Disclaimer: See Chapter 1 ;o)

Chapter 2

The Sorting Hat

"Children, gather round please!" Professor Longbottom said. Albus, Rose, and Scorpius got closer to Neville. Neville glanced at the trio with a shocked expression, but brought upon a smile and nodded at them. He turned back to the crowd of nervous children.

"Now, beyond these doors is the Great Hall. In the Great Hall, I will place the Sorting hat over your head. The sorting hat will put you in your house. There are four houses, Gryffindor; the house of courage, Ravenclaw; the house of wit, Hufflepuff; the house of loyalty, and Slytherin; the house of ambition. These houses will go on with you for the rest of your Hogwarts career." Looking around, Neville decided to ease the nerves of the students.

"Don't worry,the sorting hat will know where to put you, it'll know just where you will thrive."

As Neville opened the door, the students walked in to the Great Hall. They stopped at the steps and waited for Neville to grab the hat and begin calling out names.

"Atwood, Theodore!" A dark skinned boy walked up the steps. The boy looked nervous, but put on a strong face and sat in the chair. The hat was put on his head and it called out:

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Albus watched the boy walk to the Gryffindor table with a big smile spread across his face. Albus smiled.

"Potter, Albus!" Neville called. Albus turned to the steps. He suddenly felt nerves flow through his body. This was it. He could either tell the hat to put him with his family, somewhere where he didn't fit in, or let the hat choose his fate. He walked up to the seat and let out the air he was holding in. the hat was placed on his head.

"Potter…. Are you going to tell me where to put you, or can I put you where you belong?"

Where do I belong?

"SLYTHERIN" the hat called out.

The Great Hall went silent. James dropped his fork and the clang rang through the hall, but everyone's focus was on Albus.

Albus reluctantly opened his eyes. He looked around and saw expressions of shock and pity. Rose noticed this and began to clap for her cousin. A second later Scorpius joined in the clap. Albus looked at their smiles and smiled thankfully at them. He got up and walked to the table with the green flag hanging over him. He sat there, unsure of how to feel. The names continued to be called and then Neville called out "Malfoy, Scorpius"

He sat on the chair and the hat was placed on his head. This time though, the hat took longer. Scorpius seemed to be whispering to the hat. When finally the hat said:

"Alright then, if you say so. SLYTHERIN!"

The Slytherin table cheered as Scorpius came to sit down next to Albus. Albus hugged his friend and smiled. "What were you whispering about?" he asked. Albus was happy to have at least one friend in his house, but he was still curious.

"The hat told me that i could be great in Gryffindor if I went, but i wanted to stick by my mate." Scorpius finished with a smile.

After a while, Neville finally called out "Weasley, Rose!"

As soon as the hat was placed on her bushy red hair, the hat said.

"Well, there's no doubt about this one! BETTER BE…. GRYFFINDOR!"

Rose glanced at her cousin and her friend. She gave them a sad smile. Albus returned the smile with encouragement. They were all where they belonged

When the feast was finished, the Prefects led all of the first years to their new dormitories. When Albus and Scorpius made it to the boys dorm, they got ready for bed. Albus laid down in his ne four poster bed and smiled. "Ay Scorp, I'm excited for our lives at Hogwarts to start. Thanks for being my mate."

"Dido, Al." Scorpius said with a tired smile. "G'night mate"

"Night."

Albus then closed his eyes to sleep.

~.~

"Albus…."

He was back in the cave. This time, he was right by the book. As he reached down to grab the book, the whispers turned into screams.

"ALBUS!"

He picked up the book and as soon as he opened it, the screams vanished. It was an unnerving silence. He looked around the dark cave, but nothing was by him. He then turned to the first page where he saw it.

This book belongs to the Hoodwink.