The birthday of the boy who survived

I already hate this day. First of all, because I had to get up very early this morning to take a Portkey. But also, because I don't have a very good relationship with the boy whose birthday it is today.

"Sean, smile, it's a birthday." My mom seems worried about my lack of enthusiasm. It is true that here, in the good families of wizards, everything is about appearance and good behavior.

I put a facade smile on my face and follow my parents as they head towards Lilly and James Potter.

"Good morning, we are delighted to have been invited to your son's birthday." My father reaches out his hand to James.

"It's normal, we are delighted to invite all future students to Hogwarts. And your son is a good friend of our daughter. It makes her so happy to know he's here. Our little Rose sometimes has trouble making friends of her age." Lilly seems much more welcoming than her husband. James looks at my mother with disdain. Is it because she was in Slytherin?

"Where is she?" I look around, but I don't see her in the crowd.

"I think she went to play with the Weasley girl. Little Susan must be with them as Amelia Bones arrived earlier." James seems to be looking at me as if he's trying to detect an imperceptible detail. Tell me, Sean, what house would you like to go to when you get to Hogwarts?"

"It doesn't really matter which house I want to go to. In the end, it's up to the sorting hat to decide for me."

"That's true, but I'm going to tell you one of Hogwarts' best-kept secrets. I realized during my school years that not all the students were in the houses where they should have been. I have seen Slytherins who should have been Ravenclaw or Hufflepuffs who are in this house because their families have been there for generations. I think the sorting hat also takes into account our desires and the consequences that its choice could have."

It's an interesting theory, which would explain why Hermione ends up in Gryffindor when she's clearly a Ravenclaw.

"I don't really know. I think that no matter what house I'm in it won't change who I am. My parents have been in two different houses, and I don't think they would take it personally if I were in Gryffindor or Hufflepuff."

"Well, you still have time to think about it. I hope you'll end up in the same house as Harry and become friend with him." I see another message in his eyes. I hope you don't become a Slytherin like your mother.

"We'll see." I turn to my mother. "I'll go see if I can't find the others."

I'm sneaking out before the Potter couple gives me a headache. I think Lily has no special prejudice about the other houses, however James is already trying to see if I would be an ally, a good person, or an enemy depending on my house. I hope that his prejudices will not influence Harry, who was already very biased because of meeting Ron first.

I realize that children are already strongly divided according to their parents' affiliation to a particular house. I don't see the children from the family who usually goes to Slytherin, the only future Slytherin I see around me is Blaise Zabini and he looks just as lost as I do.

"You seem lost." I turn around to find the most powerful wizard in the world right now, Albus Dumbledore.

"I'm just wondering who I'm going to meet first. It's always difficult to join groups of friends who have known each other for several years."

"Yes, relationships between people can sometimes be complicated. But it is precisely these difficulties that make up their charm. I don't think I've introduced myself yet, I'm Albus Dumbledore."

"Sean Bones. I already knew who you were."

"But would you have found it polite for me to not formally introduce myself?"

"Probably not. It doesn't matter if you're a famous wizard or a nobody. At the end you're just a man like the rest of us."

"I love the innocent truth that comes out of children's mouths, it sometimes reminds me why I decided to teach so many years ago." The word innocent truth makes me tick. It is naive to believe that the truth is innocent.

"I don't like that term, innocent truth. There is nothing less innocent than truth. A lie can hurt, but only the truth can leave a scar."

"That's a very deeply pondered idea for such a young child. I feel like I'm talking to a much older man." Oops, I got carried away by the conversation and said too much.

"It's probably because I've had too much time to think, no need to pay attention to my weird ideas."

"No, I think you should continue to think like that. I see fewer and fewer children thinking for themselves these days. Most of them accept everything they are taught as true and do not have their own ideas. It's refreshing to see someone challenge my words, it hasn't happened in a long time." He seems to be thinking for a second "If you like Quidditch, why don't you go play with your little friends. I think they're currently flying over the forest with Harry Potter."

"That's kind of you, but I think I'm going to pick up my cousin. However, it was nice to meet you."

"It was also a pleasure, Sean. I'll see you back at the castle."

I leave Dumbledor here and walk away looking for Susan and Rose, who can't be far. While I'm looking for them, I see in the distance a person I wasn't especially expecting to meet today, Sirius Black.

He is dressed in a beautiful black striped suit in the style of the Italian mafia in the old movies and all the other guests seem to maintain some distance with him. Now I'm curious to know what happened in Godric's Hollow that night. And I'm even more interested to see whether Peter Pettigrew became Ron's rat or not.

I feel a firm hand resting on my shoulder. I turned my head to see my father behind me looking suspiciously at the man.

"Sean, don't go near that man. he's dangerous."

"Why? He can't be that dangerous since he's here."

"It's not really a story for a child, just do what I ask." Like I'm going to let him go without him telling me the whole story.

"If you don't tell me, I'll go straight to him and ask him."

"Sean, this isn't a game."

"In that case, if it's not a game, explain it to me why I shouldn't approach him."

My father looks at me and I support his gaze for long minutes before he breathes a long sigh and gives in. "All right, this is a story that goes back to the fall of You-Know-Who. We don't really know what happened that night, but we do know that Peter Pettigrew betrayed the Potter and that Sirius Black arrived at their house shortly after. He chased Peter, and that's where we don't know exactly what happened. We know that twelve Muggles died by a spell. Mr. Black claims that it was Peter Pettigrew, who cast the spell that killed the Muggles by trying to kill himself rather than be captured. However, Peter's body and wand were never found, and Mr. Black's wand was destroyed in the explosion. The aurors tried to search his memory, but Black's memories were confused, he claims to have seen Lily and James Potter died with Harry as the only survivor, but Lily and James are alive. He escaped Azkaban only thanks to the testimony of Dumbledore and James Potter. But he is still under heavy surveillance by the ministry."

So that's how it happened. Overall, this story remained the same except that the Potter couple survived. So, it's more than likely that Peter is Ron's rat, I'm going to have to think of a plan when I get to Hogwarts.

"And what does Aunt Amelia think of this story?"

"She'd rather see Black locked in a room in St. Mungo for the rest of her life."

"All right, I'm not going anywhere near Sirius Black, I promise." In the end, I don't have much to gain by getting closer to Sirius for the time being. I'm counting on Dumbledore to invite me to 12 Grimmauld place when it's time to pick up the Locket of Salazar.

"Alright, go play now."

I continue to search Susan and Rose. I end up finding them near a table on which is placed various drinks. They notice me and I wave my hand at them. They start laughing and they wave their hands back.

"It's been a while since I've seen you. You've changed a lot. I almost didn't recognize you." Rose had grown a lot in recent years and had lost much of her childish traits.

"Well, it's been four years. I'm glad to see you, everyone's just about Harry. Even the redhead girl who came with us finally went to join her brother who is with mine, playing Quidditch."

"In that case, I'll keep you company. Is it me or you actually don't have a good relationship with your brother?"

"It's not like that. It's just that... sometimes it's hard to be a Potter when you're not one of those who survived." Um, it sometimes reminds me of how my parents, compared me to my younger sister when she decided to train to become a florist when I was almost done studying astrophysics. They always put me on a little pedestal and didn't care much about what my sister was learning about her future job.

"I'm sure they love you too you know. It's just that sometimes when one of the kids does better than the others, the parents tend to praise them more, which can make others feel like they're not appreciated." I'm starting to get confused and say the opposite of what I want to say. "In fact, what I mean is that even if they don't show it as often, they probably love you as much as your brother."

It was clearly said in a little awkward way, but I think she got the message, and a slight smile seems to bloom on her face.

"Thank you, Sean, it's nice of you to want to comfort me."