Friday, August 29, 2017:
The morning was clear, the birds were singing and Albus could hear the leaves rustling. It was warm, far too warm for an August morning. A few rays of sunlight came through his window and illuminated his Quidditch sheets in the colors of the Bulgarian team yet he hated that team. In fact, he hated Quidditch.
His whole room was filled with CDs and various kinds of music-related merchandise that his father's godfather, Sirius Orion Black, had given him.
The wood of the old mansion creaked, especially the stairs, under the weight of her little sister Lily Luna. She stormed into her room, shouting out her first name:
-Albus! Albus! It's the letter, the letter!
-Calm down, Lily! She waved in all directions and grabbed his arm, forcing him down.
An owl with a yellowed envelope and a four-dimensional bucket was scanning him with its big yellow eyes. He recognized it; his brother, barely a year older, had already received it last year. It was sitting on the perch of Olinn, the family owl. He leapt from his roost and flew out of the window, leaving behind a simple trail of feathers.
His father, Harry, pulled up a chair inviting him to sit down and handed him his letter; To Albus Severus Potter, in the top right-hand room of Potter Manor. Albus took it and unsealed it, pulling out a thin parchment.
Dear Mr. Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into Hogwarts School. Students will be required to report to the Welcome Chamber on arrival, the dates of which will be duly communicated.
We look forward to welcoming you to the next generation of Hogwarts heritage.
Yours sincerely
Professor McGonagall
He turned his head towards his parents, a twinkle in his eyes and almost the beginnings of a smile. A strange mixture of pride and trepidation was building in his belly. His brother patted him on the back and his sister hugged him happily.
*
Albus was wearing the robe he only put on for special occasions like weddings or birthdays. It was a large black cape with wide sleeves, a jacket with a wide collar revealing the entire top of his white shirt and a white bow tie.
Today, he was about to go shopping for his first Hogwarts school supplies. His brother James was also coming for his second-year supplies, and his sister, accompanied by both parents, was simply coming to see how things would go for next year. In short, the whole Potter family was together.
Albus stepped into the chimney frame, took the cheminette powder in his hand and threw it to the ground, shouting: Diagon Alley ! A great cloud of green smoke engulfed him, he felt the ground give way beneath his feet and found himself butt-ended in the cross-roads, his father pulling him up by the shoulders.
The alley remained crowded with people as usual, wizards' robes trailing on the ground, owls' cries heard on all sides and a smell of paper emerging from Fleury and Bott. A tall, blue-haired boy, whom Albus knew all too well, came waving two huge arms at James.
-Jamieee!” he shouted.
James shouted back;
-Teddyyy laughed the interested party
The big two embraced before James turned to glance at the couple arriving just behind. A giant with brown hair almost full of gray streaks and large scars all over his body and a man shorter than him with black curly hair. Albus recognized them and ran into the arms of Remus Lupin and Sirius Black, his father Harry's godparents but considered the grandfathers of the three wizards.
Albus wondered about Teddy's age, or rather the enormous age gap and the fact that it was almost impossible for two men to have a child. His innocence made the couple laugh, and Harry later explained that they had adopted him.
-Well done on your admission to Hogwarts, Albus congratulated Remus, trying not to be jostled by the people in the aisle.
Albus felt embarrassed to be congratulated, since he hadn't actually done much except receive a letter to be admitted, but thanked the giant whom Sirius often called Moony anyway.
As Remus finished his sentence and turned his head towards Fleury and Bott, Albus felt the literary attraction that Sirius had already told him about several times.
They spent the morning together and ate lunch at the Cauldron. Sirius insisted on finishing the day at the Quidditch store.
-You're not going to buy him a Padfoot broom,” lectured Ginny and Remus.
Albus watched the three adults arguing as if they were still in 1st grade. It reminded him of Great Aunt Petunia, who often did the same thing with Uncle Dudley. He turned his head and saw Teddy and Jamie looking at broom cleaning kits. They looked like two crazy people almost drooling over a brush and soap. James took one of the brushes, the largest, and positioned it in front of his crotch, shaking it like a monkey. Teddy exploded with laughter and an Experliarmus shot out, the brush he'd been holding five seconds ago jumping out of his hand. Lily giggled beside her father, pinching the bridge of her nose. Jamie turned scarlet and put the brush back, pretending not to have done anything.
In the end, Remus had finally given in, leaving Ginny who didn't take long to give in either, leaving Sirius to buy a broom for Albus.
-Happy back to Hogwarts! celebrates the interested party
Not knowing how to thank him, Albus mumbled a small thank-you and took the broom in his arms. He remembered that his father had also been given the same broom by his godfather. He wasn't keen on Quidditch, so maybe he'd pass it on to Jamie later or sell it to buy himself some music records.
Lily began to scream and Albus came out of his thoughts immediately. Harry had returned with a large cage and a barred owl was sleeping inside. He glanced at his mother and she looked at him with a big smile. Albus again accepted the gift, and they ended the day by transplaning to Potter Manor.
In the evening, Harry also invited the Granger-Weasleys, Ron and Hermione, who came with their children Rose and Hugo. When they were all seated around the table and the house elves Gully and Dobby (although he was only there as a volunteer) had finished serving the food, lively discussions began on all sides. Albus didn't really like big meals like this. Not that he hated his family, but he didn't like the noise of all their conversations and the fact that he felt ambushed every time someone asked him a question.
So he settled himself at the end of the table, with Padfoot's Walkman over his ears, and turned the sound up loud, so that he didn't have to hear the surrounding conversations. With a scowl glued to his face, he was doing everything he could to make people want to talk to him as little as possible.
Then his big brother James, whom everyone called Jamie, pulled out one of the earpieces and shouted:
-What kind of music are you listening to?
Annoyed at being disturbed in this way, Albus slapped his hand away and replaced the earpiece properly. Jamie laughed with Teddy, and had the bright idea of grabbing the walkman, pulling it to position it on his head.
-Elton John,” he articulated broadly, ”interesting!
Albus saw red, rose from his chair and jumped onto his brother's back. Teddy didn't even try to help his friend, leaving him to wriggle around trying to catch his little brother.
Lily, Hugo and Rose watched the spectacle with amusement, while Harry pinched the bridge of his nose tired of his sons' non-existent maturity, Ginny about to lecture the two Potters when something Harry had already experienced before entering Hogwarts happened;
Jamie and Teddy had stopped laughing altogether and were staring wide-eyed at the Walkman floating above their heads.
Albus couldn't understand what was happening to him, ten seconds ago he'd been fighting to get his Walkman back, and now it was floating like a soap bubble in front of him. Ginny mumbled a few words and he came to land gently in front of them.
He slid gently off his brother's back and returned to his seat as if nothing had happened. He put the headphones back on and continued to listen to his music.
He expected to hear a few whispers of amazement, murmurs that would have been worth him going up to his room to be quiet. But instead, conversation resumed as normal.
For dessert, they ate a tart Hermione had baked with Hugo, and the three little Potters went upstairs to bed.
Albus half-opened his bedroom door to hear the conversations downstairs; he was sure the adults were talking about him. He recognized a few voices, such as Sirius's, which was very genteel, although he tried to hide it by using some of Remus's vocabulary, his father's voice, which was as sarcastic as ever, or Hermione's, who was only lecturing Ronald not to give Olinn any pie. Unfortunately, he was sure he'd missed the most important and interesting part of the conversation.
-Has it happened again?
Maybe Sirius told Albus.
-Is she still sore? What's it been, twenty years?!
Surely Mama thought Albus
-But he's supposed to have been dead for two decades, how could he come back?
That's Uncle Ron, Albus admitted.
-And the order? Would it have to be reformed if this really happened?
-It's suspicious that it should be painful for you, Harry, the day he manages to do that.
Albus didn't feel like listening anymore and went back to bed.