Chapter Text
Unlike many wizarding children, Albus Dumbledore found the prospect of going to school rather dreadful.
Whenever the subject came up, Albus would quickly look for a way to avoid it. At some point, it became a walking nightmare that followed him everywhere he went. His only way of coping was convincing himself of an endless summer.
Sadly for Albus, the subject came up more frequently as the holidays drew to an end.
Once Mrs Dumbledore invited their neighbour Bathilda Bagshot over for Dinner.
Albus simply couldn’t stand the constant ramble about school preparations which resulted in him rudely leaving the dining table. After that, his mother grounded him and wouldn’t let him leave the house. It was hardly a punishment, though.
The village kids wouldn’t have played with him regardless. Ever since they have moved to Godric's Hollow, most of their neighbours had avoided their house.
Every now and then, they would catch whispers about themselves behind their backs. Albus hated the constant gossip surrounding his family, which was why he rarely left the house.
Whenever he felt anxious or worried he would climb through his window and sit on the sloped roof of their house. From that spot he could very easily star gaze and observe the cloudless sky.
***
3oth of August 1892
After a particularly nasty fight with his mother, Albus ran to the roof and sat down.
The sky that night was covered in shimmering stars, which left Albus awestruck and instantly calmed him down.
Just as he lay down, he heard a voice behind him.
“Another fight with mum I suppose?” asked Albus’s younger brother, Aberforth.
“Leave me alone Abe.” Said Albus while he rolled his eyes.
“Oh come on Albus! Don’t be so grumpy. Don’t you remember that’s my job to do?” At that Albus laughed a little bit.
“I know that she can be difficult sometimes but she worries about us, really.” Said the younger boy as if he was talking to himself.
“If she really cared about me she wouldn’t let me go to Hogwarts, at least for now” Albus replied grimly.
“But don’t you think that going to Hogwarts might be a new beginning for us?”
“You are starting to sound like mum right now.”
“It will be like a fresh start for us! No gossip, no pointing fingers…”
“Are you really that naive to believe that? Plus I am the one going to Hogwarts, not you Aberforth.”
“I know, Albus… I just wanted you to worry less about it.” After that they sat in silence for a minute.
“What do you think Hogwarts is like?” Albus said unexpectedly.
“I heard that there are four houses: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin.” Aberforth blurted out excitedly.
“To which house do you think I will get into?” Asked Albus.
“Well I heard from a friend that houses can be passed down for generations! That means that if your parents were ravenclaws there is a higher chance of you getting into that house.”
“We know that mum was a gryffindor.” Albus remembered how Kendra Dumbledore always prided herself with that fact.
A few seconds later Albus and Aberforth glanced at each other. They both knew what or rather who they were thinking about. They had known that their mother Kendra met Percival Dumbledore while they were both attending Hogwarts. Their father at that time was a Gryffindor prefect.
“Well that means that you have a very high chance of getting into Gryffindor, if both of our parents were from there.” Aberforth broke the silence.
Albus simply nodded. At that Aberforth moved closer to him and hugged him.
“I am going to miss you so much Albie.” Said Aberforth while his eyes became teary all of the sudden.
“Me too Aby.” Replied Albus while he embraced his brother.z
The thought of leaving home and travelling to Hogwarts made his skin crawl. It wasn’t that he hated studying, it was quite the opposite actually. Ever since he could remember he loved books and carried them around everywhere he could.
When he was only three years old he somehow managed to lift all of their house's furniture upside down with magic. In one word Albus’s magical abilities have always stood out from the rest. That was also the reason why Aberforth always envied Albus.
He of course never let it show and teased Albus about it, but he still couldn’t get rid of this awful twinge of jealousy whenever he saw his older brother performing outstanding feats of magic.
When Albus pulled away from the hug, he saw tears welling up in Aberforth's eyes. At that moment, he couldn’t stop thinking about how much he loved his younger sibling.
Afterwards, they climbed down from the roof and slipped into Albus’s bedroom. Albus lay in bed beside Aberforth for a while, the silence between them calm and heavy at the same time.
Soon, exhaustion took over, and sleep claimed him.