Albus then did something that was totally unlike him. He came over and joined in the group hug that Lilly and Louis were giving me. He had never hugged me before. In fact, I do not believe I had ever seen him give another male, including his brother James, a hug. Somehow, Lilly and Louis must have impressed on him that I needed it, so he complied. Not only did he comply, but he invited Hugo to do the same.
"Thank you, but no. Boys do not give hugs!" I am sure Hugo meant to other boys.
"They do among friends for special occasions, and this is a special occasion." Albus was beginning to sound like he was defending his actions. When his muscles got tight, I released him from the hug as I knew he was becoming uncomfortable with it.
"Come on Hugo," Louis urged his cousin as he hugged me tighter. "It will show Scorpious that you are sorry. Don't you want to be his friend? Did you not eat his chocolate?" Louis's tact was interesting. His reasoning was rather advanced for an eleven-year old.
"I already said I did not mean to make him cry." He rolled his eyes as if that was all that mattered. He clearly had Gryffindor traits. "And pleasssse," he said with emphasis, "how cheap do you think I am? Do you really think that just because someone gives me chocolate one time that I will become their friend?" He then grinned evilly and said that it would have to happen at least once more.
I looked at Albus; he looked at me knowingly. "This one has some Slytherin in him."
"Just a tad. He is mostly Gryffindor, but it appears that he has deep Slytherin roots at least regarding chocolate. It must have rubbed from me and gotten onto him."
"Knowing how messy you are at eating chocolate, I can easily see that." Albus glared at my teasing, but he was unable to think of a comeback.
"Are you two always like this?" Louis obviously had not been around us enough to know.
"Yes," Lilly answered. She had spent hours in our presence. "They are almost always like this. Although it can get annoying, I sometimes enjoy listening to them just to hear my brother lose."
"What? I do NOT always lose! Do I Scorp?"
"Our bantering is not a question of winning and losing. It is a highly developed exercise to expand the mental capacity of our brains. When Albus and I engage in them, he does very well until the point when he becomes confused and gets lost in the exercise."
Albus scrunched his face in confusion. "Wait. What?"
"I rest my case." Hugo only grinned, but Louis and Lilly laughed.
"So," Hugo said with curiosity. "You think I will be joining House Gryffindor."
"Oh, definitely," Albus said. I nodded my head in agreement. Hugo said that that would be great as both of his parents and most of his cousins were from that house. He would be glad to join them. His only regret would be that his older sister would also be there, and that he would rather she could not so easily keep an eye on him.
Lilly asked with enthusiasm, "What house do you think I will be sent to?"
"Probably Gryffindor. Don't you think Scorp?" Albus turned to look at me for confirmation.
"I am not sure. She is awfully loyal, especially to you and your family, Albus." I looked past him and thought. Yes, loyal and kind, but not so much into hard work. Not that she was a slacker, but not a hard worker either. Was that enough for Hufflepuff? "Loyalty might send her to Hufflepuff." After a brief pause, I winked at her and added, "Of course, with your brother in Slytherin, that is a possibility too." No one thought a Potter could ever be sent to House Slytherin, and yet Albus was sent there, so it is possible, but not likely.
"Is it true Albus? Could I be sent to your house?" She looked up to him like he was the big brother who had all the answers. That demonstrated that she was not material for Ravenclaw. She was not bright enough. Of course, I kept that thought to myself.
"Not likely Lilly, unless you want to join House Slytherin. Which house do you want to join?"
"Gryffindor with James and most of my cousins." That was not unexpected, as of her family and cousins, only Dominique and Albus were not in Gryffindor.
"Scorp may not be sure, but I am pretty sure you will be joining Gryffindor." I told them that now I agreed with Albus.
Louis then asked what house we thought he'd be sent to. Albus scratched his head and said he was not sure. He turned to look at me to see what I thought. "Well, I do not know you that well Louis, so Albus would be better person to listen to. I will say that I think it unlikely that you will be joining Houses Slytherin and Gryffindor though."
Albus agreed with me, saying that those houses would eat him up. I agreed but did not say anything. No, the hat would never send him to a group that would not value him or even destroy him. He would never fit in with either of those houses and they would never tolerate him. House Hufflepuff was the most tolerant, and he was so different, he would need that. He was patient and probably believed in fair play, so that would fit the house. Yet, was he loyal and hard working? I did not know. Ravenclaw was not as tolerant as Hufflepuff but more so than the other two houses. If they saw that he had intelligence, knowledge, and wit, they would also value him even if he was different. He clearly had intelligence, so that fit. He probably did not have much knowledge yet, but I thought it likely that he would develop it. I did not know about his wit. "Clearly, you will be sent to either Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw, but I am not sure which. What do you think Albus?"
"Yes, one of those two, but which I am not sure."
"Louis," I asked. "Which house would you like to go to?"
He said that he was not sure. His sister, Dominique, was in Hufflepuff, so he would not mind that house. Yet, she was so much older that he would not get to see her much and she would soon be graduating, so maybe Hufflepuff would not be the best house. He did like books and learning, so Ravenclaw would be OK, but he had no cousins or friends in it. Most of his cousins were in Gryffindor, so that would be a good house. Yet, he did not think he would be brave or daring enough. He surprised me by saying that he would not mind being sent to Slytherin, as he liked our wit, and that he would have at least two friends there.
That left both Albus and I speechless. How could we not take that as a compliment? How could we tell him that we both hoped he would not be sent to our house because he would never survive it if he was? Our silence soon alerted Lilly that something was wrong. Fortunately, Albus recovered and said, "Nothing was wrong. We were just thinking. The hat will know where to place all of you. I am not sure Louis, but I think you have a 60% chance of being sent to Hufflepuff, a 39% chance to Ravenclaw, and less than 1% chance to the other houses." He looked to me and his look told me he wanted my opinion.
"I pretty much agree with my friend Louis, but I think your chance of joining Ravenclaw is higher than joining Hufflepuff." When Albus asked how much higher, I said, "Probably a 75% or higher chance of joining Ravenclaw."
"That much higher than mine. Hmm. Do you want to bet a chocolate frog on it?"
I smiled and looked at the others, one at a time. "Okay. If you lose, you have to buy me, Lilly, Louis, and Hugo a chocolate frog. If I lose, I have to buy you, Lilly, Louis, and Hugo a chocolate frog. Is it a bet?" I put out my hand to shake on it.
Albus grinned knowingly and shook my hand. He knew what my scheme was and approved. We are both Slytherins after all.
Hugo too grew a big smile. "Oh," he said with glee. "I think I am really going to like this bet!" I had already ensnarled him, my scheming knew no ebb, he was stuck like a bee in a spider's web. Only this bee would never know of my fangs and what I'd get out of him without any pangs. He was mine. Poor stupid little future Gryffindor. I almost felt sorry for him.
As my eyes left Hugo's face, I saw that Louis had been watching me. He grinned and nodded to indicate that he understood my scheme. From his actions and silence, I could tell he approved. Clever that one. He would be a Ravenclaw for sure.
We would soon be arriving so that we had to return to our carriage to put on our robes. Before we left, we told the first years to get ready by putting on their robes. It startled me when Louis pulled his out. Unlike Lilly's and Hugo's brand-new robes, Louis pulled out an old worn robe. It had even been resewn in several places where it had once been torn. It hit me just how poor his immediate family must be. He had hand-me-down robes even though he was the only boy in the family! He probably got them from one of his older cousins. Judging from the numerous rips, James or Fred were good bets.
As I left, I said, "If any of you need us for any reason, we will be there for you. Just come and get us. If we are behind the Common Room door, just knock and ask to speak to either of us." Albus glared at me, but he did not say anything. I was unsure if he was unhappy about my offer in general or if he was worried that his little sister would abuse it. I switched tactics to appease him. "I am excellent in my homework, great in my studies, and good with spell work, so you will find my eager help very useful." I know, I was a bit over the top. "If you have trouble with bullies," and here I looked specifically at Louis, "or if you are homesick, or just want someone to talk to, come and get me."
Hugo asked, "Why should we come to you?"
"You can go to whoever you wish. Yet, I am offering, and I am very smart."
He thought a bit on that before speaking. "If you are so smart, then explain why the frequency of children born as squibs has been increasing? Are wizards who have two or more grandparents who are muggle really at greater risk to having a squib child?" I was totally startled by these questions. If it had come from Louis, I would have brushed it off as just something odd. Yet, this was Hugo. He was testing me to see if I was worthy, and he must really be interested in this topic. I knew why he was testing me, but why was he so interested in the topic? I looked to Albus and using only my eyes pleaded to him for help. He proved to be a valuable friend.
"Scorp, you have to remember that his mother is muggle-born."
That explained it, Hugo had two muggle grandparents. I should have noted that he said, "Are wizards who have two or more grandparents." He never said wizards and witches. He was afraid that he might have squib children. "To my knowledge, no one knows why the frequency of squib births has been increasing. As for your second question, half-blood wizards who have two muggle grandparents do not have an increased frequency of having squib children. I can show you the evidence for that if you like."
Hugo smiled and said he would very much like that. I seemed to have passed his test. We then said our goodbyes and left for our compartment. On the way, Albus asked if I was insane offering the first years our help. He did not care that I changed it to my help. He was afraid that Lilly would pester him, but he was mistaken. She almost never came to us for help or for anything. I was slightly disappointed, but I supposed that she had a brother and a lot of cousins to turn to.
(Note: In a future story about these characters, I hope to return to the concept of the frequency of children born as squibs.)