Nothing Dad said could have prepared me for what I saw. The castle was enormous, its towers glowing slightly in the moonlight giving the structure a sort of mysterious air. Lights shown through the windows, no doubt the older students, James included were already seated inside. I was too amazed to feel the anxiety, it was just amazing to finally be there, where Dad had been.

I glanced over at Rose who was in the same state of amazement I was in. When the boats docked, Hagrid lead us in a double filed line through the double doors into the Entrance Hall. It was lit by torches, suits of armor stood along the walls, and a grand staircase lead up into the rest of the castle.

Suddenly, a door opened and a slightly plump blonde haired man with brown robes entered the Entrance Hall being down at the First years. I grinned, feeling a twinge of relief.

"Welcome to Hogwarts!", said Professor Longbottom. "My name is Professor Longbottom, I will be your Herbology teacher at Hogwarts, and I am also the Head of Gryffindor house. I've been picked to tell you lot a few things before I let you in. First off, when you enter you will each be sorted into one of the four houses at Hogwarts. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Here, your house will be like your family, you will sleep in your house dormitory, spend free time in the Common Room, eat at your house table, and attend classes with your housemates. In your lessons you will have the opportunity to win points for your house through your achievements. At the same time, you can lose points for any rule breaking. At the end of the year, the house with the most points wins the House Cup, a prestigious honor. Well, I think I just about covered it, hang tight while we get ready for you."

Just as quickly as he appeared, the wizard dashed out of the entrance hall, leaving the students to talk amongst themselves.

Rose turned to me and said, "Well, all the houses seem great, I'd be happy in any of them, though Dad would kill me for saying this, I don't think I'd mind Ravenclaw."

I was just about to reply when someone scoffed and said loudly:

"As if. Sure the rest of them are alright, but you couldn't pay me all the gold in Gringotts to be put in Slytherin."

I looked at him giving him a glare. The boy was four inches taller than me, with his broad shoulders he looked like he'd gone through puberty early, and his head was covered in curly brown hair, his blue eyes met my green ones and narrowed. I remembered what Scorpius had said on the train; that his whole family had been put in Slytherin, and also what Dad had said about one of my namesakes, Severus who was a Slytherin, and the bravest man he'd ever known. I clenched my fist, and braced myself for the confrontation, The boy stepped up to me.

"What? Insult your sick inbred family did I? Sorry, my mum always said to be polite to Death Eaters."

"Shut up! You don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't I?"

We ended up right in front of each other's faces, our hands both in our robes pocket clutching our wands. Everyone was staring at us. Rose looked at me in alarm, while Scorpius who'd been strangely quiet since we'd got off the train looked at me with something of surprise and a grateful smile.

The doors opened up and Professor Longbottom stepped back into the hall his smile falling into a frown.

"Is everything alright here?"

The boy and I both glared at each other in silence before he chirped up and said,

"Yes, Professor."

Apparently satisfied, he cleared his throat and motioned for all of us to enter the Great Hall. As we walked inside, Rose gave me her classic "are you an idiot?" look. I shrugged and continued walking with the rest of the First years until we were a couple of feet from a stool with a hat on top.

I looked at it curiously, it was funny. The thing that would decide my entire future at Hogwarts, was a moldy old wizard's hat. I was mildly aware that I was being watched by the students at the other tables, but I focused on the hat. Suddenly, a tear opened around the brim and the hat sang:

"I have done this for many years now

I'm an expert extraordinaire!

Of discovering what what lurks beneath

those splendid locks of hair.

The noble founders of Hogwarts

Would pick the lucky few

the students who embodied the

qualities that they held true.

Daring Gryffindor he chose the ones who were brave and bold

For Slytherin, the ambitious and pure were whom he hoped to mold.

Clever Ravenclaw sought student whom were creative and wise

But for Hufflepuff, the industrious and loyal

were apples of her eyes

Now the founders are long since gone

a pity and a shame

but have no fear

I was made,

to place you to their name".

There was uproar of applause and I clapped politely, eyes wide. Despite living in the wizarding world, I had never quite met an object like the Sorting Hat, for some reason I thought I'd seen it all, apparently not.

Suddenly there was a silence as Professor Longbottom appeared beside the stool, holding a scroll.

"When I call your name, step forward and put on the hat."

I gulped, this was it, now or never.

It took forever. I was barely paying attention to the names. I caught a few. There were a few Hufflepuffs, one I remembered as Adam Anderson, and a Ravenclaw girl, Sarah Bishop.

"Cattermole, Callum"

It was the curly haired boy I'd gotten in a row with earlier. I scowled, taking care to note where he was being sorted.

He had stepped up and sat on the stool, he looked, quite unlike the others in that he was confident, but his legs gave him away, shaking slightly. The hat was on his head for like thirty seconds before the hat called out:

"GRYFFINDOR!"

I groaned. Anywhere but Gryffindor. Though I reckoned it suited him, since he hated Slytherins and all. A few more students joined Gryffindor, a couple of Ravenclaws. Not a single Slytherin had been sorted.

"Grey, Olivia"

A girl, slightly shorter than me walked up to the stool. She walked with purpose flipping her blonde hair behind her, and her gaze, her dark brown eyes had the look of determination. She had the hat on for a second, before the hat called out:

"SLYTHERIN!"

So, Olivia Grey became the first Slytherin. The table clapped loudly and hard, making up for the not having anyone sorted before. Looking at them, I didn't think they looked so bad. A lot of them were kind of scary, but overall, alright. She went to join her housemates.

Soon more Slytherins joined her, more Hufflepuffs, more Ravenclaws. Then,

"Malfoy, Scorpius". Scorpius looked back at me and winked before he walked towards the sorting hat. His hair, which he'd messed up as soon as he got on the train was sleeked back down. His expression was stony as he approached the Sorting Hat. I wondered if he'd be in Slytherin too, and almost hoped he wouldn't. The boy had confided to both me and Rose that despite his father's expectations, he didn't want to be in Slytherin. As Professor Longbottom lowered the hat on his head, there was silence. Not five seconds after he had put the hat on Scorpius' head did the hat call out:

"GRYFFINDOR!"

For a moment there was silence. Everyone, I noticed, looked confused, Scorpius included. However, a grin spread out across Scorpius's face as he threw the hat off his head and screamed out,

"Hell yeah!" A chorus of applause erupted throughout the Great Hall as Scorpius messed up his hair once more and ran towards the Gryffindor table. The teachers watched with him with a mix of disapproval and amusement. Professor Longbottom recovered the hat, which looked a bit affronted, and said

"Potter, Albus."

I swear my heart hadn't pounded this much since James left those gnomes in my bed. I clenched my fists, and took a deep breath. Rose squeezed my shoulder and I took off towards the stool. I noticed that the whole school had their eyes on me, unlike the others; my sorting was met with absolute attention. I didn't know why. What made me so special?

I chanced a look at Gryffindor table and saw James giving me the thumbs up. I smiled, returning it, and took a seat on the stool. Professor Longbottom placed the hat on my head, which sunk past my nose.

Ooh! Another Potter! Interesting, very interesting.

What? The hat was talking to me. It was hearing my thoughts!

Yes, that's what I was made to do after all.

Dad did mention it doing something like that. I took a breath and let it assess me

Hmmm…you have a good head there. Curious, always wanting to know more. Could do well in Ravenclaw. You're observant, and resourceful, growing up with a mischievous older brother has kept you on your toes eh? I sense that you're not quite like your brother, yes, you would do well in Slytherin.

It was like I'd feared. I was going to Slytherin. For some reason the thought wasn't so bad anymore. After what Dad said, knowing he wouldn't care. Thinking about Cattermole in Gryffindor, yeah, maybe Slytherin was the place for him.

No protest? Maybe you're not like your father after all. I told him he would do well in Slytherin too.

What? Dad never told me that, that he almost went into Slytherin. Is that what he meant by chosing Gryffindor over Slytherin? The thought was reassuring. Surely if Harry Potter, who was probably one of the greatest men ever could have been a Slytherin, the house couldn't be all that bad. Yeah, perhaps it was misunderstood, just like I was.

Hmmm…alright, okay, better be:

"SLYTHERIN!"

The entire Great Hall was silent. Everyone looked at me in shock. James' jaw was dropped. It was just like Scorpius' sorting. I glanced at him and gave me a reassuring smile. Suddenly the Slytherin table went up in an uproar. The stood up on the table, whistling and stomping. I hadn't really expected such a greeting. Taking off the hat, I walked briskly to Slytherin table. Taking a seat in between Olivia and a boy named William Jones.

I watched the rest of the sorting, and raised a brow when Rose went to Ravenclaw. When it was over, a small wizard stood up at the staff table:

"Good Evening! For our new students, I welcome you to Hogwarts, for the returning, I welcome you back. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Filius Flitwick, and I am the new Headmaster at Hogwarts. Most of you know me as the former Charms teacher. First years, I am excited to get to know each and every one of you and am excited for my new role. Now, since we all would like to eat I would just like make a couple of announcements. The first is that the Forbidden Forest is well..forbidden of course from all students. Second I would like to introduce our new Charms Master, Professor Caterina Malia."

A woman with long auburn hair and brown eyes stood up briefly and then sat down. She was beautiful, with high cheekbones, rosy cheeks, and a full mouth. Professor Malia was young, probably not ten years younger than Professor Longbottom.

After she sat the plates and goblets filled with food, everyone dug in. In the middle of a bite of chicken, someone tapped my shoulder. It was William Jones. The boy was chubby, with brown hair slicked back with gel, and hazel eyes that looked at me with earnest. He introduced himself formally to me. Holding out his hand he said:

"William Jones. Future Minister of Magic"

Shaking his hand I raised an eyebrow just as a snort came from across the table. I looked to see that it was a dark haired thin boy, Montague; I think his name was, Noah Montague. I gave him a slightly reproachful look, I shared his skepticism.

"What's so funny?" William said, addressing Noah. His tone to my surprise was genuine. The young man really thought he was going to be the Minister of Magic.

"You? You really think you're going to be Minister?"

"Of course I am! I mean, I always wanted to be. Though I expect I'd have to have to study hard and do well, which shouldn't be too difficult. I've already gone through half our school books, and bought supplementary material from Flourish and Blotts just in case there were things that weren't covered at Hogwarts. Not to mention the fact that my mum works as the Head of the Department for Magical Law Enforcement, and so I have loads of connections, and have been reading up on wizard law since I was 9, and…"

As William began to list all the other things that made him suited to be Minister of Magic; Noah was bringing over chips, bacon, and lamb chops to his side of the table while William wasn't paying attention. I couldn't help but laugh, as I continued eating. I thought that I should say something, but I didn't want to be known as a snitch. Finally, William stopped talking after he felt he got his point across, smiling at me before finishing his food.

The pork chops I was finishing up, vanished and was replaced by dessert. I tried some treacle tart when a third year boy greeted me:

"Blimey, would never have thought Harry Potter's son would be in Slytherin. Welcome mate." The boy patted me on the shoulder and grinned. I gave him a small smile, not sure exactly how to respond until William chipped in.

"Yeah, how exactly are you in Slytherin? I mean. My family has been sort of all over when it came to houses, so I didn't have any expectations. Though I did want to be in Slytherin, after all it's the house for winners. Sure there's the idea that we're supposed to be dark wizards or

whatever, but even Merlin was a Slytherin and look how he turned out. If you want to get anywhere, Slytherin is the way to go."

No doubt William was a Slytherin, I thought, a bit chatty, but ambitious. Noah was obviously cunning. The hat said I was resourceful. I wasn't even sure what that meant exactly.

"I don't know, it doesn't seem so bad"

Noah gave me a long look. I frowned and asked,

"What?"

"Albus Potter, son of Harry Potter, the biggest Gryffindor ever, in Slytherin. You're okay with that?

I looked into Noah's eyes, and though his question was almost accusatory, I couldn't miss the worry that dark haired boy would never admit was there. I smiled at him.

"Pass the rice pudding."