There was something satisfying about boarding the Hogwarts Express on September 1st. I sat in an empty compartment looking out the window at my parents, my father's sleek blonde hair clearly visible through the crowd of parents. Even from here, I could see the expressionless disposition he held. My mind flashed back to all the years of torture I have endured. The satisfaction I felt turned to relief. I wouldn't have to see my father for a year, things could be worse. Suddenly the compartment door opened and a boy and a girl quickly ran in and shut the door. They collapsed panting very hard. The two hadn't seemed to notice me sitting there yet. Suddenly the girl looked over at me and sat up very straight.
"Oh my apologies! We didn't realize anyone was in here!" She exclaimed. I said nothing. The boy the turned to me. I realized that it was the same one I had met at Diagon Ally a month ago. He seemed to recognize me too.
"Hey I remember you! It's Scorpion right?"
"Scorpius," I corrected him.
"Oh sorry," Albus Potter apologized. "Well this is my cousin Rose Weasley. Sorry we burst in here like this my brother James and our cousin Fred are on the hunt for us. They're third years and they like to cause trouble." He laughed as if this was common knowledge. Scorpius still didn't know what to say. He was at a loss for words because Rose was staring at him intently.
"My father pointed you out to me on the platform. Is your last name Malfoy?"
"Yeah why?" I asked a little to defensively.
"I don't think our parents get along," Rose said uncertainly. There was an uncomfortable silence that was eventually broken by Albus saying, "Well who cares if our parents don't get along, that doesn't mean we won't!" I realized that if I didn't attempt to get along with these people now I might lose the only chance that I'll ever get to.
"Well I'm nothing like my father trust me, so whatever you've heard about him, I'm the opposite," I said trying to sound confident. Albus let out a grin and Rose managed an uncertain smile.
"Do you mind if we just stay in here with you?" Albus asked. "If our cousins find us it's going to get messy. Last Christmas my brother James used this spell, Wingardrium Levisoa I believe, and left me hanging there upside down for an hour until my parents got home and realized what was going on." Rose snorted thinking about this.
"Wow I bet Aunt Ginny must have been really mad," she commented
"What's your family like, Scorpius?" Albus asked.
"They're fine," I lied. Rose was not satisfied.
"That's it?" She asked. I wasn't going to speak any more about the subject but Rose's intent stare drew the answer right out of me.
"Well honestly I'm really glad I'm going to Hogwarts so that I can get away from them," I admitted. Rose sat back in her chair, apparently satisfied with my answer. I had only known her for a couple minutes now, but already I found her as one of the most profound people I had ever met. Rose's fiery red hair tumbled down just past her shoulders and freckles were sprinkled across her nose. She had this gaze, this piercing gaze as if she could see right through you. It made it difficult to maintain eye contact with her, but at the same time you couldn't look away. This made me wonder what made her say that our parents don't get along. By now I could tell my family was not quite celebrated in the Wizarding World.
"What was Albus's last name again, Potter?" I asked myself. For some reason, the last name seemed familiar. Perhaps I had heard my father talking about the Potters and the Weasleys on some occasion.
The rest of the ride went by quickly. Albus Potter and Rose Weasley seemed like nice people. They were both hoping to get into Gryffindor, like their parents. They spent the ride telling me anecdotes about their siblings and cousins. Their entire family seemed quite funny. Albus told me that he would introduce me to all of his relatives at the school and that I seemed like I would get along with them. Soon we arrived at Hogwarts and rode the boats to the monstrous castle. It was very intimidating walking through those giant doors into the entry hall. A man named Professor Longbottom introduced himself as the Gryffindor head of house. I noticed Albus and Rose give the professor a little wave and the professor wink back, but I doubted anyone else had seen it. A few minutes after Professor Longbottom talked about the sorting ceremony, all of us were marched into the Great Hall.
The room was magnificent. Students sat at four long house table, each symbolizing the four houses at Hogwarts. The ceiling looked like a clear night sky with twinkling stars. I couldn't help it, this room overwhelmed me, I was in awe. As we walked down between the tables to the front where the professors sat, I couldn't help but notice that Rose and Albus were getting a lot of interested stares, then I realized that some of these stares were actually directed at me.
"No it can't be, I'm imagining it," I thought to myself. Rose and Albus seemed unmoved by the curious stares they were getting, so I followed suit. Quickly, the Sorting Hat Ceremony begun, beginning with Amelia Adelstein who was quickly sorted into Hufflepuff. After her went Jerry Bones who was sorted into Ravenclaw. Alfred Goyle was sorted into Slytherin. The list went on until I heard the words Scorpius Malfoy. My heart pounded as I sat down on the stool. The Sorting Hat was then carefully placed onto my head. I expected to hear a voice but instead an image popped into my mind. It was this morning when my father pulled me aside right before I boarded the Hogwarts Express. He said to me
"Scorpius as you have grown up, you continued going down this path of rebellion, this path of defiance. I will not find it easy to forgive you, but if you are sorted into Slytherin house, all will be forgiven." His words echoed through my head before I heard a voice.
"Some family you got, eh kid?" I looked around startled before realizing it was the voice of the Sorting Hat in my head.
"I- I don't want to be like my father. I want to be my own person," I stammered. There was a silence before the Sorting Hat spoke again.
"You realize that by putting you in any other house than Slytherin, your father will never forgive you."
"I don't want to be like him," I insisted.
"It's funny," the Sorting Hat remarked. "Every member of your family and extended family has gone right to Slytherin, there's never been any question, well except for your relative Sirius Black. He was rebellious against his family too, and you know what happened to him?"
"What?" I asked nervously.
"That man was cast out by his family but put in the house where he was able to do something great and met his best friends for life. Of course he was eventually killed by one of his relatives in the second Wizarding War but that's another story."
I didn't know what to say.
"Slytherin would bring your family pride, wouldn't it Scorpius?" The Sorting Hat prompted. "But that doesn't seem so important to you. You have a different destiny ahead of you I feel, something great. You belong in… GRYFFINDOR!" The room erupted into cheering. I took my seat alone at the table, being the first one sorted into Gryffindor. A kid leaned over to me and whispered,
"Dude you're the first hatstall in fifty years."
"What does hatstall mean?" I inquired.
"It means the Sorting Hat took more than five minutes to sort you, you must have been really hard to place," he laughed. I wanted him to say more but he leaned away and continued talking to his friends.