The huge castle loomed in front of him. Suddenly, all the stories that his father had told him, reached out in huge numbers towards him. He saw Voldemort and Snape and Dumbledore dying and he saw dementors attacking him. "I won't go there, I won't," James told himself as he lay in his bed, contemplating about what would happen the next day. It was a day he had looked forward to all his life, it was the day when he would finally get on the train to Hogwarts.

It was only now that he had realized that he was terrified of actually being away from his family for more than an overnight trip. The longest he had been away from his parents was a 6 day trip, and even then, he had become homesick very quickly. He was already packed and so his terrified and crazy brain could think of only one thing to do, to postpone the trip to Hogwarts. Unpacking. He slid out of bed and slid on his too-small glasses. He put one foot out of bed and realized that his older brother, Albus, was staring at him.

Albus had been at school for about 2 years now and was already used to Hogwarts. He liked it there. He had a lot of friends and already had a girlfriend. He had almost straight O's and his lowest grade was an E. (It was in Transfiguration)

I'll never be able to do it the way he does, thought James to himself. I'll probably have straight P's or maybe even worse: F's! Albus whacked him on the head with his wand and pointed at the bed. Grudgingly, James got back in bed and took off his glasses. The next thing he knew, Ginny was levitating the blankets off of him and holding up his Hogwarts uniform with her other hand.

"Aww, man. I have to wear this outside? What if Isaac sees me in this?"

"You'll be fine, Pumpkin Pasty! Just put it on and then if Isaac does see you, he'll have forgotten all about it by the time you come back for winter break. Just put it on, grab your trunk and meet me downstairs. We're going to leave at about 7:16."

Jeez, James thought to himself. Mom is so stupid! She doesn't even realize I am not gonna wear this anywhere, let alone outside! He dressed himself in a pair of ripped blue jeans and his favorite band T Shirt: Paramore. He made sure that his trunk still had his key charm on it and lugged it down the stairs. It was heavy. He couldn't believe that Professor McGonagal had changed the supply list, just the year before. He now had 6 extra pairs of robes and 2 extra wands. Along with that he had a remembrall and 6 new textbooks. He made it down the stairs without tripping and into the kitchen where he smelled Caldron Cakes bubbling in the family pewter pot. He was served 6 of those and another 2 chocolate frogs. It was at 7:00 that his mother told him and Albus that it was time to go. Harry told his sons that he would NOT be showing them the way to the Hogwarts express. He had an important Auror meeting to go to and he couldn't be in more than 1 place at a time. Ginny had to stay home to take care of Lily so it looked like Albus and James were going alone.

First Albus grabbed his trunk and owl (Hedwig II) and threw floo powder into the fireplace. He stepped in and clearly said "Platform 9 ¾" and whoosh, off he went. If was going much too soon for James but he threw floo powder into the fireplace and stepped in and grabbed his trunk. "Hogwarts" he said quite loudly. He saw an image of Ginny trying to stop the powder from going, but it was no use. He was surrounded in utter cold, and wind. He was bonked from side to side in endless chimneys. At last he opened his eyes and found himself in Diagon Alley. Why am I here? He asked himself, there must be a mistake. I know I said Hogwarts. What did I do wrong. He was about to turn around, but he felt a small tug on his shoulder. It was a golden headed boy with ice cold blue eyes. "Are you lost?" Asked the boy with a strong English accent. "Yes, I went in the floo powder, said Hogwarts and now I'm here."

"Oh, well that happened to me the first time I used floo powder. Of course, I ended up being a little more tidy when I arrived, but that's too be expected."

"What year are you?" James asked, quite puzzled at this boy.

"1st. And the name's Scorpius Malfoy."

"Wow. My name's James Potter.

"Your father is Harry Potter? My father was Draco Malfoy. We are a pure blooded family. And is yours?"

"I don't really know… but well--"

(The boy interrupted him.) "We have to hurry up, the train leaves in 10 minutes. Of course, I want a window seat. All you have to do is throw the floo powder in, and say clearly Platform 9 and ¾. Then, while you are moving, pull your arms down to your sides and hold yourself upright."

James threw in the powder and did as he was told. A few moments later he saw the sign which said "Platform 9 ¾" He pulled on his trunk and waited for Scorpius. A few seconds later he realized that Scorpius had already moved ahead of him. Albus came running at him from far away. "Where were you? I almost called mum and duddy because you were supposed to be here a long time ago. Now hurry up and get on the train before it takes off."

James grabbed his trunk and jumped on the train. A few doors down, he saw Scorpius talking to two other boys and a large girl. He opened the doors and heard Scorpius finish off his sentence with "- and so I think that maybe a Potter could maybe join us in Slytherin." Scorpius looked up, "And there he is, take a seat Potter and let me introduce my friends here. This is Bobe (he pointed to the largest boy) and this here is Leslie (he pointed to the girl) and this is Tony. Tony is in Slytherin. Tony, is a 3rd year but Leslie is a 1st year like you. She hopes to be in Slytherin of course. What house do you hope to be in?"

James crossed his fingers and said Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. "Well, I suppose Ravenclaw would be all right, but Gryffindor would just downright be awful. Imagine being in Gryffindor and battling us. I wonder who would win?" Scorpius said sarcastically.

James was rewarded with not having to speak by a knock on the door. It was his brother. He tried to wave him away but Albus came in instead. James started to tell him that he was not needed there but Albus started speaking anyway. "My brother has made a mistake, he was supposed to be sitting with me. I'm sure you are all very FINE friends for him to have, but I told our parents that he was sitting with me."

"Well then, why don't you join us!" Tony pulled out his wand and used it to make Albus sit down. He then whispered a charm so low that James couldn't hear it, but all of a sudden Albus was screaming loudly like never before. "Get me some water fast!!! I am gonna die from thirst." James tore out of the car and raced to the bathroom. It might be funny to them, but it wasn't funny to him or his brother. He grabbed a bucket of water and ran back to the car, sloshing water all the way. He dumped the whole bucket on Albus, who screamed again.

"You didn't need to do that, you know? I would have been just fine!!!"

"But you were screaming!" James protested

" Yah, but just because of his stupid charm. I don't care how much I'm gonna get in trouble with mom and dad but I am never volunteering to sit with you again. Ever." And with his thoughts finally said, Albus stormed out of the car and down the corridor dripping wet.

As soon as he was out of earshot, the three wanna-be Slytherins cracked up. But now that the fight was over, James didn't think it was a good idea to sit with them anymore. He grabbed his trunk and stormed out of the car to go find his brother. When he found him, he was sitting in a empty car just dripping. He opened the doors and set down his trunk on the floor. "Kicked you out, did they?" Asked Albus. That was all they said for the rest of the ride.