Hogwarts

Atreus hugged his mum as his dad patted him on the shoulder.

"Message us or call us whenever you feel like it," Perenelle said gently with a loving smile. Atreus nodded, giving her one last squeeze, and said, "I will."

Nicolas winked at him, and the two apparated away, leaving him alone in the empty alley. Atreus left it and made his way over to Kings Cross station. There were so many people there, non-magical ones, all ready to start their day on the chilly morning of September.

Atreus would've gotten lost there if his mum and dad hadn't shown him where he needed to go the day before. Or unless he followed a magical family like he was doing now, just to make sure he doesn't mess it up somehow. The family of four wore a different attire compared to everyone else there, but it was his senses that confirmed that they were wizards and witches. There were faint traces of magic around them, clearly making them different than anyone else.

The family of four reached Platform Nine and Three-Quarters and walked straight through the brick wall without hesitation. Atreus paused and admired the work for a moment. He had seen it the day before, but it had been deactivated.

Now the wall was active, and it acted like a gateway. Atreus' senses reached out, inspecting the magical work. The wall had been enchanted with a weak spell to keep people away and make them ignore it. It was too weak to work on those with magic, but it was perfect for non-magical people.

Finished admiring the magical work, Atreus stepped through. He had already done something similar whenever he entered Place Cachée through the bronze statue.

A scarlet steam train awaited him on the other side. A dozen parents were already there, talking with their kids in low voices before they let them board the Hogwarts Express. Atreus had come early, an hour before the train was supposed to depart, but it seemed others were even earlier than him. The parents most likely had jobs they needed to attend and couldn't afford to miss out on their work.

Atreus didn't go directly to the train, but instead, he walked around and explored the area. He ended up stopping in front of a newspaper stand where his eyes spotted something interesting. He took a Daily Prophet and quickly put his hand in his bag of holding, taking out a few knuts for the newspaper. Atreus had so many coins in his pouch, he didn't even know what to do with them, but Nicolas told him he was supposed to treat a 'friend' nicely during the Hogsmeade Weekends.

After looking at the front page of the Daily Prophet, he couldn't help himself. Atreus laughed. The title of it read: Murderer On The Loose!

The article talked about the events that happened after the Quidditch World Cup final game. How someone, possibly suspected to be Sirius Black, had murdered heads and members of pure-blood and noble families. The suspect was someone who wore black clothing with a hood hiding his appearance.

Atreus found it funny how he was made out to be the evil guy when the wizards had been attacking and torturing others. At least he would know for next time. Incapacitating and torturing people was okay, but killing them was a no-no.

$Let me see, let me see!$

A hiss came from within his clothes as something wiggled inside them.

$Shush, you.$

Atreus hissed back. Jor had pleaded to come with him, and he decided to take him along. The Occamy had grown attached to him, plus his mum and dad weren't able to speak with him, so he would've been lonely without him.

$But I want to see!$

$Liar, you can barely see in front of you with your eyes!$

$But, but... I want to be seen! Everyone should see how awesome I am!$

And the truth came out. Jor used to be a timid little guy, but ever since he had grown up a bit, which notably happened after Atreus named him, he'd been getting more and more confident. His size had increased from a small little noodle to a slightly bigger noodle, and two small stumps had appeared on his head. When before, he used to hide from anyone, now he wished everyone to look at him.

$Maybe later.$

Atreus hissed, and Jor stayed put, not disobeying the words of the one that saved him.

$Just... make sure you show me to as many people as possible! They have to see my awesomeness!$

Atreus rolled his eyes just as a hand grabbed one of the newspapers and shoved it into the face of a raven, messy-haired boy.

"See this, Harry? If it weren't for us, you'd be a goner, mate!"

"And I keep telling you, Ron," Harry growled in annoyance, having to repeat this several times already, "the man saved me!"

"You are delusional, mate. You must've hit your head or something. I'm telling you, he was standing over you and doing some weird magic. He was probably trying to steal your soul. Tell 'em, Hermione, you saw it too, right?"

Ron looked over to the bushy-haired girl, who snatched the newspaper from his hand and returned it to the stand before offering an apology to the shop keeper.

"I'm telling you, Ron, that you shouldn't take what's not yours!" Hermione said with a stern voice, like a mother speaking to her unruly child.

Atreus remembered the three, mostly Harry, due to the rune on his forehead. His eyes were on the article, and he was listening to them with one ear, but his senses were inspecting the rune.

The burning and bright energy of the sun was just as Atreus remembered it, but so was the evil and foul presence that he couldn't explain. It felt so different and unnatural, and he was sure it wasn't supposed to be part of the rune. There was nothing evil or foul about the sun, and all of this didn't make sense. He would have to study it more to understand it. Maybe that could be a side project, a challenge for him to figure out during his time at Hogwarts.

Atreus turned around after the three left. He noticed that, like most of the other students, they carried a lot of baggage with them, trunks, bags, and Harry even had a birdcage with an owl in it. Fortunately, he didn't need to trouble himself with that as he had his bag of holding. It was made from the leather of Ratataskor with runes written from his own blood. Sindri and Brok believed it to be the best one they've ever made, and even they didn't know how big it was on the inside.

After boarding the train, Atreus walked by the many compartments, checking them out with the corner of his eye. They were all full already, well, most of them were, but he didn't want to butt in when he didn't know anyone there. It might've been a great chance to try to introduce himself and meet some new people, but he figured he could do that when he reached Hogwarts.

Finally, Atreus found an empty compartment, and he entered inside. He took the seat next to the window and made himself comfortable before taking out a book from his bag. Reading was an excellent way to pass the time, and he learned that the trip to Hogwarts was a long one.

The Flamels owned so many books, all about different topics. Atreus had lived with them for more than a year, but despite that, he had read no more than half of them. Some of them were really old and outdated, but they were still useful. He didn't know when one such book might give him the inspiration to do something new.

Atreus might've been focused on the book in his hands, but the second the door to the compartment clicked, he looked over. Two girls stood there. One had a pretty face with blue eyes and shoulder-length blonde hair that curled at its edges. The other was just as pretty, with slightly longer brown hair and green eyes. The two girls stared at him weirdly for a moment, as if wondering what he was doing there.

"Hello?" Atreus finally said with a bit of uncertainty.

The blonde was about to open her mouth, but the brunette beat her to it, "You're not a student of Hogwarts, are you?"

"Not yet," Atreus nodded.

"Aren't you a bit too old to be starting Hogwarts?" the blonde asked as the two girls stood there without entering the compartment.

"Maybe, I think I will be placed with the fourth-years, or at least Dumbledore said so," Atreus shrugged his shoulders. The two girls looked surprised, either because he looked older than he was supposed to be or because he had talked with Dumbledore.

The brunette stepped inside and lifted her arm for him, with her palm facing down, "I'm Daphne Greengrass."

Nicolas had given him a few tips on what to expect, so he knew what he should do. Atreus gently took her hand and kissed her knuckles, "Atreus Flamel."

Daphne's eyes widened, surprise clearly written on her face. Before she could question him about his family, her blonde friend offered her hand as well with a small giggle, "Tracey Davis."

Atreus repeated the same and planted a kiss on her knuckles, "A pleasure," he said with almost a stiff voice, not used to this formal talk and all.

The two girls then stored their baggage, lifting their trunks up in the rafters with relative ease. They sat down after, taking the seats opposite him.

"I didn't know Hogwarts accepted students after their first year," Tracey said, and Daphne peeked at her friend. She didn't seem to realize who she might be talking with. Daphne, to this day, didn't know how Tracey got sorted into Slytherin, especially with her blood status. Nevertheless, she was thankful for it as the blonde was a good friend, a quality that was very hard to find in their house.

"I honestly know very little about Hogwarts, mum just asked if I was interested in going to school, and I figured why not," Atreus replied.

From his response, Daphne was almost sure he was related to the Flamels she was thinking of. Few families had the power to enlist their kids at such a late stage.

Daphne's green eye studied him closely. Atreus was taller and a bit older looking than his supposed age. He had a pair of piercing, icy-blue eyes and short brown hair. If it wasn't for the scar on the left side of his face, he would've been very handsome.

"How have you studied magic until now then?" The bluntness of her friend was sometimes appreciatable in situations like this.

"Mostly self-taught, I guess, and with mum's help."

"Isn't it dangerous to study magic on your own?"

"It is," Atreus nodded, thinking about his experiments with runes. Some of them were very explosive, "but I can heal from most injuries with relative ease."

"Is that how you got the scar on your face?"

Daphne had to stop herself from calling out her friend. That was too much to ask and too personal.

"No," Atreus shook his head and touched the mark on his face. "I was born with it. Mother said it was a sign of greatness," he said with a chuckle.

The door to the compartment clicked again as a tall and handsome black-skinned boy opened it up.

"I got delayed since there was a problem with the floo network," he said, looking at Daphne and Tracey before his gaze moved over to Atreus, "and it seems the two of you have already replaced my one of a kind company with somebody else."

"I'm hurt," he said, wincing and placing his hand over his heart in a mock gesture. Tracey giggled, and he winked at her with a smile before storing his baggage along with theirs.

After sitting down next to Atreus, he offered him his hand, "I'm Blaise Zabini."

"Atreus Flamel, nice to meet you."

The two shook hands, and Blaise raised an eyebrow after hearing his name, "That's not a name you hear every day."

"Forgive me for my bluntness," Daphne almost scoffed at that. Blaise should've heard Tracey's questions to know what bluntness meant. "But are you related to Nicolas Flamel?"

"That's dad alright," Atreus confirmed. Daphne had a thoughtful look after hearing that, Tracey looked confused, and Blaise was surprised.

"It's a true pleasure to meet you then," Blaise said earnestly, "I wasn't aware that the son of the Immortal Alchemist studied at Hogwarts."

Tracey again looked confused, but she answered him, "He will be joining us this year as a new student," to which Blaise nodded.

"Do you have any idea in which house you might be sorted?" Daphne questioned. Dumbledore was known to have studied under Nicolas, so there was a high chance of Atreus being sorted in Gryffindor.

Before he could answer, Atreus felt Jor wiggle beneath his clothes as the Occamy popped his head out. He'd had enough! Jor wasn't being petted, no one was paying attention to him, and he was being ignored. He had to be seen! Jor slithered over to the top of Atreus' head, where everyone could admire his beauty.

"What is that?" Tracey asked, seeing the winged snake that was wiggling as if trying to show off.

"That's Jor," Atreus said with a sigh, "a variant Occamy."

$Ask them! Ask them how awesome I look!$

"He looks cute," Tracey said, which Jor didn't appreciate.

$No!! Not cute! I'm awesome! Tell them!$

"Tell me... do you think he looks like a runt?" Atreus asked with a chuckle, and the three watched as Jor froze with a look of betrayal in his snake eyes.

$You... you... traitor!$

Atreus just continued chuckling.

"You can understand him," Daphne noted.

"Him, or any other magical creature. Even some intelligent enough animals," Atreus replied with a shrug.

"But can you talk to him?" Blaise asked, and the three waited for an answer with bated breaths.

Atreus raised his eyes as if to look at Jor, who was on his head, and hissed, $Tell them I can speak with you.$

$Nope! Nope! Nope! I'm not telling them anything! You were mean to me!$

"There you have it," Atreus glanced back at the three. They were staring at him as if he was some kind of ghost that has come back to life.

$Nooo! You tricked me!$

Jor hissed in embarrassment before slithering back inside Atreus' clothes. At least... he was still a good warmer, if anything else. The magical silence in the compartment was broken as the train departed at that moment.

A long ride awaited them, and the three used this chance to learn more about Atreus. They tried to be discreet and polite when asking questions, trying to not sound as if they are prying for information, and acting as a Slytherin should. Well, except for Tracey. She just liked talking in general. Atreus also used this chance to learn about Hogwarts from their perspective while also getting to know them as well.

When the Hogwarts Express neared its destination, the two boys left the compartment, allowing the girls to change into their robes. The two groups then switched, and Blaise quickly put on his attire before looking at Atreus.

"Aren't you going to change?"

"Into that?" Atreus pointed at his robes, "No way," he shook his head and asked, "Is everyone supposed to wear robes?"

"Yes," Blaise nodded.

Atreus raised his hands helplessly in the air with a smirk on his face, "It seems Dumbledore forgot to mention that to me. I don't happen to have any robes with me."

The girls received the same response after they asked him the same question. That was going to be his answer to whoever else asked, just blame Dumbledore.

The train soon stopped, and one by one, the students got off it. A massive, giant of a man called out for the first years. Atreus knew that there were half-giants in this world as well, so he figured the man might be one of them. He was honestly happy to see one of his own 'kind.'

Hogwarts was also in his sight, and the castle looked brilliant. Add in the massive amount of magic that seemed as if it was pulsating, making it feel alive, and it looked absolutely magnificent.

Since he wasn't given any instructions on what to do, Atreus wasn't sure if he should follow the half-giant or not. In the end, he decided to stick with the three he had spent the ride with. He followed them over to the carriages that were being pulled by skeletal-looking black horses with large leathery wings. They were a sight to see, and he had to stop and admire them for a moment.

"Is something wrong?" Daphne asked when she noticed him pause.

"They certainly have a unique appearance," Atreus replied, and she looked over to the front of the carriage where he was staring, but there was nothing there.

"They?" Daphne asked. "There is nothing there."

Atreus described what he was seeing, but that didn't help her much. He stepped closer to the winged horses and raised his hand, allowing one of them to sniff it. After it bopped it in approval, Atreus scratched the creature, which it seemed to enjoy quite a lot.

Daphne watched him for a moment before boarding the carriage, and he followed her a few seconds later. Blaise and Tracey were already sitting on one side, and the boy had his hand over her shoulder. Atreus sat down next to Daphne, and the carriage soon departed.

When they arrived at the school doors, Atreus was able to feel the pulsating magic even better. It really seemed as if Hogwarts was really alive.

They entered inside, his three companions walked to their table after telling him a quick goodbye. Atreus stood a bit awkwardly to the side, watching how the first-years were being sorted. He already heard from the three that a magical hat did it, but it was a whole nother thing to see it. He caught the eyes of Dumbledore, sitting at a table with what he assumed was the rest of the teachers. The old man nodded to him in greeting, which he returned with a smile.

When all the new first-years had been sorted, Dumbledore stood up, taking the attention of everyone.

"I have the pleasure to announce that the fourth-years will be getting a new addition to them. Atreus Flamel, the son of a dear friend of mine, has decided to join us!"

All eyes turned to him, with many of them exclaiming in surprise. It was mostly from the older students as they seemed to have realized who his parents were, but Harry and his two friends had the strongest reaction. The three looked at each other with wide eyes in absolute shock.

"Would you please step over to the Sorting Hat?" Dumbledore asked, and he walked over, placing the patched up thing on his head.

'Ah, this is something new! I don't think I've ever sorted someone as old as you or someone who was already trained in Occlumency.' Atreus heard the Sorting Hat in his head.

Occlumency... that was something he had picked up the moment he realized there were people out there that could rip his secrets directly from his head. He wasn't sure how good he was at it, but he had an inherent advantage.

'Now, normally, I would take a look at a kid's memories and decided where I should put him, but... I don't think I want to be anywhere near that!'

Atreus pulled himself into his mindscape, seeing the Sorting Hat floating in the air and looking at his mental shields. He turned around towards the gigantic dome of ice that was enveloped by massive tree roots. However, the hat was referring to what was inside the dome.

A raging inferno that promised to consume everything in sight, but it was stopped by the gentle embrace of the ice dome.

'I wouldn't recommend that as well,' Atreus replied, 'Inherited from my father, it's as much as a curse as it is a gift. But it's not the only thing he left me.'

'Ohh, and what else did he leave you?' The hat asked in interest.

'Honestly, I'm not too sure, but he used to say I inherited his Hope.'

'Maybe he meant it in a symbolic way,' the hat mused.

'Maybe... but the problem is, I'm pretty sure my father doesn't know how to use metaphors.'

The hat laughed, but it settled down and asked. 'You are an interesting one, but how am I supposed to sort you?'

'Why don't you tell me about the houses from your perspective, and I will choose one,' Atreus replied, although he already had one in mind. The had readily agreed.

'Gryffindor, the house of the lions, those who are brave at heart! Their daring, nerve, and chivalry sets them apart!'

'Next,' Atreus said.

'Hufflepuff, the house of the badgers, those who favour loyalty and hard work. If you are looking for friends or family, they will offer that and more to you.'

That sounded appealing, very appealing, to Atreus. After all, that's what he came to Hogwarts, but he stilled wished to listen to the others, 'Next.'

'Ravenclaw.'

Atreus stopped the hat right there.

'Next.'

'But you haven't even heard about the house!' The hat protested, but Atreus was adamant about it.

'I hate ravens, just move on.'

'Slytherin, the den of snakes, where the ambitious and cunning-folk will use any means to achieve their end.'

'Hufflepuff sounds very appealing, but I love snakes, so I have to choose Slytherin.'

'Hahaha,' the Sorting Hat laughed, 'this is the first time someone chose the house because of the animal that represents it.'

'I mean, snakes are the best. Just look at this one,' Atreus said, pulling the memory of his first meeting with the World Serpent and showing it to the hat.

'I-I... think its time for me to leave,' the Sorting Hat said with a slight tremble in its voice before it disappeared from his mind.

"SLYTHERIN!" It then shouted for all to hear.