Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or his marvelous world, it belongs to J.K Rowling.

Enjoy.

Albus joined the cluster of students on the edge of the lake trying to get into boats.

"Three to a boat, mind you" came the familiar voice of Hagrid.

Albus climbed into a boat and turned to see two famliar faces smiling back at him.

"Albus! I was wondering when you'd come out of hiding." grinned his familiar blue eyed cousin.

"Sorry...James is being...you know.." Albus sighed and shook his head as Louis gave him a knowing look. Louis Weasley was the only other cousin Albus enjoyed being with aside from Rose. He was a rather quiet boy compared to his sisters. His mother is a french woman and therefore he maintained a clean and neat appearance. Unlike Rose he learned from a very young age that people are treated with reverance regardless of what family they come from so it was no surprise to see the person sitting next to his cousin with a pleased look on his face.

"Hey Scorpious!" Albus nodded toward the opposite end of the boat. "This is my cousin Louis, Loius this is Scorpious."

"Nice to meet you."Louis extended his hand towards the Malfoy boy.

Scorpoius smiled back, before the tiny boat gave a lurch and they were sailing away towards the magnificent castle. The glassy black water looked so calm and serene only to be disturbed by the ripples of the fleet of small boats moving along towards the looming school. Albus leaned slightly over the edge and peered in to the mysterious water scanning for any signs of the large squid his brother told him about. Albus squinted his eyes in hopes of a better view as he thought he saw a faint movement in the depths of the lake.

"What are you doing Albus?" Louis had finally broken his trance of amazement and looked over to his cousin.

"Trying to see the squid. But its to dark to see much anything" Albus shrugged as he began to sit back into the boat. Before Albus could even blink spindly, pale green fingers shot up out of the water and grabbed hold of Albus's robes. Scorpious and Louis's eyes widened in shock and Rose shrieked Albus's name from a nearby boat as he was submerged into the icy water with a splash.

Albus kicked and struggled against the eerie creature that continued to pull him down into the depths of the vast lake. His lungs burned for air and his heart was pounding in his ears. He had been pulled under so unexpectedly he didn't even have a chance to gasp for air. On the verge of consciousness Albus gave one last attempt to free himself and violently pushed and twisted the hand that held him under in hopes of realising its grasp. At the feel of the spindly breaking fingers Albus realized he was released at last and desperately swam toward the surface.

His vision became fuzzy as he continued to push to the top and a calm peaceful feeling overcame him as he gave up his restraint and involuntarily gulped water as if it were the oxygen his lungs longed for. Floating there he had never felt more at peace exept for his secret encounters with the fox in his yard. An overwhelming flying sensation enthralled him and he felt himself gliding fast upward through the water. He finally realized a large tentacle gripping him firmly yet gently around the waist pushing him to the surface. It brought him back to reality and he fought to maintain consciousness.

Breaking the surface a series of hands pulled him into a boat and began smacking his back as he coughed up what seemed like a gallon of water. Pain shot through Albus as his chest burned and stung like it had been on fire. His throat was raw and felt like knives being shoved through it as he tried to swallow. He shivered in his sodden robes as Hagrid frantically steered his boat over and began to make sure Albus was alright.

"I'm fine Hagrid" Albus croaked

"Don't be lookin' over them' edges "Hagrid directed to the entire group of boats as he gave a nervous glance to the water below.

Hagrid resumed place at the front of the group and they began to move at a faster pace than before. Hagrid was obviously eager to get the students off the lake.

"You ok, mate?" Louis gave an extremely concerned look towards the soaked Albus. Albus nodded hoping to drop the incident as he saw many others, who were obviously eavsdropping and staring at him from the boats nearby hoping for a detaled account of what happened.

The entrance hall was filled with the sounds of voices as the first years came towards the closed doors that entered into the great hall. A tall familiar man stood before the doors and raised a hand for silence amongst the excited students.

"Welcome to Hogwarts! My name is Professor Longbottom. I am the Herbology teacher and I am very pleased to see you all. He gave a kind smile to the students before continuing. "Through these doors is the Great Hall, but before we sit and eat you will all be sorted into houses. There are four houses; Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, and Slytherin. Your houses will be like your family for the next seven years. Achievements gain your house points, while mischief looses your house points. At the end of the year the house with the most points wins the house cup. Any questions?" He paused and looked expectantly. "Right then wait here a minute and I'll see you all in." Professor Longbottom gave a quick curious look at Albus's drenched robes and disappeared behind the door as the students burst out into chatter.

"Albus!" Rose ran up to the three boys standing together. "Are you alright? What happened?" she eagerly questioned her cousin.

All heads turned in curiosity and hopes of hearing the story of what happened. Albus looked nervously around at the crowd of now silent students watching his every move.

"Later, Rose" he murmered and gave her a pleading look.

Rose sighed and embraced her cousin before returning to the attention of Professor Longbottom which had returned ready to take the new students in.

Dun dun dun!!!

Well now- I know I said that this chapter was going to be the sorting but its a lot harder to come up with names than I thought. That and I still have some character decisions to make plus school is deciding to be all difficult. Senior-itis is kicking in. So how did you like this little thriller?

***Ten points to the person who can guess what the mystery creature that pulled down Albus was.

Please review!

Thank You:

annouska

Sorrow's Quill

and Kashyfor reviewing my last chapter.

Again go check out their stories. They are great!

Music: Ice Monster- Minus The Bear

-Wotcher :)