Chapter 1
The train was rumbling along across the countryside. At first Albus Potter had been trying to watch everything that passed, but had soon given up due to the mass of imagery. He was excited because he was on his way to Hogwarts for the very first time. Hogwarts is a school that teaches young wizards the necessary skills to survive in the magic world. In the compartment that he was sitting in, there were four other young wizards-his annoying older brother James Potter, Teddy Lupin, Rose Weasely, and Hugo Weasley. James was telling Teddy a story about how he had managed to drop a dungbomb on a muggle that lived on their street. Teddy was laughing so hard that great big tears were falling down his handsome face. Meanwhile, Rose was reading a large brown book. On its spine gleamed the words Hogwarts: A History. She keep relooking through the book as though she wanted to make sure that she did not forget a single detail. On her right by the doors sat Hugo. He looked like he was just barely able to keep his eyes open. He had the air about him that he had not gotten a wink of sleep the night before.
Albus leaned his head against the cool metal of the window frame. His mind was in a whirl and watching Rose flip pages and listening to James's ridiculous story were not helping. All last night, Albus had been worrying that he would not be placed in the Gryffindor house and that he would instead be placed in the Slytherin house. He could already speak Parseltongue, a fact that he kept secret from his parents. Parseltongue is the abiltiy to communicate with snakes. It was typically associated with Syltherins and especially He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. For this reason, Parseltongue had been looked down upon for a long time. Even after You-Know-Who's death, Parseltongue maintained a connotation of evil. It was due to all this that Albus was dreading the Sorting ceremony. Just ahead gleamed warm lights in the gloomy dark. The train lurched to a stop. They had arrived at Hogwarts.