Albus walked between the compartments, looking for his cousin Rose, but while talking to his father he had lost sight of her, as well as the rest of the family.

Eventually halfway down the train he decided to just take a seat inside an empty compartment. He hadn't been seated for long when there was a knock at the door.

It was a tiny girl, way smaller than even Albus, with red hair, brown eyes and very pale skin. She was already in her Hogwarts robes.

"All the other compartments are full, you don't mind do you?"

She had a heavy irish accent. But Albus didn't have any trouble understanding her.

"No. Not at all."

She took the seat opposite him.

They rode in silence for a few minutes before she spoke again.

"Your family always gone to Hogwarts?"

"Yeah. You?"

"No. I'm the first. My dad was really excited that he could afford to send me because of how much he made playing Quidditch."

"Oh yeah. Who does he play for?"

"No one anymore, he retired not long after I was born."

"Oh yeah. My mum used to play Quidditch professionally as well."

"Nice. My name is Keely Troy, by the way."

"Wait. Troy as in Phillip Troy, who used to play for Ireland? One of the best chasers of all time?"

"Yeah… That is him."

"That is awesome. I'm a huge fan. I've seen memories of the World Cup in 1994. He was amazing."

"Yeah," The girl fumbled with her collar awkwardly as if unsure how to continue, "I didn't catch your name?"

"Oh," Albus had been dreading this, "I'm Albus Potter."

"Right, nice to meet you Albus."

And that was it. She hadn't acted as if the name was anything special at all. Albus was very pleased at this and he could feel himself relax. They began to talk about Quidditch and argued about the changes that had been made to Quidditch over the last year.

"It's ridiculous, only 50 points for catching the Snitch? It is the hardest thing to do." Albus argued, as a seeker he had been pretty annoyed by the rule change.

"But now every position matters, not just the seeker, the game is much better for it, I think they should get rid of seekers altogether."

Albus could hardly believe what she was saying.

"But the points were tallied over the whole season, everyone did matter."

Keely wasn't having any of it.

"Now teams can actually try to win games, instead of just score as many points as they can by drawing games out by defending the snitch."

Not long after there was another knock at the door, this time it was a face Albus recognised, and not one he was particularly keen to see. It was his brother.

"Albus, there you are," His brother started, in a sarcastic sickly sweet voice, "we have been looking all over for you. Rose has been very worried."

Albus just looked at the girl and shook his head.

"What's that Albus?" James stepped inside, two other boys followed him, Albus didn't recognise either, but they were larger than James and looked much older. They were both large and very muscular. And one was wearing a Quidditch captain badge.

"You got yourself a girlfriend already Albus?" James said, his stupid arrogant grin on his face.

James continued when neither Albus or Keely said anything.

"Is something wrong with her? Why is she wearing her robes already? We won't be at school for hours. I mean I knew a girl interested in you would be ugly Albus, but I didn't think you would chose one who was stupid as well."

Keely had kept silent up until this point, but James' latest insult proved to much for her. She launched into a tirade, Albus couldn't understand a single word through her heavy accent, he thought he noticed some well placed profanity but he wasn't sure.

The uproar drew the attention of nearby compartments. Thankfully one of them included Albus' cousin Victiore. She immediately came over to try defuse the situation. James had his arogant smile on his face, and Keely was digging through her backpack looking for her wand, ready to try and fight him.

"What's going on here?"

"Oh, I just was down here checking on Albus, he didn't make it to where the rest of us were sitting."

"Right. Off you go James."

After James left their cousin took a seat next to Albus.

"Don't let him bother you ok. I know sometimes James can be… well… nasty. But you don't need to worry about him. He is just excited to be back at Hogwarts and with his friends. In saying that, I'd probably try to keep my distance from him to be honest. James is a complete pain sometimes."

His cousin gave him what he guessed was meant to be a reassuring smile before heading back to her own compartment.

"Your family?"

Keely had calmed down, but her once pale face was very flushed.

"Yeah. Sorry about James he is a -"

"Complete arse?"

Albus laughed, "Yeah. I guess. Most people seem to like him though."

"How?"

"I have no idea. They find him funny I guess. And he is pretty good at Quidditch."

"Oh yeah. Do you play?"

"Yeah a bit. You?"

"Of course, with who my dad is I grew up flying, so it was only natural."

"I'm pretty much the same. I'm from a big family, so we get to play a lot."

There was a knock at the door this time it was a tall gangly boy with his black hair cut extremely short. He had a lot of red scratches up his arm

"You haven't seen a cat have you?" The boy asked.

"A cat?"

"Yeah, furry thing, yellow eyes, pointy teeth?" The boy indicated the scratches on his arms, "Sharp claws?"

"Your let your pet get loose?"

"It isn't even mine, it is my sisters," he took a seat with an exasperated sigh, "She leaves home at the end of last year and doesn't take the cat, and we are muggle-born, so I'm the only other wizard in the family. So my mother comes to me," he put on a high pitched impression of a woman's voice, "'Hey, Korbin, you are going to Hogwarts right, you can take the cat.' It's part kneasle you see, so it can't stay at home, it attacks muggle cats all the time, really messes them up."

The boy sighed again before continuing, "So naturally being a genius, I agree. Sure why not, I wanted a pet anyway, and I used to like Rina's cat. But the last couple of weeks it has done nothing but scratch my arms to bits and try and escape. Now I hate the thing and can't wait to be rid of it."

Keely and Albus laughed at the boy.

"It isn't funny, I've been looking for the thing all bloody day. I think I saw it get on the train."

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure it will turn up." Albus said.

"And besides," Keely started, "If anyone tries to steal it we will only have to look for the kid with their arms torn to bits to find it."

The three kids laughed.

"Are you both first years as well?" The boy asked.

After a quick round of introductions the three new friends sat in the compartment and just talked. Eventually the topic returned to Hogwarts and the houses.

"Do you know what house you will be in?" Keely asked.

"No idea," Korbin replied, "My sister was in Slytherin, and lots of families stick together so maybe I will get put there. But she finished school last year so maybe it won't matter."

"Didn't you say you were muggle-born? Not many of them in Slytherin. My family is always in Gryffindor," Albus said, "Well, mostly. I have a few cousins in Ravenclaw, but all my uncles and aunts were in Gryfindor, and my parents and grandparents were too."

"My sister reckoned Gryffindors are a bunch of 'Arrogant dullards'" Korbin had gone to his high pitched woman's voice again. "She hated them. She was so furious when she found out the Head Boy she had to work with was some Gryffindor she hated. Wasn't one of your cousins was it?"

"Nah, my cousins are all too young to be Head Boy. Knowing my luck James will probably get it."

Keely had been silent for a few moments but she spoke up, "I don't know what house I will be in, I don't know anything about any of them. How do we get sorted anyway, is it some sort of test?"

"No," Albus stated, "A hat gets put on your head and it reads your mind and puts you where you belong."

"My sister said it was really painful. I think she was joking though."

The rest of the train passed in a remarkably normal fashion. They talked about Hogwarts or Quidditch the entire way. Keely was a Ballycastle Bats fan, and Korbin was fascinated by the sport though he had never seen it. So Albus and Keely explained it to him in great detail.

They bought food off the trolley. Albus had plenty of coin so he took a little bit of everything, something he remembered his father saying he did on his first train ride, and the three of them shared the food laughing and enjoying each others company. The time flew by and as the sky outside was starting to darken Victiore stuck her head into the compartment again.

"We will be arriving shortly, you had best get changed into your robes Albus."

Keely left the compartment briefly so that the two boys could change.

A voice echoed through the train, "We will be arriving at Hogwarts in 5 minutes time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the castle separately. Older students are reminded to allow the first years to exit the train first."

The train slowed and gradually crawled to a stop.

Albus, Korbin and Keely made their way off of the train into the crisp air on the platform.

The familiar face of Hagrid was waiting for the first years, "Firs'-years this way please. Follow me."

"That guy is enormous, what is he?" Keely asked.

"That's Hagrid, he is a part Giant. He teaches at the school and is friends with my dad."

"My sister said he is a great teacher, but his classes are really dangerous."

The first years followed Hagrid down a steep and narrow path, it was so dark that they couldn't see anything except the lantern Hagrid was carrying.

"Yeh'll see the school in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "Jus' round this bend here."

The Castle looked incredibly impressive, it was perched on a mountain across a deep, black lake. It was lit up and the reflection sparkled on the top of the lake.

"No moren' four to a boat."

They made their way too a boat, Keely, Albus and Korbin climbed into one together. Hagrid had taken one all to himself, and the boats began to cruise across the lake. Everyone was silent, staring at the castle overhead. The boats took them through a curtain of ivy on the cliff face and they stepped out of their boats onto a harbour in the dark tunnel that the curtain had concealed.

Hagrid led them up the steps onto a wet grassy lawn in front of the castle's main entrance. He lead them to the door and knocked three times.

The door swung open at once. A tall wizard with long back hair an a pointed beard had opened it. Albus thought he was dressed oddly, even for a wizard.

He was wearing emerald green robes and a tall emerald hat, and whoever had made them seemed to be obsessed with zippers and buckles, they covered almost every inch of his clothing. He unzipped one zipper and pulled out a pocketwatch.

"Right on time Hagrid, as usual. Fantastic work. I'll take them from here." The man spoke, his voice was very smooth and calm, his icy blue eyes searched the crowd of students before meeting Albus'.

The man lead them inside of the entrance hall. "Welcome to Hogwarts, the feast is about to begin, but first we need to figure out what we are going to do with you lot. So we have to sort you into the four houses. They are called Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and of course the best house, Slytherin." The man was beaming at the students.

"Each house has its own history and has produced many great witches and Wizards, and while you are here they will be something like your family. Of course you are awarded points for your success and lose them for your misdeeds, and at the end of the year the house with the most points wins the House cup."

"The sorting ceremony is about to begin so I suggest you smarten yourself up. I will return when we are ready for you."

Albus had never been more nervous in his life. He looked around his classmates and was relieved to see the majority of them seemed to share his concern.

A girl with black hair and brilliant green eyes like his own seemed to be completely relaxed, as did the boy next to her who he recognised from Diagon Alley. But aside from those two everyone seemed very tense, some where whispering to themselves, and others seemed to have just gone white with shock.

"Alright," the calm voice called out from inside the great hall, "We are ready to begin. Enter in a single file line please."

The doors swung open and the first years were lead down the centre of the hall. People around him talked but Albus searched the tables frantically looking for his cousins and his brother.

Once they reached the front of the hall they stood in front of a tattered old hat. Albus heard a loud bang from one of the tables to his right. He looked over his shoulder and finally spotted his brother. He was talking to Fred and a boy Albus didn't recognise, they were pointing at him and they were all laughing. The noise had been from Fred banging his hand on the table while in a laughing fit.

Albus was furious. He was so angry he didn't hear a single word that the hat said. He was deep in thought about how to get back at James when he was brought back to the moment by the applause of the entire hall. The hat had stopped speaking.

"When I call your name," the man from earlier said, "You will come forward and try on the hat. Then you will go and join your house. Abrams, Amy."

A girl with blonde hair made her way to the stool and put the hat on her head.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" Shouted the hat.

The table on the right cheered and Amy made her way over to join them.

"Archer, Malinda"

"RAVENCLAW!" Shouted the hat. And the girl ran off to join the cheering table.

The sorting continued like this, everyone being sorted relatively quickly. There hadn't been a Slytherin yet, Albus noticed their table looked very empty, they had easily the least students in the school.

But the girl with green eyes he had seen earlier, who's name was Callista Euryale, became the first Slytherin student. What the house lacked in numbers they definitely made up for it with effort, she got easily the loudest cheer yet.

The first time the hat had trouble sorting a student was the boy Albus recognised from Diagon Alley, Scorpius Malfoy, the hat sat there for what felt like an hour before calling out.

"SLYTHERIN!" The slytherin table erupted again.

It wasn't much later that Albus heard the words he was dreading.

"Potter, Albus."

The hat had barely even touched his head when it called out.

"SLYTHERIN!"

The hall was in a shocked silence. Even the Slytherin table didn't make a noise. Albus stood up, took the hat off and slowly walked across the hall to his table. He walked past all the other Slytherin students and took a seat a few seats away from the nearest by himself. The girl who had been sorted into Slytherin earlier eyed Albus with a look of mild amusement.

Another boy was sorted into Slytherin before Korbin was up.

Korbin lasted almost as long as Scorpius before he too was sent to join Slytherin. Albus noticed that Korbin had gotten the loudest cheer of any of the Slytherin students so far.

He walked over and took a seat next to Albus.

"Bloody hell,took you long enough." Albus said as he gave his friend a high five.

"Couldn't decide whether I belonged here or in Gryffindor. I eventually convinced him to give me what I wanted." Korbin said laughing.

A large blonde boy came over and sat next to Korbin. "You are Rina's brother right?"

"Yeah."

"That is cool. I'm Cameron Brown. I'm Quidditch captain and a prefect. I'll take you to the dorms after we all eat."

"Right."

A couple of students later the man in the green cloak stepped forwards and called out, "Troy, Keely."

Keely walked forwards and put on the hat. It only took a few seconds before it made a decision.

"SLYTHERIN!"

She came over to the table with a grin on her face and sat on the other side of Albus.

When Rose was sorted into Gryffindor Albus couldn't help but feel a little disappointed but he was glad his new friends were with him.

Once the sorting was complete a woman stood up to speak.

"Welcome everyone to Hogwarts. First years especially. I am sure we are all very hungry so I won't waste our time with a long speech. But I do have a few quick announcements. The forest is, as always, out of bounds. Quidditch trials will be held some time next week, speak to the captains. Classes start on Monday. Your time tables will be made available to you over the weekend. I encourage our OWL and NEWT Students begin studying immediately. Now, enjoy the feast."

She took a seat and the plates along the tables all filled with food. The entire school began to dig in and eat. Every once and a while one of their older housemates would make their way down the table to ask about Korbin's sister.

"I don't know what to tell them," Korbin said, "They have seen her more recently than I have, I haven't seen her since she left to come here after Christmas break last year."

Ghosts suddenly came swooping into the room from every angle. A particularly nasty looking ghost covered in silvery blood swooped down and took a seat next to Keely, who looked very uncomfortable.

The large blonde boy from earlier came over again when he saw the ghost. "Good evening Baron."

The ghost groaned in response.

"You're making our young first years pretty uncomfortable, almost looks like you enjoy it."

The ghost spoke in a hoarse whisper before floating away, "Must you people ruin my fun every year."

"Sorry about him. That's the Bloody Baron. He is the Slytherin house ghost, but he spends more time up near the Ravenclaw tower anyway to be honest. So it isn't that bad. He is pretty unpleasant to be around though. So most of us just avoid him."

"That's ok."

The boy moved back to the other end of the table and talked to the other three first years, who had sat next to each other.

"He seems nice enough." Albus said.

"Yeah I guess. I'm starting to get really sick of hearing about my sister though."

When Korbin brought up his sibling Albus couldn't help but look across at the Gryffindor table, where James was glaring in his direction. He looked annoyed, and he shook his head when they made eye contact.

"Albus, you ok?" Keely asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just distracted."

Once everyone had eaten the blonde prefect came back over bringing their classmates.

"Right first years, you guys come with me I am going to lead you to the common room, it is down in the dungeons. Come with me."

He lead them out of the great hall and to a door on the right, they followed him down the steps.

"Not much further now, Just around this corner."

He had lead them to a dead end.

"Right, the Slytherin Common room is just on the opposite side of this stone wall. You need the password to get in. We change it on the first sunday of every month, so don't forget to check the notice board in the common room. At the moment the password is snakewood."

At the word the stone wall opened and revealed a small passage with a green door at the end. He lead them to the door and opened it.

The room was long and low, with green lanterns hanging from the ceiling. There was a fire at the far end, and the side walls were lined with doors. The room was dim and green, but it was warm and very comfortable. Leather armchairs and low tables were set up around the room.

"Ok this is the common room, doors on the left are girls rooms, doors on the right are boys rooms. Stay in your own room. Mind your own business and everything will be fine."

He walked along the room to the fire, a large green wooden board was on the left side of the fire.

"This is the Slytherin Honour board. Head Boys and Girls as well as championship winning Quidditch captains get listed here. As well as things like Tri-Wizard champions or Hogwarts Quidditch Captain."

Albus noticed that the only recent name entry was Rina Thorne Head Girl 2016-17, the most recent name before that was from the 90s. Cameron took a seat.

"I am sure you noticed that we have a lot less students than the other houses at Hogwarts. It makes it hard to win things, but it isn't without it's benefits. The house is closer than any of the others, and you will always have older students who are willing to help. And in time it is expected you will help the students that follow you. You can't slip under the radar here, we expect high performance from everyone fortunate enough to get sorted here."

"We don't do trials for the Quidditch team, we can barely get enough players as is. Any Slytherin student is welcome to come and train with us, I am the captain, and I will pick the team for each game based on who I think gives us the best chance to win. First years aren't allowed their own brooms, but we have 7 Nimbus 2001s, so anyone in the first year who wants to train will be able to use one of them for the time being. I'm in my 6th year so I am really hoping we have someone here to finally help us win one, it has been about 30 years."

"Well, that is about it really. Welcome to Slytherin. Have a nice weekend, and make sure you are ready for classes on Monday."

There was a knick at the door. It swung open to reveal the professor wearing the green robes.

"It's alright Cameron," he started, "Just thought I would drop in to check the new recruits. Great haul this year I think. A Potter, a Head Girls brother, an all-time great Quidditch players daughter, the minister for Magic's granddaughter, and two old and powerful Slytherin families."

The man was eyeing Albus with interest, but Albus was so tired he could barely keep his eyes open. After saying goodnight to his friends quickly he made his way too his room, sat down and began to write a letter to his parents.

Mum and Dad,

Everything is fine here, I have made friends already. I was sorted into Slytherin, but so were my friends so it worked out really well.

James looks annoyed, but I haven't seen Rose yet.

Hope everything is well at home.

Albus.

Albus rolled the small scrap of parchment up and went and lay in his bed, which was incredibly comfortable. He had never felt this happy before in his life.