"You didn't have to bring me all the way down here. honestly, I could have found my way" Scorpius said as he and Teddy approached the train platform.
"Dude shut up! As I have told you one hundred times this morning already, I'm not leaving until you're on that train, safe and sound! Sorry Cuz your stuck with me!" Teddy punched Scorpius' arm playfully Scorpius smiled. In truth it was nice to have someone there to send him off. Scorpius had been experiencing an odd feeling all morning he wasn't used too, not wanting to go back to Hogwarts. After the amazing summer he'd had with Teddy, Andromeda, Victoire and the Weasleys, Scorpius almost didn't want to return to Hogwarts anymore. "Plus, you're doing me a solid, Vic wanted me to go with her to sample flowers this morning!"
"But isn't the appointment at 11.30, couldn't you just apparate there and get there in time?" Scorpius asked confused.
"Oh yeah totally, if I wasn't totally hopeless at apparation" Teddy nodded.
"But your great at apparation!"
"Not as far as Victoire's concerned!" Teddy winked. Scorpius smirked as he rolled his eyes.
"Why bother proposing to her if you don't want to do any of the wedding planning?"
"Because, my inexperienced naive little cousin, I want to be married to her…. I just don't want the actual wedding hassle…. Speaking of I think Victoire's finalising guestlists and save the dates soon, so expect yours any day!" Scorpius looked a little taken aback at this, he still found it a little odd to be included and wanted.
"You want me…" Teddy cut Scorpius off before he could finish his sentence.
"Stop with the pity party! Of course, you're coming! Come on dude it would be a little weird if I didn't invite you considering you live with us." Scorpius chuckled at this. "You'd better get going and find your seat now, don't want to have to jump on last second… trust me jumping onto a moving train isn't good for your ankles I speak from experience…" Scorpius laughed and the two boys took a moment to look at each other both unsure of how to proceed as the conductors began blowing their whistles. Scorpius opened his mouth to start when Teddy pulled him into a bone crushing hug.
"Take care of yourself okay? Work hard, play hard and keep yourself safe okay? I'll write you see how you're getting on so you better make sure your good okay?" Teddy pulled out of the hug holding Scorpius by the shoulders. "And hey you'll see me every Hogsmeade weekend, friends and family discount at The Three Broomsticks obviously!" Scorpius and Teddy both laughed.
"Thank you… for literally everything this summer… I can't tell you how much…" Scorpius began but Teddy cut him off, trying to hold back tears.
"Don't start dude, you'll make me cry! You know you're welcome anytime, your family now Cuz! Now go before I have to explain to Vic that I skipped out on a flower sampling to cry on a train station with you!" Scorpius gave Teddy one last hug before finally stepping onto the train. Teddy smiled proudly as he followed Scorpius down the train to find a compartment to sit in.
On the other side of the platform the Potter's had just arrived, they liked to arrive as close to the leaving time as they possibly could to avoid unwanted media attention that usually came whenever they were in one place for too long. As Harry arrived through the brick wall, he spotted his three children heading toward the train with Ginny close behind.
"Quick if we don't hurry, we'll never find a good carriage Ally!" James' ushered his brother forward
"I'm not sitting with you!" Albus shouted back as he pushed ahead of him "Lily come on!" Albus shouted back to his siter who had got distracted by the journey onto the platform and looked like she was on another world entirely.
"Wait wait wait!" Ginny called lunging forward and grabbing hold of Albus and James' shoulders before they made it onto the train. "You know how this works, we need to say goodbye first!"
"Oh of course, how could I forget the first day of school final mum lectures!" James smiled as Ginny ushered the pair of them over to a quiet little corner where Harry had brought Lily.
"Okay now I know things were a little crazy when you were last at Hogwarts…"
"Crazy? Lily got attacked by a hippogriff!" James' snorted. Lily immediately looked down to her feet and Albus' eyes darted upwards trying not to think about the end of last year, seeing his friends and his sister being tortured. Ginny sighed at James' tact.
"I remember… Look my point is, I know last year was … well it was what it was… but this year is a new year and you're all going to be okay, we wouldn't send you back if we ever thought you were in any danger." Albus couldn't meet him mothers' eyes, the guilt of knowing the truth of how dangerous Hogwarts had really become was growing.
"Yeah, I mean when we went it was the most dangerous place in the wizarding world but now… you kids haven't seen danger until you went to the Hogwarts we went too!" Harry joked.
"It was only dangerous BECAUSE you went there." Albus rolled her eyes at his dad. Harry reluctantly nodded his agreement.
"Anyway, you're all going to be a lot safer this year I promise." Ginny sounded more like she was trying to convince herself than her children who looked at her uncertainly. "Right so, Lily…" Ginny grabbed her youngest child into a hug who looked taken aback by the gesture as if she'd forgotten her mother was there for a moment. "No more wondering around this year, it's not safe! You just buckle down and focus on school, no more little explorations got me?" Lily nodded quietly as her mother let her go and she went to hug her father.
"Al…" Ginny began but was quickly interrupted by Albus trying to break free from her hug already.
"Mum please don't, people are already looking. It's fine I know the drill; focus on school, don't wonder off, stay safe, make friends, be nice … blah blah blah" Albus grumbled.
"Yeah mum, don't you know he's all grown up and too old for lectures now!" James' laughed.
"Get lost! I just want to get on the train!"
"We'll make it in time don't worry." Ginny managed to gain a quick hug before Albus pushed her off.
"You'd better be quick, don't want to make him late to see his girlfriend!" James' smirked. Albus scowled for a fraction of a second before lunging for him, luckily Harry was well prepared for his eldest two fighting and was quick to grab Albus and pull him away and into a hug while Albus resisted.
"James leave him be please, you've been on his back all summer!" Ginny scowled at her eldest before turning her attention back to her youngest son by cupping his cheeks in her hands.
"Listen, I know you get it, and honestly you're the one I have to worry the least about, but I still worry about you I'm your mum. So, let me talk and we'll get this over with quick…" Ginny paused to wait for Albus' resistance instead he just sighed and rolled his eyes resigning himself to his lecture. "please stay safe this year, I'm your mum and I don't know what I'd do without you kids so you have to promise me you won't take any unnecessary risks okay?" Albus nodded his agreeance and Ginny hugged him again. "I love you sweetie, stay safe and have fun… oh and wear you glasses!" Ginny switched to lecturing mode. Albus turned faintly pink.
"I'm not wearing them mum!" Albus insisted. Ginny raised her eyebrows at him.
"Your eyes will just get worse if you don't Al trust me, then you'll have to explain to the optometrist why your eye sights getting worse…" Albus scowled as he took his glasses case out of his pocket and put his silver framed glasses on with more exaggeration than really necessary to make his point.
"There's the little nerd!" James' smirked ruffling Albus' hair and Albus hit his hand away scowling.
"Oi, what did I just say to you! Now you mister!" Ginny rounded on her eldest who had his hands in his pockets smirking already
"Ooh ooh can I guess the lecture this year? No no don't tell me, 'try harder in class this year, no more detentions, no more messing around with boyfriends and girlfriends, you need to really buckle down because you're a sixth year and you'll be leaving soon and you can't muck about like this in the real world! You need to get serious James'' then of course I'll say 'Of course I'm Sirius it is my middle name after all' then you'll start yelling then…" Albus rolled his eyes
"No detentions, no bad grades, no messing around with boyfriends and girlfriends? So basically, don't be you?" Albus jabbed, James' smirked irritated at him.
"Just give me a hug and go and don't forget to write to me!" Ginny grabbed her son who looked confused.
"That's it?"
"That's it. No point ranting at you, you know all this, and you do it anyway. Why waste my breath. I love you, try not to get in too much trouble at least." James' nodded his agreement. Ginny stepped away from the kids and Harry put his arm around her.
"Oh, and if you are going to mess about with your girlfriends and boyfriend can you try and avoid my friends children? Seamus is still mad about Felicity…" Harry avoided meeting his son's eyes.
"Fine" James' mumbled hoping to change the subject fast. Albus was aware a lot had gone on last year with James' on and off again girlfriend Felicity Finnigan but no one was keen to talk about it or even be reminded she existed so Albus had choose not to pry, but that didn't stop the frequent curiosity.
"And there is one last thing we did want to talk to you all about…" Harry began nervously Ginny looked down at her feet awkwardly refusing to meet her children's eyes. As Harry began, he was interrupted by the conductors third whistle.
"We don't have time; we'll miss the train!" Albus insisted grabbing his suitcase and running off with James' and Lily quickly following behind him.
"WAIT… oh never mind, just be safe!" Ginny shouted after them as they jumped on the train without looking back.
"They'll find out soon enough I suppose…" Harry shrugged. Ginny smiled uncertainly at him.
First James and Albus had found a compartment with a few of Lily's second year friends and left her in there, it took her a few minutes to even recognise that her friends were Infront of her. The brothers made sure to let Lily know they were leaving before she got confused and had no idea where they were.
"She's not been the same this summer, I mean she used to wonder off before but it's different now it's like she's wondering off without even going anywhere" James' observed. Albus sighed in agreement.
"She'll be alright now she's got her friends and I'm sure Hugo will find her soon" James nodded trying to put his worries of Lily out of his mind.
"Right now, where are we going to sit?"
"I'm not sitting with you; I'm going to find my friends."
"Great I'll come with you then the JM's can join us and we'll all sit together." James choose to ignore Albus' last sentence. Albus realised he was left with no choice but to dodge him, he made sure to push through the densest crowds and keep as low as he could until he was sure James couldn't see the top of his head then ducked into a carriage and jumped onto the seat to avoid the glass door until a few moments after he'd seen his brothers head go past. He was so focused on dodging his brother he didn't even notice anyone else in the compartment until he heard a cough and quickly turned to see who it was.
"Well hello, I'm sorry handsome nerd but I'm kind of waiting for someone, about your height, pretty green eyes, jet black hair, looks a lot like you actually except my someone doesn't like to wear his glasses, I think they make him look cute though." Sienna smirked as she ruffled Albus' hair and playfully adjusted his glasses. Albus quickly took his glasses off and pushed them into his pocket as his smile widened.
"Oh, that guy yeah I know him, maybe I can get his number for you" Albus flirted as Sienna's arms dropped around to his neck and his fell to her waist.
"Eh, that's okay, I'll just stay here with you instead." Sienna began to kiss Albus who hadn't realised until that very moment exactly how long the summer had been, calls, texts and letters were nice but being able to kiss her well that was worth the wait.
"Oh god, are you going to be one of those couples who just makes out with each other everywhere they go!" Sienna and Albus broke apart with a jump at Scorpius' voice as he entered the compartment.
"Please don't turn into that, I didn't think anything could get worse than the pining this summer, but I was wrong, the PDA is defiantly worse!" Rose playfully rolled her eyes as she followed Scorpius in and the all took their seats.
"I did not pine!" Albus tried to stop himself from blushing by tugging on his red plaid shirt.
"Oh really? Well, I think my 101 texts from you over the summer about what exactly to write to Sienna would say different!" Scorpius pulled out his phone as proof Sienna smiled smugly at Albus who was getting redder by the second.
"Or the most annoying two weeks of my life at the Burrows this summer 'Do you think Sienna's thinking about me?' 'I should tell Sienna about this' 'Sienna said the funniest thing in her last letter' 'God I miss Sienna'. Sorry Si but I got really sick of your name!" Rose teased as Albus playfully pushed her. Sienna smiled interlacing her fingers with the hand Albus had around her as she stretched her legs out on the seat next to her.
"Seriously don't be one of those couples who just make out in front of us all the time it'll get really annoying really quick!" Scorpius warned. Sienna squinted her eyes at Scorpius in challenge and leaned up to kiss Albus again much to the groans of Rose and Scorpius.
"Okay so this is a thing now I guess?" Albus and Sienna were pulled apart as Thalia entered the carriage. Albus had wanted to write to Thalia to tell her about him and Sienna as soon as they'd broken up for the summer, but Sienna was hesitant and asked Albus to wait until they were back at Hogwarts. He argued that if he was allowed to tell Rose and Scorpius why shouldn't he tell Thalia too but Sienna had reminded him that he'd be seeing Rose and Scorpius at the Burrows in person over the summer, but he wouldn't get a chance to see Thalia and they should wait until they were in person. Albus hadn't quite understood it, but had followed along with her idea. As Thalia began to sit down it was clear Rose and Scorpius were trying not to meet her eyes while Sienna was trying desperately to silently communicate with her using her eyes.
"Well, it's about time! Honestly I couldn't stand the obviously flirting and silent crushing any longer!" Slowly everyone began to chuckle along with her. "So now we know those two had a good summer, how was everyone else's?"
"It was nice"
"Bit boring" Scorpius and Rose both said at the same time.
"What about you Tha? How was your summer?"
"It was… fun" Thalia smiled as she landed on the right adjective.
"What does that mean?" Sienna excitedly asked sitting up straight from where she'd been leaning on Albus.
"Nothing! It was just fun" Thalia blushed slightly.
"Oh, she totally got up to something she doesn't want to tell us about" Scorpius smirked.
"Definitely" Rose agreed.
"And I'm going to continue not to tell you guys anything about it!" Thalia laughed.
"Alright Feisty pants!" Sienna put her arms in the air in mock surrender. "Someone's had an attitude adjustment over the summer!"
"You bet your ass I did!" Thalia smirked proudly. Albus smiled, it was nice to see Thalia so confident, he thought for a moment this was the most he'd ever heard her really talk and definitely the loudest he'd ever heard her.
"Well one thing we did do this summer was translate!" Albus changed the subject as he pulled the journal out of his satchel.
"Oh yeah I was meaning to ask how that's been going!" Rose remembered
"We did it!" Thalia excitedly told them
"All of it?" Scorpius asked in disbelief. Albus nodded proudly as he fist bumped Thalia.
"The whole thing! We sent it between each other and between us we got it all!"
"And!?" Sienna anxiously questioned.
"We were right this journal does give us a much clearer picture of Morana. Her whole story's in here…"
"Well go on!" Rose pushed now sitting on the edge of her seat. At that moment James Fred and Louis came through the door. Albus pursed his lips in annoyance,
"Library later" Thalia quickly whispered to the group as the Junior Marauders sat themselves down.
"Alright Al, Rosie and co" Fred nodded politely.
"Didn't mum say you have to wear your glasses all year?" James smirked at his reminder. Albus resisted the urge to throw his older brother out of a moving train.
"Glasses?" Scorpius dared to ask.
"In case your thick skull forgot, mums not here!"
"Be a shame if someone were to tell her you're neglecting your optical health though wouldn't it?" James smiled smugly. Albus glared at his before slowly putting the glasses back on.
"Wow you look…" Scorpius began.
"Don't even say it!" Albus quickly warned. Scorpius thought better than to finish his sentence, unfortunately though James had no problems continuing it for him.
"I didn't think it was possible for him to look more like dad either but here we are!" He laughed.
"You have 30 seconds to get out of this compartment and find your own before I tell the rest of your little crew about mums little project for you over the summer" Albus warned. James staring at Albus in shock for a moment before narrowing his eyes.
"You wouldn't dare."
"Try me." Albus met his glare in challenge.
"You little…"
"So, mum decided James needed something to do over the summer and…" James quickly cut Albus off.
"FINE! We're going just shut your mouth!" James quickly pulled Louis and Fred out of the compartment.
"But I wanted to hear that…" Was the last words Albus heard from Fred before turning back to his friends in smug triumph.
"What project?" Scorpius asked excitedly.
"Oh, he and mum started scrapbooking over the summer, he helps mum create these little collage vision boards out of all her old magazines, he even made a dream guys and girls one I caught him kissing it once!" The group laughed at the thought of the fearless James Potter, head marauder scrapbooking with his mother.
"Wait dream guys AND girls?" Scorpius asked for clarification.
"Oh yeah he came out over the summer he's bisexual, he's still James though so no permanent relationships either way, so I don't see why he even bothered to tell us it's not like we're ever going to meet a girlfriend or boyfriend, we just hear stories about his latest conquests!" Albus rolled his eyes incredulously.
"I do not get why so many people line up to fool around with your brother! Honestly!" Rose crossed her arms disapprovingly.
"Eh I get it, he's hot!" Thalia shrugged; Albus' mouth went wide.
"Ew! Don't talk about my brother like that." Albus shuddered.
"Well, she's not wrong!" Sienna smirked teasingly and Albus who began tickling her. Rose snickered at this and the remainder of the train journey continued with lots of laughs and catching up. Before long the time had flown by and it was time to get changed and get ready to arrive at Hogwarts.
Professor Harlow's speech was usually Albus' least favourite part of the opening feast however there was a slight excitement towards it this year as for the first time since Albus began at Hogwarts they were replacing a teacher. Professor Merrythorp the previous defence against the dark arts teacher had announced she was leaving at the end of last year to join an expedition group to study a group of vampires in Romania, the hall was a buzz with curiosity as to who could replace her. The was a special chatter amongst the Gryffindor table as this year was time for a new Gryffindor quidditch captain and the replacement of both beaters on the Gryffindor quidditch team since Albus' cousins the previous beaters and captains Dominique and Roxanne had graduated and left school this year.
"I mean there's probably going to be trials for the new beaters, but I wonder who they'll promote to captain" Scorpius pondered.
"Oh, did I forget to tell you? it's going to be Fred!" Albus confirmed.
"Really? I was sure they were going to ask James what with him being prefect too and all!"
"They did, He turned it down and then he quit."
"Quit!? He can't quit! He can't turn down captaincy! Who does that!?" Scorpius demanded.
"My brother apparently! Mum nearly lost it when he told her, wouldn't even give us an explanation either just told us he didn't want to play anymore didn't make any sense, but hey the more time I get to spend away from James the better!"
"Wait were going to have 3 whole spots to fill in the team this year god we're up against it!"
"Not to mention the Lucy problem! James has been teaching her over the summer and now she's trying out for Hufflepuff seeker and she's GOOD, honestly no offense mate but I've seen her play and you'll never stand a chance against her!" Scorpius sighed defeated already.
"Is your brother actively sabotaging his own house!?" Scorpius demanded putting his head in his hands in resignation.
"I would call him up on it but honestly mums done enough of that for the whole family!"
"How he became prefect is beyond me! I didn't even think you were allowed to be a prefect if you're on monitorisation!" Scorpius rolled his eyes.
"You can't usually, Harlow's made an exception for him, thinks it will help him develop 'a sense of responsibility and maturity' I give it 2 weeks before Harlow revokes it!"
"If he was responsible, he wouldn't have left his own house deserted when we need him! We'll never win this year!"
"Honestly boys, is quidditch all you ever think about!" Rose rolled her eyes.
"Says the girl who spent the summer going to every Chudley Cannons game of the season!" Albus fired back Rose narrowed her eyes in retaliation.
"There's more important thing to think about, like who our new Defence against the dark arts teacher is, I can't see anyone new up there yet…" Rose began searching.
"Well, whoever the poor sap is won't last long Defence teachers never do apparently."
"Welcome students!" Headmaster Harlow's voice boomed through the hall instantly quieting everyone.
"Welcome back to another year at Hogwarts, and it is delightful to see so many of you back this year. I'm aware many of you may feel unsure about returning due to the unfortunate accident that took place at the end of last year, but I assure you we here are at Hogwarts are constantly working to make sure that our students and faculties safety is our utmost priority. Over the summer we have worked with the ministry to reinstate Hogwarts wards to ensure our protection is completely up to scratch and we plan to have our groundskeeper Hagrid patrol Hogwarts borders frequently to ensure nothing gets in and no one gets out of Hogwarts. Your education is of top priority to us but in order to provide a proper learning environment we must first provide a safe one, so let us put your worries at ease by letting you know that this year at Hogwarts safety is at the forefront of our learning. Now without further ado let us welcome the first years for sorting."
"Inspiring speech there, they're planning on keeping us safe by doing what exactly? Having Hagrid go around the border a few times a day? Honestly what an empty speech!" Thalia rolled her eyes. Albus couldn't help but agree with her, how was Harlow planning to protect the students when he had no idea what the real threat was.
"Now before we begin sorting first years into their appropriate houses. I would first like to welcome two new fourth year students to Hogwarts while they are joining us a little late into their schooling, I have no doubt you will make them both feel welcome. So, let us begin by sorting Lorcan Scamander." The hall was buzzing with excitement at this point but no place louder than Albus' section of the Gryffindor table.
"Lorcan!" Rose's face immediately lit up.
"You know him?" Scorpius asked confused. Albus' smirked at him.
"Of course, she does, He was her ex-boyfriend or is your little long-distance relationship still going?"
"Boyfriend?" Scorpius' eyes immediately shot to Rose who hadn't taken her eyes of Lorcan still as the sorting hat continued deciding his fate.
"He's not my boyfriend, he and his brother were just friends of ours growing up, their mum was in Dumbledores army with our parents, so we used to see them all the time whenever they were in the UK, but their parents go abroad often with them to look for magical creatures so we haven't got to see them in ages!"
"Didn't he kiss you under the Sycamore tree in the garden at the Burrows last time he was in the country?" Albus teased making Thalia's eyes go wide in glee. Before Rose could answer however, they were brought back to Lorcan's sorting when the hat finally began to speak.
"RAVENCLAW!" Rose began clapping hard as Scorpius watched the pride on her face.
"And Lysander Scamander" Professor Harlow announced as another very similar looking blonde boy approached. Scorpius noted the only difference he could see between the twins was the way both boys styled their blonde hair, Lorcan's was a bit shorter and gelled smooth whereas Lysander's was longer and curled slightly at his shoulders otherwise the twins were identical.
"HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat announced seconds after Lysander had put the hat on. As he made his way to the Hufflepuff table Professor Harlow continued with the sorting of the first years until they were all finished.
"Now before we all begin our bountiful feast; I would first like to make a few announcements. First I would like to announce the return of a tradition many students have always looked forward to for years at hogwarts, and while we do not intend to bring back all the traditions associated with this event, I am thrilled to announce the return of the Yule Ball this Christmas. We here at hogwarts hope that the return of this event will give our students a wonderful night to remember. Following this announcement should anyone have any ideas for themes, food, music or decorations please speak to your prefects who will bring up any suggestions during planning meetings." Professor Harlow had barely finished his announcement before the excited chattering began throughout the hall.
"A Ball!" Thalia excitedly exclaimed.
"Wait a ball? As in we have to bring dates?" Scorpius' eyes went wide.
"Oh… I hadn't thought about that I suppose" Rose muttered nervously.
"The whole idea of this ball is anxiety inducing!" Albus sighed.
"Says the guy with a girlfriend!" Scorpius complained. Albus reluctantly shrugged.
"Who are you going to ask then?" Albus asked. Scorpius' eyes darted to Rose for half a second wondering if she'd answer too but before any of them could say anything Professor Harlow cleared his throat to gain the attention of the room again.
"And our final announcement is that as many of you will know our dear Defence against the dark arts teacher Professor Merrythorp has left us this year to fulfil her dream of studying vampires in Romania and we wish her all the best of luck with this new chapter in her life. However, her replacement has not been a decision we here at Hogwarts have taken lightly. As defence against the dark arts is paramount to ensuring you are capable of protecting yourselves, we felt it important to ensure your new teacher be of the highest calibre so it is therefore my extreme pleasure to announce our newest defence against the dark arts teacher… Professor Potter!" The door to the right of the headmaster opened and out walked Harry Potter. Albus' heart sank as his mouth opened wide and his ears began to ring.
"No." Albus barely managed to get out as all eyes immediately turned to him.
As soon as the students began their feast Albus had wanted to storm up to his father and demand an explanation there and then, but he knew doing it now meant creating a scene and there were enough people staring at him.
"Oh. My. God." Scorpius said emphasising every word. He tried to form another sentence of consolidation to Albus or maybe questioning, but he was in such shock he couldn't get any words out of his mouth.
"Did you…?" Rose tried to ask failing to even complete her question.
"Are you stupid! Of course, I didn't know! If I knew I wouldn't be here right now!" Albus hissed through gritted teeth.
"He really didn't tell you?" Thalia questioned
"No, he didn't." Albus grunted. Albus soon become aware of two Gryffindor girls sat to the right of Rose staring at him and whispering to each other he glared at them in response as he tried to stop his face going red.
"I… Wow… I can't believe this!" Scorpius remained in shock. Albus looked up the table to try and find his brother and at last he spotted him with a face like he'd just been slapped by the giant squid, Albus then tried to look over heads to see the Hufflepuff table to see if he could find Lily. He finally caught her sat next to Hugo going beetroot red and shrinking down in her seat. It was clear neither of them knew either. Finally, he managed to catch Sienna's eyes who was looking at him with sympathy.
Albus wolfed down his food quicker than he ever thought he was capable of but unfortunately waiting for the headmaster to dismiss them felt like forever. At last, the headmaster asked the prefects to stand up to take the students to the common rooms. Albus pushed against the crowd to make his way to the teachers table quickly before his father disappeared and soon noticed he wasn't alone James had managed to catch up to him.
"Aren't you on prefect duty?"
"This is more important. Did you know?"
"You really think I would have let this happen!?" Albus asked sarcastically
"Good point!" Finally, they made it to the front and caught up with Lily, who seemed to be on the same mission as them. Harry sighed as he saw his three children approaching with anger in their eyes.
"I realise there's a lot you may want to talk about…" Harry began holding his arms up to his children in surrender.
"How could you do this without telling us!?" James' demanded catching the attention of Headmaster Harlow who was aware of the students looking back to see what was going on.
"Maybe we should take this conversation up to my office for a little privacy?" Harlow offered. The Potter's said nothing but silently followed Harlow and their father whose eyes they refused to meet still. As the arrived into the office Harlow offered up some chairs, and the three of them took them as Harry sat down on the desk while Harlow sat at his desk chair.
"Okay listen they offered me the job at the battle celebrations and quite honestly, I'd been thinking of leaving the aurors office for a while now, and I thought what better opportunity to do something I enjoy, teaching, while also staying closer to home and you children and keeping you safe?"
"You can't just leave! You're the head of the Auror department! Heads of the Auror department don't just quit when they're 40 for no apparent reason! Is this some deranged midlife crisis because if it is, we can get you a new fast broom or you and mum can get divorced there are better ways to cope than this!" James demanded.
"It's not a midlife crisis! The work load in the Aurors office was just an awful lot and it would keep me in the office for so long I felt like I never got to see your mother or you kids. And if I'm being honest with you all I finally got tired of fighting, I thought maybe this would be a way for us all to be a bit closer together…" Harry explained.
"Closer together!" Albus cruelly laughed. "We don't go to Hogwarts to be closer together dad, we go to get some space! Isn't that what you and mum always said Hogwarts teaches us independence? How are we supposed to learn independence with you stalking us?" Albus demanded crossing his arms in frustration.
"If I may?" Professor Harlow asked Harry's permission to cut in, Harry nodded his approval before Harlow continued. "Your father will only be teaching you one subject, that's only a maximum of 3 hours a week you'll really be seeing him…"
"Plus, an hour a day for breakfast oh and the lunch hour, oh and dinner and let's not forget every month or so he'll be on weekend duty, and what about if he chaperone's the Hogsmeade weekend … so that equals out to what?" Lily sarcastically asked.
"45 hours a week maximum" James' answered immediately causing everyone to turn to him with raised eyebrows he simply shrugged at their confused glances.
"Why wouldn't you tell us about this!?" Albus demanding bringing the topic of conversation back. Harry sighed at the kids.
"We did try over the summer, but we knew you'd react like this and we didn't want to ruin the summer…"
"And you thought a better plan was to just show up here!?" Lily asked incredulously.
"In hindsight maybe we didn't think it all the way through… But I mean is it really that bad me being your teacher?"
"Yes!" The three potter siblings answered together.
"Children we must think of the greater good than can be done here!" Professor Harlow spoke up. "I know this may cause some discomfort for the three of you but your father is an invaluable insight that can teach the rest of the student body some truly precious information and I'm hoping can revolutionise the school's defence against the dark arts programme, this could impact us for generations to come! Would you really want to rob so many students of a top-notch education by a truly inspired educator?" Harlow demanded.
"You're not even a teacher!" Albus raised his voice.
"Well, I may not have any formal qualifications but I did teach the other students in my year when the education system began to fail us during the war…" Harry shrugged.
"Oh my god, does everything have to go back to the war with you!?" James rolled his eyes as he slouched back into his chair.
"Look I know this isn't ideal for you all but this job means an awful lot to me, I've always kind of dreamt of coming back to Hogwarts to teach eventually and here I am, so please I'm asking you as my children to please support me in this…" Harry pleaded to the cold unwavering eyes of James Albus and Lily.
"I'm begging you as your son please don't do this." Albus pleaded leaning in closer to his father. Harry sighed at Albus.
"Unfortunately, children while I know this may be an adjustment for you all there is little we can do, your father has signed a yearlong contract, he's here for the remained of the year at least. So, I suggest we make the most of this unpleasant experience for you and learn to embrace the positive side instead of dwell on the negative aspects" Harlow smiled proudly as if he'd resolved the issue.
"You signed a contract without talking to us first!" Lily repeated in frustration.
"So basically, what you're saying here is, this is happening and even though it's happening to us we actually get no say in it at all?" Professor Harlow nodded at James' statement.
"I know you're not keen on this but I promise it won't be that bad!" Harry tried to reassure them. It was Albus who first got up and began walking towards the door.
"Al! Where are you going?" Albus quickly turned around and Harry noticed a fury in his eyes as his clenched and unclenched his fists before saying.
"What's the point in staying here there's nothing more to discuss, you're here we don't want you here and you don't care what we think or want. I think we've got everything cleared up!" Albus tried to remain calm as he began to leave again, hearing his father and Professor Harlow's protests behind him but he didn't care, he needed to get out now.