We drove to King's Cross, and by some miracle nobody managed to forget anything. James, of course, bugged me about Slytherin the entire time. He probably thought I was freaking out about Slytherin. No, it was just not being in Gryffindor that had me worried. I went through the gate to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters for the second time in my life. I managed to cover my minor panic attack before I hit the barrier. Next year, I promised myself, I would be confident walking through that gate, if I survived that long. We got to the platform and met up with Uncle Ron, Aunt Hermione, Rose and Hugo. The adults joked about Ron's driving a little bit. Then James came running up with the "news" of Victoire and Teddy snogging. I wasn't surprised at all. I had seen them last Christmas under a mistletoe. I was amazed, however, that they were snogging in public. Last I heard they hadn't made it official. James teased me some more about thestrals and then he ran off onto the train. I hoped I wouldn't see him for a while.
That all seems insignificant now. The one thing that I remembered perfectly was when I finally confessed my worry about not being in Gryffindor.
"Dad, what if I'm in Slytherin?" I had asked timidly, whispering. This was the last chance to ask that dreadful question I'd always been afraid to ask before.
Harry crouched down so I was just a bit taller than him. "Albus Severus," he said quietly. At that moment I was too nervous for the answer to be annoyed that he'd used my full name. "You were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew."
Well, that didn't cut it. I didn't want some crap about a headmaster. I just needed an assurance that I was going to be in Gryffindor, "But just say—"
"—then Slytherin House will have gained an excellent student, won't it? It doesn't matter to us, Al. But if it matters to you, you'll be able to choose Gryffindor over Slytherin. The Sorting Hat takes your choice into account."
What? That didn't make any sense. "Really?"
"It did for me," said Harry.
Wow, he'd never told us that before. He was going to be in Slytherin but he chose Gryffindor? Being able to choose your House? At that moment, before the words and meaning could really sink in, the doors started slamming on the train. I jumped into the carriage following Rose's lead. Then I noticed everyone was staring at us.
"Why are they all staring?" I asked Rose and I looked back at the other students trying to make them stop being so rude.
"Don't let it worry you. It's me. I'm extremely famous," said Uncle Ron. Rose, Hugo, Lily and I all laughed at the notion. Uncle Ron could be silly sometimes.
The train started moving and pretty soon it rounded the corner and I lost sight of everyone for the last time… for a long time. Rose and I stood still and stared out the window for a few seconds.
"Well, let's go look for a compartment," Rose said, a bit nervously.
"I guess," I mumbled and trudged off after her, dragging my trunk behind me.
All the compartments were either filled to breaking point or filled with gawking or glaring people. I could hear whispers following me down the hallway. They were mostly either about me or the recent kappa invasion in the Black Lake. I wondered about that and made a mental note to ask my dad. I kept my head down to avoid making eye contact with anyone. I didn't want anyone to recognize me, least of all my brother. It was because of this that I almost ran into Rose when she came to an abrupt halt. I looked to see why. We were at the last compartment; it was empty except for a blond headed figure looking out the window. Rose looked indecisive for only a moment before opening the compartment door.
"Excuse me," she asked in her sweetest voice. "May we sit here? Everywhere else is full."
The blond boy looked around. I recognized him as Scorpius Malfoy, the one Harry had pointed out. Malfoy regarded us with what appeared to be bored eyes, but something told me he was actually curious. He nodded stiffly.
"Thank you," Rose said. We put our trunks away with minor difficulty and sat down. I was sitting opposite of the Malfoy.
I studied him carefully. He had silvery blond hair, grey eyes, and I could tell his robes were obviously the best money could buy. He was staring out of the window, oblivious to our scrutiny.
We sat in silence and I was comfortable with it. I don't care much for people who can't stop talking. Rose was obviously not okay with it. "So do you have any hobbies?" She asked, again in her sweetest voice. I groaned inwardly. Leave it to her to ask a stupid question. I mean, seriously, what more inept question could you ask after complete silence? 'Will you marry me?' would be less awkward.
"I like to draw comics," Malfoy said in a monotone voice. I was surprised he'd answered the awkward question. I was even more taken aback, however, by his response.
"Comics?" I asked. That seemed like an odd hobby for a wizard. For Muggles, the hobby would be fine, but for a wizard? I mean, come on. Try Quidditch.
Malfoy's face turned red and he mumbled, "That's not what I meant…" he muttered some words after that but I couldn't catch them.
"Oh, that's… nice," was all Rose could think of to say to this strange boy, her voice hitting a higher note on the last word. Rose pursed her lips. I knew that meant she was thinking hard. I wondered what she was thinking about now.
"By the way, my name's Scorpius."
"We know, our parents pointed you out. Your last name's Malfoy," Rose said in a suddenly frosty reply. Aha, must mean she's decided she doesn't like the Malfoy, but I do suppose she could've been a bit nicer, even with him being a Malfoy.
"I know," he said softly, confused by Rose's new tone. I felt like explaining to him what the change meant but I kept my lips tight, worried what Rose would make of it.
Silence followed. Rose did not attempt any more conversation and got out a textbook from her bag to read. I looked out the window at the passing scenery. I had counted seven different farms before it started to rain. I thought about what my father had said just before I boarded the train. The Sorting Hat would let you choose which house you can be in? But wouldn't that destroy the whole purpose of it?
"Al, Rosie! There you are." The compartment door banged open, breaking the silence, "We've been looking all over the train for you." James said, obviously relieved at finding us. He was flanked by his friends Lee Jordan Jr., Andy Griffin, and some of our cousins Roxanne, Lucy, and Fred Weasley.
"Oh, and who's this?" Fred asked, noticing Scorpius.
"Scorpius Horoscope Malfoy," James joked and everyone laughed except me. I don't know why but it seemed mean making fun of someone for their name. It wasn't like they could help it. It was their parent's fault. Look at my name. I have a terrible name but I didn't choose it, yet I still have to live with it.
"Rosie, why don't you come with Roxy and me? We've our own compartment with Victoire, Dominique, and Molly. It's just us girls," Lucy added, looking at me and Scorpius in a meaningful way. Rose seemed all too willing to leave. She got up and followed them without a word but sent a loaded glance at me. I understood.
"See you later, Al," Roxy called. I nodded my head. I found it amazing how much she distrusted boys. She would gather all the girls up and do everything to keep them out of the loop. I rolled my eyes when she turned around.
"I guess it's some kind of Weasley girl cult," James snickered just before the girls were out of earshot. All three looked back and gave him a nasty look.
"Al," James said, suddenly serious and looking intently at me, "remember what Dad said… and no funny business." He looked pointedly at Scorpius who was gazing at us with interest. Again, I felt the urge to inform him on the inside scoop before I caught myself." And I may or may not save you a seat for the feast. Depending on you know what," James added with a Cheshire grin. He deliberated a moment and added, "If you want you can sit with us, it might be a tight fit, though." I thought about it. I'd have to sit in a compartment filled to the brim with older kids who'd tease me. I barely repressed a shudder
"No, thanks."
"If you change your mind we're close to the front," said Fred. I was always suspicious of him- being Uncle George's son, he always had a trick up his sleeve. James, his friends, and my cousins left; Fred gave me a wink before disappearing down the corridor. I knew for a fact that I wasn't going to join them.
I could think for only a moment before Scorpius interrupted my thoughts by inquiring, "What was that about?"
I looked at him. "What part?" I asked.
"Was the one speaking your brother?" I nodded. "What about the rest? Are they all related?" Malfoy asked, genuinely curious. I weighed my options. It didn't seem like it would hurt anyone if I told him.
"Well, James is my brother, he's a second year. His friends are Lee Jordan and Andy Griffin; both second years. The redhead was Fred, my cousin whose parents are my Uncle George and Aunt Angelina. The girls were Roxanne, Fred's sister, she goes by Roxy, and Lucy who's Molly's sister. Molly and Lucy are Uncle Percy and Aunt Audrey's two daughters. Victoire and Dominique are sisters and have a brother, Louis. Their parents are Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur. All are an eighth veela, though you'd think Victoire was at least half," I finished. Had I given too much away?
"Wow, and you're all cousins?" Scorpius raised his eyes in surprise. I nodded my head. "How many is that?"
I quickly counted them up in my head, "Nine, counting Rosie and Hugo."
"Hugo?"
"Rosie's younger brother; he's not at Hogwarts yet," I replied. That was okay to say, wasn't it?
"What are all the surnames?" Scorpius asked suspiciously.
"My surname is Potter, as is James's. The rest of them are Weasleys," I answered. I had obviously given too much away as Scorpius immediately frowned and looked out the window.
"What's the matter?" I asked, bewildered.
"Your father's Harry Potter," Scorpius Malfoy said to the window.
"Yeah? Is that a problem?" I shot back, defensively.
"My father told me to stay well away from any of the Potters or Weasleys. He said they're all just trouble," Scorpius said, almost ashamed.
I couldn't figure out why. My dad and uncles had told me the same thing about the Malfoys. So here I was sitting with the very person my family had told me not to sit with… Oh, I silently thought.
"I guess our fathers were enemies when they went to school together," Malfoy continued speaking.
I said, "Well, my dad said your dad was evil and came from an evil family because you're pureblood and make a show of it. But your dad especially hates my dad because my dad saved your dad's life a lot of times. And that's just embarrassing to him," I said remembering all the stories Harry had told me about his time at Hogwarts. "If that makes any sense," I added as an afterthought when I thought about how confusing that sounded. What a minute, what was I doing? Why was I talking to a Malfoy?
"Yeah, I've guessed that much. My father says Mudblo… Muggle-borns and half-bloods don't belong in the world, and pureblood wizards should take over. But when I asked my father why he doesn't do anything about it, he just mumbled stuff about 'Harry Potter', 'scum', and 'way too powerful,’" Scorpius shrugged and rolled his eyes. There was a small, awkward pause, but then we looked at each other and spontaneously burst out laughing. I couldn't help myself. My father was the reason Malfoy wasn't trying to take over the world? And the way Scorpius said it… almost like he didn't really believe his father wouldn't be able to do anything either way. We laughed until our eyes started watering and we couldn't breathe. I couldn't understand why I was laughing with a Malfoy of all people, but at the moment I really didn't care. After getting that out of the way, realizing we didn't care that our fathers had a grudge against each other, we continued on with more light-hearted conversations.
We were talking about our favorite and least favorite Quidditch teams, when the door slammed open again. Three girls – a blond and two brunettes – walked in and stood in front of me, stopping the conversation Scorpius and I were having.
"Fred was in here earlier," the blond girl stated. I didn't know what to say, so I decided to just keep quiet. "Well, he was. Wasn't he?"
"Yes, he was," Scorpius answered for me, looking at the newcomers strangely. The girls looked at him very briefly before turning back to me.
"You're his cousin, correct?" one of the brunettes asked this time.
"Yes…" I couldn't see where this was going.
"Then you must know him well," the last brunette said.
"Fairly, our families do things together a lot," I looked at Scorpius who looked as baffled as I felt as to where this was headed.
"So you know his likes and dislikes," the blond stated.
"Some." Were they ever going to get to the point?
"Do you know what kind of girls he likes?" Brunette One asked, looking shyly at the blond.
I was surprised by this question. I certainly hadn't thought that was where they were going. "Um, no, not really."
"Why don't you ask him yourself?" Scorpius bravely said. The three girls looked shocked. The two brunettes looked to the blond for leadership. Seriously, did these girls have any life?
The blond thrust her chin up and answered Scorpius, "Do you think I'm stupid?" Scorpius opened his mouth to answer, but the blond cut him off. "Don't answer that." She turned back to me. "So you really have no idea what he likes?" Scorpius was mouthing words behind her back and I knew that the blond wouldn't like one bit what he was mouthing.
I really didn't know what Fred liked. He would once in a while point out a girl, but I never paid close enough attention to see what they all had in common. So I answered truthfully. "I truly don't know."
"Then this conversation never happened," the blond said and swept out of the compartment, quickly followed by Brunette One and Two.
"Wait! What's your name? Maybe we can tell him you've been asking around." The girls ignored Scorpius. He chuckled. I looked at him curiously, trying to decipher what just happened for a moment before I shrugged and brought up the Chudley Cannons again.
Just as I was really starting to get hungry and wish I'd eaten more breakfast, the lady with the lunch trolley came by. "Anything off the trolley, dears?" she asked.
I bought Cauldron Cakes, Chocolate Frogs, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, and about everything I could find with the money mum and dad had given just for this purpose.
"Do you want any, dearie?" she asked Scorpius. Scorpius shook his head and mumbled something that sounded like his mother packed his lunch. "Well, if you want anything later, I'll be up at the front." With that, she left.
I piled all my sweets into nice piles before digging in. I noticed Scorpius gaze wistfully at the piles of sweets. "Want some? I probably bought too much for me alone," I offered a bit reluctantly. I had bought just enough for me.
"No, thanks."
"If you say so," I said and continued to eat. "If you don't mind me asking, but why not?" Who wouldn't want candy? Was he poor or something? The way he was dressed suggested otherwise.
"I-I'm…" Scorpius struggled and sighed. "I know this sounds stupid, but… I'm allergic to wheat."
My eyes widened. "Wow, but what does that have to do with candy?" What a dumb question.
Scorpius thought for a minute before saying, "You'd think it'd be nothing. But I guess I'm highly allergic to it, and so if wheat touches anything I eat… well, let's just say it's not a pretty sight. My mother is very protective of my food for that reason, and she doesn't trust the candy companies. I can't argue with her either anymore, not after the incident." I looked at him curiously when he stopped talking, wanting to know the whole story. He saw this and continued.
"Last year, I got curious. I wanted a Chocolate Frog. So I snuck one into my room, thinking my parents wouldn't suspect a thing. My plan backfired when I ate it and my face and neck immediately started swelling up and my parents didn't know. It was an awkward time explaining to my parents at St. Mungo's with Healers listening in," Scorpius then tacked on as an afterthought, "but I can still remember how good the Chocolate Frog tasted… so good…"
"If you want me to stop eating it, let me know," I said, this time very reluctantly. I had just started to dig into a box of Bertie Botts.
"No, no you don't have to," Scorpius assured me. I couldn't lie, even to myself that I was relieved as I popped a rubber-tasting bean into my mouth.
"Weird," I said, referring to his allergies. "But isn't wheat in a lot of things?" Wasn't it? I had to think for a second.
"Weird," he agreed. "And yes, it is. Most of the time, my mother has to make things wheat-less so I don't have to worry about it. It takes a lot of the Italian foods off of my menu." He joked weakly. He studied my expression while I pondered this. It seemed very strange. I smiled and made a weak joke back, and we both laughed a bit. I decided I would think about it more later. But, in the meantime, we carried on with easy talk and swapped stories of our childhood. Then somehow we got on the topic of which house we'd be sorted into.
"I bet I'm in Slytherin, my whole family's been placed in it. Just think if I was placed in Hufflepuff! My father would die of a heart attack," Scorpius rolled his eyes. I gulped. Scorpius noticed. "What? Think you're too good for Hufflepuff, too?"
"No," I denied even though I probably would be disappointed. "It's Slytherin. I've heard awful stories about it."
"About what? Dark wizards? Yeah sure there's a fair few of them, but that's only a handful. The majority turn out okay and go on to do great stuff," Scorpius said. "The current deputy headmaster is a Slytherin."
Suddenly I regretted all those Chocolate Frogs. I was trying to keep down all the stuff I ate for lunch- I was imagining James's reaction if I did get into Slytherin. I was remembering all the horrible things James and the rest of my family had told me about Slytherin. "How could you want to be in that place? I heard they shave your head, strip you down till you're just in your knickers, and you have to swim in the Black Lake, fight the Giant Squid, beg the Merpeople to—" I was cut short when Scorpius burst out laughing. "What? My brother told me!" I defended myself. What had I said?
When Scorpius could control himself from bursting a rib, he choked, "Don't listen to your brother. He's got it all wrong. There's nothing like that going on in Slytherin. Do you think McGonagall would allow it?" I blinked a couple of times. That had been my reaction when James told me about some of those things.
"But… my brother… explain," I spluttered, staring at Scorpius who looked like he was going to start laughing again.
"Well first off, there's no shaving. Not unless you get a mean roommate. Secondly, there's no official initiation process like the swimming or begging. Really, why would you believe your brother on that? He's not a Slytherin," Scorpius explained smugly.
"What about dragons?" I asked suspiciously.
"Nope."
"Hanging by toenails?"
"No."
"De-eyelashing?"
"Definitely not."
"How about setting curtains on fire?"
"Not unless you do it by accident."
"Oh," I contemplated this. "Then why do so many bad witches and wizards come out of it?"
"Well, when I asked my father about that, he said it was because Slytherin is the house where the clever, power-drawn, strong-willed, and prideful people are placed. Salazar was a pure-blood, and he thought those were the most redeeming qualities of a person. Most of the dark witches and wizards had those qualities, so they were in Slytherin. They could have been just as easily put in another House," Scorpius finished his speech, but then looked a bit confused and added, "or, that's at least what I think my father meant."
I was saved from having to answer by the compartment door sliding open again. Rose stepped in.
"Al, sorry I left you for so long. I've just been to the front and they said we'll be there in ten minutes." She looked at us, almost exasperated. "I guess I'll leave again while you two change." She turned and left again.
I looked down at myself, a bit dazed. "Yeah, I guess we should change." It was only then I noticed that it was dark outside and that the rain had, thankfully, stopped.
Ten minutes later when we were changed and Rose had rejoined us, the train came to a stop and we clambered out of the train.
"Firs' years! Firs' years over 'ere!" I heard a familiar voice calling.
Hello, my name is Albus Severus Potter. I was named after the two greatest Headmasters of Hogwarts, ever. Yes, I’m bragging. Get over it. And yes, my father is the famous Harry Potter who defeated the Dark Lord Voldemort, but I’m not here to discuss him. I’m here to tell you my story, just in case I die, or something. You’re probably wondering why, in the name of Merlin, I’d want to die writing in my journal. The thing is I’m in… well, let’s start from the very beginning.
I woke up early, as it was September first and I was going to Hogwarts. Once I woke up it would have been futile to try to go back to sleep. So instead, I did my morning routine. You know what I’m talking about; we all have one: the shower, the teeth, etcetera. After I was done, I went downstairs to the kitchen. Harry was already sitting at the table with a cup of coffee in his hands reading the Daily Prophet. To save you from insanity with me repeating a whole bunch of “my dad’s” and “my mom’s” or any other titles, I’ll just call everyone by their first name, even if I have never called them that… ever.
“Morning,” I mumbled and made my way over to an empty seat right by Harry.
“Good morning, Albus.” He was annoyingly cheerful and awake. I hate the name Albus, even if it was a Headmaster’s name. I also hate the name Severus, for that matter, but long ago I had taught people to call me Al, or face the consequences. My parents were the only exception to that rule, as I couldn’t do anything to them without being grounded for life.
“Did you sleep well?” he inquired.
“I slept okay.” Truthfully? I was tossing and turning all night. I was not about to admit it, though.
“Masters, may I get you some breakfast?” Kreacher, our old house-elf, popped up out of nowhere by the chair that I had just sat down in. Kreacher was old but clean. The only dirty thing about him was his loincloth. He mostly kept it covered with an apron like he did now. He also always proudly wore a worthless looking locket. I’d asked my father about it once.
“There’s a very interesting story around that. Ask me when you’re older,” Harry had said.
I wasn’t at all hungry; the worms writhing in my stomach didn’t leave much room for food.
“I’m not hungry.”
“Oh, come on, Al. It’s going to be an eventful day; you don’t want to ruin it by being hungry,” Harry said.
“He’s right, you know,” a voice said from the doorway. “So, how about eggs and bacon for three?” Ginny, my mother, came into the room. I was going to argue and say that I really wasn’t hungry, but decided against it. Harry was right, I supposed. I wouldn’t want to be hungry later on. She came in and kissed us both on the head.
“Good morning, boys,” she said and went over to help Kreacher.
As Ginny helped Kreacher with breakfast by pouring drinks, I wanted to ask a question that had been gnawing at my insides since the morning.
“Mum, Dad what—“ I couldn’t finish the question so I asked a different one, “When you went to Hogwarts, did you know beforehand which house you’d be in?” Ginny eyed me suspiciously, probably guessing this wasn’t my real question. She was perceptive that way.
“I wanted to be in Gryffindor, but Ravenclaw didn’t sound bad, either. It was just that my whole family had been in Gryffindor and I’d been too afraid to think of what would happen if I wasn’t in it. I realise now that my family wouldn’t have cared. Sure, Fred and George would have had a few jokes at my expense but, in the end, my family would have still loved me.”Ginny told me. I knew this was a rather pointed statement, telling me not to worry about which house I was put in because they’d all love me anyway. Before she could go on about that, I turned to Harry.
“Dad? Did you know which house you’d be sorted into?”
“I didn’t know. All I wanted was to not be in the same house as Draco Malfoy,” Harry added as an afterthought, “Or, for that matter, be rejected and told I didn’t belong.” This got me nervous. Could they really reject you? I bet they could if you were a Squib. I must have had a look on my face that alerted Ginny.
“Don’t worry about it, you’ll be fine,” she reassured me. I didn’t buy it.
“Mm-hm,” was all that I could think of to say. It didn’t matter anyway. Anything I would have said after that would have been drowned out by the sound of a stampede of feet coming down the stairs. In the jungle, the sound would have been a sign to get out of the way of the elephants running your way. Here, it just meant Kreacher had to put more eggs and bacon on the stove to cook.
“Morning, Mum. Morning, Dad,” James said, a bit out of breath, as he reached the floor first.
“No fair! You tripped me!” whined Lily as she came in second.
“What’s for breakfast? Is it a lion, a badger, a raven, or a snake?” James said with grin as he and Lily took their seats. That’s James for you. He always has stupid jokes up his sleeves.
“How about eggs and bacon?”
“That’s fine, too, I guess,” he said and started digging into the food Kreacher placed on the table before him. I swear, Kreacher is the fastest cook in the world.
Lily Luna looks exactly like my mother: red hair, brown eyes, and freckles. Lily, as Harry would say, is a character. She has to be saying something or doing something. She can never be doing nothing.
James Sirius. Like his namesakes, he is a practical joker and clever. He shares the same hair with my dad and me. But his eyes he shares with Lily and my mum. He likes to call himself the mix of the family features. Hilarious.
“Mummy, why can’t I go to Hogwarts, too? I want to learn magic!” Lily whined for the thousandth time.
“Lily flower, you’re too young. Now eat up. We’re leaving in twenty minutes,” Harry said for Ginny.
I couldn’t stand being there any longer. I stood up.
“Done already?” Ginny asked me, surprised. Usually James and I ate half a dozen eggs each and just as much bacon. I’d only eaten half of that.
“Yeah, I wasn’t hungry.” James immediately grabbed the bacon that I had abandoned and shoved it into his mouth before I could change my mind.
“Well, then, go up to your room and make sure you didn’t leave anything out. We don’t want to be halfway there and suddenly you remember you forgot something,” Ginny said and with a flick of her wand set some rags to washing my plates. Last year, James had forgotten his wand on his bed when we were about to pull into King’s Cross, so we had to rush home and back to King’s Cross before it was too late and he missed the train. We’d gotten there just in time, thankfully. Ginny didn’t want that to happen again, so we were leaving early this year.
I went upstairs. I didn’t bother checking my things. I knew I had everything. Instead, I sat at the edge of my unmade bed and started thinking. What if I’m not in Gryffindor? What if I’m in Slytherin? This was the question I’d been reluctant to ask earlier. I knew my mum said she’d still love me, but what about Dad? What about Grandpa and Grandma? My uncles and aunts? Everyone had been in Gryffindor. Worse than that, James had told me frightening stories about Slytherin. I could have only been sitting a few minutes before James came bursting into the room.
“Aren’t you excited? We’re going to Hogwarts! I’ll be a second year and I’ll finally be able to be on the Quidditch team!” James had gotten quite excited the year before when the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain, Jerry Smid, had told him he flew quite well. Ever since, he’d been convinced all he had to do to be picked as a Chaser was to show up for tryouts.
Hogwarts… the thought swept all common sense out of my mind because I said, “Yeah! Who cares if I’m not in Gryffindor? I’ll be at Hogwarts!”
“Not in Gryffindor? Who cares? What are you talking about? Gryffindor’s the best house! Hufflepuff is for dunderheads. Ravenclaw is for book hogs and teacher pets. And Slytherin is evil,” James said matter-of-factly.
“Evil?” I snorted, disbelievingly.
“Yeah, evil. All the bad wizards go there. There’s this ceremony they have to go through. The older students cut all your hair off and you have to use a hair growth spell to get it back. Last year, someone miss-aimed and instead got his eye; his eyes were growing hair for a week before they found the counter spell.” James continued, with a mischievous look on his face, “The older students also steal all your clothes and give them to the merpeople in the lake. You have to swim down to the merpeople in only your underwear and beg for your clothes back. If you’re unlucky and run into the Giant Squid, you also have to fight it for your life because otherwise it’ll eat you.”
“That’s not true! I don’t believe you. Professor McGonagall wouldn’t allow it,” I said trying and failing to keep the nervous quiver out of my voice.
“That’s only to get in Slytherin. Once you’re in, you have to carry the older student’s books, clean their rooms, do their laundry and be their spell practicing dummies, among lots of other things. That’s why no good people want to be in Slytherin, and why Dark wizards and witches come out,” James finished, quite pleased with himself; I probably looked scared. Really, I only believed the second part. Merpeople and Giant Squids don’t exist.
“Boys, come on down! We’re leaving!” Ginny called up. We raced down the stairs. All the while, I was thinking of what James has said of Slytherin.
“Dad, do merpeople exist in the lake at Hogwarts?” I asked Harry as I helped him pack the trunks into the car. The car was Harry’s idea to get to King’s Cross. Last year, he insisted by saying it was the best way to get there inconspicuously. Ginny agreed. Of course, Ron and Hermione’s oldest was going to Hogwarts for the first time this year and Ron was driving. The family had a good laugh imagining Ron driving and hoped the Weasleys would arrive in one piece.
“Merpeople? Yes, they do. In my fourth year, I had to save Ron from them.” Harry lifted Meink, my owl into the car as Meink gave a hoot.
“What about a Giant Squid?” I asked as James passed by. James gave me an evil grin. I sneered at his retreating back when Harry wasn’t looking.
“Yes.” Harry shut the trunk of the car and headed to the driver’s seat. “Why do you ask?”
“It’s n-nothing,” I lied, shaken up. James had been telling the truth after all.