"Mom, where's my potions book?" James asked running back and forth, trying to put his things in the trunk. Albus had finished organizing his things yesterday, so excited to be going to Hogwarts.

"James. I told you I left it on the kitchen counter!" Albus ate a toast with jam while his mother helped James prepare his trunk. She threw a worried look at him, Albus thought she still didn't like the idea of him going to Hogwarts.

"Good morning, Al. Are you all right today?" Asked his father now sitting at the table with a tired expression, opening the newspaper, only to close it with an irritated expression and focus on his son. He was working a lot, he usually only came back at dawn.

"I'm fine, Dad. I'm ready to go." Albus struggled to look more confident than he felt "What's in the paper?" He kept trying to change the subject.

He hadn't slept well at all (he felt exhausted and irritated), he was still angry that his therapist had demanded he retrieved the book as soon as possible. Albus tried his best to not let the man know that he actually read the "forbidden part", but he discovered. To make matters worse, he refused to tell him more information about any of that, asking him very specific questions about his research:

(What did you find? Why do you want to know all that in the first place? You are just a kid, you shouldn't be interested in things like that... isn't your father an auror, he wouldn't be happy with me if he discovered I lend you this book! It's also dangerous, young Potter.)

He had then feared the therapist would them his parents about it, but he didn't, until now at least... but, in reality, Albus thinks that if he told anything, he would have a hard time explaining why he possessed a book like this. And, because he was an adult, he would be the one in trouble, not Albus.

He would feel bad for him if that ever happened, but right now he was way too angry with him to care. He had tried to read the book as fast as he could because he had to give the book back to the therapist... but then he had a better idea and... yesterday when he was supposed to go see him, he told his mother he wasn't feeling that well... so he didn't go to retrieve the book and decided he'd take him to Hogwarts.

Mr. Mackis would be angry, but Albus really needed to discover more about this whole thing! It could be his only chance! He would write the man a letter later, apologizing.

And, he kind of knew he was doing that only because he was desperate. He was starting to hear strange whispers in his dream, even with the dreamless sleep potion and this was freaking him out...

He was desperate, otherwise, he wouldn't steal his therapist's book. He felt bad, though. It was wrong... maybe he would retrieve it soon, he'd only need to read a little bit more.

He also... afraid that someone would discover the book, made a false cover to it and hid it at the bottom of his suitcase. He would like to know some more spells... but that was what he could do for now.

"Oh, some Dennis Salinger articles again. I would have chosen not to receive or read that, but it's good to be aware of what people say about you... and about your family." Harry took a long sip of coffee and refilled the cup almost immediately, battling to stay awake. Albus quickly looked at the two biggest headlines on the front page.

It is the Ministry's failure. Again! - And how Auror Potter is telling us all reassuring lies!

We know that the main reason for so many uprisings, riots, and violent protests is the incompetence of the Ministry of Magic in internal problems' management of internal problems. Inequality grows every day and the ministerial bureaucratic elite is too busy promoting marketing and consultancy campaigns with public resources to favor William Magis.

Now we have a scary group of crazy terrorist anarchists (Dark Path Movement) and a group of dangerous lunatics who believe in some kind of bizarre unifying consciousness (Proud New Wizards), as well as smaller groups with increasingly stranger goals. Everything is out of control! [...]

In addition, Auror Potter, the "Chosen One" is the head of the important Auror Department. I question the competence of Auror Potter for several reasons (more details: page 23), if Mr. Potter had not earned fame during the war, would he have that position ?!

He underestimated the terrible Magnus Elliston, accusing the dark wizard of bluffing when he said his followers would invade the Ministry! This is not the first time that Mr. Potter has tried to make the wizarding world develop an alienating sense of false security in the face of serious and imminent danger! In that sense, he can be compared to the disastrous and awkward ex-Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge!

[...]

The problems at the Auror Department are not something new (for more details, page 13). If these two groups continue to grow, we can all remember that, instead of worrying about those dangerous clandestine groups, Auror Potter chose to use his authority as Head of the Auror Department to get additional help in finding his son.

By Dennis Salinger.

Is he ready? Harry Potter's son will start Hogwarts a year later - and a response to our kind sponsors.

Albus Potter, a traumatized boy, will be sent (maybe forcefully!) by his father, Harry Potter, and his mother, Ginny Weasley, to Hogwarts. Albus Severus Potter disappeared for a year and was found mysteriously some time ago. Some speculate that the boy, delicate and fragile, would not be ready to start yet. Some say that the child is very sick and perhaps he should not go to Hogwarts. He spent weeks receiving special care at St. Mungus (it is not known in which ward, but some suspect he was in the psychiatric ward after suffering perhaps extensive psychological and emotional trauma).

The editorial board of this newspaper and I criticized Mr. Potter's lack of focus in some relevant cases, but we want to stress that we are, in fact, genuinely happy that the boy was found. To our readers and sponsors who sent letters of inquiry and complaint, I leave here my sincere apology on behalf of all editors, reporters, if my words were misinterpreted.

And especially to our sponsors: some of you thought, very wrongly, that [...]

Please, continue, financially helping this journal, we are here to send a strong message to the ones in power and [...]

By Dennis Salinger.

Albus forced himself to stop reading the article. Fragile and delicate? Sick? He was angry now. He finished eating his toast quickly. What would the other students think about him? His father was right, he sucked. He had tears of anger and humiliation in the corner of his eyes. Now everyone would think he had some serious problems.

"Mom, I haven't even eaten yet," said out loud, trying to close his very full trunk.

"You should have thought of that before. I don't want us to be late." Said Ginny, quickly filling a cup with coffee.

Lily was in a bad mood on the couch because she wasn't going this year too. After a while, they finally left.

Albus felt the worried looks of his mother and father ... as if he were too delicate and fragile to go to Hogwarts. He hated it.

The trip was fast, James was telling Lily a story about a supposed water dragon that lived on Hogwarts' lake. Albus was a little sleepy because he hadn't slept well at night. He noticed that Ginny and Harry exchanged a look of concern. Fragile and delicate ... he would prove them wrong.

Arriving at the platform, Albus saw that many parents were already there with their children and there was a massive crowd: reporters, journalists, and even some aurors in their black and red clothes.

Blinding flashes coming from by at least two dozen magical cameras, there was a lot of noise as journalists asked questions out loud, shouting and trying to get special attention, magic pens scraped papers frantically, aurors shouted for reporters to walk away, trying to form a kind of protection cord on the platform.

He had a long conversation with his father and mother about it. His father had said that some people would be helping his family to reach the platform safely, because newspapers and magazines could harass them for information, to get some headlines.

"Mr. Potter! Mr. Potter? Please. Give us an interview! I'm Dennis Salinger from Times of Truth! Tell us about what happened to your son, is he ready to start Hogwarts now?" Asked a tall man with a huge camera and a shiny purple coat. He was the one who wrote the articles. He had bright red hair, square black glasses, and vivid green eyes (but the left half of his right eye was bluish), a thin man of jovial appearance, with an eyebrow piercing and two rather flashy bluish earrings, he wore a red rose in his hair. While he screamed for attention, he held a black microphone that was too close to his father's mouth. He almost hit the other reporters with his giant camera and microphones.

"I am Sarah Bollie from the Daily Prophet. Mr. Potter gives us all the details about your son's case! The Prophet has always given the public vital information. Don't hide the truth!" A short, plump woman with curly brown hair and long nails was frantically waving a black feather, trying to get Harry Potter's attention.

His father and mother tried their best to ignore the reports, Harry pushed Denis Salinger's microphone to pass the platform, the man looked highly affronted and tried to pull Harry's shirt violently, an auror had to intervene and the confusion just got worse.

"This is violence against the press! As a reporter, I have a full right to be here! Let me go. Don't touch me!" The man shouted when the auror tried to take him to the far side of the platform. His father glared at the reporter when he was being taken away, the noise of the cameras clicking was frantic.

"Typical. Always receiving different treatment." A man in a suit and black hair with his wife and two boys was passing with difficulty, an irritated expression on his face as he tried to dodge the cameras and other people. Beside him was a blond man with a child who appeared to be a copy of him.

"Oscar, Eli, stop looking. There's nothing to see. Come on, let's take the train! Draco, if we had known, we could have gotten here before! Scorpius is going to start his second year already, so I won't tell him that, but you two be careful with whom you sit with, that can change everything," said the irritated man, firmly, in an almost mystical tone.

Albus also heard Denis Salinger shouting from a distant point, saying he was being attacked when an auror pushed him behind the line of photographers, while, ironically, trying to hit the auror with the microphone every time he turned around.

"Harassment! Auror O'Neill, you must know that you can't stop me from delivering vital information to the public. You are being rude! And in front of my son, how dare you!" Salinger said, furious that O'Neill just kept ignoring him, Mr. O'Neill was looking at one of the boys who were close to the angry man. But soon O'Neill had to turn around again, Denis Salinger had hit O'Neil's head with the microphone.

"Oh. I'm sorry, Mr. O'Neill. This microphone is very heavy." Denis said lightly with a sarcastic smile on his face. He then whispered something in the auror's ear, leaning forward, he gave the journalist a furious look.

When the Potter family finally managed to get on the train, it was time to board. Unfortunately, with all the confusion he was unable to properly greet any of his cousins: Victoire (7th), Dom, Molly and Lucy (5th), Louis, Fred II, Roxanne (4th), and Rose (2th).

James said he could sit with him, but Albus decided that he'd better look for a compartment to sit if he wanted to start making his friends. He couldn't depend on others for everything.

He searched randomly and saw two boys preparing to play chess in one of the front compartments, with a pile of chocolates and sweets that they probably brought home because the woman who sold them had not yet arrived, of course, he had seen them on the platform. He didn't know if they would like to sit with him, because the man on the platform had said something about choosing carefully whom to sit with, but he decided it was better to risk it.

The corridor was getting crowded as more and more people entered to seek compartments, some people were already pointing at him and saying "Look, the kidnapped boy!" with surprised expressions on their faces, some even said things like "I read he's mad, after all, that happened! My father told me that he—".

He decided that if he didn't the boys he could try and move to another compartment..., but the only criteria he had when choosing his new friends was that he didn't want people like those talking bad about him in the corridors... if they were decent

and cool people, it'd all be okay.

"Can I sit here?" He asked quietly. The boys looked at him for a second, but the tall boy with dark hair gave him a friendly smile. Even though Albus had the impression that the boy with blond hair and cold eyes did not like him very much already, for some reason.

Enmity at first sight?

"Look, Oscar. Our first new friend. Hello, it's nice to meet you. My name is Eli," he offered his hand and he soon accepted it, excited about the possibility of already having made his first friends (maybe he had misinterpreted Oscar's behavior?).

Oscar extended his hand cordially, although he did not show much emotion and his clear blue eyes were somewhat cold and hostile.

Eli, seeing his difficulty in lifting the heavy suitcase, helped him. Albus sat down, waiting to leave the train, looking briefly out the window, searching for his parents, but all he could see was the reporters and journalists with their cameras pointed at their window.

The extravagant-looking journalist managed to escape Auror O'Neill who was now running after him with an irritated expression and his wand raised, he hurriedly took a photo of Albus with his magical camera that emitted a "click" and an almost blinding flash towards them.

Oscar seemed irritated and immediately closed the curtains, casting a briefly annoyed look in his direction, then the boy started to ignore him, preferring to turn his attention to the chessboard.

"You are Albus Potter, aren't you? The abducted boy— "Eli cut off his speech abruptly" I mean, your dad is Harry Potter, isn't he? " He asked awkwardly. The kidnapped boy, the abducted boy, the mad boy, Harry Potter's son ... would that be how he would be known at school? Albus smiled awkwardly, confirming the information.

Soon after, two more boys entered the compartment. Eli and Oscar seemed to know the boys who soon sat down.

"Emilio and Hector. My parents are friends with their parents," explained Eli eating a chocolate bar. Emilio and Hector were very nice. Emilio was a boy with reddish-blond hair with freckles and pale skin. Hector had messy black hair and a small round spot on his right cheek.

"What about our other friend Scorpius Malfoy? Will he be sitting with us or did he finally get some friends at Ravenclaw? I told him that if he were in Slytherin he would have Teresa Nott, Harry Dolohov, and many people he already knew. Not that Ravenclaw is bad or something, it's my second option, what I'm saying is that it would be a lot easier for him if he were in Slytherin," said Emilio thoughtfully, eating a chocolate frog.

"I don't know, he was traveling with me and Oscar until recently, but he went ahead, I think he found other people to sit with," said Eli, but before the conversation could continue, a boy suddenly entered his compartment, without knocking.

The boy had blue eyes, but the right side of his left pupil had a bluish violet tone, his blond hair was slightly curly, the boy was relatively tall (at least taller than Albus), he wore a black drop-shaped earring on his right ear, he was thin and wore elegant wizarding clothes, with a gold braided chain around his neck. Albus found his appearance... "pleasant". He stared at him for a few moments, confused by his feelings, the boy also reminded him of Denis Sallinger.

"Hey, hello to you all! Can I ask you a few questions? I'm helping my dad with his newspaper articles," the boy who had just entered was holding a gray notebook and a multicolored magic pen. He looked at Albus with visible interest, but only briefly. His gaze shifted to Oscar for a few moments, but nothing more was said.

"I will be a journalist in the future, maybe I can start a formal training in about four years," he said in a slightly pompous tone, without anyone asking him anything, before anyone could say anything, he continued talking.

"My name is Michael Salinger. Albus, is it? Why don't you come to sit with me? You don't have to sit with these people," the boy whispered the last part next to his ear, but the compartment was small and the others could hear it. Albus saw that the boy held out his hand wrapped in a black and gold leather glove for him.

"Albus Potter?" Asked Emilio, surprised. Apparently, neither he nor Hector had paid much attention to him at the beginning, they only now starred at him, with curious expressions.

"Yes, why don't you tell me a little about what happened, that whole kidnapping episode? My dad was trying to do get some good news, but as everyone saw, Auror O'Neill again got in the way," said Salinger, arrogantly, with a soft tone that sounded a bit aggressive, he was looking directly at Oscar, who turned his cold eyes at the boy with an annoyed expression.

The mood in the cabin changed very quickly and Albus thought he saw Oscar pulling out of his robes what was probably his wand, in a discreet and agile movement. Ready to curse the boy. Eli placed himself in front of two boys. Michael at that moment tried to pull Albus so that the boy would go with him.

"Hey, he's sitting with us," warned Hector, Michael Salinger seemed to back off initially, but a mischievous smile formed on his face.

"Yes, sir," he said in a mocking tone "I definitely, wouldn't want to antagonize those here, what if they go full death eater on me!" He let go of Albus's arm, gave him a last look, and headed down the corridor, towards a cabin at the back of the train.

"I told you he was provocative," said Oscar, throwing a magical candy at Hector who looked very angry.

"Prick! So that's Michael Sallinger."

Eli soon sat down, sighing with relief.

"Oscar, you can't pull your wand for anything," warned Eli.

"It's Salinger! He comes here only to offend my father...", murmured Oscar, irritated. His tone was a bit mysterious, the boys waited for him to continue, but he didn't

"D-Do you want to talk about it?" Asked Eli, surprised, in a half-playful, half-serious tone.

"I don't want to talk about it," Oscar said harshly, looking back at the train window, grumpy. Emilio suddenly turned to him.

"But are you really Albus Potter?" Asked Emilio, leaning forward slightly, seeming to analyze him.

"Yes," confirmed Albus, awkwardly. He really wanted to change the subject "Thank you," thanked Albus timidly, turning to Hector that gave him a small smile.

An uncomfortable silence reigned for a while, but soon Hector started talking about teachers, although Emilio was still looking at him puzzled, probably wanting to ask more questions.

Everyone soon seemed to no longer care about Sallinger's "invasion", even though Oscar was still looking at the window vaguely with a thoughtful expression. The conversation soon focused on a specific teacher, Mr. Edward Daniels Ikabonf. The boys were very intrigued by the possibility of having a teacher who was supposed to be a vampire, even though Oscar had told them, a little irritated, that this was just a silly rumor.

"My father told me that the Ikabonfs is evil, the whole family, without exception," commented Eli, seriously. This interested Albus.

"Wasn't our book written by an Ikabonf, the one about the History of Magic?" Asked Hector, raising his eyebrow slightly.

"What's wrong with the Ikabonfs?" Albus asked, letting curiosity overwhelm him.

"Well ..., I don't know for sure, but my dad knows things," said Eli awkwardly, blushing a little.

"Who cares about that? I'm more concerned with that, "Hector had pulled a magazine, the Flying Herald, which apparently only spoke of Quidditch and celebrities, Albus leaned forward and tried to find the headline that had shocked the boy "Trillionaire Horton Cirley buys another team of Quidditch "; "BOMB! Charlie Kim, elected the most beautiful player of Quidditch, revealed to be gay "; "Do you want to be a professional player? Cirley selection of new sports stars "; "Quidditch tournament canceled due to unspecified threat."

"And what threat would that be?" Asked Emilio, confused.

"It doesn't say, it doesn't say anything here. How can they cancel the Tournament and not say why? " Asked the boy, dissatisfied, putting the magazine aside.

"My father and I had already bought the tickets and were going to Romania!" The boy complained, unhappy.

Albus asked to take a look at the magazine:

The Tournament Organizer canceled, without further explanation, the World Quidditch Tournament that would take place this time in Romania. Pressed to give a reason, Mr. Iscaf Jacrig, said he feared for the players' and the public's safety due to what he classified as "strange incidents." Iscaf Jacrig adamantly refused to give more details, Romania's Ministry of Magical Sports was asked to give more details, but officials declined to give testimony.

Strange.

"[...] And Professor Biins, it seems that he finally... died," said Eli, his father considered one of the most boring teachers he had ever had.

"What do you think it was?" Albus asked curiously, listening only to the last part of the conversation, but a little puzzled. Wasn't Binns a ghost already? Do ghosts die?

"It was in the papers. No one knows how it happened. They know very little about it, but surely someone is investigating," concluded Eli, absently. Maybe they just had to wait a while to find out what had happened, after all.

Oscar had looked at the window for most of the trip, Hector was a little sulky with the cancellation of the World Quidditch Tournament, Emilio seemed to want to ask something all the time, but Eli kept giving the boy (not so discreet) warning looks.

Albus wouldn't classify the experience as strictly pleasant and relaxed, but they at least Eli, Hector, Emilio, and he played some chess (Oscar didn't want to) and Albus bought some of the many colorful sweets when the girl with the treats arrived.

"First years! First years! Here!" Shouted Hagrid, waving his arms and managing to look even bigger. It was impossible not to see him, all the future students at Hogwarts followed the man. The boys were ready to finally start Hogwarts.

Rose found him there in the middle of a crowd of first-year students, his honey-red hair was tied in a complicated braid, she wore light pink lipstick and dark makeup in her eyes. Rose had started to take an interest in boys, Lily had told him at some point that she thought that Rose was in love with someone.

"Good luck, Al! I and James will be waiting for you in Gryffindor if you go there ..., I wish you could be with us," the girl said, combing her hair with her fingers, her nails painted a pink that matched her lipstick perfectly.

"First years!" Hagrid shouted again. His cousin said goodbye to him and went to meet other girls from Gryffindor of the second year, who were screaming pointing at a boy who was walking at a distance, but Albus did not pay much attention to that, as he realized that Michael Salinger was staring at him from a distance, he was with a red-haired boy, with a pale face and clear eyes that he was almost sure he had seen before. With a pang of sudden pain in the head, Albus went to join the people who were with him in the cabin, giving Salinger and the mysterious boy one last confused look.

Where had he seen him before?

When Albus went to the boys he met at the train, he noticed that Oscar gave him a fleeting look of pure irritation, entering the boat with agility and waving for Hector, Emilio, and Eli to enter next.

"Okay, four students on each boat. No more." Albus looked around for a group with less than four people. There was only one group left: Salinger and the red-haired boy, they were talking to a boy, a small boy with brown hair who was about to accompany another boy with a big scar on his face.

"Come on, come with us, you're a Shakelbolt, aren't you? Come and stay with us." The small boy exchanged a guilty look with the scarred boy, but he was looking now at Albus who had awkwardly approached them. The boy with the giant scar running from the root of his hair to his right cheek seemed to want to suggest something, but Salinger hurried and pulled Albus's arm without ceremony, he almost fell on the dirt floor.

"Come on Potter, you come with us. A group with three and a group with two, right? I'd love to a Shakelbolt with us..., but if you think he is a better company..." said Salinger softly, in a passive-aggressive tone, "You know what he is, right?" asked Sallinger, provocatively.

"What do you mean?!" Exclaimed the scarred boy.

"Well... I think you know what I mean... Ross, isn't it?" Ross (was it his surname or first name? And why did he had a scar so big on his face?) seemed affronted, and was ready to reply but his friend pulled him away, they soon embarked in a small boat.

Albus decided not to say anything, as he didn't want trouble on the first day, even before he arrived at Hogwarts, so he just got on the boat with the help of the red-haired boy, without looking again at the other two boys.

"We've seen each other before, haven't we?" He asked, curious. The tall boy stared at him for a while.

"Yes, I was with my father at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes," he replied when the boat started to move with a sudden initial movement that made the precarious boat make sounds that were not very reassuring (did anyone take charge of replacing the old boats? that someone was doing the maintenance?).

After a particularly dangerous movement of the boat (when it passed through a tight passage between two rocks), Albus almost fell and held on Salinger, who gave him a strange look, between amusement and irritation.

"I am Barnaby Cirley, nice to meet you," the young man introduced himself, extending his hand to him who accepted it.

"You already know who I am," murmured Salinger, casting a penetrating glance in the direction of a boat that crossed the black waters of the lake, Albus tried to see for sure who the members of the boat were, it was the boat where the boys he met on the train sat at (excluding the "frigid Oscar" of the "friends part").

Upon realizing that Albus was looking, Salinger quickly turned his attention to the boat.

"So, Potter, how was it?" Salinger asked vaguely, in a superficially neutral tone.

"How was it...,"

"Salinger," said Barnaby in a tone of clear warning, his gaze reproaching the other boy.

"Everyone wants to know, everyone is talking about it," complained Salinger, and leaning closer to Albus, he asked "D-did they do it? Most of the time they do it? They... the ones who kidnapped you "Albus didn't understand. What did they do? What were they? How confusing.

"Salinger!" Exclaimed Barnaby with a red face.

The blond boy did seem a little bit awkward.

"Okay, sorry, Potter, I went too far," he shrugged and fixed his hair that started to get messy with the wind, his drop-shaped earring was dangling.

"A-alright," said Albus, who in any case did not understand the question.

"Which house do you want to go to, Potter? Gryffindor, I think ... "Salinger seemed to want to ease the tense ambiance that had set in for some reason, with Barnaby still looking quite shocked and looking at the blond boy with disapproval.

He was no longer sure if he wanted to go to Gryffindor as he had before ..., going there would mean living with Rose, James, and their cousins, putting up with that sinister "barrier" that accommodated sinisterly in their relationships daily. interpersonal. Perhaps he wanted to go to a more "quiet" house ... Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff, away from giant expectations, which he (anxious and traumatized) could not meet.

Yes, he just wanted to have peace and relax a little, make friends, and have the best years of his entire life. With a sudden burst of optimism and happiness, Albus smiled, looking at Hogwarts that loomed over them, with its many lights, from which came a very pleasant smell of tasty food and where he heard a confused mixture of happy singing and student voices and teachers.

"Well, either one is fine, I think," he said, in an optimistic tone, so suddenly that it made both boys exchange a questioning look.

As long as he could go to Hogwarts, everything would be fine.

No man in the well, no strange entities haunting his dreams, no bizarre and sinister corridors, none of that intense and inexplicable cold, none of that.

He had done therapy and now he was able to control it better. Before going to sleep he just needed to try to calm down, take some potions, things like that. Everything would work out.

He tried his best to convince himself of this and when he got off the boat he felt much better.

Maybe better days were soon to come.