Albus (A Next Generation Harry Potter Fanfiction)

What You Wanted All Along

"I can't believe Hagrid actually hatched it! Like, in his fireplace and everything. That's so cool," Scorpius was raving about Hagrid's story even after a few days since meeting him. Al was happy Scor liked him, but it was getting a tiny bit dreary.

"Can we go have tea with him again later? After school today? I bet he's done loads of other cool stuff. I wish he hadn't had to give his dragon away. It would be so cool if he still had it now, we could ride it and it could live in the Forbidden Forest and I bet nobody would notice,"

"Yeah," Al said. "We can go to visit him later, if you really want." He revelled in his success. Scor hadn't mentioned a single bad word about half-breeds since the other day. If only the same could be said for Muggleborns. That was Al's next project, to make Scor appreciate Matilda more. Maybe he'd lock them in a broom cupboard together or something, and tell them he wouldn't open the door until Scor told her to her face that he would never call her that word again.

It was the end of the day, and almost time for Christmas, so the decorations were up and the common room looked almost friendly. The two of them wandered into the dormitory, chatting excitedly about Hagrid's dragon obsession. There was never anyone in their dorm, so luckily they usually had it to themselves. Al wiped a bit of wet condensation off the cold window when suddenly the head of Slytherin, Professor Stanford, who'd introduced them into Hogwarts on their first day, barged in. He had quickly established a bad attitude to Scorpius and Albus. This was partly because they never paid attention in lessons, because let's face it; they didn't have OWLs until 5th year so no other exams up till then mattered in the least. He scratched his moustache and glared at Al with beady eyes.

"Good evening, boys. Potter, a word in my office, please," he snapped, without acknowledging Scor. Al wondered what it was this time, and slowly saw a fun-filled evening with Hagrid and Scorpius go down like a lead balloon to settle in a land of irritated teachers and overdue homework. He nodded at Scor and followed the Professor outside, to his office along the echoing dungeon halls. He'd never been to his office before. It must be bad this time. They didn't talk, Al trying to remember if he'd had anything to do over the last couple of days that he'd forgotten. A feeling of dread accompanied the realisation that there was definitely a 3-page History of Magic essay. He dragged his feet along the stone floor, behind the sweeping, slightly stained robes of Stanford.

The Professor slammed the door behind Al, who stood shamefully in the grey-green themed room. There was a desk set in the middle overflowing with parchment and quills, important envelopes and documents. Al took a moment to imagine how annoyed Stanford would be if him and Scor messed up his whole desk. Even better, they could frame a Hufflepuff or something and Stanford wouldn't even be able to blame them. Hufflepuff would be believable, because everyone knew Slytherin absolutely smashed them in the last Quidditch match. On the discoloured walls hung old oil paintings, the colours and shapes distorted as if they'd been left in a dusty warehouse for months. The room smelled like antiseptic.

Stanford sat down behind the desk, his thin fingers tapping the dank wood. "Now, Potter, I've just received an owl from your father wishing for me to take up a certain issue with you," he droned.

Al frowned. What did his father know about how much homework he'd been doing? The only thing he said in letters was about Hogwarts in general, not lessons. There was a lot of complaining about Slytherin, but he wanted his father to think he was doing well in his studies and that he was happy.

"Do you know what I mean?" The Professor probed, and Al shook his head after thinking for a few more seconds.

"It's about your happiness in Slytherin. Quite touching of your father to be so concerned, really. Apparently you have repeatedly expressed a desire to be moved into Gryffindor."

A dark cloud seem to lift off Al's head. His father had written about him swapping? He felt a grin stretch across his face as he babbled in reply, "Oh, definitely, yes I do."

Stanford didn't smile. "I am in no way suggesting you will be allowed to change houses, or that I will even consider taking this further. I am simply concerned about some of your reasons for so badly wanting to be in a different house," he finished.

Al's heart sank. So this was about- what? Slytherin wasn't that bad, he just wanted to move to be in the right place. "Well, I have lots of reasons, I guess," he mumbled.

"Your father has told me that the 5th and 6th year boys, and some girls are not very nice to you," he said, but not sympathetically. He said it like there were a million better things he could be doing and as if he couldn't care less what Al thought of Slytherin, but because his Dad was Harry Potter, he couldn't just let it slide without acting like Al's safety did matter.

He shrugged in response. To be honest, it wasn't that bad anymore. Not with Scor around, and the two of them were almost joined at the hip now, Al admitted to himself regrettably. An old, yellowing glass lamp in the corner of the room wobbled, ready to smash on the floor after years of prolonged use. "Nah, they're fine," he replied. He was a little embarrassed about this talk. It was like he was some kind of bullied victim or something. He made a mental note to cover the whole thing up with some kind of elaborate lie, except maybe to Scorpius.

"Well, that settled, I think that was the only thing your father wanted me to discuss with you," Stanford said, his eyes twitching in what would be a smile at the prospect of Al going, but all of a sudden something hit Albus like the red Hogwarts Express. He realised that if Stanford thought he was happy in Slytherin, there was no chance of him ever moving to Gryffindor. Al quickly mustered the saddest, most wounded expression he could, and hoped to death Stanford wouldn't blab about him being weak.

"I mean, they're alright as in, sometimes I can walk through the common room when they aren't there," Al said, making his voice crack halfway through. "And they don't shove my head in my owl's litter bowl as much as they used to."

Stanford frowned again, deepening the lines already etched on his face. "So you are not content with the situation now," he said slowly. "Who are these students?"

Al stiffened. He couldn't grass on anyone, or he really would start needing more than Scorpius as a bodyguard. "I-I'm not sure," he stammered. "It's usually a different person every time."

Stanford nodded and straightened a pile of documents carefully. Al imagined knocking them all over in a single flourish. "Right. You may go, Potter," he said. Al hoped he'd bought his act.

"So... Is moving to Gryffindor a possibility?" He asked slowly, his sad expression that he'd put on lifting gradually.

"If it continues, I will take it up with the Headmistress, and we'll discuss the best course of action," Stanford said, turning his back as an indication for Al to leave, which he did quickly.

He almost skipped down the corridor that led back to the common room. He'd actually got somewhere! He'd had to lie and almost dob in the whole of Slytherin, but he wouldn't be stopped from being in Gryffindor. Stanford seemed to buy the victim act, and maybe if Scor could help him stage some pranks that hurt Al, just maybe he would talk to McGonagall.

Suddenly he'd been given a light to illuminate the darkness of the dungeon. He could be in Gryffindor! He would do anything it took to get what he really wanted.

A/N: I hope you're all enjoying it so far!! Feel free to comment/vote/follow (I especially love reading you guy's comments, makes me so happy to know people are keeping up with my book!)
What will happen next ooooh
Anyway, I won't be able to update much, as you will know if you look at my wall. I have GCSEs now (if you're not English, they're basically a month or so of hell when you do every exam in existence all in one go), so obviously that must come first, but I'll still try my best to keep you all going!
Love you always,
~clatoforeverx ❤️❤️❤️