Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter series, original characters or worlds
25: Snakes March On
The Slytherin common room was abuzz with excitement following the match. Even though the pre-match atmosphere was rather dull, the Slytherins would never turn down a chance to party. The emerald and green clad side had earlier run out as easy winners against a disinterested Hufflepuff team. The final score was 230-0, another shutout for Slytherin made Hogwarts history as the only side to play all three games without conceding a single point. Albus had caught the Snitch early enough to put the Hufflepuffs out of their misery as their side was completely outclassed.
Albus, Luke and Scorpius were on the outskirts of the party as the noise made it nearly impossible to think. They sat and watched some of the older students, the seventh years in particular, celebrate slightly over exuberantly. They couldn't help but laugh as the party went on through the day. None of the Slytherins left the common room for dinner, two fifth years returned with several large platters, literally overflowing with food. Many of the students passed by Albus clapping him on the back telling him how good a catch he made. In truth, the catch was rather simple, he had got a head start on his opponent and a straight fly, parallel to the ground, and a simple reach and grab of the snitch ended the game.
Many of the students also stopped to clap Scorpius on the back, congratulating him on Slytherin's third consecutive victory to nil. It had been thirteen years since the Snakes had won a game to nil and this season had brought three. The older students, however, didn't spend much time away from the party and after congratulating the pair, they returned to the middle of the festivities.
Around half past midnight, Professor Kelly came to put an end to the party but not before making a speech to the gathered students. "Before I send you all to bed" Professor Kelly started and the beginning of his speech was greeted by a moan from the crowd. "I would like to say well done to the seven members of the Quidditch team who have brought great pride to this house. It's been too long since we hoisted the Quidditch cup, none of you have seen our great house win one!" he exclaimed. "But this year, that's all going to change." his voice grew louder so he could be heard over the hum of the crowd. "This year, we have the best team we've had in a long time and I know that in a few months, we will be here celebrating again, except this time... we will be celebrating with a Quidditch cup!" Professor Kelly almost roared and this was greeted by a large cheer from the crowd. "Alright, let's wind down this party. You have 'til one to get to bed" he told them "I'll be back then" Professor Kelly left the common room and many of the people began to make their way up to their dormitories. Albus, Luke and Scorpius were among them and Brian wasn't far behind his room mates.
Scorpius received the paper the following morning at breakfast and was quick to show Albus that his mother had written an article about the Slytherin Quidditch team.
Mighty Snakes March On
The Slytherin House team appears to be unstoppable this year, writes Daily Prophet Quidditch reporter Ginny Weasley. The format of the Quidditch cup was change post war and now makes it much more exciting. The Slytherin team have played their mandatory three games and have easily defeated their opposition. They had booked their final berth after two games and have yet to concede a goal in the Championship. Scorpius Malfoy was added to the team this year and has proven to be a revelation minding the hoops for the green and silver side. The chasing trio of captain Finch, Higgs and Wilson have been outstanding in both attack and defence. Beaters Montague and Avery have been splendid in helping to keep their opposition scoreless. Seeker Albus Potter has also been top drawer in his role, he has never failed to capture the Snitch in any of his games at Hogwarts.
The Slytherin team, however, isn't the only team that deserves praise. The Gryffindor team, who will face Slytherin in the Inter-House Quidditch Cup Final, have been excellent this year. After a dominant performance by their attack against Slytherin in the opening game, they were unable to score and were eventually beaten. They have since bounced back and won their remaining two games convincingly. They are reigning champions from two years ago (the championship was not played last year due to the TriSchool Tournament) with six of the current seven having been on the team, Molly Weasley suffered a severe hand and arm injury which meant that she couldn't play for the majority of the seaon. The team comprised of Domnique, Fred, Louis, Lucy, Molly and Roxanne Weasley along with seeker James Potter have been getting better all year and will really put it up to the snakes in the final, a game that is guaranteed to be exciting and entertaining.
Our column will have build up to the game in May, closer to the game, and this reporter will have to do her best to be impartial, something that won't be easy.
by Ginny Weasley
Albus was wondering what his mother would write closer to the final and who her prediction for winner would be. He handed the paper back to Scorpius. "Makes us sound real good, doesn't she?" Albus joked and Scorpius nodded his head in agreement.
The days ticked down to Easter and the Professors seemed to be going easy on them. Only Professor Williamson and Professor Kelly would be giving them exams before the Easter break. This left Albus a fair amount of time to start considering his subject options for the next year. Truth be told, he hadn't given any thought to the subjects since he talked to Professor Kelly about it and felt that he really should consider the options available to him.
Albus and Scorpius talked quickly about it on a walk from the common room to the Quidditch pitch. He was considering all the options but he didn't seem too pushed on Muggle Studies or Divination. They had long since forgotten about this conversation mainly because of everything they had on their plate.
The end of the term neared as Albus realised how quickly time was passing when they were looking months forward into the future. Classes, except for Transfiguration and Potions seemed to slowly wind down with the students doing less and less in each class.
Professors Kelly and Williamson dropped subtle hints as to what would be on what they both called the 'Easter Assessment Exam' so that they could see the level all the students were at before the summer, end of year exams. Albus was quick to pick up on many of the hints and felt he was more than ready for the 'assessments'. He had to put these on hold the Friday evening before the beginning of the final week before the Easter holidays. Professor Kelly had called all the second years to his classroom and seated them individually around the room. He handed each of them a sheet of parchment, one that he had seen before and recognised immediately. The Head of Slytherin House had ordered them to bring a quill so Albus had a fair idea as to what was going on.
"I prefer to do it this way" he said. "To make sure that some people don't just pick subjects because their friends are picking them." Professor Kelly told the class and, although Albus, Luke, Scorpius, Emily and Ashley had discussed, no one was sure how any one else would think when it came to the final decision. "I want you all to pick subjects that YOU want to do not want that you pick the subjects entirely by yourself. Now, fire away. Remember that you must pick at least two" he told them. Professor Kelly took a seat behind his desk and looked down at the students. Albus looked down at the list in front of him, his name written atop it. He ticked three boxes. The one next to Care of Magical of Magical Creatures. The one next to Arithmancy and the one next to Muggle Studies. Albus breathed a sigh of relief and sat back in his chair. He looked around the room and saw that there were only two people still with their heads down: Luke and Emily. They soon lifted their heads and Professor Kelly rose from behind his desk. "Before I take up your parchment, are you all happy with your choices?" he asked. A unanimous response of 'yes' was the response of the students. "Alright so. Accio parchment" The sheets of parchment left each students' desk and they were all soon in the hands of the Potions professor.
"Remember" he told them before they left. "You can still change your choices if you really want to but none of you should have if you've all given it the proper thought. He dismissed the students and they filed along the narrow corridor, making the short walk back to their common room.
"What did you pick?" Albus asked his two friends
"Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes" Scorpius replied. "You?"
"I picked Muggle Studies instead of Ancient Runes" Albus replied. "What 'bout you Luke?"
"Care of Magical Creatures, Muggle Studies and Divination" Luke said. "I was only going to pick two but then I thought that if I didn't like one I'd have to put up with it for three years. At least if I don't like one now I can just drop it and still have the two subjects we have to have."
"Same as me then" Albus told him. "Same for you too, Scorp?" Albus asked Scorpius. He had recently taken to calling the blonde haired boy 'Scorp' for short, why, he wasn't too sure.
"Nope, I just couldn't pick two out of them three so I decided to do all three" the blonde boy responded. The people ahead of them had already opened the door to the common room so they only had to walk through the open doorway. "I'm telling you now mate" Scorpius directed his words at Luke. "You are going to regret picking Divination. Especially if you get old Trelawney. She shares classes with that centaur who never left. Centaurs don't take betrayal lightly and they have quite a broad definition of betrayal" Scorpius told them.
"How bad can it be? And anyway, if I don't enjoy it I can drop with and have the other two subjects. I was thinking ahead, Scorpius. I'm smarter than you give me credit for. Much smarter" Luke said.
"How much smarter?" Scorpius asked, smiling at the Irish boy. Luke simply tapped his index finger to the side of his nose and smiled back.
"You Brits always underestimate us Irish. You need to learn to treat us as equals. Just because we don't have the big cities and the big houses and all that posh stuff doesn't mean we're not as intelligent as the rest of you." Luke said.
"It's true. But Luke, my boy, I most certainly don't underestimate you. You don't duel three adults with someone with out knowing exactly what they're capable of" Scorpius replied, still as calm as ever. Luke smiled at the blonde haired boy. Albus sat between the pair, speechless at what the boys either side of him had just said.
"I hear," Luke said. "That the one thing that Irish wizards and Muggles have in common is that they all fought to oppose the Brits ruling our country. The setting up of the first Irish Ministry of Magic led the way for the Muggles to overcome the British forces and help Ireland become a republic. I think they should teach us about that in History of Magic"
"They do" Scorpius replied. "At N.E.W.T level but hardly anyone ever takes it as I'm sure you can guess why"
"Binns" Albus and Luke said together.
"That was a rather patriotic discussion, wasn't it?" Albus said. The pair nodded. Albus looked at them both and they both seemed to be calm, cool and collected. They were that way, Albus realised, throughout the entire conversation as if it was a normal Sunday morning chat about the weather. Albus was soon quick to change the subject, he had a feeling Luke was raised in a rather patriotic household and didn't want to bring the conversation any further in that direction. He managed to get the conversation back to subjects and, for the first time in Albus' memory in two years, how they got sorted into Slytherin.
"I don't know really" Luke said. "I never knew my dad well, he died when I was young. My mother is a half blood"
"Maybe the O'Brien family used to be a pure blood stronghold in Ireland" Scorpius suggested. "What about your dad's family?"
"My dad was an only child and his parents were dead before I was born. I suppose I'll have to ask me ma, see if she know's anything about it. And all your family's been in Slytherin for generations, not much of a surprise really" Luke said and Scorpius smiled sheepishly.
"Yeah, I wasn't at all surprised" Scorpius said. "I think the biggest shock is Albus Potter, I repeat POTTER in SLYTHERIN. How did that happen?" Scorpius asked curiously. He folded his arms across his chest and sat back in his chair. His lips twitched upwards into a smiled.
"Well... I've always been the 'different' one in the family" Albus told them. "I didn't want to be just another Potter... or Weasley for that matter. I wanted to be Albus Severus Potter, my own person." he said simply.
"So... did you ask the Sorting Hat to put you in Slytherin?" the blonde boy asked.
"Not exactly" Albus told them. "I told it to put me where I would do best and it put me here"
"You know, Al, it's sorta funny" Luke said. "You look more like your dad than your brother yet you're so different in many ways but exactly the same in a lot of ways too"
"I agree with the Irish kid" Scorpius said with a wry smile.
"What are you guys talking about?" Emily interrupted them, accompanied by Ashley, and the pair took seats beside the three boys.
"How we... him," Scorpius nodded in Albus' direction "really, got sorted into Slytherin. Like, Luke is unexplained but Albus was just shocking. We were also saying hos Al looks like his father, how he's so very different yet very similar to his father"
"Why do you say that?" Ashley asked.
"Well if you've ever seen pictures of Harry Potter as a young lad, he looks nearly the exact same as Al minus the scar and the glasses." Luke told them. "And they're so very different. For example Al is in Slytherin, probably the main one. And there's lots more. Then they're so alike."
"So alike" Scorpius echoed. "They were both Seekers and it was his dad's third year until he failed to catch the Snitch. Albus is yet to fail to catch the Snitch. To put it bluntly, they both enkoyed adventures in stopping the bad guy"
"I did not" Albus said in indignation.
"You did. Don't deny it. You loved duelling with those guys... beating them at duelling"
"There's another similarity, they're both excellent duellists. Do you remember the day in class they tried to duel each other but everything was sorta cancelled out. They duel nearly exactly the same" Luke said.
"Well, he did teach me to duel" Albus replied.
This conversation went on for the remainder of the night. Scorpius, Luke, Emily and Ashley pointed out differences and similarities between Albus and his father. Albus sat and listened, utterly amazed at the conversation that transpired.