13

As the train pulled away from the station Albus looked out the window at his father. Rose pulled him away from the window to find a carriage. "Come on Al, lets' go see if we can find Victorie or crash James' little group."

As they went down the aisle loads of people stared at them. Finally they found an empty carriage across from James. "What made you almost miss the train?" Asked Rose as soon as they sat down "Was it something about James?" Albus shook his head, "Rosie, you do know that you ask a lot of questions right? And the answer is yes and no by the way." "Huh? I'm confused how can it be yes and no?" "Dad just told me not to let James wind me up and he also told me something that I never knew and seems slightly impossible." Rose opened her mouth to say something but Albus cut her off. "He said that if I didn't want to be in Slytherin, I could choose Gryffindor over it and the hat would listen to me." "That is highly improbable!" shouted Rosie "There was nothing about that in my history book! Besides if it happened to him why did he never tell us before?" Albus just shrugged "I have no idea." Rosie got her book out of her bag and started reading, looking for some sort of reference as to if the hat takes choices into account.

As the ride went on the trolley came by with Cauldron Cakes, Licorice Wands and Edible Dark Marks given as a treat from Weasley Wizard Wheezes for the train ride to school. "Hello Albus." Said the trolley lady as she pulled her cart up in front of their door, "Um, hello, sorry but whom are you? Have we met?" "Oh that's right, you were too little to remember, I'm Cho Chang. The last time you saw me you were only about a year old." "Wait," said Rose "weren't you the girl that was dating Cedric Diggorey before he died?" "Rose Molly Weasley!" James had come out of his compartment just in time to hear what Rose had said. "You don't just come out and ask if they were dating a person that died! You should have learned that from Teddy! What would your mum or your dad say huh?" "I'm sorry Ms. Chang I meant no disrespect." "It's okay Rose, aren't you Hermione and Ron's girl?" Rose nodded, "How do you know them?" "When they were in fifth year they, Hermione, Ron and Harry started some called Dumbledore's Army, and they taught everyone who was in the club how to protect themselves because He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was back and our teacher was refusing to let us use magic." She smiled, "You look just like your father Albus, except the glasses yours are rectangular his were circular." Then she went on her way with the trolley after giving them all a free Cauldron Cake.

As they pulled up to the station everyone got really excited, like Christmas had come early. "This excitement isn't really that different from how everyone feels on the first day of school in the muggle world." Said Albus as he and Rosie got off the train. "So you're a muggle-born then?" asked a voice behind them. When they turned around they saw a boy with almost unnaturally blonde hair, and a slightly pointed face, he was also rather pale compared to some of the other students. "So what if I am? Does that make me less than you?" "Not really but that is what my father says, you must be a Weasley no other family has hair that red according to my father. He says you're all a bunch of blood traitors; don't respect your pureblood status as much as you should." Albus took a step forward, "I suggest that you quit talking like that to my cousin, you don't know who we are and we don't know who you are." "I didn't mean it that way! I don't care about blood status or anything like that. I'm Scorpius by the way, Scorpius Malfoy." As they were talking they were going over by the booming voice that called out "Firs' years' over 'ere!" over and over. When they finally got over to the voice, Scorpius looked up in a touch of wonder. "Hi Hagrid!" Hagrid was about three times as large as a normal human and about twice as tall. He worked on the grounds of Hogwarts as the Game Keeper; he was also the care of magical creatures' professor. "Hey there Albus, Rosie, have a good summer?" they nodded, "Whose dat yer got there?" "Oh," said Rosie, "This is Scorpius Malfoy, Draco's son." "Yhea I know Draco, he was a trouble maker." Scorpius looked shock for a moment but recovered quickly. "Dat Ev'ryone? Good lets go." And they went to a small dock where about fifty boats were tied up. "Three ter a boat!" shouted Hagrid who got a boat to himself, when everyone was in a boat Hagrid yelled "Forward" and the boats launched out into the lake. When they turned a corner they got their fist view of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, as was as if the lake its self had taken in a breath then let it out as everyone took a collective gasp. They made it to an underground harbor and everyone got out and stepped on to a stone platform that led up some stairs. Hagrid brought them as far as the doors then waited for Professor Carroll who had taken Professor McGonagall's place of bringing the new first years into be sorted. When he came he let Hagrid leave and took them to a small side chamber in which he told them to wait quietly and he would come and get them when they were ready in the Great Hall. Albus heard a girl somewhere in the back nervously reciting spells that she had memorized. "I'll be right back." He whispered to Rose who nodded in reply. He wove his way to where he heard the girl and eventually found her. "You're not going to have to do magic to get sorted you know." "Huh, but I was told that there was to be a test, a way that we had to prove ourselves?" Albus laughed, "We have to try on a hat. That hat will tell us which house we belong in." "Is it enchanted to change to the house colors or something?" Albus shook his head, "The hat will tell us what house we're in. It talks, and sings according to my brother." The girl shook her head, "That is not possible, simply not logical, and a hat cannot talk, changes colors maybe but not talk." "What's your name? I'm Albus by the way." She smiled, "I'm Olana. I'm not at all used to this; I was raised in an orphanage you see so this," she waved her hands to indicate the whole place, "is impossible." Albs laughed, "Come on, I want you to meet some people." And he led her back to Rose and Scorpius. When they got there Albus introduced Olana to everybody and they started talking. Then Professor Carroll came back, "It is time," was all he said. Professor Carroll was average height and looked as though he had used Just for Men touch of Gray and chose the wrong color. All the first years walked into the Great Hall, there were four tables at which all the students then all the way in the back of the room was a fifth table. It was on a platform and all of the professors were there, but most of the first years were looking at the ceiling. Suspended from the ceiling were what seemed like a thousand candles, and it was bewitched to look like the sky outside.

Once everyone had quieted down Professor Carroll said "When you hear your name called you will come sit on the stool and I shall place the Sorting Hat on your head. At this point all the first years looked nervous, Albus looked at Scorpius and saw that he looked nervous, and Olana looked close to a break down. Rose looked confidant on the outside but when Albus looked into her eyes he saw that she was just as nervous as anyone else. "Scorpius Malfoy." Scorpius looked to Albus and gave a nervous smile then went up. When he sat on the stool and the hat placed on his head he could hear the hat talking. "You have courage yes, and cunning, knowledge as well, where to put you?" Scorpius chanted in his head, 'I am not my father, any other house, any other house, please!' over and over. "So," said the Sorting Hat "not a true Slytherin at heart are you?" then aloud to the Hall it shouted the house name of GRYFFINDOR. Anybody could see that he was hugely relieved. "Albus Potter." Everyone started whispering and mumbling, Professor McGonagall looked at him intently for a moment then relaxed. He went up and before the hat was fully over his head it too shouted Gryffindor aloud to the crowd. Then after two more people had been sorted, Julie Abbot and Robert Zood, both Hufflepuff's Rose got called. This time the hat didn't care to be quite it said "Another Weasley! Better be Gryffindor!" and it gave what seemed to be a slight chuckle as she went to join her friends at the table decorated in red and gold. After her Olana was sorted, she was there for what seemed like an hour but when the hat finally called out it yelled out Gryffindor. When she reached the table she seemed close to tears. "What happened? You were up there for like, and hour!" Olana just looked down at her plate, "The hat said I didn't belong to any one house that I had all of them but I couldn't be put in Slytherin, and there have been stories. About who my father is, and I didn't want them to be true, I'm not as smart as everyone thinks I am so that canceled out Ravenclaw, and I don't know anyone who is in Hufflepuff." She said this all like she wanted to say it but was afraid of what might be a result. Rose looked at her aghast, "The sorting hat really did take your choices into account? That's never happened before though!" "Yes it has, it happened to my dad." "It took my choice into account too; I didn't want to be in Slytherin because I don't want to follow in the same steps as my father." "And I was the one afraid of being put in Slytherin!" said Albus with a slight laugh in his voice to break the awkward tension that had occurred. Rose looked at all of them, "Now," she said, "I suggest that we all start eating before it leaves." All the plates and goblets were filled with steak, pork chops, chicken legs and anything you could imagine.

About thirty minutes later after the last person had finished eating, dessert appeared. There was Sundays with four flavors, candied Pineapple, and there were Cauldron Cakes three times the size of the ones on the train and filled with chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry ice cream. All the first years were appalled, "James was understating when he explained the feasts!" said Albus, "This is so, so unexplainable!" "You can say that again, Al. Look there's your Mum's triple tart, Chocolate no less!" said Rose, "Who makes this stuff I want to thank them!" "No! House Elves make this stuff but they love what they do. Only one elf liked to be thanked and that was Dobby." "Al, that's the elf that's buried at Uncle Bill's cottage!" said Rosie, "I know that Rosie, the inscription reads something like, 'Here lies Dobby, a free elf,' or something along those lines." Said Albus, "I wonder why we never hear that much about him, whenever I ask Dad he just says that Dobby was his friend and a good elf." "He used to belong to my Dad." Said Scorpius, who looked down at his gold plate and pushed it away, suddenly not feeling hungry. "Huh?" said James who had walked over, "if that's true, why is he buried on my uncle's property?" "It was the same year that your dad Harry, saved your mum from Voldemort. My dad Draco Malfoy, owned Dobby, sort of secondary though. At the end of the year Harry freed Dobby by tricking my Grandfather into giving Dobby a sock. Then about five years later my Aunt Bellatrix stabbed him as he disapperated out of the Malfoy manor with Hermione, Ron and Harry." As he finished his story the dessert disappeared and Professor McGonagall stood up. "Hello, for those who do not know or have just forgotten over the summer my name is Professor McGonagall, the head mistress of this school. Now some start of term notes, no one is allowed in the forbidden forest, hence its name." as she said this she eyed James and George who smiled, "And for a few select students at the end of the year there will be a trip down to the Chamber of Secrets. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley will be directing the tour, just because you know them personally or have a relation to them does not automatically make you part of the tour." Again she looked at James and George, who again smiled. "Now off to bed, first years first and follow your prefects! They will lead you to the common room and then all other will follow."

Chapter 3

All the first years stood up and so did the prefects. The Gryffindor prefects were Victorie and a boy named Zern. Zern wasn't stocky or thin but a perfect balance of both, he had light brown hair that had a slight curl to it. Zern was well built and was about five feet tall, all the first year girls, except Rose started to stare at him like he was a saint or something. "What do they see in him he hasn't said a word yet and they're already falling head over heels for him?" Both boys laughed and clapped her on the back and followed the hoard of 'drooling' girls up the staircase. When they reached the first moving staircase everyone froze. "Now," said Victorie, "these staircases move, you have to make sure that you get off at the right 'stop'." Victorie was Bill and Flure's daughter; she looked mostly like Flure, average height and gorgeous, but she had Bill's love for magical creatures. Most of the boys including Scorpius were gawking at her. "Hey, dude, stop staring at my cousin will ya?" Albus said this louder than he had wanted to and all the boys stared at him in disbelief that she could possibly be his cousin. Victorie shot him a grateful look but it was clear that she was used to this problem. They continued up the stairs, stopping every so often to wait for the other or to get off at the right stop. Eventually they all reached the portrait hole which was the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. "Each house has its own way to get into their own common room, ours is a password. Right now the password is 'flobberworm' it changes throughout the year but not very often." Victorie said this loud and clear but she need not have projected her voice everyone had quieted down when they reached the portrait hole. As she said the password a couple of girls in the back made a chorus of 'ew' near the back of the group. "Now on the count of three everyone will say it at once…" Zern got cut off by Victorie, "Wait, you forgot to introduce her Zern! Everyone meet Marida, though most people still call her the Fat-Lady." "That's so rude!" piped up Rose, "Why would they do that? Why not just call her by her name?" "That," said Marida, "is what I've been asking myself for years!" everyone but Rose, Albus, Scorpius, Victorie and Zern laughed. Once everyone was inside the common room Zern and Victorie turned to face the first years, Victorie stood a little ways away from Zern as if to give him space. "Now, your House will be your family, like any family there will be disagreements but if you get into trouble the entire House gets punished by the loosing of points. However if you get a detention only you will receive that detention. If you do something good and receive points the entire House gets points, at the end of the year the House that has the most points gets the House Cup. Boys will follow me and girls will follow Victorie." Everyone nodded even though they weren't giving their full attention; they were looking around the common room. The common room was decorated with rich reds a deep gold's while being put off nicely by both dark and light neutral colors in the painting and tapestries. As the focal point there was a huge roaring fire which was under a special service award to Neville Longbottom, Ginny Weasley, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger and Harry Potter.

The boys followed Zern up to the boy's dormitory and the girls followed Victorie. In both dormitories there was a four poster bed for each person a nightstand for each person and in the center of the room was a towel warmer/ heater. On every bedside table there was a bedside lamp and under the beds were cabinets for clothes and at the foot of each bed was a person's trunk waiting for them, by the window there was a huge laundry hamper for everyone's clothes. As Albus was looking around he was trying to find James, George, or Berry's trunks but could not find any of them. "Um, Zern?" "Yep, what's wrong?" "Where are the other boys? I mean I was expecting to see James or Berry's here but I can't find them." "Oh each year you move up a section, James would be in section two and Berry in section three get it?" everyone nodded and continued to look around and Zern took them on a tour, showed them where everything was. "Okay then breakfast starts at 5:30 and ends at 8:00, classes will begin at 8:30. Schedules will be handed out during breakfast, get ready for bed and get ready for a big day tomorrow." Albus and Scorpius had beds next to each other so they stayed up talking.

The next morning Albus got up at six only to find Scorpius up dressed and reading his Defense against the Dark Arts book. "You're up early." Said Albus still half asleep, he got up and pulled his robes out of his trunk and pulled them on. "I couldn't sleep so I decided to read, I was actually about to leave without you as soon as I was done with this page." Said Scorpius with a smirk on his face as he got up and headed toward the door, "You snore by the way." He said as he walked out. Albus who didn't want to have to worry about being late to class quickly stuffed his books into his bag and a few rolls of parchment then went after him. When he got downstairs he saw Rose and Scorpius talking on the couch, Rose still had a big poof of hair on her head, "I can see that you did not brush your hair yet Rosie." He joked; she made a face at him. "You would not believe how long it takes those girls to get ready in that bathroom; I could barely get in there to use the bathroom! It was absolute chaos so I just grabbed a hair tie and it broke when I was putting it in." She put down the spiral bound note books that she had insisted on bring to Hogwarts with her, and looked more closely at the boys. Rose prided herself on how well she 'read' people in the muggle world and more often than not could tell if they were hiding something. "Did you sleep at all last night Scorpius?" she asked, "Yhea I did, not much though. Are you going to carry all those books around with you all day?" "Of course she is," said James who had just come down stairs, "Rosie always goes over board when it comes to school then slacks on the assignments." "Shut it James." Said Rose with her face going almost as red as her hair. "I do not slack on the assignments, I have trouble with them and that was only math." "Okay then, before you have a lovely duel to the death, how about we go and get some food?" Rose stomped off and left without another word.

This morning the Great Hall was not as lavishly decorated as it was the night before, and instead of eating at the head table the teachers could be found eating among the students. For Rose and Albus who had went to a muggle school this was weird, the teachers were talking to the students as equals not teacher student. Almost immediately they saw professor Longbottom, as they walked a couple of students got up and Albus, Rose, and Scorpius took their seats before James could grab one. "Nice way to treat the guy who led you all here. Hey Professor!" "Hey James, hey you three! Who's your friend here?" he answered starting curiously at Scorpius. "Hello Sir, my name is Scorpius, Scorpius Malfoy." "I should have known you were a Malfoy, you look just how your father did." Said Professor Longbottom, "But you are with Rose and Al so you must be okay." Professor Longbottom laughed. "What am I, chopped liver? He's with me too you know Neville!" said James in mock hurt, but he was laughing. Neville was laughing to but said, "Now James you're in school so you call me Sir, Professor, or Professor Longbottom not Neville." The only reason he said this is because another teacher was walking by, everyone knew that Neville was the only teacher in the school who would let students call him by his first name. Professor Carroll was walking around giving out schedules to the first years and giving them brief instructions on how to get to their first class. "Ah good I don't need to give you three instructions." Said Carroll, who gave a brief smile of what seemed like relief , "You all have Herbology first." He said in answer to their questioning looks. "James you have History of Magic first , here are your schedules have a good first day, and remember for the first three days the teachers won't mark you late but that's it." As he left Amberlie came up to them, "Hi daddy, James, Albus, Rose, and sorry I don't know your name, but hi anyway!" she said this all with a smile on her face, "Hey Dad can I come help in the Green Houses now, I have a free period first. Please, I really want to." Amberlie was blonde with perfect curls and was, unlike Rose's, close to her head. Amberlie was also sometimes drifty in thought but she had a way with reading people and telling the truth very bluntly while not being rude about it. "Sorry Am, but I have first years so no can do kiddo. Maybe later in the year, but if you want to come down during lunch you can help me get the Mandrakes ready for the third years." Amberlie nodded, "You look like that Slytherin that has a picture up in the trophy room with the Quidditch team, by the way." Then she walked away without another word Neville looked at her, "I think she's even more drifty then her mother is, oh well she's only twelve." He said this more to himself then anything he blinked and looked back to the group of people that he was sitting with, "Come on then, let's get going, it takes a while to get down to the Green Houses the first week or so. I hope you all like the first lesson I have planed." As they walked down to the green houses they passed the Whomping Willow, a tree a tree that is not afraid to defend its' self. "Hey who is that Am girl, I know she's Neville's daughter but still." Said Scorpius who was a little bit scared by her and how open she was, Albus laughed a little bit but Rose answered his question. "Her full name is Amberlie, but everyone just calls her ether Am or Amber. Neville and her mum Luna are James, Albus and Lily's god parents, and my parents, Ron and Hermione, are Amberlie's god parents so she's like a cousin to the both of us." Rose looked at him and saw that he was trying to take this all in, "Oh and if your hitting on her, she's really good with potions and could brew one that would make you do pretty much whatever she wants you to, and she knows the right plants to stew to do just about the same thing." Neville then butted in as he dropped back a little bit as to let them catch up. "And if you are hitting on my daughter, you have to prove yourself to me." And a few minutes later they reached the door to one of the green houses'. "Welcome to the Green Houses boys and girl." All four of them laughed.

After a little bit of waiting the whole class was finally assembled it was composed of Slytherin and Gryffindor first years. "Okay class, I am Professor Longbottom but everyone just calls me Professor Neville or just Neville." Announced Neville with a small smile on his face. "We will start off with a safety course in the Green House then we will move on to taking care of basic magical and non-magical fungi." Rose's hand shot right up into the air "Sir? Didn't you say that we would love if not at least like the first class? Sorry but safety course and fungi doesn't sound like much fun." Neville laughed "You haven't been through my safety course." "Okay now I'm scared." Said Albus jokingly and they laughed, "Can we please get started Sir?" Neville laughed again, "You are just as impatient as your Uncle Ron Albus." "You know I'm not usually like this Sir, I am just a little bit anxious." Said Albus with a little bit of a smile playing on his lips.

As it turned out Neville's idea of a safety course was setting up a scavenger hunt throughout the green house. The catch was that they could not use their wands, or use any magic to move the pots; in fact they were not allowed to move the pots at all. All of the Gryffindor's played fair but the Slytherins' used their wands' to move leaves or pots when they thought that Neville wasn't looking. Because the Gryffindor's didn't cheat, they won, all of the answers were on the pots and leaves as one big puzzle. Neville knew that the Slytherins' had cheated, he had caught most of them trying t put their wands into their robes when he turned around. "Now if you didn't cheat both teams should have won and we could have had a free period for the rest of class. However because the Slytherins cheated we have to do work." He looked around the green house and eyed everyone who had cheated; he said their names out loud and told them to stay standing. "The rest of you have a choice, you can sit and relax or you can participate." After he said that he checked those who were sitting and made sure that none of the people that he saw cheating were sitting, then nodded and summoned a chalk board and started notes. Of course Rosie opted to take the notes and paid rapt attention to what Neville was saying. As the class went on Albus noticed that Scorpius was paying a lot more attention to Rosie than the others in the class but he dismissed it as a whole but gave him a warning. "My dad married his best friends sister, so I can handle you staring at my cousin, but James is a bit more protective of her and treats her a sister so be careful." Albus said this in an undertone and with the hint of a joke in his voice but the warning was clear. Scorpius looked over at Albus but Al was already back to his sketch pad drawing one of the flowers he saw on green house wall.

As class ended Neville stopped a bit early, "Okay class that is enough for one day. If you have a general idea where your next class is go on ahead if not Potions, Charms, History of Magic, and Transfiguration go to your allotted corners and I will give you directions." As he said each subject he pointed to a corner of the green house. "You three stay here for a minute, I'll send you with a note don't worry Rosie." Rosie, Scorpius and Albus looked at each other with a worried look. Albus stood there thinking, 'what could I have done already?' Scorpius just stood there slightly nervous thinking about what his father would say if he got into trouble on the first day. Rosie went pale; to Albus she looked as pale as Scorpius. "I will tell you now, if you three get into as much trouble as James and his friends, you will have given your parents a run for their money." Neville said after everyone had left looking at the three of them. "Bloody hell all three of you already look guilty!" he laughed as he wrote out a note for the three of them. "If you need anything, come and ask, unlike most teachers I was in your spot, and needed a teacher to help with the research and the trouble making." He looked at all three of them, handed the note to Rosie and sent them on their way. As they headed up to the castle Scorpius asked the question that had been bugging him. "Why would he offer to help us break the rules? He is a teacher so shouldn't he be yelling at us instead?" Albus looked at him, "What did your dad tell you about the final battle?" "You mean the one where Voldemort was killed by your dad? Not much really." "What did he tell you?" asked Rosie as she went back to the boys who had stopped. "Dad told me that he had messed up, and that Harry saved his life, twice and that Harry had taunted Voldemort before he killed him." Albus looked at him with disbelief on his face. "That is all that your dad told you about the final battle?" asked Rosie as she prodded the boys into moving again while Scorpius was talking. "Well yeah, I mean, history isn't written by the losers and let's face it the losers don't like to talk about defeat." Both Rose and Albus nodded but Rosie realized something. "Hang on, muggles say that. I have never heard a wizard or a witch say that before. I doubt that your father willingly sent you to a muggle school so where did you learn it?" Scorpius just looked at the ground and said, "Hurry up we're already late, and I don't want to get any later." They ran through the halls and just made it into the classroom about 3 minutes late. As soon as Albus walked into the room Slughorn's face lit up. "You must be a Potter, and a Weasley! Come now sit down sit down and take out some parchment and a quill and start taking notes." Scorpius couldn't help but acknowledge that he was not identified by the professor but he dismissed it. He didn't expect to be, after all his father was a deatheater and tried to kill the greatest wizard who lived, Albus Dumbledore. 'Sometimes it's best not to get caught up in everything.' He reminded himself as he took out his things. Compared to Neville's class this was dull, just another lecture but nothing hands on. The same was true with the rest of their classes, but Professor Carroll's class was rather strange, he transfigured Scorpius' desk into a large dog before the class only to have the dog take one of Rose's books and run around the room with it inducing extreme chaos.

At lunch all of the teachers sat at the main table, mainly because there wasn't as much room with the students now as there had been during breakfast, and all the houses were separated. Albus's owl, which he named Hedwig after his father's owl, came in and nearly toppled his pumpkin juice. Albus took the letter and set Hedwig down on the bench beside him where no one was sitting at the moment. The letter was from home, already, in response to the note he had sent home the night before telling his parents about what happened the first night. It read;

Dear Al,

Glad you made it to school alright. Everyone does but the boats tend to freak some people out. How was the first day of classes? And give poor Hedwig some rest before sending her out again, she's sure to be extremely tired. Hey Al, hope you and Rosie are coping okay with all the school work. Aunt Hermione loved it though. She doubled up on as many classes as she could the silly girl! Somehow she still managed to find time to cause trouble with me and Ron! Try not to get in trouble and don't let James wind you up! Did you make any friends yet Al? Are the teachers nice, how complicated are the subjects? And don't be so mean to Hedwig! She is a great owl, no need to make her carry letters for you when she was probably as tired as you were last night! See you guys soon, and don't forget to grill Vicky for what James said before you guys got on the train, you know about the kiss?

Lots of Love

Lily, Mum, and Dad

Albus was shocked that Hedwig had gotten both home and back so quickly. As he looked to the ground where she fluttered after he took the letter he got his answer, she was passed out with her head under her wing. "You know you could have waited to come back. You don't need to be speed racer every time you silly bird." He said to the owl as he picked her up and brought her to the owlery for a good rest. When he got back he, Rose and Scorpius all went up to the common room for a free period before charms. Albus told them about the letter and let them see it. "Her hand writing has gotten loads better since the last time I saw it." Said Rose as she handed the letter off to Scorpius. "By the looks of this letter you haven't told them that Scorpius is in Gryffindor, tell them that I said hi by the way." And she walked off to the big chairs with a book and started reading. "Is she always like that Al?" asked Scorpius as he watched her become enthralled with the novel she was reading. Albus nodded, "Pretty much, hey can I borrow your owl by the way, Hedwig needs the sleep." They laughed and Albus wrote a letter home, this time telling them about Scorpius. He wasn't exactly thrilled with the answers he might get because he was friends with the Malfoy heir, but hey, what are you going to do? Then he sealed the letter and looked at Scorpius, "What is your owls' name again?" "Emma, she's an eagle owl."

When he got back Scorpius was also reading, but it was a paperback, none of the books on the list were paper backs as far as he knew. "What are you reading Scorpius?" he asked as he came up, Scorpius looked up at Albus then back down at the book, "It's nothing just a series that I like." Rose piped up after catching a glimpse at the cover, "That's Percy Jackson! It's a muggle series though. First you say something that is, like never said in the Wizarding world, and you're reading a muggle series? What the heck is up, Draco Malfoy's son? The boy of my parent's enemy and call a blood freaks son is reading Muggle literature?" Scorpius looked up as he dog-eared the page he was on and closed the book. "My father is obsessed with 'blood-purity' but my mum, not so much. I am a pureblood but my mum, she wasn't raised as a pureblood, and she was raised as a muggle. She was in Gryffindor you know, the only thing that she beat Hermione in was flying, and that's because Hermione, from what Mum said, didn't like brooms." He sighed and looked at his only magical friends. "She insisted that I was also raised like a muggle, only with the knowledge of the Wizarding world. Dad wasn't so thrilled at the idea but well, my Mother can be downright frightening when she's angry." "Yhea," said Albus nodding, "I know that feeling; my mum is like a human dragon when she's mad." Rose gave him a playful slap in the arm, "That is not nice Albus Severus Potter! Your Mum is super nice." "Yhea she's like Grandma Molly!" Rose scowled but left the subject. "Your middle name is Severus?" asked Scorpius, Albus nodded, "That makes no sense at all to me." "Why not?" Albus asked, after all his dad told him that he was named after the two bravest men he knew, why would that be weird? "It's weird because Severus Snape killed Albus Dumbledore." Albus looked shocked, why on earth would he be named after a murderer and his victim? "Dad said I was named after two of the men he knew, if one was a murderer that makes no sense." They nodded. "Come on we need t get going if we're going to make it to class on time. Flitwick's room is past like four of those moving staircases." Said Rose as she stood up and grabbed her bag.

When they entered the room Professor McGonagall was standing at the front of the room. Once everyone took their seats she began a speech that she had forgotten to give on the first night. "I highly doubt that any of your teachers have told you this yet so listen up." She didn't need to say this because the room was already so quiet you could have heard an owl fly in. "Last year we had an extreme amount of students who did not do their work because no matter what they would have moved on to the next level."Her eyes found their way around the room and settled on Albus and Rose's just a moment longer than anyone else. "This is no longer true. If you get ten or more zeros in a two separate classes you will not move up." Again she swept the room with her eyes, "This will be easier for you than any other students, purely because you have yet to set up a work strategy as the older students have." At this she looked at Albus again, he understood why too. His brother James never did any work what so ever, when there was a prank he could be pulling. He was a legend among all those at Hogwarts and those who had yet to get their letter but had heard of him through siblings. Only at the Potter house was he looked down upon and not up to. With that she left the room and Professor Flitwick started telling them about the rules and what they would be covering this semester. Like the rest of the classes it seemed to drag on forever, so when the bell rang to signal the end of classes everyone heaved a sigh of relief. "Jeez, that first class was more boring than History!" said Scorpius, everyone who heard, even the Slytherins', laughed in agreement.

On the way up to the Gryffindor Common Room two weeks later Scorpius, Albus and Rose saw Amberlie and James. "James, you shouldn't do that." They heard Amberlie tell James as they walked up to them. "What shouldn't James do?" asked Albus, "wait scratch that. What is James going to do?" "Bug off you three." Said James "This doesn't concern you. Besides you should be in class shouldn't you?" "The bell already rang James. So what are you going to do?" "James is going to try and impress a girl by playing a prank on her boyfriend. The worst part is that the boy is Zern's little brother and he was a beater on the Quidditch team last year." "James you are nuts, what year is this dude in?" asked Rose, "What's his name?" "Never you guys mind. Bloody hell all of you just back off!" Albus, Rose, Amberlie and Scorpius all looked at each other and shrugged. "I guess it's up to James if he wants to end up in the hospital wing." Said Scorpius, "Amberlie, right?" "Yhea, but everyone just calls me Amber or Am, what's up?" "James didn't answer Rosie's last question. What is this guy's name?" "His name is Lucka. He looks a lot like Zern but stockier, more built up. He also likes his hair a bit longer kind of like Al's" "I take it he is also in Gryffindor then?" asked Rose, "Who is the girl that he's trying to impress anyway?" "I said never mind now Bug Off!" "Bloody hell James, I have never seen you this way, you must really like this girl." Joked Albus, who and was purely enjoying himself. This was the first time he could get back at his brother without being told off by his parents. Scorpius was seeing the same glint in James' eyes that he saw in his father's eyes when he was mad but Albus and Rose didn't seem to notice it. "Um guys?" he said timidly and Albus and Rose looked at him and saw the fear in his eyes Rose made a change in subject. "Come on Am, let's go to the common room and leave James to make a fool out of himself." Albus looked at Scorpius, "Hey why don't we go out and fly a bit? I'm sure that Madame Hooch will let us borrow a couple of brooms." He nodded and they went back out. "Scorpius, why were you so scared? It was only James after all?" Scorpius sighed, "When I looked at his eyes I saw the same look that my dad gets when he's mad and I really do not want to be cursed out on the first day of school."

As the boys got on to the Quidditch pitch they saw Ozmon the captain of the Gryffindor team. "Hey you must be Albus. James says you're a decent seeker, try outs start in two hours be there." And with that he walked off the field. The boys got brooms from Madame Hooch and went out on the pitch. They brought out the Quaffle and Albus pulled out a practice snitch that his dad had gotten him for Christmas last year. They took turns racing to catch the snitch, Albus always got it first, and taking and protecting against the Quaffle. "Scorpius, you should try out for chaser, you're really good!" "Yhea right, I am in first year same as you. Who was the last player that got chosen in their first year for chaser? Besides I still haven't told dad that I am in Gryffindor, he would go ballistic!" "Just tell him, it would be easier if you told him instead of him finding out on his own." Said Albus as Scorpius blocked another attempt at the goal by Albus. "For my family they don't care why would your dad? More importantly why do you care what he thinks?" Scorpius shook his head, "It's not what he thinks, I'm more worried at what he might do Al." Albus looked at his friend "Just tell him and get it over with." Scorpius dropped the subject and so did Albus for the rest of the time they were out there. "Come on let's head back and try to relax a bit before tryouts. Besides you should probably help me with that letter, and I'm trying out for chaser." Albus clapped him on his back and they headed back up to the castle for the hour before tryouts.