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Raising Albus
By JetLaBarge

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Category: Post-Hogwarts
Characters:Harry/Ginny, Hermione Granger, Minerva McGonagall, Neville Longbottom, Ron Weasley
Genres: Action/Adventure, Comedy, Drama, General
Warnings: Death, Violence
Story is Complete
Rating: R
Reviews: 94
Summary: Raising Albus is turning out to be a challenge. Raising a child that is extraordinarily magically talented is difficult enough, but when the child is the subject of several prophesies the task can be daunting. Harry feels it may have been easier being a child subject to prophesies than raising one. Teddy wants to be an Auror, not the safest occupation. James and Lily pose their own challenges. This story will take us up to Albus and Rose train ride to Hogwarts.
Hitcount: Story Total: 95223; Chapter Total: 2181







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“Mum, how important was the broom when you were in your last year at Hogwarts?” James asked for maybe the 50th time.

“I know you want a broom, James” Ginny replied. “After we get the rest of your supplies we will get you a broom.”

“A good broom! I need a good broom to become a seeker,” James implored.

Harry told James, “When I went to Hogwarts they did not allow first years to bring their own broom.”

“They do now!” implored James. “I need a really good broom!”

Harry answered back, “Patience, James. You need patience to be a good seeker, and you might as well as practice patience right now.

“We need to find a wand. James. Let’s see if young Ollivander can work his magic on you.”

Harry, Ginny and James went into Ollivander’s. Young Ollie and Olive Ollivander had the tape measure with silver markings, and started to measure James. As before the tape continued to measure James long after Ollie was off finding wands, and as with Teddy young Ollivander settled on a wand wood rather quickly, a very light and pretty ash. The choice of a center was a little harder, but Dragon heartstring seemed to be the obvious choice. They eventually settled on a wand that was thirteen inches long, thinner and more flexible than the normal wand. James seemed to be happy with the wand. “Feels good, Dad,” said James as he swished the wand around. “I should be able to learn magic with this wand!”

Before they left, Ollie asked Harry, “Could I get some Phoenix feathers? I know you have Professor Dumbledore’s Phoenix, and I really need a few feathers.”

“I will see what I can do,” Harry said. “I have never seen him shed a feather, but maybe if I ask Fawkes will give me a feather or two.”

Finally they went to the broom shop.

James went right to the Firebolts. There were several different Firebolts, at very different prices. They were still selling the Firebolt Special Edition, and it was still just as expensive. “We would have to down-charm it to even allow a student to fly it. The best broom for a student seeker has to be the standard Firebolt,” Hudson Harrison said. “When I heard that Harry Potter’s oldest son wanted to be a seeker and play professional Quidditch I wanted to be here to help pick out the best student broom for James.”

“You just want me to buy the second most expensive broom in the store,” said Harry. “It’s as expensive as an automobile.”

“Is it really as expensive as one of our cars?” asked James.

Harry thought ‘James must figure the Range Rover I have at my disposal at the Ministry and sometimes take home is my car. The broom isn’t as expensive as that fully outfitted Range Rover is before we double the cost with magic. Not as expensive as the Mercedes SUV we have as a family car either, before I doubled the cost by adding all the magical refinements to it.’ “No, it’s not quite as expensive as the family car,” Harry replied to James, “but the family car is a very expensive car. This broom is dear enough.”

James pleaded, “Mr. Hudson said this really is the best broom if I want to learn how to become a professional Quidditch player.”

Harry looked at Ginny.

“Don’t ask me,” said Ginny. “The broom you bought for me was one of the best presents I ever got, and probably led to my Quidditch career. I got Hell from the other novice players when they found out how expensive it was that I’d been flying the premium professional broom at Hogwarts.”

“You want me to buy James the broom,” Harry declared, looking at Ginny.

“Do you want it to come out of my money?” asked Ginny.

“No,” said Harry, laughing. “We can certainly afford it.” Turning to James Harry said, “Just remember, this is an extremely expensive broom. Take good care of it.”

“Yes, dad, mum,” said James as he reverently touched the brand new Firebolt he was going to be taking to Hogwarts.




The morning of September first Harry, Ginny and their children got up early, ate breakfast, and then piled into Harry’s car to drive to King’s Cross Station, to put James on the train to Hogwarts. Harry remembered his first trip, and the first time they put Teddy on the train. They had put Teddy on the train for seven years, and the year after Teddy graduated they started with James. By the time Lily was through they would go seventeen years putting someone on the train.

Harry could not help but reflect on his trips to Hogwarts, and all the adventures he had lived through. So far his children, starting with Teddy, including nieces and nephews, had not had the adventures he and his classmates had to live through. Maybe the world was not safe, but Britain and Hogwarts were safe. That’s what they had been fighting for.

Harry could pretty well tell walking through the station who was heading for platform 9 ¾. It cost a small fortune to keep the surveillance cameras from revealing the secret of the Magi. Oh, platform 9 ¾ was hidden well enough, but the movement of so many strange people, who would suddenly disappear, with only some of them reappearing, was impossible to hide. They had already put in one floo for the use of Magi who could not get to King’s Cross Station any other way, or who were just too magical looking or strange looking to allow to come through the station. Harry was going to ask that they put in another floo and move even more people to the station through the floo next year.

Harry wanted his children to have the experience of driving to the station and walking through the pillar to platform 9 ¾, but how long he was going to be able to do that was not clear.

Harry made sure no one noticed his family until they got through to platform 9 ¾, but once they were through the platform it was hard not to be noticed. James immediately saw someone he knew, and yelled “Jordan! Hamilton Jordan!”

“James Potter!” Hamilton Jordan yelled as Hamilton’s father Lee looked at Harry and Ginny smiling. Lee’s wife was holding on to a young boy who looked about Albus’s age. When Hamilton Jordan yelled ‘James Potter’ people turned around to stare at the Potter family. “You have a broom!” Hamilton yelled. “We’d better be sorted into Gryffindor together. I know your reputation as a seeker. Come on, let’s get on the train!”

James looked at his Mum and Dad.

“You were going to wait for Daniel Rodgers,” Harry said.

“I guess,’ said James, impatiently waiting for Daniel to show up. A couple of minutes later Daniel and his father appeared, having entered through a doorway some distance from Platform 9 ¾ that had been installed for Muggle born.

“Lo, James,” Daniel said

“Come on, Dan. May we get on the train now?” James said.

Harry and Ginny said “Go ahead,” together.

James jumped on the train, new broom in hand. “By Mum, Dad,” yelled James. “See you Christmas, or at the first Quidditch game. I hope I make the team!”

Daniel waved at his grandfather, and then hurried after James.

“I told you I wouldn’t be the only one with my own broom,” said Erica Lionheart. “If Potter can have a broom, I can! I’ll beat the snot out of him!”

“Only if you’re on different teams, I hope,” said an amused Donna Lionheart. “Hello, Ginny. You’re an old hand at this.”

Erica interrupted with, “Hello, Mrs. Potter, by Mum,” and jumped on the train, saying just loud enough for Ginny and Donna to hear, “I’m still going to beat the snot out of Potter.”

“Hello Donna,” answered Ginny, looking at and laughing at Erica. “Yes, seven years of putting Teddy on this train, and now ten years of putting our own children on the train.”

Donna reflected “I had seven years of putting Tabitha on the train, and then a brief break. Now it’s back to more years of sending children off to Hogwarts.”

Harry thought that for eighteen years going to Hogwarts had been uneventful, one Defense against Dark Arts teacher but no horrible defense against dark arts tasks, no students killed or hurt. Tom Riddle was dead, and although there were parts of the world that were not safe, England and all of Europe were reasonably safe.




“Mum, Dad, I did it! They picked me as the new seeker for Gryffindor! I did it!” James letter read. James was sending a little letter every second or third day, never very long.

“I think James just wants us to remember him,” said Ginny. “It’s not like he says much, or asks much. He just wants to know we’re still thinking about him.”

“I wish Mum was here to coach us,” another letter read. “I know more about tactics than anyone else on the team.”

“I’ve listened to Mum, and read her columns, and gone to games with her, and it really helps,” another letter read.

“Are you learning about anything except Quidditch?” wrote Ginny after thinking that Quidditch was all that James wrote about.

“We’re learning lots of magic,” James wrote back, “and I have to get good grades to stay on the Quidditch team. Don’t worry.”




Harry was still on the Hogwarts board, still very good friends with the longtime headmistress of Hogwarts Minerva McGonagall, and so he asked her one day after a brief board meeting “How is James doing?”

“You think with all my responsibilities I would pay special attention to one little first year boy?” asked Minerva with a twinkle in her eye.

“If that little boy was the son of one of the board members, and the first seeker to be on the Gryffindor team his first year since one head of Gryffindor house put his father on the team twenty six years ago, probably,” a grinning Harry replied.

“He is far more carefree than his father or grandfather was,” Minerva said, “although still a good student. He’s actually a little better than average, except at Quidditch. He’s more passionate about Quidditch than even his mother, if that’s possible.”

“And the only first year playing Quidditch?” Harry inquired.

“There is actually one other student, Erica Lionheart, playing chaser for Hufflepuff,” Minerva replied. “Ginny and Donna were chasers together for the Harpies.”

“It’s not surprising that one of Donna’s children would be an excellent Quidditch player,” Harry remarked.

“Tabitha wasn’t fond of a broom when she was here,” Minerva volunteered, “but of course she’s not the biological child of Donna and Bill.




Saturday October 8th 2016 was the first Quidditch game of the season at Hogwarts. Ginny had arranged to have a couple of stringers cover the Harpies game for her so she could go to her son’s game. To Ginny’s surprise, the Prophet had another reporter there as well, reporting on the son of the famous Harry and Ginny Potter following in his father’s footsteps as a first year seeker for Gryffindor. Ginny did not notice the reporter for the Witches Weekly, getting information for a human interest story on James Potter. Ginny thought that they could not go two months without something about the Potter or Weasley families in Witches Weekly; they tried to avoid as much publicity as possible, but the Magi public never seemed to get tired of stories about the Potter and Weasley families.

Harry, Ginny, Albus and Lily went into the Gryffindor family stands, and waited until the two teams were introduced. Gryffindor had a good team, and were way ahead when James caught the Snitch. The Slytherin Quidditch team was horrible; there was no other way to put it.

The newspaper article by Cindy showed James and the entire Gryffindor Quidditch team, and also photo of entire family. In the article it mentioned that Albus would be attending next year.

The Witches Weekly article also had photographs of the entire family. The article mentioned that Albus Potter was also a seeker in family games, and speculated about Albus being sorted into a different house. It was pointed out that Albus Severus Potter was named after two Hogwarts Headmasters, and one was in Slytherin. What a matchup that would be, the paper speculated, James in Gryffindor against Albus in Slytherin.

Several students at Hogwarts pointed out the article, and James wrote to his parents “Erica Lionheart saw the article in Witches Weekly, and showed it to me. I told you Al Severus was going to be in Slytherin!” Harry and Ginny did not share this letter with Albus or Lily; the constant kidding about being sorted into Slytherin really galled Albus.

November Nineteenth was the third game of the season, but only the second game for Gryffindor.

This time Gryffindor was playing Ravenclaw. Witches Weekly was there reporting on James, as well as a European Quidditch magazine. This was a much closer game, with the score tied several times, the lead going back and forth. Finally both seekers spotted the Snitch, and what ensued was a classic battle of seekers. There were spells on the brooms to keep the seekers from ramming into things, but it was still all too easy to get hurt.

Finally the snitch headed straight into the ground, and both seekers flew almost directly at the ground. James somehow timed everything just right, grazing the ground and getting filthy, but coming up with the snitch! The Ravenclaw seeker took the more conservative route, and did not get filthy and almost crash, but also did not get the snitch.

Again all the magazines had to get photographs of not only James and the Quidditch team, but also the entire Potter family.

During the mingling after the game Ginny saw Donna and Erica, and waved. They came over to see the Potters. Erica said to James, hands on her hips “You’re an idiot, James Potter! It was a magnificent catch, though!”

James responded with “If you were smart enough to be in Gryffindor I’d have you on my team. You were by far the best chaser flying during the Ravenclaw Hufflepuff game.”

“Thanks Potter,” Erica responded. “It was still an idiot stunt!”

“Hey, you rammed into someone so hard you had to go to the infirmary after the last game,” James said.

“That’s just tough play! I didn’t almost kill myself,” Erica replied.

“Are they always like this?” Ginny asked.

Henrietta Hooch-Hepplewhite, her mother’s assistant in teaching flying, had heard the conversation, and said “Those two are always ready to learn more about flying, and Quidditch. They are always on each other too.”




“Witch’s Weekly says Albus Potter might be in Slytherin,” Cleo told Scorpius.

“Albus Potter doesn’t even know you exist, Cleo,” Scorpius told Cleopatra. “You will be in Slytherin with me and Albus will be in Gryffindor, like his father and grandfather before him. Stop obsessing over Potter.”
Reviews 94
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