A/N: Written for the Writing Scripts Boot Camp, for prompt#009: Sorting Hat
Famous for your Father
Letter 2 – Albus to Harry 1
Hey Dad,
It's good to hear from you. I remembered what you said at the train station, so when the Hat tried to put me into Slytherin, I asked it – begged it really – not to, so it put me into Ravenclaw instead. To be honest, I didn't expect that. Rosie's way smarter than me, and she's in Gryffindor. Honestly, I even expected the Sorting Hat to ignore me completely and shove me into Slytherin anyway. So now I'm an Eagle.
I'm going to be such a disappointment to my house. Ravenclaw's all about wits and smarts and stuff. I don't know what the Hat was thinking, putting me in here! Do you think Hats get old and senile? Magical Hats at least? Someone in my house said the Sorting Hat's been Sorting since the time of the founders, and has a bit of all of them in there. Were they really powerful, or really hard-working I wonder? To have mysteries still at Hogwarts means we've lost quite a bit.
That's actually kind of depressing. But yeah, I'm an Eagle now. I guess I better learn the layout of the library then, since that's where most of my dormmates will be once school officially starts.
Victorie kidnapped James for the ride. I think she might have spotted him peeking at her and Teddy. I don't know whether he saw as well or not, but to be honest I was kind of relieved. Rosie and I were nervous enough without him telling us we have to fight trolls for our Sorting (though I'm glad you and Mum set us straight on that one two years ago). Though he did remind us as he went over to the carriages. And I know I've grown up with magic, but it does look creepy seeing them pulled along by invisible creatures. Though I don't think I want to see them. No matter how gentle-looking you and Mrs Scamander say they are. That would mean seeing someone die, and I don't think I –
I guess I know what my Boggart is. Do we deal with those in first year? James said yes, but it's hard to tell when he's being serious or not. It's in our DADA textbook anyway. When did you learn to fight Boggarts? And…would it be too nosy for me to ask what yours is?
And you know how everyone was staring at the train station? They're staring at me here too. More so than James or Rosie. Professor Abbott said I look almost exactly like you did in first year, and a lot of students (most of them from my House) have been asking about the War of Hogwarts. You and Mum didn't really tell us much about it, and I didn't want to say Uncle Fred died then, and Teddy's parents and some of your and Mum's friends. I don't think that's what they wanted to hear anyway.
Why couldn't everyone ask James when he started? What could I possibly tell them that's new? And all that took up most of dinner time – I did try the treacle tart by the way Dad, though it was very sweet – so I didn't get to learn much about my new housemates. I didn't even get some of their names. But how will I ever get to know people if all they want to know about is you? I didn't have a single decent conversation with anyone…except for Rosie, but she's my cousin and she doesn't count. I'm really sorry Dad, but my friends count is zero right now.
And getting into the Common Room is hard too. It took me three tries to get the answer right last night, and that was apparently an easy question for us first years. It's going to be worse when I'm returning from the Owlery. After getting down the Ravenclaw Tower of course. It's a mini-maze; was the one to get to Gryffindor like that too? And to think anyone from the other Houses can get in if they get the answer right! Where's the security in that? Rosie'll be here every other day!
The portraits on the Ravenclaw stairwell are pretty quiet, but I haven't seen the rest of the castle yet. I was going to go with Rosie, but she was talking to a few other girls in her dorm so I let her be. My dormmates don't seem to be in the mood for exploring, and to be honest I don't think I am either. I just don't want to be lost tomorrow, but Prefect Davies said he'd show us where our classes are after timetables come out tomorrow.
There are a lot of books here, and not all of them about the subjects they teach here. There's stuff about jewellery and sword crafting, some magical sports that have long since gone out of fashion because of Quidditch, house-hold spells like the ones Mum and Aunt Hermione and Grandma are so good at, and lots of other stuff I haven't really looked into yet. There were wizard cartoons too, though James already has them all. And the couches are comfortable. There's also a lot of stuff on the materials we use in potions, so maybe that will help. The Charms stuff is really fascinating though, but most of it is over my head. The boy who bunks beside me's reading a copy of the same book though and he's flying through it.
Dad, I'm scared I'm not going to fit in here. The Sorting Hat made a mistake putting me into Ravenclaw; I should have just let it put me into Slytherin.
Sorry it's so short; my mind keeps on wondering off.
Your son,
Albus
