Disclaimer: I don't own, so please don't sue.

"Will all first years come this way please?" a squeaky voice asked as they disembarked from the train. "First years, this way please."

"Who said that?" Albus asked nervously looking around. The voice was loud and clear, but the owner of the voice was not visible at all. He wasn't the only one looking puzzled, indeed most of the students getting off the train were looking around in an attempt to find the owner of the mystery voice.

"Damn, I should've thought of this problem sooner!" the voice exclaimed, still as squeaky as ever. There was a sudden crack and suddenly a house-elf appeared, standing on the rail above them. Scorpius stared in interest, much to Rose's obvious amusement, but Albus didn't blame him for staring. He probably would have done too, had he not been used to this particular elf.

Scorpius stared at the (obviously mad) house-elf above them. He was wearing a green and white Father Christmas hat and the most garish orange, red and pink jumper and his green eyes seemed to bulge slightly.

"First years, this way!" The elf called out once more, suddenly breaking the stunned silence that his appearance had caused. Scorpius could swear half the conversation was about that elf.

"-what's that jumper he's got on. I-"

"-is he a teacher or-"

"-such big ears-"

"-what IS that thing? Is he a-"

"-disgrace, having a creature like that, bossing purebloods around. Don't you agree Malfoy?"

Scorpius turned to face the person who had spoken and raised an eyebrow. "Pardon?"

"I said it's a disgrace, having a creature like that, bossing pure bloods around. Don't you agree Malfoy?" said a tall boy with slate grey eyes and short black hair. "Standards are clearly slipping at Hogwarts."

Rose, who had been standing less than a metre away from Scorpius, glared at the boy. "What makes you such an expert on standards?" she snapped. The boy merely smirked nastily.

"I am Jonathon Flint, from a long line of pure-bloods." The boy countered with a sneer as he looked down at Rose. "Unlike you Weasley's, some of us aren't stinking blood traitors."

Rose's hand plunged into her robes for her wand and Scorpius's hand was already on his wand, when Jonathon's skin suddenly erupted with boils.

"Don't you DARE insult my friends." Mei hissed as she walked over, her wand out and her face in an almost unrecognisable scowl.

"No fighting on the platform!" The elf reprimanded, clicking his fingers. Clicking his fingers once more, the boils on Jonathon's face disappeared. "Now onto the boats!"

Taking special care to avoid ending up on the same boats, Jonathon and Rose got on, still shooting glares at one another. Scorpius, however, was not so lucky and ended up having to take the same boat as Jonathon.

"Did you SEE what that girl did to me!" Jonathon hissed indignantly. "How DARE she attack ME! Probably just some stupid mudblood who doesn't know better! Well, we'll show her!"

"Because being an evil wizard is always a good thing." Scorpius replied sardonically. Jonathon didn't notice his tone and ploughed on.

"Us Slytherin's should stick together! We'll show those blood traitors and mudbloods!"

Scorpius simply rolled his eyes and tried to ignore Jonathon's tirade. "Dear Merlin," he prayed mentally, 'don't let me end up in the same house as this guy.'

Meanwhile, in a different boat, Mei nervously fiddled with her hair. She honestly had no idea what on Earth she'd been thinking when she cast that spell. Normally, Mei would have simply been too shy to stand up to the Flint boy, but the way he'd talked about her friends…she simply snapped and before she knew what she was doing, she cast the first spell that came to mind. Admittedly, it was the ONLY spell that she knew, but still.

"That was a nice spell you cast there." A broad-shouldered, tall girl with long blond hair said, admiringly.

"Thanks." Mei replied, blushing slightly. "I'm Mei Lin."

"I'm Rachel Goyle." The other girl said in a friendly voice. "Hey look!"

Rachel pointed at the castle and Mei let out a gasp. True, she had heard about what Hogwarts looked like from her mother, but nothing prepared her for seeing it in person.

Albus, on yet another one of the boats, was deep in thought as he watched them approach the castle. His dad said he found the castle to be a home to him. Albus wasn't so sure that it would feel the same way to him. And once he got to the castle, he had to figure out something to get that idiot Flint. Nobody insulted his family like that!

"What's your name?" A gangly blond boy with pale skin asked the elf, a look of curiosity on his face.

"I is Dobby the second young sir." The elf said proudly, his voice becoming squeakier as he continued. "I is a proud, paid house elf young sir and am a member of the Hogwarts staff."

"Really?" Albus asked, feeling a little puzzled. Albus and Rose had met Dobby the second when he had delivered something from the ministry to their house. "I thought you worked for the ministry?"

"Ah, young Master Albus is correct, I have worked for the ministry. However, Professor Knight asked for me to take over the position of teacher, and so, here I am, for Professor Knight is an old friend." The house-elf said proudly.

"Good for you Dobby!" Albus said with a smile.

"Dobby the second young sir!" Dobby the Second protested firmly. "I could never be as great as the original Dobby sir!"

"Sorry." Albus said apologetically. "Didn't mean to offend."

"Dobby the Second is not offended sir! Dobby the Second seeks to live up to his honourable name sir! As you will as well, young sir!"

"Are you famous, or something?" the gangly blond boy asked Albus curiously. Then there was a sudden gasp as he realised who he was talking to. "Hey, you're Harry Potter's son, aren't you!" The boy jumped forward and grabbed Albus's hand so forcefully that Albus slid backwards and landed in the lake with a massive splash. There was a sudden click and Albus suddenly found himself back on the boat.

"Master Albus should avoid ending up in the water." Dobby the Second told him firmly. "Master Albus's family would never forgive Dobby the Second if he let Master Albus drown."

"I CAN swim, you know!" Albus protested, mildly annoyed as Dobby the Second proceeded to dry his clothes.

"Dobby the Second will not take chances!" Dobby the Second protested. "I has been given a responsibility over you and I will not slack in my task!"

"Thanks." Albus muttered mutinously, but he had no opportunity to say anything else as the boats landed and they slowly disembarked.

"Really, really, sorry about that." The boy said in an embarrassed tone. "I'm just a little clumsy." Albus smirked. "Ok, I'm a LOT clumsy! Happy?"

"For now. Now you know my name, what's yours?"

"I'm Adrian. Adrian Montague. Please don't hold that against me." The boy said quickly. Albus raised an eyebrow.

"Don't worry, I'm already friends with Malfoy. At this rate, I'll have the entire Slytherin Quidditch team in my pocket." Albus replied with a smirk, before adding. "Except Flint of course. He's just a git."

"You've met Flint then?" Adrian asked with a scowl. Albus nodded.

"Yeah. And I want to HURT him. Badly. He insulted my cousin Rose and my family. NOBODY does that and gets away with it."

"You know, if you want to hurt Flint, can I come along? I pretty much hate him too."

"Really?" Albus asked curiously. Adrian nodded.

"Yeah." Adrian replied with a scowl. "His parents and mine have been trying to get us to be friends for years. But I hate his guts and visa-versa."

"In that case, you can help me plan my revenge." Albus said with a smirk. "Flint is going down."

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Scorpius Malfoy looked up at the ceiling of the Great Hall in wonder. A part of him half expected someone to tell him that he didn't belong, that Hogwarts was no place for children who had descended from Death Eaters. He knew he was being ridiculous, but it didn't exactly stop him from thinking these thoughts.

"We'll show these stupid blood traitors and mudbloods their inferiority." Jonathon Flint hissed to Scorpius, who rolled his eyes and resisted the urge to hex him.

Rose wasn't that far away from them and he saw her stiffen slightly. Resisting an even stronger urge to curse the boy beside him, he slipped back and pulled himself up beside Rose.

"You know, I thought I was supposed to be the petty, pureblood fanatic, but he's WORSE!" he whispered to her and she grinned, but before she could say anything, a tall man with short black hair and clad head to toe in black robes cleared his throat and spoke.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. I am Professor Knight and to our first years I bid you welcome to Hogwarts. In a moment, I will call out each of your names in turn and you will step forward to be sorted."

Nobody spoke. Professor Knight gave off an air of control that no one wanted to cross. With a swift tap of his fingers, he pulled out a ragged old hat, which promptly began to sing.

"A thousand years ago,

When I was fresh and new,

Four great witches and wizards,

Set to pool their resources,

And create a mighty school,

A place for learning magic,

A place for you people to learn,

A place to find new talents,

And master them the same,

Hufflepuffs for fairness,

Loyalty and hard work,

Gryffindors for courage,

Chivalry and sheer nerve,

Ravenclaws are intelligent,

They value wit and knowledge,

Slytherins value cunning,

Devious to the core,

But that does not make the evil,

That is an individual flaw,

As the sorting hat came to the end of its song, Professor Knight picked the hat up and called out the first name.

"Abbot, Sylvia!"

"Ravenclaw!"

"Ames, Grant!"

"Hufflepuff!"

"Andy, James!"

"Hufflepuff!"

"Boot, Bethany!"

"Gryffindor!"

"Beasel, Matthew!"

"Hufflepuff!"

"Is it me, or is there a distinct lack of people going into Slytherin?" Albus asked Mei, who shrugged.

"Maybe it's because of Slytherin's reputation?" She suggested with a shrug. "Oh look, there's that boy who gave your cousin so much trouble on the platform."

Albus turned his head and sure enough, Jonathon Flint was sitting on the stool and the sorting hat was going down onto his head. It had barely touched before calling out "Slytherin!"

"Well there goes one person who DEFINITELY fits Slytherin's reputation." Scorpius whispered to Rose, who simply giggled. The sortings continued until suddenly another name came up that caught not only her attention, but also the attention of everyone in the Great Hall.

"Goyle, Rachel!"

At the mention of the girl's name, a number of murmurs swept through the room. Tales of Mr Goyle's involvement with Voldemort was well known throughout the wizarding world and everyone wanted to see if his daughter would go the same way. After a few moments silence, the hat finally spoke.

"Hufflepuff!"

The response to this was even louder as several people let out gasps of disbelief. The Goyle family had been in Slytherin for centuries.

"Go rebel!" Scorpius yelled out, drawing a number of powerful glares from the teacher's table. Under so much scrutiny, he quickly shrank away and the sorting continued until another name that they knew came up to the hat.

"Lin, Mei!"

Mei nervously walked up to the sorting hat, fiddling with her hair like it was some kind of charm. She felt the sorting hat descended upon her head and suddenly she couldn't see a thing.

"You're an interesting one aren't you?" the hat said in her ear. Mei shook her head slightly.

"What do you mean interesting? I'm sure I belong here and-"

"Oh that's not what I mean!" The hat cut in. "No, no, not at all."

"Then what do you mean?" Mei asked curiously.

"I remember your mother when she sat here. She was scared too."

"Really?"

The hat chuckled at Mei's response. "Yes, I think she was wanting to fly away from me."

"I don't like flying. Or rather, I don't like quidditch." Mei pointed out. "I prefer to play games on the ground." An image of Mei playing football against her dad suddenly popped into her mind, for some reason that she could not place.

"A regular team player?" The hat suddenly paused as it suddenly accessed her memories of what she had done on the platform. "I see you think that your friends are important. Better be HUFFLEPUFF!" The hat yelled out the last word and Mei nervously staggered over to the Hufflepuff table. The next name to be called out was Scorpius Malfoy's and as the hat slipped on to his head, Mei gave her friend an encouraging smile.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

The first thing Scorpius thought when the sorting hat fell down over his eyes was "Why does it have to be too big? Surely a hat as magical as this could change its size to fit the wearer?"

"I probably could, Mr Malfoy, but I think that it's a lot easier for you if you don't have to look at everyone staring at you."

"I suppose." Scorpius conceded. "Although you could just be a way to keep the status quo."

"Pardon?"

"Well, here's the thing I've been thinking about since I arrived. Practically every Malfoy that passes through Hogwarts is sorted into Slytherin. Every Potter and Weasley is sorted into Gryffindor. You could easily be simply a way of keeping people in their place, no matter how hard they may want to be otherwise."

"That's an…interesting theory young man. Not true, but…"

"Actually, as I'm here, is it possible for a magical artefact to go senile?" I don't suppose I really thought about it before now."

"What!"

"Of course, after a thousand years, I imagine that it would be easy to get confused."

"That is cheeky, young man." The hat reprimanded. Scorpius smirked mentally.

"Everyone expects me to be this evil wizard. I think I have a right to be a little hacked off when you put me in Slytherin." He countered.

"Actually, I think Slytherin is not for you."

"Really…?" Scorpius asked, this time in genuine surprise.

"No. I think you belong in RAVENCLAW!"

Feeling slightly dizzy with relief, Scorpius stood up and staggered to the Ravenclaw table. After a moment of stunned silence, the sorting continued until finally it reached another famous name.

"Potter, Albus!"

As Albus sat down on the stool, James mouthed the word 'Slytherin' at him. Albus simply gave him a one-fingered salute.

"Another Potter eh?" the hat asked as it sat on Albus's head. Albus glared and the hat chuckled. "I see you dislike being part of the crowd, merely one of many."

"I want to be known because of who I am, not what my father did!" Albus paused for a moment. "Not that I don't love my dad and that, but…"

"You wish to make your mark on the world, one that makes people see you and not your father. You're very different from your brother." The hat finished.

"Really?"

"Yes. Which is why I think that you will do well in SLYTHERIN!"

There was a sudden stunned silence throughout the Great Hall, a silence only broken by Rose's sudden screech of surprise followed by the sound of her body hitting the floor as she fainted. Professor Patil, head of Ravenclaw house and dressed head to toe in black briskly walked over to her and pointed her wand at Rose. After a moment, Rose's eyes opened.

"You should know that he's still the same boy that you've always known." Professor Patil said briskly. As Rose opened her mouth to argue, Professor Patil continued.

"My sister was sorted into a different house from me, but she was still the same person underneath. You should treat your cousin the same way."

Rose nodded silently and Professor Patil walked back to the teacher's table. Gradually, the queue became shorter and shorter as more and more first years were sorted. Eventually, Rose's name was called and she stomped up to the stool and sat down in a positively sulky way.

"Right, listen up you stu-"

"My, my you are a bold one." The hat cut in, interrupting her rant mid-flow. "Most eleven year olds are pretty scared when they come up here."

"You're just a hat!" Rose snapped. "It's not like you're trying to EAT us or something!"

"And even THAT doesn't put you off, does it?" The hat enquired with an amused tone. "Not even that incident on the dragon reserve when you visited your Uncle Charlie."

"Well I'm sure I was getting there!" Rose protested. "She got startled by the rest of the family arriving."

"Normally I only meet one or two students a year who aren't typical. This year is very different." The hat mused on. "As for you, I think that you will do well in GRYFFINDOR!"

A large burst of cheering erupted from the Gryffindor table as FINALLY, there was a sorting that didn't seem hopelessly wrong. And as Rose sat down, she could have sworn that there was a twinkle in the eye of Professor Knight.