re going to Hogwarts, finally!” Al gushed in his exhilaration, eyes shining. All the students around him straightened up a little, tapping into his giddy excitement.
“Have you guys tried to do any magic yet?” Rosie asked them.
“Well, I tried a spell written in me spellbook, but I don’t think I did it right,” Siobhan spoke up shyly, speaking with an Irish lilt in her speech.
“Oh, that’s fine, though,” Rosie reassured her kindly. “They’ll teach us all about how to do magic at school. My mum helped me with some spells, I was ever so pleased they did work for me, but who knows what we might learn at school? It’s going to be so exciting!”
“Oh, my dad was telling me about all the things you learn,” inserted Al. “You learn Defense magic, magic to Transform things, magic to Charm things, how to brew potions, and we learn about plants and stuff in Herbology.”
“You learn astronomy, too,” quipped Lysander. “Did you know that on the third week of every sixty-seventh month you can see a map in the stars leading you to the location of the Callington Beesmork?”
“Well, mum said we just do mapping with telescopes of stars and moons,” Rosie said, choosing to skip over Lysander’s quirky statement. “What class are you all looking forward to the most?”
“I really want to learn Defensive magic,” Siobhan said, and Al detected an eager undertone to her words. "Being able to defend against Dark Arts is really important, don't you think?"
"Yeah, I do," Rosie said thoughtfully. "I hope they start teaching us practical lessons right away."
“I can’t wait for flying lessons,” Al spoke up. “I had a toy broomstick for years, and Dad taught me on a Learning Broom, but I can’t wait to fly for real.”
“Well, yeah, that’ll be neat, but it’s not like we’ll get to play on the Quidditch team,” Lysander said skeptically. “First years aren’t allowed. We’re not even allowed our own broomsticks.”
“Oh, yeah,” Albus deflated, having forgotten this.
“Well, maybe you’ll play next year,” Rosie encouraged him.
The friends continued talking about school as the scenery flew by them. Al had been pretty relieved at the station when his dad had told him he could pick his house at Hogwarts, but now that he thought about it, did that mean he shouldn’t pick Gryffindor? If Slytherin wasn’t bad, then should he want to go there? No one had been in that house in his entire family. Al didn’t know why he felt so guilty for knowing he could pick his house; maybe it was the feeling that the Sorting was rigged.
Al wanted to go there, that was for sure. Al couldn’t help thinking that he didn’t feel like he was cut out for it. Gryffindors were brave and had true hearts and all that, and Al didn’t feel that he was that kind of person. He was just simply Albus Potter; a quiet boy that wasn't as big or brave as James or his dad. Al knew he didn’t want to go anywhere else, though.
“Do you want anything from the trolley, dear?” A friendly witch at the compartment door poked her head in. All the kids got up and clamored around the cart. Al’s parents had given him spending money, and he was happy to get his hands on the sweets that his mother felt he didn’t need at home. He bought a couple boxes of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Licorice Wands, and some Fizzing Whizbees.
The others got themselves liberal amounts of sweets, as equally giddy as he was at the free reign to candy that was usually restricted by their parents.
The four friends were talking aimlessly, swapping Chocolate Frog cards and discussing their Hogwarts Houses when a boy their age stepped into their compartment. Lysander greeted him at once.
“Oh, hey, Lorcan, I wondered where you’d got to,” said Lysander cheerily. “Lorcan, you know Al and Rosie. This is Siobhan Finnigan. Siobhan, this is my twin, Lorcan."
After a confused moment, it dawned on Siobhan that Lysander and Lorcan were fraternal twins; they looked alike with the same dirty blonde hair and light skin tone, but Lorcan's jaw was remarkably square and his eyes a sharp brown, most unlike Lysander's blue eyes.
Lysander asked, “Where have you been, anyway?”
“All over the train, chatting with people," Lorcan said as he took a seat, munching on a licorice wand. “That absolute prat Darren McLaggen tried to show off and do some magic, but all he managed to do was shoot some sparks and catch his robes on fire. He put it out all right, except that the corridor reeks of smoke, so everyone’s clearing out.”
Glancing towards the corridor, Al noticed that students were hurrying by, coughing.
“That was really irresponsible of him,” Rosie sniffed disapprovingly. “What if he’d caught someone else on fire? He’s lucky he didn’t get burned.”
“Well, he had to run off right smart as he’d caught some fifth-year Slytherins full in the face with smoke,” Lorcan said rather satisfactorily. “His mate Malfoy helped him escape that mess. I expect they're running around trying to hide. Slimy git can slither out of anything.”
“Do you mean Scorpius Malfoy?” asked Rosie, intrigued.
“Yeah, that’s the one. The name Malfoy isn’t exactly common.” Lorcan took a bite of his Chocolate Frog, and after chewing it thoughtfully he asked, “Why, do you know him?”
Rosie and Al glanced at each other. Al said, “Kind of; we saw him at the station.” After a pause, he added, “My dad and his best friends went to school with Malfoy’s dad. They didn’t get along in school, although they reconciled somewhat after. We’ve never met Scorpius until today, though.”
“Well, that one will be a Slytherin, no doubt about it,” Lorcan said with pronounced distaste.
“Can you know what house you’ll be in, though?” Everyone turned to look at Siobhan, and her ruddy cheeks glowed a little in embarrassment.
Everyone considered her question.
Lysander answered doubtfully, “Well, I suppose you can guess. Which house do you want to be in, if you had a choice?”
Albus and Rosie said “Gryffindor” while Lorcan said “Ravenclaw”.
“I want to be a Gryffindor,” Siobhan said fervently. “I won't be, though; I'm just not brave or daring enough. I just know I’ll be in Hufflepuff. That’s where you go if you don’t belong anywhere, right?”
Al glanced at her. That was the same thing he had been feeling earlier.
“Kind of, yeah,” Rosie said awkwardly. “I’ll be in Gryffindor, I expect. I’m a Weasley, and all of us Weasleys’ go to Gryffindor. My mum was in it too.”
“My mum was in Ravenclaw, but my dad was in Gryffindor,” Lysander mused aloud. “Do you usually go to the house your family went to?”
“No, not always,” Al said, remembering something. “Do you remember the stories my dad told us about Uncle Sirius, Rosie? He was from a very Dark family that were all in Slytherin, but he was in Gryffindor.”
“Oh, that’s right,” reminisced Rosie. “I guess you won't be able to tell until you're actually Sorted, then.”
“Listen, my dad told me a secret,” Al lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. All five kids leaned in to listen. “He told me that when you put the Sorting Hat on, you can ask it to Sort you into whatever house you want!”
There was a collective gasp.
“No way!” Lorcan was stunned. “That’s cheating!”
“No, it’s not,” Rosie interjected, having understood where no one else had. “It’s the fact you want to go there that shows what house you really belong in. Wanting to be in Gryffindor would show you want to be among the daring and adventurous; it shows you value traits of a Gryffindor. If you valued hard work above chivalry or intelligence, you'd have to be Hufflepuff, and you would want to be one, because that house has traits you value most."
There was a bit of a pause as everyone considered this information. Lorcan nodded thoughtfully, seeming to understand completely. Al thought he got it, but it did little to assuage his doubts that he was good enough for Gryffindor.
He sighed a little, and bit into a Chocolate Frog. To his surprise, the chocolate warmed him from head to toe, making him relax and feel far better. He looked into the wrapping to see what card he got and saw the face of his dad, somewhat younger, smiling up at him. With a tinge of homesickness, Al pocketed the card.
"Well, I wouldn't mind Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, they're quite good houses," Lysander said comfortably. "My mum was Ravenclaw, sure, but her friends were in Gryffindor, she said."
Just then, two figures came bursting into their apartment, coughing, robes held above their faces as if blocking their faces from smoke. Lorcan and Rosie jumped up, exclaiming in concern. Al thought they’d probably taken refuge from the smoke filled corridor.
Then Al noticed platinum blonde hair sticking out of the top of one of their robes and recognized him in the same instant that Lorcan did.
“What are you doing in here, Malfoy?” Lorcan was instantly on his guard.
Scorpius dropped his robes, shaking his blonde hair out of his face and lifting his pointed chin higher. His gray eyes flashed at Lorcan’s greeting.
“I’m terribly sorry to intrude on your little gathering,” Scorpius’s voice was smooth but laced with sarcasm. “Air quality in the corridor is currently not breathable.”
“Yeah, thanks to him,” Lorcan said, jerking his head at the boy next to Scorpius. The boy winced a little, glancing away from the five faces now fixed on him.
The boy was short with short brown hair, with features probably considered handsome. He currently wore an expression that was both bold and intimidated. Seeing as he must be the boy that had caused the corridor to fill with smoke, Al understood his mixed expression at once. He may be a rather bold boy normally, but he had started his Hogwarts career by making half the school mad at him. Al felt bad for him.
Scorpius did not address this. “If it’s not unacceptable to you, my friend and I would like to sit in your compartment a minute while the smoke clears.”
Rosie cut across Lorcan before he could object. “We don’t care if you stay a minute.”
Al nodded. It was wise of her to keep hostilities at a minimum. The two sat down next to the door, at a slight distance from Lorcan and Al who were on either side closest to the door.
“Uh, this is Rosie Weasley, Siobhan Finnigan, Lysander Scamander, Lorcan Scamander,” Al introduced them hastily, gesturing to each as he introduced them. “And, uh, I’m Al,” he finished rather lamely.
Scorpius nodded to them passively. “This is Darren McLaggen,” he gestured to him. "I'm Scorpius Malfoy."
Al and the others nodded, distinctly uncomfortable with the situation.
Scorpius said, “I suppose you’ve all been debating which house you’ll be in, just like every other first year on the train.”
“A little,” Al answered.
Scorpius let out a slightly amused noise, turning his pointed face away from them.
Al frowned. "How is that funny?”
“I’m guessing you’re all headed for Gryffindor?” Scorpius asked, ignoring Al's question, still amused. “Where dwell the brave at heart?”
Rose looked irritated with his tone. "So what if we are?"
Al decided to intercede. “No one actually knows where they’re going. We’re just speculating.”
Scorpius eyed them. “I don’t see the need for speculation. It’s generally pretty obvious who is going where.”
“Well, not really,” Rosie said flatly. “There are some people that don’t go to the obvious house.” Al knew she was referring to Uncle Sirius.
“There are some exceptions,” Scorpius conceded. “Rare ones.”
“Well, it’s obvious where you’re going,” Lorcan muttered.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Albus saw Scorpius flinch, but he was pretty sure no one else noticed. The tension in the compartment practically crackled.
“It means we all think you’re going to be a Slytherin," Lorcan snapped.
Scorpius stood abruptly. Everyone automatically leaned back, looking at each other nervously. Darren stood up too, a little uncertainly. Al figured he thought Scorpius was going to be a Slytherin, too.
“You don’t know anything about me.” Scorpius’ voice was low and angry. Straightening, he straightened his robes a little and his voice returned to its high-class British lilt. “The hallways appear clear enough, so my friend and I will be taking our leave now.”
His facial expression mastered, stoic and cold, Scorpius slid the door open and exited. Darren followed immediately. There was a pregnant pause.
“He’s a psycho,” Lorcan said decidedly.
The others sniggered a little and relaxed. Al glanced outside and saw that it was already getting dark; he assumed they would reach Hogwarts pretty soon now.
"We should probably put on our robes, shouldn't we?" Al suggested.
There was a general agreement, and the girls, having worn their school robes to the station, waited in the corridor and Lorcan left to go to the compartment he'd left his trunk in. Al pulled his new school robes on hastily, peering out the window for a glimpse of the Hogsmeade train station.
Rosie and Siobhan re-entered the compartment, Siobhan tripping a little and catching her robe sleeve on the door handle. Al caught her shoulder, stopping her from falling and ripping her robes. She thanked him awkwardly and sat down.
"We went and asked the conductor how long we have left to go," Rosie told them. "He said we should be there in ten minutes.
Ten minutes! Albus felt his anxiety rise again. Before he had time to work himself into a panic, though, a familiar face popped up at the door.
"Hey, Albus!" James loudly said, pulling the door open. “Baby brother!”
"Hi," Al said.
James' fellow third year friends were ogling them from the corridor. Al wished they would just go away.
"In your spiffy robes already, huh? Are you missing mummy yet?"
"Go away, James," Al said irritably.
"This is gonna be my year, you know. I'll be trying for Quidditch seeker. Dad is a brilliant one, and I reckon I'll have it in the bag. Maybe someday you'll get a shot, too, Al... But probably not." James laughed again, and his friends joined in.
Al remembered what his dad had told him- not to let James rile him up- and remained stonily silent.
James ruffled his hair conspicuously, looking around the compartment at the others. "Hey cousin," he addressed Rosie. "All ready for Hogwarts, then? You've practiced a bit of magic, haven't you?"
"Yes," Rosie said.
James looked mischievously at Al. "You haven't, though, have you, Albus?"
"It doesn't matter," Al said defensively.
"Oh, but it does matter, little bro'. How can you be Sorted if you can't do magic?" James said with a waggle of his eyebrows.
"I can too do magic!"
"It's happened, you know," said James mysteriously. "A girl in my first year didn't have enough magic. She just sat there with the Hat on for ages. That could be you." He said the last bit slowly and pointed his finger at Al ominously.
"No it won't! I have tons of magic! You're just trying to wind me up," Al said angrily.
James and his friends laughed and left. Al heard one boy say, "Brilliant, James," and he gritted his teeth. He hated that James' words made him feel even more worried. What if he was right?
"Don't worry about not having enough magic," Siobhan told him. "You got a letter to Hogwarts after all. He’s just messing with you." She smiled tentatively.
"Thanks," Al said, relieved, and smiled back.
"Guys, look," Lysander has his face pressed against the window. "We’re slowing down- I can see Hogsmeade. We've arrived!"
Al Potter by thesmart1
Chapter Notes: The first 5 chapters are already complete and beta'd, so don't worry, this story is definitely going somewhere!
Disclaimer- If you recognize it, it belongs to JKR. Even if you don't, it probably does.
Much kudos and thanks go to my beta extraordinaire, Diana. I heart you!
Chapter Endnotes: Thanks for reading! Hope you liked it! More to come.
Reviews make my day and my life and make my story better, so they'd be much appreciated :-)