Albus Potter and the Return to Hogwarts

Albus had changed into his plain robes and had even begun practicing simple spells with his wand. Rose was just as smart as her mother when it came to spells, she had clearly been given a few lessons from her mother.

His wand was unicorn hair, seven inches, and Albus already loved it. He wasn't very good at any of the spells that Rose had told him about so far, but she had reassured him that it was completely normal for a first year to be so inexperienced. Despite her words of comfort though, he felt humiliated.

It was true that he hadn't practiced much magic at home after recieving his Hogwarts Acceptance letter, but he still couldn't shake the feeling of disapointment. His father had been brilliant at magic, what if he wasn't any good at all? What if he turned out to be a Squib? Albus shook the thoughts from his head and refocused on his cousin.

She had just performed a perfect levotation spell, Wingardium Leviosa, lifting Albus' ferret, Harry, so high that he hit the ceiling of the compartement. She smirked at her success and dropped Harry back onto Albus' lap.

"Here, you try." Rose handed Albus his wand and placed it firmly in his hand. "Keep a strong grip, I don't want my eye poked out."

Albus put Harry back in his cage and held his wand as Rose instructed. She placed a quill from her suitcase on the table in front of him, and instructed him to point his wand directly at it. Albus did as he was told.

"Now, this is the hard part." Began Rose. "Repeat after me: Wingardium Leviosa."
"Wingardium Leviosa."

"Yes! That's great!" Rose beamed at him. "You wouldn't believe how many people pronounce it wrong!"

James snickered next to Albus. "Go on, Al. You can do it by yourself! You don't need a step by step run through. It's not that hard, honestly."

Rose glared at him in annoyance. "Do you want to learn properly or not? You have to make sure you do it right, you can't just go waving your wand whenever you please. It's a very slim chance you'll get it right the first time, even with my help."

"Oh, come on. I did it straight away on my first try." Argued James, earning a light smack on the arm from his cousin.

"Of course you did, you had a professional teacher instructing you! I'm just trying to help him, aren't I, Al?"

Albus stuttered. "I- I think I can manage."

James burst into a fit of laughter. "See? Even he agrees! Go on, Al. Just point and say the spell, it's easy."

Albus steadied his wand and aimed it directly at the quill. James encouraged him to continue, but Albus could see that Rose was holding something back. "Am I doing this right?" He asked her nervously.

Rose sent a glare at James, and then smiled at Albus. "Yes. But you need to use this simple rule: swish and flick. Like this."

She drew her own wand and began showing him how to move his wand when he recited the spell. After a few examples and a few remarks from his brother, Albus lifted his wand and mirrored her actions; "Wingardium Leviosa!"

Everyone held their breathe as they waited for the quill to move. Two, three seconds went by without any change. The quill lay still, not moving an inch. Albus let out his breathe. He knew it wouldn't work.

"Don't worry, Al, you can try again!" Urged his brother, playfully punching his arm. Rose nodded enthusiasticly, and Scorpius, who had been very quiete until now, drew his own wand.

"Try putting more movement into it, make your wrist very weak, yet firm. Like this." Scorpius lifted his wand and swiftly repeated what Rose had done, although it looked much more proffessional. Rose looked livid, whilst James began complimented the blonde haired boy.

Albus thanked Scorpius for his advice, and then tried again. He pointed his wand at the quill, loosening his wrist as he did so, and making sure he had a firm grip on his wand. Scorpius erged him to continue, and Albus lifted in his wand eagerly.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" He cried, and everyone leant forwards to see the result. The quill wobbled slightly, and then lifted a few inches off the table. It hung there for a few seconds, and then landed back in front of Albus. He sighed.

"Don't worry, the same thing happened to me when my father was teaching me." Scorpius patted Albus on the shoulder, trying to comfort him. Albus gave a weak smile.

Rose looked as though she were about to say something comforting but then she suddenly jumped up from her seat excitedly. "We're here!"

The four of them turned to look out of the window, and they could now see the castle in the distance. The older students were already lined up at every door waiting to assist the first years, and Albus could hear children sqealing excitedly from the compartment next door.

Albus, Scorpius, Rose and James left the compartment carrying their luggage, and entered the busy hallway. There was chaos as everyone tried to push through the doors to get onto the platform.

Once they had made their way onto the platform, their luggage was taken immediately from the by tall last years. It was dark and Albus found it hard to keep up with the others, so he held onto Rose's sleeve.

However, the red head turned around to face him. "Al, I have to go now. Stay with Scorpius for now, and I'll see you later."

"Wai-"

"Oh, and good luck!"

"Rose-"

She gripped his shoulders. "You'll be wonderful, no matter what house you're in. You'll be a great wizard, Al. I know you will." She kissed his forehead and ran to find her friends.

Albus ran to join Scorpius just as his brother was leaving to join the second years. He winked at his younger brother, and Albus felt slightly reassured. How bad could the sorting be? The worst scenario would be that he would be sorted into Slytherin. And what would happen? He'd join them at their table, and probably be greeted. They couldn't reject him, not if he belonged to Slytherin.
And so what if he did?

He was lucky to go to Hogwarts, no matter what house he was put into. He promised himself that no matter where he was sorted, he would be grateful.

The first years gathered around, and Albus could see that they were all staring opened mouthed at something above them. Albus followed Scorpius' gaze, only to be met by a half giant. His mouth flew open as he took in the man's appearance. He had long brown hair and a long beard to match, he must have been triple the size of a normal man.

And then Albus realised. This was Hagrid.

"No, it can' be." Hagrid stared down at Albus, who felt very nervous all of a sudden. "Albus Potter. It's good ter see yeh! How's little Lilly?"

Albus gulped. He was so tall. "S-she's fine."

Hagrid chuckled. "I'm surprised yeh father didn' let me meet yeh earlier. Mind you, he has a lot on his plate at the moment, wouldn't yeh say?"

It was true. His father was extremely busy with all his work at the Ministry lately. "Yes. He's got a lot of work to do for the Ministry. Mum says he works too hard."

Hagrid laughed. "She's righ' of course. Harry's given the best years of his life fightin' you-know-who, hasn't he?" Albus nodded. "You look jus' like yeh father."

Albus was shocked to see that Hagrid's eyes were glistening. Had he been this way when he had met James? Albus was about to try and comfort him when he bellowed; "FIRS' YEARS, FOLLOW ME!"

Hagrid began to lead the group forward, and Albus could see small boats lined up in the distance in the lake.

"So that's Hagrid. He's huge." Commented Scorpius as they followed the half giant.

"I know. He's a great man though, he helped my mother and father greatly during the war-"

"Yeah, I know." Albus turned to see that Scorpius looked saddened, and he felt guilty immediately. Of course it would be hard for Scorpius to talk about the war, his father had chosen the wrong side at first.

"I'm sorry I-"

"There's nothing to apologise for." Scorpius strained a smile, and stalked off to the front of the group. Albus felt his heart sink.

Now who was he going to sit with on the boat?

Hagrid halted to a stop. The boats looked tiny, much smaller than what Albus thought they would be. They looked like they could fit about three children in at the most.

"Alrigh'. I'm gonna pair yah all up. You an' you, on tha' boat." Hagrid ushered a small ginger girl and a tall dark haired boy forward and lifted them onto a boat. He pulled out a red umbrella and tapped the boat, making it float away from the lake. The small girl sqeauled and held onto the side of the boat in panic. "Don' worry, it'll take yeh both to the castle! Keep yeh hands an' feet inside and don' move until yeh reach the grounds."

The boat floated away slowly. Hagrid paired a few more students together, including Scorpius who was paired with a big boned brunette boy. Albus sent Scorpius a pleafull look, but Scorpius ignored him. Great. Albus had already blown his friendship with Scorpius before it had begun.

"Albus, yeh gonna share a boat with this young lady." Albus turned to take a look at his partner, but Hagrid picked him up and put him on the boat before he could catch a glance. A few seconds later however, he was joined by a girl with long curly blonde hair. She had small freckles just underneath her eyes and her cheeks dimpled as she smiled at him.

"Hello." She beamed. Albus felt even more nervous than he had before. "I'm Ellie. Ellie Wright."
"I'm Albus. Albus Potter." He replied, only to be met by her shocked face.

"So you're Harry Potter's son! It's great to meet you." She bounced up and down excitedly, causing the boat to shake a little. "Ooh, it's so exciting isn't it? The castle looks so small from here!"

The boat began to float away from the other students, and they began to get smaller and smaller. "Yeah. It's beautiful."

Ellie turned to smile at him as they both stared at the castle longingly. "It's feels like we've been waiting forever to get there, doesn't it? I was so relieved when the train stopped."

Albus nodded. The castle was gradually getting bigger and Albus could even see into a few windows. "We're nearly there now, though."

Ellie squealed. "I know! Gosh, I wonder what house I'll be in!" Albus grimaced, did she have to bring that up? "I hope you're in my house, then we can be friends!"

Albus liked the sound of that. In fact, Albus loved the sound of that. "We can still be friends if we're sorted into different houses though."

"Of course!" She giggled.

They were almost there now, and Albus could see a woman in a pointed hat waiting for them. He let out a sigh of relief. It really did seem like forever, this journey.

They pulled up to the grounds and were pulled out of the boats by helpful last years. They had badges attached to their robes that said; 'Prefects.' Albus smiled. He hoped to be a prefect someday.
The woman in the pointed hat gestured for them to follow her. The castle looked huge as they walked up to the front door. Albus wondered how many rooms there were in the entire castle, there must be thousands!

The front door opened with a huge bang, and the old woman took them inside. Four big glass hour glasses were lined up, two on each side of the door. Albus glanced at the one containing red crystals. There were only a few crystals in there so far. The other glasses contained about the same, and the yellow one contained none, along with the green one.

Albus shuddered. He knew why that one hadn't any points earned yet.

"Come on, quickly!" The students scrambled to try and form a neat line in front of the Professor. "We don't have all day, come along now."

Albus was shoved so that he was inbetween Scorpius and Ellie. Ellie smiled at him and linked her arm with his, and Scorpius just stared straight ahead at the old woman. Albus sighed. He hoped Scorpius would forgive him.

The old woman glared down at them all and waited until they were quiete to speak. "Now, in a few moments we will be entering the Great Hall." She gestured to another huge door to her left. Albus gulped. "Then, I will place the sorting hat onto each of your heads as I call out your names in alphebetical order. You will then be sorted into your houses, and you will join the correct house table."

Ellie sqeezed Albus' arm. "Here at Hogwarts your house will be like your family. You will be expected to treat each other as equals and with respect. Fail to do so, and you will loose points for your house. Any rule breaking will not be tolerated, and you will be rewarded points for any good behaviour. No magic is to be used outside of classes." There were a few groans. "Once we are finished feasting, you must follow your house prefect to the dormitorys. There, you will spend your free time and will go there everynight at seven to go to sleep. At the weekends or holidays you may return to your dormitorys at nine. Any questions?"

Everyone was silent. "Excellent, we shall proceed. Follow me."

They followed the woman into the Great Hall, and all eyes were on them. Thousands of eyes fell on them, and Albus felt his heart pounding in his chest. The ceiling was lit with candles, and it looked as though the hall had no ceiling at all, as if they were still outside. Candles were lit on both sides of the hall, and four long tables streched out to the front of the hall. There the teachers were sat, with one big empty chair in the middle. Albus frowned. Where was their headmaster?

And that's when it hit him. She was stood in front of them. Proffessor McGonigal. He knew all about her of course. All the other students gasped as they realised who they were following.

"Wow. It's..." Ellie seemed lost for words.

"Magical." Finished Albus as they halted to a stop in front of all the teachers.

"Welcome, to Hogwarts! Before I say anything more, we must sort our new students." A round of applause errupted, and McGonagal waved them to stop after a few seconds. "I will call each of you forward, and will place the sorting hat on your heads."

Albus noticed that the sorting hat was placed on a small stall in front of them. McGonagal now held a long piece of parchment that was nearly touching the floor. The sorting hat opened it's mouth and begun to sing;

"We've finally found peace,
Now that You-Know-Who has been gone,
It's that's time again, where I sort you each,
Into your houses, now that the battle has been won,
Whether it be Slytherin, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff,
We're united as one,
All this fighting, we've had enough,
So let's have some fun!

A new generation of wizards, witches, and teachers,
We'll always be together, fighting until the end,
We'll take example from our preachers,
The Golden Trio, our 'thank you's' we'll send,
For without them three children,
We would never have won,
But enough of that now,
A new era has begun!"

McGonagal adjusted her glasses and begun to read; "Adams, Micheal."

A boy with hair that almost covered his eyes sat on the stall. The hat had barely touched his head when it shouted; "Ravenclaw!"

A few minuets passed and McGonagal was reading from the list of last names that began with M. Albus almost didn't notice when she read; "Malfoy, Scorpius."

Albus watched as the blonde haired boy nervously walked up to the stall. He sat down and McGonagal placed the hat onto his head.

There was a pause, and then the hat started speaking. "Ah, a Malfoy, eh? Interesting, very interesting. You're smart, resourceful, and somewhat cunning. You're brave too, there's no doubt about that. Ah, but where to put you?"

Albus crossed his fingers. All he could think was; 'Please be in Gryffindor.'

"SLYTHERIN!" Cried the hat, and a huge applause came from the Slytherin table. Scorpius didn't look too pleased, but he smiled at them nevertheless. Albus tried to grab his attention, but he didn't even glance at him. Would they be able to be friends at all now?

"Too bad. I saw you talking to him earlier, he seemed really nice." Ellie frowned.

"Yeah, well he can still be a nice person, can't he?" Albus asked a little too harshly.

"Y-yeah." Ellie blushed. "I didn't mean it like that- it's just.. well, the majority of Slytherin's go bad don't they?"

"But not all of them." Albus defended Scorpius. He didn't know why he was defending him, he wasn't even sure if they could be friends.

A few moments passed and then McGonagal called; "Potter, Albus."

The hall went completely silent as Albus nervously approached the stall. This was it. He told himself he wouldn't be upset, no matter where he was sorted. He sat down nervously, gripping the stall. The hat was placed on his head so that he could only just see from underneath it.

He scanned the Gryffindor table and found Rose beaming up at him. He smiled back and tried to relax. His brother gave him a thumbs up.

Albus almost jumped when the hat started talking. "Ahh, another Potter. I rememeber when you're father was sat here. Begged me not to place him in Slytherin. Hmm, yes. You're father was a very brave wizard, one of the best. But where to put you?" Albus closed his eyes. His father had asked the hat, so why couldn't he?

Please not Slytherin. Please not Slytherin.

"Ah, I see you are just like your father. Slytherin could help you on the way to greatness, just like it could have your father." Please, please don't put me in Slytherin."I could do it you know, although, you aren't too cunning. You're certainly smart, much more than you think. You're brave too, very brave. Hmm." There was a pause. It felt like eternity as Albus held his breath.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Albus smiled and relaxed as he saw Rose and James rise from their seats, along with the rest of the table. He stood up and ran to his table, sitting down next to Rose. Hands outstreched and he shook them eagerly.

"Well done, mate!" Cried James.

"See? You did fine! Welcome to Gryffindor!" Rose yelled, kissing his cheek.

The applause ended and Albus refocused his attention on the rest of the first years. Ellie looked much more nervous now that Albus had been sorted. He really hoped she'd join him.

After about five more children were sorted, Ellie was called. She almost ran to the stall as she was the last to be sorted. She beamed at Albus as the hat was placed on her head. He crossed his fingers under the table.

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Albus gasped, and his brother looked at him, confused. He forced himself to smile as Ellie passed their table. Both his friends had been sorted into different houses. At least he still had Rose.