Albus was glad that the weather was so crisp, as otherwise the boat ride across the lake would have been a horrific experience. All first years travelled by boat, and they were no exceptions; Albus, Rose and Scorpius got a boat to themselves, which they were delighted to learn rowed itself. He couldn't speak for the other two, but Albus was getting pretty nervous - the idea of being sorted in front of the entire school was causing his stomach to clench uncomfortably. Rose, however, was keeping a calm and cool composure as always and Scorpius seemed to be thinking of nothing else but a strange contraption that he had fished out of the pockets of his robes. Albus looked at it, growing more and more curious by the minute. It was small and cube shaped, and though it looked relatively inexpensive Scorpius was eyeing it as if it was made out of pure gold.

"What's that?" Albus questioned, an Scorpius grinned.

"It tells me all of the magical creatures nearby - Dad bought me it. He said I'd find it interesting." Scorpius explained. Albus was extremely fascinated.

"Oh, I've read about those." said Rose excitedly, forgetting how she'd treated Scorpius before. "They're supposed to be really expensive though because they're so rare." she said in awe, looking impressed.

"Well uhrm…yeah, they are." Scorpius muttered awkwardly, stuffing the cube back into his pocket. His face had blushed a slight ping tinge, as if the fact that his parents were well off embarrassed him.

" 'Member ter duck." came the ominous voice of Hagrid, and the students took his advice. They passed through a rocky opening and emerged into a sort of cave that covered one of the edges of the cliff where Hogwarts castle stood. The boats reached the edge of the cliff with a series of thumps, then the first years stepped out. The floor was wet, so they had to hold up their robes as they followed Hagrid towards a large, wooden, underground door with a brass knocker. Hagrid knocked on the door so firmly that it could have knocked out a fully grown man, and then they waited.

An old man with thick, black spectacles opened the door. He was completely bald and his grin was very toothy; overall he gave the impression of a large walnut on legs.

"Thanks, 'Agrid." said the walnut man, and Hagrid grinned.

"No problem, Tom. I'll see yer later guys, yer jest have ter follow Tom now."

"Bye, Hagrid." said Albus, and Hagrid patted him on the back.

Albus, Scorpius and Rose followed Tom up a flight of stone steps until they had reached the Entrance Hall. Rose gasped and so did several other students - Albus could see why, the Hall was so large it could probably have fitted a Quidditch stadium into it quite snuggly.

"Tom, I thought you were a Barman at the Leaky Cauldron?" asked Rose, and Albus realised Tom's face was vaguely familiar.

"Ah yes, that I was. But I'm getting on a bit now, so I sold the pub to the Longbottoms and came up to replace old Filch as caretaker." Tom explained.

"Cool!" exclaimed Scorpoius, darting to the other end of the Hall behind Tom. Albus had to jog to keep up - Scorpius was taller than him. "Dad told me about Filch, said he was a right old weirdo!"

"Well there's something strange about him alright…" murmured Tom as they reached the largest, most grand door Albus had ever seen in his life. "nobody really knew what side he was on half of the time, y'see."

Albus watched Tom curiously as the students came to a halt. His eyes had glazed over mysteriously, until he shook his hairless head and seemed to return to normal again. "Right, you lot wait here and I'll call you through in a sec." said Tom with a toothy smile to the students. "Try and make yourselves look presentable while I'm gone, will you?" he opened the large doors and a murmur of talk burst through the silence temporarily, until Tom had stepped through the gap in the door and shut it firmly behind him.

Instantly a girl behind Rose pulled an elaborately designed mirror out of her robes and proceeded to fuss around with her hair; Albus heard Rose give an incredibly audible tut of disapproval. Albus caught an eye with Scorpius, who shrugged before bending over and messing his hair up so that instead of slicking to the back of his head, it stuck out in all different directions. "There!" he beamed as he started to adjust his robes. "What?" he asked, catching the bemused look on Albus's face.

"Nothing." said Albus awkwardly, not really knowing what to do other than to attempt in vain to flatten his hair.

He was glad he knew what was coming, but that didn't stop him feeling nervous. He didn't know how James and his friends would react when they saw him, whether they'd be supportive or whether they'd jeer and make catcalls to try to embarrass him. He wouldn't rule out anything when it came to James and his gang. He decided he'd rather not think of that right now though, so instead he turned to watch the other students. Some looked excited, but some looked mortified already! On one side of him stood Rose, all calm and composure (typically), and on his right side stood Scorpius who was still trying to beam as if to give off an aura of confidence, though Albus could see how nervous he was in his brilliant blue seemed to drag as they stood outside waiting, but soon enough Tom returned and opened the doors, beckoning the first years inside."Good luck." he muttered to the students as they walked down the Great Hall inbetween the four long tables that represented the four Hogwarts Houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and could feel all eyes boring into him and it made him feel uncomfortable, like an animal on display at the zoo; however he resisted the sudden urge to run out of the Hall and hide, keeping in step with Scorpius who was walking beside filled his ears,

"Is that Potter's son?"

"James's brother?"

"Yeah it is, what's he doing hanging around with a Malfoy?"

Albus ignored them and clenched his teeth, soon they arrived at the end of the Hall, facing the long staff table.

The first person Albus noticed was Hagrid, who beamed at him through his beard and mouthed, 'Good luck, Al!' Albus smiled and turned to watch the other members of staff.

Professor Longbottom was exactly how he remembered him: all stubbly with a round, cheerful face; he also knew the Hogwarts headmaster instantly, not because of sight but due to description.

Professor Flitwick had once been a Charms teacher. He was a tiny man with beady eyes who had to sit on several cushions to see all of his students over the staff table. However, he had been on a duelling champion when he was younger and so nobody doubted him as a good leader. He was very old judging by his tufts of white hair, and his wrinkled face was full of Slughorn, the Potions Master, had a Walrus moustache that threatened to engulf his entire face, but otherwise there was nothing extraordinarily interesting about his appearance - he gave the impression of a man that had been well looked after.

A whispy haired Witch stood a stool on a small platform and then on that placed an old, dusty looking hat. The atmosphere instantly grew more tense, then a brim in the hat opened and it started to sing.

I'm sorry that I have to bore

You with this simple yearly chore,

But someone has to get it done

So first years know where they belong!

Loyal Hufflepuff's, they show

To give love to all, friend or foe.

Always respecting the idea of 'fair play',

Hardworking Hufflepuff's work all day.

In Gryffindor dwell the brave at heart

Swift as an arrow, sharp as a dart,

Fierce and noble, and also true,

Does this sound a bit like you?

Or maybe you're in Ravenclaw,

Where homework's not seen as a chore!

Only the smartest belong there,

In Ravenclaw's most misty lair.

In Slytherin you could have great cunning,

But when danger calls you'll soon start running!

Can't tell the difference between pleasure and pain,

So long as you have something to gain!

Now come, relax, and take a seat.

We're about to give you a royal treat,

But wait now, patiently, for your turn,

Which house are you? You soon shall learn!

The song finished and Professor Flitwick lead the school into a polite round of applause, whilst the Witch the front unrolled a large scroll tenderly."My name," she said, "is Professor Grubbly-Plank. I am a temporary Professor here at Hogwarts, here for whoever needs me." she explained. "Now, when I call your name, you are to walk up to the stool, put the hat on your head and wait to be sorted. Then you're to go and sit with the rest of your house." Professor Grubbly-Plank looked at the students to make sure they all understood, before commencing with the sorting.

"Alright then, who's up first?" she said, looking down at the list. "Oh, here we go: Ayling, Santana."The girl who was the be sorted first did not look nervous in the slightest - in fact she had a smug grin on her face as she stomped up to the platform and shoved the hat over her head. The hat seemingly did not have to think twice."SLYTHERIN!" it cried out to the entire audience, and Professor Grubbly-Plank took the hat off of Santana's head. The Slytherin table cheered as Santana swaggered over to join them."Charmer that one!" said Scorpius, and Albus snorted.

"I heard her on the boats," whispered Rose, who was standing behind them. "She was banging on about how her Dad supposedly invented the new Quimble Broomstick, sounded like a load of dragon dung to me."

Kafai, Naz was the first official Gryffindor student of the group. She was a small, black haired girl who looked like she was going to burst with excitement. Albus noticed how the Gryffindor table cheered much louder than any of the others, and recognised many of the faces as his family. He could see his cousin Molly Weasley, smart school Prefect, as well as his brother. His other cousins Fred and Roxanne were sat there too, grinning and ruffling Naz Kafai's hair. Turning to the Ravenclaw table he saw Victoire, Dominique and Louis Weasley, his half-French cousins who beamed at him from their table.

"Losco, Jasmine." said Professor Grubbly-Plank and a dainty, blonde haired girl walked anxiously up to the stool.

Hang on, thought Albus, how could they be on the Ls already? He looked behind him and saw that three quarters of the group had already been sorted. He looked at Scorpius, who was gulping nervously, knowing what was about to come next…

"Malfoy, Scorpius." came his name after Losca, Jasmine had been placed into Slytherin. Albus watched as the Professor shoved the hat on Scorpius's head.

"A Malfoy, he's bound to be in Slytherin!" Albus heard a third year Hufflepuff girl mutter darkly to her friend.

He turned to the Slytherin table and saw Santana Ayling staring at Scorpius, almost greedily. She had already saved him a seat next to Jasmine Losca, who it turned out she was close friends with.

The hat was taking his time with Scorpius, whose face had turned even paler than usual. Finally, the hat cleared his throat and bellowed,"GRYFFINDOR!"

Silence met these words. Everybody in the room was staring at Scorpius, who looked so shocked Albus wondered why nobody had supplied him with a sick bucket. Everyone seemed to be asking the same question - had the hat made a mistake? Surely no Malfoy belonged in Gryffindor! Slowly, Scorpius handed Professor Grubbly-Plank the sorting hat and went to sit at the Gryffindor table, whose residents applauded him graciously. Albus instinctively turned back to Santana. She looked as though she had just stepped in a pile of Troll bogies.

Partridge, Georgie, was next, and she too was sorted into Gryffindor. Then Albus heard his own name, loud and clear, "Potter, Albus."

As Albus was walking towards the hat, he was relieved to hear that his brother was not jeering, or making any catcalls; in fact, he was actually smiling at him and giving him the thumbs up. Albus felt his stomach relax an etch, and he made it to the stool without tripping up, something he thought was miraculous - several students had already done that. Soon, Professor Grubbly-Plank had raised the hat and placed it firmly over hs head."Ooh, a Potter." drawled the hat's voice in his head, sounding almost bored. "You're too easy," he sniffed, if it was possible for hats to sniff. "GRYFFINDOR!" the hat boomed, and Albus felt his heart soar! He wasn't in Slytherin! He grinned broadly as he raced down from the platform and to the Gryffindor table, sitting next to Scorpius amidst all of the cheers and whistles.

"Oi, what are you doing there?" Albus heard the voice of James over the crowd. "Come and sit with your family!"

"How many seats are free?" Albus asked.

"Three." James replied. The noise was starting to ease now.

"Come on, Scorpius, let's go and sit up there. I'll introduce you to my family." Albus said softly. He could tell Scorpius was downtrodden from his not so warm welcome, but he was intent on cheering him and Scorpius sat next to James, and left a seat allocated for Rose. Sat opposite them were Fred, Molly and Roxanne, who were each watching the sorting he had been sorted himself, Albus became aware of how hungry he was. His stomach rumbled and James snorted with laughter. Albus ignored him, willing the sorting to end soon.

Robbins, Alex; Sawyn, Joy and Suchoruczka, Ella soon joined their table as fellow Gryffindors and finally, the only person left to be sorted was left, awkwardly, standing on her own."Weasley, Rose." said the Professor, and Albus had to admire his cousin. She was walking up to the Sorting Hat as calm as anyone, even though she knew everyone was watching her, sick of the sorting by hat was placed on her head and their was silence for a long time, then the Sorting Hat slowly opened his wide brim of a mouth,"RAVENCLAW!" it said.