It was rather surreal for Albus waking the next day to the sound of gentle waves lapping against the window. For a moment he thought he was still dreaming until he felt a hand shaking him gently.
"Come on Al. Wake up. Got defence against the dark arts first and I want time for breakfast first! I hear it's great here." Scorpius told him eagerly.
Albus opened his eyes slowly, still feeling lethargic from the travelling and emotional upheaval of the previous day. He mumbled grumpily and rolled over intent on skipping breakfast and getting an extra half hour in bed.
"Suit yourself. More bacon for me!" Scorpius grinned moving towards the door.
"Bacon?" Albus stirred himself suddenly feeling hungry, "Fine!" Hastily pulling on his robes and trying (and failing) to flatten his messy dark hair, he walked with Scorpius to the great hall.
It wasn't long before they were sat at the long table and tucking into not only bacon but also sausages and toast.
"Pretty lucky we are so close to the great hall" Scorpius commented, "Can you imagine having to come from Gryffindor. I hear it's a few floors up."
"7th floor". Albus remarked feeling a lurch in his stomach.
"Sorry Al. I keep putting my foot in it, don't I?"
"It's okay". Albus said quietly. Taking another bit of toast and marmalade.
"Rose is coming over," Scorpius said brightly having taken quite a liking to her on the Hogwarts express despite the fact she had acted rather suspiciously in return, "Hi Rose!"
Rose, who had stopped by Albus, looked at Scorpius in surprise and then without replying turned to Albus urgently, "Al, we've been talking. You cannot stay in Slytherin. I mean there must be a mistake. A potter in Gryffindor, it's unheard of. We think…."
"Who's we?" Albus interrupted shortly.
"James, I and the others."
"By the others, I'm guessing you mean Victoire, Dominique and Molly?" He asked bitterly.
"Well no actually, they'll be much too busy I expect. Victoire and Dominique are studying for N.E. this year and Molly will be starting her O. , so we didn't want to give them any added stress…"
"How thoughtful". Albus muttered feeling obstinant and annoyed they had been discussing him like he was a problem that needed solving but also for not being important enough to be of interest to the older Weasley's.
Rose blushed a deep shade of red, "I mean they care, of course, they do. It's just…"
"So who's the others?"
"Louis, Lucy, Fred and Roxanne." These were her other cousins from her brothers Bill, Percy and George. "Anyway, we think dad might be able to convince McGonagall to let you move house. Fred wasn't sure, he said it's never happened before but James thought it was worth a try so he sent an owl last night to your dad. He's hoping he'll get…."
"HE DID WHAT?!" Albus exploded. "I never asked for that!"
There was a clatter as a surprised Scorpius dropped his fork to his plate. The hall had gone deathly quiet. Rose, once again red, lowered her voice, "What? I thought you would be happy? You can't stay in Slytherin."
"That's not very fair Rose" Scorpius inputted gently.
"No! No! I don't mean like that. There's nothing wrong with Slytherin. It's just Al is a potter and should be with his family. I don't know why you're reacting like this Al. I thought you'd be grateful." She rubbed her forefinger and thumb against her temple as if stressed dealing with an unruly child.
"Maybe because you discussed all this behind me and didn't even ask if it's what I wanted."
"You looked miserable last night and we couldn't discuss it because you were in a different house!" Rose's voice had an edge to it now and the tip of her ears had also turned red. Usually, she was a calm and logical person but at times of great stress, it was her father's traits that shined through. "Just think about it, Al. We want you with us. Your family." She turned on her heels and marched back over to the Gryffindor table on the other end of the hall.
"Good riddance" Albus mumbled.
Scorpius looked at him concerned, "Come on Al. You don't mean that. They were just looking out for you".
Albus' frown softened slightly, "I know, I just wanted to tell dad myself. Fat chance of that I know but… I was hoping to…." He trailed off.
"Soften the blow?" Scorpius suggested.
"Yeah kind of I guess. I was hoping maybe he would be proud." He stopped talking abruptly and turned away awkwardly.
"I'm sure he will be". Scorpius addressed the back of Albus' head kindly.
At that moment, students looked up at the roof as several owls swooped into the great hall; most carrying small packages of forgotten items. Albus looked up nervously for a golden brown eagle owl and was half disappointed, half relieved that there wasn't one. He hadn't really expected a reply from his father this morning (he probably hadn't received James' owl until he had woken up) but his stomach had lurched again, this time with anticipation, at the sight of the post-arrival.
Scorpius, who had always been sensitive to other's feelings, flashed Albus a gentle smile, "Probably tomorrow. Let's hurry up. We might get lost on the way to class".
The two boys finished their breakfast and headed to the third floor; only having to stop once to ask for directions before seeing another crowd of nervous first years heading to the lesson. Among them, to Albus' discomfort, were Gryffindors.
He forced a polite smile on his face as he passed Rose on the way to a seat keen to make up, as they had always got on well, but still feeling too hurt to initiate conversation. He looked around the classroom taking in the large bookcases on either side of the desk at the front full of interesting looking books. One was thick and appeared to be strapped shut, another had text down the spine with letters that changed to strange symbols periodically, and yet another seemed to be stained with a red liquid that looked suspiciously like blood. A chill ran down Albus' back and still looking resolutely anywhere apart from Rose, who had purposely chosen a seat in the row in front so although she was sat on the opposite side of the room with Gryffindors she could still look back at him and try to communicate, looked at the pictures scattered around the wall.
Each one contained fascinating creatures, only a few of which Albus could identify; a dementor, a mermaid and a pixie. Unlike other portraits in Hogwarts they did not move so Albus knew they must not contain magic, but he still felt perturbed as he looked at the dark figure of the dementors.
"Cool room eh Al?" Scorpius too had been looking in wonder around the room.
"Yeah, I guess. Bit creepy though. Have you seen that book?" He gestured to the red book.
"Yeah. That is strange but I wish I could read those books. I bet they're full of so much interesting stuff!"
Albus grinned at Scorpius, "You're a bit of a nerd, aren't you?"
"Guilty!" Scorpius laughed holding up his hands in mock surrender.
The class fell silent as the door opened and a sprightly looking woman with shoulder-length blond, slightly wild looking and greying hair, almost skipped into the room. She was the epitome of someone walking with a bounce in their step. She stopped at the front of the room and beamed round at them eagerly,
"Welcome to your first Defence Against the Dark Arts class, also know as DADA because life is too short for long names! Speaking of names, mine is Professor Specula and I am sure it won't be long until I know all your names too. In this class you will learn defensive spells, spells for duels…"She stopped here for a moment, casting a mock disapproving look around the room, "which I'm sure you won't be needing or using… and all about dangerous or pesky creatures such as those on the wall." She indicated the pictures down both sides of the room. "Today we will be practising the smokescreen spell Fumos. A very useful spell should you ever find yourself in a sticky situation. I don't expect any of you to master it today but we will begin and who knows? Perhaps someone will surprise us…." Albus wasn't sure if he imagined it or not but he thought her eyes lingered on him at that point and he began to feel slightly sick. He knew of course that everyone would expect him to be as good as his father but he had hoped to fly under the radar for the first couple of lessons at least and not reveal who he was. It seemed luck was not on his side.
