A/N:
After a year of dedication... it's here.
Don't miss Chapters One and Two, coming April 16, 2021.
Book One: Albus Potter and the Hidden Tower
*Release Schedule*
04.16.2021 Chapter One: Exordium Novum
04.16.2021 Chapter Two: The Golden Statue
04.23.2021 Chapter Three: Practical Potion-Making
04.30.2021 Chapter Four: More Peculiar Professors
05.07.2021 Chapter Five: The Hallowe'en Feast
05.14.2021 Chapter Six: Greenhouses After Dark
05.21.2021 Chapter Seven: The Shield Charm
05.28.2021 Chapter Eight: The Archway
06.04.2021 Chapter Nine: The Architect's Chamber
06.11.2021 Chapter Ten: Back to the Burrow
06.18.2021 Chapter Eleven: Dark Magic
06.25.2021 Chapter Twelve: The Third Annual Potter-Weasley Quidditch Match
07.02.2021 Chapter Thirteen: The Malfoys
07.09.2021 Chapter Fourteen: Extended Leave
07.16.2021 Chapter Fifteen: The Blank Book
07.23.2021 Chapter Sixteen: The Earthquake
07.30.2021 Chapter Seventeen: The Infection
07.30.2021 Chapter Eighteen: A Return to the Roots
Chapter One
Exordium Novum
Albus tapped his foot rapidly as his father cruised down the road. The rolling hills and fields were their only company, save for the occasional cow or horse. His mother had stayed behind at Diagon Alley to round up James and Lily after Albus got his wand, and Albus had begged to come back in the car with his father. He liked car rides, especially if his Uncle Ron or Aunt Hermione weren't driving. Something about the motions of the car, the open road, and the rolling countryside was peaceful. It was a bonus that his brother, James, hated car rides as much as Albus enjoyed them.
Harry glanced at his son. "Having fun?"
"Mmhm." Albus nodded, matching each beat of the car bouncing on the road to his foot tapping. "It's quiet."
Harry chuckled. "Yes, it is."
Albus's wand vibrated in his pocket along with the thrum of the engine. It was like a great big question mark sitting there, one that Albus already knew the answer to. He asked, anyways. "When can I do magic?"
"When you go to school, you know this. You're not allowed to do underage magic."
"Yeah, but Aurora said that people normally do magic when they get their wands."
Aurora Ollivander had assured him that his wand was the one, but it hadn't done any magic when he held it. In fact, Albus had felt somewhat stupid. He'd expected a shower of sparks or something.
"I trust Aurora, just as much as I trusted her grandfather," said Harry. "If she's sure it's the one, then I am, too."
"What did your wand do?"
"When I got it?" Harry shrugged. "Not much. There was this big gust of wind, but I didn't care about that, really. There was something else, this feeling. Like I knew that it was mine, really mine. You'll have that, don't worry," Harry said quickly after Albus's face turned pale. "When you start really learning magic, it's the best thing in the world."
"I wanna learn to drive, too," Albus said. "That doesn't take magic, does it?"
"No, but you have to wait another four years."
Albus groaned. "Four years?"
"It's not like you can sit on my lap anymore."
Albus remembered. They went on little drives near the house when he was younger, and Albus would practically stand on his father's legs and turn the wheel—or at least, pretend to turn the wheel as Harry's hands guided his own. "I could try."
"Please, no."
Albus slouched. "Four years can't come soon enough."
Harry laughed again. "Don't say that just yet."
"Why?" Albus imagined he was swinging a great, big sword. "Will I get to fight a giant snake?"
"Why is it you always think about that bloody snake?"
Albus shrugged. "I dunno. It's cool."
"It's messy," said Harry, crinkling his nose. "Lots of blood."
"See?! That's so cool!" Albus turned and waved his arms about emphatically. "And you rode a dragon! I wanna ride a dragon!"
"Ask your Uncle Charlie, then, you'll have better luck with him."
Albus sat back again. "I wanna ride a dragon," he repeated, muttering under his breath.
Harry smiled softly. "You know, I hated most of that stuff. The dragons and the snake and all that."
Albus widened his eyes and stared at his father, unbelieving. "What? But you…" He sputtered, searching for the words. "You were Harry Potter!"
"Still am, last I checked."
"You defeated The Dark Lord!"
"And it took me seven years."
"After he came back to life, couldn't Dumbledore just have…" Albus swung his imaginary blade again. "Found Voldemort and cut his head off?"
Harry's smile wavered, but Albus didn't notice. "Maybe."
Albus took his wand from his pocket and held it with both hands. The bottom bit was ringed with nine circles that made a kind of grip. An uneven sphere separated the base of the wand from the longer part, like a guard before the sharp part of a sword. The wand hadn't done any magic when Albus held it in the shop, but Aurora Ollivander had assured him that it was the one.
Albus grasped his wand firmly and pointed it out in front of him. "I bet I could take Voldemort down."
"With magic?" asked Harry, not looking his son's way.
"Yeah. Like pow." Albus jabbed his wand forwards.
A great crunching sound came from the front end of the car, and Harry slammed the brakes in surprise, throwing himself and Albus forwards. The chassis rattled and shook as they rolled over something before coming to a stop. Smoke was pouring out the sides of the car's bonnet, obscuring the road ahead.
Harry wrestled with his seatbelt and got out of the car, his wand at the ready. "Stay in the car!" he ordered, but Albus had already scrambled outside.
Albus stared at the front of the car. The bumper was entirely gone, and twisted fragments of metal remained, like it had been ripped from place. He tires were deflating at a steady pace, and a warped piece of metal laid across the road behind them.
Albus looked down slowly at his own wand, now pointed to the ground. "Whoa."
Harry finally took notice. "Did you do this?"
Albus's stomach dropped. "Yeah," he said glumly. His father was mad, wasn't he? He wasn't allowed to do magic out of school, and Harry had just seen him. He was going to get his wand taken away, and he'd only just gotten it, too—
"Hey."
Albus looked up guiltily, but Harry was beaming.
"You did magic."
Albus took a moment to understand what his father was saying. "I did magic. With a wand."
"You did."
"But I'm not allowed!"
Harry waved his hand, dismissing Albus's concerns. "It's fine, accidents like this happen. You didn't think they were going to arrest you, did you?"
Albus's cheeks flushed red. "I dunno."
Harry went around the front of the car and drew Albus into a hug. "There's precedent for this kind of thing, accidental magic. Nothing is going to happen, I promise."
Albus's mind was already flooding with ideas as his father pulled away. "So if I accidentally set James's hair on fire again—"
"I'm not sure that it would be an accident, then," said Harry, walking towards the bumper lying in the middle of the road.
Albus pursed his lips, trying to conceal his grin. He couldn't get in trouble if no one saw him do magic, right?
"Come on," Harry called, "we've got some fixing to do!"
"We? I can't use magic, you just said!"
"You don't need magic to lift with your arms!"
"Why can't you just do it?" Albus griped.
"You're the one who broke it!"
O
Half an hour later, Albus ran into the house waving his wand, entirely pleased with himself and determined to make it to his room before his brother could find him. He hoped that the rest of his family hadn't yet Floo'd home from Diagon Alley, so that he'd have a rare moment of independence to himself. Unfortunately, James was waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs, his mouth curved into an evil little grin.
"Well, well, well, Albus Squibberus Potter," said James, sneering.
"I've got a wand, idiot," said Albus, blowing the fattest raspberry he could muster.
"Not much point if you can't use it out of school."
"Not if no one sees me!"
James snorted. "Is that really what you think? They have ways of knowing, stupid! I'd do magic all the time if things were that simple."
Albus glowered, and the ideas in his head fizzled out of existence. "That's lame."
"Not as lame as youuu—hey!" James's teasing turned to indignation as their little sister, Lily, nearly pushed him off the stairs on her way from her room.
She bounded towards Albus and stopped in front of him, bouncing up and down with excitement. "Did you get it? Let me see, let me see!"
"You should have come to Ollivander's when I said we were going," said Harry, locking the door behind them.
Lily pouted. "But Uncle George was giving out new samples of the latest product, I couldn't let James get them all for himself."
"I got most of them," James said, hands on his hips. He look scarily similar to their mother.
"Did you save any for me?" Albus asked, his hand hovering over his pocket as his sister stamped her foot.
Lily tried grabbing Albus's wand herself, but Albus blocked her before she could. "Yes, I did!" she said. "Now let me see!"
Albus's stupid grin returned and he withdrew his wand from his pocket. Lily gasped as Albus handed it over, turning it gently in her hands like it could explode any second. Could it explode any second? Albus didn't actually know.
"What's it made of?" Lily asked, turning it over.
"Acacia wood with a phoenix feather core, ten inches, and brittle flexibility." Albus listed off its characteristics just as Aurora had told him.
"Brittle?" James matched Albus's raspberry from before. "Doesn't that mean you're stupid, or something?"
"You're the stupid one!" Lily said, turning and making a particularly rude gesture.
James doubled over and roared with laughter while Albus snickered, but Harry, who had been watching the siblings in silence from the door, seemed less amused.
"Lily!" Harry darted over to his daughter and grabbed her wrist. "Where in the world did you learn that?"
"Dominique told me about it."
"Of course she did," said Harry, shaking his head. "Do you even know what it means?"
"No."
"Thank god."
"What happened?" Ginny rushed into the foyer from the sitting room, a pen holding her hair up in a bun.
"Albus is being stupid like a Slyth—"
"Nothing," said Harry, casting his eldest son a look. "Your daughter is being prodigious as ever."
"Is she?" asked Ginny, locking the door.
"Yeah!" said Lily enthusiastically. "Look!" Facing her mother, Lily wrestled her hand from Harry's grip and stuck her middle finger awkwardly in the air.
Ginny snorted and started laughing, but caught herself as Harry sent an irate look her way, too. "Maybe don't do that too often, Lily."
"Why? What does it mean?"
"Albus did something cool," said Harry, trying to change the subject. "Go on, tell your mother."
"Hello?" said Lily, waving her fists in the air, but Ginny ignored her and snatched Albus's wand from her grasp.
Albus spoke with an air of satisfaction as his mother examined his wand. "I crashed the car!"
Ginny looked up sharply. "You what?"
"It was like BOOM! And then, then the engine started smoking and I thought the car was going to blow up—"
"He did magic, with his wand," said Harry quickly, cutting his son off before he could mismanage his words any more.
"You did?!" Ginny squealed and hugged Albus, rubbing her knuckles against the top of his head. "I told you you could do it—"
"Mum, that hurts—!"
"Brilliant!" She grasped Albus's shoulders and held him arm's length away, smiling. "You're going to be a phenomenal wizard, Al."
"A phenomenal little Slytherin!" James scampered up the stairs before he could be told off, so quickly that he nearly tripped swinging around the bannister at the top.
"Ignore him," said Ginny, patting Albus on the cheek. "Even if you're Sorted into Slytherin, you'll look great in green."
"Mum!"
"I'm not kidding, green really is your color."
"You'll be fine," said Harry, ruffling Albus's hair. "You won't have to deal with your brother if you're in Slytherin. The dungeons are on the other side of the castle from Gryffindor tower."
Albus started at his father, wondering if that was supposed to be cool. "The dungeons? Aren't they smelly and cold?"
"The Slytherin common room is kind of neat, actually. It's made from obsidian and black marble, and there are these massive, grand fireplaces everywhere."
"Even bigger than ours?"
"Even bigger than ours," Harry affirmed. "They've got a view out to the Black Lake, and you can see the giant squid swim by if you're lucky."
"A giant squid?" Lily asked, gasping with wonder. "Does it eat people?"
"Only if they're misbehaving," said Ginny, smirking.
"Can it eat James, then?" Lily wrinkled her nose. "I don't think James would taste very good. I wouldn't eat him."
"You go tell the squid that, then."
"How do you know?" Albus questioned, still staring at his father.
Harry frowned. "Know what?"
"Know all this about Slytherin. You've never been to the commons, you were a Gryffindor."
Harry and Ginny exchanged a quick look. "Just… something someone told me," said Harry.
"Sure." His father was probably just trying to make him feel better. "Thanks."
"Hey." Harry leaned down and looked Albus in the eyes. "I've told you once and I'll tell you again: You would do perfectly well in Slytherin."
"Really?" Albus asked, looking up expectantly.
"Undoubtedly."
"But Voldemort was a Slytherin. That Wrinkle-ward guy was a Slytherin."
"So was Merlin," said Harry. "And the highest honor given to a witch or wizard is named after him. The Order of Merlin. Duxe Helios, the current headmaster of Hogwarts, he's a Slytherin."
"You needn't worry about these kinds of things," said Ginny. "The Sorting Hat will speak true. It's been doing this for centuries."
"Snakes are cool," Lily said, nodding up and down like it was an indisputable fact. "And you're cool. So if you're in Slytherin, you're, like, double cool."
"Double cool," Harry repeated, smiling.
O
The Sorting Hat felt heavy on his head. Albus expected to become absorbed in a kind of void-like space like his father had described, but instead continued staring out at the rest of the Great Hall for an entire minute.
Albus wanted to ask Neville if the thing was broken but was too afraid to do so. Long ribbons of fabric dangling around his ears, but no voice spoke in his head.
Albus bit his lip in frustration. I'm not actually a squib, am I?
"Oh, no, Albus Severus Potter. You are far from a squib."
Albus shrieked and immediately cringed. He waited for a response from the eager Hogwarts student body, but none came. All Albus could hear was the frantic beat of his own heart. "What the hell?"
"Why, you are an odd one," the Hat said.
"Why are you speaking out loud?" questioned Albus, speaking out loud himself. There was still no reaction from any of the students, as though they had been frozen in time.
"You tell me," the voice spoke from above his head. "The way I speak to students depends wholly on the way they manifest my magic."
"What exactly is your magic, then?"
"Oh, were that I knew," the Hat said. "I was bore from magic beyond my knowledge, nor do I remember my creation. Tell me, do you remember the day of your birth?"
"No?"
"I imagine so."
Albus laughed nervously. "Does that mean this is all in my head?"
"Of course, it is happening inside your head!" it hissed, causing the loose ribbons to tickle the tops of his ears. "But why on earth should that mean it is not real?"
"Alright, alright," said Albus softly, feeling defensive. "What am I meant to do, then?"
"Usually, you're meant to listen. But you don't seem to be usual." The Hat sighed. "You are like your father, in many ways. Limitless potential… a great tenacity to accomplish things… but I see something deeper… Yes. Your father… he was always afraid of something. Perhaps his misconceptions about Slytherin house were associated with his perceptions of his extended family, or with its connection to his mortal enemy. When he was sitting on this very stool all those years ago, I told him he'd do well in Slytherin. I wasn't lying."
"How does that matter to me?" Albus asked, teetering on the stool.
"There is something you possess that your father never did. I would be doing a disservice to you if I did not inform you why."
Albus stayed pensively silent. He had always been compared to his father, the great Harry Potter. The two looked near identical at age eleven, though Albus's eyes and nose more resembled his mother's. His father joked that Albus even acted like he did as a child, always quiet and modest.
Albus didn't mind. His father was good, and kind, and just. He was a great wizard, and an even better person.
"Harry Potter wanted to escape the world he lived to trade it for another," said the Hat. "It was a simple wish, and regardless of the decision he made on this stool it would have been granted. You have that already, Albus. You don't want another world. You want to make this world your own. You have ambition to accomplish more than is required of you, and this is rare. Harry Potter grew into his predetermined role because it was necessary. You don't have that expectation, and yet you desire it. Yes. You will make your place in this world, that I am sure of."
The Hat paused for a moment before speaking.
"How many of your Sorted family are in Gryffindor, again?"
"All of them," said Albus, dejected.
"Not all of them, not anymore."
"Rose…" He spotted her face brimming with confused emotion at the Slytherin table.
Rose Granger-Weasley, a Slytherin. Who would have thought. It was a surprise to everyone, especially her. She was the ideal academic, so much so that her father called her the spitting image of her mother. If anything, she should have been in Ravenclaw.
"Not Rose, then." Albus's chest tightened.
"Fear. That's what the both of you are feeling right now."
Albus's throat hitched. Fear? What am I afraid of?
"You know the answer. It is why the prospect of Slytherin still terrifies you, even if you convince yourself otherwise. It is also why you're currently pursuing… extracurricular activities, shall we say."
"How do you know—"
"I can read your mind, Albus. Fear is a blinding thing, for it is often a mortal reaction to the unknown. Slytherin is unknown and foreign to you, Albus, even more so than it is to your father. But your unfamiliarity with Slytherin is only part of the cause. In material terms, you are afraid of being different. Of being unable to fit in. What if I put you in Hufflepuff, or Ravenclaw? You would be more alone there than you would in Slytherin."
Albus hadn't even thought of that. "Slytherin produces more Dark wizards than all the other houses," he said meekly, echoing what he'd voiced to his father on multiple occasions.
The Hat chuckled. "The other houses have had their fair share of Dark wizards, though they don't like talking about it. Quirinus Quirrell, he was a Ravenclaw. And Peter Pettigrew, a Gryffindor. The status of 'Dark wizard' is not exclusive to Slytherin."
"It sounds like you want me to pick Slytherin."
"I want you to choose from a point of impartiality. Your father never stopped to consider. Whether he knew it or not, his mind was set on Gryffindor, even before I was placed upon his head. I am merely a guide, not an executive party. I tried to convince him to consider the options, yet he gave my words little gravity. He was confident in his abilities. That was both his strength and his flaw. It happened to work in his favor, then. He made friends of the highest caliber, friends that guided him along the way. But you aren't your father, Albus. You are different, just like everyone else. Don't let the past define you."
"And you offer this choice to all students?" Albus asked drily.
"I try. But only the truest choose to listen. Your cousin Rose was one of them."
"She was?" Albus looked back at her face. "She's crying, though."
"I won't divulge another's most personal anxieties, Albus."
"You told me that she's afraid."
"That is far different from telling you what she is afraid of."
Albus shifted on the stool. He was starting to get uncomfortable.
"Allow me to offer you an advice," the Hat whispered. "Fear of the unknown exists because it is unknown. Once the unknown is known, it is mundane, and the mundane is nothing to fear. Having fear is smart, Albus. But blind fear is dangerous, dangerous and overwhelming. Your fear will guide you to reason, but you must ensure it does not overcome your sensibilities. Exordium novum. Do what you think is right."
Albus's thoughts spun in his head as he looked out and homed his sights in on his brother. James's face was showing signs of annoyance and self-satisfaction. His brother had continued to tease Albus to no end, even on the platform at King's Cross. But there was something else in James's eyes, now, something that Albus couldn't recognize.
There was something curious about the emotion in a person's eyes.
Harry's words from the platform rattled in his head. Slytherin House will have gained an excellent student, won't it?
"You know," the Hat said.
Albus's tongue felt like sandpaper as he spoke. "I do."
He felt the Hat's mouth curve into a smile above his head. "You're a brave boy, Albus."
"I hope so."
Albus didn't actually hear the Hat say 'Slytherin.' In fact, he didn't hear anything for a few seconds until Neville pulled it off his head.
The sound that reached his ears was a torrent of jubilant screams, so loud that Albus staggered off of the stool in surprise. Practically the entirety of Slytherin house was giving a standing ovation, complete with whoops and cheers. The few Slytherins near the back of the table who shot angry glares his way were lost in the sea of triumphant students; even some of the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs had joined in.
The Gryffindors were noticeably more static than the others, but one student was especially enthusiastic. James was the first Gryffindor standing and cheering, clapping his hands together obnoxiously. Albus's cousins joined soon after, and the rest of Gryffindor begrudgingly followed.
Albus caught his brother's eyes as people began to sit down. James was smiling widely, that unknown expression in his eyes gone.
Albus flashed him a shaky thumbs up.
His brother returned the gesture, beaming. He cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, loud enough that Albus could hear him. "I told you you'd be in Slytherin, idiot!"
Albus managed to put a nervous smile on his face as he stepped off the platform and headed towards the house table. A prefect came over to assist him, showing him to an open spot across from Rose.
A jab from one of the Slytherins at the end of the table slipped through as the noise died down. "We don't want you, Potter!"
"Oi!" yelled the prefect who led him over, standing up and looking down the Slytherin table. "Shut your mouth!"
Albus flushed in mild embarrassment as a light chuckle ran through the hall, flattered that someone who didn't know him was willing to defend him that vehemently.
Neville held up a hand. "Thank you, Ethan."
The prefect nodded and sat down. He adjusted his robes as the Sorting continued, shaking his head and turning to Albus. "Sorry about that, mate. Some of these lot are still stuck in archaic times." He extended a hand. "Ethan. Ethan Healy."
"Albus," he said, accepting the handshake. "Erm, thanks for that."
"SLYTHERIN!" the Hat roared, and "Prince, Finn" strode down to the table.
Ethan talked to Albus while he clapped. "No problem. If those fools give you any trouble, don't hesitate to come to me. Prince! Over here!"
Albus smiled and nodded before turning to Rose. He wanted to ask his cousin why, why she'd chosen Slytherin, but he couldn't bring himself to say it. "Well."
"Well." Rose sniffed, but plastered a smile to her face and wiped away her tears. "Thank goodness you're here."
"I'm great, aren't I."
"Don't get ahead of yourself."
"Love you too, Rosie." Albus twisted his head to and watched "Queen, Seraphina" place the ratty old hat on the stool before heading to the Hufflepuff table. He could have sworn it winked at him.