AUGUST 27TH
The gloomy fog hung densely around the enigmatical figures hurrying to shops in Diagon Alley, the nefarious mist clinging to their robes, despite the numerous attempts of cursing off. The flickering light from the sun above shone down in Lilliputian rays, illuminating the fog even more.
Albus Potter sprinted to a nearby shop, seeking shelter from the unseasonal weather outside. He paused abruptly once over the threshold of this minute and yet cavernous shop, surveying the dimly-lit interior. He marvelled at this cryptic magic, the very one that was lurking in the spines of the slumbering books, ones so ancient...
"A-accio book!" yelled a young boy, standing behind the counter, with an elderly man directly behind him, a smirk upon his face. The boy was pointing his hazel-nut brown wand at a spot above Albus' head.
The decrepit book toppled off the shelf, falling immediately onto Al's head before soaring into the air and landing in the raven-haired boy's hands.
"Whoa," Albus announced, his voice feeble as he rubbed the top of his head anxiously. "That was...interesting."
"Sky, return 'Common Charms for Households' back to its shelf, would ya? I'm going to take this order," the man said, a stern expression etched into his wrinkled lines. His sapphire blue eyes met Albus'. "Yes?"
The boy named Sky nodded, and put the book back hesitantly. He, then, lingered expectantly, waiting to fetch yet another book, if needed. Albus swallowed. "Do you have any...er...Charms books I can read up on, when I'm at Hogwarts? I'm in my first year, you see, and I have an avid interest in the...subject..." he answered.
The old man smiled tenderly, revealing a set of pearly-white but crooked teeth. "Of course," he said, glancing at Sky briefly. "You know where the books for second years are."
Albus marvelled at the shopkeeper's audacity. To give a first-year a book reserved for higher up years was almost unheard of!
Sky trailed his fingers along the antiquarian and new volumes, his cobalt grey eyes peering at the titles in the murky gloom. After a few minutes of silence, the broad-shouldered boy returned, two books in his arms. One was cerulean blue, with fading gold letters reading 'High Second and Third-Year Charms' and the other was fairly new, called 'Standard Two Charms'.
"Wow," Albus stammered. "Thanks..."
Sky's grandfather chuckled softly. "Six Galleons and five Sickles, please. Also, could you possibly summon that quill for me?" the man asked curiously. Albus acknowledged the shopkeeper's words with a beaming grin.
"Okay..." he murmured, unsure of the man's intentions. Of course, his father had warned him to stay wary of his surroundings. Would the man signal to Sky and drag him into the hallway beyond? Surely not, the man looked barely able to run a shop. He still regarded the man with caution, though. Struggling to remember the words that Sky had shouted earlier, he flicked the black-thorn wand he'd bought several days previously, screaming the words in his head.
Something nudged him on his shoulder. He muttered indignantly, half expecting the man's cackling face to loom out of the darkness.
Instead, it was the snowy-white quill.
"Was...was that a non-verbal charm?" the shopkeeper demanded, clearly shocked by Albus' ability. "Have you used that spell before, Mr...?" Sky grinned, prodding his grandfather with a minute finger.
"That's Albus! Albus Potter!" The eleven year old emphasised the word 'Potter', as if Albus was a global celebrity. Which he was, he supposed.
"Er..." Albus said, cringing inside at the amazed expressions that was evident on the pair's faces. "I haven't even heard of that spell before, actually, come to think of it...My dad mighta mentioned it at one point. What's it called?" He tried to steer them away from this startling topic, the one he didn't want to discuss at all. His father.
"Ah, for one so young, you're very powerful. You're only eleven, I presume?" the shopkeeper inquired. Albus nodded. "It's the 'Summoning Charm'. Fourth years have difficulty mastering that one."
Sky yanked an archaic book from the vast library that was contained in the shop. "You might like this one, too," he added. "It's an old one, and we've been meaning to get rid of it for ages. Seven Galleons, and it's a bargain. Okay?" He pressed the age-worn book into Albus' hands with a wink.
He handed the money over swiftly, itching to get out of that shop. Thoughts were swirling around his head, and the fog that pressed against the grimy windows inside didn't exactly help. He wanted to inhale the untarnished air outside, to be free of the enigmatic shopkeeper that seemed to haunt his thoughts. And plus, there was that eleven year old wizard, who seemed so friendly...
"Hey," a familiar voice muttered. Albus glanced up, covering his eyes from the pleasant sun that hovered in the sky overhead. He'd been reading the books he purchased from the shop little over an hour earlier, and suddenly a stranger had interrupted him-
It was Sky.
"Hiya," he answered, slightly annoyed. "Uh...why are you not helping your granddad out? I got the impression that you're only there for a summer job or something...where are your parents?" Albus figured that talking about the boy's parents would be the best way to start off a conversation.
The boy shrugged, nonchalantly. "I don't have any. They scarpered off when I was younger, I suppose."
"I'm sorry," Albus replied, worried that he'd gotten the wrong end of the stick when he thought that'd be the best way. "Were they okay, though? They didn't kill anyone for a hobby or something? I'm not asking on behalf of my dad, or whatever..."
Sky snorted. "My dad was...can you keep this between us?" he nodded quickly, his heart pounding. "...a murderer. That's what he was. I'm not proud of him. I'm just a poor boy, and I don't need no pity, okay? Plus, it doesn't help that my mum was so ashamed of me that she burnt off my birthmark."
"That's..."
"I know. Ice cream?" Sky asked, rapidly changing the conversation. Sky had done the exact same thing as Albus, steering away from any mention of his parents. He shook his head.
"No thanks. What's your full name?" he said. "I mean...you know mine, but I don't know yours, so it's not really fair."
"Sky Ellis. My granddad's called Victor-Hugo, ex-Charms teacher and ex-Head of Ravenclaw House. Still, it brought in plenty of money...whilst he was up there, anyway. What about you?" Sky responded.
Albus pointed at a fiery red-haired girl, glaring at the owl emporium. "That's my cousin Rose, and my brother James is over there, looking for practical jokes to flog at Hogwarts. He's building up a running trade, selling stuff from Weasley's Wheezes at Hogwarts..." he trailed off.
"I'm sorry, but I have to go...my granddad's calling...I'll see you at Hogwarts, okay?" Sky said loudly, genuinely sorry.
AUGUST 31ST
Snow was settling onto a deserted road, and there was a ghostly moon glimmering between invisible clouds in the motionless skies…The only sounds that could be heard was the faint singing of a nearby choir echoing around the area…
All was calm…
Suddenly the unmistakeable sounds of boots crushing snow…Shadows moved in the darkness and a casual man stepped out of the darkness like nothing had happened. The choir hurried away from the uninvited stranger.
The stranger was just a young man, probably early in his twenties and yet he was strange. Far stranger than anyone who had been on the ancient road.
He had soft grey eyes, untidy ginger hair, a beak-like nose and his mouth was just plain… He wore jet black robes even though they had a soft green snake imprinted on the back.
The most striking thing about his appearance was the black stick he was holding…but it was fizzing scarlet red sparks-a sure sign that he was a wizard! However he made no effort to hide his wand from prying eyes.
He was casually strolling down the street with nothing on his mind.
The truth was…he did have something on his mind that had been troubling his thoughts for two years…He turned a corner and moved down another street, waiting patiently for the snow to end. Then the church bell chimed midnight and the attractive singing began.
The wizard realized that it was Christmas Eve. He'd been on the run at least a whole year and he found it depressing. He knew there were people in these houses around the church, would be lighting the fire and toasting their feet whilst he was stuck out here in the cold, struggling to do something that he knew was impossible.
He saw a statue loom out of the dark and knew at once that it was a statue of the Boy Who Lived. Harry Potter… How much did the wizard hate Potter for destroying his half-brother?
He was going to revenge the Darkest Lord of the Dark Arts ever! That was what he'd come here for.
Suddenly, an ivy-locked house peered out of the darkness. He clambered up the icy steps and glared at the door he felt he knew. A smiling, ruby cheeked girl of twenty rushed out of the house to confront the wizard.
"You ain't having my son!" she declared.
"So? Give him to me!" he spoke in a calm tone.
"No! I will protect him until my final breath!"
"Give him to me. Now!"
"I will never!"
"I'm sorry. I must do it."
"Oh, really?"
"Avada Kevada."
There was a flash of emerald green light and a piercing scream sounded that made the wizard's heart stop. The scream was suddenly silenced and so was every thing. The green light had gone mysteriously.
A jade green-eyed boy, a vey young toddler, took his first steps to his mother's dead body.
"Avada Kevada," the wizard murmured again.
A flash of green light appeared and everything he had known vanished as he crumpled to the ground, not a mark on his body.
"Albus!" yelled an irritated Rose, her auburn hair poking out as she stuck her head around the oaken door of Albus' room. "We've only got ten minutes before we leave! Get up!"
He groaned loudly. "Gimme an hour anyday," he muttered incoherently, as he yanked a sky blue shirt over his messy hair, whilst stumbling over to his rucksack and trunk, double-checking that he had everything.
"I'm ready," he bellowed down the ancient staircase that led to the kitchen, where exquisite smells were emanating. His burly older brother shouted a wisecrack to Teddy, a wizened family friend, whilst Albus clung onto the guardrail. A battered trunk toppled off the top step, a giggling Lily clutching for dear life, as it made its journey to the bottom.
"See ya, Snakey!" James roared as he shoved past Albus.
"Ha, ha, very funny," snapped Rose, anxiety readable on her freckled face. "Can we please get a move on? I don't think our timing is exactly impeccable, but we might just make it if we leave now-"
James laughed uproariously, his soft hazel eyes gleaming with defiance. "You'll be in Ravenclaw, I betcha!"
Pearly-white smoke shrouded the platform as the Potter family, plus Teddy Lupin (his hair an untarnished shade of violet) furiously sprinted through the barrier separating Platform 9 from Plarform 10.
"Look, I won't be a Slytherin!" Albus roared at James. He couldn't...or could he? Could he set aside his father's name and become the wizard he wanted to be? Could he define the name of Albus Severus Potter? Could he really break the mould? However...he was petrified...what if his family disowned him for doing what he longed to do?
"You know...the Sorting Hat takes your choice into account, don't you?" his father queried. "Especially if you're scared of a particular house..."
Albus raised his eyebrows curtly. "Really?"
His father nodded, his jade green eyes gleaming. "Yes, it does. It's your choice whether you join Ravenclaw or Slytherin. Even if you join Hufflepuff, you're still my brilliant son. Some noble wizards have defected from that house. Like Cedric Diggory, for example."
Albus' heart pounded fiercely. He could choose now. It was his choice.
And he didn't have to look back, and face the wrath of his family when they discovered his betrayal. No, he wasn't attracted to the dark side...he just wanted to carve a name for himself.
"Thanks, Dad," he answered timidly, heaving his trunk onto the Hogwarts Express. "I'll try and send you a letter this week!"
There was a shrill whistle and the doors finally slid shut. A deafening hiss sounded and the train lurched forward.
He glanced forward at his father, who was smiling fondly at him. "Goodbye, Albus."
"Hello," a reticent voice murmured from behind him. "I don't suppose there's a space anywhere, do you?" Albus grinned at the voice. Sky, yet again.
"I know there's one at the back, hopefully unoccupied. Care to join me?" Albus replied, sniffing the air cautiously. "Sky...are you wearing cologne?"
The boy shook his head. "That's not me," he answered, nudging his trunk forward with ease. A cage containing a russet-brown barn owl, with piercing amber eyes, was balanced precariously on top of it.
"Must've been...oh, never mind...nice owl, by the way," Albus announced, a pang as he realized that he had been unable to procure an owl this summer. Sky nodded thankfully, shrugging nonchalantly. "Let's go."
"Albus!" shrieked Rose. "You made it!" She sat stiffly upright, her pale hands around the spine of a textbook that he faintly recognised was one from his father's own Hogwarts days. Her muddy brown eyes gazed at Sky thoughtfully, curiosity beginning to burn in them. She turned to Albus, shyly. "Who's this?"
"This..." Albus began. "...is my friend, Sky Ellis. He helps run a book shop in Diagon Alley. Sky, meet Rose, my cousin."
Rose certainly perked at this. She was also, like Albus, an avid follower of the Charms subject, and had vowed to pursue it whenever possible. Added with the fact that Sky was considerably friendly, Rose was set to become more than friends with him.
"So...what house are you hoping for?" Rose wondered, directing it at Sky.
He sighed quietly, scrutinizing the situation carefully. "Ravenclaw, but my parents were both Slytherins." Albus watched him discreetly and scrupulously. Sky obviously had some bitterness reserved for his parents.
"Albus?"
"Ravenclaw, too. I'm sick of hearing about Gryffindor from Teddy and James. Gits," Albus answered warily. Sky snorted, grinning jubilantly.
"I guess I'm not alone, then," he stated. They shook their heads, each and everyone one of them solemnly promising to themselves that they would stay friends, no matter what.
That was the moment that the Malfoy heir gently slid open the compartment door. "Wotcher."