Hogwarts: A Future

Chapter Two: Lessons

Al did not see Rose at breakfast, nor his Aunt Hannah, so he could only assume his cousin was being patched up in the hospital wing. He did, however, see much of the rest of his family, to his very great relief. Al waved at Hagrid as he past the teacher's table, and Hagrid mouthed, 'Saturday, tea!'. Al nodded and smiled.

'Hey Al,' said his brother lazily as Al hurried over to the Gryffindor table, 'got lost?'

Al sat next to James, at that moment not caring if his brother objected to him sitting with James and his friends. Freddie was there, wolfing his way through a large bowl of porridge, another two third year boys looked at Al with interest and a girl who looked about their age as well. Al only shook his head, wondering hard if he should ask James for help with the mysterious crying boy.

'You know Demetri,' James indicated a boy opposite Al, Demetri smiled, he had visited the Potter's over the summer, 'and Frank,' the other boy said 'hi', 'and Aggie. This is Al.' Clearly feeling his duty done James returned to his breakfast. Al smiled nervously at his brother's friends.

'Uh, Rose got hurt by an owl,' Al said in a rush. James looked surprised, 'what did it do? Savage her or something?'

'Talons.' Answered Al, accepting a plate of bacon that Frank offered to him with a slight smile.

'Huh.' Said James, then he twisted his body toward the Ravenclaw table, 'Oi Victoire!' he yelled across the noisy groups of students. Their eldest cousin looked up. 'Rose is in the hospital wing. Owl!' James returned to his food as Victoire nodded and moved to rise from her table.

'There. That better?' said James through a mouthful of toast. Al nodded. He knew Rose would be fine, Aunty Hannah had healed a broken leg Hugo had once sustained flying into a tree almost before the boy had realised it was broken, but it was good for someone older than himself to know.

'Potter, don't shout across the Great Hall.' Said a resigned voice behind him. Al jumped and turned, but the speaker was addressing James. The wizard who stood there was fair haired, quite stocky and seemed very young for a professor. On studying the wizard more Al could see his youth was slightly misleading. The fair hair was actually scattered with white, and the wizard's wide brown eyes detracted from the age on the rest of his face. James looked up with a cheeky grin, swallowing his mouthful of toast with an effort he said, 'Sorry Professor. Did you have a good holiday?'

The teacher very nearly rolled his eyes. 'I did, thank you Potter. It was refreshing to eat my breakfast without hearing your dulcet tones ring out across the table.'

Al nearly spat out his toast with a laugh, James' friends and other students in the vicinity openly laughed, clearly comfortable with the teacher. The wizard turned to the rest of the table, 'Welcome back, Miss Brice, Mr March, Mr Weasley, Mr Ricci-Curbastro,' James friends all smiled at the teacher, 'and, another Mr Potter?' the teacher looked down at Al with a hint of a smile.

'Yeah, this is Al, Professor. Al, this is Professor Hatchett, Head of House aren't you sir?' said James intoning an almost formal air.

So, this was Professor Aleck Hatchett, Head of Gryffindor. 'Welcome to Gryffindor, Albus.' Said Professor Hatchett, 'here is your class timetable, and the rest of yours.' He handed them all a parchment sheet each, and, looking back up the table, Al could see that the rest of Gryffindor were already perusing their timetables and making faces at the lessons they liked least.

'Thank you, Professor.' Said Al, looking back up at Professor Hatchett. Could he maybe tell Hatchett about the boy? The teacher looked nice enough, not half as scary as Al had feared, but there was a certain air about the professor that suggested he would tolerate a joke, but once a line was crossed the axe would drop. The crying boy would get into trouble with the students who had challenged him to a duel if Hatchett got involved. He would almost certainly want to know the names of the challengers. No, it wasn't Al's secret to tell, and he had as good as promised the boy no Heads of House. For a moment Professor Hatchett remained in front of Al, waiting. Al remembered what his mum had said once about his face being an open book, and quickly smiled before looking down at his timetable as if incredibly interested in it. Professor Hatchett moved on, distributing timetables and greeting students.