On re-reading this chapter like four months after writing it, some of the characters seem a little Gary Stu-ish and Mary Sue-ish. I hope not, because they're certainly not fantasy-fulfillment characters; there are very important and specific reasons for their construction which extend through the entire series. Now just seemed like the best time to introduce both of them. Long story short, they are absolutely NOT here just to be "cool" characters. I promise. :) Though it may take 3 to 5 more books before their role becomes clear.

CHAPTER THREE

TO HOGWARTS

O

No birthday, no Christmas in his recorded memory, had gotten him this excited. He leapt out of bed so fast that he knocked his curtains off the wall onto his bed and hit his dresser as he ran out of the room, setting all of the above on fire.

Albus screeched to a halt in the family room, the back of his messy hair aflame. "Hogwarts!" he shouted, jumping up and down. "Hogwarts!"

"Today's the day, isn't it?" laughed Harry. "All right, then. Maybe you can go. We still haven't decided."

"What?!" yelled Albus, before realizing his father was joking with him. He looked over at the clock to see how much time was left before they could go.

James appeared silently behind Albus and slipped a Knee-Knocker onto the back of Albus's left kneecap; as Albus turned around to prance back to his parents, he suddenly fell flat on his face.

"James!" shouted Harry as James laughed his head off and Albus peeled off the Knee-Knocker. "Not on the best day of his life, James. You fell flat on your nose, Al; do you need an Episkey?"

Albus shook his head no, and grinned stupidly with his hand over his nose. "Hogwarts!" he shouted again, as if he was only capable of speaking one word at a time from excitement.

"Yes," said Harry. He checked his wristwatch, which was old as the hills but still operating. "We'll get going in about an hour."

"An hour?!" moaned Albus. "But that's… that's so far away!"

James pretended to cry. "It's like a whole sixty minutes away!"

"Shut up," said Albus, but he grinned as he gave James a little shove.

"Don't worry," said James. "Isn't that a good thing? Now you're another hour from being landed in Slytherin like we both know you will!"

It didn't matter how much of a joke James was making of it when he said it. Every time he said it, Albus was flooded with fear. It started in his forehead and leaked down until all of his body felt numb.

"Tone down the Slytherin jokes, James, it's not a bad house," said Harry, concerned for the wrong reason.

"Just saying…"

Albus had made it perfectly clear until his seventh birthday that he was worried about his inability to do magic. About two years after that, though, he'd developed a new fear: the fear of being sorted into Slytherin when he finally got to Hogwarts. He'd heard so many terrible things, and he didn't want to be associated with their stigma, or worse—become part of it due to his immersion.

It all depended on the Sorting Hat's choice.

Harry was too busy inspecting the Knee-Knocker to notice that Albus had become much less jubilant about heading to Hogwarts. He threw it in the garbage bin; a little flame popped up as the Knee-Knocker was incinerated, and then he went to fetch his daughter out of bed so that breakfast could get going.

Albus barely ate any of the breakfast that was served; his parents chalked it up to excitement. Albus wished they understood so that he didn't have to say it; he would never admit in front of James that this was a real fear of his.

When his father was looking, Albus tried as hard as he could to look like he felt, so that his father might think to have a separate word with him before they left; Albus was never left in worry after his father talked to him. But Harry was distracted by another emotional display—Lily had broken down into tears about not being able to go to Hogwarts.

She'd been upset before, but had always managed to hold herself back, because she knew Albus was going to stay home—now, though, she was facing an empty house, and hadn't taken the prospect too lightly.

"Oh, honey," said Ginny softly as she rubbed her daughter's back while Lily cried into her shoulder. Harry glanced back to make sure his wife didn't need help, and then stepped outside to pack the car. "Hugo will visit all the time. His only sister is leaving, too."

"I h-h-hate being the y-youngest!" sobbed Lily.

"I was the youngest of seven children," said Ginny. "I know how you felt. I watched my brothers leave every year since I was born. You'll have exactly the same amount of time at Hogwarts as they have, and you're waiting exactly as long. It'll go by faster than you think."

Finally, Lily was calmed enough to leave with them. Ginny's warning certainly helped: if Lily couldn't hold it together, she wasn't coming with them to say goodbye.

"Car's all packed," said Harry, jogging back in. "We… all… ready to leave?" He stressed the word all, and looked from Lily to Ginny, who nodded.

"Then let's go!" yelled James, whooping and throwing a fist in the air, which did nothing to assist Lily in holding back her anger of not joining in the fun.

The three kids scooted comfortably in the back seat. Harry adjusted the rear-view mirrors and backed out of the driveway. They had to drive places every once in a while to appear like a normal family—after all, the neighborhood in which they lived was mostly Muggles. The Potters and the next four families down the road, the Dunbars, the Maddens, the Feldmans, and the Youngs, were the only Wizarding families in the whole of Furlong's Notch. The Potters' neighbors on the other side, the Dempseys, were Muggles. They occasionally had to have their memories altered, because (as Albus was surprised to find out) small children don't normally catch fire in the Muggle world, or propel themselves onto the roof from the ground, and seeing these things was apparently a fairly big deal.

As Harry pulled passed the Dempseys' house, Mr. Dempsey waved over to them, and Harry slowed to a stop, rolling down the window without touching the button; thankfully, Mr. Dempsey didn't notice, but Ginny still gave him a hard jab in the side.

"Evening, Harry," said Mr. Dempsey. "Mind if I borrow your lawnmower before you head out? I hate to ask, but mine just broke down and we're having the family over tonight…"

"No, of course I don't mind, Hank," said Harry. He got out of the car and jogged back to his driveway; he ran into his garage. However, Ginny surreptitiously pointed her wand at the Dempsey's open garage, and before Mr. Dempsey could follow Harry into the Potters' garage (which contained nothing but some broomsticks, several owls, and a live grindylow in a tank), the mower sitting in his own garage sprang to life.

"Great Scott!" shouted Hank. "It's amazing the way things just happen to fall into place when you're there to help, it's like magic!"

Harry glanced at Ginny, but she shook her head. Harry climbed back into the car and continued their drive to King's Cross.

"We'll rearrange his head on these matters only if he really needs it," said Ginny. "We don't want to cause too much damage to him."

"This darned International Statute," grumbled Harry. "The Dempseys are just the nicest folk. It would be so much easier, and so much healthier for their minds, if we could just tell them. It's such a shame that the complications of a global revelation would be so disastrous. A revelation of the Wizarding world to Muggles? All hell would break loose."

"Our predecessors made it incredibly difficult for the Statute to be overturned," said Ginny. "I would have liked to live in a time before the Statute. I'd like to hear what kinds of things our ancestors were thinking that made them decide to put such a lock on that eventual decision."

Politics… again… Did adults ever talk about anything interesting? Albus rested his head against the right rear window and watched things go by. Were adult Muggles more interesting? He'd have to ask Aunt Audrey.

But his parents stopped talking about boring things pretty quickly. Albus thought it was possibly because they wanted to talk to their children, instead of amongst themselves, in the final hours before the departure for the lengthy school year.

"Albus, how're you feeling?" asked Harry.

"A little nauseous," answered Lily before Albus could say anything.

"Oh, that'll be the Muggle travel," said Ginny. She pointed her wand at the road through the windshield. "Glisseo." She kept her wand steady there, and the road smoothed a little. Albus was grateful; he had been feeling a little sick, too. He'd thought that it was nerves, but even if it was, the jostling he was getting from the car was not something that was helping. Harry continued.

"So, Albus, I asked you how you were doing? This is a big day for you."

"It is a pretty big deal," said James. "I mean, you only get sorted into stinkin' Slytherin once!"

Reignited nausea and cold sweat swept back over Albus, combined with fury at the effect James knew he could have on his little brother with a few simple words.

"Cut it out with the negativity against Slytherin, James, I mean it!" growled Harry; once again, he was mad at James for the wrong reason.

"You cut it out with the yelling at me for it!" said James hotly, throwing himself against the back of his seat with his arms tightly crossed. "You keep saying, 'It's not a bad house, it's not a bad house!' That's just because of the SINGLE brave Slytherin guy you keep talking about, the one you named Albus after. Name five other decent Slytherins, Dad!"

"I can do that," replied Harry coolly. "Even though I don't have to prove anything, I'll still do it. One: Regulus Arcturus Black. He was the first to discover Voldemort's secret and he tried as hard as he could to help take Voldemort down, sacrificing his life in the process. Two: Horace Slughorn. He wasn't flawless, but, I mean, he dueled with Voldemort himself to protect the students of Hogwarts during the battle there. Three, Helio Wilcox, your Headmaster at Hogwarts! He was a Slytherin and he still fought against Voldemort, repeatedly refusing offers from the Death Eaters to join them. And when his own wife was discovered supporting the Dark Revival with Gallen Ingot, he dueled her. It takes far more courage to stand up to loved ones than it does to stand up to our enemies; a great man told me that once. Four: Hugh January, our friend from Luna's shop. Three of his fingers were cursed off by Fenrir Greyback. He doesn't tell many people how it happened, so don't let anyone know I told you: He appeared suddenly when Greyback was trying to round up some Muggle-born wizards on the run, and got a few of Greyback's men; but Greyback got the better of him and ran. He'd been tracking Greyback, because Greyback killed… killed his son." Albus started; he had no idea there was that much sadness in the story of a seven-fingered man he caught a glimpse of in a store. "I still can't believe we haven't found Greyback yet. It's like he just vanished off the face of the earth. Anyway, fifth… hm… ooh, you've got me here, I really have no idea! How about, I don't know, ADELINA NELSON?"

James's jaw dropped. "Adelina Nelson was a Slytherin?"

"A Slytherin and a Parselmouth!" responded Harry. "The brightest Slytherin, they say, since Salazar himself. I had the great privilege of tutoring her some of the time. I don't, I suppose, have to tell you what she did to earn her place in the right side of the history books? Or does her being a Slytherin make her suddenly unworthy to be mentioned?"

James muttered something about not asking for this big argument, and having just been teasing. From a cage in the trunk, Flibley gave a hoot that sounded more like a cough.

Albus was on the right side of the car, so he was able to see his father turn to his mother and mouth, "Good thing he only asked me for five. I can't think of any more." Ginny laughed and punched him on the arm, taking her wand away from the windshield as they stopped at a red light with a video camera perched above it.

Albus continued to watch the scenery fly by out the window, quickly become bored and wondering how Muggle kids could ever entertain themselves in a car like this. He was silent all the way until they reached London.

"Almost there," said Ginny, turning around in her seat and grinning.

As soon as she turned back, James turned to Albus and whispered, "Almost in Slytherin!"

"I WON'T BE IN SLYTHERIN!" Albus shouted, making Harry jump and almost lose control of the car.

"Calm down, you two!" shouted their father. "Albus, there's no sense worrying about it. I have a strong feeling you'll be in Gryffindor, but either way, you'll just have to wait and see what the Sorting Hat's choice is, because worrying about it isn't going to change the outcome." Harry still didn't realize just how great and sincere this fear was for his son.

They pulled into a parking space, and extracted their things from the trunk. Albus went through the process as if he were in a dream; barely concentrating, simply doing, full of excited anticipation and apprehensive dread.

He took Flibley and Thoebl out of the trunk rather aggressively, and the owls hooted and tittered in indignation, continuing that way as they trotted towards the station with their trolleys.

Lily had been presented with too much thinking time in the car, alone with her thoughts of how she was not yet going to Hogwarts. As she followed them towards the station, and the reality of her siblings' departure became even heavier, she burst into tears again, and Harry hung back to soothe her. "It won't be long, and you'll be going too."

"Two years," sniffed Lily. "I want to go now!"

People were eyeing the trolleys with curiosity, most of them interested in the owls. They endured countless smothered laughs and raised eyebrows until they finally were in sight of the barrier between platforms nine and ten which, though Albus had traveled through it twice before in saying goodbye to his brother, seemed as solid as ever.

"Let's find some kids of Death Eaters for you to be friends with," said James softly out of the corner of his mouth to Albus. "They'll be your Housemates when we get to Hogwarts, after all!"

"Stop saying things like that!" Albus said. "We both know that's not true!"

James could sense that, whatever Albus said, he was still worried. He raised his voice. "Dad said Slytherin isn't a bad house! So why are you worried about the fact that you're going to be in Slytherin?"

"I won't! I won't be in Slytherin!"

Ginny turned her head. "James, give it a rest!"

"I only said he might be," said James, grinning at Albus. "There's nothing wrong with that. He might be in Slyth—"

Ginny's eyes burned for a fraction of a second, daring him to go on, but James declined to continue as they arrived at the barrier. James glanced over his shoulder, gave a look of practiced cockiness at Albus, and then grabbed his trolley from Ginny. He ran at the barrier, and in a second, he was gone.

Now Albus could say the things he would have said in the car if James hadn't been there. "You'll write to me, won't you?"

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

Albus's face threatened to heat up, as he pictured himself getting a letter every single day while his friends pointed at him, laughing, calling him a mama's boy. He responded quickly. "Not every day. James says most people only get letters from home about once a month."

"We wrote to James three times a week last year," said Ginny, and Albus was immensely relieved.

"And you don't want to believe everything he tells you about Hogwarts," Harry put in. "He likes a laugh, your brother."

His parents stood on either side of him, and Lily held Ginny's hand as they pushed the second trolley forward. Unable to control the reflex, Albus winced as they reached the barrier, but there was of course no impact. Instead they emerged onto platform nine and three-quarters, fogged over by the white steam billowing from the scarlet Hogwarts Express. James was nowhere to be seen; he had a habit of disappearing like that when it was supposed to be family time.

"Where are they?" asked Albus. He wanted to see Rose, Hugo, Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione before he left, but the train was leaving pretty soon and he couldn't see them; he was getting nervous. They started walking down the platform, Albus craning his head to look around everywhere for a group of four.

"We'll find them," said Ginny reassuringly.

The vapor was so dense that it was hard to make out any faces, really, and Albus couldn't see how they were even going to locate the train.

As Uncle Percy's voice drifted through the air, saying something about broomsticks, Ginny nudged Albus and said, "I think that's them, Al."

Somehow, they'd managed to locate their cousins. Four people emerged from the mist, standing alongside the last carriage, still not completely in view until the Potters pulled right up next to them. "Hi," said Albus in relief, and Rose beamed at him; she had already gotten dressed in her school robes. The adults started talking, and Albus and Rose discussed how often they were going to write home or get letters from home.

They tuned in for a moment to Lily and Hugo, who were excitedly discussing which House they would be sorted into when they finally went to Hogwarts.

Ron interrupted. "If you're not in Gryffindor, we'll disinherit you," he said, "but no pressure."

"Ron!"

Lily and Hugo laughed, but Albus and Rose, about to discover which House they were going to join, were slightly more worried by that statement.

"He doesn't mean it," said both of the mothers at the same time. Meanwhile, the steam thinned momentarily, and Albus saw Ron gesture over, saying something to Harry. Albus looked and saw a pale, very blond boy with a pointed chin, looking their way, standing in between his parents. The father gave a brief nod in Harry's direction; Albus wondered if the two had been friends at Hogwarts or something.

"So that's little Scorpius," said Ron under his breath, and Albus suddenly realized who the father was, remembering the details from his own father's stories. He laughed a little at having thought they were friends. Ron was still talking: "Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother's brains."

"Ron, for heaven's sake," said Hermione with an expression that Albus couldn't discern. "Don't try to turn them against each other before they've even started school!"

"You're right, sorry," said Ron, but he continued anyway. "Don't get too friendly with him, though, Rosie. Granddad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pureblood."

"Hey!"

James reappeared, apparently having already loaded his belongings. His eyes were wild.

"Teddy's back there." He pointed over his shoulder, breathing heavily. "Just seen him! And guess what he's doing? Snogging Victoire!"

He gazed up at the adults, evidently disappointed by the lack of reaction.

"Our Teddy! Teddy Lupin! Snogging our Victoire! Our cousin! And I asked Teddy what he was doing—"

"You interrupted them?" said Ginny. "You are so like Ron—"

"—and he said he'd come to see her off! And then he told me to go away. He's snogging her!"

"Oh, it would be so lovely if they got married!" whispered Lily ecstatically. "Teddy would really be a part of the family then!"

"He already comes round for dinner about four times a week," said Harry. "Why don't we just invite him to live with us and have done with it?"

"Yeah!" said James enthusiastically. "I don't mind sharing with Al—Teddy could have my room!"

"No, you and Al will share a room only when I want the house demolished." He checked his watch. "It's nearly eleven, you'd better get on board."

"Don't forget to give Neville our love!" Ginny told James as she hugged him.

"Mum! I can't give a professor love!"

"But you know Neville—"

James rolled his eyes.

"Outside, yeah, but at school he's Professor Longbottom, isn't he? I can't walk into Herbology and give him love…"

He shook his head, in disbelief that his mother would ask such a foolish request, and he aimed a kick at Albus for apparently no reason.

"See you later, Al. Watch out for the thestrals."

"I thought they were invisible?" Albus choked. "You said they were invisible!" He wasn't particularly worried about them—the school wouldn't have them pulling the carriages if they were that dangerous—but was he supposed to keep an eye out for them? How could he watch out for them if they were invisible?

James laughed, begrudgingly let his mother kiss him, hugged his father quickly, and then jumped onto the train. Albus didn't look to see if he was waving; his head was still full of thestrals and Slytherin. It was a moment before he realized that his father was talking to him.

"…nothing scary about them. Anyway, you won't be going up to school in the carriages, you'll be going in the boats."

Ginny kissed Albus good-bye as he pieced together his father's words in his mind; apparently he didn't have to worry about thestrals, but he was still worried about Slytherin. And he still couldn't bring himself to tell his father how worried he really was.

"See you at Christmas," his mother said.

"Bye, Al," said Harry as Albus hugged him. "Don't forget Hagrid's invited you to tea next Friday. Don't mess with Peeves. Don't duel anyone till you've learned how. And don't let James wind you up."

Albus made his decision as Harry finished—this was the last he'd see of his father until after he was sorted already, and he wanted to let his father know how he felt.

"What if I'm in Slytherin?"

Harry seemed to understand that it was the moment of departure that brought out this real fear. He crouched down and began talking quietly.

"Albus Severus, you were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew."

Albus knew this already. One good Slytherin having existed didn't ease his trepidation as much as he'd hoped his father would be able to. "But just say—"

"—then Slytherin House 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?"

"It did for me," said Harry.

Now this was something that Harry had never mentioned before, and Albus was flooded with intense gratitude for his father's words, and for himself for having gathered up the courage to ask. Courage—that was a Gryffindor trait, and even if this didn't really count as real courage, it was at least a good start.

Doors were slamming, and Harry seemed content with the wonder he had gotten to show on Albus's face. Albus jumped onto the carriage, and Ginny closed the door behind him. Students were hanging from the windows nearest them. A great number of faces, both on the train and off, seemed to be turned toward Harry.

"Why are they all staring?" demanded Albus as he and Rose craned around to look at the other students.

"Don't let it worry you," said Uncle Ron. "It's me. I'm extremely famous."

Albus, Rose, Hugo, and Lily laughed. The train began to move, and Albus's face suddenly blazed with excitement. Harry walked alongside the train, still waving until the train turned a corner some time later, and Albus set off to find a compartment.

He had jumped onto the train very late, and every compartment into which he peeked was full. He thought about what his father had mentioned to his mother—apparently, this was a record number for students attending Hogwarts. His father said it had to do with everyone "getting busy" right after the war ended, but Albus didn't know what that meant; he hadn't asked, in case he had been eavesdropping on something he wasn't supposed to hear.

"Albus? Hi!"

His name was called by an unfamiliar voice; Albus turned to see Aidan Finch-Fletchley, the somewhat dark-skinned boy from Diagon Alley almost two months ago, waving hello to him as he disappeared into a compartment. Albus followed him, relieved to have met someone he knew at least a little bit. Rose followed behind Albus, but changed course; maybe someone called her name, or maybe she didn't feel like being the only girl in the compartment.

There was a boy with blond hair already there, as well as a very pale brown-haired boy with eyes the exact color of his hair. Both looked like this was their first year as well. Theirs was the only compartment he'd seen that wasn't full, and yet his addition to the group made only four. He expected that they would be joined shortly by other wanderers, but there was no one else in the aisle of the train; it seemed like everyone was settled.

"Hi," said Albus, stretching out a hand to the blond boy; the brown-haired boy stared out the window, unreadable in whether he was interested in making friends. "I'm Albus."

"I'm Alec," said the blond boy, shaking his hand. Albus looked over to the brunet to see if he could get the boy's name; at the same moment, the boy looked away from the window and stared into Albus's eyes.

"I saw you in Ollivander's," he said.

Albus hadn't looked around much in the store that day. "You did?"

"Yeah," he said. "You were holding up the line forever."

Albus reddened slightly, but he grinned. "Oh! I think I remember seeing you."

"I'm Eftan," he said, and held out a hand. "Eftan Griffiths. You're Albus Potter, Harry Potter's son?"

Albus felt a dormant anger from being known as the son of Harry Potter, rather than being known as Albus Potter, but he suppressed it; he didn't want to be angry at someone who might become a friend of his in the near future. "Yeah. I am."

Alec's jaw dropped as he stared at Albus with his cool, extremely light hazel eyes, which were wide open.

"You're Harry Potter's son?" he said.

"As far as he's told me," replied Albus.

"Wicked," whispered Alec.

"I'm Aidan," said Aidan, reaching to shake Alec's hand and then Eftan's. "Nice to meet all of you!"

"You know Albus?" asked Alec, referring to when Aidan called him from outside the compartment. "Do you know Harry Potter?"

"Well, no, not really," answered Aidan. "My dad does."

Alec was nonetheless deeply impressed by Aidan's connection. "What does your dad do?"

"Muggle Relations in the Ministry of Magic," said Aidan. "Yours?"

"My dad's an Auror," said Alec proudly. "What about yours, Eftan?"

Eftan reddened and turned back to the window. "He's a plumber," he mumbled after a brief pause. "I'm Muggle-born."

"You're not upset about that, are you?" asked Albus. "Muggle-borns are no different from anyone else. Did someone say something rude to you?" He knew, from some of the things Aunt Hermione said, that some people could be very stupid about this sort of thing.

Eftan shook his head no, but continued to stare out the window.

"What House do you think you're going to be in?" Aidan asked the compartment at large. "My dad was a Gryffindor, he died fighting Gallen Ingot before I was born. My mom is Hufflepuff. My stepdad's Hufflepuff too, but I don't think that has anything to do with it. I feel like I'm more like my dad, I'm guessing I'm a Gryffindor."

"My mom was a Gryffindor, and my dad's Ravenclaw," said Alec. "I'm dimmer than a dead fairy, though, so I'll probably be Gryffindor too!"

"All my grandparents, both my parents, my brother, and all seven of my cousins so far are Gryffindor," said Albus, and now that he said it, the idea of him being in Slytherin seemed ludicrous. "I think I'm headed there with you guys."

"I don't even know what the Houses are," said Eftan, rubbing his eyes and yawning—or was he pretending to yawn, so that the rubbing of his eyes looked like he was sleepy? His hand came away slightly wet.

Aidan dove into a lengthy explanation of each of the Houses and their defining attributes, sounding as though he had memorized Hogwarts, A History. Albus was reminded strongly of Rose.

Aidan had just about finished explaining with Eftan listening raptly when the door opened and a very old woman pushed a trolley laden with sweets past them.

"Anything from the trolley, dears?" she asked in a very small voice.

Albus pulled out the small amount of money that his father had given him for sweets, and invested it all in Chocolate Frogs, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, and Cinnamon Sugar Tonguetinglers, which spread out to cover every taste bud on your tongue with intense flavor. Alec and Aidan purchased a few things themselves, but Eftan continued to stare out the window.

The first Chocolate Frog card he opened made him huff and roll his eyes—his father stared up at him from the card as he placed it on the seat beside him.

"Can I have that?" Alec asked slowly, clearly trying not to give away exactly how excited he would be if Albus said yes.

Albus flicked the card over to Alec, who let out a little squeak of delight, and then Albus passed a Chocolate Frog case to Eftan.

Eftan smiled softly, and Albus knew that he was really grateful—he must not have had any wizard money. He took the frog and muttered his thanks with the soft smile still on his face. He opened the frog, and Albus took out some Bertie Bott's beans, getting eleven great, normal flavors in a row—pepperoni pizza, lemonade, chocolate cheesecake, cola, spicy sausage, fried dough, cherry-vanilla yogurt, iced coffee, scrambled eggs, steak, and butterbeer. It was a new record, until he got a hair-flavored bean and decided to take a break before things evened out. He kept trying to scrape his tongue, thinking that there was actually hair in his mouth, so he pulled out a Tonguetingler to get the taste out.

Meanwhile Eftan was staring at his Chocolate Frog card.

"Who's Add-uh-line-uh Nelson?"

"Add-uh-leen -uh," corrected Aidan, and Albus was once again inexorably reminded of Rose. She and Aidan should get together sometime. "Adelina Nelson was an Auror who…" He paused himself; apparently he was aware that he had a tendency to be a know-it-all. "Well, you can just read the card."

Eftan took this to mean "you can just read the card aloud," and he did so.

"Adelina Nelson was the youngest of nine children from a Muggle family. She is one of two known Parselmouths of recent times, the other being her nephew, Sylvester, her only other close magical relative. She died at the young age of nineteen, but in a manner that would permanently place her among the greatest witches and wizards in history: She defeated the immensely powerful Dark wizard, Gallen Ingot.

"What's a Parselmouth?" asked Eftan, finished.

"It means you can talk to snakes," answered Albus. "It's a really rare ability. I wonder how a Muggle-born got it?"

"Isn't your dad a Parselmouth?" asked Aidan. "My dad said—"

"He was a Parselmouth. He lost the ability when he destroyed the part of Voldemort's soul that was clinging to him."

Eftan looked around. "Is soul-clinging something that normally happens in the world of magic?"

"Nah," said Alec. "And don't worry, you'll catch up quickly."

Each of the kids from wizarding families then took turns talking about people they knew from Muggle families who had gotten accustomed immediately. Albus talked a lot, since his father and aunt had both come to Hogwarts without any magical experience. Then, when Eftan was satisfied that he might not do so horribly in school after all, he started asking what life was like for kids from wizard families, and he talked a bit about how his life was like growing up in a Muggle household.

"My parents said that when I was about six months old, things were already happening that they couldn't explain. Someone named Mr. Earle came to our house to explain the situation to my parents—he told them that I was born a wizard. My parents said that they thought he was joking, so he proved that magic was real by pointing his wand at the kitchen table, and it started dancing a jig. Then he waved it around like a conductor's baton and all the furniture started dancing… They said it was like something right out of a Disney movie."

"What's a movie?" asked Aidan.

"What's a Disney?" asked Alec.

Eftan seemed very reassured at the fact that he may have been in the dark for everything in the world of magic, but everyone else had no idea how anything in the Muggle world worked. As he was in the middle of an explanation on how cellular phones worked, the door slid open again and a bold-looking, well-tanned, black-haired, gray-eyed boy of about their age waltzed into their compartment with four other people who looked like first years: a small, wiry black boy with very short hair and very large eyes; an even smaller runt of a boy with longer brown hair and brown eyes, who was wearing an expression that suggested that coming in here was the most frightening thing he'd ever done; a very small but very pretty girl with strawberry-blonde hair and green eyes that looked a lot like Albus's; and a taller girl with shining black hair and the most interesting eyes Albus had ever seen. One of her eyes was an unremarkable blue color, but the other was a shocking purple—not a dark blue, not a blue-violet, but a real, vivid purple. It was the color to which Albus would have pointed if he was asked to identify purple on a spectrum.

The girl with the fascinating eyes was first to introduce herself.

"Hi!" she said excitedly. "I'm Mia. Mia Moon. Are you guys in your first year?"

They all nodded, staring at her eyes. She didn't seem to mind; she must have been quite used to it by this point.

"So are we, we're going around getting to know everyone in the first year," she said.

"I'm Holly," said the other girl, stretching out the tiniest hand Albus had ever seen, shaking his hand first, and then everyone else's in the compartment. Her sweet, innocent-looking face was almost perfectly round, and there wasn't a blemish on her shining pale skin. Her white blouse made her entire upper body remind Albus of a fresh snowfall. She had very thin eyebrows and very long eyelashes. "Nice to meet you."

"I'm Jonah," said the scrawny black boy, also shaking everyone's hands.

The boy who'd led them in, with the black hair and confident stance, was next to introduce himself. "I'm Sylvester," he stated proudly. A snake of about two feet in length was draped around his neck; Albus realized with a jolt that it was alive, and slowly coiling around his shoulder. "Delighted!"

The tiny brown-haired boy was still in the doorway, looking around as if hoping that other people might pop in and introduce themselves to further delay his own introduction. When no one came to the rescue, he gulped, clearly not enjoying the spotlight, and said tremulously, "I'm… I'm Exo."

If Albus had been given a name like Exo, he wouldn't have hesitated in introductions, he thought. That was an awesome name. Aidan cleared his throat and started the introductions on their side. When Albus gave his name last, he did not include his surname, but he was discovered anyway.

"Albus?" said Exo. "You're not… Your dad isn't Harry Potter, is he?"

"Really?" roared Sylvester happily. "I'll be! That's wicked!"

Mia grinned, and Holly raised an eyebrow. Jonah nodded, as if giving his approval that Albus was allowed to be awesome now.

Albus glanced towards Eftan to see that the brunet was looking back and forth between Sylvester and his Adelina Nelson Chocolate Frog card. Then his eyes followed the snake which was coiling around Sylvester's lower arm, and Albus came to the same conclusion that he was sure Eftan was thinking.

Eftan didn't say anything, possibly embarrassed about being wrong, so Albus asked for him.

"You've got a snake there… Is that your pet? Are you a Parselmouth?"

Sylvester nodded, and then suddenly out of his mouth came a shocking hiss, which caused the snake to weave in between his fingers faster and faster; it then slithered up his arm, spiraled around his neck, and settled on top of his head. The audience gasped in appreciation—apparently, not even the friends he'd brought to their compartment had seen him do that.

"Yeah, Adelina Nelson was my aunt," Sylvester said. "And Exo here is the headmaster's son!"

Exo reddened and backed away ever so slightly.

"Really?" said Aidan. "That's just awesome!"

"Yeah, we guys think we're a Slytherin bunch," said Jonah. "My sister was in Slytherin… Sylvester is a Parselmouth, so he's, like, guaranteed… and both of Exo's parents were in Slytherin. But you never know!"

"Mia and I think we're in for Ravenclaw, we've both had lots of close relatives there," said Holly. She sat down next to Albus, and his cheeks heated up—why did his cheeks heat up? That was interesting.

After a short chat, their new friends left, and the four boys continued talking and eating far more sweets than their parents would ever have allowed, to hold themselves off for the feast, which would take place right after the Sorting.

Albus smiled contentedly as he ripped open another Chocolate Frog, with a card that pictured a wizard named Finnigan. It was so nice to be able to think of the Sorting without his every limb freezing at the prospect of becoming a Slytherin. He was sure now that he would be in Gryffindor. It was almost a given.

Finally, the skies outside started to darken, and it was time to change into their school robes. Albus's excitement was mounting further and further as he imagined joining the Gryffindor table to thunderous applause, his brother no longer able to tease him with his talk of Slytherin… Then he imagined beating James in Seeker tryouts as a first year, laughing in his face… Then he imagined Professor Wilcox, the headmaster, handing the House Cup to him personally, making the announcement that Albus was so awesome that Gryffindor House should win the Cup based solely on the fact that he was there… Hogwarts was going to be the best years of his life.

And finally, the train rumbled to a stop, and the students clambered off the train in hordes, and Albus was almost jumping about with glee, a stupid little grin on his face.

"First years? If you would follow me, please… First years, here, come here now…"

The voice was not as loud as any of the jabbering students, but it was rather high and still carried cleanly through them. Albus, Aidan, Alec, and Eftan wandered over, finding a tall, reedy man with a thin mustache, holding a lamp up above the crowd. He smiled when he looked at Eftan.

"Eftan Griffiths," he said, and Eftan jumped when he was addressed by name. "Haven't seen you since you fit in a bread basket. I came to your house when you were six months old, you were already doing magic."

Eftan seemed to be flattered that a wizard from the school already knew who he was, but also confused as to how the man recognized him, if the last time they met was before Eftan could even remember. "Are you Mr. Earle?"

"I am Mr. Earle," he said, smiling. He stood up to his full height again—a good six and a half feet—and yelled, "First years, here please! First years come this way." Then he bent back down. "Faustulus Earle. I make it my business to remember the aura of every kid I meet, so I can check up on them when they finally get to Hogwarts."

"Aura?"

"First years! This way! Yes, auras; hard to explain, really—YOU! Small kid following really tall blonde girl! Are you a first year? This way, please! Eftan, if you're having trouble adjusting to wizarding life, you'll come see me, all right?"

Eftan nodded.

"Good. I may not see you again for a while with time to chat—gamekeeping is a busy job here—but if I don't, I hope you have a fine Hogwarts experience!" He turned to another student, a curly-haired girl who squeaked in surprise when he addressed her. "Hello, Miss Watson! Haven't seen you since I could count your age on the fingers of one hand!"

"Auras?" asked Eftan again, turning to his friends with a puzzled expression.

"I heard about that from my mom," said Aidan. "She said that Mr. Earle can read auras, and it's really useful for identifying intruders and stuff. He has a wicked memory."

All around them now, first years were shuffling down a narrow path while Earle continued to yell instructions. Albus followed alongside Aidan, Alec, and Eftan.

"I hope we're all in the same House, wherever we are," said Eftan. They all nodded and grinned.

"And there she is, good old Hogwarts. No more than four to a boat!"

The pitch-black path had just opened up onto a great black lake, and Albus grinned at the sight that he knew would soon become as familiar as his own home: the castle of Hogwarts, perched on the top of the mountain on the other side.

Albus climbed into a boat with his three friends from the train. He looked over to his left and saw Rose sitting with Holly, Mia, and a dark-haired girl with wide eyes that looked slightly bloodshot, but a wider smile. To his right was a boat containing Sylvester, Jonah, Exo, and the curly-haired girl that Mr. Earle had called Miss Watson. Albus looked around to watch his other schoolmates climbing into the boats and he did a double-take, because it looked like three of the exact same person were getting into a boat—triplets, maybe?—followed by Scorpius Malfoy. They were saying something about Slytherin.

"Everybody in?" shouted Earle over the ruckus. "All right, everyone? Yes? Then… FORWARD!"

The boats all started to glide across the glassy surface of the lake, and nobody was talking anymore; they were all staring up at the castle, craning their necks further and further back as they got closer and closer to the cliff on which the castle stood.

"Heads down," said Earle in a gentle voice that nonetheless echoed across the lake and back in the total silence. There was a large movement as everyone bent obediently over while the boats passed through a curtain of ivy, and continued traveling along a dark tunnel that fed directly under the castle.

Albus looked around, and tried not to laugh in the silent tunnel; some kids still had their heads down.

Earle noticed this as well, and said softly, "You only had to put your heads down for the ivy… you can pick your heads up now." Four or five kids finally looked up as the boats crunched against a shore of pebbles in a kind of underground harbor.

They all exited the boats and followed Earle's lamp up a rock tunnel, hearts pounding with excitement so loudly that Albus was sure he could hear the heartbeat of the people next to him as well as his own. After a fairly lengthy walk, they reached a flight of stone steps just across a small patch of grass in the shadow of the castle. Albus and his new friends were some of the last people to come out of the tunnel, and as he looked around, the entrance to the tunnel sealed itself with a dull thud. He hoped no one was late.

The oak front door towered above all of them, and Earle looked around, apparently performing a head count. Then he smiled and winked at them, turned around, raised his fist, and knocked three times on the castle door.