Albus' stomach lurched as he stepped onto the Hogwarts Express. Countless teenagers milled up and down the corridors, laughing, shouting, screeching, and in one case, hooting like an owl. It was exactly as Albus had pictured it from the descriptions that James had given him - loud, exciting, glamorous. Grudgingly, Albus turned his attention away from a pair of twins who were breathing fire to finding a seat. He had assumed that he would be sitting with James and his friends, but his older brother had vanished to the other end of the train and Albus had a funny feeling that he wasn't invited. He couldn't cramp his brother's style now, could he? His cousins were all in full compartments and probably wouldn't want him sitting with them, so Albus set off to look for someone to sit with.
Dragging his trunk down the corridor, Albus was dismayed to find that every compartment was full to bursting point. When Albus was certain that he would have to stand in the corridor for the duration of the trip, he found the only compartment in the train which wasn't full. In it, there was just one person. An older girl, looking to be either a Fourth or Fifth Year. She was leaning over a book, looking intensely absorbed by what she was reading.
"Erm… Hello?" Albus said feebly. "Every other compartment is full… Do you mind if I sit with you?"
The girl raised his head from the book and Albus' heart skipped a beat. Not only was she wearing a Slytherin tie, but she was very pretty. Her hair was almost black and very long, cascading around sparkling ocean blue eyes. Just looking into their depths, Albus could tell that she was very intelligent… but there was a hint of something else there too. A slight edge to her gaze… contempt, perhaps? When she saw Albus her lips curled, just for a moment, in a sneer. Intimidated, Albus started to back out of the compartment, muttering an apology.
Immediately, her face softened.
"No, stay," the girl smiled, flashing perfect white teeth. "I could use the company. What's your name?"
"I-I'm Albus," Albus stuttered, sitting down awkwardly. "Albus Severus Potter. What's yours?
"My name is Gabrielle Lestrange," Gabrielle said hurriedly. "You are Harry Potter's son, yes?"
"Yes." Albus sighed.
People always asked him about his father, and if it wasn't his father, it was his brother.
"You are very lucky to have a father such as yours," Gabrielle said, a hint of jealousy in her voice. "I never even knew my father… Or my mother."
"I hope I'm not being rude," Albus said timidly. "But was your mother… Bellatrix Lestrange?"
"Yes."
The single syllable was enough. Her face contorted as he said it, like it was poisoning her tongue.
A few minutes of silence passed until Gabrielle spoke again.
"So," she said, her smile back in place. "What house do you want to be in?"
"Gryffindor."
"Not Slytherin, then?" There was an amused tone to her voice.
"My family wouldn't… er… be best pleased if I was put in Slytherin." Albus admitted, choosing his words carefully.
"Slytherin, like all the Houses, has it's pros and it's cons," Gabriel explained. "The Gryffindors can be reckless, the Ravenclaws bigheaded, the Hufflepuffs boring. Slytherins have a reputation for being, well, evil, I suppose. But we are cunning and stick together, unlike some other houses. If you want to succeed, Slytherin is very good."
"You have a good point," Albus said, not wanting to offend her
"Yet you still don't agree with me." Gabrielle smirked.
How did he know that? Was he that easy to read?
"My entire family have been in Gryffindor for generations, and let's just say I don't want to be the one to break the tradition."
"Fair point."
Gabrielle went back to her book, leaving Albus staring out of the window, wondering whether he had offended her.
When the afternoon had darkened into dusk, and the dusk had deepened into night, Albus changed into his robes. Gabrielle gave him no privacy, and he felt a bit uncomfortable stripping off while Gabrielle just sat there.
After changing, Albus resumed looking out the window, which had gotten boring after six hours of observing bleak, mountainous countryside slip past the window.
"Are you looking forward to the feast?" Gabrielle said suddenly
Albus was shocked - this was the first time Gabrielle had spoken in hours.
"Yeah," Albus replied, his stomach doing somersaults - he couldn't believe that he would be arriving at Hogwarts in just a few minutes. "My Dad says that the food is the best he's ever had. Even Mum admits that Hogwarts food is better than anything Granny Weasley ever cooked. And she's excellent."
Gabrielle flinched at the mention of 'Granny Weasley'. Kicking himself, Albus remembered that it was his Granny who had killed Gabrielle's mother.
He began to apologise, but Gabrielle stopped him.
"It doesn't matter," Gabrielle said dismissively. "It's easy to forget."
Albus was relieved when, just a few seconds later, the train started to slow down.
"I… Er, I'll see you at the feast!" Gabrielle's face drained of colour and her eyes flashed in shock. "Bye!"
Her hand fumbling in her robe pocket, Gabrielle ran out of the compartment and vanished from view.
Albus was left, quite confused, on his own.
After a minute or two, when the train had practically stopped, Albus stood and decided to go and find Rose, who was starting Hogwarts as well. Eventually, he found her sitting with a group of giggly young girls. Albus noticed that they quickly stopped laughing when he knocked on the door.
"That's Harry Potter's son!" he heard one of the girls whispering in her friend's ear.
"Rose didn't say he was a looker!" Another giggled, her eyes examining him appraisingly.
Rose silenced them with an icy glare.
"Come on, Al," Rose stood up and grabbed her cousin's hand. "Let's leave these," she gave the girls a pointed look. "to themselves."
As she led him down the train, Albus realised that Rose was smiling mysteriously at him.
"What?" he asked.
"Oh," she said airily. "Nothing. Clara seems to like you."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I'm just saying that she likes you. Quite a lot." Rose smirked.
"Oh, give over, Rosie," Albus scowled. "You know I don't want a girlfriend. Stop trying to pair me up with your friends!"
"I don't see why you won't get one, Al," Rose muttered. "Clara's family is quite rich and she's nice when you get to know her. And she's a half-blood, so Grandpa Weasley won't kill you if you go out with her."
Albus snorted.
"Just stop trying to get me a girlfriend."
"Okay." Rose promised reluctantly.
Albus doubted she would keep to her word, but it was good enough for the moment.
"Right," Rose sighed, stepping off the train and onto the platform. "Now we've got that cleared up, let's go and find Hagrid. I haven't seen him since he gave us those ghastly rock cakes at Christmas, bless him."
Not surprisingly, Hagrid was rather easy to find. His gigantic figure towered above the hundreds of students bustling about on the platform.
"Firs' years, this way!" he called. "Firs' years, over 'ere!"
Albus followed Rose who was pushing her way through the crowds, occasionally stopping to greet one of her cousins or friends. When they reached Hagrid, there was already a small crowd of pale first years gathered around him. Several of them kept casting wary glances at the giant.
"Hagrid!" Rose called, tapping him on the waist (which was as high as she could reach).
Slowly, he turned around.
"Rose!" he exclaimed joyfully, his bearded face beaming down at them. "Lil Albus! I 'aven' seen y' for ages! How were those rock cakes I made for y' at Chris'mas?"
"They were…" Albus searched for the correct word. "Very interesting, Hagrid. Thanks."
"Tha's grea'!" he beard twitched - he was smiling. "Now, lets get goin'! Firs' years, this way!"
Hagrid led them out of the station, the small group of first years hurrying along, chatting excitedly in their guide's shadow. When they arrived at the school gates, everyone stared speechlessly up at the castle.
Although Albus had been there several times to visit his father's friends there, he couldn't help but be awestruck by it too.
Under the frosty autumn moon, Hogwarts made an intimidating, yet homely sight. The castle itself was the same as usual - a jumbled mass of turrets and towers, archways and gargoyles - except tonight it was bathed in milky moonlight. The Front Door stood wide open, throwing warm, golden light onto the lawn. Past the lawn, Albus' eyes were drawn to the lake. It was completely still, like glass, reflecting the star strewn night sky.
"This way, firs' years!" Hagrid had opened the gate and was striding towards the lake.
Practically having to run to keep up with Hagrid, the first years arrived at the shore of the lake. A few of them went green at the sight of the tiny boats, but the majority of them began to chat excitedly, pointing and gaping.
"Now, now," Hagrid protested half heartedly. "There'll be plenty of time for chatter later. Two a boa', make sure y'don' fall in though - someone did las' year and had a touch o' hypothermia. Nothin' Madam Pomfrey couldn' clear up, bu' it isn' good startin' the year ill, now, is it?"
The first years' excitement was barely effected by Hagrid's warning.
"It it true that there's a giant squid in the lake?" One girl asked, looking at Hagrid.
"Yeah," Albus answered automatically, speaking before he had even decided to. "I've seen it once."
"You've been here before?" A boy asked enviously.
"Well, yeah," Albus admitted, slightly embarrassed having everyone's attention on him. "My dad likes to visit his friends here. The Professors, Neville, Hagrid."
"Come on!" Hagrid interrupted them. "We'll be late f' the Sortin' if you lot don' get a move on!"
Some excited, some terrified, the first years got into their boats and began to row across the lake.