Harry was not, as Ginny claimed, 'being weird'.
There was nothing unusual about finding a boggart on the job and knowing your brother-in-law was going to be doing a practical lesson with boggarts so you bring him the boggart you found. It was a bit earlier than Bill had planned, but Bill loved a little spontaneity. Yes, boggarts weren't exceptionally rare, but if Harry had one, why not make some use of it? And of course he'd bring it over to Hogwarts himself, he had loads of friends and family to visit while he was here. This was all completely logical.
It had been a while since he was last in the D.A.D.A. classroom. About eight months. He did come in at least once a year to help teach Expecto Patronum and give a talk on the importance of learning defense against the dark arts regardless of their future careers. This was undoubtably Harry's favorite classroom in the school. He had both good and bad memories here, depending on the professor at the time, but the good always won out. Bill had left his own touch on the room, with some of his curse breaking equipment scattered throughout.
"So how has Albus been doing?" Harry asked, very casually. Bill was leaning against his desk, somehow looking effortlessly more casual than Harry and not even trying to hide his amusement.
"He seems to have settled in just fine," Bill answered. "Gets on well with his dormmates. No complaints from the professors. People are a little freaked out by the whole 'friends with a Malfoy' thing, since I know that's what you're really asking about, but nobody's had the guts to really go after him for it." He frowned. "Except James. It's caused quite the tiff between them."
"I'm well aware of James' feelings on the matter," Harry sighed. James' and Albus' conflicting letters were not helpful in figuring out what was actually going on. "Has Draco's kid actually done anything wrong? Is he a git? I have a hard time wrapping my head around Draco's spawn not being a git." But he didn't think Albus would befriend a git.
Harry really hadn't thought about Draco in over a decade now, the whole Malfoy family had been quietly keeping to themselves. His first reaction to seeing Draco with his son on the platform had been, 'wait, Draco got married? Draco has a son?' It had taken him a second to figure out who the mother was. She'd been standing right next to Draco, but Harry was fairly certain he'd never seen the woman in his life. Prettier than Pansy, though that wasn't a high bar, Pansy had always reminded him of a snide pug. He'd asked Ginny and learned that Draco's wife was Daphne's younger sister, Astoria Greengrass. She'd been a Slytherin in the year below Ginny, two years below Harry. He couldn't remember ever seeing her at Hogwarts. He probably had at some point but in all honesty, all the Slytherins in lower years had just been faceless green robes to him unless they were on the Slytherin quidditch team. Ginny had told him she was quite nice for a Slytherin and a bit sickly, but she hadn't known much beyond that.
Draco being married had been surprising, that he was married to someone Harry didn't know had been doubly surprising, which had all combined with the surprise that Draco's son would be in the same year as Albus, so Harry had already been in a mild state of shock. And then Draco Malfoy's son got sorted into Gryffindor. It still didn't feel real. Had Draco changed even more than he'd thought? Or was the kid defying his family? What qualities had the hat seen in the kid to make him a Gryffindor? Like, not all Gryffindors were great people, obviously (though the odds were higher in Harry's opinion), and not being a Slytherin didn't make you good. Same as being Slytherin didn't mean you were bad (though the odds were higher). But a house did still mean something. Especially for a boy with his family background. For a Malfoy to get Gryffindor…
James' rather ranty letters had him even more worried. But it was difficult to figure out what was really going on. Albus always had some rebuttal or defense. Harry didn't want to be unfair. He was an adult, and this was a child they were talking about. And he couldn't ignore the similarities to Sirius' sorting. It was hard to be unbiased when your child was involved though. He knew Draco had not been a fan of Voldemort by the end, but that didn't mean he'd changed his worldview. But Albus wouldn't be friends with a blood supremist, he knew better. They could be hiding it now though. You didn't need to be a blood purist to be in Slytherin but that was still the house you'd most likely be in. On the other hand-
"Harry," Bill chuckled, cutting off his spiraling thoughts. "The kid isn't a git. Shockingly polite actually, despite all odds. James is greatly exaggerating anything he's been telling you. I don't have Albus or Scorpius in my class, but I have been keeping an eye on them and I haven't seen anything concerning."
Weird. But it sounded like things were fine. So Harry supposed he'd just… let it be for now. If it turned out Scorpius (Draco was still sticking to some family traditions it seemed. Nothing wrong with star names, but Harry hoped Draco hadn't stuck to all his family's customs) was a bad sort, he'd deal with it then.
"Right," Harry sighed. That was all Bill would be able to tell him then. He changed subjects. "How has everyone else been then? How's Victoire doing as head girl?"
Bill's eyes lit up at the mention of his daughter and he launched into a summary of the first week of school. Dominque had been working on recruiting first years to the art club. Louis was eagerly anticipating the first dueling club meeting. Molly had already published her first issue of the Hogwarts Herald for the year. She'd started the school paper with a couple other Ravenclaws last year, having gotten the idea after seeing the school paper of a muggle school. It was an interesting idea, but Harry was very glad it hadn't existed during his time at Hogwarts. The normal papers had been awful enough. James and the rest of the Gryffindor quidditch team were preparing for the quidditch tryouts. It was expected all the old team would stay on and they only had to fill the beater and chaser spots of the seventh years that had graduated last year. The professors were already raving about how bright Rose was. Neville was quite excited about the batch of Molys the sixth years would be growing. There were rumors going around that Filch would be retiring soon. God, Harry hoped so. A parent's greatest wish was that their children lived a better life than them. He did feel a bit bad when Bill told him the reason Filch was seriously considering retiring was because Mrs. Norris was very old now and didn't have much time left. The man was awful, but Harry still had empathy. This was Professor Vector's last year at Hogwarts, she was moving to America to be closer to family. Harry had never had her, he'd rather have fought a dragon than take Arithmancy, but Hermione had loved her, despite the professor's strict reputation. Teddy was doing well as head boy, though he had complaints about a couple Slytherin prefects. Teddy had been a bit disappointed that neither Rose or Albus had been Hufflepuff, but not surprised. Both Victoire and Teddy were enjoying the extra privileges that came with being head boy and head girl and they spent more time together than ever. Bill told Harry about their closeness in a somewhat grudging manner. It wasn't disapproving of the relationship, just the typical 'that's my baby girl' that many fathers experienced. Harry was rather dreading when Lily would be old enough to start dating. All in all, the year was starting off well.
They talked for almost forty minutes before Harry had to leave as Bill's students started to trickle in for class. As he went back into the hall, he felt eyes turn towards him and the nearby students burst into excited whispers. Harry felt a longing for his invisibility cloak, but he'd left it at home. Even after all this time he still wasn't a fan of public attention.
Harry hurried away from the halls full of students on their way to class to corridors he knew would be more empty. There were a lot of people he wanted to visit while he was here, but he didn't know all their schedules. It was quite early, second period, most of the kids would probably be in class. Neville likely had a class now as well. Hagrid probably didn't though. Even if he did, he could bunker in Hagrid's hut until lunch when everyone would be free.
He started heading in that direction, taking the path that should have the least amount of students. He still ran into a few students who asked him to sign their chocolate frog cards (which were the one bit of attention he was actually very happy about. That had been a great day when he'd been told he was getting a chocolate frog card. One of his greatest achievements really) but was able to make his way through the castle without causing too much of a scene.
He'd nearly made it outside when he heard Albus's voice call out, "Dad!" Harry turned, spotting his fast-approaching son immediately. His heart swelled at seeing his youngest son in his Gryffindor robes. It felt like just yesterday Albus had been toddling after Crookshanks, barely larger than the cat himself. Now here he was, already starting at Hogwarts. Time moved so fast.
"Al!" Harry greeted happily. "Do you have a free period right now?" What excellent timing! This was perfect.
"Yeah," Albus confirmed, coming to a stop in front of him. Harry realized his son was eyeing him with an odd amount of suspicion. "What are you doing here?"
Ah. "Oh, I was just dropping something off for your uncle's class," Harry explained dismissively, not wanting to delve too deep into the topic. If he told Albus he'd brought a boggart, he'd probably figure out it hadn't been an urgent or even necessary delivery. "So how have you been liking Hogwarts? Have you had time to explorer much? Y'know, I know some pretty cool secret passages if your brother hasn't shown you yet." It hadn't even been a full week, but he'd been missing both his boys already.
Albus rolled his eyes. "Don't try to change the subject," he scowled. "Why're you bringing something for Uncle Bill's class? And why didn't you mention you were coming in any of your letters?"
Harry's mind momentarily blanked. Why would he have not mentioned his visit in his letter? He really should have, thinking on it now. Less suspicious. "Oh, well," Harry began to explain, flustered. "It wasn't a planned thing, really. Very last minute. Owl would have arrived after I did." It wasn't even a lie; this had been a very spontaneous decision.
Albus gave him a flat stare. "Funny, I don't think Uncle Bill was in a rush for anything you'd have to give him. And why did you have to personally deliver it? I don't remember you ever hurrying off to Hogwarts so soon after start of term. It's not like you're just missing us so much after less than a week that you took time off work to come to Hogwarts yourself."
"I've absolutely been missing both of you," Harry assured with a grin, reaching out to fondly ruffle Albus' ever wild hair. "The house is so quiet without you boys."
Some of Albus' hostility drained away at the contact, but he still didn't look happy. "Lily isn't quiet," he mumbled grumpily.
No, no she was not. Albus was actually the quietest of the three. "Well, she has no one to argue with now," Harry shrugged.
"Ugh, you're here to snoop on Scorpius," Albus huffed. "I know you are."
"What? No, of course not," Harry defended. Albus had always been a sharp child. "I don't even plan on meeting him, I can't stay past lunch." They were still dealing with an attempt at smuggling a chimera cub into the country. They'd found the sellers but they wanted to catch the buyers in the act so they could be fully charged.
"Bullocks," Albus snapped. Then he let out an exasperated sigh. "Bloody hell, dad, you're a terrible liar. How'd you ever get away with anything?"
"What? I'm a fantastic-" not something a father should be saying to his son. "That's not important. I didn't come all the way to Hogwarts just to spy on a child, Albus." It wasn't spying. He just wanted a better read on the situation. He had no intention of stalking the Malfoy around the school or anything unreasonable like that.
Albus crossed his arms, eyes darkening. "Bet you would have believed James if he'd been the one saying Scorpius was fine."
"That's not true," Harry insisted firmly, but gently. Albus could be tricky to talk to sometimes. He was a bit of an anxious child. "I trust you. If I didn't, I would have banned you from befriending Scorpius after your brother's first letter. He has… a lot of opinions on the kid." James made the kid out to be worse than Draco.
Albus' shoulders slumped. "James is an idiot."
Harry leaned down to hug his son. "Don't call your brother names. But I will tell him to back off a bit." James was a very protective older brother; Harry could quite easily believe he was overreacting. There might be problems with Scorpius, but James could be overblowing them.
"Dad," Albus whined, eyes darting around. "You can't go around hugging me in public. It's embarrassing." There were a couple Hufflepuff students nearby and a pair peeking at them from around the corner, but Harry didn't care. And Albus was leaning into the hug, not trying to get out of it, so he wasn't truly upset.
"Nothing unusual about a father hugging his son," Harry stated, amused. "Now-" He released the hug and straightened. "Do you want that tour? Hogwarts has a lot of secrets and I happen to be one of the foremost experts."
"Won't be a secret anymore if you're the one to show me," Albus grumbled. "People will be following us the whole time. All of Hogwarts knows you're here by now." Harry held in an annoyed sigh. Albus was right to a degree. It was frustrating whenever his celebrity status interfered with his children. James never cared, neither did Lily really, but Albus would go so far as avoiding doing things with the family at times to avoid the attention. Harry understood Albus' feeling, Harry was the same way, but there was often irritatingly little he could do about it.
"You're underestimating my sneaking ability," Harry quipped. "But we can start with the more basic stuff. Like the shortcut on the third floor behind the unicorn tapestry." Students used the hidden door all the time so it wasn't a secret, but it was still hidden and not something a first year would know.
"I guess we could, if you want to," Albus agreed. "We don't have too much time though. I've got defense against the dark arts in, like, thirty minutes."
"Plenty of time," Harry said brightly. "Let's-"
"Uncle Harry!"
Harry shifted his gaze away from his son to where Rose was rapidly walking towards him. And following behind her was a rather daunted looking Scorpius. Bloody hell, the kid looked like child Draco in Gryffindor robes. Freaky. Seeing the kid in red robes really made it sink in, it hadn't felt fully real until now. Draco Malfoy's son had gotten Gryffindor. How had Draco reacted to that? He hadn't disowned him, had he? Surely Albus would've mentioned that. Lucius on the other hand… But this was his only heir. And for all his crimes and general awfulness, Harry had never doubted the man loved his family. Would he really cut out his only grandchild, and by extension, his only child over a house placement? Maybe. He'd never been a sensible man.
Rose skipped up and threw her arms around Harry. He returned the hug instinctually. "I almost didn't believe Nina when she said she saw you," Rose beamed. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, I was just dropping something off to your uncle. Figured I'd say hello while I'm here." He turned his attention to the odd mini-Draco. "You must be Scorpius."
The kid startled, eyes widening. "How'd you know that?"
"Well, I did know your dad. And you do look just like him." Not similar in behavior though.
The kid's pale face flushed red. "Oh, yeah, right. I knew that. I just, um, nice to meet you, Mr. Potter." Well, he seemed a nice enough lad by first impression. Not an outright brat at least.
"A pleasure to meet you as well," Harry returned, mostly just to be polite. "Albus has told me quite a bit about you."
"Yeah?" Scorpius shifted on his feet nervously. "Well, um, it was cool to meet you. But I'm sure you all want to catch up and whatever." He started to inch away. "And I've got to finish the defense against the dark arts homework before class so…" The kid made a quick retreat. But was it due to guilt or normal nerves?
Albus raised an eyebrow. "We had D.A.D.A. homework?"
"We were supposed to read the chapter on common jinxes," Rose reminded him.
"Oh, so nothing we have to turn in," Albus concluded. "I'm fine then." He paused thoughtfully. "Pretty sure Scorp's already read the whole textbook though."
"Well Uncle Harry's very intimidating," Rose mused.
Albus scoffed. "He is not."
"He is to other people," Rose shrugged. "You know anyone more intimidating?"
"My mum," Albus answered easily. He had her there.
"… Fair point actually," Rose admitted. "But anyways, just because he's read it in the past doesn't mean he can't reread it before the class. I've read the whole book already too and I reread the chapter to refresh my memory."
"Shame that the both of you are nerds," Albus sighed.
"Do you want to come tour the castle with us, Rose?" Harry offered. "Learn a few of the sneakier shortcuts?"
Rose's eyes lit up. "Sure."
Harry might not have gotten to really investigate Scorpius much, but at least he'd now seen there weren't any immediate red flags and that would help him rest easier. And he was quite excited to show his son and niece around Hogwarts. The mix of warmth and nostalgia he was getting already was unmatched. He'd have to make sure to spend time with James at lunch before he left so his other son didn't feel left out.