Round: Eight

School: Hogwarts

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Year: Six

Theme: King's Cross (Look at the experiences of those discovering magic or new magic for the first time)

Main Prompt: [Event] Boat ride to Hogwarts

Additional Prompts: [Plot Point] Unlikely friendship; [Object] Family heirloom

Word Count: 3,079

A/N: This piece is canon-compliant, if you forget Cursed Child exists.

Metamorphosis of Living Nature

Scorpius Malfoy was sure, down to his very bones, he was a Squib. He definitely didn't belong at Hogwarts, and it was by that point all-too-obvious that he'd received his letter due to his pure-blood status alone.

The truth was, Scorpius had never performed a single act of magic. He had never, not one time, moved an object without touching it or caused a strange thing to happen while upset or emotional. Nothing had even happened during any of the times he had held his wand — an intricately-carved family heirloom with a Thunderbird feather core. No sparks, no smoke. Not even toxic fumes or a pillar of fire. Nothing. Even though he'd never met his great-grandfather Abraxas, who had been in possession of the wand before him, he knew enough about him through stories to understand the issue with the wand laid solely within him. It wasn't defective — he was.

And yet, here he still sat — making his way across the Great Lake in a boat built for four. Like nothing was wrong with him. Like he belonged. Like… Well, like he had anything in common with the other three first years around him, merely because he carried around a wand he hadn't even earned.

"That's bollocks!" one of them — a girl with enormous hair the colour of forgotten, rusted things — exclaimed, her cheeks pinking despite the conviction behind her tone.

"Rosie," the boy sitting beside her and across from Scorpius scolded. He looked around as if someone might have heard her swear, even though the closest boat to theirs was too far away. Scorpius was sure he looked familiar in some way, but just couldn't place it…

"Really, Albus, I've heard your mum use much more 'colourful' language after a Harpies loss. Or a win, for that matter. Don't pretend to be scandalised by my passion."

As the boy chuckled, Scorpius put the pieces together and quickly averted his eyes. Somehow, he'd found himself sitting beside one of the Potter children. He knew, of course, one of them would be in his year. News of the famous Potter family always made front-page headlines in the Daily Prophet. And it was practically a tradition for Scorpius' father to read said newspaper at breakfast every morning and groan to him about his least favourite articles.

However aware Scorpius might be of the likelihood of running into Albus Potter while at Hogwarts, he was certainly not prepared for it to happen like this. And the fact of the matter was, Scorpius did not belong sitting across from this boy who looked just as much like his father as Scorpius did his own. Not in this boat nor any other conceivable place.

And yet…

He wanted to belong so badly.

He wasn't really aware of the fact that he was about to speak until it happened. Until he opened his mouth and blurted his unsolicited input — "My mother's seen it."

Three sets of eyes focused directly on him and he was sure he could read shock in every single one. The girl sitting beside him, who had posed the concern over if the giant squid fabled to be swimming beneath them really existed, was the first to break the silence. "Really?" she squeaked, sounding even more frightened.

His panicked shuffling rocking their otherwise steady journey, Scorpius attempted to cover his tracks. "Well, yeah, b-but it's harmless." His mother constantly asked him to read to her. She loved facts, especially about wildlife. She said it distracted her from the pain, something he attempted to apply to the girl's fear. "Squid are carnivores, but they really only eat fish and shrimps. Sometimes even another squid… And some think they might eat small whales."

"Whales?!"

Scorpius realized he'd only made things worse and quickly snapped his mouth shut. His jaw ached from how tight he held it. For just a moment, he had felt light at the thought of fitting in. At holding a conversation with other young wizards. At just the tiniest glimpse of being like them.

"Oh, chill out, Fen. You're not a whale, are you?" Scorpius looked up just long enough to see Fen slowly shake her head in response to Albus' question. "Right. So, there's no way that squid wants to eat you."

"O-okay," Fen stuttered through the sniffly beginnings of tears shining in her almond-shaped eyes. Even despite this, she still kept her gaze sharply focused on the softly rippling water.

"Good." Albus was smiling. He didn't look upset in any way — if anything, he almost appeared amused. Perhaps even impressed? "Malfoy, isn't it?" he asked, head tilting to the side.

Apparently, Scorpius' infamous family preceded him, too. He supposed they did have a distinct appearance which might be easy to spot. "Yeah, Scorpius," he confirmed, offering his hand.

Albus shook it without a second's hesitation, smile growing wider. "Albus Potter. And these are my cousins — Rose Weasley and Fen Dursley." He leaned forward, signalling Scorpius to do the same. "Fen's half-Muggle," he stated in a dropped tone so only the two of them could hear. "Her parents only met because they were both at my parents' wedding and her dad's still scared of magic, even though he knows her mom went to Hogwarts. Something about being cursed with a pig's tail; I dunno." He chuckled, despite his uncle's obvious trauma. "So, anyway, he's gotta let her go, doesn't he? But not without giving her a few too many warnings first…" He leaned back again, stretching with his arms crossed behind his head. "Fen's sure she'll be in Ravenclaw like her mum. My brother says the Sorting Hat puts you in your family's house. Both my parents were in Gryffindor, and so is he." Scorpius thought he saw Albus briefly frown. "Rose's parents were Gryffindors, too. What about you?"

"Slytherin," Scorpius muttered, already having been briefed by his own parents on how that particular house still drew disgust. "M-my family's all Slytherins…"

It was expected of Scorpius to be in Slytherin, regardless of whether or not he fit the house's personality traits. He didn't know of a single member of his family, on either side, who had ever broken that tradition. And it wasn't as if he could very well be the first one to do it! After all, it already seemed like a fluke for him to even be there.

Scorpius had managed to go a full few minutes without worrying, but now his inadequacy was back on his mind. He hadn't put much thought into the Sorting Hat, even though he knew it was coming. He hadn't really thought he'd ever make it that far. But if he did, since it was now a looming possibility, he was sure to be found out. The instant that hat touched his head, it would know. It would look into him and see he didn't belong at the school. Would it just yell "Squib!" for the whole of the school to hear? It was suddenly a tempting idea to swim back to the train, squid or no squid.

"Scorpius?"

"Pardon?"

"It's okay," Albus reassured him. Scorpius felt a gentle sense of calm fall over him, making it possible to be able to return the easy smile. "I just asked if that's where you wanted to be. Slytherin, I mean."

Scorpius frowned, but didn't answer. He didn't know. Was it possible to choose something else?

Again, like what he had to say was secret, Albus leaned in and Scorpius found himself following suit. "It listens to what you want," Albus whispered. He scooted closer to the edge of his seat and gently laid his palm over Scorpius' knee. "My dad, saviour of the world and all that, said so. That's gotta mean something, right?"

Even despite his worries, Scorpius found his mood lightening. There was something about Albus Potter. Something he could get on board with. Something he wanted to keep near. Was this what it was like to have a friend? "You think so?" he whispered back conspiratorially.

"Oh, yeah." Albus cheekily waggled his brows. Their journey continued on through a curtain of ivy in the rock cliff and into a dark tunnel. In the pitch black, Albus' vivid green eyes still managed to shine with mischief by the lamplight from the head of their boat. "I've heard the Hufflepuff common room's supposed to be close to the kitchens. Reckon that's as good a reason as any to ask for Hufflepuff."

"Sounds like a good plan," Scorpius laughed, the feeling real and genuine within him. Their boat jostled as it docked itself in what appeared to be a below-ground boathouse, signifying the end of their trip across the lake. They were a short walk away from the sorting — away from the humiliation of a ruddy hat confirming Scorpius' worst fear.

"I had a whole train ride to think about it." With that, Albus was the first to exit the boat. One-by-one, he held his hand out to both his cousins and, finally, to Scorpius, helping them up onto the rocks at the shore. He gently ensured none of them slipped, keeping ahold of their hands until each of them was on more solid ground. Incidentally, when he finally hopped across the rocks himself, he managed to lose his footing and trip forward across them. After a fleeting look of terror, he managed to laugh it off and join them as if nothing had happened. Scorpius would give anything to be so easy-going.

"Come along, firs' years," urged Professor Hagrid, who had met them at the train. He was not only the tallest, but also the largest person Scorpius had ever seen. All of the students stood in disparate clumps in the boathouse, seemingly feeling at least a fraction of Scorpius' nervousness, for none of them appeared eager to be the first to ascend the stairs.

Affirming Scorpius' suspicion of him being afraid of literally nothing, Albus shoved off ahead and waved for his party to follow. Scorpius jogged to catch up. "You left your cousins behind," he pointed out, looking back to see Rose and Fen joining the end of the rest of their year with slight hesitation.

"They have each other," Albus said with a shrug, taking the stairs quickly like it was a race until they reached the walled-in courtyard at the top. Scorpius sped up to keep pace with Albus' longer legs, even though his chest ached from the exertion.

"You know, you can stick with me if you want to," Albus stated plainly while they leaned against the castle exterior, catching their breaths. Scorpius couldn't even hear the other students and guessed they were still a ways behind. "I was joking back there about the kitchens stuff, but if it would help to have a friend…"

Scorpius was helpless to stop the brightening of his expression at the insinuation of them being friends. He turned the other way to hide his eagerness, focusing on a moth crawling along one of the vines clinging to the stone wall. He recognized it as a herald moth by the rust-colour of its scalloped wings and extended his pointer finger towards its little feet.

"We could do it, Scorpius. If you wanted to. Be Hufflepuffs together. Or another house; doesn't matter to me. Not sure which I belong in, anyway."

Together. The word radiated through Scorpius' veins. He'd been stung by a bee once as a kid and he vividly remembered the spreading pain of the venom even to this day. This felt similar, only warm and welcome. He never wanted it to end.

Be cool, he urged himself, taking a deep breath. "Me, neither," he admitted, a blush spreading to the back of his neck. The moth climbed its way up his finger and fluttered its wings as he brought it to his eye level. "If we get to choose, which house would you want?"

"It should be Slytherin."

Albus offered no explanation to his belief and, even though he was curious, Scorpius didn't ask for one. Slytherin did feel right. Yes, his family legacy was firmly planted within that house, but that wasn't why. He couldn't really explain it. It was just a feeling. "Slytherin it is, then," he stated, finally turning to look at Albus while wearing only a fraction of the glee he felt inside.

Not that Albus was paying attention to his face at that moment. "Whoa! How'd you do that?" he exclaimed, pushing quickly off the wall before adopting a stealthier approach towards Scorpius.

With a frown, Scorpius looked down at where Albus was focused. On the moth. It was still exactly where he had thought, having tracked its movements by its featherlight footsteps across the back of his hand. But looking at it now, still a scant few inches from his face, he no longer recognized it. Its wings were unfurled but still kept their expected scalloped shape. The colouring, however, was entirely different. "I didn't do that. I can't do magic," he blurted, too surprised to stop the confession.

Plain and simple, Scorpius had never heard of a moth — magical or otherwise — which could change its colour so drastically. What once was a rich, earthy red upon those wings was now deep, emerald green. Where it was previously accented in orange, the moth now sparkled silver. It perfectly mimicked Slytherin colours.

As Scorpius watched, amazed at the impossibility of its radiance, the moth retracted its wings to reveal the biggest change of all. A herald moth's patterning was easily recognized by the 'M' shape around its thorax. Scorpius knew that shape had been there when he first spotted it. But now…

Now the symbol upon its wings formed a very distinct 'S' shape, and Scorpius was sure what he was seeing was impossible.

Led by Hagrid, the rest of the students were now filing into the courtyard, filling Scorpius' ears with the dull roar of too many voices. Cupping his other hand over the moth, he looked quickly up at Albus, uncomfortable with all of the questions in his eyes. "Professor?" he asked loudly, his voice trembling under the weight of his ballooning hope. Their guide had introduced himself as the professor for Care of Magical Creatures — if anyone knew about magical insects, it would be him. He walked boldly up to the giant. "Professor, can I show you this moth?"

"Moth?" Hagrid grunted, fighting his way through the other first years to meet Scorpius halfway. He pulled a pocket watch from his coat, examining the time before reaching for the boy's cupped hand. "Got a few minutes, here. Whatchu wan' me ta see?"

"It was reddish-orange a minute ago," Albus piped up from his interested position at Scorpius' tail. "He was just holding it and then… and then it just changed! I saw it change. How'd it do that?"

Very gingerly, Hagrid leaned down and peeled Scorpius' hands apart. The moth fluttered its wings, just a moment in apparent fright, the silver accents sparkling in the light of dusk. It made no move otherwise to leave its perch. "Wha's yer name, boy?" asked Hagrid after a moment of silent observation.

"Scorpius. Malfoy," he added after a period of hesitation.

"Malfoy, eh?" Hagrid looked him over, nodding in a way Scorpius couldn't interpret. "Looks like yeh have a gift fer transfiguration, young Malfoy."

"No, I don't." Scorpius' first instinct was to deny. If he didn't deny it, that would mean he had hope. His great-grandfather's wand felt suddenly heavy in the pocket of his robes. He itched to take it out and try a spell. Just to check. But he hadn't learned any spells yet. And he knew if nothing happened, he was likely to end up devastated all over again.

"Sure you do!" exclaimed Albus as he bounced around at Scorpius' side. "All wizards have something they're good at. And you're a wizard, aren't you?"

Scorpius wanted to say 'no' again. Again and again and again. Everyone was staring, but he still wanted to scream the word from the top of his lungs because it felt dirty to deceive them all like this. He wasn't a wizard… Was he? Instead, he shook his head back and forth, staring at the moth. Trying to catch any little detail which might show that he hadn't caused the change. Gently, so as not to disturb its dusty protective coating, he ran the tip of his pinkie over the moth's buttery soft wing.

He wasn't really sure how to put the feeling into words, except to say it was magic. The warmth spreading through him and right out through his fingertip had to be magic. Beneath his touch, the moth literally seemed to melt back to its original colour and markings, and he knew this time that he had, indeed, caused it.

A bright grin spreading across his lips, Scorpius looked up at the only person in the courtyard who mattered. He didn't know if Albus had anything to do with this sudden display, not exactly. But he felt changed, and he had to believe this boy who had been so kind to him — his new friend — was the root of his ability to perform something so beautiful. Not caring who might still be staring or what they might think, he flicked his hand upward to allow the moth to take off before throwing his arms around Albus in a desperate embrace.

His face was wet with tears, and he was laughing like a nutter, but Scorpius couldn't hide just how relieved he was. He was a wizard!

"I am a wizard," he giggled into Albus' shoulder before pulling away.

Albus, who had seemed so difficult to rattle for the small while Scorpius had known him, was beet red and chuckling while looking around them. "Of course you are; that's why you're here." He nodded, like that was going to be the end of that, and threaded his arm through Scorpius'. "Now, we have a sorting to get to! And I'm starving. Do you think there'll be cake?"

Hagrid ushered the first years to another set of stone stairs, and the pair climbed them arm-in-arm, once again eagerly leading the way towards the Great Hall with its loud buzzing of excited students. Scorpius didn't hesitate in a single step because he was finally ready. He finally belonged. This, by his new friend's side and later on at the Slytherin table, was the place where he belonged.