Albus withdrew his head from the window, his hair as messy as always. That was the one good thing about inheriting his father's untidy hair – throwing his head out of the window of moving transportation effected it minimally. Rose, however, couldn't say the same. Her bushy, flaming red hair was already entangled, and he watched her absentmindedly comb her fingers through it, a serious look on her face. Albus was used to this – Rose was his best friend, but her mind frequently went places that his couldn't fathom. This time, however, he thought he had an idea.

"We're going to be all right," he said, a little more confidently than he felt. The blazing smile he had just been wearing across his face had vanished with the last sight of his parents, and Rose's grim expression was infecting him as though it were seeping in through the pores in his body. He searched for the warmth again, but he seemed to have left it at the train station. "My dad told me that even if I'm in Slytherin, it won't change anything."

"Lucky you," Rose said, fingers still slithering through her hair. "You know my dad, and you heard him. He'll disinherit me."

"I don't think he was serious," Albus said quickly.

"Oh, I know," Rose said, but her expression didn't falter for an instant. "Mum would never let him. But he'd be very disappointed, that I know for sure."

Albus searched for something to say, but couldn't deny the obvious truth to her words, so he settled himself with staring out the window. It was a beautiful morning, a perfect blue sky touched with unicorn-white clouds. With a pang of regret, it hit him that he was leaving everything he knew behind. He'd been told stories about Hogwarts from everyone, of course, and it sounded wonderful, but now that he was on the train and there was no going back, he sort of wished he was still with Lily and his parents at the station.

As though reading his mind, Rose spoke. "It's much better that we're going, you know. I'm quite glad to be starting on my education. After watching Teddy, Victoire, and James go, I've felt ready for some time."

In a quick attempt to change the topic, for Albus did want not to admit how homesick he was feeling already, he said, "You don't think it was true what James said, do you? About Teddy and Victoire?"

"Of course it was," said Rose, and a bit of her brisk self came back. An annoying superior look crossed her features. "It's been obvious it was coming for ages."

"What do you mean?" said Albus, his annoyance slightly obvious. "You're no Seer, you couldn't know!"

"You didn't have to be a Seer to know that was coming," said Rose in that irritating tone again. Albus felt his frustration rising. "Our parents have been discussing it for quite some time. I'd have thought you'd have known."

"They have not been talking about it! They'd have told me! Dad doesn't keep secrets form me!" But Albus was forced to stop there. He firmly believed that his father told him the truth at all times, but did his father keep secrets from him? Hadn't he just found out on the platform that he didn't know everything about his father? Albus had never known that the Sorting Hat had taken his father's opinion into account. He wondered vaguely if James knew and considered getting up to find him, but just then, the compartment door opened.

A very strange boy stood at the doorway, and Albus could think of no politer word. He had a light shade of blond hair that was in rather a disarray, as though he had not bothered to comb it that morning. His wand was held between his teeth and he had a bracelet that looked like a series of radishes, but smelled strongly of garlic. He was not yet dressed in his robes, but wore the strangest assortment of Muggle clothes Albus had ever seen – a canary yellow sweater, a plaid maroon kilt, and what looked like women's leggings traveling down to meet a pair of hiking boots. Perhaps his only favorable feature was his large, striking blue eyes.

"Sorry," he mumbled through the wand, "can I sit here?"

Rose didn't seem able to respond, her mouth slightly agape at the newcomer, so Albus patted the seat next to him as a means of consent. Seeing as both Rose and Albus had parents that were familiar with the Muggle world, they were taught early on Muggle customs and how to fit in. Until now, it had never really occurred to them that anyone didn't know.

As the boy was putting his trunk in the rack above their heads, Rose spluttered, "Who are you?"

Albus gave her a scathing look, but the boy didn't seem to have noticed. "Aeron Lovegood."

"Lovegood?" said Rose, startled. "Not the Lovegoods of The Quibbler?"

"Yes," said Aeron airily. "So you know of us?"

Rose looked as though this confirmed all of her worst suspicions. "That—"

But Albus, having some experience with Rose, cut her off before she could say anything insensitive. "That's an interesting magazine. My father's told me about it, says that even though it prints unusual material, it should be treated with respect."

Aeron eyed Albus for several moments as though contemplating him. "Who are you?"

"I'm Albus Potter, but Al's fine, and this is Rose Weasley."

Aeron nodded as though he had expected this. "Yes, of course."

Albus shared an uncertain look with Rose, both of them wondering the same thing: who had they just let sit in their compartment?

Before any more conversation could continue, however, the doors were thrust open again.

"Ha! So here you are!"

With an exclamation like that, Albus had expected James, but was surprised not to recognize the boy standing before him. Rose, however, scrutinized him as she would her arch rival. He, too, had blond hair, even fairer than Aeron's, and a pale complexion to match. His brand new black Hogwarts robes made it look even odder than was probably natural. His sharp, gray eyes bored into Albus's.

"So!" he said triumphantly.

Having no idea what was going on, Albus simply stared.

"You're the Potter boy!" he said again.

"Oh, very clever," Rose snapped. Albus turned to look at her, surprised at the sudden hostility.

The boy turned to give Rose a contemptuous glance. "And the Weasley girl, are you? Yes, my father told me I probably wouldn't like you."

"Then why have you come searching for us?" Albus asked haughtily, hurrying in defense of Rose.

"Because I was told all about you, of course," came the boy's drawling voice. "My father told me I shouldn't be difficult for you, but I think it's all rubbish. I'm not going to stand aside for anyone, especially if I don't like them!"

He gave a pointed look at Rose.

"Yeah, well we don't like you either, so get out!"

"I'll leave when I please, Weasley!"

"You're quite rude, you know," came Aeron's voice.

The blond turned a scathing look onto Aeron. "And who are you?"

"Aeron Lovegood," he answered promptly.

The boy stared for a moment, then burst into a heap of laughter. "Your mother runs The Quibbler! I can't believe she can afford to send you here, running that piece of rubbish!"

"We make a very good living off it," Aeron said unconcernedly. He pulled the magazine seemingly out of nowhere as though to illustrate his point. The cover clearly showed the headline: Confirmed Sighting of Crumple-Horned Snorkack in Ireland!

The boy laughed even harder. "I actually read that once, it was complete nonsense! Not an ounce of truth in the entire paper! It was a complete waste of my life!"

"Would you get out before I really waste your life?" Albus said threateningly.

"Ooh, has daddy made you feel like you're someone important?" Scorpius's laughter died and he pulled on a sneer. "Just because your father did some 'helpful' stuff for the wizarding world doesn't mean you can walk all over everyone."

"Like you're doing?" said Rose snappily, but she was cut off by Albus saying, "What do you mean?"

"What do I mean? Really, Potter, please don't insult my intelligence. I'm sure it could outstrip yours any day."

"Oh? Would you like to put that to the test?" said Rose, her voice rising noticeably.

Here, however, the boy hesitated slightly, eyeing Rose with uncertainty. "Your mother."

"What about her?" said Rose angrily, and she made to stand, but Albus grabbed her arm and thrust her back into the seat.

"Nothing," said Scorpius dismissively. "I'll just beat you all out at everything and we'll see who's the best! Just stay out of my way or I'll hex you! I know some good ones, wanna see?"

"Scorpius," came a quiet voice warningly.

It was only then that Albus noticed the blond boy was not alone. Standing behind him was another boy, such the opposite of Scorpius that it was a strange sight to behold. He was taller than Scorpius with hair as black as Albus's. His dark eyes took in the scene intuitively, almost as though he saw more than the rest of them. Where Scorpius was in shining new robes, this boy wore robes that were clearly bought secondhand. About the only thing they held in common was the same pale skin, though the stranger's seemed to suit him better than Scorpius's.

Scorpius sent his companion an annoyed look. "Yes, yes, all right, Lucas." He turned back to the people in the compartment. "We'll be seeing you around, I suppose. I'm not going easy on you just because my father wills it!"

And with a rather loud noise, he slammed the door so hard that the glass broke. Rose gave an angry sigh and whipped out her wand, pointed it at the broken glass, and said, "Reparo!"

The glass immediately flew back in place into the doorframe neatly, not a crack remaining. It looked as though it had never been broken. Albus gazed in awe at his friend. "You didn't tell me you could do magic already!"

Rose shrugged. "Just simple spells. Mum and dad are terrible. They always chide each other if they catch one another teaching me magic, but they love to help me when they think no one's watching."

The conversation with Scorpius was soon out of their minds. After he had pulled out his edition of The Quibbler, Aeron buried himself inside it and was not seen again for another hour. By that time, Albus and Rose were chatting happily about recent stories that the other hadn't heard yet and what they had been told about Hogwarts from their parents (none of them dared mentioned what James had said for fear of any of it being true). The trolley lady came and went, and each of them bought some cauldron cakes and, most especially, treacle tart – it had been recommended highly to Albus by his father.

Later throughout the day, James came to visit them. He, too, seemed taken aback by Aeron, but quickly fell back into his usual self. By the time he left, he had successfully turned Aeron's seat into a cushion of marshmallows, made Albus's glasses stick to the roof, and changed Rose's hair pink. His two friends that had followed him, Gavin and Michael, did nothing to save them from James's wrath. It was only when a passing prefect heard Rose's distressed wailing that their situation was rectified, though Aeron tried to convince the girl to leave his seat made of marshmallows, saying it gave the compartment "a little bit of personality." The prefect murmured something about Aeron giving it quite enough, but Albus wasn't sure he heard her.

Darkness fell over the train slowly. After talking with Rose about all the positive things they had heard about Hogwarts, he was now starting to look forward to their time there. This, of course, made time slow down to half its normal speed, and he found himself staring unseeingly through the window, boredom taking over. Clouds slowly passed by, and the blue sky seemed to take another day in itself changing colors before deciding on its routine black. Albus liked the night. Certainly there was nothing like a beautiful day for Quidditch, but something about all the stars at night was calming. He was sure his fascination would die as quickly as Astronomy started, however – once he was forced to start naming them and memorizing their placements and how many moons they had that he couldn't see anyway, the beauty of the night sky would likely dissolve.

After what felt like days, but logically was only hours, Rose commented that they should probably change into their robes. The boys looked startled at the sudden intrusion on their silence, but obeyed. Not a minute after, they felt the train begin to slow to a stop. Rose and Albus exchanged anxious glances, and the nervousness Albus had felt when he left his father returned to him now. What if things had changed since he had left Hogwarts? What if the Sorting Hat didn't care what Albus wanted, what if it put him in Slytherin anyway?

With uneasy steps, Albus pulled his things from the carriage. His new owl, Casper, was his only source of comfort as he traveled among the masses and was separated quickly from Rose and Aeron. He heard James call out, "Got your glasses, then?" as he passed, but Albus strained his ears for a different sound. After a few moments of picking apart the students voices, he found it.

"Firs' years, this way! Firs' years, over here!"

Albus was hard put not to run, and managed to contain himself to a brisk walk as he hurried forward. Hagrid's shadow loomed out of the distance, and a bright smile lit the half-giant's features as he spotted Albus in the crowd.

"S'bout time you showed up! I been waitin' for yeh here, keepin' a lookou' an' you're takin' your time!"

"Sorry, Hagrid," said Albus, returning the grin. It had been a long time since he'd seen Hagrid. Seeing as how Hogwarts still needed to be kept in pristine condition over the holidays and even the summer, Hagrid didn't seem available to visit that often. He still managed to come up for a Christmas or a birthday now and again, though, and that was all they really needed. As much as they loved Hagrid, he always insisted on bringing his own cooking to lighten the load on his mum and Rose's mum, which, though no one would ever say aloud for fear of their fathers' wrath, was about as good as dragon dung. Albus had already been forewarned that when he went to tea next Friday, he was to stay well clear of the chocolate cake.

"Firs' years, c'mon now! Right, you all 'ere?" He glanced around at them, as though expecting anyone who wasn't there to pop up and tell him so. "Right, then let's be off! We got a schedule to keep!"

Albus looked around frantically for Rose, but she found him first. The nervousness that had subsided at the sight of Hagrid was doubled after a look at Rose's face. It seemed she was getting closer and closer to a mental breakdown the nearer they got to Hogwarts. Albus made a mental note not to look at her when they were actually in front of the hat.

"All righ', in the boats! No more'n four to a boat!" called Hagrid to the crowd. He took an entire boat to himself, and the first years scrambled after him, eager not to be left behind. Albus sat next to Rose, and they were joined by Aeron and a brunette girl that Albus didn't know. None of them except Aeron seemed able to do anything but focus on breathing properly, however, and so introductions were bypassed. Aeron had put away his copy of The Quibbler and was humming a strange jazz number that Albus didn't know.

As though Hagrid had eyes in the back of his head, he called, "FORWARD!" as soon as the last boy was safely inside. There was a large rippling effect as the boats silently glided forward, all moving as one. The night was dark, but Hogwarts castle could still be seen as it loomed in the distance, catching every eye and holding it as though it were the climax to a very good show. The lights from inside burned like golden jewels, reflecting across the lake and through the stars in the sky.

Noise broke the silence. "I just saw a mermaid!"

There was immediate chattering and people looking over the edges of the boat to see if it was true, some with looks of excitement and others sheer terror.

"Don' be startin' those kind o' rumors! The mermen in the lake don' come up to see the firs' years across," said Hagrid loudly.

"Then there are mermen in the lake?" said a frightened girl in a nearby boat.

"'Course there are! Use 'em in the Triwizard Tournament every now and again. Merpeople are all righ' if yeh don' upset them, but they're best to be avoided if yeh can. They can get dangerous, they can."

There was more muttering about this, but they didn't have long. Hagrid called, "Duck!" as they had entered a dark cave underneath the castle and came up on a bank shortly thereafter. The first years followed Hagrid's lead as he got out of his boat and walked up a path that led them onto a sea of grass near a set of stone stairs. At the top, a rather plump, gleeful looking man in dark violet robes was waiting for them.

"Ah!" he said when they were all before him. "I see you have all arrived unharmed, lovely! Unfortunately, there is little time to chat. You know Minerva," the man said to Hagrid, "always in a hurry. You'd think the school was going to be attacked or something!"

At several gasps from students, he amended himself. "No, no, it isn't going to be attacked, silly idea, but the Headmistress is always a little edgy, you know. Anyway, it's almost time, we must be quick!"

And with that, he strode to a door behind him and opened it, leading the way into the castle, Hagrid taking up the rear. It took a few moments before Albus was far enough inside to make out the room they were entering. It was huge, huge beyond all standards of huge; his father could never have accurately described the grandness of the entrance hall with mere words. He had no time to gawk, however, as he was pushed forward by more students. He saw the man in purple pause outside a set of oak doors, listening. The doors were open, and the rumble of students talking drifted effortlessly through to the first years listening slightly beyond.

Then there was a clinking of glass and a stern voice said, "Your attention, please. It is time to sort the first years."

The jaunty man turned to them, face alight with excitement. "That's our cue!"