Albus Severus Potter

What if I were put in Slytherin? What would I do? But I couldn't be put in Slytherin. Generations of Potters and Weasleys before me had been in Gryffindor. True most of my cousins were in different houses and not Gryffindor, but Albus Dumbledore my namesake had been in Gryffindor. Then again my other namesake, Severus Snape, had been in Slytherin. My dad had said that he was the bravest man he'd ever known but I seriously doubted that. A brave Slytherin – yeah right! They were just cunning, malicious and did everything for themselves. No way were any of them brave.

But what if I were to be the first in the family to be a Slytherin? I couldn't be. Dad said he'd be fine with it, but what about everyone else? James would tease me like hell then I couldn't even imagine Uncle Ron's expression. He'd actually kill me. And now the Scorpius Malfoy kid had been sorted into Slytherin. The one Uncle Ron had specifically told us to keep away from and told Rose to beat him in every test. I knew she would because no one could every beat Rose Weasley in a test. If people thought Aunt Hermione was clever then they clearly hadn't meet Rose. She was a genius. It did get a bit annoying but her and Fred were my best friends.

She was going to be in Ravenclaw, I was more than certain. Fred would definitely be in Gryffindor, he was a great pranker just like Uncle George who owned the shop in Diagon Alley. Uncle George used to have a brother, Uncle Fred but he died in the Battle of Hogwarts. If only I had known him. Most my family had fought in that war. Even Granddad and Grandma! My dad, Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione had all been war heroes, so they got noticed everywhere, dad more than the others. I wasn't an idiot and I knew there was something more than him just being a war hero, something a lot bigger. And Rose also had her suspicions. Fred however was quite oblivious and didn't seem to like talking about the war.

James also knew something more than I did, when he came back from Hogwarts two years ago for Christmas he had known more and had suddenly gained a whole lot of more respect for dad. Then again James had always been dad's favourite. He was in Gryffindor. Although it had been undecided yet which house that I was to be joining I guessed it wouldn't be Gryffindor, I was going to try to get in but it seemed unlikely. No way was I brave enough, or loyal for that matter. Hufflepuff wouldn't be an option due to the loyalty and hard working factors. As for Ravenclaw, I knew I wasn't clever enough, not like Rose. The only option therefore seemed Slytherin. It was known that I was quite sneaky and I had always been quite horrible. Not in a bad way, it's just that unlike all the rest of my family, I didn't think everything that was wrong in the world was my problem. I didn't feel sorry for people. But I was hoping that I wasn't put in Slytherin. My fingers were crossed and I had been wishing it for weeks.

"Potter, Albus." Neville called out. There were hushed whispers as people examined me and pointed, but I just ignored it. I was used to it. I smiled up at Neville. He was my Godfather after all. James had Uncle Ron and my little sister Lily was Teddy's goddaughter. Teddy had left Hogwarts, last year in fact. But he now appeared to be going out with Vic, or from what James had said, after he'd seen them snogging on the platform.

Neville put the hat on my head and it said to me, "A Potter I see. You show many of the qualities that your father had."

"So you're going to put me in Gryffindor?" I thought.

"It's not that simple you see. I considered putting your father into Slytherin for a long time." It said.

"And? He said that I would be able to choose. I choose Gryffindor!" I thought, I couldn't be put into Slytherin. I was a Gryffindor!

"You can't always get the things you want. Slytherin is not a bad house. It may interest you to know that the greatest wizard of all time, Merlin was a Slytherin. And also Severus Snape, you're name sake. I know that you may not think this but Slytherins are brave. They just don't have quick impulses they prefer to think things over before they act. You seem much more like a Slytherin than a Gryffindor." It said.

"What if I don't want to be in Slytherin? I can't! You're supposed to take my opinion into consideration!" I frantically thought.

"SLYTHERIN!" it exclaimed.

I guess I'd saw it coming but my heart still pounded against my chest as my James gave me an ice cold look, completely disgusted alomg the whole hall including the teachers were in a state of shock which matched my utter confusion. The Slytherin table gave a polite round of applause but no one else moved. I thought I should, so I got up, and lifted my chin up high. If I had to deal with this I was at least going to do so with some dignity. I walked over and sat down next to the boy that Uncle Ron had specifically told me not to get friendly with; Scorpius Malfoy. It was well known Potters and Malfoys didn't get on. But it wasn't well known for a Potter to be in Slytherin either. I inspected Scorpius to find his resemblance to his father uncanny. He had a head of blonde hair, which matched his pale skin and icy blue grey.

"Hello!" he smiled.

"What do you want Malfoy? We're not supposed to be friends!" I huffed

"And you're not supposed to be in Slytherin, in case you haven't noticed, you're a Potter. We're just going to have to get along Potter though, why should we have to continue our father's wars?" he asked.

I understood where he was coming from. My dad being a big war hero meant everyone expected so much from me. "Ok, but no funny business Malfoy. Call me Al, if you want to address me as well." I said.
"Ok, Al, let's shake on it. Friends." He said shaking my hand, "Oh and please just call me Scorp."

Maybe we could be friends. Maybe I could just about to deal with being in Slytherin. The other people were just going to have to accept that.