Chapter Text
Aedus Eli Potter was pushing his trolley along with his parents, Charlus and Dorea Potter, and older brother, James Potter, who would be starting his third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
James had spent the whole summer telling his younger brother how great it would be to live at Hogwarts, described the four Houses, leaking his own opinion about each one, and talked about his best friends and his future girlfriend and wife, Lily Evans.
Aedus wasn't so sure about that last thing, but however.
After their arrival at the platform, James said goodbye to his parents, ruffled Aedus' hair and disappeared, looking for his friends.
Aedus smiled awkwardly at his parents.
Charlus put a hand on his shoulder. "Let's settle you in a carriage."
Aedus nodded gratefully.
Together, they loaded the trunk into the first empty compartment they could find, and Aedus began to tug nervously at the sleeve of his light green sweater, which matched his eyes.
"Aedus, are you alright? Are you worried about the sorting?" His mother, Dorea, asked, bending down to be able to see his face.
Aedus bit his lip. "What if they put me in Slytherin, mum?"
Dorea laughed before saying. "I was a Slytherin, Aedus. And I'm proud of it. Salazar Slytherin admired the ambitious, the cunning and the clever. And I'm sure you are all of those things. Many of your ideas are, that's sure."
Aedus blushed and Charlus crouched next to his wife.
"Wherever you end, we will be proud of you, Aedus."
Aedus hugged his parents one last time, before saying goodbye and watching them get off the train and take their places on the platform.
He then recognized the man his father had started talking to.
Bartemius Crouch Sr. was the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
Aedus had never directly spoken to him, but he knew that he didn't hold much opinion of his father.
From descriptions of him, and from what he hardly said, Crouch seemed somewhat megalomaniac and intensely concerned with presenting the appearance of respectability, a narrow-minded and inflexible man who rigidly followed the rules.
His father especially despised his allowing Aurors to cast the killing curses.
Beside him, with bowed head, was a pale boy of eleven, with straw-coloured hair, brown eyes and freckles.
Next to him stood, the wife of the Ministry employee holding her hand on her son's shoulder.
It was she who accompanied him on the train, a slight farewell from his father, and then the boy and his mother disappeared from sight of the youngest Potter.
Aedus just watched his father and Crouch Sr talk, while his mother watched the others on the platform.
She stiffened first, soon followed by the other man and her husband.
Aedus followed their gaze to find the entire Black family.
Two families. The first one, of Walburga and Orion, and the other, with Cygnus and Druella Rosier in Black as parents.
Cygnus and Druella's family had three daughters, Andromeda, Bellatrix and Narcissa.
All three advanced with haughty, proud steps.
Aedus wondered if it was genetic in the Black family, or if they were forced to learn how to always be regal.
Shifting his gaze to the other family, he ignored the parents to focus on the two children.
Sirius Black, his brother's best friend, was tall, thin, and quite handsome.
He had long dark hair, piercing gray eyes, and an attitude of "casual elegance."
The boy who was following him must have been his younger brother, Regulus.
He had the same black hair and slightly haughty look as his brother, but he was a little shorter and thinner.
Aedus knew that Sirius and Regulus' parents had a preference for pure-blood wizards.
He'd also heard his father muttering how they admired Lord Voldemort and believed him to be a great dark wizard.
Aedus knew that some purebloods looked to the wizard as their salvation.
A Merlin came to save them.
Sighing, he ignored the rest of the people, grabbing a textbook from his trunk and starting to read.
Distracted as he was by reading, he only looked up when he heard the compartment door open, after the train had gained speed and left the platform behind.
In front of him, Regulus Black looked at him haughtily.
"Is this seat taken?"
Aedus shook his head. "It's all free."
Regulus nodded elegantly, before sitting down in front of him.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Regulus Black."
"Aedus Potter. The pleasure is mine."
Regulus' gaze narrowed.
He didn't seem to be a fan of his family.
However, he didn't say anything, just staring at the boy for a moment, before saying. "Since I can't sit with my cousins, I suppose you'll be an acceptable company, for the moment."
"Thanks, I suppose." Aedus answered, confused.
Regulus looked at him seriously. "I don't think we'll talk much, once you're sorted with your brother and I in Slytherin."
The door opened and Barty Crouch Jr entered. "Can I sit here? The rest of the train is full."
Regulus pointed to the place near Aedus, glaring at the boy.
"Bartemius Crouch Jr, but Barty is fine. Who are you?"
"Aedus Potter."
"Regulus Black."
Regulus and Barty's gaze met and they both pursed their lips.
"Fortunately, as I was saying to Potter, we will never speak again after this trip."
"And it will be for the best." Barty nodded.
Aedus nodded. "Right, House's clear sorting. In Gryffindor all the good ones, Slytherin is for the great evil, all the nerd are going in Ravenclaw and what's a Hufflepuff?"
Barty chuckled and Regulus raised an eyebrow. "Don't you think Slytherins are for the evil?"
"My mother is a Black and she was a Slytherin. I'd be quite hypocritical."
Regulus smiled for the first time.
While they were talking, the train had taken them out of London.
Now they ran along pastures full of cows and sheep.
They were silent for a while, watching the fields and lanes go by.
Around half past, they heard a great racket in the corridor, and a smiling woman, with two dimples in her cheeks, opened the compartment door and asked. "Do you want something from the trolley?"
Aedus was quick to take some chocolate frogs and pumpkin pasties, while Regulus took two packets of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean, and Barty some Liquorice Magic Wands.
While Aedus calmly ate his first pumpkin pasty, Barty grimaced at Regulus. "How can you eat those horrors, Black?"
Regulus barely looked at him, continuing to eat the sweets. "My taste buds are just better than yours, Crouch."
"Barty."
"My name is Regulus. You can call me Black."
Aedus snorted in amusement, and Barty looked at him. "Shut up, you've had a lot of chocolate, Aedus."
"Chocolate helps to circulate serotonin, known as the hormone of happiness, because it manages to activate the right synapses for good mental health. And, my name is Aedus Eli Potter, but you can call me oh great Aedus if you want. "
Barty burst out laughing and Regulus smiled slightly.
Aedus unwrapped a Chocolate Frog and took the figurine.
There was a man's face on it.
He wore half-moon glasses, had a long hooked nose and flowing silver hair, beard and mustache. Underneath, was written the name: Albus Dumbledore.
"I can't believe I have Dumbledore again!" Aedus complained, then continued. "I miss Agrippa, and I just can't find her."
At that moment, Regulus winced.
"Do you feel bad for my bad luck, or finally tasted a terrible taste. Like spinach, liver and tripe. Or boogers."
Barty looked wide-eyed at Aedus. "Does boogers taste exist?"
"James swears he found it. The jury is still out on this one."
Regulus took a green jelly, looked at it carefully and bit one piece. "Bleaaah!... Brussels sprouts".
Now, the countryside that flashed before their eyes had grown wilder.
No more combed fields.
There were woods, winding rivers, and hills covered in dark green vegetation.
Someone knocked on their compartment door.
"Excuse me," he said, "did you see a toad?" When they shook their heads he said. "I lost it! Keep running away!"
"Why don't you ask a Prefect to summon it for you, Longbottom?" asked Aedus, having recognized Frank Longbottom. He was a very good wizard, but a little clumsy and forgetful. Who, according to James, was losing a lot of his things everywhere.
"Oh, that's a great idea, thank you, Aedus." Frank smiled at them before leaving.
"How it is in the third year, not knowing about the summons spell is beyond comprehension." Regulus commented and Barty shrugged. "He is a Gryffindor. They can't think."
Regulus snorted in amusement and Aedus chuckled.
A voice rang throughout the train. " We'll be arriving at Hogwarts in five minutes. Please leave your luggage on the train; it will be taken to the school buildings separately ."
The three boys slipped into their uniforms. They stuffed the last remaining sweets into their pockets and joined the crowd that filled the corridor.
After slowing down, the train finally stopped.
People jostled towards the window and then descended onto the narrow, dark sidewalk.
Aedus shivered in the freezing night air.
Then, above the heads of the students, a light came on, and they heard themselves say. "First year! First year this way!"
Against the light, a gigantic man stood out.
His face was almost hidden by a long, unkempt mane and an unkempt, tangled beard, but you could make out his eyes, which glittered like black beetles under all that fur.
"That's Hagrid, the castle gamekeeper." Barty commented and Regulus snorted. "I've heard that he's kind of keeper, I hear he's kind of a savage... he lives in a cabin on the school compound. Every now and then he gets drunk, tries to do magic and ends up setting fire to his bed."
"I think he's brilliant," Aedus commented, tilting his head.
Regulus shrugged. "I was just saying what I heard about him. I don't like prejudice being leveled at Slytherin, I would never level it at anyone else."
Hagrid's big hairy face beamed above the sea of heads. "Come on, follow me... Is there anyone else from the first year? And now watch where you step. The first years follow me!"
Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what appeared to be a steep, narrow path.
On both sides the darkness was so thick that Aedus thought the path was lined with thick trees.
Nobody really wanted to talk.
"In a moment: first panoramic view of Hogwarts!" announced Hagrid, speaking over his shoulder, "here, around this bend!"
There was a chorus of "Ohhhh!"
The narrow path had suddenly opened up at the edge of a great black lake.
Perched atop a high mountain in the background, its windows glowing brightly against the star-filled sky, was a large castle with many towers and
turrets.
"No more than four per boat," Hagrid warned, pointing to a fleet of small craft in the water near shore.
Aedus, Barty and Regulus sat together.
"Everyone on board?" shouted Hagrid who had his own boat. "Good... Let's go!"
And the little boats left the shore, gliding across the lake as smooth as glass.
Everyone was silent, their gaze fixed on the great castle that overlooked them.
It towered over them as they approached the cliff on which it was perched.
"Down the head!" shouted Hagrid as the first boats reached the reef; the boys complied, and the boats carried them through a curtain of ivy which hid a large opening in the front of the cliff itself.
Then they went through a long dark tunnel, which seemed to lead straight under the castle, and finally they reached a sort of underground port where they climbed between rocks and stones.
They clambered up a rock passage, preceded by Hagrid's lamp, and finally emerged onto the soft, damp grass, right in the castle's shadow.
They climbed the stone stairway and crowded in front of the immense oak door.
"All of us are here?"
Hagrid raised his giant fist and knocked three times.