Albus Potter stepped onto the Hogwarts express, feeling extremely nervous. He found a compartment, stored his trunk away, and waved out of the window to his mother and father, who were standing on the platform. His younger sister, Lily, was in tears, clutching her mother's leg. They all waved back, his mum blowing kisses. After a few minutes the whistle blew, and the train began to move. Albus watched as Lily, his dad, and his mum faded from view. And then he was alone.

He buried his head in his jeans, trying not to cry. No one would want to be friends with him. He wouldn't be in Slytherin, let alone Gryffindor. He would be a Hufflepuff, and he would be rejected by even them. He would spend his days alone, bullied by everyone, the laughing stock of the whole school...

Just then, there was a knock at the compartment door. He looked up surprised, and three other first years walked in. One of them was Rose, his cousin. He sighed, and privately laughed at himself. Of course Rose wouldn't abandon him! He didn't know the other two. There was a boy, who had mousy brown hair, hazel eyes, and was a little taller than Albus. He had a friendly smile. The other passenger was a girl. Albus felt his heart jump a little when he saw her, and his stomach churned as he took in her features. She was very pretty, with chocolate brown hair streaked with caramel. Her skin was fair, and her cheeks were a pale pink colour, and her lips were a little darker than her cheeks. Her eyes were framed by her dark, delicate eyebrows and eyelashes. Her eyes contrasted with her hair, a beautiful blue, the kind that brought back memories of hot, lazy summer days, and swimming in the warm sea on holiday. He shook himself out of his daydream when Rose said
"Hello, Al. Are you OK?" He understood the meaning of this question, and nodded.
"I'm fine, thanks Rose. Who are your friends?"
"I'm Fabien, nice to meet you. I hope I'm in Ravenclaw, like most of my family have been. There's been a Slytherin or two, but they're not particularly..." Fabien, the boy trailed off. He looked down for a second, and then grinned at Albus again. "Aren't you Harry Potter's son? Blimey, you look just like him!"
"Yeah, I'm Harry's son. I had a lot of people try to befriend me because of that, but I want quality of friends, not quantity, if you get what I mean." Fabien nodded, and so did the girl.
"I know what you mean, alright Albus. A boy tripped me up in the corridor and yelled 'Mudblood' at me. That's how I met Rose, and Fabien. They both stood up for me. I really hope I get into Gryffindor; it sounds great!" She beamed at all of them, and they all grinned back, even Fabien, even though Albus could tell he didn't agree with her.

They all sat happily on the train. Albus found he got on really well with both Fabien and the girl, whose name was Madison, but everyone called Maddy. He tried harder with her than with Fabien, and every time he looked at her, his stomach jumped.

When the witch with the lunch trolley came along, he jumped up, and got a Pumpkin Pasty, two Chocolate frogs, a cauldron cake, Bertie Bott's Every Flavoured Beans, and something called a Fizzy Click, which you sat in your palm, clicked your fingers at, and it then flew around the room, and landed in your palm again, a new flavour. Rose got two pumpkin pasties and a liquorish wand, and some Drooble's Best Blowing Gum. Fabien got pepper imps, coconut ice, and a cauldron cake, and Maddy just bought a lot- she wanted to try everything. The only thing she didn't get was a Chocolate Frog, so Albus, blushing gave her his second one. Maddy blushed and said
"Oooh, thanks Albus! Here, have one of my Fizzing Whizbees. I've heard their great!"
"Thanks Maddy! I've never tried one before!" Albus grinned, then, putting down his pasty, he began to suck on the pink ball.

Albus felt a curious sensation. He could clearly taste the strawberry flavour of the Whizbee, but he could taste a different taste altogether in his throat, where it tasted lighter, and of an exotic flavour he had never tasted before. Slowly, the light, bubbly sensation had spread all over his body, and Rose, Fabien and Maddy all gasped. Albus looked down.
"Whoa!" He gasped, the sweet nearly falling out of his mouth. He was floating a few inches above the seat. He stood up, and he stayed floating in mid air. He walked, and drifted around the compartment. Maddy grinned, and gave Rose and Fabien a Fizzing Whizbee each, and then put one in her own mouth. In a few minutes, they were all floating above the floor. Rose reached into her case- now much easier for her- and took photos of them all above the ground. When the photos came out, Rose carefully laid them on her seat.

After ten minutes, the Fizzing Whizbees had dissolved to almost nothing in their mouths, and without warning, Fabien dropped like a stone. He wobbled as he landed, and fell back into his seat, where he promptly burst out laughing. Rose and Albus dropped at the same time. Rose stumbled into the compartment door, and Albus grabbed the windowsill and seat, and steadied himself. He turned, and when Maddy dropped, he held out his arms, and steadied her when she landed. She had good balance without him, and landed like a cat. She had brought a little black cat along with her, and he cuddled all of them, leaping out of his basket crazily. They all loved him. Maddy explained that he had been a birthday present from her parents, on the day she had received her Hogwarts letter. She confessed she didn't know which she preferred- Lucky or Hogwarts acceptance. Albus smiled, and then reached to the basket next to him. He opened it- and a beautiful long-haired tabby cat jumped out. Lucky immediately pounced at Albus's cat, and they rolled around playfully together. Rose and Fabien, who had owls laughed, but left them shut in their cages, because they didn't think they'd take too well to the cats.

When it was dark, the train finally drew to a stop. When they stepped off of the train, Albus, Rose, Maddy and Fabien huddled together. A man who looked like a giant herded them into the boats to cross the lake. Albus peered up at him, and the man exclaimed "Lo' Albus! Blimey, yeh look just like yer father! I'm Hagrid, games keeper and care o' magical creature's teacher. Don' know when I'll have yeh. Get into a boat with yeh- oh, yeh must be Ron and Hermione's daughter- Rose!" Hagrid finally stopped babbling, and they set off in the boats. Albus watched as the castle grew bigger. They were taken inside, and they stood nervously in the hallway. Professor McGonagall came and took them into the great hall. They walked in, single file, and stood in silence. She unrolled a long scroll, and called out
"Bale, Joseph" she placed the sorting hat on his head, and then it called out- "HUFFLEPUFF!"
The Hufflepuff table cheered, and then the list continued. "McBree, Fabien!" Fabien stepped away from his friends, who were yet to be sorted. It went on his head, and then called out "RAVENCLAW!" The Ravenclaw table cheered, and Fabien looked pleased.
"Potter, Albus!"
The great hall went silent. Albus felt all eyes on him as he walked he sat on the stool, and Professor McGonagall dropped the sorting hat onto his head.
"Hm. Another Potter? Yes, I remember your Father, and he was very hard to place. He chose Gryffindor over Slytherin, though- and he did rather well there, even though I said he would do well in Slytherin.
Back to you, though. Good mind, good logic, quite brave- intelligent too. So... where to put you? You hold qualities of each of the houses, Potter. Difficult to place, just like your father. I think, yes..." Albus held his breath, and then the sorting hat shouted out to the great hall "GRYFFINDOR!" The Gryffindor table yelled in triumph, and Albus, happiest he had been in years, went and sat down at the Gryffindor table next to his brother, who clapped him on the back.

Then, it was Maddy's turn. He sat tensely, waiting to see the sorting hat's decision. It took an age, but the sorting hat shouted eventually "GRYFFINDOR!" Albus went limp with relief, and James, who saw, nudged him, and then winked as Maddy beamed at Albus as she sat down. Then, it was Rose's turn. The hat was barely on her head for a second, before it shouted "GRYFFINDOR!"

So they were nearly all together, with Fabien as the exception, and they would still see him. They dug into the feast together, all happy, and cheerful. They went to bed full and happy and warm. Albus began writing a letter to his parents, went to the Owlery to send it, and watched as the bird flew away, silhouetted against the moon. He sighed contentedly, and then headed back to his dormitory.