James sat down in the empty compartment close to the end of the train, looking at the scattering of families waving goodbye to their children. While not being fantastic with numbers, it was clear to him that there were no where near as many people on the platform as he had seen in photos from when his parents were at school. He wondered why, but was interrupted from his thoughts by Bear giving a loud 'hoot' as the train began to pull away from the station. He wished someone would come and sit with him, he had wanted to try and make some friends before he reached the castle, he didn't want to spend the entire ride sitting on his own. James wondered if Teddy and his friends would mind him stopping by for a little while, or maybe he could find some other first years to talk to, but as he started to stand, his compartment door slammed open.
Revealing a smug looking boy, with blond hair, lighter than he had ever seen before, and a girl with darker hair, curled into perfect ringlets. James assumed they were first years like himself, he began to smile and tried to introduce himself, the blond haired boy however beat him to it. Talking in a harsh manner to James.
"You! Potter! knew I'd find you around here! Just like your father, no one wants to talk to you!" the boy snarled, while the girl stood next to him, clinging to his arm, giggling as if he was the funniest person she had ever met. Thanks to his dads previous warning he immediately knew that these were the sorts of people who had supported the dark wizard his father had previously defeated. He also knew he shoud ignore them, but James had to show his Gryffindor bravery, his loyalty to his family, he had to prove he wasn't ashamed of them.
Standing to his full height, while only marginally taller than the two standing before him, it still made him slightly more intimidating than he had been while sitting down.
"and who are you?" James asked, pretending to sweep his gaze critically over the boy, acting as if he was beneath him, as the boy had been doing to him.
"I am Scorpius Malfoy, son of Draco and Astoria Malfoy" the boy replied pompously, puffing out his chest, trying to make himself look important, and failing miserably. James began laughing, much to the fury of the other two kids.
"Son of Malfoy? Don't make me laugh! That no good Death Eater scum! He is in Azkaban, thank merlin!" James scoffed, he knew his dad would be mad at him for talking to anyone like this, but when Ron Weasley is your uncle you tend to pick up on a few things. Language being one of them. The girl crossed her arms angrily.
"Don't talk to him like that! If it wasn't for your no good father Scorpius would actually know his father! It's all your fathers fault!" she said, in what James supposed was meant to be a menacing tone. James simply raised an eye brow at her, trying to ignore the racing of his heart, he didn't want to let his fear show.
"And what are you? His ickle girlfriend?" James asked, watching as the girl stomped her foot and swished her hair over her shoulder, with what appeared to be a practised eye roll.
"I am Scarlett Boot-Parkinson! Betrothed to Scorpius, though I suppose someone with your upbringing wouldn't know a thing about that" the girl said, acting as dignified as an 11 year old could, before crinkling her nose as if in disgust and walking out of the compartment.
"Watch yourself Potter" Scorpius said over his shoulder, following behind Scarlett, laughing all the way.
James suddenly felt very unsure of himself, what did they mean someone of his upbringing? His parents had raised him well, teaching him to be kind and respectful, though he hadn't really shown that then, maybe that was what they meant? Feeling confused James decided to find Teddy, he always knew what to do, being in his last year of Hogwarts Teddy had learnt so much about the school, and knew a lot about the students.
It didn't take long to find Teddy, he had previously told James that his friends sat at the front of the train, as one of his friends was Head Boy and they wanted to stay close so that he could find them quickly after his meeting. Upon entering the compartment with the older students James saw Teddy with Victoire, one of his other cousins, pulled onto his lap, the couple talking softly with their faces lowered, turned towards each other. They didn't notice James come in, the other two people in the compartment looked up, a girl dressed in Slytherin robes, and a boy wearing Ravenclaw robes, the both smiled at him, the girl saying hello before roughly nudging Teddy with her foot.
If James had not been so distressed he would have found amusement in the way Victoire and Teddy jumped apart, turning bright red in their faces. Teddy quickly regained his composure and instantly saw something was troubling his young friend. Shooting his friends a quick apologetic glance, he soon got the story out of James about his encounter with Malfoy and Boot-Parkinson. The slytherin girl groaned.
"I'm going to end up with those two aren't I?" she asked, before introducing herself as Lotti and offering James a seat beside her. Lotti then explained to James how the war had started, he already knew the story though, but thought it wise to not interrupt the older girl who was just trying to help him. She finished by telling him that some old pureblood families were still stuck in their old ways, but assured James profusely that not all families were like that in todays society. Before long Teddy and his friends began talking about the teachers, James listened intently, knowing only a few staff members as his family didn't know any of the newer teachers other than their friends.
They began by telling him about the potions mistress, Amber Pucey, while she was the head of Slytherin she was apparently a very fair and nice teacher, not at all like the rest of her family, who had been supporters of lord Voldemort during the war. Next was Gideon Hawthorne, according to the Ravenclaw boy, professor Hawthorne had taken over the charms position in their first year, the old professor Flitwick having retired, claiming he could not bare to witness the next generation of students who had all been affected by the war. James was a little saddened by this, after having heard so much about the teacher from his family.
The older students glossed over the subject of Defence Against the Dark Arts, muttering something about a curse and wondering who the new teacher would be this year. James began to zone out slightly, he knew many of the other teachers already, Neville Longbottom was teaching Herbology, Luna Lovegood was teaching care of magical creatures, which was now considered a core subject and would be taught in their first year, Hermione Granger was teaching Muggle studies, Lavendar Brown was teaching Divination, though they were not options until his third year, James was positive he would not be taking either of these subjects. Last but not least, was Colin Creevey, who taught History of Magic twice a week, while Professor Binns taught one lesson a week on ancient history. James though it was incredibly cool that they would have a ghost teacher, Teddy and his friends just laughed, and Lotti even went to ruffle his hair, telling him to wait and see for his lesson.
