Chapter 1: The Sorting

Albus stood, shivering in the middle of the group. The first years all around him were chattering loudly, and nervously. The reaction to his appearance at Hogwarts had been expected. It had first started on the platform; everybody around him had pointed and stared. Then on the train, people had walked past his compartment and gazed through the pane of glass. Some people had even walked past three times, just to look at the 'Chosen One's son. Even now, Albus felt the prickle on the back of his neck to tell him that someone was whispering his name, and pointing in his direction. He felt himself go scarlet. He turned to his cousin, Rosie, who was standing next to him, determined to find something to say.

But before he could open his mouth, a tap on his shoulder caused him to turn. A small pale boy was looking eagerly at him with great grey orbs for eyes. He was about Albus's height, with white-blonde hair and a pointed chin.

"You're Albus Potter, aren't you?" he asked, and without waiting for an answer, he launched into a small speech, "I'm Scorpius Malfoy, I think our fathers used to know each other at school. I've been told that I have to make an effort to be nice to you, so I thought I'd say hello." He finished at a rush and looked expectantly at Albus for a reply.

"Err… hi?" Albus said. The name Scorpius rang a bell in the back of his mind.

"I'm Rose," she said, in a loud voice. Rose wasn't used to being ignored, and sounded quite disgruntled that the blonde boy wasn't paying her any attention.

"Do you know what house you're going to be in? My whole family has been in Slytherin, but I think I'd like to break the rules. I might make a good Ravenclaw or something, but I don't think my father would be too pleased. He wants me to be in Slytherin," Scorpius said quickly. Albus wondered, with a small smile, whether Scorpius always spoke this fast.

"I don't know what house I'm going to be in," Albus said. His dad's kind words had consoled him on the platform, but now the old worry doused the excitement he had felt on the train. What if he was in Slytherin? He supposed it wouldn't be so bad, and if he was put into Slytherin, at least he'd have this boy to keep him company.

"Well I want to be in Gryffindor," Rose said, in that unnaturally loud voice, "but I don't suppose Ravenclaw would be too bad. That's supposed to be for the brainy ones, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Scorpius said quickly, sparing Rose a glance. His gaze reverted back to Albus once more, waiting for him to say something. This boy may be quite nice, Albus thought, but he does stare a lot. Well, he thought, looking around at the crowd, they all seem to stare a lot.

Albus was saved, however, from trying to find something to say, as at that moment, a familiar face entered the room. Neville Longbottom, a family friend, was standing in the doorway. He was a tall man, with deep red robes and a velvet wizard's hat perched upon his brown hair. He stepped forward into the room and instantly most of the crowd fell silent. His kind brown eyes searched the crowd, and his round face lit up in a huge smile when he saw Albus and Rose. Rose lifted up her hand to wave, but Albus pulled it down. This wasn't the time, he felt.

"The first years, Professor Longbottom," said Hagrid. Albus watched the huge man nod towards Neville and leave the room. He supposed that the girls next to him were right to look alarmed. Even he, who had known Hagrid since he was a small boy, was still startled at the sheer size of him. At least the height two of him, or three of Rose, he towered over most crowds. As he left, he gave a thumbs up to Albus and Rose. Albus felt the corners of his mouth turn up briefly in a smile as a sign of farewell, but they fell quickly. He certainly did not feel like smiling.

Neville pulled the door through which he had entered wide, and moved into a grand entrance hall. Albus felt his mouth fall open in shock; you could fit five of my house in here, he thought in amazement. He saw Rose's sky blue eyes wide from shock at the grandeur of the place. The flames from the torches on the walls danced and cast a flickering light on the nervous first years, as they followed Neville at a trot across the room. They turned into a small, empty chamber off the grand hall, and crowded in. The party came to a stop and Neville turned to them.

"I am Professor Longbottom, Deputy Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," he said, his voice ringing out over the crowd. Everybody fell into a nervous silence. "Welcome to Hogwarts," Professor Longbottom continued, "you shall soon be joining the start of term feast. However before we begin, you must be sorted into your houses: Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor or Slytherin." Those last two words echoed ever more strongly in Albus's mind.

Gryffindor. Slytherin.

"Your house," Neville said, "will be your family for the next seven years you will be spending at Hogwarts. You will have lessons with your house, sleep in your house dormitories and spend free time in your house common room. During your time at Hogwarts, good behavior will earn points for your house, and bad behavior will have points taken from you. At the end of the year, the house cup is awarded to the house with the most points." Neville looked around at the nervous faces, and winked.

"The sorting ceremony will take place in a few minutes," Professor Longbottom said, surveying the crowd with a small grin, "Please wait quietly for my return," and left the room without another word.

More loud, nervous chatter broke out all around him as soon when the door slammed shut. Albus looked apprehensively at Rose, who looked like she was going to faint.

"He seems okay, doesn't he?" Scorpius said, gesturing towards the door. Albus nodded in agreement. He would have told Scorpius how nice Professor Longbottom was, and how his mother insisted he came round for tea every month, and how he used to be an Auror with his dad, but he felt like if he opened his mouth, he might be sick.

"What do you think the sorting ceremony is?" Rose asked Scorpius. Rose still looked pale and clammy, but in the few seconds after Professor Longbottom had gone, she had regained some of her colour.

"Well, I do know, but I don't want to spoil the surprise," Scorpius said with a grin in Albus's direction,

"Does it hurt?" Rose asked. Albus cringed in embarrassment for Rose's sake, but listened hard to Scorpius's reply.

"Oh God, no," Scorpius laughed, "don't worry." For the first time it seemed, he really looked at Rose. Scorpius's cheeks went slightly pink as he looked at Rose's big blue eyes and frizzy red hair.

"What?" she asked, glaring at Scorpius.

"Nothing, nothing," he said, and cast around for something to say. When he failed to find a conversation point, he asked what surely must be bothering him. "Are you a Weasley?"

"Yes, so?" she asked, the defiant tone back in her voice.

Scorpius gulped, and didn't reply.

It appeared he was saved from the scorching look Rose was giving him, however, as Professor Longbottom returned. He was carrying a list, a stool, and what appeared to be an old ratty piece of cloth.

"Follow me," he said in a mysterious voice, and turned from the room. They trotted after him, in silence. All were nervous about what was to come. Albus's legs felt like they'd turned to jelly. They walked across the entrance hall, and through a pair of double doors. They had entered the great hall.

Rose, who was behind Albus, gasped. Thousands of candles floated over five tables, casting the room in their golden light. Looking up, Albus saw the ceiling was pitch black, just like the sky outside. The four house tables were packed with students, and the high table at the end of the room was filled with professors, all wearing splendid robes. It was exactly how Albus had imagined it. James had not been lying when he said that it was the most fantastic room in the entire world.

Professor Longbottom led the first years towards the table where the teachers were sitting, and they formed a line, facing the school. The pupils' golden-lit faces were staring up at them. Albus searched the faces of the students on the far left table, and saw James waving frantically at him. Again, Albus felt the corners of his mouth turn up into a smile that did not reach his eyes.

The stool that Professor Longbottom was holding made a huge clunk as it was set on the floor, and Albus's eyes snapped onto it. Professor Longbottom placed the rag on the stool, and Albus saw that it was a ragged hat. It was battered and patched, with a huge slit across the brim. Albus stared at it. For a few seconds, there was complete silence.

The slit across the brim opened, and the hat began to sing.

In a time, so long ago,

When Hogwarts had yet to start,

Were four great friends, with four great minds,

And crucially, four great hearts.

These four friends, they had a dream,

A plan, a great ambition,

To find young wizards, like themselves,

To teach them was their mission.

Good Gryffindor, courageous and brave,

Required those who had a noble heart.

Keen Ravenclaw and all her wits

Wanted those who were clever and smart.

Sly Slytherin, with deadly skill,

Needed striving schemers like him.

Kind Hufflepuff, loyal and sweet

Just wanted to let them all in.

Now these four founders, they are long gone

And now I am left to decide.

So put me on, and I will reveal

Where your true character abides.

The great hall erupted in raucous applause. He heard a boy behind him exclaim indignantly, "So you just have to put on the hat!" Albus felt relieved. This didn't seem so bad. He looked across at Rose, who had now regained all of her colour, and was smiling.

Professor Longbottom unrolled the scroll of parchment, and called out a name.

"Atkinson, Naomi." A small, dark skinned girl stumbled forward and sat on the stool. Professor Longbottom lowered the hat onto her head, and it fell right past her nose. After a few seconds, the brim opened once more, and exclaimed to the hall.

"Slytherin!" The table on the far right cheered, and Naomi Atkinson rushed over, and sat down. Albus clapped along with the rest, and watched "Baker, Victoria!" be sorted into Hufflepuff, and "Clasper, Adrian!" join her. Albus noticed that the hat spent a lot longer sorting some people than others. "Ditchfield, Daniel!" took a whole minute to be sorted into Gryffindor, whereas "Edmondson, Natalie!" was sorted into Ravenclaw almost immediately.

The line started to whittle down, until there was about half of the first years left. Albus nervously looked around at the remaining pupils, and saw, to his relief, that they were looking just as scared as he felt.

"Malfoy, Scorpius!" brought Albus back to his senses. Again, a bell went off in the back of his mind, as the blonde boy who had been told to be nice to him walked up to the stool. He sat down, and let the hat be lowered onto his head. It fell down past his nose, just like it had done for so many. Albus saw his fingers clench on the stool, as the hat decided. It surely must have taken at least five minutes. The room started to erupt in conversations as the hat deliberated. Albus saw Scorpius biting his lip.

"Slytherin!" The hat called. The table on the far right erupted in appreciative applause, and he saw Scorpius scuttle over, and have his hand shaken by an older boy with a silver P glimmering on his chest.

As Albus watched Scorpius, two more students were sorted, and he jumped in surprise when "Potter, Albus!" was called. He walked over, slowly to the stool; the eyes of all the people in the great hall making his face turn crimson. He kept his eye on the stool, determined not to meet the eyes of his waving brother.

He sat down on the stool, and with a small smile at Professor Longbottom, felt the hat fall onto his head. As it fell down the great hall disappeared, and he looked into the dirty folds of the hat.

'Aahh, another tricky one…' A small voice spoke in his ears. 'Well, you could also either belong in Slytherin or Gryffindor. Like your father, yes I remember him well. He would have done well in Slytherin…Well where should I put you? You have the right mind set to be a Gryffindor, and it's really what you're expected to be…but then again, there is that potential. You could also be great in Slytherin.' Albus listened closely to the hat's random thoughts. Where did he truly want to go?

"Gryffindor!" Albus thought, furiously.

'Well, I suppose, if that's really where you want to be…you may regret it, you could be a great Slytherin… Yes, are you sure you want to be in Gryffindor?'

'Yes!' Albus screwed up his eyes in concentration.

'Fine, on your head, be it. GRYFFINDOR!' The hat cried out loud, and Professor Longbottom lifted the hat from his head. He headed over to the table on the left, and sat down next to Daniel Ditchfield. He felt his hand being shook over and over again, but his mind was elsewhere. He was still thinking about what the hat had said. 'Like your father'… 'I remember him well'… 'You may regret it'… Had he really made the right choice?

He only came back to his senses when Rose sat next to him, looking very pleased with herself.

"It was going to put me in Ravenclaw!" she said indignantly.

"Well, you don't want to go there, bunch of nerds…" said James, who was sitting a few seats down from them. He patted Albus on the back, "Well done, Al. You nearly took as long as that Malfoy boy. He's the son of one of the people who work in the Ministry with Dad."

"Yeah, Dad knew his father at school, Scorpius told me," Albus said. James dismissed this and turned to his best friend, Andrew, to discuss the sorting.

However the noise seemed to be fizzling out. Albus and Rose looked up to the high table to see a tall man standing up. He was in the centre of the table, and his high backed, golden seat had been pushed back to give him room. He was middle aged, with dark brown hair and beard scattered with flecks of grey. He was wearing long splendid robes of dark purple, spangled with silver stars, and wore a silver wizard's hat, which glittered in the candle light. Warm, dark eyes surveyed them all as they looked up at him.

This must be the headmaster: Arthur Merrigan, the man who had joined Hogwarts to replace Dumbledore after Snape had gone. Albus knew the story well.

After the Dark Lord's final defeat, Hogwarts had been left broken and empty. The old teachers were in need of a new headmaster, and the obvious choice, Professor McGonagall, had declared that she had been planning an early retirement. This was, perhaps, the school's darkest hour. Most of the wizarding world doubted whether the school could ever recover from the damage it had received from the final battle. But out of nowhere, a host of foreign, new, clever wizards had came, and offered to help the school. This had included Arthur Merrigan. After the group of wizards and witches had helped repair the school, he had taken up McGonagall's post of head of transfiguration, and many others followed suit. Professor Cassandra Spion had taken the potions post, and once Professor Flitwick had retired, Professor Lorelle Fay had joined.

Albus, James and Rose knew all of this because of Neville. Once his predecessor, Professor Sprout had retired, he left the Aurors and became the Herbology professor, and then, deputy head when Merrigan became headmaster. Neville had kept the Potters and the Weasleys well up to date on the state of Hogwarts. The affairs of their old school greatly interested the Weasley-Potter gang, especially Harry.

Albus focussed all his attention onto the man before him. Some said that he was nearly as good as Dumbledore. As Albus Dumbledore had been his namesake, he was keen to see how this headmaster compared.

"Welcome!" Professor Merrigan boomed. A loud, kind voice called out over the students, and dead silence fell over them. Albus and Rose looked at each other, a nervous smile on their faces. So far, so good. His first impression was going well.

"Now, is not the time for long, and drawling speeches, I shall bore you with my whimsical ramblings later. For now, let us eat!" He clapped his hands in an extravagant fashion, and the golden plates before them were suddenly filled with mountains of food.

"Excellent!" he heard James and Andrew shout down the table, in unison.

He pulled a plate of chicken drumsticks over to him and Rose and started piling them up onto their plates. He was starting to think that Hogwarts would be alright.

Over on the table on the far right, however, poor Scorpius Malfoy watched the boy he had promised to befriend from afar. He had really liked Albus Potter, no matter what his father had warned him. He wasn't big-headed, or proud, or obnoxious, as he had been promised to be. When Scorpius had asked why he must be friends with such an unpleasant boy, his father had been vague.

"I owe his father, bad things may happen this year. My friends underground have told me, and… there's a debt I need to repay to Potter…" His father had muttered, more to himself than anyone else. Scorpius wondered what on earth he had meant, but he had promised his father to keep and eye on the Potter boy anyways. He always did what his father asked him.

"Parsnips, Malfoy?" a snide voice had said, and brought Scorpius back to earth.

"No, thanks," he replied.

Anyhow. Even though Scorpius was in Slytherin, he did not want to turn out like his father. Bitter and remorse, Draco Malfoy spent a lot of his time prowling the Ministry of Magic, and the rest of the time prowling Malfoy Manor. He, Scorpius, did NOT want to end up like that. He wanted to prove himself better than the dirtied, Malfoy name.

The sorting hat's words were ringing in his mind too. "You would be a good Gryffindor. There's a fiery bravery in your heart not even Slytherin will put out".

Hello! Long time no right, and I'm back with a new Harry Potter Fic: the next generation. Please keep reading the next chapters, they get so much better.

Please Review. I love reading what you have to say.

And I'm going to try and update at least once every three days. Wish me luck with that...

Jennifer Apple