Chapter One - Exposed

Potter Prodigy Exposed

July 18, 2010 - Muggle Newspaper, The New York Times, reported that celebrated child prodigy and talented pianist, Albus S. Evans, debuted his first Carnegie Hall concert. The paper went on to report that Evans had one of the highest tested IQs in America. What's more, at the tender age of eleven, Albus Evans has now been accepted to Harvard University, which is considered one of the most prodigious universities in the world.

If you're thinking to yourself this boy is too good to be true you may be absolutely correct.

Now, more than seven years since that first Carnegie concert, the prodigy's true identity has emerged. Albus S. Evans is none other than Albus Severus Potter, third and youngest son to Chosen One, Harry Potter.

But does this mean Albus will abandon his Wizarding heritage for the Muggle world? Sources say Albus has received his Hogwarts letter but it is unclear at this time whether or not he will be attending. With his talents he could very well be one of the most talented wizards of the age. It would behoove him not to waste such an opportunity but only time will tell.

Albus hated parties. Far too many people crammed into too little a space. It was a waste of time and certainly not where an eleven-year-old boy belonged. But when said boy's father was Harry Potter, saviour of the Wizarding World, he had little say in the matter. Since his return to England not six months ago there had been a party of some sort to attend every weekend without fail.

He doubted that these ridiculous appearances were the idea of his father who like himself had a preference for seclusion. His mother, on the other hand, was quite the socialite and loved nothing more than showing off her brilliant and talented children.

So he found himself here at the Rare Manuscript Preservation Society's Fundraiser Dinner. It occurred to Albus that it was less about raising money to preserve and honour rare manuscripts and more about raising money to keep rich, grumpy Ministry officials rich.

This entire institution is a farce, Albus thought bitterly. If they actually cared about rare manuscripts perhaps they could set about reviving the Library of Alexandria instead of sitting around pretending the organization served any purpose at all.

He scanned the crowded room for anyone remotely interesting, a difficult task considering his surroundings. He settled on the familiar face of his cousin, Rose Weasley. Skilfully excusing himself from the group of Ministry children, he strode to her side.

"Good evening, Rose," he said with calculated indifference.

"This is a party, not a funeral," she snapped, "I don't see why you complain about it so much." She crossed her arms over her chest and looked him over appraisingly. "Smile," she commanded, "the Minister is coming this way." She was practically bouncing with excitement.

He would never understand her love of these things but he'd long ago given up arguing with her. Talking to her was a bit like negotiating with a brick wall.

"Good evening, sir. This event surpasses even my expectations," Albus said as the Minister approached. It didn't, but he was being polite as per his father's request.

"So glad you two could make it, a pleasure to see you as always. Have you spoken to Emily Binns this evening? Lovely woman, no one more educated on the history of this glorious event. Too bad she had to go and bring the Malfoys. Horrid family if you ask me." He paused and glanced around nervously, as if just realizing what he had said. "But you didn't hear that from me," he amended. His lips formed a sparkling smile, paving over his social faux pas.

Albus smiled out of obligation but he had already stopped listening.

"Of course Minister, I think the Malfoys are delightful as well. We are to start Hogwarts with their son, Scorpius, next fall," Rose answered, her smile mirroring that of the Minister's.

"Right well, excuse me children, important matters to see to." With that the Minister left them and disappeared into the throngs of people.

"How the mighty have fallen, to elect such an imbecile as the Head of Government," Albus commented. His obligation to be polite ended as soon as the person left his sight.

"Oh hush, he's never been anything but nice to you." She smiled and dismissed Albus' comment as she always did. "You just need to get out more. Maybe if you left your room once in a while you wouldn't be so deathly pale," she said as she grabbed his hand and led him around the room.

"I don't know what you mean," Albus remarked flippantly. He should have known better than to talk to her. It never ended well for him.

"You practically glow in the dark." Subtlety had never been her strong point.

Albus chose to just shut up. It was the only surefire way to deflect her. She was like a bullet train, once she got on about something there was no derailing her.

Knowing it was best to stay on Albus' good side, Rose gracefully changed the subject. "So Hogwarts this fall, aren't you excited? I am, oh the things we are going to learn. It's about time we had our chance. It's no fun to be the youngest when everyone else has already left for school. I've only been dreaming of this day since..."

In reality he was not excited about Hogwarts in the least but his mother had insisted. So he continued his exercise in ignoring Rose which was rather easy since his attention was suddenly very much occupied by something else.

It hit him like a ton of bricks, nailed him to the floor and negated his ability to form coherent thought. So he stared, his mouth hanging agape.

Noticing his shift in attention, Rose followed his gaze. "Did someone important walk by?" she inquired.

"No, Rose. You shouldn't end sentences with prepositions, by the way." he said in an effort to distract her. She hated when he corrected her grammar so he made it a point to do so whenever possible.

She narrowed her eyes, searching for the truth in his. There was no escaping now. Sure, dealing with her was as tedious as reading Nicholas Nickleby but no one could fault her perceptiveness.

"Scorpius Malfoy isn't worth your gaze. You know about his family. People like that don't change, so leave it," she instructed, flexing her ego a bit. Albus nodded to appease her and she continued her talk about school and other such matters.

But Albus was in a different world entirely.

He'd heard of Scorpius, of course. Everyone knew of the infamy attached to his surname. But nothing could have prepared Albus for actually seeing him. The blond practically radiated perfection and something about him just dared Albus to stare.

So he did.

He didn't know it at the time, but that night sparked something. That night was the beginning of Albus Severus Potter's longstanding obsession with Scorpius Malfoy.

Many things conspired that night. A rebellion planned, a new Minister chosen, a wife left behind for another. But nothing held the same gravity as one boy seeing the other.

What? It's almost like Evolution except without all the spelling errors, glaring plot holes, and annoying, two-dimensional characters. I know, I was shocked too.