There are a lot of nextgen fics out there (including mine) that have Albus Potter in Slytherin, which doesn't make much sense considering the Epilogue. So this is my little justification of how little Albus ended up in the Big Bad Slytherin. Please don't be too offended by the highly-cliche beginning of it, and let me know what you think when you reach the end :)
You don't have to have read my nextgen fic for this to make sense, but if you are a reader of Life of a Weasley you will definitely recognise and gain more insight into some of the characters.
Reviews = hugs
"We're finally going!" Rose said to Albus as the train started rolling forward.
Albus waved at his parents out the window once more before turning to face her, brimming with excitement. He grinned. "Finally."
"Should we get a compartment?" Rose asked as she grabbed his hand and started dragging him down the length of the train.
Or Rose suggested, rather. His cousin never asked.
"Yes," Albus said.
Rose looked at him over her shoulder as she wound her way between the taller, older students already starting to monopolise the carriages. "We should get one far away from James."
Albus nodded heartily in agreement. He really did not want to be taunted about the whole Slytherin thing all the way to Hogwarts.
They managed to find an empty compartment right at the end of the train. Albus made himself comfortable on the seats, and Rose plonked herself in front of him, still bouncing with giddy anticipation.
"Here we go," she said.
She adjusted her school robes for the fifth time since they'd met on the platform (he'd been counting) and looked expectantly out the window as Kings Cross Station grew smaller and smaller.
"What House do you want to be in?" Albus blurted.
Rose looked thoughtful. "I'm not sure… Gryffindor, I suppose. Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny and my mum and dad were in Gryffindor. But then I quite like Ravenclaw because everyone studies hard in Ravenclaw. And James says all Hufflepuffs are pansies, but I think Hufflepuff would be nice too. Hmm… But I don't think I'd like to be in Slytherin. Oh, I'd die if I got put in Slytherin-"
Albus wished he hadn't asked.
"What about you?" said Rose.
"Gryffindor," Albus said firmly. "I want to be in Gryffindor."
Just then the compartment door rolled open and a blonde-haired boy about his age walked in.
"Can we sit here?" he asked.
Albus nodded, and he heard Rose gasp. He looked over at his cousin to see her staring wide-eyed at the boy.
The boy frowned at her, but turned around and gestured for someone to come into the carriage. Albus sat up straighter as a very pretty, dark-haired girl with golden skin shuffled in.
Albus gave her a small smile but she didn't seem to notice it.
As they took a seat side-by-side near the carriage door, Albus realised that the boy was the one from the platform - the one Uncle Ron had pointed out and told Rose not to marry. Albus flashed a grin at Rose, who scowled at him and looked back out the window.
"What's your name?" Albus asked.
He thought he heard Uncle Ron say Scorpion, but that couldn't be right.
"Scorpius."
Merlin, that was worse than Scorpion. Suddenly he didn't feel so bad about introducing himself.
"I'm Albus."
Scorpius nodded at him, then glanced at Rose. Rose was still staring out the window, refusing to acknowledge the boy whom her father had told her to stay away from.
"Don't mind her, she has dragon pox," Albus told Scorpius and the girl.
"I do not!" Rose exclaimed. Then she said, "I'm Rose Weasley."
"This is Adele Zabini," Scorpius said.
Adele smiled shyly at them, her dark, cat-like eyes crinkling in the corners.
"Zabini?" Rose asked, suddenly interested in their carriage companions. "As in, Annalia Zabini?"
"She's my step-mum."
"I love her books!" Rose gushed.
Adele scrunched up her delicate features.
Rose looked expectant, waiting for Adele to go on, but she simply looked back down at her hands clasped in her lap.
"Is this your first train ride, too?" Albus asked them.
"Yeah," Scorpius said. "It's much more boring than I thought it would be."
Albus disagreed. He was bursting with excitement.
"Yeah," he said anyway.
"It's not boring," Rose cut in. "This is the most excited I've been all summer!"
Scorpius looked at her as if her face had grown a mandrake on it. "Maybe you should get out more."
Rose gaped at him. Albus laughed.
"Scor…" Adele said softly.
Scorpius glanced down at Adele and shut up, but not before smirking at Rose.
Rose scowled, then started rummaging through her trunk on the floor of the carriage.
"What are you doing?" Albus said.
"I'm going to read," Rose said snootily. "This conversation is boring."
Albus and Scorpius exchanged amused looks over Rose's head.
"What are you looking forward to most?" Albus asked. "For me it's seeing the Giant Squid."
"There's a giant squid?" Adele said, looking horrified.
"Yeah but it's a tame one," Albus reassured her quickly.
Adele still looked a bit scared.
"Hardly anyone sees it on the boat ride though," Scorpius added.
"Right," said Albus.
Rose finally found what she was looking for, and lifted out a heavy, leather-bound tome. She cracked it open at a page near the middle and sat with it in her lap.
"What's that?" Scorpius asked.
"Hogwarts, a History."
"Sounds boring."
Albus snorted with laughter, and Scorpius grinned at him, lighting up his pale, pointed face which until now had seemed gravely serious.
Rose looked over at him sharply. "It's more interesting than you." Then she began reading again.
As much as he loved his cousin, Albus loved seeing the forthright, bossy girl meet her match even more.
"I've read that before," Adele said. Her voice was light, almost musical. Coming from a family full of loud, abrasive cat-calling, Albus found the soft way she talked fascinating. "It is more interesting."
It took Rose a second to realise Adele was taking a jab at her friend, and she grinned widely at her. Scorpius just looked stony once more.
The door rolled open again, and the four first-years jumped in surprise.
"Oh, Aaaaalbus!"
Oh, joy.
James strolled into the carriage, beaming around at them.
"Looks like you've made friends quickly," James commented.
Scorpius looked warily at James.
"What do you want, James?" Albus said.
He desperately wished he would leave. He didn't want James embarrassing him in front of the first two people he'd met.
"Nothing. I just wanted to know if you were alright."
"We only just got on," Albus pointed out.
"Yeah, I know. But you're my brother. Us Potter's have to look out for each other, you know?"
"You're a Potter?" Scorpius said suddenly.
"Yes…?" Albus said.
"What's it to you?" James said rudely.
"Nothing," Scorpius said.
"What House are you in?" James asked.
Oh, no, here we go again…
"I'm not in any House."
"Well, what House do you want to be in?"
"Slytherin," Scorpius replied immediately.
James' eyebrows leapt under his shaggy fringe. "Why?"
Rose slammed her book shut. "Oh stop it, James, why are you so obsessed with the Houses? Uncle Harry's always saying they're all equally good and that you shouldn't discriminate against people just because they're in a different House from you."
Says the girl who said she'd die if she was in Slytherin.
"They are all equally good," James agreed. "Except Gryffindor's gooder."
"More good," Rose said.
"What?"
"Gryffindor is more good."
"Exactly."
"Ugh," said Rose, and slid the book off her lap onto the seat beside her. "Don't you have any pranks to pull somewhere?"
"Actually," James said, seating himself in front of Adele and Scorpius, "I do. But I'm too hungry to think. Do you have any Sickles to spare, my favourite brother?"
So that's what he was here for.
"I'm your only brother," Albus said.
"Hence you are my favourite."
"That doesn't make sense."
"Yes it does. So do you have any money or what?"
"What happened to the coins Mum gave you?"
"I spent them."
"Already?"
"I bought some stuff but my friends ate most of it."
"I thought Gryffindors were meant to be loyal."
"Not when they're hungry."
"Well, you're not getting any. I want to buy something off the trolley too."
Scorpius, Adele, and Rose were watching this exchange carefully. Albus felt his face turning red, partly with embarrassment, but mostly with annoyance. James was such a pain.
"Fine," Albus said finally when all James did was stand there looking expectantly at him. He took out a small pouch of coins and handed some Sickles over.
James swiped them from his hand. "Thanks!" he hollered as he left their carriage.
Adele was looking at him almost sympathetically. Albus grimaced at her, and she smiled.
"That's your brother?" Scorpius asked.
"Yes…"
Scorpius didn't say anything. His face was unreadable; Albus had never seen someone so empty of emotion. The Potter-Weasleys were always either flushed red with excitement or embarrassment, or grinning or smirking or scowling.
"Do you have any brothers or sisters?" Albus asked.
"No," Scorpius said.
"You're lucky."
"You shouldn't say things like that, Al!" Rose admonished.
"Easy for you to say," Albus told her. "Hugo isn't mental like Lily and James."
Rose, clearly not one to start an argument she couldn't win, lifted her book onto her lap again.
"What subject are you looking forward to most?" Rose suddenly asked, looking round at all of them. "It says here that the Astronomy Tower is the tallest tower in Hogwarts. You can see the Forbidden Forest and everything from it."
"Quidditch," Scorpius said.
Rose looked horrified. Albus laughed and said, "Me, too."
"Quidditch isn't a subject," she said.
"Yes it is," Scorpius said. "They have flying classes for first-years."
"Doesn't make that an actual subject," Rose argued. "I'm looking forward to Astronomy. Actually, Charms the most. Or Transfiguration. Oh, I can't wait to use my wand."
Rose's enthusiasm was contagious; Albus found himself growing even more excited as the train chugged closer to Hogwarts. There was that little twinge of apprehension he felt when Rose mentioned using her wand, and he made a mental note not to sit next to her during Charms (he heard they were practical lessons). He still had a burn scar on his forearm from her last foray into magic that hadn't quite healed yet. Assuming they were in the same House, that is… The thought made him worried all over again.
Rose looked expectantly at Scorpius and Adele, but Scorpius just looked bored and Adele (whom Albus had pegged by now as a painfully shy type) just fiddled with the end of her hair. Rose pursed her lips and looked to Albus.
Albus shrugged. "I guess… Defence Against the Dark Arts?"
Rose brightened. "Yes, that too. I've heard you get to face a Boggart. I wonder what my Boggart will look like…"
"Detention?" Albus joked.
"No," Rose snapped. "Probably… Heights. Flying."
Scorpius snorted.
"What would yours be, then?" Rose said.
"Dunno," Scorpius said.
"You must be afraid of something. Everyone's afraid of something."
Scorpius shrugged, and Albus thought he looked uncomfortable.
"Want to play some Exploding Snap?" Albus asked.
"Sure," said Scorpius.
He was just digging out the deck of cards from his trunk when the trolley-lady reached their compartment.
"Anything off the trolley, dears?" said the plump, grey-haired witch.
Albus had been looking forward to this part of the journey immensely; free pick of any Honeydukes products he liked with no Ginny Potter to berate him about keeping his sweet tooth in check.
"Can I please have three Chocolate Frogs?" Albus said, grinning. "And a pack of Jelly Slugs. And a liquorice wand. Oh, and a box of Every Flavour Beans and Drooble's Gum. And that-" he said, pointing to a bright blue muffin-thing wrapped in clear plastic.
The trolley-lady smiled and handed over each item one at a time. Albus began stacking them on spare space next to him, before reaching for his coin purse.
"That'll be nine Sickles."
His heart dropped. Stupid James!
"Oh, sorry, I don't think I'll have enough…" Albus began. Then he looked helplessly at his pile of goods wondering which ones he liked the least.
"Here," Scorpius said, handing over some coins to the trolley-lady.
"Thanks," Albus said, wide-eyed.
Scorpius just shrugged.
"Anyone else?" the trolley-lady asked.
"Can we have a bit of everything, please?" Scorpius said.
Rose and Albus watched with alarm as the trolley-lady started unloading what looked like half the contents of Honeydukes next to the pile of Albus' sweets. Scorpius paid her with a handful of coins from his seemingly bottomless purse.
"Dig in," Scorpius said, grinning around at them.
Rose and Albus exchanged glances, then dived at the mound of sweets. The four of them made a good effort; they munched, licked, and in the case of the Chocolate Frogs, caught and gobbled, their way through more than half of Scorpius' splurge. They still had a decent amount left when they fell back into their seats, stuffed full of sugar and feeling quite content.
"Thank you," Rose said to Scorpius.
Scorpius nodded at her.
"Harry Potter," Adele said into her lap.
"What?" said Albus.
Adele held up the Chocolate Frog card she was reading. "That's your dad, right?"
"Oh, him. Yeah."
It was at times like these Albus was sharply reminded that his family - his loud, crazy, sprawling family - were not your average witches and wizards. Strangers talked to him as if they knew him, ruffling his hair, saying how much he looked like the great Harry Potter. It annoyed him to no end. Unlike James, who revelled in the attention. So it was with surprise he noted that Adele did not look at all impressed; she just nodded and flipped the card over to read the back.
"I got a Weasley," Scorpius said.
"Who?" Rose asked, looking annoyed at the way he'd said her family name as if it were a disease he'd caught.
Scorpius held the card up for her. It was Aunt Hermione.
"That's my mum," Rose said.
"You don't really look like her," Scorpius observed, looking down at the card.
"People say I have her brains," Rose said primly.
"So how about that Exploding Snap?" Albus intervened before they could go any further.
The four of them all sat on the floor of the compartment, legs crossed and their backs leaning against the seats. Albus shuffled the cards and dealt them out evenly amongst the players. It soon turned out that Adele was wicked fast at Exploding Snap - almost as fast as Albus, who prided himself in being the reigning Exploding Snap champion of the Potter household. They left Rose and Scorpius in the dust in their frenzied tapping of the card pairs. Rose, who hated losing, looked highly annoyed all the way through and began turning red. For a few moments during the game Albus was worried she'd set the pack alight like she'd done last Christmas. He let her win some pairs just in case.
They played another two games (Adele and Albus won one each) and he was well on his way into winning the third when in trooped Dominique, Roxanne, Fred, and James. The four first-years scrambled up out of the way and back onto their seats.
"Long time no see!" James greeted.
"My little cousins, all grown up," Fred said, wiping a fake tear from his cheek. He ruffled Albus' hair. "We've come to wish you good luck for the Sorting."
"Why would we need luck?" Rose asked.
Fred looked grave. "Well you have to fight the Sorting Hat to get into a House. Everyone knows that."
A feeling of dread filled Albus. Fred, being in fourth year, was the oldest of the bunch. Surely he would know.
Roxanne pushed her brother over and sat down next to Albus. "Don't be daft, Fred. Don't worry-" she looked reassuringly at Albus, "-you just sit there and the Hat places you."
"Yes, that's what it says in Hogwarts, a History," Rose said.
"A word of advice," Dominique said to Rose. "I wouldn't go around quoting Hogwarts, a History once you get to school."
Rose frowned at her.
"So James here tells me you want to be in Slytherin," Fred said, taking a seat on Albus' other side and slinging an arm around his shoulders.
"I don't want to be in Slytherin," Albus said.
Then he glanced over at Scorpius, and thought for a moment the blonde-haired boy looked hurt. A tendril of guilt wound its way through Albus as he looked away.
"We're going to be in Gryffindor," Rose said confidently.
"Good for you," Fred said.
"Hey, aren't you Annalia Zabini's daughter?" Dominique suddenly said.
Adele looked like she'd been zapped with a tingling jinx. She stared wide-eyed up at Dominique, who was almost two heads taller despite only being a year older, and nodded.
"She's her step-mum," Rose said.
"Oh," said Dominique. "I love her books."
Albus made a mental note to look up who exactly Annalia Zabini was.
Adele spoke so softly Albus almost didn't hear her. "Thanks."
"And who are these two?" Fred chimed in. "New friends of yours, Al?"
Adele shifted uncomfortably. Albus noticed her discreetly gripping Scorpius' hand in the small space between them.
"That's Scorpius. And Adele," Albus said.
Scorpius' pale, pointed face looked deadly serious again. It almost seemed comical on someone so little.
James must have thought the same thing. "Why so serious? Or is it a requirement for Slytherins to look like that?"
"Shut up, James," said Roxanne.
"You in Slytherin?" Fred said.
Scorpius sat up straighter. "I will be."
Fred raised his brows. "Each to their own, I suppose."
Scorpius didn't reply. Albus could tell his older cousins were thrown off by Scorpius' quietness; they probably thought he was an arrogant little bugger. But Albus knew better. He recognised Scorpius' restrained silence as one he himself often used at family gatherings when he preferred to sit back and observe the craziness.
"And don't touch the Thestrals - they bite," Fred went on.
Albus rolled his eyes. "Nice try. James already got me with that one. Dad says Thestrals are nice, and we're taking the boats this year anyway."
Fred looked doubtful. "I'm not sure where Uncle Harry's getting his information, but you should probably prepare for some angry invisible horses."
Albus' confidence deflated a little.
"Thestrals aren't horses," Rose said.
"How do you know?" said Fred. "They're invisible."
Rose opened her mouth, glanced at Dominique, then snapped it shut again.
A loud toot of the Hogwarts Express blew over their heads.
Fred looked up. "Well," he said, getting up. "It is time, my young ones. Best of luck. See you at the feast!"
They started filing out after him, but not before each giving a piece of advice.
"Don't fall off the boat!" Roxanne said.
"Don't trip on stage!" said Dominique.
And finally James yelled, "And don't cry if you get into Slytherin!" before slamming the door shut behind him.
A silence filled the carriage.
"Sorry," Albus said lamely.
Scorpius shrugged. "Family."
xxxxxxxxxx
"Hey look, another Potter!"
"He looks just like Harry Potter!"
"Shh, I think he heard you."
"So, who cares? He's famous, he should be used to it."
Albus was used to it, but it didn't mean he liked it. He kept his head down and ignored the whispers from older students around him as he pushed his way past them towards Hagrid, who was at the end of the dimly lit platform directing all first-years to him.
He kept an eye on Rose's mane of red hair in front of him, though, weaving between the students. He had already lost Scorpius and Adele in the throng of people flooding out of the train. He didn't want to be alone in a boat.
"Firs' years!" Hagrid boomed. "Firs' years to me!"
"Hagrid!" Rose said as she reached him.
"Hello there, Rosie. And where's Al? Oh, there yer are! Blimey you look just like yer old man did. I was there to lead him across too, yeh know," Hagrid said.
Albus grimaced. A couple of first years around him had turned to stare at him.
"Alrigh'y. Everyone follow me," Hagrid said as he swung the great lamp he was holding over their heads and in the direction of a dark, slippery-looking path.
They trooped after Hagrid, shoes getting muddied, down the winding path. At last they got to the edge of a vast lake - "The Black Lake", Rose told him - where a dozen or so boats were bobbing in the water. Up ahead, perched on a mountaintop, was Hogwarts; a huge stone castle of gleaming windows and spiralling towers. It was grand and magical, and everything Albus had been dreaming about ever since his brother had left for school.
"Four to a boat!" Hagrid told them.
The group of first-years surged forward. Albus lifted his school robes to avoid muddying the ends as he got closer to the water, causing his wand to slip out of his pocket. "Shit!" he said (he'd heard James use that one multiple times over the summer) and shot out an arm to stop someone who was just about to step on it.
Before he could bend down, the boy plucked it out of the mud for him and thrust it at him. "Better not lose that," he said.
"Thanks," said Albus, smiling gratefully at the boy. He was taller than Albus, with scraggly brown hair and heavy, troll-like features.
"C'mon, c'mon, stragglers in this boat!" Hagrid waved over at them.
Albus realised he and the boy were the last ones to find a boat. He looked around for Rose, and spotted her making a face at him in a boat near the edge of the group with three first-year girls he didn't recognise.
"Hey Scorp!" the boy said as he climbed into the last remaining half-empty boat.
Scorpius was sitting on one side with Adele.
"Darius," Scorpius greeted.
Darius grinned at him and sat himself on the other end. Albus climbed in after him.
As soon as he was seated the boats started gliding of their own accord towards the castle. Adele gripped the sides of the small wooden vessel as it cut through the water at a serene pace.
Darius laughed. "You scared of a little water, Zabini?"
Adele glared at him. Albus was shocked; he didn't know the shy, nice girl had it in her. "No," she said.
Darius grinned at her. "Or perhaps a little squid?"
"Leave her alone, Darius," Scorpius said.
"Isn't your dad supposed to be some kind of super-warrior?" Darius taunted Adele.
"He's a curse-breaker," Adele said. "He's not a warrior."
"Same difference."
"Ahhhhhhh!"
Albus whipped around at the high-pitched screams as the wooden stern of the boat furthest from them caught ablaze. He spotted Rose at the front of the boat frantically trying to fan out the flames with her robes.
Hagrid, ahead of them in a boat by himself, immediately stood and Albus thought he might tip over. But Hagrid kept his balance and pointed his wand at Rose and the screaming girls. A jet of water shot towards them and drenched the front of the boat, along with Rose and one other girl, extinguishing the fire.
Darius was almost jumping with excitement. "I hope they teach us how to do that," he said.
Judging by the toothy grin and wicked gleam in his eye, Albus had a feeling he meant setting things on fire, not putting them out.
"Was that Rose?" Scorpius asked.
Albus turned back to them. "Yeah," he mumbled.
Sometimes he wished he came from a normal family.
"Woah," Darius said. "You know her? Do you reckon she could teach me?"
"She's my cousin. And probably not - all of her fires are accidents."
"You mean, she gets to do magic outside of school?"
Albus shifted in his seat. "She's not supposed to. She gets in lots of trouble."
Albus didn't say from who; Rose had asked him to promise her not to tell anyone she was on the Ministry's list of persons to watch. Albeit Aunt Hermione was the one from the Ministry who was watching her, but still.
Darius looked impressed. "Sheesh. Better not mess with her, then."
Albus couldn't see anyone messing with his hot-headed cousin anyway, even without her fire-setting tendencies.
"Look!" Scorpius said suddenly, pointing at a ripple in the water only a metre away from them.
He looked at Albus and the two boys grinned at each other. Giant Squid.
Adele looked positively frightened.
Albus watched Scorpius grab her hand and give it a reassuring squeeze, but she looked anything but reassured. Turning back to the water, Albus craned his neck around, searching the glassy surface for another glimpse. He gasped when he saw the glistening trunk of a huge tentacle come up and undulate along the surface, before sinking down again.
"Wicked," Darius said.
"It looks so slimy," said Adele.
"Bet it's big enough to swallow us whole," said Darius.
Adele shot him an apprehensive look. "No, it's not…"
The four of them argued about the supposed size of the Giant Squid, and whether or not it would be strong enough to capsize their boat, all the way to the base of the cliff. They ducked their heads as the boat glided through a curtain of ivy hiding a wide entrance carved into the cliff face. Soon they reached the end of the tunnel and began clambering out onto the dark underground harbour beneath the castle.
Albus left Scorpius, Adele, and Darius and began looking for Rose. She wasn't hard to find; she was standing apart from the other girls that had been on her boat (one of them drenched from Hagrid's spell) wringing out her wet hair onto the pebbles of the shore.
"You okay?" asked Albus.
Rose looked relieved at the sight of him. "Yes," she said quietly, looking embarrassed.
"Wish I knew a drying spell," Albus said.
Rose brightened. "Actually-" she got out her wand. Albus stood back as she waved it at herself, muttering something. Nothing happened. Rose frowned and waved again, and Albus watched in amazement as first her hair, then her robes, changed colour as they dried out.
"Wow," said Albus.
Rose looked smug. "I've been reading over the summer."
Albus wished he had read some things. He had only been playing Quidditch all summer with James, determined to make it onto the Gryffindor team in his first year just like his dad had done. He wallowed in this regret as Hagrid lead the group into the dark tunnel of the cliff then out onto the grassy area in front of the castle.
When they reached the great wooden doors Hagrid raised his boulder of a fist and banged on them once, twice, and a third and final time. Albus gulped as the doors swung open and he followed Hagrid into Hogwarts.
xxxxxxxxxx
The floor of the Great Hall was a sea of pointed hats, and faces staring curiously up at the row of shaking first-years. Albus felt sick.
"A warm welcome to the new students," said Headmistress McGonagall, her croaky voice ringing out through the Hall. "Now it is time for the Sorting. Professor Ang?"
A tall, stern-looking wizard stepped forward from the teacher's table and set a tattered looking hat on a wooden stool in the centre of the stage. Albus eyed the Sorting Hat warily. It didn't look all that menacing; it was old and faded, and some of the seams were fraying. Albus looked out over the crowd and spotted James' head of messy black hair. James made a pig-nose at him. Albus' eye wandered down what was evidently the Gryffindor table and spotted Dominique and Roxanne, who waved at him (he waved weakly back), Fred, who gave him the thumbs up, and Victoire, surrounded by a group of preening seventh-year girls, who didn't seem to see him at all.
"Aberly, Tom," said Professor Ang, reading from a long scroll.
A plump, short boy stepped forward and made his way to the stool. He placed the Sorting Hat on his head. Albus almost jumped when the hat opened at the base and yelled, "HUFFLEPUFF!"
The boy scurried off the stage towards the cheering table at the far left of the Great Hall.
So that's how it worked. Albus breathed a sigh of relief.
"Barnaby, Gregory."
"RAVENCLAW!"
"Earl, Cynthia."
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Albus almost put his head in his hands with embarrassment as he heard James' exaggerated whoop of excitement at Gryffindor's first addition to the House, his voice echoing around the hall.
Soon Professor Ang called, "Flint, Darius."
Darius strode to the hat. It barely touched his head when it shouted, "SLYTHERIN!"
The Slytherin table at the far right of the room cheered as Darius grinned and bounded off the stage.
"Hicks, Sally."
"GRYFFINDOR!"
The Gryffindor table exploded with an even bigger cheer. They seemed to be competing with Slytherin for who could make the most noise; several students glanced over at the others' House table.
The blonde, pigtailed girl almost tripped, then hurried towards the Gryffindor table. Albus worried the corner of his lip as he glanced down the table again. He listened distractedly as Professor Ang carried on down the list of names.
Would the hat make it's judgement straight away, like it had done for Darius? Or would it take it's time like it seemed to be doing now with Scorpius? He watched Scorpius' pale face under the wide brim of the hat, his eyes scrunched up in concentration, his lips moving soundlessly. Finally, the hat opened up and bellowed, "SLYTHERIN!"
Scorpius whipped the hat off, a small smile flitting onto his serious face, before heading down to the rowdy Slytherin table.
Albus shuffled nervously, causing Rose to glance over at him. He ignored her questioning look. This was so stupid. He wished there was no such thing as Houses. Who cared, anyway? How could one person just be brave and loyal, and another only cunning? What if he wanted to be all of those things? With slight amusement he wondered what would happen if he were to go up there and refuse to be sorted. His parents would get their first letter from Hogwarts about him, even sooner than they had in James' first year - his had been in the second week.
While 'Pope, Melody' was taking her time being sorted, and Albus was starting to experience something of a panic attack as 'Potter, Albus' was surely next, his father's words at the station came back to him. 'One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew.'
Albus had heard some of the story of Severus Snape, his namesake, (his father had promised to tell him the full story when he was 'older') and he wondered why if Severus Snape had been so brave, he'd been put in Slytherin. Then it hit him; perhaps Albus could become a man such as Severus Snape. Perhaps he could be cunning, and brave, and loyal, and it didn't matter which House he was put in. After all, Severus 'the Slytherin' had gone on to do great things, even help his dad win the war.
Albus did not have long to ponder this epiphany; Professor Ang called "Potter, Albus", and Albus stepped forward towards the hat.
He clenched his fists and determinedly ignored the mutterings around the hall that started at the mention of 'Potter'.
Taking a deep breath and perching at the edge of the stool, he jammed the hat onto his head almost angrily.
"Well, well, well," he heard a voice in his ear. "Another Potter. Same blood, but a completely different breed. Where to put you?"
Surprise me, Albus thought.
The hat made a rumbling sound that seemed like a laugh. "Precocious young thing, aren't you?"
Albus had no idea what that meant, but he gripped the sides of the stool, eyes shut to the students that were surely watching him like spectators at a zoo.
"So where to put you? I see bravery, loyalty-"
Gryffindor? Albus thought immediately. Yes, his parents would be happy - Uncle Ron would be over the moon - but for a moment he was sombre as he saw in his minds eye James trapping him in a headlock and pushing his face into the salad as he approached the House table. Albus decided to sit at the opposite end from his brother.
"-but also a sharp intellect. Yes, Ravenclaw would certainly nurture that..."
Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad. He didn't have any cousins in Ravenclaw, but Albus had never found it difficult making friends. And there was a good chance that Rose would be sorted into the 'smart' House.
"...And a big heart. You would fit right into Hufflepuff…"
Teddy had been in Hufflepuff. Their common room had a pool table. That wouldn't be so bad.
"...But what's this? A cunning mind, too, and ambition. Prideful-"
Albus almost snorted. He wasn't prideful. James was the prideful one.
"-and a future of greatness, were you to be in Slytherin."
Albus thought of Scorpius. He already had a sort-of friend in Slytherin. If all Slytherins were like Scorpius Malfoy he supposed it couldn't be that bad, despite what James said about evil wizards and Dark magic. He couldn't in a million years imagine the skinny, pale boy who had held his friend's hand all the way here ever doing anything like that with his 'cunning'.
You're just making all this stuff up, aren't you? Albus accused the hat.
The hat rumbled again. "Cheeky," said the hat. "Now which House is the one for you, Albus Severus Potter?"
I dare you to say all of them.
"You dare me, eh?"
I dare you, you silly old hat.
"Now, now, no need for names."
I want to be a Gryffindor, and a Ravenclaw, and a Hufflepuff, and a Slytherin, Albus thought fiercely. I want to be brave and smart and kind and clever. I want to be a great wizard, like my dad.
The hat did not answer him. Albus felt the seam open above his head.
The hat's decision rang out around the Great Hall over a stunned crowd.
"SLYTHERIN!"