Albus Potter was at the front door of Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, waiting to see if a letter would come. He would be going off to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to learn magic. He got up early and waited for the owl to come without even eating breakfast. For what seemed like hours, Albus stood by the front door, with no thought in his head but the letter, and what it would say. Then, finally, an owl flew from the sky, carrying-
"The letter! It finally came!" Albus shouted with glee, ripping open the envelope. "Mum! Dad! The letter came!" Albus' mother, father and sister all looked excited.
"Wow! What does it say?" Albus' sister Lily asked.
"It says, 'Dear Mr. Potter, we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find an enclosed list of all necessary books and equipment.
"Term begins on September 1. We await your owl no later than July 31. Yours Sincerely, Filius Flitwick.' Finally, I'm going to Hogwarts!"
"What's the big deal?" James, Albus' brother said. "You knew you would get the letter and go to Hogwarts your entire life. It's no surprise."
Albus ignored him. "Dad, when can we get my stuff in Diagon Alley?"
"In three days, on Wednesday," Albus' father Harry said. "We're also going with all your cousins."
"Can we visit Uncle George's shop? "James asked. "I need more Decoy Detonators."
"Did you use the others in Potions?" Harry accused.
"No, I didn't! I swear!" James protested, but then grinned. "I used them in History of Magic! THAT subject REALLY needed an interesting event!" When Harry rolled his eyes, James said, "Oh, come on! I heard you talking to Mum last night about people using Uncle George's stuff in your fifth year! You said something about Puking Pastilles and some disease called 'Umbridge-itis-'"
"You were listening to us?" Albus' mum Ginny interrupted.
Kreacher the house elf gave Albus breakfast while his mother reprimanded James, but Albus was barely listening. He was finally going to Hogwarts, where he would learn to do magic.
The next few days went by very slowly. Albus kept counting the days until he was going to Diagon Alley, which, even though it was only three days, seemed to take forever. James kept telling him he would be in Slytherin house, which did nothing to improve his mood. It was hard to sleep, either because he was so excited about going to Hogwarts and Diagon Alley, or because James kept stealing Lily's pygmy puff and putting it under Albus' blanket, where it rolled around, making high-pitched squeaks.
"WILL YOU STOP IT, JAMES!" Albus shouted on Tuesday night at ten o' clock, when he groped around for the pygmy puff, which was still squeaking. "I can't get to sleep with you stuffing this under my pillow every night!"
James laughed, and shouted, "I'm getting you ready for what Fred, Anne and I do to Slytherins! Think of it as a favor. I'm warming you up!" Fred and Anne were George's kids.
"I will not be in Slytherin, James! There's no reason for the Sorting Hat to put me there!" Albus retorted, mainly reassuring himself instead of James.
"What's all this noise?" Albus' mother said to him, walking into the room. "it's ten o' clock at night and we all need sleep-"
"I know, mum, but James keeps putting Lily's pygmy puff under my blanket!" Albus interrupted.
"James! Leave Albus alone!" Ginny shouted.
"But-"
"Do you want to go to George's joke shop tomorrow or not?"
No more sound came from James' room. As Albus' mum left, Albus finally fell asleep, and the pygmy puff never was stuffed under his blanket again that night.