-Chapter Four-

(In which Albus does lots of things but importantly makes a new friend.)

The next morning, Albus woke up and found that the dormitory was empty but for himself and Scorpius. There were dark shadow under his eyes and his eyes were red. He'd been crying. Albus was almost certain that this was because he was afraid about what his family, especially his father might say. How odd, Albus thought, that such a seemingly small thing like school Houses could destroy family bonds. He felt very sorry for Scorpius, who was now putting on his socks.

"Tough night, then, mate?" he asked Scorpius.

"You have no idea" Scorpius said darkly.

Aside from the shadows under his eyes, he looked quite cool and confident, as though nothing could possibly be important enough to bother him.

"Did your Dad say anything about Houses before you left?" Albus asked curiously.

Scorpius looked slightly taken aback at such a direct question, but then replied slowly, choosing words carefully," No, he said that he would be proud of me regardless of which House I went to...but I always thought I'd be a Slytherin. This came as a bit of a shock."

"That's OK, really. I won't deny that it's a surprise but, you can't change Houses. Anyway, we'd better be off for breakfast. We'll be late." Albus said. Let Uncle Ron kill him for befriending a Malfoy. Albus knew he was doing the right thing.

Rosie had probably already gone down for breakfast. She would sooner eat Doxy droppings than be late for lessons.
As they walked, Albus was lost in thought. First of all, what Scorpius had said about his father did not tally with what he had heard about him. He would have to talk to Uncle Ron about that, he thought dryly. And he remembered how his father had told him, just before leaving, that the Hat takes personal choice into account. So it couldn't have been that big a shock for Scorpius...

"Um, by the way, er, Albus, " Scorpius said hesitantly," er, thanks for, know..." he trailed off awkwardly.

"Oh, no, don't mention it, mate." Albus said quickly.

They retraced their steps of last night and entered the Great Hall quickly enough. Albus noticed that as they walked in the corridors, he was attracting a lot of glances and the occasional muttering. This continued in the Hall as well. Albus glanced at the ceiling. It was mostly clear with a few clouds; it looked promising. Rosie looked up, her reddish-brown hair all over her face.

"You're late. Both of you." She added, looking at Scorpius. "We've already got our timetables. I took two for you." She handed one each to Albus and Scorpius. "We've got Transfiguration first – I'm quite excited. Eat quickly or we'll be late"

"Where's the post?" Scorpius asked, helping himself to some bacon.

"Already came. Like I said, both of you are really late." Rosie replied.

Soon enough, they finished and left the Hall for their first ever lesson in Hogwarts.

"Er, Rosie?" Albus asked hesitantly, "How do we get there?"

"Don't worry Al, I asked Hyacinth. She's the Prefect" she added looking Albus and Scorpius's blank expressions.

Led by Rosie, they reached their Transfiguration classroom. All of their classmates were already present. They occupied the only free seats, which happened to be right at the front.

The doors opened again and a young woman entered. She had brown hair, with some streaks of purple, her eyes were golden like honey and she was freckled and looked friendly. She was not what Albus had expected for a Transfiguration teacher – he had been expecting someone old and crusty.

"Good morning class. I'm Honoria Clio. I am your Transfiguration teacher and also, head of Gryffindor House. I know that some of you, well all of you," she said smiling, "are worried about Transfiguration. Now, I admit it's not easy, but then how else would you be able to Transfigure your dinner if your mum made something you didn't like? Anyway, I'm here to help you learn how to do that and to make it simpler for you. All of you have A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch? Good, now turn to page five and you will find…"

They spent most of the lesson reading and understanding the basic principles involved in Transfiguration. Then they had to turn a pin into a matchstick. No one managed to get very far except Rosie and Scorpius who had made it wooden. Professor Clio was pleased with them.

As the week progressed, Albus learnt plenty, both in and outside class. He now knew that his class consisted of nine people: Himself, Scorpius, Lesley and a boy called Hector Wang and Rosie, Constance Wheldon, Nora Cygnus, Agnes Langley and Irina Rosenquartz.

They were looking forward to Defense Against the Dark Arts, but they were disappointed. Professor Wallaby told them that it was too early for them to start practical magic and that they needed to be familiar with the theory of practicing magic. Also, she told them, that in some cases spellwork may not be enough and that they needed to prepare themselves for all kinds of situations. The same was true of Charms which was still being taught by Filius Flitwick.

They had Herbology which was taught by Albus and Rosie's family friend Neville Longbottom, and they found it odd to call him 'Professor Longbottom', but he treated them just like everybody else and he treated all the students as if he'd known them for ages. Thus, even though Albus was not sure he liked Herbology very much, he still looked forward to the lessons. They also had to study the night sky and learn the names of the planets and the stars and their constellations on Wednesday night in Astronomy.

Also, Scorpius Malfoy became their friend. He went to classes with Albus and Rosie, he sat with them and ate, and they all got along rather well.

On Thrusday morning, when the post arrived, a barn owl landed in front of Scorpius. Scorpius untied the letter from the owl and read it. After he finished he passes it without a word to Albus and Rosie, smiling.

Dear Scorpius (it said)

Gryffindor! Well done! We are very proud of you! Even Grandpa Lucius, Every house produces its own outstanding witches and wizards and you are a very gifted one, Scorpius. It doesn't matter to us, which House you go to. We are your parents and know what you are like and what you're capable of. I hope you're making friends and learning lots. Enjoy yourself and don't get into trouble.

With love,

Mum and Dad.

" Well, I'd better reply, where's my bag gone?" said Scorpius happily, reaching for the quill and parchment in his bag "And how come you two haven't got any letters yet?"

"Dunno, I guess we'll get them tomorrow?"

"Don't forget we have the afternoon off tomorrow," Albus reminded the other two. "we've to go and visit Hagrid."

"Can I come?" Scorpius asked.

"'Couse you can" Rosie replied, "Come on, we've got Potions next."

Albus groaned inwardly. He wasn't sure he'd be good at Potions and he remembered that the Potions Master, Professor Slughorn would probably have high expectations. He followed Scorpius, now talking animatedly to Rosie, out of the Hall, into the dungeons.