Chapter 2: Beginnings of a New Generation
It was day that Albus has been looking forward to ever since he got his Hogwarts letter a few weeks ago. As his family approached King's Cross, the strange nagging in the back of his head seem to intensify. The closer they got to the station, the more anxious he seemed to become.
He heard the stories from his parents and their friends about their time at Hogwarts. His dad told him about all the battles he had to face and the challenges he overcame. HE even talked about his final duel with Voldemort.
I would sometimes hear Dad wake up in the middle of the night with a shout because he was having bad dreams about that time, but whenever it was brought up, he wouldn't mind sharing about it.
Maybe it was his ways of dealing with the trauma, and Albus respected that. He knew his father had a hard childhood and things were never easy for him. That's why he never took anything he had for granted because he knew how much work his dad put in so that he and his siblings didn't have to go through that.
We still are the Daily Prophets favorite topic. Whenever they went out, there's always a mob of people wanting to take pictures and get autographs of Harry. And a new article to seems to follow every time.
Albus felt as though their lives were an open book for people to enjoy and that's why Albus tends to keep to himself. Other than family there isn't really anyone else he can say that he is friends The only friends he had were his siblings and cousins and he preferred it that way.
Since his family is so famous in the Wizarding world, making friends scared Albus because he didn't know if they were just getting close to him because he was "Harry Potters Son" or because they genuinely wanted to be his friend. He didn't have to worry about that with family.
As they got to platform 9 ¾, Albus paused to tie his shoe, crouching behind his cart full of books and school supplies. Harry came over to him, sensing something was a little off with his son.
"Everything alright buddy?"
"Dad, what if I'm put into Slytherin?" Albus looked around anxiously. "What if I can't be what everyone thinks that I should be?"
"You don't have to worry about all that, Albus." Harry squeezed his shoulder comfortingly. "I doesn't matter which house you're put in because I know that wherever you are, you will become a great wizard."
"But I always feel so different than everyone."
"Being the same as everyone else is boring," Harry laughed. "Just be yourself and the world will just have to accept that."
Pulling him into a quick hug, "Albus, no matter what, Your mother and I will always love you. Nothing on Earth can change that fact, okay?"
Nodding, Albus returned the hug and together they pushed his cart through the space between platform 9 and 10.
On the other side, there were dozens of families sending their children off to Hogwarts just like him and that made him feel better. Harry was immediately bombarded with dozens of people greeting him and giving handshakes but he politely refused all of it so he could see his son off with his full attention.
That made Albus feel a little better. Knowing his father was right behind him giving him a little bit more confidence than when he first got there, but someone in particular grabbed his attention.
Albus went onto the train after he said his goodbyes and found an empty compartment near the rear of the train. Rose found him after a little and sat down next to him.
"You want to sit with me and James?" she asked. "It's no fun being all alone like this."
"It's fine Rose, really." Albus looked out the window to the station." I think I want to be alone for a little."
"Okay." "Rose got up and opened the compartment door. "James and I will be a few cars down if you want to join us later."
"Alright. Thanks Rose."
"Don't worry too much." She smiled at Albus. "Everything will be fine."
Rose left Albus after that and Albus was left to his own thoughts. While looking out at the station, one particular family caught his attention. If you weren't looking, you probably couldn't tell that it was happening but people were tending to give them a wider berth than most. Almost like there was an invisible barrier around the entire family. It didn't seem to bother them though. He recognized the man as Draco Malfoy. His father worked with him a few times and he visited their home every so often to pick up work related items. His son though is who truly piqued his interest.
The boy was a little taller than him with a slender build. His face was lean and came to a slightly rounded point at his chin. He looked strikingly similar to his dad other than the fact that his hair was almost completely white with slight hints of yellow. Instead of styled up like his father wore, he let his hair naturally fall over his left eye. It looked well maintained and had a nice shine to it.
He saw the boy hug his father and mother and than boarded the train, waving goodbye to his father and mother on his way in. His father had a look of content as he saw his son board the train and turned to his wife and smiled.
Harry noticed him a few seconds after the blonde boy went onto the train and went over to greet them. He saw them talking and shake hands before going back to their respective places.
The boy walked past his compartment at first then after few minutes came back. He knocked on the door and slid it open.
"Hey, mind if I join you?" he asked. He looked straight at Albus, full confidence. "All the other compartments were full."
"I guess so" Albus said. "I don't mind"
The boy put his suitcase in the over head compartment and took the seat across from him near the window.
"My name is Scorpius Malfoy," he said, extending his hand, "thank you for letting me sit with you."
Albus found that the close proximity of Scorpius did weird things to his stomach, but chose to ignore them and took his hand in a timid handshake.
"Albus Potter." He said quickly. "No problem."
He found it hard to form words all of sudden. He noticed the blonde was actually very beautiful and it kind of unnerved him because he never had that kind of thoughts before. He made a mental note to ask Rose about it later.
"First year at Hogwarts?" Scorpius asked
"Yeah...I'm excited and nervous all at the same time."
"Me too." Scorpius said. "But I'm more excited than nervous. It'll be my first time away from home"
Suddenly the train whistle blew and they felt the train slowly start it journey to Hogwarts. Albus looked out window and found his parents and waved a final goodbye to them. Scorpius did the same and they were off.
Harry turned to Draco after the train left the station and had an amused smile on his face,
"Maybe they won't end up as we did our first year huh?"
"Probably not" Draco chuckled. "My son only looks like me."
On the train, Albus found that talking to Scorpius was a lot easier than he thought it was going to be. Despite his nervousness, Scorpius seemed to pick up on it and made an effort to make Albus feel more comfortable.
They talked about their likes and dislikes, favorite quidditch teams, favorite food, favorite color and so on. They conversation felt effortless and Albus felt as though he was talking to someone he new for years instead of someone he just met.
Just like that 3 hours passed and Albus knew he just found a close friend in Scorpius. Scorpius felt the same too. Even though they haven't known each other long, Albus felt as though he could trust Scorpius with his life.
Curious as to why Albus wasn't coming over to their cart, she decided to check up on him only to find someone in the cart with him.
Rose was clever and knew right then and there that Scorpius would be in his life no matter what from that point on. She had a second sense when it came to Albus and she always knew that someone like Scorpius would eventually capture Albus' attention. Not that she told him this. She wanted Albus to figure this out for himself.
Entering the cart, Rose immediately took the seat next to Albus and wrapped herself around his arm. She wanted to test her theory out and discretely looked at Scorpius when she did this. To her joy she saw a hint of something but it quickly went away. So she knew there was something there.
"Cousin, why didn't you join me in the other cart?!" She pouted "You know I can only take so much of James' nonsense."
She saw Scorpius relax at the work cousin and he had to hold back a squeal of excitement. She didn't let people know, but secretly she really liked the fact that Albus was more into boys than girls. She knew even Albus wasn't aware of this which made it all the better.
The subtle hints here and there were enough for her keen eye to see that Albus had no interest in girls. Everyone else didn't notice but she knew him better than anyone so she noticed straight away.
"Sorry Rose. Scorpius, here, was keeping me company and the time just flew by."
Scorpius extended his hand to Rose with a dazzling smile on his face.
"Hi Rose, Albus told me so much about you."
She looked Scorpius over and decided that she liked what she saw and deemed him worthy of her cousin.
"Hi there Scorpius. I hope Al here didn't bore you half to death." She said, amused at the slight blush she saw on his face.
"Not at all," Scorpius said "We actually have been having wonderful conversation. Albus is quite the charmer."
Albus immediately blushed.
Rose stayed with them the rest of the way to Hogwarts and found that she really liked Scorpius. He could hold himself in intelligent conversation and had pretty much the same interests as her. It amazed her at how fast she found herself admiring his intellect and knew immediately she had found a rival.
Albus found some of the topics that were brought up were a little over his head, but could follow along with ease. The way Scorpius and Rose explained things and made it easy for him to understand some of the more complex topics.
He was astounded by the level of intellect he was being shown seeing as they were only 11 and it made him think that his years at Hogwarts won't be a boring at all if he had these two people with him.
As the train pulled into Hogwarts, they were greeted by a giant man he came to know and love through the many times he has come to visit.
Hagrid saw Albus and Rose and immediately came over to congratulate them on coming to Hogwarts. Hagrid guided the first years like usual to Hogwarts via magically enchanted boats and Albus, Scoripus and Rose pretty much stayed together the entire time chatting. Only once on the boat ride did Scorpius "almost' fall into the river and Albus and Rose found it extremely funny and teased him about it all the way into the castle.
In no time, all the first years were in front of the giant doors that led to the Great Hall where a professor was waiting for them.
To Albus surprise, the professor was none other than his dad, Harry Potter, himself. Running up to him, "Dad!"
"Hey son, how was the train ride?" he said, slightly amused by the shocked expression on all the first years' faces. They all knew of Harry Potter, but having in stand in front of them like this was something they could only dream about.
"What are you doing here? Professor? Why didn't you say anything?" Albus was asking so many questions that Harry had to slow him down to take so breaths of air."
"I wanted to surprise you." Harry said. "I was offered the position with a few other of my colleagues and we all thought it would be cool to teach the next generation of witches and wizards."
"Who else became a professor from your generation?" Rose asked.
"Well lets go in and find out," Harry said opening the doors to the Great Hall.
Albus followed his dad with Scorpius at his side. Harry noticed this and smiled feeling good that his son was making friends and not keeping to himself like he was afraid of.
Albus felt a little self conscience with all the eyes on them but felt better when he saw Scorpius and Rose were right there with him. It gave him more confidence and it also helped that his father was there too.
News of Harry Potter becoming a professor seemed not to be common knowledge because as soon as Harry opened the doors, there were gasps and cheers from all the students seeing Harry Potter leading the first years.
As they got closer to the sorting hat, Scorpius saw his father sitting in one of the chairs in the back. He was not surprised after seeing Harry so he just smiled and gave his dad a wave. Draco waved back and gave his son a warm smile.
Harry stopped as soon as he reached the sorting hat and turned to face the students.
"Now we will begin the sorting of the first years. When I call your name please have a seat here and I will put the sorting hat on you." Harry held up the sorting hat and called the first student.
After a few dozen names were called, Harry final called his name.
"Albus Potter."
Albus came to the chair and slowly took a seat all the nervousness and anxiety coming back in an instant. Harry bent down and whispered,
"Don't worry, buddy. Relax." as he put hat on his head.
Albus immediately heard a voice in his head.
"Hmm, strange. Yes very strange."
Albus became a little worried when he saw the hat was taking a little longer to make a decision.
"Only a few other times have I had a difficult time finding a place for a student." The hat paused. "As expected of another Potter."
The hat took a little longer to think then he finally voiced his decision
"Yes, that's where I'll put you. You will do great things, I can see it. You belong in …..."
All at once, chaos broke loose.