Chapter One- The Platform

Albus Potter trailed after his older brother, James, arguing with him. "I won't! I won't be a Slytherin!" He cried furiously as he and his family started to make their way to the barrier to platform 9 and three quarters.

"James, give it a rest!" said Albus's mother.

"I only said he might be," said James, grinning back at Albus. "There's nothing wrong with that. He might be in Slytherin" But James caught their mother's eye and fell silent, and, for the first time, Albus was grateful for his mother's stare. The five Potters approached the barrier. With a slightly cocky look over his shoulder at Albus, James took the trolley from their mother and broke into a run. A moment later, he had vanished.

"You'll write to me, won't you?" Albus asked his parents immediately, capitalizing on the momentary absence of his brother, for he would never let James hear him ask that.

"Every day, if you want us to," said his mother.

"Not every day," said Albus quickly, "James says most people only get letters from home about once a month."

"We wrote to James three times a week last year," said Mum.

"And you don't want to believe everything he tells you about Hogwarts," Dad put in. "He likes a laugh, your brother." Albus thought that was an understatement, considering how James had pranked him all summer just to laugh at Al every day.

Side by side, Albus and his dad pushed the second trolley forward, gathering speed. As they reached the barrier, Albus winced, and, despite everything he knew, expected to slam into the wall, but no collision came. Instead, his family emerged onto platform nine and three-quarters, which was obscured by thick white steam that was pouring from the scarlet Hogwarts Express. Indistinct figures were swarming through the mist, into which James had already disappeared.

"Where are they?" asked Albus anxiously, peering at the hazy forms they passed as they made their way down the platform.

"We'll find them," said Mum reassuringly.

But the vapor was dense, and it was difficult to make out anybody's faces. Detached from their owners, voices sounded unnaturally loud, and Albus thought he heard Fred and James talking about some prank, and he was glad he couldn't see them.

"I think that's them, Al," said Mum suddenly.

A group of four people emerged from the mist, standing alongside the very last carriage. Their faces only came into focus when Albus and his family had drawn right up to them.

"Hi," said Albus, immensely relieved.

Rose, who was already wearing her brand-new Hogwarts robes, beamed at him.

"How was your summer, Albus? Did James tease you relentlessly?"

"It's James, what do you think?" he grumbled. Rose laughed, and Al smiled slightly at her. Albus saw his dad and uncle Ron put his trunk and owl onto the train. Then, Albus and Rose made their way to where Lily and Hugo, Rose's younger brother and Albus's younger sister, were having an animated discussion about which House they would be sorted into when they finally went to Hogwarts.

"If you're not in Gryffindor, we'll disinherit you," said Uncle Ron, "but no pressure."

"Ron!"

Lily and Hugo laughed, but Albus looked at Rose and saw what was probably the twin, solemn look on his face.

"He doesn't mean it," said Aunt Hermione and Mum, but Uncle Ron was no longer paying

attention, Albus noticed. Catching Dad's eye, he nodded covertly to a point some fifty yards away. Both Rose and Albus strained to hear what their fathers' were saying. The steam had thinned for a moment, and three people stood in sharp relief against the shifting mist.

"Look who it is."

A blond man was standing there with his wife and son, a dark coat buttoned up to his throat. The boy resembled the man as much as Albus resembled his dad. Rose whispered in Albus's ear.

"That's Draco Malfoy, the man my dads always complaining about." Mr. Malfoy caught sight of Dad, Uncle Ron, Aunt Hermione, and Mum staring at him, nodded curtly, and turned away again, and at the same time, the boy looked up from where his mother was fussing over him and caught Albus's eye for a split second.

"So that's little Scorpius," said Uncle Ron under his breath, and Al had to snort slightly, even though he had heard the boys name before. "Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother's brains."

"Ron, for heaven's sake," said Aunt Hermione, half stern, half amused as Rose beamed at her father. "Don't try to turn them against each other before they've even started school!"

"You're right, sorry," said Uncle Ron, but unable to help himself, it seemed to Albus, he added, "Don't get too friendly with him, though, Rosie. Granddad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pureblood." Rose blushed at this, and said under her breath to Al, "I've never even met the boy!"

"Hey!"

James had reappeared, and Albus immediately shrank away from his brother; James had divested himself of his trunk, owl, and trolley, and was evidently bursting with news.

"Teddy's back there," he said breathlessly, pointing back over his shoulder into the billowing clouds of steam. "Just seen him! And guess what he's doing? Snogging Victoire!"

He gazed up at the adults, evidently disappointed by the lack of reaction. Albus thought that it should have been obvious that Teddy and Victoire liked each other.

"Our Teddy! Teddy Lupin! Snogging our Victoire! Our cousin! And I asked teddy what he was doing -"

"You interrupted them?" said Mum. "You are so like Ron -"

"- and he said he'd come to see her off! And then he told me to go away. He's snogging her!" James added as though worried he had not made himself clear.

"Oh, it would be lovely if they got married!" whispered Lily ecstatically. "Teddy would really be part of the family then!"

"He already comes round for dinner about four times a week," said Dad "Why don't we just invite him to live with is and have done with it?"

"Yeah!" said James enthusiastically. "I don't mind sharing with Al-Teddy could have my room!" Albus was about to protest, horrified, when Dad said firmly, "No, you and Al will share a room only when I want the house demolished."

He checked the battered old watch that he had always had, at least it seemed like that to Albus. "It's nearly eleven, you'd better get on board."

"Don't forget to give Neville our love!" Mum told James as she hugged him.

"Mum! I can't give a professor love!"

"But you know Neville-"

James rolled his eyes.

"Outside, yeah, but at school he's Professor Longbottom, isn't he? I can't walk into Herbology and give him love. . . ."

Shaking his head at his mother's foolishness, he vented his feelings by aiming a kick at Albus, who tried, and failed, to avoid it.

"See you later, Al. Watch out for the thestrals."

"I thought they were invisible? You said they were invisible!" Al exclaimed hysterically to his parents,

but James merely laughed, permitted their mother to kiss him, gave their father a fleeting hug, then leapt onto the rapidly filling train. Albus saw him wave, then sprint away up the corridor to find his friends.

"Thestrals are nothing to worry about," Dad told Albus. "They're gentle things, there's nothing scary about them. Anyway, you won't be going up to school in the carriages, you'll be going in the boats."

Mum kissed Albus good-bye.

"See you at Christmas."

"Bye, Al," said Dad as Al hugged him. "Don't forget Hagrid's invited you to tea next Friday. Don't mess with Peeves. Don't duel anyone till you're learned how. And don't let James wind you up."

"What if I'm in Slytherin?"

The whisper was for his father alone, and only the arrival of departure forced Albus to reveal how great and sincere that fear was.

Dad crouched down so that Albus's face was slightly above his own. Alone of Albus and his siblings, he had inherited Dad's eyes.

"Ablus Severus," Dad said quietly, so that nobody but Mum could possibly hear, and she was tactful enough to pretend to be waving to Rose, who had boarded the train already, "you were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew."

"But just say-" Al started.

"-then Slytherin House will have gained an excellent student, won't it? It doesn't matter to us, Al. But if it matters to you, you'll be able to choose Gryffindor over Slytherin. The Sorting Hat takes your choice into account."

"Really?"

"It did for me," said Dad.

He had never told any of his children that before, and the wonder Albus'

felt was too immense to be expressed in words. But now the doors were slamming all along the scarlet train, and the blurred outlines of parents swarming forward for final kisses, last-minute reminders, Albus jumped into the carriage and Mum closed the door behind him.

Students were hanging from the windows nearest them. A great number of faces, both on the train and off, seemed to be turned toward Dad.

"Why are they all staring?" demanded Albus as he and Rose craned around to look at the other students.

"Don't let it worry you," said Uncle Ron. "It's me, I'm extremely famous."

Albus, Rose, Hugo, and Lily laughed. The train began to move, and Albus saw Dad walk alongside it, watching Al's face, which he felt was probably already ablaze with excitement. Dad kept smiling and waving, even though Al felt like it was like a little foreboding, staring back. But even so, Albus kept staring and waving at his father out the window until his dad's face faded from view and Albus turned to face the Hogwarts Express, picking up his truck as well as he could, and started down the carriage, looking for his cousin.