Chapter 4

The Journey to Hogwarts

"Al, get your head back in the train before something takes it off!" Rose scolded.

Albus ducked his head back inside the window and looked at his cousin. "Really, Rose. Nothing's going to hit me, I'm sure whoever's charmed this thing has thought of that."

"Or perhaps they thought of it, and then decided that if a student was dumb enough to stick his head out of a moving train, that he deserved whatever came to him."

Albus rolled his eyes at her. "C'mon, let's find a compartment." Albus grabbed his trunk and Struana's cage, and started heading down the corridor. Rose sniffed, but followed. As they made their way down the length of the train, searching for an open compartment, Albus noticed the heads turning as they passed. Each time eye contact was made with anyone, Albus noticed they quickly looked away, as if embarrassed to be caught looking. He frowned. Is it that big of a deal?…

About halfway down the train, the pair happened upon a compartment that only had two occupants, a dark haired boy and girl who wore the plain black robes of unSorted first years, and who, to Albus, looked to be siblings, if not twins. "Hi," he said, sliding open the door. "Can we join you? It seems like everywhere else is full."

The boy looked up at Albus, then to the girl, then back to Albus. "No."

Albus started, and Rose spoke up. "Um… okay… but I don't know if we have a choice, I think all the other compartments are full, we might have to sit here."

"No."

Albus was becoming irritated. "Well, why not? There's plenty of room, we don't even have to talk to each other! We can - what are you doing?"

The two dark haired children had stood up and drawn their wands in the blink of an eye "Did you not hear what my brother said?" The girl confirmed Albus's suspicions about their relation. "You may not sit here."

Albus blinked. He hadn't been expecting such a violent reaction. Rose, however, had moved beyond irritation and was now reaching furious. She no longer had any desire to sit with these two, but she was not about to let their rude behavior slide. "What do you think you're going to do with those? Poke us? Nobody's learned any magic yet, quit messing around."

The boy's upper lip curled into a snarl, his eyes narrowed, and for a moment, Albus grew fearful that, despite being a first year, the boy might know some curses. Fortunately, the moment was broken by a voice a few compartments down. "Oi! We've got room. Don't bother with those tossers; you're welcome to sit with us." Albus turned to see a girl's head sticking out of the doorway, her shoulder-length, silvery-blonde hair clashing with her tan complexion and wild blue eyes. Albus turned back to look at the ill-tempered siblings one last time, both of whom were still standing, fingering their wands. He shut the door, and then he and Rose made their way to the offered compartment.

"Thanks," Albus said to the girl. "I don't know what their problem was."

"They did the same thing to me," a tall, brown-haired boy in the corner of the compartment that Albus hadn't noticed from the hall spoke up. "I reckon they just don't want to be here."

"How could they not want to go to Hogwarts!" Rose exclaimed. "I've been dying to go for years!"

"I think we all have," the girl said. "Have a seat! Want a Chocolate Frog?"

Albus was starving: He hadn't had any time to eat, what with all the commotion in the morning. "Absolutely."

The girl tossed him the box as they stowed their trunks and sat down. "Who'd you get? Oooh, Harry Potter, that's a rare one, I've been trying for ages to find one. Lucky!"

Albus couldn't help but laugh at the coincidence. "They're not that rare for me; the company sent us about a hundred. He's my dad."

The boy in the corner gave Albus an intrigued look. The girl's jaw dropped for a moment, but she quickly regained her composure. "Well, then give it to me! I don't have one." And she snatched the card back as Albus laughed. "I'm Olivia. Nice to meet you, Mr. Harry-Potter's-son."

"Albus."

"Albus. And you must be Ron and Hermione Weasley's daughter. You look like pictures I've seen of them."

"Rose."

"Nice to meet you. The quiet one's Ewan; he needed rescuing from those two, also."

"I didn't need rescuing, thank you very much," the boy named Ewan protested. "And I'm not that quiet - you just talk too much for anyone to get a word in."

Olivia shrugged. "Same difference."

Albus munched on the Chocolate Frog, as their companions studied him and Rose. "Either of you have any brothers or sisters at school?" He asked.

Both of them shook their heads. "Nope," said Ewan. "I've got a younger sister, but she won't be here for a few years, yet."

"I'm blessed enough to be an only child," Olivia said, sarcasm oozing from every syllable.

"Seriously?" Said Albus. "I'd love to be an only child, my older brother picks on - I mean, my older brother's a jerk."

Olivia frowned. "It's boring! I don't even have any cousins or neighbors that live nearby, I'm all alone."

Albus hadn't thought of it that way. "Oh. I can see how that would be bad."

The other girl looked at Rose. "What about you? Any siblings?"

"A younger brother, Hugo. He's still two years away from coming here, though."

Olivia nodded slowly. " I see. So, what House do you think you'll be in? Oh, silly question, isn't it, your parents were all in Gryffindor, right? I could go anywhere: My dad was a Ravenclaw, and I've got two uncles who were in Gryffindor and Slytherin. My mom didn't go to Hogwarts, though - she went to the magic school in Athens. I think I'll be in Gryffindor, though. My dad likes to tell me that I speak my mind far too often to go anywhere else. He's been saying that ever since I was three, and told my grandfather he was hairy, and then kicked him when he hexed me."

The girl certainly does talk a lot, Albus thought.

"You talk too much, Stormcloud," Ewan echoed Albus's thoughts, smirking.

"'Stormcloud?' We've known each other ten minutes and you're already calling me names?"

"Haven't you ever seen any Muggle television or movies? You look a lot like Storm from the X-Men! And you certainly sound like you bring trouble, like a stormcloud does. It fits!"

"I don't have much to do with Muggle stuff. My whole family's wizards. I take it yours isn't?"

"My mum's a Muggle, and we live in London. My father died when I was real young, but my mum said he was a Hufflepuff. From what he told her about it, she thinks I'm too much of a smart aleck to end up there, though."

"I can tell." Olivia rolled her eyes. "What about you, Rose?"

"I don't know," said Rose. "I mean, my mum told me that she was almost put in Ravenclaw, I could go there."

Albus looked at the floor as he thought about his dreams, and what his father had told him on the platform.

"Ah, okay. What about you, Albus?"

Darn it. "I don't know. Gryffindor, I suppose. I don't think I'm quite smart enough for Ravenclaw, and I have to admit, I'm not always the hardest worker, so Hufflepuff's probably out."

"What about Slytherin?"

Darn it! Albus tried in vain not to look at the floor again.

She continued. "Not evil enough for Slytherin?" Albus looked up to see the girl smirking. "I'm joking! My uncle was in Slytherin, remember? Don't worry, he says that most of the people in there were decent enough; there were only a few creeps. I don't think you'll end up there, though. You don't seem the type."

Albus wasn't entirely reassured.

As the train made its way north, the storm that had been brewing opened up on the train. Rain hammered the roof of the compartment - not that Albus minded. He had always enjoyed the sound of rain. What he did mind, however, was that he was still hungry. "The snack cart!" He exclaimed, watching it pass by without stopping at their door. He jumped up.

"I'll come with you," Ewan said, standing up. "I'm starving."

"You had, like, ten Pumpkin Pasties!" Rose exclaimed.

Ewan grinned at her. "I guess I need a few more, then!"

The two boys went out into the aisle and saw the snack cart stopped about halfway down the carriage. They ran past the compartment with the rude twins, and Albus was slightly annoyed to see that they had deigned to allow two other students to join them, although, by the looks of them, they were no more pleasant than their companions. They stopped as they got to the cart, and Albus loaded up on as many Pumpkin Pasties, Fizzing Whizbees, Chocolate Frogs, and Cauldron Cakes as he could carry. Ewan selected a few Chocolate Frogs and frowned at the coins as he counted out the change. Albus turned around, his arms full, and almost smacked into a boy he hadn't noticed standing behind him. "Oh - hello," he said to the boy identified on the platform as Scorpius Malfoy.

Scorpius Malfoy stared at him for a moment with wide eyes. He opened his mouth - then abruptly shut it, turned around, and walked away.

"Oookay…" Albus said, baffled by the boy's behavior. "Well, that was weird."

"You know him?" Ewan asked.

"Not really. Our parents went to school together, but I guess they didn't get along."

"Ah. Well, I'm not feeling too good about our classmates so far," Ewan said. "We've got that weird fellow there, and Sunshine and Giggles in this compartment here - Hey, wait, hold on." He dropped his voice to a whisper, and stopped just past the twins' compartment, looking back.

"What?" Albus whispered back?"

"Let's just see if they say anything interesting. Try to look casual."

Albus shifted his weight from one foot to the other and leaned back against the wall. He wasn't good at trying to look like he wasn't up to something. "Uh..."

"Oh, nice, real natural."

"Sorry."

Ewan laughed. "No worries. I was just wondering what their story was, but it doesn't sound like they're saying much. Let's get back to our compartment."

Albus turned back down the corridor -

CRASH

- and dropped all the treats he was carrying as he ran into something very hard that squealed in protest. He stumbled, and looked around for whatever he had run into.

"Oh, no, not - "

"Don't you ever watch where you're going! I swear!" The girl from Quality Quidditch Supplies snorted, and pushed past Albus and Ewan, stepping on a Cauldron Cake as she went.

Albus bent down to pick up his food. Ewan looked between Albus and the retreating girl's back. "Friend of yours?" he asked.

"Yeah, we got thrown out of a shop in Diagon Alley after getting in an argument," Albus said. "Alright, let's go, I've got everything, even this squished Cauldron Cake. I was looking forward to that one, too."

They made their way back into their compartment. "There you are! What took so long?" Rose exclaimed. "Did you buy the whole cart?"

Albus gave his cousin a dirty look. "Here, have a Cake."

An hour later, the weather had turned into a full out monsoon, and all four were beginning to wonder how much longer the train ride would be. "I'm bored!" Olivia exclaimed. "I can't wait for the Sorting, it's going to be so exciting!"

"We have to be getting close, we've been on here for hours," said Rose. "Oh! I was right, feel that? We're slowing down!"

And indeed they were. Albus' mind began racing, thinking about the Sorting, and where he would end up. He absent-mindedly stuck a finger into Struana's cage, who gave a happy chirp and pecked his finger.

"Alright, do we have everything?" Rose asked, standing up as the train came to a gentle stop. They had changed into their school uniforms about half an hour prior (Olivia had thrown the boys out while she changed, and Rose had been wearing her uniform since the morning), and many of the contents of their trunks had been strewn around the compartment in the process.

"They couldn't make these more comfortable?" Ewan was plucking at his collar.

"That's not the shirt, that's your hair," Rose scolded. Ewan's hair was indeed hanging low enough to tickle his collar.

The train came to a stop, and a soft voice came over an invisible intercom. "Please leave all belongings on the train. They will be taken to your dormitories for you."

Albus looked at his little owl, who seemed to have figured out what was going on, and had fluffed her feathers at the thought of being left behind. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be fine," he said. Struana hooted in a doubtful sort of way.

The door slid open on its own, and the four students joined the crowd pushing towards the exits of the train. Out on the platform, the rain pounded the students, most of whom were running for several carriages drawn by what Albus knew to be invisible thestrals. "Firs' years, o'er here!" A booming voice called out, and thunder echoed it as lightning flashed, etched against the black sky. Albus turned to see the enormous form of Rubeus Hagrid, groundskeeper and Keeper of the Keys of Hogwarts.

"Hagrid!" Albus shouted, as Olivia stared, wide-eyed, and Rose and Ewan attempted to shield themselves from the rain.

"You know him?" Olivia hissed. "Who is that? That's the biggest man I've ever seen!"

"That's Hagrid! He's great," Albus said, waving.

"Hello, there! How's you two doin' today? Fine weather we're havin', eh?" Hagrid laughed, as rain dripped down his face into his enormous beard, which was had become streaked with gray over the years.

"Speak for yourself!" Rose was shielding her head with her arms.

"Go on an' git yer selves in a boat, we'll be across in no time! As long as we don't fall in!" Hagrid laughed again, and Albus began to question the large man's sanity.

They ran down to the lake, and climbed in the nearest boat. "We're not going to fall in, are we?" Albus asked, nervous. He hadn't thought it was a possibility until Hagrid had mentioned it.

"Somebody probably will," Ewan stated matter-of-factly, with his robes still pulled over his head. "Albus, you do realize you're completely drenched, right?"

He had gotten off the train intending to shield himself, but was distracted upon seeing Hagrid. He had met the half-giant many times before - he was an old friend of his parents - and was quite fond of the large man. He would never forget the day, about five years prior, when his most memorable memory of Hagrid had occurred. He had been sitting on the floor of the living room, playing with his model Quidditch set, when the front door had burst open and Hagrid had charged in, very agitated about something.

"Al!" he had cried. "Where's yer father!"

Albus had just stared in shock, as the door teetered and fell off its hinges from the force of being opened by Hagrid. The next thing he heard was a shout of "Petrificus Totalus!" followed by a loud "oof!" as a red jet of light shot down the stairs, bounced off of Hagrid, and shot back up, hitting its caster.

"Harry! Oh, I'm sorry, I did'n mean ter scare yeh, but I 'ad ter come and thank yeh! Here, lemme get that fer yeh."

Albus had watched as Hagrid puffed out his chest, drew the biggest wand he'd ever seen, pointed it up the stairs at his unseen father, and said with pride, "Finite Incantatum."

"…They did it, then?" Albus's father had rushed down the stairs. "They overturned your expulsion?"

Hagrid had burst into sobs as he picked up Albus' father off the ground in a tremendous hug. "They did! It was yer testimony that did't! Minerva ev'n offered ter teach me herself anything I needed! Thank yeh, Harry, thank yeh!"

Albus smiled at the fond memory. "Al!" His cousin's sharp voice pulled him out of his trance. "Rain? Cover yourself?"

Albus looked at Rose through his rain soaked glasses and sighed. "Nah, it's too late, I'm already soaked."

"Suit yourself." She scoffed.

Hagrid's large form appeared again, this time at the front of all the boats. "Every'un ready? Okay, then, let's go!" He climbed into the lead boat, patted the side, and as one, all the boats slid forward into the water and began moving across the lake.

Albus tucked his arms into his cloak and shivered as another flash of lightning lit up the sky, much closer than the last. He hoped the ride was short. He may have been dreading the Sorting, but at least it would be warm inside the castle.

CRACK

All of a sudden, a lightning bolt hit the shore nearest to the boats. Students in the other boats screamed, and somebody in the boat ahead of theirs lost their head completely and stood up, sending the boat rocking. "Sit down!" Albus heard a panicked voice yell. "You'll get hit, and then kill us all!" But the person was too scared, and as Albus watched in horror, the boat tipped, and its passengers spilled out into the lake.

"Oh, no!" Rose screamed.

"We have to do something!" Albus leapt to his feet amid protests from the boat behind them at his actions, having just seen one boat go down as a result of someone standing in the storm. "Hagrid!" But as he watched, a long, green tentacle reached out of the water, grabbed one student, righted the boat, and deposited the frightened student back inside.

"It's the giant squid!" Olivia yelled. "My dad told me about it. It's friendly... mostly."

Albus watched, dumbfounded, as another long tentacle reached out, grabbed another student, and replaced him in the boat. It repeated the process again, and Albus felt a tugging at his robes. "Sit down! You'll do the same thing to us!" Olivia protested. Albus looked through rain streaked glasses at the blonde, and couldn't help but notice...

"Your face… you're not wet at all…"

Olivia turned red and sat back, but before Albus could press the issue…

CRACK

The lightning had struck the enormous squid just as it had picked up the final passenger of the capsized boat. They heard two cries of pain, one human, and one foreign, and the squid dropped the student it was holding and slid under the surface once more.

Albus leapt to his feet again. "HAGRID -Whoa!" he lost his balance as he stood, windmilled for a brief second, then fell backwards into the lake.

Albus didn't think it would be possible for the lake to be colder than the rain. He was wrong. He struggled to the surface, the cold like needles against his skin, his clothes weighing him down. He looked around, gasping for air - and saw the other person still in the water thrashing about as they slipped under. Oh, no - they're sinking! He considered his options. He knew how to swim. His mother had forced them to take lessons at the local Muggle pool when they were younger. The sudden realization that he might be the only one able to help the other person struck him like the lightning had struck the squid.

He took a deep breath and dove under again, looking around the murky water in panic. It was foolish, he thought. He couldn't see anything in this pitch blackness. His heart sank. Except… He pulled his wand from his back pocket. He had never cast a spell before, but he had heard this one used often. "Lumos!" He tried to say, but only a bubble came out. His wand remained dark. "LUMOS!" Another bubble, but this time, a bright light shot out of his wand, and he saw, about ten feet in front of him, a small body being dragged downward by an even smaller creature. He swam straight at them, hoping beyond hope that he could get there in time. As he neared the sinking pair, he aimed the beam of light from his wand at what he suspected was a grindylow. The small water demon hissed, but released its captured prey and fled to the safety of deeper water. He grabbed the other student, whom Albus hoped was only unconscious, and struggled his way to the surface.

"Al! Oh, thank Merlin, you're okay! You rescued him!" Rose's voice called from the boat, which was a healthy thirty feet away.

"Rose!" He yelled back, feeling his strength fading, trying to keep both himself and the other student afloat against the rough waves that had developed on the lake's surface. "Help! Hagrid! Somebody!"

A sudden wave caught him from underneath, propelling him towards the boat. He swam with it as best he could, but the wave did most of the work, and with a sickening squelching noise, he landed in the bottom of the boat, still clutching the other student. "Oh, no, are you okay?" Rose leaned over him. "What was that?"

Albus sat up, breathing hard. "Must've been the giant squid come back to finish helping out. Is he okay?" He motioned at the student, then started when he saw who it was.

Scorpius Malfoy stirred, and opened his eyes. Albus made eye contact with him, and the blond boy groaned, before losing consciousness again.

Albus looked around. "Where's Hagrid?"

"He's stuck at the front! The boat wouldn't let him turn it around," Ewan explained.

"We're almost there," Rose said. "We can get him help there."

As soon as they crunched up on shore, Albus noticed a plump woman rushing towards the boats. "Hagrid! I got your Patronus, who's hurt?"

"Than' goodness! We 'ad a boat flip, an' then the squid an' a student was hit by lightnin' as it was puttin' them back in the boat!"

"Over here!" Albus called, waving his arms above his head.

The woman ran over, shoved Albus out of the way, and began examining Malfoy. She pulled out her wand and began waving it over him, murmuring under her breath the whole time. She then pointed it at him. "Ennervate." Malfoy opened his eyes, gasping for the air readily available to him. He relaxed when he realized he was back on land. "You're alright now, son," the hospital matron said in a soothing voice. Albus released the breath he had been holding. He became again aware of the cold of the air and rain around him, and shivered. The nurse looked up at him. "Hagrid, there are several Warming Potions in the entrance hall; make sure all the students get one. I'll be up with this one in a moment."

Rose reached out and grabbed Albus' arm. "C'mon. He's fine." Albus wasn't so sure, but he followed Rose, Ewan and Olivia up the path. About halfway up, he paused. Rose turned around. "What is it?"

Albus stared at the towering castle before them. He smiled, still breathing hard, and looked at his cousin. "We're here. We made it."

Rose smiled. "We did! But we still have to get inside, come on!" And so they ran up the hill with the rest of their classmates. They slowed down at the doors to get a vial offered by Hagrid (many students were barreling past the Warming Potions in their excitement and confusion. Albus, however, was freezing, so he made sure to take a particularly full vial), and then continued into the entrance hall. They followed their classmates, who stopped in front of the door to the Great Hall on the right. Albus found himself next to a girl who was shaking from an obvious combination of cold and fear. Albus drank half of his potion, and felt a warming sensation spread outwards from his throat. In only a few seconds, everything, even his clothes, was warm and dry.

"Here," he said, handing it to the shaking girl. "It'll dry you off."

"What? What do you mean, it'll - "

"Trust me. See? I'm dry, and I fell in the bloody lake! Dry as a bone. Warm, too!"

The girl hesitated, but took the potion from Albus. She took a small sip. "Ooh!" She smiled as the effects of the potion kicked in. "I'm warm!"

"I told you!" Albus laughed. "Drink the rest."

The excited chatter around them died out as they saw a ladder float out in front of the doors. The ladder stopped, and a tiny, ancient wizard clambered to the top. He smiled out at the crowd of first years around him, most of whom were trembling from either the cold, the wet, the fear, or a combination thereof.

"Welcome!" the little man squeaked with just as much drama as James had several hours earlier. "To Hogwarts!"