Albus Potter

I wrote this right after I finished "Deathly Hallows"... I had never attempted fan fiction before but I wasn't quite ready to let go of Harry's world yet. I revised it recently and hope to add more in the future but in the meantime thought I'd post it here. I tried to stay true to JKR's style and feel... I'd love some feedback, so let me know what you think! (I can't figure out how to format it on here either unfortunately... I wanted to add it to my Fiction Press account but I tried that once and was told by numerous lovely comments that it was FAN fiction and didn't belong :/)

Albus rummaged through his trunk again- he was leaving for his first year at Hogwarts the next morning and had already misplaced some of his school books. Then again, it was just as likely that his younger sister Lily had borrowed them (she was eager to get to Hogwarts herself) or that his older brother James had hidden them.
Albus sighed in irritation and scanned his room one more time with his piercing green eyes. He alone had inherited his grandmother’s eyes, a fact that he was proud of because his father often remarked on it fondly.
“You’ve got your Grandma Lily’s eyes, Albus Severus.”
Rolling his eyes, Albus would reply, “I know, Dad. You tell me all the time.” But secretly, it made him feel special. Being the middle child and second boy, he sometimes needed to feel a bit special. He began to search the rest of the house and indeed found his sister reading Hogwarts: A History, Revised Edition with Foreword by Hermione G. Weasley.
“Lily! What are you doing with my book?”
She was reading on the floor, engrossed in the gargantuan book. Her brown eyes looked up at her brother briefly and then back down to the page entitled “The Chamber of Secrets”.
“I wanted to borrow it before you take it with you tomorrow. Auntie Hermione always talks about it, and she even helped write some of the new bits. Dad and Uncle Ron are mentioned in here,” she said.
“Really? Wow! I mean…next time just ask me first, ok?” said Albus as he strode off to the kitchen, making a mental note to open his new books on the train the following day.
Delicious smells were wafting in and out, proof that his mother could cook just as well as Grandma Weasley. A pot was bubbling on the stove as a spoon stirred itself. Knives chopped vegetables at lightening speed and threw them into the boiling water. Albus stood in the kitchen doorway observing this but did not see his mother.
“Mum?” he called.
“I’m in the den talking to your father,” a voice answered back. With one last sniff, Albus left the self-cooking dinner and found his mother talking to his father’s head, which was floating ominously in the fireplace. He hesitated and listened to his parents’ discussion.
“Harry, you promised you’d be home for dinner! It’s already cooking, and it’s the last time we can all eat as a family until Christmas holiday! Al will be particularly disappointed if you’re not here on his last night at home… you know how nervous he is.”
Fully aware of his wife’s excellent Bat Bogey Hexes and keen not to receive one once he reached home, Harry tried to reason with her.
“Ginny, I told you. Ron and I are in the midst of something but I’ll be home as soon as I can, certainly before the kids go to sleep. And I’m not going to the office at all tomorrow. We’ll all go to King’s Cross together, as a family, and meet up with Ron and Hermione. Teddy’s going to come see Al and Rose off too.”
Ginny snorted. “Yeah, never mind that Victoire is leaving for her seventh year. Teddy’s fancied her for ages.”
Harry rolled his eyes. “Be that as it may-‘
He paused and grinned at his youngest son, who he could see standing quietly behind his mother. “Hi, Al! Getting excited for tomorrow?”
Albus jumped at being noticed and Ginny turned around in surprise.
“Albus! Did you need something, sweetheart? Dad has to stay a bit longer at work, so he popped by to let me know.”
Albus looked at the smiling faces of his parents and gave a shy smile in return. “I can’t find some of my school books. Lily’s reading one, and I haven’t asked James yet, but I was wondering if you could help me?”
Harry thought for a moment. “My guess would be that James hid them somewhere in the sitting room, maybe even on top of the bookshelf where you can’t reach, Al. He can’t have used magic though, he’s not allowed.”
Albus sped out of the room, leaving his parents with matching looks of surprise on their faces. He ran past his brother, who was bent over a piece of paper in a very suspicious manner, but chose to ignore him- he wanted to find the books without James’ help. James looked up from his page and stuck out his tongue before returning to his mysterious letter.
Albus reached the sitting room and looked around. His own face, along with the rest of his family, smiled and waved from a giant photo on the opposing wall. It had been taken on holiday in Scotland; there was a great big sparkling lake in the background, with snow capped Scottish mountains reflected in the surface.
He loved this photo. Every time he looked at it, he was sure that a sea monster was swimming in the loch, though he was never able to find it when anyone else was looking too.
Lily was smiling as wide as she could while James was busy trying to poke his brother, his face alight with mischievousness. Albus scowled at the actions of photo-James and looked at his parents in annoyance, as if they could see him. They were oblivious and laughing happily.
Harry’s hair was characteristically untidy, the tufts of jet black being blown about even more by the wind. Ginny’s long red hair kept whipping Harry in the face- he kept shutting his piercing green eyes and opening them, as she turned her head to look up at him, her eyes sparkling with merriment. Harry wrapped his arms tightly around his wife and then reached over to stroke the top of Lily’s head.
The other reason Albus liked this photo so much was that it allowed him to stare at his father’s scar without feeling self-conscious. The thin red lightening bolt running down the middle of Harry’s forehead fascinated Albus and always had- one of his first clear memories was of asking his father what it was. The Scottish wind blowing Harry’s hair back made the famous scar stand out in a very clear way.
Although Harry rarely spoke of them, Albus had heard enough stories and read enough books about his father’s epic struggle with Lord Voldemort to be properly in awe of him each time he happened to notice the scar on Harry’s forehead. Whenever any of his uncles or parent’s friends popped round, it was all he could do to not burst out with a thousand questions.
After all, his dad was only eleven, like him, when he faced Voldemort for the second time….
Even so, Albus was keenly aware that these stories stirred painful memories in all the adults in his life. He had always been sensitive and aware of the people around him. Still, Albus sincerely wished that he had known Teddy’s mum and dad, and his Uncle Fred, and his grandpa’s best friend Sirius Black. They sounded wonderful and fun, the way that Harry fondly spoke of them. Dobby the house elf sounded like a right laugh, in Albus’ opinion. He often heard his Auntie Hermione speak of Dobby’s bravery, and of Kreacher’s help- even at the young age of eleven, Albus knew his aunt had very strong views on house elf rights.

Day 2: If you could trade places with a character from a book or movie who would it be and why?

I thought about this question as I fell asleep last night. It was a difficult one to answer mainly because I'm indecisive but also because I have so many favorite fictional characters! I thought about choosing Jo March from Little Women, whom I adore and wanted to be like when I was little, but in the end I settled on Emma Woodhouse, the titular character of Jane Austen's classic novel Emma and my favorite movie version starring Gwyneth Paltrow.


I like Emma because even though she becomes a bit meddlesome in her friends' romantic lives, she means well and only wants their happiness. Plus gossiping is always fun! Emma is also intelligent and relatively wealthy with an artistic ability I wish I possessed. I can definitely be sarcastic and a bit sharp at times, and Emma can be a wee bit... bitchy haha, which I think would be fun to be. Biting wit and all that, especially towards the irritating Eltons. And of course, there is Mr. Knightley... I would love to be Mrs. Knightley! He brings out all of Emma's good qualities and isn't afraid to tell her when she's wrong or being ridiculous. They are very well-suited for each other and plus he is quite dreamy!! Lastly, I love empire waist gowns and think they are terribly flattering. Between the dresses and the hairstyles with some nice dangly earrings, I think I could pull off Regency fashion just fine :)

Rediscovery

I will be completely honest.... I forgot I had this blog! Haha I started it last year but it fell by the wayside once basketball and my Lakers blog/articles took over my life. I think I'd like to start updating it here and there though. My friend Lacey just started a blog and it is so adorable. I'm participating in her 31 Day Photo Challenge. Basically every day during July, she posts a prompt and you are supposed to answer it either with a photo, a story or both. They sound really fun! I'm going to try my best... my computer is broken at the moment, so on days when I'm not at work I might have to double up and post some a bit late.

There are a couple reasons that I think I've been unsuccessful at regular blogging. 1) I don't seem to have the discipline to stick to a schedule. That's a failing of mine that I need to work on. And 2) I'm not confident that my blog is cute enough or funny enough I guess... I read my friend's blogs and think they are SO adorable and clever and always wish mine could be like theirs. Well I am going to stop thinking and worrying so much and just DO. And hopefully it will turn out to be as happy, whimsical, random and charming as I want it to be ;)

31 Day Photo Challenge: Day 1

Ten Random Facts About Me
1. Whenever I watch Disney animated movies, I sing along.
2. I'm absolutely addicted to Coca Cola.
3. I keep a movie ticket journal and have every ticket stub since 2001.
4. In 6th grade I used to do my homework at Disneyland after school.
5. I collect Harry Potter books in foreign languages.
6. I fell off a treadmill in college.... twice.
7. Joey was the best and cutest beagle in the world, and I miss him like crazy.
8. I dressed up as a Hot Tamales box for Halloween in 4th grade.
9. I love the moon.
10. I wish I was more disciplined when it comes to writing stories.

I found this in an old email I sent myself...wonder where it came from because I find it pretty interesting! Love this kind of stuff.

Can you vividly recall your dreams each morning? Your sleep style indicates that you are likely highly creative in your waking life. "People with an intensely high level of dream recall have something called 'thin borders,'" says James Pagel, MD, Director of the Sleepworks Laboratory in Colorado Springs, Colorado. "That means that for them, everything is in shades of grey, there's not whole lot of black or white. They’re not purely Democrats or Republicans; they are not quite asleep or awake and they define much of their lives in that way." Such people tend to be odd and quirky.

Genealogy from my Mother's Mother's side.

*I finished this research last year and sent this as an email to my family, but I think it's super interesting, so I figured it would make a good blog post :) I've done a ton more research since on other branches of my family, so eventually I'll type up an "interesting facts" blog or something.

English Lineage: Direct Descent from Both William the Conquerer and Alfred the Great.
(36 generations)

Note: I have made the list from most recent dates to oldest dates, aka my generation first, but numbered them from the bottom up along the left-hand side. I have put birth and death years -when available- in parentheses, and have included spouses in italics only when necessary to show continuity of lineage (mainly when a marriage changed the name of descendants or affected which ancestry is being listed). I used the extensive Perry genealogy book I have from my mom, and my own research and connecting the dots on the internet. In most cases, I have a lot more dates, locations and information if anyone is interested. I just tried to streamline this to make it as clear and readable as possible =) No wonder I’m such a history nerd and have always loved England: look at my ancestry! haha. xo, Morgan.

Note #2: I read a book this summer, Katherine by Anya Seton written in 1954 that I absolutely loved and thought was amazing: dubbed as a classic novel telling the most romantic love story in British history- the true tale of Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt. It was very well researched, well written, and romantic! Imagine my intense pleasure at discovering that they were actually my 14th great grandparents! (writing “great” 14 times and adding grandparent). Sooooo cool.

Note #3 (the bummer): There is a bit of a problem linking generations 26 (Mehitable) and 24 (Thomas Fiennes). I have it that her father is James Leonard and her mother Lydia Gulliver, but online research shows that some of the dates don’t match nicely. There might be a missing link. For now, I am assuming that this is all correct. I will work on substantiating this link. And if we’re not descended in the way I’ve outline, I’ll be very sad and deny the truth of it. haha.

*amendment April 25 2009: I found the missing links!!!
*amendment April 28 2009: I found direct links to Charlemagne as well, through both William the Conquerer and the Plantagenets!!

36 Morgan Shores Cohen (b. 1986)
35 Deborah Manning (b. 1957) m. 1979 H. Jeffrey Cohen
34 Catherine Lois Perry (b. 1932, d. 2001) m. William E. Manning III ------ > my grandparents.
33 Harold Elbert Perry (b. 1897, d. 1966)
32 William Tennyson Perry (b. 1868, d. 1940)
31 Oliver Williams Perry (b. 1815, d. 1888)
30 James Perry (b. 1784/6, d. 1849)
29 Nathaniel W. Perry Jr. (b. 1738, d. 1780)
28 Mehitable Leonard Willis (b. 1705, d. 1797) m #2. Nathaniel Perry ----- > my 6th great grandparents.
27 James Leonard (b. 1677, d. 1764)
26 James Leonard (b. 1642, d. 1726)
25 James Leonard (b. 1611, d. 1691)
24 Thomas Leonard (b. 1575, d. 1637)
23 Margaret Fiennes, 5th B. Dacre of the South (b. 1540, d. 1611) m. Sampson Lennard
22 Mary Neville (b. 1524, d. 1565/76) m. Thomas Fiennes, 3rd B. Dacre of the South
21 George Neville, 3rd B. Abergavenny (b. 1469/83, d. 1535/6)
20 George Neville, 2nd B. Abergavenny (b. 1440, d. 1492)
19 Edward Neville, 1st B. Abergavenny (b. 1412/17, d. 1476)
18 Joan Beaufort, C. Westmoreland (b. 1375, d. 1440) m. Ralph (de) Neville, 1st E. Westmoreland
17 John “of Gaunt” Plantagenet, 1st D. of Lancaster (b. 1340, d. 1399) [m. #3 Catherine de Roet Swynford.] ---- > my 15th great grandparents.
16 Edward III Plantagenet (b. 1312, d. 1377)
15 Edward II Plantagenet (b. 1284, d. 1327)
14 Edward I “Longshanks” Plantagenet (b. 1239, d. 1307)
13 Henry III Plantagenet (b. 1206, d. 1372)
12 John I “Lackland” Plantagenet (b. 1166, d. 1216)
11 Henry II Plantagenet (b. 1133, d. 1189)
10 Matilda “the Empress” of Normandy, Queen of England (b. 1102, d. 1167) m. Geoffrey V “the Fair” Plantagenet
9 Henry I King of England (b. 1068, d. 1135)
8 William I “the Conquerer” of England, Duke of Normandy (b. 1028, d. 1087) m. Matilda of Flanders -- my 24th great grandparents.
7 Baldwin V the Pious of Flanders (1012-1067)  m. Adele of France Capet, daughter of Robert II the Pious of France
6 Baldwin IV Fair Beard of Flanders (980-1035) m. #1 Otgiva of Luxembourg, ca. 1012; m #2 Eleanor of Normandy ca. 1035
5 Arnulf II le Jeune of Flanders (961-988)
4 Baldwin III of Flanders (940-962)  m. 961 Mathilde of Saxony
3 Arnulf I the Elder of Flanders (900-965)
2 Elftrude of England (868-929) m. 884 Baldwin II the Bald of Flanders
1 Alfred the Great of Wessex and Kent (849-899); King of England 871 (5th son of Aethelwulf, king of the West Saxons) - my 31st great grandfather.

Lineage to Charlemagne through William the Conquerer

41 Morgan Shores Cohen (b. 1986)
40 Deborah Manning (b. 1957) m. 1979 H. Jeffrey Cohen
39 Catherine Lois Perry (b. 1932, d. 2001) m. William E. Manning III ------ > my grandparents.
38 Harold Elbert Perry (b. 1897, d. 1966)
37 William Tennyson Perry (b. 1868, d. 1940)
36 Oliver Williams Perry (b. 1815, d. 1888)
35 James Perry (b. 1784/6, d. 1849)
34 Nathaniel W. Perry Jr. (b. 1738, d. 1780)
33 Mehitable Leonard Willis (b. 1705, d. 1797) m #2. Nathaniel Perry ----- > my 6th great grandparents.
32 James Leonard (b. 1677, d. 1764)
31 James Leonard (b. 1642, d. 1726)
30 James Leonard (b. 1611, d. 1691)
29 Thomas Leonard (b. 1575, d. 1637)
28 Margaret Fiennes, 5th B. Dacre of the South (b. 1540, d. 1611) m. Sampson Lennard
27 Mary Neville (b. 1524, d. 1565/76) m. Thomas Fiennes, 3rd B. Dacre of the South
26 George Neville, 3rd B. Abergavenny (b. 1469/83, d. 1535/6)
25 George Neville, 2nd B. Abergavenny (b. 1440, d. 1492)
24 Edward Neville, 1st B. Abergavenny (b. 1412/17, d. 1476)
23 Joan Beaufort, C. Westmoreland (b. 1375, d. 1440) m. Ralph (de) Neville, 1st E. Westmoreland
22 John “of Gaunt” Plantagenet, 1st D. of Lancaster (b. 1340, d. 1399) [m. #3 Catherine de Roet Swynford.] ---- > my 15th great grandparents.
21 Edward III Plantagenet (b. 1312, d. 1377)
20 Edward II Plantagenet (b. 1284, d. 1327)
19 Edward I “Longshanks” Plantagenet (b. 1239, d. 1307)
18 Henry III Plantagenet (b. 1206, d. 1372)
17 John I “Lackland” Plantagenet (b. 1166, d. 1216)
16 Henry II Plantagenet (b. 1133, d. 1189)
15 Matilda “the Empress” of Normandy, Queen of England (b. 1102, d. 1167) m. Geoffrey V “the Fair” Plantagenet
14 Henry I King of England (b. 1068, d. 1135)
13 William I “the Conquerer” of England, Duke of Normandy (b. 1028, d. 1087) m. Matilda of Flanders -- my 24th great grandparents.
12 Robert I “the Normandy” (b. 999, d. 1035)
11 Judith, Princess of Brittany m. Richard II “the Good Normandy”
10 Emengarde de Anjou (d. 1075/6) m. (1) Conan I, Count of Rennes (Wm. The Conquerer Line)
9 Fulk III Grisgonelle “the Black”, Count of Anjou (d. 1040)
8 Adelaide de Vermandois (b. 950, d. 975) m. Geoffrey I Grisgonelle, Count of Anjou
7 Robert de Vermandois, Count of Troyes and Meaux (b. 920, d. 967)
6 Herbert II, Count de Vermandois and Troyes
5 Herbert I, Count of Vermandois, Senlis, Peronne and St. Quentin
4 Pepin, Count of Vermandois, Lord of Senlis, Peronne and St. Quentin (b. 815, d. after 840)
3 Bernard, King of Italy (b. 797, d. 818)
2 Pepin I King of Italy and Lombardy (b. 777, d. 810)
1 Charlemagne, King of the Franks and Holy Roman Emperor (b. 742, d. 813/14)  my 36th great grandfather.

25

25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about me. got it from fbook of course.

1. I fell off a treadmill my freshman year of college.
2. I love the smell of bus exhaust mixed with rain because it reminds me of London.
3. I got a gerbil when I was 4 and named it Diana after the only real princess I had ever heard of.
4. I love rereading Harry Potter and Wuthering Heights.
5. I've had a penpal in Latvia since 5th grade.
6. I love to write stores, but I don't share them with many people.
7. I have more pictures of my beagle Joey than of my friends or family.
8. I hate teeth... loose teeth, wiggling teeth, seeing teeth fall out, and I have nightmares about teeth fairly often.
9. I'm afraid of tsunamis and drowning in the ocean.
10. I lived in New Jersey for ten years when I was little.
11. I keep a dream journal.
12. I used to watch Gladiator whenever I was really sad.
13. I take great pleasure in the little things in life: walking around laguna or pb on a sunny day, holding hands, being cozy inside when it rains, finding the magazine i was looking for, a chai latte, etc.
14. I am more passionate, more crazy, and more vocal about the Lakers than most people you'll come across, including guys. For better or for worse, they have a palpable effect on my mood.
15. I will love a particular word simply because of the way it looks, or sounds, or means, and i will hate a particular word for the same reasons.
16. I can relate most things in life back to movies or tv shows.
17. I love getting mail.
18. I organize my movies by genre so when I feel like a particular type, I can pick it easily.
19. One of my goals in life is to travel to all the smallest countries in the world, Andorra being at the top of that list.
20. I own four Kobe jerseys (old #8, new #8, 24, Olympic), two MJ's (red and white), one Grant Hill (reversible teal and white), one Tom Brady and one Wes Welker.
21. Christmas season is my favorite time of year.
22. I love 'that's what she said' jokes.
23. Artichokes are my favorite vegetable.
24. Astrologically I'm a Cancer, which seems to fit my personality well.
25. I love the name Evan.