Albus Potter and the Return to Hogwarts

Albus Severus Potter followed close behind James, his older brother who was only a year older than him. Just in front of James stood his younger sister, Lily, holding his mother’s hand. His father stood just behind him, pushing Albus’ cart with him.

On his cart was a cage with a medium sized ferret inside, and next to that lay a suitcase with the initials ‘ASP’ printed in golden letters. Albus had named his pet Harry, of course after his father. Albus looked up to his father more than anyone, even more than his mother. He was always there for him and Albus felt he could tell him anything.

As they passed the busy platform where the train had just pulled up, Albus couldn’t help but notice that almost everyone had their eyes on his father. He never quite understood why people looked at him that way, although his parents had explained his father’s past on more than one occasion. He knew his parents’ entire life story, about how they had helped destroy Lord Voldemort in the Great Battle of Hogwarts, and even the story of The Chamber of Secrets in their second year.

At first these stories had scared Albus. Hogwarts seemed to be full of dangerous beasts and places when his parents had been at school, and if it was anything like that now then Albus wasn’t sure he’d like it there. But Albus couldn’t deny the sparkle he saw in his parents’ eyes whenever they spoke of Hogwarts, and they would always refer to it as ‘home’. His father had described it as the most beautiful, magical place in the world, where anyone was welcome.

Just as Albus started developing a serious case of butterflies, he spotted his cousin, Rose Weasley. He exhaled with relief as he spotted her smiling face. If there was one person he wanted to see at that moment it was her. Just behind her was his little cousin, Hugo Weasley. Both of his cousins had ginger hair, Rose’s being bushy and tied back like her mother’s.

“Suitcase, bag, robes, is that everything?” Hermione asked her daughter, nervously checking through her possessions.

“She’s fine, aren’t you Rose?” Ron laughed, shaking his head at her mother. “Your mother never stops worrying. Always the perfectionist.”

“Always.” Grinned Albus’ aunt, taking hold of his Uncle’s hand. At that moment she spotted Harry, and ran up to him immediately, hugging him tight. Rose ran towards Albus, stopping just in front of him. She beamed at him as their parents talked amongst themselves.

“I wonder what house we’ll be sorted into.” Chimed Rose. Albus felt the butterflies return to his stomach. That had been the one thing that had kept him awake at night for the last few weeks leading up to this day. What if he was sorted into Slytherin?

Albus hesitated to answer. “You’ll probably be sorted into Gryffindor. Your parents were both in Gryffindor.”

Rose caught the look on Albus’ face and giggled. “Both your parents were in Gryffindor too, Al.” Albus considered this as she skipped back towards her mother. It was true that both his parents had been in the same house, but what if he was different? It used to be rumoured that there wasn’t a student in Slytherin that hadn’t gone bad, what if that were still true?

Speaking of Slytherin, Albus caught a glimpse of Draco Malfoy and his son, Scorpius. Scorpius had blonde hair like his father, who was standing with his hand on his son’s shoulder. Albus caught Draco’s eye and looked away quickly. His parents had assured him that the Malfoy family had changed since their time at Hogwarts, but that didn’t stop Albus from feeling anxious whenever he saw them.

His father had clearly seen him looking, because he let go of his mother’s hand and came to stand next to Albus. “Be nice to Scorpius, Al. I know it’s hard for you, but not all of Slytherin are bad people. Look at Severus for example, you remember me telling you about him, don’t you?”

Albus nodded shamefully. His father spoke highly of the old Headmaster, always reminding him and his siblings what a brave man he was. He wished he could have met him, he sounded like a great man, even though Harry had told him that he hadn’t been his favourite teacher from the start.

Parents all around had begun hugging and saying goodbye to their children now, and Albus saw his mother kissing James and Lily on the forehead. Lily was hugging James goodbye, as she still had two years to wait until she could board the train. He smiled slightly to himself, but then felt the butterflies getting worse. A group of Slytherin boys that looked like they were in their third year were now laughing and playfully hitting each other as they walked onto the train.

Albus fell back behind him father, pretending to tie his shoelaces. He needed to save some time, delay the departure just for a minute. He wasn’t sure he was ready to go to Hogwarts just yet; he wouldn’t see his parents until after Christmas. What if he didn’t make any new friends?

Just as Albus had finished untying both his shoelaces, his father bent down in front of him and began doing them back up. His father looked up and smiled at him, his round glasses on the tip of his nose. This was it.

“Dad?” His father nodded for him to continue. “What if I’m put into Slytherin?”

His father chuckled slightly and Albus began to relax. “Then Slytherin will have gained a wonderful student.”

Albus wasn’t satisfied with his answer. He had expected his father to assure him that he couldn’t possibly be sorted into Slytherin. Albus stuttered; “But, what if I am?”

His father looked much more serious now. He grabbed his son’s shoulders lightly and looked him in the eyes. “Albus Severus Potter. You were named after two Headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was the bravest man I ever knew, and he was in Slytherin.”

Albus smiled. That had reassured him a little, but something was still worrying him. “But the other one was in Gryffindor. And I know he was one of the greatest Wizards in History.”

His father ruffled his messy brown hair and laughed. “And Albus Dumbledore trusted Severus with all his heart. If Slytherin was really that bad, Severus would have betrayed him. But he didn’t.”

Albus considered this as his father helped him up. Maybe being in Slytherin wouldn’t be that bad, but he still wanted to make his father proud. After all, James had already been sorted into Gryffindor, so if he was any different he didn’t know what he would do.

His younger sister had run up to his father now, tugging at his shirt. “I want to go to Hogwarts! It’s not fair!” She complained, sending Albus a glare.

“You’ll be going soon, Lily, don’t worry. You’ve only got two years to wait.” Harry smiled, picking her up and kissing her. “Whilst they’re all learning and doing school work, we’ll be at home playing Quiddich, eating Chocolate Frogs, and watching television.”

Lily considered this as her father put her down. “But they get to do magic! They have wands and I don’t! I want to have a wand with magical powers!” She pouted.

Harry crouched down in front of her. “Lily, the power is inside of you. It’s not the wand that gives the wizard magical ability. The magic is here.” Harry placed a hand over her heart. She looked up at him in wonder, to which Albus echoed. He always clung onto every word his father said.

The train was almost completely full now, and Rose was the only one other than Albus that hadn’t boarded yet. She stood just inside the train door, waiting for him. He hugged his father quickly, and gave his mum a kiss on the cheek. She smiled and handed him his wand and robes, which she told him not to get dirty.

He joined Rose and walked onto the train, looking out at his parents the entire time. His father stood hand in hand with his mother and Ron and Hermione stood next to them, Hermione hugging an envious looking Hugo. His own mother was comforting Lily, who looked like she was about to cry as she watched her brothers board the train. Draco stood just in front of them, waving at Scorpius just as Albus had reached his compartment. There sat Rose and James, who gestured for him to sit next to them.

Looking out the window, Albus spotted Teddy Lupin, who was kissing Victoire, Fleur and Bill Weasley’s daughter. She was in her last year at Hogwarts, whereas Teddy had left a year ago. Albus saw the shock on James’ face as he spotted the two of them kissing.

“Look, our Teddy is kissing Victoire!” He squealed, pointing it out to the rest of them. Rose giggled as they watched the two depart. Victoire had long blonde hair that curled slightly like her mother’s, and Teddy had ruffled dark hair that hung just over his eyes. He spotted them looking and winked.

“Stop being so nosey you two.” Laughed Rose, watching Albus and James with their faces pressed up against the window. “I wish mum and dad would let Teddy live with us, I have so much fun when he’s here!”

James nodded enthusiastically; “Yeah! But dad says he spends enough time with us as it is which I don’t think is true.”

Albus sent one last wave to his parents, who waved back immediately. His mother looked as though she were about to cry, whereas his father just looked genuinely happy. He turned back to his cousin and brother; “He only comes around every night for dinner.”They all looked at each other for a second, and then burst into laughter. “Okay, maybe he does come around a lot.”

At that moment, Scorpius walked into their compartment, looking uncomfortable. The train was about to move. “Can I sit here please? Everywhere else is full.”

Rose, James and Albus exchanged nervous glances. They had never spoken to Scorpius before.

Rose was the one to reply. “Of course you can.” She smiled, gesturing for him to sit down opposite her. He smiled gratefully at her, and took a seat.

The train began to move, and Albus took one last glance at his parents. Lily waved at him with a sad expression on her face, and then they were gone. Kings Cross Station was just a speck now, and Albus felt oddly excited. His butterflies were long gone now, and he couldn’t wait for the journey ahead.