Albus continued to look at his parents out of the window as the train slowly left the station. His mother and father seemed happy enough, though Lily was clearly still very upset about not being allowed to go. He wondered if they'd get a repeat scene next year or whether Lily would be mollified by then. Albus knew he had been a bit moody when James had been allowed to go, but he hoped he had never thrown such a tantrum.
"Get your head out of that window Al, you look silly. You remind me of granddad Granger's dog when he takes it with him on holiday," Rose said. Albus grinned slightly, the sight of the dog had been a major source of entertainment during their car rides to the sea side. The comparison wasn't too flattering though, and he withdrew his head and closed the window.
"I'm going to miss them," Albus admitted as he sat down and took a deep breath. Finally, he was on the Hogwarts Express. It didn't feel real yet. It would probably take several days for it all to sink in.
"You and me both Al. However, our great Hogwarts adventure finally begins. Fortune and fame await!" Rose said, waving her hands wildly, "think of all the people we'll meet, magic we'll learn, crazy things we'll see and-"
"Take it easy Rose, you don't want to faint before we get there, do you," Albus said with a grin.
"Oh, as if you're any less excited. We used to fantasise about this day so much. Unless you're still afraid of being in Slytherin?" Rose countered as she gave him a look. Albus shook his head. Was he still afraid? In all likelihood, yes, but he was definitely less afraid than before.
"I'm touched by your continued concern Rose, but it's no longer needed. I'll be fine. Probably," Albus said as he stared through the window at the passing meadows.
Albus had wondered why no one had ever bothered to get rid of the slow Hogwarts Express. Both magic and muggle technologies offered swifter alternatives. However, now he finally realised the charm of the train. It gave you the opportunity to get excited for the new year, and meet new people. And it helped eager first years such as him to get rid of some excess energy.
"It not your well-being that is my primary concern right now. I'm mostly worried about you being so gloomy detracting from the entire experience," Rose countered, "I can hardly enjoy the joy of being sorted into Gryffindor if you're fretting about being sorted into the Slytherin all the time."
"Something wrong with being in Slytherin?" a voice queried. Albus and Rose both looked at the other side of the train, only now noticing the small boy with blond hair who was sitting on the other side of the aisle. In his lap was the Daily Prophet.
"Hi," Albus said tentatively.
"Hey," Rose echoed.
"Oh right, sorry, introductions, right. Hey! I'm Romulus. Romulus Dance," the boy said as he jumped out of his seat and approached them, hand extended. At the same time, the train turned slightly, nearly throwing the boy to the ground.
"Oh wow, great timing. Good thing I'm not superstitious. Are wizards superstitious?" the boy said as he steadied himself and shook hands.
When they introduced themselves, Albus and Rose took care to omit their last names. Having famous parents was really nice, no doubt, but by unspoken agreement they had decided not to flaunt it. James of course had, but then again, he was James. Moreover, he managed to make it sound as if Harry Potter had been the one fortunate enough to be James Potter's father rather than vice versa.
"Mind if I sit next to you? That way we won't have to shout across the aisle," the boy asked.
"Be our guest," Albus said as he studied the boy. A first name like that implied a pureblood heritage, but he had never heard of the Dance family. So either he was a half-blood with a traditionalist mother, or he had muggle parents with a rather unusual taste in names.
"Anyway, to get back to the topic, what's wrong with Slytherin?" the boy continued. While Albus had at first wondered if the question had been a challenge, the boy's guileless smile made clear that wasn't the case. Albus relaxed somewhat.
"I take it you're not from a wizarding family? Not that there's anything wrong with that," he added when he saw both Romulus and Rose frown, "it's just that it's quite a loaded question."
"Oh no, I'm the first in my family with magical talents. At first we all thought my magic was just a really weird coincidence but then this Hogwarts professor showed up and explained everything. How I was a wizard and all. He was really nice."
"Which one was it?" Albus asked.
"Professor Longbottom. He sat us all down and explained everything very calmly. What was going to happen, how I had a place at Hogwarts and all. In the end, not even my aunt was hysterical anymore and she had been the one whose dog I had turned into a hotdog."
"Oh, yeah, Neville's great," Rose declared.
"He's my godfather, we see him a lot at family gatherings," Albus supplied at Romulus' confusion, "don't worry, it's not like we know all Hogwarts professors. The wizarding world's small, but not that small. Anyway, your earlier question… I'm not saying there is something wrong with Slytherin," he started.
"But there very well might be," Rose added vehemently, "at the very least the perception exists. During the last great wizarding war, most dark wizards were former Slytherin students. The house had always had a bad reputation for believing in that ridiculous blood purity dogma and the war only strengthened their dark image."
"Maybe the house has changed. The entire wizarding world has changed a lot, in all likelihood the same has happened to Slytherin house. However, I'm not sure if people don't believe in the blood purity anymore, or simply don't voice that belief anymore," Albus continued.
"And this blood purity means?" Romulus asked, his eyes darting from Rose to Albus and back.
"That Muggleborns shouldn't be allowed to learn magic," a girl said as she entered the coupe. Her voice reminded Albus of his aunt Fleur's. She had short, brown hair and wore a golden headband in her hair.
"What? I'm not saying I agree with that sentiment," she said as the three of them stared at them, "as a matter of fact, I despise it. Both my parents were Muggleborns," she clarified as she sat down, "sorry for barging in here and breaking up your merry congregation but I was feeling quite out of place in the other carriage. I was with my brother there and as usual he was drawing all attention to him."
"Oh I know the feeling," Albus muttered.
"Oh you have a brother like that as well? Great, that at least gives us a starting point for any future conversations, I'm sure we'll have a lot of common traumas we can work out together. Does yours also pinch you? Call you names? Hide a basilisk in your bed?"
"Uh well-"
"Mine always does those things. Well, not the basilisk but I'm sure he will eventually. Good thing the one in the Chamber of Secrets is dead, or he'd have used that one. I swear, he just can't get over the fact that I'm older by seven seconds," she continued as she dropped down next to them. At this point Albus was starting to wonder how her brother had ever managed to draw the attention to him. It didn't seem like she gave other people the opportunity to speak.
"I'm Sophie Gatry, pleased to meet all of you. Now, shall we continue discussing Voldemort and the fact that all Slytherins may or may not be evil, or shall we switch to more pleasant topics, such as whether or not all Gryffindors are brainless, Ravenclaws are nerds, Hufflepuffs are losers but not as big as those believing in stereotypes?" she queried.
Albus shook his head and just accepted her hand. No way he was rising to that bait.
"Albus, pleased to-"
"Oh, Albus Potter I assume?" she blurted out, "The Daily Prophet said you'd be on the train," Sophie exclaimed. Albus resisted the urge to wince, remembering the stories of how his dad had always had people fawning over him. At least this girl left it at that rather than starting interrogating him about the entire Potter dynasty and the wizarding war.
"And then you'll be Rose Granger-Weasley," Sophie said as she turned to Rose, "great fan of your mother. She really shook the old wizarding society up and made life better for people like my parents. If not for all the changes, my parents might have stayed in France instead of returning after the war, and then I'd have gone to Beauxbatons instead," she concluded with a shiver.
"Thanks," Rose mumbled. Judging by her unusual monosyllabic response, Rose was just as overwhelmed as Albus was. The girl seemed like a force of nature. Either that or someone had tested a weird spell on her.
"And you, dashing young man who has no famous family but is no doubt at least as amazing?" Sophie asked Romulus, who promptly started to blush, "who might you be?"
"I'm Romulus Dance."
"Enchantée! I'm sure we'll all be the best of friends. Anyway, as I was saying, let's move away from the Slytherin topic. I'll summarise it briefly for you Romulus, just to be sure you got it, and then let's forget about it. Yes, they used to be really bad, no that's no longer the case. Probably," she added with a wink, "depends on if they beat my house, whatever that will be, during a Quidditch match."
"What's Quidditch?" Romulus queried.
Rose only groaned at that question, knowing far too well what would follow. Albus jumped into an enthusiastic explanation. He was quickly joined by Sophie, who seemed to be almost as much a fan of his mom during her spell at the Harpies, as she was of aunt Hermione.