It was the start of Albus Severus Potter's second year at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry, and as he boarded the scarlet Hogwarts express from platform 9 3/4 his mind started racing with the events of the year before. He, and his friend Scorpius had stolen his Auntie Hermione's time turner, in order to try and save Cedric Diggory, who had been killed by Voldemort in the tri-wizard tournament. This had not gone down well with anyone concerned, especially as Auntie Hermione was Minister for magic. He told his brother, James Sirius, who was a year older than him, and of course a Gryffindor, that he was going to find his friends and started walking along the compartments, looking for a place to sit. He found Scorpius Malfoy in a compartment near the end of the train on his own, and though he favoured spending time with his cousin, Rose Weasley-Granger, on this journey as a rule, Albus decided Scorpius could do with some company. After the adventure they had shared together the previous year, it seemed only fair that Albus provided that company. Albus and Scorpius waved goodbye to their parents as the train started billowing smoke, and settled down for the journey.
They sat together for a while, avoiding discussing the events of last year as much as possible. They chose instead to talk about their summers. Albus told Scorpius that he had learnt his Father (who was none other than wizarding war hero, Harry Potter) had a cousin, Dudley Dursley. His father had grown up with Dudley, but Albus had never met him. Dudley and his wife Amelia had two girls, Nalia and Aurora . The oldest was Nalia, she a year younger than Albus, and although both her parents were muggles, she had been born a witch. She had received her Hogwarts letter on her 11th Birthday, and as a result the shocked Dudley told his wife about his cousin, Harry Potter, who was a wizard. After taking some time to process the new world they were about to enter they made some decisions. They decided they did not want to let their precious darling Nalia down and Dudley, who had since matured and had a lot of time to reflect,did not want to put her through what his parents put Harry through. So as a result, he got back in touch with his estranged cousin.
No one had been shocked more than Albus, when this big brute of a man, with a pot belly, blonde hair and almost no neck turned up at the door with his wife and two children behind him. His wife had blonde hair as well and a slender but curvy figure, with a kind smile and Hazel eyes . The two children, hiding slightly behind their father, both had their parents blonde hair. The younger of the two had a slightly more sturdy look about her, and her mothers Hazel eyes. The older of the two was slightly tall for her age, and very slender. Her blonde hair fell In soft waves around her heart shaped face and she stared out of piercing blue eyes . The Brute of a man cleared his throat and asked, in a voice that hardly differed from a series of grunts, 'Does..erm...Harry Potter... live here.' Albus called to his father who greeted Dudley and his family with a huge smile. 'Ah, it's about time, Professor McGonagall had told me she had given you my address and I might expect a visit, come in Big D' his father said with a smirk, and Dudley turned bright crimson. Albus didn't understand the joke and as he was relaying this to Scorpius, he didn't either.
Albus continued to explain that the Weasley-Granger And Potter children all fought for a spot at the door to the kitchen, where the Dursley family had been led by his father and mother (Ginny Weasley). His Auntie Hermione (Minister for Magic) and Uncle Ron, or Ronny as Albus liked to call him, followed them and closed the door behind them. As the tallest James had won the best listening spot, the keyhole, despite Albus' protests. Rose had listened at the gap where the door hadn't quite met the frame, and Albus had lay on his stomach and tried to listen through the gap under the door. The youngest of the Potter children, Lily Luna, hopped around trying to find a space. He recalled that they all heard the conversation that ensued, regarding the owl Nalia had received and the visit the next day from head of Gyffindor house and Headmistress, Minerva McGonagall. At this point both Albus and Scorpius shuddered at the thought of Professor McGonagall making house calls.After what seemed like forever, everyone had emerged from the kitchen and piled into the living room. The children had all been introduced to the Dursley family and his father had explained that Nalia would be joining James,Albus and Rose at Hogwarts. In addition, a week before term started she would be coming to stay. This was so she could come to diagon alley and collect her school things with them and ultimately board the Hogwarts express.
Nalia had indeed come to stay with the Potters , and arrived the day before the trip to Diagon Alley. She had shared a room with Lily,even though there was a guest room. His fathers logic behind this was that it gave the girls a better of becoming friends and it may make Nalia more comfortable to have a girl close to her own age around. Also, it was likely Lily would be joining them all at Hogwarts in two years, so it would be good for her to know more people. When Rose stayed over, which was quite regularly, the girls all had a massive sleepover in Lily's room,which they found to be great fun. In fact, Albus had often been kept awake by the loud giggles and noise coming from Lily's room, which he complained about at great length to Scorpius.
That years trip to Diagon Alley had been notably different Albus decided. His father and mother had taken him, Rose, James, Lily and Nalia all together as Auntie Hermione would be too busy to take Rose. The anniversary of The tri-wizard tournament was once again coming up, and Auntie Hermionie was kept busy with preparations. Albus did not know this of course, all he knew was she was busy with ministry business. His Uncle Ronny was busy As well, helping Uncle George in Weasley's Wizard wheezes, which had just opened a mail order service. This news came much to the delight of Hogwarts pupils and the despair of Hogwarts professors. The first stop had been Olivander's in order to buy Nalia her first wand. The wand that chose Nalia had been birch, 12 inches, Thestral hair,nice and supple, 'Great for charms work' Olivander had declared, as a soft glow had surrounded Nalia when she raised the wand. The next stop was Flourish and Blotts where they brought all of the school books for Nalias first year, Rose and Albus' second year and James' third year. One of the books required had been Fantastic beasts and where to find them, which must mean that second years were going to be studying care of magical creatures Albus and Scorpius decided. Nalia had been treated to a book on quidditch, signed by the England Quidditch team, so she could join in the conversations about quidditch. Albus recalled her delight when the players started waving at her from the photograph on the front cover, which amused the others, who had grown up around that sort of thing.
Albus had recently given his Ferret to his younger sister, as the ferret seemed to like her a lot more. As a result of this, his father had taken him to Eeylops Magical Owl emporium, which despite its name, sold all sorts of magical pets, not just owls. Albus had immediately noticed a handsome eagle owl, in the cage behind the counter. It had its head tucked behind one of its wings,but at the sound of Albus' voice, it had raised its head and stared at him through bright yellow eyes, making a soft clicking noise. His father brought him the Eagle Owl, who Albus decided to name Newt, after Newt Scamader, who Albus admired very much. At the mention of his name, Newt sat up in his cage, and ruffled his brown feathers. They had an almost gold tinge round the edge in the sunlight passing through the train windows. He hooted proudly, and stared at Scorpius, who decided Newt was indeed a very handsome owl.
Scorpius himself owned an owl, Autumn, who was in its cage next to Newt. His owl was a female Great horned owl, a white and grey colour, unusual for its species. The two birds playfully clucked at each other through the bars of the cage.Just then, the trolley witch came round to their compartment, interrupting Albus' story. She tapped their compartment door, slid it open and said 'Anything off the trolley dears?'. The boys, who were ravenous, had six chocolate frogs, two pumpkin pasties, liquorice wands, fizzing whiz-bees and three cauldron cakes each. The arrival of the trolley had signalled that they were half way through their journey and the sun had started fading, so while there was still some light, the boys got into their slytherin robes. This was to avoid any improperly fastened clasps,backwards jumpers or inside out cloaks, which no doubt would earn them a scolding before the term had even properly started.
Scorpius was enjoying hearing about Albus' summer and his big family, so he asked Albus to continue telling him about the trip to Diagon Alley. Between mouthfuls of delicious treats, Albus continued. He informed Scorpius that just as his father had finished paying for the eagle owl, a small pure white kitten had started curling round Rose's feet. After much 'Pleaaaaase Uncle Harry', Rose had been brought the white kitten, who Albus had said looked more like a guinea pig than a cat. Rose had named the kitten Whiskers, and it stayed in her pocket asleep through the rest of their trip round Diagon Alley. Nothing had taken Nalia's fancy so they left the shop.After the rest of their serious shopping was done; cauldrons, potions ingredients, brass scales, and a broom care kit for Rose and Albus, who were finally aloud their own brooms, they paid a visit to his Uncles at Weasleys wizards wheezes . Scorpius decided it sounded like a wonderful place as Albus described the bright colours, the wizards and witches laughing their heads off, the assortment of sweets that if you ate them could do anything from make you sick, to sprouting nasty boils, the multitude of other prank based magic and even some magical creatures. As they walked in, Uncle Ron and Uncle Fred had stopped working on their display of a tasteless potion that could turn anyone's hair bright pink for at least a week, and came over to greet them. Rose had run up and given her father a hug, and Uncle George had started chatting away to Albus' father. Albus and Nalia proceeded to wonder round the shop together, looking at things that had given Albus some brilliant ideas that he shared with Scorpius. Exploding toilet seats, a quill that made your writing disappear after an hour (really useful for teachers Albus and Scorpius decided), and miniature indoor fireworks that spelt out any word you wanted. Right at the back were the animals, and Nalia had instantly fallen in love with a new type of Pygmy puff, whose fur changed colour. This breed of Pygmy puff, once it had bonded well with its owner, matched its fur colour to their mood. At that point Albus' father had come along, and quite amused by the thought of Nalia taking a colour changing Pygmy puff home to Dudley, brought it for her, along with an enchanted glass carry case, which was bigger on the inside than it looked. They all returned home shortly after, with all their things, to eagerly await the First of September when they would board the Hogwarts express from platform 9 at 11 0'clock.
Albus then listened to Scorpius talk about his summer. Scorpius had spent most of his summer at Malfoy Mannor with his Grandparents, Narcissa and Luicius Malfoy, or Grandad Luci and Nanny Cissy as Scorpius called them. On the huge grounds he had flown around, no higher than the tree lines, practicing in the hope of being chosen for the quidditch team this year, but aside from that he had not done much. In fact, he told Albus, his main source of company had been the white peacocks that patrolled the grounds. Albus made a mental note that he must ask his father if Scorpius could join them for Christmas this year, so his Christmas would not be as miserable as his summer.
Just then, the compartment door opened and Rose entered, taking a seat next to Albus. She was followed by a rather shy looking girl, who Scorpius assumed must be Nalia. Albus introduced Nalia to Scorpius, who took a seat next to him. Rose had her Gryffindor robes on, and Nalia had her plain black first year robes on. Albus pondered on this and couldn't help thinking how strange two slytherins, a gryffindor and a first year must look sat together and being so friendly. They had some food left over, and introduced Nalia to the joys of chocolate frogs. The Pygmy puff, who Nalia had named Lucky, turned bright yellow and started hopping up and down on her shoulder as she ate her chocolate frog. The wizard card Nalia got was Newt Artemis Fido Scamander, much to the envy of Albus. Rose Insisted that it was really rare and that Nalia MUST start collecting.Nalia voiced her concerns regarding her Hogwarts house, and the trio assured her that no matter what house she was put in, she would make friends and would most certainly always have them to keep her company. There had already been a shock to the system when a Potter had ended up in slytherin, so they assured Nalia that nothing would be a surprise anymore. As Albus once again described to her the attributes of each house, Nalia could not help but think that she would quite like to be in Hufflepuff, Just, loyal and unafraid of toil.
The four of them carried on nattering away until the train started slowing down, which was a sign that they would be arriving shortly. Newt and Autumn started flapping wildly in their cages, so Scorpius and Albus let them out and they flew out the train window. At this, Nalia started panicking, thinking the owls would be hurt or lost, but they reassured her that it was perfectly ordinary for owls belonging to witches and wizards to go and stretch their wings, but they would assuredly come back. That is why Owls were often used for post.The train came to a complete stop, and as Nalia reached for her luggage, she was told not to worry, as her luggage would be taken to her dormitory for her.
The four left the train and stepped down onto the platform, which was in complete darkness. They were greeted by Hagrid, keeper of keys and grounds, and also the care of magical creatures professor. He gave them a smile and a wave, at which point Nalia went pale, and shouted 'Firs' years follow me... look lively now...firs' years...'. Nalia had not wanted to be separated from her friends but had no choice, as she and the rest of the first years were led to a lake, where many boats were waiting. The first years boarded the boats, 'No more'n four to a boat' as per Hagrids instructions. As though the boats were being rowed by someone invisible, they started gliding silently across the lake, and Nalia got her first glimpse of the castle, that would become her second home.