"Albus! Rose! C'mon, over here!" yelled Scorpius. He stood near a train entrance holding his barn owl, Swift Wing, in one hand and waved with the other.

Albus picked up his own snowy owl, Athena, in her cage and sprinted over, Rose followed carrying a wicker cage with her gray tabby cat, Sheila.

"Sorry, bit of a, uh, hold-up at home," Albus panted.

"Lily lost her cat-in the house. Took us forever to find it, hiding it the basement it was," Rose explained. "It is only a kitten."

"I guess cats are a bit harder to find than owls," Scorpius said, nodding. The Hogwarts Express whistled loudly. "Let's get on or else we'll miss the train," he said climbing on. Albus and Rose followed him into an empty compartment. After they had settled in and the owls were sitting contentedly on their owner's shoulders, Scorpius asked "so, how was your summer?"

"Fine, just as boring as every other summer. We visited a bunch of relatives all over. Uncle Charlie in Romania, uncle Bill and aunt Fleur at Shell Cottage, grandma and grandpa Weasley at the Burrow, each other…" Rose said, sounding extremely bored.

Albus nodded. "Exactly the same as we do every other summer. Nothing exciting at all. Dad said that maybe next summer we'll do something more exciting. He said he could take us to a professional Quidditch game. Wouldn't that be awesome? I bet he would take you too. He doesn't have anything against you, just your dad. And sort of your mom. Your mom is Pansy Parkinson, right?" Albus asked. "Well, was. She's Pansy Malfoy now, right?"

Scorpius nodded. "Draco and Pansy Malfoy," he said, making a face at their names.

"So, well, how was your summer Scorpius?" Rose asked.

"Got locked in my room the whole time except during meal times. Right after I finished my food I had to go back to my room. He's still upset about me getting put in Gryffindor. He says that its family disgrace not to be in Slytherin. I think the other thing is that your dad, Albus, was in Gryffindor and well, your dad saved his life and they are enemies. Your letters were the only thing that kept me entertained. They saved me. I mean, the only thing I had to do there was read about school and stuff like that, do homework which I finished in the first 2 weeks. Then I had the rest of the summer to waste. All of August and half of July," Scorpius said, shuddering slightly at the memory.

"I think that in all the history of the world, we have the most boring summers. The most dreadful summers ever," Rose said.

Scorpius nodded in agreement. "I completely agree," he said.

"Well, other than my dad, yeah, we do," Albus said. "He was just like you, Scorpius, locked in your room. Thing was he wasn't allowed to let his owl out, wasn't allowed to even do homework or read anything to do with magic. Plus he was only given tiny portions of food. Basically starved to death."

"Yeah, that would be bad," Scorpius said.

"He said it was terrible but I wouldn't know, it wasn't me that it happened to," Albus said.

Just then the compartment door opened and a tall boy with black hair and narrow dark eyes. He looked at Rose, Albus and Scorpius and made a face as if he had smelled something really bad. "Are you going to be entering?" he asked in his cold, hard, icey voice.

"Enter what?" asked Rose sounding thoroughly confused.

"You mean your parents haven't told you yet?" he sneered.

"We have no idea what you're talking about," Albus said.

"My dad told me right when he found out. Actually, your father, Malfoy, told him. So he told a co-worker but not even his own son," he said in a nasty tone.

"Go away, Goyle," Scorpius said.

"I'd love to," Goyle said, backing out and slamming the door shut.

"I'd love to sock him in the nose right now," Rose said.

"I'd love to," mimed Albus, pretending to be Goyle. "So stupid he is. Wish he'd just leave us alone. I mean, just cause his dad and your dad were friends, well, sort of friends, doesn't mean that we have to be close friends or extreme enemies."

Scorpius and Rose nodded in agreement. "Well, I guess the only thing we can do about him is ignore him," Scorpius said.

Rose shook her head. "I could sock him. Would be very... what's the word... satisfying."

The compartment door slid open again. The plump witch with the sweets trolley stood in the opening, smiling brightly. "Anything off the trolley dearies?" she asked.

"A chocolate frog and a pumpkin pasty, please," Rose said.

"Cauldron cake," Scorpius said.

"Just a chocolate frog," Albus said. The three pulled out their money and paid as the witch put their purchases into their outstretched hands. They sat back down and shut the compartment door. They opened their snacks and the trip to Hogwarts began.

**********************************

The train screeched to a halt, jolting Albus awake. Rose and Scorpius seemed to have been rudely awakened too and were rubbing their eyes sleepily.

"We're already here?" Scorpius asked, yawning.

"I guess," Rose said, standing up and stretching. The three sixth years zombie walked off the train and to the carriages. When they pulled up in front of the school, they were quite more awake. They hopped out and jogged to the great hall. They took their normal seats. They waited patiently as the second years and up filed in and took their seats at their house tables. Then, once everyone had settled in, Professor McDermott, the transfiguration teacher and deputy head master, led the new first years in. They seemed very small and scared, walking in the shadow of 6 foot 5 inch Professor McDermott.

The old patched and frayed wizards hat sitting atop a equally as old and disfigured stool sat in the middle of the slightly raised platform in the front of the teacher's table.

Professor McDermott cleared his throat and the room fell silent. "First years, when I call your name please come and sit on the stool. I will place the sorting hat on your head and you will be sorted into your houses," he explained. With the calling of the name "Elliot, Hannah," the sorting began.

It seemed to take much longer then every other year for the sorting to finish. FInally after every new student had comfortably sat down at their new table, Professor Bumble, the Hogwarts Headmaster, stood.

"A few start of term announcements," he said in his loud booming voice. "As you know, the forest is forbidden as is being out of your common room after your allotted curfew. Also, I have a one other announcement. This year in the school of Durmstrang, the Triwizard Tournament will take place. If you wish to participate in the tournament, sign up sheets will be put up. Only fifth year and up may participate as decided by the Bulgarian Ministry and only students who have signed up and have gotten good grades up until the time of the tournament will be brought to be selected from. Now, I think that is all be have to say for now, so please, eat and go to bed. Oh yes, your house leaders will explain more about the tournament another day." The platters on the tables filled magically with foods of all kinds and everyone began to eat.

"So, you going to enter?" Scorpius asked Albus and Rose as they left the Great Hall and headed up to the Gryffindor common room.

"Yeah, I think I will," Albus said. "My dad was in it- said it was hard. Dragons, swimming to the bottom of the black lake and rescuing your dad from the merpeople, Rose, and a maze with all sorts of crazy creatures in it."

"I'll enter. If you two are I guess I will too. Plus I don't want to miss out on watching it," Rose said.

Then arrived at the portrait of the fat lady who asked for the password. "Cauldron Cakes," Scorpius said rather confidently. After entering the common room he said "I asked a prefect as we left."

"Well, see you guys in the morning I guess. Night," Rose said, yawning and going up to the girl's dormitories.

Scorpius and Albus trudged up the steps to the boy's dormitories. Albus flopped onto his bed, not even bothering to change into pajamas. "G'night," he muttered sleepily before falling fast asleep.