Albus sat, still, as the sorting hat was placed over his head. He waited, anticipating, waiting for the shout that would announce his residence in the house of the snakes...But it did not come.

You might want to take me off, now. the hat chuckled. Albus was confused...what was different about this dream? Somehow, it felt more...real. But he knew it was a dream. It had to be. Albus pulled the hat off his head, wondering what in the world was happening. When he came face to face with someone, however, he confirmed that it was a dream. He fell off the stool in shock.

"Woah, there!" said the boy in front of him- he was a first year, too. He was short, with bright green eyes and hair as dark as night. He looked a little healthier, and a tad more cheerful too, but it was definitely Albus.

He held out his hand to Albus, and that was when he realized something- hitting the ground had hurt. In a bloody dream. Still not knowing what to do, Albus simply stared at the wanna-be Albus' hand, and his eyes slowly moved to his upper-body.

Not-Albus was wearing clean Hogwarts robes with a shiny, yellow and black Hogwarts tie.

"Aren't you going to let me help you?" he said uncertainly. Deciding there was nothing to loose, Albus grasped his hand, and he swore he could feel its warmth, even in a dream. He was beginning to doubt this was a dream, however.

Albus stood, still dizzy, as the other Albus smiled warmly. His eyes instinctively moved to look around- the Great Hall's wide House tables were not all green at silver this time. Instead, they were all colorful. And void of people. Well, mostly. On each house table, an Albus, each alike, but different sat on the house tables.

Ravenclaw Albus sat with his (for once) flat-lying hair, although spiking around the edges, and still looking rebellious. He sat straight, looking very smart indeed. Gryffindor Albus, who's hair was even messier than Albus', and who kept driving a hand through it in an attempt to make it even messier . He was lying with his feet curled around the benches so he dangled from them upside down, his messy hair almost brushing the floor. Across from him, Slytherin Albus was sitting on the his house table, his feet carefully swinging below him. He had the same rebellious glint in his eyes that Gryffindor Albus possessed, but his eyes also shone with something else...His hair was messier than Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff Albus', but less that Gryffindor's.

"Er...what exactly is happening here?" Albus asked uncertainly.

"Oh, nothing!" Hufflepuff Albus grinned. "Hi Albus, I'm Albus. These blokes there are Albus, Albus and Albus."

"Erm, I figured."

Ravenclaw Albus rolled his eyes. "You're only confusing him." Ravenclaw Albus said sensibly. "I'll introduce us- I'm the Ravenclaw image of yourself. Basically every part of you that fits to be a Ravenclaw. The others are your Hufflpuff, Gryffindor, and Slytherin selves respectively. So putting it simply, we're only just the parts of you that belong in the different noble houses of Hogwarts, you see." he explained.

"Oh, quit being all boring." Gryffindor Albus snorted. "He'd had figured that out by now- after all, I am a part of him. Let's put it in numbers- I'm Al 1, the wise one's Al 2, nice Hufflepuff bloke Al 3, and the slithery snake's Al 4."

"Says who, you arrogant prat!" Slytherin Albus called. "Of course you'd make yourself first...Stupid, Gryffindor self-love."

"Oh, that's rich, coming from an equally selfish self preserving snake."

"Well, at least I know when to jump headfirst into a situation and when not to, so why don't you go shove your ar-"

"STOP!" Hufflepuff and Ravnclaw Albus yelled, looking murderous.

"Just use your intials, why won't you?" Hufflepuff Albus offered, looking annoyed.

"Because, I don't know- they're stupid?"

"You're only saying that because mine are better than yours." Slytherin Albus retorted smugly.

Albus watched them throw insults back and forth uneasily,"... erm..."

Ravenclaw Albus sighed. "Fine, I suppose Albus' plan...er, the Hufflepuff Albus' plan is least explosive. So, Gryffindor, you're Galbus, Slytherin- go with Salbus, and you can be Halbus, and I'll be...Ralbus." He winced at the last word as if he didn't think much of his new alias.

"Um, okay, Salbus, Ralbus, Galbus, and Halbus...Why are you here?"

"Oh, come take a seat with me, no need to stand- we'll tell you!" Halbus said kindly. Reluctantly, as if he himself would end up a Hufflepuff if he sat there, Albus sat at the Hufflepuff table, closesly followed by Halbus.

"Well, you're in trouble, see?" Halbus explained wisely. The other Albus' watched him carefully, as if refereeing what he would say.

"Your year's going to be troublesome, students will be attacked several times,-"

"Halbus, that's enough." Ralbus said, looking slightly panicked. But Halbus just ignroed him.

"-and one of your best friends will entrust you with a secret you won't want to keep because it -"

"HALBUS!" Ralbus scolded. "Shut it. I'll go on from there." Galbus snickered while Salbus rolled his eyes.

Ralbus quickly hopped off the Ravenclaw table, pushed a slightly disappointed Halbus away, and sat instead as Albus' mouth dropped in horror.

"What did he just- what- but why-"

"Uh, forget anything the idiot said. The fact is, this year, you need to do something very, very important. Accept it- and don't be distraught. And...well, do whatever it takes."

"But...but why are you telling me this? Why in a dream, and why do I don't feel like it's just a dream?"

"Because it isn't?" Galbus suggested helpfully.

Ralbus and Salbus glared at him. Galbus just shrugged, and sat up straight. "Another bit of advice- don't trust adults."

"Don't what?"

"Don't trust adults." Galbus repeated impatiently. "One of them will betray you viciously, and two of them will do something that well, er I don't like to talk about it like that, er- you see-" None of the Albus' had time to shut him up, however, because Galbus shut up on his own, looking down at the floor with something like depression in his usually, reckless, fearless face. Albus noticed, feeling nervous, that the other Albus's...(or Albi? ...No. That sounded too much like some fungus name) had a shadow across their face.

"What?" Albus asked uncertainly, looking from face to face. "What's wrong- tell me!"

"We've told you all you need to know." Slytherin Albus said quietly, speaking from the first time in a while. "And when you learn the most of it...you'll wish you can un-learn it anyway."

"That...doesn't exactly make me feel better." Albus said uncomfortably. The Albus' shrugged.

"You'll forget most of this by the time you wake up, anyway. Expect the you-had-a-prophetic-dream thing- that'll be glued to your mind. You'll remember in time." Galbus said, shaving his hand in a nonchalant way, all his past negative emotions having seemed to dissolve.

"And about dreams..." Albus said, truly feeling dizzy now. What in Merlin? "How, and why...Enough said."

All the Albus did something together- they laughed. So hard that Salbus and Galbus almost fell of their house-tables, so much that Halbus had to bang his fists on the table to stop, so intensely that even Ralbus was clutching his ribs. Was Albus really that crazy?, he thought, seriously worried for his mental health if these four were supposedly a part of him.

"You-you-" Halbus said, taking a final breath to quench his laughter. "Oh, Merlin- that's one secret you can't know- but by all means, you'll be going now. Good bye, Al!"

Albus looked at the now smirking four images of himself. Salbus was wearing a green and silver tie, alternated by Galbus' scarlet and gold one. Ralbus and Halbus both wore red and bronze and yellow and black ties respectively. Something drew Albus to look at himself- he saw no colored tie indicating his house, nothing special, really- but what he saw was enough. Albus had the Hogwart's crest printed onto his robes.

-O-

"MUM! I CAN'T FIND MY WAND!"

"HAVE YOU CHECKED YOUR TRUNK?"

"Oh...YEAH, FOUND IT. WAIT, MUM, WHERE'S MY-"

"YOUR BAG, JAMES! CHECK YOUR BAG FOR MERLIN'S SAKE, WE'RE LEAVING IN MINUTES!"

Albus ran down the stairs with his trunk in hand, tripped down the last step, and fell to the floor with a thud where his father almost ran over him.

"Al, what're you doing there?" Harry said absentmindedly. He helped his son off the floor and then ran to help his wife load James' trunk into their car, levitating Albus' as he did so.

"MUM-"

"YOUR ROBES ARE PACKED, AND YOUR BROOM IS IN THE TRUNK."

"Oh...Oh THANKS." Finally James ran down the stairs, his hair as messy as ever and, his trunk having already been levitated down, but a certain backpack filled with what Albus suspected were Weasley's Wizard Wheezes products went with him, and him alone. He ran over so fast that he almost knocked Albus to the floor again.

"Watch where you're going, squirt." James said as he made it out the door.

"Watch where I'm going?" Albus muttered, running outside as well.

Five minutes later, they were all seated in their dad's flying Ford Angelia II. "This baby was Grandpa's idea," he remembered his father saying one day, looking smug. Apparently, Grandpa Weasley had come up with the idea of flying cars quite a few years ago, and the idea had become more than a little popular. Albus loved riding that car. But his mood was dampened that day because James kept running in and out as soon as they started moving, demanding that he forgot something and ought to bring it. Lily was madder than she was the entire year, and she made no effort to hide it.

"Mum, do something!" James groaned, having finally settled down after going back for another thing. He still fidgeted as he slammed the car's door, trying to sit down more comfortably. "Lily looks like she's ready to blow up an entire Quidditch Pitch." he said dryly.

"Stop annoying her, James!" Ginny snapped.

"But-"

"James, I'll remind you that your broom is in the trunk, and I can cast a fiendfyre as good as anyone else. We're half an hour away from the station, so keep it shut."

James pouted. "Fine." he grumbled. "It's not my fault Al and I were born before her."

That was the wrong thing to say- Lily turned to James with a fiery look in her eyes, and then- she broke down crying. Silent sobs wrecked her body as she folded her arms and hid her face in them.

"T-two years." Lily stuttered, making Albus feel extremely awkward. Before James or he could offer any comfort though, their mother reached out her arms from the back seat and took Lily into them, pulling her along and comforting her.

"See what you've done, now, James?" Harry demanded in an annoyed tone. "Do you always have to do that to your siblings?"

James looked out the window, muttering. "It's just...Well, the longer she doesn't go to Hogwarts, to longer she doesn't get to see Al in Slytherin uniform."

"Really, James?" Harry asked, sighing as he took a left turn. Albus fidgeted uncomfortably, his fists clenching.

"I ask you to stop getting on Lily's nerves, and you decided to poke at Albus' instead. Smooth, buddy. Real smooth."

"What am I supposed to do, then?!" James demanded, waving his arms in annoyance.

"I don't know- stop being a git?" Albus offered, too low for anyone to make it out.

-O-

"We could always sit with Victoire and Molly, you know?" Rose said nonchalantly as she and Albus searched for an empty compartment.

"Yes, but I don't feel like it." Albus said. "Dad said he and Uncle Ron met on the Hogwarts Express...and I want to start up building my own rep."

Rose shrugged. "I won't argue with that then...ah, here's an empty place." Albus glanced inside the compartment- indeed, only two people were inside. A girl, and a slightly familiar boy.

Rose knocked before he could gather anymore details, and it slid open. The girl was facing them- she was fairly short, but not too much. She was pale, and had mahogany colored hair which was very remarkable, compared to her jet black highlights and ran all the way down her back-length hair. Her eyes were a chocolate-brown color, and she was already dressed in Hogwarts robes, with a cat sitting on her shoulder.

"Yes?" she said. Her voice was soft and emotion filled, and Albus could tell that at moment, she was nothing short of a bit irritated. She must have been expecting the trolley lady.

"May we come to sit in?" Rose asked polietly. The girl shrugged, and moved out of the way to let them in. The other boy in the compartment with her was the one they'd seen on the station- he had light blonde hair, a fairly pale skin tone and a pointed face. Albus recognized him as Scorpius Malfoy. Albus and Rose sat across from him, but before Albus could move to close the comparment door, another person walked in. Rick Johanson poked his head through the half-open door, smiling sheepishly.

"Hey - everywhere else is full. Mind if I come in?"

Albus and Rose nodded, and the girl with brown and black hair shrugged again, so Rick went to sit down beside Rose and the girl, and Albus finally shut the door. The five sat in the compartment, silent for a few moments.

"I'm Rose Weasley- nice to meet you." Rose said, smiling. She looked at Scorpius. "I take it you're Scorpius Malfoy?"

Scorpius shrugged. "As far as they told me." he said sarcastically.

"I'm Albus Potter- Rose here's my cousin." Albus chimed in. Albus and Rose exchanged a look- Uncle Ron didn't seem to like Mr. Malfoy, but his father was acting perfectly civil. They may have known each other at some point in school, he thought, and from the look on her face, he could tell Rose was coming to the same conclusion. Even if rivals lived, what were they to do with it? Rose shrugged, and turned back, as did Albus.

"Rick Johanson." Rick told them. They all turned to girl, who was watching them talk silently, but not speaking at all.

"I'm Ciadra Zianne." she said when she noticed them staring at her. She prounced her name See-add-ra.

"Well, it's nice meeting you all." Rose said conversationally, making a point to throw Scorpius a glance as she did. She looked at Rick. "You're the one who was with Nico, right?"

Rick nodded. "And your father was a friend of Nico's...he told me. Said your and Albus' parents were in Gryffindor together."

"Well, yes." Albus said. He opened his mouth to say something else, but the compartment door slid open again, much to Ciadra's chagrin. Though when she saw who it was, her face broke into a grin- it was the trolley lady. Rose smirked, and Albus dug his pockets from what money his parents gave him for candy.

They ended up buying almost half the trolley (most of if courtesy of Rose) as they exchanged Chocolate Frog cards in the long run. Albus saw Rose hand Rick a chocolate frog, and he offered Scorpius one. The latter looked at it for quite a while before accepting it. Ciadra was eating an ice mouse very slowly.

Rick's chocolate frog jumped out the window before he could take a bite. Ciadra laughed at that in her strangely melodramatic voice, as Rick glared half-heartedly. He pulled out his card.

"Hey!" he said. "I got your dad, Albus." he said, waving the card around with wide eyes. Albus rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"You can keep it." he said, turning to Rose as Rick's eyes scanned the card with interest. "What'd you get?" he asked his cousin, seeing the look of amazement on her face. He hoped she hadn't gotten Lujer- that was one rare card he was hoping to beat her to.

"I got Agrippa." she said with a yelp, bumping her fist into the air. Rick turned to look at her like she was crazy as Albus found himself gaping in awe at his cousin's luck- she'd just found a rare card, too, even if it wasn't Lujer.

Scorpius looked up from his card. "This Nico bloke you were talking about- did you know he has a chocolate frog card?"

"No way!" Rick said, looking dumbfounded.

"I didn't know that." Albus admitted as Rose nodded. "I expected it, but I don't have any of his cards."

"I do." Ciadra said. "I have about four or five of his- read the card."

Scorpius took that as a sign to read it aloud, and shrugged.

Nico di Angelo- Youngest and only necromancer of the twentieth century to the twenty first. Most famous for his rebellion against Lord Voldemort (Also known as Tom Riddle) and the youngest and only person to escape Azkaban after Sirius Black (having been accused wrongly).

"What's Azkaban?" Rick said, his eyebrows shooting upward.

"It's a wizarding prison." Rose explained. "Dad told me- see, Nico joined Hogwarts his fifth year, having been learning in another school in the states. The Ministry didn't trust the American wizards, so they accused him of plotting against the Ministry and put him in Azkaban without a fair trial." she explained.

"That was...uncalled for." Scorpius said, frowning. Rose nodded solemnly, and Albus found himself being angry in Nico's behalf, too.

"All right. Who's Sirius Black?" Rick continued curiously. Rose started launching into a longer than necessary explanation about Sirius, how the Ministry was absolutely stupid to lock a man without a trail, and then drifted out of subject to the rights of magical creatures and the decrees that had to be put up to avoid unfair accusations and to work for the benefit of the wizarding world as whole, not put up a misleading image and lull their subjects into a fake sense of security in order to maintain a good reputation. By the time she was almost done, Rick looked like his head was spinning, and Scorpius, out of probable sympathy for him, spoke up.

"Are you a Muggle-Born, by the way?" Scorpius asked Rick- not aggressively or rudely, just hurriedly. Rose glared at him for interrupting her rant.

"No, not really." Rick said, looking slightly uncomfortable again. "I'm actually a Pure-blood. That's what Nico said, anyway. But I've been Muggle-raised."

"How can a pure-blood be Muggle raised?" Albus asked in disbelief as Scorpius raised both his eyebrows, though he looked like he had some idea. "Won't you have to go to your wizarding relatives?"

Rick shrugged. "My uncle- my dad's brother, he's what you'd call a Squib. He married this lady who's a muggle- that'd be my Aunt Donna. She knows about magic, of course. So, my parents were Aurors, and they were killed years after the war by some ex-Death Eaters. That's all I know, really. I didn't know anything about magic until my eleventh birthday, when Neville came and told me. He said I could go to Hogwarts, and that'd he'd be taking me, but turns out he was busy and Nico came with me for Diagon Alley shopping instead."

"Oh," said Albus. "I'm sorry..." The others nodded, but Rick simply shrugged it off.

"It doesn't matter." he muttered. Albus could tell that was an outright lie from the sagging of his shoulders.

That explained everything- mainly why Nico was with him. His relatives may have been a little sore about magic, and so that must have been why they had someone else explain everything to him.

"Couldn't you tell something was off though, when you started doing accidental magic?" Ciadra queried, smoothing her cat's fur.

"Well..yes." Rick admitted. "I mean, there's this time I blew up the school's recorder..." Rick shuddered violently at that memory. "...But I thought that was a coincidence."

"What's a recorder?" Scorpius asked. Rose was at once explaining what a muggle recorder was to Scorpius (who looked horrified as he realized the mistake he had just made) as Albus asked, his curiosity piqued-

"Why did you blow it up?"

Rick blushed furiously. "Well, it was supposed to help the kids at the choir, but...Let's just say it recorded something it wasn't supposed to...something I didn't want anyone to hear."

"How on earth did it manage to do so?" Ciadra asked, tilting her head sideways. "Recorders don't simply go off saving private conversations, do they?" Rose looked at her like she was stupid, for some reason, before shaking her head and turning away with a sigh, and went back to summing up the functions of a recorder to Scorpius, who looked like he regretted asking in the first place, and was simply nodding along as if trying to ease her to a quicker conclusion. Albus couldn't really blame him.

Rick shrugged. "Accidents happen."

"That's true enough." Rose smirked, having finished explaining to Scorpius (he gave a sigh of relief behind her back. Rose could really rant). "I remember my first show of accidental magic- or the one I can recall anyway. I think I was seven. Hugo wouldn't give me back my toy broom, so I levitated him, and he was so terrified he dropped it."
"I was there for that!" Albus grinned. "And in all honestly, you were more terrified than Hugo was."

"Not as much as you were after setting your house of fire!" Rose retorted.

Scorpius out-right laughed, which sounded weird. Seriously, what did Albus' uncle have against his family? He looked pretty friendly. "You set your house on fire? Why on earth?"

Albus grinned sheepishly. "I didn't mean to...James was going on about how I was as good as a Squib, and I got so angry at it just sort of happened."

Silence.

"Is it always normal to set your family house on fire for wizards?" Rick questioned. No one answered this- they looked like they were suppressing laughter. Rick, however, nodded, as though he understood them perfectly well anyway.

"Ah," he said with a fake look of comprehension. "I see."

No one could hold back their mirth anymore, and they all laughed loudly, expect for Ciadra who was simply shaking but not making any real sounds. Albus was actually quite surprised to see how well they were getting along- he'd only met Ciadra just yet, and Scorpius, for a person coming from a rivaling family, didn't see too bad.

"You know," Rose said. "It's so strange how smoothly we're pulling it off. I mean, I don't mean to make a big show of it or anything, but I heard our parents were rivals." She put in with a look at Scorpius. He shrugged.

"My grandad hates your lot." he admitted, making Albus and Rose share yet another look. Huh? "Er, no offence. But my mum and dad say it's...fine to befriend you. Dad says he's not too proud of a few things he did and that he's all matured, he thinks I can talk to who I want to. Mum was a Ravenclaw in her time, see- they're kind of stuck in the middle of all rivalries, so no one hates them."

Albus took this in, and decided Scorpius' dad was much more mature than Uncle Ron was being, even if it did look like a civil rivalry. He turned to see how Rose was taking it, and was surprised to see a wicked fire burning in his eyes- she was not going to go easy on Scorpius academically, and he knew it. She was going to do her best to beat him at everything anyway.

"Well, Gryffindor and Slytherin were the main rivals." Ciadra said, biting into a chocolate frog. " Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were just laid back- I'm hoping I'd be stuck in the fires, I'm one for suspense. In fact, I'm basking for either Gryffindor or Slytherin, but I'm all for Gryffindor once I think it through- Slytherin's a bunch of spare tools."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Scorpius demanded, looking slightly irritated. "There's nothing wrong with us Slytherins- in fact, I want to be a Slytherin- anything against that?"

"My dad said there's nothing wrong with Slytherin." Albus added, not seeing where this was going.

"Yes, but as I said, they're a bunch of spare tools- Mum says that half of the time, all Gryffindors almost get sorted into Slytherin, or vice versa, so if you get into Slytherin, it just means you're not good enough for Gryffindor. Mum says they're just a house for the weak and broken most of the time, those who aren't brave enough to try rather than brain storm things away."

"No they're not!" Rick and Scorpius snapped in unison. Rick looked at Scorpius for aid. "They aren't, are they?" Scorpius shook his head furiously.

"That's not good logical." Rose amended, looking like she wanted to roll her eyes. "Slytherin is the house of the cunning and ambitious- not the broken and superfluous. Not the weak and cowardly. Just because you're not a Gryffindor, that doesn't make you a coward."

"But it does- what kind of people but the broken join the bad side? Because the good side doesn't accept them for who they are. Most Slytherins were Death Eaters, weren't they?" Ciadra said, smiling, as if oblivious to every glare she was getting.

"Is it- is it really that bad?" Rick said, looking doubtful now.

"No!" Scorpius fended angrily, his face red. "No, don't listen to her! She's filling your head with things- it's not true!" Rick blinked for a moment, then looked absolutely livid at someone trying to 'fill his head with things' and glared along with Scorpius.

"Don't look at me like that." Ciadra said, looking irritated. "Slytherins are what I said they were. Just like Ravenclaws are know-it-alls, yet can't know the simplest things, and just like Hufflepuffs are lackeys who have nothing to do besides trying to help others and don't mind their own business because they think it's loyal."

"You're not saying Gryffindors are perfect, now are you?" Albus said reproachfully- he was just beginning to like Ciadra when she started spewing all that nonsense- despite not wanting to be in Slytherin, prejudices still unnerved and disgusted him.

"No, they aren't." she said cheerfully. "Gryffindors are arrogant, self-righteous, and think they're above everyone else because they have this stupidity and recklessness they like to call 'courage'." she ended.

The entire room stared at her in shock- all their sweets lay forgotten beside them, and Rick even dropped his Bertie Bott Bean to gape at Ciadra. Albus chocolate card tumbled out of his hand. Rose was still holding her half-eaten licorice wand, but she looked like she didn't know what to think.

"So...so..." she trailed of. "I- What exactly are you trying to state?"

Ciadra looked at her coolly before shrugging her shoulders. "I'm pointing out that no matter what house you're sorted into, you'll always have a fault. Just speaking in general- don't mind me if you don't like it." And no one did.

The train ride was silent after that- Rick and Scorpius absolutely refused to even look at Ciadra. Scropius in defense of his family's house, and Rick for some reason unknown to him- maybe one of his parents was a and were talking among each other, Scorpius explaining to Rick the best Slytherins including Severus Snape, Horace Slughorn, and Regulus Black while he threw a dirty look at Ciadra every now and then. She didn't seem to care, and kept petting her black cat nonchalantly.

Rose looked torn between them, then decidedly went back to eating quietly. Albus didn't know whose side to take, although he was pretty sure it wouldn't be Ciadra's. Almost unintentionally, he felt himself drift to sleep...

He was standing in a dark, cold corridor. ...No one was there but him. Yet he needed to do something- or else they were all in big trouble. He needed to do this- he had to.

He ran down the narrow, dark, hallway, ignoring the frostbite, the freezing cold as he went through a narrow opening, like an air vent, but not quite...

He crawled along it, desperate to make it to his unknown destination when he reached a block- a block that had green eyes, a mischievous smile, and ruffled black hair. A block that was none other than himself. He was, yet again, wearing black robes with the Hogwarts crest on them.

"Hello there." he smirked. "I'm yet to meet you- Galbus, Salbus, Ralbus, and Halbus have all the fun."

"Who are you then?" Albus breathed impatiently- he was only being delayed.

"I'm you." the other Albus said simply. "Just plain old you. And remember, when you get here, you'll have to go through me."

"Well, then." Albus said, panicking. "Get out of the way- I'm sort of in a hurry..." He didn't see how the other Albus could move away, but he didn't care either. The Albus shook his head cheerfully.

"Nope. Move me yourself."

"W-what?" Albus asked desperately. But he needed to get where he was going! He had to!

The Albus gave him a lopsided grin and propped his hands on his face, looking nonchalant. "Move me yourself. No one but you, can get through this. So if you want to get through, then you must remove me personally. Which is to say, you must remove yourself. So go ahead and remove yourself."

"What-what if I can't?" Albus said, his eyes wide.

The other him shrugged. "If you can't get me out of your way, I'll get you out of mine. This vent isn't wide enough for both of us to go through- one must go backwards to let the other proceed, or neither will ever reach their destination. Get it?"

Albus shook his head furiously. "So...I should get rid of myself before I get rid of myself, meaning that I'll get rid of myself either way?"

"No, no." Dream Albus said, sighing. "Phrase it like this- You should get rid of yourself , or else yourself will get rid of you. Better?"

Albus responded in the negative., and Dream Albus sighed.

"Sorry, mate." he said sincerely. "Dreams just don't make sense- get used to it."

With that, everything faded from his vision. The next thing Albus remembered was Rose waking him up, already dressed in robes.