Chapter Four: A Day with Snakes

One thousand thanks to Harry-Potter-Magic for reviewing. Thanks to that encouragement, the story was updated much faster than it would have been.

Albus Potters Journal: September 3rd

I arrived in the Slytherin dormitories the night after last. Most people were nice, I don't know what my brother was talking about when he said all Slytherins were evil. I like the common room, it's right under the lake so you can watch the fish swim by.

Contrary to popular belief, I did make some friends here. Their names are Jake High and Tyler Bashney. The others in my year range, personality wise, from decent to vicious. Valentino Nott (he prefers Tino, small wonder) is quite timid. I snuck up behind him while he was playing exploding snap, and he nearly burnt his eyebrows off. I can understand though. Apparently his brother, Richard Nott, is a real git. I can sympathize, James can be a git too. Maximus Azirus is a little stiff, but he is one of the best chess players I have ever seen, and I grew up with Uncle Ron! Sylvia Epes is a little shy, I said hello to her and she nearly passed out. Phoebe Goyle seems quite stupid, and nasty to boot. The nicest of all the Slytherins is Patricia Ruis though. She leads the Slytherin Dueling Club and apparently doesn't like my brother. I'm surprised, James is the ladies man of Hogwarts at the moment.

Speaking of James, he has seemed unsure of what to do with me since I was sorted. Luckily I still have some family support. Fred and his older sister, Roxanne, have at least spoken to me, although poor Kellen Kellen walked right into a trap that was apparently set for me by Fred. Jerk. Kellen is now out of the hospital wing, and I managed to speak to him before he bolted. He is nice, but as timid as Nott.

I've been talking to Hagrid a lot. He mention that one of his roosters laid and egg, and how that was supposed to be a bad omen. Just what I need. Hagrid was quite upset that he couldn't find the egg to dispose of it. I don't see why he's worried, it's not like the egg will hatch.

Anyway, I need to close off, it's nearly time for Charms, and I don't want to be late.

Albus Potter closed his journal and sighed. Things had gone downhill for him since he was sorting. Most of his cousins refused to speak to him. At least James said hello to him a couple of time and Rose introduced him to her friends. Fred was the problem. He seemed trapped between his loyalty to his cousin and his hatred of all things Slytherin. Fred tried to be nice when they passed in the halls, but Albus couldn't help remembering what his trap had done to poor Kellen Kellen.

Albus looked at the time and jumped. Class started in five minutes. He grabbed his bag violently, nearly spilling everything out. Before he left however, he looked back at a letter on his nightstand. It had come last night from his parents, but Albus was afraid to open it, afraid of what he might read. He briefly considered reading it in class, but shook the idea off. He would read it later.

Transfiguration was the last class of the day for Slytherin, who were sharing with Ravenclaw. Albus sat next to Rose, doodling idly on his notes as she shot him disapproving but amused looks. Lore had been lecturing (read:droning) for the past thirty minutes and as far as anyone could tell, he had not said anything of importance.

"And so, we shall not be turning inanimate objects into complex organic beings until sixth year, but close to the end of this year we will be experimenting with turning simple organic beings into other simple organic beings. I am thinking of starting with lichens, algae, and, mosses."

Albus glanced out of the corner of his eye at Rose. Transfiguration was her favorite class and she dreamed of teaching it someday. She had been practicing simple spells on the train ride to Hogwarts and had actually turned a match into a needle first try. It was Rose's goal this year to turn a moderately complex animal into another moderately complex animal. She looked displeased at the rate they would be learning, although considering the level the rest of the class was at (he was pretty sure Phoebe Goyle was holding her wand backwards) and the intelligence of the average pureblood, this probably was a good idea.

Lore finally let the class go, and they all spilled into the hallway with an audible sigh of relief. Albus waved goodbye to Rose and went over to the moving staircase that would lead to the dungeons. Shouldering his bag, Albus turned to look back before he stepped on the stair and was startled to see his brother watching him with an unreadable expression. Slightly confused and unsure of how to act, Albus walked down the moving staircase to the end. He smoothly stepped off and immediately bumped into someone.

"Sorry," Albus apologised to Scorpius Malfoy, who just looked at him with a blank expression.

"It's alright," Malfoy said. Even his voice was blank! "You know James, right?"

"Um, yes. He is my brother," Albus said in confusion. What could Malfoy want with his brother?

"He's been looking at me oddly all day. Like I'm about to attack him. Do you know why?"

"No. I haven't spoken to him since my sorting."

"Oh well. See you around Potter."

Albus watched Malfoy walk away, questions whirling in his brain. Why was James looking at both of the oddly? And why did Malfoy, even when talking to an active audience, still keep the blank tone and expression?

Later that evening, Albus was walking to the library to get started on his homework. He was rather distracted and didn't notice the student directly in front of him, at least until he hit him.

"Sorry," Albus said for the second time that day.

"It's no problem," Tino Nott said, looking as if he had just suffered a mild panic attack, "I just thought you were my brother."

"Sorry," Albus apologized, "Hey, do you have any other relatives besides Richard?"

"Yeah," Tino chirped, looking happy for once, "I have a twin sister named Isabella. Rich doesn't mess with Bella though. She'd beat him up. And a cousin who's also in our year. You probably haven't talked to him much though."

"Oh come on!" Albus said, "It would be nice to know who's who in this year. Tell me, please."

And Tino did. By the time he was finished Albus's eyes resembled pie plates with olives in the middle.

Albus Potter's Journal: September 3rd (Later that Day)

Something strange happened today. I was talking to Tino Nott and he mentioned his cousin. When I asked him to elaborate, for the first time, Tino stopped twitching. He didn't even look nervous! Turns out poor Tino was bullied by his older brother, small wonder. Anyhow, Tino has this cousin who will always stand up for him. Apparently his cousin's influence had made Tino less twitchy and nervous. I didn't know it was possible for a human to be so nervous as he is, but apparently he was worse. Ouch. That is not the weird thing though. When I asked him the cousin's name, Tino said Scorpius Malfoy! Malfoy! I don't even think he's alive, and you expect me to believe that he has protected his cousin from his brother? I need to investigate more.