A/N This is my first fanfic, so I hope it's good! A few things: JK never said how one becomes a ghost or anything like that, so I'm taking some liberties with that.

I also figured that by this point, a fair amount of the teachers from Harry, Ron, and Hermione's time at Hogwarts would really be getting up there in years, so I got to create some new professors.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Why on earth would I be sitting here writing fanfiction if I did? Maybe I'll do exactly that if I ever write something that gets published...but until then, this is what I've got. Enjoy!

Chapter 1: To Hogwarts

Albus sat in the train, his mind working quickly in his nervous excitement. Rose sat in the seat across from him, which comforted him slightly, because he knew already he'd have at least one friend. He glanced at her, noticing that she had already pulled out one of her new textbooks and was reading it, and, judging by the speed she was flipping the pages, she apparently intended to finish it by the time they reached Hogwarts. With just the two of them, the silence of the compartment was broken only by the sound of paper against paper as she turned the pages. Feeling a bit awkward, Albus cleared his throat, not quite knowing what to say. Just as he did, there was a knock at the door of the compartment. He opened the door, somewhat relieved to have something to do. A boy was standing in the otherwise empty corridor, looking apologetic. He had white-blond hair, a pointed chin, and bright green eyes that shone out against his pale complexion.

"Can I sit with you?" the boy asked. "Everywhere else is full." It wasn't entirely true, but this barely populated compartment seemed for some reason to have a friendly atmosphere matched by no other compartment along the train.

"Sure!" said Albus, turning to check with Rose. Her eyes hadn't even left the pages of A History of Magic.

"Thanks. I'm Scorpius, by the way. Scorpius Malfoy."

Rose finally looked up at the mention of this name. She didn't say anything, but her eyes briefly widened, and she reddened a bit before looking back down at her textbook.

Albus's eyes, too, widened when he heard the name. Just minutes before, his Uncle Ron had instructed Rose to "beat him in every test" and, after Aunt Hermione's admonishment, "don't get too friendly with him." He hid his surprise, though, and introduced himself, "I'm Al Potter, and that's—"

"Rose Weasley," Rose cut in, apparently deciding it wasn't worth it to shut them out.

"Al Potter? Really?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, my dad told me something just before I got on the train…" Scorpius trailed off, a little embarrassed, questioning whether he should share his dad's instruction.

"Yeah?"

Scorpius resolved at that moment that if he wanted to make friends, he would have to be more open. "He pointed over at your dad and said, 'Scorpius, see that man? That's Harry Potter. If you could be anything like him, I'd be proud.'"

Albus stared at Scorpius, who flushed faintly. Rose, too, had abandoned her reading in surprise. That statement didn't seem to fit with her father's instruction. Noticing that Al had gone speechless, she quickly covered for him. "Wow. Were they friends at school or something?"

She knew full well that they weren't.

Albus, failing to catch her glance telling him to not correct her, turned to look at Rose with a confused expression on his face. "Rose, of course they weren't. You know that they…" He trailed off, understanding dawning in his eyes. "Ohhhh…oops."

"Good job, dimwit."

Scorpius watched the two friends' exchange, not knowing quite what to think. Clearly, he'd missed something. "Er, what do you mean, 'of course they weren't'?"

Rose looked at Albus, then at Scorpius. She took matters into her own hands, turned in her seat and set her book down to tell the story. This time, Albus recognized her intentions, but again he questioned her. As she began to speak, he interrupted, "You're going to tell him? Is that really a good idea? What if—"

"What, you think it would be better if we left him in the dark?"

"Well, no, but—"

"Al, it's not that big of a deal," Rose turned back to Scorpius before Albus could reply and told him, "Just before we got on the train, my dad told me to beat you in every test." she paused, then added as an afterthought, "Also, not to get too friendly with you."

An awkward silence filled the compartment as Scorpius took this in. Albus shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Rose bit her lip as the moment of silence grew longer. Suddenly, Scorpius grinned, losing all his previous nervousness. "You like a little rebellion?"

Rose slowly mirrored his grin, and soon enough, the whole trio was laughing like they'd been friends for years.

As their laughter died down, Scorpius entered the compartment and slid the door shut behind him as he sat down beside Albus. "What House do you think you'll be in?"

Albus frowned slightly, "I don't really know. Probably Gryffindor. Everybody in my family's been a Gryffindor."

Scorpius looked at Albus, "Everyone in my family is a Slytherin, so probably that's what I'll be. Well, everyone except my dad's cousin, but mom says she died in the Battle of Hogwarts."

"Which House was she in, then?"

Rose looked at Albus in disbelief, "It's Teddy's mom, Al! Don't you remember?" She seemed more interested by Scorpius's words, though, "You're related to Teddy? Teddy Lupin?"

"Yeah…"

At that point, Albus cut short their conversation about Teddy by saying, "So you actually want to be in Slytherin? I mean, isn't that supposed to be the bad house?"

"No! People always think that about Slytherin House, but it's not any worse than the other houses, really!"

"Maybe," Albus was still unconvinced, but he didn't want to push it.

"What House do you think you'll be in then?" Scorpius asked Rose.

"Well, I'm the oldest child in my family, but both my parents were in Gryffindor, so most likely Gryffindor, same as Al."

Scorpius looked worried. "We'll still be friends, though, right? Even if I am a Slytherin?"

Albus and Rose answered at the same time, Albus with, "Definitely!" and Rose with, "Of course!"

"Thanks," said Scorpius. He was relieved. Hearing that his new friends were both Gryffindor hopefuls had worried him; one of the few things he knew about his parents experiences in their years at Hogwarts was that Slytherins and Gryffindors didn't tend to get along very well. He was a little bit glad to be different.

A few hours later, the train slowed to a stop as it arrived at the station. Filled with excitement and nerves, Rose, Albus, and Scorpius, each now wearing their new black robes, clambered onto the platform, which was quickly filling with students. Above the voices of the crowd, they heard a call, "Firs' years! Firs' years over here!"

They looked at each other and simultaneously beamed; they were really there! Following the shout, the trio found their way to a very large man with a beard and kind eyes that crinkled at the edges when he smiled. Once all the first years had gathered to the man, he called (for the group was large enough that he still had to shout), "Right then, firs' years follow me! Careful now, mind yer step! Firs' years follow me!"

He led the group along a very dark and narrow path. It was lined with trees that seemed to muffle any sound, making the walk eerily quiet. Rose had surged ahead, her curly red hair bouncing on her back. Scorpius and Albus walked side by side behind her, their matching emerald eyes shining with anticipation. The large man looked over his shoulder at the crowd following him, "Jus' round this turn here, yeh'll get yer first sight o' the castle."

As they rounded the bend in the path, a chorus of amazed oooh's came from the first years. They had come to the edge of a lake, across which they could see the castle of Hogwarts atop a towering mountain. The man directed the students toward a fleet of small boats near the shore of the lake, instructing them, "Four to a boat!"

Rose grabbed the hand of each of her companions, forgetting in her eagerness that she'd really only met Scorpius that day, and pulled them along with her as she made for one of the boats. As they slipped and stumbled along, Rose called out to the man, asking his name. Neither Scorpius nor Albus heard the reply, but Rose seemed satisfied with his answer, for she continued to drag the unsteady boys by the hand. Reaching a boat, she let their hands go and boarded eagerly. Albus and Scorpius caught their balance, and then they too, boarded the boat. A boy with mousy brown hair and a mischievous look in his eyes soon joined the three friends in the little craft. "My name's Lorcan Scamander. Who're you all then?"

"Al Potter."

"Rose Weasley."

"Scorpius Malfoy."

Lorcan looked at Albus with a grin. "Al…short for Albus, right?"

"How'd you know that?"

"Lucky guess. Well, and my mum knew your parents," he gave Albus a knowing wink as the boats began to move forward at the man's command. He turned his lighthearted gaze to Rose, "And your parents."

"But you don't even know who my parents are! There are tons of Weasleys!" she protested.

"Oh yes. She knew all of them," he chuckled, "Haven't your parents told you anything about their school life?"

Scorpius replied, "My mother didn't tell me much, and my father even less." There were nods of general agreement from Albus and Rose.

"I think my parents and Al's parents were going to tell us after we'd been at Hogwarts for a year." She looked to Albus for confirmation, "Isn't that what they did for James?"

"James and Fred, yeah. James's been holding that over my head all summer."

Lorcan looked surprised, "Really? Wow," he turned at last to Scorpius, "Scorpius, named after the constellation," he pointed absently at the sky as he continued to talk, "like your father, Draco. My mum knew your dad, too. I don't think she got on very well with him, though."

Scorpius nodded slowly, looking as though he wanted to reply, but he didn't quite know what to say. The fleet of boats had been gliding smoothly across the mirrored surface of the lake the whole time they'd been talking. The first boats were nearing a curtain of ivy that hung down from the cliff where the castle was perched, the tips of the vines grazing the black water. Rose suddenly blurted, "Oh! I forgot to say…the big man's name is Hagrid. I asked him."

"You'd never even heard of Hagrid?" Lorcan was amazed, "But Hagrid's been at Hogwarts for years!"

"Actually, I did know of Hagrid, but I wasn't sure if that was him, so I wanted to make sure."

"How many half-giants do you think there are at one school? No, there's just Hagrid."

As soon as Lorcan finished his sentence, Hagrid shouted, "Heads down!"

Everyone ducked their heads and the boats began to move through the ivy curtain, which was hiding large opening in the cliff face. They traveled past the opening into a tunnel that led them underneath the school for a fair distance. The boats finally stopped once they arrived at a small harbor, where the students stepped out onto a pebbled shore. Lorcan disappeared into the throng, looking for someone, leaving Albus, Scorpius, and Rose alone again. Hagrid then led them up a pathway through the stone, raising his lantern to light their way. At long last, the passageway opened to a grassy yard. A wide flight of stone steps led to the huge castle door. Hogwarts towered high into the sky, casting its huge shadow over the group in the moonlight. They were so close now to the big moment, it was hard to contain the excitement. Rose, Scorpius, and Albus joined the students crowding around the massive wooden door. When everyone had gathered around Hagrid on the stone steps, he gave them an encouraging smile, then turned and knocked three times on the door. As soon as his fist touched the door on the third knock, the heavy door swung open on wrought iron hinges to reveal a tall witch dressed in midnight blue robes. Matching blue hair framed a kindly face with chocolate brown eyes. Hagrid cleared his throat, "The firs' years, Professor Johannesburg."

"Thank you, Hagrid. I'll take them from here. Have a good night!"

"You too, Professor!" Hagrid waited at the side of the doorway until every first year had followed Professor Johannesburg into the enormous entrance hall, then he closed the door behind them with a thump. The muffled hum of voices came through a large, arching doorway at the right of the hall. Straight ahead of the group was a grand marble staircase that led up to higher floors of the castle. Professor Johannesburg led them, however, into an inconspicuous room off to the left of the entrance hall. They crowded in, standing rather close together and filling the room, each person craning their neck to try to see Professor Johannesburg over the sea of heads in front of them. She gave a kind smile, and then began to speak, "Welcome to Hogwarts! The feast will be beginning soon, but first you must all be sorted into your houses. The Sorting Ceremony is a once in a lifetime experience, and is very important. Your house is your family while you are staying at Hogwarts, and you will attend classes with your house, sleep in your house dormitories, and pass free time in your house common room. I also advise you to keep your house common room and dormitory clean, as the custodian, Edwin Filch, does not enter the common rooms to clean them, and while there are elf cleaners, they do not clean the dormitories. There are four houses: Hufflepuff, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor, which were named for the four founders of Hogwarts. I personally would like to clarify that none of the houses is better or worse than the rest. There are often misconceptions about that.

"Anyway, during your time at Hogwarts, your achievements will earn points for your house, and likewise, your failures or any rule breaking will lose points for your house. At the end-of-term feast, the house cup is awarded to the house with the most points. Do try to be a benefit to your house.

"The Sorting Ceremony will begin shortly in the Great Hall. I will come back to collect you when it is time. Good luck!" she ended her long speech with a wink and another good-natured smile, then left them to wait.

At the moment she closed the door behind her, a gleeful shout rang out above their heads, "Ooooh! Ickle firsties!" There was an evil cackle and they all looked up to see a small man floating in midair with a wicked look in his eyes.

"Peeves! Not the first years! They haven't even been sorted yet! Go pick on Filch," a ghost with a mischievous face and flaming red hair reprimanded Peeves.

"It's Uncle George!" exclaimed Rose.

"What's that I heard? Uncle George? I've got a niece this year, do I? Aha, there she is!" The ghost swooped down close to the heads of the students, finding Rose's curly, Weasley red hair, "And it's Uncle Fred to you. I reckon you can tell us apart now. You know, seeing as I've got two ears, and he's got one. Not to mention I stopped aging nineteen years ago. Oh yes, and I'm a ghost. Did you notice?" Fred winked, and his beam was so wide it hardly seemed to fit on his face.

"Uncle Fred! That's brilliant!" Rose had the urge to throw her arms around his neck, but it was rather impossible with a ghost.

Their conversation was soon drowned out by shouts of surprise as three more lively ghosts appeared from the walls. "Aaaaannd…Padfoot is going in with the flying forward one-and-a-half somersaults with three and a half twists in the free position! A difficult dive, no doubt. Let's see if he can land it."

A ghost dove from a torch holder, executing quite gracefully the aforementioned dive, before flattening out and gliding so close to the tops of the students' heads that their hair ruffled in the breeze. "He's made it! I don't believe it! A perfect dive! Incredible! Unbelievable!" The commentating ghost somersaulted down from someplace near the ceiling, and he too glided close to the tops of their heads. Meeting near the middle of the room, the two ghosts exchanged a high five, and the third ghost corkscrewed rapidly through the arch formed by the high five of the first two. "Moony wins the prize yet again with his bull's-eye aim!" Fred's ghost joined the other three as they flew together over the now clapping and cheering students.

The door opened and Professor Johannesburg stepped into the room. She joined in the applause, and then held up her hand in the remaining space in the doorway. The four ghosts, one right after another, zoomed out of the room, landing a high five with Professor Johannesburg on the way through the doorway. They were all laughing merrily.

After allowing several moments for the applause to die down a bit, Professor Johannesburg said cheerfully, "This is why I've stopped telling first years to wait quietly. There's really no point. Well, in any case, we're ready. The Sorting Ceremony is about to begin. Now, if you would line up and follow me." She opened the door wide and led them across the entrance hall again. When she stepped into the hall, a ghost with bubblegum pink hair began to walk at her side, mimicking Professor Johannesburg's walk uncannily. Then the ghost turned to face the students, winked impishly, and morphed into an exact copy of the professor. She turned to Professor Johannesburg and held out her hand, "May I have this dance, Professor?"

Professor Johannesburg paused in her stride, "Why yes, Tonks. You may."

It was clear the Professor Johannesburg had spent much time with ghosts, for she could make it look as though they too were flesh and blood, in giving perfect high fives and handshakes. And, of course, dancing. The two Professor Johannesburgs danced a rather lively waltz across the remainder of the entrance hall. When they reached the archway to the great hall, Tonks morphed back into her spiky bubblegum pink hair and walked past the crowd of new students, grinning. Several times, she morphed into one of the students she walked past and gave them an innocent smile.

Then she walked past Scorpius. And then she stopped and came back to walk alongside Scorpius again. She looked at him, her grin dropping and her eyes widening. She morphed into him, then slowly into a boy who looked very like him, except he was older and his eyes were a smoky blue-grey instead of green. "Malfoy?"

Scorpius nodded uncertainly.

"You look a lot like your pops," she said, an expression of pain crossing her face, "Don't turn out like him, hey?"

"Oh…okay" Scorpius didn't know how to reply.

He reached the doors to the Great Hall, and Tonks flew into the air then passed through a wall at the end of the entrance hall. Scorpius watched her fly away, somewhat confused, then he turned his head to look into the Great Hall. It was magnificent.

A/N I know it's short, so please don't kill me in my sleep. PLEASE REVIEW, I want to know what you guys and girls think!

I'll probably update again soon, so if you liked it, you have that to look forward to! Cheers!