That night Al lay in bed and just waited for the loud crack that would signify his family returning to the house with him. A few hours later, at 1:00 a.m., suddenly as if on cue he heard a loud crack and a lot of talking down in the lounge room, his family was back. He sprinted downstairs where all of his family were talking loudly and looking worried.

"Mum, where have you guys been?" Albus asked.

"What do you mean where were we. We were looking for you. You just disappeared." Ginny replied.

"But someone apparated me home. I thought it must have been you mum. They disapperated before I had a chance to see them."

"Well it wasn't any of us. Looks like you have got yourself a guardian angel Albus, because that brawl was absolutely crazy. We couldn't even dissaperate because we could have brought someone back to the house on accident which would ruin the protection. We had to wait until we had searched for you everywhere before we snuck away to dissaperate. "

Albus returned to his room wondering who it was who had decided to save him and why they had been able to get into their house with the extensive security is family had put in place.

Days turned into weeks, and suddenly the day had arrived. It was the first of September and the Potters and Weasleys were all out the front of the Burrow. The ministry had supplied cars to get them into London although Albus wasn't sure why they couldn't just apperate into the platform at Kings Cross. Soon enough though they had been seated in the cars and were on their way to platform 9 and ¾.

The drive there was quite long and Albus sat in the car in complete silence nervous about the prospect of finally getting to go to Hogwarts. James on the other hand decided to whinge at his mother the entire trip about how slow she was going. By the time they had finally arrived at the platform they all just about wanted to strangle James out of frustration from his nonstop talking the entire way.

When they arrived at the platform Harry was standing at the gate out the front in just jeans and a white t-shirt. He fit in with the muggle crowd so seamlessly that it was a wonder that the group even managed to spot him. The family all grouped together and made their way towards the archway where Al and James began to argue again.

"I won't, I won't be in Slytherin" Al started to yell back at James.

"James, give it a rest," Ginny said.

"I only said he might be," James said to her with his annoying cocky grin breaking across his face, "There's nothing wrong with that. He might be in Slyth-" James stopped talking.

As Albus knew James was terrified of his mother and felt a small amount of satisfaction seeing that James' regularly cocky attitude was now gone replaced with him just looking at his feet as they approached the barrier where James looked back before running through the barrier.

Finally alone with his parents Albus used the opportunity to finally talk to them without James interrupting or picking on him. "You will write to me won't you?" He asked.

"Every day, if you want us to." Ginny replied.

"Not every day." Albus retorted, "James said that most people only get letters from home about once a month."

"We wrote to James 3 times a week last year." Ginny said.

"And I wouldn't listen to everything he tells you about Hogwarts he's a laugh your brother."

The next 15 minutes progressed at a ridiculously slow pace as the family met with Ron and Hermione where Al had noticed that Rose was already decked out in her school robes with a grin that went ear to ear.

Soon, but not before James had whinged about a few more things, they were all saying there good byes. After kissing his mother Al looked at his father before hugging him.

"What if I am in Slytherin" Al whispered. Harry crouched and looked him in the eyes and said, "Albus Severus, you were named after two headmasters of Hogwarts, one was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew."

"But just say-"

"-Then Slytherin will have gained an excellent student, won't it? It doesn't matter to us, Al. But if it matters to you, you'll be able to choose Gryffindor over Slytherin. The sorting hat takes your choice into account."

"Really?" Albus asked.

"It did for me." Harry said with a sense of finality about his tone. Albus was suddenly distracted by all of the faces looking at him from the train. "Why are they all staring" Al asked.

"Don't let it get to you," said Uncle Ron. "It's me. I am extremely famous."

And with that the train began to pull away and Albus began to feel nothing but excitement as he watched his father walk alongside the train watching him carefully. Then suddenly he was gone and Albus was alone on the Hogwarts Express with only his trunk and his whole life ahead of him.

Albus walked along the passage looking for Rose when he came across an empty cabin and decided to sit in here by himself. He put his trunk up on the racks and sat down to read his textbook for potions. Soon a small Asian kid came and opened the door with another boy behind him. "Hey are you a first year too?" he asked.

"Yeah. I'm Albus." Al said.

"Cool, well I'm Kieran and this is Terry but just call him TK." The two boys were dressed similarly in jeans and a t-shirt with what appeared to be muggle basketball shoes. The Asian boys was short and stick thin, with black hair that was short over the top and front and longer at the back and spiked out while the other boy was tan with light brown hair that was medium length and messy. He had a scar over his right eye starting just below his hairline and stopping down around the right corner of his mouth.

The three boys sat and chatted as the English countryside passed in a blur and the train gradually progressed along the country. When the lady with the trolley came past Albus went to buy a few chocolate frogs but after realising none of the boys had any money to buy sweets he decided to buy a galleon of sweets off the trolley (something he distinctly remembered his father going on about doing in his first year). The boys just sat there looking as Albus reached over and grabbed a chocolate frog which he opened and ate. He looked at the boys surprised that they not grabbed anything yet. "You guys all right?" He asked interested.

"What do you mean," TK asked.

"Well I'm not going to eat all of this garbage by myself. Dig in." Albus retorted and seeing them both reach eagerly over and grab a chocolate frog each. After TK ate his frog he pulled out a card and looked at Albus, "This guy looks a lot like you Al".

"Yeah it is probably my dad," Al explained, "He was a leader in the last Wizarding War. Now he works at the ministry. How could you not know that?"

"Well we both grew up in the muggle world. We grew up in the same orphanage. Kieran is pure-blood and was put there when his parents were killed just after he was born and I just was always there. No one that still works there is sure how I got there. We are just glad to be at Hogwarts now."

Albus was surprised. He had grown up in such a tightknit family environment this sort of thing had never even occurred to him as something that happened to people. There was a knock at the door. It was a tall muscly boy who was in black robes emblazed with two badges on his right side one which was silver with a green P on it and a Green and silver one with a big black C on it. "You guys would better get changed into robes soon," he said, "We will be arriving at Hogwarts in the next half-hour or so." Then he sat down in the seat nearest the door, "You guys are firsties?" he asked. After they had all replied he said quickly "It'd be awesome to see you guys in the green and silver this year. We need some more kids. Slytherin have struggled for years. Hope to see you at the feast. If any of you get picked come over and sit with me at the feast I'll introduce you to all the people. Well, my names Camilo anyway. See you fellas later" and with that the big boy stood up and left the compartment without saying another word.

Suddenly the name clicked for Albus. Camilo, he was that superstar keeper from Slytherin. He was wearing a prefect badge like Victoire wore except green instead of Blue. The other badge must have been Quidditch captain. He couldn't believe a guy that friendly could be from Slytherin. Let alone be the most well-known kid from the house. He seemed so friendly. Not at all like James used to describe him.

Soon the boys were all dressed in their school robes and ready to leave the Hogwarts express and begin their first year at Hogwarts. As they disembarked Albus noticed Hagrid was ready to lead the boys onto the small fleet of wooden boats everyone talked about. When Hagrid saw Albus he picked him up in a big bear hug, "Albus!" He roared, "I haven't seen you in years. I hope your father told you to come down to my hut on Friday for afternoon tea after your classes are finished."

Albus didn't mind seeing a familiar face amongst all the different faces that he was surrounded by and soon he followed the crowd around a bend and down towards the lake when suddenly a gasp rushed through the crowd. Hogwarts could be seen in the distance. Its huge towers and turrets everywhere each window twinkling with lights.

"Righto you lot, on the boats now. No more 'n four to a boat." He said.

All of the kids scrambled to get to a boat and Albus found himself on a boat with TK, Kieran and some girl named Eva. They chatted the whole way to the castle. Chatting is a loose term the girl was just basically ranting on and on about something she had read in one of the textbooks. It really reminded him of his aunt Hermione actually.

Soon they pulled up and were marching up the stairs to the castle entrance were Hagrid knocked on the door 3 times and it swung open immediately revealing a thin short man with grey hair and a beard, He was hunched over a staff which he used as a walking stick.

"I brought them all here Professor Baptiste, all safe."

"Good, Professor Hagrid you can go to the feast now. I'll take it from here," As Hagrid walked off the man began to talk, "My name is Owen Baptiste, You can call me Professor Baptiste, Professor or sir. Entirely your choice really. I am head of Ravenclaw house and the teacher of flying here at Hogwarts. I hope we have a nice quick Ravenclaw to take over seeker for us this year because we need some new blood in the team. Don't worry though I will be scouting you at lessons. We need to get our title back off Gryffindor this year. Anyways you guys are about to be sorted," he said, "Follow me."

As they began to walk the man started talking again, "So basically, all you have to do is walk down a path between two tables put on a hat, then boom sorted. He has already done his song because we were running behind schedule today and Headmistress McGonagall hates it when we run late. But it basically sang about how smart all us in Ravenclaw house are and stuff like that."

The door opened into a great big hall with all the kids looking at the new entrants to the room. They marched down the corridor to the middle of the room where the teacher stopped them all.

"Adams, Tyson" he said and they all watched the boy march down between the tables reaching a stool where the hat was placed on the boys head. After a few moments the hat shouted "Hufflepuff". "Amosa, Terry" TK marched down to the stool picked up the hat and put it on his head "Slytherin" the hat shouted and Al watched as TK sprinted over to shake hands with Camilo and sit next to him. Eva Armit (the girl from the boat) also found herself in Slytherin. However the next kid went to Gryffindor as did the one after, and the one after that, then the next three after that went to other houses before Slytherin got their third student, Caitlin Bachman. Albus couldn't help but notice that the Slytherin table seemed to have a lot less people than the others.

The list went on for what seemed like forever but the group of unsorted first years was gradually getting smaller and smaller. About 30 students later and only two more had gone to Slytherin, with Gryffindor grabbing another 13. "Malfoy, Scorpius." Albus watched as the blonde boy walked up to the stool where he sat down and before the hat had even touched his head it had yelled Slytherin. He walked right past everyone and sat at the edge of the table about two metres further along from the nearest person. The next few students were sorted and no more had gone to Slytherin until a girl called Erin Oswald headed over and sat next to Eva. "Potter, Albus." Professor Baptiste read out and Albus began to march down the row. He had noticed everyone had gone silent. He sat on the stool and placed the hat on his head.

"Oh no, another one of these Weasley kids." The hat said in his head. "Should I just put you in Gryffindor and be done with it?"

"Yes please." Albus thought.

"You don't seem so sure of that?" the hat replied.

"Well I guess it would be ok to be away from James. Get out of his shadow." Albus thought.

"Well where should we put you then? Rose Ravenclaw has your cousin. You think Hufflepuff will get your other cousin. The only logical choice in that case of being different is to go to Slytherin. You would be so good there just like your father would have. They will truly put you on the pathway to greatness. You showed your ambition just then your goal is not to follow in your father's footsteps or any relatives. You want to define yourself as an individual as opposed to just being another Weasley kid."

"Where should I go?" Albus replied.

"Well you are suited to almost everywhere technically. You are potential wise one of the most complete wizards I have seen in all my years sorting. You have the brains for Ravenclaw. I think you lack the qualities to make Hufflepuff a valid selection. You are brave enough for Gryffindor. However ambition, it powers your being, I think that Slytherin is the only place for you."

"Well then I guess I go to Slytherin?" Albus thought.

"Yes you do. You belong in, SLYTHERIN!" The last word was shouted aloud so that the whole school could hear. Albus stood as the room was in complete shock and made his way over to TK and Camilo who had somehow managed to get the stunned Slytherin crowd to applaud, slowly at first but then growing into an absolute roar. As Slytherin had just got one of their best sorting selections, in their eyes, in a long time. Albus sat down next to TK and looked down at Scorpius who he knew was watching him with what appeared to be a smirk on his face.

The sorting continued with Sebastian Varnham the only Slytherin added on their way down the list. Then, "Weasley, Rose". The whole room went silent again. The Gryffindor house had already had one of their favourite families' students stolen away from them this night and they really didn't want to lose a second one as well. They were not to be disappointed as seconds after being selected for Gryffindor she trotted off to her seat between James and Dante at the Gryffindor table. Soon Professor McGonagall stood for her speech explaining all the areas that were out of bounds before suddenly their plates filled with food. They all ate quickly, eagerly stuffing their faces with as much food as possible. Eventually Professor McGonagall capped off the evening by telling the school to sing the school song. Everyone sand at their own tune as was traditional and soon the students were being lead to their dorm by their prefects. For the Slytherin first years it was Camilo leading them through the dungeons down to where what seemed to be a wall was. He Stopped in front of the wall and said "Cadmus" at this point the wall began to slide open leaving room for a person to easily walk through. Once in the common room which seemed to be doused in an unnatural green light though it was comfortably spacious filled with couches and armchairs as well as being fairly bright for a room that seemed to be under the lake. The fire was crackling in the furthermost door from the entry. Camilo sat down on an armchair and began to talk "Ok everyone listen up, firstly I would like to formally welcome you all to Slytherin house. I hope you enjoy the support and success that I have enjoyed in my time at Hogwarts. You have to realise that although every other house pretty much hates us that it is not your fault and you need to stride to overachieve in everything that you do. Provided you always put in 110% effort neither I nor any other prefect or student in this house will give you a hard time. Now a few house rules. Girls your dorms are on your left. Firsties are on the first floor, second on the second and so on. If you are caught on the wrong floor without permission, and believe me you will get caught, I am going to make you do some ridiculously mundane task that no one else wants to do. Now boys it is basically the same for us except that everyone is actually on the same floor as we have shared rooms per year level, although the Quidditch Captain if he is a male and the three male prefects get a single room. With the boys our rules are a little more relaxed as they seem less inclined to steal stuff off each other. Just keep out of each other's stuff and we won't have to go to single rooms. Whoever ruins the system we have I will personally see to it that they are stuck on the 7th floor. Then they will understand why we wanted year level rooms. That is pretty much all any Questions?"

After no one asked a question the boy continued, "Good, I absolutely hate having to begin your time in Slytherin like this but it just has to be done unfortunately. You guys will have the day off tomorrow to get used to the dorm and also a few tours of the school with Professor Milstead tomorrow as well as getting your new timetables. Now I expect you all in your rooms within the next hour as the 5th, 6th and 7th years already have study to begin for our big exams in the next 1 to 3 years. Anyone who is interested in trialling for Quidditch this season should come and talk to me as we have three openings in the squad, 2 chasers spots are up for grabs and at this stage seeker is also there for pretty much whoever wants it. Our team has not won a game in 9 years and have not won the cup in 26. So I hope to see some of you lot on the pitch for us in the next two years, my final years in the green and silver." And with that he stood up and walked off leaving the first years to mull over what had been said on their way to bed for the night.

Once in the dorms Albus noticed that one bed that of course belonged to Scorpius Malfoy already had the curtains drawn and a faint sound of snoring coming from within the curtains. Albus settled at the desk that was next to his bed to begin to write his first letter to his family.

Hey Mum, Dad and Lily,

I don't know if you heard yet but I ended up sorted into Slytherin. It's not as bad as I thought Slytherin would be though because I already have two friends, TK and Kieran. We met on the train and talked the whole way. They are orphans too dad. Neither ever knew their parents and they grew up in a muggle orphanage so they didn't even know who you were when they got your chocolate frog card.

James hasn't seen me yet so I don't think he is too worried about me being sorted into Slytherin. I was a little disappointed that Rose was sorted into a different house from me though but otherwise I am really good.

Keep me posted on the happenings at home.

Love,

Albus S. Potter

Albus re-read his letter before putting it in an envelope and tying it to Gifford's leg, Gifford then flew out the window and off into the dark sky outside. Albus looked down to his desk where his wand was sitting. Carved into his wand coiled around the edges was a snake.