Harry Potter Robes and Costumes

Visit our friendly Harry Potter Forum to discuss wizarding style and more, like these posts:

Author	Message
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 17 February 2010 10 36 20 am    Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden Thanks Dawn! So glad you're enjoying it! Chapter 23: All in Good Time It was nearing midnight when Albus, Matt, and Rose re-entered the building, escorted by Professor Balladanis. Albus had been hoping the professor would just see them to the door and then continue his search of the perimeter, but instead he went back to the ballroom with them and marched them right up to Harry. “Potter,” Balladanis interrupted the conversation Harry had been having with some wizard Albus didn't know, “I found your son, your niece, and their friend wandering around outside.” “Albus,” Harry groaned, “I thought we made it clear that you were to stay inside.” “I'll leave them with you,” Balldanis said, “Happy New Year.” “Happy New Year,” Harry replied, “And thanks.” Balladanis disappeared into the crowd and Albus shifted uncomfortably as his dad stared at him for a few moments. “Care to explain?” Harry raised an eyebrow. “We were just, er, exploring,” Albus muttered. “Don't do it again,” Harry sighed. “We won't,” Albus assured him. Harry went back to his conversation and Albus lead his friends back to the buffet. “I hope you've learned your lesson,” Rose muttered, “I am not doing that again.” “We won't do it again. Not tonight, that is,” Albus grinned. “10!” someone shouted. Albus looked at the nearest clock and saw that it was almost midnight. Everyone else joined in the countdown, holding their glasses of champagne in the air. Amy joined Albus, Rose, and Matt. “3, 2, 1, Happy New Year!” Albus shouted along with everyone else. The crowd began to thin out a little while later. Most of the people Albus didn't know left, along with his Uncle Percy, Aunt Corrine, and his cousins. Albus's parents didn't look like they were in any hurry to leave, so he got a plate of the leftover desserts and at them with his friends. Rose's family and Amy left, and then it was just the Potters, Matt, his parents, the Minister, and his wife left. All the adults were talking, James was teasing Lily about something, and Albus and Matt were finishing off the last of the desserts. “Do you think there's any way for Hogwarts to win the Quidditch tournament?” Matt asked as he polished off a piece of chocolate cake. “Only if Linda's sick the day of one of the matches,” Albus sighed. “Maybe that'll happen,” Matt said, “You never know.” “Al, we've got to go,” Ginny tapped him on the shoulder. “Ok, Mum,” Albus replied and then turned back to Matt, “I'll see you soon.” “Yeah, see you on the train,” Matt said. Albus waved goodbye and then joined his mum, dad, James, and Lily. They all said congratulations to Matt's dad and then left the Minister's Mansion. Albus peered into the bushes as he left, but there was no sign of Professor Balladanis. ****** The remainder of the Christmas holiday went by very slow for Albus. He did all his homework, which was quite boring, and there was nothing to do after that. Rose was visiting her other grandparents and James was at Nathan's house. Even Kaden was busy visiting his grandparents (Vernon and Petunia). He sent Albus a letter complaining about it, since the visit was also with Aunt Marge. Albus was very grateful that he didn't have to go. Neither of his parents had mentioned anything about visiting with Vernon and Petunia again. Finally the day to return to school arrived and the Potters made it to Platform 9 ¾ just in time. Albus found all his friends in one of the compartments and once they kicked Lily, Ashtyn, and Hugo out, they told each other about their holidays. “Aunt Marge has got to be the most horrible aunt in the entire world,” Kaden fumed, “My dad told her about magic a few months ago and she's been awful ever since. I mean, she was always kind of horrible, but now she's worse. She just hates magic so much. She's worse than my grandparents.” “Wow,” Albus replied, “Glad I've never met her.” “Consider yourself lucky,” Kaden muttered, “I'm guessing you lot had better holidays?” “We found Professor Balladanis lurking around the Minister's Mansion,” Albus announced. “What?” John, Kaden, and Amanda shouted at the same time. “I saw someone sneaking around outside and Albus insisted we go investigate,” Rose said, “Turns out it was Balladanis and the Minister had apparently asked him to check the grounds for trouble.” “Did he find you?” John asked. “Yeah,” Albus nodded, “He wasn't to happy either.” “Told us we could've been killed,” Matt explained. “Well, we could've,” Rose muttered. “Weird though,” John said, “Why would the Minister think someone would be hiding around his house?” “Doesn't he have guards around anyway?” Amanda asked, “The Muggle Minister does.” “Again, that's why it's weird,” John replied, “He does have guards.” “Why would he ask Balladanis anyway?” Matt asked, “Why not ask an Auror? Balladanis is a professor.” “He hasn't always been,” Albus pointed out, “He had some sort of mysterious job before.” “Again, weird,” John said. “Yeah, there were a bunch of Aurors at the party, not to mention Albus's dad,” Matt pointed out. “That settles it,” John announced, “Albus, you've got to find out what he did before he started teaching Defense?” “Why me?” Albus asked. “Because you've got those special dueling lessons with him. He likes you for some reason. Of course, he also likes Malfoy. But that's probably just because Malfoy's a good dueler, too,” John explained. “I'll try,” Albus sighed, “But I really don't think he'll tell me.” “You never know,” John said. ****** “Quiet, quiet!” Balladanis shouted the following Tuesday, their first day of Defense after the holiday. Albus immediately stopped talking to Matt and John and turned to face Balladanis. He was really hoping that the professor would say nothing about what happened at the party and so far Balladanis was showing no recollection of it. “I trust you all had superb holidays,” Balladanis said, “But the holidays are over and although I am sure none of you thought a bit about defensive magic during said holidays, it is now time to commence that thinking once again. “First, I'll say that there is no time to not be thinking about defensive magic, as the dark arts do not take breaks for trivial things such as holidays. “Second, in this term we will begin to explore creatures far more dangerous than hinkypunks and kappas. In this term we shall learn about those terrifying creatures such as acromantulas, basilisks, werewolves, dragons, and vampires.” Albus couldn't help but glance at Linda when Balladanis said vampires. Balladanis had glanced at her as well, and he also glanced at Matt when he said werewolves. Of course, he had looked at Albus when he said basilisks, so it didn't necessarily mean anything, but Albus had a feeling it did. “As the headmaster would find it highly inappropriate for a dragon to manifest itself in this classroom, we shall not be using the anamatek as often this term,” Balladanis continued, “But we will be using it a few times. You will find that there are more lectures in this term, much to my dislike. There is nothing I would like better than to teach you about acromantulas and werewolves with practical lessons, but there are both laws and school rules that prevent such lessons.” Albus and Matt glanced at each other. It was official. Professor Balladanis was insane. What kind of teacher would want to teach about dragons with live dragons? Well, Hagrid would, but he wasn't the same as Balladanis. “Take out some parchment,” Balladanis said, “We're going to begin learning about acromantulas today....” The rest of the day went by relatively quickly. Albus actually did not have Quiditch practice that night, so everyone went to the Marauder's Den after dinner. “Divination is such a joke,” John said as he tossed his bag onto the floor and collapsed onto a couch, “We started crystal ball gazing today. All I saw was a load of fog.” “I told you not to take it,” Rose said as she pulled a stack of books out of her own bag. “I didn't think it would be this bad,” John groaned, “There is no way anyone could see anything in a crystal ball.” “Palmistry was better,” Amanda said, “And Trelawney makes the whole thing worse.” “Trelawney could make Defense bad,” Albus replied. “Balladanis told us that he wished he could teach us about dark creatures using the anamatek,” Rose said, “Seriously, he wanted a basilisk to appear in the middle of the classroom.” “That would be stupid,” Kaden said as he unwrapped a Chocolate Frog, “Those can kill you with their eyes.” “I know,” Rose said, “Balladanis is insane.” “Do you think that anamatek could turn into a werewolf if the moon wasn't full?” John asked. “Probably not,” Matt answered, “It would just be a wolf. I think it would just be a wolf any other time of the month, too, because there's no way it could turn someone into a werewolf by biting them.” “That's good,” Albus said, “Because he did say that he'd use the anamatek a few times this term. Wonder if he'll have it turn into a vampire.” “No need,” John laughed, “We've got Linda.” “If you think of it that way, there's no point to have it turn into a fake werewolf either,” Rose pointed out. “Good point, I guess,” John muttered. ****** The rest of the week went by quickly. Albus had Quidditch practice Thursday evening, and Wood informed the whole team that they'd gotten rusty over the holiday. He also told them that the next match was in two weeks and they'd be playing New York. If they won, they'd be in second place. Albus had a dueling lesson with Balladanis the following evening and he had absolutely no idea how he was going to ask what Balladanis's previous job had been. Albus arrived at Balladanis's room before Malfoy and entered to find Balladanis clearing all of the desks from the middle of the room. “Mr. Potter,” Balladanis turned around and greeted Albus, “Is it safe to assume that you did not go wandering about late at night alone after New Year's?” “Yes, sir,” Albus muttered as he felt his face turn red. He was quite glad Malfoy wasn't there yet. “Mr. Malfoy,” Balladanis said as Malfoy walked into the room, “Now we may begin. I have decided that your understanding of the Protego charm is satisfactory so we are going to move on to something else. “This particular charm, when performed correctly, manages to disarm and disorient a person at the same time. The sensation is often described as dizziness. Can either of you tell me what why this charm would be more useful than a standard disarming spell?” “Because it's easier to duel someone who's dizzy than someone who isn't,” Malfoy said. “More specifically than that,” Balladanis said, “Mr. Potter?” “Er, because you can get the person tied up while they're disoriented? If they're a dark wizard you're trying to catch,” Albus replied. “Another good reason, but not the one I was thinking of,” Balladanis began to walk slowly around the room, “Wizards who are expecting to have to duel other wizards often keep multiple wands on their person. There are spells that can be performed on these wands to keep them attached to your robes or your actual body, spells that Expelliarmus won't overcome easily. However, these spells require constant concentration. “If a wizard is hit with the charm I am about to teach you, they will lose the concentration necessary to keep their extra wands affixed. Then, you can use Expelliarmus to get the extra wands.” “Can you teach us that charm to keep extra wands in our robes?” Malfoy asked. “Perhaps towards the end of the year. It takes immense concentration and magical energy to simultaneously perform that charm while dueling someone,” Balladanis explained, “For now, you will learn the charm to disarm and disorient a person at the same time. “The incantation is 'Confundo-Expelliarmus'. A combination of Confundus and Expelliarmus. Mr. Malfoy, you will go first. When I say so, perform the charm against Mr. Potter. Mr. Potter, you may try and stop him using the Protego charm I taught you earlier.” Albus nodded, wishing he had been chosen to perform the new charm first, and faced Malfoy. He held his wand up and muttered 'Protego' under his breath. He focused all of his concentration on holding the shield up. “Now, Mr. Malfoy,” Balladanis muttered. “Confundo-Expelliarmus!” Malfoy shouted. Albus felt the charm hit his shield, but it didn't break through. He gripped his wand harder and stared at Malfoy. “Keep going,” Balladanis said to Malfoy. “Confundo-Expelliarmus!” Malfoy shouted again. The charm hit Albus's shield a little harder this time. Albus could feel beads of sweat forming on his forehead. Malfoy kept going and it took him five times to break through Albus's shield. When it happened, Albus felt his wand leave his hand and was overcome by a wave of dizziness at the same time. He felt exactly like he had when he had gotten the flu the previous year, only without the fever. Albus didn't pay any attention to what Malfoy and Balladanis were doing. He felt like he was going to pass out and he had to sit down. He sat down right on the floor and was vaguely aware of Balladanis standing over him. Then, all of a sudden, the dizziness was gone. Albus shook his head and then looked up and saw Balladanis and Malfoy standing in front of him. Malfoy looked impressed and Balladanis looked like he always did. “You did quite well with that shield,” Balladanis said as Albus stood up, “And I think it's safe to assume that you couldn't have held concentration for any spells after Mr. Malfoy succeeded in breaking your shield.” “No, sir,” Albus shook his head. “Normally the charm's effects would have lasted longer, but I performed the counter-curse because it looked like you were ready to pass out,” Balladanis explained, “When you're ready, you can try the charm.” “I'm ready,” Albus said as he took his wand back from Malfoy. Balladanis gave Malfoy a few seconds to get his shield up and then nodded at Albus to perform the charm. “Confundo-Expelliarmus!” Albus shouted. As he expected, the charm did not break Malfoy's shield. Much to Albus's delight, he managed to break the shield on the fourth try. One less try than Malfoy had needed for Albus. The charm hit Malfoy in the chest and his wand soared towards Albus. Albus caught it and watched as Malfoy bent over and fell to the ground, much like Albus himself had done. Balladanis gave Albus one of his rare smiles and then pulled out his own wand. He waved it at Malfoy and Malfoy looked up. “That was weird,” Malfoy muttered. “It's supposed to be,” Balladanis said, “Now get up and we'll do it again.” Balladanis kept them at it for the better part of an hour, past when Albus would have liked to quit. It was exhausting to be hit with that spell time after time while trying to hold up a shield charm. Malfoy didn't seem to be faring much better and Albus thought he was even going to ask Balladanis to stop after a half hour, but Malfoy closed his mouth, obviously thinking better of it. The practice wasn't for nothing, though. Albus managed to hold Malfoy off longer and longer each time and although Malfoy was getting better at the shield charm as well, Albus broke through it a few more times. “That's enough for tonight,” Balladanis finally said after he performed the countercurse on Albus for what must have been the tenth time that night, “I'll see you in class on Tuesday.” Malfoy made a beeline for the door, but Albus turned to Balladanis instead. He might as well just get it over with. There was no good way to ask Balladanis what his previous job had been. He just had to do it. “Er, Sir,” Albus began, “I was just wondering, what did you do before you began teaching here?” Balladanis gave Albus the strangest look he had ever seen. It was a mixture of anger, sadness, and even regret. For a moment, Albus wished he hadn't asked. It was too personal. He should have just told John they wouldn't be able to find out. “Now is not the time,” Balladanis said quietly, “All in good time, I will tell you.” Albus was taken aback. That was more than he had expected. He had thought Balladanis would have told him to mind his own business and get back to Gryffindor Tower before curfew. Albus was going to find out, he was just going to have to be patient. Albus left the room as quickly as he could in his exhausted state, before Balladanis could change his mind about eventually telling Albus about his previous career. The walk back to Gryffindor Tower seemed longer than usual and all Albus wanted to do was collapse into bed when he finally got there. Instead, he was ambushed by all of his friends. All five of them looked shocked and Amanda looked like she was going to be sick. He looked around the common room and saw that most people looked shocked and everyone was subdued. There was no joking around going on. Even James was quietly sitting at one of the tables. “What happened?” Albus whispered as he followed them back to their usual table. Rose opened her mouth to speak and then closed her eyes, unable to do so. Albus turned to John and raised his eyebrows. “You know that bloke who owns Dervish and Banges?” John asked quietly. Albus nodded, having seen the man on numerous occasions when he was in Hogsmeade. He was slightly older than Albus's parents, with greying hair and a very intense personality. He never hesitated to make his opinions known “Someone killed him,” John said in barely more than a whisper. “Wh-what?” Albus turned to look at all his friends in turn. Matt nodded ever so slightly and then put his head on his hands. “Must've just happened,” John said, “They just found him. Madam Rosmerta heard a commotion and Flooed here, to get the Auror on duty. By the time they got back, his shop was a complete mess inside and he was laying dead on the floor. Avada Kedavra. They're searching Hogsmeade, the forest, the grounds, and the school. Nobody's allowed out of their common rooms and dormitories.” “We thought Balladanis would bring you back here when it happened,” Rose said. “Nobody even came in to tell us,” Albus replied, still in shock. People weren't just randomly killed in Hogsmeade. That sort of thing just didn't happen anymore. Not since Voldemort had been defeated. Well, Professor Torro had been killed back before his first year and then that one witch from the Ministry had been killed over Christmas, but their killers had never been found and nothing had happened since. “Why would anyone kill him?” Matt wondered aloud. “Why would anyone kill anyone?” Rose replied. The portrait hole opened and all the whispering stopped. Everyone looked to see who came in. It was Professor Longbottom, looking worse for the wear. His robes were disheveled and his tie was askew. “Aurors are still searching the castle and the grounds,” he told them, “I suggest you all try and get some sleep. The search will be long over by morning, so you will be free to leave the common room then.” Albus and his friends looked at each other after Longbottom left. They wordlessly went up to their dormitories, Kaden going with Albus instead of to the second years' dorm. Nobody said anything as he curled up on the floor with one of Albus's spare blankets. Albus got into bed and stared at the ceiling. He had been so exhausted earlier, but now there was no way he'd get much sleep that night.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 10 February 2010 07 46 13 am    Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden Thanks, Dawn! I'm glad you like it! Here's the family tree- Bill-Fleur -------- Charlie-Katherine (witch)---Percy-Corrine (Muggle) Victoire, 19 ------- Stanley, 18--------------Georgia, 7th year Gabriella, 7th year--Heather, 6th year---------Bradley, 5th year Ben, 4th year------ Mark, 5th year-----------Cedric, 4th year ----------------- Eddie, 7 years old--------Samantha & Lindy (twins), 8 years old George-Alicia Spinnet----Ron-Hermione-------Ginny-Harry Fred, 6th year-----------Rose, 3rd year-------James, 4th year Angie, 10 years old------Hugo, 1st year-------Albus, 3rd year ------------------------------------------Lily, 1st year Dudley-Christina (Muggle) Kaden- 2nd year Bethany- 8 years old *all in Gryffindor* Chapter 22: The Party The party was at the Minister's Mansion, the house where all the Ministers of Magic had lived. Albus had been there a few times before, but not in a couple years. Usually all the parties the Minister held were while Albus was at Hogwarts. A few hours before the party, Ginny made Albus, James, and Lily all take showers and comb their hair properly. She spent a good fifteen minutes trying to get James's hair to lie flat and another fifteen minutes putting Lily's up in some sort of elaborate bun type thing. Albus was very happy his own hair was far too short for that sort of thing. Before they left, Albus's parents sat him, James, and Lily down on the couch and proceeded to tell them the rules for the evening. “Absolutely no making trouble!” Ginny stared at James as she said this, “None at all! This is the Minister's house! I will not have you wreaking havoc in it.” “We're trusting you to keep yourselves occupied during this. I'm going to have to mingle with everyone and we won't be able to watch you every second,” Harry added, “You're all at Hogwarts now. You're old enough to not be glued to us for the evening.” “Don't worry,” James said, “I know when mischief isn't appropriate.” “Let's hope so,” Ginny sighed. Albus and his family Apparated to the Minister's house, which meant side-along Apparition for Albus. He hated side-along Apparition. It felt like he couldn't breath. It was worse when the person who was Apparating him was also Apparating another person, which was always the case in his family. It was the curse of being the middle child. He was either with James or Lily. This time it was with Lily and Harry was Apparating them. When Albus had regained his ability to breath properly, he looked around at where they had landed. He was standing on the front lawn of what was the most extravagant mansion he had ever seen. It couldn't be considered a house; it was just too monstrous. A long and winding sidewalk, framed with bushes and lights on either side, lead up to the front door. Albus's parents started walking up and Albus followed. The mansion seemed to get bigger as they got closer. It was painted brown with a black roof and reminded Albus of a castle. It wasn't nearly as big as Hogwarts, of course, but it was still huge. Harry rang the bell when they arrived at the door and it was answered by the Minister himself. “Harry!” he shouted, “Come in!” Minister Langston Hartwell was the third minister since the fall of Lord Voldemort. He was a tall, rotund man with very little hair left on his head. He did sport a rather large mustache, which caused Albus to think of him as a much taller version of Professor Slughorn. Hartwell was one of those very educated wizards who spoke using very large words that Albus couldn't really understand. He was long-winded and most of his speeches could be condensed down into a few sentences, according to Harry, that is. He was a very nice man, though. “Right this way,” Hartwell motioned for them to follow him. Hartwell lead them through the house, which was just as immaculate as Albus remembered, and into what could only be described as a grand ballroom. It was the same ballroom all the parties Albus had been to were held. The room was decorated with silver and black and was already filling up with people. Albus spotted Rose and Matt in the back of the room and left his family in the doorway to go see them. “Some place, huh?” Albus said once he reached them. “This is the biggest house I've ever seen,” Rose agreed, “I see you're wearing your Slytherin robes.” Albus rolled his eyes. “Shut it.” “What do you think, Matt?” Rose turned to Matt, “His mum says they match his eyes, but James says they're Slytherin robes.” “Slytherin,” Matt said immediately. “Then yours are Ravenclaw,” Albus pointed out, gesturing to Matt's blue robes. “I don't care,” Matt shrugged, “So, did you just get here?” “Yeah,” Albus replied. “I've been here for two hours already,” Matt said, “We were the first ones here. Dad keeps introducing me to people and they all think I'm a first year.” “Bet that's fun,” Albus laughed, “Do you know most of these people?” “Some,” Matt said, “That's the bloke Dad's taking over for,” he gestured to a very large wizard, “McVicar.” “Right,” Albus said, “I've heard of him. Dad's always said he would never retire.” “Dad never thought he would either,” Matt laughed, “Then we've got your Uncle Percy, I think you probably know him. Those people are a few of Dad's colleagues,” Matt gestured to a few more witches and wizards, “Then there's a bunch of people from other departments, but I don't remember any of their names.” “Looks like it's going to be a fun night,” Albus said sarcastically. “Oh, it will be,” Matt grinned, “When I was really little, we went to parties like this a few times a month. You make your own fun.” “Like what?” Albus asked. “Charming alcohol out of the wine and champagne. It'll still taste exactly the same,” Matt grinned mischievously, “By the time midnight rolls around, everyone will be wondering why they're not drunk. It'll be funny.” “You've done this before?” Rose raised an eyebrow. “Amy has,” Matt said, “She's here somewhere and she's going to do it soon.” “I have to admit, that's really creative,” Rose giggled, “What else?” “Mostly stuff with the food. Charm the chocolates to taste like vanilla, charm the serving utensils to move every time you go to pick them up, that sort of stuff,” Matt explained. “My parents gave us this speech about how we can't play pranks here,” Albus said, “She was saying it mostly for James, but I think she should've given it to you.” “My parents never say that stuff to me,” Matt laughed, “They never suspect me of anything. The minute they find out the alcohol's been charmed out of the drinks, they'll find Amy.” “She is the one who's going to do it,” Rose pointed out. “It was my idea, though. She wasn't originally going to do it at this party,” Matt explained. “Alcohol's gone,” Amy said quietly as she came up behind Matt, “This is going to be interesting.” “What exactly happens when you use this charm?” Rose asked. “Oh, it's great,” Amy grinned, “First, only a couple people notice and they make a very quiet mention to another person and then that person agrees that there's something wrong with the drinks. Then it just snowballs from there until it's all they're talking about. Then someone will test the drinks, discover the alcohol's been charmed away, replace it, and then everyone will cheer. But some of them will act drunk because they think there's alcohol in the drinks.” “Aren't your parents going to be upset?” Rose asked. “They might tell me they wish I hadn't done it, but there's not much they can do,” Amy shrugged, “That's why I'm doing it and not Matt.” “I couldn't see your parents yelling at you anyway,” Albus laughed. “You never know,” Matt shrugged. “I bet James and Cedric are going to do something,” Albus said as he scanned the crowd. James and Cedric were sitting at one of the tables, heads close together like they were plotting something. “I'd be shocked if they didn't,” Rose smirked, “Aunt Ginny has no hope of stopping James.” “And I'd bet my last Galleon that Georgia and Bradley are talking about Quidditch,” Albus gestured to his other two cousins, who were standing near the buffet. “That's all they talk about,” Rose said, “And Lily looks bored. Five Sickles says she's over here in about ten minutes or so.” “I wouldn't bet against that,” Albus said, “And Samantha and Lindy will sneak out of the room the next time Aunt Corrine looks away.” Albus's Aunt Corrine was talking with two witches Albus didn't know and his twin cousins were chasing each other around the room. “Are any of your other cousins coming?” Amy asked. “Nope,” Albus shook his head, “None of my other aunts and uncles work for the Ministry.” “Let's go get something to eat,” Matt said. Albus and Rose agreed. Amy left to go talk to someone else and the three friends walked over to the buffet. There was already a small queue in front of it. “There go Samantha and Lindy,” Rose said as they waited. The twins ran out one of the doors and Corrine quickly followed. The queue moved quickly and soon Albus was in front. He grabbed a plate and piled it high with just about everything. There was always the best food at this sort of party. They found an empty table far enough away from James and Cedric. Albus didn't want to be anywhere near them when they did whatever they were planning on doing. “I don't even know what half this stuff is,” Matt said as he began eating, “But it's good.” More and more people arrived as Albus ate his dinner. He recognized a few of them, but didn't remember any names. He also noticed that nobody was acting strangely due to Amy's charm. They were all acting perfectly normal for adults who had had a few drinks. Albus, Matt, and Rose wandered around the room once they finished their food. A few adults stopped to exclaim how big they'd gotten and to inquire what year they were at Hogwarts. Lily joined them because she didn't want to be associated with James and Cedric's mischief. “Hello, everyone!” Minister Hartwell shouted from the podium at the front of the room. Everyone quieted down and turned to watch him. Albus, Rose, and Matt were somewhat close to the podium. “Thank you,” he smiled, “I assume you all know why I've thrown this party, and it's not just to unload the large amount of wine I was given for Christmas!” The adults all chuckled at Hartwell's attempt at a joke and then quieted down once again. “Yes, yes, well, this party is in honor of none other than Walter Eckerton, whom I have appointed to the position of Head of the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. There is no one else whom I would trust with such a job....” Hartwell's speech soon descended into one of his usual speeches, which Albus could not understand. It was long, drawn-out, and Albus could've sworn he saw his dad yawn at one point. Albus clapped loudly when Hartwell finally finished and turned the podium over to McVicar. “Thank you, Minister,” McVicar began, “That was quite an interesting speech. I, too, would like to congratulate Walter Eckerton on his promotion. “I am sure at least half of you were quite surprised to hear that I was retiring. I myself was surprised. In fact, I probably wouldn't have done it if it weren't for the fact that my wife has been begging me to for the past ten years. “However, the main reason for my lack of an earlier retirement was because there was not a single person employed in the Ministry whom I would have trusted with this job. Nobody had the capabilities to carry out this position in the way I would like. Like they always say, if you want something done right, do it yourself. That was my motto up until five years ago, that is. “A little over five years ago, a man came into the Ministry looking for a job in the Department of the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. He applied for a job in Werewolf Support Services, a position that had been open for well over a year. I was ready to hire anyone who walked through the door at that point, but I had no idea what was to come when I hired Walter Eckerton. “Some of you may know that Walter has experience in this field. He was the Head of the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures in Australia for three years before leaving the position in order to move to England. “Walter revolutionized Werewolf Support Services as soon as he started. The ideas he had were ones that even I hadn't thought of. In five short years, he has bettered life for those plagued with lycanthropy more than anyone else in the department have in their entire careers. “It took only six months for me to realize that I wanted Walter to take over for me when I retired. Not only does he have the experience and intelligence for the job, but he also has dedication that I have never seen before. I even have to admit that his dedication surpasses my own. I have never seen anyone fight as hard for werewolf rights as he has. “The only thing left for me to do was convince myself it was time to retire,” McVicar chuckled, “And yes, it did take the better part of five years to do that. But now, I feel very confident as I hand the reins over to Walter.” Everyone clapped as McVicar stepped away and Matt's dad took the podium. “That was quite the speech,” Albus muttered to Matt. “I'll say,” Matt agreed, “And McVicar doesn't usually praise people like that.” “Well,” Matt's dad began, “Thanks for your vote of confidence, Rob. I certainly hope I can live up to your expectations. “I have to begin by saying how unexpected this was. I really had no intentions of becoming the head of the entire department again, no matter which country I was living in. Werewolf Support Services has been such a great place to work these past few years. It truly is my passion. “However, when Langston and Rob approached me about taking over when Rob retired, I found it difficult to say no. In the end, I said yes because I want to make more of a difference. “Of course, I could not have gotten to this place without the help of my wife, Julie,” he gestured to Matt's mum, who was standing near the podium, “And my daughter, Amy, and my son, Matt. “I'm not one for long speeches, so I'll just say that I look forward to starting the job and I truly hope I can be at least half of the head of the department Rob has been.” “I just hope none of them find out why my dad's so dedicated,” Matt whispered. “They're too drunk to think much on it,” Rose smirked. “They're not really drunk,” Albus reminded her. “They're certainly acting like they are,” Rose pointed out. A good portion of the adults were acting very drunk. In fact, if Albus hadn't known about Amy's charm, he would say they all really were drunk. The weird thing was that everybody was acting drunk. There didn't seem to be anyone who was thinking there was something wrong with the drinks. “Let's go ask Amy about it,” Matt suggested. Amy was standing nearby, so Albus, Matt, and Rose squeezed their way through the crowd to get to her. “Amy,” Matt whispered, “Why's everyone acting normal? “I don't know,” she whispered back, “Let's go look at the drinks.” James and Cedric were also standing near the drink table, looking nearly as confused as Albus felt about this charm. That was kind of strange. Amy grabbed a glass of wine and tried it. “Well, it tastes fine, but it's supposed to.” “You'll have to drink a lot more than that to get properly drunk,” Matt grinned. “I'm not doing that,” Amy rolled her eyes. “Actually,” James grinned mischievously, “That might get you drunk.” “What did you do?” Albus groaned. “Cedric and I added some extra alcohol to that wine,” James whispered. Albus, Rose, Matt, and Amy burst out laughing. Albus could not believe it. All of their pranks had backfired. The wine was now perfectly normal. “What's so funny?” Cedric asked. “Amy pulled a prank, too,” Albus said. “I put a charm on all the wine to remove the alcohol, while keeping the taste,” Amy explained, “I did it right when the party started.” “So much for that prank,” James groaned. “Now you won't get in trouble,” Albus pointed out, “Mum's been watching you two.” “I know,” James muttered, “That's why we can't do it again.” “What do you want to do now?” Albus asked as James, Cedric, and Amy left. “Want to explore the Minister's Mansion?” Matt suggested. “Is that allowed?” Rose asked skeptically. “I don't see why not, I mean, this is my dad's party,” Matt pointed out, “Plus, we'd just be walking around.” “Let's go,” Albus said and lead them out of the ballroom. It was much quieter in the rest of the house. They started wandering through any rooms that had open doors. “This place is so bloody fancy,” Albus said. “It reminds me of my grandparents' house,” Matt said. “Their house is this big?” Rose asked. “Nearly,” Matt replied, “They've got a ballroom and everything.” The three friends wound up in a very large living room filled with antique furniture. There was an oriental carpet on the ground and oak tables and bookshelves around the perimeter. Atop the tables were fancy vases of flowers and crystal sculptures. “We'd better be careful in here,” Rose said as she walked into the room, “If we break any of this stuff, our parents would murder us.” “Cinda's got one of these,” Matt pointed to a crystal swan. “Don't touch it!” Rose hissed. “I wasn't,” Matt assured her, “I broke Cinda's once, but Mum fixed it.” “Look at all these books,” Albus gazed up at one of the bookcases, “Madam Pince would love to get her hands on these.” “They're all about politics, though,” Matt pointed out, “Pretty boring.” “Mum would like them,” Rose said “I wonder how old this furniture is,” Matt said as he looked at a rather uncomfortable looking armchair. “Probably older than Aberforth Dumbledore,” Albus replied. “Hey, Albus, Matt, come here,” Rose said as she looked out the window. Albus and Matt walked over to the window and leaned over the table that was in front of it. “What is it?” Albus asked. “Look, there's-” Matt leaned farther over the table and knocked one of the crystal sculptures off. Rose gasped and managed to catch it before it crashed onto the floor. “Merlin,” Rose whispered as she set it back on the table, “Be careful.” “Sorry,” Matt replied, “What were you saying?” “There's someone sneaking around out there,” Rose said. Albus peered out the window into the darkness. He could just barely make out a shadow lurking around the bushes. It didn't look like the person was walking up towards the house to go to the party. Plus, why would he show up three hours late? “There's definitely someone out there,” Matt said. “Let's go find out who it is,” Albus said. He didn't have a clue as to who it was, but he wanted to find out. There was no reason for someone to be sneaking around the Minister's Mansion at this time of night. “Albus Severus Potter, are you bloody insane?” Rose exclaimed, “I think you are!” “Look, I just want to go see if we can find out who it is. I'm not saying we should go duel them. Plus, there's a whole room full of Ministry officials in case whoever is out there is someone bad,” Albus said. “That's a good point,” Matt replied, “Why would someone sneak around a house that's full of Ministry officials, especially when the two top Aurors are inside?” “I don't know,” Albus said, “But I want to find out who it is.” Rose reluctantly agreed and followed Albus and Matt, muttering under her breath. They found the nearest door and went out into the cold night, drawing their wands as they did so. “If we aren't killed, we'll freeze to death,” Rose muttered. Albus ignored her and started looking around. He stayed close to the house and tried to keep himself concealed in the bushes as he looked for the figure. However, he couldn't see or hear anything. “Do you hear anything?” he whispered to Matt. “No,” Matt replied, “It's like they disapparated or something.” “Good,” Rose muttered, “Now let's go back inside.” “They could've just moved,” Albus pointed out, “Let's keep going.” Albus continued creeping around the house, with his wand out in front of him. His heart was beating fast and his hands were sweaty despite the cold. He didn't want to stop, though. Figuring out who this bloke was was exciting and nerve wracking at the same time. “Don't move!” someone shouted and all of a sudden there was a bright light in Albus's eyes. Wand light. Rose screamed and grabbed hold of Albus's arm. Albus held up his own wand, his hand shaking. “Who are you?” the person shouted. “Wh-who are y-you?” Albus stammered. “He sounds familiar,” Matt whispered, “Hang on. Bloody hell, that's Professor Balladanis!” Albus thought for a second and the voice did sound a lot like Balladanis. But why would he be sneaking around the Minister's Mansion? “Albus Potter, is that you?” the man shouted. “Er, yes,” Albus replied. The wand light lowered and Albus heard the man step through the snow towards him. Albus saw that he was indeed Professor Balladanis. He breathed a sigh of relief as Rose let go of his arm. “Mr. Potter,” Balladanis said and then waved his wand around, “And Miss Weasley, Mr. Eckerton. Oh, I suppose this party is for your father, Mr. Eckerton?” “Y-yes, sir,” Matt replied. “What are the three of you doing sneaking around outside in the dead of night? I thought I'd taught you better than that. You're just asking for trouble,” Balladanis said sternly. “Told you,” Rose whispered to Albus. “Er,” Albus began, “We saw someone lurking around out here and went to investigate. I guess that person was you....” “And you're lucky it was me,” Balladanis barked, “The three of you could have been dead if that person had been a dark wizard. Now, I'm taking all three of you back inside.” Albus nodded and followed Balladanis through the snow and towards the door. “Sir,” Albus said, “If you don't mind my asking, what were you doing outside?” “If you must know, the Minister asked me to check the grounds in order to make sure nobody was lurking around,” Balladanis replied. That did nothing but spark Albus's curiosity even more. He knew better than to press further, though. Balladanis was not one to explain his motives.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 3 February 2010 08 12 53 am    Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden Chapter 21: A Christmas Blizzard Albus spent most of the days preceding Christmas at Rose's house. James was determined to use all of his spare time for Quidditch practice, and he had to go to Rose's house for that. Albus usually went with him and he and Hugo would help James practice while Rose read. Harry had to practically separate James from his broom by magic on Christmas Eve so they could go to Godric's Hollow. James wanted to stay at Rose's house and keep practicing, but Harry refused to let him. The trip was quiet since James was rather sullen the entire time. “Professor Patil says I'm a natural at Transfiguration,” Lily bragged to Albus as they walked towards the Burrow afterwards. “That's good,” Albus replied. “Yeah, so I'm going to become an Animagus eventually. I want to be a cat.” “You don't get to choose what kind of animal you transform into,” Albus told her. “Oh,” Lily said, “But I think I'll become a cat.” Albus nodded as Lily began to describe in great detail what kind of cat she would transform into. Everyone else was already at the Burrow and Albus felt an immediate warmth come over him as he stepped inside. It had nothing to do with the fact that it was so cold and snowy outside, either. There was something so comforting about being at the Burrow surrounded by all his family. He was able to forget all the issues with the Quidditch tournament and Professor Killigan. All he could think about was how ravenous he was and how good some of his grandmother's cooking would be right about then. Rose sat down next to Albus as he tucked into a large bowl of onion soup with a side of homemade bread. “Uncle Charlie and Aunt Katherine are going back to Romania this summer,” Rose announced. “To tame more dragons?” Albus asked. His uncle and aunt hadn't done that since Stanley started Hogwarts, but they often talked about how they wanted to go back. “Yeah,” Rose nodded, “They might stay even after the summer's over, but Heather and Mark will come back to go to Hogwarts.” “They get to go, too?” “Yup. Stanley and Eddie are going, too. Stanley's quitting his job for it. He's definitely staying in Romania after the summer's over. He wants to get into dragon training.” “Wow,” Albus replied, “They're lucky. I guess it's good that Stanley decided what he wants to do.” Stanley had been working at the Magical Menagerie since he finished Hogwarts, but knew he didn't want to do that his whole life. He just didn't know what he did want to do. “I wish our parents would take us to some other country,” Albus sighed. “Me, too,” Rose agreed, “Imagine the history we could learn.” Albus personally had enough of History from Professor Binns, but he supposed learning history by traveling would be fun. “Christmas Quidditch tomorrow?” Teddy asked as he sat down next to Rose. “Definitely,” Albus grinned. “I wouldn't count on it, Teddy,” Molly said as she handed Albus another hunk of bread, “We're supposed to get the snowstorm of the decade tomorrow. The Muggle electricity is already out in town.” “Is it really?” Arthur popped his head into the room, “Fascinating! I may have to go see it tomorrow!” “You'll do no such thing!” Molly shouted, “It's near impossible to Appparate during such a storm. Not to mention the fact that it's Christmas and you should be here.” “We don't need electricity to play Quidditch!” Teddy exclaimed, “It'll be perfect training conditions! If you can catch a Snitch in the middle of a blizzard, you can catch one in any weather. It's not like Kendrick ever calls off Quidditch because of snow.” “We'll see tomorrow, Teddy,” Molly sighed. Albus finished his soup and he and Rose went into the den, where they were greeted by a loud chorus of 'Odo the Hero', sung by George, Alicia, Charlie, and Ron. Bill and Fleur were laughing while Hermione shook her head. Albus had a feeling the only reason why Fleur approved was because the singing was drowning out Celestina Warbeck. “So then I said, I'm not paying seven Sickles for that!” Percy said to Katherine, who was only sort of paying attention, “And the bloke looked at me like I was mad. I say he's mad, charging that much for a tour of a questionably historic old building. There really should be regulations on such things. It's one thing I'll change if I'm ever Minister.” Albus stifled a laugh. His Uncle Percy had been talking about running for Minister for the past ten years, but still hadn't done it. Most of his uncles and aunts got sick of hearing him talk about what he would and would not change. “Hey, Albus, Rose,” Victoire waved at him from across the room. “Hi Victoire,” Albus made his way over to her, “How is Healer training?” “Exhausting,” Victoire sighed, “And I have to figure out which part of the hospital I want to do the rest of my training in by September. We've been rotating throughout all the floors, but now we have to pick one. I'm nowhere near decided.” “You have until September,” Albus shrugged. It seemed like a long time to him. “I know,” Victoire replied, “But Amy's known where she wants to finish training since we were in fourth year.” “You're not in Amy's situation,” Teddy appeared and put his arm around her, “And I think you'll do great anyplace you decide.” “Thanks, Teddy,” Victoire smiled, “I'm thinking either the Maternity ward or Spell Damage.” “There's a busy ward,” Teddy grinned, “Spell Damage. You'll get all the funny injuries there.” “That's not a good reason to pick a specialization,” Victoire groaned. “Good a reason as any,” Teddy shrugged. The time grew later and after Albus played numerous rounds of Exploding Snap with his cousins, his grandmother announced that it was time for bed. Everyone argued, but there was really no point. Everyone, including the other adults, knew that arguing with Molly Weasley was useless. Albus trudged up the stairs to the highest bedroom that he shared with James, Ben, and Cedric. He climbed into bed and then realized just how big this impending blizzard was. The wind was howling louder than he'd ever heard before. The wind was so powerful that Albus could feel it through the gaps in the window. Every once in a while, the house would creak and shake. Albus sighed and put his pillow over his ears to try and drown out the howling. Albus didn't manage to drift off to sleep until after Cedric got out of bed, swore loudly, and disregarded the no magic outside of school rule to put a silencing charm on the room. ****** Albus was awoken by his annual Christmas wake-up call, Lily. She breezed through the door shouting about how they all needed to wake up and open their presents. “And there's three feet of snow outside,” Lily said as she left the room, “I checked.” “Merlin!” James jumped off the top bunk and looked out the window, “There is! And it's still coming!” “Whoa, you can't see anything!” Cedric added. “We could build the world's biggest snow wizard later,” Ben suggested. “We could build an entire snow wizard army,” Albus said. “Presents first,” James said as he located his pile of presents. Albus descended upon his own pile of presents and began opening them. There were the usual sweets and Weasleys' products from his aunts and uncles. Another Weasley sweater, this one scarlet and gold striped. He pulled it on over his pajamas and opened the rest of the presents from his aunts and uncles. His Aunt Hermione had gotten him a few books he'd probably never read, including one about the history of house elves at Hogwarts. Albus saved his parents' present for last, although he doubted they could top last year's. There really wasn't anything in the world that was better than the Invisibility Cloak. “Al, did you open Mum and Dad's yet?” James shouted. “I'm opening it now,” Albus said as he ripped the paper off the small box. “You'll never guess what they got us!” Albus opened the box and saw two tickets. Two tickets for the Quidditch World Cup that was taking place this summer! “Whoa!” Albus shouted, “World Cup tickets!” “I didn't even know they were on sale this early!” James said. “You two get the best presents,” Cedric said. “Hey, I got two tickets,” James replied. “Yeah, two,” Ben sighed, “You can only pick one of us to go.” Albus suddenly realized he had the same problem. Two tickets. Five friends he would want to take. Who was he going to choose? Not Rose. They may have been friends since they were babies, but she just didn't have a passion for Quidditch. Neither did Kaden. He was another to cross off the list. John and Matt were the Quidditch fans. He'd have to choose between them. Amanda liked Quidditch well enough, but she didn't follow a team or anything. “Those are limited edition tickets,” Ben said, “They don't know who's playing yet, so they don't sell very many tickets ahead of time.” “They're for the top box, too,” James said in awe. Lily burst into the room with a big grin on her face. She was holding two tickets as well. “Did you get Quidditch tickets?” “Yeah,” Albus and James said at the same time. “This is going to be brilliant,” Lily said and then ran out of the room. Albus's parents were already in the kitchen by the time Albus went downstairs. They were sitting at the table eating breakfast. Albus gave them each a huge hug and then sat down. “How did you get the tickets?” he asked. “They were a gift from the Minister,” Harry replied, “The Cup is in Canada this year and he's good friends with their president. Got him a lot of free tickets.” Albus grinned as he began to eat breakfast. Somehow his parents had come close to topping last year's present. Now not only was he going to get to see the World Cup, he would get to travel to a different country. Rose came downstairs a little while later and was impressed with the tickets. She had no desire to go to the Cup and had no suggestions on how Albus was going to choose between John and Matt. “Anyone up for Quidditch later?” Teddy announced as he sauntered into the kitchen. “Not under my watch!” Molly shouted, “You can't see a foot in front of you out there! And it must be close to 15 below!” “Maybe after lunch, then,” Teddy shrugged. Molly shook her head and sighed as she set a few more platters of eggs and toast onto the table. There was a knock on the door that could only just be heard over the howling wind. Molly glanced at Arthur, who shrugged and got up to see who it was. Albus followed, very curious to see who would visit on Christmas morning in the middle of a huge blizzard. “Xeno, is that you?” Arthur shouted outside. “Yes!” Xenophilius Lovegood shouted back. Arthur stood aside as the man walked in and then shut the door behind him. “Quite the storm we're having! Just thought I'd stop by and see if this place was still standing.” “Quite the storm, yes,” Arthur agreed, “I heard the Muggles lost electricity. Fascinating. I wonder what they do without it. But yes, the house is still standing.” “Good, but if you feel it's too rickety, just let me know and I'll go get some of my Jutispy Plants. The leaves do wonders on old buildings. Makes them like new. I just put a bunch into my place and it's a good thing, too. Of course, they tend to attract Nargles...” Xenophilius's voice trailed off. “I'll keep that in mind,” Arthur smiled, “Are you spending the holiday alone?” “Yes, yes,” he replied, “Luna and Rolf are with his family this Christmas.” “Then you must stay here a while. Molly's cooked far too much food, like usual,” Arthur lead Xeno into the kitchen. Albus followed them. He always found Xenophilius Lovegood to be an interesting wizard, if not a little mad. Always going on about Nargles or Nom-Noms or something. Molly was more than happy to provide Xenophilius with a large platter of breakfast and he settled down to discuss the storm with the adults. Albus spent most of the morning playing Exploding Snap, Wizard's Chess, and Gobstones with his cousins. They tried to play hide and go seek, but the house was too crowded to play it properly. Teddy and James kept looking out the window, willing it to stop snowing. Both of them were just itching to go play Quidditch. Albus would have gladly gone and played if it would stop snowing so much. He was dedicated to the game, but not enough to play in this storm. Lunchtime came and the snow was still falling. George went outside to measure it and came back with the news that it was three and a half feet. Teddy went upstairs after lunch and came back decked out in three jumpers, a thick cloak, and a pair of boots. Under one arm was his broom and under the other was a box of Quidditch balls. James was right behind him, dressed the same. “Theodore Remus Lupin!” Molly shouted, “I suppose I can't stop you from going out there and catching death of a cold, but I will not let you drag James with you!” “He's not dragging me, Grandma,” James rolled his eyes, “I want to go!” “Just let them, Molly,” Harry said, “They'll get cold soon enough and come back inside.” “Fine,” Molly replied and went back into the kitchen. “Excellent,” Teddy grinned, “Anyone care to join us?” Georgia, Fred, and Heather suited up in warm clothes and joined Teddy and James. Albus decided against it. Quidditch was fun, but he didn't want to freeze when he could stay inside and be warm. The Christmas Quidditch lasted a half an hour. Teddy, James, Georgia, Heather, and Fred all stumbled back into the house shivering with their faces red and covered in snow and ice. Molly immediately descended upon them with mugs of hot chocolate and dry clothes. “Told you, Molly,” Harry grinned. “C-can't find the Sn-Snitch,” Teddy muttered. Harry laughed. “That doesn't surprise me. You'll find it when the storm calms down. You put the charm on it to stay in the yard, right?” “Y-yeah,” Teddy replied. Christmas dinner came and went in its usual chaos. Xenophilius stayed for it and James snuck sneezing powder into his soup, which he found incredibly funny. Molly was not as impressed and gave James quite the scolding. How she found out it was James was beyond Albus. The storm continued throughout the night and Cedric had to put the silencing charm back on their room in order for any of them to get any sleep. ****** Nobody left the Burrow until two days after Christmas. That was when the snow finally let up. It topped out at around four and a half feet, which was a new record for Albus's lifetime. The Burrow's yard had been decorated by dozens of snow witches and wizards, along with hippogriffs, owls, and a variety of other magical creatures. When Albus found out what his family was doing after they left the Burrow, he wished the snow would have kept coming. They were going shopping for dress robes for the New Year's party. “Why can't I just wear my old dress robes?” James whined as they walked down Diagon Alley towards Madam Malkin's. “Because they're five inches too short,” Ginny replied, “They're even too small for Al.” “Yeah, Hugo's the lucky one,” James muttered. Hugo was wearing James's old dress robes to the party and therefore did not have to go shopping. “Mummy, I want purple robes,” Lily announced. “If they have any,” Ginny replied. Albus wanted to buy the first pair of dress robes he found, so long as they weren't pink or purple. The sooner they were done robes shopping the better. Rose and Lily made a beeline for the girls dress robes as soon as they walked in the door. Albus stood awkwardly next to James while their mother found various robes for them. “Here, try these on, Al,” Ginny handed him a pair of emerald green robes. “Very Slytherin,” James snickered. “Shut it, James,” Albus muttered. “They'll bring out your eyes, Al,” Ginny told him, “Now go try them on.” Albus reluctantly tried on the Slytherin colored robes and then left the dressing room for his mother to see. “Too short,” she announced, “But the color is perfect. I'll find a bigger size.” James wound up with a navy blue pair of robes, which Albus would have preferred. Lily found her purple robes and Rose got a sky blue pair. “Next time you're getting green robes,” Albus muttered to James, who was still making fun of the color of Albus's robes. “No I won't. I don't have green eyes,” James grinned. “Then we'll get you a nice red set,” Ginny said, “They'll clash horribly with your hair.” “I don't care. They'd be Gryffindor colored,” James laughed.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Sunday 31 January 2010 09 47 44 am    Post subject: Beyond the Shadow in topic:Beyond the Shadow Here is the sequel to In Moonlight's Shadow! I recommend you read that first if you haven't already, although it's not necessary. I'll be posting updates on this every other Sunday for the time being. Chapter 1: Turning Thirty The greyish potion simmered in its steel cauldron, a few bubbles rising to the surface and then popping. It was nearly boiling, but not quite. I watched it, hardly blinking. As soon as it began boiling, and not a second later, I would have to add the Wolfsbane. One eighth of a a teaspoon of it. A pinch more would ruin the entire potion. Of course, the whole potion could be useless already. I was brewing in the basement of St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. There was a whole slew of brewing rooms in the basement. It was the best place for them since the fumes would be far away from the patients and so the brewers would be far away from the hustle and bustle of the hospital. It was currently seven at night and since it was a Friday, most places of work were closed and their employees enjoying time off. However, I work at a hospital and hospitals never close. If I were to venture upstairs to the main part of the hospital, I would find it busy as usual. Brewers kept more normal hours than Healers, but I am both. I had spent most of the day working in the Creature Induced Injury ward, but managed to sneak away at five in order to brew. As much as I enjoyed Healing, brewing was my passion. I was currently brewing a variation of the Wolfsbane Potion. Wolfsbane potion had been invented decades ago and was used by werewolves to render themselves harmless during full moons. They still transformed, but lacked the aggressive qualities normally found in werewolves. However, this potion was completely useless to a small portion of werewolves. For years, Healers and brewers have been trying to create a new version of Wolfsbane that would work for those werewolves. I had been working for the past six or seven years on the project, but had had no success so far. The potion began to bubble more until it was at a full boil. I grabbed the small amount of Wolfsbane and tossed it into the cauldron while stirring counter-clockwise. Now I had to stir it for a half an hour. Stirring had never struck me as boring. Plenty of brewers had complained about the amount of sitting around time and monotonous stirring, but it really never bothered me. I saw it as a time to think. After spending a day in the chaotic Creature Induced Injury ward, I needed a few hours to just sit and do mindless work like stirring. “Amy!” someone whispered. I jumped, nearly spilling Wolfsbane Potion all over myself. I cursed under my breath and turned around to see who had been stupid enough to interrupt my brewing. It was my best friend, Victoire, and I sighed. She knew not to interrupt me. “Victoire,” I groaned. “I told you I'd be brewing until eight today.” “That's what you think,” Victoire rolled her eyes and sat down on the stool next to mine. Victoire Lupin had been my best friend since our fourth year at Hogwarts. Well, she had been a Weasley then. When she was 23, she married Teddy Lupin, another one of our friends from school. Victoire was a Healer as well, but she worked on the Spell Damage floor. “It is what I think,” I replied as I continued stirring. “I need to have this ready for overnight simmering before I leave, so it can be tested tomorrow.” “You do realize what day it is,” Victoire said flatly, shaking her head so that her mane of blonde hair shook. “It's Friday, and I always stay late to brew on Fridays,” I replied. Victoire groaned. “That's not what I meant. I meant it's October 27th! It's your birthday for Merlin's sake! Can't you put aside brewing for one measly day? I mean, you only turn 30 once.” “Thank God,” I muttered. “And no, I can't put aside brewing. You know that.” “I don't think you're going to miss having any brilliant breakthroughs if you don't work all night tonight,” Victoire said. “Thanks for having faith in me,” I muttered. “As soon as you're done with that batch, we're leaving. Everyone's at the Leaky Cauldron, waiting for you. Teddy and I have organized a birthday and halloween party. You will be there. We got a cake and everything.” “Thanks,” I said. “Another reminder that I'm old now.” “30 is not old.” “Says the one who is still 29,” I said. “I'm 30 and I haven't even done anything important.” “Hardly any witches or wizards invent world changing new potions before they're 30,” Victoire sighed. “Now finish that potion so we can get in our costumes and go.” “Costumes?” I raised my eyebrows. “Well, it is a halloween party, too,” Victoire replied. “I'll go as a Healer,” I said. “You are a Healer, you can't go as one,” Victoire said. “Now, you're going as this.” Victoire reached into her bag and pulled out a French maid costume. I groaned inwardly. The thing looked like it would show more skin than a bathing suit. “That is quite possibly the most cliched sexy costume on earth,” I told her. “But it's really from France, so that cancels out the clicheness,” Victoire grinned. “I wore it years ago, but can't fit in it since having Sophie, so you get to wear it.” “And what are you wearing?” I asked. “This,” Victoire pulled a black robe and hat out of her bag. “Is that a Muggle witch costume?” I asked. “Yep,” Victoire nodded. “So I have to wear a tiny piece of cloth while you get to be completely covered up?” “I'm married, you're not,” Victoire replied. “Plus, Teddy's dressed as Merlin, so it matches.” Victoire waited while I finished brewing the Wolfsbane. I purposely took a long time to clean up, but then Victoire pitched in and before I knew it I was changing into the French maid costume. For the first time ever I was grateful that I was short. Victoire was nearly a head taller than me, so I was sure the skirt had been of the correct skimpy length on her. On me, however, it nearly came down to my knees. Victoire had gone all out for her witch's costume. She painted her face green and affixed a fake wart to her nose. She looked disgustingly realistic for a Muggle witch. I stifled my laughter and the two of us disapparated. We reappeared in front of the Diagon Alley side of the Leaky Cauldron. I could already hear the noise coming from inside. Victoire really must have invited everyone. I followed her into the pub and our arrival was met with loud choruses of 'happy birthday' sung in a variety of tunes. The pub was packed. I only recognized about half of the people there. I saw a few people from work including a bunch of nurses, my boss Healer Morris Sterling, Healer Jeff Norlam, and Healer Rose Weasley. Standing around Rose were all her friends from school including my brother, Matt, and much to my surprise, his roommate Albus Potter. Al was out of the country a lot for work. Even my parents were there. The two of them were sitting at a table, looking to be the two calmest people there. Neither of them were dressed up. Mum had a cup of tea and Dad had a bottle of something. But sitting next to Dad was the biggest surprise of all. “Uncle Jack?” I shouted as I ran towards them. “Amy!” he stood up and gave me a hug. “That's quite the costume.” “Victoire's idea,” I blushed. My Uncle Jack lives in Horseheads, New York, and I only see him once a year at the most. I had no idea he was coming for my birthday. He was wearing a black and white striped prisoner outfit. “Happy Birthday, Amy,” he said. “Thanks,” I grinned. I went around the pub, accepting all the birthday wishes from everyone until I wound up at the bar. Victoire and Teddy were sitting there, each with a drink. I ordered my own drink and sat down next to them. There was a box at the end of the bar marked 'Lycanthropy Awareness Fund'. I looked at it and then turned to Victoire. “We told everyone to bring donations in lieu of gifts,” Victoire answered my questioning look. “Thanks,” I smiled. “So who's Sophie with tonight?” Sophie, Victoire and Teddy's five-year-old daughter, was the most adorable kid I had ever met in my life. She's like a niece to me and even calls me Aunt. “My parents,” Victoire answered. “They're thrilled to see her.” “And how is little Sophie doing?” Hannah Longbottom asked as she set my drink down in front of me. “Oh, she's great,” Victoire smiled. “I'll bring her by soon.” “Good. I haven't seen her in ages,” Hannah said. Ages probably meant a few weeks, I thought. Hannah Longbottom loved Sophie. Everyone loved Sophie. “Amy, happy birthday.” I turned and saw Matt, wearing a mummy costume, sitting down on my other side. His blonde hair looked in need of a cut, but other than that he looked great. Just a few months ago I had heard a few of the younger nurses whispering about how good looking he was and I had had to run into a closet to laugh. But now that I looked at him, I could almost see what they meant. In a sisterly, non-disgusting way of course. It was just odd because he will always be a scrawny little kid in my mind. Granted, he was still skinny and on the short side, but that wasn't going to change. “Thanks, Matt,” I gave him a hug. “I haven't seen you in a few days.” “I've been with Albus,” Matt pointed to Albus, who was laughing at something their friend John had said. “He's been home the past three days.” “When's he leaving again?” I asked. “Who knows?” Matt shrugged. Albus Potter was the son of the one and only Harry Potter and did some sort of Auror-like secretive work. It involved traveling to different countries and tracking down rogue wizards. That was all I knew. I had asked Matt a few times, but he changed the subject every time. I guessed it must be secret for a reason. Matt and Albus had been sharing a flat ever since a few months after they left Hogwarts. Even though Albus was away for his job for a good portion of every month, he always paid half the rent. Neither of them, especially Matt, would have been able to afford their own flat. “So,” Matt grinned, “Late for your own party?” “I wasn't that late, was I?” I asked. “How long had you lot been here?” “Few hours,” Matt replied. “Well, I was at work...brewing,” I shrugged. “Big surprise there,” Matt grinned. “Matt!” Albus shouted over the crowd. “Better get over here! Kaden's mixing firewhiskey with some Muggle drink called a screwdriver!” “I've gotta go,” Matt said as he got up and left. “Amy,” Rose Weasley ran up to me, “Happy birthday.” “Thanks,” I smiled. “But I've been meaning to get ahold of you. I recruited three more werewolves for the study,” Rose told me. Rose Weasley was, if it was possible, even more devoted to work than I was. She was a recently certified magical psychiatrist who worked at St. Mungo's. A few weeks ago, she had gotten involved with a long-term study on lycanthropy that I was involved in. “Really?” I asked. “We've never gotten that many at once before.” “They've been coming to Mungo's for therapy for years,” Rose explained. “I told them about the study and they're quite interested. Two wizards and one witch.” “Rose Elizabeth Weasley,” Victoire tapped her on the shoulder. “Are you talking about work?” “Yes,” Rose said. “We're trying to give Amy a break from work,” Victoire told her. “That means you can't talk about it here.” “Victoire, it's kind of important,” I said. “Fine,” Victoire groaned, “Talk about work.” “Anyway,” Rose continued, “I've scheduled them each to come in for interviews on Monday, if you can make it.” “I'll be there,” I assured her. “Good. Now I'd better go stop Kaden before we really do have to work tonight,” Rose said. I sat with Victoire and Teddy and watched the party. I've never been big on parties, but this one wasn't bad. It was my kind of party. Well, besides the costume part. Only about half of the people were actually dressed up, though. “Amy, long time, no see,” Landon Comer, one of my friends from school, sat down on the stool next to mine. He was dressed as Harry Potter, which was pretty funny. I'm sure Albus was quite thrilled with it. “Hey, Landon,” I replied. Landon worked in the Department of International Magical Cooperation. He was married and had two children as well. “Happy birthday,” he said. “Seems like just yesterday you were that quiet new girl at Hogwarts.” “You're making me feel old,” I groaned. “I'm allowed to. I'm older than you,” Landon laughed. The party continued well into the night. I had a few more drinks and felt more relaxed than I had in a long time. Someone turned on some music and cleared the tables and dancing begun. One of the male nurses dragged me onto the floor to dance but I lost track of him when my parents and Uncle Jack found me to say goodbye. Soon, it was only me, Victoire, Teddy, Matt, and Albus left. Matt and Albus looked exhausted, which made me wonder how late they had stayed out the night before. Whenever Albus was in town, he and Matt rarely slept. “Thanks for the party, Victoire,” I gave her a hug. “No problem,” Victoire replied. “And tomorrow you can get back to work.” “I've got the weekend off,” I told her. “Even better,” Victoire grinned. “Well, we'd better get going.” “Bye,” I said. “Bye, Teddy!” “See you soon, Amy,” Teddy replied. “Happy birthday.” I left with Matt and Albus once Victoire and Teddy disapparated. We lived in the same flat building, which was quite close to the Leaky Cauldron. “Don't stay up too late,” I told Matt once we reached his flat. “We won't,” Matt rolled his eyes. “You look exhausted,” I told him. “'Night, Amy,” Matt said. “Happy birthday.” “'Night Matt, Albus,” I replied and walked up the two flights of stairs to my own flat. My flat was quiet like it always is. I had been living in it ever since Victoire got married. The two of us had had a flat together when we were training at St. Mungo's, but it wasn't the nicest of places. By the time Victoire got married, I had been able to afford a better place. It was on the third floor of a Muggle flat building. The building itself was only ten years old. My flat consisted of two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a relatively large living room. Plus a bathroom and a few closets. It was enough room for me and I liked it. I tossed my purse onto the kitchen table and went into my bedroom. I changed out of the awful French maid outfit, tossing the thing haphazardly into the closet knowing I would never wear it again. I got into bed and realizing how tired I was, fell into a deep sleep. ****** Someone was knocking on the door and I didn't feel like answering it. I opened my eyes and quickly shut them again when the sunlight hit them. I forced them open again and looked at the clock. It was noon. I shot out of bed and ran out of the room. I hadn't slept that late in a very long time. Saturdays usually meant doing research, spending time with Matt, and then dinner with my parents. They rarely included sleeping until noon. I wrenched the door open and was immediately hit by Sophie, who wrapped my legs in a tight hug. I bent down and picked her up and opened the door wider so Victoire and Teddy could get inside. Sophie Nymphadora Lupin had turned five a month ago and was the most adorable child I'd seen. Everyone knew she would be since she had Victoire and Teddy for parents. Her hair was stick straight and dirty blonde. It was the perfect combination of Victoire's blonde hair and Teddy's naturally brown hair. Today Teddy's hair was green, though. It actually matched Sophie's green eyes quite well. “Happy Birthday, Aunt Amy!” Sophie shouted. “Thanks, Sophie,” I smiled as I set her down. “Where's Uncle Matt?” Sophie asked as she ran around the flat. “He's at his flat,” I told her. “He's probably still asleep. Remember he likes to sleep late on Saturdays because he has to work during the week.” “Oh, yeah,” Sophie said. “I made you a birthday card.” “Did you?” I smiled at her. “Uh-huh,” Sophie nodded and pulled a construction paper card out of her pocket. I sat down on couch and Sophie curled up next to me. The card was blue with a yellow sun on the front and 'happy birthday' scribbled above it. I opened it and there was a cake on the inside. “Thank you, Sophie,” I smiled and gave her a hug. “This is the best card I've gotten.” Sophie grinned. “I made it at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Grandma helped me with the letters.” “You did a great job,” I told her. “Soph, we've got to get to Diagon Alley,” Victoire said and then turned to me. “We just stopped by so she could give you her card.” “I'll see you soon, ok?” I gave Sophie another hug. I said goodbye to Victoire and Teddy and shut the door after them. I had four hours until dinner with my parents. Plenty of time to get some work done. I ate a quick lunch and then took a shower and got dressed. Then it was research time. I tried to do some research every Saturday. The second bedroom in my flat was filled with shelves and shelves of books on potions and lycanthropy. I'd already read a good portion of them, but I liked to look them over again to find clues. Most recently I had been experimenting with how different types of cauldrons affected the Wolfsbane Potion. It was normally brewed in a silver cauldron, but I had been brewing it in a steel cauldron to see how that would affect it. There was not a whole lot written about the Wolfsbane Potion. The wizard who had originally invented it had a chapter about it in his book, but that was about it. Then there were a few articles about it in obscure potions magazines, but they weren't that informative. I had to read other books and piece together little bits of information and try to make sense of it. It wasn't very rewarding work. In fact, it was downright depressing most of the time. I would spend weeks on a new potion and then it wouldn't work and I'd have to research again and start over. That was the nature of potion brewing, though. Not a lot of wizards and witches chose to get into that profession for that reason and even fewer wanted to create another Wolfsbane Potion. There were four of us working on it and I was one of two brewers. My boss, Healer Sterling, was the other one. He had been working on it long before I even became a Healer. The other two are magical psychiatrists, Healer Norlam and Rose Weasley. Nevertheless, I devoted most of my time towards the task. There was no doubt in my mind that I was the most devoted of us four. I had no intentions of stopping until I succeeded. It was something I had been wanting to do ever since I was fifteen. The reason was my brother. When he was only five years old, he was attacked by a werewolf and had been suffering from lycanthropy ever since. Wolfsbane Potion had no affect on him. My parents had spent so much time trying to give him a normal life, including moving all of us from Australia to England so he could go to school. Matt had also participated in a ten year study of the Wolfsbane Potion run by Healer Sterling, in which he tried three new kinds of Wolfsbane. None of them helped. He'd tried most of the potions I created as well, and none of them helped. Some even made it worse. “Amy, are you working again?” someone said from behind me. I jumped and saw Matt standing in the doorway of the second bedroom. “Matt. I didn't even hear you come in. And yes, I am working.” “We've got to get to Mum and Dad's,” he said as he sat down on the bed. “You still look exhausted,” I told him, “How late did you stay up?” “Late,” he answered. “John and Kaden came over.” “You really shouldn't do that to yourself so close to the full moon,” I sighed. “You're going to regret it on Thursday.” “You sound like Mum,” Matt muttered. “Besides, Albus has to leave again on Monday.” “Where's he off to this time?” I asked. “Can't tell you,” Matt gave his standard answer to that question. “But I'll be over on Wednesday, probably.” “That's fine,” I told him. “I've got the day off.” Matt always got really sick the day before full moons, and that hadn't changed as he got older. Mum and Dad weren't comfortable with him being on his own the day before and day after the full moon and I agreed with them. Matt hadn't objected, either. So, when he and Albus got their flat together, Matt agreed never to be on his own around full moons. Whenever Albus is away for work, Matt comes over to my flat. I usually get the day before, the day of, and the day after full moons off. For the actual transformation, Matt goes to our parents' house. There was really no point in making a new safe room or safe house when the one in my parents' house works fine. Plus, we live in a Muggle flat building and it would not be a good idea for him to transform in his flat, safe room or not. “Day after, too?” Matt asked. “Yup,” I told him. “Like always.” “Any new potions this month?” he asked. “No,” I sighed. “I'm working on one, but it's got to be put through the preliminary tests before anyone can take it.” “It's ok, you'll get there eventually,” Matt said quietly, “Now we'd better get to Mum and Dad's before they start worrying.” I smiled and followed my brother out of the room. Even if we were a minute late to family dinners, Mum started worrying. If there was an olympic event in worrying, Mum would get the gold medal.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 20 January 2010 07 50 17 am    Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden Chapter 19: The Unbeatable Seeker "What did Balladanis teach you?" was the first thing Matt asked Albus when he went to see him the following afternoon. Albus had given every little detail about the evening to his other friends once he returned to the dormitory afterwards and they were impressed. John's first reaction had been that perhaps Albus would be able to find out what Balladanis did before he began teaching. "He didn't really teach us anything," Albus explained to Matt, who looked exhausted but was paying rapt attention. "I dueled Malfoy." "Wow," Matt looked impressed, "How was that?" "Neither of us won," Albus sighed, "Balladanis made us stop because we pretty much destroyed his classroom." "I wish I had seen it," John chimed in, "Bet the look on Balladanis's face was priceless." "He just looked impressed. He wasn't angry or anything," Albus told them, "Then he asked us what we wanted to do with our lives." "Like what kind of job you want to get?" Matt raised his eyebrows, "You're only thirteen." "Yeah, I thought it was strange," Albus shrugged, "But he said I should think about doing something that would put my dueling skills to use." "Like an Auror?" Matt asked. "I don't think so. I mentioned that and he kind of made it seem like that wouldn't put my dueling skills to use." "I can't think of any other job that you'd duel more than that," Matt replied. "I have no idea what I want to do with my life," Kaden announced. "Me either," John said, "I say we've got plenty of time to figure it out." "I'll say," Madam Pomfrey stuck her head in between the curtains, "And you certainly do not have to figure it out now. It's time for you lot to leave." Albus, John, and Kaden reluctantly left the hospital wing, lamenting the fact that Madam Pomfrey hadn't let them stay very long. They had no idea why the nurse had shortened visiting time so much, considering that Matt hadn't seemed worse than usual, but they never understood why Madam Pomfrey did most of the things she did. ****** Albus's week could be easily summed up in two words. Quidditch and homework. Normally he would only complain about the latter, but Oliver Wood was like a Muggle drill sergeant when it came to Quidditch. Since the match was on Saturday, Oliver was insisting on daily practices. Albus and the other alternates had to be at every practice because according to Oliver, 'you never know when someone will get sick or hexed right before a match.' In fact, Oliver even wanted them to practice on Friday night, the night before the match. Albus wasn't too happy about this since he had his lesson with Balladanis at eight. That was the same time Quidditch practice let out, so he had to run to the Defense classroom still completely covered in mud from practice. He ran into the classroom ten minutes late, heart pounding with worry about what Balladanis was going to say. "Mr. Potter, you're late," Balladanis said as Albus entered the room. He and Malfoy were sitting at the front desk. "Sorry, sir," Albus said as he joined them, "Quidditch practice." "So I gathered," Balladanis eyed Albus's muddy robes, "I was just telling Mr. Malfoy about the responsibilities that come with learning advanced dueling spells." Balladanis pulled out his wand and pointed it at Albus. Albus's robes were clean and dry and he muttered a thank you to the professor. Malfoy was smirking to himself. "The most important responsibility is that you cannot and I repeat, cannot, use the spells I teach you here in the junior dueling tournament. It would give your team an unfair advantage and you could inadvertently injure your opponent. The spells I teach you are not to be used outside this classroom, unless I instruct you otherwise. "You are not to duel your fellow students in the corridors with these spells. Nor are you to use them against your siblings and cousins," his eyes rested on Albus. "I also feel the need to warn you that these spells are more exhausting than the ones you have been learning. They use a lot of magical energy and do not be surprised if you feel as though you have just run a marathon," he turned to Albus again, "Or played in a very long Quidditch match." Balladanis stood up and gestured for the boys to do the same. Once they did, Balladanis moved the desks aside and stood in between where Albus and Malfoy stood. "I am going to have you work on your shield charms first-" "I already know how to do a shield charm," Malfoy announced. "I am well aware of that, Mr. Malfoy, and I do ask that you not question my teaching style," Balladanis said darkly, "The shield charms you have been using are relatively weak and fade away after only a few spells are cast against them. "With a fair bit of practice and mental concentration, one is able to keep the shield up for long periods of time in order to block multiple spells. Really skilled duelers can even keep the shield up while casting other spells. That is quite useful, as you can imagine. It is also possible to shield a great many people with just one person's shield charm, which is also very useful. Some shield charms can even protect one against magical creature attacks," Balladanis lowered his voice and averted his eyes at this, which Albus thought was odd. "It takes a lot of concentration to maintain hold of a shield charm for so long, which is why the charm can be difficult. I doubt either of you will produce a long term shield charm tonight, so don't be disappointed. Wands out, both of you, and we'll see how long you can hold the charm, without any spells hitting it." Albus held up his wand and muttered the incantation for the shield charm. He had practiced this charm numerous times before, usually with someone else trying to hex him at the same time. It was quite easy to just hold it there and even kind of boring. He and Malfoy just stared at each other and Albus doubted that either of them were going to drop their shields. It would be like admitting defeat to the other. After what must have been at least ten minutes of holding the shield charm, Albus found he was getting tired. His arm ached from holding his wand up and from throwing so many Quaffles at practice earlier. Malfoy had the advantage since he didn't have Quidditch practice. Much to Albus's dismay, he noticed his shield starting to fizzle. He wasn't going to be able to hold it much longer and Malfoy's still looked strong. Balladanis looked at his watch. "Let the shields go," he instructed, "Wands down." Relieved, Albus lowered his weary hand and then sat down in a chair. Balladanis was right when he said advanced shields were exhausting. "Very good," Balladanis said, "Stand up again. Now I'll see how many spells each of your shields can withstand." Albus and Malfoy both put their shields up again and Balladanis sent disarming charms at both of them. Albus could feel his shield faltering after the first charm and didn't think it would last as long as Malfoy's. Albus's shield fizzled out after three charms. Malfoy's dismantled after four. He had the biggest smirk on his face afterwards, but didn't say anything. He probably didn't want to gloat in front of Balladanis. Albus knew he'd hear about it the next time they had a class together, though. If only he hadn't had Quidditch practice! Then Albus would have beaten Malfoy. Or at least tied with him. "That's enough for tonight," Balladanis said as he eyed Albus. Albus had a feeling that he looked absolutely exhausted. "Looks like I'm the better dueler," Malfoy said once they were out of the room. "That's not what it meant," Albus muttered, "We didn't even duel each other. I could beat you in a real duel." "And I could beat both of you," a Slytherin Prefect, who was making his rounds, said as he walked by, "So get to your dormitories." Albus had no idea if he could beat the Prefect or not but he didn't want to stick around to lose house points. Plus, it was a good excuse to stop talking to Malfoy. ****** The excitement that filled the Great Hall the next morning reminded Albus yet again of the previous year's Quidditch finals. Only this wasn't a final. It was the Hogwarts versus Australia match, the first match Hogwarts was going to play in. The Hogwarts team did not sit together at breakfast or lunch. There was considerable argument at practice the previous night about this. Oliver Wood, Tyler Pike, and Teddy all wanted the team to sit together in order to squeeze in last minute strategizing, but nobody could agree on which table to sit at. In the end, Teddy sat with the Gryffindor players at the Gryffindor table, Tyler sat with the Ravenclaw players at the Ravenclaw table, and Oliver walked from table to table giving out last minute advice. Albus thought this worked out fine since Oliver didn't seem to be able to sit still for more than a minute. Albus was kind of relieved that nobody on the Hogwarts team came down with Spattergroit or lost a finger in potions class because he didn't really want to play. He loved Quidditch, but so much was at stake. He wanted to merely watch the first match that Hogwarts participated in. Then, if right before the next match, one of the Chasers came down with a cold and Madam Pomfrey forbid them from playing, Albus would gladly take their place. The excitement only increased as Albus and his friends walked to the pitch. Rose and Amanda were there, although Linda wasn't. Albus thought this was only fitting since Hogwarts was playing against Australia in this match. “Welcome, everyone!” Todd Smith's voice boomed over the crowd, “Hogwarts is playing its first match in the Cup and they are up against Australia! The Hogwarts team is captained by Oliver Wood with help from Ted Lupin and Tyler Pike! “The team is comprised of Georgia Weasley as Keeper; Damien Waverly, Anna Reilly, and Ferris Fielding as Chasers; Andy Kaper and Allie Davis as Beaters; and James Potter as Seeker. “The biggest excitement in this match is whether James Potter will be able to beat Australian Seeker Linda Morales, who shocked everyone with her speed and agility in the last match. Potter, of course, is the son and nephew of legendary Gryffindor Seekers Harry Potter and Charlie Weasley. He is also being coached by Gryffindor's other legendary Seeker, Ted Lupin, and is on his way towards becoming another legend in the house of Gryffindor.” “Not being very modest about James, is he?” Rose muttered to Albus. “No, not really,” Albus replied, happy that he wasn't in James's position. “The captains shake hands,” Smith continues, “And they're off!” All fourteen players, half in emerald green Australian robes and half in black Hogwarts ones, rose into the air. Whoever decided on the colors must not have been thinking about visibility. If it was a rainy, snowy, or foggy day, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the two colors. The match was fast-paced like the first one had been. All of the Hogwarts players were superb and as far as Albus could tell, equally matched against Australia. The teams were tied fifteen minutes into the match, each with 120 points. The Quaffle exchanged hands so often that Albus had a hard time keeping up. Rose had already given up and was talking to Amanda about something. Matt, John, and Kaden were all trying to keep up with the match. It happened so fast that if Albus had blinked, he would have missed the whole thing. Linda had been hovering above the Hogwarts goal posts and then she shot down towards the ground, pulling out of her dive with the golden Snitch in her grasp. James had been next to her and was a few metres above her when she caught it. Just like that, in a matter of seconds, the match was over. “Linda Morales has captured the Snitch, which means Australia wins 270-120,” Smith announced less than enthusiastically. “She caught it?” John gaped, “But she was above the goal posts two seconds ago!” “No one can fly that fast!” Albus agreed. “It can't be over!” Matt exclaimed, “It just started twenty minutes ago!” Everyone around Albus was talking about how fast Linda flew to the Snitch. Albus and his friends descended onto the pitch and Albus quickly lost them in the sea of people. He pushed his way through the crowd until he found his team. “They've got to be cheating!” Andy Kaper shouted to Teddy, “They've rigged her broom or something!” “All the brooms were fully checked before the match,” Teddy reminded him. “Well, check it again!” Andy exclaimed, “There's a speed charm on that thing, I guarantee it.” “We'll have it checked again,” Wood assured him. “I want a rematch,” Georgia muttered, “They've got to be cheating. Even a Firebolt 2000 can't fly that fast.” “We're only going to get a rematch if there is something wrong with that broom,” Wood sighed. “I want an unofficial flying competition between her and James,” Damien Waverly said, “There's no way she's a better flyer than he is.” James was the only one not talking. He appeared to be in shock. The entire team was shouting around him, but he didn't seem to hear any of it. “James?” Albus asked tentatively. James jumped and looked at Albus without saying a word. Then he trudged off to the changing room. No one else noticed that he left. No one had noticed Albus show up either, so he joined the crowd of people going back up to the castle. He figured it would be easier to talk to the James once he returned to the common room. The common room was ominously silent when Albus walked through the portrait hole. Most people were sitting, staring into space, and not talking to anyone. It was a scene more fitting to someone just dying than a lost Quidditch match. None of the Australians who had been sorted into Gryffindor, including Linda, were there. Albus briefly wondered where they were going to go, now that they'd probably be chased out of every common room. Albus's friends were sitting at their usual table and Albus joined them. Rose and Amanda were whispering to each other, but John and Matt were silent. Kaden was rifling through a stack of chocolate frog cards. The match had been the definition of anti-climactic. Hogwarts had spent weeks preparing for it, working every day well past when the sun set. Homework had been ignored and studying put off. All so Hogwarts could beat Australia. Then, Linda Morales had caught the Snitch twenty minutes into the match. Linda Morales, the only one who had managed to best James Potter at Quidditch. “You know,” Kaden set down his cards, “If James and Linda had a kid, he or she would be the best Seeker in the world.” Nobody responded. Albus thought it would be more likely to become best friends with a chimaera than James and Linda to get married and have a kid. Not to mention the fact that vampires couldn't bear children. Kaden probably didn't know that, though. “I just don't get it,” John mumbled, “She must've cheated.” “You just don't want to admit that Hogwarts might not have the best Quidditch players in the world,” Rose muttered. “Let's go to the Marauder's Den,” Matt whispered as he stood up. Albus didn't know why Matt wanted to go there, but considering how depressingly quiet the common room was, he wasn't about to object. They passed no one except an Auror on their way to the room. Everyone must have been lamenting the Quidditch loss in their common rooms. “Finally,” Kaden said as he collapsed onto one of the couches in the room, “Now we can actually talk. The common room is depressing.” “What do you expect?” John groaned, “We lost our first mach. We're in last place.” “No, we're not,” Rose said, “New York lost to Australia with only 40 points. They're in last place.” “Doesn't matter,” John shook his head, “We still lost.” “No one's ever going to beat Australia,” Albus sighed. “You're probably right,” Matt said darkly, “Remember the last match? How quickly she caught the Snitch? I knew she'd be fast, but I thought maybe she'd slow down to even things up a bit. This match proves that wrong. She's using the fact that she's a vampire to her advantage.” “That's completely unfair!” John shouted, “Why would Kendrick let her do that?” “He obviously doesn't know,” Rose sighed. “So, she is cheating,” Albus said. “Technically, she's not,” Matt replied, “She's just really skilled at Quidditch. Vampires, and werewolves, have really keen eyesight in order to,” he paused, “Catch prey. She's better at seeing a Snitch than any human.” “Then why don't you play Seeker against her!” Kaden exclaimed, grinning at the idea, “That would be more fair.” Matt burst out laughing. “You didn't see me at flying lessons in first year. I'm an awful flyer. Sure, I could see the Snitch, but I'd fall off my broom trying to catch it.” “Oh,” Kaden deflated. “Plus she's super fast,” John pointed out, “And Matt's not. No offense or anything.” “None taken,” Matt said. “So, what are we going to do about this?” Albus asked, “If she doesn't stop, Australia's going to win this competition.” “I think Rose should talk to her,” John suggested. “Why?” Rose asked. “Because she likes you and you like her,” John said, “Just tell her to fly a little slower.” “Yeah, right,” Rose rolled her eyes, “Believe it or not, she's about as fanatical about Quidditch as you lot are. No way is she going to agree to that.” “It's true,” Amanda agreed. The room descended into silence. The only other thing Albus could think of to do would be to tell Kendrick that Linda was a vampire. That would get her off the Australian Quidditch team for sure. However, Albus didn't really want to do that. Rose would hex him to next century and she'd probably never speak to him again. It would be a lot like if Rose told someone Matt was a werewolf and if that happened, Albus would have the same reaction. Not that Rose would ever do that. They stayed in the Marauder's Den until dinner. Dinner was much more subdued than normal and James never made an appearance. Linda was sitting at the far end of the Gryffindor table with only fellow Australians near her. That kind of surprised Albus since he had never once seen her interact with anyone besides Rose and Amanda. “Albus,” someone put their hand on Albus's shoulder. Albus turned around and saw his dad, wearing the same forlorn look all the students were wearing. “Dad,” he said, “Were you at the match?” “Yeah, I was sitting with Lily,” Harry nodded, “Have you seen James?” “Haven't seen him since right after the match. He went into the changing rooms. Actually, I haven't seen Teddy either. Maybe he's with James.” “Merlin, I hope so,” Harry ran a hand through his hair, “I've checked everywhere I can think of. Makes me wish I hadn't given him the map.” “You can use mine,” Albus suggested, “But I want to go with you.” “All right,” Harry said, “Let's go.” Albus said goodbye to his friends and walked up to Gryffindor Tower with his dad. He ran up to his dormitory once he was there and retrieved the map. The dormitory was empty, so Albus and his dad looked at it there. They scoured the Hogwarts section of the map for nearly five minutes before coming to the conclusion that James was no longer in the school. “Bloody hell,” Harry muttered, “Where did he go?” Albus pressed the number two in the corner of the map with his wand and the map of Hogsmeade appeared. This one was a bit more difficult to search than the Hogwarts one had been. Most of the Hogwarts students had been in the Great Hall. Everyone was spread out in Hogsmeade. Two dots made Albus freeze. Two dots were in the Shrieking Shack. A closer look told him they were Teddy and James. Albus gasped. Why were they there? How did they get in for that matter? “Dad,” Albus pointed to the Shrieking Shack. “The Shrieking Shack?” Harry shouted and stood up. Albus followed him out of the dormitory and then out of the common room. “How'd they get in?” Albus asked once they were walking through the corridors. “Teddy knows the counter-charm for those wards,” Harry muttered. “Why?” “Everyone who goes through Auror training learns a very large variety of counter-charms. One of them was bound to work on that tree. Now, he wasn't supposed to use them outside of training, so I really have no clue what he was thinking,” Harry explained It had gotten cold and windy outside since the match, which really made Albus wonder why Teddy and James would go to the Shrieking Shack of all places. The decrepit old building had no heat, for Merlin's sake. Albus dodged a branch from the Whomping Willow as they neared it. Harry aimed his wand at the bottom and muttered the counter-charm. Then he froze the tree. Albus hurried after him into the passageway. The walk to the Shrieking Shack was brisk and silent. Albus, who had been on the receiving end of many a lecture from his dad, knew that both Teddy and James were going to get one once they made it to the Shack. Harry carefully opened the door and walked into the quiet old building. Hushed voices could be heard from the back room. Albus followed his dad back there. Teddy and James were both sitting on the floor. James looked a complete mess, still wearing his muddy Quidditch robes and his face was all blotchy. Teddy didn't look much better, although his robes were a bit cleaner. “Teddy. James,” Harry said sternly when he entered, “What in the name of Merlin's pants are you doing in this place?” Both boys snapped their heads up at the sound of Harry's voice. “Trying to convince James not to make the biggest mistake of his life,” Teddy muttered. “That sounds a bit overdramatic,” Harry said. “He wants to quit the Quidditch team,” Teddy said dryly. “That is the most idiotic thing I've heard,” Albus shouted, “You can't do that!” “Albus,” Harry warned. Albus shut his mouth, but he still thought the very idea of James quitting the team was mental. They'd have no hope of ever beating New York, let alone Australia, without James. “Twenty minutes, Dad,” James said in barely more than a whisper, “Twenty minutes.” “We've all had our bad matches,” Harry said quietly as he sat down next to James, “I fell off my broom in my third year and lost a match.” “Because of the dementors,” James muttered, “There weren't any dementors at this match.” “James, I'm afraid everyone has made you out to be the unbeatable Seeker. Todd's commentary today proved that. The stakes are set so high with you that when you do lose a match, it completely shocks everyone. It's kind of unfair, actually, because nobody can win every match,” Harry replied, “You're not the unbeatable Seeker, I'm afraid. And running away will get you nowhere.” “I suppose,” James sighed. “You're playing New York next,” Harry reminded him, “They lost to Australia sooner than we did. I think you have a chance at catching the Snitch then.” “I guess,” James replied. “So you won't quit?” Albus asked, unable to keep quiet any longer. “No,” James said. “Good. Because Lisa Galivant is nowhere near as good as you. You're the best Seeker Hogwarts has got,” Albus told him. “Thanks, Al,” James gave him a half-smile, “Too bad Australia's got a better one.” Albus nodded, wishing that he could just tell James why Linda was so good. But he had sort of promised Rose he wouldn't.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 13 January 2010 11 07 10 am    Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden Chapter 18: Advanced Lessons Much to Albus's surprise, the anamatek was still sitting in Balladanis's classroom the next class. Albus really thought Kendrick would have made him get rid of it. The class continued practicing on it and after a few sessions with it, Albus got used to the fact that it was an anamatek. As long as it didn't turn into a dementor or a chimaera or something else really dangerous, Albus didn't mind. Practicing on the anamatek was a lot like practicing dueling anyway. That's how Albus saw it. Defense classes were beginning to be a lot like dueling practice. Albus was very happy about this, especially since the next dueling tournament was quickly upon him. It took place on a Saturday in the middle of November, the day before the second inter-school dueling tournament. "Nice to see that you actually showed up today, Potter," Malfoy smirked as Albus and Amanda sat down at their team table. "Shut it, Malfoy," Lynley Anderson said as she walked past Albus, "Or you won't duel in the next tournament." Malfoy scowled and Albus smiled to himself. He sat down and looked to the front of the room. The usual dueling rings were set up and Neville was standing in front of one. Balladanis was standing in front of the other one. He must have been chosen to be the other professor in charge of the dueling club since Albus's dad left. The tournament began a short while later and Albus sat back to wait for his turn. As much as Albus loved dueling, he couldn't stand having to wait while everyone else dueled. He couldn't wait until he was a fifth year and could try out for the regular dueling club. The teams were much smaller for that and Albus would get to duel more during each tournament. If he made the team, that is. "Albus Potter and Kaden Dursley," Balladanis announced. Albus looked up and stared at him. Kaden? Albus turned to gape at Amanda, who shrugged. Albus was going to have to duel Kaden? Albus had yet to duel any of his cousins. Albus got up and walked towards the ring. Kaden was already there when he arrived. Albus and Kaden bowed to each other and then raised their wands. "Begin," Balladanis said. "Expelliarmus!" Albus shouted and pointed his wand at Kaden while silently apologizing to him. He really didn't want to duel Kaden. Kaden's wand flew from his hand and Albus caught it. Albus looked up at Balladanis. Balladanis was looking at Albus with his piercing stare and Albus quickly looked away. "Point to Potter," Balladanis said without taking his eyes off Albus. Albus handed Kaden back his wand and went back to his team's table. Lynley and Amanda congratulated him and he sat back down. "I can't believe they had you duel Kaden," Amanda giggled. Albus shrugged. It hadn't been much of a fight. Albus rarely had trouble dueling anyone during the tournaments. The only person who Albus ever had difficulty dueling was Malfoy, and he was on Albus's team. Albus wasn't really thinking much about having to duel Kaden. He couldn't get the look Balladanis had given him out of his mind. It was sort of like the looks he'd received in class, only more intimidating. There was a hint of curiosity mixed in with something Albus couldn't describe. It was almost like he was trying to read Albus's mind, but Albus had had enough experience with that to know that Balladanis wasn't doing it. Malfoy was up next and he dueled James. It was a very fast-paced and exciting duel. In the end, Malfoy managed to disarm James. Albus had no idea how he felt about this. Part of him was happy that his team got the point, but on the other hand, the thought of his brother losing to Malfoy was rather unsettling. James had a mutinous look on his face as he grabbed his wand out of Malfoy's outstretched hand. He stormed back to his table without a second glance at Malfoy or Balladanis. Albus looked back to Balladanis and saw him giving Malfoy the same odd look he had given Albus earlier. Albus had no idea what to make of that. Balldanis hadn't looked at anyone else like that. The next person Albus dueled was a bit more challenging, but Albus still disarmed her within three minutes. She was a fourth year Ravenclaw who had the reputation of being the smartest of all the fourth years. Balladanis gave Albus the same strange look as he awarded him the point. Albus quickly gave the girl back her wand and went back to his table. Albus's team narrowly won the tournament. Lynley congratulated everyone and said the entire team had improved greatly since the last tournament. Albus and Amanda got up and joined the throngs of people leaving the room. They headed up to the common room, where they had agreed to meet their friends after the tournament. "Good job," John said as he sat down next to Albus. "Thanks," Albus smiled. "Yeah," Kaden agreed, "I mean, you beat me pretty quickly." "Albus is the best dueler out of all of us," Matt said as he joined them. "Balladanis was certainly interested," John said, "What was up with him looking at you like that?" "I dunno," Albus said, "It was really odd." "He was looking at Malfoy like that, too," Rose said as she and Linda sat down. "I'll bet it's because you're both such good duelers," Matt replied, "I hate to admit it, but Malfoy is really good." "Did you see James's face after Malfoy beat him?" John laughed, "That was pretty funny." "I don't think James would agree with you," Albus smirked. "Well, we should probably do some homework," Rose said. Everyone groaned but nobody disagreed. Albus went up to his dormitory and returned with his books. He cracked open his Herbology book and started an essay that was due on Tuesday. "You're from Australia, aren't you?" Albus's head snapped up. Linda was staring curiously at Matt, whose eyes were darting about. Everyone else was now staring at Linda. Albus didn't think he had ever heard her talk outside of class. "Er, why do you think that?" Matt asked nervously. "The other day after Defense, you mentioned that your dad hadn't seen an anamatek even though he worked down there," Linda explained. "Oh, yeah," Matt muttered, "I did used to live there." "Why did you move?" Linda asked. "My dad's job," Matt said. "Oh," Linda replied, "Well, if you hadn't, we could have gone to school together." Matt mumbled something under his breath. "What?" Linda asked. "Nothing," Matt said and closed his book, "I'm, er, going to the library." Albus closed his own book and got up to follow Matt, but he had already left. Albus sighed and looked at Rose, who was slowly shaking her head. That was exactly why Matt had wanted to stay away from Linda and Albus couldn't blame him. The rest of the afternoon was spent in silence in the common room. Albus managed to finish his Herbology essay just before dinner. He had no idea if Matt actually went to the library, but found him in the Great Hall at dinner. He made no mention of what Linda had said, so Albus didn't bring it up. Albus only had enough time to eat a quick dinner anyway, because he had Quidditch practice afterwards. ****** "All right, that's enough for today," Balladanis announced as the bell rang the following Tuesday, "Leave your essays on my desk on your way out." Albus stowed his wand in his robes and rummaged around in his bag for his essay. For some reason, Balladanis always collected essays at the end of class. Albus had no idea why. All the other teachers collected them at the beginning, presumably to prevent students from frantically scribbling their essay during class the day it was due. That would be impossible in Balladanis's class, though. "Potter, Malfoy!" Balldanis shouted, "Please see me before you leave." "Looks like you're getting extra help, too," John laughed, "Welcome to the club." "Somehow I doubt that," Matt replied, "Albus was the only one to cause that anamatek to fly halfway across the room today. Well, besides Malfoy." Albus shrugged and muttered that he'd meet them in Herbology. His heart started beating a bit faster as he placed his essay on the pile and stood in front of Balladanis's desk. Why did he want to see him anyway? Could Balladanis really think he needed extra help? Malfoy tossed his essay onto the pile and then leaned up on Balladanis's desk as he watched the rest of the class leave. "Stand up, Malfoy," Balladanis said as he shut the anamatek's trunk and walked over to his desk. Malfoy jumped and quickly stood up straight. Albus stifled a laugh and turned to Balladanis, whose face was expressionless. Balladanis walked over to the door, shut it, and returned to his desk. "I couldn't help but notice that both of you won both of your duels last Saturday." "I always win both of my duels," Malfoy said pompously. "I thought so," Balladanis replied, ignoring Malfoy's less than respectful tone, "I'm assuming the same goes for you, Mr. Potter?" "Yes, sir," Albus nodded. "Have either of you ever been defeated in a duel before?" "I've disarmed Potter during practice," Malfoy smirked. "And I've disarmed you, Malfoy," Albus rolled his eyes. "Any other times?" Balladanis asked. Albus opened his mouth, but Balladanis interrupted him. "During the dueling tournaments, Mr. Potter. I have heard about your altercation with Jameson Washburn, Jarret Willinson, and his son." "No other times," Albus replied. "I could have defeated Washburn," Malfoy announced. "I sincerely doubt that," Balladanis said, much to Albus's delight, "But that is not what I have asked to discuss with you. I have noticed, both in class and during dueling tournaments, that the two of you seem to possess exceptional skill when it comes to dueling. You're dueling skill appears to be much higher than the third or even fourth year level. "Therefore, I would like to train both of you privately. There is only so much you can learn in a large group with those whose skill is less than your own. I will be able to teach you spells you wouldn't normally learn until fourth or fifth year. Are either of you interested?" "Of course," Malfoy said immediately. Albus couldn't believe it. His family and friends always told him he was an excellent dueler, but somehow having Balladanis tell him meant more. Balladanis was incredibly hard to please, and not only did he think Albus was a great dueler, he was offering to teach him more advanced spells. That was incredibly exciting. Albus would be able to learn spells that James hadn't learned yet. "Yes, I'd like that," Albus grinned, thinking it would be brilliant to beat James in a duel. "I shall see you on Friday at eight, then," Balladanis told them, "After I am done tutoring the less skillful in your class." He pulled out two pieces of paper and scribbled onto both of them. "Give these to your teachers, as you are quite late to class by now. Get out of here." Albus took his note and left the room feeling that Friday was an incredibly long time away. Private dueling lessons. He couldn't wait. Sure, they'd be with Malfoy, but Albus was willing to put up with him in order to learn advanced spells. Albus hurried to Herbology, but the class was already well into that day's lesson by the time he arrived. He handed his note to Neville and then sat down next to Matt, who was shoveling dirt into an empty pot. "What did Balladanis want?" Matt asked. "You're never going to believe this," Albus said as he pulled on his gloves, "Balladanis wants to give Malfoy and me private dueling lessons. He wants to teach us advanced spells that we wouldn't normally learn until fourth or fifth year." "You're kidding," Matt said in awe. "Nope," Albus grinned. "But why?" Matt asked, "Did he say why he's teaching you?" "Just because he thinks we're good duelers, I guess." "Well, you are a good dueler, Albus," Matt agreed, "When do you start?" "Friday at eight. Right after your help session, actually," Albus answered. "I'm not going to the help session this week," Matt lowered his voice, "And you'll be having loads more fun than me." "Oh, right," Albus whispered, remembering that the full moon was Friday night, "I'll let you know how it goes, though." After Herbology was over, Albus told John, Rose, and Amanda about Balladanis's dueling lessons and then had to repeat it to Kaden when they ate lunch. All of them were excited about it, especially Kaden. Albus suspected he was a bit jealous, too. The remainder of the week seemed to creep by at a flobberworm's pace. It wasn't like Albus didn't have anything to keep him busy, but he just couldn't think about anything other than the dueling lesson. "Albus, you've got to stop tapping your quill," Rose said shortly, "It's driving me mad." Albus and his friends were in the Marauder's Den. It was Friday evening and dinner had just ended. Albus was trying to concentrate on homework, but it wasn't working. Rose and Amanda were both reading. Linda had mysteriously disappeared after her last class and Rose and Amanda had been with Albus and the other boys ever since. John and Kaden were discussing a prank that involved charming gobstones to follow the Aurors and prefects around as they patrolled the corridors. Rose had already advised against this, but John and Kaden didn't listen. Matt was laying on the couch with his eyes closed, but he wasn't asleep. John and Kaden kept asking him things and he'd respond with very short answers. "Sorry," Albus muttered and dropped his quill. "So where's Linda tonight?" John asked. "I dunno," Rose shrugged, "She didn't look that great today, though." "Then she's probably sucking some animal's blood in the forest," Matt announced. "Well, there's a lovely picture," Kaden said loudly, "Linda biting the neck of some helpless animal and sucking the life out of it. Think of all the blood. It must get all over her face and neck. That's pretty gross." "Thanks for that image, Kaden," Matt replied. "It's better than her sucking human blood," Rose pointed out. "That's true," Kaden agreed, "So, should we fill the gobstones with stink sap before we charm them?" "Of course!" John grinned. "And that's my cue to leave," Matt sat up slowly and rubbed his head, "I'll see you lot tomorrow, probably." "Yeah, we'll see you in the morning," Albus assured him. "Have fun," Kaden said. "Fun," Matt muttered on his way out, "That's a word I've never used to describe it." "We'd better go, too," Amanda said. "Yeah, time to go sit through an extra Defense lesson," John groaned as he stood up. "I thought you didn't mind them," Rose said. "I don't. They just get old after a while," John sighed as he and Amanda left. Albus worked on his homework for the next hour, mainly because there wasn't anything else to do. Rose was working on her own homework and didn't seem to want to do anything else. The hour dragged by at an incredibly slow rate, but eventually Albus packed up his books, said goodbye to Rose, and left for Balladanis's room. The door was half-way open when Albus arrived. He took a deep breath, suddenly overcome by nerves, and knocked lightly. There was no answer. Albus pushed the door open and walked very slowly inside. The room was dim. The only light stemmed from a few torches lit on the walls. It was obviously the same classroom he had Defense class in, but it looked completely different in the evening. There wasn't anyone left in the room from the extra Defense lesson earlier. Albus had passed John and Amanda in the corridor. They both wished him good luck. Albus looked around the room and saw the trunk that contained the anamatek sitting unnaturally still in front of Balladanis's desk. Balladanis himself was also sitting unnaturally still at his desk. He stared directly into Albus's eyes and Albus, remembering the Occlumency lessons he received two years prior, quickly averted his own eyes and began to close his mind. "You know Occlumency, Mr. Potter," Balladanis said not as a question, but as a statement. Albus nodded as Balladanis slowly rose from his chair and walked around to the front of his desk. Albus took a step back and nearly collided with the front table. He swallowed nervously and kept his eyes off of Balladanis. Albus had always been a little wary of Balladanis, but now he had to admit that he was a bit scared. The only way for Balladanis to know that Albus had been practicing Occlumency was if he had actually been performing Legilimency. Albus had enough experience with teachers performing Legilimency on him and he didn't want to do go through that again. The only thing Albus was thinking about then was how he could leave the room without Balladanis getting suspicious. He wished he had a Puking Pastille or something in his pocket. "Who taught you?" Balladanis asked. "My Aunt Hermione," Albus muttered. He wondered where Malfoy was. That had to be the first and probably only time he would ever wish Malfoy to be present. "Hermione Weasley," Balladanis mused, "Yes, she is one of the most accomplished Occlumenses of her generation." Albus's head snapped towards the door as he heard footsteps enter the room. He breathed a sigh of relief and had to stifle a laugh at the fact that he was happy Malfoy was in the room. "Mr. Malfoy, you're late," Balladanis said. "Sorry, sir," Malfoy muttered. "Sit down," Balladanis pointed to the front table. Albus turned around and sat as quickly as he could in one of the chairs. Malfoy took his time in sauntering over and sat in the chair next to him. "Mr. Potter. Mr. Malfoy," Balladanis began to pace in front of them, "By now I am sure you are both aware of my stance on the Dark Arts. If not, I suggest paying a bit more attention in class. "You may also be aware of my devotion to helping the students who are struggling in my classes. I hold extra help sessions every single day after dinner. However, I also wish to help those who are truly talented to reach their true potential. "You two are the most talented duelers in the third year," Balladanis paused and looked at each of them in the eye, "I would argue that you are the most talented duelers amongst the students below fifth year. I would even wager that you could give a couple of the sixth years a run for their Galleons." Albus stared at Balladanis. He didn't think he was that good of a dueler. He knew he could beat most of the students in the Junior's Dueling Club, but sixth years? They were doing N.E.W.T. Defense classes. They knew spells Albus had never even heard of. "I wouldn't go picking fights with sixth years, though," Balladanis continued, "They know spells you do not. What I mean is that you have the talent to learn spells that the sixth years are learning. The spells I am currently teaching in class are incredibly simple for the two of you. What I hope to do is teach you spells that are more at your level. Now, stand up, the both of you. Let's see what you can do." Albus stood up and pulled out his wand. He had no idea what Balladanis wanted him to do. Would they be practicing on the anamatek? Balladanis waved his wand and the desks moved to the sides of the classroom. Another wave and the light increased. "I would like you to duel each other. Use any spell that you have learned in school. Do not use any spells you have picked up elsewhere. Madam Pomfrey would not be happy with me if I sent the two of you to the Hospital Wing with missing limbs. Keep going until I say to stop." Albus couldn't believe it. He was getting to duel Malfoy! He had been wanting to do that ever since Kendrick had first announced the dueling club. The little practice duels they did weren't really what he had wanted to do, though. Albus raised his wand and stared at Malfoy. Malfoy was smirking and pointing his wand at Albus. The two of them bowed and Albus took a step forward. "Petrificus Totalus!" Albus shouted and pointed his wand at Malfoy. Malfoy easily dodged the spell and sent a tickling hex at Albus. Albus threw up a shield and then tried to disarm Malfoy. Malfoy jumped onto a nearby desk and the spell collided with a chair which collapsed. The duel continued in this matter for quite some time. Albus tried as hard as he could to actually hit Malfoy with a spell, but Malfoy kept dodging and blocking them. It was driving Albus mad. He kept thinking of everything Malfoy had done to him in the past two years and how much he wanted to beat him in this duel. If he beat Malfoy, he'd have something on him for the rest of the year. "Expelliarmus!" Albus shouted for what must have been the tenth time. Malfoy dodged it and sent the same spell at Albus. Albus jumped and the spell hit Balladanis's desk. "That's enough!" Balladanis shouted. Albus lowered his wand and glared at Malfoy. Albus shoved his wand back in his robes and looked around to find a chair that remained intact. He found one and collapsed into it. That duel had been exhausting. "Well, that was certainly interesting," Balladanis gave a rare smile, "Not a scratch on either of you but my classroom has been destroyed. It seems that I was not premature in my judgment of your dueling skills. "Have either of you thought about what you want to do when you get out of Hogwarts?" Albus stared curiously at Balladanis. That was an abrupt change in conversation. Albus had never thought about life beyond Hogwarts. He was only thirteen. He never thought there was any need to think about it yet. "Er," Albus began, "Not really. I mean, I always thought being an Auror would be interesting." "Indeed it would," Balladanis said, "Your father certainly is happy with it. How about you, Mr. Malfoy?" "No idea," Malfoy replied. "There are many things you can do with dueling skills such as yours. I would suggest looking into it," Balladanis said. "But sir, we're only third years," Malfoy scoffed, "Isn't it a bit early?" "I already knew what I wanted to do at thirteen," Balladanis said quietly. "And what is that exactly?" Malfoy asked. Balladanis gave Malfoy the strangest look Albus had ever seen. It was a combination of sadness, anger, and pride. "I do not wish to discuss that," Balladanis said, "Perhaps you will find out someday. For now, I think it best we call it a night. If you wish to learn advanced spells, return at this time next week and we will begin." "I'll be here, sir," Malfoy said as he walked out the door. "Thanks, Professor," Albus said as he followed. "Mr. Potter," Balladanis said, "Please tell Mr. Eckerton that it will not do for him to skip his extra help sessions." "But sir," Albus looked at him incredulously, "You know what tonight is. He couldn't possibly have gone." "The moon didn't rise until after the session was over. I do not take excuses." Albus sighed to himself as he left. Balladanis had been teaching him for over two months and he still surprised Albus all the time. Albus had seen a different side of him that night. He did truly hate the Dark Arts, that was something Albus did not doubt. But he had also performed Legilimency on him. Albus didn't think he could ever trust a teacher that did that. Not after his experience with Washburn.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 30 December 2009 09 18 36 am    Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden Thanks, Dawn! Chapter 16: The First Match The atmosphere at Hogwats the next day reminded Albus a lot of what it was like the day of the Quidditch Final. It was the day of the first Quidditch match of the Inter-School Competition. Australia would be playing New York. Albus was excited, but not as excited as he would have been if Hogwarts was playing. He didn't particularly care who won this match. He was curious about Linda's seeking skills, though. "Hi, Al," someone said from behind Albus as he walked down to the pitch with Matt, John, and Kaden. Albus turned around and saw his dad. "Hi, Dad! Here to see the match? Or are you on duty?" "Just to see the match," Harry grinned, "I'm hoping to be able to see them all, especially the ones you and James get to play in." "I don't really get to play in any of them," Albus pointed out. "You never know," Harry said, "Well, I'm sitting with Neville, so I'll see you after the match." "Bye, Dad," Albus waved as he ran ahead of them. The boys found decent seats and waited for the match to begin. The weather was particularly nice, especially for a late October day. The sun was out and there was only a slight breeze in the unseasonably warm air. "It's kind of odd to not be rooting for Gryffindor," Matt said. Albus agreed. Nobody was segregated into House sections like they usually were during Quidditch matches. "I don't know who to root for." "Me either," John lowered his voice, "I mostly just want to see how Linda plays. Never seen a vampire play Quidditch before." "She must be good. She's only a second year and she's on the team," Albus pointed out. "But she's immortal," Matt reminded them, "So she's probably decades older than us at least." Albus still found that aspect of vampires very strange. He sighed to himself and focused on the pitch, where a few people were milling about. Albus could make out Professors Kendrick, Roberts, and Killigan, along with a few other people Albus didn't recognize. "Welcome, students, staff, and guests to the first Quidditch match of the competition!" Kendrick shouted over the crowd a few minutes later, "This will work exactly like regular Quidditch matches. Ludo Bagman of the Department of Magical Sports will referee this match. And now, I give you the Quidditch teams of the Adirondack Academy of Magic and the Australian School of Sorcery!" The New Yorkers were dressed in blue Quidditch robes and the Australians were dressed in green. Both teams entered the pitch with brooms in their hands. Albus watched as each of their captains shook hands. Bagman blew a whistle and all fifteen of them rose into the air. "And they're off!" Todd Smith, who was apparently the commentator for the inter-school matches, shouted, "Haberino of New York catches the Quaffle and is flying to the Australian goal posts...." It was a very fast paced match. The Quaffle passed back and forth between players faster than Smith could announce. Albus was very impressed. He also doubted he could fly as well as them and was sort of glad he wasn't playing. Albus knew he should pay the closest attention to the Chasers, but he couldn't help but gawk at Linda as she flew around the pitch. She was noticeably faster than the rest of the players. Her form was practically a blur every time she darted in between the rest of the players. "Merlin, she's fast!" Albus exclaimed as Linda went from one end of the pitch to the other in mere seconds. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone fly that fast!" John gaped, "And I've been to loads of Puddlemere matches!" "Well, that would explain it," Matt smirked. "Puddlemere has plenty of fast fliers!" John shouted, "It's you who's probably never seen anyone fly fast, what with you being a Cannons fan...." Matt rolled his eyes. "She's fast because of what she is." Albus nodded. He kind of figured that. It didn't seem fair, though. None of the other teams had a vampire for a Seeker. James obviously wasn't a vampire and Albus doubted the New York Seeker was one either. He was a lot slower than Linda. It seemed like there should be some sort of rule that would prevent Linda from being on the Australian team. Although, Albus wasn't sure Kendrick and Roberts knew Linda was a vampire. "New York scores!" Smith shouted, "40-20 New York!" Linda may have been fast, but New York seemed to have better Chasers. Their style of playing reminded Albus of how he played with his cousins. When Albus played with Heather and Fred, it was almost like they shared a brain. All of a sudden, Linda shot across the pitch, from the Australian goals to the bottom of the New York goals. Albus stood up and watched the New York Seeker flew after her, but was meters behind. Linda dove for the ground and flew back into the air clutching something in her hand. "Is that?" John began. "The Snitch?" Kaden gaped. "It is," Albus stared as the two teams descended to the ground. It had only been fifteen minutes since the match started! "Linda Morales of Australia has caught the Snitch!" Smith announced, "Australia wins 170-40!" "That was the quickest game of Quidditch I've ever seen," John said. Everyone agreed. Albus had never seen anyone catch the Snitch that fast before. If the other matches were like this one, Australia was going to have the competition in the bag. "I'm guessing this match won't be followed by a party in the common room?" Kaden asked as the boys got up from their seats. "Probably not," Albus laughed, "Hogwarts didn't play, so we've really got nothing to celebrate." "Linda's in Gryffindor, though," John pointed out. "Yeah, but I'm betting most of the Gryffindors are going to be a bit upset at Linda's seeking skills. I mean, James is good, but even he's going to have problems going up against Linda. I think she'd even give Teddy a run for his money," Albus pointed out. "James can beat her," John said confidently as they began the journey back to school, "He's a brilliant Seeker." "But she's faster," Albus sighed. "She's bound to slip up eventually," Kaden said hopefully. Albus certainly hoped so. Maybe the Beaters could just constantly pelt her with Bludgers throughout the whole match so she wouldn't have a chance to find the Snitch. They continued to walk alongside the forest on their way to the castle. The hair on the back of Albus's neck bristled and he looked quickly over his shoulder. It felt like someone was watching him. He stopped in his tracks and looked into the forest. He saw a dark figure jump behind a tree. Someone was in there. "Why'd you stop, Albus?" Kaden asked. "There's someone in the forest," Albus whispered. "Hagrid?" Matt asked. "No," Albus shook his head, "Too small to be Hagrid." "We should go find out who it is," John announced. "Are you mental?" Matt said, "Whoever's in there could be a murderer or something!" Albus wasn't sure about that, but he was sure that he was curious. He wanted to know who was lurking about the forest after a Quidditch match. "Maybe we should," Albus said. Matt sighed. "Albus, you're supposed to be the sane one." "I want to go see who it is," Kaden said. "It's the Forbidden Forest!" Matt groaned, "Forbidden! If we get caught, we'll be in huge trouble! Look at everyone walking around. Someone is going to catch us." That was a good point. But at the same time, Albus really wanted to know who it was. He couldn't just stand there and not go find out who the mysterious figure was.... "Al," a voice said from behind him. Albus jumped and turned around. His dad was standing there, looking at him curiously. "Oh, hi Dad." "What are you doing?" Harry asked. "Er, there's someone in the forest," Albus replied. Harry peered into the forest and then turned back to Albus with a grim look on his face. "Thanks for letting me know, Al. I'll check it out. I want all four of you to go back to the castle and go straight to Gryffindor Tower." "Who do you think it is?" Albus asked. His dad seemed rather worried. "I have a few guesses," Harry replied, "If it's anyone important, I'll let you know." Albus nodded and started to walk back to the castle with his friends. He glanced back at his dad and saw his Patronus running in the opposite direction. A few people were pointing at it and whispering. "Who do you think it is?" Kaden asked. Albus shrugged. "Dunno. I mean, the only people I can think of are Washburn and Willinson, but they haven't been sighted in months." "It's got to be one of them," John said, "Why else would your dad get so worried about it?" "But he couldn't even see who it was," Matt pointed out, "It might turn out to be nothing." "Scary, though," Kaden shivered, "One of them coming back. I mean, I've never met either of them, but if they're anything like Quinton...." "Don't worry," Albus assured him, "We'll just go back to the common room and we'll be fine." The boys hurried back into the castle and up to Gryffindor Tower. Most of the people around them were talking about the match, but Albus overheard a few people talking about his dad's Patronus. The Gryffindor common room was packed when they entered it. There was a very large group of people in the middle shouting about Quidditch and Albus had no doubt that Linda was in the middle of it, even if she didn't want to be. Albus didn't see Rose or Amanda anywhere and figured they were with Linda. Albus had a fleeting thought that he needed to tell them about what he saw, but decided not to since Rose wasn't speaking with him. He just didn't feel like telling her anything important while she was still giving him the silent treatment. He was starting to feel a bit dejected that it had been going on so long. Albus and his friends found a table and sat down. They were quickly joined by Lily, Hugo, and Ashtyn. "Can you believe she caught the Snitch that fast?" Lily asked. "That was incredible," Albus agreed, "But she's going to make it hard to beat Australia." "I'll say," Hugo sighed, "Everyone is trying to figure out how she's so fast. Fred thought she had some sort of special broom, but she denied it." "Well, she obviously wouldn't admit to that," Ashtyn rolled her eyes. "Maybe Rose could ask her," Lily suggested. "I doubt Rose would do that," Albus muttered. "Are you still rowing with her?" Lily asked. "Er, yeah," Albus said. "Why? Nobody's told me what your row was even about," Lily huffed. "It's not your business, Lily," Albus sighed. "Come on," Lily whined, "I'm your sister." "And I don't tell you everything," Albus said, "So give it a rest." "Can I have everyone's attention?" someone shouted from the portrait hole. Albus looked up and saw Neville standing there. Everyone immediately quieted down. Teachers rarely went into the common room. In fact, the only time they did was when something bad happened or when Gryffindor had a spectacular Quidditch win. "I don't want anyone leaving the common room for now," Neville said in an unusually strict tone. "What's going on?" Georgia asked. "Someone was spotted near Hogsmeade and in the forest," Neville replied. "Who?" Fred asked. "The Aurors don't want us to disclose that information yet," Neville said, "I'll be back when we know more." Neville left and the common room erupted into whispers. Albus turned to his friends, who had all turned a few shades lighter after hearing Neville's announcement. "It's got to be," Matt whispered, "They wouldn't shut us in if it wasn't someone dangerous." Albus nodded and swallowed hard. He knew he was perfectly safe in the common room, but couldn't help feeling a bit scared. "I bet it's Washburn!" someone shouted from across the common room. "Who's Washburn?" one of the first years piped up. "Evil Charms teacher," someone replied. "Yeah!" Ashtyn said, "He tried to kill my brother!" "Mine, too!" Lily put in. "And he tried to kill my sister," Hugo added. Lily, Ashtyn, and Hugo started telling the other first year what had happened to Albus and his friends. Albus groaned and shook his head as all four eleven year olds watched him. "Wish we could go to the room," Albus muttered. "Let's go to the dormitory," John suggested, "I'll bet it's empty." The boys left the common room (much to the dismay of Lily, Hugo, Ashtyn, and their growing group of on-lookers) and went up to Albus's dormitory, which was thankfully empty. Albus, Matt, and John all sat on their beds and Kaden sat on the foot of Albus's. None of them said a word. Albus supposed that deep down in his mind he knew Washburn would come back, but he tried not to think about it. He figured Washburn was after the Resurrection Stone. That meant he wouldn't try and break into the castle, didn't it? No, it didn't. Albus's gaze fell upon his trunk, where the Invisibility Cloak resided. If Washburn still wanted to unite the Hallows, he'd need that cloak. Albus gulped. Washburn was going to try and break into the castle. Albus didn't know when, but he knew it would happen at some point. ****** Harry never returned to the castle to tell Albus what had happened. Neville came back to the common room an hour or so later and told everyone they were free to leave if they wanted to, but he didn't disclose any details. Albus and his friends stayed in the common room, hoping Harry would eventually find Albus, but he never did. The Great Hall was filled with much more chatter than was normal on Monday morning. Albus and his friends sat down at the Gryffindor table and James immediately passed Albus a copy of the Daily Prophet. "They didn't catch him," James said as he tossed Albus the paper. Albus took it and all four boys read the front page article at the same time. [b]Washburn Sighted in Hogsmeade; Mysterious Man Sighted in Forest[/b] [i]Jameson Washburn, wanted for torturing underage students and the illegal use of Legilimency on an underage student, was sighted by an anonymous witch in Hogsmeade yesterday afternoon. The sighting took place a few hours after the first Quidditch match in the tournament between Hogwarts, the Australian School of Sorcery, and the Adirondack Academy of Magic. The anonymous witch stated that 'a man ran from behind the Hog's Head up towards the hills. He looked like Washburn.' Harry Potter, Head of the Auror Department, was on the Hogwarts grounds at the time and reported quickly to the scene. No signs of Washburn were found and Potter is sure he had Disapparated quickly. Potter had previously been investigating the Forbidden Forest, after receiving a tip from a student that someone had been lurking around. Nobody was found. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry went into lock down after the supposed sighting of Washburn. Students were not informed about the situation. The Auror Department has not said whether additional protection will be given to the school. Currently, an Auror is assigned to the school at all times, after the kidnapping of a student by Quinton Willinson (currently residing in Azkaban) last Spring. 'We don't want people to worry. We're not even sure whether either sighting was actually Washburn or not,' Potter told reporters.[/i] Albus set down the paper and turned to look at his friends. There was no doubt in his mind that that man in the forest had been Washburn. He had gotten away again. For someone who seemed incompetent at just about everything, Washburn certainly was good at escaping. "I wonder where he's hiding," John said, "I mean, he's probably somewhere around here, you'd think?" "I bet he Apparated someplace far away," Albus replied, "He's not going to want to stick around and get caught." "Yeah, that's true," John said, "But I bet he'll be back." "Probably," Albus agreed, "Willinson might even go with him. I wonder where he is." "I hope he's far away from here," Matt said, "We'd better get to class." Albus was happy that they had Care of Magical Creatures first because he would be able to continue talking about Washburn as they observed firecrabs. "You don't think they'll cancel the Hogsmeade trips, do you?" John asked once they had walked a safe distance away from the Slytherins. "I dunno," Albus shrugged, "They didn't cancel them when Sirius escaped from Azkaban." "I hope they won't," John said, "They could just have Aurors patrolling the village. That'll keep Washburn away." "There are already Aurors patrolling the school," Matt pointed out, "So I'm sure they'll be patrolling Hogsmeade now, too." "Just as long as they don't bring any dementors here, I'll be happy," Albus shivered. He had never actually seen a dementor, but he knew enough about them to fear them. "Well, that didn't exactly work out well when Sirius had escaped, did it?" John replied. "I know, but still...." Albus's voice trailed off. "Dementors don't even guard Azkaban anymore, so I don't see why they would get sent here," John said as he stopped his firecrab from escaping. "I wonder where they went," Albus pondered, "I've never seen one." "Me neither," John shook his head, "But that's a good point. What did happen to them all?" "That's one thing my dad never told me," Albus shrugged. "I've never seen one either," Matt shivered, "But my dad has. He's had to deal with them at work-" "So he knows where they were sent?" John interrupted. "No," Matt shook his head, "He dealt with them in Australia. There are a lot of them on the outback. There's hardly anyone living around there, so every once in a while, they'll descend on some tiny town they come upon. Then some witch or wizard reports it and my dad or someone else from his office would have to go clear them out." "That would be a horrible job," John said quietly. "He hated it," Matt replied, "He'd come home all shaky and depressed and Mum would feed him loads of chocolate. Then they'd go talk by themselves. He refused to tell me and Amy what he hears when he comes across dementors, though. Amy asked loads of times, but he never told." "My dad won't tell me what he hears either," Albus said, "It's got to be awful." "Neither of my parents have ever seen dementors," John said, "I think my parents lead relatively normal lives compared to yours." "No one in my family leads a normal life," Albus laughed. "Mine either," Matt agreed. "Well, hopefully your dad will catch Washburn and Willinson and then you can have a somewhat normal life, Albus," John said. "Maybe," Albus shrugged. "As for me, I like a little excitement in life," John grinned. "You can have all of mine," Albus laughed. "Mine, too," Matt smirked. "Nah," John shook his head, "I'll make my own."
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 23 December 2009 09 35 46 am    Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden Chapter 15: Answers When Albus walked into the Great Hall, he stopped in his tracks. The room had been completely transformed. There were huge jack o' lanterns everywhere, lit up by candles. Realistic looking spider webs were draped across every surface. The four House tables had disappeared and were replaced by spindly round wooden tables. Fake spiders were crawling around the floor. Fake bats were flying around. Tables of food were set up everywhere. Cauldrons were smoking on top of them, emitting all sorts of different colored smoke. The professors were all milling about and talking with each other. Kendrick was dressed up as Merlin or Dumbledore, Albus couldn't tell which. Neville was dressed as Godric Gryffindor, Patil as Rowena Ravenclaw, and even Slughorn was dressed as Salazar Slytherin. Polo was not dressed as Helga Hufflepuff, a fact John was quick to point out. He was probably dressed as some other famous Hufflepuff, but Albus had no idea who it was. In fact, nearly all the professors were dressed up. The only one who wasn't was Balladanis. He was wearing his usual pristine black robes with the intricate silver fastenings. He was wearing a grim look as he brushed past Albus and his friends. His eyes narrowed a little at John but he quickly looked away. Albus thought this was odd, but didn't dwell on it. As the room gradually filled with more and more students, Albus noticed that there were an alarming amount of them dressed up as his father. Most were first years. Albus just kept staring as eleven-year-olds with plastic glasses and fake scars on their faces walked past. He thought it was really really odd. "We're surrounded by your dad," John laughed as another miniature Harry Potter walked by. "This is just weird," Albus muttered, shaking his head. "It's kind of funny," John laughed even harder. "Bet you wouldn't think that if everyone was dressing up as your dad," Albus replied. "And that kid's dressed up as your uncle!" Kaden announced, pointing to a red-haired boy who could've easily passed for a Weasley. In fact, he didn't really look like he was dressed up at all, but Albus figured he was his Uncle Ron. "Uncle Ron would like that," Albus smirked. "He would," someone said from behind Albus. Albus turned around and saw the real Harry Potter with a plate of biscuits in hand. "Hi, Dad!" "This has got to be the strangest party ever," Harry said, "I've never seen people dressed up as me before. It's rather odd." "Yeah," Albus agreed. He didn't really like that so many people were dressed as his dad. "Too bad Ron is on duty tonight," Harry sighed, "He would've liked to see a kid dressed as him. Where's Rose?" "Er...." Harry gave Albus a curious look. "Is everything all right?" "Um, yeah," Albus mumbled, "I guess." "Well, you know I'm always here if you need to talk," Harry replied, "I like your costumes, by the way." "Thanks," Albus grinned, "Kaden's idea." "So far I haven't seen any other Muggle costumes," Harry pointed out, "I've got to go talk to Kendrick, so I'll see you soon." Albus nodded. "See you later." Once Harry left, Albus and his friends wandered over to one of the food tables. They loaded up plates with chicken and potatoes and various other stuff and went to find seats. "Look, Albus," Matt pointed to the door, "The girls are dressed as Muggle witches." Albus looked up and saw Rose, Amanda, and Linda strolling into the room dressed as the Muggle version of a witch. All three of them were wearing plain black robes, black witch hats, and had painted their faces green. Albus caught Amanda's eye and they gave each other weak smiles as the girls walked into the room. "Guess they couldn't come up with any other ideas," John muttered. "We did agree on costumes before they stopped speaking to us," Albus pointed out. "I guess," John said. "Looks like they're coming over here," Matt groaned. Albus set down his plate and watched as the girls progressed towards them. Rose's face was still stony, even in green. Amanda was leading them, so Albus figured she wanted to say hi, not Rose. "Hi, Albus," Amanda greeted them, "Matt, John, Kaden. Great costumes." "Thanks," Albus smiled, "You, too." Nobody else said anything. Albus stood awkwardly with Amanda and looked around at the group. Rose was glaring at Matt and vice versa. John and Kaden were shifting nervously around. Linda was staring at John, but not in a loathing way. It was more of a combination between curiosity and revulsion, which Albus thought was kind of odd. "This is just so stupid!" Amanda finally exclaimed, "Do you lot want to keep fighting for the rest of the year?" "Not really," Albus muttered. Rose sent a withering look at Amanda and then turned around and left in a huff. Amanda sighed and followed her. Linda shook her head and then ran after Amanda. "Well, that was awkward," Kaden announced a few seconds later. "Is this really what the rest of the year is going to be like?" Albus asked, looking pointedly at Matt, "Because I think I'll go mad if it is." "Well, Rose started it," Matt muttered. "You both started it," Albus snapped, "And you both had better finish it." "It's not that simple, Albus," Matt sighed. "It isn't?" Albus asked, "What am I missing, then? I was there. You two fought over whether Linda should be in the Room or not! And we all said no, but Rose is still upset over it! I just don't understand it." "Told you it wasn't simple," Matt said in barely more than a whisper. "They're girls. Nothing is simple with girls," John groaned, "And do you know why it's not simple, Matt?" Matt shifted uncomfortably and looked away for a few seconds. "Yeah, I do," he whispered. "Care to explain?" Albus asked, now thoroughly confused. "Not here," Matt said, "Come on, let's go to the room." Albus followed Matt out of the Great Hall with John and Kaden on either side of him. None of them said a word until they reached the Marauder's Den. They went inside and sat down on the furniture. Matt stood up as soon as he sat down and then began pacing around. It reminded Albus of the time he explained about the Hallows back in their first year. "All right, what's up with the girls?" John asked after Matt paced for a few moments. Matt stopped pacing and stood in front of them. "Ok, here it goes. What do you know about vampires?" "Wait, what?" Albus shook his head. What in the name of Merlin did vampires have to do with the girls? "What do you know about vampires?" Matt repeated. John laughed. "They vant to suck your blood!" he exclaimed in a bad Transylvannian accent. He opened his mouth and leaned towards Kaden's neck. "Ew," Kaden moved away, "Vampires are afraid of garlic and they can't see themselves in mirrors. They can't go out during the day and they turn into bats. Oh, and you have to kill them with a wooden stake to the heart." "Er," Albus began, "I don't really know much besides the whole blood sucking thing." "You know," Matt began, "You know nothing about vampires, yet you knew enough about werewolves to figure out that I was one." "That was Rose," Albus reminded him. "Right, anyway, Kaden, those are the vampires as Muggles see them. They're not like that." "Oh," Kaden said. "What do vampires have to do with this anyway?" John asked, "I just want to know why Rose is so stubborn." "It's just the way she is," Albus muttered. "Vampires," Matt continued, "In the wizarding world, are the undead. They're dead, but they're still around, obviously. Vampires feed on human blood, but if they don't suck a human completely dry, the victim becomes a vampire themselves." "Sort of like werewolves," Kaden pointed out. "Yeah, I guess," Matt replied, "But not really. Anyway, they basically die but they don't. They become immortal and stop aging. Someone could be bitten when they're twenty and still look twenty two hundred years later. Their hearts stop beating and they run out of blood. That's why they turn pasty white. Then, they need to feed on blood in order to survive. They can either use human or animal blood. The vampires that like to integrate into human society prefer to use animal blood. All they need to survive is blood. They don't need food. But they eat it to pretend they're human. They don't need to sleep either." "Really?" Kaden asked, "That is weird." Albus never knew any of that. Now the vampire unit in Defense class was going to be incredibly easy. "How often do they drink blood?" Albus asked. "Depends on the vampire. Most need to drink it every couple of weeks or so." "What happens if they don't?" "They get weak," Matt explained, "Vampires are exceptionally strong and fast, but if they haven't had any blood recently, they feel weak and sick." "Like you do before the full moon," Kaden pointed out. "Yeah," Matt nodded, "Sort of like that." "Can they go out during the day?" John asked. "There's a potion that they take so they can go out in the sun. The sun hurts them. Kind of like the moon for werewolves." "But what's this got to do with Rose?" John asked impatiently. "I'm getting there," Matt said as he began pacing again, "Anyway, vampires are fast and strong so they can catch their prey. But they are also more beautiful than regular humans. That way people are attracted to them. They're also really really charismatic. When you meet one, you're naturally attracted to them. It's hard to explain, you're just drawn to them. It doesn't even matter if they're a boy or a girl or if you're a boy or a girl." Albus suddenly remembered the day the foreign students arrived and he first laid eyes on Linda. She was beautiful. Albus hadn't been able to take his eyes off her. But she didn't seem particularly charismatic. After hearing Matt's description of a vampire, Linda did sound like one, except for the charismatic part. She hardly said a word. "So if a vampire walked through the door, I'd immediately want to to go over to them?" John asked. "Pretty much, yeah," Matt said. "How do you know all this?" John asked. "Remember the library at my house? There are loads of vampire books there because of my dad's job. I've read a few of them." "Well, you'll do great on whatever test Balladanis gives us on vampires when we get to that unit," John laughed. "Wait," Kaden looked at Matt curiously, "Muggles believe that vampires and werewolves hate each other, and didn't you say that's real?" "Er, yeah," Matt said quietly, "That's pretty much it. But mostly the big rivalry is between werewolves and vampires who live away from wizards. There are packs of werewolves and covens of vampires who fight over territory and stuff. That doesn't happen as much as it did years ago, but it still does occasionally, mostly in other countries." "So, you don't really hate all vampires?" Kaden asked. "I've never really met one," Matt shrugged. "And what in the name of Merlin does this have to do with Rose rowing with us?" John asked exasperatingly. Albus was getting a bit impatient as well. Sure, he liked hearing about vampires. They were kind of interesting, but he mainly wanted to know what Matt knew about Rose. "Linda is a vampire," Matt said simply. The room was silent for a few minutes. Albus stared at Matt. Linda was a vampire? It was possible. She did fit some of the characteristics, but it was still hard to grasp. Albus had never met a vampire before, let alone one that was his age. "When did you figure that out?" Albus asked. "As soon as she walked past the Gryffindor table," Matt answered. John looked at him in awe. "Wow, that's impressive. You ought to go into the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures." "Now that would be even more ironic than my dad working there," Matt laughed, "But I would have known she was a vampire even if I didn't know so much about them. Werewolves and vampires can instantly recognize each other." "How?" Albus asked. "Smell," Matt said, "Vampires have a distinctive smell, but regular wizards can't tell. Werewolves can, though. And vampires can smell werewolves." "And you didn't tell us?" John asked incredulously. "I didn't see the point, until now." "Didn't see the point? There's a vampire at Hogwarts and you didn't think to tell us?" John shook his head, "There's always a reason to tell us that kind of stuff." Matt shrugged. "Well, you know now." Albus was still processing the information. Linda was a vampire. Matt knew Linda was a vampire from the start. Werewolves can smell vampires. Vampires can sense werewolves. That meant- "Wait," Albus began, "Linda knows you're a werewolf, doesn't she?" Matt sighed. "Yes, she probably does." "Then why does it matter if she gets to go in the Marauder's Den?" John asked, "Not that I want to let her in." "It's the principle of the thing!" Matt replied, "I just don't see why Killigan let her go to his school but he wouldn't let me! I know it's stupid to avoid her because of that because it's not her fault, but I just don't get it." Albus hadn't even thought of that. Matt was right; it didn't make sense. How was letting a vampire into a school any different from letting a werewolf? "But if you had been let in, you wouldn't have moved here," John pointed out. "I know, and I'm glad we moved, but it's just not fair," Matt sighed. "So," Kaden said loudly, "There's a vampire at Hogwarts. Who's blood is she sucking?" “That, is actually a good question," Albus said. "I have no idea," Matt replied, "I'm guessing she's sucking animal blood. Probably hunts in the forest." "What about the whole 'vampires are charismatic' thing?" Albus asked. Even if Linda did want to suck human blood, he had no idea how she'd manage to lure a human towards her. She seemed to avoid as many people as possible. Matt smiled wryly, "That's where it gets interesting. The three of you don't see her as charismatic, right?" "Yeah," Albus said. John and Kaden nodded. "That's what I thought. It's because you're friends with me." Albus turned to look at John and Kaden. Both of them looked as confused as Albus felt. "Wait, what?" John asked. "Even way back when there were more packs of werewolves and covens of vampires running about, it was possible for humans to affiliate with one or the other. Occasionally, a pack of werewolves would sort of 'adopt' a human and the human would live with the pack. I mean, the human would leave for the full moon, but live with the pack the rest of the month. But if the human came upon a vampire, the human would be completely undesirable to a vampire because they were affiliated with werewolves." "And we're affiliated with you, so Linda wouldn't want to suck our blood, even if she did suck human blood?" Albus asked. "Exactly," Matt replied, "Remember how everyone seemed to flock around Linda when she first came here? Everyone except us. Even Rose disliked her back then." "But she doesn't now," Kaden reminded him. "I know. That's because as Rose started spending more time with Linda, she spent less time with us, with me. She became less affiliated with me, so to speak. And then when we had that row, well, now she's just affiliated with Linda. She's completely under Linda's charisma." Rose was affiliated with a vampire? Did this mean there was no hope of her reconciling with Matt? Albus groaned inwardly. He really didn't like Linda now. She was putting a huge rift into their group. "Is it possible for a person to be friends with both a werewolf and a vampire?" Albus asked quietly. "I think so," Matt sighed, "But Rose won't even talk to us." "I think the only way she will is if we agree to let Linda into the Marauder's Den," Albus muttered, "She's just so stubborn." "But we don't want to let her in here," John groaned. "No, we don't," Matt agreed. "Do you think Rose knows she's a vampire?" Albus asked. Rose was smart, but if she had found out Linda was a vampire, she probably would have told him. She told him Matt was a werewolf, after all. Unless of course she discovered Linda was a vampire after the row. "No idea," Matt shrugged, "Do you know if she knows anything about vampires?" "Probably not much," Albus answered. "Then she might not. Linda's obviously trying to conceal that she's a vampire. I bet she'll find out when we do the vampire unit in Defense, though." "Unless we tell her first," Albus said quietly. "Are we going to?" John asked. "Would she even listen?" Matt asked. "I sort of think we should at least try to tell her," Albus said, "And Amanda, too." "I suppose," Matt sighed, "But they're always around Linda." "We'll just have to wait until she's at Quidditch practice. I think the Australian team practices on Mondays, so I guess we'll wait until then," Albus said. The room descended into silence for a few minutes. Linda had definitely spiked Albus's curiosity. He was mostly curious about why Linda had been allowed to go to the Australian School of Sorcery but Matt hadn't. What was the difference in letting a vampire attend than a werewolf? Even if Linda did suck animal blood, there was still the potential for her to suck human blood. "Bloody hell," Kaden let out a low whistle, "A vampire at Hogwarts." Albus nodded. Kaden pretty much summed up what Albus was thinking. Linda being a vampire had shocked him more than Matt being a werewolf. He wasn't sure why, but maybe it was because Teddy's dad had been a werewolf and he attended Hogwarts, but as far as Albus knew, no vampires had ever been there.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 16 December 2009 07 02 52 am    Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden Chapter 14: Hogsmeade Albus and John practically ran to the hospital wing. They slowed down as they neared it and tried to look as casual as they could as they walked in. Madam Pomfrey was busy with a patient, so she didn't even notice them as they made a beeline for Matt's bed. Albus yanked the curtains back and shut them again once John and himself were inside. To his relief, Matt was awake this time. He looked exhausted, but he was awake. "Hey, Matt," Albus said. "Hey, Albus," Matt replied, "How are you?" "All right," Albus said, "How about you?" "Tired," Matt sighed, "Er, how is Rose? Is she still ignoring us?" "Pretty much," Albus said quietly. John nodded and then glanced at Albus. Albus took a deep breath. He hadn't really thought about how he was going to ask Matt about this. "Are you two ok?" Matt asked tentatively. John poked Albus. Albus glared at him and then turned back to Matt. "Well, we sort of wanted to ask you something," Albus lowered his voice, "I'm sure you'll think its mental...." Matt stared at him curiously. "Er, all right, what is it?" "I was talking to Rose in Ancient Runes-" "I thought she was still ignoring us." "She was. But we were partners, since you weren't there." "What about Linda?" Matt asked. "She wasn't there either, which is what I wanted to ask you about," Albus paused, "Rose said Linda's been ill the past few days. I couldn't really help but notice that she was ill around the same time you were and well, John and I were sort of wondering if maybe, well, she was-" "Like me?" Matt whispered. His eyes had widened in shock and he was staring incredulously at Albus and John. "Er, yeah," Albus muttered, "Told you it was mental." "It is," Matt said adamantly. "So you know she's not?" John asked, "You saw her in here or something? Or did Madam Pomfrey tell you?" Matt smiled wryly. "Of course not. Even if she was, I doubt Madam Pomfrey would tell me. You two missed the obvious clue that she's not like me." Albus turned to John, who shrugged. "Linda normally goes to the Australian School of Sorcery," Matt stated, "The school that I wasn't allowed to go to. Obviously, if Linda was like me, she couldn't go there either." Albus felt like he should have smacked himself in the head. He turned to John, who looked like he was about to burst out laughing. How could they have forgotten about that? It was staring them straight in the face and they completely overlooked it. Professor Killigan was prejudiced against werewolves. There was no way he would admit Linda if she was one. "Oh, right," Albus mumbled, "Should have remembered that." "It's actually kind of funny that you thought she was like me," Matt smirked. "I guess she's just got a cold or something," John shrugged. "Yeah, probably," Albus said. So much for the idea of Rose and Matt making up. Albus would just have to think of some other way to get them to be friends again. "When do you get to leave?" John asked. "Not sure," Matt sighed, "Probably late tomorrow, if I'm lucky." "Hogsmeade is on Saturday," John said. "I know. I'll be out for that, even if I have to sneak out when Madam Pomfrey is sleeping," Matt replied. Albus didn't really think Madam Pomfrey would sleep through someone trying to sneak out of the ward, but he hoped Matt would be out in time to go to Hogsmeade. It would be incredibly unfair if he wasn't allowed to go. ****** The silence continued into the next day. Linda returned from her mysterious illness and went back to spending all her free time with Rose and Amanda. Albus spent his time with John and Kaden in the Marauder's Den. Albus hated the silence more and more every day. It kept him up at night, but he couldn't think of anything he could do about it. The row was mainly between Rose and Matt. Albus couldn't solve it, but it was eating away at him like it was his own row. He was very glad he wasn't playing Quidditch in the upcoming match. He wouldn't have been able to concentrate. Matt didn't leave the hospital wing until Friday evening. Madam Pomfrey had reluctantly let him leave in order to go to Hogsmeade the following day. Albus woke up not feeling nearly as excited as he probably should have about going to Hogsmeade. He and Rose had imagined going to Hogsmeade together since they were little kids. They plotted where they would go and what they would do. Both of them had been to Hogsmeade before, but never without one of their parents. The idea of going by themselves had always been exciting. Now that the day had actually arrived, Albus couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. He wouldn't be going with Rose. Not while they were still in the midst of a row. It was either go with Matt and John, or ditch them and go with the girls. The latter wasn't even a real option. He was still mad at Rose and if he decided to make up with her, he'd have Matt and John angry with him. He just had to face it; going to Hogsmeade with Rose was not an option. Albus, Matt, and John joined the queue of people in the Entrance Hall later on in the morning. Matt and John were more excited than Albus was, but still more subdued than the rest of the third years. "We've got to remember the stuff for the Halloween party," John reminded them. The Halloween party was that night. Albus had nearly forgotten about it over the past few days. It was another thing that would have been more fun if they weren't fighting with the girls. "Yeah," Albus nodded, "We've got to get Kaden's stuff, too." "Merlin, he was jealous that we get to go and he doesn't," John smirked. "Can't blame him," Matt lowered his voice, "I mean, this is the first time we'll get to try out the Hogsmeade part of the map." Albus grinned. That was one part about the Hogsmeade trip that Albus was still thoroughly excited about. He had the new map in his cloak pocket, all ready to go. "We can see who likes to go to the Hog's Head," John grinned mischievously. "Hey, Amy used to go there," Matt said. "Really?" John asked. "Yeah, she liked how empty it was." "Seems like an awfully depressing place," John said. "Where do you lot want to go first?" Albus asked as they gave their names to Filch. "Weasley's," John said immediately, "I've got loads to buy there. And Kaden gave me a list of stuff he wants me to get him, too." "Why does that not surprise me?" Albus smirked. The boys walked the short distance into Hogsmeade once Filch checked their names off. It was a chilly autumn day. There was a slight breeze in the air and it was cloudy, but not the kind of clouds that threatened rain. They couldn't have asked for better weather in late October. Once they arrived, they hid behind a tree in order to look at the map. Albus glanced around to make sure nobody was watching and then pulled it out of his cloak. He muttered the incantation and soon, an inky replication of Hogsmeade was on the yellowed paper. "Whoa," Matt whispered, "Look, Weasleys' is so crowded, you can't read any of the labels." There were dots spilling out of the joke shop and even more inside, piled on top of each other. Albus wasn't surprised in the slightest. His uncle's shop was the most popular in Hogsmeade. There were more modest collections of dots in the rest of the shops and pubs. A slight few were in the Hog's Head. "Anyone we know in the Hog's Head?" John asked. "Nope," Albus said after he read the labels. Albus wiped the map clean and then they set off for Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. It took them a while to squeeze into the crowd, and once there, Albus and Matt quickly lost John to the throngs of students grabbing merchandise. Both George and Teddy were behind the counter, ringing up purchases as fast as they possibly could. "Hi Uncle George! Teddy!" Albus shouted. "Hey, Al!" George shouted back. "Albus!" Teddy exclaimed, "How's your first Hogsmeade trip?" "Great," Albus smiled, "Are you coming to the Halloween party?" "Wouldn't miss it," Teddy grinned, "Victoire and Amy are going, too." "That's good," Albus said, "Are you dressing up?" "'Course," Teddy laughed. "What as?" "Where would the fun in that be?" Teddy winked. John returned a little while later, arms laden with merchandise. He dumped it all on the counter and a few Skiving Snackboxes fell on the ground. Albus picked them up and smirked as he put them on the counter. "Stocking up for a year?" Albus asked. "Nah, this is just until next Hogsmeade trip," John said. "You're one of my best customers, John," George laughed. "Do you really need five Snackboxes?" Matt asked. "Definitely. Divination's awful. And two are for Kaden," John replied. John paid for his purchases and then the group wandered down the road until they reached Gladrags Wizardwear. They slowly walked inside, only to find that it was filled with giggly girls. "I'd be happy if I never had to set foot in here again," John groaned as he gestured to a display of pink sparkly robes. "We just need to get our costume stuff and get out," Albus muttered, equally unhappy about having to visit a clothing shop. The three boys tried to move as quietly as possible through the crowd of girls in order to find their costume stuff. Albus immediately found a black shirt and pants for his skeleton costume. He had bought glow in the dark paint at Weasleys' and one of his cousins was going to paint bones on the shirt and pants with it. John had purchased Muggle vampire teeth and Muggle face paint at Weasleys', so all he needed was a black cape, which he found quickly. Matt located a white sheet, which was all he needed for his ghost costume. Albus got another white sheet, which they would cut up into strips for Kaden's mummy costume. "Finally!" John exclaimed once they left the shop, "That's my least favorite place in Hogsmeade." "You should go to Madam Puddifoot's, then," Albus laughed. John shuddered. "No way. I will never set foot in that hideous place." "Anyone want to go to the Three Broomsticks?" Matt shivered. "Yeah, I could use with a Butterbeer," Albus agreed and pulled his cloak tighter. The wind had picked up and Butterbeer would be good to warm up with. Albus led his friends up the street and into the crowded pub. It seemed that everyone had the idea of warming up with a Butterbeer. Albus and Matt snagged the last empty table while John went to the bar to get a few Butterbeers. "What do you think the party is going to be like?" Matt asked. "Dunno," Albus shrugged, "It's not really common for there to be an actual party. Usually it's just the feast. I guess they just want us to interact with the foreign students. Kind of like the Yule Ball for the Triwizard Tournament." "I just can't wait to see what people dress up as," John announced as he returned with the Butterbeers. "Think the teachers will dress up?" Matt asked. "I hope so," John grinned, "Probably depends on the teacher, though. I could see Kendrick dressing up. And Longbottom. Not sure about Slughorn." Albus snorted into his Butterbeer. "Slughorn, dress up? Now that would be funny." "I think any of the teachers dressing up would be funny," Matt laughed. "So, how long do you think it'll be until Kaden tries sneaking into Hogsmeade?" John asked. "Next trip," Albus said immediately, "I know he's plotting it. He asked me if I was taking the map today. I think he wanted it to sneak in." "Are you going to let him have it next time?" Matt asked as he sipped his Butterbeer. "Probably," Albus nodded. "What if he gets caught?" Matt asked. Albus shrugged. "He'll get a couple detentions. It's not like he'll notice another two detentions." "Good point," Matt grinned and turned to John, "You two spend half your waking time in detention." "It's not that bad, once you get used to it. I think Filch is getting a bit fed up with us, though. He's starting to pawn us off on the professors." "Well, when you spend every other night with him, who can blame him?" Albus smirked. "Shut it, Albus," John laughed, "Or next time we get caught, we'll tell Filch whatever we were doing was all your idea." "He'll never believe you," Albus grinned. "Albus," a female voice said from behind him. Albus turned around and saw Rose, Butterbeer in hand, with Amanda and Linda on either side of her. "Rose," Albus muttered. The mood at the table quickly turned from joking around to tense silence. Albus nervously glanced from Amanda to Rose and back again. He looked at Matt and John, who were both glaring at the girls. "All the tables are taken," Amanda sighed, "Do you mind if we sit here?" "Er-" Albus began. "We were just leaving," Matt announced as he stood up, "Right?" "Yeah," John agreed. Albus nodded and stood up as well. He followed Matt and John through the crowded pub, looking back at the girls. Amanda was the only one who was watching them leave. "Why couldn't they have found some other table to sit at?" John groaned after they were back outside. "I dunno," Albus muttered. He had been having fun joking around with Matt and John, but as soon as the girls showed up, he was reminded once again of the rift that had formed in their group. "Anywhere we haven't been yet?" "Madam Puddifoot's," Matt laughed. "Don't even joke about that," John shuddered, "But you know, we haven't been to the Shrieking Shack." Matt groaned. "You're kidding, right?" "Nope," John grinned and took off up the street, "Come on, don't even say you're not going. Because you are." Matt sent Albus a withered look and set off at a slower pace after John. Albus laughed to himself and followed them. There were a couple people leaning on the fence in front of the Shack. They were all third years. Albus figured the thrill of the Shrieking Shack wore off after the first couple Hogsmeade trips. Albus and Matt joined John, who was standing near a couple girls who were looking at the Shack. "It's the most haunted building in Britain!" a Ravenclaw named Ann Jacobs told her friend. "Really?" the girl's eyes widened. Albus vaguely remembered that she was Muggle born. "Yeah, it's haunted by ghosts!" Ann Jacobs said excitedly, "Right, Albus?" "Er, yup," Albus nodded, "Ghosts." "I wonder if we could get inside!" the other girl said. "You can't," Matt said quickly. "How do you know?" the girl asked. "My sister tried once," Matt answered, "She graduated our first year. The place is completely sealed." "Oh," the girl sighed, "Would have been cool." "We should get back," Matt said, "We've got to get our costumes ready." "Good idea," Albus agreed. The boys bade goodbye to the two Ravenclaws and headed back to the castle. They were all very quiet on the walk back. Albus sunk back into his thoughts of how he should have gone to Hogsmeade with Rose. He hoped he'd be able to go with her the next trip. Albus couldn't imagine that he'd still be mad at her when that came around. At least he hoped he wouldn't. Kaden was waiting in the Marauder's Den for them. He immediately bombarded them with questions, and the rest of the boys launched into a detailed description of their entire trip. After Kaden's curiosity was finally satisfied, the boys got to work on their costumes. Matt, John, and Kaden stayed behind in the Marauder's Den to make Matt's ghost costume and Kaden's mummy costume while Albus set off to find one of his cousins to paint his skeleton costume. Gabriella agreed to make the costume. Not wanting to find the girls and ask Amanda to do it, Albus had been hoping Gabriella would. Gabriella was the most creative of all his cousins and even though all he needed was someone to perform a painting charm, he figured Gabriella would do the best job. "What are you dressing up as?" Albus asked as Gabriella performed the charm. "A Veela," Gabriella replied. "Creative," Albus laughed. "My friend actually came up with it. A couple of us are going as Veelas." "Well, you've already got the hair, so it won't take much for you to dress up," Albus said. Gabriella grinned and handed Albus his costume. "Here you go. I'll see you at the party. I've got to go get ready." "Thanks," Albus said. When Albus returned to the Marauder's Den, he was met not by his friends, but by a ghost, mummy, and vampire. All three costumes were brilliant. Matt looked just like a Muggle ghost, complete with eye holes and a round mouth hole. Kaden was wrapped in strips of white sheet that were hanging off of him in various places. John's costume was the best, in Albus's opinion. He wore a black cape with a white shirt and black pants underneath. He also had a red bow-tie on, which Kaden insisted would make him look more vampirish. His face was completely covered in white make-up and he was wearing bright red lipstick that dripped onto his chin. When he grinned, he revealed pearly white vampire fangs. "You lot look great," Albus grinned, "The Muggle costumes was definitely the way to go." "Put yours on," Matt said. Albus nodded and went to his section of the room. When he came out, he was wearing his costume. Albus looked at his arms and they were glowing. Gabriella had done an excellent job with the painting charm. His chest was covered in a glow in the dark rib cage. "Brilliant, Albus," John grinned. "We're going to have the best costumes in the school," Kaden announced, "Are the girls still dressing up as witches?" "No idea," Albus sighed. He hadn't talked to Rose about the costumes in weeks. "Guess we'll find out." Albus had no idea what to expect from the party. The professors had never sponsored a party before while he was at Hogwarts. He walked down to the Great Hall with Matt, John, and Kaden. They passed quite a few people on the way down and saw all sorts of different costumes.