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It was a lovely day.
Crisp autumn winds swept through the bustling train station as both wizards and muggles hurried in side by side. The Potter family had arrived ten minutes early, less efficiently than they would've liked, since they had to arrive by car. Harry and Ginny were walking hand in hand, their daughter Lily perched happily on her father’s shoulders.
James and Albus Potter pushed their loaded trolleys, trying and failing to make their way through the crowd. As they walked towards the entrance of Platform Nine and Three-Quarters—James deciding to pave a path by shoving others out of the way—the owl cages placed precariously atop their trolleys teetered side to side. The boys were bickering over a subject they’d already discussed hundreds of times, James laughing as Albus shot him a worried look.
“Dad! He keeps saying it,” Albus said, pouting as he looked up at Harry.
“James, give it a rest.”
“I only said he might be in Slytherin. And he might! So...” James trailed off, unabashedly meeting his father’s stony expression with a grin. After a few seconds of staring each other down, James cracked. “Fine,” he harrumphed.
Albus looked up at his mum, anxiously drumming his fingers on the handle of his trolley. “You’ll write to me, won’t you?” He was scared his parents would forget him while he was away.
“Every day if you want us to,” Ginny promised, taking the hand he was tapping and entwining it with hers. His mother’s palm was soft and warm; it helped him feel slightly more tethered to the world around him.
“No. Not every day! James says most people only get letters from home about once a month. I don’t want to...” He didn’t want to be a burden.
Harry playfully ruffled James’s hair. “We wrote to your brother three times a week last year.”
“What? James!” Albus yelped. He shot James an accusatory glare, to which his brother had the decency to look slightly ashamed.
“Yes,” Ginny smirked. “You may not want to believe everything he tells you about Hogwarts. He likes a laugh, your brother.” It was uncanny how much James Potter behaved like his namesake.
“Can we go now, please?” James asked, practically vibrating with excitement.
Albus turned and looked at his parents nervously, clearly not as keen to board the train as his brother.
“All you have to do is walk straight at the wall between platforms nine and ten,” said Ginny as she patted Lily’s head. “I’m so excited!” The young girl gushed, wrapping her arms around Harry’s neck.
Harry squeezed both his sons’ shoulders reassuringly. “Don’t stop and don’t be scared you’ll crash into it—that’s very important. It’s best to do it at a run if you’re nervous.”
Albus took a deep breath. “I’m ready.”
Harry—Lily still riding on his back—took Albus’s trolley, and Ginny took James’s. Together, the Potters ran straight at the barrier.
Platform Nine and Three-Quarters was cloaked in white clouds of steam, the hazy air making it look dreamlike. The platform was busy as well, but instead of men in sharp suits going about their day, it was filled with beautifully robed witches and wizards saying farewells to their children.
“This is it,” Albus breathed, taking everything in. Dozens of owls were soaring overhead, hooting over the sound of the train. The polished stone floors were covered in various trolleys, the occasional cat or toad sitting on them.
“Wow!” Lily gasped, pointing at the train. It looked magnificent, rays of sunshine reflecting against the dark metal, artfully painted with the words Hogwarts Express.
Lily twisted around on her father’s shoulders. “Where are they? Are they here? Maybe they didn’t come?” She fretted, looking for her uncle.
“Oh, there they are,” Harry said, spotting Ron’s ginger hair in the crowd. “Uncle Ron! Uncle Ron!” Lily squealed. Harry lowered her off his shoulder and she bounded off towards Ron and Hermione.
“If it isn’t my favorite Potter!” Ron exclaimed, lifting Lily up into his arms to give her a bear hug.
“Have you got my trick?” she asked excitedly.
“Are you aware of the Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes certified nose-stealing breath?”
“Mum!” Rose complained, “Dad’s doing that lame thing again.”
“You say lame, he says glorious, I say—somewhere in between.” Hermione replied sagely, giving her daughter a teasing smile.
Ron leaned over Lily with a mischievous grin. “Hang on, let me just munch this air. And now it’s just a simple matter of—excuse me if I smell slightly of garlic…” Lily giggled as he breathed on her face, crinkling her nose. “You smell of porridge!”
“Bing, bang, boing! Young lady, get ready to not be able to smell at all!” He pinched his fingers over her nose and pretended to yank at it, making a loud popping noise.
“Where’s my nose?” she gasped, humoring him.
Ron winked at her. “Ta-da!”
Both his hands are empty. It’s such a lame trick, yet everyone enjoys it all the same.
“You’re so silly,” Lily laughed.
“Everyone’s staring at us again.” Albus said with a grimace.
“Because of me! I’m extremely famous. My nose experiments are legendary!” Ron joked, waggling his eyebrows.
“They’re certainly something,” Hermione said, shaking her head to hide a smile.
“Parked all right, then?” Harry inquired, wondering if Ron had found a way to make the car drive for him.
“I did! Hermione didn’t believe I could pass a Muggle driving test, did you? She thought I’d have to Confund the examiner.”
“I thought nothing of the kind! I have complete faith in you,” Hermione protested.
“And I have complete faith he did Confund the examiner.” Rose said, causing James to burst out laughing.
“Oi!”
Albus stepped away from the others and tugged at the corner of his father’s sleeve. “Dad…” He whispered, biting down on his lower lip. “Do you think—what if I am—what if I’m put in Slytherin?”
“What would be wrong with that?”
“Slytherin is the House of the snake, of Dark Magic… it’s not a House of brave wizards.”
Harry bent down, lowering himself to his son's height. “Hey, look at me. Albus Severus, you were named after two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew.”
“But just say…”
“If it matters that much to you, the Sorting Hat will take your feelings into account.”
“Really?”
“It did for me.” Harry said softly. It was something he’d never said out loud before, not even to his lifelong friends.
“Hogwarts will be the making of you, Albus. I promise you, there is nothing to be frightened of there.” He gently smiled at Albus and he could see the boy’s troubled look subside.
“Apart from the Thestrals!” James cut in. “Watch out for the Thestrals!”
“I thought they were invisible! You said they were invisible!” Albus cried, chasing after his brother.
Harry tapped him on the shoulder and Albus turned to face him. “Listen to your professors, don’t listen to James, and remember to enjoy yourself. Now, if you don’t want this train to leave without you, you should leap on.”
~*• ☆ •*~
“I’m going to chase the train out,” Lily said, taking off running before she had even finished her sentence.
“Lily,” her mother called after her, “come straight back!”
Hermione was adjusting her daughter's robes and checking if she had everything packed correctly. “Rose, remember to send Neville our love!”
“Mum, I can’t give a professor love!” Rose groaned, making her way towards the train. “Bye Mum and Dad—I’ll write loads, I promise!” She gave her parents a final wave and walked inside.
Albus turned to Harry and Ginny, “Okay, then. Bye,” he said, closing his eyes and hugging them tightly. “Tell Lily I say bye.” And with that, he climbed onto the train, disappearing from sight.
Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione stared where the train used to be, long after it’s gone.
“They’re going to be okay, right?” Ginny asked, a hint of worry lacing her features.
Hermione placed a hand on her arm. “Don’t worry, Hogwarts is a safe place.”
“Big, wonderful, full of food,” Ron let out a wistful sigh. “I’d give anything to be going back.”
Harry’s brows furrowed in confusion. “It’s strange though, isn’t it? Al being worried he’ll be sorted into Slytherin.”
“That’s nothing,” Hermione laughed dryly. “Rose is worried about whether she’ll break the Quidditch scoring record in her first or second year. And how early she can take her O.W.L.s.”
“I have no idea where she gets her ambition from,” Ron said sarcastically.
Ginny looked at her husband uncertainly. “How would you feel, Harry, if Al—if he is?”
“You know, Gin, we always thought there was a chance you could be sorted into Slytherin,” Ron mused.
“What?” She said incredulously.
“Honestly, Fred and George ran a book.”
Hermione glanced over her shoulder, feeling people’s gazes on her. “Can we go? Everyone's looking, you know.”
“People always look when you three are together,” Ginny said. “And apart. People always look at you.”
The four of them turned around, the sound of their footsteps echoing in the slowly emptying station. Ginny lingered behind the group and caught Harry's wrist so he could stay back. She gestured to Hermoine to go on without them.
“Harry… He’ll be alright won’t he?” She whispered, biting her lip nervously.
“Of course he will.”