Chapter One
Albus Potter craned his neck as the blurry outline of his father's waving hand disappeared from view. With a knot of excitement tangling up his insides and a bubbling sense of anxiety washing over him, he collapsed onto a worn cushioned seat in the compartment nearest him, followed by Rose and Fred Weasley.
"Can you believe it?" asked Fred, joining Albus on the tattered cushion, "after watching our cousins and siblings go off to Hogwarts year after year, it's finally our turn." He stretched out on the velvet seat, propping his legs against the compartment window and unwrapping a chocolate frog. His brow furrowed. "Al, I got your namesake again. 'Albus Dumbledore. Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is
particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in
1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his
work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore
enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling. Dumbledore perished on Hogwarts grounds in June of 1997.'" He looked up. "You want it?"
"No, thanks," said Al, "I've already got about twenty." He left Fred to devour the jittery frog and began tapping his newly purchased wand against his knee, trying in vain to produce the vibrant sparks that had exploded from it just weeks ago. He looked up to see Rose hovering over him, a look of sheer terror stamped across her face.
"Rose?" he asked cautiously, setting his wand aside. He stood up and cautiously stretched an arm around her trembling shoulders. "Are you all right?"
"No!" she snapped, her blue eyes clouding with anxiety, "no, I'm not, Albus. What if we're put in Slytherin? You know how badly my dad wants me to be in Gryffindor. And as for mum, well, she isn't as vocal about it, but I know she'd love for me to be a Ravenclaw. I'm their only hope; Hugo is bound to be a Hufflepuff. I can't disappoint them, Al, I just can't." She succumbed to quiet tears of frustration, wiping her eye with the sleeve of her robes and hiding her face behind a cloud of frizzy red hair.
Flabbergasted, Al patted her clumsily on the shoulder. "Rose, anyone who's willing to stand up to James on a regular basis is a Gryffindor in my book. Remember the time you tackled him?" She giggled, nodding and hiccuping through her waning tears. "It'll be alright; I'm sure all three of us will be in Gryffindor together," Albus said with more confidence than he felt. This slightly awkward moment was saved by the appearance of two boys whom Albus vaguely recognized as the Scamander twins.
"Hello!" said the slightly taller of the two, extending a sun-baked hand to shake Albus'. "I'm Lysander. I think we've met once or twice; our parents are close friends. This is my brother, Lorcan."
"Hello," said Lorcan, smiling in a forced manner that slightly disconcerted Albus.
"Er, nice to meet you," he said. "I'm Albus -- call me Al. This is my cousin, Fred, and my other cousin, Rose. We're all first-years. What about you?"
"We're first years, too!" Lysander exclaimed. "I just know I'll be in Gryffindor, and Lorcan will be, as well."
"But, Lysander," Lorcan protested, "when mum stewed the bogies of our Augurey, she discovered that I'll --"
Lysander looked at Albus, Rose, and Fred apologetically. "He still believes in our mum's barmy superstitions," he explained. "Anyway, I'll be back later. I saw one of our neighbors in a nearby compartment." And with that, he strode from the room.
"I don't really want to be in Gryffindor," Lorcan confessed when Lysander had left. "I'd much rather be a Hufflepuff or a Ravenclaw. Mum says you can lull the Sorting Hat into a trance with ancient Gaelic chants, and I've been practicing..." he trailed off, looking embarrassed.
"You don't need to go to all that trouble," Albus assured him, "my dad says you can just ask the Sorting Hat to put you where you want to go."
"Really?" asked Lorcan excitedly.
"Yeah," said Albus, grinning.
A plump woman knocked on their compartment window and peered through the door. "Anything off the trolley, dears?" she asked kindly.
"Yes!" shouted Lorcan. "Three boxes of Ice Mice, four bags of Bertie Bott's, six chocolate frogs, and a jelly slug." He stuffed his gold in her hands and claimed his armful of sweets. When he saw Albus, Rose, and Fred looking at him with amusement, a playfully cross look danced across his face. "I've a bit of a sugar addiction," he confessed, shoving the jelly slug into his mouth.
"Is that so?" muttered Rose. "Er, I'll just have an acid pop, please." she said politely. Albus bought a few boxes of Bertie Bott's, but Fred didn't buy anything. "I've got a stash in here," he said, patting his trunk with a wink.
For the next few hours, the four of them sat in contentment, consuming their candy and swapping stories of their performances of accidental magic. It wasn't until much later, when they were told to change into their robes, that Lysander reappeared.
"Where've you been?" asked Lorcan, looking his twin up and down suspiciously, "your robes are torn and you've a welt on the side of your face!'
"Ah, yes, that." said Lysander. "Well, a bunch of Slytherins thought they knew more than I did about Quidditch, and..."
"All that over Quidditch? " Lorcan asked incredulously, "Lysander, you can't get in trouble the first day of Hogwarts, you'll draw..." He looked to Albus, Rose, and Fred and whispered roughly, "attention to us. Attention we don't need."
A look of comprehension dawned on Lysander's face. "Oh," he said flatly. "Excuse us." The pair of them hurried from the compartment, leaving a trio of perplexed faces in their wake.
The Hogwarts Express slowed to a crawl, and a deep voice boomed over the loudspeaker, "Hogsmeade Station. Everyone out."
"This is it!" Albus shouted, rushing to lift his trunk, "we're here." As he and the other students exited the train, as he gazed out across the vast Hogwarts lake and up into the twinkling nighttime sky, he felt his excitement and his apprehension battling for the position of prime emotion. He gulped. So far, apprehension was winning.