Out of the Shadow

Author's Notes: Ah, the next chapter. It is currently around 1:30 in the morning EST, and I am wide awake. I don't want to be wide awake. It's all my university's fault for putting up housing results online and having a server that loves to crash. So I'm waiting it out, at least until some of the more rational people decide to go to bed. But you lot lucked out, because I decided to post this in the meantime.

Thanks to all that reviewed the last chapter: Ashalind Pendragon, TreyFury97 (nice to see someone familiar), Lizzy Lovegood, ShinaLaris, ChrissyTNG, HermioneDancr, deedubya, lei, Kitai Shensei, and Mystical Rose.

Also, I have changed a couple of things in the last chapter to fit JKR's interview. Flitwick is now headmaster, and Ron is now an Auror. I refused to change anything after that, like Percy being in the Ministry and all, but they're all minor changes.

Chapter Two: Reactions and First Classes

Dear Mum, Dad, and Lily,

I'm sure you're wondering what house I'm in. I thought about what you said, Dad, and then I told the Sorting Hat to choose a house for me, since I didn't know which house I wanted to be in, really. The hat said I was a good fit for all the houses, but in the end, it put me in Slytherin.

I know everyone else in our family was or is in Gryffindor, but I'm happy in Slytherin. I've made a friend already. His name is Hayden Zabini, and he says that his dad wasn't your friend in school, but that he doesn't care. My other dorm mates are friendly too - they were asking all sorts of questions about you, Dad.

One of them, Louis Higgs, says that I should try out for the Quidditch team. I said that it would have to be on a school broom, since I couldn't bring my Firebolt 360 to school, but he said he reckoned I could do it anyway, since he had heard both of you, Mum and Dad, were really good at Quidditch at school.

I met that boy Uncle Ron pointed out at the platform. Hayden says his dad will be angry he got into Hufflepuff. Do you think that's true?

Anyway, I should get to bed soon. We have our first lessons tomorrow, and I hope they're not too hard.

Love,

Al

P.S. Please don't send a letter every day, Mum. It'll be embarrassing.

Harry Potter read the letter through again, relishing his younger son's words, before passing it to Ginny. So Al was in Slytherin, and it didn't seem like he was too bothered about it. He had wondered about his second son. Al wasn't as loud and boisterous as James, and he was the one most bothered by Harry's fame whenever they walked out the door as a family. Harry always got the feeling that Al wanted to be distinguished from his father, and he was glad.

Ginny gasped. "He wants to try out for the Slytherin Quidditch team?"

"School brooms are bad, yeah. But I think Al can handle them. You don't have to worry about him being knocked off his broom."

"It's not that," said Ginny, smirking. "It's the fact that our son will be playing on the Slytherin team."

They laughed. "Ron will consider that a base betrayal," agreed Harry.

"Not to mention what Oliver will say when he sees Al fly. Torn between distrust and awe."

There were footsteps on the stairs, and a moment later, Lily appeared. "Did they write to us?" Kreacher appeared, placing a plate of breakfast in front of her, then went back to cooking at the stove, humming to himself in his bullfrog voice.

"Did who write to us, Lily?" asked Harry, grinning.

Lily looked exasperated. "You know who, Daddy."

"No, I don't. Unless..." Harry pretended to guess. "No, Uncle Bill did not write a letter to us."

"Not Uncle Bill, Daddy. James and Al!"

"Oh," said Harry with mock surprise. "Well, you could have said so! As a matter of fact, yes, Al did send a letter."

Lily bounced up and down in excitement. "What did he say?"

"He says..." Ginny scanned the letter again. "Well, Al's in Slytherin. He's made some new friends, and he wants to try out for the Quidditch team."

"Can I see? Please?" Ginny handed her daughter the letter. "Mummy," said Lily as she read, "do I have to go to lessons with Aunt Hermione today?"

"Yes, you do."

"But Mummy, can't you just tell Aunt Hermione that I don't want to go because I'm depressed at the thought of my brothers being at Hogwarts without me?"

"It'll remain that way in two years if you don't go."

Harry looked at the clock. "Well," he said to a frowning Ginny and a scowling Lily, "I'm off. See you later." He kissed his wife and daughter on the cheek.

"Daddy, do I have to go today?"

Harry sighed and exchanged glances with Ginny. They had gone through this last year with both Al and Lily, when James had gone to school. "Well... I suppose..."

"Please?"

"No," said Harry, grinning at his daughter's cheer. Ginny rolled her eyes. He stepped outside as the two began to argue over instead whether or not Hugo could come to visit that day or not.

Mr. and Mrs. Abbott, their neighbors, were outside on their porch, enjoying the crisp autumn morning. Harry waved and exchanged greetings with them before Disapparating to the Ministry.

"Hello, Eric," he said to the guard in the Atrium. He approached the lifts, pulling a sheaf of parchment out of his cloak pocket. They were the case reports for the major cases finished in the past week, which Terry Boot, the deputy head of the Aurors, had handed him yesterday for review.

He entered a lift. Everyone on it greeted him, and he returned their greetings without looking up from his reports. "Harry!" said Arthur and Ron, catching up to him and getting on the lift before the doors closed.

"Oh, hello," said Harry, still slightly distracted.

"Well?" said Arthur eagerly. "How is Al?"

"Slytherin," said Harry, putting the reports away.

"Slytherin?" repeated Ron.

"Yeah. Anything wrong?"

Ron coughed. "No, nothing." He cleared his throat. "So, erm, did he write about Rosie?" he asked casually.

"Rosie didn't write?"

Arthur laughed. "Knowing Rosie, we can expect a novel in about a week. No doubt she's taking Hermione's words to heart and studying already."

"Well, Al didn't say anything, but based on that, I'm sure she's in Gryffindor." The lift stopped.

"Level two," announced a woman's voice as the doors slid open. "Department of Magical Law Enforcement--"

"You coming?" said Harry to Ron as he and Arthur got off the lift.

"Nah. I've got to meet with a couple of the blokes up at Magical Games and Sports; I'll see you at lunch."

The lift's doors closed, and a stocky wizard with a swarthy face approached Harry.

"Potter, Fletcher's gone and escaped his holding cell again..."

Harry sighed and turned to face Gregor, the head Hit-Wizard. Arthur murmured a goodbye and went into his own office. "Robards said Aurors were not to be deployed after petty thieves like Dung Fletcher."

"Yes, but..."

"I'd bring it up with Robards if I were you."

Gregor sighed and left to go see the head of the Department of Law Enforcement.

Harry entered his office, his mind in the past. He had very little affection for Mundungus Fletcher, who he had tried to strangle once and who had run away while doing work for the Order, resulting in Mad-Eye Moody's death. He had to hand it to him, though: Dung had escaped his holding cell three times already after he had been released from Azkaban for petty crimes for the fourth time.

He sighed as he beheld his desk. His in-tray was filled with parchment.

***

The next morning, Al woke early and got dressed. When he came out of the bathroom, all of his dorm mates were still asleep. He attempted to wake Hayden but received a, "Hrmph, go 'way," as a response.

So he went up to the Great Hall alone, still smiling contentedly at the thought of his first lessons. He had resolved not to think of his family's reaction to his first letter, and so far, it was working.

He was one of the first people in the Great Hall. There were a few older Ravenclaws doing some last-minute pre-lesson studying and only one small figure at the Slytherin table. As Al neared, he realized it was Scorpius Malfoy. He wondered what a Hufflepuff was doing, sitting at the Slytherin table, but Scorpius did not look up as Al sat down across from him.

"Al!" Rosie appeared from behind him, holding a large book in her arms. "There you are. I've been wanting to see you."

Al smiled, his mouth full of toast. He swallowed. "Did you write to your parents yet?"

"No," said Rosie. "Didn't have time. I was studying." Al snorted, and she scowled. "It's not funny. If you don't study, you'll do poorly in all your classes."

"Or not. Seeing as most of us don't study as obsessively as you do, Rosie."

But Rosie ignored him. "Aren't you a Hufflepuff?" she asked Scorpius, who was watching their conversation with something that approached longing.

At her words, he started, then ran toward the Hufflepuff table, cheeks pink with embarrassment.

"You made him run away."

"I didn't mean to." Rosie looked uncomfortable. "But you two weren't talking, and I was wondering what he was doing here."

"You're a Gryffindor," Al pointed out.

"Yeah, but I'm talking to you. Oh, hello, Luke."

Luke Harrods grinned at both of them. "I thought I would be the only one up so early." He turned to Al. "You're Harry Potter's son?"

"Yeah."

"That's really cool. What's he like?"

"He's like Uncle Harry," said Rosie, sensing Al's discomfort. "Really nice and brave. Funny at times too. I'll see you later, Al," she added. The two of them left, leaving Al alone at the Slytherin table.

"Morning, Sev," said Hayden half an hour later, when he joined Al finally. He yawned. "Was that you trying to wake me up this morning? Because it's a futile effort, usually, unless if you're my mum."

Bit by bit, the Great Hall began to fill up with yawning students. Al finished his breakfast and sat on the bench watching others come in. Their Head of House, Professor Slughorn, appeared with the schedules.

"What do we have first?" asked Hayden, too busy stuffing his face to look at his own schedule.

"Double Charms with the Ravenclaws." Al wondered how that would go. He wasn't quite sure what to call George, though his mother had said that "Professor Weasley" would be best, since he didn't want to make it obvious that they were related.

"Right," said Hayden.

When Hayden had finished with his breakfast, he and Al decided to head toward class, since neither of them knew the castle well at all. Al told him about how Scorpius Malfoy had been sitting at the Slytherin table that morning on their way to the seventh floor.

"Weird," was Hayden's reply. "But not surprising. I met him a couple years ago at my dad's Christmas party. Thought he was a bit of a wet blanket. He didn't talk all night and stayed close to his mum the entire time. I heard from Neil that he burst into tears once, when Louis teased him too far. I'm not surprised he was sitting at the wrong table; probably forgot which one was his."

But Al thought that it had been something different that had caused Scorpius to sit at the wrong table.

"Hey! Al! Wait up," shouted a voice behind them. Al turned; it was Luke, panting and running toward them, his bag flying out behind him. "Hello," he said to Hayden upon reaching them. "Luke Harrods." He stuck out a hand.

Hayden took it warily. "Hayden Zabini."

"I'm glad we have this class together," said Luke to Al. "Rosie told me a lot about you." Al wondered fleetingly when she had been able to, then remembered that she had sat with Luke at breakfast. "I was looking forward to talking to you a bit."

"Are you a Muggle-born?" asked Hayden abruptly.

"Yeah. Why?" replied Luke, somewhat nervously.

"Nothing." Hayden had a strange look in his eye, and he remained silent for the rest of the way. Al got the feeling that he wasn't comfortable around Muggle-borns, as his parents were most likely against the idea of them.

"Did your mum really write Confidence: The Secret to a Modern Witch's Success? Because I bought my mum a copy at Flourish and Blott's this summer, and she liked it, even though there were parts she couldn't understand."

"Yeah, Mum wrote that."

"Wow."

Al felt distinctly uncomfortable. "Why don't you tell me about yourself?"

"Oh." Luke grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, Rosie warned me against acting like I am right now. Erm, well, my dad's a barrister. My mum is a doctor."

"Doctor?" Al had heard Harry use it once, but he couldn't remember when.

"You don't know? Don't wizards have doctors? You know, people who work at hospitals and in offices, and they keep you healthy?"

"Oh! Healers," said Al. "We call them Healers. Because they heal people."

"I suppose that makes sense," said Luke. "Anyway, Mum's a doctor. I've got two older brothers, but they're both much older. I was born after my parents sent Edward off to boarding school. Ed's twenty-three now and Patrick's twenty-six. Patrick's getting married in the spring. I'm the only one in my family to come here - my name was down for another school, but my parents and brothers are all really happy that I got in here, because they all reckon it's far more interesting than being a Muggle."

They reached the seventh floor. George stood outside of the classroom, greeting each of the anxious-looking first years that approached. "Go right in," he said, smiling. "Ah, Al! How are you?"

"Great, Uncle George."

George laughed. "Best call me 'Professor Weasley,' Mr. Potter. You don't want people to think I'll favor you. In fact, because you're the offspring of the man who stole my sister, I'll be extra hard on you."

Al smiled at his uncle and entered the classroom. He sat down at an empty desk. Hayden and Luke took seats on either side of him. "He's your uncle?" hissed Hayden.

"My mum's older brother. He's co-owner of Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes too. Don't worry. I think he'll be great. James says he's a good teacher, and that his first lesson is great."

"What does he do?" asked Luke. "I read our Charms text over the summer. I can't wait until we can try some of them out."

"I dunno. James wouldn't tell me."

"Is James your brother?" asked Luke.

Al nodded. "He's in Gryffindor, a year older than I am. I have a sister, too. Her name's Lily, and she's nine."

The two boys talked some more about their families. Hayden sat to the side, looking surly, and did not answer when Luke addressed him about his family, pretending to be engrossed in Standard Book of Spells: Grade One.

Suddenly, in the middle of Luke's explanation of what the internet was, there was a loud explosion. Several of the girls shrieked, and everyone looked around wildly for the source. A split second later, a dragon flew through the wall, roaring loudly. It took Al a moment to realize that it was in fact a firework. There was a second explosion, and another dragon, this one green as opposed to blue, came out of George's desk. The two dragons circled each other, battling. Sparks rained down on their heads but disappeared before they could light anyone on fire.

Al found himself cheering along with his classmates. He was supporting the green dragon, as the two dragons clearly represented the two houses present in the classroom. Luke watched them fight, awe apparent in his eyes. Even Hayden, who had been attempting to look bored, seemed impressed.

There was a third explosion, and a red dragon soared in through the open door, followed by George himself. The third dragon swallowed the other two easily, then, like the Ouroboros, devoured itself. Its jaws, the last part of the dragon remaining, hovered in the air for a moment before exploding in a shower of yellow sparks.

The class burst into applause, and George bowed, grinning at all of them. "That," he said, "is the combination of Muggle technology and several Charms." The students quieted, all of them eager to try and make their own fireworks. "I'm Professor Weasley," continued George. "Today, we won't be making fireworks like these" - there was a collective groan - "because they take years of study, unfortunately. Yeah, I never thought school was important either," he added, seeing their disappointed faces, "but at least you have this to look forward to.

"Anyway, today, we'll be learning a basic spell you'll be using your entire lives. The Hover Charm, which is often known by its incantation, Wingardium Leviosa. Page ten of your books ought to have the incantation and the diagram showing wand movement for the spell."

There was a loud rustle as everyone got out their books and turned to the correct page. "It's a swish and flick movement," said George. "And make sure you get all the syllables right. I remember my professor telling us about a bloke who ended up with a buffalo on his chest because he got an incantation wrong." Hayden snorted. "There are feathers in front of you. Three to a group, take turns trying the spell. It might not work the first time, so don't give up. Wingardium Leviosa."

Al, Hayden, and Luke peered at each other nervously. "I'll go first," said Luke finally. "Wingardium Leviosa." The feather remained obstinately on the desk. Luke deflated.

"Maybe you got the inflection wrong," said Al. "Wingardium Leviosa." The feather wriggled feebly, but did not rise.

"I think your flick wasn't determined enough," said Hayden, frowning at the feather. "Wingardium Leviosa." He jabbed his wand at the feather, then, frustrated, jabbed at it some more when it didn't move. Sparks flew from the end of his wand, igniting the feather.

"Don't worry," said George, coming over with a new feather as the boys looked on in horror. "It happens all the time."

"You try, Sev," said Hayden, as George watched. "You almost did it."

"Er, all right," said Al, nervous, as his uncle was present. "Wingardium Leviosa." He took care to flick his wand more clearly. The feather shuddered on the desk, then slowly but surely rose into the air. Al grinned, and the feather fell as his concentration broke. Nevertheless, George awarded Slytherin five points, and Al left the class one of the few people who had managed to levitate their feathers.

"What do we have after this?" asked Hayden at lunch. Luke had gone to sit with the other Ravenclaws. Al decided he liked Luke; he had been very friendly. Hayden, on the other hand, had refused to speak to him.

"Transfiguration." Al studied his friend, who had gone back to normal once Luke had left. "You don't seem to like Luke much."

"Of course not!" said Hayden. "He--" He realized who he was talking to. "It's nothing really. I just don't."

"It's because he's Muggle-born, isn't it?" asked Al quietly.

Hayden clamped his lips shut and did not answer for a while. Finally, he said, "Look. Harrods seems like a decent bloke, but my dad said never to trust a Muggle-born. There was this whole thing during the war about Muggle-borns stealing real wizards' power."

"Muggle-borns are real wizards," said Al heatedly. "And that's utter bollocks."

"Yeah, I know most Muggle-borns are good. But what if the reason there are Squibs is because their power is--"

"That's ridiculous."

"That's what my dad says." Hayden sighed. "All right. I don't want to fight about this, so I'll be nice to Harrods, but you can't expect us to be best mates all of a sudden."

Al shrugged. "That's enough for me, at least for now." He glanced at his watch. "Let's go to Transfiguration. I heard it's terribly hard to find the classroom the first time."

***

Author's Notes: And there it is. Slightly shorter than the last one, but the next one is more exciting. I do believe I am starting a plot soon, coming up in Chapter Four.

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