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DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2090 Location: Boycotting All Future Warner Brothers Films	Posted: Sunday 2 November 2008 06 52 14 pm    Post subject: Re: Albus Potter and the Tracks They Left Behind in topic:Albus Potter and the Tracks They Left Behind Thanks, Obladi! Questions, comments, and general reviews always appreciated! Chapter 32: Riddles For the next few days, Albus found his mind drifting to the clue every time he tried to study. It was driving him mad. Where else did he sleep besides his bed? None of his friends had come up with anything either. Rose didn't seem to be putting much thought into it, since exams were only a month and a half away. She seemed to think that Albus ought not to focus too much on the clue either, but Albus couldn't help it. Albus was completely ignoring Professor Binns' boring lecture the following Wednesday and focusing solely on the clue. A place to sleep, he thought as he tapped his quill on his book. He sighed and lifted his head up. Rose was the only one actually taking notes. John's eyes were drooping and Albus was sure he'd fall asleep soon. Sleep! Albus grinned to himself. That was it! The History of Magic classroom was the answer. It seemed obvious to him now. Everyone except perhaps Rose had fallen asleep at one time or another in that room. Albus quickly scribbled the answer onto a piece of parchment and handed it to Matt. Matt read it, smiled at Albus, and passed it on to John. The note made its way to Rose and Amanda after that, who turned around and nodded to Albus. Once Professor Binns stopped his lecture and everyone hurried to leave the room as soon as possible, Albus purposely spilled his ink onto the floor. "I'll just clean this up, Professor," Albus said as he bent down. "Yes, yes, Mr. Pewter..." Professor Binns responded absentmindedly and drifted through the chalk board. "Ok, any ideas where the four paw prints could be?" Rose asked as she quickly cleaned up the ink with a wave of her wand. "No idea," Albus replied, "Probably one of the desks, since that's where we sleep. Let's just split up and look." Luckily there wasn't a class in the room at that moment, so Albus and his friends had as much time as they needed to look. Albus started his search in the front, making sure to inspect each desk carefully. It was John who found the paw prints, about twenty minutes after they started searching. They were on one of the desks in the back. Albus and the others hurried over to it and John pointed it out. Sure enough, there were four tiny paw prints etched into the bottom of the desk. "You do it, John," Albus told him, "You found it." "All right," John said and touched the paw prints. It was kind of awkward to have all five of them underneath the desk at the same time, but they managed. Albus watched as the paw prints disappeared and words replaced them. 'Find the place where we play, and make the Slytherins pay.' Albus groaned as he got out from under the desk. He scribbled the new clue onto the piece of parchment below the old one. Another difficult clue. "Any ideas?" he asked, as he and his friends left the room. "Nope," John shrugged, "But how would they make the Slytherins pay them? Were they betting with them? And how are we supposed to know where they made bets with them?" "It's wherever they played," Matt said. "But where was that?" John replied. "I don't think it means the Slytherins paid them," Rose commented, "I don't think it was meant to be that literal. It probably just means they got the Slytherins back for something, or beat them at something." "And it's got to be the same place they played something," John said. Matt stopped in his tracks, "Of course! It's the Quidditch Pitch!" Albus turned around to look at him, grinning. "Why didn't I think of that? It's obvious now! They played Quidditch there, and beat the Slytherins." "Let's go down to the Quidditch Pitch, then," Matt said. "Let's eat first," John suggested, "I'm starving." "Good idea," Amanda agreed. "I think we should study after lunch," Rose sighed. "You can," Albus replied, "But I want to go to the Quidditch Pitch first." Rose groaned and followed Albus and the others to the Great Hall. They were late for lunch, since they spent so long in the History of Magic classroom. Kaden demanded to know where they were, and became very excited when Albus whispered that they were following the clues for the map. He was a bit disappointed that Albus would be continuing to work on it after lunch, since Kaden had classes, but Albus assured him that they would update him later that evening. Albus, Matt, and John ate a very hurried lunch, as they wanted to get out to the Quidditch Pitch as soon as possible. Rose announced that she would not be going with them because she wanted to devote the afternoon to studying. Amanda agreed with her since her Astronomy grade was abysmal at the moment. Albus was very relieved to see that the Quidditch Pitch was completely deserted when he and his friends entered it a few minutes later. This may have been because of the torrential downpour, but Albus didn't mind getting soaked. "Any ideas as to where it would be?" John asked. "Maybe the goal posts?" Albus suggested, "They couldn't have put the prints on the ground." "Let's get looking, then," Matt said. Albus, Matt, and John each started inspecting one of the goal posts. Albus looked carefully, but couldn't find anything. Neither did John or Matt. The three of them ran to the other side of the pitch and began to look at the other three posts. "You know, I'll bet they etched them up higher," Albus realized as he finished inspecting his goal post. "It would make it harder." "You're probably right," John agreed. "Let's go," Albus started running over to the changing rooms. He kept his broom in his dormitory, but there were plenty of school brooms in the changing rooms. They would suffice for this. Albus wrenched the door open and led his friends over to where the school brooms were kept. He handed each of them a broom and the three of them headed back out into the rain. Albus kicked off from the ground and flew directly towards the goal posts. His broom listed to the left and Albus was really grateful he got to play Quidditch on a superior broom. Despite the mediocre broom, he was still faster than Matt and John, and made it to the goal posts before either of them. It didn't take Albus long to find the prints. They were etched in the very top of the middle goal post. "Found them!" he shouted at John and Matt. The two of them immediately flew over to Albus. "Go on, let's see the next clue," Matt said. Albus touched the prints and strained to make out the next clue through the pouring rain. "'Find the place we got when we're not feeling our best, one of us goes there more than the rest,'" Albus read and then looked up at his friends. "Hospital Wing," Matt said immediately, "That one was kind of obvious." "Somehow I don't think riddles were the Marauders' strong suit," Albus commented as they flew back down to the ground. "Makes it easier for us," John grinned. "Not really," Matt said, "You know how hard it's going to be to search the Hospital Wing for four tiny paw prints? What do you suppose we'll tell Madam Pomfrey? 'Don't mind us, we're just searching your entire ward for some carvings that were left here decades ago.'" Matt rolled his eyes. Albus didn't say anything as they walked back to the changing rooms. Matt was right. It would be extremely difficult to search the Hospital Wing for the next clue. Madam Pomfrey was always there. They could never get the place empty in order for them to search. "Anyone got any ideas as to how we can do this?" Albus asked as they walked back to the castle. "Not a clue," Matt shrugged. "Hey," John turned to Matt, "Maybe you can go look for it the next time you're there. During the night or something." "Are you mad?" Matt laughed, "She'd wonder what I was up to. She's always got an eye on me. Must be some kind of sixth sense. If I so much as turn over in bed, she comes out of her room and asks me what's wrong. I can only imagine what she'd do if I started searching the whole place in the dead of night." "Didn't think of that," John replied. Albus sighed dejectedly and decided to just go to the common room and do his homework. He had been neglecting it the whole week and figured he would have to do it sometime. Rose would at least be happy. Rose and Amanda were feverishly working on homework when Albus, John, and Matt entered the practically deserted common room. The boys settled down at the table Rose and Amanda were sitting at and reluctantly pulled out their books. "Success?" Rose asked without looking up from her book. "Yeah," Albus whispered, "But now we've got to find the next clue in the Hospital Wing, which should be pretty impossible." Rose thought for a moment "Yeah, that will be difficult," she said and then continued her reading. Albus tried his best to concentrate on his homework for the rest of the afternoon. He did manage to write an essay for Potions and read a chapter of his Herbology book, but after that he just couldn't do anything else. John was all too happy to stop doing homework as well, and the two of them played chess until dinner. After dinner, Albus and his friends went to the Room of Requirement, as Albus had promised Kaden he would tell him about the new developments with the map. Kaden was a bit jealous he didn't get to fly around the Quidditch Pitch looking for the next clue. "I thought you didn't like Quidditch," John said. "I just said I think football is better," Kaden explained, "That doesn't mean I don't like flying." "Well, we're going to have plenty of other clues to work out," Albus reminded him, "Like the one we're working on right now." "And what's that one?" Kaden asked. "'Find the place we go when we're not feeling our best, one of us goes there more than the rest,'" Albus told him. "Where could that be?" Kaden asked. "The Hospital Wing," Albus said, "We've already figured it out. We just don't know how to get in to look without Madam Pomfrey there." "Hmm..." Kaden walked slowly around the room, "Shouldn't be that hard...." "And why's that?" Matt asked, "She's always there." "We've just got to get her out of the room for a while," Kaden said, "My friends and I at my old school did it a few times with teachers. You just use a distraction to get them out of the room for a few minutes or so." Albus was amazed that his cousin was able to think of that. Albus always thought Kaden wasn't too bright, but he did come up with good ideas every so often. "That might work," Rose said. "And how are we going to get her out of the Hospital Wing?" John asked, "She's always in there." "One of us just has to pretend to be ill or injured," Kaden explained. "We could use a Fainting Fancy for that," John suggested. "No we can't," Albus said, "She's seen them too many times. No way she'd believe it." "She would if I did it," Matt said quietly. ****** Albus had been thoroughly surprised by Matt's willingness to eat a Fainting Fancy to trick Madam Pomfrey. He had become much more outgoing since the previous year. Albus figured it was because he was more certain now that none of his friends were going to announce to the entire school that he was a werewolf. Albus and his friends immediately formed a plan once Matt had so willingly volunteered to eat the Fainting Fancy. It would take place the following Saturday. Matt, Amanda, and Kaden would be stationed on the grounds, as they figured it would be best for Matt to faint as far away from the Hospital Wing as possible. Albus, John, and Rose would hide next to the Hospital Wing underneath the Invisibility Cloak and dash in as soon as Madam Pomfrey left. They figured it would guarantee them twenty minutes of searching, perhaps thirty if they were lucky. Saturday arrived and Albus was eager to put the plan into action. Rose figured it would be best to do it in the morning, when most students were either sleeping or lounging around in their common rooms. It would be better not to attract too much unwanted attention. Albus, John, and Rose headed up the stairs after breakfast, while Matt, Amanda, and Kaden went out onto the grounds. Once Albus, John, and Rose reached the Hospital Wing, Albus pulled out the Invisibility Cloak and threw it over them. "And now, we wait," Albus whispered. "Shush," Rose hissed. About twenty minutes later, Kaden came running down the corridor with a fake worried look on his face. Albus only hoped that Madam Pomfrey wouldn't be able to tell it was fake. Kaden ran past Albus and into the Hospital Wing. Not even a minute later, he burst back through behind Madam Pomfrey. "And where is he?" the nurse shouted. "On the grounds," Kaden told her. "Hurry up! Show me where!" Madam Pomfrey and Kaden disappeared around the corner and Albus, John, and Rose hurried into the Hospital Wing. "I'd say we've only got twenty minutes," Albus muttered, "She's fast." "Let's get looking," Rose said. Only one of the beds was occupied and the curtains were drawn around it. Albus hoped the paw prints weren't on or near that bed. He quickly ran to the nearest bedside table and started investigating it. Five minutes passed, then ten, then fifteen, and still nobody had found anything. Albus was beginning to get worried. They couldn't pull off a stunt like this again. "Found it!" Rose announced. Albus breathed a sigh of relief. He hurried over to the farthest bed and bent down next to Rose. "Where is it?" John asked. "There," Rose pointed to the right side of the bedside table. Albus craned his head and saw the carving. He quickly touched it and watched as the words materialized. "Hurry," Rose said, "I hear footsteps." "Write it down," Albus said as he shoved the piece of parchment that had the other clues on it to her, "'Find the place where we are served and waited on, they even have pie of pecan.'" Albus stood up as Rose scribbled it down. "They're coming!" John seethed as the door opened. Albus quickly pulled out the Invisibility Cloak and threw it over the three of them. "Tell me again what happened?" Madam Pomfrey asked exasperatingly as she levitated Matt onto a bed. "Er, he just fainted, madam," Kaden said. "What were you doing?" she asked as she waved her wand over Matt. "Just sitting and talking," Amanda said. "Hmm..." Madam Pomfrey muttered, "This particular fainting looks an awfully lot like the kind that results from eating a Fainting Fancy. Either of you have any idea as to why?" "Er," Kaden stammered. "No, not really," Amanda shrugged. The nurse stood up and looked at Kaden, who was beginning to turn red. "Are you sure, Mr. Dursley?" "I, well, er, I may have given him a sweet," Kaden stammered, "But I didn't know it was a Fainting Fancy!" "He's Muggle-born, like me," Amanda explained, "He probably didn't know what it did." Madam Pomfrey sighed, "Yes, that might be true. Although it makes me wonder why Matt actually ate it. Just give me the other half." Amanda reluctantly pulled the other half of the sweet out of her robes and handed it to the nurse. Madam Pomfrey put it in Matt's mouth and within seconds he was opening his eyes. "I don't know what you lot are up to, and I don't really care to know, but I would suggest that you not mess around with making yourselves ill," Madam Pomfrey said sternly, "Now get back to your common room, all three of you." Albus, John, and Rose carefully maneuvered their way over to the door and snuck out behind Matt, Amanda, and Kaden. Once they were a safe distance from the Hospital Wing, they pulled off the cloak. "That went fairly well," John announced. Matt, Amanda, and Kaden shrieked. "Merlin, don't do that!" Matt shouted. "Sorry," John grinned, "Anyway, that was pretty good improvising back there." "I can't believe she figured out that it was a Fainting Fancy," Kaden sighed. "Honestly, I didn't think she'd figure it out either," Matt said, "I half expected her to keep me there overnight to make sure I was all right. Didn't expect her to kick me out with you lot." "How's it feel to be treated normally?" John laughed. "Shut up," Matt said, "I am happy I don't have to be there overnight. I spend enough time in that place." "Did you get the clue?" Amanda asked. "Sure did," Albus grinned, "Rose found it." "What is it?" Kaden asked. "Hang on," Albus said, "We'll tell you once we're in the Room." A few minutes later, Albus and his friends were once again in the Room of Requirement working on the clue. "'Find the place where we are waited and served on, they even have pie of pecan,'" Albus said. "The Great Hall," Amanda said immediately. "But we're not really waited on there," Rose pointed out, "The food just appears." "It's got to be somewhere with food," Kaden said. "The kitchens," John announced. "Brilliant," Albus grinned, "Everyone up for a trip to the kitchens?" "You know where the kitchens are?" Kaden asked. "Sure do," Albus replied, "We'll show you." ****** "I can't believe you didn't show me the kitchens," Kaden lamented as he followed Albus and the others down the stairs. "Never came up," Albus shrugged. Albus continued leading his friends down to the kitchens, while wondering how he would possibly find the next clue while he was there. The kitchens were huge. Albus had no idea where the Marauders would have carved the paw prints. Albus stopped in front of the picture of the bowl of fruit and tickled the pear. It giggled and turned into a handle, which Albus turned. "Bloody hell," Kaden stood transfixed in the doorway as he stared out at the kitchens. "Go on, already," Albus pushed Kaden into the room, "We don't want anyone to see us." Kaden walked into the kitchens and everyone else followed him. They were immediately greeted by no less than ten house elves. "Is young masters and mistresses needing anything?" the elf closest to Albus asked. "Yeah!" John grinned, "How about a turkey sandwich, some crisps, a piece of treacle tart, and a glass of pumpkin juice." Rose raised her eyebrow, "Lunch is in an hour." "You're right," John replied and then turned to the elf, "Skip the crisps." "I'll have the same, except a roast beef sandwich," Kaden said. "And I'll have a cheese sandwich," Matt told the elf, "Please." "I'll just take some crisps, please," Albus said. "Boys," Rose muttered. "Will that be all?" the elf asked as a few other elves scurried away. "Actually," Albus began after realizing that maybe the elf could help, "I was wondering if any of the elves were here in the 1970's?" "Yes," the elf smiled, "Quite a few of us. I myself was here then." "Excellent," Albus grinned, "Then I was wondering if you could help us. But we need you not to mention it to anyone, not even the other elves or the teachers." "Of course, sir," the elf said. "All right," Albus took a deep breath, "We're looking for a carving of sorts that's some place in here. It's four tiny paw prints. I don't know if you remember four students who called themselves 'The Marauders'-" "I is remembering them well!" the elf laughed, "They was very amusing. Always down here wanting food." "That's them," Albus grinned, "Anyway, they carved these paw prints somewhere in here. Have you seen anything like that?" "I has seen it," the elf smiled, "Behind the ovens." "Can you show us?" Albus asked. "Of course." The elf led the way through the throngs of other elves over to where the ovens were. He squatted down and pointed to behind the largest one. Albus bent down next to him, but everyone else had to remain standing due to lack of space. "Right there, sir," the elf said. Albus craned his neck and just made out the paw prints, situated in a very awkward position near a pipe. "Thanks," Albus replied, "Er, I actually have to get closer." "Not a problem," the elf ducked out of the way and stood next to John. Albus reached behind the stove and quickly touched the paw prints. They were very hot. Words formed on the stone and Albus jotted them down on the parchment before reemerging. "Got it," he whispered, "I think this is the last clue. 'Go to the place where we learn to fight the dark, it is there where we've left our final mark'." "Certainly sounds like it," Rose agreed. "Yes!" Kaden shouted in between bites of sandwich. "Brilliant," John grinned, "Let's go." "I hate to say it, but I've got Quidditch practice after lunch, so I don't think there's time today," Albus sighed. He wished practice would be canceled, but the chances of that were slim to none. "Bugger," Matt groaned. "We've waited this long, we can wait some more," Amanda pointed out. "Hey," Albus turned to the elf, "Thanks for the help." "You're welcome," the elf smiled.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2090 Location: Boycotting All Future Warner Brothers Films	Posted: Wednesday 29 October 2008 04 08 43 pm    Post subject: Re: Albus Potter and the Tracks They Left Behind in topic:Albus Potter and the Tracks They Left Behind Thanks Obladi! Glad you like the lines! Chapter 31: Success Albus, John, Rose, and Amanda all agreed to wait until after dinner to visit Matt in the Hospital Wing the next day. They had the afternoon off, but Kaden didn't, and he wanted to come along. Kaden seemed even happier now that he was no longer excluded from anything that Albus did. Gone were the days where Albus would be able to sneak off to the Room of Requirement without Kaden, now that he knew about the room. Of course, Albus supposed he could just ask the room not make itself noticeable to Kaden, but Kaden could probably guess that he was in there anyway. "You have to be quiet in the Hospital Wing, Kaden," Albus explained as they walked there after dinner, "Or else Madam Pomfrey will throw you out." "I'll be quiet," Kaden assured him. Albus pushed open the door and everyone followed him inside. Madam Pomfrey was pouring a bluish potion into a bottle and looked up when she saw Albus and his friends enter. She raised her eyebrow and peered at Kaden curiously. "He knows now," Albus explained when he saw the nurse's curious look. "Huh," Madam Pomfrey shook her head, "You'd better keep it quiet, Kaden. Don't go telling the whole school about it." "I won't," Kaden sighed, "Why does everyone think I will?" "Because they know you," Albus smirked, "Now let's go." Albus led his friends over to the only occupied bed and pulled back the curtains. Matt was awake, but he looked exhausted as usual. "Hey, how are you?" Albus asked. "All right," Matt replied. Albus, John, Rose, and Amanda crowded around Matt's bed like usual, but Kaden had frozen in place and was staring at Matt. For the first time in his life, he was speechless. "What's with you, Kaden?" Matt asked. Kaden shook his head and then went over to the bed. "Er, nothing. I just didn't really expect, well..." Kaden gestured to Matt's arm, which was bandaged and in a sling. "Oh, yeah, told you it was horrible," Matt said, "Broke my arm last night." "I didn't know that's what would happen," Kaden said quietly. "Only happens sometimes," Matt explained. "But he always looks like he got off worse in a duel," John commented, gesturing to the gash on Matt's cheek. "It heals," Matt shrugged, "So, what's new with you lot?" "Not much," Rose said, "But what happened in Potions on Monday? Were you all right?" "Oh, yeah, I mean I slept the entire rest of the day and all night and all day yesterday, but I'm no worse than usual." "You slept for that long?" Kaden looked astonished. "I've slept for longer than that," Matt replied, "Record's four days." "Four days?!" "Yeah." "But why did you sleep that much this time?" Rose asked, "Was it the potion?" "Yeah. Actually, one of the active ingredients in the Drowsiness Potion is also in the Wolfsbane I take, so it was like I got a double dose. That's why the potion had more of an effect on me than everyone else and why it took so long to wear off." "That makes sense," Rose said. "But Madam Pomfrey said I can't finish making that potion next week," Matt continued, "Because it seems to affect me more than it's supposed to. Malfoy won't be too happy." "He wasn't that bad about it the other day, though. The potion seemed to make him too sleepy to care," John laughed. "Hopefully that'll happen next week, too," Matt said. "I don't see why it wouldn't," Rose commented. "So," Albus lowered his voice, "We're going to start looking for that Wizard's Finger Print charm as soon as you get out of here." "Excellent," Matt grinned, "I'll be out by Friday, probably." "We'll do it over the weekend, then," Rose said, "Along with studying for exams." "Don't remind me," Matt groaned. ****** The rest of the week passed by very slowly. Albus was excited about finding the Wizard's Finger Print charm, so that didn't help matters. After what seemed like forever, Saturday finally arrived and Albus and his friends found themselves holed up in the library, searching as many books as they could. "Look in the index," Rose instructed as she dumped a huge pile of books onto the table, "Just look up 'Wizard's Finger Print' and if it's not there, don't bother searching that book." "What would we do without you, Rose?" John laughed as he took the book that was on top. "Oh, it would take you until sixth year to figure this out," Rose grinned. "You're probably right," John agreed. Albus had to agree with this. Rose had done most of the work for this map, even though it was Albus, Matt, John, and Kaden who were supposed to be the new Marauders. But it's not like Rose wouldn't benefit from the map, so Albus tried not to feel guilty about it. Albus grabbed a book and opened it up to the index. He ran his finger down it until he got to the Ws. Nope, Wizard's Finger Print wasn't there. Albus sighed and reached for another. No such luck with that one either. The morning progressed like this and Albus became increasingly disappointed that they hadn't found anything. "This is hopeless," John sighed and tossed a book onto the table next to them, which was being used as a discard table. "We'll find it eventually," Rose assured him. "I'm bored," Kaden announced. "Me, too," Amanda agreed. "Keep looking," Matt told them as he grabbed another book. "It's got to be here somewhere," Albus said. Albus went through another five books before he actually found one that had Wizard's Finger Print in the index. Everyone else had found books that contained it, but didn't give the incantation. Albus excitedly flipped to the page given in the index and quickly scanned it. "I think I've found it!" Albus shouted. The book had given a two paragraph explanation of the charm, the incantation, and the proper wand movements. "Look," he handed the book to Rose. "This is it," Rose grinned after she read the page, "Go check it out and we'll go to the Room to try it out." Albus walked quickly over to Madam Pince and handed her the book, which was entitled, [i]101 Charms Every Auror Should Know[/i]. The librarian glared at him for a moment and then checked the book out for him. She handed it back to him and rattled off her usual warnings about defacing library books. "It should be relatively simple," Rose explained as they entered the Room of Requirement, "But I think we ought to try it out with scrap parchment first." "Definitely," Albus agreed. He set the book down on the table and opened it up to the correct page. "I'll read what it says. "'The Wizard's Finger Print is an extremely useful charm, especially for those involved with Magical Law Enforcement. When performed correctly, the charm will reveal a wizard or witch's full name, birthday, a list of places where he or she has lived, any sort of special abilities or abnormalities, and a few personality characteristics. The charm has been useful in identifying bodies, as well as discovering whether or not a witch or wizard is under the influence of Polyjuice Potion. The Wizard's Finger Print is not fooled by Polyjuice. This particular charm is quite controversial, given the fact that it reveals large amounts of personal information. In the wrong hands, the charm can be used to steal another's identity. It gave the Department of Magical Law Enforcement in Spain a particularly hard time in the 1930s, when a group of thieves used it to gain access to various bank accounts. A relatively simple charm to perform, all the caster must do is wave his or her wand around in a circular fashion, clockwise (as shown in the diagram on the opposite page), then point the wand at the finger in question, say the incantation, and push the finger down onto a piece of parchment. No ink is necessary. The incantation that is used is Digitulus Scripsi. Once the finger print is on the parchment, a different incantation is needed to reveal the information. Simply tap your wand to the finger print and recite Acclaro.'" Albus looked up from the book at his friends. "Seems simple enough." "Kind of strange, though," Matt commented, "That someone could get all that information just from your finger print." "Let's try it," Rose suggested as she pulled out a roll of parchment. She ripped it up into six pieces and handed them out. Albus pulled out his wand and watched his friends do the same. "Er, I'll just read the instructions and we can do it at once." Everyone nodded. "All right," Albus began, "Wave your wands in a clockwise circle. Then point your wand at your finger and say 'Digitulus Scripsi'. Then push your finger onto the parchment." Albus waved his wand, muttered the incantation, and quickly pressed his finger onto the parchment. He set down his wand and picked his finger up, revealing a finger print. "It worked!" he shouted excitedly, "Did yours work?" "Mine did," Rose announced, holding up her parchment. "Me, too," Amanda, John, and Matt said. "Mine didn't," Kaden sighed. "You moved your wand counter-clockwise instead of clockwise," Rose told him, "Try it again." This time, Kaden succeeded in performing the charm. "Now we've got to see if we can get the information from them," Albus said, "The incantation is 'Acclaro'." Albus pointed his wand at his finger print and muttered, "Acclaro." Nothing happened for a few seconds, and then words started appearing below the finger print, much like the way words appeared on the Marauder's Map. Albus stared in awe as he looked down at the parchment. [i]ALBUS SEVERUS POTTER D.O.B. June 28, 2005 Born in London, England Other places of residence- None Hair Colour- Black Eye Colour- Green Special Magical Abilities- None Abnormalities- None[/i] The list then went on to describe Albus's personality. It was so accurate that he was kind of freaked out by it. How could a charm get that much just from a finger print? "Did yours work?" Albus asked everyone. "Mine did," Matt said quietly. Albus and Matt swapped parchments and Albus looked at Matt's. [i]MATTHEW CONAN ECKERTON D.O.B. February 6, 2005 Born in Brisbane, Australia Other Places of Residence- Caloundra, Australia; Thetford, England Hair Colour- Blonde Eye Colour- Blue Special Magical Abilities- None Abnormalities- Werewolf [/i] "This is mad," Albus muttered as he handed Matt back his parchment, "Did everyone else's work?" "Yeah," Rose announced, "But it's kind of scary, really." "It worked," John said. "Mine, too," Amanda and Kaden said at the same time. "We should try it on the Map now," Albus announced. "We should probably burn these first," Matt gestured to his parchment, "You know, so nobody finds them...." "Oh, right," Albus agreed, realizing that Matt probably wouldn't wand a piece of parchment laying around the school that said he was a werewolf. Rose collected the parchments and tossed them in the fire while Albus rummaged around in his bag for the Map. He found it and set it down on the table. Everyone crowded around it, staring at it. "This is it," Albus grinned and his heart hammered, "I hope it works." Albus, Matt, John, and Kaden all performed the charm to get their finger prints onto the map. A minute later, there were four finger prints on the map. Nobody said a word as they performed the revealing charm on them, but Albus could feel the excitement building. This was it. In a matter of minutes, they might have the new Map revealed. Albus and his friends had been working towards this ever since the beginning of the school year. Albus stared at the Map after everyone had finished performing the charms. Nothing happened for the longest time, and Albus was beginning to think that they had guessed wrongly about the Finger Print Charm being the correct charm to reveal the map. Then, the finger prints suddenly disappeared into the map. "Why'd they do that?" Kaden asked. "Dunno," Albus shrugged. The finger prints hadn't disappeared when they tried the charm on regular parchment. Then, words began to appear on the map. Everyone leaned in towards it and Albus read the short phrase. 'Please sit patiently while the map assesses your Marauder attributes.' "I think it's working!" Albus shouted. "I think you're right!" John exclaimed. "Here it goes," Albus grinned as the phrase melted away and new words began to form on the map. 'Congratulations! You have successfully decoded The Marauder's Map: Second Edition. Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs are proud proclaim Matthew Conan Eckerton, Kaden Peter Dursley, John Malcolm Brickston, and Albus Severus Potter the next generation of Marauders. 'Please use the Map wisely, ensuring that you cause as much mayhem as possible. From now on, simply press your finger to the four paws on the front of the map and say 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good' to reveal it.' "We did it!" Albus shouted. He jumped up from his chair and high-fived Matt and John. "We've got the new map!" "Yes!" John shouted, "All that research finally paid off!" "I can't believe we've finally done it!" Matt exclaimed, "This is brilliant!" "So what's so special about this map?" Kaden asked, "I mean, how's it different from the other one?" "Not sure yet," Albus grinned and sat back down. "Thanks, Rose, for all the help." "No problem," Rose smiled, "I'm glad we've got it working, too." "Me, too," Amanda agreed, "Because the four of you will have to let us use it." "We will, but only the four of us can actually get it to reveal itself," Albus replied. "So you can open it and then give it to us," Rose laughed. "Look!" Matt pointed to the map, "It's doing something else!" Albus turned away from Rose and looked back at the map. The welcome message was slowly disappearing and new lines were forming on it. At the top it said 'The Marauder's Map: Second Edition'. The rest of it looked exactly like the regular Marauder's Map. "It looks the same," Rose commented. "I know," Albus groaned, "I thought it would be better." "Maybe the Marauders just wanted to create a prank that would outlive them," Rose suggested. "You're probably right," Albus sighed. After all that work, the new map was no different than the regular one. For Albus to say he was disappointed was an understatement. He could see the Marauders doing something like this, but it was still incredibly disappointing. "Well that sucks," John muttered, "All that research for nothing." "All that work for just a prank?" Amanda asked, "Would they really have put that much effort into a prank?" "Yes," Albus and Rose said at the same time. "It is kind of funny," Kaden remarked. "You're just saying that because you didn't spend the whole year on it," Albus snapped, "If you'd spent a year trying to figure that thing out, you'd be angry, too. But you just found out about it a week ago." "And whose fault would that be?" Kaden asked. "You're the one who didn't trust me." "I had a good reason not to!" Albus shouted. "Oh, quit fighting," Rose said, "There's nothing you can do about it now." "Wait," Matt said quietly, "There's three numbers at the bottom." He pointed to the bottom right hand corner. Albus peered down at the map and saw that there was a number one, two, and three at the bottom. He didn't think they had been there on the other map. "So that's the difference?" John asked, "Wow, that's exciting, three numbers." "Tap your wand on the number two, Albus," Rose said. Albus shrugged and did as he was told. He let out a gasp as all the ink disappeared and then began to return, forming a new pattern. "Bloody hell, that's Hogsmeade!" John shouted. It most certainly was Hogsmeade. This part of the map detailed the village of Hogsmeade as well as it depicted Hogwarts on the other part. Albus stared at it and saw Honeyduke's, The Three Broomsticks, Dervish and Banges, Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, The Hog's Head, the Shrieking Shack, and all the houses that created the little village. Then there were the dots. Just like on the regular Marauder's Map, this one showed all the people in Hogsmeade as labeled dots. Albus peered down and saw his Uncle Ron's dot moving around in Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. There were various other dots in the shop as well, although Albus didn't recognize any of them. All the buildings on the map, with the exception of the Shrieking Shack, were filled with various labeled dots. "Whoa," Albus grinned, "I guess it wasn't a joke." "This is incredible," Rose said. "We are going to have so much fun next year in Hogsmeade," John grinned. "Wish I could go," Kaden said. "You'll get to eventually," Amanda reminded him. "I am so glad this wasn't a joke," Matt commented, "Think of everything we can do with this." Albus was thinking the same thing. He was sure the Marauders had created this in order to aid with their pranking of students in Hogsmeade. Albus wasn't really one to prank people. Sure, he did it on occasion and certainly enjoyed observing other people's pranks, but he wasn't that good at coming up with them. However, he was thinking that the map of Hogsmeade would be useful if they ever wanted to sneak into the village when they weren't supposed to. Combined with the Invisibility Cloak, he could get away with anything in Hogsmeade. "Wonder what the number three does," Matt mused. Albus shrugged, "Only one way to find out." He picked up his wand and prodded the number three. The lines of ink that made up Hogsmeade began to disappear. A few seconds later, ink formed once again to create words on the parchment. 'By now, you have surely discovered the map of Hogsmeade. Be sure to use that to create as much mischief as possible. 'At the beginning of our sixth year, we decided we needed a new project to work on. The Animagus process was long since completed, and we were bored. Yes, I suppose we could have concentrated more on homework, but that would have been even more boring. 'So eventually we decided that we needed a place of our own. A common room of sorts that only we knew about. Sure, we had the Room of Requirement, but as we discovered in our fourth year, it wasn't always available. 'Thus began the long process of finding an empty room in the castle that nobody knew about. Well, a place everyone except Dumbledore didn't know about.' 'Even Dumbledore doesn't know all the secrets of Hogwarts, Padfoot.' 'I know, Moony, but I think Dumbledore knew about this room. He just didn't bother to get us to stop using it. He had other things to worry about.' 'Just get on with it.' 'Patience, Moony, I want to explain it properly. Anyway, once we found this room, we used a variety of spells to make it our own. We also concealed it and charmed it to only open for us. 'Since you have proven yourselves to be the Next Generation of Marauders, this room will open for you as well. We would like to pass it on to you.' "We get our own common room?" John asked, "Brilliant!" "There's more," Albus said. 'Ah, but Padfoot, do we want to make this easy?' 'Why of course not, Prongs. Do we ever make things easy?' 'You're right. We always make these things as difficult as possible. Opinions, Moony, Wormtail?' 'I agree, difficult would be best.' 'Excellent, Moony's on board.' 'Difficult is fine.' 'And Wormtail agrees. So, we are not going to make it easy to find the room.' 'Thus, we leave you with instructions. We have set up a sort of hunt throughout the school and grounds. The first clue will lead you someplace, where you will find the four paw prints carved somewhere in that place. Tap it with your finger and it will give you another clue. 'And now we will give you the first clue. Find the place where we rest our heads, but the answer is not our beds.' With that, the map went blank once again. Albus quickly grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill and scribble down the first clue. "If we can find this room," Albus began, "It's going to be awesome." "It will be perfect for studying," Rose commented. "I don't think that's what it's supposed to be used for," John laughed. "I don't care," Rose replied. "Imagine, our own common room," Matt said, "I think this will be even better than the Room of Requirement." "Yeah, because it'll be ours," Albus agreed. "Although the Room has always been available when I've wanted it," Matt commented. "Still, our own room will be better," Albus said. "Oh, definitely," Matt agreed. Albus and his friends spent another fifteen minutes in the Room of Requirement trying to decipher the clue. Nobody came up with anything and Rose decided they should all study and figure out the clue later. Albus couldn't argue since he had put off his homework long enough, and he had Quidditch practice the next day.
Distortia Joined: 13 January 2008 Posts: 527 Location: Over the sea	Posted: Wednesday 29 October 2008 06 32 12 am    Post subject: Re: RPG: The Six Wizards in topic:RPG: The Six Wizards Inu had walked through the darkness, scanning the shadowy corners with his keen, animal eyes for any sign of Neko. A strange feeling clutched at his chest. Was that, worry? "Neko..." he hissed into the darkness. Deafening silence. Inu felt impatience now. What was she playing at? Then he noticed the other end of the alley where a streetlight iluminated a single figure crouched against the wall. He felt his lips spread into a hungry smile. He sucked in the air through his nose as the wind blew the scent of the human his way. "Female." he breathed, and licked his top teeth and lips. He boldly approached her at speed. The girl had her face in her hands, the attack was a perfect surprise. At the last moment, she looked up and with even greater speed managed to throw herself onto her back pushed Inu off of her with all her strength through her legs. Inu tumbled into the opposite wall, and just as he was about to attack again, down on all fours, he stopped. He stood up abruptly. "Yuta!" he panted, wiping at his mouth and checking for blood. There was some, and he licked it off. Yuta had stood up and was facing Inu defensively. He charged up to her, stopping at the tips of her toes. He reached down and grabbed her delicate chin, forcing her to tilt her head uncomfortably back to look up at him. She instinctively grabbed his wrist, and he lifted her up a bit so her toes now dragged on the ground. He looked into her face hungrily. "You..." he looked over her features, and brought his head down to smell her again, "For someone who can kill like you do.... you reak like prey....." he looked into her eyes again. She said nothing, her eyes were blank and defiant. He smiled. "I've never had the pleasure of tossing you around, as tiny as you are." And he dropped her. She collapsed to the floor of the alley, gasping for breath.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2090 Location: Boycotting All Future Warner Brothers Films	Posted: Sunday 26 October 2008 06 13 07 pm    Post subject: Re: Albus Potter and the Tracks They Left Behind in topic:Albus Potter and the Tracks They Left Behind Thanks, Obladi! I'm sure your writing skills are fine! Questions, comments, and general reviews are always appreciated. Chapter 30: Wizard's Finger Print Throughout the rest of the month, Rose continued to make progress on the Sileo Altus charm, and by the time April rolled around, she was confident in her ability to perform it. Albus wished the same could be said for the progress with finding out how to prove to the map that he and his friends were like the Marauders. Albus spent every waking moment that he wasn't doing homework, attending Quidditch practice, or dueling practice, in the library trying to find out a spell or charm that would work. His efforts were fruitless, though, because he still hadn't found anything promising. Albus also had another successful dueling tournament. He won both of his duels as did Malfoy, but their team still hadn't won. Albus was beginning to doubt whether they'd ever win. Albus's next Quidditch match was the first Saturday in April. He found himself distracted by the map even before he entered the changing room. They were playing Ravenclaw, and it was hard to tell who had the better team, Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. Albus pushed thoughts of the map from his head as he walked into the changing room. Georgia gave the team the usual pep talk, which this time included telling them that if they won this match, they'd be in the final. If Ravenclaw got less than 180 points, then they might not make it to the final. Georgia didn't particularly care who they played in the final, just so long as they won. The match went smoothly, in Albus's opinion. Much better than the previous match, in which Albus got sick partway through. The weather was better for this match as well. Albus managed to keep from thinking about the map, which was good since it was a very high-scoring match for both sides and Albus was constantly being thrown the Quaffle. After only an hour of play, James went into a dive and caught the Snitch, right out from under one of the Ravenclaw beater's broom. The usual party in the common room ensued after the students returned to the castle, but Albus wasn't really interested in it. Now that the match was over, all he could think about was trying out the Sileo Altus charm on Kaden. Albus figured the best time to do it would be in the evening and the best place would be the Room. Shortly after Rose had succeeded in performing the charm on John, Matt had reluctantly given into trying it with Kaden. His only condition was first trying it with a harmless secret, and if that worked, to move onto the bigger one. "Are we doing it tonight?" John asked as he sipped his butterbeer. "Yeah," Albus whispered back, "After dinner." The rest of the afternoon and dinner seemed to go by at an alarmingly slow rate. Time seemed to go by much like it did in History of Magic. "Kaden," Albus said after they had finished eating, "We're not going to the common room now. We're going to show you a different room in the castle, one you've never seen." "Excellent," Kaden grinned, "What kind of room?" "You'll see when we get there," Albus replied. "Let's go." Kaden followed Albus and his friends through the castle, with a constant stream of questions that Albus ignored. "Are you sure this is going to work?" Matt whispered nervously as they stopped in front of the blank space of wall where the Room of Requirement was. "Yes," Rose assured him, "It will work." Matt nodded and started pacing in front of the wall. "Why did we stop?" Kaden asked, and then his eyes popped out of his head as he saw the door appear from nowhere. "Wicked." "C'mon," Albus said as he opened the door. "What is this place?" Kaden asked in awe. "Room of Requirement," Albus told him, "Room that gives you what you need." "I can't believe you didn't show me this yet!" "Well, it's not something we want you to tell anyone about." "I won't," Kaden said, "So it'll give me anything I ask it for? I think I want an entire cake...." "It doesn't do food," Rose explained. "Oh, well, it's still brilliant." "Kaden, come sit down," Albus told his cousin. "You're all so quiet," Kaden said as he took a seat on the couch next to Albus, "What's going on?" "Well," Albus began, "We're going to test something. Rose found a charm that's supposed to make someone not be able to tell other people's secrets. If it works, we're going to tell you a bunch of stuff and you won't be able to tell anyone." "What are you going to tell me?" Kaden asked excitedly. "We have to make sure the charm works first," Albus sighed, "Which is why we're here. Rose is going to perform the charm, using your knowledge of this room as the secret. If you haven't told anyone by next Saturday, we'll tell you the rest of it." "Fine," Kaden sighed, "I can't believe you won't tell me without this charm." "Um, Kaden, you've told Malfoy stuff I told you not to tell anyone," Albus reminded him. "That wasn't my fault!" "I know, but we're not risking this. If you want to know the secrets, you'll have to have Rose do the charm." "Ok, ok, I'll do it," Kaden said. "Good," Rose smiled, "Now let's get started." It took Rose about ten minutes to perform the charm. Kaden was thoroughly amazed by the charm and Rose's ability to perform it. "Let's test it," Rose decided once they left the Room. She pointed to a girl who was walking towards them. "Go tell her about the Room." Kaden shrugged and ran up to the girl, who looked to be around Kaden's age and was in Hufflepuff. "Er," Kaden began, "So there's this place-" Kaden turned around and looked confusedly at Albus, then turned back to the girl. "Anyway, at this place, you can-" "What's wrong with you?" the girl asked, trying to cover up her giggling. "Are you ok?" "Fine, fine," Kaden muttered, "Never mind." Kaden ran back to Albus and the others, blushing furiously. "It worked, but now everyone's going to think I'm an idiot." Albus laughed, "No they won't. But that's good that it worked." "Yeah," Kaden grinned, "Definitely worth it." ****** Albus kept a close eye on Kaden throughout the next week. As far as he could tell, his cousin didn't tell anyone about the Room of Requirement. They tested the charm a few more times, telling Kaden to tell someone about it, but Kaden was never able to. Albus was fully convinced that the Sileo Altus charm was a success. Kaden was positively beaming by the time Saturday arrived. Albus was kind of excited as well, because they would officially have Wormtail in their group of new Marauders. John, Rose, and Amanda were excited as well. The only thing left to do after this would be to find a way to prove to the map that they were like the Marauders. Matt didn't seem excited at all. He was clearly nervous about telling Kaden that he was a werewolf. It probably didn't help that the full moon was only a few days away. Albus couldn't really blame Matt for his nerves, but Albus was sure the charm would continue to work. After dinner, Albus led his friends back to the Room of Requirement, with the new Map in his robes. "Ok, what's the secret?" Kaden said as he bounced around the Room once they were inside. "You've got to sit down first," Albus told him. "And Matt's going to tell you the first one." "Oh!" A look of comprehension appeared on Kaden's face. "Is this about how you get sick every month?" "Yes," Matt sighed. "And this is what you don't want Malfoy to know about?" "Yes," Matt said shortly, "Now just let me tell you what it is." "Sorry," Kaden muttered. "It's ok," Matt said, "First, you can't tell anyone this. I mean, don't even try to test the charm like we've been doing all week. You can't even try to tell anyone this. Never mention it to anyone except us." "I won't," Kaden said. "Good. Now, you know that werewolves are real, right?" Kaden nodded, "What does that have to do with you getting sick?" "Everything," Matt said quietly, "I am a werewolf." "What?!" Kaden shouted, "That is the coolest thing ever!" "No it's not," Matt sighed, "You don't even really know what happens when I turn into a werewolf." Kaden shrugged, "I've seen movies." "It's not like that," Matt told him, "I get sick a few days before the full moon, and then the night of the full moon, I turn into a wolf and bite myself because there's nothing else for me to bite." "Oh," Kaden deflated, "So where do you go when you turn into a wolf?" "A shack in Hogsmeade." "The Shrieking Shack?" "Yes, that," Matt replied, "I'm the one who does the shrieking." "Now that is cool," Kaden grinned. "How long have you been a werewolf?" "Since I was five." "That's a long time," Kaden said. "Most of my life," Matt explained, "It's horrible, really." "And that's the big secret?" Kaden asked, "Why can't anyone know that?" "Because most wizards don't like werewolves," Matt explained. "Well that's stupid." "Yeah, it is, but it's reality." "But why isn't there a spell to make you not a werewolf anymore? Or a potion?" "Magic doesn't fix everything," Matt sighed. "Yeah, that's what I've been trying tell you for the whole year," Albus pointed out. "But why?" "Dunno," Matt shrugged, "But there is a potion, called the Wolfsbane Potion, that's supposed to make it so you keep your human mind when you turn into a wolf. So you don't want to attack anyone or yourself." "Why don't you take that?" Kaden asked. "I do," Matt told him, "Actually, I take a different variety than most werewolves take. For some reason, Wolfsbane doesn't work for me. I'm in this study at St. Mungo's to figure out why and right now they've got me taking a new kind of Wolfsbane." "Does it work?" "Uh, no," Matt replied, "That's kind of why I still bite myself every full moon." "Oh," Kaden said. "So someday they might find a potion that will work?" Matt shrugged, "Maybe. But I'm not getting my hopes up." "So I'll be charmed not to say anything about this?" Kaden asked after a few moments of silence. "Yes," Albus replied, pulling the new map out of his robes, "And about this." Albus spent the next half hour showing Kaden the new map. Kaden thought it was the best thing he had seen yet at Hogwarts and couldn't wait for it to completely work. "So we need you to represent Peter Pettigrew," Albus said after he'd finished explaining about the map. "Peter Pettigrew?" Kaden raised his eyebrows, "That evil bloke who betrayed your grandparents?" "Er, yes," Albus sighed. "You know my mum wanted to name me Peter, but Dad said no because he didn't want me to have the same name as that idiot," Kaden commented, "So it's my middle name." "Perfect," John grinned, "You even sort of share his name." "Will you do it?" Albus asked. "I guess so," Kaden said slowly, "I mean, it's not like I'm going to be like Pettigrew now." "No," Albus agreed, "But you have to be sort of like him for it to work. And you are because you've sort of got the same name." Kaden shrugged, "I guess. Anyway, when are you going to get the map to work?" "Whenever we figure out how to prove to it that we're like the Marauders. Somehow we've got to show the map that we are similar to the Marauders," Albus explained, "Which is taking forever." "Oh, you mean like a finger print?" Kaden asked. "What?" Albus asked. "You know, a finger print. Everyone's is different, but your finger print is similar to your relatives. It's how Muggle cops find people and stuff when they're missing. And how they identify bodies." "A finger print!" Rose exclaimed, "That's it! I can't believe I didn't think of it!" "What are you talking about?" John asked. "Kaden just said everyone's is different. So how will ours be like the Marauders'?" "Not Muggle finger prints," Rose said, "Wizard ones. There's a spell to get your Wizard's Finger Print. It reveals your name, relatives, even your personality." "That's kind of scary," Albus said, "Anyone can find that stuff out if they've got your finger print?" "Yeah," Rose shrugged, "But I think it will work for this." "Hope so," Albus grinned. He couldn't believe that Kaden had actually given Rose an idea about the map. Kaden had helped with it. If this finger print thing worked, they could have the map figured out in no time. "We'll look for it tomorrow," Rose stood up and drew her wand, "Now let's do the charm." Albus nodded, feeling more excited than he had in months. They were so close, he could just feel it. The map would be working soon. Of course, there was a nagging doubt in Albus's gut that was telling him that there would be something to figure out even after the finger print thing. ****** "What are you going to sign up for?" John asked as he glanced over the parchment all the second years had received just a minute earlier. "Dunno," Albus shrugged, "What about you, Matt?" "Care of Magical Creatures," Matt replied, "Not sure what else." "I'll do that one, too," Albus decided and wrote it down on his parchment. "Hagrid teaches it, so it'll be fun." "Sign me up," John said, "I could use with a fun class." "You ought to think about what will be useful in your future careers," Rose told them. "But I've got no idea what I want to do," John said. Albus had no idea either. He hadn't really thought about it. He thought being an Auror would be a good job, but he wasn't sure that that was what he wanted to do. He still had five years at Hogwarts anyway, why decide now? "Me either," Amanda agreed, "I think I'll do Care of Magical Creatures, too." "I'm taking Muggle Studies," Rose announced, "Plus Arithmancy and Ancient Runes." "All three?" John asked, "But we only have to take two." "Yeah, but I want to take all of them. I'd really like to take Care of Magical Creatures, too, but there's not enough time." "Maybe I'll do Divination," John shrugged. Rose snorted, "Divination? Mum says that shouldn't even be a subject. There's no real learning involved." "But is it easy?" John asked. "Uncle Ron said all you've got to do is make up predictions about your death if you've got Trelawney," Albus explained. "Excellent," John scribbled onto his parchment, "I'll take that and hope I've got Trelawney." "I'm taking that, too," Amanda said, "It actually sounds interesting." "Fine," Rose sighed, "But I still say it's not really a subject." "Maybe I'll do Ancient Runes," Albus thought aloud, "I think it's easier than Arithmancy. What about you, Matt? What else do you think you'll take?" "Ancient Runes sounds good," Matt yawned, "I guess I'll take that. Amy took it. She hated it in Australia, but she said it's better here." "I'd take everything," Kaden announced, "I couldn't decide." "You can't take everything," Rose laughed, "You'd have to be in two places at once." "Oh, well I'm pretty sure that's impossible," Kaden sighed. Albus turned and grinned at Rose, who grinned back. Albus could only imagine Kaden's reaction to a time-turner. "Yeah, the most classes you can take is three," Rose explained. "Then I'll take three," Kaden decided. "Are you lot done choosing classes?" Rose asked as she stood up, "We'd better get to Transfiguration." Albus spent the entire Transfiguration class trying to turn his plate into a bowl, and had almost managed to do it by the time the class was over. Rose, of course, did it within ten minutes and spent the remainder of the class helping Albus and the rest of their friends. History of Magic was as boring as ever. Matt slept the entire class, and Albus felt himself nod off a few times. Matt had seemed very tired in Transfiguration and probably would have fallen asleep in that class if it weren't for the fact that it was a practical lesson. This wasn't surprising considering the fact that the full moon was the next day. The Healers still hadn't found something to counteract the side effect of extreme fatigue of the new Wolfsbane that Matt was on. Double Potions was after lunch, and Albus felt drowsy as soon as he walked into the room. This was odd since he had felt fine a moment before. He didn't seem to be the only one who felt this either. Both John and Amanda yawned as soon as they sat down, and even Rose's eyes drooped a bit as she pulled out her parchment. Matt laid his head down on the desk and fell immediately asleep. "Good afternoon, everyone!" Slughorn said, "Now, I'm sure you're all feeling a bit tired, which is perfectly normal. "This," Slughorn gestured to a smoking cauldron on his desk, "Is Drowsiness Potion. All it takes is one whiff of this potion to put you into a state of fatigue. If you drink it, you'll fall into an almost sleep-like state for about a half hour. Of course, you'd know this if you did the reading that was due today." Albus remembered being assigned the reading, but he hadn't done it. He had just been too busy with Quidditch practice, dueling practice, and all his other homework. "You will be trying to brew this today, but you will only do half of it," Slughorn announced, "It needs to simmer for about a week before you can complete it. Instructions are on the board. Work with your usual partners." Albus yawned and got up from his table. He joined Limbert at his table and lit the fire under the cauldron while Limbert collected ingredients. The entire class was moving at a slower pace than usual, and everyone was yawning every few minutes. It was kind of strange. Nobody was arguing with their partners either. Albus wondered if Slughorn had picked this particular potion for a reason. The past week, a duel had broken out between John and Goyle, resulting in both of them being sent to the Hospital Wing for burns and then being assigned a week's worth of detention. Limbert returned wit the ingredients and he and Albus started to prepare them, without exchanging any conversation. No different than usual. Albus dumped some ingredients into the cauldron and began to stir it. He watched Matt and Malfoy as he did so. Malfoy had returned with ingredients and was prodding Matt with his wand to get him to wake up. "What are you doing?" Albus whispered to Malfoy. "Waking him up," Malfoy said. "Wha-what's going on?" Matt lifted up his head. "Chop up those cherry roots," Malfoy instructed. Albus was surprised with how calm Malfoy seemed. Matt nodded and picked up his knife. Albus went back to stirring his potion. "Professor!" Malfoy said after a few minutes. "He keeps falling asleep." Albus looked up from the beetle eyes he was mincing. Matt was once again asleep on the table. "Ah," Slughorn waddled over to Matt and Malfoy's table, "The Drowsiness Potion affects everyone differently." Slughorn shook Matt's shoulder. "Dear boy, you might want to go to the Hospital Wing. I don't think the fumes from this potion are agreeing with you. They're not supposed to put you into a deep sleep." Matt nodded and stood up. He stumbled and leaned back onto the desk. "Albus," Slughorn turned to Albus, "Perhaps you could escort him. I'm sure Mr. Limbert can handle your potion." "All right," Albus laid down his knife and went over to where Matt was standing. Albus grabbed his arm and led him out of the room. Albus felt immediately better as soon as they shut the door. The drowsiness went away completely. "I've got to sit down," Matt mumbled and sat down on the floor. "Are you all right?" Albus asked, sitting down next to him. "I dunno," Matt shrugged, "I'm guessing that that potion just made me even more tired than I already am." "Do you feel better now?" Albus asked. "Not really," Matt replied. "Then you'd better get to the Hospital Wing." "Yeah, I suppose." Madam Pomfrey wanted Matt to stay for the rest of the afternoon. Albus wasn't even sure if she'd let him leave at all before the full moon. Knowing the nurse, she probably wouldn't. Matt never came back from the Hospital Wing that night, so Albus assumed Madam Pomfrey was keeping him there until after the full moon. Albus and the rest of his friends decided that as soon as Matt was out of the Hospital Wing, they would start looking for the Wizard's Finger Print charm. Rose was pretty sure she had seen it in the library somewhere, but she couldn't remember where. That meant that they would spend hours scouring the entire library for it. This was in addition to all the extra studying they had to do now that the end of term exams were less than two months away. Albus just hoped they'd be able to figure out the map before school was over. It would be pointless to figure it out during the summer, when they wouldn't even be able to use it.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2090 Location: Boycotting All Future Warner Brothers Films	Posted: Wednesday 22 October 2008 06 33 48 pm    Post subject: Re: Albus Potter and the Tracks They Left Behind in topic:Albus Potter and the Tracks They Left Behind Thanks, Obladi! I love that line, too. Special thanks to Obladi for coming up with the riddle that's in this chapter! I'm horrible with riddles, so the help was greatly appreciated! Questions, comments, and general reviews are always appreciated! Chapter 29: Light Saber Conquers All "Willinson is acting civil," Albus commented as they were running up a flight of stairs. "Yeah," Matt agreed, "Kind of surprising. Either he really wants to win or he's not as confident without Malfoy." "Probably both," Albus said, "Whatever the reason, we lucked out." Everyone stared as Albus and Matt ran into the common room completely out of breath. "Scavenger hunt," Albus muttered to his cousins Ben and Cedric as he ran by. "Excellent," Ben grinned, "Can't wait until our turn next Saturday." Bilius was also in their dormitory collecting items when Albus and Matt entered. They nodded to each other, but didn't say anything. Albus wrenched open his trunk and started rifling through it. He found a bag of Bertie Botts Beans, a Dumbledore chocolate frog card, his copy of [i]Hogwarts, A History[/i], one Extendable Ear, and the photo album he found in the attic of his house. The graduation picture in the back would work for the Hogwarts graduation picture. "What have you got?" he asked Matt once he emerged from his trunk. "My wand's holly, a muggle pen, band aids, Chudley Cannon jersey, and a Nintendo DS, although I'm not sure why I still bother to bring it since it doesn't work here." "Excellent," Albus grinned, "Let's get back to the Great Hall." When Albus and Matt got back to the Hufflepuff table, Willinson and Rodner had already returned. There was a pile of stuff on the table between them. Albus looked through it and saw that they now had a copy of The Hobbit, color changing ink, a beater's bat, Muggle playing cards, and a sneakoscope. "All right, we've got a good start," Albus said as he added his and Matt's stuff to the pile. "I guess we'll have to ask the older students to borrow the rest. "Rodner," Albus began, "You see if you can get a light saber, a Quaffle signed by Oliver Wood, a Shooting Star broomstick, drum sticks, a receipt from Madam Malkin's, foe glass, and a Beatles CD." "Sure," Rodner said and took off out of the room. "Willinson," Albus turned to the Slytherin, "Go down to the kitchens and see if you can get a silver goblet, tortilla chips, a tea cozy, the names of five House Elves, and a Hershey bar." "Why should I?" Willinson grumbled, "Who put you in charge?" "Someone's got to do it," Albus told him. "Make Eckerton do it." "Him and I are getting the rest," Albus replied, "If you want to win, you'll get the stuff." "Fine," Willinson muttered and left the Great Hall. "Ok, that leaves the shoe laces, empty green potions bottle, purple gloves, a My Little Hippogriff, a toad, purple parchment, a rubber duck, two batteries, and five more Extendable Ears. Oh, and Filch's autograph." "We'll do that one last," Matt shuddered. "We can probably just go back to the common room and ask if anyone's got this stuff." "Good idea," Albus agreed. The two boys set off at a run back to their common room. Luckily it was still packed with students and some of them grinned as Albus and Matt entered. "How's it going?" Ben asked. "Good," Albus grinned back, "But we've got a bunch of stuff to find. Listen up everyone!" he shouted. The entire common room quieted and turned to Albus. Albus was momentarily shocked that everyone actually stopped what they were doing to pay attention to him. "Er, we're doing the scavenger hunt and need some stuff. Has anyone got a My Little Hippogriff, purple gloves, a toad, purple parchment, a rubber duck, batteries, or Extandable Ears? Also, we need twenty shoe laces. I promise we'll return it all once we're done." About half the students got up and went up to their dormitories. A few minutes later they came back down with various items for Albus. He managed to borrow a rubber duck, purple parchment, and a few Extendable Ears. Plus he got at least twenty shoe laces. "That worked well," Albus said as he and Matt left the room. "I'd say so," Matt agreed, "Now Filch's autograph. This ought to be fun." Albus smacked his hand to his forehead, "I should have grabbed the map!" Albus groaned and ran back to the common room. Everyone laughed as he ran up to his dormitory and back down to the common room. Albus ignored them and pointed his wand to the map. A few seconds later he saw that Filch was lurking near the library. Albus and Matt took off for the library and spotted Filch a few yards away from the door. "How are we supposed to ask him?" Albus whispered. "No idea," Matt said back. Albus's heart sped up as he got closer to the old caretaker. "Er, Mr. Filch?" he asked. Filch startled and turned around. He saw Albus and smirked. "Potter. Up to no good again? In need of another detention, perhaps?" "Uh, no," Albus replied, "Actually, I was just, er, well, we're doing this scavenger hunt. Maybe Kendrick told you about it. It's to promote Inter House Unity and we have to find all this stuff throughout the castle and-" "We need your autograph," Matt interrupted, holding a piece of parchment and the Muggle pen in his outstretched hand. Filch stared at them and then started muttering to himself. "Don't see why I should bother... Students never do anything for me..." Nevertheless, Filch took the pen and scribbled his name onto the purple parchment. He thrust it wordlessly back into Matt's hand and shuffled off down the corridor. "That went better than expected," Matt said. "Yeah, thanks. I couldn't really figure out how to ask him." "I figured," Matt grinned, "Anyway, we still need a few things. Hey, Kendrick never mentioned anything about the Room. Do you think we could just ask it for the rest of this?" Albus wondered why he hadn't thought of that. It almost seemed like cheating, but Kendrick never said anything. "That's brilliant!" The two of them set off for the Room, but when they got there, there was a Hufflepuff prefect milling around right in front of the Room. Albus slowly walked back and forth in front of it, keeping an eye on the prefect. He was about to make his third pass, when the prefect stopped him. "Sorry," he said, "You can't go in there if you're in the scavenger hunt. Kendrick's rule." Albus sighed, "All right." "Of course," Matt muttered as they left, "Kendrick couldn't announce that rule because then everyone would find out about the Room. Oh, well. What have we got left?" Albus handed Matt the list and he looked it over for a few seconds. "Hey, I know Madam Pomfrey's got green potion bottles." "Let's go," Albus said, "We'd better hurry, there's only fifteen minutes left." They made it to the Hospital Wing in record time. Albus pushed the door open and walked in, followed by Matt. "I've got patients to tend to!" Madam Pomfrey was shouting at a Ravenclaw first year, "I haven't got time for this scavenger hunt nonsense! You're the fifth person I've had come in here looking for potions bottles and band aids! I haven't got any!" The girl nodded and ran quickly out of the room, completely ignoring Albus and Matt as she went. "Er, she says she hasn't got any," Albus whispered. "I know she does," Matt whispered back, "Let me just ask her." Albus shrugged and followed Matt over to the nurse, who was bent over one of the beds. "Hello, Madam Pomfrey," Matt greeted her. Madam Pomfrey turned around and her irritated face softened immediately when she saw Matt. "Hello, Matt, dear. Are you all right? You look a bit flushed," Madam Pomfrey said and put her hand to his forehead. "I'm fine," Matt assured her, "I've just been running around working on the scavenger hunt." "Not you, too," Madam Pomfrey sighed and then noticed Albus, "Oh and Albus as well." "Yeah," Matt said, "We were just wondering if you might have an empty green potions bottle." The nurse sighed and walked over to her potions cabinet. "I suppose. Just be sure to return it." Albus watched in shock as she returned with the exact item they were looking for. Matt grinned at Albus and took the bottle. "Thanks," Matt smiled. Madam Pomfrey shook her head, "No problem. Have fun, boys." "We will," Matt said as he turned to leave the room. Albus followed him out the door, still in shock that the nurse had actually given them the bottle when she had yelled at that first year only minutes ago. "You're certainly on her good side," Albus muttered after they left the room. "One of the few perks of being there once a month," Matt said dryly. "We'd better get back to the Great Hall," Albus said as he looked at his watch. Albus and Matt ran as fast as they could back to where their team was. The rest of the team was working hard to finish the remaining trivia. Rachel herself was dressed up as Godric Gryffindor, complete with a fake beard. Rodner was dressed up as Helga Hufflepuff. However, neither was as funny as what Willinson was wearing. He was decked out in Gryffindor finest, with robes, a scarf, and a 'Loyal Gryffindor' hat. Albus could hardly stifle his laughter. "Don't say a word, Potter," Willinson growled. "Albus!" Rachel shouted, "You've got to dress up as a Slytherin! The robes I've got are too big for Matt and Abby." Rachel pointed to the other Gryffindor on the team. Albus groaned and Willinson burst out laughing. Albus reluctantly put on the Slytherin robes, scarf, and 'Slytherins Are Best' hat. It would only be for a few minutes and if it helped them win.... Albus did feel a bit strange in the Slytherin robes. He couldn't help but remember back to his sorting and how the hat had wanted to put him in Slytherin at first. If it had, he would be wearing these robes all the time. He might have even been more friendly with Malfoy at first. He probably wouldn't have really befriended John, Matt, or Amanda if he'd been in Slytherin. Albus shook the thought from his head and concentrated on the fact that he was just wearing the robes to help his team win. Rachel took stock of the items on the list as Matt tied all the shoelaces together. It turns out that the only things they were missing were the light saber, Quaffle signed by Oliver Wood, Shooting Star broomstick, foe glass, Hershey's bar, toad, and one battery. Rachel thought that was pretty good. The other Ravenclaw returned a minute later and told everyone that he had finished the riddle quest and had managed to get the bonus points. "Time is up!" Kendrick announced, "The professors will be around soon to check your lists. They will also collect your trivia sheets which will be marked later today. The winner will be announced at dinner tonight." Patil came over to Albus's team a few moments later and looked over their list. She took a picture of the four people who were dressed up, much to Albus's dismay. Now there would be permanent evidence of his Slytherin moment. As soon as the picture was taken, Albus took off the robes and he noticed Willinson doing the same. "Ok," Patil announced as she gathered up the pieces of parchment, "You can leave. Please return anything you borrowed." Albus and Matt gathered up their stuff as well as everything they'd borrowed from various Gryffindors. They stopped by the Hospital Wing to return the bottle and then headed back to their common room. The two of them passed out everyone's stuff and then went to sit down at their usual table. Rose, John, Amanda, and Kaden joined them shortly. "That was fun," Rose said as she sat down. "Yeah," Albus agreed, "Even though we were with Slytherins. Willinson wasn't too bad." "That's good," John said, "I caught a glimpse of him in the Gryffindor robes. Priceless." "Yeah, I thought so. Until I had to put on the Slytherin ones," Albus replied. John burst out laughing, "I wish I'd seen that!" "You'll be able to," Albus told him, "Patil took a picture." "Excellent." "Didn't any of you lot have to dress up?" Albus asked. "I was Helga Hufflepuff," John said. "And I was Godric Gryffindor," Amanda added. "How did everyone do on the list of stuff to find?" Matt asked. "I'm pretty sure my team was the only one with a light saber!" Kaden said excitedly, "I'm so glad I decided to bring it." "We did all right," Rose shrugged, "Missed a lot of stuff, but I think we did well in the trivia." "Of course you did," John grinned. "Hey, did anyone manage to find the potions bottle? Slughorn didn't have any green ones and Madam Pomfrey looked ready to hex me when I asked her. It's not really fair that Kendrick put something on there that was impossible to get." Albus grinned at Matt, who grinned back. "What?" John asked. "We got it," Matt told him. "How?" Kaden asked, "Madam Pomfrey was downright scary when I asked her. May have been because she was busy fixing someone's broken arm, but still...." "Matt asked her and she gave him one," Albus explained. Matt shrugged, "Simple, really." John sighed, "Well, you're probably the only one in the school who could get it. She'd probably give you whatever you asked for." "Why?" Kaden asked curiously. "Sorry, not telling," John replied. Kaden sighed, "Oh, part of that whole secret I can't know about?" "Yeah," John said and then changed the subject, "Hey, did any of you do the riddle thing?" "I did," Rose said, "Want to hear it?" "Of course," John said. "Ok, I'll see if you can get it. I thought it was a bit simple, really," Rose said. She pulled a piece of parchment out of her robes and read off of it. " 'In an event known by wizards worldwide Where good and evil are forced to collide A terrible force can now no longer reside. A place where just one part of Voldemort died.'" Albus looked at John, Matt, and Amanda and shrugged. He didn't think it was simple, but Rose was good at those sorts of things. "No idea," John announced. "Dunno," Matt shrugged. "Hmm," Amanda muttered. "Don't look at me," Kaden said. "The Great Hall?" Albus asked, thinking of the place where Voldemort died. "Nope," Rose grinned, "That was the trick part. It's actually that monument outside, where Professor Longbottom killed Voldemort's snake." "Oh," Albus groaned, "Of course! Didn't even think of that." "How long did it take you to figure it out?" Matt asked. "Not long," Rose smiled, "But then I had to follow the clues to find the bit of information to give Professor Kendrick." "And where was that?" Amanda asked. "Library," Rose grinned, "Herbology section." "Wonder how many teams got it," Albus thought aloud. "Well, my team did, obviously," Rose said, "And you said your team did, Albus. What about you two?" "We didn't," John sighed and Amanda shook her head. "We did," Kaden put in. "Guess we'll find out tonight how everyone did," Albus said. "Yeah," Rose agreed, "But I'm not going to think about it now. Might as well get some homework done." Albus managed to get half an essay done before dinner. Rose wrote an entire essay and did a set of homework questions. Matt helped Amanda with her Astronomy and still got his Herbology done. John and Kaden on the other hand, spent he rest of the afternoon goofing off and playing chess. The excitement was running high in the Great Hall during dinner that evening. Everyone was comparing what they managed to find during the Scavenger Hunt. Albus kept glancing up to the staff table to see when Kendrick would make the announcement, but he seemed to be waiting until the last minute to do so. After what seemed like forever, Kendrick got to his feet. "Good evening, everyone. I hope all the first and second years enjoyed the Scavenger Hunt. It was certainly a success and I'm sure the older students will look forward to their turns. "And, without any further waiting, I shall announce the results. The first, second, and third place teams will all be awarded medals. "In third place, with 572 points, Team Two!" Kendrick announced, "Will the members of Team Two please come up here." "Yes!" Albus shouted and jumped up, "Third place, that's not bad!" "Yeah, I'd say that's pretty good," Matt grinned and followed Albus up to the staff table. Albus and Matt joined the rest of their team in front of the staff table. Kendrick put a bronze medal over each of their necks and pulled out a camera. He took a few pictures and then told them to return to their seats. Rose, Amanda, John, and Kaden congratulated Albus and Matt as they sat back down. A few of Albus's cousins patted him on the back and told him good job. "Excellent, Albus," James grinned, "But my team will get first place next week." "I'll believe it when I see it," Albus rolled his eyes. "And in second place, with 580 points, is Team Seven!" Kendrick announced. The members of Team Seven ran up to the staff table to get their silver medals and have their picture taken. "And in first place, with 673 points, is Team Six!" Kendrick shouted. "Congratulations to the winning team!" "Woohoo!" Kaden stood up and started jumping up and down as he ran up to the staff table, "Yes!" "Wow, who would've thought that," Rose grinned, "Kaden's team won." "Well, he does have a very large amount of random stuff in his dormitory," Albus commented. "I'll bet it was the light saber that put his team over the edge," John shook his head, "I mean, I think his team was the only one to get it." "Probably," Albus shrugged. "I can't believe I won!" Kaden shouted as he sat back down with his big gold medal a few minutes later. "Congratulations," Albus grinned, "At least one of us got first place." "We were so close to second," Matt groaned, "Eight measly points!" "Well, third's good," John muttered, "Better than not getting a medal at all." "Oh, John, it's just a game," Amanda said, "The point is that we all had fun." "Congratulations to our winning teams and everyone else that participated," Kendrick said, "I will be looking forward to the next round, third and fourth years, a week from today!" Albus hung his bronze medal from his bed post before he went to bed that night. He crawled beneath the covers feeling very content with third place. He hadn't really been expecting to win at all. The Scavenger Hunt had been a lot of fun, and Albus hoped Kendrick would hold it again sometime. It had been so much fun, that Albus hadn't even thought about the new map the entire day. He made a mental note to ask Rose about the Sileo Altus charm the next day. They would have to tell Kaden about everything soon if they wanted to make anymore progress on the map. Plus, they'd have to research more about how to prove to the map that they really were like the Marauders.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2090 Location: Boycotting All Future Warner Brothers Films