Chapter One

The morning started off well enough. I woke up to a rare sunny day when our house-elf, Trixie, drew the curtains back from my window.

"Wake up, Master Malfoy!" the little house-elf cried. "Breakfast is ready. Master Malfoy needs to be ready to board the Hogwarts Express today, sir."

I sat up in my bed, rubbing my eyes. I stared around the bright room until my eyes fell on Trixie. "Er... thank you," I said. "I will be there soon."

The house-elf beamed (if that was possible for a house-elf) and exited my room, leaving me to myself. It wasn't that I didn't like having the house-elves around. After all, they did all my cleaning for me. But they did kind of get in the way after a while, and I seemed to have no privacy.

And my mother and father didn't treat them all particularly nicely, either. My father told me that when he was my age, wizards weren't forced to pay house-elves for their work. He said that they did it for free.

But now it was different. Mum and Father are not at all happy about that either. They say it is a waste of good Galleons.

I disagree. My parents like to get paid for the work they do, don't they? So why should it be any different for house-elves? Father got angry with me when I told him that. He said I sounded like them, whoever them was. Perhaps he meant the Ministry of Magic. That was who made that rule.

I climbed out of bed and stumbled sleepily into the kitchen on the level below. Mum was already there, her face white and sunken. She looked worried. Father was opposite her with a copy of the Daily Prophet resting on the table in front of him. Grandma Malfoy was also there and she gave me a warm smile as I entered.

"Ready for school, Scorpius?" she asked.

I nodded. "Yes, Grandma," I answered. "I can't wait."

That was the truth, but Mum's expression told me that she thought differently. As I took the seat beside her at the table, my father reached out a hand and placed it over my mother's.

"He'll be alright," he told her. His tone was convincing, like there was something I mightn't be alright from.

My heart started to beat just a little bit faster. "Of course I'll be alright," I said. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Both my parents shared a look after that and that was the beginning of my bad day. I was worried, now. There was something they weren't telling me. Something that I probably needed to know.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

Mum shook her head. "Nothing," she told me, forcing a smile. "I'm just worrying over nothing." She patted my arm in a less-than-convincing manner.

"He needs to know, Astoria," Father then stated. I turned to him.

"What do I need to know? I've been practicing the spells for months. I've been reading the books... I'll know everything, right?"

They exchanged another look and Father turned to me. He nodded. "Your ability to do magic is something to be admired, Scorpius," he said. "But, intelligence is not all that is important at Hogwarts."

I shook my head. "No, it isn't," I said. "There's ambition and self-preservation as well." That was the motto of Slytherin, wasn't it? Something like that, anyway.

Father nodded again. "Yes, but, Scorpius..." He paused briefly, "Do you remember how I told you about what happened in my last year at Hogwarts?"

I nodded. "Of course. It was the year the Dark Lord overtook Hogwarts and he tried to banish anybody who didn't have pure blood." Grandma Malfoy had also told me everything Father didn't. I didn't tell him that, though.

"And you know how our family – the Malfoys – were... followers, don't you?"

I nodded again. I had seen Father's mark on his arm. I knew what it meant. He was ashamed of it, but I told him not to be. He had been forced to get it.

"Well, Scorpius... there are people around who still believe our family are Dark wizards; that if the Dark Lord were alive today, we would still be supporting him."

"What?" That was absolutely preposterous. How could anybody think that? Father worked at the Ministry of Magic; he worked in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. He put Dark wizards in Azkaban.

"It's not true, of course," Mum interjected. I didn't bother to mention that she still thought purebloods were superior to others. She wouldn't like that.

"What does that have to do with me, though?" I questioned. It didn't make much sense.

Father swallowed. "Well, Scor, there may be some people you encounter who... who don't like you, just because of your name."

I didn't say anything straight away. It sounded a bit stupid that someone would hate me just because my name was Scorpius. Most probably didn't even know I existed.

"Okay, I just won't tell them my name is Scorpius," I said, as if that would solve everything.

They shared a look again.

"What?" I demanded.

"Scor, that's not the name your father was talking about," Mum said gently. "It's the name Malfoy."

"Oh." I didn't know what else to say. I knew that my family wasn't highly respected in the wizarding world anymore, but I didn't think it gave them any right to hate me because of it. They didn't even know me.

"Hopefully that won't happen, though," Mum continued hurriedly. "Now, eat your breakfast, dear. We'll have to leave soon."

I did eat my breakfast, but my mind wandered. I was beginning to wonder what would happen once I started to encounter people at Hogwarts. I hope they'd like me. I didn't want to form any enemies on the first day.

That would just be stupid.

OOO

We arrived at King's Cross station with half an hour to spare. I was ready really early and I think Mum was nervous.

My parents generally tend to arrive more fashionably than through The Leaky Cauldron, but that was how we got there today. Mum had to buy some things in Diagon Alley first and then Father organised one of his Ministry cars to get us to the station.

I don't like the pub very much. It's kind of creepy and lots of people stare. Ever since they told me that people might dislike me because I was a Malfoy, it seemed that everybody was staring at me in disdain.

I didn't like it at all, but thankfully, we left pretty quickly. As soon as we stepped out onto sunny street, Father brushed the dirt from his robes, as did Mum and myself.

With Father dragging my trunk and Mum with her arm across my shoulders, we looked quite an odd trio to Muggle passersby as we piled into the car. It picked us up on the Muggle side of London, which was even worse. I didn't like Muggle London that much. People always looked at us strangely.

But we made it onto the platform relatively quickly and walked hurriedly towards the barrier that would let us enter the world I was familiar with. I actually had never seen the Hogwarts Express up close before. I'd seen pictures of it in books, but that was all.

My heart beat rapidly against my chest as I braced myself for what was to come. Father was with me when I ran through the wall and when I reached the other side, I couldn't help but smile.

It was wondrous. Even though we were early, there were plenty of people there already – some in their Hogwarts robes, but most were wearing odd, Muggle attire. I was dressed in some old robes that I had found at the bottom of my wardrobe this morning. Mum had asked me to change, but I refused. All my good robes were for Hogwarts. I'd discard these once I changed.

"Well, let's get your things on the train, Scor," Father said and we made our way to the big, red engine that was steaming from the top.

If I hadn't been spoken to by my parents earlier, I would probably not have noticed the wide berth people gave the three of us. It was disconcerting to see that people looked on with either fear or distaste.

Even as Father handed my trunk to the train wizard, the man gave us a funny look. I smiled at him in the hope that he would feel okay with being around me, but Mum soon dragged me away, mumbling something about people being so rude.

We found a small clearing where nobody was standing and that was where we stopped. There were already people on the train and part of me wanted to join them. I knew I'd be waiting a while before it actually left, but that was okay.

But Mum wouldn't hear of it.

"I don't want you to go," she complained, pulling me in for a tight hug.

I had very pale skin, so it was probably quite obvious that my cheeks were burning red in that moment. Why did she always have to do that? Why did she have to be so embarrassing?

"Well, I have to," I stated, a little more harshly than I intended. I broke away from her embrace and stared up at her. Oh, now she was going to want to kiss me goodbye too. I knew that look.

"I'm not going to see you for some time, Scorpius," she said, hurt clear in her voice, as I ducked away.

"I'll write, I promise," I said.

"Scorpius." Father's voice was stern, a warning.

I sighed. "Alright," I relented, not wanting to leave my parents on bad terms, after all. I'd already said goodbye to Grandma Malfoy earlier this morning. She had wished me luck and then slipped a few Galleons into my hand without my parents' notice.

Just in case, she had whispered and then kissed my cheek. I could still feel the weight of them in my pocket. I heard there was a trolley lady on the train. Maybe I'd buy some sweets with them. Mum would never allow sweets in our house.

Mum kissed me more times than I wished her to, but I didn't argue with her. I just endured the embarrassment. If it would make her happy, then I guess that was okay.

Once she had finally pulled away, I made for the train, but ran into Father in the process. I looked up at him, about to ask why he was standing in my way (he'd always been okay with me going to Hogwarts – it was Mum who was worried) when I saw that he wasn't even looking at me.

His expression was somewhere in the distance and as I tried to peer over the many heads of students and parents, I noticed what he was looking at. There was a lot of red hair over there and also some dark.

I knew about Harry Potter, of course. I knew what he had done. Along with my father, he was also in Hogwarts, A History now. There were a lot more pictures of him in there too, which always kind of annoyed me.

He always got in the Daily Prophet. Why did he have to be in a book too?

I also knew about Ginny Potter – the famous Quidditch player – and her older brother, Ron Weasley and his wife, Hermione Weasley. They were all famous. More famous than my father ever had been.

Father didn't like them either. He said he worked with Hermione Weasley at the Ministry, but they didn't talk all that much. They only talked when they had to.

But, Father still acknowledged them when they looked our way. They also had children with them – they had a lot of children. Two looked really nervous, which made me think they were just starting too.

All Weasleys and Potters were in Gryffindor, though, so I probably wouldn't have to worry about seeing any of them all that much.

"Don't worry, I won't talk to any of them," I said to Father.

Mum ran her fingers through my hair, smiling down at me, but Father didn't look as pleased. "Now, that isn't very nice, Scorpius," he scolded.

I frowned.

"If you want people to like you, Scorpius, you will have to be nice to people."

I didn't think anybody with the name Weasley or Potter would like me even if I showered them in flowers. That was the impression Mum had given me when I asked if she or Father had known them.

"But still," Mum added, "be careful around them." In other words, ignore what Father says and don't go making friends with them.

I nodded. I didn't want to be friends with people like that, anyway. I didn't like people who thought they were better than everybody else. And no doubt they would think that. After all, they had famous parents.

A whistle sounded – a ten minute warning.

"You better get on the train, Scorpius," Father said. "Unless you miss it."

"That wouldn't be a problem," Mum said, her hand resting on my shoulder.

I shook my head, shaking her off. "I'm going," I said. "Bye." I gave them both another hug goodbye and before Mum could change her mind, I disappeared into the crowd of people, trying to make my way through the train.

I didn't really know where I was going, though. Maybe I'd try and find my cousins, Lilac and Stefania. They were older than me and probably wouldn't want me interfering with them, I assumed. They were like that a lot.

I don't think they liked me all that much.

The train was really crowded. There were first years being pushed over by third years. The really old students – probably seventh years – were half-heartedly trying to control the crowd, but no one paid them attention. Why would they when they weren't even at Hogwarts yet?

I wandered through the first carriage, glancing into the compartments as I did. They were all full and it seemed no one wanted a first year sharing one with them.

So I moved on.

I reached the second carriage, but that was much the same as the first. It was full of third and fourth years – mostly Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. It wasn't that I didn't like them, but I didn't want to associate with people I knew I wasn't going to be in the same House as. There was no point, especially as they were a lot older.

I reached the third carriage, and that seemed to be where most of the first years were gathered. There were a group of Slytherins who seemed to enjoy pushing the younger students around, also. I recognised one as Henry Goyle. I knew Henry. He was big and mean, and I really didn't like it when Father invited Henry and his parents over to our place.

My parents seemed to think we could be friends. They didn't know how much of a bully Henry could be, though.

I tried to pass without getting his attention, but there was no use. He was only a second year, but he was big for his age and he towered over a lot of the fourth years.

"Scorpius!" he called loudly.

I swallowed, turning around to face him. "Hi," I said reluctantly. "Er... isn't this the first year carriage?"

Henry laughed, his voice booming through the whole carriage. I saw some students stick their heads out of the compartment doors to see what the racket was. This was the last thing I wanted – to draw attention to myself with Henry around. Now everyone was going to think we were friends.

"You think you own this carriage, do you, Malfoy?" he asked.

"No!" I answered quickly. I certainly didn't want to find myself hanging by my ankles from the train roof before we'd even left King's Cross.

Henry clapped me on the back. "Don't you worry, Malfoy. If any of these kids give you a hard time, I've got your back."

I nodded, but didn't say anything. Most of the time, it was best not to answer to Henry.

He gave me a light shove (which still sent me sprawling into two first year girls), and he and his friends disappeared into the carriage I had just come from.

I sighed, relieved that he wasn't staying.

I roughly apologised to the two girls I had startled (I doubted they'd become my friends anytime soon) and moved on. Even in the first year carriage, the compartments were full to the brim. There was only one that had two empty seats in it and, of course, it had to be the very one I didn't want to sit in. I actually think I would have preferred to sit with Henry than the Potter and Weasley children. There were a lot of them and I stood in the doorway for longer than necessary, trying to process what I was seeing.

"Are you going to come in?" one of them eventually asked. He had dark hair and green eyes. I wish I knew his name. I didn't like referring to him as Potter or Weasley – I didn't even know which of them he was.

I entered hesitantly, knowing that five pairs of eyes were all on me. I tried to ignore them, but it was difficult. They just kept watching.

"So..." It was the green-eyed boy again. "Are you excited to be going to Hogwarts?"

I nodded, taking a seat next to a dark-haired girl. She smiled at me and it took me a long moment to realise that she was wearing green robes. She was a Slytherin. She couldn't possibly have been a Weasley, then.

"What House do you think you'll get into?" That was a red-haired girl. I'd actually seen her on the platform, I think. She was one of the few already in her Hogwarts robes.

"Slytherin." I didn't even hesitate on my answer, but it received many sniggers from all over the compartment. All except the girl sitting right beside me.

"Ignore them," she said. "They're just jealous." She held out her hand to me. "Molly Weasley, second year Slytherin."

My eyes widened in surprise. Had she just said Weasley and Slytherin in the same sentence?

Another boy – also with dark hair – (wow, there was only one red-head in the place I just realised) laughed. "You sound surprised?" he observed.

"Um... no," I said uncertainly. Why was I even here? I probably could have squeezed into any other compartment. But, in saying that, the green-eyed boy was the only person to invite me in.

"Don't worry," the dark-haired boy replied. "We all were... well, not really, actually. We all think Molly belongs there."

"Hey!" Molly glared at the dark-haired boy.

"There's nothing wrong with Slytherin," I said, slightly angry. It was typical of the Weasleys to think Slytherin was a bad House.

No one had a response to what I said, but the green-eyed boy spoke again. "So, Dad told us you were called Scorpius Malfoy," he said. "Well, I'm Albus Potter and that –" he jabbed a finger at the dark-haired boy, "– is my brother, James."

I nodded in acknowledgement towards them.

"And I'm Rose," the only red-head said. "Rose Weasley." She smiled at me, a gesture I didn't return. I wasn't going to have them thinking I wanted to be friends with any of them. Mum and Father would kill me.

"And I'm Lucy Weasley."

I'd barely even noticed the other girl there. She hadn't said a word since I had entered. I looked around Rose Weasley to catch a better glimpse at her. She had partially red hair, but it wasn't as obvious as Rose's. It was partly blonde too. And she didn't have as many freckles as Rose, I realised. She was quite pretty, if was being honest, but in a weird way.

"Yeah, that's my sister," Molly interrupted.

I nodded again. "So, you're in second year," I said to Molly, trying to work it out. "And the rest of you are first?"

"No, I'm second year too," James told me. He beamed. "Gryffindor!"

I looked at the other Weasley and Potter first years. "Well, I certainly hope we don't share any classes," I stated bluntly.

Everyone stared at me. They seemed confused. Rose seemed offended.

"That's rude!" she exclaimed.

I didn't respond. I simply sunk back into my chair and dug through my backpack to take out Hogwarts, A History. This lot wouldn't care that I left the page open to my father's picture. They probably did it all the time with their own parents.

But as I looked further and further into my pack, a horrible thought began to occur to me. Last night, I had taken the book off its pile with the others. And then Mum had come into my room and I had placed it... on my desk.

I sucked in a breath, receiving a reaction from the others.

"What is it, Malfoy?" Albus asked, his voice colder than it had been moments ago. "Lost your blankie?"

I glared at him. This was the reason I didn't want to sit with these people. They thought themselves better than people like me. Just because their names now had absolute respect all over the world, didn't mean they could treat me like I was inferior to them all.

Besides, none of them were even purebloods anymore...

Stop it, Scorpius! I scolded myself. You're beginning to sound like your parents.

"No," I said eventually. "For your information, I seem to have misplaced one of my books."

"What book?" Rose questioned.

"Hogwarts, A History," I answered, irritated now. That was the only thing worth taking to Hogwarts and I had left the stupid thing at home. How else was I supposed to show my fellow classmates that I was actually worth something; that my family did mean something?

Without saying a word, Rose dug into her own bag and retrieved a copy identical to mine. She handed it to me. "There," she said, seeming to forget about her complaint of me being rude to her two minutes ago. She smiled. "But I want it back at the end of the train ride, okay?"

I took the book and nodded. "Okay," I said. I don't know why I didn't thank her for it. I should have, but I didn't.

Call me a horrible person.

So, I spent the rest of the ride looking through the book, making sure I flipped to the picture of my father every time I saw one of them glancing over to me. Rose seemed the most interested in what I was doing (or maybe she was just making sure I didn't destroy her book) and it became quite irritating, actually.

I tried to ignore her, but it was impossible, and eventually, she spoke to me again. "Why are you ignoring us?" she asked.

She didn't even ask me about the picture. Didn't she even care?

No, probably not, I reasoned. She was probably used to seeing people she knew in the papers.

"Because... I just am," I answered. What a dumb response to those people. Now the definitely would think I was stupid.

"It's not very nice, you know." Didn't that girl ever shut up?

I lifted my head up from my book and glared at her. "Yeah, well, I'm not very nice, am I?" I almost spat the words at her and she looked highly affronted by it. I ignored the tiny bit of guilt that seemed to want to creep up to my conscience. None of these people were actually worth my guilt. At least, I didn't think they were.

"Just ignore him, Rosie," Albus cut in. "He's just like every Malfoy, apparently. We should never have invited him into our compartment."

Our compartment? It was like he thought he owned it.

The rest of the journey was very unpleasant and I was highly relieved when the train began to slow down into Hogsmeade station. I tried peering out the window to catch a glimpse at the school where I'd be spending the next seven years, but even if it wasn't dark out there, I probably wouldn't have been able to see it.

The others began shuffling around the compartment, gathering their things. I noticed that they all had cages with animals inside them. I watched them enviously. I hadn't been allowed to bring my owl, Hyadum. Not yet, anyway. Mum was sending him with a letter which should have arrived by now. I hope she also remembered to post my book. I needed it.

I was the last to leave the compartment. I closed the Weasley girl's book and stuffed it into my pack. Sitting with them was not something I wanted to share with my parents. If Mum asked me, I'd just tell her I sat with Henry. That would please her.

I shuffled slowly from the train, bumping into other students in the process. It was a tough job trying to get out of there, but eventually, I stepped onto the platform, feeling the cool night air brushing my face. I smiled. Soon, I'd be walking through the doors of the famous school; the same school my parents and grandparents and great-grandparents had attended.

The next thing I knew, there was a mop of red hair in my face. My smile faltered.

"I want my book back now, please," Rose Weasley said. Her tone was demanding, her expression stern. She held out her hand to me.

I was half tempted to refuse her request, but I thought better of it, remembering what Father said. I didn't want to offend these people more than I already had. I retrieved her book from my pack and handed it to her. She took it, but continued to stand there, watching me.

"Er... thanks," I said.

She smiled. "You're very welcome, Scorpius," she said. She then disappeared, returning to join her cousins as all the first years gathered by a giant of a man, calling them all towards him.

I tried not to let the man's size bother me, but it was quite intimidating, and it seemed I wasn't the only one to think so. Others whispered amongst themselves and I heard words such as 'huge' and 'scary' in the mix.

"This way!" his voice boomed. "Follow me!"

We all followed him as the man led us to the Great Lake. I'd read about this in the book. Apparently it was home to a giant squid. I'd seen pictures of its tentacles and I didn't tever want to come across it, even if the book did say it was rather friendly. The idea of something so soft and squishy wrapping around my skin sent shivers up my spine.

Resting peacefully on the Lake were many little boats, and the big man directed us into them. This was when I got my first look at the castle. It was a lot bigger than I had ever imagined it to be and each window glowed as we made our way towards it on the little boats.

I was sharing with two other boys and a girl. I didn't know their names, nor did I ask. They also seemed disinclined to speak to me.

I glanced to my left and saw that the three Weasley and/or Potter children were all sharing. They seemed delighted to be there and a lot more relaxed. But that was easy for them. They had each other and probably twenty-million other cousins or relatives inside the castle.

I had nobody.

Well, there was Lilac and Stefania, but as if they would talk to me. They'd probably ignore me in the common room; probably even deny the fact that we were related.

There was also Henry, but I think I'd prefer to have no friends than become friends with him. Unless, of course, I enjoyed having my head stuffed down the toilet everyday (which I didn't).

I turned to the other three people in my boat. "Hi," I said, "I'm Scorpius."

They looked hesitant to answer me at first, but it was the girl who spoke up. "I'm Jasmine," she said. "Jasmine Finnigan."

I nodded. The name meant nothing to me. Probably a Muggleborn (not that that bothered me, I reminded myself).

The two other boys introduced themselves as Michael Lang and Marvin Hooch. I wished I had established a conversation with them, but I didn't, so we sat in silence for the rest of the journey across the Lake.

Eventually, the boats stopped and one-by-one, we clamoured from the boats and onto dry land, where the entrance doors to the castle awaited us. There were many gasps and whispers of awe and wonder as we were led by the giant man through the doors and into the castle. I walked beside Michael Lang, who seemed to be the only one wanting to get to know me.

We were led through the entrance and up a flight of stairs, where another wizard greeted us. He was kind of funny looking, but I recognised him straight away as Neville Longbottom – or should I say, Professor Longbottom? He seemed absolutely delighted to be standing there before us and he even waved to some of the students – the Weasleys, of course, were some of them.

He then unrolled a scroll and began reading about our Sorting, listing the four Houses and their qualities. I hardly listened; I didn't need to hear what I knew already, as did most of the students here, I noticed by the looks on their faces.

There were only a select few – Michael being one of them – who seemed very interested in what Longbottom had to say.

"So, are you a Muggleborn?" I asked in a whisper.

He seemed startled by my question, but nodded. "Um... I think so," he said. "I still don't understand all those names. My parents don't have magic, you see."

I nodded. "Muggleborn," I declared. Or, Mudblood as Mum would put it. I refused to use that word.

Michael smiled at me. "And you?" he questioned.

"Pureblood," I told him.

It was his turn to nod this time. "Then, you can show me things, can't you?" he asked. "Like how to do magic?"

I shook my head. "I don't know any magic," I told him. It was a slight lie. I knew the basic spells. "That's why we're here. To learn."

He seemed disappointed by this. "Oh."

"But don't worry," I assured him. "There are tons of people here who don't know it yet. And there are heaps of Muggleborns like you too. You'll be fine."

His face seemed to relax after that, and just in time too. Professor Longbottom had just opened the doors to the Great Hall. In a few short moments, we were going to be Sorted.

Thanks so much for your reviews from the prologue! It actually got more response than I anticipated, so yay! Virtual cookies to all of you. Once again, a special thank you to Maya for beta-ing this for me. Much appreciated!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter too!