Chapter 1: The Journey Begins

Aboard the Hogwarts' Express was a short, unremarkable boy in many aspects. He was eleven years old, starting his first year at Hogwarts. He was about average height for his age. He had black, ruffled hair that never seemed to want to remain flat. His eyes were a deep emerald green, just like his father and his grandmother. He seemed to be the spitting image of his father, save for the glasses and the lightning-bolt shaped scar that his father had. He was a rather shy and reserved boy that would go unnoticed in crowds if he was an ordinary wizard.

But this boy was no ordinary wizard. His father was the great Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived. His father had vanquished the Dark Lord Voldemort nearly 20 years ago. His mother was Ginny Weasley, and she and her family greatly aided Harry during the war and have become celebrities in the Wizarding World. It would suffice to say that this boy had a lot to live up to. And his name was Albus Severus Potter.

Albus Severus Potter waved at his parents until he couldn't see them any longer. he felt stupid for doing so, but it seemed his father's words were the only consolation he had. It doesn't matter to us Al, he said, If you are sorted into Slytherin we'll still be proud of you. Besides, the hat takes your choice into account. It did for me. He took some solace in this statement as he walked down the hall of the train with his cousin Rose Weasley, looking for an empty compartment.

Albus had been close with Rose since as long as he can remember. They were pretty much friends as well as cousins. Rose had hazel-brown eyes and auburn hair, unlike the rest of the Weasley family, who had flaming red hair. Rose inherited many traits from her mother Hermoine. Her father Ron always said she had her mother's brains. Rose was never seen without a book of some sort in her hand. Albus was beginning to worry that they may not find a seat when he bumped into his older brother.

"Hey Al! Why don't you go find some Slytherins to make friends with?" mocked his older brother James. A chill shot down his spine, like he was caught in a dementor's grip. All confidence he had was now shattered by his brother's teasing. What if James was right? What if I am sorted into Slytherin?

James had been teasing Al since the beginning of the summer, and Al being the shy and nervous kid that he was took him seriously. James had always been that "cooler" older brother. He had messy brown hair, a little lighter than Al, and deep brown eyes. James was one year older than Al. Last year when James went to Hogwarts, he barely ever responded to Al's letters, making Albus wonder what on earth James was doing. Well, this year Al would find out. Judging from the compartment James was in, Al could tell why he never got a response. About six or seven girls in James' year were crowded around him and his two friends. Al figured that nearly ALL of the girls in James' year liked him.

"Oh, don't listen to him, Al, I'm sure you'll be fine. Look, here's an empty compartment." Rose said, ushering him inside the seemingly empty compartment.

"I don't know Rose, what if I'm sorted into Slytherin?" said Albus.

"Honestly Al you won't be sorted into that house, how many times do I have to tell you?" said Rose.

"And what's so bad about Slytherin?" said a pale boy from across the compartment. Evidently the compartment wasn't empty after all. This boy had pale grey eyes, pale whitish-blond hair, and was holding a copy of today's Daily Prophet. He had an expression of contempt and presumptuousness etched onto his face.

"Um, nothing, erm…it's fine, just, um…," Albus struggled to answer.

"I knew it. You two are those 'Slytherin's Evil' types. I should have known better. Probably blood traitors too." the boy said scornfully. Albus heard Rose shift in her seat next to him.

"What did you say! Blood traitors! I'll have you know my mother was a Muggle-born and is currently ranked one of the most powerful witches in the Wizarding World!" said Rose. "I know who you are now! Pale face, pale hair, grey eyes, pure-blood. You must be Scorpius Malfoy!"

"What's it to you, half-blood!" said Scorpius, "And I should've known. Your hair an unmistakable shade of red, and a mudblood mother. You must be Rose Weasley. And that ball of nerves next to you must be Albus Potter!"

Then, it suddenly hit Albus. Uncle Ron had many stories about Scorpius' father, Draco Malfoy, and how he always caused trouble at school. But after the Second Wizarding War, didn't everyone try to improve their outlook on blood status? Perhaps Scorpius was merely using this pureblood mania as a guise to conceal his true feelings of loneliness. Albus thought it was worth a shot.

"Guys, just stop. It's pointless to argue. Scorpius, why do you care so much about blood status?" said Albus.

"I….um…uh…," Scorpius stuttered. Bingo, thought Albus, I was right.

"You don't really care about blood status, do you?" said Albus.

"Um…ok I admit it! I was just lying because I thought you would make fun of my family or something! You can't imagine how difficult it is to be a Malfoy in this day and age! Everyone assumes you're going to become the next Dark Lord or blow up Diagon Alley or something! I'm sick of it! I just want to be normal, and have friends!" Scorpius yelled, on the verge of tears.

"Wow, I'm really sorry Scorpius, I'm guilty of assuming that too…," Rose said, glancing downward at one of her books.

"I don't really care where the Hat puts me. I just want to be put in a house that can help me clear my family's name. Even if it's Slytherin. I don't know why you're so worried about houses, you're most likely going to end up in Gryffindor." said Scorpius.

"I don't know. I'm not exactly brave. This whole house thing has been eating me up inside the entire summer. James certainly hasn't helped, always teasing me, calling me Aspie." said Albus.

"Aspie? That name sounds really funny," Scorpius chuckled. Albus smiled in response.

"It's my initials, A.S.P. James won't leave me alone about it, saying I'm destined for a life with the snakes." Albus said, looking crestfallen and depressed.

"Al, this is a real question. Why do you want to be put in Gryffindor in the first place? Do you really think you would belong there?" said Rose.

"What are you saying Rosie! I thought we both agreed that it's Gryffindor or bust!" shouted Albus.

"But Scorpius is making me seriously reconsider. I mean, do I actually belong there or do I want to be there because that's what my parents want? We have a large family and we'll just become two more Weasleys in Gryffindor." said Rose.

Albus never thought about that before. She's right, we'll just be stereotypical Gryffindors, nothing special about us at all.

"Well, I think it's decided for all three of us then," said Scorpius.

"What?" Al and Rose asked.

"We'll all ask the Sorting Hat to place us in the house we belong in and will best fit in. Agreed?" asked Scorpius, holding out his hand. Rose and Albus contemplated this for a moment, before placing their hands on his.

"Agreed." They said together. The plump trolley witch came down the hallway, pausing at their compartment.

"Anything off the trolley dears?" she said. Scorpius bought nearly her whole stock of chocolate frogs and sprawled them out on the seat beside him. He tossed Al and Rose a bunch, and Albus eagerly began opening his to see what cards were inside. He got a bunch of Merlin, Circe, and Hecate cards, but one card in particular stood out. It read:

Harry Potter

The Boy Who Lived

Savior of the Wizarding World and Conqueror of the Dark Lord. Harry Potter's life was thrown into turmoil when the Dark Lord murdered his parents when he was just one but failed to murder him. During his years at Hogwarts, he accomplished many things and thwarted the Dark Lord numerous times. He is currently the Head of the Auror Department at the Ministry of Magic.

The face of his father beamed up at him from the card, and Albus couldn't help but smile. Maybe everything was going to be ok, he thought, I just have to be brave like Dad. He glanced up to see Scorpius and Rose animatedly chatting about this week's issue of The Daily Prophet, which Rose and Scorpius had on their laps. The cover story was very chilling:

LAST KNOWN DEATH EATER STILL AT LARGE

The Auror Department has just recently upped the reward for the capture of the last known Death Eater, Anton Gaunt. Gaunt has eluded capture from authorities for nearly a quarter century and continues to present problems to the highly esteemed Auror Department.

Anton Gaunt, as revealed by insiders, was one of "Voldemort's personal favorites," said Puddlemere United shareholder Lucius Malfoy when asked to comment on the matter on Tuesday. "Honestly I'm not surprised he's eluded capture for this long, he has always shown himself to be an extremely capable wizard."

Many educated witches and wizards have been frightened by his surname Gaunt, which was the surname of Voldemort's mother. Wizarding genealogists have attempted to trace his lineage back to Marvolo Gaunt, who was Voldemort's grandfather, making him a close relation of the Dark Lord.

"I'll bet that's a load of rubbish that he's related to Voldemort," said Head Auror Harry Potter on Thursday. "He's probably just using it as a ruse to scare people, that's all. We're working around the clock and plan to ease public worry soon."

That being said, it is advised that if you see Anton Gaunt, run as far away as possible and contact the Auror Office at the Ministry of Magic. Gaunt is powerful and extremely dangerous, and not afraid to use torture devices to escape.

Accompanying this story was a picture of a very scary man. He had a hood obscuring his thick head of brownish-black hair. His dark brown eyes were staring maniacally and he had a sinister smile etched into his face.

"Wow, he looks really creepy!" said Rose.

"I know, and I can't understand how he's this crafty that he's been able to elude the aurors for this long. And wow, why didn't grandfather tell me he was in The Prophet?" said Scorpius. Albus was mildly interested in the conversation, but what his brother told him was still bugging him. I won't be in Slytherin, I won't be in Slytherin, I won't, I won't, I won't! He kept telling himself. But the more he thought about it the worse he felt. He wasn't really all that brave, so that probably meant he could rule out Gryffindor. He was definitely going to defy family tradition. Of the remaining three, Albus wasn't the down-to-earth kind of boy that would fit into Hufflepuff, leaving only Ravenclaw and Slytherin. It was true that Albus was very smart (not nearly as smart as Rose thought), but he also developed cunning and wit in order to outsmart his brother whenever James tried to prank him. Albus sighed and decided that he would have to be in Slytherin after all.

"Why the long face, Al?" Scorpius asked. Al noticed both Rose and Scorpius had stopped talking and were now staring at him.

"You're still worried about the house problem, aren't you?" Rose asked. She didn't even wait for his reply; his awkward silence was enough to giver her an answer. "Yes, that's what it is. You're still worried you'll be sorted into Slytherin. I thought we decided that we'll let the Hat put us in the house in which we best belong."

"I know it's just…what will everyone think if I'm in Slytherin?" said Albus.

"Why should you care? Besides, if you get into Slytherin, I'll definitely get in, and you'll have a friend in your house already," said Scorpius.

"I won't change my opinion of you if you're in Slytherin, Al," said Rose.

"Thanks guys," said Albus, smiling sadly. They heard the train whistle and all three of them glanced out the window. They could see the lights of Hogsmeade in the distance.

"Oh, look! There's Hogsmeade. Good thing we decided to change early, right Al?" said Rose, trying to distract Albus from worrying. Albus smiled at how nice Rose could be sometimes.

"Yes, I got changed before I came. Father and mother apparated me to the platform, so I didn't have to worry about the Muggles staring at me funny." said Scorpius.

"Hey, Al, I meant to ask you, what's your wand made out of?" Rose asked. How could Albus forget about creepy old Ollivander? "You, like your father, are destined for great things," the wandmaker had said on that sweltering summer day in Diagon Alley.

"Holly and Runespoor scale. How about you Rose?" said Albus.

"Cherry and phoenix feather. It's the same core as your dad's wand. What about you, Scorpius?"

"Mahogany and dragon heartstring." said Scorpius, "By the way Al, what's a Runespoor?" Albus glanced over at Rose, expecting her to spew her knowledge about the subject.

"Runespoors are three headed snakes native to Burkina Faso. Each head is associated with a different action. The left head is the planner, deciding where the Runespoor is to go. The middle head is the dreamer, and the right head is the critic, who bites with venomous fangs." Rose explained. Scorpius seemed flabbergasted at Rose's wealth of knowledge.

"We have arrived in Hogsmeade Station. Gather your things and prepare to depart for Hogwarts. That is all." said the voice. Rose, Albus, and Scorpius gathered their things together and got their heavy trunks from the overhead baggage compartment. The three of them silently trudged down the hall of the train toward the exit, Albus gloomily realizing he was coming closer and closer to his inevitable fate.