Chapter 1

The Departure to Hogwarts

The only train that was leaving the King's Cross Station at eleven o'clock was the gleaming red train called The Hogwarts Express. Smoke issued from the train cleared to reveal numerous parents and family members waving at their children who were aboard the train. One particular man, with jet-black hair and round glasses, was jogging alongside the train as he waved vigorously at a boy who could only be his son. The boy, possessing the same jet black hair, seemed anxious as he looked out at his father's form getting smaller and smaller, as the train gained speed.

Inside the train, sitting directly across him, was a girl named Rosie Weasley. She happened to be the cousin and best friend of the boy. She had bushy red hair and brown eyes that were intelligent and sharp.

"You know we will be going back for Christmas, right Al?" said Rosie.

The boy took his bottle green eyes off the scenery outside and frowned at her.

He said, "I'm not worried about being away from mom and dad." he paused and glimpsed at the glass door of the compartment, as though he was afraid that someone,particularly an annoying older brother, was outside eavesdropping on them, "I'm worried that I wouldn't live up their expectation. Do you remember all the stories that Uncle Ron and Uncle George said about what dad did during his school days. He was so cool and amazing. What if I can't do all those stuffs? Even James is admired 'cause he is funny and clever, unlike me."

"I don't consider breaking rules to deliver dragons and having an early death wish, to be cool nor amazing. Actually, I think it is quite horrid," said Rosie.

Al opened his mouth to retort, but at that moment the door of the compartment opened to reveal a boy with pale and messy, blonde hair. Behind him was a tall girl with coal-black hair cut really short and ivory complexion. Her eyes were a brilliant shade of green that almost seemed yellow, which made her look cunning and dangerous. The blonde boy realized that the compartment was occupied, so he made to turn around and leave. But then he did a double take and saw who the occupants really were.

"Well, well. I see a Weasel and a Potty. This should be interesting," sneered the blonde boy.

He looked over at Rosie and gave a challenging stare. Rosie stared back at him, accepting the challenge. She had hoped that this encounter would have happened later because she was really too excited about attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, to care to fight with this boy.

She opened her mouth to say something intelligent, but was cut off by another voice that said, "Really, Malfoy. That's all you've got? Although being who you are, I expected that from you."

Malfoy and the sly-looking girl parted and a red-haired boy with glasses and a mischievous smile came into view. Rosie was glad (for the first time) of that mischievous smile, because it mean that James Sirius Potter, her cousin and Albus's elder brother, was going to do what James does best and get rid of Scorpius Malfoy and his sidekick, whoever she was. Al got up and closed the door. There was a commotion going on in the corridor for a while,then it stopped and the door opened again, as James Potter entered the compartment. Along with him, a dark-skinned girl with curly brown hair entered the compartment.

"Hi, Roxanne!" said Rosie and Al, simultaneously, waving to their cousin.

Roxanne smiled at them. James sat beside Rosie and in a mocking voice, said, "Albus Severus Potter. Were you trying to pick up a fight with the likes of Malfoy? Shame on you."

"Oh, shut up James. By the way, what did you do to him? You know we still haven't reached school so you can't use magic," said an annoyed Albus.

"Nothing much. I just tested Uncle George's new invention called the Stunning Stick. Apparently, it works. It did quite a stunning job," Everyone laughed. "Anyways, I was just coming from the compartment Victoire is in and –"

"-What were you doing with Vicky?" asked Rosie.

"I was teasing her about Teddy. It appears that, her friends didn't know about her boyfriend. It was quite hilarious," said James, laughingly. But no one else joined him as they thought he was really rude to do such thing.

"Really? Victoire and Teddy are together? How romantic!" said Roxanne Weasley, dreamily. The boys started making gagging noises when they heard the word "romantic".

"Well, I'm gonna join my friends, while you losers stay here do your childish talking. Bye," said James. Then he left.

Rosie exchanged looks with Albus and Roxanne, and sighed. Sometimes, James could be very exasperating. She looked out of the window and waited for the train to reach the Hogwarts Station. She really hoped that the rest of the day would pass better than it did in the train.

"I forgot how amazing the food in Hogwarts is," said James, stuffing chicken and bread in his mouth at the same time.

Rosie had to admit that the food was quite delicious. They were at the Great Hall having their first dinner. When the train finally arrived at the Station, she was surprised to see Hagrid, who was a family friend of theirs and made frequent visits to their house for dinner. As Uncle Harry had said, they didn't travel on horse-less carriages, but used boats to cross the Black Lake. Then a teacher, who introduced himself as Professor Sebastian Thorne, led them to the Great Hall for the Sorting Ceremony. It was a tense moment at that time. She was thankful of the fact that Albus and Roxanne were in the same house as her: Gryffindor. She also spotted a few kids she knew as a family friend of hers, like the Scamander twins, Lysander and Lorcan, who were sorted into Ravenclaw, as well as Hestia Longbottom, who became a fellow Gryffindor. After dinner, the students were allowed to mingle, so she and Albus joined the rest of her cousins and received their good wishes.

"Ah, I always knew we will end being a big happy family even in Hogwarts," teased James.

"No you didn't. You kept on saying that I would end up in Slytherin!" snapped Albus.

"And I'm not even done with you! How dare you embarrass me about Teddy!" barked Victoire.

"What?!" cried Dominique. "So all those times you were in our bedroom with Teddy, you guys were snogging? On our bed?" Everyone laughed as they watched Victoire turn red.

Rosie looked around at all her cousins and smiled inwardly. The Weasleys were a unique bunch. There was Victoire, the prettiest of them all, with her silver blonde hair and sparkly blue eyes. Her younger sister by a year, Dominique, looked exactly like Victoire, but possessed the trademark Weasley freckles on the bridge of her nose and was a little...spunky. Louise, the youngest child of Uncle Bill, was starting his third year. If Rosie was the smartest of all the Weasley cousins, then Louis was coolest and the most handsome. He looked very much like Uncle Bill but his looks were more enhanced by the fact that his mother was a part-Veela. Louis and James both had their arms around their best mate, Fred Weasley, Roxanne's elder brother. In fact, all the three looked very much alike with the ginger hair and their mischevious expressions. Then, there were Molly and Lucy. Lucy looked pretty much like Rosie, except that her eyes were blue and tiny, and her face was very flat. Molly, like Albus, Victoire, Dominique and Roxanne, did not the posses any of the Weasley characteristics. Instead, she had strawberry blonde hair and bright green eye.

So, this was her family: unbelievably huge, but completely tight when it came to family loyalty. She was really glad she born in this family, because the Weasley's were the most loveable people in the world.

"MERLIN'S BEARD!"

Rosie awoke with a start. She shielded her eyes from the morning sun rays, shooting through the window. She noticed Roxanne, her dorm mate, clutching her uniform and a look of horror on her face.

"What happened?" asked Rosie. She realized that her other dorm mates, Hestia Longbottom and a girl named Violet Jarvis, have also woken up.

"Fred. That's what has happened," growled Roxanne, "He did this to my uniform because I didn't let him use Lewinsky to send some stupid mail to his friends." Lewinsky was Roxanne's owl.

Rosie got up and had a closer look. She assured Roxanne that it wasn't that bad.

"I can fix it. Here," said Rosie, taking the shirt. She raised her wand and tapped the shirt, while saying 'Tergeo'. Roxanne swore that she will make Fred pay, then everyone started to get dressed as it was pointless to go back to sleep due to the fact that breakfast was in half an hour.

It has been about two months since Rosie and Albus first arrived in Hogwarts. Now, they have gotten into a regular routine. All of her classes were amazing, but her most favourite class was Transfiguration and Defence Against the Dark Arts. Transfiguration was taught by Professor Naomi Raymond. Professor Raymond was the Head of Hufflepuff, and was a fairly young lady with a serene personality. Professor Alaric Ballard, their Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, had a weak German accent and sarcastic attitude.

Professor Longbottom, their Herbology teacher and the Head of Gryffindor, was funny but very clumsy. Then there was Professor Binns, their History of Magic Teacher, Professor Flitwick, their Charms teacher as well as the Head of Ravenclaw, Professor Sinistra, their Astronomy teacher, and last, but not the least, Professor Thorne, their Potions teacher, who was also the Head of Slytherin and the Deputy Headmaster. He was fair, but strict.

The only person really annoyed by Albus and her, was Scorpius Malfoy. In Potions, he would try to flatter Professor Thorne, but in vain. At the end of every class he would make snide remarks about Albus, but mostly her. Rosie thought he hated her so much because all the teachers seemed to favour her, which was fair as she was the only person who actually studied for all her classes. One day, at the end of another fascinating lesson about the Curse of the Bogies, Malfoy was whispering to his sidekick, whose name was Sheherazade Layl. She caught a few words and phrases that could have been "sneak up on her", "curse" and "daughter of a mudblood". This was enough to fill her with rage.

"If you are really so weak, that you have to sneak up on me to curse, then you shouldn't bother. Because it would only prove to me and everyone else what a coward you are," hissed Rosie. From behind, Albus said nothing.

"So you want to duel, do you?" sneered Malfoy.

"I don't need to duel you to know that I will be able to knock you out in the first five seconds," said Rosie, haughtily.

"Now who's being the coward?"

This time, Rosie silently glared at Malfoy, while thinking. She knew that Uncle Harry would not like it if she accepted Malfoy's challenge. She glanced at Albus, who gave her a don't-you-dare look, which made up her mind.

"Fine. I'll do it," answered Rosie.