Title: The Next Generation: Year One
Author: JJ Murilega
Rating: M for graphic violence, possible swearing, and mild/implied sex
Summary: Echo Thorin is entering Hogwarts in the same year as Albus Severus Potter, Rose Weasley, and Scorpius Malfoy. He expects things to get a little complicated once he finds out that his new friend is famous, but what the young boy doesn't know is just how much he'll learn about himself and his family along the way. Follow Echo on his journey of love, passion, pain, blood, and battles. Only one thing is for certain – by the time seven years are up, Echo, and everyone around him, will never be the same again.
Parings: Albus Severus/MaleOC, Rose/Scorpius, Ron/Hermione, Harry/Ginny, others
Warnings:
slash, fem!slash, het, possible cross-dressing, lesbians and gays, blood/violence, sexy situations

Chapter Three – Hogwarts

Echo departed the train with his new friends, Solaris' fur brushing his leg slightly as he walked. His excitement was replaced by anxiousness as they stepped onto the platform and into a crowd of jostling people. Echo hated crowds, as all the noise and activity tended to dull his senses from picking up on possible dangers. He couldn't keep his gaze from flitting from face to face, trying to determine if they would or could bring him harm.

"Firs' years! Firs' years! All firs' years over here!" a voice boomed. Echo turned and saw that the voice belonged to a HUGE man with a long scruffy brown beard and hair to match. Despite his intimidating stature, his eyes were kind and he had a pleasant aura about him.

Albus and Rose immediately recognized the man.

"Evening, Hagrid!" Rose called as they neared.

"Hi, Hagrid!" Albus called as well, dropping Echo's hand.

Catching sight of them, Hagrid beamed. "Hello there, Rosie. Albus." His happy gaze shifted to Echo. "New friend o' yers?"

Albus nodded with a smile. "Yeah, this is Echo. Echo, meet Rubeus Hagrid. He's the groundskeeper at Hogwarts and he teaches Care of Magical Creatures."

Echo nodded and smiled pleasantly at the large man. "Nice to meet you, Professor Hagrid."

Hagrid's face scrunched up. "I'm not yer professor fer a few years yet. Call me Hagrid."

Echo's smile turned more genuine. "Alright, Hagrid."

Hagrid continued to round up all the first years for the next few minutes. When he thought everyone was gathered, he began leading them down a dirt path, which was muddy from recent rainfall. Suddenly, the path opened up into a clearing. A large black lake lay in front of the crowd of first years, a fleet of small boats at the shore. But the sight that had all the children gasping and gaping was the castle. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry stood tall and proud high on a cliff on the other side of the black lake. It was dark, so the details were hard to see but anyone could see that it was large, with countless piercing towers and turrets, windows lit up to look like twinkling stars against the dark backdrop.

"Wow," Albus couldn't help but say as he stood looking at it. He'd heard countless stories of the place, of course, as it was both his parents' alma mater, as well as that of his uncles' and most of his aunts'. He had been told hundreds of times how magnificent a sight she was but to see it himself was an entirely different experience.

It's so beautiful, Echo thought.

'It is,' Solaris agreed, awe in her voice.

Have you never been here before? Echo asked. Solaris had been pretty much every place under the sun and Echo had yet to find a place she hadn't been before.

'Oh, I have,' Solaris replied, amusement mixing with nostalgia. 'It's just that it's been years. It has to have been over eighty years now. Who did you say is the headmaster now?'

Miss Minerva McGonagall, I think.

'Ah. Yes, I remember her. Though, my master at the time called her Minnie back then.'

Minnie? That's so cute!

"Echo!" Albus called, snapping Echo out of his thoughts. "Come on!"

Echo looked up to see the green-eyed boy waving from inside of one of the small boats. "Coming!" he called.

"Echo!" another voice shouted.

Echo straightened, recognizing the voice, and turned around to face it just in time for a black blur to run at him, its arms going around the back of his neck. Echo teetered a bit, caught off guard, but managed to stay on his feet.

The silver haired boy laughed a bit, hugging the person back. "Well hello to you, too, Angel."

The girl giggled a bit, pulling back to look at Echo. "Hey! I tried looking for you on the train but I couldn't find you."

"Yeah, we got there a bit late. Sorry about that."

"It's okay. I actually met up with someone I hadn't seen in years so it's all good. And can you believe it! We're finally here! Hogwarts!"

Nodding eagerly, Echo replied, "I know! And it's so beautiful!"

"Yes, and even better than I imagined!" Angel gushed. "Well, come on, we should get on a boat before they leave don't you think?"

Echo bit his lip, his hands dropping back to his sides. "Would you mind coming to sit with some of my friends?"

Angel raised her brows in surprise but nodded enthusiastically.

Echo smiled, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the boat in which Albus and Rose sat waiting.

"Sorry guys. My friend here thought it would be a good idea to tackle-hug me," Echo said, glancing sideways at Angel with a teasing tone as they sat, Angel with considerable grace. Solaris leapt into the boat as well, taking a seat on Echo's lap.

"Oh, hush you," Angel said, shoving his shoulder playfully.

Rose and Albus looked at Echo's friend with interest. Echo had seemed to them like the type not to have many friends.

Angel was just barley taller than Echo. Dark silver grey hair hung straight to her mid-back, bangs framing her big black eyes. She was pale, her dark uniform and hair making her look even more so. All and all, she was a very cute young girl.

Angel was checking the two new people out as well. Echo was usually withdrawn and not one to reach out and ask to be friends, so she was surprised that Echo had already made some friends. A bit sad, too. She knew it was silly, as Echo would never let anything come between the two of them. Still, Angel had been the only friend outside of his family that Echo had had for years now. Hell, she thought of the small boy as her brother! Now, she was going to have to share him.

At least he seems happy, Angel thought, looking over at the smiling boy.

Echo was oblivious to all of this. He watched as the castle grew nearer with growing excitement and apprehension.

Albus chuckled. "Lean any farther out and you'll fall."

Angel took note of how far Echo was leaning out of the boat and rolled her eyes, pulling him by the collar of his shirt to a regular sitting position.

Echo blushed. "Sorry. I'm just really excited, I guess."

Albus grinned at the blushing boy. "Yeah, same here," Albus replied.

"Echo?" Angel asked, drawing the boy's gaze away from the green-eyed boy. "Are you going to introduce me to your friends or should I do it myself?"

Echo blushed again. "Sorry. Angel, this is Rose and Albus. I sat with them on the train on the way over. Rose, Albus, this is Angel Jackson. She's been a friend of mine since before I can remember."

Rose smiled. "Nice to meet you, Angel."

"You, too"

"Cool name by the way," Albus added.

Angel smiled. "Thanks."

By this time they had reached the other bank. They each climbed out of the small boat. Albus went first and helped Rose, then Angel out. Echo tried to get out on his own. The boat rocked too much, though, and he soon lost his footing. Down he went, closing his eyes and hoping there were no sharp rocks where he would land. Before he could fall too far, though, two arms snapped out to catch him.

Echo looked up at Albus, finding that his face was only inches away from the other boy's. The green-eyed boy gulped a bit, wondering why his tummy was suddenly tingling. Echo looked into those emerald pools, feeling the same tingling sensation in his tummy as well.

Hagrid's booming voice shattered the moment. "Keep up, all o' yeh!"

Echo and Albus let go of each other, looking away with reddening faces. Echo noticed with growing embarrassment that his fall had attracted the attention of quite a few students. Solaris watched the two and smiled slightly to herself, leaping off the boat.

Great, Echo thought sarcastically as he began walking again, Solaris and his friends alongside him.

The four marched up a dark passageway along pebbles and rocks, the only light from Hagrid's big lantern which lit the way up ahead.

They exited the pebbly passage and treaded instead on soft, slightly damp grass. It didn't take long before they were standing in front of a large, ornate wooden door. Hagrid made sure everyone was ready before knocking three times.

Almost immediately the door opened to reveal a young woman. Her skin tone hinted at Japanese. Brown hair streaked with highlights and lowlights fell in a straight curtain to about halfway down her shoulder blades. Kind moss green eyes stared at the children in front of her, a small smile playing at her lips.

"Everyone, this 'ere is Professor Midori," Hagrid introduced. "She'll be yer Transfiguration professor while yer at Hogwarts."

"I'll take them from here, Hagrid," the woman said, nodding towards the giant man.

"I'll be off then," Hagrid replied, walking into the castle.

The woman then stepped back from the doorway, motioning for the first-years to step inside, which they immediately did.

Everyone marveled at the large entrance hall. You could fit a whole house in it, maybe two! Torches lit the hall, attached to stone walls, which led up to and immeasurably high ceiling. A stone staircase faced the students leading up to the upper floors of the castle but Professor Midori lead them down the hall, past a doorway from behind which loud chattering could be heard, and into a small, bare chamber.

"Quiet down, please," Professor Midori requested. "Good evening. Welcome, everyone, to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In just a few moments, you will enter the Great Hall and partake in the welcoming feast. Before you do, however, you will all partake in the Sorting Ceremony.

"At Hogwarts, there are four houses. Each of these houses have great and unique pasts and have produced some of the best witches and wizards ever known to this world. The four houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. During your stays at Hogwarts, your house will be like a second family for you. You will eat with your house, sleep in your house's dormitories, attend classes with your house, and spend you free time in your house's common room.

"You will earn your house points through triumphs, and lose your house points through any rule-breaking." At this she swept her gaze around the room. "At the end of the year, the house with the most house points will win the House Cup, a prestigious honor. I'm sure that you will each be a credit to your house, whichever it may be.

"The Sorting Ceremony will begin in a moment. It will take place in front of the entire school, so you had best sharpen yourselves up as much as possible. The best of luck to you all." With that, Professor Midori turned and left.

Echo stood with Albus, Rose, and Angel, the later squeezing his hand to the point that he was pretty sure he would no longer be able to move his fingers.

"Angel," Echo whispered. "Relax. I doubt that this sorting is going to be anything dangerous."

"I know that," the nervous girl snapped. "But…what if they want us to do some sort of-of spell or-or enchantment or something?"

Rose answered. "It won't be that. Many of the students that come here are raised in the Muggle world and therefore know next to nothing about magic, let alone how to perform a proper spell."

Angel relaxed a bit, blushing lightly. "Oh, yeah. Guess I forgot that part."

Echo sighed in relief when Angel's grip on his hand loosened. The sensation of pins poking his hand began as the blood was allowed back into his hand. Albus, who had been watching, winced sympathetically and patted his shoulder.

"So you said your brother goes here, right?" Echo asked Albus quietly.

Albus nodded. "Yeah. Second year Gryffindor."

"Did he tell you anything about the ceremony?" Angel asked eagerly.

The raven-haired boy looked slightly uncomfortable. "Er – um – he, uh, might have mentioned something about fighting a troll. But he was probably just kidding!" Albus added quickly when he saw how pale Angel was getting. "He's always playing jokes on me and stuff so that was probably just another prank of his to get me scared."

Before Angel had time to get too worked up about it, Professor Midori was back. "Everyone form a line," she instructed, "and follow me."

Gulping, Echo took his place in line in back of Albus and in front of Angel, who stood in front of Rose. The brush of Solaris' fur along his ankle as he walked seemed almost comforting as the first years shuffled nervously forward. They came into a large, magnificent hall. There were four student tables, one for each house, Echo guessed. Idly, he wondered if he would only be allowed to sit with his house or if he could be with his friends, wherever they landed. Another table sat on the platform they were walking across and held those who Echo correctly guessed to be the staff.

Echo jumped slightly when singing suddenly filled the room, hushing the whispers of excited students. Searching for the source of the music, Echo's gaze fell upon an old raggedy hat sitting on a stool in front of them. The hat…it…it had a mouth…and it was…singing?

After blinking a few times, Echo's only thought was, At least it's not a troll.