Albus Severus Potter and the Mystery of the Letters

Prologue

Prologue

"Potter, Albus Severus," a voice said.

Albus nervously walked forward. He picked up a hat that was on a three-legged stool and placed it on his head. It was made of leather - old and dirty - but Al could feel centuries of wear from the smooth inside and worn brim.

Suddenly he jumped as a voice echoed inside his head.

"Another Potter, eh? But you're different from your brother and father - more clever and cunning and not as brave... I'd say that you're more suited to Slytherin, hmmm?"

Al didn't reply, he was frozen in fear.

"I think that's where you're going to go. Yes, Slytherin would be good for you."

"No, please! Not Slytherin!" Al cried desperately.

But the hat only laughed, a high mirthless laugh that made the hairs on the back of Al's neck stand up.

"Slytherin!" it called out to the hall.

Al stood up, shaking. He yanked the hat from his head and threw it on the ground where it continued to laugh wickedly.

Al suddenly realized many people were watching him. No one clapped. He picked out James's face in the crowd. It was shocked, angry, disappointed.

He could see his cousin's faces too, mirroring the look James wore. Rose, sitting at the Gryffindor table looked sadly at him, her eyes full of pity.

He could hear his parents' voices in his head.

"Well... isn't that unusual," his mother said nervously. Al could almost see her cringing away from him as if he had some infectious disease.

"I suppose I owe you congratulations," his father said dryly. "It's such an honour to have a Slytherin in the family."

Al looked at the table of his new house, and walked over to sit down.

The male prefect stood up and reached over to shake his hand.

"Welcome to Slytherin," he sneered. "We're so delighted to have you here. I hope you simply adore your time here."

Al looked into his eyes and realized they resembled those of a snake - red slits. Al gasped as he realized what the prefect really looked like.

He was bald, with a smooth, pale head. His eyes were red, as Al had already noticed. Where his nose should have been, there were only two small slits for nostrils, and no real nose shape.

"Who- who-" Al couldn't get the words out.

The prefect smiled cruelly.

"I am Lord Voldemort. And I am rising again."

Al screamed as the man hit him with a curse. He fell backwards, yelling at his family for help, but noticed with a start that they all had vanished, every single person in the hall, leaving him alone with the Dark Lord. He was continually falling, waiting for the impact as he hit the floor, but it never came.

Al kept falling, screaming at the same time, as everything went dark leaving only Voldemort's red eyes visible. His voice echoed in his mind.

"Do not fear me now, Albus Potter, for I have not yet risen. Fear my followers, for they have the power to bring me back."

He erupted into mirthless laughter, and as Al fell he was subconsciously aware that it was the same laugh as the hat's, before everything in front of him vanished from sight and he was no longer conscious of anything.