As Albus boarded the Hogwarts Express for the first time, he
was all too aware of how many pairs of eyes were fixed upon his father. He didn't mind, really; it wasn't like
his father craved the fame, but it always had made him uncomfortable all the
same.
"Excited?" Rose asked, pulling her trolley beside
his up onto the train.
Albus grinned back.
"Yeah, I can't wait!" he assured her, a little more confident
than he felt. The train had a bright scarlet exterior, but the inside was
furnished in a deep, soothing chocolate brown, and the seats were made of
leather that seemed to invite you to sink down into it.
Once they had stored their luggage, Rose and Albus began
walking down the corridor, looking for a compartment to sit in. The first few they passed were full of
older students, and Albus saw his brother James through the window of one of
them, already laughing with his friends from his first year. They were just getting to some open
compartments when a female voice called from Albus' left.
"Rose, is that you?" asked a girl with soft brown
hair plaited down her back. She stood in the doorway of a compartment filled
with a few other girls, and looked genuinely excited.
"Jessie!" Rose exclaimed, hugging the other girl.
"I though that after you moved away, I'd never get to see you again!"
Jessie shrugged.
"Dad got his job moved again, so we came back hereÉand here I
am."
Rose turned to Albus.
"Do you mind if I sit with them? I mean, I just haven't seen Jessie
in so long, and we have so much to-"
"Don't worry about it," he cut her off. "I'll
find a compartment, don't worry."
Rose grinned back at him, and gave him a quick hug before
following Jessie into the compartment with the other girls.
Albus wasn't
mad that she had found a group to sit with, but he was a little sad that he
would most likely be spending the trip alone now, seeing as how he didn't
really know anyone else to sit with.
Growing up, Albus hadn't been the sociable one, or the one always
hanging around with clusters of friends; that had been more of James'
personality, honestly. Albus
wasn't angry about it, and to be honest, he had usually quite enjoyed the peace
and quiet that came from spending one's free time with a book instead of off
playing with other friends.
However, this habit of his had left him in the rather awkward position
of no friends that he was very close to.
Deciding it to be the safest option, Albus sat down an empty
compartment a little ways down the corridor. He reasoned that either someone would see him in here and
decide to come in anyway, or he would end up spending the journey with one of
the books he had brought along.
Either way, he wouldnÕt be forced to barge in where he wasn't wanted. While Albus waited for the train to
finish boarding, he pulled out "Great Magical Innovators" and began
to read. He found himself
engrossed in the story of Bernard Von Nyton, a muggleborn German economist who
had founded the Gringotts banking system of employing goblins. In fact, he was so interested in
the story that when someone knocked on the compartment door and began to speak,
he didn't even look up.
"Can I sit with you?" a voice asked from somewhere
in the vicinity of the doorway.
"Yeah, sure," Albus said absent-mindedly, waving a
hand in the direction of the seat opposite him in the compartment.
"Thanks," the other boy said, and Albus could hear
him settling himself down out of the corner of his consciousness. A few seconds
later, a low rumble began to sound through the train, and they began to move. When Albus finished the section in the
book that he had been reading, he closed it, and looked up at the boy sitting
across from him. He couldn't have
been more surprised if he had found himself sitting across from the giant
squid.
"Wondering when you were going to wake up out of your
own little world," he said good naturedly, taking a bite out of an apple
he had pulled from his bag.
"Honestly, I was afraid you were planning on keeping your nose
buried in there for the next few hours.
That would have made for quite the boring trip for me, though. Oh," he added, extending his
hand. "I'm not sure if you've
ever met me before, but my name's Scorpius."
"ScorpiusÉMalfoy?" Albus asked, even though he
already knew the answer.
"Not sure why it matters, really," Scorpius
responded, looking a little annoyed, "but yes, I am Scorpius Malfoy."
"Albus," Albus responded. "Albus Potter."
"I thought so," Scorpius said. "You do look a lot like your dad,
you know. With the hair, and the
eyes and all."
"Great," Albus muttered under his breath. "If I had a penny for every time
someone said that." The only
part he didn't like about having Harry Potter for a father was the fact that
wherever he went, whatever he did, he would always be Harry Potter's son. Sometimes, it seemed that was the only
thing Albus would ever be, just "Harry Potter's son." Looking like a miniature carbon copy of his dad really
didn't help matters either.
Scorpius seemed to notice Albus' annoyance, and he gave a
sigh. "Well, that was idiotic
of me, wasn't it? I certainly know how it feels to always be noticed for what
your father did, instead of what you've actually done. You can at least be grateful that when
they look at you, they're smiling, not booing."
Albus frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I have to live with being the son of Draco Malfoy, who
was a Death Eater in everyone's eyes regardless of the fact that he was never
sent to Azkaban. Don't you think
that your dad just might garner a little more positive enthusiasm out of the
public at large than mine? Trust me, it's not pleasant to have everyone who
meets you treat you as though you're planning to hex them into tomorrow if they
take their eyes off you,"
Scorpius finished bitterly, talking another savage bite out of his
apple.
Albus was a little taken aback, but he couldn't argue that
the blond boy had a point. An
awkward silence filled the compartment for a few moments, and it seemed that
neither knew quite what to say.
Finally,
Scorpius broke the silence.
"So, what house do you think you'll be in?" he asked, propping
his head on his fist.
"I'm not sure, really," Albus admitted. "I know that Dad would love if I
were in Gryffindor, and so would Uncle Ron. The only problem is that I'm afraid I'll end up in Slytherin. I'm not really brave, and everyone's
always telling me that I'm too secretive for my own good." He smiled a
bit. "But Dad said that I
could choose, if I really wanted to, not to be in Slytherin, so there's always
that."
Sometime during Albus' answer, Scorpius' smile had turned
into a frown, and he looked very annoyed with something or other.
"What's wrong with Slytherin, then?" Scorpius shot
back, obviously defensive.
Albus started mentally kicking himself, but he answered
nonetheless. "Well, my dad
said it's alright, but other people say that everyone who followed Voldemort
was from Slytherin, and that the whole house turns people evil." Albus
remembered his Uncle's words, 'I'll disown you if you're in Slytherin,' and
cringed, even though it had been meant as a joke.
"So," Scorpius said, " you think that if you
get sorted into Slytherin, you're automatically going to turn evil, do
you?"
When he phrased it like that, Albus did have to admit how
silly it sounded. "Well, even
if I'm not evil, it'll make everyone think that I'm evil," he tried
again.
Now Scorpius looked even more disdainful. "So you're going to change what
house you're going to be in just because of what other people think? Great
example that's setting."
Albus didn't know what to say. All his arguments had sounded
perfectly valid inside his own head, but now sounded considerably less so when
repeated back to him in that sarcastic tone.
Scorpius continued.
"I'm a bit sick of it, really. I'm not proud of what my dad did, but I still don't think
that means that all Slytherins are bad from the start. We always have a choice, you
know."
That phrase set off bells in Albus' head, reminding him of
something his parents had told him, something they said had been first told to
them by Albus Dumbledore, his namesake.
Something or other about choicesÉwhat was it? Ah, yes, now he
remembered. 'It is our choices
that define who we truly are, far more than our abilities.' Albus looked up at Scorpius again, and
realized that he may indeed have a point.
The two made small talk for the rest of the trip, with periods of
silence interspersed in between. After what felt like hours, the train finally
pulled into the station.
The first years were escorted from the train, and led up
into the castle, where they were told to wait outside the doors to the Great
Hall. A female professor who
introduced herself as Professor McGonagall talked to them for a few minutes
about the four different houses, and the importance of houses in the students'
daily lives. When she mentioned
Slytherin, Scorpius shot Albus a meaningful look, which he ignored.
Finally, they were let into the Great Hall, and told to line
up in front of the stool with the Sorting Hat resting atop it. Professor
McGonagall began to read names, starting with "Abbot, Richard", who
was sorted into Gryffindor, and "Bulstrode, Kayla" who was sorted
into Ravenclaw.
Finally, the list made it's way to "Malfoy,
Scorpius." As Scorpius made
his way up to the stool, Albus could see students around the hall whispering,
and pointing in what they apparently thought was a subtle manner. He remembered what Scorpius had told
him earlier, and felt a little bad for the other boy. After a few moments on his head, the hat shouted,
"SLYTHERIN it is, then." Scorpius walked over to join the Slytherin
table. "Patil, Anthony,"
was sorted into Hufflepuff, and then, "Potter, Albus."
As Albus made his way to the chair, he felt confused,
excited, and scared all at the same time. The hat was placed on his head, and he heard a soft
voice, almost as though some tiny person was whispering in his ear. "Mr Potter. Another one, I see. I remember sorting your brother last
year, and your father many years before that. Hmm, what's in here.
There's certainly intelligence, and a spark of bravery as well. But there is something else here as
well. You've always tried to live up to the lives of your brother and father,
and you're getting a bit tired of that, aren't you? You'd like to show the
world what you can do, eh?"
Albus knew that if he wanted to dissuade the hat from
placing him in Slytherin, he would have to do it now. He glanced over at the Slytherin table, and saw Scorpius
looking at him intently. Albus
gulped, and made his decision. He
did want to be more than just "Harry Potter's son" and "James
Potter's little brother." He
stayed silent.
"Well, then," the hat continued. "I think the
best place for you would be inÉSLYTHERIN!" The hat shouted that last bit
for the whole hall to hear. Albus
got down off the stool and followed Scorpius' path to the the Slytherin table,
taking a seat beside him.
Scorpius grinned at him, and seemed delighted about
something. "I guess you
changed your mind, then?"
Albus nodded, and grinned back. This was shaping up to be a very interesting year indeed.