JAMES POTTER AND THE VAULT OF DESTINIES

       'Ugh!' Albus proclaimed suddenly, lifting his cup and staring at it disdainfully. 'You call this tea? I'd heard that Americans couldn't brew a decent cup, but really! This tastes like warmed over prune juice!'

       'Albus Severus!' Ginny scolded.

       Franklyn peered at the cup in Albus' hand. Gently, he reached for it. 'Ah, yes. Ahem. It tastes like warmed over prune juice because that's precisely what it is, young man,' he said, taking the cup and sniffing it. 'You seem to have picked up my drink by accident.'

       Albus' face reddened as James and his parents laughed. Audrey covered her own mouth to stifle a smile while Percy rolled his eyes. Merlin moved to get up, indicating the end of the meal.

       'Oh. Well,' Albus said stiffly. 'Never mind then.'

       By daylight, the scale of Alma Aleron campus seemed even larger. Neatly cropped lawns and flower gardens were crisscrossed with paths running in all directions. Some of the footpaths were meandering and narrow, laid with pea gravel, others were wide flagstone thoroughfares, cutting straight swathes between the various buildings.

       As James, Albus, Ralph, and Lucy made their way to the center of campus, they encountered innumerable students of nearly every age, most dressed in various versions of the school uniform, which consisted, generally, of a dress shirt, tie, pants, and blazer for the boys, or a blouse, skirt, and tie for the girls. V-necked sweaters were occasionally worn in place of the blazer, especially by the girls, and some students forewent the blazer altogether or carried it slung over their shoulders.

       The confusing bit was in the fact that there didn't seem to be an established school colour. As James glanced around, soaking in the sights, he counted at least half a dozen different colour combinations. He did notice, however, that students in similar colours tended to cluster together in knots, either walking swiftly to their classes or hovering near the benches and low walls that dotted the campus, laughing and lounging, occasionally tossing around strange leather sporting balls.

The buildings that comprised the campus were mostly brick, covered in ivy, with dormers and towers jutting from their high roofs. The entrances were wide and grand, with stone staircases leading to banks of heavy wooden doors, many propped open to admit the fresh autumn air. Most of the main buildings seemed to range along a very long narrow common space, dotted with huge ancient trees, pools, bridges, gardens, and statuary. On the closest end of the commons, near the guest house and the Warping Willow, was something like an old ruin, mostly comprised of stone blocks stacked haphazardly around a grass-filled foundation. The only recognizable portion of the ruin was the main entrance and steps, which seemed ready to collapse at the slightest provocation. A very worn and broken statue of a severely dressed wizard holding a wand at his side stood in front of the entryway, looking as if it had once stood atop a grand pedestal which had, through time and entropy, become buried. The name engraved along the top of the ruin's doorway was barely legible: Roberts.

       Across from the ruin, sitting at the far end of the commons like a patriarch at the head of a gigantic table, was a very imposing red brick building with buttresses and stone columns, ranks of tall windows, and a dizzyingly tall clock tower which stood over its impressive central entryway. The school's full name and date of origin were engraved over the columns in huge block letters: 'ALMA ALERON UNIVERSITY of MAGICAL HUMANITIES and SPELLCRAFT – 1688'. James had an inkling that he'd seen the building before, and then he remembered: it had been in the background of his first glimpse of A.A.U., seen through the magical rear wall of the Trans-Dimensional Garage during his first year at Hogwarts. He'd seen that very clock tower, albeit from a different angle, and heard it tolling the hour. He felt a little surreal now, looking up the building from its own lawns, knowing that he'd be attending school under it, probably for the entire year.

       Finally, the four students made their way into the center of the campus commons and stopped beneath one of the massive elm trees that cast their shadows over the grounds, their turning leaves catching the sunlight like kaleidoscopes. Nearby, a grand, terraced pool splashed with fountains, surrounding a strange black marble ball that seemed to float in the very middle.

       'Here he comes,' Ralph said, mopping his brow with his sleeve. 'How can it be so hot here this late in the year?'

       Lucy shrugged. 'This is mild by their standards. Be glad we didn't arrive in the middle of August. My father says you can boil a cauldron on the footpath during a typical American summer.'

       'Ugh,' Albus grunted, shaking his head.

       'I'm disappointed not to be able to try it, really,' Lucy said, bending down and laying her palm on the stone at her feet. 'This is barely hot enough to soften a jellywort.'

       'Has it ever occurred to you,' Albus said, peering sideways at his cousin, 'that your dad might be full of jellywort?'

       Lucy regarded Albus calmly. 'Yes,' she said. 'Actually it has.'

       'Morning everybody,' Zane said happily, crossing the pool's terraces to meet them. 'Sorry I'm a little late. There was an incident last night in my house involving a pledge, an Engorgio spell, and a key lime pie. I've never seen such a mess, and it was up to me to make sure it got cleaned up afterwards. The pledges barely swam through half of it. If you ask me, there isn't a Zombie in the bunch.'

       Lucy frowned. 'A key lime pie?'

       Ralph glanced at her. 'You heard him say the word 'zombie', and the thing that struck you was the pie?'

       'He obviously doesn't mean real zombies,' Lucy sniffed. 'Zombies are forbidden. At least in this country.'

       Zane raised his voice and pumped his fist in the air. 'Zombie pride! Zombie grit! Undead fight and never quit!' He stopped, lowered his fist, and grinned. 'Sorry, force of habit. Go Zombies, eh?'

       'Whatever you say,' James smiled, shaking his head.

       'Come on, I'll give you the lowdown while we walk,' Zane said, beckoning. 'There's a lot to go over and not much time. I have class in half an hour. You can sit in if you want.'

       'Oh yeah,' Albus commented brightly. 'That'd be buckets of fun.'

       Lucy smacked her cousin lightly on the back of the head as they stood up. 'Give it a rest already, Albus.'

       'All right,' Zane said, turning around and walking backwards, his arms held wide. 'This is Alma Aleron's main mall. Most of the classroom buildings are along here, on either side. Back by the Warping Willow, that pile of bricks and stone is the home of one of the original founders. Looks tempting to climb on, but not a good idea. Magic's the only thing holding what's left of it together these days.'

       'What happened to it?' James asked, looking back over his shoulder at the faded ruin. 'Looks like it's a thousand years old.'

       Zane shrugged. 'Sorry, that's not part of the tour. Mainly, 'cause I don't know. I'm sure somebody told me at one time, but I did myself a favor and forgot it as soon as I could. Leaves more room up here for Clutchcudgel and pledge dares,' he said, tapping the side of his head with one finger. 'Anyway, most of the dormitory houses are on the other side of the classroom buildings. There are six of them, which brings me to the most important part of your life here at the Aleron: which society you end up in.'

       'Just like the houses at Hogwarts,' Lucy nodded, brightening.

       'Yes!' Zane said, pointing at her. 'And no. Things here are totally different, beginning with the Sorting. Mainly because there isn't one. Here, you have to rush for the society you want to get into. If you don't, or if you blow it during rush, you'll get assigned to a dorm house by the administration, and you don't want that to