The Hogwarts term officially started on Monday. Albus and Scorpius became very good friends with Reg, it turns out they actually had much in common with each other.
Reg, during the small amount of time he knew about the Wizarding World, learned almost any exciting things he could and it turns out that he became a humongous Quidditch fan. His jaw practically dropped to the floor when Albus told him that his mother was part of the Holyhead Harpies before having children.
Albus was content about being in Hufflepuff, he has come to terms with it, but he wishes the same could be said for most of the school.
Albus caught students of all years whispering about him, not very good whispering at that.
"There he is"
"In the middle of the Malfoy boy and the other kid?"
"Yes, that's him"
"I can't believe it. Harry Potter's son, in a house like Hufflepuff? I would rather leave"
"Not to mention he's hanging about with the Malfoy kid, wouldn't be surprised if he gets imperio'd or crucio'd"
Albus tried his best to not let these words bother him, but it was very difficult to do when he heard this almost anywhere he went.
On Monday, Albus, Scorpius, and Reg were almost late for their first Herbology lesson. Hogwarts was a very tricky place, all kinds of doors and entrances that you could get lost in, it certainly didn't help that Peeves the Poltergeist was around. Peeves would be the one to lead you down a trick staircase and even a room filled with...never mind.
The Fat Friar was much better as he would kindly give assistance to Hufflepuffs who needed it.
The trio, by the time they finally got to greenhouse one, were a minute away from being late. Herbology was taught by Albus' godfather Neville Longbottom, he was the most fair of the teachers at Hogwarts and he seemed to be the one students would like the most. Neville also carried around the Sword of Gryffindor, but if you mentioned him carrying it around he would act like he did no such thing, he would occasionally boast about but not too much.
The most boring subject was History of Magic. It was taught by a ghost who was called Professor Binns, he was the only ghost teacher at Hogwarts, his voice put almost everyone in class to sleep and he can make the most interesting points in time be as boring as watching paint dry.
Charms was still taught by Professor Flitwick, a very small man who had to stand up on a pile of books to see over his desk. Flitwick was over the moon excited to have a new Potter in his class again.
Transfiguration was taught by Professor Stromm. A medium sized man who had grey hairs coming from almost everywhere, ears, nose...even his mouth, he had the bushiest eyebrows Albus had ever seen. He was very ill-tempered and impatient as he expected students to get everything the first time, stating that he 'Only teaches the best of the best'.
Everyone looked forward to Defense Against the Dark Arts, which was taught by Professor Tripathy, a man in his late twenties. Professor Tripathy was dark-haired and had eyes that reminded Albus of the moon.
Professor Tripathy didn't really go by the book that much. His lessons were much more practical, he would get them into pairs and then have them shoot spells at one another. Albus had actually gotten hang of the Fire-Making charm and Knockback Jinx.
Potions was Albus' favorite subject out of all of them. Taught by Professor Slughorn, Albus was fascinated by all the possibilities that could happen just by brewing an elixir of some sorts. Albus had a gift for potion-making and Professor Slughorn seemed to notice.
"Maybe one day when you're older you can join. Until then I look forward to seeing you prosper"Professor Slughorn said to him.
Before Albus knew it, it was already Friday. He, Scorpius, and Reg were at lunch.
"What do we have after lunch?"Reg asked, stuffing his face with chicken legs.
"Double Potions with the Slytherins"Scorpius said
Albus groaned in annoyance. Most of Albus' Double classes, which were a total of eight, he had most of them with the Gryffindors, having about five with them, but three of those other classes he had with the Slytherins. To his despair he was in the same class with Strife and his lackeys. Albus would constantly take paper balls to the head which were conjured by Strife, he would also get into many disagreements, one time when Strife 'accidentally' let one of his books on fire, but he was able to fix it.
Albus was going to visit Hagrid once he was done with his classes, Hagrid wanted to know about his first week.
Quidditch tryouts start on the second week of term on Tuesday, Albus planned on going to see the tryouts with Scorpius and Reg to support his cousin Lucy, who was trying out for the Quidditch team for the first time.
Once lunch was finished, Albus, Scorpius, and Reg went to the dungeons for their Double Potions class, Reg and Scorpius with their cauldrons. The dungeons were always cold, and compared to the warmth of the Hufflepuff Common Room, it took Albus almost till the end of the week to get used to it.
The trip entered the Classroom not too long after entering the Dungeons. Once they entered they walked to their desks. Albus and Scorpius sat next to one another while Reg sat in front of them next to Alice.
After a few more minutes when everyone had officially entered the class. Professor Slughorn drew all attention to him.
"All right, all right everyone. To top off our final day of our first week of school, I will allow you to create any potion you see fit, but it has to be doable within our class time"Slughorn said. "The best potion I see will earn a prize. Ingredients are in the cabinets, I will return momentarily. I need to go and pay a visit to Professor Longbottom, I am quite low on ingredients for Pompion Potion and he just got a new shipment of Bouncing Bulbs"
Slughorn walked out of the classroom and only a second passed before everything went crazy. Everyone went up to the cabinet in order to get ingredients. Scorpius stood from his seat to run and get some ingredients but Albus pulled him back down.
"What was that for?"Scorpius asked
"We can't just go up there without knowing with Potion. Were you just going to grab any ingredient"Albus said
The pair waited until the crowd at the cabinets cleared fully. Then the two stood and walked towards the cabinet.
"So which potion are we doing?"Scorpius asked
"Let's do Hair-Raising potion"Albus said as they arrived at the cabinet. "It looks like all the ingredients are here. Rat tails, porcupine quills, Billywig stings, spider legs. We've got them"
Once Albus and Scorpius got all their ingredients they headed back to their desk.
"Okay, we need to fill the cauldron with water and start boiling it"Albus said. Scorpius pulled out his wand and spoke the incantation that made the cauldron fill with water. "Next we have to crush the billywig stings"
Albus and Scorpius began crushing the billywig stings and followed the rest of the directions.
It was actually starting to become very hotter in the Dungeons somehow, either it was just the heat from all the cauldrons or it was just him.
Albus and Scorpius added the spider legs and the crushed billywig stings and began to stew the cauldron for the next fifteen minutes. Following the fifteen minutes they sliced the rat tails before adding them and stewing again but this time for double the time they had done before.
They removed the cauldron from the heat and waited for it to cool down before getting a potion vial and filling it with the green colored potion.
The two finished with a sigh of relief, very proud of their work together. Although Albus knew the ingredients, Scorpius gave as much effort as he did.
Towards the end of class where they had only ten minutes left, Professor Slughorn came back to find that most of everyone was finished with their potions.
"All right everyone, most of you should be done by now. I will now go around and judge your potions. I will ask you which potion it is so I can make sure it's not just any potion"Slughorn said
Slughorn walked around the class, checking the potions. Most got a disgusted look, some got a decent, only two groups seemed to be perfect.
"Okay everyone. I have gone around the class, and sadly, I only saw two groups' potions who were absolutely perfect. Those groups were Mr Strife and Ms Parkinson-Zabini, and Mr Potter and Mr Malfoy"Slughorn said
The two groups waited for Slughorn's verdict.
"And the prize goes to...Mr Potter and Mr Malfoy!"Slughorn said
Albus and Scorpius high-fived while Strife and Paisley groaned.
"So what's the prize, Professor?"Albus asked
"Ah, well. I remember giving this to your father, Albus. He was excellent at Potions"Slughorn said
"He was?"Albus asked, unconvinced, he knew his father was never good at Potions, his father told him that himself.
"Oh, yes he was. It's no wonder that you got the prize. Your Grandmother, your father, and now you. It seems that the talent has been passed down once again. It warms my heart"Slughorn said, unknowing of Strife who was silently mocking by fake gagging.
Slughorn took out what looked to be some sort of necklace that had a vial in the center. "Felix Felicis. The Good Luck Potion"
"Woah"Scorpius said
Slughorn walked to their desk and placed the Felix Felicis in his hands. Albus put it around his neck.
"Ok, we've only got a minute, so start packing up. I wish you all a good weekend"Slughorn said and the students did as he said.
"That's awesome, Albus. A good luck potion"Scorpius said
"Do you want it?"Albus asked
"No way, you're the Potions expert, if anyone deserves that, it's you"Scorpius said. "Now, I have to carry this cauldron all the way back to our dorm. It's going to be a hassle"
"Well, I have to go and see Hagrid. He wants to know how my first week went"Albus said
"Oh, ok. Tell him I said hi"Scorpius said, grasping his cauldron and lifting it with difficulty.
Albus offered to help Scorpius with the cauldron but he insisted on doing it himself.
When Albus left the dungeons, he was confronted by Strife, Harrison, and Paisley.
"Look why we have here, Little Baby Potter. Got Potions lessons from your Daddy when you were diapers?"Strife said
"I wouldn't be surprised if he still wears diapers"Paisley said, all three of them bursting out in laughs.
"The only reason you won is because Slughorn's infatuated with your family. He clearly doesn't know his brain from his arse, if he did, he would've picked us to win"Strife said
"He didn't pick me because of favoritism, he picked me because I did a good job"Albus said
"Don't make me laugh. There had to be something wrong with your pathetic excuse of a potion. I know that your father sucked at Potions"Strife said
Albus was taken aback. How did Strife know that? Albus, instead of wanting a fight, walked pass Strife.
"Maybe instead of a Hair-Raising Potion, it was a stank potion. Maybe that's what he'd prefer! Probably reminds him of his mother's stench! She used to be around loads of guys so I wouldn't be surprised if you're not really your father's child!"Strife said
Albus quickly turned heel and drew his wand, sticking it right below Strife's chin. Strife grinned.
"Ooh. Struck a nerve, didn't I?"Strife said, still grinning broadly. Albus shook his head before removing his wand. Albus pulled back his fist and sunk it into Strife's face. Strife fell to the floor, clutching his face.
Paisley went to her knees to comfort him but Harrison flexed at Albus, seemingly preparing to beat down on him. Harrison looked at Albus and then looked at Strife. Harrison went to comfort Strife along with Paisley.
Albus walked quickly away from the scene, but not before hearing Strife say one more thing.
"YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS POTTER!"
Albus left the castle and headed towards Hagrid's cabin. As he walked, he heard a familiar voice.
"Albus!"
Albus turned around to see Rose walking towards him.
"Rose, what are you doing here?"Albus asked as she hugged him.
"I'm going to Hagrid's cabin"Rose said
"I am too"Albus said
"Wonderful. Let's go"Rose said, Albus followed her.
Since the first week began Albus and Rose haven't had much time to interact with one another. One, to them being in different houses and whenever the Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors were in the same class they didn't have a lot of time to talk with one another.
"So, how's Gryffindor?"Albus asked
"It's great. How's Hufflepuff?"Rose asked
"It's good. Some of everyone is nice"Albus said
"Are you still friends with Malfoy?"Rose asked
"Yeah, and we have another friend too. Reginald Robinson. He's a Muggleborn"Albus said
"Well that sounds nice"Rose said and smiled, but it didn't seem that convincing.
"Have you made any friends in Gryffindor?"Albus asked
"Yes, I'm friends with Alex Finnigan, Jaiden Pummell, and Aileen Lobosca. There's this one annoying guy though. His name's Garett McLaggen"Rose said
"Yeah, I have a similar problem. Except he's in Slytherin. Salvador Strife"Albus said and Rose groaned and rolled her eyes.
"He's a pain in the arse. A real piece of work. He doesn't care about anything. And he's so full of himself"Rose said
"I know right! He can barely back it up. He has Harrison to back up what he says, he can barely even fight. I punched him just a few minutes ago"Albus said
Rose turned her head to him with an amused grin on her face. "You did?"
"Yup. He deserved it too. Talking about my Mum"Albus said
"Well, I think that should shut him up for a little while. Good job"Rose said
"Are you going to Gryffindor tryouts?"Albus asked
"I don't know. They're letting first years join the house teams now. I don't know if I'll be any good compared to the upperclassmen"Rose said
"Are you kidding me? You're the best Keeper I know. You should totally tryout"Albus said
"Well, in that case. You should tryout for your House team"Rose said
"What?"Albus asked
"You heard what I said. You should tryout for the Hufflepuff team with Lucy. Besides Uncle Harry and Uncle Charlie, you're the best Seeker in the family"Rose said
"I don't know"Albus said
"Come on, Al. Take your own advice"Rose said just as they arrived at Hagrid's Cabin. Rose knocked on the door and it swung open.
"Rose! Al! Come on in. Bin waitin' for yeh"Hagrid said
"Hi, Hagrid"Rose said
"Hello, Hagrid"Albus said as they entered.
"Hi, Al, Rose"James said as he sat at the table.
"James. What are you doing here?"Albus asked
"I always come here. I've been coming since first year"James said as Albus and Rose took a seat next to him.
Hagrid brought out a tray of rock cakes and a tea pot, he poured tea into tea cups and passed them to the each of them.
"Help yerselves. So, tell me about yer first week"Hagrid said
"Allow me to start. Divination's terrible. I got stuck with Professor Trelawney. I've been told that Professor Firenze is much better, but of course I got stuck with the fraud"James said. "Don't pick Divination at the end of your second year, guys. It's a waste of time"
"Noted"Albus said
"I'm sure you're just overreacting. It can't be that bad"Rose said and Hagrid coughed as if implying that Divination really wasn't the best choice.
"There's this kid in some of my classes named Salvador Strife, he's in Slytherin. He also seems to know stuff about Dad, stuff he's only ever told us"Albus said
"What? How is that possible?"James asked
"Oh"Hagrid said as if he knew what Albus was talking about.
"Hagrid. Do you know how he could know?"Albus asked skeptically
"No. No, no. O' course not"Hagrid said unconvincingly.
James, Albus, and Rose began to tell Hagrid all about their first week, the good, the bad, and the in between.
"All righ'. You best be off now. It's almost dark"Hagrid said
"All right, Hagrid, bye"Albus said
"See you around Hagrid"Rose said
"See you in class, Hagrid"James said
They walked to Hogwarts castle and just when they were going their separate ways, Albus said-
"Remember what I said, Rose"Albus said
"You too"Rose said as they went their separate ways, Rose and James going to Gryffindor Tower, and Albus going to the Hufflepuff Common Room.
