Chapter three

'First years. First years to me!' a huge voice boomed over the crowd of children. 'Hullo Albus, been ahwhile, hasn't it?'

Albus grinned up at the overly large, bearded man. 'Hi Hagrid'.

'So, yer first year. Big stuff! Anyways, get over there with the rest of 'em, towards the lake. Go on, we'll talk later!'

Albus and Scorpius walked towards the lake side by side. Somewhere ahead of them, Ablus spotted Rose who, at that moment, looked back at them. She shook her head and resumed speaking to two other girls. Glancing around, Albus just managed to glimpse James sauntering off in the other direction, towards the carriages. He seemed to be the center of attention, as usual. Somehow, watching his family members being so in their element, made Albus feel uncomfortable. This was only amplified by all the people staring at him. At them, probably. A Potter and a Malfoy.

Glancing at his companion, he noticed that Scorpius was keeping his head down.

Once they arrived at the boats they chose the one that was the furthest away, keeping the vessel to themselves. They stayed silent, trying to draw as little attention to themselves as possible. The boats rocked slightly as they magically started to drift towards the castle.

Albus hugged his cloak around him. The wind had picked up a bit and it was quite chilly on the lake.

After a short while, they heard students ahead of them gasp as the castle came into view. Finally, the two raised their heads, and even Albus couldn't quite suppress a small gasp of wonder. He had read and heard about the castle, but to see it, was quite another story. The tall walls and towers rose up into the night, fading out of view into the darkness. Countless lights shone out of the windows, glittering upon the lake.

'Amazing,' whispered Scorpius, his mouth hanging open. It was a rather comical sight.

The boats gently bumped against the shore and the students stepped, stumbled and tumbled onto dry land. They were then herded towards the castle doors by Hagrid, who had to prevent some students from running ahead, and some from lagging behind. Finally having managed to get them all up the steps, the doors opened to reveal a thin faced, mean looking man.

'You take longer each year, Hagrid!' he snarled.

'Well, got to give em a good look of the place, eh, Filch!', Hagrid laughed. Filch glared at them, and then turned his attention to the students, some of which flinched.

'Well then, come on! Get in, no going off, stay in line, two by two.'

After some shuffling, they followed Argus Filch into the castle, staying two by two obediently. Albus and Scorpius brought up the rear. They were led past the great doors leading to the Great Hall where a lot of noise was coming from and ushered into a small room close by.

As the room was slammed close by the caretaker the students started whispering.

'We have to stand in front of all those people, I think I'll faint!'

'Why can't we go into the big hall, to all the other students? Why do we have to stay here?'

'I heard we have to be tested first, see if we're really magical.'

Albus had, of course, heard all kind of rumors from James. He said the sorting was different each year. Some years you had to perform a certain spell, at other times you would have to try to pick the leaves of a Bowtruckly, or fight an Erkling. During those talks however, Teddy always rolled his eyes and told Albus and Lily not to worry about it, though he refused to tell them what the sorting was actually like.

But there were other whispers too.

'Albus Potter'

'A Potter. In our year!'

'He's got his hair. He's got hair just like him.'

'And he's my cousin,' said Rose, stepping closer to Albus. Now she was suddenly family.

'Rose Granger-Weasly,' she said to the crowd who now were looking at her curiously. 'Nice to meet you.'

Before she could say anything else however, there was a loud scream. Turning towards the sound, there came more screams and gasps as suddenly, the place was swarming with ghosts. It took a while for them to notice the children standing huddled together.

'Ah, a new year already,' said the ghost of an elderly man in a nightgown.

'Looking forward to the sorting dears?' said another ghost of a friendly looking woman. Though the sight was somewhat ruined by the large hole in her stomach.

Before the students could reply however, the door was thrown open again and Filch motioned them out. Once more they were ordered to walk in pairs as they marched upon the Great Hall.

As the first years were ushered along, the noise in the Great Hall subsided. Every face was turned towards the new generation of witches and wizards. A stool was placed before them with a very old looking hat on it. Everyone in the Hall was looking at intently, so Albus focused his attention on it as well. For a moment, there was perfect silence, then the hat began to sing, revealing a rip near the brim, like a mouth:

'I've done this job for centuries

On every studen't head I've sat

Of thoughts I take inventories

For I'm the famous Sorting Hat

I've sorted high, I've sorted low

I've done the job through thick and thin

So put me on and you will know

Which house you should be in'

There was a great clapping at the end of the song, as the hat bowed to the audience. Relief flowed through Albus, realizing he only had to put on the hat.

Silence descended once more as Professor McGonagall took out a scroll and read out the first name.

'Chapman, Polly!'

A girl with dark hair stepped forward and sat on the stool. The hat was placed on her head and after some thinking it shouted: 'GRIFFINDOR!'

The girl sprang up, grinning broadly as the Griffindor table burst out in applause.

The sorting continued, with some children, the hat hardly touched the heads before it shouted out the house, with some it took a bit longer.

'Granger-Weasly, Rose!'

Rose stepped forward excitingly and the hat had no problem with her: 'GRIFFINDOR!'

Again the Griffindor table burst out in applause and cheers, louder than before. James was the loudest of all shouting 'We've got Granger-Weasly, we've got Granger Weasly!'

After some more sortings, Professor McGonagall finally arrived at: 'Malfoy, Scorpius!'

The hall became quiet again as Scorpius sat down, looking very pale. This time, the hat took it's time and after about a minute finally shouted 'SLYTHERIN!'

Pulling off the hat, Scorpius nods and half smiles, obviously having expected this result. He joined the Slytherin table and glanced into Albus's direction. Albus nodded to him, forcing a smile.

At last 'Potter, Ablus!' was called and he sat down on the stool. He gripped the edge hard, hoping that nobody would notice his shaking hands.

As the hat was but on his head, he was startled to hear a small voice, close to his ear.

'Ah, another Potter. Let's see, yes, plenty of courage there, and quite some ambition too. But also compassionate and intelligent too, if you were to work hard. Hmm, were to put you.'

He looked at the Griffindor table. James was looking at him, expectantly. Rose was grinning at him. Both convinced that their brother and cousin would join them. Remembering his father's words, Albus was starting to form the thought Gryfindor, but before he had the chance, the hat murmured, 'Ah, yes, pretty clear now. SLYTHERIN!'

For a moment, Albus remained sitting on the stool, while the hat was lifted from his head. For a moment, there was a perfect, profound silence. Then the whispers started again.

'Slytherin?'

'Did you just hear that?'

'A Potter? In Slytherin?'

Not daring to look at his family members, Ablus slipped off the stool and silently joined the Slytherin table where a few people were clapping. Only Scorpius seemed to be ignoring the discomfort and motioned to Albus to sit next to him.

As he sat down he finally glanced towards the Griffindor table. His brother looked absolutely stunned and it looked like he was going to become angry soon. Rose was staring at him, her mouth open, slightly shaking her head in disbelieve.

The last students were placed in their respective houses, but Albus didn't listen. How was he going to tell his parents? How would they react? There was an unpleasant knot in the pit of his stomach and as the tables were magically filled with food, he found he had lost his appetite.

The boy seated opposite him, nudged him, forcing Albus to look up.

'Hi, I'm Craig Bowker. Welcome in Slytherin! No need to look so down, I'm sure you'll find your way around soon enough.' He smiled encouragingly.

Albus forced a smile and nodded at him and quickly grabbed some chicken just to stay busy. On his left, Scorpius was babbling, desperately trying to fill in the silence.

'I've heard the ghost of Slytherin is the Bloody Baron, who's quite scary. But he's apparently the only one who can control Peeves. That would be the Hogwarts poltergeist. Though he doesn't come around our dorm, I've heard. Which is in the dungeons. Dad told me it's under the lake and that you can see the Giant Squid and Merpeople sometimes!'

Albus hardly listened as he forced some food down his throat. He was almost relieved when Professor McGonagall stood up again and silence fell once more.

'A few notices before you all go to your dorms. The Forbidden Forest is forbidden ground for all students, hence the name. No magic is allowed in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the third week of term.' This last notice received some yells and whistles, in which James was actively part. McGonagall smiled as she continued: 'That will be all for tonight. Make sure to go towards your classes on time, the stairs change position frequently and it's easy to get lost. Now, follow your Prefects towards your dorms. Goodnight!'

A few people lazily applauded the Headmistress as the Prefects rose and started herding the students of their houses towards the doors. Albus followed the line of Slytherins. They went right directly after leaving the Great Hall and zigzagged their way through several hallways, down a number and down some corridors. Eventually they stopped in front of a wall. The Prefect shouted over their heads: 'You will need a password to enter the dormitory! It changes every fortnight and the new password will be posted on the noticeboard. Make sure to read this, or you won't be able to enter. The current password is "Giant Squid".' The moment he said it, the wall swung open silently to reveal s dungeon-like room with greenish lamps and comfortable chairs. A big fire was roaring in the hearth and the windows looked dark, but Albus could still see that they all showed water. So they were indeed under the lake.

'Your dorms are over there, on the left,' the Prefect said. 'Door on the right is for the boys, left is for the girls. Don't forget to be at breakfast on time, you will get your timetables at that point. Your stuff has already been brought up for you, so you can all go straight to sleep. Goodnight!'

The Prefect walked off as the first years entered their dormitory's. Albus had heard about the Griffindor dorm from James plenty of times, all in gold and red, looking splendid and luxurious. Though the Slytherin dorm still looked splendid and luxurious in its own way, all in silver and green, it looked very gothic and dark. It made Albus feel even more gloomy.

He was slightly relieved to find that his bed was next to Scorpius's, who was looking at him anxiously.

'You know, it's not that bad to be in Slytherin, right?' said Scorpius softly.

'I don't know,' Albus replied tiredly. 'I just don't know anymore.'

They didn't say anything else as they changed into their pajamas and got into bed. Albus lay awake for some time, still feeling the knot in his stomach. Eventually he managed to fall into an uneasy sleep.