Journey To Hogwarts, old - thread closed Options

[evlpez]

Okay folks. I know many of you have no care to explore 'ships and alt universe stuff, but I wanted to get something else moving in our brains.
Here is a short installment of an AU story about James Potter, son to Harry and Ginny. This is all that is written so far.

Rather than chapter-long installments, let's try just a few paragraphs at a time and see how it develops.

The story begins with James' first ride on the Hogwarts Express. I see James as a bit of a loner, coping silently with being related to a celebrity and unsure about his own place in the world. He is more mature than his age and is intelligent, brave and has a darkness about him. (He isn't evil or bad, though.) I see a bit of a 'young Remus' in this James. I have written in one baby brother, but there may be up to 5 children in the Potter family, considering Ginny's experience with a large family and Harry's feelings about having a different, lonlier childhood.

JOURNEY TO HOGWARTS

James Potter sat in an otherwise empty compartment of the Hogwarts Express, looking out the window and eagerly waiting for it to pull away from the platform. He could barely sit still. He felt only a twinge of guilt at his hasty good-bye to his parents, having felt awkward as always standing there with one of the most famous wizards in history. He needed to get away and be by himself on this train before he was bombarded by cousins and other curious people. He loved his cousins, but he always felt a little different from all of them. Not better, but something about being who he was had made him… alone. He preferred being alone at important times like this; important to him, anyway. His first trip on the Hogwarts Express, this was the beginning of his journey to become someone. To make a name for himself that wasn't automatically followed by 'the son of Harry Potter'. He glanced at the cage he had set on the bench opposite only moments before. His new owl, a young brown Tawny, stared back at him. He still hadn't given him a name, despite his mother's prodding.

"Just pick something, James. He's just an owl, not your firstborn child," she had said that morning while juggling a breakfast pan with her wand hand and his baby brother with the other. His father intervened as he took baby Albert off her hands.

"Now, now… this isn't just any owl. It's his owl. James will name him when he needs to. It's important to some people, Gin. This little guy is going to be more than just his owl, he'll be a friend." James smiled at his dad then. He understood. He understood a lot of things about James that his mother just couldn't, not that she didn't try.

James' new owl hooted, reminding him of a penny whistle. It was such a different voice than Hedwig's. James smiled. His father had known that this owl should be as different as he could be from Hedwig.

Continue, introducing at least one new character, maybe a Weasley Cousin (one of the twins' kids?).

[agrippa]

James glanced at his watch. It was midnight. Where was she? He shot a nervous look at his sister.

"Are you sure she –"

"Don't be a git, James," snapped Lily. "Seliani will be here any minute."

"I'm here," said a voice behind him, as Seliani stepped out of the shadows. "So which way to this mysterious wardrobe?"

"It's on the way to the owlery," whispered Philip. "So we just need to –"

Philip froze as loud footsteps sounded below. Several people were coming up the stairs. The group scrambled into a nearby closet and pulled the door shut.

"Really, Mr. Dursley!" Prof. McGonagall's voice cut through the silence. "You can't just barge in here demanding a midnight meeting!"

"Hrumph!" said a voice that could only have belonged to Dudley Dursley. He was panting a little from climbing so many flights of stairs. "Well. I was intending – to be here – in time for dinner – but you – people – don't make it so easy – to find this place – do you?"

"If you had simply sent us an owl," responded the headmistress, "we would have been glad to accommodate you."

"An owl?" Dudley howled. "As if I even owned – as if I would want – ridiculous!"

"Step in here, Mr. Dursley," sighed Prof. McGonagall. "The heads of house have already been summoned."

Hearing the heavy clink of a door-bolt, Freddy cautiously opened the closet door. He peered around the door. "All clear," he whispered.

They stepped out of the closet. Down the hall, a shaft of light crept out from below a heavy door.

"What do you think Dad's cousin is doing here?" James whispered to Lily.

"Dunno," Lily said. "But we're going to find out."

She pulled what looked like a pink wad of bubble-gum out of he robe pocket. With a well-practiced flick of the wrist, she unrolled the mass into long strands.

"Extendable ears," James whispered to Philip, noticing his look of curiosity.

"New and improved extendable ears," said Freddy proudly. "Just one listener, but multiple ear-pieces."

"So," said Seliani, "back in the closet?"

Lily nodded and rolled out one fleshy pink strand towards the room where the meeting was taking place. It slipped itself under the small crack at the bottom of the door. She handed an ear-piece to each one of them as the stuffed themselves back into the closet.

The first voice they heard was Dudley's. "So, as you can clearly see, my son had nothing to do with this whole thing, and so I'm sure you'll want to take him off – er – disciplinary probation immediately."

"Mr. Dursley," said Prof. McGonagall in her kindest tone, "your son had a copy of the cheat-sheet in his hand during the test. I would think that you'd be glad the consequences were not much more severe."

"If he had been in my house," said a voice that James recognized right away as Prof. Jacobson's, "he would have been expelled immediately."

"What house is he head of?" whispered James.

"Hufflepuff, if you can believe it," muttered Seliani.

"As it iz," said Prof. Krum, "Young Mr. Dursley iz in Slytherin, and therefore iz my responsibility. I, too, was inclined to expel him. But Prof. Longbottom –"

"I thought he deserved a second chance," said Prof. Longbottom. "It's clear to me that Dudley cheated mostly because he's finding the coursework here at Hogwarts very difficult, as he came from a mug – ah – as he doesn't come from a wizarding family."

"Not from a wizarding family!" thundered Dudley. "He's related to the biggest blasted freaksh – er – wizard in the whole world. You do know who my cousin is, don't you?"

James stifled a laugh, and he could tell from the shaking beside him that Lily was doing the same.

"Be that as it may," said Prof. McGonagall icily, "young Mr. Dursley's marks thus far are quite low. We're very concerned –"

"MY SON IS NOT AN IDIOT!" yelled Dudley. Everyone in the closet moved their extendables a few inches from their ears to avoid permanent hearing loss.

"We're not saying that, Mr. Dursley," said Prof. Longbottom. "We're just saying that we're concerned. We'd like him to get a little extra help. We would set him up with an older student to tutor him."

"Tutor him? One of your kind?" Dudley's voice was low and menacing. "Over my dead body."

"I see," said Prof. McGonagall. "Then you leave us no choice. I'll just send Prof. Krum to fetch your son from the Slytherin dormitory and you two can return home together."

A long silence followed. When Dudley spoke again, he was much more conciliatory. "Th-there's no need for that. Being here really means a lot to Duke. He'd be absolutely furious with me if he had to leave."

"Very well," said Prof. McGonagall briskly. "Prof. Krum will find a suitable tutor for your son, and he will be allowed to stay, provided that there is no further academic dishonesty on his part. Would it be all right, Mr. Dursley, if we all returned to our beds? I'll be happy to have a guest room made up for you."

"Th-thank you," stuttered Dudley.

Lily slipped briefly out of the closet and retracted the extendable ears. She closed the door until all the footsteps had died away.

"Well!" she giggled. "Our little cousin's in deep, isn't he?"

"Who do you suppose Krum will get to tutor him?" chortled James.

"Dunno," said Seliani, "but they'll have their work cut out for them."