Autumn seemed to arrive suddenly that year. The morning of the first of September was crisp and golden as an apple, and as the little family bobbed across the rumbling road towards the great, sooty station, the fumes of car exhausts and the breath of pedestrians sparkled like cobwebs in the cold air. Two large cases rattled on top of the laden trolleys the parents were pushing; the owls inside them hooted indignantly, and the red-headed girl trailed tearfully behind her brothers, clutching her father's arm.
…
'Look who it is.'
Draco Malfoy was standing there with his wife and son, a dark coat buttoned up to his throat. His hair was receding somewhat, which emphasised the pointed chin. The new boy resembled Draco as much as Albus resembled Harry. Draco caught sight of Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny staring at him, nodded curtly and turned away again.
'So that's little Scorpius,' said Ron under his breath. 'Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother's brains.'
'Ron, for heaven's sake,' said Hermione, half-stern, half-amused. 'Don't try to turn them against each other before they've even started school!'
'You're right, sorry,' said Ron, but unable to help himself, he added, 'don't get too friendly with him, though, Rosie. Granddad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pure-blood.'
…
'Albus Severus,' Harry said quietly, so that nobody but Ginny could hear, and she was tactful enough to pretend to be waving to Rose, who was now on the train, 'you were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew.'
'But just say—'
'—then Slytherin house will have gained an excellent student, won't it? It doesn't matter to us, Al. But if it matters to you, you'll be able to choose Gryffindor over Slytherin. The Sorting Hat takes your choice into account.'
'Really?'
'It did for me,' said Harry.
…
'He'll be all right,' murmured Ginny.
As Harry looked at her, he lowered his hand absent-mindedly and touched the lightning scar on his forehead.
'I know he will.'
The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years. All was well.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, p603-607
Albus waved furiously out of the train window until the platform was far out of sight. His stomach churned with excitement, but tears sprung to his eyes. He blinked them away. He wouldn't cry. He was sure James hadn't cried last year when he went off to Hogwarts for the first time. Just because he wasn't going to see his parents until Christmas—
'Come on then,' Rose said, grabbing his hand and pulling him away from the window.
'Come on where?' he asked, confused but grateful for the distraction. Rose slid the compartment door open and dragged him out into the corridor.
'We need to find Scorpius Malfoy.'
'Okay. Why?'
Rose slowed down to edge past the Trolley Lady and gave him that look that told him she thought he was asking stupid questions.
'So we can be friends with him, of course.'
'Great.' Albus handed over a couple of sickles in exchange for a handful of chocolate frogs. He thought of the nervous-looking boy Uncle Ron had pointed out earlier. After everyone else had moved on to talking about Teddy and Victoire, Albus had met Scorpius' eyes across the platform, and they'd exchanged a smile. 'Not that I mind, but why do we want to be friends with him?'
'Because Dad told us not to.'
'I'm pretty sure he just told you not to marry him,' Albus replied, but Rose was already marching ahead, weaving in and out of other students. Accustomed to Rose's strange logic, Albus hurried to catch up with her, then almost ran into her as she stopped abruptly in front of a compartment door.
'Hi!' she said brightly, sliding it open and smiling at the pale, blonde-haired boy who was its only occupant, 'I'm Rose Granger-Weasley and this is my cousin, Albus. Do you mind if we sit with you?'
'Go ahead.' Scorpius gestured for them to sit down, then grinned shyly at Albus.
'Chocolate frog?' Albus offered, holding one out. Scorpius took it and ripped it open. He looked at the card and then smiled wryly.
'I got your dad,' he said, holding it out.
'Keep it,' said Albus, rolling his eyes. 'We've got hundreds of them. One time, for April Fool's Day, my mum and my uncle George collected about a thousand and papered the whole house with them. Dad tried to vanish them but they just kept multiplying until we eventually had to get rid of them all by hand. I still find them sometimes, down the side of sofa cushions or underneath things. I could probably recite Dad's achievements in my sleep.'
Scorpius laughed.
'Who've you got?' he asked. Albus opened his chocolate frog packet. The frog slipped through his fingers and leapt towards the window, but Scorpius' hand shot out and grabbed it.
'Quick reflexes,' Rose said, impressed. Scorpius blushed.
'Dad's always saying I'd be a great seeker. I think he's exaggerating though.' He held the frog out to Albus. 'Here.'
'Thanks.' Albus popped the frog in his mouth and turned over his card. 'Salazar Slytherin.' He grimaced. 'Do you reckon that's some sort of omen?'
'Don't listen to James, he's an idiot,' Rose said, patting his hand, 'You won't be in Slytherin.'
'Why don't you want to be in Slytherin?' Scorpius asked, and Albus realised how tactless he was being. Scorpius was a Malfoy, and Malfoys were always in Slytherin. He stared at his hands, trying frantically to come up with an answer that didn't sound horribly prejudiced. It wasn't that he didn't like Slytherins. He didn't really know any Slytherins. He thought of his father's words about Severus Snape. Bravest man I ever knew. Albus was sure Snape had been very brave, but he wasn't exactly someone you aspired to be like. Miserable and heartbroken and living a double life without friends or family, only really appreciated by anyone after his death. And then there was Regulus Black, also a double-crosser and an unsung hero. And those were the good Slytherins. Voldemort, Dolores Umbridge, Bellatrix Lestrange … all the worst people from his dad's stories had been Slytherins, and all of them had come to terrible ends. He supposed Teddy's grandmother was nice enough, but she was obviously the exception.
'…and almost all of our family are in Gryffindor,' Rose was telling Scorpius, 'There's a lot of pressure to carry on the legacy. Teddy's in Hufflepuff, but he's not technically family, and Fred's in Ravenclaw, but none of us have ever been sorted into Slytherin. I think Al's just worried that—'
'It's not that,' said Al, interrupting, 'I don't mind being different. It's just that I want to do something meaningful with my life – something great – and I've never actually heard of any Slytherins who've done any proper good for the world, or at least not without doing something bad too. No offense.'
He glanced at Scorpius, worried that he might have ruined his new friendship before the train ride was even over. Far from looking offended, however, Scorpius was watching him with interest, and seemed to be thinking very deeply about something.
'Merlin was in Slytherin,' he said eventually, 'He arguably did more good for the world than any other wizard of his century. While he was alive, it was this amazing golden age. Wizards and muggles lived in peace and even worked together and helped each other. It was only after he died that things started to fall apart. And he developed all these amazing potions and spells that completely changed the way people practiced magic. So many of the basic spells we learn today wouldn't exist if he hadn't—' He stopped and blushed. 'Sorry. I talk a lot sometimes when I get carried away.'
Albus wanted to tell him there was no need to apologise. He felt like he could probably listen to Scorpius talk all day. The way the boy's face lit up when he was enthusiastic, and the way his hands flew around, drawing pictures in the air, made it seem as though he could probably make one of Uncle Percy's speeches on broomstick regulations sound exciting.
'You'll definitely be in Slytherin, I suppose,' Rose said to Scorpius.
'I dunno,' Scorpius shrugged, 'I mean, every Malfoy for as long as history remembers has been in Slytherin.' He grinned wickedly. 'It would be pretty cool to break tradition.'
'This is their year! You'll see – the Chudley Cannons are making a comeback.' Albus propped his feet up on the seat next to Scorpius and popped a Bertie Botts Every-Flavour Bean confidently in his mouth. A moment later he made a face of disgust and spat it out. 'Ugh. Earwax.'
'You're delusional,' Rose said, 'You and Dad say this every year and you're always wrong.'
'Well I've got a good feeling about this year.'
Scorpius rolled his eyes. His new friends had been arguing about Quidditch for almost an hour now. Rose was an expert on strategy, and could recite tactics and probabilities off the top of her head, but Albus' dogged loyalty to his favourite team was unquenchable. He'd never met people who could argue so passionately about sport before. His dad liked taking him to Quidditch matches, but didn't support a particular team, and his mum was a Holyhead Harpies fan, but didn't have the same level of obsession as the entire Weasley-Potter clan appeared to.
Scorpius couldn't quite believe he'd managed to make friends so quickly. His dad had told him all about his less than heroic role in the war, and had warned Scorpius that he might face a lot of prejudice for being a Malfoy. Remembering the glares and snide remarks they often endured when they went to Diagon Alley, Scorpius had been dreading months of being alone and friendless at Hogwarts before he might finally be able to prove he was more than just the son of an ex-Death Eater. And yet here he was, spending the train ride with a Potter and a Weasley, two of the people he'd thought were most likely to hate him.
Would it last though? What if they ended up in different houses? Was he being really naïve to think that he might not be in Slytherin? From what his dad had told him, people from the other houses weren't ever friends with people from Slytherin. It just didn't happen. He might only have known them for a few hours, but the idea of not being friends with Rose and Albus anymore made him sad. Rose was one of the smartest, funniest people he'd ever met and Albus seemed like exactly the kind of person he'd want to be best friends with. Surely they were too nice to ditch him the moment they were sorted into Gryffindor and he ended up in Slytherin?
No. He wasn't leaving something like this up to chance. He would be in some house other than Slytherin, even if he had to argue with the Sorting Hat all night. Albus and Rose were his friends, and he wasn't going to let some outdated sorting system take them away from him.
'Scorpius? You alright?'
Scorpius turned to see that Al was watching him with concern.
'Fine. Just got lost in my own thoughts I guess.' He glanced at Rose, who had her nose buried in a copy of the Quibbler. Flashing letters on the cover declared that lucky readers could enter to win a trip to India to the home of the very first Wrackspurts.
'Does your mum know you still subscribe to that?' Albus asked. 'You know she always says it's a load of garbage.'
'Luna's been sending me a free copy every month since I helped her with her research for that article on Dabberblimp sightings in Britain.'
'Dabberblimps? Seriously Rose?'
Rose glared at him. 'I'll have you know there's a considerable amount of evidence in favour of their existence. Just because most people are too narrow-minded to accept anything that's not in a textbook or right in front of them doesn't mean—'
'Alright, alright,' Albus held his hands up in mock surrender, 'Forget I said anything.' He rolled his eyes at Scorpius and lowered his voice. 'Mental, that one. Seriously. You'd better escape while you still can.'
'I heard that,' Rose said. 'But don't worry, I can handle your scepticism. Every misunderstood genius has their critics. One day you'll eat your words.'
'Pretty sure misunderstood is just a nice word for crazy,' Albus muttered, and Scorpius let out a snort of laughter, which he quickly stifled under Rose's stern gaze.
'Look, we're almost there!' he said to distract her, pointing out the window. They all peered through the darkness, bickering forgotten in their shared excitement as they spotted the lights of Hogsmeade Station in the distance. As soon as the train came to a halt they hurried out of the compartment, joining the crush of students flowing out onto the platform. Just as he was worried he might lose his new friends in the crowd, Scorpius felt Albus grab his hand. Albus' other hand was being gripped tightly by Rose, who steered them through the throng towards an enormous, hairy man Scorpius was sure from his dad's stories must be Rubeus Hagrid.
Before long the last of the older students were trickling off the platform and a small group of first years was gathered around Hagrid, who did a quick head count before leading them away. Scorpius realised that he, Albus and Rose were still holding hands, but didn't suggest letting go. This was all very overwhelming, and there was something reassuring about having someone else's hand in his own. When they reached the edge of the lake, they finally let go to clamber into a boat together, along with a tall, dark skinned girl who introduced herself as Suzanna Thomas. She was very friendly towards Rose and Albus, but when Scorpius introduced himself she gave him a cold stare and moved to sit at the other end of the boat. Scorpius' heart plummeted. Rose smiled sympathetically and gave his hand a gentle squeeze.
'Look!' Albus said excitedly, oblivious to the entire exchange, 'I can see Hogwarts!'
The castle loomed into view above them. Lights from the windows sparkled coldly against the dark sky and Scorpius shivered and felt very small. He thought longingly of his own bed in back in his house in London, where his dad would sit and tell him bedtime stories, in spite of his protestations that he was too old. He wondered what his parents were doing right now.
'It's so huge!' Albus breathed. He turned to face Scorpius and Rose and his eyes blazed with an enthusiasm that seemed to warm Scorpius right down to his toes. He could do this. This was Hogwarts! He'd been excited about this for as long as he could remember. He wasn't going to ruin it by crying over missing his parents like some little kid.
Albus grabbed both of their hands again once they got out of the boats, and Scorpius thought maybe he wasn't the only person who was a bit nervous.
The large front doors were opened by a kind-looking wizard in slightly grubby robes and large, muddy boots. He smiled warmly at them.
'Hi, Neville!' Rose said brightly.
'Hello, Rose, Albus.' He gestured them all to follow him inside. 'I'm Professor Longbottom and I'm the Head of Gryffindor House. Your Sorting will take place soon, but in the meantime I'll ask you to wait through here.' He led them into a small chamber, just off the Entrance Hall.
Neville Longbottom. So this was one of the great war heroes Scorpius had read and heard so much about. He tried to reconcile this kindly-looking man with gentle, blue eyes and a smear of dirt on his cheek to his image of the fierce Gryffindor warrior who had sliced off the head of Voldemort's snake. Something didn't quite add up.
Professor Longbottom quickly summarised the different Houses and the system of points that could be awarded or deducted.
'Don't worry too much about your Sorting,' he said, glancing around at their nervous faces, 'It's nothing scary. You just pop on a hat and it will decide where you belong. Easy!'
Easy for him to say, Scorpius thought bitterly. He wasn't about to try and defy a thousand years' worth of Malfoy history. He looked at Rose. She was fiddling with her wand, spinning it round and round in her hands, but her face was calm. Albus was biting his lip. Scorpius tried to think of something to say to break the anxious silence, but his mind came up blank.
Before long they trooped into the enormous Great Hall, and Scorpius found himself momentarily distracted from his upcoming doom as he stared in awe at the incredible ceiling. Living in London, he didn't get to see the stars properly very often. Sometimes when they visited his grandparents at Malfoy Manor, he and his mum would lie outside on the lawn in the evening and she would point out the different constellations until his dad came out to find them cold and shivering and dragged them inside to warm up by the fire.
Even that could not have prepared him for this, however. He hadn't known so many stars even existed. It was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen, and he stared upwards and forgot to walk, until Rose bumped into him from behind and hissed at him to keep his eyes ahead and look where he was going. The little reminder of his mum made her feel not quite so far away, and gave him the courage to march up to the front of the Hall, ignoring all the eyes on him.
After a song from the Sorting Hat, which Scorpius was too nervous to hear a word of, Professor Longbottom began to call out names, in alphabetical order. Before long—
'Granger-Weasley, Rose!'
Rose strode confidently to the stool and sat down. Just before the hat was placed on her head, she caught Scorpius' eye and he gave her a thumbs up. She smiled weakly, then closed her eyes.
There was a second of silence, then the hat yelled 'RAVENCLAW!' Rose removed the hat from her head, handed it to Professor Longbottom, who said something quietly to her, and made her way to the Ravenclaw table. A couple of other students who had already been sorted moved up to make room for her, and an older, red-haired student leaned over to congratulate her. Her cousin Fred, maybe?
It suddenly occurred to Scorpius that he was going to be sorted before Albus. He wasn't sure how he felt about that. He doubted he'd make it into Ravenclaw, so getting into the same house as Albus was his best chance of getting to stay friends with them.
'Malfoy, Scorpius!'
Scorpius looked up, startled. How had his turn come round so quickly? Albus gave him a quick smile and nudged him in the direction of the stool. Scorpius focused very hard on not tripping as he walked up to the front. Maybe he was being paranoid, but he was sure there had been an outbreak of muttering when his name was called. The faces gazing up at him definitely didn't look as friendly as they had earlier. He sat down, screwed his eyes shut, and felt the Sorting Hat slip down over his ears.
Hmmm … another Malfoy—' the Hat began.
No! Scorpius thought fiercely. Don't you dare put me in Slytherin just because I'm a Malfoy. You've got no right to judge me just on my name. I've got as much right as anyone else to have the chance to go somewhere else.
Well, said the Hat, and Scorpius thought it sounded amused. Could a hat be amused? There's only one thing to be done with someone who's got the nerve to think they can tell me how to do my job, and to try and change centuries of tradition.
Scorpius' heart sank.
Has to be … 'GRYFFINDOR!'
