Cauldron Bottoms

"Slytherin" The sorting hat called across the great hall. Alex Russo jumped up and sauntered her way over to the Slytherin table, not surprised at all by her placement.

"Rosso, Justin." Read Professor McGonagall from the unrolled parchment of new students she held. Justin hopped up onto the stool dutifully his new Hogwarts robes pressed to perfection and not a hair on his head out of place. It was his idea after all to enroll him and his siblings into Hogwarts. He had always felt the magical education of him and his siblings was severely lacking the structure he craved. Besides, what screams structure more than a British boarding school?

"It says it all here in this brochure dad. Look Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry the premier school for the education of young wizards. Its perfect." Mr. Russo took the pamphlet out of his son's hand and inspected it.

"Justin are you going on about that dumb wizard school again?" Alex walked downstairs and opened fridge still in her pajamas, her shoulder length hair sticking out in angles that defied gravity. "Let me tell you something, there is nothing I hate more than school, and having to live there with a bunch of hoity British people does not sounds like a way I want to spend my Sophomore year."

"Did I mention that tuition is paid for and you wont have to see her for 9 months?" This made Jerry reconsider the information put in front of him.

"Why do you want me to go with you anyways? Wouldn't it just put you even farther ahead in the Wizard competition?" She downed some orange juice from the certain and put it back in the fridge.

"Psh, yeah and leave you and Max here for 9 months. There wont be a home to come back too." Alex laughed menically.

"Hey, Jerry what are you looking at?" Thersea had just come down stairs and sat at the table with Jerry.

"Justin is going on and on about that 'wizard school' again" Alex groaned

"It's a very good school mom, it's produced some of the best witches and Wizards of all time." Justin turned his attention to convincing his mom.

"I don't know Justin, it's all the way in England. I don't think I want my babies so far away." Just then Max walked into the apartment carrying a brightly colored hang glider knocking over the lamp as he made his way to the terrace.

"Max, what up with the hang glider?" Alex asked.

"Some guy gave it to me in the Park. He said that it could make me fly."

"Don't we have a magic carpet for that?" Justin said pointedly.

"Yeah but dad won't teach me to drive it till I'm older. So I'm going to use this for now." He said raising the hang glider. "Now if you will excuse me I'm going to go get a burrito."

"Max there's a burrito cart right outside the sandwich shop." Said Alex gesturing her hands towards the door.

"Yeah but that's all the way down stairs." He shook his head and headed outside.

"I'll go stop him from whatever he's about to do." Theresa followed him. "Justin please do whatever you do to fix that lamp."

Justin waved his wand "Lucerna Reparo." He cast. Yet the spell missed and hit the mirror behind the broken lamp and the spell ricocheted and hit a painting on the other side of the room tearing the painting to shreds. Alex burst out laughing.

"What was that noise?" Theresa yelled coming in from the terrace with Max in tow. "Oh no, la pintura no puedo creer que este. My great grandfather painted that." She ran over a crouched over the remains of the painting. Alex abruptly stopped laughing.

"I can fix it." Justin walked towards his mother.

"I think you've done enough." She replied eyes red with tears. "Why don't you just go to your room?"

"You know none of this would have happened if I had a read wizard as a teacher." He spat and ran up the stairs tears threatening to fall.

"Alex why don't you go talk to your brother." Jerry said getting up from the table to comfort his wife.

"Uh, ok I'll go then." She ran up the stairs following Justin.

"Jerry, I think he's right." She said once the coast was clear of their children.

"Theresa I don't want to send them away like that."

"Me neither but I'm starting to think its what's best for this family."

"You're really upset right now, if you still feel that way later we'll talk more."

The sorting hat barely touched Justin's head before shouting out "RAVENCLAW." Justin smiled triumphantly and went to join his fellow brains.

"Of course Justin got placed in the nerdiest house of all." Alex whispered to a girl next to her with short brown hair. The girl laughed. "I'm Alex by the way."

"Pansy, Pansy Parkinson." She said with a coy smile.

"Russo, Max." McGonagall read of next. Max looked around his and to see who said his name. McGonagall cleared her throat. "Max Russo" Max finally got the hint and made his way to the sorting hat.

"Hi everybody, I'm Max Russo." The entire room laughed. He shrugged his shoulders and sat on the stool.

"Hufflepuff." The hat declared and Max looked around unsure. Mcgonagall pointed to the hufflepuff table on the other side of the room. He nodded in thanks and made his way to join his fellow hufflepuffs.

Dumbledore rose from his seat and proceeded to give his welcome speech. When he was finished the feast began and the Russo's ate their fill. That night they walked to their separate dormitories feeling a little empty knowing that the others where no longer just down the hall.


The next day classes began and all three Russo kids realized how spotty their magical education was. They were able to hold their own pretty well. Alex received a week's detention from Professor Snape during her first potions class for setting another student named Neville Longbottom's cauldron on fire. This gained her points with her fellow slytherins and some nasty glares from the gryffindors.

After classes Alex was determined to make Justin suffer for sending her sending her to this school. She missed Harper and Dean, her parents, and ok maybe Zeke a little bit too. She followed Justin to the bathroom and waited outside ready to do something she would figure out as she waited. She finally decided she would try that new Bat Bogy hex Pansy taught her while they were pranking some hufflepuffs in the courtyard earlier that day.

As she leaned against a wall waiting she noticed two identical ginger boys walk towards her. She watched them as they split up and one of them entered the bathroom. The other took up post similar to Alex's on the opposite wall.

"What brings you to the boys lavatory?" He asked with a cocky smile, flipping hs long red hair out of his eyes.

"Waiting." She said nonchalantly. "What about you?" she asked already knowing his answer.

"Waiting." He said simply. "I know you know why I'm waiting. Now why are you waiting?"

"I have to murder my brother."

"Sounds dark. Although you are a slytherin, bloodlust seems to be one of the requirements."

"It's his fault I have to leave home to come here."

"Come on its not so bad."

"It is for me. I already have detention." She sighed against the wall further.

"On the first day impressive. Who is your brother anyways?"

"Justin Russo."

"Oh, that stick in the mud?"

"So you've met him?"

"A couple a times today."

"I'm sorry."

"No apologies needed. He reminds me of my older brother."

"He wrote an entire essay about how sandwich wraps are actually tortillas."

"Percy wrote something similar about cauldron bottoms." They laughed.

"So are you really planning on killing your brother?"

"I'll probably just rough him up a little." She smiled. Just then the other twin came out of the bathroom.

"Anyways, it's always nice to meet a kindred spirit. I'll see you around…."

"Alex."

"Fred, and this is my brother George." With that the twins left and Alex left her post, suddenly thinking that this wizard school thing isn't so bad if there's people like these guys around here.