The First Day
“According to our schedule, today we have a double Transfiguration class with Ravenclaw, another double Defense with Slytherin, and then, right after supper, an hour of Muggle Studies with Ravenclaw, Care of Magical Creatures with Slytherin, and one study hour”
The subject Muggle Studies had become mandatory after the end of the war, attempting to lower prejudices against muggles. Although Albus had heard many wizards, specially Slytherins, resented the decision. James said the subject was pretty easy, specially for wizards like them, who had a father and an aunt who were raised amongst muggles and visited that world often.
“We share four subjects with Slytherin. That blows” complained Peter Williamson, who was looking at his own schedule. His dad was also an Auror, but Albus had never met Peter before yesterday.
“Which ones?” asked a girl.
“Potions, Care of Magical Creatures, Herbology, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. It should be three subjects with each House. That way we wouldn’t have to deal with them by ourselves.”
Albus nodded along with the rest of the group, but he wasn’t completely sure. His dad had said, right before they boarded the train, that there were good people among the Sltherins; Albus himself had been named after one of them, Severus Snape, and his family got along well with Andromeda Tonks. But his mother, uncles and cousins claimed those were only exceptions, and his brother James only had bad things to say about them since he had begun attending Hogwarts.
Nevertheless the Slytherins hadn’t seemed too bad during dinner. Not even Scorpius Malfoy, and his family wasn’t worth a penny -even his father agreed on that-. With a little bit of luck, there wouldn’t be so much trouble as James predicted. James and all of his cousins spend the whole talking about Scorpius and his friends. They weren’t the first children of Death Eaters to come to Hogwarts, but none of them had carried the Malfoy surname, and this was the first time four of them went to the same course.
“We’ll need to watch them closely” Fred Weasley had said, he was George Weasley and Angelina Johnson’s son.
But it would be him and Rose who would have to do that, since it was them who shared class with them. According to James and his cousins, if Malfoy and his gang tried anything they ought to stop them and let them know. Albus had accepted this mission, even though that warlike attitude made him feel a bit uncomfortable.
It was one thing to take action when he witnessed an unjust situation, but he would have preferred it if there were no trouble at all, while James and the others seemed to be waiting for Malfoy to start causing trouble just so that they could stop him.
When they got to the Great Hall for breakfast the only people at the Slytherin table were the older students. Albus sat between Rose and Amal Sharper, a boy he had met last evening and was getting along well with, and began to choose what he would have for breakfast. Everyone had told him Hogwarts’ food was excellent, and of course they hadn’t lied.
It had been merely a few minutes before the rest of the Slytherins came. Albus watched attentively how they sat down and started eating breakfast too. In the first year table there was an empty seat, so he guessed that boy Watson was still in Slytherin, even if he was absent. The seven first years were very few compared to the fifteen Gryffindors that had been sorted that year, and Albus wondered if that was the reason they shared so many classes with them.
Albus focused on Malfoy then. He was as short as him, he had short hair and was as blonde as Luna Scamander, that weird friend of his parents. He didn’t seem dangerous or evil at all, but it might be a facade.
Then he heard an increasing murmur. Albus followed the looks of the rest, they were looking at Professor Slughorn, who was entering the Hall with Watson by his side. The lad didn’t seem much more decided than that last, but at least he wasn’t crying. The Slytherin table gave him non-welcoming looks.
“Well, kids, this is William Watson” Professor Slughorn's somewhat mellifluous voice resonated exceptionally well in a Great Hall, where all the students remained silent so as not to miss a word. “He was a bit nervous last evening, but he’s had the night to reflect on things, and I’m sure he’s willing to give us a chance now. Isn’t that right?”
The older Slytherin students tensed on their seats, and threw daggers at their Head of House with their eyes, but nobody said anything.
“Y-yes, sir.” said the boy.
“Perfect. Come one, sit on that empty seat and have something to eat. A long day awaits.”
Professor Slughorn left and Albus saw how Watson did as he had been told. He was sitting by Damon Pucey, who leaned to his side to whisper something to him. But Malfoy quickly grabbed him by his arm to set him straight and pointed to the other side of the table, where the older students sat. Albus felt like Malfoy was pointing at somebody, but he couldn’t see exactly what was happening.
The Slytherins didn’t say anything to Watson, they wouldn’t even look at him. Albus would have felt sorry for him, if it weren’t for the fact that Watson seemed to prefer this arrangement.
He was a big boy, but he didn’t seem to have an appetite, it was like the food repulsed him, and he was sitting as far away as possible from Pucey. Albus guessed it must’ve been awful to be in that situation, and thought it was very unfair that the Hat wouldn’t offer a second choice in these cases.
Transfiguration with Professor Davies was fantastic, although a little frustrating, because the candle he had to turn into a pencil barely turned a bit brown. Nevertheless, for the first time in his life Albus felt like he was learning how to be a wizard, like the doors of that world he had only looked at from afar were finally opening to him. In a burst of optimism, he wondered if they would be learning the Patronus charm by the end of the year.
Then it was time for Defense against the Dark Arts and Albus headed to the class with his mates.
“Do you think they already know curses and dark magic?” asked a girl called Clarice Samuels.
“So what?” said another boy, Martin Stipson, contemptuously. “Albus can beat any of them, right?”
Albus made a non-compromising sound because, truth be told, he was not capable of casting a single spell yet, so he didn’t know if he would be able to win against the Slytherins if they got to class with that amount of knowledge. But he trusted it wouldn’t be that way; everyone knew minors couldn’t do magic outside Hogwarts and that counted for the children of Death Eaters, too.
Just as they were entering the room, the Slytherins arrived from another corridor. Albus, who had lingered a bit, saw that Watson was still separated from the rest of the group, some meters behind. When the Slytherins entered the class Watson headed to an empty seat, next to Bruce Kendrick, who was sitting by himself because the Gryffindors were uneven. Bruce looked at him feeling more resigned than anything, but didn’t ask him to find another seat.
“I feel a bit sorry for him” said Rose to Albus.
Albus looked at the little group, trying to go unnoticed. Few of them were paying Watson any attention, but those who did looked at him as if he was a nasty bug. It was clear he hadn’t made any friends during breakfast.
Then Maya Daskalova, the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, entered the classroom. This would be her last year at Hogwarts. She was a woman of indeterminate age, with a kind face and short gray hair.
Albus had a hard time picturing her fighting dark wizards, but it was even harder to imagine grandma Molly doing so, and she had killed the dreadful Bellatrix Lestrange during the war.
She introduced herself and then called the roll. When she was done, she let her eyes wander through the class. Albus felt like her eyes lingered a second longer in him and in Malfoy.
“I’m sure most of you, except maybe those who come from muggle homes, have heard a lot about the Dark Arts and this class, but I must warn you now: during this first trimestre there will be much more theory than practice. Well, let’s see. Who can tell me the purpose of this class?”
Ten different hands raised and she pointed to Albus.
“To learn how to defend ourselves from jinxes and curses and how to contrast them.”
Madam Daskalova smiled a bit.
“Very well. Anything else?”
She pointed at a black girl with braided hair, Dora Jordan. Albus had meet her a few times at the Burrow; her dad, Lee Jordan, was uncle George’s best friend.
“We will also learn how to protect ourselves against dangerous or annoying magical creatures, like dementors and boggarts.”
“Excellent.”
She asked a few more questions, then asked a Slytherin student, Kellerman, to begin reading the first lesson of their textbook. Albus, who read very fast and didn't have much patience for listening, finished on his own and then started peeking at more advanced parts of the book. It had many sheets with realistic illustrations of magical creatures, it was a shame that they didn’t move; one of them showed a troll that bore a great resemblance to his uncle Dudley, minus the goatee. He had felt tempted to draw one on it since he had seen the picture two years ago in James’ book.
After the boy was done, the teacher asked a few more questions to check they all had understood. The first students answered correctly, but then came Charles Paltry’s turn. She asked him what the basic protection spell was; Kellerman had mentioned it half a dozen times and it was written on the board, but it was as if she had asked him a very complicated Arithmancy question. Charles seemed to be sweating from the effort of having to come up with an answer.
“Mister Paltry, it is on the board” she said, in a slightly impatient tone.
There was some giggling from the Sltherin tables, which made Charles more nervous. Albus frowned, annoyed by their lack of consideration. Daskalova made threw them a warning look and they quickly stopped. But the Gryffidors were starting to lose patience, too. At last, somebody whispered the answer to him.
“It is… Protego?” he said, hesitantly.
“Yes, mister Paltry, that’s it.”
“Took you long enough, eh?” said Britney Steele, making her mates laugh.
The Professor turned to her with a sullen face.
“To points from Slytherin, for mocking a classmate. There will be no foolishness in this class, Miss Steele.”
“But I didn’t even say anything…”
“Do you want to lose any more points?”
Malfoy and the rest whispered to her to let it go and she shut up, frustrated. The professor moved on and organized them to start practicing the Protego charm. When Albus was getting ready to try it for the first time, Scorpius Malfoy’s voice sounded loud and clear.
“Protego!”
The charm worked perfectly, exactly like the one the Professor casted. Albus was looking at him with a mix of envy and awe, as did the rest of the class, even the Slytherins. The Professor seemed very surprised, too.
“Mister Malfoy, is this the first time you cast this spell?”
“No, of course not. My parents taught me how to cast it when I was eight years old.”
“Your parents taught you?” she said, quickly. “Despite the Restriction of Underage Sorcery?”
Albus opened his eyes. The Professor just made him admit his parents had committed a crime in front of everyone! Oh, she was good! But the blond boy only turned his head to the side with a look that was pure innocence.
“That was when we lived in the United States, professor. The law there is different, and minors are allowed to learn spells like Protego and Finite Incantatem. I haven’t done them again since we came back to Europe.
Albus thought he was being arrogant, bragging about how much he had travelled and the spells his dumb -and possibly evil- parents had taught him.
“Those are the only two spells you learned how to cast?”
“Yes, Professor.”
“Well, in that case… that’s okay. You’ll work with me so that we can try your shield. The rest of you, get in pairs and keep trying.”
Albus noticed some of his classmates were looking at him as if they were disappointed, and he felt a bit embarrassed. He knew the Griffondors were expecting him to stand out in Defense, not Scorpius Malfoy. Well, actually, they seemed to be expecting him to stand out in everything, like his father. Trying to make up for the bad effect he thought he had caused, he tried hard to at least stand out among those who were doing the Protego for the first time, and he felt a little relieved when, before the end of the class, he managed to do it well.
Before they left the professor asked them to write a fifteen centimetre essay on basic types of protection for next class and then let them go. It was time for lunch now and both groups headed to the Great Hall, keeping a careful distant. The only exception was Watson, who was walking with the Gryffindors.
“Hey, Potter” called Pucey, mockingly, patting Malfoy on the back. “So you’re not that good after all, hey?”
Some Slytherins laughed at that, but Malfoy, hiding a smile, tugged Pucey by the arm to get him walking and avoid further discussions.
“Mind your own business” replied Albus, annoyed and feeling a bit ashamed.
Rose stood by him.
"I don't know what they're bragging about," she said quietly. "At least your parents are not criminals."
Watson had stayed behind and got closer to them.
“Ignore them. You’re Albus Potter, right?
“I am.”
“My name is William Watson” he introduced himself and stretched out his hand, Albus shook it. “Pleasure to meet you. I just wanted to tell you that me and my family, we have always admired your dad. They went to Hufflepuff, you know? I should’ve gone there, too. I don’t know why that stupid Hat sent me to Slytherin.”
Albus nodded.
“They won’t talk to you?” asked Rose.
“I don’t know. I do not want to talk to them. My parents are going to have a meeting with the Headmistress, see about resorting me.”
“Well, good luck” she said with sympathy. “No one’s ever changed Houses in Hogwarts.”
“They said so yesterday. But they need to resort me! I’d rather leave Hogwarts than be in Slytherin”
“Well, that’s understandable”
Albus looked at his cousin and shook his head.
“It’s not like that.” He said to both of them. “My dad says there’s good people in Slytherin. Look at Mrs. Tonks. She’s nice.”
Rose rolled her eyes, but Watson looked amazed.
“Your dad said that? About Slytherin? Harry Potter?”
“Yes, of course. He says we ought to judge people based on what they do, not who they are, or what House they get sorted into. I mean, at least for now, you’re a Slytherin, but you’re not mean or anything, are you?”
Watson looked at him with such gratefulness that Albus felt uncomfortable.
“No, I am not. I am a good person, I swear.”
“It’s too bad that most of them are from families of Death Eaters” replied Rose, looking apprehensively at the group of Slytherins. “You got a bad batch.”
Watson let out a sigh of discouragement.
History of Magic with the Ravenclaws had been very boring, but Scorpius had been pleasantly surprised to discover that the atmosphere of hostility he perceived in class with the Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors was not present there. A kid named Robert Bletchey had even come to greet him, saying his family usually went to Slyherin and that both their parents had played for the Quidditch team. Michelle Urqhart, Morrigan’s best friend, was also there.
Care of Magical Creatures would be the last class of the day, with Gryffindor again. The best part of the day had been the look on everyone's faces when they found out he could already cast the Protego charm; he wanted to write to his parents and let them know as soon as he went back to the Common Room. He, and all the other Slytherins, thought madam Daskalova should have given him at least five points. It seemed that the older students were telling the truth when they said that they were scrimping their points.
While the rest of the class walked towards the clearing where they were going to have the class, Scorpius thought it was good luck that the half-giant Hagrid, Hogwarts groundskeeper, was no longer the teacher in charge of the subject. He had seen him last evening, when he took them through the lake, and he had seemed too big; that would have been enough to frighten him a little but, besides, Scorpius had seen the long scar in his father’s arm and he knew he had gotten it in one of his classes.
Hagrid lost his position as a teacher after an incident that had nearly killed a second-year student, and now he was just the groundskeeper again. He’d been replaced by a witch, and Gabriel spoke well of her, but she’d left to work in a demiguise sanctuary and so they had a new Creatures teacher. His name was Wei Zhou, he was an Asian man and seemed to be about sixty years old. They had seen him already in the Great Hall, he had smiled a lot. Gabriel told Scorpius and Morrigan that they would be the first ones to have class with him, so they had to pay attention and tell the rest of the House all about him.
The Gryffindors were already there and they were talking amicably with him. Scorpius pressed his lips, he was beginning to suspect that no one that got on so well with the Gryffindors could treat them very nicely, but when the professor saw them arrive, he gave them a welcoming smile that seemed sincere.
“Ah, yes. The snakes… This is also a beautiful animal. With lots of different meanings.”
“Yeah, they’re poisonous” said a boy from Gryffindor, making some of the kids laugh.
Scorpius shot an angry look to that group, but Professor Zhou just smiled a little more.
“Ah, but snake venom is used to craft powerful potions, didn’t you know? Some are used in healing magic. In many cultures, particularly Eastern ones, they’re associated with wisdom and rebirth. Yes, snakes are as interesting as lions, no doubt.”
Scorpius had to make an effort not to laugh when he saw the looks on the Gryffindor’s faces, because they clearly weren’t expecting that. The professor clapped his hands once, loudly. “Alright, everyone, let’s go. We have a lot to do and very little time to do it.”
The professor guided them to a clearing near the forest where, to Scorpius dismay, Hagrid was waiting. He had a big wooden box by his side.
“How are our little friends, Hagrid?”
“They’re feeling very playful, Professor.”
“Excellent. Thank you for keeping watch on them.”
Scorpius watched with relief as the giant left and, feeling calmer, turned his attention to the box.
“What’s in it?” someone asked, while everyone began to approach, with more or less suspicion.
“Puffskeins”
A few girls squealed in delight; Scorpius wavered between relief and irritation. Certainly puffskein were anything but dangerous, but to suggest that as eleven-year-olds they might still be interested in them…
“Professor… puffskeins are for babies” complained Damon.”
“Come on, come one. Pick one each.”
The girls obeyed, no problem. The boy looked at one another, making sure they were all doing it because they had no other choice and each picked his own too. Scorpius had had two puffskeins as a child, and he found himself remembering them, specially the last one. It had died during the summer he had turned 9 years old, and they had given it a solemn burial under the fig tree in the garden of their home in Greece. His father had said a few words of farewell and his mother had used some spells to make a small Celtic cross to place on the grave.
“Scorpius!”
Scorpius turned and saw a puffskein flying right to his face. Without thinking, he raised his free hand and caught it in the air. Then he turned to look at Damon, who was laughing.
“Idiot…”
But they weren’t the only ones that had begun throwing puffskeins at each other. The muggle born students were looking at them with wide eyes, probably thinking they’d gone mad. Scorpius overheard the professor explaining to them that puffskeins were mighty resistant, and they weren’t frightened or hurt by the game, in fact they found it very funny.
They spent the rest of the class playing with the little animals. Then Professor Zhou asked them to write an essay on characteristics and care of puffskeins, and the kids left for their mandatory study hour before tea time. Scorpius was cheerful; out of the four teachers they had had today, this was the one he’d liked the most. Flitwick had been fair, too, but Scorpius hadn’t felt as welcome in his class as he had at Zhou’s.
That warm feeling went away as they got closer to the castle. Second year students were also heading to the Great Hall for their study hour, and there was an exchange of glacier looks between both groups. Scorpius, however, noticed their groups had come back together from the Forest and, while they weren’t all chatting together, they hadn’t quarrelled, or thrown bad looks at one another. He watched Albus Potter speculatively for a few seconds; then, he opened his Potions book and started studying.
They already had a considerable amount of assignments to complete and Scorpius and the rest went to the Common Room to get started. Only Morrigan, who wanted to chat with her friend Michelle, and Watson, that was talking for a group of Hufflepuffs, stayed behind.
“I thought they wouldn’t give us so much to do on the first day” protested Hector, setting his parchment, quill and ink on the table.
Diana looked at Scorpius.
“What are you going to start with?”
“With Defense.” She nodded and took out her own book, and she looked at it with a blank expression. Scorpius remembered he had promised his father he would help Diana with her studies and looked for the page they needed. “You just need to read it and write down the most important stuff. C’mon”
Diana nodded again and started reading to herself, moving her lips with evident effort. Scorpius remembered Charles Paltry; it was clear both Houses had their own knuckleheads.
While they were writing, other Slytherin students arrived. Some sat down to study without giving themselves one second of relaxation, but others went looking for chess boards or some other tabletop games, and a few others found cozy spots to read or talk in small groups. A couple of Prefects came to them and asked how their first day had gone and what they thought about the new teacher. Scorpius told them both the same thing: he seemed nice; then, Rebecca Warbeck asked him about Watson.
“He’s been hanging with some Hufflepuffs, I believe.”
She pursed her lips and left without saying anything else. Diana then showed Scorpius her Defense assignment.
“Will you check it?”
Scorpius nodded and marked all the spelling mistakes so that she could rewrite it without errors. He was already doing his Charms homework; they had to write another essay and practice Wingardium Leviosa until they could direct the feather's flight with their wand, but before they were finished the older students called them to the Great Hall for dinner. Everyone hurried to finish some half-written sentence, closed their inkwell and left the dungeons in one big group.
“Oi, Malfoy” said a fifth-year, “Is it true you casted a Protego in Defense that left the Gryffindors speechless?”
Many students that were in hearing range, even older students, looked at him with a mix of curiosity and approval that made Scorpius feel a bit flattered.
“Yes, my parents taught me how to cast it while we lived in the States. It is legal there.”
“Brilliant” some said.
“Well done, Malfoy”
“Daskalova gave you points?” asked Aino Kaspersen.
“No, no way”
“Give him points? She nearly took him to the Headmistress' office”
The Slytherins muttered a few insults under their breath, though it was clear that they were not surprised. They all seemed pleased that he had outdone Potter and the Gryffindors, though, and Scorpius felt like repeating the feat.
Watson was in the Great Hall, still talking to the Hufflepuffs. When he had no other choice, he went to take his place at the corner of the Slytherin table with a look of torment on his face that made Scorpius, who wasn’t violent by nature, want to punch him. Hector, who was sitting next to him, gave him a sour look.
“Make sure you don’t touch me,” he warned.
The boy grimaced, but said nothing. Scorpius noticed that, despite his fatness, he hardly touched his food, as if it disgusted him. He, however, was famished, even though he had eaten half a dozen cakes for tea. Then he heard laughter coming from the Gryffindor table and saw that a red-haired boy and a Black boy were making their classmates laugh with some story.
"The red-haired one is James Potter," Morrigan whispered.
James Potter… Scorpius watched him, trying not to be noticed. There was nothing special about him, he was a middle height kid, with freckles and zits on his face. Although he did look a bit conceited. Scorpius told himself that he was probably just as much of an idiot as Gabriel had always said he was.
When they finished their dinner, they all went back to the Common Room, and Scorpius and the rest continued with their homework. This time Watson had had to leave with them, because first years weren’t allowed outside of their Common Room after dinner, but he was keeping to himself in the corner, whining from time to time.
Professor Slughorn came in later to talk to the first years and make sure their first day at school had gone well.
“Professor, madam Daskalova took two points from me, but I didn’t do anything wrong, I promise” protested Britney.
“You must learn to behave, Ms. Streele” said Slughorn, kindly. “We all need to do our part to show everyone that Slytherin House deserves a second chance.”
He wasn’t sure why, but Scorpius felt a sort of sickness in his stomach. He wasn't surprised to notice that some of the older students tensed when they heard his words, just as they had tensed that morning when Slughorn had said that Watson was going to give them a chance. But in the morning they had been in the Great Hall, where anyone could hear them, and this time they were in the Common Room, away from prying eyes and ears, and one of those students looked at the professor coldly.
"I don't think Salazar Slytherin would be happy to know that his students now have to grovel for the approval of the other Houses."
Professor Slughorn looked outraged.
"I see that the holidays have not improved your character, Mr. McNair. I hope you will grow up one day and leave that haughty attitude behind you."
McNair, a tall, skinny boy with a prominent nose and chin, snorted contemptuously and walked away without looking back at the professor. Scorpius watched him go with wide eyes, impressed by the way he had spoken to him, and he could not help but notice that some of the older students were giving him smiles of approval, some not very concealed.
“Students like him only cause trouble” continued Slughorn, in a lecturing tone that did not entirely hide the fact that he was still irritated by McNair's comment. “I expect better from you. Do not mess with anyone, and always obey your professors; do not give them reasons to think poorly of us. The honour of Slytherin also rests on your shoulders, do you understand?”
Scorpius wasn't entirely convinced, but the talk about honour had struck a chord. Although he had only been a Slytherin for a day, his love for that House had already been present, he had inherited it from his parents, his grandparents, and the adults who surrounded him when he was in England. In some vague way, deep in his heart, his family and Slytherin were so closely related that speaking ill of one was almost equivalent to speaking ill of the other.
The day had been more intense than they had expected and Scorpius found himself wanting to go to bed, even though he would have to share a room with Watson that night. Watson had started whining louder since a prefect had given them the first warning to go to bed and he hadn't stopped as he lay down.
“Are you going to cry the whole fucking night?” Damon snapped, annoyed.
Watson didn't say anything, and continued crying. Scorpius didn't care; five minutes later he had fallen asleep and dreamed that a bunch of red-haired people were chasing him.