Harry Potter : the next generation

chapter 6

Scorpius awoke and sat up, staring at the blue-and-bronze bed hangings.

            I'm in Ravenclaw, he thought. I'm actually in Ravenclaw. He couldn't help smiling; it was an exhilarating feeling, to know that he wasn't in Slytherin and that the people here didn't seem to mind that he was a part of their House.

            And Rose is here too, he thought. She was his first friend, and he was glad that she'd asked the Sorting Hat for Ravenclaw too.

            She had to ask, he thought. There was no doubt in his mind about that; otherwise she would have been put in Gryffindor with the rest of her family. She was too brave for it to have been otherwise. 

            When he got to the common room, he found Rose was already waiting for him. "Come on," she said. "Let's get to the Great Hall before breakfast is gone."

            They made their way back to the Hall without getting lost, following other small groups of students (particularly the older ones, who definitely knew where they were going.) As they entered, he noticed that the noise level at the Gryffindor table went up considerably as Rose walked in, and he could see that most of her family was staring at her.

            "Are you sure you want them to see you walking in with me?" he asked.

            Rose grinned. "I don't mind. Let James get mad – I'm not letting anyone pick my friends for me, especially not him."

            She made a point of clearing a space for Scorpius next to her at the Ravenclaw table; one of the first-year girls scooted aside for him.

            "We get a whole weekend before classes start!" the girl said as Scorpius sat down. "Isn't that great? I'm Cait Llewellyn, by the way."

            "Any relation to Dangerous Dai?" another first-year sitting across from Cait asked.

            "Distant. My dad's his great-nephew." She grinned. "Catapults fan?"

            "All the way," he said. "Ciaran Shanahan. I'd love to go out for Ravenclaw Quidditch eventually." 

            "Me too," Cait replied. "I know it probably won't be until third year at least, but—"

            "It'll give you something to think about while you're sitting through History of Magic." Ciaran grinned. "What're you? I like to play Chaser."

            "Me too!" she said, and the two began to chatter eagerly about the subject, discussing everything from the model of the broom they owned to the results of the last World Cup final.

            Rose rolled her eyes. "Quidditch. My dad was Keeper for Gryffindor, but—" She shook her head. "It's a bunch of people on brooms chasing after a bunch of balls. I never saw the point."

            "My dad was Seeker for Slytherin. He wants me to go out for Seeker too, but I don't think I'm very good on a broom," Scorpius admitted. His dad had the tendency to think Scorpius had his ability at flying, but even though Scorpius owned a Firebolt Mark Four and had been riding for years, he never felt at ease trying to chase a Snitch.

            "Seeker's the only position worth playing. It's the only one that ever matters," Rose said. She lowered her voice and leaned in, speaking in a conspiratorial tone.  "I think it would be better if the Snitch was worth less – maybe fifty points. Otherwise it's just stupid – it never matters who's scored the most goals."

            Ciaran overheard. "That's not true!" he broke in. "The Bulgaria versus Ireland final back in—"

            "Exception that proves the rule," Rose interrupted.