Albus Potter and the Elder Wand

Chapter 1: Ferrets and Friendship

Unfortunately, I do not own Harry Potter, or any of these characters except for Harvey, Chris, and Felix. Hope you enjoy! And please please please vote and comment. It would make my day!

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"Anything from the trolley, dears?"

There was a mad scramble as Al and his cousins pulled money out of their pockets and grabbed treats. Al quickly slapped two sickles onto the trolley and took a chocolate frog. He began to open the box, but his brother, James, snatched it from his grip.

"Hey!" Al shouted, lunging for the box.

"Hold up," James said calmly, holding the chocolate frog out of Al's reach, "you still owe me 2 sickles from when we bet about Teddy and Victoire snogging."

"I won that bet, you idiot!" Albus dove towards his chocolate frog, but missed and crashed into the trolley. The trolley lady shrieked in surprise. Al's face turned bright red. "Sorry miss," he squeaked. Looking flustered, the witch hastily handed Rose a cauldron cake and wheeled her cart away.

As soon as she left, Fred burst into laughter, slapping Al a high five. "You should have seen the look on her face," he crowed.

Still blushing furiously, Al turned back to his brother. James had already opened up the packaging and was sliding out the card. He studied it for a couple seconds, before sighing dramatically. "Ugh, I got Dad again! You can take the frog Al, I just wanted to see if the card was worth keeping."

"Thanks for reminding me that you owe me two sickles, by the way!" Al said, through a mouthful of chocolate. He extended his hand.

"Are you kidding me? That was like, three years ago!"

"Once, Molly made me give her a galleon because of a bet we made when I was five!" Lucy added solemnly. Al smiled. Molly was extremely forgetful, except when it came to bets.

James cleared his throat loudly, obviously wanting to change the subject before he had to hand over the money. "So, do you guys know where Dominique, Vic, and Louis are?" The three siblings had all poked their heads into the compartment to wish Al and Rose luck, but hadn't stuck around.

"Dominique's a prefect, remember James?" Roxanne said, "and I think Vic's with a bunch of her friends. Probably squealing about Teddy's little farewell." They all giggled.

"And of course Louis is most likely flirting with a bunch of witches," Fred added mischievously. "It really isn't fair, having to compete with the first part-veela male in history! You lot are lucky you aren't in his year!"

Laughter echoed around the little train compartment. Al realized how lucky he was to have so many cousins at Hogwarts. They had all chosen to sit with Al and Rose rather than their own friends, to offer them moral support before the sorting. Even if he didn't make any friends, he would always have someone to talk to.

What if he didn't make any friends? A dark cloud of worry settled itself in Al's head. He was more nervous about the sorting. Every single one of his cousins had been placed in Gryffindor. Al couldn't imagine their disappointment if he were to break the tradition.

"You lot better put on your robes now, I expect we'll be arriving soon," Rose said. She had been wearing her robes ever since they had boarded the train. Al's mum and dad kept laughing about how much Rose was like Aunt Hermione. Rose looked a lot like her mum as well, with the same bushy hair, but red. Al searched his cousin's face for any sign of nervousness. She had seemed a bit worried back on Platform 9 3/4, when Uncle Ron and James had joked about them being sorted into Slytherin, but now she radiated confidence. Al tried to mimic her calm expression, but stopped when James began giving him strange looks.