And so it Goes Again
Minerva McGonagall couldn't help herself as she looked rather more intently than usual into the sea of faces beyond her.
Tonight was the Sorting Ceremony at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Every year, she and her colleagues opened their doors to a new class of eleven-year-olds who would go on to be the next great leaders of the wizarding world. Minerva could still remember the day Harry Potter and his friends first entered into their midst. Going back a bit further, she could remember James Potter and his little gang, those who had been important to both the great Wizarding Wars, on their first night as well. It was thanks in no small part to their sacrifices that these children could look forward to safe, relatively peaceful futures. At least, futures as safe and peaceful as a term at Hogwarts could afford!
That was not the reason she was more eager than usual, however. This class was not the first peacetime class she had helped Sort. The significance of this year was that this was the first time one of Harry Potter's children would be at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and she wasn't the only teacher looking for the children of the Boy Who Lived. While Minerva had always had a fondness for the Potter boy independent of his status as a living legend, she couldn't help but wonder if his children had inherited any of his qualities. She hoped that if they had, those qualities did not include the penchant for mischief that James had wholeheartedly embraced and that Harry had unwittingly inherited. Two troublemakers named Potter had been quite enough for her. [1]
The ceremony commenced, and she began to read off the names, just as she had so many times before.
As she got closer and closer to 'P', she and everyone in the room seemed to hold their breath, just as when Harry himself had been standing and nervously awaiting his Sorting. The incessant line of children walking up to the dais and then sitting down at their new House tables meant a shrinking crowd beyond her, but even when she spared a glance towards them, she could not see any child who could be the Potter boy or girl.
At last, after what seemed to be an eternity, she reached the name. As she read it, one could hear a pin drop in the room. Even the students were silent; the vast majority knew the significance of the name 'Potter', and even many of the Muggle-born students had been told by their magical classmates exactly what Harry Potter had done.
"Potter, James," Minerva read.
Said Eleven-year-old scrambled up the steps a few moments later. Just as his father had been a spitting image of his grandfather, little James was a spitting image of his father, though with brown eyes instead of green (or hazel) [2]. McGonagall couldn't help the little smile she gave the boy as he sat down on the stool and she placed the hat over his head.
"GRYFFINDOR!" bellowed the hat, again unsurprisingly, and the boy took his place at the table amidst slightly louder clapping than usual. The Gryffindors, as expected, were rather excited to have yet another Potter in their midst. Perhaps it was not an unusual event, but even so, they celebrated.
The interest seemed to die down as everyone looked forward to the next relatively-normal child to take the stage. People began to chatter again, and a few first years even tried to get James' attention. He seemed disinterested, however, and continued staring towards the stage. Come to think of it, a few of the other First Years were doing the same thing.
Seconds later, Minerva realized why.
"Potter, Remus," she declared, as a second Potter boy took the stage and the school fell silent as though someone had cast a silencing charm. This one bore a slighter resemblance to Ginny, mainly in the reddish hair he had. However, he was unmistakably little James' twin.
"GRYFFINDOR," bellowed the hat again, and the boy scuttled over to where his brother was already sitting. The two seemed slightly more at ease now, but still watched the stage. Even so, the chatter started up again, though a bit louder this time.
Minerva should've seen what was coming next. If Harry had honored two of the Marauders whom had meant so much to him, he would have undoubtedly honored the third as well.
"Potter, Sirius," she declared, as a third boy, this one another Harry lookalike, walked up to her and flashed a smile. [3]
Not again, she couldn't help but thinking as the hat sorted the boy into Gryffindor as well. One more year of this and I'm retiring. She could've handled one Potter boy, even if he was in the mold of his father and grandfather. Even if she had had two on her hands, she could have survived. She had before, after all. However, having three who just happened to be named for some of the most precocious troublemakers to have ever walked the halls of Hogwarts would be quite a challenge if they had even a modicum of their namesakes' abilities. Minerva was not quite as young as she had been, and though she had yet to show any signs of slowing down, it was still a fact. She already found herself wondering if they would land themselves in detention often.
And then she got to the end of the list.
"Weasley, Frederick," she read, tremor in her voice obvious. One redhead walked up to see her, but this time she could clearly see a second identical one right behind him, grinning.
I am retiring tomorrow.
Author's note: Hi, guys! This is the first Harry Potter fanfic I've written in a long while. The last one is truly cringeworthy, and I am infinitely prouder of this one.
Anyway, this was inspired by a post I saw on tumblr, which can be found here (remove spaces and change 'dot' to .): lechitafash dot tumblr dot com / post / 112868334135. Good luck following the hyperlink; I usually have trouble following ones on FFN...I took this to an extreme, though only with the inclusion of the next Fred and George Weasley. The first draft was about 326 words long, if I recall correctly...I had way too much fun extending it ^.^
As I do not know whether Fred Weasley II and James Potter II attended Hogwarts at the same time (though that would still probably scare Minerva McGonagall if that happened...); George Weasley II, Sirius Potter, and Remus Potter do not exist in-canon; and I do not know whether or not Professor McGonagall is still at her post by the time Harry's children attended Hogwarts, this is most definitely an AU. I have no concrete plans to continue it seriously, but may or may not add a few more relatively cracktastic drabbles.
And now, as always, here are a few notes:
[1]: Yes, I know Harry wasn't a prankster like his father or the Weasley twins, but he was still sneaking out after hours with remarkable frequency in his First year alone, helped brew a Polyjuice Potion in his Second year, made continuous trips to Hogsmeade without his teachers' permission in his third...the list goes on. While some of this was undoubtedly due to the fact that he was the Boy Who Lived, not all of his troublemaking was due to that (I seem to remember a planned duel in his First year, among other things).
[2]: Even though this is an AU, I'll be keeping this detail for my James Potter II. If I recall correctly, only Albus had green eyes. I don't know if James Potter II looked just like Harry in-canon, but at the very least he does here. At any rate, I find it rather amusing that this James could be told by many people that 'oh, you look so like your father. Except your eyes; they're your mother's eyes', just like his father. But I digress.
[3]: As far as I can imagine, James and Sirius Potter would be identical, while Remus would be their fraternal triplet. Yes, it's possible to have a situation like that, though I am no biologist and would welcome any comments from those of you who know more than I do about this...
I hope you enjoyed it! As usual, reviews would be much appreciated. Thank you for reading!