Chapter Text
Albus Severus Potter wasn’t moody. No, that simply couldn’t be the case. It was the farthest statement from the truth. There wasn’t even a good reason to be moody anyways. Or any reason at all. Yes. There was no reason. Scorpius was totally being unreasonable. That had to be it.
He had to set all of this aside however, since Scorpius was currently wrapping an arm around him looking like he’s going to hurl. Their flight on a Muggle aeroplane wasn’t exactly a calm one, so even with his feet on the ground in Boston Logan International Airport, Scorpius was still suffering the consequences. Al awkwardly patted his head, ignoring how soft his hair was.
“Bloody hell, at least a portkey is only a moment of suffering,” Scorpius whined. “I didn’t know Muggles traveled via torture machine.”
“Oh it wasn’t that bad,” Rose said, barely paying any attention to him. She tapped her finger on her chin. “I think we need to go into that line as international passport holders.”
People jostled their way past them like they had more important things to be doing than wait around in an airport terminal, so in a daze, the three British teens made their way to immigration and customs.
The entire ordeal was a painful process, full of waiting and standing and more waiting. Scorpius nearly fainted when they had to go to these machines, and had to get their picture taken and answer questions none of them fully understood. But eventually, they bumbled their way to baggage claim.
Rose was insistent on using an enchanted bag to bring her belongings as carry on, and Scorpius did the same. But Al wanted the authentic, Muggle experience. Oh, what a mistake that was. It was almost hypnotizing, watching luggage circle around the carousel. They were only looking for one bag, Al’s bag, yet the bloody thing just wouldn’t appear even as a number of people around them claimed their luggage.
“We would’ve been on the Hogwarts Express right about now,” Rose mused. She’d been in her absolute focused mode up until now, but as they waited Al noticed that she finally let her shoulders relax.
“Yeah,” Al said in a quiet voice. Scorpius, in typical fashion, was fast asleep on his shoulder and he didn’t want to wake him. It was truly a wonder that his best mate had the ability to sleep anywhere and everywhere, standing up included. “I keep wondering if we made the right decision.”
“Well, I think we did.”
Al could only laugh at that. “And who was the most opposed when I first brought up the idea? If I recall correctly, Scorp agreed immediately, but somebody said it was the, and I quote, ‘most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard in my life’.”
Rose rolled her eyes. Of the three of them, she was always the most headstrong and stubborn. If you could get her on your side though, she was your most ardent warrior.
“I eventually came around to it, didn’t I?”
Al cracked a smile. “I still can’t believe you convinced Uncle Ron to let you come. I really thought this would be a boy's trip.”
“Uh huh.” They stood in silence for a little bit, until eventually Rose started tapping her cheek, glancing at him. “So… are you still mad at Scorpius?”
Al pouted his lips. “I haven’t the foggiest idea of what you’re talking about.”
“You wear your emotions on your sleeve, Al,” Rose said. “Something has been bothering you, and it obviously has to do with him. Did something happen between you two?”
Al muttered under his breath, and Rose made a noise begging him to repeat himself. “He didn’t pick me to be his roommate,” Al hissed out, after Rose made such a loud “huh?” that people nearby started glancing at them. After he made sure Scorpius was still asleep, he said more quietly, “He chose to have a random roommate before telling me about it, so now he’s rooming with some bloke named Lukas and I’m with a Gabriel and Jaejun.”
“Oh, Al.”
“What? Why are you using that tone?”
“No reason,” Rose said with a shrug. “Maybe it’ll be good for you and him both. I mean, you two have been attached to the hip since we basically boarded the Hogwarts Express during our first year.”
“Yeah, but…” Al didn’t know what to say without sounding like a spoiled child who had his favorite toy taken away from him. He did know how to play nice with other kids, but after hearing that Ilvermorny had their dormitories set as doubles and triples per room, he was really excited about being roommates with Scorpius. Just the two of them, not other Slytherin boys from their year. “I don’t know. It’ll just be weird having to live with two random other boys, I suppose.”
“You’ll live,” Rose said, patting him on the shoulder. “I’m sure you and Scorpius will hang out plenty, even if you sleep in different rooms.”
Finally, Al’s Slytherin green bag finally made its appearance on the carousel. He shook Scorpius awake and they were finally able to make their way out of the airport. As they were exiting, they passed a group of men holding signs, and Al pointed to one holding one that read Potter, Malfoy, Weasley. “I think that’s the professor we’re supposed to meet up with.”
“Good morning,” the man said with an easy grin and Southern drawl as they approached. The first thing that stood out to Al was the cowboy hat. An honest to Merlin cowboy hat. He’d honestly thought it was only a myth, a garment worn in old tales of the Wild West, but here this man was, wearing a cowboy hat, worn vest, blue jeans, and cowboy boots. He was also drinking a Diet Coke at eleven in the morning. Al couldn’t contain his amazement.
“Are you Professor Campbell-Matsumoto?”
“That I am, but I know it’s a mouthful, so feel free to call me Professor Campbell as well.” He tucked the sign under his arm and shook each of their hands. “Herbology professor at Ilvermorny, and your guys' guidance counselor for this school year. It’s great to finally meet you three. Come on, my truck is in the parking lot.”
They followed the man, and he walked with an easy swagger. Everything he did looked effortless, and Merlin, Al knew he was a teacher and all, but he was quite the attractive bloke. He carried himself with the confidence of a thousand suns, absolutely beaming at Al's stunned face upon seeing his truck.
It was absolutely massive, a grand chariot of steel and machinery.
“It's a Ford F-150,” said Professor Campbell, patting the roof lovingly. “I always put the old girl through so much, but she's still running strong!”
The back of the truck was full of pottery vases and dirt strewn on the bed. Campbell looked around before vanishing the dirt with a quick spell. After loading their luggage onto it, Rose sat in the front seat next to the professor and Al and Scorpius sat in the back.
The car ride lulled Scorpius back to sleep, but Al and Rose listened on as Campbell told them about anything and everything.
They learned that he taught transfiguration during his first year as a teacher, but switched to herbology after getting the heeby jeebies whenever students messed up and accidentally ended up creating monstrosities. They discovered that he's from a long line of witches and wizards from Texas. They listened in as he told them all about American Wizarding society.
As Campbell was talking about how his brother failed his wand permit test twice, the truck swerved a little bit, and Scorpius fell over onto Al, still asleep. He sat as still as a statue as Scorpius quietly snoozed on his shoulder, none the wiser of his thumping heart.
“That's so interesting,” Rose said. Al looked at her through the sideview mirror and she was light tapping her cheek. “If you fail your wand permit test thrice, you need to wait 7 months to retake it and can't use magic outside of school?”
“Correct,” said Professor Campbell. “My pops was swearing up a storm when Noah failed the second time. I could've sworn the clouds started to converge that day, reacting to his cold fury.”
Rose snorted. “We should bring the practice to Hogwarts. Maybe that will help some students actually learn how to use magic properly.”
“Tell me about these ‘houses’ that you have over in Hogwarts. Is it true that some hat really separates you kids at such a young age?”
“Yeah, that's true,” Al said. “We have four houses: Slytherin, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. Scorp and I are in Slytherin, and Rose is in Gryffindor.”
“Each house represents a different quality,” Rose continued, explaining what each house meant. “It’s one of Hogwarts’s proudest traditions.”
They continued driving until city gave way to forest. Eventually, Professor Campbell led them down a dirt road and through a massive gate that was guarded by two statues of great birds.
“Oh yeah,” Professor Campbell said. “I think I forgot to say this, but… Welcome to the United States!”
And before them stood Ilvermorny’s grand campus. It was different from Hogwarts to be sure, but awe-inspiring nonetheless. It was massive, sprawling. Unlike Hogwart’s singular castle, there were numerous buildings of different architectural styles. Professor Campbell drove them up a building called Hawthorn Hall, where Al and Scorpius were going to be staying.
Al nudged Scorpius awake one last time, and the blond boy marveled at their surroundings.
“Blimey,” Scorpius said with a yawn. “Everytime I wake up, I’m in a completely new place. I don’t think I’m much the traveling type, Al.”
They said a brief farewell to Rose, who stayed in the passenger seat of the truck since the girls’ dorm was a little ways away, and slid out of the truck. Professor Campbell had already gotten their luggage out of the back and was chatting with a student near the entrance of the building.
The student was dressed smartly in his navy blue Ilvermorny robes. It was accented in the same red that Al, Scorpius, and Rose’s robes were, and they would later learn that it’s their class color as juniors. (Scorpius nearly spit out his morning coffee when they opened the package during breakfast and realized the shade was sickeningly close to Gryffindor red.)
“Hello,” the student greeted them as they approached. He had dimples as he smiled and clean cut golden hair. “It’s so nice to meet you. I’m Lukas Sinclair, the student council president this year.”
“Oh! You’re my roommate then,” Scorpius said, shaking his hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m Scorpius Malfoy.”
Here, Albus Severus Potter wouldn’t be the second son of the boy who lived. He didn’t have to carry the full weight of the Potter name, or even the names of the men he was named after. It was liberating, freeing.
He could simply be himself.
“Hi, I’m Al,” he said, shaking Lukas’s hand.