Hello, welcome to my story. I haven't written in a long time, and this is my attempt to get back into the swing of it and hopefully get some feedback, and strengthen my skills. Unfortunately they are very rusty, but hopefully they will improve as I continue this work. I have a bad habit of planning stories but never actually writing them...this is my attempt to break that nasty habit.
Please enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Regarding Albus
Chapter 1: Welcome to Hogwarts
Hogsmeade station was on the northern side of the village of Hogsmeade. Usually, the small cobblestone station was quiet, with no train in sight. However, on one evening a year, the station was abuzz with excitement, as students, old and new, were dropped off in order to go to school at Hogwarts, which lay just north of the small wizarding village.
Together as a mass, the few hundred students that attended the prestigious wizarding school marched towards the place that would serve as their home away from home, for seven years of their lives.
Down the cobblestone stairs they went, and through the winding forest path until they reached their destination.
Albus Potter gasped at the sight before him.
Across the giant Black Lake, lay Hogwarts itself. The grand castle, in all of its magnificence, glowed brightly against the dark backdrop of the surrounding mountains and starlit sky.
"Fantastic isn't it?" Albus turned his head, and met his brothers twinkling brown eyes. Immediately Albus was embarrassed at having been caught staring so, but James didn't seem to want to make fun of him. Indeed James had a huge excited grin on his face, and the freckles that littered his cheeks and nose shone in the bright Scottish moonlight they stood in.
"It's more than that." Their cousin Lucy whispered, who was holding tightly onto Rose's hand. Lucy and Rose were Albus and James first cousins. Lucy from their Uncle Percy and Aunt Audrey, and Rose from their Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione. It was luck that the three of them were starting school in the same year. The two girls appeared to be just at star struck as Albus was, and any embarrassment he had felt vanished at the sight of their identical awe.
Finally, he was at Hogwarts.
"I've got to go now." James started, and Albus's eyebrows rose in surprise,
"What?! Why?"
Albus didn't mean to act childish, but out of the three Potter siblings, James was the confident one. Even their little sister Lily, who wouldn't join them for another two years, was braver than Albus was (at least in his own humble opinion.). The prospect of being separated from his brother was a bit frightening to the eleven year old boy.
"Older students take the carriages up to the castle." James pointed to where the path continued up the hill and around the lake, where rows of horse-less carriages stood awaiting, with what seemed to be hundreds of students scrambling to get inside. This would be James third year at Hogwarts, and he was already a popular boy with many friends.
James gave his brother one last smile, and a quick, but firm hug.
"Just stick with Hagrid! I'll see you at the castle!" And with a laugh and a wink, James was gone. Albus stood on his toes, trying to see if he could still spot his older brother, but James was lost to him in the swarm of moving students.
"Albus!" Rose cried, tugging on his robe "Come on! Hagrid is saying all the first years have to get in the boats."
Indeed, Rose was right; the kindly half-giant was swinging his lantern towards the rows of tiny boats that floated just in reach of the lakes shore.
"Firs' years in the boats! Firs' years!"
Quickly, Albus followed behind Rose and Lucy, as they rushed towards the boats. Each of the small wooden boats was completely empty, save for a large lantern to help illuminate the darkness of the lake. Albus clambered into a boat with Rose and Lily, with one other girl following behind them. Albus was thankful for the lantern and sat as close to it as he could, with Rose on one side of him and Lucy and the mystery girl sitting in front of them.
"Ev'ryone aboard? Yes, good? Then off we go!" And just like magic the boats began to glide seamlessly across the cool waters. Surrounded by the light of the other boats, Albus forgot to be afraid as his emerald eyes once again locked on the towering castle. Its tall towers and numerous turrets made it look like something out of a storybook; it was hard for Albus to take it all in.
Albus watched as a girl in the boat gliding next to them reached out and allowed her fingers to skim the surface of the water, her face obscured by her thick dark colored hair. A boy with black curls in the same boat spoke up in a teasing manner"You'd best be careful, or the giant squid will get you!" The girl raised her head at the other boy and scowled, but quickly removed her hand from the water.
Rose tugged at his robes to get his attention, her orange curls bouncing excitedly as she did. "Are you excited?" Rose asked in a whisper, and Albus just nodded at his cousin. She gave his hand a squeeze, her brown eyes shining, before she whipped her head towards Hagrid as he shouted
"Watch yer heads kids! We're almost there!"
Obediently Albus lowered his head, though it was barely necessary. Slowly their boat drifted through a large curtain of ivy, revealing a large stone boathouse on the other side. The passageway into the boathouse was narrow, and there was nowhere for Albus to look at except for the back of Lucy's head, her long straight brown hair contrasting greatly to Rose's ginger curls, as well as the dirty-blond curls of their other companion, who hadn't made a sound as they rode across the lake.
When the little boat finally came to a stop, the other first year in their boat fearlessly clambered out, and rushed forward, quickly joining the group of students who had already disembarked. Albus got out more carefully, and then made sure he helped Rose and Lucy out. They both had big, if not slightly nervous smiles on their freckled faces as they followed Hagrid up towards the castle. Albus inhaled deeply as they approached the doors. It was time.
And then Hagrid raised his fist, which looked to be as large as Albus's head, and knocked thrice on the castle door. Slowly the huge doors swung open, revealing a tall, dark haired woman. She wore golden robes, and her gray-blue eyes were kind as she looked down upon them.
"Professor Midgen. The first years fer ya." The woman, Professor Midgen smiled at the half-giant.
"Thank you Hagrid, I will escort them to the great hall." And just like that, Hagrid moved aside, giving them one last gigantic smile, before lumbering off. With the others, Albus climed up the steps before the door, and followed the woman into the huge stone entrance way of Hogwarts. She continued forward until they reached a second set of ceiling high double doors (and as the ceiling in the huge chamber of the stone hall towered tens of feet above them, these were very large doors indeed.). Professor Midgen turned to them with a smile, her golden robes floating around her as she did.
"Well I'm sure you are all excited! Welcome to Hogwarts! The start-of-term banquet will begin any minute now. However before we eat you must first be sorted into your houses." Her gray eyes scanned the students, and despite her kind demeanor, many of them gulped in apprehension at the thought of the sorting. Slowly, Professor Midgen continued: "The Sorting Ceremony is very important, and it is something you will remember for the rest of your lives. The house you are sorted into will become your family, your home away from home. You will take classes with your housemates, and you will eat with them, sleep among them and spend time with them in your House common rooms. The bonds you make within your houses will be invaluable as you continue your career here at Hogwarts."
Albus felt Rose begin to fidget nervously with her robes beside him.
"The four houses are Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and Slytherin. Your triumphs will earn your house points, and rule-breaking will cause your house to lose points. You must work together with your house, and be the best students you can possibly be, in order to gain the honor of winning the house cup at the end of the year."
No pressure at all, Albus thought rather sarcastically to himself. Professor Midgen raised her robed arm and gestured towards the huge, gold-encrusted doors.
"When I return and open these doors, you will enter the Great Hall, and the sorting ceremony will begin. Good luck children, may you be a credit to whatever house you join." And with that Professor Midgen stepped towards a side door, and entered what Albus assumed was another entrance into the Great Hall, leaving behind the crowd of anxious students.
Rose turned to him, her chocolate eyes blazing, and her freckled nose scrunched up in worry.
"Oh I hope my mother was right about how easy the sorting is. I'd hate to somehow manage to mess it up." She spoke quietly, for not many of the others were talking. However, it seemed she was overheard, for before Albus had a chance to try and reassure his usually confident cousin, someone else did first.
"My dad told me you just have to put on a hat." Albus turned in surprise at whoever it was that had joined in their conversation, and Lucy let out a little gasp at the sight of him.
Standing there proudly was Scorpius Malfoy. Albus recognized him from when Uncle Ron pointed out his family at Kings Cross. Rose's eyes had gone wide, and she seemed unsure what to do; stuck between being the polite girl she was raised to be and flat out moving away from the boy her father had told her was no good. She shrugged helplessly at Albus, and simply gave the paler boy a small nod. Scorpius seemed to take this as a sign of approval for he smiled and continued to stand next to Albus, Lucy and Rose. The three cousins glanced at each other, and an awkward silence ensued. Minutes passed, and then suddenly, the doors let out a large groan, and slowly began to open. The bright lights of the hall bathed the stone entranceway in brilliant light, and Professor Midgen appeared in the center of the light; her golden robes shimmering.
"Come along young ones, it is your time to be sorted."