Author's Notes:

Sorry that took sooo long! I am very sad that I am now behind weekly update rate. Alas, sacrifices must be made.

I will probably not be writing very frequently this upcoming month and be writing a lot more after that. However, I hope you still enjoy the chapter!

Please Review if you enjoy it! It means so much to an author!

Albus woke up that morning to learn several new things.

The First, was that he had not received a letter back from his dad and mum even now. A few more days on a whole more normal school had passed, so that took it to about a week.

Although he was quite decent at distracting himself, he felt his stomach lurch in fear every time he thought about it. If his father was pleased, he would have sent a letter straight away to reassure him! The longer it was put off, the worse it seemed to him. If the crying on his first night hadn't exhausted his tears- for now, at least- he might have been even more distraught. There was little he could do but wait, and he thanked the heavens secretly that he had people like Terry Garland to forget about it, even if it meant being bullied.

The Second, was that Ken had a reading disease called dyslexia, which was apparently carried over from Muggles:

-"Hey Ken, what was it that Sevorian was talking about yesterday? Something to tell us?" Scorpius spoke in a casually curious tone.

Ken sighed, and then nodded to himself. Albus wasn't sure how serious the admission would be.

"I was born with a muggle condition, called dyslexia. It doesn't manifest itself among those with wizard blood apparently, so no one has found a magical cure yet. Though I have improved a lot due to practice, I still find it very hard to read for a long time, and my spelling and handwriting is atrocious. It also affects my ability to learn. I can't learn from a textbook at all without reading a sentence 5 times over, which is painful for me."

"How is it difficult to read?" asked Garrett, who apparently had no tact. Cassie slapped his arm, but Ken didn't seem to mind that much, and shrugged.

"Oh, the words are difficult to read off a page, especially small or tightly-packed letters. It's like they are swimming off, and I can't focus on a book too long or the lines get jumbled. Worse, I find it hard to connect written words with meaning, so I have to read very slowly." he said in an offhanded way.

Albus could see the disappointment in his eyes however, which was surprising because Ken had so far been constantly upbeat and relaxed. The latter closed his eyes, and sighed loudly.

"...It's why I'm so dumb... I suppose. I'm sorry guys, for not telling you right away. Professor Sevorian was right, I should have gone with my gut and trusted you sooner. It's just… I don't wanna be seen as someone only admired as a brainless doll with nice looks. I get quite a good amount of money from my job, but I don't really deserve it. Dressing up doesn't require me to work hard, be smart, or help others."

The boy lowered his eyes and stared at his shoes. Albus felt both a wave and sympathy and a sense of relating to his friend at the same time. Much of what he said was what Albus felt, for he had been born into his fame too. However, he didn't agree that Ken was as useless as he was. It astounded him often how much he felt he could connect to his friends despite the fact that they had barely known each other a week.

"Nonsense." Albus looked up out of his own ruminations. He was surprised to see that Luca had (seemingly unwittingly) interlaced his fingers with Ken's, and that neither of them had really noticed. Albus felt strangely that he had to look at the scene from an angle, almost as if it was too intimate to stare at face on.

"It's not necessarily wrong to want to expect more of yourself, Ken, but you are neither useless nor brainless. I don't have to spend long with you to know that- just think about what Professor Sevorian said. You work as hard as I do- probably harder- even though your natural talent might not lie in academics. Does he seem like the kind of teacher to just compliment you for no reason, or as consolation or something?"

Ken looked at Luca, and swallowed thickly. "I guess not…"

Luca beamed at him. "There you go! The biggest thing is that you try hard to be better. It doesn't matter if you aren't the fastest, especially if it is not your fault, like your condition."

"He's right. You work hard on our homework instead of giving up." added Scorpius. Albus nodded.

"I mean, it doesn't really matter, because I am still terrible at all my subjects. I still haven't managed to get the transfiguration right. Those textbook letters are awful for my dyslexia."

Albus felt suddenly very sad, realising Ken had been there struggling to learn the work because he found it hard to read, and that all Albus had been doing was scraping along while barely giving him any help at all, treating his friend like he was hopeless while all Ken had been doing was trying his best. His throat tightened. The worst part of it was that he knew he had stereotyped his friend, thinking he would be lazy and apathetic towards his studies just because he was athletic and ate a lot and woke up late. Ken was nothing like that at all.

"I'll teach you." said Luca suddenly. Ken stared into the smaller boy's eyes. They were still, inexplicably, holding each other's hand, and Albus was deeply bewildered at how they had not realised yet.

"...Teach me?"

"Yes! I know the stuff fairly well, so I can help you read it out loud when it's hard to read off the page, as well as add in pointers for spellwork."

"But...but that would take up too much of your time!" protested Ken. "And everyone else studying with us at the library will get annoyed."

"We'll find a way round that. How about you use your Crosslingual when it's purely information intake, such as for a theoretical Potions Essay, and I will help you run through it at the end. Practical work we can do together. I don't really need that much time to do the work to be honest."

Ken stared at him like he was a saint, and a massive smile broke out on his face. "Thank you so much, Luca!" -They also finally realised that they were holding each others' hands and dropped their hands quickly, embarrassed.

"Ooh look, Snakey love!" came a voice from behind them suddenly. Albus recognised it right away.

"Lil' bro, I heard that you really went and challenged Gryffindor to a Quidditch match! Are you so evil that you want to beat us 3 weeks into the school year?"

That was the Third thing he learnt. The whole school had found out by now that the gutsy First Years were going to conduct an anger-infused Gryffindor vs Slytherin scrimmage, featuring the carbon copy son of Harry Potter no less. A supposed friendly might as well become televised by this point.

Naturally, that did nothing to help their nerves.

Albus flinched involuntarily, and mentally chastised himself for doing so. He didn't want to show weakness. "I didn't challenge you, did I, James?"

His brother scoffed. "Challenge me? You'd stand no chance- are you crazy?!"

"Yes, so that's why I wouldn't challenge you, and that's why I am not 'trying to beat you' 3 weeks in." Albus remained with a blank expression on his face. But his brother's face only twisted darkly.

"Think you're clever, snake? A few days and I hear that you have challenged Gryffindor already. Was this your plan all along? I don't know how you managed to keep a straight face while telling dad you wanted to be in his House. Once you're out of his watch you betray him by siding with the Death Eaters immediately, 'eh? I feel sorry for dad, spending most of his free time after long days of work playing with his little clingy son Albus Severus, doing Potions he doesn't like and reading so much it would make any sane man mad, only for you to stab him in the back as soon as you get a chance."

Albus clenched a fistful of his robes and grit his teeth angrily. He hated it. He hated that his brother's words could bring tears so easily when he hadn't managed to cry alone.

"Hey! I was the one who challenged them, I'll have you know!" rebutted Scorpius, looking furious.

"Malfoy Junior. Who said you could talk to me?" James sneered back hastily, though he appeared surprised at first that a First Year would treat him with such ferocity.

"Who said you could come here and disrupt us at breakfast? Pick on someone your own size!"

Albus' brother's eyes narrowed considerably. "I wasn't talking to you, Death Eater. I was talking to my good old disappointing little brother. This is Potter family business. Well, that is… if Albus even counts as one anymore."

*SMACK*

"Keep your sorry mouth to yourself, James!"

"-Victoire?! What are you doing!"

"I saw my supposedly maturer cousin harassing first years, so I came to see what was going on. You're lucky I didn't hear anything! Go back to your table! Now!"

James scowled, and then retreated reluctantly. He didn't even bother to say anything more to his younger brother.

"Al, just know that if things ever get out of hand you should come and tell me, okay. I know James likes to make fun of you, but you should draw the line where it becomes unreasonable."

Albus said nothing, and wiped away the few tears vigorously. Victoire didn't seem like she minded his silence, and gave him a small wave as she returned to her table: Headmistress McGonagall had just stood up with her hand raised, signalling silence for an announcement. At once the ebullient chatter emanating from all corners of the Great Hall receded into the clutches of a curious silence. Albus knew it was rare for the Headmistress to interrupt their meals, except for during the Sorting Ceremony, so he too listened in rapt attention.

This was the fourth thing he learnt that morning.

"Good morning students. It has come to our attention that, this Halloween, we will be able to offer a unique experience previously unavailable to students. This is because the potency of the basilisk venom from the teeth of the monster in the Chamber of Secrets has completely disappeared, once and for all. Therefore, the famous Chamber of Secrets of Harry Potter's Second Year is open for supervised visits. It is fairly obvious to us that there will be those of you who either are uninterested or perhaps fearful of such a dark place, so this trip will be voluntary. Students will go at allotted times only- not that you would be able to enter at any other time unless you were a Parseltongue- and you will travel in groups of two Houses: Slytherin with Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff with Gryffindor, in your separate year groups. You will be given the pertinent time slots in due course. I strongly advise those of you who are considering visiting to read up on the story of The Chamber of Secrets before doing so if you have not already been informed of its details- hence the early notice."

Albus locked eyes with his friends, all of whom displayed the same muted excitement he felt- the type of excitement which is intriguing and rousing, but which is also somewhat subdued by uncertainty. However, they were promptly interrupted in their silent ruminations by Marcellus Zabini.

"I'm afraid I cannot say I approve of your unconventional methods, First Years," he said, but with a tiny hint of amusement tinging his blank tone.

"Huh?"

"Right, since you will all be representing Slytherin House, I will be assuming the role of interim Quidditch instructor. Scorpius Hyperion, since you- or so I've heard- roped your year into doing this, you will, I expect, not be compelling them to compete, especially if they dislike Quidditch. Those of you who are interested, however, please join me on the field in two hours. My time is short, even on weekends. Please do not be late."

The First Years blinked in surprise. "It's just a friendly game!" insisted Scorpius. "It's not like the whole school will be watching."

Marcellus smirked. "You'd be surprised about that, actually. I hear some of the older students tried to liaise with Madam Hooch to sell tickets for the event, but she was having none of it. Apparently people should be allowed to go to friendly matches without any controlled distribution involved. Don't count on being there privately, is all I mean to say."

Albus' throat suddenly ran dry. He had surely not banked on being a school spectacle, and it was clear Scorpius agreed.

"Can we not ban them from watching?"

Marcellus shrugged. "Not really. Problems of an open-air pitch, I guess. If you dislike that so much you should have calculated it from the start. But, no matter. Despite the fact that it was not the most carefully premeditated move, it can still be salvaged, so long as you win. I disagree with the publicity, but nobody stop the natural course of these things. It's better to stop trying to keep it from being seen and start working to win. Besides, quite a lot of people are curious as to the outcome, considering the star power behind the names in this one, and the unprecedented boldness of this scrimmage. Bets are starting already. Having people watching is far better than them hearing second-hand biased stories of Slytherins being evil cheats from those incompent Gryffindor First Years. At least you get closure and the truth, no matter what happens."

Yet an anger gripped Albus by surprise. He hated it when people turned the lives of few into the cheap entertainment of many. Didn't they see how bloodthirsty it was, encouraging this feud between the youngest of the school? Albus wanted to defend his friends without having to be put under a microscopic examination, for Merlin's sake!

Not really knowing what he was doing, he stood up abruptly and stormed out of the Great Hall. Luckily, the eyes of the other Houses were distracted, or they would have wondered what the young Harry Potter clone was doing.

Scorpius stood up immediately, and took off tail briskly once they had processed what had happened. Ken, Luca and the rest of the First Year did the same, though the ones not part of their surprising close-knit group of four walked at a much slower pace.

Marcellus Zabini watched on curiously. "Will you still be there?" he called out, his voice drifting slightly to catch young Potter's best friends as they moved quickly out of the Hall. Luca gave him a thumbs up, as if to say: Albus won't give up that easily.

Marcellus nodded blankly. He had a bad feeling in his chest, but he wasn't sure why.

The door to the Slytherin dormitory slammed open and then closed in quick succession. Albus slumped on a Common Room sofa, his white-hot anger mostly forgotten but still replaced by peeved frustration. Luckily, the Common Room seemed quite empty due to the fact he had left halfway through breakfast.

Albus, in a bout of very awful luck, had not noticed the pair of sinister eyes watching down, for he was so wrapped up in his ire that he had not checked his surroundings fully.

A minute later, the door opened again and Scorpius, Ken and Luca came through. No more than 30 seconds after they had closed the door and exchanged a few words of comfort with their friend, the rest of the Slytherin First Year walked through to the Common Room. They gravitated towards where Albus was sitting in the centre of the room, with the group generally dispersing outwards towards the corridors connected to the older year dormitories.

Albus had realised by now that his bout of anger had been quite childish and unnecessary, so he assured his friends that he hadn't been deeply affected by it. There was, however, certainly a sense of apprehensiveness as they considered the fact they'd be playing as a school spectacle. Scorpius apologised rather verbosely for putting them in that situation, to which he was promptly assured that the ones who could play would not be abandoning the collective.

And yet, they still had not noticed the now two pairs of eyes watching them from the greenlit depths of the dungeon.

-But they did notice the menacing, thundering steps.

"Oooh! Look, it's the magnificent Firsties!" chuckled one.

"Nobody's around till quite a bit later, right?" asked the other in a dark tone.

"Yes… I think these Firsties have been naughty, and skipped breakfast… but now your guards aren't around you anymore." said the first again gleefully.

Albus felt a shiver run down his spine.

Trouble. They are definitely big trouble.

"Right, it's time to show them what Slytherin is really about- don't you think?"

"Oh yes, let's!" They laughed threateningly, before they reached out and grabbed the nearest First Year.

Cassie screamed.

"No! Put her down!" yelled Albus.

"Ooh, Potter Minor wants me to put her down? Maybe you could order me in Gryffindor, but this is our House, BOY!"

"That doesn't mean you can pick on the First years!"

"...And why not?"

Albus clenched his fist. As if noticing his anger, the one holding Cassie tightened his grip against her arm painfully as she cried out in pain, and raised his wand.

"My father was sent to Azkaban by yours, Potter. He died there, insignificant, forgotten! Oh and yes, he was betrayed by that piece of dung Malfoy! Let's see how much pain we can inflict on each other now!"

He waved his wand and its tip became glowing hot. Albus could almost feel the heat coming from it and he was standing a few metres away.

"So. What do you think, young Potter? Should we touch this little First Year with my red-hot wand? It'll only leave a small burn!"

"NO!"

"I didn't hear you!" he said, with the other still laughing maniacally. Albus watched, almost in slow motion, as he drew the wand up to a great arc in the air, sailing briefly at its peak, before coming down tentatively with a vengeance. It was as if the Slytherin senior wanted to savour the moment.

Albus, panicking, did the only thing he could think of.

"MITIGATO CLASSI!"

The senior watched in bewilderment as his wand fell out of his hand, and streamed towards Albus' wand as if attracted by a magnetic force, landing in the middle of them in a clump of their two wands stuck together.

"HOW DARE YOU YOU FILTHY BLOOD TRAITOR!" His friend raised his wand suddenly, and aimed it straight at Cassie's face from point blank range.

"MITIGATO CLASSI!" The same call was thundered from two separate voices, but pointed towards the same person. The second Trad was blasted backwards as his wand joined a clump of Luca and Ken's wands.

The first was still standing and gripping onto Cassie's arm. He pulled out a dagger and used his other hand to grip her neck roughly.

Albus felt his anger explode.

"NO!"

And suddenly, he was met with a strange feeling of weightlessness. It was like his senses had honed in sharper, and everything was definitely moving in slow motion. He felt the rage seep through his veins.

And burst right out through his palms.

*BOOM*

A ray of light blasted the first Slytherin back a few metres. Acting on the quickest reflexes Albus had ever seen, Ken jumped like lightning towards where the Trad had been previously, and in one strong motion carried Cassie out to where the rest of them were standing, handing her gently to a frightened Garrett.

"NOW YOU'VE DONE IT! HOW DARE YOU USE WANDLESS MAGIC ON ME!"

Albus stepped with his three friends in front of Cassie, who was still injured and coughing from the rough hold she had been subjected to.

The two seniors rose up and ran towards them. Albus realised morbidly that they were outmatched in size, since Ken was the only one who could vaguely compete with them physically.

*CRACK*

As Albus thought it, Ken landed in a solid kick to the second Senior's midriff, winding him momentarily. Unfortunately, his move left him with his side awkwardly exposed to the other, more powerful one. He was whammed hard by burly arms and fell painfully against one of the smaller armchairs.

"Locomotor Wibbly!"

Albus remembered that Scorpius was the only one who hadn't used the Mitigato Classi spell and so he had his wand. It gave them valuable time to think as the Senior wobbled around precariously in the wrong direction. The Jelly Legs Scorpius had produced was not very strong, but their opponent still was orienting himself against the slight tremors of movement.

"Luca, get Marcellus Zabini or Professor Sevorian!"

Albus prayed that his friend would listen. All of them knew that Luca would not be useful in this situation, with his wand gone and no physical strength. His friend looked conflicted, which he guessed was not surprising given that it seemed they were asking him to abandon them.

"Luca, go! You'll think of the best solution, we trust you! Without it we can't win this fight, so you aren't leaving us behind at all!" cried Ken.

Luca was jolted into action, running off much faster than Albus would have expected. He was small and light, after all.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH MY WAND?"

Sevorian's spell was useful after all, it seemed.

The three of them were given valuable time to catch their breaths and drag it out to give help time to arrive, because the Slytherin seniors were still shaking their wands dumbly. Not that Albus blamed them.

"FINE THEN!"

Well, it wasn't always going to last, was it? Except this time, Albus knew that the golden coins the Trad had drawn were no ordinary magical items. The Dark Magic radiating from them was of a next level.

This is completely out of my tier, he thought desperately, looking around for ways to get out of it but somehow knowing all along that nothing would be there.

"C-can't defeat us with your own power, c-can you?" Scorpius tried to taunt them, but the power of the darkness seeping into the air had chilled him as much as anyone else. They all prayed Luca would be back soon, because this would be the end of the line.

"Pity for you." the first Senior sneered. "This is the more painful way anyway."

"W-who will you attack?" Albus was furious at himself for not being able to hold his voice, and for asking such a weak question.

"Son of Malfoy. Son of Potter. Muggleborn. Oh, and the girl from earlier." the Senior replied in an apathetic tone.

Now that they had heard that Cassie, an innocent bystander, was going to be punished as well, they knew they would go down fighting.

"PICK ON SOMEONE YOUR OWN SIZE!" roared Ken as he slammed his fist and hit one straight in the face.

But his back was turned. The first threw the golden coin, which was the size of a human palm, at the boy's back. Ken cried out in pain and fell to the ground like a ragdoll. Albus yelled in rage, and Scorpius joined him.

The Senior had two more coins. He threw them through the air right at them.

Huh. It's too close-range for me to avoid them.

The last thing he saw before everything went dark was the wicked glint of gold- almost innocent and precious, but really malicious to the core.

"SELWYN! MULCIBER!" came a thunderous bellow. Albus could just faintly work it out as perhaps Professor Sevorian.

Well, at least Luca got back. Now they can defend Cassie…

"Al! Al!" Albus saw a blurry face swim into view, and guessed that it was Luca. He tried to smile, but the aching now covering his body probably turned it into a grimace.

"AL!"

The next time Albus opened his eyes, he was lying on a bed in a rather white building.

"Finally awake, Mr Potter? Even your father didn't manage to get himself in here as fast as you did, and he spent half his Hogwarts career in the Hospital Ward."

Albus could now thankfully see fine, and recognised Madam Pomfrey, the Hogwarts matron. She looked at him somewhat appraisingly, before briskly turning her shoulder to call some people in.

"Al!"

"Mum?"

He found himself being quickly enveloped in his mother's arms, with her long red hair obscuring his vision briefly. He noticed that she was still touching him quite gingerly nonetheless, and it brought him some pride to realise that she probably did the same thing to his father when he was injured in the field.

"Oh, thank goodness you're okay…"

"It's fine, mum. Just feeling quite sore. What happened?"

"Cursed Medallions. A fancy cursed object used by a lot of Pureblood families as a glamorous way to employ the Dark Arts in a more unpredictable fashion. The ones which hit you and your friends contained a Purpura Flores spell, a fancy name meaning 'Purple blossom' in Latin, which causes severe bruising. We're lucky you and your friends were attacked by minor families who do not have access to the really powerful Cursed Medallions."

At the mention of his friends, Albus sat up straight, lamenting his suddenness when sharp pains washed over his body. "How are they?"

Surprisingly, his mum started laughing.

"What?"

"Sorry, it's just that you remind me of your dad each time someone knocks him comatose and he wakes up. You start by reassuring me nicely that I don't need to worry, and then you ask what happened to you, and then you perk up as soon as I mention the word 'friend' and cause yourself pain by moving too quickly. Your friends are no worse off than you are, by the way. I believe the boy called Kenichi is in the main hospital beds, where you will be moved so you can stay together, and Scorpius Malfoy is with his parents in a private room similar to ours."

Albus felt his face flush in a very pleased manner when he was compared to his father like that. It was doubly good, of course, to hear that his friends were doing well, but he had never properly been compared to his father before in anything but looks, and certainly not for something so noble. It wasn't even like he had done anything except save his Slytherin yearmates.

Slytherin.

A panic finally seized his heart like an iron vice. He felt his hands become clammy, and his pulse quickened inexplicably. Before he knew it, his own breaths were coming out rough and jagged, and his back shook ever so slightly.

"Al? Are you alright?"

"...M-mum? Do you care that I'm in Slytherin?"

There was no reply, and Albus dared not to look up.

Warm arms wrapped around his shoulders.

"Hush, Albie. We can get you re-sorted, if that's what you want? This attack definitely provides a very good reason to do so. We can just relay the very true fact that as a Potter you will… you will be targeted by the other Slytherins."

Albus' eyes widened as he considered the idea, which he had never thought of before. He looked up slowly at his mother's face. In many ways, she hadn't aged at all in the last five years, and her eyes definitely shone with the same ferocity of the Ginny Weasley his father had married. Right now, though, her face was clouded by one emotion, and one emotion alone.

Concern.

It wasn't disappointment. It wasn't haughtiness. And she certainly did not seem to be compelling him to re-sort himself. No, it was motherly care, and motherly care only, which shone through. Albus realised how tough it must be for his mum, watching him from afar in what was nowhere near as safe as a School House should have been. She must have been anxious right from the beginning, aware to a large extent, he was sure, of the Pureblood civil conflicts which were threatening the whole Slytherin student body.

At the same time, Albus saw clearly that her concern stood clearly on her face, and she wasn't hiding it. That meant that no, she did not expect him to take the easy choice and re-sort himself. It wasn't the smugness she would have when she used reverse psychology to ensure one of her troublesome children did what she wanted. She didn't think she was going to get out the easy way at all.

And she wasn't.

He already felt a faint affinity for his House and for the green he wore on his robes; beyond that, there was no way Albus would abandon his friends, who were in just as much danger as him. Even though his family might be extremely disappointed, and he might be even more disappointed that they were disappointed in him, they had only fate to blame for putting Albus' friends there, where he would never leave them.

"I… I don't think I want that..." he muttered slowly, looking down at his legs, which had been changed into hospital pyjamas. He didn't dare think about the fact that this might offend his mother.

"Ah well, I didn't think you'd agree at all." she replied swiftly.

"...You didn't?"

"Not at all. You're just like your father in this regard. You would not abandon your friends like that, nor your House, nor a group of innocent people facing unwanted and undeserved prejudice for something their predecessors and predecessors alone are responsible for. If I was angry that you were in Slytherin, which I am not at all, I should be angry at the Hat for putting your friends there, not at you, right?"

Albus blinked and nodded slightly dumbstruck.

"Then I accept your decision Albus. -And if I may say so myself, green is much more of your colour than red. It looks adorably dashing on you!"

"Muuum…" Albus groaned back, embarrassed once more. When his half-hearted groan faded, he realised that he had just been accepted and hugged his mother while grinning. She held him tenderly for just a moment longer before she pulled away.

"Do you want to see your sister now?"

"Lily?"

"In the flesh. Shall I send a message to Hagrid telling him to walk her over now?"

Albus nodded. His sister was quite annoying sometimes, but she had never teased him for being in Slytherin (probably because she was a Slytherin herself really) and did treat him very well at heart. He supposed her presence would definitely be calming compared to people like… Rose.

His mum seemed to realise something. "James and your cousins are all in their lessons right now, and I doubt they've heard what happens. I have heard that Seth plans to keep the incident a secret, aided by the quick intervention of Luca Miniati and Marcellus Zabini."

"Uhh...Who is Seth?" asked Albus bemusedly.

Ginny blinked. "Oh, sorry, I mean Professor Sevorian."

"-Wait, did you ever meet him properly mum?" he inquired curiously.

Ginny Potter nodded. "Yes, I did. He was good friends with your father back in his field days, very good friends. He isn't the kind of moral front row idol that your dad is- though he does have a strong sense of justice so he would never go Dark- so their relationship was instead built on the tenets of mutual respect and admiration. In fact, I believe he was waiting at the same hospital when you were born, and saw you as soon as I was rested and the older Weasleys were done holding you."

Albus found it quite bizarre to entertain the thought that Sevorian had seen him as a newborn baby.

"However, after he left the field he lost a large part of his communication with the higher levels of Defense leadership. He stopped coming to our house for tea, and only saw Lily once a few months after she was born. I think he was afraid of bringing danger to our families at a time when we were reeling from having 3 tiny children screaming or toddling around. In any case, we lost frequent contact- Seth Sevorian has never been a social man, after all- but we remain in a strongly cordial relationship. If there was anybody less competent leading Slytherin I might have forced you to re-sort, but I know he will do a good job shielding you while allowing you to grow. His Defense trainees were always phenomenal back in the day, despite the dangers they faced."

Albus nodded, briefly satisfied, before another name popped into his head.

"Wait mum, what about Professor Lang? He was partnered with Sevorian in their duty, right?"

His mother seemed momentarily disoriented, before opening her mouth. "Oh yes, I knew Lang too. He spoke even less than Sevorian, so we didn't necessarily discuss much as friends. Again, though, he and your father greatly respected each other. Your father once said that he was one of the world's strongest frontrunners for wizards who could defeat him in a duel. I hadn't heard from him for a decade before he enrolled at Hogwarts, though, as he returned to his native country. -Oh and yes, he saw you as a newborn too."

It was even more bizarre and disconcerting that Lang had seen him as a zero-year old.

"-AL!"

"Lily- OOMPH!"

Albus grinned at the excitable bundle of red hair hugging him so hard it was painful.

"Do you want me to bring James out of his lessons?"

Albus' grin faltered. "...N-no, it's fine."

"Okay, if you say so." his mum shrugged.

Soon, the family had spent enough time to go over plenty of discussion topics. His mother and sister would be leaving now. She stood up, and Albus prepared to move to the three-bed infirmary he would be sharing with Scorpius and Ken.

"Al, before I leave, I want to make three things clear."

Albus nodded, showing her she could carry on.

"The first in that your father will not be writing back for a long time in response to your letter." she started.

Albus looked down at his feet sadly. "Oh."

Ginny Potter shook her head at his reaction as she continued. "I think you know by now how I don't give Merlin's boot that you are in Slytherin, so I can assure you that your father has actually always been the more supportive one in our private conversations. He thought there was a good chance you might end up here, and convinced me that it wasn't a bad thing in the slightest. Trust me, Al, he doesn't mind at all. He said he once talked to the Sorting Hat about it- though I'm not sure when and about what…"

Albus did know when and about what. So it hadn't been a fabrication after all. Suddenly, it was like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders and he felt a strange airy elation envelop his body. Even though his cousins still treated him coldly, he just didn't care as much anymore. His father was really fine with it!

"He's just in a location where he can't send any messages for fear of being discovered. Top-secret apparently. I don't even know remotely where he is. I was hoping he'd return quickly, so I staved off replying to your letter in hope that we could do it together, but now I doubt he'll be back any time soon. Do not misinterpret his lack of reply. He will see you at Christmas, I am sure, and he will be proud of your resilience. Keep doing what you are doing."

Albus grinned wider than he had since starting Hogwarts. His father would be proud of him!

Ginny beamed, obviously pleased that he was so happy. "The second, is that you can and should always trust Marcellus Zabini. I believe he will introduce you to a secret society group to support and keep an eye on you at all times. He refused to give me details, citing politely my Gryffindor heritage as a reason for the lack of information. I know you might dislike being followed, but he will only ever do it when the risk of another such attack is high. This is not a request, this is a demand. If you want to stay in Slytherin, fine- but I need reassurance that my beloved son will be as safe as a boy with Harry Potter genes can be."

Albus agreed, after recovering from the surprise that his mum sounded like she knew their brilliant Prefect. It really wasn't too bad of a deal, and he still felt immensely guilty about causing her worry. The secret society sounded especially cool, he decided.

"Do you know Marcellus?"

"Yes, he tried out for the Harpies' post-Hogwarts academy last year. He is an amazing young chaser, and I was doing nothing at the time due to the break in the Quidditch season, so I was assigned to supervise him. In fact, I was the one who convinced him not to pursue Quidditch as a career."

"Why not, if he's so good?"

"Have you met him? Those are the skills and qualities of a very capable and strong government official for sure. I think he is absolutely brilliant and will help many people if he continues to work hard, so I told him to seek a job at the Ministry. That one got me in the good books of Blaise Zabini, his father, that is for sure. Besides, he is a diehard Harpies fan, so it's not like he will be poached by another team when we can offer him a spot if everything goes pear-shaped."

Albus laughed. "Do you know everyone mum? Are you the secret leader of the super-secret Slytherin society?"

His mum grinned and pinched his cheek embarrassingly. "The last, is that I am so proud of your achievements in Wandless Magic. I was always useless at it. I encourage you to pursue it as it is very useful in combat, and Lang is an excellent supervisor. However, please don't rush yourself. My sole worry is that you will burn yourself out trying to perform complicated fighting spells without a proper base. Do not lose patience like I did when you have to practise things like meditation, or you will never reach the top levels in wandless. You have at least seven years, unlike your father. Do it hard, and do it properly."

Albus smiled and nodded, his head whirling that his mum knew about his most prodigious achievements already.

"Okay then, bye Al!"

"BYE AL!"

"Bye Lily! Bye Mum!"

He turned his back after they left, and opened the doors to the three-man infirmary, seeing Ken and Scorpius playing some Wizards' chess on what seemed to be Scorpius' bed (from the emerald silk pyjamas on the pillow). He plonked his stuff on the empty bed and stealthily hobbled over without them noticing.

"BOO!"

"-AAH!"

Albus broke into peals of laughter. Scorpius was wearing his signature slit-eye scowl, but broke into a smile when he saw his friend.

"How are you feeling, Al?"

"Extremely sore. Bruises not gone yet." Albus said honestly.

"Oh yeah, same here." agreed Ken.

"It's painful like Merlin's flaming-hot saucepan." Scorpius added sourly.

"Welp, I've been here a week and I'm already missing three days of lessons in hospital. I'll never catch up!" Ken said melodramatically (that seemed to be his thing), stressing the word 'never' in an extremely exaggerated fashion to make his friends laugh.

Albus played chess and read textbooks with his friends for one and a half hours before Luca Miniati burst into their ward.

"Luca!"

"Guys!" he cried, running to hug them all. "Are you okay?"

Albus felt like one of those brainless people who had the complete wrong reaction to somebody's emotional outbursts, but he grinned at his new friend's concern. They were already so close it was unbelievable, he noted, as Scorpius and Ken vigorously reassured Luca that they would be fine after a few nights, and that no, he had not been useless, but instead saved them completely.

"Guys? Can we invite the rest of the Slytherin First Year in? They all really want to see you too."

"Sure."

"Okay!"

Albus was extremely happy that his own House accepted him. In many ways he felt more stable and grounded now due to their clear support and the support of his father. There were going to be very tough obstacles, but how could Albus have it otherwise?

Luca poked his head around the door. "Guys you can go in! They're all awake."

Albus watched his Housemates filling the infirmary. They moved awkwardly, as if unsure what to expect. The three bedridden friends waited patiently for them to move into a comfortable standing circle.

"Hey guys. It's really nice of you to visit," said Ken brightly, to break the silence.

"It was really cool what you guys did. Like super cool." said Garrett.

Albus blinked, and so did Scorpius.

"Don't look so surprised." said Eva Vaillancourt, one of Cassie's friends. "It was extremely heroic! Especially you, Albus."

Albus rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. He was not used to getting such praise.

"Thanks, but I really didn't do much… and I definitely didn't do that much more than Scorpius or Ken or Luca."

Luca directed the least-intense glare Albus had ever seen towards him. Scorpius and Ken seemed content to use him to deflect the embarrassment of being praised.

"Nonsense. You acted first, on instinct, to save us." said Scorpius.

"Yeah! Warrior's bravery." agreed Ken.

Albus smiled, albeit hesitantly, for he knew they were being sincere. "T-Thanks guys, I guess..."

"Yeah… -Thanks so much, Al…"

Albus turned his face. Cassie was looking at him with a hesitant expression on her face, showing that she was very grateful but didn't know what to say.

"You really did save me. If it wasn't for your reflex to help I would have at least been tortured a bit by them."

Albus widened his eyes. "Are you okay, Cassie? Did they hurt you?"

Cassie laughed, and he was a bit bewildered. "Why are you asking about me? Just a little anti-bruising paste was fine. What did those creepy coins do to you?"

All of them turned to look at Albus now, definitely curious as to what had happened. He decided to tell them the truth.

"Nasty charmed objects. Cursed Medallions. These had a very nasty bruising charm called 'Purple Blossom'. It's still very sore all over our bodies but as long as we don't get too badly roughed up we'll be fine. Can't move out of bed for three days though."

Cassie looked conflicted. Finally, she took a deep breath.

"Here… I wanted to give this to you as a present." She dangled out a feather necklace unlike any Albus had ever seen, emerald green at that.

"This is the feather of an Augurey. Augureys can tell the future- some say it predicts rain, others death. It's been modified to be a fairly good detector of danger around you. I don't need it much, but you should take it. It will help you stay safe, Al."

Albus was dumbstruck, and his tongue found itself tied. He had just gotten a very nice gift, and from a very kind and pretty girl!

"L-let me put it on f-for you…" Without any further ado, she clasped her small hands around his neck loosely to hang the Augurey feather. Albus shivered whilst turning tomato red, if that was even possible, when her soft skin touched his bare shoulder briefly.

And he nearly exploded when she kissed his cheek lightly.

"Thanks, Al. Thanks so much for protecting us all, especially me. And you guys too, Scorpius and Ken and Luca. We have to head to lessons now."

Albus was still in a daze when she left, also blushing. He touched his cheek absentmindedly.

"Ooh... someone's got a crush…"

"-Shut up, Scorpy!"

Some notes came in from Sevorian and Lang saying that they would reschedule their respective meetings. Sevorian also told them they would be meeting with Marcellus Zabini for a 'secret society', which they all still found very cool. Albus told them about how his mother knew Marcellus, and how Sevorian and Lang had practically seen his birth. They all agreed that it was slightly creepy and too bizarre to get their heads around.

Being attacked wasn't so bad, when you had friends to support you.

Notes: Next chapter we really start heating up! Get ready for Salazar soon!