Albus and James Potter both scurried onto the train, closely followed by their cousin Rose Weasley. Hugo Weasley, Rose's younger brother, and Lily, the youngest Potter, laughed together and chased after the train. Everyone knew they had wanted to go to Hogwarts since before they could even talk. They had visited the school once when Hugo and Lily were around the age of 5. They had seen the newly erected statue of remembrance that Hogwarts had dedicated to all of the men and women who had lost their lives in the fight against Voldemort. But it wasn't their time to go yet.
For now, Albus Potter and Rose Weasley were preparing themselves for their first year at Hogwarts. Unlike James had been, Albus wasn't looking forward to all of the rules he could break, and the secrets he could uncover, but all of the magic he could perform, and the points he could win for his house.
Naturally, Albus was nervous about where to sit on the train, and if he would be able to make friends in the school, so he thought he might just try sitting with James at first. He soon discovered that James was too busy laughing with his friends over Teddy Lupin and Victoire Weasley (the oldest of his cousins), so he decided it might be better to just take his chances with an empty compartment in the back of the train. The silence in there did not seem to help the feeling of dread at the sorting that was soon to come. He could have sworn he heard James mention something about trolls and giant snakes, but he knew that the actual sorting had something to do with a sorting hat. Luckily, a few minutes before the train had left, Rose and a boy that he knew only by sight came into the compartment.
The boy had white-blond hair that was slicked back so that it didn't cover his pale and pointed face. He was smiling and laughing with Rose about his new pet owl that appeared to have gotten its wings ruffled up by a small mouse's tail. When he looked over at Albus, he emitted a small gasp, but seemed to have shaken it off an instant after he had let it out. He stuck out his hand and said, "Hey, I'm Scorpius Malfoy."
Before Albus could respond Scorpius said, "There's really no need to introduce yourself…I read a book about your dad. You know, that one by Rita Skeeter: Harry Potter: Menace or Hero. Well, I personally thought it was a bit mad. When I tried to ask my father about it he just shrugged and told me to go play with my little brother, Julius."
"Er…good?" Albus wasn't exactly sure how to respond to the boy's comment but Rose seemed to think he was good enough, so who was he to argue. It seemed as if Scorpius's intentions were good, so he was happy enough to at least have a new friend to talk to.
As the light outside began to fade, a woman pushing a huge cart stuffed with every wizarding candy imaginable came by. All three of them bought as much as they could carry. Albus felt his cheeks flush red when Scorpius showed them all his Harry Potter chocolate frog card. He of course knew the story that his father had "vanquished the Dark Lord" but he really didn't know any details of the story at all. Whenever he asked his father or mother about the war against Voldemort, they told him that it wasn't a story that he really wanted to hear until he was much older. He hated being told that he wouldn't understand or wouldn't want to hear it until he was older. His father did have his reasons though. Albus knew he was trying to spare some innocence that children still have, but it's frustrating not knowing everything.
The conversation eventually came down to what house everyone was hoping to get into. Rose and Albus both said that since everyone in their family had been in Gryffindor, that was their natural first choice. Scorpius admitted that his whole family had been in Slytherin, so he knew there wasn't really any choice in the matter. Albus looked up and said, "My dad says that he got to choose what house he was put in. He says that we always have the ability to choose things for ourselves, and that's what makes us so…well...special…"
Rose looked outside and saw that through the darkness, a light was growing in the distance. They were approaching Hogwarts faster than they had realized. They quickly changed into their school robes, and before they knew it, the train was pulling to a stop. They hurried outside and the familiar friendly voice of Rubeus Hagrid came rushing to their ears, "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Rose, Albus?"
For some unknown reason Albus saw Hagrid's eyes swell up when he said his name. He led all of the first year students on a steep and narrow path. This path eventually took them to a black lake and their first close up view of Hogwarts came to them. Albus, Rose, and Scorpius all gathered into one of the boats which was bobbing along in the lake. They all glided across in their boats, and before any of them knew it, they were at the front entrance of Hogwarts Castle. To Albus's relief, the familiar face of Professor Neville Longbottom opened the doors. Neville led them all into a small room where the tension and anxiety built up to an all-time dangerous high.
When Albus thought he might explode from all of this unwanted tension, Neville returned to allow all of the students into the Great Hall. The long walk from the entrance to the small stool placed in front of the head table seemed to last an eternity. Albus heard his brother shout something out, but he didn't dare to look him in the eye. He started to panic. What if he wasn't in Gryffindor? What would everyone say? Then his father's words came flushing back to him… "It doesn't matter to us, Al." He could still choose if it came to that. He was so busy focusing on his father's words that he appeared to have missed the Sorting Hat's song.
Scorpius was the first one from their compartment to go up to be sorted. It seemed to take the hat hours to decide, but to Albus's shock (and to Scorpius's as well), the hat shouted out, "GRYFFINDOR!" The same response was repeated again for Albus, and yet again for Rose Weasley. The three of them sat there at the edge of Gryffindor table, and smiled and laughed like they had never done in their entire lives. This was happiness, peace, and serenity. There was no war. There was no growing threat. There was simply Hogwarts, as it was always meant to be.