Harry Potter Fanfic - A Hero's Son

[penandpaper67]

This is my first real fanfic, so please don't be too mean. It's set right after the epilogue and obviously has spoilers for the whole series. It's pretty much Albus-centric, and pairings aren't yet established. I only have one chapter done, but it's meant to go through much of Albus' school career (it might skip large portions, though). It's kind of boring so far, but yeah... Most of the major characters are JKR's, but I have my OCs too. If you haven't seen the Weasley family tree on her site, this link might help you understand who's who a little better: Family Tree
Pretty much everything belongs to JKR (except whatever's mine, of course!).

A Hero’s Son

Chapter 1 ~ Anxiety and a New Friend

Albus Severus Potter strolled down the train, looking for a compartment that was not already filled with students. Rose Weasley walked alongside him, chatting lightly about whatever popped into her head. Albus listened and nodded when appropriate, but truly he was lost in thought. His father’s recent words had calmed him a bit, but his mind was still spinning with the fear of being sorted into Slytherin house. If that happened, he couldn’t even imagine…
“Here’s a place! There’s only one kid in here,” said Rose.
“Umm… Can we sit here?” Albus asked the small boy in the corner of the compartment.
“Oh, uh, sure,” he said quietly. His large brown eyes looked up at them, simultaneously full of wonder and anxiety. He was not yet in his robes, still wearing his Muggle t-shirt and blue jeans. Rose and Albus sat down, initiating a long awkward silence in which the three just stared at each other. After realizing that neither of the boys were going to talk without provocation, Rose introduced herself.
“Hello, I’m Rose Weasley and this is Albus Potter. What’s your name?”
The small boy nervously looked at her and squeaked, “You two know each other? I knew I’d be left out here. I don’t know anyone.”
“That’s okay,” Albus reassured. “A lot of people come in without knowing anyone. My dad did.”
“So did my mum,” Rose said kindly. The boy seemed so small and scared, she just wanted to run over and give him a big hug.
“My name’s Mitchell Brown,” he said. “Nice to meet you.”
Suddenly the compartment door swung open, revealing James and his cronies, the Scamander boys. Lorcan and Lysander, James’ constant partners in crime at Hogwarts, were nearly identical. Tall and blond, with warm brown eyes and a tendency for mischief, they were practically the reincarnation of the Weasley twins. Well, except for the fact that George was still living and they allowed themselves to be bested in pranks by the eldest Potter boy. James definitely lived up to his name and he did not want his little brother or cousin to spoil his reputation. Not that he had much of one, being a second year…
“There you are, Al. Hey, who’s the midget?” he inquired rudely.
“I’m not a midget, if it’s me you’re referring to,” said Mitchell defiantly.
“Don’t worry, Mitchell, he’s just my brother. He’s always like that,” Albus informed him.
“Anyways, I wanted to relieve myself of Gran’s famous Hogwarts Express sandwiches and came here to deliver them to the unsuspecting first years,” James drawled.
“Well, now they’re going to suspect something since you said that, James,” laughed Lysander, the more talkative of the two eccentric brothers. “Let’s go back to our compartment.”
“Sorry littlies, we’ve got big kid stuff to do!” James said in a cutesy voice before walking off. The blond brothers gave a quick wave and were off as well.
“He’s only one year older than me, but he still says stuff like that,” Albus shook his head. Then he turned to face what James had left him. It was a tradition every year for Molly Weasley (their grandmother, not their cousin) to make sandwiches for all of her grandkids for the train ride, just like she had for her kids growing up. Apparently, they were so disgusting that they were always given to the first years. Usually the first years weren’t gullible enough to eat them.
“Hey, can I have one of those?” Mitchell asked. “I’m starving.”
“You do know that a food cart will come around pretty soon. Maybe in twenty minutes or so.” Rose informed him.
“Really? Anyways, I don’t care. Can you just pass one here?”
Albus and Rose admired the boy’s courage as he took a ham and cheese sandwich out of a brown paper bag. They intently watched as he took a bite of the moldy looking bread.
“Mmmm. This is…amazing! It tastes like candy!” Mitchell declared.
“What?” Rose and Albus exclaimed simultaneously.
“Seriously! It tastes like… I can’t place it.”
Albus swiped the sandwich from his hand, took a steady bite, and chewed. “Hmmm…Fizzing Whizbee. Gran must’ve spelled it. Wonder if all of them taste the same? Jeez, everyone else’s been missing out all these years. Guess it’s a good thing we’re the ones who discovered this!”
“What’s Fizzing Whizbee?” asked Mitchell.
Albus and Rose looked at each other in awe. The wizarding child who didn’t know the wonders of Fizzing Whizbees must be extremely unfortunate.
“I…I’ve never heard of most of this before. You see, both my parents are non-magical.”
“Oh, you’re Muggle-born. That makes a lot of sense then,” Rose stated.
“Is it that obvious, then? I knew it. I’m going be so far behind everybody else! I mean you guys grew up with wizards didn’t you? You must know tons about magic and I know absolutely nothing!” Mitchell seemed to twitch with anxiety.
Rose gave him a comforting smile and a friendly pat on the knee. “Don’t worry. Everybody starts off at pretty much the same place. I mean, people who grew up in wizarding families like Albus and I tend to have more general knowledge about magical things, but we really can’t cast any spells or anything like that.”
Mitchell seemed to perk up a bit after hearing that and went back to his Fizzing Whizbee sandwich. For the rest of the ride, they all chatted a bit, and later Albus and Mitchell shoved Rose out so they could change into their robes. Finally, the train came to a halt as they arrived at the station. Albus nearly flung himself out of the train with excitement. His nervousness had vanished, replaced by sheer anticipation. He was finally here. Hogwarts. The place where he could make a name for himself.


Read and Review please! Let me know if you want more too.  

[5 to midnight]

I really like it!!! It was a little confusing with all the cousins and brothers and everything but that family tree helps a lot. Please post more!!!! ^_^  

[penandpaper67]

Thanks! It would also help if you had finished the books, Teal. How far did you read? The fourth one?  

[5 to midnight]

Ha ha yeah... I read the begining of the fourth one and I heard all of the fifth one on tape. It was fun to listen to while driving to and from school! 3nodding Never read the sixth or seventh though.  

[penandpaper67]

You kind of need to finish the fourth one too... Pretty much the most major scene of the whole series happens at the end of the fourth book.  

[5 to midnight]

Ahhhh whatever! Maybe I'll just go to wikipedia...  

[penandpaper67]

You're lame. I'm planning on writing some more this weekend and I'll post it as soon as I do.  

[5 to midnight]

Coolio! And I'm not lame! I'm the coolest person you know! ^_^  

[penandpaper67]

Here's chapter two, but it's not done yet. I have more to add still, but I wanted to put it up because I promised my single reader that I would write some more this weekend. The plot's still slow, but it will pick up by the end of the chapter.

Chapter 2 ~ The Sorting

“Firs’ years, over here!” came a deep rumbling voice from down the platform. Albus, Rose, and Mitchell headed down towards a great giant of a man who looked down on them with crinkly black eyes. “Hello Rose, Albus,” called Hagrid. They had met the amiable half-giant long ago at a family party. He was still good friends with their parents to that day and often came to visit; thus he knew all of the Weasley and Potter children quite well indeed. “How are yeh?”
“We’re great Hagrid, thanks!” said Albus. “Mum and Dad say hello.”
“Same here,” giggled Rose with a smile.
Mitchell stood a bit awkwardly until Hagrid shoved them all into the tiny wooden boats. He still felt out of place here, even though Rose and Albus were so kind. He had a feeling that not all wizards were quite so nice. Once he got into a boat along with Rose and Albus, however, he became far too distracted by the glorious Hogwarts grounds and Hogwarts itself, once it came into view. He ooh-ed and ah-ed along with the rest of the first years as he realized that it didn’t matter anymore; he would be on this gorgeous campus to learn about magic. What else could one want?
Meanwhile Albus’ fears about being sorted into the wrong house had returned. He really, really wanted to be in Gryffindor. Or did he? Did he only want to be in Gryffindor because his mother, father, and brother had been? Did he despise Slytherin merely because his whole family was biased towards them? He had never questioned this before, but his doubts were bringing forward thoughts that would never have crossed his mind had he not been so nervous. Of course I want to be in Gryffindor, he thought, eyes squinting shut for a moment. I’ve never wanted anything more. But now he wasn’t quite so sure…
Rose was enjoying the ride over, looking deep into the black water, searching for the giant squid her Uncle George had told her so much about. She wasn’t particularly worried about the sorting; she knew too much about the school from her parents, cousins, assorted uncles and aunts, and family friends to be particularly perturbed by anything. She was more worried about Albus. She knew him very well, and it was extremely unusual for him to be so serious about something like this. He was pondering the sorting far too extensively, and she knew that could get him into trouble.
Far too soon, they had reached the castle. Hagrid pounded on the door, which was opened by a relatively young and cheerful witch. “Thanks, Hagrid. I’ll take them from here. Come on, everyone, follow me.” She led them into a small chamber off the side of the Great Hall. “I’m Professor Lona, Deputy Headmistress, Charms teacher, and Head of Ravenclaw House. In about five minutes, you’ll all be sorted into your respective houses. There’s Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Slytherin, and of course, Ravenclaw. You’ll live with the other people from your house while you’re here. Wait here for a moment while I set up, and I’ll be back in a second.”
As soon as Professor Lona had left, all of the first years burst into conversation. Rose and Albus observed the future Slytherin crew with already growing hatred, while the Slytherin gang glared right back. Scorpius Malfoy, Ernest Crabbe, and Reginald Nott were clearly plotting something, but the Professor came back too quickly for them to get started. “We’re ready for you,” she said gleefully.  

[5 to midnight]

Nice!!!Brings back memories from the first book.... whee there was one typo though, "gorgous campus". I think you meant gorgeous.  

[penandpaper67]

Indeed, I did, thanks. I've been trying to make it detailed without being too boring and repeating things from the book too much. It's really really hard, actually... But I'm getting to my unique plot point soon, so it shouldn't be like this for long!  

[5 to midnight]

indeed? yeah I know how it can be hard trying not to be too similar, but you're doing a good job, in my opinion!  

[penandpaper67]

So I haven't really been spending much time on this lately (heheheh...), but I finally know pretty much what's going to happen! It's changed around a lot, so I might rewrite some of the beginning. It has also morphed into a dark Albus fic, which I didn't mean for it to be at first. Oh, and after rereading the 7th book and realizing that Crabbe dies (doh!) I'm changing Ernest Crabbe to Ernest Goyle, just for continuity. Oh, and I also am starting a hurt/comfort fic featuring George and Angelina (it's pretty awesome), which I'll post soon. Like I said, I'll post more of this soon.  

[penandpaper67]

Here's my rewrite of the first and second chapters, along with a continuation of the second one. I might add a little bit more to the end of the second chapter, depending on how important I want to make the headmaster.

Chapter 1 ~ Anxiety and a New Friend

Albus Severus Potter strolled down the train, looking for a compartment that was not already filled to the brim with students. Rose Weasley walked alongside him, chatting lightly about whatever popped into her head. Albus listened and nodded when appropriate, but truly he was lost in thought. His father’s recent words had calmed him a bit, but his mind was still spinning with the fear of being sorted into Slytherin house. Albus thought that perhaps his father had been lying to make him feel better. How could Harry Potter ever be considered for Slytherin? He had been the model Gryffindor, the brave Quidditch jock who saved the day and became a hero practically fifty times over. Albus so wanted to be like his father, and if he was sorted into Slytherin, he would never be able to complete his goal. If that happened, he couldn’t even imagine…
“Here’s a place! There’s only one kid in here,” said Rose.
“Umm… Can we sit here?” Albus asked the small boy in the corner of the compartment.
“Oh, uh, sure,” he said quietly. His large brown eyes looked up at them, simultaneously full of wonder and anxiety. He was not yet in his robes, still wearing his Muggle t-shirt and faded blue jeans. Rose and Albus sat down, initiating a long awkward silence in which the three just stared at each other. Albus still was far too lost in thought to pay attention to anything, and the other boy seemed paralyzed by his nervousness. After realizing that neither of the boys was going to talk without provocation, Rose introduced herself in her usual cheerful manner.
“Hello, I’m Rose Weasley and this is Albus Potter. What’s your name?”
The small boy gazed apprehensively at her and squeaked, “You two know each other? I knew I’d be left out here. I don’t know anyone.”
“That’s okay,” Albus reassured, stepping out of his thoughts for a moment. “A lot of people come in without knowing anyone. My dad did.”
“So did my mum,” Rose said kindly. The boy seemed so small and scared, she just wanted to run over and give him a big hug.
“My name’s Mitchell Brown,” he said, heaving a sigh and seeming a bit relieved. “Nice to meet you.”
Suddenly the compartment door swung open, revealing James and his cronies, the Scamander boys. Lorcan and Lysander, James’ constant partners in crime at Hogwarts, were nearly identical. Tall and blond, with warm brown eyes and a tendency for mischief, they were practically the reincarnation of the Weasley twins. Well, except for the fact that George was still alive, and they allowed themselves to be bested in pranks by the eldest Potter boy. James definitely lived up to his name, and he did not want his little brother or cousin to ruin his reputation. Not that he had much of one, being a second year…
“There you are, Al. Hey, who’s the midget?” he inquired rudely.
“I’m not a midget, if it’s me you’re referring to,” said Mitchell defiantly.
“Don’t worry, Mitchell, he’s just my brother. He’s always like that,” Albus informed him. He looked over at Mitchell approvingly; he had been starting to think that the kid didn’t have any guts, but his response to James’ insult made Albus think that Mitchell had some Gryffindor in him.
“Anyways, I wanted to relieve myself of Gran’s famous Hogwarts Express sandwiches and came here to deliver them to the unsuspecting first years,” James drawled.
“Well, now they’re going to suspect something since you said that, James,” laughed Lysander, the more talkative of the two eccentric brothers, in his slow smooth voice. “Let’s go back to our compartment.”
“Sorry littlies, we’ve got big kid stuff to do!” James said in a cutesy voice before walking off. The blond brothers gave a quick wave and were off as well.
“He’s only one year older than me, but he still says stuff like that,” Albus shook his head, thinking of how cocky James had gotten since he had started at Hogwarts. Then he turned to face what James had left him. It was a tradition every year for Molly Weasley (their grandmother, not their cousin) to make sandwiches for all of her grandkids for the train ride, just like she had for her kids growing up. Apparently, they were so disgusting that they were always given to the first years. Usually the first years weren’t gullible enough to eat them.
“Hey, can I have one of those?” Mitchell asked. “I’m starving.”
“You do know that a food cart will come around pretty soon. Maybe in twenty minutes or so. The food on there is tons better than those.” Rose informed him.
“Really? Anyways, I don’t care. Can you just pass one here?”
Albus and Rose admired the boy’s courage as he took a ham and cheese sandwich out of a brown paper bag. They intently watched as he took a bite of the moldy looking bread.
“Mmmm. This is…amazing! It tastes like candy!” Mitchell declared.
“What?” Rose and Albus exclaimed simultaneously.
“Seriously! It tastes like… I can’t place it.”
Albus swiped the sandwich from his hand, took a steady bite, and chewed. “Hmmm…Fizzing Whizbee. Gran must’ve spelled it. Wonder if all of them taste the same? Jeez, everyone else’s been missing out all these years. Guess it’s a good thing we’re the ones who discovered this!”
“What’s Fizzing Whizbee?” asked Mitchell.
Albus and Rose looked at each other in awe. The wizarding child who didn’t know the wonders of Fizzing Whizbees must be extremely unfortunate.
“I…I’ve never heard of most of this before. You see, both my parents are non-magical.”
“Oh, you’re Muggle-born. That makes a lot of sense then,” Rose stated.
“Is it that obvious, then? I knew it. I’m going be so far behind everybody else! I mean you guys grew up with wizards didn’t you? You must know tons about magic and I know absolutely nothing!” Mitchell seemed to twitch with anxiety.
Rose gave him a comforting smile and a friendly pat on the knee. “Don’t worry. Everybody starts off at pretty much the same place. I mean, people who grew up in wizarding families like Albus and I tend to have more general knowledge about magical things, but we really can’t cast any spells or anything like that.”
Mitchell seemed to perk up a bit more after hearing that and went back to his Fizzing Whizbee sandwich. For the rest of the ride, they all chatted a bit, and later Albus and Mitchell shoved Rose out so they could change into their robes. Finally, the train came to a halt as they arrived at the station. Albus nearly flung himself out of the train with excitement. His nervousness had vanished, replaced by sheer anticipation. He was finally here. Hogwarts. The place where he could make a name for himself.

Chapter 2 ~ The Sorting

“Firs’ years, over here!” came a deep rumbling voice from down the platform. Albus, Rose, and Mitchell headed down towards a great giant of a man who looked down on them with crinkly black eyes. “Hello Rose, Albus,” called Hagrid. They had met the amiable half-giant long ago at a family party. He was still good friends with their parents to that day and often came to visit; thus he knew all of the Weasley and Potter children quite well indeed. “How are yeh?”
“We’re great Hagrid, thanks!” said Albus. “Mum and Dad say hello.”
“Same here,” giggled Rose with a smile.
Mitchell stood a bit awkwardly until Hagrid shoved them all into the tiny wooden boats. He still felt out of place here, even though Rose and Albus were so kind. He had a feeling that not all wizards were quite so nice. Once he got into a boat along with Rose and Albus, however, he became far too distracted by the glorious Hogwarts grounds and Hogwarts itself, once it came into view. He ooh-ed and ah-ed along with the rest of the first years as he realized that it didn’t matter anymore; he would be on this gorgeous campus to learn about magic. What else could one want?
Meanwhile Albus’ fears about being sorted into the wrong house had returned. He really, really wanted to be in Gryffindor. Or did he? Did he only want to be in Gryffindor because his father had been? Did he despise Slytherin merely because his father was biased towards them? He had never questioned this before, but his doubts were bringing forward thoughts that would never have crossed his mind had he not been so nervous. Of course I want to be in Gryffindor, he thought, eyes squinting shut for a moment. I’ve never wanted anything more. I’ve always wanted to be in Gryffindor, to be brave and courageous just like my dad. But now he wasn’t quite so sure…
Rose was enjoying the ride over, looking deep into the black water, searching for the giant squid her Uncle George had told her so much about. She wasn’t particularly worried about the sorting; she knew too much about the school from her parents, cousins, assorted uncles and aunts, and family friends to be particularly perturbed by anything. She was more worried about Albus. She knew him very well, and it was extremely unusual for him to be so serious about something like this. He was pondering the sorting too extensively, and she knew that could get him into trouble.
Far too soon, they had reached the castle. Hagrid pounded on the door, which was opened by a relatively young and cheerful witch. “Thanks, Hagrid. I’ll take them from here. Come on, everyone, follow me.” She led them into a small chamber off the side of the Great Hall. “I’m Professor Lona, Deputy Headmistress, Charms teacher, and Head of Ravenclaw House. In about five minutes, you’ll all be sorted into your respective houses. There’s Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Slytherin, and of course, Ravenclaw. You’ll live with the other people from your house while you’re here. Wait here for a moment while I set up, and I’ll be back in a second.”
As soon as Professor Lona had left, all of the first years burst into conversation. Rose and Albus observed the future Slytherin crew with already growing hatred, while the Slytherin gang glared right back. Scorpius Malfoy, Ernest Goyle, and Reginald Nott were clearly plotting something, but the Professor came back too quickly for them to get started. “We’re ready for you,” she said gleefully.
The knot of first years eyed each other for a moment before proceeding cautiously into the Great Hall. All of the older students were already seated with their heads turned towards the marching line of nervous eleven year olds. Professor Lona reached the front and picked up a long parchment scroll, which she unrolled while gesturing to the first years to form a line in front of the teachers’ table. Albus was practically shaking in his shoes; he barely noticed the hat form a mouth and begin to sing its annual song. Of course he knew the attributes of the people sorted into the different houses. Of course he knew that Gryffindor was filled with people of great courage and determination, like his father and even James, who surprisingly had quite a hero complex for one so young and frivolous. Albus thought that James was a bit of an idiot, and though he knew what he was thinking a lot of the time, he often didn’t agree with it. James acted from the heart, while Albus used his head. I’ll be in Gryffindor in less than five minutes, he thought as Professor Lona started reading off names and the hat began sorting. For sure. He added with wavering certainty.
“Brown, Mitchell,” yelled Professor Lona. The shivering form of Mitchell made its way up to the stool and jammed the hat on its head. The hat seemed to debate for a minute, then shouted out “GRIFFINDOR!” A polite round of clapping commenced around the hall before the next name was called, and Mitchell made his shaky way to sit at the empty end of the Gryffindor table reserved for first year students. Albus smiled a bit as he saw Mitchell glancing at him with a smirk on his face. This brief happiness went away in an instant as Albus’ name was called. He heard the loud “Potter, Albus,” as if it came from extremely far away. The crowd started to whisper excitedly at the prospect of seeing the son of the famous Harry Potter. He didn’t know exactly how he got to the stool and the hat, but he was there, and then, as if no time had passed at all, the hat was on his head. Hmmmm… the hat mused. You are quite a difficult one, aren’t you? Ah well, I’ll have to choose something. I guess it’ll be…
“SLYTHERIN!” the hat called to the hall.
There was silence. Everyone in the hall was frozen. No one had expected this. Especially not Albus. Slowly, slowly, the students and teachers came back to life and began to clap slowly. Albus did not move. He did not realize that he was still sitting on the stool until Professor Lona came over and ushered him to the Slytherin table. On the way over he caught his brother glaring hard at him from the Gryffindor table. The table where Albus should have been sitting. But instead he was shivering next to Scorpius Malfoy and Max Worthington, feeling a hundred times worse than he had standing in front of the hall. He didn’t even notice his cousin being sorted into Gryffindor, or even the start of the feast. The Slytherins ignored him and he ignored them. Although, he thought, they’re my fellow Slytherins now. He gave a little grimace. This year could be interesting, considering the grudge that most Death Eaters’ kids and grandkids had against his family. He thought he would be lucky to make one friend, let alone avoid getting beaten up every day.  

[penandpaper67]

Alright, I'm posting this on fanfiction.net now, so I'm just going to put up a link because I am lazy. Go ahead and look at some of my other stuff too, I have three Harry Potter fics (including this one) and a Harry Potter/FMA crossover.

A Hero's Son