Tea at Hagrids
Albus had done his best to ignore the whispers of the other students. Scorpius had been a bit of help. They didn’t talk a whole lot about it but really he was the only one who was kind of normal about things. Not even Rose or James were, they would talk to him still, but it was never for long. They seemed to be uptight around him.
It definitely wasn't the same as before.
Rose had finally caught up to him right before they entered the hall and pulled him over to the side to relay a short but happy filled message.
“The stairs let me up!” She cheered in a hushed voice.
It took Albus a moment to realize what she meant but the second he did he was just as happy as she was.
“That’s amazing Rose!” Neither of them got to say anything else before Rose was being called away by who knows who.
She waved goodbye and so did he before taking his seat at the Slytherin table.
He didn't get a letter from his parents, which he doesn't know if it was better than getting one at all. He was glad he didn’t get an angry letter from them saying they were disappointed but he was sad he didn’t get a letter saying that they didn’t care he was a Slytherin.
He decided to not dwell on it as best as he could.
He spent a bit of time with Scorpius both in and out of class which did earn him a few more stares. Albus genuinely couldn’t understand why people were shocked that he and Scorpius were friends, Scorpius was one of the nicest people he’s met in this damn castle.
By the time he had made it to Friday he was relieved to catch a break from it all and go down to Hagrid's for some afternoon tea. He hadn’t seen Hagrid much yet, sadly. He didn't have the time.
When he arrived at the small wooden shack with a large garden in the front, Albus could see the cloud of smoke coming from the brick chimney. With a hesitant sigh, knocked on the door and before he was able to get the third knock in the door was being swung open by a tall, large man with graying hair including in his long beard.
“Albus! ‘Ve been expectin’ ya! Come in, come in!” Hagrid said with a large grin. He moved out of the way and let Albus shuffle in. There was a fire going which was cooking the water they would use for tea. There was an old dog in the corner nearest to the fire laying on a tattered but oddly comfortable looking old bed.
Albus took a seat on the couch while Hagrid grabbed the kettle and poured the hot water into tea cups. Hagrid's was a bit bigger than Albus’s but in his hand it looked completely normal.
Hagrid handed him his tea and Albus thanked him, then the man took a seat in the large chair right across from him.
“So, how have you been liking Hogwarts?” He asked, his voice was chipper and well meant but it made Albus cringe. He had come here in hopes of forgetting the thought of school, but Albus didn’t want to disappoint so he lied.
“It’s been alright.” Albus gave a smile and hoped it worked and they could move on.
“Then why are you makin’ that face?” Said Hagrid without missing a beat. Why couldn’t Hagrid just be oblivious?
“Ok, so, it’s not exactly what I expected.” Hagrid seemed appalled.
“Not what you expected!? What do you mean?” Hagrid bellowed. Albus couldn’t help but think about what his father said about Hagrid loving Hogwarts. He had always thought he was over exaggerating but Albus was starting to see what he meant.
“Well for one, I didn’t think I would be a bloody Slytherin.” Hagrid's face dropped like he was judging him.
“Is that all?”
What.
“What do you mean is that all?” Albus spat. How could he say something like that, like it was insignificant?
“Well, it’s not all bad.” Hagrid said bluntly and that almost made Albus’s jaw drop.
“What do you mean!? Of course it’s bad! I’m not supposed to be in Slytherin, I’m supposed to be in Gryffindor!” Albus shouts and Hagrid seems unfazed.
“It’s okay that you're in Slytherin, It’s a great house.” Hagrid says it like it’s fact, but Albus doesn’t believe him.
“Voldemort was in that house.” Hagrid winces at the name and Albus regrets saying it but keeps talking. “It’s the worst house to be in! So many dark wizards were Slytherins!”
“But that doesn’t mean that house makes you a dark wizard, there's still plenty of good Slytherins.” Albus almost rolls his eyes.
“I guess.“
“We got your potions professor Slughorn, professor Snape,” Albus frowned at the mention of one of his namesakes.
“Phineas Black who was a headmaster, Dorcas Meadowes, and Merlin himself.”
“How do you have that memorized?” Almost completely ignoring the point Hagrid had been trying to make.
“A lot of people have said the same things as you Albus” that oddly made him feel a bit better knowing that other people have felt the same way as him.
“But all of those people kept going and every single one of them are amazin’!” Albus still didn’t feel all that convinced. He must have looked unconvinced because Hagrid kept talking.
“Have you not met anyone in Slytherin that you think is good?”
Scorpius.
“I have.” Albus says softly and takes a sip of his tea. Hagrid smiles at the fact that he had been right and it causes Albus to crack a small smile.
“It doesn’t matter what house you’re in, if you want to be a good wizard then you will be. So unless you're planning to become a dark wizard you have nothing to worry about.” Hagrid took a nice long sip on his tea and Albus felt the tightness in his chest loosen a bit.
The rest of the time he spent at Hagrid's was lovely. They talked more about school like what classes he liked and didn’t like, if he liked his common room and dorm, if he liked the people in his said common room and dorm. They also talked a little bit about his dad and the rest of his family, he was happy to talk about his annoying little sister he was actually missing rather much.
After a good hour he went on his way and headed back to the castle. He still had about an hour till dinner so he supposed he could use that time to start up on schoolwork.
Albus walked all the way to the dungeons and passed through the common room almost completely unnoticed by others which he rather liked. That was until someone he recognized grabbed his attention.
“Albus!” It was Scorpius again. He had noticed the blonde when he first walked into the common room. It was kind of difficult not to, his hair was practically white. But he didn’t say anything, he still couldn’t really tell what to do about Scorpius.
Rose had said it was a bad idea but Scorpius was, well, Scorpius.
And Albus didn’t really have a good reason to not talk to him.
Scorpius got up from his place on the carpet and trotted over to him with a wide grin on his face. He was ever so slightly taller than Albus, you could only ever really tell if you were looking for it. If he and Scorpius were to ever stand face to face with Lily then she would notice it immediately and nag Albus for it for the rest of his life, even if Albus did become taller than him in the future.
“You want to play chess?” Scorpius pointed back to where he was sitting and Albus saw his two other roommates who were, just a moment ago, sitting on the carpet with a chess board on the coffee table in front of them but now they were also walking up to him.
“I’m not all that good at it.” Albus admits and turns out Ronan and Justin were in earshot to hear. Justin laughs and Ronan scowls at his friend.
“That’s ok, neither is Ronan.” Justin says with a grin and Ronan frowns deeply.
“I just beat you!” He cries and Justin only rolls his eyes.
“That’s because you cheated.”
“I DID NOT CHEAT!” Scorpius gives a pleading smile that almost reads ‘help me out here’.
Albus gives a little forgiving smile.
“Come play with us, I’ll make sure Ronan doesn’t cheat.” Justin says and Ronan punches him in the arm. Scorpius' smile changes to a more welcoming one and Albus has made his decision.
“Sure.” Ronan pauses from beating up his friend and Justin also seems surprised that Albus agreed. Not that he can blame him. Albus is a pretty cold person. Scorpius just beams.
The four of them sit down around the coffee table, Albus on the end that gives him control over the black pieces and Scorpius sits across from him giving him control of the white pieces. Albus has no clue if he is going to win or lose but he doesn’t actually mind.
Albus doesn't really know how it will go in Slytherin, at least for this year, but he hopes, with the help of his maybe friends, he can figure it out and make it out just fine.
And who knows? Maybe being in Slytherin won't be too bad after all.