The Potter family had three important rules, as decreed by James.
First, Potters never follow the rules. It was in the genes, it seemed.
Second, a Potter had to be excellent on the Quidditch field. Broomstick flying was also in the family blood.
And finally, and probably the most ridiculous of all, a Potter had to marry a redhead. James Potter had Lily Evans and Harry Potter had Ginny Weasley.
But as he sunk his teeth into his pumpkin marmalade one morning, Albus could not help but wonder. If he played Quidditch, he was respecting the second of James' rules, but by following the second rule, wasn't he breaking the first? He could have racked his brains a long time if Rose had not screamed in his ears,

"What are you doing, Al? We have to be in history of magic class in ten minutes and you have not even finished your breakfast!"

Ah ... the history of magic class. Albus could do without it. He always fell asleep as soon as Professor Binns began to speak. He might struggle to stay alert, but the boredom was stronger than he was which only earned him Rose's remonstrance. Moreover, Binns had perhaps died of listening to the sound of his voice, but nobody could prove it. His father had warned him but he hadn't really believed him until he heard it for himself.
Unlike the classes of Professor Binns, those of Professor Longbottom were much more interesting. However, Albus found himself avoiding eye contact with Neville lest he started to ask him about his family. Even though he'd know Neville his whole life, Albus felt awkward speaking to him as a teacher. Students didn't tell their teachers things about their private life. At least Albus didn't. Rose was another story. She was determined to be held in high regard by all her teachers and she never missed an opportunity to show how brilliant she was. Of course, it bothered Albus a little. How could she know so much? Uncle Ron (if he had been there) would probably have said: "It's in the genes!" But Albus knew that it was more in the genes of his Aunt Hermione than those of Uncle Ron.

Professor Flitwick, who was also the deputy Head, was, as for him, equal to himself. His thin voice made always and still Albus's ears to buzz several minutes after he left the class.
For his first class of Defense Against the Dark Arts, Albus was ready as ever. He had blank parchment, new ink, and a freshly polished wand. He expected an exciting course, lots of new spells and a most lively hour (not like those of Professor Binns). But once he met his teacher and had his first lesson, his enthusiasm soon fell away. The man was huge, cold as ice, and spoke with a so low voice that Albus had to concentrate to make out what he was saying. Now, the students actually began to miss Flitwick's squeaky tone. The professor began by lecturing on dark witches and wizards of which none of the students had ever heard. Ursula the Dark ? Ernest the Cursed? All students looked forward to learning about Voldemort but the teacher had never once mentioned his name. However, rumors were circulating in the corridors, and that gave Albus some hope. It was said that Professor Corvus would not stay more than a year. When Albus asked a third year student why, he burst out laughing.

"Everyone knows that the position is cursed ! Look, I'm in my third year and I have had a new Defenses Against the Dark Arts teacher each year! They say that Voldemort put a curse on the post because the previous Head, Dumbledore, refused to give it to him, and even though Voldemort is long dead, the curse continues! I wonder who will assume the class, next year ... "

The news didn't cheer Albus so much. He still had a year to go with Corvus and this prospect did not please him.
The class Albus preferred the most was undoubtedly Transfiguration. Professor Dulcia was the strangest woman he had ever met, and he was acquainted with Luna Lovegood! Surpassing her in strangeness was no small feat! Dulcia had enormous round glasses which devoured half of her chubby face, which was a strange shade of pink due to a poorly cast spell. She put everything and anything in her hair which was so long that she could use it to stuff a cushion.

Rose, unlike all the other students did not like her class. She said their teacher was "unconstructive", "unbalanced" and "bizarre". Yet she was the only student who notes on almost every word uttered by Dulcia. The scatter-brained witch was the head of the Gryffindor house and Rose knew she owed her respect.

Albus expected the worst during his Potions class. His brother had told him exaggerated tales of the horrors that he had suffered during that class. Professor Seos was always mad at James, Godric, and the Finnigan twins, most likely because they were constantly joking and pestering the Slytherin students with whom Gryffindor had potions class. But to his surprise, Albus turned out to be an excellent potions student and Seos even seemed to like him. He and Seth Bishoptree were the only ones to succeed with their potion to grow hair. Rose was furious. James then told him it was because his name was Albus Severus Potter and that their idiot teacher probably had a boundless admiration for Snape, the greatest master of potions and Albus' namesake. But Seos' admiration of Albus caused the Slytherins to look at him with scorn. It was as if their head-of-house's lack of disdain for the newest Potter constituted an shameful scandal.
But although not all his classes were very fun, Albus loved learning and his teachers had no particular grudge against him. Scorpius Malfoy was not as fortunate.
The teachers never failed an opportunity to look askance at him and their lips pinched when their eyes met those of Scorpius. Moreover, the students did not really appreciate him. He had been trapped in the potions closet twice a week and during the course of transfiguration, Rose Weasley bewitched her needle to sting him every three minutes. He spent an hour turning about quickly in his chair in order to catch the one who was harassing him before he realized what was going on.
At dinner on Friday night, after doing his homework all afternoon with Rose (Who was revealed to be even more ruthless than she already was), Albus observed Scorpius undergo further humiliation committed by his brother James. The poor Malfoy boy was placed under the Assurdiato spell, which caused his ears to ring so loud so he couldn't hear a thing.

"Look at that idiot ! He does not even know how to stop it! Well, Mr. Pure-Blood, you do not know the counterspell? Ah, I forgot, you can't hear a word I say! "

Arnold (or maybe it was Renold) guffawed so loud that the entire Great Hall must have heard. Rose burst out laughing and James continued to sneer.

"Leave him alone."

Albus stood up and faced his brother. James stopped snickering.

"What did you just say, little bro ? I think I didn't hear right," he said sarcastically.
"I said, leave him alone."

"Oh yeah? So now, you are defending a Slytherin?"
"He is not a Slytherin, James! He is a Gryffindor!"
"All his dear family has been in Slytherin, the house of dirty traitors! I don't even understand why Hogwarts even has to have such a house! There's evil blood flowing in his veins! His father almost killed ours, how dare you defend him? I don't care what the Sorting Hat said, it was wrong!" he shouted.

James was livid. His brown eyes flashed angrily like two lightning bolts.

"What do you think our father would say if he saw you sympathizing with the enemy? I think he would consider it the ultimate betrayal! "

Albus clenched his fists.

"And I think he is not our enemy, James. Scorpius is a Gryffindor, not a Slytherin. I also think you are mistaken about Slytherin House too! Those who are here now were not there for the Final Battle!"
"Yeah, but those cowards who left the school behind were their parents !
"You don't know that! Houses are assigned based on genes! Besides, even if their parents were traitors, they had nothing to do with it ! "

Rose's eyes were wide open. She had never seen Albus so angry and James was also seething with rage. What could she do ? Scorpius also watched the scene with large, wondering eyes. What were they saying? He couldn't hear a thing due to the humming in his ears, but he could plainly see that the two brothers were yelling.
Albus and James surveyed each other with a defiant air and then, the younger raced around the table. Rose was petrified. She didn't who whether to follow or stay, but instinct took control and she quickly followed him. Scorpius, who finally understood what was happening followed them as well.

"I think I'm starting to like your brother, James ..." murmured Euphrasia as the three young people left the Great Hall behind them.

"Al! Wait for me !" Rose gasped as she ran after him.

Albus entered the Gryffindor common room and collapsed on the sofa. His cousin and Scorpius also came to his side after a moment of hesitation.
He was sure he had made a mistake. Fight against his own brother over Scorpius Malfoy ? He barely knew him ! He was really starting to regret his outburst. And of course, Rose added a layer of guilt.

"Thank you. "

Albus, who had buried his head in his hands, lifted his nose toward the son of Draco.

"Thank you for defending me. "

"I should apologize," Albus responded, "My brother is an idiot sometimes. Okay, more often than sometimes. But he is not a bad guy."

Rose could not believe her ears. Surely, she was hallucinating.

"It's not your fault, I'm used to insults, so it's no big deal. "

His voice was bitter, dull and cold. He might say that he was fine now, but he was not unaffected by the mockery that he received all day long. A hint of guilt snuck its way onto Rose's face but she erased it immediately, convincing herself that all she felt was pity. Only pity.
Footsteps sounded in the hallway. Albus got up immediately. He did not want to see his brother now. As he began to flee to the boys dormitories, the portrait swung open, freezing him in place. He felt a swell of relief when he realized it was only Hope Redgcombe and Kwiat. The first girl stammered a few words, an incomprehensible "Good night" before turning into the spiral staircase. Euphrasia looked at them with a strange smile.

"You'd better go to bed, James will not be long."

She turned and whispered "What an idiot ..." before disappearing in the wake of Hope.
It was enough for Albus to waved and say, "Good evening."

Immediately upon rushing into the dormitory, he threw himself under the covers. Scorpius came behind him without saying a word and slipped into his bed. After a few moments of silence, a hubbub arose in the common room and Albus suspected that James had just returned. He pretended to sleep lest his brother attempted to continue the dispute. Downstairs, he heard him laugh and he even thought heard his name mentioned in a threatening voice.
He had made a terrible mistake.

The next morning he rose at dawn to avoid crossing James at breakfast. After a night haunted by nightmares, he crept on tiptoe out of his room. Then he closed the portrait quietly, happy not to have awakened anybody. He breathed a sigh of relief and he turned round, coming face to face with his cousin. He jumped back and gasped with surprise.

"I know you don't think you are leaving without me!"

He mumbled his apologies, "I could not go look for you in the girl's room. If Hyacinth Thomas had heard me, she would have ripped my head off."

She raised her head and with a vexed air said, "You might at least have waited for me in the common room!"
"And if James came down before you? "

The very prospect made him tremble. He might even have preferred to meet face to face with the prefect as he tried to enter the girls' dormitory. Rose shrugged.

"I consider this as an abandonment. "

Albus tried to defend himself but she cut him off,

"Let's eat! I'm starving! And you know, it's a good thing we're up early. We will be able to get a head start on our homework for the next two weeks and even work ahead in our Charms book! And not to say the least, we'll have first dibs on all the pumpkin pasties at breakfast!"

Rose had a weakness for pumpkin pasties.
They were nearly the first to arrive in the Great Hall where a few Ravenclaws and Slytherins had begun their morning meal. As expected, Rose stuffed her pockets with her favorite treats. Sometimes he was afraid that she would become as huge as Uncle Dudley.
As they sat finishing up,dozens of owls dropped the daily papers at various locations on each large molting owl delivered The Daily Prophet with a crash, right into Albus's nearly empty plate. The headline read out in bold :

"A STUDENT DISAPPEARS AT DURMSTRANG!"
Runaway or kidnapping? Rodrig Snieg disappeared on the night of September 10th. The student disaperated when he and some friends decided to go to the lake near the school. Durmstrang is on high alert."

Below the article, the picture of a boy about fourteen years of age stared at Albus with his gray eyes. Beside him, Rose whispered, "Another one who has run away. "

Albus shrugged his shoulders and put down the newspaper. Today was the last Quidditch training before the match between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw.
Albus took care not to cross his brother while he paced the corridors with Rose. They were turning and turning and eventually found themselves lost in the huge castle. It seemed it took forever to find their way and when they finally arrived at the Quidditch pitch, the two houses already filled the stands. Even if it was just a training, Quidditch always caused a craze for all wizards. All the Ravenclaw players were already in place, equipped and impatiently waiting on the Gryffindors. Opposing them were, Hyacinth Thomas, who was the first of three Chasers, Heath Thomas and Euphrasia Kwiat who stood with furious expressions at the changing rooms enterence. Finally, after a long period of waiting, James, Godric and the twins made their appearance.

"You're late," remarked the prefect unpleasantly.
"Heroes know how and when make their appearance!" squeaked Albus's brother.
"We have waited long enough!", cried a Ravenclaw at the other end of the field, "Let's go!"

A murmur went through the benches of the spectators. Hyacinth was the first in the air, closely followed by her brother. From the bleachers, Albus saw Kwiat cast a scornful look at James before rising into the air. With a smile, James gave a powerful kick into the ground and began to follow the Keeper.

Hyacinth called, "Alright! This is a friendly match to get back in shape! Ready ... Go!"

The Quaffle flew from hand to hand so quickly that it was hard for Albus to follow it. He did not even distinguish where his brother was among all the red capes swirling under the blinding sun. For the friendly match, the Golden Snitch was not released and the two Seekers were simply reaching top speeds, hard braking, and tracking a bewitched stone much slower than the Golden Snitch. Kwiat turned around the goals like a hawk, and every time the Quaffle was launched in her direction she returned with a slow worthy of a troll to her team's Chaser. Each goal resulted in a standing ovation. Albus had to admit, James was really a great player, when he was not fooling around with Godric.
The match was going well until a Bludger escaped from Renold's vigilant watch and rushed on Hyacinth. Arnold raced like a rocket and tried to deflect the Bludger. The prefect turned when she scored a goal and her eyes widened when she saw the black ball racing towards her. She plunged to the ground, trying to avoid its fury. Yelps of terror resounded among the spectators and Albus watched the scene with frightened eyes. After two minutes of chaseing, the Bludger crashed with full force into the Chaser. She fell from her broomstick and rolled on the grass.

"Hyacinth ! "

Her brother rushed to her side. All students had risen from their benches to see what was happening.

"Go get Madam Pomfrey !" Heath bellowed.

Euphrasia flew at full speed to the school. All the team members of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw surrounded the prefect.

"Hyacinth, are you ok? Answer me! Can you hear me? "

The poor girl moaned, holding her ankle which had taken a strange angle.

"I think ... I think my ankle is broken."

She tried to move but yelped in pain.

"Stop twisting it! Madam Pomfrey is coming, relax!"

Renold had a desolate and confused look on his face. He approached the wounded girl with his mouth hanging open like a dead fish.
Euphrasia came running, followed by the nurse who examined the player and quickly made a diagnosis. Frowning she said,

"Broken ankle. No more Quidditch for five monthes for you Miss."

She placed her in a stretcher and levitated it. Renold and Heath followed her.

"Madam Pomfrey ... But the potion for the bone regrowth ... she squeaked in a weak voice.

"It's not going to be a cakewalk, I'm warning you."
"But could I play again once my ankle ...
"No way, girl! You want to break it again? Your ankle will take time to completly heal. Even if I use the potion."

The Chaser looked down. Renold stammered.

"I'm sorry, Hyacinth, I ... If I'd been paying attention ...

"It's nothing, Renold, it's alright. Everything gonna be fine. but promise me one thing.
"Whatever you want!"
"Win the Cup! With or without me, win! And that is an order from the prefect and captain of Gryffindor Quidditch team!"
"But without a third Chaser …?"
"Find one."

Albus could not believe his eyes. He had seen a Quidditch match on television and he'd played with his father, mother, and brother but he'd never believed that a Bludger could do so much damage! Poor Hyacinth! She was crying in pain and he was even certain he had seen tears in her black eyes.
James who was still in the field, addressed his house's spectators with his voice magically amplified :

"Gyffondors!", he bellowed, "You want to win the Quidditch Cup?"

Screams went up the ranks.

"Really? "

The tumult redoubled.

"Well, we will need a new Chaser, then! Recruitment begins this Monday afternoon!"

"Hooray!" rang out over the pitch. Everyone was laying bets.
Who would be the next Gryffindor Chaser?