Chapter 4- The Other Side

"Let's find a compartment", Rose woke Albus from his stupor. He still had his hand raised awkwardly halfway through the air, waving weakly to non-existing people. He shook his head and started following his niece across the corridor, he will have time to grasp his departure once he finds a place to sit. But evidently, James was wise to catch a place before the last minute- all the cabins were either full to the brim with first grade students that herded together in worry or with older students who set with their friends.

They reached the cabin of James, were he and his friends just opened a Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes' surprise box, also known as 'the triple threat'. Those could have contained anything- from excruciating boring history books, detailing the route travels of the ancient trolls to expensive fireworks that spelled profanities in the air. Apparently, James won big, and with a huge slimy green frog in his hands, the size of a house cat, he aimed goo streams from its mouth onto his friends. Albus and Rose wordlessly exchanged looks and passed over it without hesitance.

"How about this one?", Rose asked as they stopped next to a cabin with three first grade girls. "I don't know", Albus nervously answered, "I'm sure there are some vacant places at the end". "Don't be ridiculous", she said and opened the door, drawing the looks from its inhabitants, "I carried enough for a day, I feel like a house-elf". "Hey, Aly", the heavy hand put on his shoulder startled Albus. He knew who it was before he even turned, Thomas Blishwick appeared behind him, already wearing his new school robes, burnishing a colorful parrot on his shoulder.

"Can't help but notice you looking for a place to sit", he said with a faint Irish accent and smiled widely, making his puffy face even wider. "I'm fine, Tom", Albus replied and tried to step back, but was again caught firmly by the big, bloated hand, "C'mon, I'm insisting", the former said. He knew it will be impossible to resist, Tom was big enough to be mistaken for a fourth grade and took after his father way of conveying people. He had thin short red brown hair and small pale blue eyes peaking from his swollen face. Plus, he was a bit chubby all around, what made him look like a big baby, or now, like a pink marshmallow condensed into a suit.

"Are you getting inside or what?", one of the girls near the door stood up, letting Rose quickly squeeze her way inside. She had two shiny black braids on both sides of her head that framed her thin yellowish face like a picture. She stared at them both with dark eyes that were located behind heavy black squared glasses. Albus wanted to reply, the cabin seemed great now, even the one with James was appealing in the moment, but before he managed to oust a word Tom already spoke.

"Who are you?", he arrogantly asked, not letting go of Albus. The girl, offended by the tone, immediately shot back, "and who are you supposed to be?". "My father is the minister of magic, Robert Blishwick ", he replied proudly, "well, tell him his son is a bag of dixie dung", she retorted angrily. Tom instantly became red, looking like his going to explode, "you don't know who you're messing with", he yelled in a craze and slammed the door shut on her surprised face.

The noise triggered the parrot, who emptied his bowels on his owner shoulder and flew away in a storm of color, leaving behind a trail of feathers. Thomas ousted a slew of curses that would even made James blush and started pursuing his bird, finally releasing Albus. He took the opportunity and immediately began backing off, advancing as fast as he could for the end of the train with his luggage. He saw an unoccupied cabin beside him and stormed inside in a hurry, quickly shutting the door behind.

Albus exhaled slowly and turned, dumbfounded to find that the place was occupied after all. The small kid with the silver- blonde hair and a black kitten in his lap looked at him startled, his mouth a bit open and the book he likely read until a moment ago held loosely in his hands. "Apologies", he said, there was no chance of him going back outside to be captured again, "I thought it was vacant, can I sit here?". "What?", his companion was shocked, but then composed himself, "…I mean, sure. You don't have to ask me". "Well, anyway…", Albus shrugged and started to organize his luggage on the top shelf.

He finely sat down, feeling a bit embarrassed, but relived to finely find a place to rest non the less. There was a heavy silence, and Albus, who pondered for a moment whether he should take out one of his own books, decided instead to courage up and break the ice. "Your name is Scorpius, right?", he asked his companion, who clearly only pretended to read his book, and immediately looked up, "Yes, how do you know my name?". Albus cringed at his stupidity and mumbled how he heard something on the platform.

"Don't be embarrassed, my folks told me your name as well, Albus", Scorpius shyly smiled, "our parents clearly know each other". "Yes, I guess they are", Albus answered, "although I haven't heard them mention them until today", the statement caused the little smile on the kid's face to disappear. "Anyway", Albus continued, sensing the environment damping, "you can call me Al, all my friends call me that". The small smile returned, "Well Al, nice to meet you", said Scorpius.

The silence returned for a moment, but was saved by the cat, who jumped next to Albus' seat and started smelling him with interest. It had large ears and a lightly plumed tail, akin to that of a lion, and light indigo eyes. "Umbra likes you", Scorpius glanced with interest, "she's normally very shy". "Yeah, I guess", albus was just happy to keep the conversation going. Scorpius put forward his hand and the kitten ran back to him, purring loudly, almost falling over from its excitement. Even Albus, who wasn't a big fan of cats, had to admit that the sight was a rather cute one.

"I think she's a kneazle, or at least part one", Scorpius scratched under her chin, "she definitely answering the desired description". He pondered for a moment, only the sound of the cat purring on the backdrop, "How is it?", he finely asked in a low tone. "How what is?", Albus was confused by the question. "You know…", Scorpius eyes were fixed on a point outside the window, "being famous, having the chosen one as your dad, 'The Holyhead Harpies' captain as your mum…", he trailed off, only briefly sneaking a peak at Albus before getting his attention back to his cat.

"Oh, I don't even think about it, to be honest.", he said, and then, noticing Scorpius unconvinced expression, he added, "Really, it's just part of life, although I guess it's unusual for other families to get so much attention". "It's sure is", his companion replied with a somewhat bent smile. "Say", he began, and Albus embraced himself for the regular questions he got about his father, "have you ever trained with the Harpies?". Albus, who already prepared himself to say that his father didn't like to speak on the war or his job as an auror, was perplexed for a second.

"No, I only watched a couple of times, but my brother did", he finely said, surprised by the question. "Wow", Scorpius didn't manage to hide the jealousy in his voice, "it must be great". "For some reason I have the feeling that you're a big fan of Quidditch", Albus smiled, "hey, I just remembered…", he got up and started digging through his bags, his cabin mate eyeing him with interest. "Here you go…", he finely found the picture in one of his books and handed it to him.

Scorpius eyes got round with astonishment when he saw the signed photograph of Albus' mother and her teammates, "I can't believe you just used it as a bookmarker", he said in disbelief. "I don't mind ", Albus got comfortable back in his seat, "I get pretty tired from that game in my home, it's the only thing anyone ever speak about". But Scorpius, who inspected the somewhat weathered picture where seven women with dark green robes and gold talon emblazoned on their chest waved enthusiastically, a massive bronze trophy at their feet, barely listened.

"You can keep it if you want to", said Albus. "Really?", Scorpius face got lit with excitement, but then fell again, "what do you want in return?", he asked. "In return?", Albus chuckled, however, noticing Scorpius' serious face, he continued, "as you saw, I don't really put it in high regard. Although…", he peeked back at his bags, "I will need a new bookmarker". Scorpius, as fast as he could, took his own book, an old and scrappy version of 'Hogwarts: A History', and pulled out a fancy card, "it will tell you what page and chapter you are", he said as he handed it to Albus.

After that, they proceeded chatting a bit about quidditch, with Scorpius pondering aloud whether he be able to get into a team on his first year similarly to Albus' brother. The scenario was very unlikely as James was the only first year to get accepted into a team since their father, but Albus preferred to skip that fact. They continued speaking, freely moving from one subject to another. Albus didn't even noticed how much time has passed until the old trolley witch came over, at a time when the skyline outside already darkened on the backdrop of wild mountains.

They briefly stopped their babble, and Albus took the opportunity when his mom didn't breathe down his neck to buy at least one candy from each kind from the loaded trolly. Only when his companion carefully counted small coins from his pocket, did Albus noticed that Scorpius' clothes, while clean and tidy, were a bit tattered, the suitcase above his head was an old and raggedy one and he himself looked a bit skinny, and while not malnourished, certainly not like someone who was used for second meals as well.

All the people that Albus knew, were, at the least, very well off. With George, his uncle, the owner of the worldwide Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes corporation and other substitute smaller extensions, possibly being one of the richest wizards in the world. An uneasy feeling crossed Albus' body as he regretted his wastefulness. But Scorpius didn't seem to notice it, he opened a small package of 'Fudge Flies' and ate a mouthful with open joy, making sure to let one out for Umbra, who began swatting at the levitating sweet in frustration.

"I still can't believe you don't like quidditch ", he said to Albus, struggling to speak and eat at the same time, "I will be the same as your brother and use any spare time flying". "This game is probably the only thing in common to you and my brother", James's loud and boisterous image past threw Albus' head, and, dealing with the fact that he will have to speak about that subject again, possibly for the rest of the train ride, he continued, "he's barely goes to classes, he said that if it was up to him, he will already start a career in quidditch, that or boxing".

"Do you mean making boxes? Is that even a thing?", Scorpius rummaged his package for the last fudge fly that buzzed loudly inside, constantly avoiding his hand, "What?", he asked when he finely got the candy and noticed Albus' face. "You really don't know what boxing is?", Albus asked amazed, and then continued when his companion shrugged his shoulders, "well I guess it make sense if you are only familiar with the magical world", Albus scratched his chin, "it's basically a sport in which two people are trying to hit each other as hard as they can".

"Even in the face?", Scorpius asked in complete astonishment. "Especially in the face", Albus smiled from his bewildered look, "but you aren't allowed to punch below the belt". Scorpius shook his head, "it doesn't make any sense, head but not legs…", he kept muttering quietly for himself. "You have the same reaction as my muggle relatives when they've heard about quidditch", Albus snickered. "What so weird about quidditch", Scorpius asked immediately, all defensive. "You know… people flying… on brooms…with magical balls that you either need to avoid or catch…", Albus gave up when he saw that in his companion's eyes there was nothing weird about any of that.

"I didn't know you were in contact with your muggle family", Scorpius inquired with interest. "But you did know I had one?", Albus raised his eyebrow. Scorpius cheeks went pink, "I read it in a book somewhere", he mumbled. Albus, who had no intention of embarrassing him, quickly put in, "it's okay, I know that most people are aware of my family history", Scorpius relaxed a little bit. "My dad's cousin is a boxing coach", he continued, "and my father sent me, my brother and my sister to him a couple of times to train with his sons. But James is the only one that keeps going there on vacations".

"Your brother actually love it?", Scorpius asked, gazing at his chocolate frog pack, clearly pondering whether he should eat them or not as well. "I told you that quidditch is the only thing you have in common with him", Albus smiled, "me and my sister are also not big fans of getting bit up, and when we went there, the only thing we did was to be with his daughter". "What did you do?", Scorpius asked, reaching his hand to the nearest chocolate frog. "We tried to do magical things like getting flowers to fly or making our drawings to move", Albus stopped himself, it wasn't completely true. While Lily and Alice did always go aside, he himself was too embarrassed to fail at magic and rarely joined in.

"Wait, you mean to tell me that your cousin daughter is a witch as well?", Scorpius was stunned, freezing with the moving chocolate frog halfway to his mouth. "My dad's cousin", said Albus, questioning the surprised tone of the question, "she is actually the reason we even started meeting him and his family at all". Albus reached his hand to his own chocolate frog packs and continued, "it was my sister seventh birthday and we all been inside because of a horrible storm. Our phone rang…". Albus saw Scorpius' puzzled face, "It's a muggle communication devise, I also didn't know what it was or let alone that we had one until that day", he briefly mentioned, and resumed, "anyway, he talked to my father for five minutes and then came to our house about four hours later, bringing his daughter with him for the weekend".

"What happened?", asked him Scorpius, forgetting completely about his sweet. "Well, I don't know for sure", Albus said, "but it probably had to do with his parents since his sons told us they haven't spoken since". "Are his sons magical as well?", Scorpius questioned. "No, not in the least, although I think that even if they had Merlin's power, they would not have used it, they don't seem to be interested in anything that is not physical in nature".

Albus, who got uncomfortable talking about magic, opted instead to open his frog card in a big commotion. The first one was a dark blue one with bronze marking, he turned it and read- "Bowman Wright, the developer of the Golden Snitch. A skilled metal-charmer, Bowman Wright of Godric's Hollow is credited with the invention of the golden snitch in the year…", the picture caught his eye, the man inside flailed wildly with the scrolls in his hands, trying to hit a small snitch above his head that bothered him like a fly. He finely succeeded, pocketed the battered flying ball, and leaned against the picture side in respectable manner, his cheeks still rad from his hardship.

Albus smiled, he knew very well who the man was, there was a statue of him next to their mansion and his mom even speculated that the ruins in the willow next to them was his old house. He wasn't sure whether he had him in his collection or not and decided to keep him just to be sure. He opened the second pack, and only by scanning its back side already knew who it was. There was no mistaken in the deep scarlet and golden lines. Albus turned it- there was his father, the character stood steal, gazing into the non-existing distance with hope, light heroic wind waving in its hair.

"It must be weird…", Scorpius said, midway through his own frog, "…also seeing him at home". "Yes, it is. I never saw this look on him in my life", Albus raised his head, "you want to trade it? I already have the original at home". Scorpius cheeks went pink again, "I already have Merlin in my collection…", "good, because I don't", Albus lied, and they traded their cards. He looked at the old wizard, who dosed off and leaned on his cane, barely able to stand straight. "You know he was in Slytherin, right?", stated Scorpius, inspecting his own new card. Albus scanned the long white bearded man surprised, he knew a lot about the man but have never saw it mentioned anywhere.

"Say, Scorpius", Albus commenced, "what house would you want to be in?". Scorpius pondered for a second, and then, after putting his card away, finely said, "I guess Ravenclaw is pretty good, although I wouldn't deny Hufflepuff as well. What about you?", he asked in return. Albus contemplated with himself, with his fear of getting into Slytherin he never had a chance to think whether Gryffindor is even the house he wanted to get into. "My whole family is in Gryffindor, so it probably be easer there", he started, "from what I heard from my brother Hufflepuff sounds good too, but Ravenclaw sounds the best- I mean, they literally champion themselves as the smart house".

Albus was surprised by how easy it was to open about this subject with Scorpius. "Why would your brother recommend you on Hufflepuff? Isn't he in Gryffindor?", he asked. "Oh, Teddy, he just finished school. He's not my actual brother, his parents died in the war, so he more or less grew up in our house", Albus watched as Scorpius moved uneasily in his seat and persisted, "he is a really cool guy, he was a prefect and the quidditch captain of Hufflepuff". "Is there something he didn't achieve?", Scorpius whistled with admiration. "Well, his grades were barely passable", laughed Albus, "oh, and he is also a metamorphmagus". "A shape shifter?", Scorpius raised his eyebrow, "I know they are super rare, although I heard once there is one in my family".

"What is he doing right now?", Scorpius asked. "He's training for the aurors' office. And he's very successful at it as well", Albus replied. "Your father must be proud", Scorpius said, "he is, but he's still trying to put hurdles in his way". "Why would…?", Scorpius began, "Well", Albus started, "he says it's not a good career choice, that there are much better options. Options that do not include brutal crimes and dangerous crooks". "Don't you need good grades for that though?", Scorpius enquired. "My dad don't really put academic education in the highest regard, which is not surprising considering he himself never finished school. He said it helps but that the most important thing is in the field experience, something he regretted saying when Teddy came in".

The train persisted forward as the sky outside became completely black, heavy dark clouds covering them and brief lightnings slashing in the distance. Albus and Scorpius kept talking about their families, with Albus making most of the speaking. He expended on his endless uncles- from Bill, who was the highest ranked human in the Gringotts bank, to Charlie, who chased dragons in eastern Europe. Scorpius, on the other hand, barely had anything to say about his own family, only revealing that his father made potions.

The train began to slow as a female voice echoed in the train, telling the newcomers their luggage will be taken separately to the school, and they both got up and started looking for their robes. "Good luck in the sorting", Albus said, putting his clothes on, "I hope you will enjoy in Ravenclaw, perhaps even in Hufflepuff ". Scorpius put his school robes aside and struggled to place Umbra inside her carrier, "It's not like I have any choice about the matter", he shrugged his shoulders, "the sorting hat is the one that determines it anyway, and you will usually end up at the same house as your parents".

"My…", Albus almost exposed what his father told him, "I heard that you could convince the sorting hat on which house to put you in". Scorpius peered thoughtfully at him, the deem cabin light reflected in his grey eyes, "It will be nice, to choose", he finely said. The sound of the breaks intensified as the train began halting, and Albus couldn't help but feel his heart starting to pound in his chest, the excitement starting to wash over him, "As long as it not Slytherin, right?", he smiled to his friend.

"Unfortunately pushing the limits of magic has its price", Scorpius muffed voice came throughout his clothes as he put his grayish scruffy gown on. It was an odd way to justify their behavior, "That, or they are just evil", answered Albus. Scorpius finely managed to straighten his outfit, "My whole family was in Slytherin", he said quietly. As in a cue, light rain began banging on the windows. "I didn't mean…", Albus began, but Scorpius already went out of the cabin wordlessly, blending in with all the people in the corridor.

Albus harried away as well, trying to catch him, but was immediately swept away in the crowded passageway, unseen between the taller students. When he finely got down from the train onto the busy platform Scorpius was already long gone. His heart dropped, he could not believe his own stupidity. It was so hard for him to find someone to get along with, and until he did, he somehow managed to blow it up.

The weather reflected his attitude, lightning crossing the sky and the rain becoming heavier by the minute. He raised his head, there was nothing to be sorry for, if Scorpius got offended it was on him, he would not let anything destroy his first day at Hogwarts. And with that in mind he advanced towards the exit.