Harry Potter Action Figures

Harry Potter 18-Inch Talking Action Figure "Have it your way." Standing a whopping 18-inches tall, this remarkably realistic Harry Potter Action Figure talks! With a single push of a button, Harry will enchant you with a spell or quote a line from one of his movies. He comes dressed in his Hogwarts school uniform, carries his signature wand, and features an articulated neck, torso, and left shoulder. Have it your way by taking him home to stay, but be careful: Don't point him unless you intend to use him! Phrases include: "Expelliarmus" "Have it your way." "Accio" "He's back. He's back. Voldemort's back." Sound of wands. $44.99

Harry Potter Hermione Granger Action Figure with Sound Hermione Granger as she appears in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Detailed action figure with the sound of Emma Watson as Hermione. Bring one of Harry's best friends into your home! This 12-inch action figure from NECA features push-button sounds. It depicts Emma Watson as Hermione Granger as she appears in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Bring one of Harry's best friends into your home! Hermione, as always, is the voice of reason for Harry during his fifth year. Her tenacity convinces Harry to train other students in Defense Against the Dark Arts, as Dolores Umbridge refuses to instruct them in practical application. $34.99

Harry Potter Order of the Phoenix Series 3 Action Figures Bring Hogwarts to you! Feel like you're there with your fellow wizard wannabes! Start your collection today! Can't attend the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in person? Well, you could take correspondence courses or better yet, learn at home from these fantastic action figures! From the series of wizardry and magic comes this handsomely detailed line of 7-inch tall collectible Harry Potter characters. You'll feel like you're right there with Harry and his fellow wizard wannabes as you learn and earn your stripes in the battle against iniquity! Based on the 5th Harry Potter film, this Series 3 case of 14 pieces may include the following characters (subject to change): 6x Harry Potter (Casual Outfit) 4x Lucius Malfoy 4x Bellatrix Lestrange Each figure comes with movie-accurate accessories and amazing lifelike detail and sculpts. Bring Hogwarts to you with this miraculous assortment! $219.99

Harry Potter Half-Blood Prince Action Figures Series 1 Case Hogwarts is no longer safe! Case of 14 action figures from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. These magical figures will cast a spell on your entire collection! Lord Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the muggle and wizarding worlds, and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was. Harry Potter suspects that dangers may even lie within the castle, but Dumbledore is more intent upon preparing the young wizard for the final battle that he knows is fast approaching. Join the excitement with these magical, 7-inch tall action figures from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. They will cast a spell on your entire collection! This Series 1 case of 14 action figures includes (subject to change): 3x Draco Malfoy 4x Harry Potter 3x Ginny Weasley 4x Mad-Eye Moody Will Harry triumph yet again? The answer lies with you! $237.99

Harry Potter Half-Blood Prince Action Figures Series 1 Set Hogwarts is no longer safe! Set of four action figures from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. These magical figures will cast a spell on your entire collection! Lord Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the muggle and wizarding worlds, and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was. Harry Potter suspects that dangers may even lie within the castle, but Dumbledore is more intent upon preparing the young wizard for the final battle that he knows is fast approaching. Join the excitement with these magical, 7-inch tall action figures from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. They will cast a spell on your entire collection! This Series 1 set of 4 action figures includes (subject to change): 1x Draco Malfoy 1x Harry Potter 1x Ginny Weasley 1x Mad-Eye Moody Will Harry triumph yet again? The answer lies with you! $56.99

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix NECA 7 Inch Series 3 Action Figure Bellatrix Lastrange Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix NECA 7 Inch Series 3 Action Figure Bellatrix Lastrange $12.99

Harry Potter vs. Voldemort Action Figure Box Set Witness the wizard showdown! Own your own detailed replica of this duel for the millennia. This extraordinary Goblet of Fire action figure box set places you in the graveyard with Harry Potter as he duels with Lord Voldemort after Voldemort has been restored to his body. Who will win? Who will lose? (Well, you probably already know the answer to that.) Complete with graveyard base and packaged in a theme-true box, these remarkably lifelike 7-inch tall characters bring the story to life again in a whole new way! $47.99

Harry Potter Order of the Phoenix Series 2 Figure Case Harry Potter Order of the Phoenix Series 2 Action Figure Case. This is the follow up assortment to the best-selling Order of the Phoenix series. Based on the fifth Harry Potter film, this case of 14 pieces may include the following characters: Harry Potter, Professor Snape, Dumbledore, and the evil Death Eaters (Subject to change). Each figure come complete with movie accurate accessories and amazing life-like detail and sculpts. $229.99

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix NECA 10 Inch Action Figure Hagrid w/ Sound Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix NECA 10 Inch Action Figure Hagrid w/ Sound $31.99

Harry Potter Hagrid Deluxe Talking Action Figure "Codswallop!" Thankfully, Hagrid is one of the good guys! Talking action figure from the Harry Potter movies. Speaks 10 lines from the films! Comes with magical creatures and accessories. He's a keeper, all right! He's big, hairy, and fond of deadly magical creatures. Thankfully, he's one of the good guys! He's Hagrid, the lovable Keeper of Keys and Grounds for Hogwarts, getting the deluxe treatment from Neca. Standing over 9-inches tall, Hagrid brings his faithful hound Fang, baby dragon Norbert, dead ferrets, a lantern, and an umbrella. Hagrid also speaks 10 lines of dialogue from the Harry Potter films. He's a keeper, all right! Phrases include: "Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts." "You're a wizard, Harry." "Never insult Albus Dumbledore in front of me." "Strictly speaking, I'm not allowed to do magic." "I'm on official Hogwarts business." "Welcome, Harry… to Diagon Alley." "Codswallop!" "I shouldn't have said that. I should not have said that." "The trick with any beast is to know how to calm him." "Mad and hairy? You wouldn't be talking about me, now would ya?" $31.99

Harry Potter Ron Weasley 12-Inch Action Figure Harry Potter Ron Weasley 12-Inch Action Figure $34.99

Harry Potter Hermione Granger Action Figure with Sound Harry Potter Hermione Granger Action Figure with Sound $34.99

Inventing Reality (Hardcover) With over three hundred color and B&W photos, this history of Gentle Giant--a pioneer in applying 3D computer scanning technology to the action-figure and film industry--gives a full account of the company and its work on such brands as The Simpsons and Harry Potter and includes processes for creating a mini-bust, an action figure, and more. $26.07

Harry Potter Order of the Phoenix 7-Inch Figures Wave 1 Stand aside, muggles! Wizards only here! This first assortment of action figures based on the fifth Harry Potter film consists of 14 individually packaged 7-inch scale characters: 6x Harry Potter, 2x Ron Weasley, 2x Hermione Granger, and 4x Sirius Black. (Subject to change.) Harry's godfather Sirius Black-- who in the movie can turn into a ferocious, black dog-- includes a wand and diorama base. Harry, Ron, and Hermione each come with a portion of the Room of Requirement Death Eater. Collect them all to assemble this full-size bonus figure of the Dumbledore's Army target dummy! $209.99

Harry Potter Ron Weasley 12-Inch Action Figure Ron Weasley as he appears in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Detailed action figure with the sound of Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley. Bring one of Harry's best friends into your home! This 12-inch action figure from NECA features push-button sounds. It depicts actor Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley as he appears in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Bring one of Harry's best friends into your home! Ron remains a key ally to Harry during his fifth year. He helps Harry form Dumbledore's Army and fights alongside Harry in one of the fiercest battles yet! $34.99

Harry Potter Year 2 Action Figure 2-Pack Welcome to Harry's 2nd year at Hogwarts! Incredibly lifelike in living color. Includes the phoenix Fawkes and the Sorting Hat! Welcome to Harry's 2nd year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! Highlighting miraculous likenesses taken right from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, this exhilarating 2-pack of 7-inch tall action figures presents Harry Potter himself, accompanied by Headmaster Albus Dumbeldore (as portrayed by Richard Harris, prior to his death). Also included is that fiery friend of Dumbledore, his pet phoenix Fawkes, along with his perch and the iconic Sorting Hat of Hogwarts. Incredibly lifelike in living color, you'll want to welcome them into your home immediately! $33.99

Visit our friendly Harry Potter Forum to discuss the action and adventures of Harry and friends, like these recent posts:

Author	Message
Hermione1981 Joined: 19 July 2008 Posts: 27 Location: USA	Posted: Friday 23 July 2010 11 25 02 pm    Post subject: Re: The boy who live and the Vampires Slayer comes to Hogwart sc in topic:The boy who live and the Vampires Slayer comes to Hogwart sc **** Just a small note if you read the first chapters of the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth or seventh year stories that I posted, but I have now chosen to stop writing all seven of the stories at once and to start writing one at a time, you may have notices that I have changes the name of Bethany’s snowy owl from White Rose to Starburst. I did this because female white owls are not completely white but have brown or black markings on them, so the name just did not seem to fit the owl. Also Harry owl Hedwig is a female snowy owl too, but In the films, Hedwig is played by male owls, as male Snowy Owls are whiter. And in the story banner you might have also notice I change Bethany and Tonks bedroom looks for how I had it in the first chapter of the third story, I did this because I did not care for how it uses to look. A/N: I have decided to give a family tree here so you know who Bethany is relation too in the Harry Potter story line. Eileen (Prince) Snape Born 1930 ( Has two brother and one sister that I made up) aunt, maybe in Slytherin house), Severus Snape ( Eileen and Tobias son) born January 9, 1960 (cousin of Bethany Tonks, Bluebell Prince and Aldabella prince made up), Tobias Snape maybe born in the 1930 ( Eileen husband and Severus father also a Muggle) Edward Prince (Uncle, was in Slytherin house) Born in May 20 1935-1981 kill by unknown death eater and his Patronus was a lion (I made up), Blossom (Burke) Prince born April 10 1934-1981 killed by unknown death eater patronus lioness (Belvina (Black) Burke and Herbert Burke daughter and is Edward wife, she was in Slytherin house, I made up), Bluebell Prince born Oct 2 1980( Blossom and Edward daughter) lives with Snape and is in Slytherin, but later ask to be resorted at the beginning of her fifth year and her patronus is a female tiger (I made up), Elwyn prince born July 24 1940- Oct 2 1981 killed by death eater Rodolphus Lestrange and his patronus is a owl (was in Ravenclaw House ( Uncle, I made up), Lucius Malfoy (has one sister, which I made up(Uncle) son of Abraxas Malfoy), Narcissa Malfoy (aunt and Lucius wife), Draco Malfoy June 5, 1980 (cousins), Carly (Malfoy) Prince September 7, 1942-Dec. 9, 1981, her patronus was a butterfly ( Aldabella mother and Draco’s aunt and also Lucius sister) (Elwyn wife and also was in Ravenclaw house, which her parents hated), Aldabella Prince Born Dec. 9 1981, shorted into Gryffindor house and her Patronus is a Mermaid and Centaur (Name means old and noble, called Bella for short by her aunt Narcissa, uncle Lucius and cousin Draco and she is Elwyn and Carly daughter, She see in the first story only once and mention a few times, but does not come into the story as a major character to Harry second year at Hogwart and Aldabella is in the same year as Ginny Weasley. She went to live with Lucius, Narcissa and Draco after her mom die shortly after her birth), Elizabeth (Prince) Tonks (Bethany mother) born December 31, 1954- Oct 28, 1981 and patronus was a unicorn and she was in Slytherin house, Timmothy Tonks (?Aug 1?) 1954- Oct 28, 1981 was in Gryffindor house Patronus was a horse (Bethany father and Ted Tonks twin brother (I made up), Ted Tonks 1954 was in Hufflepuff house (uncle), Andromeda Tonks 1954 was in Slytherin house (aunt), Nymphadora Tonks 1973 was in Hufflepuff house Patronus werewolf (cousin). Bethany Tonks August 31, 1978, Patronus Unicorn, weasel and Dragon. The next four are Bethany and Fred children which comes into play in Harry, Ron, Hermione and Bethany fifth and sixth year, Lily May Eileen Weasley May 1, 1996 Patronus will be a Jack Russell terrier, James Sirius Snape Weasley May 1, 1996 Patronus will be a Otter, Haven Ginny Elizabeth Weasley April 28, 1998 Patronus will be a Pegasus and Hans Draco Timmothy Weasley April 28, 1998 Patronus will be a Phoenix, Ron Weasley (Lily May, James Sirius, Heaven Ginny and Hans Draco uncle) Patronus Jack Russell Terrier , Arthur Weasley (Lily May, James Sirius, Heaven Ginny and Hans Draco grandfather) Patronus Weasel, Molly (Prewett) Weasley (Lily May, James Sirius, Heaven Ginny and Hans Draco Grandma), Bill Weasley, Charlie Weasley , Percy Weasley, Fred Weasley (Father), George Weasley, Ginny (Weasley) Potter (Lily May, James Sirius, Heaven Ginny and Hans Draco aunt) Hermione (Granger) Weasley Patronus Otter (Lily May, James Sirius, Heaven Ginny and Hans Draco become they aunt when she marry Ron ), Rose Weasley (Ron and Hermione daughter), Hugo Weasley (Ron and Hermione son), Harry Potter Patronus Stag (Lily May, James Sirius, Heaven Ginny and Hans Draco uncle when he marry Ginny), James Potter II (Harry and Ginny son), Albus Potter (Harry and Ginny son), Lily Potter (Harry and Ginny daughter), also relation to Mrs. and Mr. Weasley (Molly and Arthur) parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, Etc. So there you go, a family tree to let you all know who Bethany Tonks is relation too. Also I was not able to found where Tonks family home actual was in the Harry potter story, all I could found online was that it is in the united Kingdom, so I just chose the countryside town of Honiton, East Devon. I chose this countryside town because it is in the same district that Ottery St. Catchpole, Ottery St. Mary and Otterton, Budleigh Salterton, Exmouth, Seaton, Sidmouth along with Axminster Rural District and part of St. Thomas Rural and I also chose this because the Weasley family house is just outside the village of Ottery St. Catchpole, so this makes the Tonks in the some district as the Weasley, but not in the some town seeing that Hagrid and Harry use Tonks house as a safe location in the seventh book. Chapter Two: A family reunion: Part one Outside Bethany aunt, uncle and cousin are loading her Steamer trunks into her uncles’ car. Bethany’ s is upstairs in the bedroom, she shares with her cousin Tonks (Nymphadora) who just finish her seventh year of Hogwart in June, Bethany is looking around the bedroom making sure she has not left anything she needs for school or slaying behind in the bedroom. Bethany looks at her cousin bed which has a solid blue bedspread with light blue stars on it and then look up at the wall above the bed and sees the Hufflepuff house banner and the banner for Hogwart with all the school houses on it and begins to think about what house she will be shorted into and know she could end up in any of the four houses seeing that she has had family members that were in Hufflepuff, Slytherin house, Gryffindor house and Ravenclaw house . She then looks over at her bed which is the one with the light blue bedspread with medium blue striped on it. She then looks over at the desks, which are up against the wall on the left-hand side of Bethany bed (if you are standing in front of the end of the bed, looking towards the headboard) and she notices the empty bird cage and at the sometime her new snowy owl Starburst comes flying through the opening bedroom window and she sees that her watcher Remus Lupin has sent a reply back to the letter she sent him last night. Starburst flies over to Bethany and lands on her right shoulder Bethany’s takes the latter off the leg and goes over to her cousins’ desk and gets an owl treat out and then she gives the owl treat to her owl, who fly off her owner shoulder and into the opening bird cage. Bethany goes over and closes the cage door and then opens up the letter and starts pacing as she starts to read her letter, which says Dear Bethany thanks for sending me a letter using your new owl last night, so I know what the owl looks like. She is a very sweat owl and I am happy you did not buy a small Scops Owl like you were thinking about getting, because then you would have had to borrow a school owl for long distance trips and since I will be traveling a lot this year, that would be a big pain, seeing that my owl pass away three days ago and I have not get a new one yet, when I get a new owl I will let you know. As for what you ask me in the letter, it best if I talk to you about that in person, I will meet you at the train station and we will talk about it in one of the waiting room, before you get on the train to Hogwart. I will see you at the train station tomorrow and by the way I am picking up your cousin Bluebell Prince for Severus Snape house and give her a ride to the train station seeing that Severus has to be at Hogwart in the morning, But I have to go now. Your watcher Remus Lupin Bethany folds the letter up and kneels down next to her school bag. She then pulls the flap cover up on her school bag and she puts the letter into the main compartment of the bag. Bethany closes the flap cover and stand up, she picks her school bag up and put the shoulder strap onto her right shoulder. She then walks over and picks up the bird cages that Starburst is in and walks towards the bedroom door. When she reaches the door of the bedroom, Bethany stops for a few seconds and looks across the hallway to her aunt and uncles’ bedroom and at the hallway which is printing gold. She then walks out of her and Tonks bedroom, turning to the stair case on the right, if coming out of Tonks and Bethany’s bedroom and to the left if coming out of Bethany’s aunt and uncle bedroom. As she walks down the staircase Bethany wish that her watcher would have answers her questions about the dream she keeps having about the new Defense Against the dark art teacher Quirinus Quirrell, because if the dream is right then, he could cause major trouble at Hogwart school of witchcraft and Wizardry this year. Bethany’s thought quickly changes as she walks down the staircase, to for the first time in my life who will there be for me to talk with when I wake up from one of my awful nightmare about when my parents or Harry Potter parents’ were killed or about my prophetic dreams, seeing I could always talk to Tonks, my aunt and Uncle or Remus Lupin. As she reaches the last step of the staircase, she thinks to herself I might be able to talk to Harry at lest about the nightmare about how our parents were killed, But I have to ask Lupin what I should do if I have a prophetic dream at Hogwart. Bethany looks into the conservatory and outside taking in how beautiful the countryside of Honiton is. She hears her aunt come through the front door and turns her back on the conservatory and walks down the hallway, which walls are printing sliver on the top half and gold on the bottom half of the walls. Bethany walks past the dining room on her left-hand side, she then walks past the kitchen also on her left-hand side and then turn to her right and into the reception room/library and at the sometime her Aunt Andromeda walks up to her. “ Are you ready to leave Bethany?” “Yeah I am ready to go now.” “ I see that Starburst is back, did Remus Lupin write you back?” “ Yeah Remus Lupin, write me back aunt Andromeda!” “ What did he say Bethany?” “ This is what Remus Lupin told me “ He says that Starburst is a very sweat owl and I am happy you did not buy a small Scops Owl like you were thinking about getting, because then you would have had to borrow a school owl for long distance trips and since I will be traveling a lot this year, that would be a big pain, seeing that my owl pass away three days ago and I have not get a new one yet, when I get a new owl I will let you know. As for what you ask me in the letter, it best if I talk to you about that in person, I will meet you at the train station and we will talk about it in one of the waiting room, before you get on the train to Hogwart. I will see you at the train station tomorrow and by the way I am picking up your cousin Bluebell Prince for Severus Snape house and give her a ride to the train station seeing that Severus has to be at Hogwart in the morning, But I have to go now. Your watcher Remus Lupin ” But I wish he would have answers my question about the dream, because I had the dream again last night.” “ Remus Lupin say he will meet you at the train station, so you will found out what he thinks about the dream soon enough.” “ Ok, But I help Severus Snape is not home when Remus Lupin gets to his house to pink up Bluebell, seeing that he never like the fact that he is a werewolf.” “But he is showing that he trusts Remus by letting him give Bluebell a ride to the train stations and that is a good thing. Also we need to get going, now Bethany.” “ Ok, lets go!” Bethany and her aunt walk towards the down and pass the drawing room on the right and setting room on the left, if facing the front door and then walk out of the house. Bethany walks towards the driveway and Andromeda closes and locks the front door behind her, at the sometime Bethany sees that her uncle and cousin are already in the red 1988 Ford Orion. Bethany opens up the driver side passengers’ door and gets into the car. Bethany then sets Starburst’s cage on the seat in between Tonks and her. The white owl that has brown marking on her head, back, wings and tail looks at Tonks and then at Bethany she then close her eyes, which are yellow with black pupils. Starburst goes to sleep as Mr. Tonks backs the car out of the driveway at the sometime Bethany has just set her school bag on the floor behind her feet. Bethany opens her school bag and takes out Magical Droughts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger and starts to read the book. This textbook is one of two potion textbooks Professor Snape requires his students to have, the other textbook is One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi. Tonks look over at her cousin and see she is reading Magical Drafts and Potions and then Tonks then lays her head against the back of the seat and listing to the car radio, which is on the Wizarding Wireless Network and is playing the song, Do the Hippogriff by The Weird Sisters and differs off to sleep and start dreaming of her first day in Professor Snape potions class and she can see herself setting at one of the table in the back of the Dungeon classroom, she has both textbooks out which are Magical Droughts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger and One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi out along with her Cauldron and Scales, but has not getting out any potion ingredients, since she does not know what potion Professor Snape will assign for the first potions class, which just happens to be a double period. Tonks and the rest of the class turn around looking towards the classroom door when they hear it slam shut and see Professor Snape walking towards the front of the classroom. Snape turns towards the class when he gets to the front of the room and look around at the new first year students. “ Class today’s lesson we are making the boil cure potion, each one of you will need these ingredients: dried nettles, crushed snake fangs, stewed horned slugs, porcupine quills and Flobberworm Mucus. If you have not getting out your cauldron and scales do so now, if you have your cauldron and scale out please get the potion ingredients out of your supplies if you have them, if not you can go over to the students potion ingredient storage cabinet and get them from there. The Slytherin house students, Charlie Weasley and Tonks were the only students that had both their cauldron and also their scale out and the rest of the students had to get them out. But out of the group that had their scales and cauldrons out only Tonks and Charlie Weasley had to go up to the students potion ingredient storage cabinet. Charlie and Tonks stand up at the sometime and the two of them start walking towards the cabinet together. They are half way to the storage cabinet when Tonks does not see an old rust cauldron that on the classroom floor and trips over the cauldron which cause her to falls down. She looks up to see the whole classroom staring at, which cause her face and hair to turn red with embarrassed at the sometime Charlie walks over and kneels down next to her. “ Are you all right?” “ Yeah just embarrassed is all, I should have seen that cauldron.” “ It could have been worst, my older brother Bill, who just started his second year here said during his first potions class a kid trip and fell face first into the boil cure potion.” “ I guess you are right!” “Do you need help getting up?” “ No, I can get up on my own, but if you could get my potion ingredients for me, so I can go to the lavatory and get clean up?” “Sure” “Thanks” Starburst who has been pulling at Tonks sleeve and trying to get her to wake up stop pulling at her sleeve and start picking Tonks hand with her beak. Tonks look down at the owl and then around the car and see that she and the owl are the only ones in the car, she then looks out the car window and see her cousin, mom and dad walking towards the trunk of the car. Tonks take her seatbelt off and open up the car door. Bethany looks up from getting a streamer trunk out of the trunk of the car when she hears Tonks close the car door. Andromeda walks over to her door and takes a close look at her. “ Mom why are you looking at me with that worry mother look?” “ Because you sleep the whole way to King Cross is why and normal you more talking on the why here and you were talking in your sleep and it was about your first day it potions class are you feeling alright because you look tired?” “ Great now, you all know the embarrassing way I meet Charlie Weasley.” “ It not that embarrassing Tonks, at lest you did not trip in front of the whole school and knock Charlie Weasley down too!” “True, it just not the way I would have want to meet him for the first time. “ Nymphadora Tonks you did not answers your mom question!” “ Yeah I feel fine, just tired is all I did not sleep good last night!” “ Bethany get back to work and Tonks start to help us get Bethany streamer trunks and Owl out of the car, we still have to meet with Remus Lupin’s before taking Bethany trough the barrier onto platform 9 3/4!” “ Yes dad!” “ Did not give me yes dad Nymphadora Tonks and there are no Trolley left so we have to carrying the trunks into the waiting room, then Tonks, Andromeda, Bluebell or I can go look for one that not been used when Bethany talking to Remus!” “ Ok uncle Ted” Tonks hair changing from purple to a reddish/ pink color, but like her cousin, dad and mom she gets to work helping unloading the streamer trunks out of the trunk of the car. Once all the streamer trunks are out of the car trunk Bethany gets Starburst who is in her birdcage still out of the car and joins her aunt, uncle and cousin in looking at the six trunks, because there are two large trunks which are full of clothing plus her school textbooks, notebooks, parchments, quill and ECT along with three medium trunks two of them have her slayer books and one of them has the rest of her slayer supply and the sixth trunk is the small trunk which has her potion ingredients in it. “The two medium trunks with the books are the heaviest trunks. The next heavy trunk is the light brown because it has clothing, plus school textbooks, notebooks, parchments. quill and ECT in it.” “ Bethany, how many do you think each of us should take or how many do you want to carry?” “ I will carry the three medium trunks, uncle Ted!” “ I take the brownish/ blackish large one, Dromeda (nickname Ted calls his wife) how about you take the large light brown trunk and Dora (Ted nickname for his daughter) carry the small trunk and the owl!” Both Tonks and Andromeda shank their heads yes and Bethany hand Tonks the birdcage Starburst is in. Then the four of them all pick up the trunk or trunks they are carrying and walks into the train station. Bluebell and Remus Lupin who are watching for Bethany, Ted, Andromeda and Nymphadora Tonks from the door of the waiting room. When Bluebell see her cousin, the girl with dark brown hair (almost black) and brown eyes, she runs out of the waiting room and over to Bethany and takes the top trunk off the top of the pile of three trunks Bethany is carrying and leads the four Tonks to the Waiting room, Remus Lupin close the frosted glass doors of the waiting room when they are all inside of the room. Bethany set the two trunks she carrying up against the frosted Glass wall and Bluebell set the one she carry on top of the two Bethany set down. Tonks set the small one on top of the trunks Bluebell just put done. Andromeda set the trunk she carrying in front of the pile of four and Ted puts the trunk he carry down next to the trunk he wife set down. By now Remus, Bethany and Tonks is standing near the fire place and Bethany has put her school bag down up against the wall that the fire place is on and Remus, Tonks and her are standing in front of. Andromeda has set done on the top end of trunk her husband was carrying, seeing that it was set done on end to end instead of set the bottom of the trunk on the floor. Ted is leaning against the glass wall. Bluebell is set in one of the chairs that in the row against the wall and has her feet on the chair in front of her and she wrap her arms around her legs just below her knees and is looking toward Ted who has medium length brown hair and brown eyes and Andromeda who also has brown hair and brown eyes . Also, Bluebell’s cat Gypsy has just opened Starburst’s cage which is setting on top of the light brown streamer trunk and is now playing with Tonks boot laces. Remus Lupin looks at his slayer and then out Bluebell. “ Preteen and teenage today are different then when I was that age.” “ Why are we so different Mr. Remus Lupin?” “ Well for one Bluebell preteen and teenage did not come to King cross to leave for their first day at Hogwart wearing a long sleeve green t-shirt with a camouflage t-shirt and jeans or Jeans with holes in them or a white tank top with a 3/4 sleeve suit jacket. They also did not have purple highlights in their hair!” “ Well time have changes Remus Lupin, now will you answers the question I ask in the note that I write you last night?” “ Yes I will Bethany, I would keep a eye on Quirinus Quirrell, because if He who must not be name is still semi alive and has possessed him and is share his body then Harry Potter could be in grave danger this year and I want you to keep an eye on Harry Potter this year and make sure he stays safe and out of harms way. And yes it is also possibly that He who must not be name wants him to find and steal the sorcerer stone for him. “ I have another question for you Remus Lupin”. “ What is the question Bethany?” “ What should I do if I have a prophecy dream at Hogwart?” “ You can sent me a owl or if you need an answer fast then that you can talk to Albus Dumbledore or Severus Snape about it. And also Albus Dumbledore will know where I am at all times, so if you really feel that you need to talk to me in person, go talk to him and he will help you get to where I am at that day.” “ Ok” “ Ted and I are going to go and see if we can found two trolleys, one for Bluebell and also one for Bethany”. Bethany: Ok aunt Andromeda”. Ted open the door and Andromeda walk out of the waiting room fellow by Ted who closes the door behind them. Bluebell stands up and picks up her cat Gypsy and walks over to the cat carry which is on top of her steamer trunk and opens the cat carry up. Bluebell then puts Gypsy inside the carry and close it up, she also close Bethany owl cage and then goes and set back down and Tonks takes a set next to her. “ Bluebell what is Professor Snape like at home, because as a potion professor he is really tough and favor Slytherin house students over the other students and if you not in slytherin house you better not mess around in his class or he will take house points off your house total and he is a very tough grade too?” “ He is actual the complete opposite at home.” “ You mean he is caring and has a soft side?” “ Yeah and if I am really upset about something and need to talk he is a great listens and he always be able to comfort me when I had a nightmare, but he is very protected of me just as if he was my real dad even there he is only my cousin. But I guess that a good thing seeing that he has been a father figure to me since my mother and father died when I was still a born and he is old enough to be my father!” Just then Ted and Andromeda come back with two trolleys Tonks and Bluebell stop talking and Bethany and Bluebell loads their streamer trunks onto the trolleys that are close to their trunks and then Bethany goes and grabs her school bag and puts it on her right shoulder. Then the six of them leave the waiting room and head to the barrier that leads into platform 9 3/4!
GryffindorAnimagus Joined: 4 June 2010 Posts: 35 Location: New Jersey USA	Posted: Friday 23 July 2010 10 41 07 pm    Post subject: One Step at a Time in topic:One Step at a Time [b]A/N So this is my first attempt at a HP fan fic. Let me know what you think. I do not own Harry Potter that is all JKR. [/b] [red]Chapter One[/red] Harry woke up confused and disoriented. He could feel something warm pressed up against his side but he was unsure of what it could be. He looked around and could tell that he was in his four poster bed. He sat up slowly and was quickly reminded of the battle from the day before by the pain he was in. Every part of him hurt from the year long marathon that was finally over. Harry looked down and realized that Ginny was the one that was pressed up against him. She must have crawled into bed with him after he fell asleep. Slowly he reached over and grabbed the Marauders map, making sure not to wake Ginny in the process. He whispered the incantation and the map slowly came into focus. Harry wanted to make sure where everyone was before he put the his plan into action. His first step was to find Ginny but she made that one easy for him because she came to him during the night. The map showed that Ron and Hermione where in Ron’s bed, Percy and George were also in the room as was Seamus and Dean. The rest of the Weasleys were in one of the other Gryffindor rooms and everyone else was in various dorms around the castle. The only exception to this was the aurors who were patrolling the halls to ensure safety. Harry wiped the map and put it away. He bend down and kissed Ginny softly, first on each of her eyelids and then on her check. Her eyes fluttered open and she gave a smile as harry whispered, “Quietly, I do not want to wake anyone up, will you come with me?” She nodded and took his hand. Harry led her out of the room and out the portrait hole. The Fat Lady smiled but said nothing. The auror who was patrolling the hall said, “Harry you are up early, where are you headed?” Harry just pulled Ginny along without answering him. Once Harry led Ginny down to the secluded tree by the black lake he sat down. “Harry, what’s wrong? It’s over now.” Ginny was looking at Harry with concern all over her face. She sat down beside him and waited. After a few minutes Harry spoke. “I am so sorry Ginny. I am sorry for what I did to you. I am sorry for everyone who died in my war. I am sorry that I hurt you and,” Ginny interrupted Harry. She could not let him finish. “This was our war and you are not to blame for any of it. If you did not do anything think how many lives would have been lost. All of us who stood up and fought knew that we could die. We choose to risk ourselves for the ones we loved.” Ginny had to take a deep breath before she could continue. Then she took Harrys face in her hands and put her forehead to his. “As for hurting me, Harry, I was worried for you because I love you so much. In my heart I knew that we never really broke up. I knew that you would have stayed if you could. I love you, Harry James Potter.” With that she gave him a peck on the check. Harry whispered into Ginny’s ear, ‘I love you more than life itself Ginerva Molly Weasley. You are the reason I kept going when my body wanted to stop. I would and will do anything to keep you safe.” They kissed, slow at first but building. They kissed to make up for the year they were forced apart from their true other halves. They stretch out under the tree and fell asleep in each other’s arms in the early morning hours.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Sunday 11 July 2010 04 45 38 pm    Post subject: Re: Beyond the Shadow in topic:Beyond the Shadow Chapter 12: Victoire's News I thought it would have been easy to get sucked into work again and not think about my lunch with Dillan, but even while my mind was on wizards with plants sprouting out of their ears, witches with odd orange rashes, and children with spattergroit, Dillan was there in the back of my mind. It was strange since every other time I'd gone on a date I'd easily been able to forget about the blokes at work. Although, thinking about that now, it probably wasn't a good thing. Victoire bombarded me with questions about the lunch as I was walking back to my study after clinic duty and I told her everything, as I promised. She was thoroughly excited and promised to help me pick out an outfit for our date on Friday. However we couldn't talk for very long since she was seeing patients all afternoon. As she headed back to the Spell Damage floor I headed off to find Morris to see if he'd ran Matt's tests yet. Morris was in his study writing up notes when I entered a little while later. He must have known immediately why I was there because as soon as I sat down he handed me a piece of parchment with Matt's name, the date, and a time stamp of an hour earlier. It was his test results and according to them he no longer had any Wolfsbane in his system. “Thank Merlin,” I muttered. “Did you run it twice to be sure?” “Three times,” he answered. “They all gave the same results and Matt seems much better. He's tired of course, but I'm planning on discharging him before I go home tonight.” I nodded. I'd insist he stay with me for the night, but he'd be far less bored in my flat than in the ward. “Mind if I keep this?” “Go right ahead,” Morris said. “I've got another copy.” “Thanks. I'm not starting a new version of the potion until I figure out why he reacted like this. I don't want it happening again,” I said. “Probably a good idea,” Morris agreed. “Let me know what you find out.” “I will,” I answered as I left his study. My next stop was the ward, where I found Matt sitting up in bed reading some sort of book on the Chudley Cannons. He has so many books on that team that it makes me wonder not only where he finds them but what sort of authors would actually want to write books about such an awful Quidditch team. And I mean awful as in their playing, not that I hate them, because I'm quite indifferent about Quidditch. “Hey, Amy,” he greeted me. “Hear the good news?” “Sure did,” I replied. “All the Wolfsbane is gone, but we still haven't got a clue as to why it stayed in there. Morris said he's going to discharge you sometime today, but I think you should come spend the night at my place.” “Sounds good.” “And you're not going back to work tomorrow. I think you need to rest another day,” I told him. “Seriously? But I've already missed so many days.” “Don't tell me you're starting to become a workaholic, too.” I groaned. “No, you got all of those genes. It's just I know the only reason I got that job is because of Dad and I don't want to give the Ministry anymore reasons to dislike the fact that I'm working there.” “They don't dislike it,” I argued. “I'm not five anymore,” Matt said. “You can't hide stuff like that from me anymore.” He had a point, I thought. “All right, we'll compromise. You can go in in the afternoon so long as you continue to get better tonight. I'm sure Morris would agree with me on this.” “Ok, that'll work,” Matt agreed. “Good,” I replied. “I'm going down to the basement to work for the rest of the afternoon, but I haven't got anymore patients to see today so when Morris discharges you we'll go home.” “Sounds like a plan.” After swinging by my study to gather my very large collection of notes on every single version of Wolfsbane I had ever created, along with Matt's medical file from Morris's study, I headed down to the brewing rooms. By some stroke of luck I wasn't stopped by anyone on my way. I wasn't planning on doing any actual brewing that day, but experience had taught me that holing myself up in a brewing room would result in less interruptions than doing the same in my study. My usual room was empty so I dumped the stack of notes onto the desk and settled down for what was sure to be a long afternoon. I couldn't risk creating a potion like my most recent one again so I had to figure out what had caused Matt to have such an awful reaction. The only way to do that was to study my notes until I reached some sort of conclusion. Now that Matt was better and I had had a day to think about what had happened I realized that Morris was right. As awful as it had been for Matt to have a reaction like that to a potion, it was helpful in the long run. Generally, with experimental potions, negative reactions were better than no reaction at all when it came to figuring out how to make the potion better. When Matt had no reaction to a potion I created I had nothing to go on; all I was able to say was that that specific potion didn't work. Now I had a clue, something to tell me what was going wrong. If only I knew what that specific clue was. No matter what Matt's reaction was to new potions, my first step afterwards was to add a new line into my ever expanding chart of failed potions. Each potion had a line that included the ingredients, the type of cauldron it was brewed in, the amounts of ingredients, and every other seemingly insignificant step that went into brewing potions. The littlest thing could be the difference between a useful and useless potion. Along with information about the actual potion I also kept a separate chart of each person who had taken each potion. The people varied, although Matt had taken each one. For that very reason (and of course the fact that he was my brother) I was focusing the most on his reactions. Each year I created and tested either three or four potions and since I had been working on it for six years, there were a lot of entries. Some had been as useless as original Wolfsbane and others had had awful side effects, but the most recent one was the worst yet. After entering the new information into the charts, the first thing I looked at was the concentration of pure Wolfsbane in the potion. Wolfsbane potion was different from pure Wolfsbane, the latter being the active ingredient in the potion. It is the most tricky ingredient to add and if the proportion of it to the other ingredients isn't right, it can have disastrous effects, which is why I thought it had something to do with Matt's reaction. Regular Wolfsbane potion uses a concentration of .01 percent pure Wolfsbane. Most brewers agree that anything less than .008 concentration is completely useless while anything above .05 percent is deadly. My potions have ranged between .007 and .49 in terms of concentration, with the most recent having .04 percent. Matt's reaction would have made more sense if the potion had had a higher concentration, especially since the potion made with .49 percent had had no effect on him whatsoever, with the Wolfsbane filtering out of his system in the normal twelve hour window. That meant that this was far more complicated than the concentration of pure Wolfsbane. It meant that it had something to do with a reaction amongst the ingredients. To make matters even more confusing, Morris had discovered years ago that Matt had a very high metabolism, which was part of the reason why he believed Wolfsbane potion didn't work for him. Morris discovered that Matt's body processed Wolfsbane between eight and nine hours rather than the standard twelve, but even when he was given Wolfsbane potion every eight hours instead of twelve, it still didn't help him. But it made it even more confusing that this time the Wolfsbane wouldn't filter at all. Scouring my notes for anything that might help is a very tedious task and after working at it for two hours I still came up with nothing. I was about to start my third time reading them when there was a knock at the door. “Come in,” I said, thinking it was probably one of the junior brewers with a question. “I knew I'd find you here.” I looked up and saw Victoire, looking if possible, even more pregnant than she had the previous day. “It's where I'll be for the foreseeable future until I figure this potion out.” “Well can you pry yourself away from your notes long enough to hear my good news?” Victoire asked. I glanced up again and really looked at Victoire. She was glowing, positively glowing, and had a huge smile on her face. She looked even more excited than she did when she was told her baby didn't have lycanthropy. “Of course.” “Just had another Healer appointment,” she told me. “You did?” I asked. I couldn't recall her telling me about it. “I don't remember you saying anything about it.” “I mentioned it a while ago, but I'm sure you forgot after what happened,” she said. “Anyway, they ran another test, this one to tell us the sex-” “Did you find out?” I interrupted. “Yup,” Victoire said. “But that's not the best part. The best part is that I'm having twins!” “Oh my God!” I shrieked and got up to hug her. “Congratulations!” “Thanks. Teddy's thrilled, especially since they're both boys.” “Poor Sophie!” I laughed. “I know. I'm hoping she'll eventually have some cousins who are girls, but I think Weasleys tend to be prone to having boys.” “Well you can always try for another girl after those boys are born,” I pointed out. “I was just told that I'm going to have to give birth to not one but two boys in June. The last thing I want to do is thinking about having a fourth,” Victoire said. “Fair point,” I agreed. “I haven't even had one and I can't even imagine it. I love Sophie of course, but she's like the perfect kid. Surely they're not all like her.” “Trust me, they're not. I'm sure these boys will be like my Uncles Fred and George, only worse. I've got it coming to me after only having Sophie for five years.” “Sophie will keep them in line,” I said. “Even Sophie wouldn't be able to control them if they're like Fred and George,” Victoire said. “Merlin, Amy, even if they're like Sophie I'm still going to have three times as many kids. It's all Teddy and I can do to make sure someone's always around to watch Sophie. We can't rely on my parents and grandparents to watch three kids.” “But Sophie will be in school soon,” I pointed out. “Are you starting her at that preschool soon?” “Not all the time. Teddy and I both work a lot of weekends and Sophie won't have school on weekends,” Victoire said. “And yes, she's starting next week. She's so excited!” “Good.” I smiled. Sophie needed to be around kids her own age. “I just don't think I can do the working full time thing with two newborn babies and a five-year-old.” “What do you mean?” I asked. “I mean...” she paused and sat down in one of my extra chairs, “that I'm thinking of not coming back to St. Mungo's after my maternity leave is up.” I said nothing for a few minutes. While after hearing what Victoire was saying about taking care of three kids and working full time I sort of expected her to say that, it was still a shock. Victoire wasn't nearly as much of a workaholic as I was, but she had always been determined to work hard at what she does and I couldn't see her not working. Ever since I met her she knew exactly what she wanted career wise and nothing had ever swayed her. “Have you talked to Teddy about it yet?” I asked. “Yes,” Victoire answered. “He agrees with me. I mean, he makes a decent salary as an Auror so we don't necessarily need my income. It's weird. When I was in Hogwarts I always imagined having a job and kids but I never thought about how the two would compete. My mum stayed home with me and Gabriella and Ben when we were little and it was so much fun. We weren't ever shuttled off to anyone else's house for a weekend and we never waited until ten or eleven at night for our parents to come home to say good night while a baby-sitter sat in our living room.” “Sophie doesn't mind that,” I said quietly. “Has she ever complained once about having to spend the day with your parents or grandparents?” “No,” Victoire said. “But that doesn't mean she doesn't miss us. It wouldn't be forever. Just until the boys were at Hogwarts.” She looked down and placed her hands on her stomach. “It's up to you,” I said. “My mum was home with Matt and I when we were little, too, so I can see why you would want to. I'll miss you here, if you don't come back.” “And I'll miss you too. I'll miss everything about this place. It's why I'm so torn. I'm not deciding yet since I won't even leave on maternity leave until May or so.” “Farina won't be pleased.” I laughed. “No, definitely not,” Victoire agreed. “So what were you working on when I so rudely interrupted you?” “You're always welcome to interrupt me,” I said. “Anyone else will get yelled at, but you can.” “I feel so honored.” Victoire grinned. “So what are you up to? I don't see any steaming cauldrons filled with disgusting tasting liquids that will save the world.” “Very funny,” I replied. “And I'm not brewing anything today. I'm trying to look at years of notes in order to figure out why Matt had that awful of a reaction to the potion. I get interrupted less down here than in my study, due to my reputation of hexing people who barge in on my brewing.” “Ah, yes, that intern who you hexed last week never did return.” “Again, very funny. I did not hex an intern.” “So I take it you're staying late tonight? I was going to invite you over to dinner tonight. It's just Gabriella, Sophie, and I since Teddy's working,” Victoire explained. “Nope, not staying late, since Morris is releasing Matt today, but he's coming over to my place for the night. I've got to stay with him.” “Another time, then. Going to bring all of this home with you?” “Of course,” I said. “Has Gabriella made any mention of taking off again?” “No,” Victoire replied. “But she disappears everyday so she must be actually doing something here.” “If she wasn't, you could hire her as your nanny.” Victoire and I looked at each other and then burst out laughing at the thought of Gabriella being a nanny. That girl would be a nanny the day John Brickston managed to have a girlfriend for more than a month. “It's so weird,” I began, “because when we were kids Gabriella was so responsible. She was a prefect and everything.” “Hey, I suppose some kids rebel in their teenage years and others wait until they're out of Hogwarts.” Victoire shrugged. “And others don't ever rebel,” I pointed out, thinking of Victoire herself. “I'm hoping Sophie will take after me.” My Galleon alert vibrated and I pulled it out of the pocket of my robes. Morris was paging me so that meant he was probably ready to discharge Matt. “I've got to go,” I said. “I think Matt's going to be leaving.” “All right,” Victoire said as she stood up. “I'll see you tomorrow.” “Yep, sounds good.” I grabbed all of my paperwork and notes and followed Victoire out of the room, being sure to lock it behind me. ****** Morris was waiting in the Dai Lewellyn ward when I got there a few minutes later, and so was Mum. She was wearing nurse robes and had a stack of clipboards in her arms, so presumably she had snuck away from clinicals for a few minutes to see Matt before he went home. Judging by the irritated look on Matt's face and the bemused one on Morris's, Mum was doing more than just saying hi to her son. “I just don't think it's a good idea for you to go back to work tomorrow,” Mum said as I shut the door to the ward. “You need another day to rest.” “Mum.” Matt sighed. “I've been resting for the past three days.” “You've been here! In the hospital! Twenty-four hours ago you were practically unconscious on that bed, so you can't tell me you don't need another day of rest.” “I'm practically unconscious once a month but I still only take a couple of days off,” Matt pointed out. “If I rested as much as you wanted me to I'd never get anything done.” Morris and I shared a look, knowing that this could go on for ages. Despite the fact that both of us had degrees in healing, neither of us had any say in whether Matt went to work tomorrow where Mum is concerned. We could both assure her that Matt was as healthy as she was but she would still insist he stay in bed and eat soup all day. Degrees were nothing compared to motherly love. When Matt was little, Mum constantly told him to rest and she hardly let him do anything that other little kids did. As he got older he got fed up with it and started arguing with her, but even now that he's in his twenties she still has that pull over him. Hell, she still has that pull over me. If she demanded that I stay in bed and rest I'd probably listen to her, even if Farina was barking in my other ear to get to work. “Amy said I could go in in the afternoon if I rested in the morning,” Matt said. “Isn't that a good compromise?” Instead of agreeing with him, Mum turned around and glared at me, as if that wasn't a compromise at all. “Amy's not your mother,” Mum said. “But she's a Healer!” Matt shouted. “Not your Healer,” Mum countered. “Healer Sterling agrees with her,” Matt pointed out. Morris sighed and shook his head, looking as if he wished he hadn't gotten involved with this, even though he really hadn't. Matt dragged him into it. “We're busy at work, Mum. We're looking at that proposal Amy did for the foundation and Dad thinks we might be able to get funding for it if you work with the Ministry and it gets declared an official Werewolf Support Services program. I really need to be there.” I looked at Matt, raising my eyebrows and trying to silently ask him why he hadn't told me about that. Last I knew we were putting that off until after the holidays. Plus, the Ministry had never gotten involved with anything the foundation did. Mum sighed, clearly defeated. She glanced at her watch and I realized that her defeat probably had less to do with Matt's reasoning than the fact that she needed to get back to work. “Fine. Rest in the morning and work in the afternoon. Dad will tell me if you show up early, so don't.” Mum set down her clipboards and gave Matt a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek before turning to me. “Don't let him go if he seems to get ill again.” She picked up her clipboards and gave me a one-armed hug before leaving the ward. “Merlin,” Matt groaned as he sat back down on the bed. “You'd think I was twelve again.” “She's your mother,” Morris said as he flicked his wand above Matt's head. “She'll worry about you forever, no matter how old you are. Your vitals are normal, so you're good to go.” “Thanks,” Matt said as he got up. “I'm sure I'll be seeing you again soon.” “Hopefully not too soon,” Morris replied and then turned to me. “Amy, I'll see you tomorrow.” I nodded and Matt and I followed Morris out of the now empty ward. I stopped at my study to pick up a few more things and then we headed off for the Floo room. With any luck, I'd have a few hours to try and figure out my notes later that evening.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Monday 28 June 2010 05 22 14 pm    Post subject: Re: Beyond the Shadow in topic:Beyond the Shadow Aw, thanks! So glad you're enjoying it. I'm sorry that I haven't posted in so long and I really have no excuse. I just...forgot to post here... I've updated at HPFF, so I'm going to post two new chapters here. Chapter 10: Drown Your Sorrows I swirled the firewhiskey around in my glass, watching the ice cubes spin and then settle amongst the alcohol. I downed the glass and then signaled for another one. The barkeep, who had nothing else to do anyway, poured me another drink. After wandering the streets of London for what must have been hours, I wound up at a lesser-known pub in Diagon Alley. It was called the Hairy Goat, which seemed like an odd name, especially since the bar was not owned by Aberforth Dumbledore. It wasn't very popular due to its general uncleanliness, but I never ran into anyone I knew there, so it was well suited for my current activities. So far the activities included drinking enough firewhiskey to stop thinking about Matt and the potion, which I had not yet succeeded in doing. I've never been one for drinking and I really hate getting drunk because I always feel truly awful the next day, but somehow today it seemed like I might as well try. The bar was pretty deserted. The only other customer was a bloke a few seats down from me at the bar, who was drinking enough firewhiskey to compete with me. His dark hair was messy, reminding me a lot of Al Potter, and looked to be about my age. He drank his current shot, slammed the glass down on the bar, and turned to me. “Shitty new year?” he asked. Why was he talking to me now? We had been sitting in silence for the past hour. “You could say that.” “Me, too,” he sighed. “I bet you a drink that mine was worse.” I raised my eyebrows. “Why would I want to do that?” “Oh, afraid you'd lose?” he smirked. What the hell was he playing at? Why couldn't we each just drink in silence? Maybe he was on his way to being drunk. That was probably it. “Fine,” I replied. “So, why was your new year's awful?” “I got fired,” he said, sipping his new drink. I snorted. Fired? Fired? If only that was my problem. It would be an easy fix. Although, I supposed it was still a possibility. “What?” he asked. “How is my lack of employment funny?” “Not that,” I said. “The fact that you think getting fired makes your new year's awful.” “Oh, so you had something worse happen to you?” he said. “I bet you were dumped, right? Although I can't see anyone dumping you. You're too pretty.” Drunk, I thought, this bloke was definitely drunk. “Getting fired would be worse than getting dumped,” I told him. “And no, I was not dumped.” “Then tell your boyfriend he's a lucky bloke.” “Don't have a boyfriend,” I informed him. Why was I telling him that? Why was I still talking to him, anyway? He was obviously drunk. “Interesting,” he mused. “Well, why was your new year's horrible, then?” Shit, I thought. Why didn't I think this through? I couldn't exactly tell him that a new version of the Wolfsbane potion I created had caused my werewolf brother to have the worst transformation he'd had in years. No, but I could tweak it. I was the queen of coming up with excuses for Matt's lycanthropy. “I'm a Healer and a Brewer at St. Mungo's,” I began. “Impressive.” “I created a potion and it didn't do what it was supposed to,” I continued. “Shame,” he replied. “Guess you'll have to start over. But you still have your job. Sorry, not worse than mine.” “I'm not finished yet,” I snapped. “The potion had a really bad effect on those who took it. Turns out, it makes a person really sick, the opposite of what it's supposed to do.” “Oh. That's slightly worse.” “Again, not finished. My brother is the one who took the potion and now he's unconscious in St. Mungo's.” The bloke looked taken aback. He quickly took another sip of his drink, clearly in an effort to think of something to say. I couldn't help but feel smug at this. I had obviously won this bet. “I believe you owe me a drink,” I told him. “Yeah, you're right,” he muttered and signaled to the barkeep to pour me another firewhiskey. We drank in silence for a few minutes. A couple people wearing Ministry robes entered the bar and sat down at a table in the back. The barkeep left to go take their orders. I felt something hot in my pocket and pulled out my Galleon Alert. Everyone who worked at St. Mungo's had one so we could be reached at all times in an instant. It looked just like a Galleon, but instead it bore the name of whichever employee needed to talk to you, changing each time. This time, Morris had summoned me. Sighing, I turned to the bloke who had for some inexplicable reason become my drinking partner. “I've got to get back to St. Mungo's,” I told him as I stood up. “All right,” he replied. “Hope your new year gets better.” “Yours too,” I said and began to leave the bar. “Wait, what's your name?” he shouted after me. “Amy Eckerton,” I called over my shoulder as I opened the door and left the bar. ****** “The Wolfsbane is still in his system.” “What do you mean it's still in his system?” I stared at Morris from across his desk. After leaving the pub, I went directly to Morris's study. I found him studying Matt's test results. Wolfsbane Potion goes through the system in about twelve hours, which was why werewolves had to take it twice a day starting two or three days before the full moon, depending on their age and size. It was always long out of a person's system two days after the full moon. Morris handed me the results and I scanned them. He was completely right, of course. The levels of Wolfsbane were still high in Matt's blood, nearly as high as they would be if he was still taking the potion. It didn't make any sense. “None of the other ingredients are coming up on that tox screen,” Morris elaborated. “According to the results, the only ingredient in that potion still in his system is the actual Wolfsbane. I ran the test three times and they all said the same thing.” I nodded as I leafed through the three different tests. Same exact results. “This doesn't make sense.” “You're right,” Morris agreed. “It doesn't. Do you still have the Wolfsbane you used in the potion? We need to test it.” “You think it was contaminated?” I asked. I supposed it was possible, but the potion had passed the preliminary tests. Any contamination would have come up in the results from that and the potion wouldn't have passed. “I think it's highly unlikely, but we've got to cover all the bases,” Morris explained. “Now, what did you do differently in this particular potion as compared to all the others?” “I brewed it in a steel cauldron and tweaked the amounts of a few of the ingredients, including Wolfsbane,” I explained. “You know, Amy,” Morris said quietly. “As awful as this is, if that Wolfsbane was not contaminated, this may hold some answers as to why none of these potions have worked.” “I know, I know,” I muttered. “I just wish we could get answers without this happening.” “So do I, Amy,” Morris sighed. “So do I. He woke up about a half hour ago, if you want to go see him.” I nodded and left the study. Matt was the only patient in the ward, which I was really grateful for. Other patients really didn't need to see one of their healers break down and cry. As soon as I saw Matt, with my parents sitting on either side of his bed, my eyes started to tear up again. It was the Lubar incident all over again. “Amy,” Mum said as I reached the bed. “Where have you been?” “Nowhere,” I replied, hoping she wouldn't press it. “Amy,” Matt whispered. “I don't think I'll be taking that potion again.” I half-smiled at him. His head was wrapped in a bandage and he looked like he hadn't slept in weeks. “Matt... I'm sorry, I didn't know that would happen, but that's no excuse.” “Amy, shut it,” Matt replied. “I know the risk when I take the potions. It's not your fault. But what the hell was in that?” “Same stuff,” I sighed. “Same stuff, different proportions. The wrong ones, obviously.” “Healer Sterling said I've still got Wolfsbane in my system,” he said. “Have you got any idea why?” “No,” I sighed. “We're also not sure when it's going to leave your system and you're not going to feel better until it does. We'll do everything we can to figure out how to get it out as soon as possible.” “It's ok, Amy,” he said. “I'm going to be fine.” There was just something about Matt telling me he was going to be fine while laying in a hospital bed with a fever and a bandaged head that made me want to bawl my eyes out. “I'm- I'm going to go home and get some sleep,” I said. “You should get some rest, too, Matt.” “I will,” he assured me. I leaned over the bed, gave him a hug, and left while trying to hide the fact that I was crying. I needed coffee. All the firewhiskey was starting to give me a headache. The tea room was crowded since it was nearing supper time. I grabbed the largest cup of coffee they offered and settled down at the table farthest in the back. It was a good thing Farina gave me the next day off because I was going to have a killer hangover. What had I been thinking? Someone sat down across from me and I looked up, ready to tell them to find their own table, only to see that it was Dad. He had his own cup of coffee and the lines in his face were more pronounced than ever before. “You've got to stop beating yourself up,” Dad said quietly. “Didn't you notice?” I asked. “He looks exactly like he did after that full moon when he was eight, when he had to transform with the other werewolves.” “I did.” Dad took a sip of his coffee and looked at me. “Then how can you tell me not to beat myself up?” I exclaimed. “I did that to him! I did the same thing Lubar did!” “Now that is ridiculous,” Dad told me. “The two are nowhere near alike. Circumstances, Amy, circumstances. Think back to that full moon. Matt's physical wounds were healed within weeks. It was the emotional ones that made it so awful. The emotional wounds were what made the recovery so long. Now look at this most recent full moon. Matt took a potion that you created out of a determination to make his life better and it didn't work. Sure, there are physical wounds, but they'll heal. The difference is that there are no emotional wounds.” I slowly sipped my coffee and thought about it. Dad was right. He was always right. Why hadn't I thought about that? I never thought about emotions as much as I should. Rose was the psychiatrist, not me. “I guess you're right,” I sighed. “I know you feel bad,” Dad continued. “I'd find it weird if you didn't. You feel bad because you love him and that's what matters. He'll get better and you'll start working on a new potion. Life will go on.” “Yeah, I know,” I muttered. Dad drained his coffee and stood up. “Go home and get some rest. Mum and I are doing the same. We'll be back tomorrow.” I nodded and watched as he left the tea room. ****** “Amy! Amy, get up!” I rolled over in an attempt to get away from whoever was poking me. What were they doing? Didn't they realize it was the middle of the night? Wait, how did they even get into my flat? I snapped my eyes open and realized that it was not the middle of the night, but most likely the middle of the day. Sunlight hit my eyes and the headache I had began to feel more like someone was throwing a brick at my head. I glanced over in the direction of the voice telling me to get up and saw that it was Victoire, dressed in her Healer robes, looking disapprovingly at me. “So many questions,” she threw her hands up in the air. “Where do I begin?” Ignoring her, I got out of bed and stumbled into the kitchen. I needed a headache potion and I needed it fast. Locating the bottle, I downed a dose and followed it with a glass of water. It started to take effect and I looked at Victoire. “Why aren't you at work?” she demanded. “Farina gave me the day off,” I muttered. “Well, that just opens more questions than it answers,” Victoire replied. “We shared a lift yesterday and she gave me the day off because of what happened to Matt,” I explained. “And you're using this day off to sleep off a hangover?” Victoire shouted. “You realize it's three o'clock, don't you?” “Er-” “Of course you don't,” Victoire groaned. “What happened yesterday?” “I drank way too much firewhiskey,” I answered. “Obviously. But why? Amy, you've never been the type to drink away your problems because you're smart enough to know it doesn't work.” “I don't know.” I collapsed into the nearest kitchen chair. That was the truth. Why had I done it. “I guess I just couldn't take it anymore.” “Can't take what?” Victoire asked as she put an arm around me. “Everything,” I sighed. “I'm thirty. I've done nothing with my life. The potion is obviously going nowhere. I put my own brother in St. Mungo's. I'm nowhere close to being married and I have no kids. Cinda's right; I should be getting married soon.” “Since when do you listen to your grandmother?” Victoire looked shocked. “Isn't this the same lady who dressed you up in frilly pink dresses as a child and bought you ePods or whatever they're called for Christmas?” “iPods,” I sighed. “And yes, that's Cinda.” “She obviously has no idea what you really like, then,” Victoire told me. “So why should she know what's best for you as far as marriage goes? Amy, no one should get married until they're in love and ready.” “I know,” I said. “I guess I just thought everything would be different when we were thirty.” “Don't I know it,” Victoire agreed. “What do you mean? You're married with a kid and another on the way, plus you've got a rewarding job.” “And so does Teddy. We hardly ever see each other, Amy. When I'm home he's away on missions and when he's home I'm on call. In all our efforts to make sure Sophie doesn't have to stay with my parents for longer than a work day, Teddy and I rarely see each other for more than a couple hours at a time.” “But you're happy, right?” I asked. “Of course I am. Are you? Besides this potion set-back, that is.” “Honestly, I think I am,” I said. “Well, as long as Cinda isn't implying that I need to get married.” “Then that's all that matters,” Victoire replied. “And you will find the right guy someday. Speaking of which, do you remember a certain bloke from the pub yesterday?” I could feel my cheeks redden and judging by Victoire's smirk, it was very obvious that I was blushing. How did she know about him? “I'll take that as a yes,” Victoire grinned. “You might be interested to know that he spent about an hour wandering around St. Mungo's trying to find you this morning.” “What?” “He likes you. And he's rather attractive. I told him you'd meet him outside the hospital tomorrow at noon.” “You did what?” I exclaimed. “Hey, you said you'd like to get married,” she teased. “Shut it.” “So what exactly did the two of you do in this pub?” “He bet me a drink he'd had a shittier new year than me. I won. He bought me a drink. I got called back to St. Mungo's, and that was that.” “Well, you're meeting him tomorrow and that's that.” “Fine,” I sighed. I supposed it didn't really matter anyway since I had already made a fool of myself in front of him. What's the worst that could happen? “I'll meet him.” “Good,” Victoire replied. “I've got to get back to work before Farina notices that I'm gone. Can I trust you to not go back to bed?” I nodded. The potion was kicking in and I was feeling far more normal than I had ten minutes ago. I had to get to St. Mungo's anyway to see Matt and talk to Morris. Why had I drank so much Firewhiskey? What a stupid idea that had been. Victoire was right, drinking never solved anything and I knew that. All that had happened was that I wasted practically a whole day sleeping off a hangover and possibly attracted a very odd bloke. “Yes,” I sighed. “I'm going to go visit Matt.” “Good,” Victoire said as she gave me one more hug. “And what are you not going to do?” “Drink Firewhiskey. Ever again.” Victoire nodded and then stepped over to the fire. She tossed in a handful of Floo powder and was gone in three seconds. Merlin, I sighed. No more Firewhiskey. ****** Kaden was just leaving the ward when I entered an hour later. He was dressed in brewers' robes, so I assumed he was merely on break or lunch and using the time to visit Matt. “He slept through my whole break,” Kaden told me as he hurried off towards the lifts. He was probably late. I was surprised Kaden hadn't just woken Matt up upon seeing that he was asleep. That was what Matt's friends usually did, especially Kaden and John. Perhaps he had actually had some sense not to since Matt was in the hospital. I peered into the ward and saw that Matt was indeed asleep, and not looking close to waking up at anytime soon. Instead of going in, I turned towards Morris's study. Natalie was putting away files when I walked in. She turned around and offered me a sympathetic smile when she heard me enter. “How is Matt?” she asked. “Not sure yet. Is Morris in?” “He's with a patient until four-thirty,” Natalie replied. “You've got a few owls and your research assistants dropped off this month's data.” She handed me a small stack of envelopes and a large binder. I took them and let myself into my study. The binder of results went straight into the filing cabinet because I was just too exhausted to look at data right then, but I set the letters down on my desk and began to open them. The first two were junk, asking me for interviews for various publications that I didn't like. The third letter, however, caused my stomach to flip when I read whom it was from. Jamie's parents. Jamie. I could not believe it. I had actually forgotten about Jamie in the disaster that was my potion. Why hadn't I realized that he hadn't been in? Jamie wound up in St. Mungo's after each and every full moon, until this past one, and I hadn't even given it a second thought. For whatever reason he had slipped my mind and that rattled me. I had never forgotten about one of my own patients, no matter how awful one of Matt's full moons had been. But it was a good thing that he didn't have to go to the hospital, right? I took a deep breath and read the letter. [i]Amy, Jamie had a surprisingly good full moon! He's not ill and he only broke one of his arms. Candace was able to heal it in a minute. He seems to be healing fine at home, so we aren't going to bring him in unless he takes a turn for the worse. We'll keep you updated. ~George Allen[/i] It was amazing how even when things seemed to be at their worst, some good news managed to worm its way into life. Jamie was doing better than he usually was. I smiled as I set the letter down on my desk. A full moon that did not land Jamie in St. Mungo's was a miracle. At least someone's new year was starting off well and Amy couldn't think of anyone more deserving of a good year than Jamie and his family.
FawkesthePhoenix Joined: 31 December 2006 Posts: 3534 Location: No idea, all I know is that there are a LOT of felt-tipped pens...	Posted: Thursday 27 May 2010 01 38 11 pm    Post subject: Mirrors in topic:Mirrors Back around Halloween, my English class was assigned to read Frankenstein and then write a scary story. This is what I wrote for mine: Jack savored the moment, watching with growing delight as the man's face contorted into tortured lines of pain. [i]Mirrors, all of them! [/i]Just like him. Jack had dawdled at the Seven-Eleven, lingering in the snack aisle as he waited. [i]His[/i] name was Garth, and had emerged from the bathroom at exactly the wrong time. [i]It was really all too easy.[/i] Standing far away from anything reflective, Garth had been obvious prey. There wasn't a mirror in sight as Jack walked forward casually. Jack didn't like mirrors. They brought to mind memories best left undisturbed. They'd talked for a while, Jack and Garth, two strangers carrying on a pleasant conversation about trivialities. Jack mentioned a flat tire that he was in the middle of changing. Garth offered to help put on the spare. The cashier didn't pay much attention as the two walked out into the wind-wracked parking lot at seven o'clock sharp. An old woman pumping gas into her car didn't notice that the one named Jack always walked half a pace behind Garth. An adolescent boy didn't see the way Jack clutched a suspicious object beneath his coat as the youth drove away, heading back to a party after a successful beer run. Jack didn't like[i] memories[/i]. They didn't balance out the way they were supposed to; the happiness was always outweighed by the conflicted and sadness. The parking lot was long empty by the time Garth and Jack reached a bright red car by the edge of the parking lot. A stack of cardboard boxes blocked the cashier's view of the scene. Not that she'd be able to do anything anyway. A make-up caked youth, smacking her gum loudly as she read the latest Teen magazine, was hardly a threat to someone as experienced as Jack. In fact, the police might even blame the girl for the crime that was about to occur. No one would ever suspect Jack. They never did, because Jack had never been there. No one ever remembered the dark haired, pale faced average with a trick knee and a brooding look to his eyes. It was all a game, and Jack reveled in his position as top player. Garth formed a questioning look in his eyes when they arrived at the car. It was now revealed to be in perfectly good condition. Jack loved that look, so unsuspecting and innocent. Just like he used to be. He fingered the sedative in his pocket, brushing the cold, worn haft of one of his knives as he did so. Anticipation stirred in his chest. Jack liked knives. And now came the moment! Garth turned with a question on his lips, destined to be left unspoken as his body met with the sedative. Garth slumped, almost falling to the ground before Jack caught him and held his limp form steady. Piling him into the trunk of the car was a challenge, but manageable enough. [i]Mirrors! [/i] It was coming soon. Jack drove swiftly along the freeway, heading for the nature preserve he knew to be unguarded at this time of the day. He went as far as he could with the car, then proceeded on foot, lugging Garth along like so many bags of flour unloaded each day at the supermarket. It would be good practice for him, Jack figured. After all, that was where he was headed after this. He had great plans for this one. The workers would never find anything amiss; after all, many bags of flour were delivered late these days. The bakers, however, might be in for a little surprise. But first things first. At last, he had reached the place. A small clearing around four meters across, it would be the perfect place to give Garth a little wake-up call. As Jack arranged his knives, he heard Garth groan. [i]Mirrors! [/i] It was coming closer now. Time to begin.[i] Mirrors, all of them! [/i] They were mirrors of his pain. And the next would be even better. * * * Sally stood silently looking at the bulletin board, stopped in her tracks by the flamboyant banner that had caught her eye. The circus was coming to town! Complete with a fun house, and best of all-- a hall of mirrors. Sally liked mirrors. They fascinated her. Ever since she'd been a child, mirrors had been an object of wonder. You saw things in them. Her face fell, however, when she reached the bottom of the flier: [i]Entry fee: $70[/i] She couldn't afford that! She was only eleven! But she had to try. Walking home that day, Sally brainstormed some ideas. She could hold a garage sale. She could ask her parents for a few months' allowance in advance. She could scour the couches and chairs for spare change. The last one seemed easiest, so Sally tried that one first. Her family room, with one garishly pink couch and an avocado green armchair, yielded nothing. In the kitchen, she found ten cents behind the kettle. In the attic, she acquired three dollars and some very moldy-looking bubble gum. That she left where it stood, an enduring monument to some perverse contest long past. It was in the basement where she really struck gold. A stack of ancient twenties gathering dust on a shelf. Sally reached as far up as she could, but she knew she'd never reach it. Not without help, that is. On the opposite side of the room there lay a rusting metal pole, ripped from the remains of a car, perhaps, or an airplane. Sally walked over to it, stepping carefully over all the various debris in her way; an old paint-covered smock, the shattered remains of a guitar, a still-smoking cigarette butt lying next to a recently extinguished candle. This was not surprising, as she knew that her father often came down here to escape from her mother, who was prone to tantrums and long bouts of screaming. Sally picked up the pole cautiously, wobbling slightly as its hefty weight unbalanced her. She carried it carefully over to the shelf where the money lay... * * * Jack swept his gaze across the supermarket aisle, humming to himself as he picked out several different kinds of cake. How he loved to bake! And this would be a culinary masterpiece. It would go perfectly with the masterpiece he would be constructing in the cakes' presence. A hall of mirrors! [i] Mirrors, all of them![/i] It would be painful for him, of course, to see his reflection. But worth it in the end, when his victims would not only feel, but see their own pain, their own personal horror movie set on the stage of their very own life. Still humming, Jack picked up a bottle of bubble gum pink frosting and went to purchase his items. * * * [i] “Sally Marie Marshell! What are you DOING?” [/i]Mrs. Marshell screeched, dropping the basket of cleaning products she was carrying and running across the room. Sally jumped in surprise; a dangerous course of action when you're an eleven-year-old child holding a long metal pole above your head. And in this case, fatal. Slicked as it was with her sweat, Sally had no chance of maintaining her hold on the metal bar. It fell, seemingly slowly, with a kind of grace that mother and daughter both watched with wide eyes, frozen as imminent demise approached. Moments later, Sally's mother fell to the floor with the limp finality of death, leaving Sally standing there, silently mouthing the words she had been in the process of saying: [i]“Don't be mad, Mommy. Please don't be mad.”[/i] These words became a sort of chant within the girl's mind as noise clattered upstairs, and her father came down. She continued mouthing them as her father called an ambulance, as paramedics questioned her about what happened, as her father cried out in grief. She stopped only when her father asked, his voice thick with tears, why she was trying to get the money. “I wanted to go to the circus,” Sally murmured pathetically, “to the fun house-- the hall of mirrors.” Don't be mad, Mommy. Please don't be mad. “Then by all means, go!” Mr. Marshell cried, his voice breaking on the last word as he ripped the stack of dusty bills down from the shelf and handed it to the child. “Just [i]GO!” [/i] Sally went. * * * Jack sat contentedly in the hall of mirrors, breathing in the sugary sweet scent of the cakes he had stacked around him. In the reflective mirrors, it was as if there were piles and piles of delicacies, stretching out into eternity. Unfortunately, this meant that Jack, too, was replicated a million times in each mirror, but he put it from his mind. They would come soon. One of them at least, though no telling which. [i]It really doesn't matter which one. Mirrors, all of them! [/i] * * * Sally hesitated outside the hall of mirrors. She was.... confused. That was really all there was to it. She didn't know what had happened to her mother, only that she would never see her again. [i]Don't be mad, Mommy. Please don't be mad.[/i] Sally took a deep breath and went inside. * * * There! There it was! The sound Jack had been waiting for. Footsteps could be heard, and coming with it was one of them. The moment was fast approaching. Everything, all he wanted was about to happen. And to think, it had all started out so innocently... * * * [i] “Hurry up! We're going to miss it!” “I'm going at my own pace!” “You're just making excuses! You'll never be as fast as I am!” the girl teased, speeding up ahead for a moment to prove her point. Her curly blond hair streamed back from her head, whipping into his face as the girl twirled in front of him. “Am not!” Jack insisted adamantly. “Come on, wait up!” [/i] * * * The mirrors were mesmerizing. Sally walked slowly, entranced by all that she saw as she walked through her own personal heaven. Odd, to finally reach such a place, only after making her way through Hell. “Demon child!” Sally's father had screamed as she ran out of the house, before grief made words impossible. ...Was that cake she smelled? It seemed the demon child was now in paradise. But with paradise, there always comes trouble, hot on its heels. * * * Closer! Closer and closer. They had broken into a run. And look, there she was! One of them. A child. This made him pause for a moment. She was so young... Perfect. * * * [i] “Look, there it is!” the girl pointed excitedly at the hall of mirrors. “Come on, let's go!” She took off at a run towards the entrance. “Wait for me!” Jack called, running after her. “You never wait up!” he accused as the two entered together.[/i] * * * Closer! Closer and closer. Sally had broken into a run. And look, there they were! Arranged in perfect lines were dozens and dozens of cakes. Perfect. Sally rushed forward and dove her hand into one, not noticing the man standing in the shadows. * * * The girl rushed forward and dove her hand into a cake, completely oblivious of Jack standing behind her in the shadows. But not for long. Jack approached the girl and asked quietly, “Your name?” * * * [i] “You're name?” Jack heard someone ask as he ran through the mirrors, trying to keep up with the girl. “Manny.” he heard her answer. [/i] * * * “Your name?” Sally jumped, then looked up at the man that had appeared (seemingly out of nowhere behind her). “Sally,” she said almost inaudibly, knowing that she was probably in trouble. [i]Don't be mad, Mommy. Please don't be mad.[/i] * * * Sally! What a delightful name! “Well, Sally,” Jack said smoothly, squatting down beside her with a wink, “would you like some cake?” * * * [i]“Well, Manny,” Jack heard someone say, “do you like mirrors?” They were getting louder. Jack walked faster, sure that he was on the right track. “Yes,” he heard Manny answer just as she came into view, “I love them!” “Well then, this will be a treat...” [/i] * * * “Yes, please.” Sally replied, just as quietly as before. She held out her hands. * * * [i] From his unseen vantage point, Jack saw it all. He was able to describe it quite accurately to the police an a hour later when they found him. The blood on his sneakers and the girl's body lying in front of him were all he needed to keep the memories fresh. [/i] * * * “Ah, but this is a special cake,” Jack said, smiling just slightly. It wasn't a lie, really; the cake was special, just not in the way the girl thought is was. “You have to shut your eyes.” He readied the stiletto knife held behind his back... * * * Jack smiled benignly as the child finally murmured those eight words, destined to be her last, and raised his knife one last time. [i]“Don't be mad, Mommy. Please don't be mad.”[/i]
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 26 May 2010 10 59 29 am    Post subject: Re: Beyond the Shadow in topic:Beyond the Shadow Chapter 9: Failed Potion At work the next day it was like Christmas had never happened. All the decorations were gone and Farina was back to her usual self. I always liked to keep the decorations up until at least New Year's, but Farina preferred to get everything back to normal. However, the other employees of the hospital spent the next few days discussing their holidays and everything that happened during them. The most exciting news was that one of the nurses on the Magical Bugs floor got engaged to a bloke she had only known for six months. I managed to find Victoire around lunch time and cornered her in the nearest bathroom for all the details about the reveal of her pregnancy. “Mum cried,” Victoire said. “She really did. Not bad crying or anything. She was just happy, really happy, especially about the fact that the baby doesn't have lycanthropy. She started going on and on about how she thought she would never have another grandchild besides Sophie. I mean, she loves Sophie but she always wanted a lot of grandchildren. Gabriella and Ben just groaned and Gabriella proclaimed that she would eventually get married and have kids. Mum didn't say anything to that.” “I just don't see your sister as the marrying type,” I said. “That's great that your mum is excited, though.” “I don't see her ever getting married either,” Victoire agreed. “She won't be able to just go wherever she likes whenever she pleases if she gets married and has kids.” “What about everyone else?” I asked. “Are they all excited?” “Of course, they're Weasleys!” Victoire laughed. “That's what we do, have kids. My grandma cried, too. She's so excited about having another great-grandchild.” “I think kids that are born into the Weasley clan are possibly the luckiest kids in Britain, possibly the whole world,” I said. “Possibly,” Victoire replied. “So how was your Christmas?” “Let's see, my grandmother pretty much asked me why I wasn't married and giving my mother grandchildren and Matt slept through the whole conversation, leaving me to be the only one interrogated. Then she gave me a sparkly dress for New Year's, assuming that I would go out to a party.” Victoire groaned. “I will never understand your grandmother.” “Me either,” I sighed. “There is no way I'm going out to a party on New Year's Eve.” “Of course you're not,” Victoire agreed. “Although Gabriella invited me to one. Only Gabriella could get invited to a party when she hasn't even been in the country recently, and then go and invite other people.” I laughed. “Maybe I should give her my dress.” “I'm sure she'd take it,” Victoire replied. “Well, I suppose I'd better get back. I'm due in the clinic in ten minutes.” “Have fun,” I said. “I should get back, too. Merlin, this week is already insane.” Insane proved to be too tame of a word to describe that week. It seemed like I hardly went home at all and when I was there, all I did was try to catch up on sleep. The week preceding the full moon was always crazy for me since I had extra potions to brew (Wolfsbane requires extra attention right before it's taken), but this week was even busier. Every time a new potion passes the preliminary tests, I have to owl all of my and Morris's patients who would qualify to take it. Neither of us have very many patients whom regular Wolfsbane doesn't work for, but there's a handful. Then I have to set up times to meet with them to distribute it and give instructions. Each new potion usually had about four or five people testing it. However, this month Matt was the only one who got back to me. I figured with the holidays people just hadn't given it much thought and I didn't get the owls out soon enough. I usually like to send them out two weeks before the full moon, but I just hadn't had the chance that month. Eventually I wanted to get Jamie onto the test potion list, but he wasn't strong enough to risk it yet. This would be his second full moon off of regular Wolfsbane and while he was getting stronger, he still wasn't ready. His parents were already eager to try new potions, as seeing their son so injured is not something they wished to see again. By the time the weekend arrived I felt like I needed to sleep for two days straight and couldn't imagine going out for New Year's Eve even if it wasn't a full moon. I slept late on Saturday and then went over to Teddy and Victoire's for an early New Year's celebration. It was a small gathering, just the two of them, Gabriella, and Ben. Matt didn't feel up to going. I slept late on Sunday as well and awoke to the sound of banging on my door and immediately wished I hadn't had as much firewhiskey the previous night as I had had. I hadn't gotten really drunk, but I had had enough to give me a monster headache. The pounding got louder and quicker as I made my way to the door. It better not be anyone selling anything, I thought. I wasn't in the mood to buy biscuits from cute little girls in vests. Instead of girl guides, Albus Potter stood at the door when I opened it, looking nearly as exhausted as I felt. His black hair was more messy than usual and there were purple bags under his eyes. Judging by the Puddlemere United shirt and Gryffindor sweatpants he was wearing, he had either just woken up or not yet gone to bed. I didn't know him that well, just as well as anyone would know their brother's best friend, but what I did know was that he kept extremely odd hours when he wasn't working. “Matt's sick,” Albus said immediately. “Worse than usual.” That woke me up. It was as good as jumping into the Black Lake in the middle of January. With sleep the last thing on my mind I threw on a pair of shoes and followed Albus back to their flat. “He's got a really high fever,” Albus explained once we were back in the flat. “And he hasn't been able to keep anything down.” I nodded and immediately headed for his bedroom. It was the neatest part of the entire flat, but was still messy enough for Mum to clean every time she visited. Matt was buried underneath a myriad of blankets, with only the top of his head sticking out. I pulled them back and saw that his hair was plastered to his face with sweat and he was incredibly pale. “When did this start?” I asked. “Sometime last night,” Albus shrugged. “I figured I should come get you since he hadn't emerged from his room since four in the morning.” I glanced at the clock. It was noon. I gently shook Matt and he groaned. A little while later I had managed to rouse him. “Matt, can you sit up?” He muttered something and lifted his head up, only to fall back down on the pillow. “Too dizzy.” “I'll get you potions,” I replied and quickly left the room. As soon as I was in the kitchen I leaned up against the wall and took a deep breath. All right, I told myself, just because he was sicker than usual did not mean I was to blame. It wasn't necessarily the potion that made him ill. There were plenty of other explanations for it. Perhaps he had caught the flu or was overly tired. The one bad thing about Matt testing my potions was that they didn't always just not work. Sometimes they didn't agree with him at all, making him sick in the process. It didn't happen often, but when it did, I felt awful. I grabbed the potions as well as a glass of water and a box of crackers. I had to try to get him to eat something. If he was weak when he transformed it would make the recovery so much worse. John was standing at the front door with Albus when I walked past. They were talking about John's most recent disastrous date. “It's because all you talk about is Quidditch, mate,” Albus sighed. “Girls don't only like to talk about Quidditch.” “And I'm supposed to take advice from you?” John replied incredulously. “You haven't had a girlfriend for more than two weeks since we graduated.” “Well, girls don't like it when their boyfriends go off to other countries for work for weeks on end without contacting them,” Albus explained. “We're pathetic,” John groaned. I rolled my eyes and continued to Matt's bedroom. John was never one to be without a date on Friday nights, but he never managed to find a girl who was tolerant of the level of his Quidditch obsession, which bordered on insanity. Matt did not improve throughout the day. In fact he only seemed to get sicker. None of the potions seemed to be helping and the only way he was somewhat comfortable was to be asleep, so eventually I stopped trying to shove potions down his throat and just let him sleep. Albus and John stuck around the entire day, lamenting their pathetic love lives and complaining about the fact that Kaden was the only one of their group with a girlfriend. I had to side-along Apparate Matt directly out of the flat when the time came to get to our parents' house. Dad took him right to the basement to sleep until the moon rose. Then we went to sit our usual once a month vigil in the kitchen, the only difference being the few bottles of champagne Ellie had purchased to toast in the new year. “Blue moons are always worse for him,” Dad commented shortly before the moon rose. “It's the potion,” I muttered. “I messed something up, I just know it.” “You do not, Amy,” Dad said adamantly. “He's probably got a bug.” I opened my mouth to contradict him, but the first scream began and we all grew silent. Then another scream, and another, and I realized that they were louder and more pain ridden than normal. After years of listening to my brother scream on full moons, I knew the exact pitch to expect. This one was worse. The screams were horrible, awful, even for him. Mum and Dad realized it as well. We all looked at each other and I could see in their faces that they now believed me. It was the potion. No illness would make the transformation more painful. No, that was all the potion. I met Mum's gaze and she looked away, trying to hide her disappointment and fear. ****** Ellie poured the champagne at 11:55, even though none of us were in the mood for it. None of us had said a word since the moon rose and the only sound that filled the room was howling, howling that sounded far worse than usual. However, Ellie, always the one to try and keep some normalcy during full moons, insisted that we have the champagne. We each took a glass and began our half-hearted countdown to the new year. “Happy New Year.” We each mumbled when the moment finally arrived. We clinked glasses and sipped the champagne. Goodbye 2028, I thought as I gazed at the bubbles in my glass. Goodbye to another year where all I accomplished was creating a potion that made the full moons worse for my brother. I looked at the glass and tipped the champagne into my mouth, swallowing it all in one mouthful. A nice double shot of Firewhiskey would be far more appropriate. ****** The year 2029 began with a trip to St. Mungo's. I did as much as I could at home, but eventually we had to take him in and owl Morris. We found Matt in the basement with far more broken bones than usual, extreme blood loss, and burning up. I hadn't seen him that bad in years. This was officially my worst potion yet. Morris kept me out of the ward while he was working on Matt and while I completely understood, I still couldn't stand to stand there in the corridor not doing anything. My parents were sitting in my study, but I couldn't sit still. I paced and thought back over each and every aspect of that potion I had made. I thought about the ingredients, the interactions of the ingredients, the amount of simmering and stirring time, the properties of the cauldrons and spoons and scales I had used, and everything else that went into potion brewing. Nothing was standing out as being detrimental. Every ingredient in that potion was something he had had before, so it was definitely not an allergic reaction. “Amy.” I looked up from my pacing and saw Victoire walking towards me, looking exhausted, but otherwise glowing with that pregnancy glow. She immediately hugged me and I bit my lip, trying not to cry “Your parents sent an owl over,” she told me. “How is he?” “Awful,” I choked. “And it's all my fault.” “It's not,” Victoire said firmly. “You didn't know that would happen, and he knew the risks in taking that potion.” “It is,” I insisted, trying unsuccessfully not to cry. “I created that potion and he trusted me not to give him one that would make the full moon worse!” “Look,” she sighed. “I know you're stubborn, but just try to accept that it's not your fault.” “It is,” I groaned as I leaned against the wall. “I'm not going to accept anything. I'm going to figure out why it happened and I'm certainly not going to let it happen again. I'll test the damn potion myself before letting this happen again.” “Amy, you know that won't work,” Victoire said quietly. “I know.” “I've got to get back home to Sophie. Teddy's on duty soon. You're free to come over if you want to.” Victoire gave me another hug. “Thanks,” I said as I hugged her back. “But I've got to stay here.” “All right,” Victoire gave me a half smile. “Tell Matt I hope he feels better.” I continued pacing and thinking for the next ten minutes, but didn't come up with anything. What could possibly have gone wrong? The door to the ward opened and Morris stepped out. He gestured that I could go and see Matt and then followed me in. “I'm just waiting for the blood test results,” Morris said as I sped over to Matt's bed. “Hopefully they'll give us some answers as to why the potion had this effect on him.” I nodded, afraid that if I said something I would start crying again. Then I saw Matt and froze in my tracks. All of a sudden the image of Matt, at eight years old, lying in that same hospital bed after being forced to transform with other werewolves was in the front of my mind. He looked practically the same now as he did then. Small, bandaged, covered by sterile white blankets, and either asleep or unconscious. If it weren't for the fact that we were both fifteen years older, it could have been the same thing all over again. My potion, something I created, something I told him to take, had done the same thing to him as Ralph Lubar had all those years ago. The thought made me feel slightly sick. I had to get out of there. I couldn't look at Matt anymore. I couldn't look at what I had done to him. I practically ran into my parents as I left the ward, but they didn't say anything to me. Instead I kept walking, not really sure where I was going. A few nurses and Healers said hello to me as I walked towards the lift, but I didn't stop. It wasn't until the lift doors were closed did I realize that I was sharing it with Farina. “Morning, Eckerton,” she said, causing me to jump. “Are you all right?” I looked at her and she was wearing that same rare look of concern she gave Victoire the day she found out she was pregnant. “Fine,” I muttered, wiping my eyes. “Hmm,” she replied. “You don't look fine. Your brother's upstairs, isn't he?” I whipped my head around and stared at her. I knew as the director of St. Mungo's she obviously knew a lot about the hospital and its patients, but how would she know that off the top of her head? “As the director of this hospital, I have access to all the information in the building,” she told me. “When you arrived, fresh out of Hogwarts, I was surprised by your determination to succeed and how sure you were of what you wanted to do with your life. No seventeen or eighteen year old has ever had their career planned out like you did. Naturally, I had to investigate. Your brother's medical records were all the answers I needed. I just checked the new admissions forms and I saw his name on there. Take tomorrow off.” The doors opened and Farina left without another word. I stood stunned as a maintenance worker muttering about bubotuber pus ambled in, completely shocked at Farina's generosity. An extra day off? I wasn't surprised at all that she had looked into my past when I started at St. Mungo's, not that she had ever told me about it before. I got off the lift at the lobby and went off into Muggle London. Perhaps walking through the streets amongst strangers would help me clear my head.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 26 May 2010 10 57 37 am    Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden This is the second to last chapter! Chapter 37: The Outcome of the Match Albus managed to sit up right before the hexes started flying. Realizing that he dropped his wand when Lubar and Jarrett hexed him, he groped about for it on the ground. Not finding it, he crawled behind a nearby bush and watched. Jarrett didn't stick around long. He sent one pathetic Stunner at Harry, who easily deflected it, and disappeared on the spot. Harry immediately disarmed Lubar before he could do the same. Once Lubar was defenseless, Albus left the safety of the bush and shakily stood up. He reached the fire and was able to see who the other two wizards next to Harry were. What he saw made him dizzy with shock all over again. The shorter of the two was Matt's dad. He was staring stony faced at Lubar. Albus had never seen anyone glare at anyone else with such hatred and loathing as Matt's dad glared at Lubar. And that included when his Uncle Ron talked about the Malfoys, or his mum when somebody mentioned Vernon and Petunia Dursley. It was the other wizard that nearly caused Albus to pass out in shock. He was none other than Professor Balladanis. What in the name of Merlin was he doing there? It looked like he was actually with Harry and Matt's dad. But why? Didn't Matt's dad hate Balladanis? “Eckerton, what a pleasant surprise,” Lubar smirked. “Lubar, if we weren't in the presence of an Auror and a Presuler I'd rip you limb from limb, Muggle style,” Mr. Eckerton growled. Albus was slightly stunned by Mr. Eckerton's choice of words, but remembering what Matt had told him at the beginning of the year, all surprise left him. “Lucky for me Potter and Balladanis are here, then,” Lubar replied and snatched Washburn's wand off the ground. Harry, Mr. Eckerton, and Balladanis all sent different spells at Lubar at the same time, but it was too late. He was already gone. Mr. Eckerton swore loudly. “Two ain't bad,” Balladanis muttered as he gestured to Washburn and Quinton, the latter of whom was still conscious but not completely aware of his surroundings. “That's the glaring difference between you and I,” Mr. Eckerton muttered as he moved swiftly past Quinton and Washburn to reach Matt. “Dad!” Albus shouted. Harry looked up from Kaden's unconscious form and raced towards Albus. Albus threw his arms around his dad and the two of them hugged each other tightly. “Al, thank Merlin,” Harry said. “Dad, what's Balladanis doing here?” Albus asked immediately, “And Lubar, what's going to happen to him? And Willinson?” “I'll explain it all once we get you back to Hogwarts,” Harry assured him. Balladanis had a firm hold on both Washburn and Quinton and was fiddling with a broken plastic cup. A few seconds later, all three of them disappeared. Harry turned to Mr. Eckerton, who was standing up with Matt in his arms. “Can you take John, too? I'll get Kaden and Al will come with me.” Mr. Eckerton nodded and grabbed hold of John's arm before pulling his own broken plastic cup out of his pocket. They disappeared. Harry pulled Kaden up and took Albus's arm. Albus was still thoroughly confused, but did not have time to ask his dad anymore questions before feeling the familiar jerk behind his naval that signified he was traveling by Portkey. Albus landed with a thud in the middle of the Hospital Wing. The question of how they managed to Portkey inside the Hogwarts grounds was the least pressing question on his mind. Looking around, Albus saw that the others had arrived as well. Mr. Eckerton was laying both Matt and John on the nearest beds while Madam Pomfrey was shouting and gathering potions. “Look at the state of them!” the nurse exclaimed, “Always this lot, too! You're a bad influence on them, Harry, I swear!” Harry looked slightly sheepish as he set Kaden down on the bed next to Matt's and then turned to Albus. “I've got to speak with Professor Kendrick and go to the Ministry-” he began. “But Dad!” Albus interrupted, “What was Balladanis doing there?” “I promise I'll tell you all of that and more,” Harry replied, “But I need to tell everyone you and the others are ok. When I get back, I'm going to need you to tell me everything that happened.” “But-” “No buts!” Madam Pomfrey cut in, “Bed, Albus, bed! You need rest!” Albus, who had barely registered the fact that his head was bleeding and he was still quite dizzy, felt that the last thing he needed was rest. He needed to know what was going on. “I'll explain once you've gotten some sleep,” Harry assured him. Albus muttered under his breath and got into bed. Once Madam Pomfrey had given him a Sleeping Draught, Harry left, leaving Albus to unsuccessfully try to fight off the sleep he knew was coming. ****** The ward was quiet when Albus woke up. It was completely dark outside, although Albus didn't have the slightest clue as to what day it was. John, Matt, and Kaden were either still unconscious or sound asleep. Albus was betting on the latter since Madam Pomfrey was no where to be seen. Mr. Eckerton was still there and he had been joined by his wife. Both of them were nodding off in chairs next to Matt's bed. It didn't look like Mr. Eckerton had even left. He was wearing the same Ministry robes he had been wearing before. Albus sat up and put his hand to his head. There was a bandage on the back of it. Another bandage was wrapped around his right arm, although he couldn't recall when he had injured it. Besides that, he just felt exhausted. The door to the ward opened, letting in a small flood of light from the corridor. A figure stepped inside and began walking towards Albus's bed. “Hey, Al,” they said. “Dad,” Albus replied, recognizing his father, “Are you going to tell me about Balladanis now?” “Yes,” Harry chuckled, “Perhaps we ought to go to the Room of Requirement.” Albus shook his head, remembering something he had been debating for the past year. He had waited long enough. It was time. “No,” Albus said, “I know someplace better.” Without saying a word, Albus got out of bed and lead his dad out the door and up to the fifth floor corridor. Harry did not ask a single question as Albus pulled the arm down on the appropriate knight and turned to face the opposite wall. Albus located the paw prints and touched his hand to them, turning it into a doorknob. He opened the door and stepped inside. Harry followed, letting out a gasp as he did. “Remember that map from last year?” Albus asked as he shut the door. Harry nodded, apparently at a loss for words. “There was more to it. Instructions on how to get into this room. It was theirs, the Marauders'. Their secret common room,” Albus said quietly. Harry didn't respond. Instead he walked slowly around the room. Albus stood near the door and waited. He wasn't sure how long he stood there, watching as his dad investigated the room that had once belonged to his grandfather. “This,” Harry began, “This is just incredible, Al. How long have you known about it?” “About a year,” Albus said quietly. “And you spend time here?” Harry asked. “Probably more than we do in the common room,” Albus answered. “Then it is the perfect place to talk,” Harry said as he sat down on one of the couches. Albus sat down next to him. “So why was Balladanis there?” “I'll tell you that,” Harry said, “But first I want you to explain to me what happened.” Albus took a deep breath and told his dad everything. Starting with when they saw Lubar in the castle and ending with throwing the Resurrection Stone into the Outback. He explained how they had first gone to a forest in Australia, how they had Portkeyed to the Outback, the dementors, the almost Patronus he had managed to make, the duel, the fact that the Resurrection Stone didn't work to bring Voldemort back. “Why didn't it work?” Albus asked, “I mean, I'm glad it didn't, but why?” Harry thought for a few minutes and then looked at Albus. “There are a few reasons that might explain it. The Resurrection Stone brings back people we love, but it does not bring them back completely. It's almost as if their soul is coming back.” “Like a ghost?” “Not exactly,” Harry said, “But similar. It's possible that since Voldemort split his soul so many times, he can't be brought back with the Stone. The Stone may need the soul to be intact to work.” Albus nodded. “That makes sense.” “It could also be that only loved ones can be brought back with the Stone. Washburn and the Willinsons did not love Voldemort; they did not know him. They wanted to bring him back for their own agenda,” Harry explained. “Is there any way to find out which it is?” Albus asked. “No, I don't think so,” Harry said, “Especially now that the Stone is once again gone. Which is something I'm very grateful that you did.” “Well, I figured you left it out in the Forbidden Forest for a reason,” Albus shrugged. “Yes, yes I did,” Harry replied, “I think it best if nobody had that Stone.” Albus nodded. “Yeah, that makes sense. But what was Balladanis doing there?” Harry laughed. “You're not going to let that go, are you?” “Nope, you said you'd tell me,” Albus said. “I will,” Harry replied, “Albus, do you know what a Presuler is?” “Yes,” Albus nodded, “And I know that Balladanis is one.” “You do?” Harry looked impressed. “He told me during one of those dueling lessons he gave me,” Albus explained. “Well, that makes my explanation easier,” Harry said, “A little over a year ago, shortly after Quinton kidnapped Kaden, the Ministry decided to hire a Presuler to help find Washburn and Jarrett Willinson.” “Seriously?” Albus gaped at him. “Yes,” Harry muttered, “The Minister believed the Aurors needed some help.” Albus thought he heard bit of contempt in his dad's voice. “When I realized that Washburn and the Willinsons were most likely working with Ralph Lubar, I had to contact Balladanis and let him know. He came with us, and I have to admit that he was very helpful. We would not have found you as fast if he wasn't there,” Harry explained. “But why was he teaching here?” Albus asked. “The Minister, Professor Kendrick, and I believed it would be good strategy to have him stationed at Hogwarts, where we all believed Washburn and the Willinsons would return to. Balladanis agreed,” Harry said, “Of course, none of us realized that Balladanis would not be able to handle teaching. “This is all quite secretive, Al. I'd prefer you didn't tell anyone. I will be telling Matt, John, and Kaden, because I feel they have the right to know, but I don't want anyone else knowing about it.” “What about Rose and Amanda?” Albus asked. “I suppose I'll tell them as well, otherwise Kaden is sure to tell them,” Harry said. “What's going to happen to Lubar?” Albus asked, “Is Balladanis going to be after him now?” “No,” Harry shook his head, “That's going to be tricky situation. Lubar isn't a British citizen. We can't do a thing while he's in Australia. It's up to the Australian Ministry to either put him on trial or give him to us to put on trial. And since he's one of their officials, we're not sure they'll do either.” “But that's not fair!” Albus stood up angrily, “Look what he did! Look what he's done!” “I know,” Harry sighed, “I'd like nothing more than to give him a life-long stint in Azkaban, but unfortunately the laws don't work that way.” “He and Balladanis get along anyway,” Albus said, “Balladanis probably wouldn't want to go after him.” “I don't know about that,” Harry said, “Balladanis likes people to pay for what they've done. However, being a Presuler and having no Ministry affiliation, he does not have to take a case if he's offered it.” “He told me I'd make a good Presuler,” Albus said quietly as I sat back down, “Malfoy, too.” Harry sighed. “What do you think about that?” “I don't know,” Albus shrugged, “I mean, I like dueling, but I don't really want to decide what I want to do right now.” “You don't have to,” Harry replied, “And I don't want to tell you what to do, but I am going to tell you something. “Being a Presuler is a hard job and often a lonely one. You have no coworkers. You work with various Ministries, but rarely get to know anyone. You travel a lot, which can make it difficult to have a family. It's not an easy path to go down. Not one I'd choose for myself.” Albus hadn't even thought about that. He didn't think he'd want to rarely ever see his friends and family. “There's plenty of other things you could do that would put your dueling skills to use,” Harry told him, “And you're only 13 so no need to decide now.” “I know, I don't plan to,” Albus replied. “Well, you should probably get back to the Hospital Wing before Madam Pomfrey notices you're gone,” Harry smirked, “And thanks again for showing me the room.” Harry stood up and gave his son a hug. They left the room and walked back to the Hospital Wing, both lost in their thoughts. ****** As it turned out, Madam Pomfrey had already noticed that Albus was missing. When he returned to the Hospital Wing with his dad, she was running about the ward shouting at the top of her lungs. Matt, John, and Kaden were all awake, staring at her. “There you are!” she shrieked, “Where have you been?” “Er,” Albus began. “I had to talk to him in private,” Harry answered for him. “You should have asked me first!” Madam Pomfrey exclaimed as she ushered Albus back into bed, “He needs rest!” “I'm his father,” Harry said incredulously. “I don't care if you're the Minister of Magic!” Madam Pomfrey replied, “I'm the one with the nursing degree!” “How long has she been shouting?” Albus whispered to Matt as he got back in bed. “Fifteen minutes or so,” Matt answered. Madam Pomfrey returned to her desk and Harry strode over to where the Eckertons were sitting. “Could I have a word in private?” Harry asked Mr. Eckerton and then turned to Madam Pomfrey. “Do I need your permission for that?” he grinned. “Very amusing,” Madam Pomfrey muttered. Albus drifted back to sleep a little while later and when he next woke up it was light out and Madam Pomfrey was bringing them all breakfast trays. “Er, what day is it?” Albus asked as Madam Pomfrey set his tray down. “It's Sunday, dear, but it's afternoon,” Madam Pomfrey replied, “I figured you'd prefer to have breakfast.” “Only Sunday?” Albus asked. It felt like it had been far more than twenty-four hours since he had met up with Lubar before the Quidditch match. “Time zone changes are difficult to adjust to,” Madam Pomfrey explained, “Australia's quite a few hours ahead of us.” Albus nodded and dug into his breakfast. Suddenly he was ravenous. When he thought about it, it must have been at least a day since he'd eaten anything. “I wonder how the Quidditch match went,” Kaden mused as he shoved toast in his mouth. Albus choked on his eggs. He'd forgotten about the match! “I doubt we won,” he sighed. “Is your dad going to tell us why Balladanis was with him when he came to save us?” John asked, “I mean, he's had plenty of time.” “He will,” Albus said, “He already told me. You lot were asleep.” The doors to the Hospital Wing banged open and Rose and Amanda came running in. Madam Pomfrey made a move to get up from her desk, but then sat back down, shaking her head. “Tell us what happened!” Rose demanded as she skidded to a halt in front of Albus's bed, “When did you get back? Where did you go?” “Who won the Quidditch match?” Albus asked. “Quidditch? Quidditch?” Rose groaned, “I'm not saying a word about Quidditch until the four of you tell me what in the name of Merlin's saggy left-” “Miss Weasley!” Madam Pomfrey shouted, “If you don't lower your voice, you'll have to leave!” “Sorry,” Rose turned back to Albus, “But you lot have got to tell us what happened!” Albus launched into the entire tale, which took the better part of a half hour to tell. Neither Rose or Amanda interrupted once during the whole thing. Both of them looked absolutely shocked by the time Albus concluded. “But, but why was Balladanis there?” Rose asked. “My dad's going to tell you,” Albus said, “He's already told me. He'll probably tell the rest of you today.” “Merlin, Albus,” Rose sighed, “How much trouble can you get into?” “It's not my fault,” Albus shrugged, “Now can you tell us about the match?” Rose exchanged glances with Amanda, who sighed. “It was quite the match, let me tell you,” Amanda said. “Nobody won, Al,” Rose said. “What?” John interrupted, “How can nobody win?” “About forty-five minutes into the match, Fred and Heather ran onto the pitch-” “The match lasted that long?” Matt asked. “Yes,” Rose said, “I don't know why. Anyway, Fred and Heather ran right up to Ludo Bagman and started talking to him. Nobody could hear what they were saying. Then Bagman blew his whistle and they went into a time-out. “Bagman left the pitch and had a really long talk with all the headmasters and captains. Then Kendrick announced that the match was called off and told everyone to return to their common rooms. “Everyone was really angry of course. Amanda and I were already worried because you lot hadn't shown up yet. We thought something bad had happened and that was why they called it off.” “Why did they call it off?” John asked. “I'm getting to that,” Rose said, “We got back up to Gryffindor and everyone was gathered around Fred and Heather. Linda wasn't there, and neither were any of her teammates who were Gryffindors. “We pushed our way to the front of the crowd and heard what Fred and Heather were talking about. They were claiming that Australia had been cheating the whole time-” “Well, they were,” Matt muttered. “I know,” Rose agreed, “And apparently so did Fred and Heather. I'm sure they figured it out just recently or else they would've told someone sooner. They found out Linda's a vampire and now the entire school knows.” “How did they figure it out?” Albus asked, completely shocked. Linda hid her secret quite well. Fred and Heather were sixth years, they wouldn't have heard Balladanis's vampire lecture.” “They've been trying to figure it out all year,” Rose explained, “And since they're smart, they figured it out.” “But what about the match?” Albus asked. “I think they're going to cancel the tournament, Albus,” Rose said quietly. “Cancel the tournament?” Albus gasped, “Cancel the tournament?! They can't do that! We've spent the whole year on that tournament! Do you know how much time I've spent on the Quidditch pitch this year? More time than I've spent in class, probably! And now they're going to cancel the bloody tournament?” “I don't know, Al,” Rose said shortly, “And if they do it's not my fault.” “Sorry,” Albus mumbled, “It's just a little aggravating.” “I know,” Rose replied. “Where's Linda?” Matt asked. “Gone,” Rose sighed, “Without a word. I haven't seen her or any of the Australians since the match. Killigan's gone, too.” “Wow,” Matt replied, “Can't say I blame her, though.” “I guess,” Rose said, “Anyway, they'll probably make an announcement about the tournament at dinner.”
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 26 May 2010 10 56 34 am    Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden Sorry, I did it again! Forgot to post last week. Chapter 35: The Return Never had Albus wished so hard that he could Apparate. Why did you have to be seventeen to get your Apparition license anyway? If he ever worked in the Department of Magical Transportation, he would change that law. Apparition would've enabled him to get out of Australia, away from Jarrett Willinson, who was trying to bring back Lord Voldemort with the Resurrection Stone. Albus could not remember being more scared in his life. This was far worse than when he had dueled Washburn on the Hogwarts grounds two years ago, far worse than when Quinton kidnapped Kaden the previous year. Lord Voldemort was far scarier than Lubar, Washburn, and the Willinsons combined. What would Voldemort look like when Jarrett brought him back? Harry had said the Stone couldn't actually bring people back to life. Albus guessed he'd be more like a ghost. But would he be able to do magic, to perform the curses and hexes he did when he was alive? Albus held his breath as he watched Jarrett turn the stone over in his hands. Albus had no idea how it worked, but judging by how quiet all of the adults were, Jarrett was trying to use it. Over and over again Jarrett turned the stone. He did it for so long that Albus had to let out his breath. The excited gleam on Jarrett's face slowly dissipated until it was replaced by frustration. “Why won't it work?” Jarrett shouted, “Are you positive this is the right Stone?” “Of course I am!” Lubar shouted as he grabbed the Stone, “The spell said it was!” “Well, it's not working now, is it?” Jarrett mocked. Albus breathed a sigh of relief. Either they had the wrong stone or for whatever reason, Voldemort couldn't be brought back with it. Albus was hoping for the former. Lubar turned the stone over in his hands. On the third turn, a strange sort of mist appeared in front of him. Albus's heart sped up. It had worked. The mist began to clear and a figure was standing in front of Lubar. The figure was not Lord Voldemort, though. Albus had no idea who had been resurrected, but it certainly was not Voldemort. This person was a woman, and a short one at that. Washburn and the Willinsons were exchanging curious glances. Lubar, however, was staring directly at the figure, his face contorted with something Albus could only assume was sadness. “M-mother?” Lubar said as he stepped closer to the woman. “You idiot!” Jarrett shouted, “That's not Voldemort!” “I know that!” Lubar snapped and the looked back to the woman, who was apparently his mother, “Mum.” “Ralphy,” the woman replied. “I-it's been so long,” Lubar whispered. Albus turned to his friends, who were all staring in confusion at Lubar. Matt in particular was giving Lubar a very strange look. Apparently the stone was the Resurrection Stone and it did indeed work, just not in the way Jarrett had been planning. “Very long,” Lubar's mother agreed, “But you've done well. I'm very proud of you, son.” Albus had to cover his mouth to conceal his snort. What kind of mother could be proud of what Lubar had done? “I've tried,” Lubar said, “I swore I would after, after what happened.” “You have,” Lubar's mum replied, “You've done me proud.” “Oh for Merlin's sake!” Jarrett shouted as he ran towards Lubar. Lubar seemed to have forgotten that there were other people around. He jumped as Jarrett advanced and Jarrett grabbed the Stone out of his hand. Lubar's mother began to fade as soon as Jarrett took the stone. Running towards her, Lubar held out his hands trying to keep her there. “No!” he shouted, “Mum!” Mere seconds after Lubar's mother completely disappeared, Lubar had his wand out and was holding it up at Jarrett. Jarrett had taken out his own wand, but neither man was hurling jinxes. Washburn and Quinton had taken a few steps back. “You arse!” Lubar shouted, “That was my mother!” “I know!” Jarrett replied, “That's why I did it! We're trying to bring back Voldemort here, not your messed up mum!” “Do not insult my mother,” Lubar seethed and flicked his wand. Jarrett fell to the ground, completely unable to move. Lubar stood over him with his wand directed at his chest. “My mother was a lovely person,” Lubar growled, “You're sick to be speaking ill of the dead like that.” Albus didn't really think Lubar should be talking about who is sick and who isn't. Nor did he think his mother was particularly lovely. Never before had Albus thought he'd agree with Jarrett Willinson on anything, but when it came to Lubar's mother, he did. “Better they hex each other than us, right?” John muttered. “Good point,” Albus replied. “Can we please just get back to bringing back Voldemort?” Washburn drawled loudly, “I was under the impression that that's what we were here for, not to insult each other's mothers.” Lubar turned his wand on Washburn. “Have you anything to say about my mother? Well, do you?” Washburn hastily pulled out his own wand. “Er, no, she seemed quite lovely.” “Good,” Lubar said manically, “Keep it that way, or you'll end up like him.” Lubar gestured to Jarrett, who was still laying paralyzed on the ground, his eyes darting about nervously. ****** “Australia,” Walter said weakly, “Bloody hell.” “I'll need you to replicate that Portkey,” Harry said to the witch, who nodded and left the room again. “Walter,” Harry began, “I am nearly one hundred percent sure that Jarrett and Quinton Willinson, as well as Jameson Washburn are working with Lubar. I am nearly positive that they are with the boys in Australia.” “Right,” Walter agreed, “The evidence surely points that way.” “There is something about that investigation that hardly anyone in the Ministry knows,” Harry lowered his voice, “Nearly a year ago, after Quinton was sent to Azkaban, the Ministry decided that the Auror Department needed some help with capturing the other two. The Minister hired a Presuler.” Walter let out a low whistle and then realization dawned on his face. “Wait, you don't mean-” “Tethys Balladanis,” Harry said quietly, “Yes, he was the Presuler the Ministry hired. Stationed at Hogwarts under the pretense of teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts.” “Bad idea on the Minister's part,” Walter muttered. “It was my idea to station him at Hogwarts,” Harry replied, “But I did not know that he would be such an awful teacher.” “I won't hold it against you,” Walter said. “I appreciate that,” Harry said, “However, since Balladanis is a part of this investigation, I have to contact him and he will have to go with us to Australia. I understand that you have had your differences, but-” “If he helps to find Matt, I will forgive him for everything he's done,” Walter interrupted. “Here you are, Mr. Potter, Mr. Eckerton,” the witch returned holding a misshapen plastic container, which she handed to Harry. “If I can be of anymore assistance, let me know.” “That's it for now,” Harry said as he took the container, “Thanks.” ****** Albus stood frozen as the four men dueled each other. Completely unsure of what to do, yet very happy that they seemed to have momentarily forgotten about the boys, Albus just stood there watching. Matt, John, and Kaden did the same, although John looked more than a bit apprehensive, most likely due to his lack of a wand. Washburn had attempted to take the Stone from Lubar, who had taken it back from Jarrett, shortly after Lubar had stunned Jarrett. Apparently Lubar did not take kindly to this and hexed Washburn. In the mean time, the Stunner had worn off Jarrett and he attempted to hex Lubar. All four men were running around, throwing hexes at each other while dodging the fire. Albus was kind of hoping one of them would trip and burn their arms or something. Or even better, maybe one or more of them would drop their wand into the fire. Washburn and the Willinsons were definitely worse for wear. All three of them were sporting injuries. Both Willinsons were limping and Washburn's left arm was being held at an odd angle. Lubar seemed fine and even though it appeared that the other three were siding against him, he was coming off better. Albus had to admit that he was very skilled at dueling. Lubar shot a jet of red light at Washburn, who went flying over the fire and landed with a sickening thud in front of the boys. He did not move. Albus looked down and saw a small stone next to Washburn's head. He bent and picked it up. It was the Resurrection Stone. Albus stood up and jumped back. Lubar, Jarrett, and Quinton had all advanced towards him. Three wands were pointed at his chest, being held by three people with maniacal gleams in their eyes. Albus gulped and held up his own wand, his arm shaking slightly. Matt and Kaden had done the same. John tried to hide behind Matt, but was unsuccessful since he was a good head taller than him. “Hand it over, Potter,” Lubar growled. With a defiant look at Lubar, Albus hastily shoved the Stone into the pocket of his robes and held his wand up higher. ****** “Balladanis.” “Eckerton.” Harry watched as the two men stared at each other. Balladanis had Flooed to the Ministry shortly after receiving Harry's Patronus. Harry had filled him in on what was going on, but the man hadn't taken his eyes off of Walter the entire time. “We haven't got time for this,” Harry muttered and held out the plastic container, “Let's just go.” Walter agreed immediately and laid his hand on the Portkey. Balladanis did so as well, with a little hesitation. With a familiar jerk behind his naval, Harry disappeared from the Ministry. The Portkey trip was a bit longer than ones Harry was used to, but it didn't surprise him since he knew they were going to Australia. Harry landed softly on his feet and held out his wand as he adjusted to the surroundings. It was pitch black and after he lit his wand, Harry knew they were in the middle of a forest. The forest was disappointingly quiet. The only sounds were those of animals and the occasional rustle of trees, brought about by the wind. Not a single sound caused Harry to believe that there were people about, let alone his son. “Spread out and search,” Harry announced. The place may seem deserted, but Albus and the others had been there at some point. They had Portkeyed there. None of the wizards said a word as they combed the area. Harry left no stone unturned as he looked for the smallest trace of evidence of where his son had gone. If only it wasn't night. Wands didn't provide nearly enough light. There seemed to be not a trace of anything that showed anyone had been in that area of the forest, let alone where they had gone afterwards. Ralph Lubar was good at this, that was for sure. Harry swore as he returned to the same place he had started from. Walter returned a few minutes later, looking even more anxious than he did before. “Nothing,” he muttered, “Not a ripped piece of cloak or a single Knut. They didn't stay here long.” Harry groaned and scuffed the ground with his shoe. He and Walter stood quietly as they waited for Balladanis to return. Balladanis came running towards Harry holding a small metal instrument in his hand and an strange kind of excited smirk on his face. He skidded to a halt in front of Harry, holding out the instrument. Harry recognized it as an Apparition detector. They were quite rare. The British Ministry only owned one, for the entire Ministry. “They've Disapparated,” Balladanis said hurriedly. “Obviously,” Walter muttered, “Any idea where?” “A general idea, yes,” Balladanis replied, ignoring Walter's sarcastic tone, “They're on the outback.” “The outback?” Walter gasped, “Shit, there's dementors out there!” “I am aware,” Balladanis said. “Let's go, then,” Harry said, placing one of his hands on the metal instrument. It would be able to guide them to the relative area they needed to go. Walter put his hand on the instrument as well and with an exceptionally loud crack, all three men Disapparated. They landed on terrain that was very unfamiliar to Harry. The ground was dusty and sandy and there was hardly any plant life in sight. In the distance there were tall mountains and cloaked figures floated above them. Harry suppressed a shudder and gripped his wand tighter. Dementors. What looked like a roaring bonfire blazed in the distance. Harry glanced at it suspiciously and then looked back to Walter and Balladanis, both of whom were more familiar with the area. “Only vampires and dementors ever venture out here,” Balladanis said quietly, “Neither of whom would set a fire.” “Let's go, then,” Harry said and began to lead the small group towards the flickering lights in the distance. ****** “Hand it over, Potter,” Lubar repeated. Albus gulped and tried to hold his wand more steady. His wand arm was shaking uncontrollably and Albus didn't seem to be able to hold it steady. His heart was thumping hard in his chest. Albus was sure everyone was able to hear it. However, he did not want to give up the Stone. That was one thing he was sure of. The only way Lubar would be getting it is if he killed Albus first. Which actually, wasn't something Albus would put past him. “Maybe you should just give it to him,” John whispered, “I mean, it didn't work to get Voldemort back.” “No,” Albus seethed, surprised that John had suggested it. He probably wouldn't have if he still had his wand. “Do you really want to have to duel me, Potter?” Lubar stepped a bit closer, “There's three of us and four of you, one of which doesn't have a wand. Not good odds, if you ask me.” “And do you realize that those two are horrible duelers?” Albus replied. “I have noticed,” Lubar smirked, “But they're fully qualified; you are not. I'm going to get that Stone, one way or another.” Lubar flicked his wand and sent a jet of orange light at Albus. Albus jumped back and threw up a shield charm, concentrating on making it big enough to shield him and his friends. It worked and the orange light bounced harmlessly off the shield and hit the ground. “Stay behind me, John,” Albus muttered, “Matt and Kaden, spread out and hit them with whatever spells you know.” Albus concentrated on keeping his shield up while casting other spells, like he had done in Balladanis's dueling lessons. So far it was working, but Albus never managed to keep the shield up very long. Lubar was momentarily stunned when he saw Albus's shield, but he quickly recovered and began sending hex after hex, nonverbally, at Albus and John. Concentrating hard, Albus sent a Stunner at Lubar, but he flicked his wand and it shot off into the distance, hitting one of the lone bushes, which promptly caught fire. Albus chanced a glance at Matt and Kaden. Matt was dueling with Jarrett and it looked like they were pretty equally matched, which was kind of pathetic as far as Jarrett was concerned. It made Albus feel better though. Quinton and Kaden just seemed to be sending Expelliarmus charms at each other and missing every time. The shield emitting from Albus's wand faltered and faded a bit. Albus renewed his concentration, but the shield was still weaker than it had been before. There was no way he'd be able to send any spells through the shield now. “Your shield is weakening, Potter,” Lubar smirked as he sent another Stunner at Albus, which shook the shield. “Merlin!” Quinton shouted to the right of them. He was hopping on one foot and Kaden was laughing hysterically. Albus grinned. Kaden had actually managed to do some sort of hex, although Albus wasn't sure what one it was. Lubar turned to Quinton and flicked his wand at Kaden. Kaden promptly froze and fell to the ground. Albus gasped and his shield disappeared. “Albus!” John shouted. Albus turned back to Lubar, but didn't get the shield back up before Lubar shot a hex at John, who fell to the ground like Kaden had. “Wouldn't it be easier just to give me the Stone?” Lubar asked as he sent a Stunner at Albus. Albus deflected it. “Not really.” Jarrett and Matt were still dueling. Both were sporting a few injuries, but nothing too serious. Neither seemed to have noticed that John and Kaden were Stunned. Albus managed to hit Lubar with a trip jinx, which gave him a few seconds to catch his breath while Lubar righted himself. Unfortunately this only angered him and he was now sporting a gash across his left cheek. “Expelliarmus!” Lubar shouted. Albus jumped to the side and the spell hit a nearby rock. Lubar resumed his nonverbal spells and Albus continued deflecting them and dodging them, too exhausted to try and hit Lubar with any other jinxes. “You can't keep dodging them forever, Potter!” Lubar grinned manically. “Watch me,” Albus said defiantly. Albus of course knew that Lubar was right. The odds had not really changed. John and Kaden were both out of the fight and while John was easily the best dueler after Albus, his absence did not put Albus greatly behind. Washburn was out as well and both Willinsons were injured. Quinton was currently on his knees panting, not in any shape to continue dueling. Matt was holding his own against Jarrett, something Albus was both amazed and delighted by. No, Albus was not trying to overcome Lubar. He knew that wouldn't be possible. Albus was merely biding for time. He tried to figure out how long they'd been gone as he dodged spells. It must have been at least three or four hours, although the dark Australian sky had not changed a bit. Albus wished the moon had been out so he could have monitored its trip across the sky. How long would it take his dad to find them? Longer than normal, Albus thought. They were in the middle of a foreign country, nowhere near anyplace Harry would be looking. “I'm getting annoyed, Potter, and you don't want to see me when I'm annoyed!” Lubar shouted, sending another jet of red light at Albus. Before Albus even had time to register what sort of hex it was, Matt gave a shriek of pain to Albus's right and collapsed to the ground. Jarrett wasted no time and pointed his wand at Albus. Albus took a fraction of a second to digest the fact that he was now utterly alone, facing two fully grown wizards. The two wizards shot identical jets of blue light at Albus and he managed to pull up a feeble shield. The force hit him like a dozen Bludgers to the stomach. He lost his footing and landed flat on his back, his head hitting a particularly sharp rock. “I told you not to fight, Potter,” Lubar sneered as he loomed over Albus. “You're not getting the Stone,” Albus said, forcing away the dizziness. He reached into his robes and pulled out the Stone. “I disagree,” Lubar said as he made to grab the Stone. With all the force Albus could muster, he threw the Stone as far as he could to the right. In the darkness, it disappeared in a split second and Albus didn't even hear it land. “No!” Lubar shouted, “You'll pay for that!” “Wands where I can see them!” someone shouted from behind Lubar. Lubar and Jarrett whipped around as fast as they could. Albus lifted his head slightly and caught a glimpse of his dad, along with a few other wizards. He breathed a sigh of relief. They were saved.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 12 May 2010 08 51 56 am    Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden Chapter 35- Patronuses and Stones Albus stumbled as he landed, breaking free of Jarrett's grasp. He tripped over a rock and landed face first in the sand. Spitting the grittiness out of his mouth, he stood up and glanced around. It was still far too dark to see anything but the outlines of mountains in the distance. The outback seemed very empty and very quiet. There was a very small clump of bushes and trees nearby, but besides that, Albus did not see much else in the way of plant life. Albus immediately knew why Lubar had taken them there. He had never been in such a deserted place in his life. There was absolutely nothing around them. Even if Albus had decided to run away, he wouldn't have gotten very far. As dangerous as staying with Lubar was, Albus knew he would have no chance of surviving if he ran off into the outback. Lubar seemed to know that Albus and the others wouldn't run away. He neglected to use any sort of ropes to tie them up or put any spells around them. Instead, he walked a short distance in the direction of the mountains and gestured for the Willinsons and Washburn to follow them. “What are we going to do?” John seethed, “Has anyone got any idea where we are?” “The outback's huge,” Matt replied, “I bet we're right in the middle of it. The nearest civilization's probably miles away.” “So we're done for,” John groaned, “What do they even want with us anyway?” “No idea,” Albus said, “But if they keep arguing, we might not have to find out.” “Do you really think your dads are going to be able to find us?” John asked skeptically. “Lubar's right,” Albus said, “The whole Ministry's going to be looking. I think they'll find us.” “Does stuff like this happen every year?” Kaden asked, “I mean, last year I got kidnapped by Willinson and now we all were. What'll happen next year?” “Hopefully nothing,” Albus said. “If there is a next year,” John muttered. “Shut up over there!” Lubar shouted as he walked back over to the boys, “I didn't tell you to talk!” “Lubar!” Jarrett seethed as he pointed to someplace in the distance, “There's people gathering over there! We've got to go somewhere else!” Albus looked towards where Jarrett was pointing and his heart leapt a bit. There was a small gathering of figures a few yards away. Could his dad have found them already? “Calm down,” Lubar said, “They're just vampires. They won't bother us. I know that coven. They know better than to mess with me. I'll make life pretty miserable for them if they do.” “Cutting deals with vampires now?” Jarrett asked. “Proving to be helpful, isn't it?” Lubar answered. Albus's hopes sank once again. Lubar seemed more confusing than ever. He cut deals for vampires but passed restrictive laws on werewolves? It didn't make sense. The men lowered their voices again and Albus wished he had a few Extendable Ears with him. He didn't dare talk to his friends, just sent them anxious glances every now and then. A cold wind blew over them and Albus shivered. It was the kind of cold that chilled him to the bone. Hoping that it wasn't going to rain, or snow (wasn't it winter in Australia?), he looked to the sky. There were no clouds, but what Albus saw was much worse than clouds. Five or six cloaked figures were slowly circling above them. Although he had never before seen one, Albus recognized them as dementors immediately. Despite the dark, Albus could clearly make out their forms. As they got closer, he could even hear their rattling breath. The world in front of him began to swim. He felt like he was going to pass out, but he knew it was just the dementors sucking all the happiness out of him. Albus was left with all his unhappy thoughts. His dad wasn't going to find them. They would be stuck on the Australian outback until Lubar and the others did what they were going to do. Then who knew what would happen? “No, no, no!” Matt shouted. Albus squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them, forcing himself to look towards his friend. Matt was kneeling on the ground, shaking violently. Both John and Kaden were looking at him anxiously, neither seeming to be that affected by the dementors. Of course the dementors would affect Matt the worst. He had gone through things that Albus, John, and Kaden couldn't even imagine. It probably didn't help that Lubar was actually present, either. Without even thinking, Albus pulled his wand out of his robes. He'd heard the incantation for the Patronus charm before and figured it was worth a shot. What else could he do besides try? “Expecto Patronum!” Albus shouted, pointing his wand at the sky. Nothing happened. A happy thought! How could he have forgotten that? It was difficult to think of one with dementors flying over heard and listening to Matt shouting on the ground. When the Sorting Hat put him in Gryffindor! Albus pointed his wand to the sky again. “Expecto Patronum! Expecto Patronum!” Albus kept shouting the incantation while using various happy memories. Nothing was happening, but Matt's shouting was decreasing. Then it stopped. Albus stopped and looked towards the ground. It looked like Matt had passed out. Thinking of the day Balladanis had been sacked, Albus pointed his wand at the dementors once again. “Expecto Patronum!” he shouted. A silvery blob exploded from his wand and went after the dementors. Albus stood shocked for a few seconds. He had sort of done a Patronus charm! “Bloody hell,” John whispered. “Expecto Patronum!” someone shouted from the distance. Albus looked up and saw Lubar running at them with his wand pointed at the dementors. A silvery squirrel was floating ahead of him and the dementors scattered as it reached them. Albus's foggy brain immediately cleared and the happiness returned. He quickly stowed his wand in his robes before Lubar thought to disarm him. “Leave him,” Lubar growled at John and Kaden, who were bent to the ground trying to get Matt to wake up. “Dementors!” Washburn shouted sarcastically, “This was a bloody brilliant place to come.” Lubar paid no attention to Washburn's comment. His eyes were focused on Albus and he was giving him a very curious look. Albus took a nervous step back, but Lubar did not avert his gaze. Albus immediately closed his mind. ****** “Potter, sir!” Harry, who had been walking up High Street in Hogsmeade with Ginny, turned around and saw Lewster striding towards him. Harry stopped, hoping he had some good news. “What is it, Lewster?” Harry asked. “Just talked to a few of the centaurs,” Lewster said, “They saw three wizards in the forest a few hours ago. They recognized one of them as Washburn.” “I'd bet my last Galleon the other two were the Willinsons,” Harry replied, “Did the centaurs know anything else?” “Just that Washburn and the others were looking for something. Apparently they were scouring the forest floor for something,” Lewster answered. Harry nodded. That didn't surprise him. The Resurrection Stone was someplace in the forest. “Did you see anything?” “No,” Lewster shook his head, “And the centaurs are pretty sure they've left.” “Very well,” Harry said, “See what else you can find out.” Lewster left and Harry turned to Ginny, who looked afraid. “Harry, you don't think that Washburn is with Lubar, do you?” Ginny asked. “There's no doubt in my mind,” Harry answered, “It's just a matter of finding them. Listen, I've got to go search Dervish and Banges. I've got this hunch about the place. Seems like the perfect place for Washburn to take them.” Ginny nodded. “I'll go catch the end of the match. I won't mention anything to James and Lily yet.” “Good,” Harry said, “I'll be in touch soon.” He kissed her lightly on the forehead. “We're going to find him.” “I know,” Ginny replied softly, “Stay safe.” Ginny turned around to walk back to the Hogwarts grounds while Harry picked up the pace and walked the short distance to Dervish and Banges. The building looked utterly abandoned. The windows were still boarded up, the grass overgrown around it. It certainly didn't look like anyone was hiding inside, but Harry had to check. Pulling out his wand, he crept cautiously to the door. He carefully pulled the boards off of it and quietly wrenched the door open. Without lighting his wand, he walked inside. The place had the smell of a recent fire in the fireplace. Someone had been there. However, there was not a sound from anywhere in the building. Harry lit his wand and saw that it was deserted. After a thorough check of the entire building, in which Harry found no living creatures, he returned to the main room. The fireplace was filled with nearly dead embers and there was a small pile of Floo powder spilled out onto the floor. The Floo had been used recently. Harry bent down and muttered an incantation that would tell him where the last person to use the fireplace had Flooed from. He waited for the incantation to work, his heart pounding. Soft red smoke emitted from his wand, curling together to form the words 'Ministry of Magic.' Harry breathed a sigh of relief. He was getting somewhere. Without hardly a doubt, Harry knew that Albus and the other boys had wound up in Dervish and Banges after going to the Ministry. The only question was, where had they gone after that? ****** “How old are you, Potter?” Lubar asked. “Thirteen,” Albus replied, still a bit nervous as to why Lubar was looking at him like that. It reminded him of how Balladanis had looked at him during the second dueling tournament. “And they teach the Patronus Charm to thirteen-year-olds at Hogwarts?” Lubar replied. “No,” Albus shook his head, although when he thought about it, Balladanis may have taught him and Malfoy Patronuses if he hadn't gotten sacked. “That was the first time I'd tried it.” “Very intriguing,” Lubar said as he turned to the other three men, “This lot didn't tell me you were skilled at Defensive magic.” “You never asked,” Jarrett muttered, “But is Potter's aptitude for Patronuses really relevant to what we're doing?” “It matters if they decide to try and hex us!” Lubar snapped, “I think it might be best if they're all wandless.” Albus gulped and clenched his wand harder. He glanced at Matt, who was still unconscious. John didn't have his wand. Kaden wasn't very good at dueling. It would be up to him, to Albus, if this came to a duel. “The only one who's got any skill is Potter,” Jarrett said, “The other three aren't going to be difficult.” “Fine,” Lubar muttered, “We'll get started, but I need to talk to you three away from them first.” Jarrett nodded and the men walked a few yards away and began whispering too quietly for Albus to hear. Albus bent down to where Matt had collapsed, wishing he knew a healing spell or two. “Matt, Matt,” he whispered, “Wake up.” After a minute or two, Matt's eyes fluttered open and he sat up. “What happened?” he asked, looking around confusedly. “You passed out,” Albus told him, “When the dementors were here.” “But Albus cast a Patronus!” John said excitedly. “You what?” Matt gaped at him. “It was just silvery mist,” Albus told him, “Lubar's actually the one who got rid of them.” “Probably just for his sake,” Matt shuddered, “Did anyone else pass out?” The other three boys shook their heads. “Figures,” Matt muttered. “You need some chocolate or something,” Albus said, “Anyone got some?” “Might,” Kaden began fishing around in his pockets. He produced a chocolate frog and handed it to Matt, who took it without saying a word. “Listen,” Albus said, “Whatever it is that they want to do here, they're doing it soon. Do you think you can get up?” Matt nodded and Albus helped him to his feet. Lubar and the others were walking towards them again. Albus slowly pulled his wand out of his robes and held it to his side, hiding it partially behind his back. Lubar conjured a pile of wood and set fire to it, illuminating himself, Washburn, the Willinsons, and the boys. Albus was now clearly able to see the twisted look on Lubar's face. “Are you mad?” Jarrett seethed, “Fire's going to attract attention!” Lubar laughed. “Fire's going to ensure that those vampires stay away and we've got to see what we're doing!” Albus glanced towards where the vampires had been congregating. They were currently walking farther away from Albus and the others. Thinking back to Linda's boggart, he remembered that vampires are destroyed by fire. Albus turned back to the men. Jarrett was holding something out in his hand, but Albus couldn't make out what it was. Jarrett, along with Quinton and Washburn, looked quite excited. Lubar looked mildly annoyed and impatient. “Do you know what this is, Potter?” Jarrett asked gleefully. “No,” Albus said, trying not to sound too nervous. “It's the Resurrection Stone,” Jarrett answered. Albus could hardly conceal his gasp as he peered closer at Jarrett's outstretched hand. There was a very small stone sitting in it. The Resurrection Stone. One of the Deathly Hallows. Jarrett had finally succeeded in getting one of the three objects he had been after for years. But how? “How?” Albus asked, trying to sound confident. “Ancient magic is a beautiful thing, Potter,” Jarrett answered, “There are long forgotten spells, spells that work very nicely with long forgotten magical objects such as this Stone. It was merely a matter of finding the correct spell, getting to the Forbidden Forest, and putting it to use. Quite simple now that I look back on it.” “Only because you didn't do any of the work,” Lubar muttered, “It was I who found the spell!” “The other Hallows will prove to be easy to obtain with the help of this,” Jarrett went on, ignoring Lubar's mutterings. Albus did not like the sound of that. The Stone itself did one thing and that was bring back the spirits of people who had passed on. How would that help Jarrett get the other Hallows? The Invisibility Cloak. Albus's stomach plummeted. It was still in his robes. He really hoped Jarrett wouldn't realize that. “Another thing that I thought of!” Lubar seethed. “You think this lot cares who did what?” Jarrett laughed. “Oh, just get on with it,” Washburn rolled his eyes. Jarrett sidestepped past the fire and strode closer to Albus. Albus took a step back as his heart started beating faster. He had a very bad feeling about what Jarrett was going to do with that Stone. “Ah, yes, Potter. You should be afraid,” Jarrett's gaze swept over all four boys, “You should all be afraid.” “Quit taunting them and just do it,” Washburn said impatiently. “With this stone,” Jarrett said a bit louder, “I will bring back Lord Voldemort.” ****** Harry burst out of Dervish and Banges, not caring that he had blasted the door completely off its hinges as he did so. He had to find Walter. He had to find Walter and then go to the Ministry. The fireplace did not show signs that it had been used to Floo away from the abandoned shop. That left either Apparition or a Portkey, both of which would have left traces that he'd need the Department of Magical Transportation for. Harry rounded a corner as he ran towards Honeyduke's and nearly ran headlong into a witch. He stepped back and saw it was Ginny. She wore a strange look of confusion and shock, mixed with mingled fear. “Ginny,” Harry said, “Sorry.” “Not a problem,” she said quickly, “Have you found anything?” “Yes,” Harry answered, “Is the match over? How badly did we lose by?” “Only a hundred points,” Ginny said, “But we might not have actually lost. Listen, did you know Australia's Seeker is a vampire?” “Wait, what?” Harry gaped at her, trying to wrap his mind around that fact while still focusing his mind on Albus. “I'll explain after we've found Albus,” Ginny said. “Right,” Harry agreed, “I've got a lead. Someone was in Dervish and Banges. They Flooed there from the Ministry; I'm sure it was Al and the others. I've got to find Walter and go to the Ministry. I'm not sure where that will lead us, but I might not be back for a while.” “Just be careful,” Ginny said as she gave him a kiss, “And bring him back.” “I will,” Harry said as he kissed her back, “I'll see you soon.” “Harry!” Harry turned and saw Walter striding out of Honeyduke's. With one last look at Ginny, Harry met Walter half-way. “We've got to get to the Ministry,” Harry said immediately, and explained about what he had found at Dervish and Banges and what Lewster had learned from the centaurs. Walter nodded and the two men Disapparated on the spot. They reappeared a little while later in a small Apparition chamber in the Ministry. Passing the bewildered looking security guard for the third time that day, Harry and Walter ran to the lifts. Neither of them said a word as the lift clattered to the Department of Magical Transportation. The department was nearly deserted, save for one very bored looking witch sitting at a desk. “Mr. Potter, Mr. Eckerton!” she exclaimed as she took her feet off the desk, “Something I can do for you?” “Yes,” Harry answered, “I need to know if anyone's Disapparated from Dervish and Banges in Hogsmeade. Or used a Portkey from that same location. And if you're able to, I need to know where they went.” “Of course, Mr. Potter, of course,” the witch said as she got up. She disappeared into another room, shutting the door behind her. Harry sighed and sat down on the nearest chair. Walter sat down in the adjacent one, looking thoroughly miserable. “We'll find them,” Harry said quietly. “I don't doubt that,” Walter replied, “However, that is not the only thing I am worried about. The last time Matt had an altercation with Ralph Lubar, he wound up in therapy for months afterwards.” Harry was not expecting that. He did not know much about therapy, except that wizards did not normally use it. Whatever had happened, it must have been bad. “Do you mind if I ask what happened?” Harry asked, not sure if he was overstepping some sort of boundary. Walter did not speak for several seconds. “It's ok,” Harry said, “You don't have to explain.” “I will,” Walter said quietly, “Shortly after Matt was bitten, I became the Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures in Australia. Nobody outside of the department knew about his condition, of course. Ralph Lubar was given my former position of Head of the Werewolf Control Unit, and was quite jealous that I was given the Head position. He could not get over the fact that I was given it, even when my own son had lycanthropy. “It was a grudge he held against me for many years, until the day finally came when he cracked and let it slip that Matt was a werewolf. A bit of legislation had been passed that required all places of transformation be inspected by the Ministry. Lubar inspected Matt's and it failed on a technicality. Ministry centers were set up for werewolves to transform in, together. Matt was required by law to transform there since his safe room did not pass. I refused to have him transform there. The papers were all over it. I lost my job. Lubar was appointed to the Head position. “More legislation was passed. A law that stated that Ministry officials could physically force werewolves into the transformation centers. On the day of the full moon, Lubar Flooed into our house and took Matt to the center. By the time I figured out which center it was, the moon had risen. It was too late. “Matt spent weeks in St. Mungo's. By that time we were nearly ready to move here. He was so traumatized, it took months for him to get over it. To be honest, I don't think he's fully over it. “The only reason Lubar did it was to try and get to me. That's why he's so sick and twisted,” Walter finished as he put his head in his hands, “I swore I'd never let him near Matt again. Swore I'd kill him if he went near Matt again. Walter gave an odd sort of laugh. “Listen to me, I'm telling the Head of the Auror Department that I'd commit murder.” “Just so long as you don't actually do it when we go save the boys,” Harry said, still processing what Walter had told him. It certainly explained a lot- why they were so reluctant to let Matt out of their sight, why they weren't on the Floo Network. One thing that Harry could tell was that Walter blamed himself for everything that had happened. Honestly, Harry wasn't surprised. If something like that had happened to James, Albus, or Lily, he would've blamed himself, too. “That wasn't your fault,” Harry said quietly, “And this isn't either.” “If I had just Flooed ahead of the boys-” “It wouldn't have mattered,” Harry interrupted, “And it'll do no good to dwell on it now. It's in the past.” “That's exactly what my brother said when Matt was in St. Mungo's,” Walter said wryly. “Mr. Potter!” the witch came bustling out of the room she had gone into, brandishing a piece of parchment, which she handed to Harry. Harry stood up as she handed them the parchment. His eyes scanned the parchment. Portkeys. Four Portkeys had left Dervish and Banges a few short hours ago. That in itself did not shock Harry, especially compared to where the Portkeys had gone. “Australia,” Harry read as he turned to Walter, who had visibly paled at the word, “They're in Australia.”
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 5 May 2010 10 05 46 am    Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden Chapter 34: Arguing “Spectacular save by Georgia Weasley!” the commentator shouted. Harry grinned as his niece threw the Quaffle back into play. It was immediately taken into possession by Hogwarts, and all three Chasers threw it back and forth as they flew to the Australian end of the pitch. “Score! Hogwarts has scored against Australia, bringing the total to 50-20 Hogwarts!” Harry stood up and shouted as loud as the students. One thing he loved about the Quidditch tournament was that he didn't have to try and conceal his excitement when Hogwarts scored. During house matches, he had to try and pretend he was neutral, even though he obviously supported Gryffindor. As happy as Harry was about the Hogwarts Chasers being very skilled, he did not have hope that Hogwarts would actually win. Australia's Seeker, Linda Morales, was the best Seeker Harry had ever seen outside of professional Quidditch. He knew that his son, James, was good, but he wasn't delusional. Linda was brilliant. There was something odd about her, though, and Harry couldn't put his finger on it. Her speed on a broom just didn't seem natural. Professional Quidditch players would kill for her speed. “I'm surprised she hasn't found the Snitch yet,” Neville muttered to Harry. “Yeah,” Harry nodded as he watched Linda slowly circling above the pitch. James was doing the same, “It'll be soon, though.” Harry turned his gaze to the rest of the staff who were sitting around him. Most of them were quite reserved. Nobody seemed to be showing the enthusiasm Harry was. He didn't care. Harry didn't share their belief that teachers couldn't get overly excited about Quidditch. A few professors stood up and then sat back down again as someone squeezed their way past them. Harry craned his head and was surprised to see Walter Eckerton. Harry didn't know the man well. They'd met on occasion at the Ministry, although Harry had a feeling he'd be seeing more of him now that he was Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. What Harry mostly knew about Walter Eckerton was more on a personal than professional level. Harry had never met a father who was more protective of his son than Walter Eckerton, although he did have good reason. Never a more devoted father, either. Walter continued his way past the other professors until he stopped in front of Harry. Harry was even more shocked to see the expression on his face. Worry was etched in every part of his face, bringing out the wrinkles, but there was anger in his eyes. “Walter,” Harry shook his hand as he stood up, “What's going on?” “Not here,” Walter muttered, “I need a word in private.” Harry told Neville he'd be right back and he followed Walter out of the stands. They continued walking until they were a short distance away from the pitch and then Walter stopped. “The boys have just been to see me at the Ministry,” Walter said as soon as he'd stopped. “Wait, what?” Harry asked, “You mean Albus and Matt?” “Yes, and the other two as well,” Walter said quickly, “You've heard of Ralph Lubar, the Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures in Australia?” Harry nodded, slightly confused at the change of subject. “Yes, not a very tolerant bloke, is he?” Walter's face hardened. “That's a nice way of putting it. The bloke is sick and twisted and he's got a grudge against me. Very long story and I haven't got time to tell it. Short version is that when Matt was eight, Lubar passed a law that required him to transform in a building with other werewolves, older werewolves. Nearly killed him. It was right before we moved. For whatever reason, Lubar decided to visit Hogwarts today, possibly under the pretense of attending the Quidditch match. “The boys saw him and Flooed to the Ministry from Honeyduke's. Matt's absolutely terrified of him, which is why they came to me. I came back with them. They Flooed before I did, but when I arrived at Honeyduke's they weren't there. I've already spoken with the owners of the shop as well as a few other Hogsmeade residents. No one's seen them. We've got to find them.” Harry's heart sank. “You don't think Lubar's got them, do you? He's not dangerous, is he?” “To Matt, yes, but I haven't the slightest idea as to why he'd want the other boys,” Walter said. “Even if he did only want Matt, he'd have to get Albus as well because I know Albus wouldn't let him take Matt sitting down,” Harry replied, and started walking briskly towards Hogsmeade, “Let's go. I'll get every available Auror on this.” ****** Albus tried as hard as he could to dislodge himself from Washburn's grasp as he was Portkeying to who knows where. All Albus knew about the location was that it must be far away. Portkeying is usually mostly instantaneous, but this time there was a significant lag. Albus had time to try and get away, not that it did anything. The second clue that their destination was far away was the fact that it was very dark when Albus finally landed on the ground. Not dark like an impending storm either. Dark as in night. Washburn had let go of Albus as they landed and Albus hastened to get to his feet. Loud thumps around him told him that his friends had landed as well. The ground was damp and hard and the foliage around them was dense. Albus assumed they were in some sort of forest. He gazed around and saw a lot of unfamiliar trees that seemed to stretch towards the starry sky. There was no moonlight to illuminate the forest. Lubar, the Willinsons, and Washburn had walked a few yards away from the boys and were whispering to each other. All four had lit their wands, but it wasn't enough wand light to give Albus a good view of his surroundings. Matt, John, and Kaden had all scrambled over to where Albus was and were standing quite close to him, their wands out. Albus pulled his own out as well, but didn't dare light it. “Why is it night?” Kaden whispered. “Where the hell are we?” John asked. “We're in Australia,” Matt said in awe, as if he was just coming to terms with that fact. “We Portkeyed across an ocean?” Kaden gasped. When Albus thought about it, it made sense. Lubar was from Australia, so why shouldn't he take them there? It was quite far away from anyone who would be looking for them. What didn't make sense was why Lubar was with Washburn and the Willinsons. As far as he could tell, the four wizards seemed to be working together, but why? Lubar lived halfway across the world. How had he met the Willinsons? “Is this anywhere near your old house?” John asked. “How should I know?” Matt snapped, “Australia's a huge country!” “I just thought if we were near it, we could hide there,” John muttered. “You wouldn't want to,” Matt said, “My stupid cousin owns it now.” “You have a cousin?” Albus asked. “Not important,” Matt said quickly. Albus nodded. “How are we going to get out of this?” “They're not paying attention,” John whispered, gesturing to where the four wizards stood huddled in a circle, “Maybe if we run for it.” “The Portkey's right there,” Matt pointed to the tea kettle, which was a few feet away, “If we can just get to it.” “All right,” Albus whispered, “On the count of three. One...two...three.” Albus ran as quietly as he could towards the Porkey. He was about to pick it up when it soared up into the air. Albus looked up and saw Lubar sneering at him, with the Portkey in his hand. “That won't do,” Lubar said as he stowed the Porkey in his cloak. He turned to the other three men. “They're trying to get away.” “What do you expect?” Jarrett said rudely, “There's four of them! Do you realize how much more difficult this is going to be now? We only needed Potter! But no, you had to go and insist on bringing that werewolf kid as well.” “You wouldn't even have managed this if it weren't for me!” Lubar growled, “So don't go telling me what I should and shouldn't have done.” “Well, now we've wound up with two extra ones as well,” Jarret muttered. “They're kids, how much trouble can they be?” Lubar smirked. “You don't know this lot,” Washburn replied, “They're the reason we haven't had luck before.” “I thought that was because of your incredible stupidity,” Lubar said. Albus was very intrigued. Lubar was arguing with them as if he knew them well. Had Lubar really been working with them all along? What did they need him for anyway? What had Willinson meant when he said 'we only needed Potter'? “Shut it, Lubar,” Jarrett said. “I'll say what I like,” Lubar replied, “This is my bush, not yours.” “You own the forest now?” Jarrett asked. “As a matter of fact, I do,” Lubar snapped. “Ministry must be paying you well.” “Indeed they are,” Lubar said and turned to Matt, “So many years have passed. Tell me, what is it like pretending to be something you're not?” To Albus's surprise, it was John and not Matt who went flying at Lubar. Lubar disarmed John with a lazy wave of his wand, leaving John stunned in front of him. It appeared that Lubar was a significantly better dueler than either of the Willinsons or Washburn. Pocketing John's wand, Lubar turned back to Matt, who was shakily holding his wand up. “It doesn't matter what country you're in,” Lubar seethed, “You're the same thing no matter where you live. The laws don't change what you are. Pretend as much as you like, but it won't change a thing.” Now Albus wanted to go after Lubar. The anger was boiling up inside of him and he didn't think he had ever felt more angry in his entire life, and that included every encounter he had had with Scorpius Malfoy. Malfoy was like a fluffy kitten compared to Lubar. However, Albus held himself back. John was already wandless. It would do them no good if Albus got disarmed as well. Something told him to wait, to wait until he could catch them off guard. “What about your father? I hear he's the head of the department in Britain now,” Lubar smirked, “Guess it's just a matter of time until the same thing happens. You'll have to flee again.” Matt was visibly trembling now. Albus wracked his brain, trying to figure out what to do. What could they do? “Oh, for Merlin's sake!” Jarrett strode forward, “How is this helping things? Did we really risk Portkeying a bunch of kids to Australia just to waste time taunting one of them?” “Quiet!” Lubar shouted, “I'll do what I like!” “Excuse me!” Kaden said loudly, turning to Lubar, “But how in the name of Merlin do you know them?” He gestured to the Willinsons and Washburn. Albus held his breath, waiting for Lubar to put some sort of jinx or curse on Kaden. Sometimes his cousin was quite dense. It seemed obvious to Albus that this was a time not to ask questions. To Albus's surprise, Lubar smiled. It was a twisted sort of smile, but a smile nonetheless. “I think that's a fair question,” Lubar said. “My cousin married this idiot,” Lubar pointed at Jarrett. “You're married?” Kaden gaped at Jarrett, causing Albus to groan. Why wouldn't Kaden just shut up? “Not for much longer,” Jarrett muttered, “Can we please just get on with this?” “Patience, cousin,” Lubar said as he began to walk slowly around the other three, “We musn't do this hastily. Haste is the reason you three have failed prior to tonight.” Fail at what? What were they going to do? The only thing Albus could think of was getting the Hallows, but all three Hallows were in England. If that was their plan, they wouldn't have taken them to Australia. Albus glanced nervously at Matt, who still looked scared out of his mind. Something was still telling Albus not to try and duel the men. Lubar seemed smart, much smarter than the other three, and that scared Albus more than anything else. There was a big difference between dueling someone who was smart and dueling someone who was an idiot. ****** The Ministry seemed deserted when Harry and Walter Flooed there a short while later. Harry had briefly questioned the owners of Honeyduke's, but they had not seen any of the boys. Harry and Walter ran towards the lifts at top speed, not pausing to answering the questioning stare of the bloke at the welcome desk. The lifts could not go fast enough for the two men. Harry nearly pulled the doors open when they finally arrived at Magical Law Enforcement's floor. The Auror office was slightly more lively than the rest of the Ministry, but not much. Three Aurors were inside, two of whom hastily shoved away a pile of Exploding Snap cards and stood up upon seeing Harry arrive. The other Auror, a rather short but stocky witch, shoved the book she was reading in the drawer, and joined the other two. “Potter, sir!” the witch said, “We thought you were at Hogwarts today!” “I was,” Harry said darkly and explained the situation. The three Aurors looked grim as they waited for Harry to give them instructions. “Dabney,” Harry turned to the taller of the wizards, “Brighton,” he looked at the witch, “Get started with an extensive search of Hogsmeade. I'm calling in everyone who isn't busy with anything else. Tiburon and Oswald are on duty in Hogsmeade today, inform them of the situation.” Dabney and Brighton nodded before dashing out of the room. Harry turned to the remaining Auror. “Lewster, you will be searching the Forbidden Forest as soon as someone else arrives.” Harry pulled out his wand and muttered a spell. An enormous silvery stag flew out of his wand and Harry whispered to it. The Patronus glided out of the room and Harry leaned against the nearest desk. It wasn't long before Harry heard footsteps in the corridor. He looked up at the door just as Ron was running through, followed by half a dozen other Aurors. “Harry, what's going on?” Ron said in a worried tone. Harry rehashed the entire situation again. Ron's face paled. “What about Rose, was she with them?” “No,” Walter shook his head, “It was just the boys.” “Thank Merlin,” Ron whispered, “But Harry, what about Willinson? D'you think he's got anything to do with this?” “It's crossed my mind,” Harry muttered, “But I haven't got a clue as to how Lubar would know him.” “With dark wizards, you just never know,” Ron pointed out. “I know,” Harry nodded, “Ron, lead the search of the Forbidden Forest. Lewster's going with you. And take Daniels and Smith with you.” Ron nodded and left the room, followed by Lewster and two other wizards. The remaining four Aurors looked to Harry. “The rest of you can search the castle and grounds. Be discrete. I do not wish to interrupt the Quidditch match unless it is absolutely necessary,” Harry instructed. The Aurors left the room and Harry turned to Walter. He slowly shook his head. Why was it always Albus? This was the third year he had gotten into trouble. Albus's years at Hogwarts were reminding Harry dangerously of his own. “I'd better go Floo home and tell Julie what's going on,” Walter sighed, “She's going to fall apart.” Harry nodded as Walter left the room. Ginny. Harry snapped his head up. She was going to be watching the match, but was going to be late. She's probably there now, Harry thought. She'd be looking for him. Harry slowly left the room. How was he going to tell his wife that Albus had been kidnapped and he didn't have a clue as to where he was? ****** “You're just too afraid to do it!” Jarrett shouted at Lubar, “What could possibly go wrong? We're halfway across the world from the Aurors that are looking for this lot!” “Once again you have proved your stupidity,” Lubar replied, “Do you realize who we've taken halfway across the world? Harry Potter's son! You haven't a clue as to how things work in the Ministry! “I can assure you that at this very moment, the entire Auror Department is looking for them. Harry Potter's probably got every Auror on this case. It won't take them long to realize that we're not in England. “And this one,” Lubar gestured to Matt, “He's got the most meddling parents in the world. They'd sooner kill everyone in the world before letting something happen to him. Very irritating. They won't rest until they find him. Not to mention the fact that he's the son of a Ministry official. We've got two kids of two of the most prominent Ministry officials of Britain. Think, Jarrett, think! We've got to be careful!” “Well, you're the one who wanted to take the werewolf, too,” Jarrett growled. “And you're the one who insisted we take Potter's son!” Lubar shouted, “Why do we even need him?” “We just do!” Jarrett shouted back. “If both of you idiots hadn't wanted to bring the kids, we could've done this whole thing without the Ministry finding out,” Washburn cut in. “Shut up!” Lubar and Jarrett said at the same time. Maybe if they kept arguing, they wouldn't have a chance to do whatever it was they wanted to do before the Aurors found them, Albus thought. He could only hope that the wizards would have enough to argue about. “Are we going to do it here?” Jarrett asked, “Or go to the house?” “Have you learned nothing?” Lubar shouted, “When they find out that we're here, the first place they'll look is the house.” “Got any better ideas?” Jarrett seethed, “Have you got a secret little shack somewhere in this country?” “No,” Lubar snapped, “We're taking them to the outback. Plenty of places to hide, not very inhabited. Perfect place.” Before Albus could even contemplate running away, Jarrett had his arm in a vice grip again. Matt was once again in the clutches of Lubar, and John and Kaden were both caught by the Willinsons. Albus knew very little about the Australian outback, just that it wasn't suitable for much human inhabitation. However, the one piece of information he did know about it was that it was where most of the dementors that used to guard Azkaban had gone. That, and it was a somewhat popular place for vampires. Lubar and Jarrett had stopped bickering. Albus had two seconds to realize what was happening before he felt the familiar but unpleasant sensation of side-along Apparition.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Monday 26 April 2010 01 10 46 pm    Post subject: Re: Beyond the Shadow in topic:Beyond the Shadow Chapter 7: Kenzie's News Five owls, ten o'clock clinic duty, a bloke who had an unfortunate incident with some sort of snake, and all the batches of Wolfsbane to brew were what greeted me when I got to work the next day. Apparently the other brewer capable of brewing Wolfsbane was ill and couldn't brew, which left it all to me. The five owls sat untouched on my desk as I quickly admitted the snake bite bloke and got him fixed up. I kept him for observation and then ran down to the basement to start the Wolfsbane before getting up to the clinic by ten. Clinic was as crazy as usual, even more so since Farina's group of residents were working there as well. The phrase 'too many cooks in the kitchen spoils the soup' applies to healers as well. Too many healers in the clinic is as bad as not enough. They were all clambering to help and there just wasn't enough work. I was happy when I got to leave and work on the Wolfsbane. I brought my four letters with me and opened them once I had finished adding necessary ingredients. The first two were junk, advertisements for various apothecaries that wanted me to endorse them, so I ripped them up and threw them away. The third was from the potion testers, telling me my new Wolfsbane passed the tests and I could start brewing it for consumption. I grinned and immediately set up another cauldron. Just in time for the next full moon! I always tried not to get overly excited about potions that passed because that didn't mean they'd work. It just meant they weren't harmful. Chances were, this potion would have no effect on Matt whatsoever. The last letter remained untouched for the next half hour while I carefully began to concoct my newest Wolfsbane. Once it was ready to simmer for a while, I sat down for the first time in hours and opened the last letter. It was postmarked like a Muggle letter which meant it was either from Cinda or my friend, Kenzie. The Australian stamps told me it was the latter. Kenzie Dawe and I have been friends since we were born because she grew up down the road from Richard and Cinda. When I was little she was pretty much my only friend and she was the only person I remained in contact with from Australia. However, she was a Muggle so we mostly communicated through the Muggle post. Occasionally I'd call her on Mum's mobile phone (she had it to talk to Cinda), but not much since it cost so much. We hadn't actually seen each other in ages, not since Cinda moved to England. [i]Dear Amy,[/i] the letter began. [i]You are never going to believe this. It's such a small world, it scares me sometimes. Cameron proposed today. Well, he proposed after he told me 'we need to talk'. This of course got me all worried that he was going to break up with me, but thank God that wasn't it. Cameron said he needed to tell me something, something that could really affect our relationship. He started by telling me about his school, about how it had shunned electronics and anything modern, about how his family was the same way. I immediately interrupted him and told him that you went to the same type of school and that there was only one per country. He asked what your name was, since I had never told him your last name before. I told him and he thought for a while and then he said, 'I remember her. We went to the same school.' I know everything now, Amy. I know you're a witch. I know magic is real and I know that your school was a school for magic. Cameron's a wizard. But that's not all. I know why you moved to England all those years ago. I know about your dad's job and about Matt. Cameron told me everything. I'm not going to lie, it freaked me out a little. The magic thing. It was like too much to take in, that one of my best friends and my boyfriend can do magic. But I'm ok with it. Actually, I think it's really brilliant. Anyway, once he knew I was ok with it, Cameron proposed. We haven't set a date yet. I'll let you know as soon as we do. Hope you're doing all right, talk to you soon! Love, Kenzie[/i] I sat staring at the letter for a few minutes to let everything sink in. It was just too much all at once. Kenzie was engaged, her fiance was a wizard, her fiance knew who I was, and now Kenzie knew all about magic and that Matt was a werewolf. The last part honestly did not bother me much. Out of all the people I knew in Australia, the Dawes were the ones who would have accepted Matt for who he was. But unfortunately, the Statute of Secrecy prevented us from letting them know the truth. Now at least Kenzie did, and there was a part of me that was happy about it. Everything else, though, I wasn't too sure. Cameron Clint, I knew the name from Kenzie's telling me about him, but it didn't ring a bell. He'd probably been a few years above me. Of course he'd remember me, at least my last name. No one living in Wizarding Australia over the age of 12 wouldn't know my last name. I wish I did remember who he was. My most burning question was, what did Cameron Clint think about werewolves? Did he share the opinion that werewolves were evil, like most of wizarding Australia? And if he did, how could Kenzie marry him? Merlin, I had to find that out. If Kenzie was going to marry this bloke, she had to at least know his opinion of Matt, someone who had practically been her cousin when we were growing up. Oh, Merlin, the wedding! Son of a pixie, that was going to be hard. Cameron Clint would surely have a whole slew of witch and wizard relatives and friends, all whom would remember my dad and the fiasco at the Ministry when he was fired. Maybe I could use Polyjuice and avoid the awkward stares. Kenzie was sure to invite my whole family, too, which meant my parents and Matt were going to be subjected to whatever was going to happen as well. Then there was the fact that this was Kenzie's wedding, her big day, and I didn't want it to get ruined by people bringing up old news and prejudices. I had to talk to Kenzie. I did some quick conversions in my head and realized it was one in the morning in Sydney. I'd have to wait until at least eight o'clock that night to call her. The remainder of the day went by notoriously slow. I continued brewing both batches of Wolfsbane and checked on the bloke with the snake bite. He was doing fine but I was keeping him overnight just in case. I tried not to think about Kenzie and Cameron, but it was no use. I had to call her. I went straight to my parents' house from work since I'd had to stay late to work on the potions anyway. It was nearly eight when I appeared behind the house and walked around to the front. “Hello?” I called out as I let myself in. “Amy?” Mum replied from the living room. “I didn't think you were coming over today. Is everything all right?” “Fine,” I said as I walked into the living room. “I've got news, though.” “What is it?” Dad asked, looking up from his copy of the Evening Prophet. “Kenzie's engaged,” I said. “Oh, that's wonderful!” Mum smiled. “To the man she's been dating? Cameron, or something?” “Cameron Clint,” I said as I sat down next to Mum on the couch. “And you're never going to believe what he is. He's a wizard.” “You're kidding!” Mum exclaimed. “Wow, small world,” Dad replied. “It gets smaller,” I said. “Kenzie put two and two together about me, going to a weird school that didn't use electronics, and told Cameron about me. Apparently he remembers us, and told Kenzie about us, so she knows the real reason why we moved, and she knows Matt's a werewolf.” “I'd be surprised if he didn't,” Dad muttered. Mum let out a small gasp. “I never thought this would happen, but I suppose there are worse people who could know. There are worse people who do know.” “That's what I thought. Well, I just stopped by to let you know,” I said. “Mum, would you mind if I used your mobile to call Kenzie? I want to find out more about Cameron.” “Go ahead,” Mum told me. “You know where it is.” I went straight to the kitchen where Mum kept her mobile in the cupboard next to the refrigerator. Kenzie's number was programmed in, so a few seconds later, I had the phone to my ear and it was ringing. “Hello?” she said as she picked up. “Kenzie!” I replied. “It's Amy!” “Oh, Amy!” she exclaimed. “I didn't even notice your mum's name on the caller ID.” “I know you're probably at work, but I got your letter today,” I said. “I can talk for a little bit. The kids won't get here for another twenty minutes.” Kenzie taught second grade at one of the primary schools in Sydney. “But Amy, I just still can't believe this! All those years, you were at a magic school and I had no idea!” “I couldn't tell you because of the-” “Statute of Secrecy, I know now!” she said excitedly. “I think it's amazing, I really do. It's like living a fairy tale or something.” “Not really,” I muttered. “Listen, what exactly did Cameron tell you about us?” “That your dad was fired because he broke some stupid law and that's why you had to move. Plus that your brother doesn't have some rare disease, he's a werewolf, but that's what I don't understand. Cameron says there's some sort of potion that's supposed to make werewolves harmless, but Matt never takes it?” I sighed. Cameron apparently didn't have his facts straight. “Not exactly. We didn't move because Dad was fired. We moved because the school I used to go to, the one Cameron went to, wouldn't let Matt attend because he's a werewolf. It just so happened that Dad got fired shortly after my parents decided to move,” I explained. “And Matt doesn't take the potion because it doesn't work for him. Look, there's something you have to know about wizarding society, and that is that most people think of werewolves as animals, as monsters, seeing them only for that one night out of twenty-eight. A lot of people don't think they deserve to be treated as people, go to school, or even have wands.” “That's awful,” Kenzie whispered. “I know, but it's true. It's better in England than in Australia, but not perfect. So, there's something I have to know. I don't remember Cameron at all, so I have to know, what does he think about werewolves?” I asked quietly. “I asked him,” Kenzie said after a pause. “He explained a bit about the discrimination and prejudice. The thing is, he doesn't really have an opinion. His dad is really prejudiced, but he disagrees with his dad. Cameron's, well, he's had issues with his dad. Apparently he wanted Cameron to get into the Ministry, like he had, but Cameron wanted to open a Quidditch shop, so he did. They talk, but not much. He is invited to the wedding, though.” It was very odd to hear Kenzie use the word 'Quidditch'. “All right,” I replied. “I just, I don't want anything to happen at the wedding, when people see my dad after not seeing him for years.” “Nothing will happen. That's my day, not theirs. Don't worry. And Amy, I was wondering if you could be one of my bridesmaids,” Kenzie replied. “I would love to,” I said. “Do you have a date yet?” “Sometime in September,” Kenzie answered. “I'm going to have to go, but I'll talk to you soon.” We said our goodbyes and I closed the phone. It could have been worse, I supposed. Cameron could have hated werewolves. But his dad, well, the thought of his dad and mine in the same room made me kind of nervous. “What's the verdict?” Dad asked as I went back into the living room. “Cameron doesn't really have an opinion on werewolves, but his dad is prejudiced,” I sighed. “And while the two of them had some sort of falling out, his dad is invited to the wedding.” “Clint...Clint,” Dad mused, “wait, I think I remember him. Alexander Clint, head of the Department for Magical Transportation. He's the reason we always have to fly when we visit Australia.” I groaned. “This is going to be an interesting wedding.” ****** Whenever I mentioned to my coworkers or acquaintances that one of my friends was getting married (and believe me, it's happened quite a bit), they always just said 'well, that's wonderful' while giving me a somewhat sympathetic look. It drove me nuts. I knew what they were thinking, 'oh, another one of Amy's friends is getting married and she's not, that's got to be awful.' The truth was, it wasn't awful. Why should I get married when I still hadn't found the perfect guy? It's not like I was going to get married just for the sake of getting married. Not everyone finds their soulmate before they turn thirty. Sure, I'd dated a few guys, but so far none of them had been able to deal with my work hours. They didn't like having to stay home on a Friday night because I was on call or be by themselves on a weekend because I had to brew Wolfsbane Potion. Plenty of people managed to live happily with a spouse when they were a Healer, but so far I couldn't. Victoire and Teddy did it and I had a feeling Ted's odd work hours helped them deal with it. But I wasn't only a healer; I was a brewer, too, and that meant I had nearly twice as much work. My hours were worse than Victoire's and guys didn't like that. In fact, my last three relationships, the only ones I'd had since I graduated Hogwarts, ended because the bloke didn't want to spend the rest of their life with someone who was at work more than at home. One of those had stemmed from a blind date Victoire set me up on, and since then she had given up on finding dates for me. I was grateful. Kenzie had had the same luck with guys as I had, until she met Cameron. So, I was nothing but happy that she was getting married, not including those slight reservations I had about Cameron's family. It had been practically unbearable for Kenzie when her little sister, Morgan, got married a few years ago because all of her older relatives kept subtly asking when she was going to tie the knot. Victoire was thrilled when I told her Kenzie was getting married. In fact she was what I would call overly excited and then began crying out of happiness. I attributed it to the pregnancy hormones, which were still raging. So far, Victoire's pregnancy was running the same course as it had with Sophie. Morning sickness, cravings, raging hormones. The baby bump started to appear in the middle of December, which caused Victoire to worry about whether any of her relatives would figure out she was pregnant before she told them. This prompted Teddy to tell her not to worry, that they would just think she'd had a few too many Christmas cookies, earning him a slap from Victoire and a promise to run out to the store for more Neapolitan ice cream. Thankfully the pickle craving had started to wane. “Can you get that?” Victoire asked as the doorbell rang. Teddy had just left for ice cream and Victoire and I were discussing the various dramas of St. Mungo's while Sophie made Christmas tree ornaments out of construction paper. “It's probably Gabriella. She said she was getting here today.” Gabriella was Victoire's younger sister by a little over two years. All they shared in common were family and the Veela blonde hair, though. While the two had followed the same Prefect and perfect student track at Hogwarts, Gabriella had gotten fed up with it and didn't wish to pursue a steady job. Ever since she graduated from Hogwarts, Gabriella had been living in France trying to make her way as an artist. She had fulfilled the cliché of 'starving artist' and moved from flat to flat every few months. Currently, she was living with another artist, this one a wizard, but Victoire doubted they'd be together much longer. Gabriella grew restless easily and never stayed with the same bloke for more than a couple months. I opened the door and there was Gabriella, dressed in multi-colored robes and carrying a tattered duffel bag. Her hair was long, wavy, and going every whichway and her signature wide grin was plastered on her face. “Amy!” she said as she threw her arms around me. “Haven't seen you in ages! Are you watching Sophie? Or is my sister here?” “She's here,” I replied as we walked back into the house. “Victoire!” Gabriella shouted once we got back into the living room. Victoire stood up and the two sisters embraced, only for Gabriella to push Victoire away and stare at her open mouthed. “Oh my God!” Gabriella shrieked as she stared directly at her stomach. Oh, Merlin, I thought. She knew. Gabriella had this incredible ability to sense things that were amiss, especially when it came to looks. When you thought your pimple wasn't visible, it was the first thing Gabriella noticed, and she was always the first to notice new haircuts, even if you'd only got a couple inches cut off. Apparently it was the same with pregnancies. “Soph,” I said as Sophie got up to give her aunt a hug. “Could you run upstairs for a few minutes?” “Why?” she asked as Gabriella returned her hug. “Your mummy just has to talk to Aunt Gabriella about something,” I replied. Sophie nodded and ran upstairs. I waited until the sound of her footsteps were gone and then looked back at Victoire and Gabriella. “When did it happen?” Gabriella asked. “September, I suppose,” Victoire answered. “I'm three months along.” “Three months?” Gabriella gasped. “When were you going to tell me?” “Christmas Eve,” Victoire said. “I haven't told anyone yet. Amy's the only one who knows.” “Oh. But Victoire, I thought you weren't going to have anymore kids?” Gabriella asked. “Does this one have lycanthropy, too?” “I don't know,” Victoire said quietly. “They can't do the test until the second trimester, so I'm getting tested next week.” “But won't you know without the test?” Gabriella wondered. “Didn't Sophie get restless during full moons?” “I've been on Wolfsbane as a precaution, so I don't know. If the baby does have lycanthropy, the Wolfsbane is working,” Victoire explained. “That's good, then,” Gabriella replied as she gave Victoire a hug. “Whichever way it is, you're going to be fine.” “Maybe,” Victoire sighed. “How long are you here for?” “I don't know,” Gabriella said. “At least until New Year's, but after that, who knows? Whenever I feel like going back. I broke it off with Francoise before I left.” Victoire and I exchanged glances. No surprises there. “I thought I might spend some time with Georgia before going back,” Gabriella explained. Georgia was one of their cousins and the same age as Gabriella. She played Keeper for England and was no more ready to settle down than Gabriella was. “Gab, could you not mention anything about the pregnancy to anyone?” Victoire asked. “I still want to tell the family on Christmas Eve.” “Don't worry,” Gabriella smiled. “My lips are sealed.” That was true. Gabriella could keep a secret better than anyone I knew, except perhaps myself and my own family. “Are you hungry?” Victoire asked. “Can I get you something?” “Sure, so long as you're not going to dip any pickles in ice cream in front of me,” Gabriella smirked. “That phase is over,” Victoire laughed. “Now it's just ice cream.” “Then it looks like I got here just in time,” Gabriella grinned.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 31 March 2010 01 59 35 pm    Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden Chapter 29: Increasing Tension Albus and John burst into the Marauder's Den a little while later to find that Matt and Kaden were the only ones there. Matt's face was covered in ash and Kaden was grinning. They were in the middle of a game of Exploding Snap. “And that makes four wins for me and none for you,” Kaden announced as he collected the cards, “Oh, Albus, John! How was your detention? Want to play?” “Not now,” Albus said hurriedly as he sat down next to Matt, “Matt, did you know your dad was just here?” “Yeah,” Matt nodded, “When he got my owl, he wanted to go talk to Kendrick. I went with him.” “Well, do you know where he went after?” John asked. “Home, I guess,” Matt shrugged, “Why?” “He and Kendrick turned up in our detention,” John said. “He what?” Matt replied. “Yeah, it was really odd,” Albus said, “He came in with Kendrick and Kendrick introduced him to Balladanis. Only Balladanis said 'we've met'. You never told us your dad knew Balladanis.” “I never knew,” Matt shrugged, “Then what happened?” “Your dad was really angry,” Albus continued, “He thinks Balladanis taught us too much about how to figure out if someone's a werewolf and that's why Malfoy found out. Then he told him how dangerous it was for him to use that anamatek in class-” “Oh, yeah,” Matt said, “I told my dad about the anamatek and that's one of the reasons he came here, to tell Kendrick about it. Kendrick's making him get rid of it.” “Yeah, that's what your dad said,” Albus replied, “He's coming back to inspect Balladanis's room tomorrow to make sure he got rid of it. He also said that if any of Balladanis's teaching puts you in danger again, the Ministry's going to investigate him.” “It's really not a good idea to get on my dad's bad side,” Matt said, “What did Balladanis do during this?” “He kept saying that he was going to teach however he wanted,” Albus explained, “Honestly, he did not look happy that your dad was there. I think something happened between the two of them.” “But what?” Matt asked, “Dad's never mentioned him before.” “Think he'd tell you if you asked?” John wondered. “Probably,” Matt said, “I'll owl him about it.” “Oh, and then your dad told Malfoy he'd better not tell anyone you're a werewolf,” John said, “He looked pretty scary, too. I don't think Malfoy's going to tell anyone.” ****** It did not take very long for word to spread that Balladanis had gotten in trouble for having an anamatek. Galleons exchanged hands the next morning at breakfast, as a few older students had bet on how long he would have it. Somehow everyone knew that Matt's dad had showed up at Hogwarts the previous night and informed Kendrick about it. Kaden had Defense that morning and reported to Albus at lunch that Balladanis was even stricter than usual and seemed incredibly angry. That did not bode well for Albus's detention that evening. “He's downright scary,” Kaden said as he piled steak and kidney pie onto his plate, “Yelled at one of the Ravenclaws in my class for spilling her ink. She was nearly in tears. But I'd hate to be in your class, Albus, he's going to be brutal. I mean, it's pretty much because of Matt that he got in trouble.” Matt had gone up to the Marauder's Den after they got out of Herbology since he felt ill and wasn't in lunch. Albus knew that Kaden was right. Balladanis was going to take this out on Matt, and possibly Malfoy as well. “I don't know why he cares so much,” John shrugged, “I mean, the Ministry could have just taken that thing away. He's lucky he just had to take it back to his house or whatever.” “I don't think he likes the government,” Albus said, “That's the feeling I got after listening to him talk about what he did before teaching here. I think that's why he did that, instead of becoming an Auror.” “Well, I think it's a good idea for the Ministry to make him take that thing home,” John said. “Me, too,” Albus agreed, “I mean, he could've turned it into a manticore next.” Kaden went to class after lunch while Albus and John went up to the Marauder's Den with Rose and Amanda. “Think he's owled his dad yet?” John asked as he gestured to Matt, who was asleep in his bed. “Doubt it,” Albus said, “He's probably been asleep since he got up here.” “Merlin, I just want to know what happened between his dad and Balladanis,” John groaned. “You're so impatient,” Rose commented, “Just let him sleep.” “I wasn't going to wake him up,” John muttered. The remainder of the afternoon passed by quickly. Albus was dreading his detention later and John complained loudly about how he had to go to the extra help session about werewolves when he already knew so much about them. Albus woke Matt up shortly before dinner and he looked much worse than he usually did the day of full moons. They all escorted him to the hospital wing, where Madam Pomfrey rushed him into bed. Just as they were about to leave the hospital wing, the doors opened and in walked Matt's dad. Albus assumed he was there to check if Balladanis had gotten rid of his anamatek. John nudged Albus. “We should ask him about Balladanis,” John whispered. “He's not going to tell us now,” Albus muttered back, “Look at him.” Mr. Eckerton looked tired out and incredibly worried. He nodded to Albus and the others before rushing over to Matt's bed and talking to Madam Pomfrey in hushed whispers. As it turned out, Albus had been worrying about the detention for nothing. He entered the room before Malfoy and John was already doing his lines. Balladanis said absolutely nothing to Albus as he handed him parchment. Malfoy arrived a little while later and still Balladanis said nothing. Malfoy did not talk either. He did not ask anything about Matt and didn't even comment that the full moon was that night. Balladanis let them leave at half past ten. Albus and John found Kaden in the Marauder's Den and spent the remaining time left until Astronomy playing Exploding Snap and Wizard's Chess. “Why, why do we have to have this class with the Slytherins?” John groaned as they made their way to the Astronomy Tower, “If Malfoy doesn't make a single comment about the full moon, I'll eat an entire cauldron.” “I'm going to hold you to that,” Albus laughed, “But I don't think you'll have to.” Malfoy went so far as to actually set his telescope up next to Albus's. Professor Polo spent ten minutes telling them that they were to plot the position of Mars, Venus, the moon, and a handful of stars before turning them lose to actually do so. “The moon is so bright,” Malfoy whispered, “And big and...full....” Albus looked at John. “Looks like I won't be eating my cauldron tonight,” John muttered. “Just shut it, Malfoy,” Albus said. “Isn't his dad the Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures? Yeah, he must be, because he's the one who made Balladanis get rid of the anamatek. Can't say I'm really upset about that,” Malfoy said quietly, “But how ironic.” “Just stop talking about it,” Albus muttered. “Oh, come on, Potter. Even you have to appreciate the irony,” Malfoy said. “Will you just shut up,” Albus seethed. “Quiet over there,” Polo said. Malfoy smirked at Albus one more time before going back to his telescope. The rest of the lesson passed without anymore commentary from Malfoy and Albus was quite happy when he was able to return to his dormitory. ****** “It's like back in first year,” Albus sighed, “Remember when Madam Pomfrey locked the hospital wing?” “That's why this is bad!” Rose said. “Well, she didn't lock us out this time,” John pointed out. “She didn't exactly let us in either,” Kaden said. Albus and his friends had slept late on Saturday morning and after grabbing a quick bite to eat, had gone to visit Matt in the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey hadn't let them in. They were currently in the Marauder's Den, trying to figure out why. “She always lets us in,” John groaned. “He obviously had a really bad night,” Albus said quietly. “Yeah, but why?” Rose wondered. “Haven't you noticed that the full moons have been worse the past few months?” Albus asked, “He's been taking longer to recover.” “I wish he'd just let us become Animagi,” John muttered. “John, I honestly don't think you could become an Animagus,” Rose replied, “You'd wind up with a permanent tail affixed to your arse.” “That wouldn't be that bad,” John grinned, “Always thought it would be cool to have a tail.” “You're not helping,” Albus sighed, “What are we going to do?” “I think all we can do is just keep going back to the hospital wing,” John shrugged, “Until Madam Pomfrey lets us in.” Their efforts proved fruitless, though. They went to the hospital wing twice that afternoon and then right before Albus and John had to go to detention. Madam Pomfrey told them 'no' each time. Sunday, the last day of Albus and John's detention, was the same. Madam Pomfrey was quite livid when they showed up for the third time that day. “Nothing's changed!” she shouted, “Come back tomorrow evening! I'll give the lot of you detention if you come back any earlier than that!” With that, she strode back into the ward and slammed the door. “Can she even give detention?” Kaden asked. “I dunno,” Albus shrugged, “I wouldn't put it past her.” Albus and John broke away from the group to complete their last detention. Balladanis gave them lines, just like he had the past three nights. Albus sat quietly completing them, very grateful for the fact that Malfoy hadn't said two words to him since Astronomy. “You may stop,” Balladanis said quietly after they'd been writing for about an hour and a half. Albus threw his quill down and leaned back in his chair. Finally, it was over. “I hope you learned something,” Balladanis said, which shocked Albus. He had been expecting Balladanis to continue his silence. “If I catch any of you dueling in the corridors again, the consequences will be much more severe than detention and lost points. “Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy, I have given great thought to whether I should continue giving you extra lessons. I have decided to give you one more chance. Lessons will continue this Friday at their normal time. However, if either of you disregard my rules again, I will no longer hold them. You may go. I'll see all three of you in class on Tuesday.” “Merlin, I'm glad that's over,” John muttered to Albus once they were on their way to Gryffindor Tower. “Me too,” Albus agreed, “He's going to be awful in class, though.” “Yeah, can't say I'm looking forward to that,” John said. Albus couldn't concentrate at all in his classes the next day. All he wanted to do was go to the hospital wing and find out how Matt was, but Madam Pomfrey insisted that they wait until evening. Rose and Amanda ate dinner with Linda, but they met Albus, John, and Kaden near the hospital wing afterwards. They had all eaten a very rushed dinner due to Albus's Quidditch practice at seven. Albus cautiously opened the door to the hospital wing, half expecting Madam Pomfrey to yell at them again. He walked quietly inside, followed the the others. Madam Pomfrey was sitting at her desk and she visibly sighed when she noticed them. “Go ahead,” she gestured to the only occupied bed, which had the curtains pulled around it. Albus rushed over to the bed and yanked the curtains back. Matt looked exhausted and there was a rather large bandage wrapped around his head. “I was wondering when you'd come visit me,” Matt gave them a half smile. “We've been trying!” John said, “Madam Pomfrey hasn't let us!” “I know,” Matt smirked, “I've heard her yell at you. It's kind of amusing.” “Well, we're here now,” Albus said, “How are you? Why didn't Madam Pomfrey let us come visit?” “Because I didn't wake up until yesterday afternoon,” Matt answered. “But that was-” John began. “Nearly two days later?” Matt cut him off, “I know.” “But why?” Rose asked. “A bunch of things, really,” Matt sighed, “First, I was worried about Malfoy telling everyone and it's always worse when I'm worried about something. Second, I hit my head really hard at some point that night. It still hurts. Third, the transformations in general are getting worse, because I'm getting older.” That thought certainly hadn't crossed Albus's mind. Albus and all his friends were obviously getting older and that brought plenty of changes, but he hadn't even thought about how the wolf would change when Matt got older. “So, are all of the full moons going to be this bad now?” Kaden asked. “No,” Matt shook his head and then winced, “I mean, I don't really know what'll happen in the future, but this one was just a combination of bad things.” “That's good, I guess,” Albus shrugged, “When do you get to leave?” “Tomorrow night at the earliest,” Matt sighed, “Although that means I'll miss Defense.” “Wish I could miss Defense,” John muttered, “Speaking of Defense, did you owl your dad yet?” “John, he just woke up yesterday,” Rose pointed out. “I didn't owl him,” Matt said, “But he came to see me earlier and I asked him.” “Brilliant,” John grinned, “And?” “And,” Matt said, “He told me all about it. He told me Balladanis was a Presuler and was really surprised that I already knew. “Apparently, back when my dad had just been appointed Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures in Australia, he hired Balladanis to catch a band of vampires who were attacking Muggles on the outback. Balladanis caught them, but he thought Dad went too easy on them.” “What did he do to them?” John asked. “Sent them to prison. I think they got 20 years. Balladanis thought they should have gotten life sentences. Dad and Balladanis got into this huge argument at the Ministry about it and Balladanis stormed out. The Australian Ministry didn't hire him after that,” Matt explained, “Although, I'll bet Balladanis and Lubar would agree on punishments. I wonder if he's hired Balladanis.” “That explains a lot,” Albus said, “Did your dad say anything else about him?” “No, not really,” Matt replied, “Just that he's got a lot of issues. Oh, and he wanted me to warn you not to listen to everything Balladanis says during those dueling lessons you've got.” “I'm not going to,” Albus assured him, “I think we've all seen a different side of Balladanis during the past week.” ****** Tuesday morning dawned quickly and Albus trudged to Defense with John. Neither of them really knew what class would be like, but judging from what he heard about recent Defense classes in the common room, it wouldn't be fun. Malfoy was back to his smug self now that detention was over. He sat next to Goyle wearing a smirk on his face. Albus ignored him and went to his usual table. Balladanis stormed into the room a few minutes later. He waved his wand at the door and it slammed shut with a bang loud enough that it caused the Jordan-Bell twins, who had been sitting closest to it, to jump. “Pass your homework questions forward,” he growled. Albus handed his homework to the table in front of him and waited for Balladanis to collect it. He paused in front of the table in front of Albus's. “Potter,” he began, “You can tell Eckerton that his homework is late and therefore I will not accept it. If he wished to get credit for it, he could have graced us with his presence.” Malfoy snorted at this, earning him glares from both Albus and Balladanis. Balaldanis tossed the homework unceremoniously onto his desk and then turned back to his students. “Wolfsbane potion,” he barked, “Was created by a man by the name of Oliver Belby. He finished the creation in 1991. For most werewolves, the potion was a lifesaver. Who can explain what it does?” Nobody, not even Rose and Linda, raised their hands. Albus stared down at his desk, hoping that Balladanis wouldn't call on him. “Nobody?” he said, “Pity. Wolfsbane potion renders a werewolf harmless during full moons. The lycanthrope turns into a wolf, but a harmless one. One that will just sleep until the moon sets and will not have the urge to bite and kill. “The potion is a lifesaver to those plagued with lycanthropy. I had been hoping to show you what a werewolf would look like on Wolfsbane potion, but my anamatek has been banned from the castle,” Balladanis said with malice, “Therefore you will have to go without the visual. It seems that certain parents, Ministry officials, and the headmaster do not approve of my methods of teaching. Unfortunately, it is all of you who are suffering for it.” “I wouldn't call it suffering,” John muttered. “Quiet, Brickston!” Balladanis shouted, “Unless you have something to contribute to the class.” “No, sir,” John replied. “Good,” Balladanis muttered, “Anyway, the anamatek will not be making anymore appearances in this classroom and your education is going to suffer for it. Nothing, and I repeat nothing can replace hands on training.” Albus usually agreed with that, but he drew the line at having what was in essence a live manticore in front of him. There were some times when reading sufficed. The lesson continued with Balladanis talking about Wolfsbane. He spoke about how the potion doesn't work for all werewolves and Albus found his mind drifting. All in all, the lesson hadn't been as bad as he'd been expecting. Besides his brief rant about his anamatek being banned from the castle, he had been pretty normal. Normal for Balladanis, that is. “Next lesson will be the last on werewolves,” Balladanis announced at the end of class, “We will learn about lycanthropy's effect on children.” Albus groaned inwardly. Matt would be out of the hospital wing by then. Why couldn't Balladanis just finish the werewolf unit already? “He won't be back next year,” John muttered as they walked to Herbology. “I don't doubt that,” Albus replied, “I just wonder who we're going to get instead.”
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 10 March 2010 10 01 47 am    Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden New page, new disclaimer! I still do not own Harry Potter. Chapter 26: The Presuler Professor Balladanis didn't say anything for a long time after he, Albus, and Malfoy returned to the Defense classroom. Albus landed next to Malfoy, still confused as to how he managed to get out of the pensieve, in front of Balladanis's desk. Balladanis landed behind his desk, facing the wall, and didn't turn around for a few minutes. Albus glanced nervously at his professor as he thought of questions he was just burning to ask. In fact, there was nothing about the scene he had just witnessed that didn't make Albus curious. Everything about it had been confusing. Malfoy looked just as confused. They kept looking at each other and it was kind of strange. They were on the same side. Both of them wanted Balladanis to explain. Balladanis finally turned around and looked at them. He put his hands on his desk and leaned forward, looking both Albus and Malfoy in the eye. It happened in a split second. Albus looked at his professor and immediately thought back to the face of the boy in the scene. That was why he looked familiar. The boy was Balladanis. Then, Balladanis shifted slightly and the likeness was gone. But Albus knew it. That scene had been from Balladanis's childhood. “Sit down,” Balladanis said. Albus and Malfoy sat down quickly at the table in front of Balladanis's desk. They were sitting right next to each other and Albus didn't care. At the moment, finding out what that scene was was more important than staying away from Malfoy. “A few weeks ago you asked me what I did before I started teaching here, Mr. Potter,” Balladanis began, “I have always had the intention of telling you, of telling both of you. I was merely waiting for the right moment. I feel that that moment is now.” Balladanis paused and walked around to the front of his desk. He began to pace in front of it. “There is a reason why I am telling you this now. Why I am not explaining to all of my classes what I did before teaching. The reason is that you two are incredible duelers. Both of you have skills beyond your years that I have never seen before, and believe me, I have seen plenty of exceptional duelers in my time. This may be a good time to tell you how rare it is to have two such skilled duelers in the same year at Hogwarts.” Albus turned to look at Malfoy. What was Balladanis getting at? It sounded like the start of some sort of house unity speech or something. “I know the two of you aren't the best of friends,” Balladanis continued, “But I must say how impressed I am that you seem to put the animosity behind you when you step into my classroom for your lessons.” The sole reason for that, at least for Albus, was because of Balladanis himself. Albus doubted he would tolerate Albus and Malfoy bickering with each other during lessons. “Back to what I was going to tell you,” Balladanis said, “That scene that I just showed you, in case you have not figured it out yet, took place while I was a boy of only thirteen. It was the summer before my third year at school. “I grew up in Greece, in that very house we just saw. My parents, although they loved me deeply, were very poor and could barely afford to put food on the table. I think they were grateful when I went away to school, the sole reason being that they wouldn't have to worry about me getting enough to eat. “I had two blissfully innocent and fun years at the Grecian School of Magic. I returned home during summers full of stories about my friends and all the mischief we'd gotten into.” Albus found it difficult to imagine Balladanis getting into trouble at school or doing anything fun in general. “Everything changed the summer before my third year. It changed on the night you just witnessed. A coven of vampires entered my house that night. They attacked my parents and drank them dry. I hid in a closet, too scared to do anything. Then, once the vampires left, I fled. I ran until I could not run anymore. I wound up at the house of one of my friends. His parents took me in, but things were obviously never the same. I changed on that night.” Balladanis stopped talking and Albus sat in complete shock. Balladanis's parents had been murdered by vampires? That was one thing that had never crossed Albus's mind. “I returned to school that September hardened. Nothing was fun anymore. Nothing was funny. It was then that I decided to devote my life to ridding the world of such evils. Vampires, dark wizards, werewolves, anyone and anything that murders viciously.” Albus couldn't help but glare at Balladanis when he mentioned werewolves. Balladanis seemed to notice this and gave Albus the slightest of smiles. “However, I did realize that not all vampires, werewolves, giants, and other beings are inherently evil. Not all of them want to kill. It was for this reason that I did not wish to be employed by the Greek Ministry. The Greek Ministry prefers to deal with magical creatures as a whole and not distinguish between them. Perhaps this is because Greece has a very large population of vampires. “Thus, becoming an Auror was out of the question. Instead, I chose to enter a more secretive profession. One that you will not find pamphlets on when you get career advice from your heads of house. One that no one except me is going to suggest to you. Yet it is one that I believe the two of you are quite suited for.” Albus's heart sped up at this. Balladanis was going to give them career advice? They were only thirteen. But at the same time, Albus felt excited. Balladanis thought he was a good enough dueler for this career, whatever it was. “I am a Presuler,” Balladanis said, “I am sure neither of you have heard of one. A Presuler is somewhat like an Auror, in that we seek out dark wizards and dark magic. However, we not only seek out dark wizards and dark magic, we seek out dark and dangerous creatures as well. “The biggest difference is that Presulers are not employed by the Ministry. There are very few Presulers in the world and we are often sought out by various Ministries and hired on an as-needed basis. We travel from country to country, whenever we are needed. It is quite secretive. I suppose Presulers are a combination of Aurors and private investigators.” Balladanis was right in that Albus had never heard of a Presuler before. The idea intrigued him, though. A secretive kind of Auror who did not work for the Ministry. “I never caught the vampires who killed my parents. I have met one vampire who knew them, but she is not like them. I am still searching for them, however.” Balladanis stopped pacing and leaned up against the front of his desk. He looked at Albus and Malfoy, but did not say anything else. “Why are you teaching here, then?” Malfoy asked. “That is one thing that is between myself and Professor Kendrick,” Balladanis replied. “Are you coming back next year?” Malfoy asked. “As of right now, I have no idea,” Balladanis answered, “It is getting late. I've kept you here much longer than normal. If you think of anymore questions, do not hesitate to see me. I'll walk you back to your common rooms.” Albus walked alongside Balladanis in silence on his way back to the Gryffindor Tower. His mind was racing with what he just learned. He didn't know what to make of it. It was just so much information at once. The common room was nearly empty when Albus climbed through the portrait hole. It must have been really late, since it was Friday night. Albus really didn't know what time it was. “There you are!” Rose shouted, “Merlin, you've been gone for hours!” “What did he have you doing?” Matt asked. “I'll tell you tomorrow,” Albus muttered, realizing that all he wanted to do was lay in his bed and think about what Balladanis had just said. Albus was vaguely aware of his friends sighs of disappointment as he went up to his dormitory, but he didn't feel like talking about it right then. He was tired and his mind was racing at the same time. Albus tossed and turned the entire night. He alternated thinking about what he had seen in the pensieve and about becoming a Presuler himself. Then he wound up thinking about Linda and what Balladanis thought of her. He had said he didn't hold a grudge against vampires that didn't kill people, but who knew what he really thought. Was Linda the vampire he had met who knew the vampires who killed his parents? It was possible since vampires never aged. Or maybe she was a completely different vampire. Albus wondered how many vampires Balladanis knew. Eventually Albus fell into a restless sleep, but his dreams were plagued by what he had seen in the pensieve. ****** “Merlin, Albus, get up!” Albus rolled over in his bed and put his pillow over his head. After waking up drenched in sweat at four in the morning after a nightmare in which his whole family had been killed by vampires, he had finally drifted off into a somewhat decent sleep. One that he wished he was still in. “It's nearly one o'clock.” “He's like you are after full moons.” “Shut it. Seriously, Albus, get up.” “Yeah, we want to know what happened last night.” Someone pulled the curtains open and took the pillow off Albus's head. He looked up and saw John and Matt. “Did you lose to Malfoy or something?” John asked, “Because that would make me want to hole up in bed for the day.” “No, it's not that,” Albus muttered, “I'll tell you, but I'm only explaining it once, so one of you better find Rose, Amanda, and Kaden. And I'll tell you in the Marauder's Den because there is no way Linda can be around to hear this.” The girls and Kaden met them in the Marauder's Den after Albus, John, and Matt had lunch. John kept pestering Albus all through lunch, wanting to know why Linda couldn't hear about it, but Albus said nothing. He wasn't even sure if he was allowed to tell his friends about this, but Balladanis hadn't really forbidden him. “Albus, what in the name of Merlin happened last night?” Rose asked as soon as they were all in the Marauder's Den. “Balladanis told us what he did before he started teaching at Hogwarts,” Albus said quietly. “And you neglected to tell us until now?” John gaped, “I've been wanting to know for the entire year!” “I know, John,” Albus snapped, “But it's not anything what you'd think.” “Sorry,” John muttered. “Balladanis took us into a pensieve last night,” Albus began. “Really?” Rose looked impressed, “What was that like?” “Not that great, to be honest,” Albus said, “Probably would have been better if it was a better memory. “Anyway, he took us without any explanation of what we were going to see. He took us to this really old broken down house in Greece. Kind of looked like a smaller more run-down version of the Shrieking Shack.” “In Greece?” Kaden asked. “Yeah,” Albus nodded, “We watched the house for what seemed like hours and then these figures broke into it and we heard this awful screaming. Then the figures left. Then this bloke who was about our age came running out with this horrible scared look on his face. Then we left.” “What does that have anything to do with what Balladanis does for a living?” John asked. “Everything,” Albus sighed, “That had been his house. The screams were his parents. The boy was him. He told us this after. His parents were killed by a coven of vampires.” Nobody said anything for a long time. Albus looked at his friends and they all wore equal looks of shock. “And you watched it?” Matt asked. “From a distance,” Albus replied. “Merlin, no wonder Balladanis is so bloody insane,” John let out a low whistle. “He decided to devote his life to ridding the world of evil, whether it be vampires, dark wizards, or other dark creatures,” Albus continued. “So he's an Auror?” Rose asked. “No,” Albus shook his head, “He's a Presuler.” “What is that?” Kaden asked. “It's like an Auror, only they go after dark creatures, too. And they aren't employed by the Ministry. They're hired by Ministries all around the world. They're investigators as well. Apparently it's all very secretive,” Albus explained. “Wow,” John said, “I thought he was an Auror or something.” “Me, too,” Matt agreed, “Instead he just hunts down vampires. And, werewolves.” “Only ones that kill people,” Albus assured his lycanthropic friend. “All werewolves have the capability of killing people, Albus,” Matt said quietly. “So does everyone,” Albus replied. “Whatever his view on vampires and werewolves truly is, it's going to be interesting to see how he teaches us about them,” Rose mused. “Guess this is why you didn't want Linda to hear about this,” John said. “Yeah,” Albus replied, “Apparently he still hasn't found the vampires who killed his parents, but he knows a vampire who knows them. That vampire doesn't kill people. I wonder if it's Linda.” “Who knows?” Rose shrugged, “I doubt we'll ever find out.” “Oh, I've got to tell you what he said after he told us all of this,” Albus took a deep breath, “He thinks Malfoy and I should become Presulers.” “Seriously?” Matt asked. “Yeah, because we're good duelers,” Albus explained, “But I don't know.” “You don't have to know. You're only thirteen. And Albus, don't decide anything until you've read about this. Don't just go on what Balladanis is saying. I think we've finally discovered why he's so passionate about fighting the Dark Arts, but it might cloud his judgement sometimes,” Rose warned. “I know, that's what I don't get,” Albus said, “Why is he telling us this now?” “Maybe because he doesn't plan on staying,” Matt replied, “Why would he stop searching for the vampires who killed his parents to teach here anyway?” “Malfoy asked,” Albus told him, “But he wouldn't tell us. He said it's between him and Kendrick.” “Because that's not suspicious or anything,” John rolled his eyes, “There's still something funny about Balladanis.” “What are you going to do, Albus?” Matt asked. “I'm not deciding anything now,” Albus replied, “I'm just not going to think about it.” ****** Not thinking about Presulers and what happened to Balladanis's parents proved to be easier said than done, especially since Defense class was soon devoted to learning about vampires. Balladanis seemed to teach that particular unit with much more enthusiasm than usual, a feat that nobody thought possible. Everyone speculated as to why Balladanis was more enthusiastic than usual, but most just attributed it to the fact that he was bloody insane. A lot of what Balladanis taught about vampires was stuff Albus already knew due to what Matt had told them earlier in the school year. It was still fairly interesting, though. Albus found that the more dangerous the creature they were learning about, the more interesting it was. Not to mention the fact that they didn't use the anamatek anymore, a fact that nearly every student was grateful for. However, partway through their second week devoted to vampires, the anamatek's trunk reappeared in the Defense classroom. There was an audible groan from every student who stepped into the room. “If that thing turns into a vampire, I think I'm going to get up and leave,” John seethed as they took their seats. “Maybe we're moving onto another creature,” Albus suggested even though he knew the chances were slim to none. “That wouldn't be any better. We're doing werewolves next,” John reminded him, “And Matt said that thing couldn't turn into an actual werewolf. Speaking of Matt, he's lucky he's missing this.” “I think he'd say otherwise,” Albus replied. The full moon had been the previous night. “Quiet,” Balladanis said, “We'll be continuing our vampire lesson today. Today I wish to show you what a vampire looks like, which is why I have brought back the anamatek. However, you will not be fighting it. None of you have the skills necessary to fight a vampire.” “He's mental,” John muttered. Balladanis drew his wand and pointed it at the trunk. It snapped open and out stepped a very pale man with chiseled features. He didn't move, but merely stared out at all the students. “Vampires are the perfect predator,” Balladanis announced, “They're incredibly fast,” he pointed his wand at the vampire and it disappeared. It reappeared in the back of the classroom, but it had not Apparated. The vampire had moved so fast that Albus had missed it in the blink of an eye. “They're agile,” Balladanis continued, “They're good looking. They attract you in. Then they kill, they suck you dry until you are dead. The alternative is not great, either. From the moment their teeth break your skin, you begin to transform into a vampire as well. You will become one if they do not suck you dry. There is no way to stop it, no potion to counteract it. “Vampires hunt at night when their vision is still excellent, but when human vision is compromised. However, that is not the only reason. Does anyone know the other?” Rose raised her hand. Linda did not. “Yes, Miss Weasley?” Balladanis said. “Vampires are in essence allergic to the sun,” Rose explained, “When the sunlight hits them, it hurts them. The sun gives them headaches and makes them feel sick.” “Precisely,” Balladanis gave her a rare smile, “There is no potion to counteract the effects of the sun on vampires. Therefore they tend to inhabit areas that see less sun and areas of dense forest, such as the Northwestern and Northeastern United States, parts of Canada, and parts of Russia. However there is also a significant vampire population in Greece.” Balladanis pointed his wand at the vampire again and it retreated back into the trunk. Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief. The lesson continued until the bell rang. Balladanis made no mention of moving onto the next unit, nor had he assigned the usual end of the unit essay. Albus and his friends went to visit Matt late that night after Albus got out of Quidditch practice. They only had a half hour or so until curfew, but they hadn't visited at all yet. “You missed an excellent Defense lesson today,” John said once Madam Pomfrey had gone back into her study after leaving to see who had entered her ward. “Was it any different from the usual ones?” Matt asked tiredly. He looked ready to fall asleep at any moment. “Balladanis brought back the anamatek,” Albus told him. “He what?” Matt shouted, although since his voice was hoarse it wasn't very loud, “We're still doing vampires, aren't we?” “Yeah, he had it turn into a vampire,” John said, “We didn't have to fight it. He just used it to show how fast vampires were and what they looked like.” “That is weird,” Matt replied, “He assign the vampire essay yet?” “Nope,” John shook his head, “I think we're in for a few more days of vampires.” “Well, the longer we spend on vampires, the more time we have before we start werewolves,” Matt said quietly, “I really hope he doesn't spend as much time on them as he has on vampires.” “I don't think he will,” Albus said, “His parents weren't killed by werewolves.” “Thank Merlin for that,” Matt yawned. “You're tired,” Rose said, “We should leave.” “We'll be back tomorrow after lunch,” Albus told him, “Good night.” “'Night,” Matt said. They left the ward just as Madam Pomfrey was coming out of her study, presumably to tell them to leave and give Matt more potions. Albus and his friends headed straight for the common room, where they got started on all the homework that had been piled on them that day.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 3 March 2010 10 03 26 am    Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden Chapter 25: The Memory Ten minutes into the match, Albus decided there were four types of Quidditch in the world. Casual Quidditch, like what he played with his cousins; school Quidditch; professional Quidditch; and then there was the type of Quidditch he was playing now. It was a combination of school Quidditch and professional Quidditch. The crowd was louder, the players more determined, and the stakes were higher than a normal school Quidditch match. Albus dodged one of the New York Chasers and flew up to catch the Quaffle, which had been dropped by Waverly as he had been hit by a bludger. As soon as Albus had the Quaffle, he was flanked by the other two New York Chasers. Albus pushed his broom to fly faster and held the Quaffle tighter to his chest. Then he plunged down to the ground, where nobody else was flying. He was back up high two minutes later when he had reached the New York goal posts. After dodging a Bludger, he threw the Quaffle into the left goal post. The Keeper was too slow and the Quaffle soared through. “Potter of Hogwarts has scored!” Todd Smith shouted, “40-30 Hogwarts!” James grinned at Albus as he flew past. Albus smiled to himself and joined Waverly and Reilly, who were waiting for New York's Keeper to throw the Quaffle out. That had been his first goal of the match. The Quaffle continued to exchange hands quickly as the match went on. An hour later there was still no sign of the Snitch and both teams were neck in neck as far as points went. New York was up by ten. Albus scored a few more goals and he began to relax a little. The match began to feel more like a school match and less like a professional match, even though the stakes were still high. Wood had repeated over and over again that they had to be up by at least fifty points when James caught the Snitch, or they wouldn't be able to overtake New York as far as overall points went. “New York's Seeker has seen the Snitch!” Smith announced. Albus, who had been following one of New York's Chasers (the one who had the Quaffle), turned around and saw that their Seeker was making a beeline for the top of Hogwarts' middle goal. James noticed as well and flew straight at the hoop. He had been significantly closer than New York's Seeker and flew away from the hoop with the struggling Snitch in his hand. The crowd roared and James held the Snitch high above his head. Both teams flew to the ground and Albus saw the pained look on Wood's face. They hadn't won by enough to be in second place overall. “I had no choice!” James shouted to him, “She was going to get it!” Wood nodded in agreement, but he still looked disappointed. Albus chose to ignore this and helped the rest of the team to hoist James onto all of their shoulders. “To update everyone on the points, the Australian School of Sorcery is in first place. New York and Hogwarts are currently tied for second. The next match will take place at the end of February!” Smith told the crowd. Albus didn't meet up with his friends until they were back in the common room. Teddy had gone to Hogsmeade and a party was currently underway in the Gryffindor common room. Teddy informed everyone that the three other houses were hosting parties as well. The students from New York who had been sorted into Gryffindor, including their Seeker, were sulking in a corner. “I think that was your best match yet,” John said to Albus as they settled down at their usual table. “I think so, too,” Albus agreed, “I kind of wish I could play in the next match.” “Maybe Fielding will still be sick,” John said. “Doubt it,” Albus replied, “Plus, I'm sure O'delle will get first dibs on the next match if any of the other Chasers get sick.” “At least you got to play in one match,” Rose pointed out. “Anyway, the next match you'll probably be playing Australia,” Matt said. “Yeah,” Albus nodded, “If we win that one, it'll be a miracle. But we're not even playing in the next one. Next match is New York versus Australia.” The party continued until dinner time, when people began to leave as nobody had snuck down to the kitchens to get food. Harry came in to congratulate Albus and James shortly before Albus and his friends left for dinner. He was also scheduled to patrol the school for the remainder of the weekend and wanted to let his kids know. ****** Life at Hogwarts returned to normal shortly after the Quidditch match. The [i]Prophet[/i] printed fewer and fewer articles about Wisander until there were none at all. Everyone seemed to forget about his death. Everyone except Matt, that is, who was still worried about his dad. However, the students at Hogwarts were reminded again of the unsolved murder when the next Hogsmeade trip arrived two days after Valentine's Day. A portion of the students were too lovesick to notice the boarded up shop of Dervish and Banges as they made their way to Madam Puddifoot's. Neither Albus, John, or Matt were too preoccupied to notice the abandoned building, though. The three of them stopped to look at it for a while despite the biting wind. Rose and Amanda were spending the day with Linda. “Who owns it now?” John asked as they looked at the empty building. “Dunno,” Albus shrugged, “The Prophet never mentioned any family.” “It's probably still part of the investigation,” Matt pointed out, “Plus, who would want a building that someone was killed in? I don't even want to go in it.” Albus didn't think it was a good time to remind Matt that Severus Snape had been murdered inside of the Shrieking Shack. “Good point,” Albus said, “But so far they haven't found anything.” “They won't find who it was,” John said quietly, “They never found out who killed Torro.” “I really hope they find who it was,” Matt replied. “They will,” Albus said, “They're still focused on it.” Albus, Matt, and John went to the Three Broomsticks a little while later because all three of them were frozen. They warmed up with Butterbeer and were just thinking about heading back to the castle when Albus heard someone whisper his name behind him. “Albus,” they said again. Albus turned around, but no one was there. The voice sounded familiar, though. Albus slowly reached his hand out and it touched something solid, but it looked like no one was there. “Kaden,” Albus groaned, “Is that you?” “Yeah,” Kaden whispered back, “I stole your cloak.” Albus immediately stood up and motioned for Matt and John, who were both looking confused, to follow him. He assumed Kaden would follow as well. Albus lead them up High Street until they reached the Shrieking Shack. Nobody was hanging around it that day. “Kaden!” Albus seethed, “You do realize how stupid this was.” “Yes,” Kaden replied as he took off the cloak. “Bloody Hell!” John shouted. “You stole the cloak?” Matt asked. “Kaden, you idiot!” Albus shouted, “I know I first told you this would be a good time, but there was a reason I changed my mind and told you not to sneak in today. Most of the teachers come to Hogsmeade for the February trip. My cousins told me. They want to make sure no one does anything stupid because they're in love or whatever.” “Er,” Kaden muttered. “How did you get in?” Matt asked. “One-eyed witch statue,” Kaden replied, “Leads right into Honeyduke's.” “Kaden, do you know how difficult it's going to be to get you back unnoticed?” Kaden's face turned white and his mouth dropped open. Albus turned around to see what he was looking at and was met face to face with Professor Balladanis. “Quite difficult, I'd expect,” Balladanis replied, “Come with me, all of you.” Albus groaned inwardly as he followed Balladanis down the street. They had gone all year without Kaden getting them into trouble, but Albus should have known better than to think they could go the whole year. Nobody spoke until they were shut in Balladanis's study. Balladanis sat down in his chair and looked at Kaden. “Explain,” Balladanis said. “They had nothing to do with it,” Kaden said quickly, “Albus was just telling me how stupid I was.” “Then it would seem that Mr. Potter and I agree on something,” Balladanis replied, “Where'd you get that cloak?” “It's Albus's,” Kaden said quietly, “I took it. He didn't give it to me to sneak in or anything.” “Very well,” Balladanis said, “Mr. Potter, Mr. Eckerton, and Mr. Brickston, you may return to your common room. Mr. Dursley will join you after I arrange his detention.” Albus, Matt, and John could not get out of there quick enough. They walked straight back to the common room, talking about how lucky they had been. It must have looked like all three of them had helped Kaden sneak into Hogsmeade. Good thing Balladanis believed Kaden. Kaden returned fifteen minutes later, looking quite unhappy. He collapsed onto a chair and stared mutinously at the table. “Detention every Saturday for the next month,” Kaden muttered, “Plus he gave me a lecture about how dangerous it was for me to sneak out and if I did it again I'd get a worse punishment than detention. Didn't elaborate on that, though.” “He'd probably get you kicked out,” John commented. “Did he say what you have to do for detention?” Albus asked. “No,” Kaden said, “Guess it'll be a surprise.” ****** Kaden discovered what his detention was that night. Balladanis decided to have him alphabetize his private library, which was quite extensive. Kaden returned to the Marauder's Den ranting about the amount of books Balladanis had. “He's got more books on dark creatures than your dad's got,” Kaden said to Matt. “That's impressive,” Matt replied. “Wish he had less,” Kaden muttered. Kaden spent all four of his detentions alphabetizing those books. He almost didn't manage to finish and if that had been the case, Balladanis would have given him a fifth detention. The next full moon came and went, as did the next Quidditch match. Albus was beginning to suspect that the full moons were becoming worse for Matt, although he didn't know why. New York lost miserably to Australia in the Quidditch match. They had been doing pretty well until Linda caught the Snitch a half hour in. Wood insisted that this was a good thing, though. It meant that if Hogwarts managed to score a good amount of goals before Linda caught the Snitch in their next match, they would have more overall points than New York. Wood seemed to have lost any hope that James could beat Linda in Seeking, something James fumed about on a near daily basis. March arrived and with it a three day rain storm that left the grounds completely flooded. Both Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures had to take place inside, which resulted in incredibly boring lessons. Wood continued to hold Quiditch practice and Albus returned to the castle completely soaked and covered in mud after each one. All of the teachers were piling on the homework and Professor Patil had even gone so far as to mention the O.W.L.s even though they were a whole two years away. The only teacher who wasn't talking about the end of term exams was Professor Balladanis. Balladanis conducted his lessons as if end of term exams did not exist. He changed nothing about his lessons except the dark creature they were learning about. “We're starting vampires next week,” Balladanis announced at the end of class on Thursday, “Please read the chapter on them by Monday.” Albus couldn't help but look at Linda before he began packing up his things. He wondered if Balladanis would be teaching them enough about identifying vampires for anyone to figure out that Linda was one. “So,” John said as he flipped through his Defense book the following evening. Albus, Matt, John, and Kaden were in the Marauder's Den and John was just finishing the chapter on vampires. “Look what's after vampires. Albus looked through his own book. “Werewolves,” he said quietly and then looked at Matt. “Yeah,” Matt muttered, “It was bound to happen eventually.” “I wonder if Balladanis is going to make you go in for extra help during that unit,” John grinned, “I'm sure you'll need loads of extra help in identifying werewolves.” Matt rolled his eyes. “He better. It'll look suspicious if I don't go in for extra help. Speaking of extra help, we're due to go in for it in fifteen minutes.” “We'd better go then,” John said, “See you two later.” Albus managed to finish his Herbology homework while John and Matt were gone. Then it was time for him to go in for his dueling lessons. The desks weren't pushed to the sides of the classroom when Albus entered. Balladanis was seated behind his desk and there was a stone basin sitting on it. Balladanis was pulling silvery strings of something out of his head and placing them in the basin. It was a pensieve and the strings were memories, Albus realized. For a moment, he thought that maybe Balladanis had cancelled dueling and neglected to tell him. “Sir?” Albus asked hesitantly. “Mr. Potter,” Balladanis said quietly, “Come in.” Albus stood awkwardly next to one of the front tables while he waited for Malfoy. Balladanis stared into the pensieve and acted like Albus wasn't there. When Malfoy arrived, he looked up and stared at the two boys for a few minutes before speaking. “We're not dueling today,” he said, “Instead, I am going to show you something.” He motioned for them to join him at his desk. Albus glanced nervously at Malfoy. Balladanis wasn't one for explanations, but Albus would have appreciated one right then. “This is a pensieve,” Balladanis said, “It is used to explore memories. That is exactly what we're going to do. Albus, lean forward and put your head into the pensieve. Your body will follow. Scorpius, you will follow. I will come after you.” Albus's pulse sped up a little bit as he leaned over the pensieve. Was this a stupid idea? He didn't even know what he was getting into. But it was just a memory. Nothing could hurt him in a memory, right? Albus took a deep breath and plunged his face into the pensieve. He had never been in one before. He landed on the hard grass and looked around. It was dusk and very quiet. There was a small house in the distance, atop of a rocky hill. In fact, the whole area was mostly rocky. Albus had landed on the one lone piece of grass in the whole place. It didn't look like any place in Britain. He stood up as Malfoy landed next to him, followed quickly by Balladanis. Balladanis landed on his feet and they waited for Malfoy to get up. “Follow me,” Balladanis said quietly. Albus did so, but he still felt like he deserved an explanation. Where were they? Why were they there? Whose memory was this? What did it have to do with dueling? “Excuse me, Sir,” Malfoy said, “Where are we?” “Greece,” Balladanis replied. This did nothing but increase Albus's curiosity. Why were they in Greece of all places? But he didn't ask. It didn't seem like Balladanis was in an explaining mood, judging by his short, one word answer to Malfoy. They walked quietly towards the small house. The only noise was their footsteps. There weren't even any owls hooting or dogs barking. It struck Albus as very odd. The house must have been their destination. Balladanis stopped when they arrived at the broken down wooden fence surrounding it. The house reminded Albus of the Shrieking Shack, only smaller. It was kind of broken down and didn't look like a place that would be good to live in. Someone lived there, though. A light was on upstairs. It remained on for a few more minutes and then someone turned it off. Balladanis made no move towards the house. Instead, he seemed focused on the forest that lay just beyond it. Albus decided the forest was as good a place as any to watch. They watched the forest for a half an hour before anything happened. Then five hooded figures practically flew out of the forest. They were at the house before Albus even realized it. He looked at Balladanis. His face was hardened. All was quiet for two minutes. The figures entered the house, but did not turn on any lights. Then the screams started. Albus jumped at the sound of the first one. They were agonizing, long screams. Albus wanted nothing more than to go in and help whoever was screaming, but he knew he couldn't. It was nothing more than a memory. Instead, he looked again at Balladanis. His professor's face showed nothing. Nothing but the same hardened look he had seen on it so many times. Malfoy on the other hand, looked horrified. He looked exactly how Albus felt. The screaming was coming from two different people. There was a high-pitched one that must have been coming from a woman, and a lower one that must have been coming from a man. Then, they stopped. First the woman, then the man. The hooded figures left the house as quickly as they had entered and returned to the forest. Balladanis, however, made no move to leave. Instead he stared at the house. Two minutes later, someone fled from it. They ran from the house, towards Albus, Malfoy, and Balladanis. As they drew closer, Albus could see that the person was a boy who looked no older than Albus himself. His face was etched with a sadness Albus had never seen before. It was too dark to tell, but Albus was sure there were tears running down his face. The boy obviously didn't notice the three people watching him. He ran right past them, up the rocky hill in the distance. It occurred to Albus after he passed that the boy looked somewhat familiar. There was something about his face that Albus recognized, but he couldn't quite place it.