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DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Saturday 15 November 2008 11 07 39 am    Post subject: Re: In Moonlight's Shadow in topic:In Moonlight's Shadow Thanks, Obladi! Yeah, you already know where they wound up, but I wanted to put in their trips to the other schools, too. Comments, questions, and general reviews are always appreciated! Chapter 20: Failed Inspection "We'll owl you soon, Jack," Dad said at the airport the following day. We were in the terminal waiting area and our flight had just been called to board. Uncle Jack had gone with us to the airport. To get there, we had flooed to the same dodgy pub we had used earlier in the week. The place was just as creepy as it had been before, and I would be happy if I never set foot in it again. "Sounds good," Uncle Jack replied and clapped Dad on the shoulder, "Good luck with the decision about the move. I'll let you know when I'm going to fly down there once you tell me when you're planning on selling the furniture." "Goodbye, Jack," Mum smiled, "And thanks so much for all your help this week." "No problem, Julie," Uncle Jack grinned and gave her a hug, "Maybe next time you'll have a bit more success on the skis." Mum looked as if she never wanted to see a set of skis again, let alone use them, but she nodded anyway. "Bye, Amy," Uncle Jack said as he gave me a big bear hug, "I'll see you soon." "Bye, Uncle Jack," I smiled and hugged him back. Uncle Jack turned to Matt and picked him up, "Bye, Matt. I'll see you very soon, all right?" Matt nodded, "I want you to come with us." "I wish I could," Uncle Jack smiled, "But I have to work next week." "Then I want to stay here," Matt said and clamped his arms around Uncle Jack's neck. "Aw, you can't stay here," Uncle Jack replied, "You've got to go keep your dad, mum, and Amy company. They'd be awfully lonely without you." "They'd survive," Matt said, "Or we could just all stay here." Well, now it was obvious where Matt wanted to move. "Sorry, kid," Uncle Jack sighed, "But you've got to stay in Australia for now. But I'll visit you very soon." Matt nodded and Uncle Jack set him back on the ground. He waved as we joined the queue of passengers waiting to get onto the plane. Our seats on the return flight were in the same general area as those on the flight to New York. Matt and I sat behind Mum and Dad. I was a bit less nervous about this flight, but still clamped my eyes shut during the take-off. I was glad I had eaten brekkie hours ago before the flight, as opposed to at the airport. Once we were in the air, I took out my book and read it until I finished it. That used up a couple hours of the flight, but there were still hours upon hours to go. Flights to and from New York were probably the most boring things I have dealt with in my life. Well, not including all the parties I have been forced to attend with my grandparents. Speaking of parties, I had nearly forgotten about the one Cinda was going to be throwing for us before we moved. She probably had already booked the caterers and thought about the decorating scheme. That, as well as my dress. I sighed to myself at the thought of wearing another hideous dress. Cinda was probably going to try and rope me into party planning in a couple days when I spent the full moon at her house. Dad hadn't really mentioned much about this full moon and when I was going to Richard and Cinda's. I guess he was preoccupied with the trip to New York. But the full moon was on Monday and it was now Saturday. Plus, with the time changes and everything, I was pretty sure it would be Monday when we arrived back in Australia. I hoped my parents wouldn't make me go straight to Richard and Cinda's from the airport. I wanted to at least go home and send an owl to Olivia about the trip. The plane trip back to Australia passed the same way as the trip to New York. I fell asleep on and off, ate parts of the disgusting meals they served, and read an entire other book. My parents whispered to each other, but as far as I could tell it was only about the legalities of selling the house and setting up an 'estate sale' for selling the furniture. Not really something I wanted to listen to. Eventually, my parents stopped talking and drifted off to sleep. Matt had been asleep for the past few hours. He hadn't been nearly as annoying on this plane ride than the other one. He hadn't sang '99 Bottles of Butterbeer On the Wall' at all and had slept most of the trip so far. Probably because the full moon was so near. I looked up from my potions book disguised as a novel and glanced around at all the passengers. Most of them were asleep like the rest of my family was. We had had a layover in Los Angeles hours ago and now it was getting dark outside. I had slept a few hours prior to the layover and wasn't feeling very tired at the moment. I was just enjoying the quiet and the surprisingly smooth flight. Night fell and we were still flying over the Pacific Ocean. I wasn't sure when we were supposed to land in Australia, but the flight had been delayed a few hours. I always wondered why Muggles didn't just schedule their flights to be a few hours later because they always got delayed. Matt rolled over in his sleep and started mumbling. I closed my book and turned to look at him. He wasn't saying anything that made sense. I watched him for a few more minutes, unsure about whether or not to wake him. Then the mumbling turned into whimpering and then he started crying loudly. The lady sitting across the aisle from us peeked her face out from behind her laptop and glanced at us, before returning to her work. I shrugged at her and turned back to my brother, whose crying was getting progressively louder. "Mum," I reached over to my parents' seats and poked Mum on the shoulder, "Mum!" I shouted a bit louder. "What is it?" Mum yawned and turned around. "He's having one of those nightmares again," I told her, pointing to Matt. Mum wordlessly got up out of her seat and motioned for me to switch with her. I got up and went to Mum's seat, but turned around so I could see what was happening. "Matt, honey, wake up," Mum said softly as she pulled my brother onto her lap. "N-no...make it s-stop...I d-don't want to!" Matt cried in his sleep. "Shhh..." Mum soothed, "C'mon, it's just a dream. Wake up now...." By now the lady with the laptop was staring again, as was the man next to her. I glared at them, but they didn't stop watching. Matt rubbed his eyes and looked from Mum to me with a disoriented look on his face. "It's ok, honey, you just had a nightmare," Mum said quietly. Matt nodded and then winced. "Mum, my h-head r-really hurts." "We'll be home soon," Mum assured him and hugged him closer to her. "B-but it really hurts," Matt cried. "Oh, honey, I can't do anything now," Mum sighed and then lowered her voice. I couldn't hear what she was saying, but I assumed she was telling him she didn't have any potions with her. "Mum, it's g-getting worse," Matt wailed after a few minutes. "M-make it s-stop!" "I'm sorry, honey, I can't," Mum whispered, "Try and go back to sleep." "Wha-what's going on?" Dad woke up suddenly and looked at me curiously. "Matt's got a headache," I told him and pointed behind us. Dad turned around in his seat and started whispering to Mum. Matt kept crying and was now attracting the attention of the two people sitting behind him. They were an elderly couple and had looks of concern on their faces. A flight attendant walked down the aisle and stopped at our seats. "Is he ok?" she asked. "He'll be fine," Mum replied. "I've got some Tylenol, if you need any," the lady with the laptop announced. "That's ok. Thanks anyway," Mum told her. Muggle medicines had absolutely no affect whatsoever on the headaches Matt got prior to the full moon. "Are you sure?" the lady asked. "Yes," Mum replied. "He just needs to go back to sleep." The lady looked skeptical, but she finally went back to typing on her computer. Although she did glance up at us every once in a while. The man next to her went back to his book and the elderly couple started talking to each other. "He's got a fever," Mum whispered to Dad. "I thought we'd be back before it started," Dad replied. "Must have miscalculated with the time changes. I guess it's the equivalent of Sunday night now, or even early Monday morning. Damn." "We're never traveling this close to it again," Mum said quietly. "Any idea how much longer?" Dad glanced at his watch, "Maybe another hour." Mum sighed, "He needs the potions." "I know," Dad said, "We'll just have to make do with what we've got." "Which is nothing," Mum snapped. "Excuse me," Dad turned to another flight attendant who was walking by, "Have you got any ice, a towel, and a bottle of water?" "Yes, of course," the flight attendant glanced at Matt and then hurried to the back of the plane. She returned minutes later with a couple towels, two bottles of water, and a bucket of ice. Dad got up from his seat, took the ice and water, and then sat down next to Mum. He dumped a handful of ice into the towel, tied it up, and pressed it to Matt's head. "We'll have to do this the hard way," Dad muttered, "Hold that to his head." Mum nodded and took the towel from Dad. "Is this going to work?" "I hope so," Dad said and opened up one of the water bottles. "Matt, you've got to drink this." Matt opened his eyes, "Will it make my head stop hurting?" "That's what we're hoping," Dad sighed and put the bottle to Matt's lips. The ice and water must have helped because Matt started quieting down a few minutes later. I could tell his head still hurt because he was still wincing every so often, but at least he wasn't crying anymore. Mum and Dad spent the remainder of the flight trying to keep his fever down. Laptop Lady asked if they wanted any Tylenol again and Mum declined. She told the lady he was allergic to it, which got her to stop asking. The flight attendants let us get off the plane first, since Matt was sick. They hoped he felt better soon. We hurried off the plane and went as fast as we could through baggage claim and the security check. "Are Richard and Cinda picking us up?" I asked after we'd finally finished all the security stuff. "No," Mum replied, "They couldn't get us since it's so late. We're going to have to Apparate." The closest Apparition Center happened to be a couple blocks from the airport. We tried to get there as fast as we could, but it was hard with so much luggage. Dad couldn't carry any luggage since he was carrying Matt, so Mum and I were handling four suitcases and four carry-on bags. By the time we made it to the Apparition Center, Matt had started crying again and the old wizard running the Center eyed us warily as we entered. Dad nodded to him and motioned for Mum to hand him some of the luggage. He grabbed the handles of a couple suitcases and turned on the spot. Mum wrapped me in a hug and then we did the same with the rest of the luggage. ****** Mum and I Apparated into the kitchen and I immediately dropped the two carry-on bags I was carrying. Mum let go of the handles of the three suitcases she had and turned to Dad and Matt. Dad was already rummaging around in the potion cabinet with Matt still crying in his arms. There was a loud crack and I jumped and turned around. Ellie was standing near the table, looking nervous. "Hey, Ellie!" I smiled, "What's up?" "Welcome back, Amy," Ellie said quickly and then ran over to Dad, "Master, Ellie has to tell you something." "What is it?" Dad asked without looking away from the cabinet. "Someone is flooing into the house this evening. He is coming a few times, sir. He is saying he needs to speak with Master, but Ellie is telling him that Master is not here. He is not liking this and is even hitting Ellie once, sir. He is saying he will be flooing all night until he talks to you." Dad froze and turned to look at Ellie. "He hit you?" Ellie nodded, "He is, sir." "Are you ok?" I asked, walking over to Ellie. Who was this bloke and why was he in our house? What did he think he was doing hitting Ellie like that? And why did he want to talk to Dad? Ellie nodded, "Ellie is fine now." "Who was he, Ellie?" Dad asked quietly. "He is not telling Ellie his name, sir." Dad glanced up at Mum with a worried look on his face. Mum's face had gone white and she looked even more worried than Dad. A loud clunk came from the living room and I recognized it as the sound of somebody flooing into the house. I looked up at my parents and didn't move an inch. My heart was pounding as I watched the rest of my family. Nobody else was moving, either. The only sound that could be heard from us was Matt's crying. I heard the thundering of feet on the hardwood floor and a minute later, a man appeared in the doorway. He was shorter than Dad and rather skinny. His hair was brown and untidy, with a dirty look to it. His gaunt face had a smirk on it and his eyes were very sinister. Despite the difference of appearance, he reminded me of Professor Valsey from Salem. I automatically took a step back and didn't look at him directly. The man's smirk turned into a grin when he saw Dad and he walked forward to him. "Eckerton," the man said, "I was wondering when you'd show up." "Lubar," Dad growled. "You know perfectly well that I've been on holiday." Lubar, I thought, where had I heard that name before? I wracked my brain and then it hit me. Lubar, Ralph Lubar, the man from the article! He was the Head of the Werewolf Control Unit. The man who seemed to hate werewolves with every fiber of his being and wanted the strictest laws possible regarding them. And that was just what I had gotten from what he said in the article. No doubt he was worse in real life. "I was wondering about that," Lubar sneered, "Awfully bad timing for a holiday, isn't it? Busiest time of the month for my department...." "You also knew I'd be back before the full moon for obvious reasons," Dad replied. "You're barely back in time," Lubar muttered. "Full moon's not for nearly 18 hours," Dad said. "Still, there's been a lot of preparation work that you've missed," Lubar said, stepping closer to Dad, "Minister wasn't too happy you were gone...." "I don't need the Minister's approval to take holiday time," Dad seethed, "I have plenty of time stored up and can use it whenever I desire." "Seems odd you've got so much time stored up when you take three days off every month," Lubar hissed. "You know why I take those days off, Lubar, as does the Minister. They do not count as holiday time." Lubar's eyes flitted to Matt, who was still in Dad's arms. He smirked again. "You're right, I do know that. Makes me wonder why you're taking holiday so close to the full moon." "When I go on holiday is not your concern." "Where did you go, Eckerton?" "To visit my brother in New York, not that that is your business either." "Fishy," Lubar muttered, "You're up to something, Eckerton." "Why are you here, Lubar?" Dad asked, "Why floo over here every hour and terrorize and abuse my house elf while you're at it? She doesn't have to take orders from you. I could press charges, you know." "But you won't," Lubar grinned sinisterly, "Oh, I know you won't...." "Maybe not, but tell me what you're doing here. I'm here now, so what do you want?" "Things have changed while you were on holiday, Eckerton." "What do you mean?" Dad frowned. "Ah, yes, things have changed indeed..." Lubar once again looked at Matt. Dad noticed this and turned to Mum. "Why don't you give him his potions and put him to bed? Unfortunately, I've got work to deal with." Mum nodded and took Matt from his arms. He was still crying and Mum tried to soothe him. She took the potions out of the cabinet and headed upstairs quickly. None of the adults seemed to notice that I was still in the room and I wasn't going to call their attention to myself. Whatever was going on with Dad and Lubar was important, and I intended to find out what it was. Dad seemed to dislike Lubar more than anyone else I had ever seen. The two of them had obviously rowed before. I got the feeling that Lubar knew something Dad would not agree with. "Now tell me what's going on, Lubar," Dad demanded. "Laws have been passed, Eckerton," Lubar grinned, "Laws that you would have rejected. You've been overruled and the Minister has signed his approval." Dad's face paled, "What laws?" he asked quietly. "Well, all places of transformation have got to be inspected and pass inspection by a Werewolf Control Unit employee. If it doesn't pass, the werewolf using it has to transform in a Ministry approved center with other werewolves. The centers were constructed a few days ago." "All right, fine," Dad muttered, "That one was going to pass soon anyway. But why in the name of Merlin are you here?" If it was possible, Lubar grinned even wider. "For your inspection of course. The law states that [i]all[/i] places of transformation have to pass inspection. All of them. That includes whatever one your son uses." All the remaining color drained from Dad's face. "Lubar, you don't actually think I am incapable of providing a suitable place for my son to transform, do you?" "I wouldn't know," Lubar replied, "I have never seen it." Dad's face turned from fear to anger within a few seconds. "I know protection spells and charms that other wizards have never heard of. My son's place of transformation is probably the safest one in Australia," he growled, "I can do the inspection myself, thank you." "Ah, but the law specifically states a Werewolf Control Unit employee." "Which I was before I was promoted to Head of the entire Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures!" Dad shouted, "I do not need you here, barging in here in the dead of night, to inspect my house!" "If you had been here yesterday when I was doing other inspections, I would not have had to arrive during the night!" Lubar yelled back. "I was on holiday!" Dad replied, "Now get out of my house!" "Not before I complete the inspection," Lubar said, "The Minister himself wanted someone other than yourself to do your own inspection. It would have been a conflict of interest, don't you think?" Lubar pulled out a piece of parchment and tossed it to Dad. "Letter from the Minister, himself." Dad grabbed the letter and quickly scanned it. He set it down and sighed. "Fine," he muttered, "But be quick about it." "Excellent," Lubar sneered and pulled a clipboard out of his robes, along with his wand. "Show me the way." Dad sighed and led Lubar out of the kitchen. I watched them leave and listened to their footsteps growing fainter and fainter. I couldn't hear Mum anywhere, so I figured she must still be with Matt. What I wanted to do was follow Dad into the basement. I was really curious about this whole 'inspection' thing. Plus, surely Dad and this Lubar bloke would be talking more about what was going on at work. I walked over to the door and hesitated before opening it and glancing into the corridor. There was nobody there, but Dad had left the basement door open. Perfect. I'd be able to sneak down there without them hearing. I tip-toed down the corridor and over to the basement. Dad had turned on the lights and the entire stairway was illuminated. I went quickly down the stairs and into the large basement. Our basement was finished and there were a bunch of rooms in it. Most of them were used for storage and the others were empty. Nobody really spent much time down there. There really wasn't any need when we had such a large amount of space upstairs. I followed the sound of Dad and Lubar's voices through the maze of storage rooms and to the far end of the basement. Matt's transformation place was a large room without any windows. There wasn't any furniture in it, but the walls and floor were padded. Yes, I have a padded room in my house. When I was little, I kind of always wanted one, but not under these circumstances. Plus, it's not like Mum would let me goof off in it anyway. In fact, I hadn't been in it since Dad set it up. Dad and Lubar were both inside the room. Dad looked tense and angry and Lubar was still wearing his sneer. I crouched outside the door and tried to breath as quietly as possible. Lubar was waving his wand around the room and writing things down on his clipboard. "What sort of things are you looking for?" Dad asked. "Spells, charms, weaknesses in the walls, windows," Lubar muttered. "Ah," Dad replied, "Makes sense." "Indeed it does," Lubar said. "Have most places passed inspection?" Lubar glanced up from his clipboard. "Most have not," he answered. "In fact, pretty much all of them haven't. There will be plenty of werewolves transforming in the Ministry approved centers this evening." "And how do you propose to make them go?" Dad asked, "Last I checked, it was difficult to force people to go someplace they do not want to go." "Well," Lubar grinned, "The werewolves are required to give their names to the wizard running the center. If someone who's on the list doesn't show up, well, we get to pay them a visit the next morning. And that won't be pleasant for them." The more I listened to what this man said, the more I hated him. He was downright creepy. He wasn't elaborating on what was going to happen either. Although I got the sense it was probably technically illegal. "You have to stay within the laws, Lubar," Dad growled. "Laws are changing," Lubar stepped closer to Dad. "And it is obvious to me that you have not read all the fine print of this one." Dad looked at Lubar curiously. "What do you mean? And nobody has given me the fine print of the law. I just returned home a half hour ago." "But of course," Lubar laughed and pulled a piece of parchment off his clipboard, "Read it for yourself." Dad glared at Lubar and snatched the parchment out of his hands. I watched as Dad carefully read it. I wished I could read it. I doubted that Dad would ever let me read it, though. I'd be lucky if he explained the gist of it to me. Dad looked up a few minutes later and he was wearing a look of shock, fear, and anger all at the same time. "What is the meaning of this?" he seethed. "Why, it's what the Minister has approved," Lubar laughed, "So, you must know now that this room will not pass inspection." I stared at Dad and Lubar, not being able to move a muscle. I could hardly breath. What did he mean, the room didn't pass inspection? How could the safe room, created by the Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures not pass inspection? Did this mean that Matt was going to have to transform at one of those Ministry places? "This law is unfair, Lubar!" Dad shouted, "This room is the safest place in the country for a werewolf to transform! No wizard in the country would be able to create a safe room within these regulations!" "I find it very reasonable," Lubar replied, "It's not like you're violating a lot of the requirements...." "Not violating a lot?" Dad yelled, "According to this, the entire room is a violation! According to this, all safe places must be their own contained building! Any room within a building is a violation! Is everyone just supposed to create a shed or something that's impenetrable?" "That's the general idea," Lubar sneered, "That or transform at the Ministry center." Dad's face turned ghostly white. "No. I will not allow it." "You haven't got a choice, Eckerton!" Lubar laughed. I was finding it increasingly creepy that this bloke was getting a laugh out of all the trouble he was making werewolves go through. He seemed to be enjoying the fact that Dad was violating the new law. "Why even put that part in?" Dad asked, "Why should that matter?" "You of all people should know why it matters," Lubar said quietly. Dad stared at Lubar. "Why?" "Your wife, your daughter. What if he got loose? He'd be in the house with them." "He won't get loose," Dad growled, "The spells are too strong." "No spell is foolproof," Lubar replied. "Which is why my daughter stays with her grandparents every full moon," Dad told him, "Not that it's your business." "And what about your wife?" "My wife is perfectly capable of protecting herself," Dad said, "She knows the spells she'd need if Matt ever got out. Not that that would happen." "You must not really believe there is no chance of that, if you send your daughter away," Lubar smirked, "But that is not relevant to the issue at hand. The point is, that your safe room does not meet Ministry standards. Therefore your son will be required to transform at the Ministry center." Dad's face paled again. "That will not be happening," he growled. "I believe it will," Lubar sneered, "Or you and your son will face the consequences." "Oh, really?" Dad replied, "Did you forget who's head of the entire department?" "Not at all," Lubar said, "But just because you're head, doesn't make you above the law." "I'm well aware of that," Dad said, "But it would be inappropriate for my son to be in one of those centers." "What makes you think that?" Lubar asked, taking a step towards Dad. "He's only eight years old," Dad answered, "Do you honestly think I'd leave him in a room filled with adults he does not know?" "He'll be a wolf!" Lubar shouted, "What does it matter?" "What does it matter?" Dad roared, "What does it matter? He'll be the smallest wolf of the bunch! They'll rip him apart!" "Then I suggest you get a safe room that adheres to the Ministry standards," Lubar replied. "That is not possible before the full moon," Dad seethed, "You can yell and scream all you want, but my son will not be at your Ministry center this evening. He'll be here. And there's nothing you can do about it." "Oh, believe me, there is," Lubar grinned. "Fine. Do what you'd like. But I believe you have completed your inspection. Now get out of my house," Dad growled. I quickly ran back through the basement and up to the main floor. I was into the living room before they even made it to the stairs. They appeared in the living room a few minutes later, neither of them saying a word. Dad glared at Lubar as Lubar threw some floo powder into the fireplace. Lubar turned around as he stepped into the floo. "This doesn't end here, Eckerton." And with that, he disappeared in a cloud of green smoke.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 12 November 2008 04 30 53 pm    Post subject: Re: Albus Potter and the Tracks They Left Behind in topic:Albus Potter and the Tracks They Left Behind Thanks, Obladi! Yes, cliffhangers are evil, but necessary. Chapter 35: Kidnapped After suffering an embarrassing defeat to Hufflepuff the previous month, Ravenclaw was out of the running for the Quidditch cup. Everybody, students, teachers, and staff alike, had been shocked by that turn of events. The captain of the Ravenclaw team actually spent a full three days holed up in his common room following the devastating loss. Due to this, Gryffindor was set to face Slytherin in the final match of the year. Albus overheard Georgia say that if Hufflepuf had managed to score a few more goals in their match against Ravenclaw, they would have been in the final. Albus actually would have preferred to play Hufflepuff, but there wasn't anything he could do about it. The Slytherins were extremely pleased about their place in the Quidditch final and spent the entire week leading up to the match strutting around the corridors with an air of smugness about them. Albus personally thought they were being rather cocky and should wait until after the match was over to show off. "Listen up, everyone!" Georgia shouted in the changing room a few minutes before the match was set to begin. Albus sat down next to James and placed his broom on his lap. He was feeling more than a little bit nervous. This was his first Quidditch final and he was determined to do well. "I know we've been preparing for playing Ravenclaw in this match," Georgia said as she paced in front of the team, "But we all know Slytherin has a worse team than Ravenclaw! We can do this, I know we can! Just remember that the Slytherins play dirtier. Watch yourselves out there. If we just play like we've been playing all year, we're sure to win. Remember that we've already beat Slytherin once this year. We can do it again! Now let's get out there and kick some snake arses!" "Do snakes even have butts?" James whispered to Albus as they walked out onto the pitch. "I heard that James," Georgia shouted. "Welcome, Hogwarts students and staff to the final Quidditch match of the year! Will Slytherin be able to score enough goals to steal the Quidditch Cup away from Gryffindor? Let's hope not!" Todd Smith shouted. "Smith!" Patil scolded him. "Sorry, Professor," Todd replied, "And here we have the Gryffindor team! Captain Georgia Weasley, followed by an entire clan of Weasleys including Fred, Heather, and Bradley. We also have two pseudo-Weasleys, James and Albus Potter. Then there's Ryan O'Malley, who isn't a Weasley at all, but plays Quidditch well enough that he might as well be adopted by them!" "And here come the Slytherins. They're probably all related, too, although they won't admit it-" "Smith!" Patil yelled, "Enough genealogy and get on with the commentary!" "Sorry, Professor," Todd continued, "I guess you'll want to know the names of the Slytherin players. They are Ferris Fielding, Talan Flint, Captain Lance Goyle, Peyton Hughes, Garth Octavius, Hailey Odele, and Jackson Naiser!" "I want a clean game," Professor Oteski said sternly as Goyle crushed Georgia's hand. Oteski released the Bludgers and the Snitch as Albus and the other players rose into the air. Oteski threw the Quaffle into the air and it was immediately taken by Haines. Albus sped up and tried to catch up to Haines as he soared towards Georgia. Albus was ahead of both Fred and Heather as he flew towards the Gryffindor goal posts. He saw Ryan send a Bludger at Haines, but Haines dodged it. Albus had to admit that Slytherin did have decent Chasers. Haines threw the Quaffle at the goal posts, but Georgia caught it and tossed it back into play. Albus caught it by his fingertips and turned around to fly towards the Slytherin posts. "Heather!" Albus shouted as all three Slytherin Chasers converged onto him. Two of the Slytherin Chasers immediately flew to block Heather, and Albus threw the Quaffle to Fred. Fred caught it with a grin and took the rest of the way down the pitch. Albus smiled as the Slytherin Chasers glared at him. Classic Weasley Fake. Albus and his cousins used that tactic all the time when they played over the holidays. "Gryffindor scores the first goal of the game!" Todd exclaimed after Fred easily tossed the Quaffle into one of the Slytherin goals. Gryffindor scored five more goals over the next ten minutes. Albus scored two of those and assisted two others. Slytherin hadn't scored at all and Heather currently had possession of the Quaffle. Fielding and Odele were currently flying on either side of Heather. Flint was behind them and hit one of the Bludgers straight at Heather. "Heather, look out!" Albus shouted as he flew straight towards her. Heather turned to look just as the Bludger hit her in the head and knocked her from her broom. Oteski blew his whistle as Albus, Fred, and James caught Heather before she hit the ground. The rest of the Gryffindor players landed and ran towards Heather. "She's unconscious," Fred announced, "She'll need to go to the Hospital Wing." "We'll take her," Stanley emerged from the stands with Neville following him. "Damn Slytherins," he muttered as he watched Neville conjure a stretcher for his sister. "We'll just have to play with two Chasers," Georgia announced after Stanley and Neville left with Heather, "She wouldn't want us to dwell on this. She'll be fine." With only two Chasers, Gryffindor's performance drastically declined. Albus managed to score another goal, but Slytherin somehow scored eight right in a row. The Slytherin Beaters were ruthless and had managed to injure Georgia's left hand only fifteen minutes after they knocked Heather out. Albus easily made the penalty shot Oteski had given them, but Georgia's ability to protect the goal went down. Albus was getting quite discouraged and exhausted as he and Fred frantically tried to make up for the fact that Slytherin was now winning 190-70. "Why don't you just forfeit, Potter?" Naiser sneered as Albus flew the Quaffle towards the Slytherin goal posts. "Why doesn't your Seeker just catch the Snitch?" Albus smirked. The Slytherin Chasers were quite skilled, but it would be useless for them unless Octavius caught the Snitch anytime soon. "Shut up, Potter," Naiser growled and hit a nearby Bludger at Albus. Albus, who hadn't even noticed the Bludger, tried to dodge it, but instead got hit hard in the arm. He groaned and dropped the Quaffle, which Fielding grabbed and flew in the opposite direction. Albus winced and held his arm towards his chest. It felt like it was broken. He turned and flew towards the Gryffindor side, trying to get Georgia's attention. Georgia noticed Albus, but not before Fielding managed to score yet another goal. "Time out!" she shouted. Oteski blew his whistle and the Gryffindor players huddled below their goal posts. "What's up, Al?" Georgia asked. "Naiser broke my arm," Albus groaned, "Hit a Bludger right at it." Georgia sighed, "Can you play anymore?" "I'll try," Albus said. Hopefully the game wouldn't last much longer. Albus had lost all hope of winning, and since getting his arm broken, he didn't really care who caught the Snitch. "Good," Georgia said and turned to James, "Listen, I know we're too far behind to win even if you catch the Snitch, but if you catch it before Slytherin gets anymore goals, we might still be able to get the Cup. Slytherin's really far behind us in points for the Cup. So just catch it soon, James." "Ok," James nodded, "I've seen it a few times, but haven't bothered to catch it. Just been trying to keep Octavius away from it, which isn't difficult." "Are we ready, then?" Georgia asked. Everyone nodded. Georgia signaled to Oteski that they were ready and he blew the whistle. Albus flew back into the air, trying to ignore the growing pain in his arm. He was going to concentrate on keeping everyone away from Fred, who was the only uninjured Chaser left. Albus didn't think he'd actually be able to catch or throw the Quaffle and stay on his broom with only one arm. Fred did manage to get the Quaffle, but was quickly overtaken by the Slytherin Chasers and dropped it. Odele grabbed it and scored another goal for Slytherin. Albus groaned partially due to this goal and partially due to his arm. He flew high into the air and noticed that James was making a dive towards the ground. Albus breathed a sigh of relief. James had seen the Snitch. Octavius saw what James was doing, but he was at least ten feet behind James. James pulled out of the dive with the struggling Snitch in his hand. "Slytherin wins," Smith muttered, "350-320." Albus immediately flew towards the ground and dismounted as the entire school descended onto the pitch. "But wait!" Smith shouted, "Apparently, Slytherin did not score enough goals to win the Cup! The Quidditch Cup goes to Gryffindor!" The majority of the school burst into loud applause and cheering. Oteski gave Georgia the Quidditch Cup and she held it high into the air. "C'mon, Al," Georgia said, "We're going to see Heather in the Hospital Wing. You ought to get that arm checked out." Albus nodded and he followed the rest of the team up to the castle. They lost most of their entourage as they ascended the stairs to the Hospital Wing. Georgia pushed open the doors and led the team inside. Madam Pomfrey bustled over to the door and gaped at the large group of people who had walked in. "What's going on?" "We've won the Cup," Georgia grinned, "Is Heather awake?" "I'm awake!" Heather shouted. "We won the Cup!" Georgia shouted back and ran past Madam Pomfrey over to Heather's bed, "But we lost the match." "Ugh, we lost to Slytherin," Heather groaned, "But at least we won the Cup. How bad was it?" "350 to 320," Georgia sighed. "That's not as bad as I thought, but still horrible," Heather sighed. "You can talk about it later," Madam Pomfrey announced, "This is the Hospital Wing, not your common room!" "But Albus and I broke our arms," Georgia said, holding out her arm. Madam Pomfrey sighed, "Of course you did. Quidditch. Will it ever stop?" "Nope," Georgia grinned. "Sit down on the bed, both of you." Albus sat down next to his cousin and held out his arm for the nurse to heal. She muttered a spell and pointed her wand at Albus's arm. It immediately felt better. "There," Madam Pomfrey said after she healed Georgia's arm, "Now you can go to your-" The doors burst open and Rose, Matt, John, Amanda, and Kaden came bursting in. "Are you ok, Albus?" Rose shouted. "Of course, it's you lot," Madam Pomfrey sighed, "Any of you break anything?" "Not today," Matt laughed. "Good, now you can all go back to your common room," the nurse announced, "This is not the place to celebrate or complain or whatever it is you want to do after this match!" ****** The excitement about Gryffindor winning the Quidditch Cup was short-lived. By the time the weekend was over, everyone was concentrating on studying for exams. Those who hadn't studied much over the year were now frantically trying to learn an entire year's worth of material in a few short days. Albus's first few exams went well. He was especially happy that his Charms exam was relatively easy since he failed the previous year's one miserably. "I wonder where Kaden is," John said as he tossed his book down on the table and leaned back in his chair. "Dunno," Albus shrugged as he furiously scribbled down the properties of mandrakes onto a piece of parchment. Albus and his friends were spending the evening in the common room studying for their Herbology exam the next day. "Makes for a nice quiet time to study, though," Rose commented. "I think he was studying for Transfiguration with his tutoring group in the library," Amanda said. "But it's after curfew now," John pointed out, "He should be back." "Why do you care so much if he breaks curfew?" Rose raised her eyebrow, "Perhaps you would make a good prefect." "Why thank you, Rose," John grinned, "But I actually wanted to take a break from studying and play chess or something. And I'm sure you lot would rather study." "I'll play with you," Matt said, "I'm sick of studying." "Excellent," John replied and the two of them ran up to the dormitory to get their chessmen. Albus alternated between reading his Herbology book and watching the game of chess for the next few minutes. He had been cramming his brain with everything there is to know about magical plants for the past few hours and was becoming increasingly distracted by John and Matt's game. Albus closed his book and glanced at his watch. It was already 9:30 and Kaden still wasn't back. It was a bit strange since Kaden never missed curfew. He was surely going to get caught by a teacher or a prefect if he didn't hurry up. "Yes!" John shouted as his queen smashed Matt's bishop, "Another one of your pieces destroyed!" "At least I still have my knights," Matt smirked. "At least I've got my queen," John pointed out. Albus grinned to himself and settled down to watch the rest of the game. One of Matt's knights was in the process of killing John's queen when he heard a faint tapping on the window behind him. "Is that an owl?" Rose asked, looking up from her book. Albus turned around and looked out the glass. There was an owl out there. Albus opened the window and the owl flew inside and landed on top of John and Matt's game. "Not a very well trained one," Rose smirked, "Guess your game's over." "Oh, well," John shrugged and untied a piece of parchment from the owl's leg. The owl took off as John examined the envelope. "It's addressed to you, Albus." Albus stared questioningly at the letter. He took it from John and slowly turned it over. It was addressed to him. But why in the name of Merlin would it be delivered now? He only ever got mail in the morning with everyone else. "Open it," John said excitedly. Albus tore it open and unfolded a rumpled piece of parchment. His face turned pale and he gasped as he read what it said. "What is it?" Rose asked anxiously. Albus wordlessly tossed the parchment onto the table, where it landed face up. Glued onto the parchment was a variety of letters that appeared to be cut out from a copy of the [i]Prophet[/i]. [i]To Baby Potty- I have your idiotic cousin. Bring the Cloak to Hogsmeade in front of the Shrieking Shack, if you don't want any harm to come to him. Don't tell anyone.[/i] "It's Willinson," Albus whispered, "He's got Kaden." "How do you know it's him?" Amanda asked. "He's the only one who ever called me 'Baby Potty'." "And you're sure it's Kaden?" Rose asked. "Look around, Rose," Albus snapped, "All my other cousins are here!" "I'm just trying to make sure," Rose said, "There's no need to get angry at me." "I've got to go find him," Albus stood up and started to run to the portrait hole. Rose grabbed his robes. "Albus, wait. You've got to think this through. You can't just go storming into Hogsmeade with Willinson there!" "And what do you suppose I do? Just let him torture Kaden?" "No, I mean we should go tell Uncle Harry!" Rose insisted. "But we don't have much time!" "Aurors have ways of dealing with these situations, Albus," Rose explained, "What do you suppose Willinson would have done if you went to go rescue Kaden? I'm guessing you wouldn't be handing him over the Cloak." "No, but-" "Albus, listen," Rose said sternly, "We're going to show this to Uncle Harry. Go get the Cloak and the Map-" "The Map!" Albus exclaimed, "It'll show us exactly where both Willinson and Kaden are!" "And then we can tell Uncle Harry where they are." Albus ran up to his dormitory with John and Matt following quickly. "What are we going to do?" Matt asked. "Find my dad, I guess," Albus replied as he grabbed the Invisibility Cloak and the Map. "It's the right thing to do, Albus," Matt said, "The five of us couldn't have saved Kaden from Willinson by ourselves. Remember last year?" Albus nodded. He certainly did remember last year and he did not want this year to be a repeat of it. Albus ran out of the dormitory without saying a word and the three boys met up with Rose and Amanda near the portrait hole. "No point in bothering with the Cloak," Albus muttered, "We can't all fit." Nobody argued and the five Gryffindors ran through the quiet corridor. They completely ignored Peeves and his boisterous cackling. Albus wasn't in the mood for the poltergeist's joking around. Kaden was in trouble and possibly being tortured. Albus picked up his pace at the thought of torture. John was the only one keeping up with Albus, and even he was starting to lag behind. Rose, Matt, and Amanda were far behind as far as Albus could tell, but he wasn't pausing to find out. He turned a corner and ran smack into someone who was quite a few inches taller than Albus. "Ouch!" a girl shouted. "Sorry," Albus muttered and tried to go around her. "And just what are you doing, Al?" the girl grabbed his robes. Albus looked up and noticed that the girl was his cousin, Gabriella. "Er, nothing." "Albus, as a Prefect, I have to report you for wandering the corridors at night," Gabriella sighed, "As well as your friends." She gestured to John, Rose, Matt, and Amanda, who had caught up. "Unless you've got a good reason." Albus thought for a moment. He didn't really want to tell Gabriella what was going on, but he realized that he couldn't get past his cousin unless he told her. "Listen," Albus said quickly, "Kaden's in trouble. We were going to find my dad." "What kind of trouble?" Gabriella asked. "Hard to explain," Albus said impatiently, "But we're losing time. Can you please let us go?" "Tell you what, I'll just go with you and make sure you really are going to find Uncle Harry." "Fine, but let's go!" Albus replied and took off running again. The group didn't run into anymore trouble on their way to Harry's office. Albus was in the lead and skidded to a stop in front of his dad's study. He pulled out his wand and shouted 'Alohomora' at the doorknob. He wrenched it open as the rest of the group came up behind him. Harry had been sitting on his couch, wearing only a pair of boxers and a t-shirt with a Gryffindor lion on it, reading the Prophet when Albus burst into the room. He jumped and threw the paper down when he saw the large group of people in the doorway. "Al?" Harry asked, "What's going on?" "Kaden's in trouble," Albus said breathlessly, "He's been kidnapped by Willinson." "What?" Harry shouted, "How did you find this out?" "Willinson sent me a note," Albus handed his dad the parchment. Harry quickly read the letter and looked up at Albus and everyone else. "How do you know it's Kaden and how do you know Willinson sent this?" "The rest of my cousins are in the common room," Albus said quickly, "And Willinson's the only one who ever called me 'Baby Potty'." "All right," Harry sighed, "Let me contact your Uncle Ron and then we'll head down to Hogsmeade. Gabriella, go inform the headmaster and Neville, then return to Gryffindor and make sure nobody leaves the tower." Gabriella nodded and left the room. Harry pulled out his wand and whispered an incantation. An enormous silvery stag burst from the end of his wand. Harry said something to it and a few seconds later it disappeared out the window.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Sunday 2 November 2008 06 52 14 pm    Post subject: Re: Albus Potter and the Tracks They Left Behind in topic:Albus Potter and the Tracks They Left Behind Thanks, Obladi! Questions, comments, and general reviews always appreciated! Chapter 32: Riddles For the next few days, Albus found his mind drifting to the clue every time he tried to study. It was driving him mad. Where else did he sleep besides his bed? None of his friends had come up with anything either. Rose didn't seem to be putting much thought into it, since exams were only a month and a half away. She seemed to think that Albus ought not to focus too much on the clue either, but Albus couldn't help it. Albus was completely ignoring Professor Binns' boring lecture the following Wednesday and focusing solely on the clue. A place to sleep, he thought as he tapped his quill on his book. He sighed and lifted his head up. Rose was the only one actually taking notes. John's eyes were drooping and Albus was sure he'd fall asleep soon. Sleep! Albus grinned to himself. That was it! The History of Magic classroom was the answer. It seemed obvious to him now. Everyone except perhaps Rose had fallen asleep at one time or another in that room. Albus quickly scribbled the answer onto a piece of parchment and handed it to Matt. Matt read it, smiled at Albus, and passed it on to John. The note made its way to Rose and Amanda after that, who turned around and nodded to Albus. Once Professor Binns stopped his lecture and everyone hurried to leave the room as soon as possible, Albus purposely spilled his ink onto the floor. "I'll just clean this up, Professor," Albus said as he bent down. "Yes, yes, Mr. Pewter..." Professor Binns responded absentmindedly and drifted through the chalk board. "Ok, any ideas where the four paw prints could be?" Rose asked as she quickly cleaned up the ink with a wave of her wand. "No idea," Albus replied, "Probably one of the desks, since that's where we sleep. Let's just split up and look." Luckily there wasn't a class in the room at that moment, so Albus and his friends had as much time as they needed to look. Albus started his search in the front, making sure to inspect each desk carefully. It was John who found the paw prints, about twenty minutes after they started searching. They were on one of the desks in the back. Albus and the others hurried over to it and John pointed it out. Sure enough, there were four tiny paw prints etched into the bottom of the desk. "You do it, John," Albus told him, "You found it." "All right," John said and touched the paw prints. It was kind of awkward to have all five of them underneath the desk at the same time, but they managed. Albus watched as the paw prints disappeared and words replaced them. 'Find the place where we play, and make the Slytherins pay.' Albus groaned as he got out from under the desk. He scribbled the new clue onto the piece of parchment below the old one. Another difficult clue. "Any ideas?" he asked, as he and his friends left the room. "Nope," John shrugged, "But how would they make the Slytherins pay them? Were they betting with them? And how are we supposed to know where they made bets with them?" "It's wherever they played," Matt said. "But where was that?" John replied. "I don't think it means the Slytherins paid them," Rose commented, "I don't think it was meant to be that literal. It probably just means they got the Slytherins back for something, or beat them at something." "And it's got to be the same place they played something," John said. Matt stopped in his tracks, "Of course! It's the Quidditch Pitch!" Albus turned around to look at him, grinning. "Why didn't I think of that? It's obvious now! They played Quidditch there, and beat the Slytherins." "Let's go down to the Quidditch Pitch, then," Matt said. "Let's eat first," John suggested, "I'm starving." "Good idea," Amanda agreed. "I think we should study after lunch," Rose sighed. "You can," Albus replied, "But I want to go to the Quidditch Pitch first." Rose groaned and followed Albus and the others to the Great Hall. They were late for lunch, since they spent so long in the History of Magic classroom. Kaden demanded to know where they were, and became very excited when Albus whispered that they were following the clues for the map. He was a bit disappointed that Albus would be continuing to work on it after lunch, since Kaden had classes, but Albus assured him that they would update him later that evening. Albus, Matt, and John ate a very hurried lunch, as they wanted to get out to the Quidditch Pitch as soon as possible. Rose announced that she would not be going with them because she wanted to devote the afternoon to studying. Amanda agreed with her since her Astronomy grade was abysmal at the moment. Albus was very relieved to see that the Quidditch Pitch was completely deserted when he and his friends entered it a few minutes later. This may have been because of the torrential downpour, but Albus didn't mind getting soaked. "Any ideas as to where it would be?" John asked. "Maybe the goal posts?" Albus suggested, "They couldn't have put the prints on the ground." "Let's get looking, then," Matt said. Albus, Matt, and John each started inspecting one of the goal posts. Albus looked carefully, but couldn't find anything. Neither did John or Matt. The three of them ran to the other side of the pitch and began to look at the other three posts. "You know, I'll bet they etched them up higher," Albus realized as he finished inspecting his goal post. "It would make it harder." "You're probably right," John agreed. "Let's go," Albus started running over to the changing rooms. He kept his broom in his dormitory, but there were plenty of school brooms in the changing rooms. They would suffice for this. Albus wrenched the door open and led his friends over to where the school brooms were kept. He handed each of them a broom and the three of them headed back out into the rain. Albus kicked off from the ground and flew directly towards the goal posts. His broom listed to the left and Albus was really grateful he got to play Quidditch on a superior broom. Despite the mediocre broom, he was still faster than Matt and John, and made it to the goal posts before either of them. It didn't take Albus long to find the prints. They were etched in the very top of the middle goal post. "Found them!" he shouted at John and Matt. The two of them immediately flew over to Albus. "Go on, let's see the next clue," Matt said. Albus touched the prints and strained to make out the next clue through the pouring rain. "'Find the place we got when we're not feeling our best, one of us goes there more than the rest,'" Albus read and then looked up at his friends. "Hospital Wing," Matt said immediately, "That one was kind of obvious." "Somehow I don't think riddles were the Marauders' strong suit," Albus commented as they flew back down to the ground. "Makes it easier for us," John grinned. "Not really," Matt said, "You know how hard it's going to be to search the Hospital Wing for four tiny paw prints? What do you suppose we'll tell Madam Pomfrey? 'Don't mind us, we're just searching your entire ward for some carvings that were left here decades ago.'" Matt rolled his eyes. Albus didn't say anything as they walked back to the changing rooms. Matt was right. It would be extremely difficult to search the Hospital Wing for the next clue. Madam Pomfrey was always there. They could never get the place empty in order for them to search. "Anyone got any ideas as to how we can do this?" Albus asked as they walked back to the castle. "Not a clue," Matt shrugged. "Hey," John turned to Matt, "Maybe you can go look for it the next time you're there. During the night or something." "Are you mad?" Matt laughed, "She'd wonder what I was up to. She's always got an eye on me. Must be some kind of sixth sense. If I so much as turn over in bed, she comes out of her room and asks me what's wrong. I can only imagine what she'd do if I started searching the whole place in the dead of night." "Didn't think of that," John replied. Albus sighed dejectedly and decided to just go to the common room and do his homework. He had been neglecting it the whole week and figured he would have to do it sometime. Rose would at least be happy. Rose and Amanda were feverishly working on homework when Albus, John, and Matt entered the practically deserted common room. The boys settled down at the table Rose and Amanda were sitting at and reluctantly pulled out their books. "Success?" Rose asked without looking up from her book. "Yeah," Albus whispered, "But now we've got to find the next clue in the Hospital Wing, which should be pretty impossible." Rose thought for a moment "Yeah, that will be difficult," she said and then continued her reading. Albus tried his best to concentrate on his homework for the rest of the afternoon. He did manage to write an essay for Potions and read a chapter of his Herbology book, but after that he just couldn't do anything else. John was all too happy to stop doing homework as well, and the two of them played chess until dinner. After dinner, Albus and his friends went to the Room of Requirement, as Albus had promised Kaden he would tell him about the new developments with the map. Kaden was a bit jealous he didn't get to fly around the Quidditch Pitch looking for the next clue. "I thought you didn't like Quidditch," John said. "I just said I think football is better," Kaden explained, "That doesn't mean I don't like flying." "Well, we're going to have plenty of other clues to work out," Albus reminded him, "Like the one we're working on right now." "And what's that one?" Kaden asked. "'Find the place we go when we're not feeling our best, one of us goes there more than the rest,'" Albus told him. "Where could that be?" Kaden asked. "The Hospital Wing," Albus said, "We've already figured it out. We just don't know how to get in to look without Madam Pomfrey there." "Hmm..." Kaden walked slowly around the room, "Shouldn't be that hard...." "And why's that?" Matt asked, "She's always there." "We've just got to get her out of the room for a while," Kaden said, "My friends and I at my old school did it a few times with teachers. You just use a distraction to get them out of the room for a few minutes or so." Albus was amazed that his cousin was able to think of that. Albus always thought Kaden wasn't too bright, but he did come up with good ideas every so often. "That might work," Rose said. "And how are we going to get her out of the Hospital Wing?" John asked, "She's always in there." "One of us just has to pretend to be ill or injured," Kaden explained. "We could use a Fainting Fancy for that," John suggested. "No we can't," Albus said, "She's seen them too many times. No way she'd believe it." "She would if I did it," Matt said quietly. ****** Albus had been thoroughly surprised by Matt's willingness to eat a Fainting Fancy to trick Madam Pomfrey. He had become much more outgoing since the previous year. Albus figured it was because he was more certain now that none of his friends were going to announce to the entire school that he was a werewolf. Albus and his friends immediately formed a plan once Matt had so willingly volunteered to eat the Fainting Fancy. It would take place the following Saturday. Matt, Amanda, and Kaden would be stationed on the grounds, as they figured it would be best for Matt to faint as far away from the Hospital Wing as possible. Albus, John, and Rose would hide next to the Hospital Wing underneath the Invisibility Cloak and dash in as soon as Madam Pomfrey left. They figured it would guarantee them twenty minutes of searching, perhaps thirty if they were lucky. Saturday arrived and Albus was eager to put the plan into action. Rose figured it would be best to do it in the morning, when most students were either sleeping or lounging around in their common rooms. It would be better not to attract too much unwanted attention. Albus, John, and Rose headed up the stairs after breakfast, while Matt, Amanda, and Kaden went out onto the grounds. Once Albus, John, and Rose reached the Hospital Wing, Albus pulled out the Invisibility Cloak and threw it over them. "And now, we wait," Albus whispered. "Shush," Rose hissed. About twenty minutes later, Kaden came running down the corridor with a fake worried look on his face. Albus only hoped that Madam Pomfrey wouldn't be able to tell it was fake. Kaden ran past Albus and into the Hospital Wing. Not even a minute later, he burst back through behind Madam Pomfrey. "And where is he?" the nurse shouted. "On the grounds," Kaden told her. "Hurry up! Show me where!" Madam Pomfrey and Kaden disappeared around the corner and Albus, John, and Rose hurried into the Hospital Wing. "I'd say we've only got twenty minutes," Albus muttered, "She's fast." "Let's get looking," Rose said. Only one of the beds was occupied and the curtains were drawn around it. Albus hoped the paw prints weren't on or near that bed. He quickly ran to the nearest bedside table and started investigating it. Five minutes passed, then ten, then fifteen, and still nobody had found anything. Albus was beginning to get worried. They couldn't pull off a stunt like this again. "Found it!" Rose announced. Albus breathed a sigh of relief. He hurried over to the farthest bed and bent down next to Rose. "Where is it?" John asked. "There," Rose pointed to the right side of the bedside table. Albus craned his head and saw the carving. He quickly touched it and watched as the words materialized. "Hurry," Rose said, "I hear footsteps." "Write it down," Albus said as he shoved the piece of parchment that had the other clues on it to her, "'Find the place where we are served and waited on, they even have pie of pecan.'" Albus stood up as Rose scribbled it down. "They're coming!" John seethed as the door opened. Albus quickly pulled out the Invisibility Cloak and threw it over the three of them. "Tell me again what happened?" Madam Pomfrey asked exasperatingly as she levitated Matt onto a bed. "Er, he just fainted, madam," Kaden said. "What were you doing?" she asked as she waved her wand over Matt. "Just sitting and talking," Amanda said. "Hmm..." Madam Pomfrey muttered, "This particular fainting looks an awfully lot like the kind that results from eating a Fainting Fancy. Either of you have any idea as to why?" "Er," Kaden stammered. "No, not really," Amanda shrugged. The nurse stood up and looked at Kaden, who was beginning to turn red. "Are you sure, Mr. Dursley?" "I, well, er, I may have given him a sweet," Kaden stammered, "But I didn't know it was a Fainting Fancy!" "He's Muggle-born, like me," Amanda explained, "He probably didn't know what it did." Madam Pomfrey sighed, "Yes, that might be true. Although it makes me wonder why Matt actually ate it. Just give me the other half." Amanda reluctantly pulled the other half of the sweet out of her robes and handed it to the nurse. Madam Pomfrey put it in Matt's mouth and within seconds he was opening his eyes. "I don't know what you lot are up to, and I don't really care to know, but I would suggest that you not mess around with making yourselves ill," Madam Pomfrey said sternly, "Now get back to your common room, all three of you." Albus, John, and Rose carefully maneuvered their way over to the door and snuck out behind Matt, Amanda, and Kaden. Once they were a safe distance from the Hospital Wing, they pulled off the cloak. "That went fairly well," John announced. Matt, Amanda, and Kaden shrieked. "Merlin, don't do that!" Matt shouted. "Sorry," John grinned, "Anyway, that was pretty good improvising back there." "I can't believe she figured out that it was a Fainting Fancy," Kaden sighed. "Honestly, I didn't think she'd figure it out either," Matt said, "I half expected her to keep me there overnight to make sure I was all right. Didn't expect her to kick me out with you lot." "How's it feel to be treated normally?" John laughed. "Shut up," Matt said, "I am happy I don't have to be there overnight. I spend enough time in that place." "Did you get the clue?" Amanda asked. "Sure did," Albus grinned, "Rose found it." "What is it?" Kaden asked. "Hang on," Albus said, "We'll tell you once we're in the Room." A few minutes later, Albus and his friends were once again in the Room of Requirement working on the clue. "'Find the place where we are waited and served on, they even have pie of pecan,'" Albus said. "The Great Hall," Amanda said immediately. "But we're not really waited on there," Rose pointed out, "The food just appears." "It's got to be somewhere with food," Kaden said. "The kitchens," John announced. "Brilliant," Albus grinned, "Everyone up for a trip to the kitchens?" "You know where the kitchens are?" Kaden asked. "Sure do," Albus replied, "We'll show you." ****** "I can't believe you didn't show me the kitchens," Kaden lamented as he followed Albus and the others down the stairs. "Never came up," Albus shrugged. Albus continued leading his friends down to the kitchens, while wondering how he would possibly find the next clue while he was there. The kitchens were huge. Albus had no idea where the Marauders would have carved the paw prints. Albus stopped in front of the picture of the bowl of fruit and tickled the pear. It giggled and turned into a handle, which Albus turned. "Bloody hell," Kaden stood transfixed in the doorway as he stared out at the kitchens. "Go on, already," Albus pushed Kaden into the room, "We don't want anyone to see us." Kaden walked into the kitchens and everyone else followed him. They were immediately greeted by no less than ten house elves. "Is young masters and mistresses needing anything?" the elf closest to Albus asked. "Yeah!" John grinned, "How about a turkey sandwich, some crisps, a piece of treacle tart, and a glass of pumpkin juice." Rose raised her eyebrow, "Lunch is in an hour." "You're right," John replied and then turned to the elf, "Skip the crisps." "I'll have the same, except a roast beef sandwich," Kaden said. "And I'll have a cheese sandwich," Matt told the elf, "Please." "I'll just take some crisps, please," Albus said. "Boys," Rose muttered. "Will that be all?" the elf asked as a few other elves scurried away. "Actually," Albus began after realizing that maybe the elf could help, "I was wondering if any of the elves were here in the 1970's?" "Yes," the elf smiled, "Quite a few of us. I myself was here then." "Excellent," Albus grinned, "Then I was wondering if you could help us. But we need you not to mention it to anyone, not even the other elves or the teachers." "Of course, sir," the elf said. "All right," Albus took a deep breath, "We're looking for a carving of sorts that's some place in here. It's four tiny paw prints. I don't know if you remember four students who called themselves 'The Marauders'-" "I is remembering them well!" the elf laughed, "They was very amusing. Always down here wanting food." "That's them," Albus grinned, "Anyway, they carved these paw prints somewhere in here. Have you seen anything like that?" "I has seen it," the elf smiled, "Behind the ovens." "Can you show us?" Albus asked. "Of course." The elf led the way through the throngs of other elves over to where the ovens were. He squatted down and pointed to behind the largest one. Albus bent down next to him, but everyone else had to remain standing due to lack of space. "Right there, sir," the elf said. Albus craned his neck and just made out the paw prints, situated in a very awkward position near a pipe. "Thanks," Albus replied, "Er, I actually have to get closer." "Not a problem," the elf ducked out of the way and stood next to John. Albus reached behind the stove and quickly touched the paw prints. They were very hot. Words formed on the stone and Albus jotted them down on the parchment before reemerging. "Got it," he whispered, "I think this is the last clue. 'Go to the place where we learn to fight the dark, it is there where we've left our final mark'." "Certainly sounds like it," Rose agreed. "Yes!" Kaden shouted in between bites of sandwich. "Brilliant," John grinned, "Let's go." "I hate to say it, but I've got Quidditch practice after lunch, so I don't think there's time today," Albus sighed. He wished practice would be canceled, but the chances of that were slim to none. "Bugger," Matt groaned. "We've waited this long, we can wait some more," Amanda pointed out. "Hey," Albus turned to the elf, "Thanks for the help." "You're welcome," the elf smiled.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Sunday 26 October 2008 06 13 07 pm    Post subject: Re: Albus Potter and the Tracks They Left Behind in topic:Albus Potter and the Tracks They Left Behind Thanks, Obladi! I'm sure your writing skills are fine! Questions, comments, and general reviews are always appreciated. Chapter 30: Wizard's Finger Print Throughout the rest of the month, Rose continued to make progress on the Sileo Altus charm, and by the time April rolled around, she was confident in her ability to perform it. Albus wished the same could be said for the progress with finding out how to prove to the map that he and his friends were like the Marauders. Albus spent every waking moment that he wasn't doing homework, attending Quidditch practice, or dueling practice, in the library trying to find out a spell or charm that would work. His efforts were fruitless, though, because he still hadn't found anything promising. Albus also had another successful dueling tournament. He won both of his duels as did Malfoy, but their team still hadn't won. Albus was beginning to doubt whether they'd ever win. Albus's next Quidditch match was the first Saturday in April. He found himself distracted by the map even before he entered the changing room. They were playing Ravenclaw, and it was hard to tell who had the better team, Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. Albus pushed thoughts of the map from his head as he walked into the changing room. Georgia gave the team the usual pep talk, which this time included telling them that if they won this match, they'd be in the final. If Ravenclaw got less than 180 points, then they might not make it to the final. Georgia didn't particularly care who they played in the final, just so long as they won. The match went smoothly, in Albus's opinion. Much better than the previous match, in which Albus got sick partway through. The weather was better for this match as well. Albus managed to keep from thinking about the map, which was good since it was a very high-scoring match for both sides and Albus was constantly being thrown the Quaffle. After only an hour of play, James went into a dive and caught the Snitch, right out from under one of the Ravenclaw beater's broom. The usual party in the common room ensued after the students returned to the castle, but Albus wasn't really interested in it. Now that the match was over, all he could think about was trying out the Sileo Altus charm on Kaden. Albus figured the best time to do it would be in the evening and the best place would be the Room. Shortly after Rose had succeeded in performing the charm on John, Matt had reluctantly given into trying it with Kaden. His only condition was first trying it with a harmless secret, and if that worked, to move onto the bigger one. "Are we doing it tonight?" John asked as he sipped his butterbeer. "Yeah," Albus whispered back, "After dinner." The rest of the afternoon and dinner seemed to go by at an alarmingly slow rate. Time seemed to go by much like it did in History of Magic. "Kaden," Albus said after they had finished eating, "We're not going to the common room now. We're going to show you a different room in the castle, one you've never seen." "Excellent," Kaden grinned, "What kind of room?" "You'll see when we get there," Albus replied. "Let's go." Kaden followed Albus and his friends through the castle, with a constant stream of questions that Albus ignored. "Are you sure this is going to work?" Matt whispered nervously as they stopped in front of the blank space of wall where the Room of Requirement was. "Yes," Rose assured him, "It will work." Matt nodded and started pacing in front of the wall. "Why did we stop?" Kaden asked, and then his eyes popped out of his head as he saw the door appear from nowhere. "Wicked." "C'mon," Albus said as he opened the door. "What is this place?" Kaden asked in awe. "Room of Requirement," Albus told him, "Room that gives you what you need." "I can't believe you didn't show me this yet!" "Well, it's not something we want you to tell anyone about." "I won't," Kaden said, "So it'll give me anything I ask it for? I think I want an entire cake...." "It doesn't do food," Rose explained. "Oh, well, it's still brilliant." "Kaden, come sit down," Albus told his cousin. "You're all so quiet," Kaden said as he took a seat on the couch next to Albus, "What's going on?" "Well," Albus began, "We're going to test something. Rose found a charm that's supposed to make someone not be able to tell other people's secrets. If it works, we're going to tell you a bunch of stuff and you won't be able to tell anyone." "What are you going to tell me?" Kaden asked excitedly. "We have to make sure the charm works first," Albus sighed, "Which is why we're here. Rose is going to perform the charm, using your knowledge of this room as the secret. If you haven't told anyone by next Saturday, we'll tell you the rest of it." "Fine," Kaden sighed, "I can't believe you won't tell me without this charm." "Um, Kaden, you've told Malfoy stuff I told you not to tell anyone," Albus reminded him. "That wasn't my fault!" "I know, but we're not risking this. If you want to know the secrets, you'll have to have Rose do the charm." "Ok, ok, I'll do it," Kaden said. "Good," Rose smiled, "Now let's get started." It took Rose about ten minutes to perform the charm. Kaden was thoroughly amazed by the charm and Rose's ability to perform it. "Let's test it," Rose decided once they left the Room. She pointed to a girl who was walking towards them. "Go tell her about the Room." Kaden shrugged and ran up to the girl, who looked to be around Kaden's age and was in Hufflepuff. "Er," Kaden began, "So there's this place-" Kaden turned around and looked confusedly at Albus, then turned back to the girl. "Anyway, at this place, you can-" "What's wrong with you?" the girl asked, trying to cover up her giggling. "Are you ok?" "Fine, fine," Kaden muttered, "Never mind." Kaden ran back to Albus and the others, blushing furiously. "It worked, but now everyone's going to think I'm an idiot." Albus laughed, "No they won't. But that's good that it worked." "Yeah," Kaden grinned, "Definitely worth it." ****** Albus kept a close eye on Kaden throughout the next week. As far as he could tell, his cousin didn't tell anyone about the Room of Requirement. They tested the charm a few more times, telling Kaden to tell someone about it, but Kaden was never able to. Albus was fully convinced that the Sileo Altus charm was a success. Kaden was positively beaming by the time Saturday arrived. Albus was kind of excited as well, because they would officially have Wormtail in their group of new Marauders. John, Rose, and Amanda were excited as well. The only thing left to do after this would be to find a way to prove to the map that they were like the Marauders. Matt didn't seem excited at all. He was clearly nervous about telling Kaden that he was a werewolf. It probably didn't help that the full moon was only a few days away. Albus couldn't really blame Matt for his nerves, but Albus was sure the charm would continue to work. After dinner, Albus led his friends back to the Room of Requirement, with the new Map in his robes. "Ok, what's the secret?" Kaden said as he bounced around the Room once they were inside. "You've got to sit down first," Albus told him. "And Matt's going to tell you the first one." "Oh!" A look of comprehension appeared on Kaden's face. "Is this about how you get sick every month?" "Yes," Matt sighed. "And this is what you don't want Malfoy to know about?" "Yes," Matt said shortly, "Now just let me tell you what it is." "Sorry," Kaden muttered. "It's ok," Matt said, "First, you can't tell anyone this. I mean, don't even try to test the charm like we've been doing all week. You can't even try to tell anyone this. Never mention it to anyone except us." "I won't," Kaden said. "Good. Now, you know that werewolves are real, right?" Kaden nodded, "What does that have to do with you getting sick?" "Everything," Matt said quietly, "I am a werewolf." "What?!" Kaden shouted, "That is the coolest thing ever!" "No it's not," Matt sighed, "You don't even really know what happens when I turn into a werewolf." Kaden shrugged, "I've seen movies." "It's not like that," Matt told him, "I get sick a few days before the full moon, and then the night of the full moon, I turn into a wolf and bite myself because there's nothing else for me to bite." "Oh," Kaden deflated, "So where do you go when you turn into a wolf?" "A shack in Hogsmeade." "The Shrieking Shack?" "Yes, that," Matt replied, "I'm the one who does the shrieking." "Now that is cool," Kaden grinned. "How long have you been a werewolf?" "Since I was five." "That's a long time," Kaden said. "Most of my life," Matt explained, "It's horrible, really." "And that's the big secret?" Kaden asked, "Why can't anyone know that?" "Because most wizards don't like werewolves," Matt explained. "Well that's stupid." "Yeah, it is, but it's reality." "But why isn't there a spell to make you not a werewolf anymore? Or a potion?" "Magic doesn't fix everything," Matt sighed. "Yeah, that's what I've been trying tell you for the whole year," Albus pointed out. "But why?" "Dunno," Matt shrugged, "But there is a potion, called the Wolfsbane Potion, that's supposed to make it so you keep your human mind when you turn into a wolf. So you don't want to attack anyone or yourself." "Why don't you take that?" Kaden asked. "I do," Matt told him, "Actually, I take a different variety than most werewolves take. For some reason, Wolfsbane doesn't work for me. I'm in this study at St. Mungo's to figure out why and right now they've got me taking a new kind of Wolfsbane." "Does it work?" "Uh, no," Matt replied, "That's kind of why I still bite myself every full moon." "Oh," Kaden said. "So someday they might find a potion that will work?" Matt shrugged, "Maybe. But I'm not getting my hopes up." "So I'll be charmed not to say anything about this?" Kaden asked after a few moments of silence. "Yes," Albus replied, pulling the new map out of his robes, "And about this." Albus spent the next half hour showing Kaden the new map. Kaden thought it was the best thing he had seen yet at Hogwarts and couldn't wait for it to completely work. "So we need you to represent Peter Pettigrew," Albus said after he'd finished explaining about the map. "Peter Pettigrew?" Kaden raised his eyebrows, "That evil bloke who betrayed your grandparents?" "Er, yes," Albus sighed. "You know my mum wanted to name me Peter, but Dad said no because he didn't want me to have the same name as that idiot," Kaden commented, "So it's my middle name." "Perfect," John grinned, "You even sort of share his name." "Will you do it?" Albus asked. "I guess so," Kaden said slowly, "I mean, it's not like I'm going to be like Pettigrew now." "No," Albus agreed, "But you have to be sort of like him for it to work. And you are because you've sort of got the same name." Kaden shrugged, "I guess. Anyway, when are you going to get the map to work?" "Whenever we figure out how to prove to it that we're like the Marauders. Somehow we've got to show the map that we are similar to the Marauders," Albus explained, "Which is taking forever." "Oh, you mean like a finger print?" Kaden asked. "What?" Albus asked. "You know, a finger print. Everyone's is different, but your finger print is similar to your relatives. It's how Muggle cops find people and stuff when they're missing. And how they identify bodies." "A finger print!" Rose exclaimed, "That's it! I can't believe I didn't think of it!" "What are you talking about?" John asked. "Kaden just said everyone's is different. So how will ours be like the Marauders'?" "Not Muggle finger prints," Rose said, "Wizard ones. There's a spell to get your Wizard's Finger Print. It reveals your name, relatives, even your personality." "That's kind of scary," Albus said, "Anyone can find that stuff out if they've got your finger print?" "Yeah," Rose shrugged, "But I think it will work for this." "Hope so," Albus grinned. He couldn't believe that Kaden had actually given Rose an idea about the map. Kaden had helped with it. If this finger print thing worked, they could have the map figured out in no time. "We'll look for it tomorrow," Rose stood up and drew her wand, "Now let's do the charm." Albus nodded, feeling more excited than he had in months. They were so close, he could just feel it. The map would be working soon. Of course, there was a nagging doubt in Albus's gut that was telling him that there would be something to figure out even after the finger print thing. ****** "What are you going to sign up for?" John asked as he glanced over the parchment all the second years had received just a minute earlier. "Dunno," Albus shrugged, "What about you, Matt?" "Care of Magical Creatures," Matt replied, "Not sure what else." "I'll do that one, too," Albus decided and wrote it down on his parchment. "Hagrid teaches it, so it'll be fun." "Sign me up," John said, "I could use with a fun class." "You ought to think about what will be useful in your future careers," Rose told them. "But I've got no idea what I want to do," John said. Albus had no idea either. He hadn't really thought about it. He thought being an Auror would be a good job, but he wasn't sure that that was what he wanted to do. He still had five years at Hogwarts anyway, why decide now? "Me either," Amanda agreed, "I think I'll do Care of Magical Creatures, too." "I'm taking Muggle Studies," Rose announced, "Plus Arithmancy and Ancient Runes." "All three?" John asked, "But we only have to take two." "Yeah, but I want to take all of them. I'd really like to take Care of Magical Creatures, too, but there's not enough time." "Maybe I'll do Divination," John shrugged. Rose snorted, "Divination? Mum says that shouldn't even be a subject. There's no real learning involved." "But is it easy?" John asked. "Uncle Ron said all you've got to do is make up predictions about your death if you've got Trelawney," Albus explained. "Excellent," John scribbled onto his parchment, "I'll take that and hope I've got Trelawney." "I'm taking that, too," Amanda said, "It actually sounds interesting." "Fine," Rose sighed, "But I still say it's not really a subject." "Maybe I'll do Ancient Runes," Albus thought aloud, "I think it's easier than Arithmancy. What about you, Matt? What else do you think you'll take?" "Ancient Runes sounds good," Matt yawned, "I guess I'll take that. Amy took it. She hated it in Australia, but she said it's better here." "I'd take everything," Kaden announced, "I couldn't decide." "You can't take everything," Rose laughed, "You'd have to be in two places at once." "Oh, well I'm pretty sure that's impossible," Kaden sighed. Albus turned and grinned at Rose, who grinned back. Albus could only imagine Kaden's reaction to a time-turner. "Yeah, the most classes you can take is three," Rose explained. "Then I'll take three," Kaden decided. "Are you lot done choosing classes?" Rose asked as she stood up, "We'd better get to Transfiguration." Albus spent the entire Transfiguration class trying to turn his plate into a bowl, and had almost managed to do it by the time the class was over. Rose, of course, did it within ten minutes and spent the remainder of the class helping Albus and the rest of their friends. History of Magic was as boring as ever. Matt slept the entire class, and Albus felt himself nod off a few times. Matt had seemed very tired in Transfiguration and probably would have fallen asleep in that class if it weren't for the fact that it was a practical lesson. This wasn't surprising considering the fact that the full moon was the next day. The Healers still hadn't found something to counteract the side effect of extreme fatigue of the new Wolfsbane that Matt was on. Double Potions was after lunch, and Albus felt drowsy as soon as he walked into the room. This was odd since he had felt fine a moment before. He didn't seem to be the only one who felt this either. Both John and Amanda yawned as soon as they sat down, and even Rose's eyes drooped a bit as she pulled out her parchment. Matt laid his head down on the desk and fell immediately asleep. "Good afternoon, everyone!" Slughorn said, "Now, I'm sure you're all feeling a bit tired, which is perfectly normal. "This," Slughorn gestured to a smoking cauldron on his desk, "Is Drowsiness Potion. All it takes is one whiff of this potion to put you into a state of fatigue. If you drink it, you'll fall into an almost sleep-like state for about a half hour. Of course, you'd know this if you did the reading that was due today." Albus remembered being assigned the reading, but he hadn't done it. He had just been too busy with Quidditch practice, dueling practice, and all his other homework. "You will be trying to brew this today, but you will only do half of it," Slughorn announced, "It needs to simmer for about a week before you can complete it. Instructions are on the board. Work with your usual partners." Albus yawned and got up from his table. He joined Limbert at his table and lit the fire under the cauldron while Limbert collected ingredients. The entire class was moving at a slower pace than usual, and everyone was yawning every few minutes. It was kind of strange. Nobody was arguing with their partners either. Albus wondered if Slughorn had picked this particular potion for a reason. The past week, a duel had broken out between John and Goyle, resulting in both of them being sent to the Hospital Wing for burns and then being assigned a week's worth of detention. Limbert returned wit the ingredients and he and Albus started to prepare them, without exchanging any conversation. No different than usual. Albus dumped some ingredients into the cauldron and began to stir it. He watched Matt and Malfoy as he did so. Malfoy had returned with ingredients and was prodding Matt with his wand to get him to wake up. "What are you doing?" Albus whispered to Malfoy. "Waking him up," Malfoy said. "Wha-what's going on?" Matt lifted up his head. "Chop up those cherry roots," Malfoy instructed. Albus was surprised with how calm Malfoy seemed. Matt nodded and picked up his knife. Albus went back to stirring his potion. "Professor!" Malfoy said after a few minutes. "He keeps falling asleep." Albus looked up from the beetle eyes he was mincing. Matt was once again asleep on the table. "Ah," Slughorn waddled over to Matt and Malfoy's table, "The Drowsiness Potion affects everyone differently." Slughorn shook Matt's shoulder. "Dear boy, you might want to go to the Hospital Wing. I don't think the fumes from this potion are agreeing with you. They're not supposed to put you into a deep sleep." Matt nodded and stood up. He stumbled and leaned back onto the desk. "Albus," Slughorn turned to Albus, "Perhaps you could escort him. I'm sure Mr. Limbert can handle your potion." "All right," Albus laid down his knife and went over to where Matt was standing. Albus grabbed his arm and led him out of the room. Albus felt immediately better as soon as they shut the door. The drowsiness went away completely. "I've got to sit down," Matt mumbled and sat down on the floor. "Are you all right?" Albus asked, sitting down next to him. "I dunno," Matt shrugged, "I'm guessing that that potion just made me even more tired than I already am." "Do you feel better now?" Albus asked. "Not really," Matt replied. "Then you'd better get to the Hospital Wing." "Yeah, I suppose." Madam Pomfrey wanted Matt to stay for the rest of the afternoon. Albus wasn't even sure if she'd let him leave at all before the full moon. Knowing the nurse, she probably wouldn't. Matt never came back from the Hospital Wing that night, so Albus assumed Madam Pomfrey was keeping him there until after the full moon. Albus and the rest of his friends decided that as soon as Matt was out of the Hospital Wing, they would start looking for the Wizard's Finger Print charm. Rose was pretty sure she had seen it in the library somewhere, but she couldn't remember where. That meant that they would spend hours scouring the entire library for it. This was in addition to all the extra studying they had to do now that the end of term exams were less than two months away. Albus just hoped they'd be able to figure out the map before school was over. It would be pointless to figure it out during the summer, when they wouldn't even be able to use it.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 22 October 2008 06 33 48 pm    Post subject: Re: Albus Potter and the Tracks They Left Behind in topic:Albus Potter and the Tracks They Left Behind Thanks, Obladi! I love that line, too. Special thanks to Obladi for coming up with the riddle that's in this chapter! I'm horrible with riddles, so the help was greatly appreciated! Questions, comments, and general reviews are always appreciated! Chapter 29: Light Saber Conquers All "Willinson is acting civil," Albus commented as they were running up a flight of stairs. "Yeah," Matt agreed, "Kind of surprising. Either he really wants to win or he's not as confident without Malfoy." "Probably both," Albus said, "Whatever the reason, we lucked out." Everyone stared as Albus and Matt ran into the common room completely out of breath. "Scavenger hunt," Albus muttered to his cousins Ben and Cedric as he ran by. "Excellent," Ben grinned, "Can't wait until our turn next Saturday." Bilius was also in their dormitory collecting items when Albus and Matt entered. They nodded to each other, but didn't say anything. Albus wrenched open his trunk and started rifling through it. He found a bag of Bertie Botts Beans, a Dumbledore chocolate frog card, his copy of [i]Hogwarts, A History[/i], one Extendable Ear, and the photo album he found in the attic of his house. The graduation picture in the back would work for the Hogwarts graduation picture. "What have you got?" he asked Matt once he emerged from his trunk. "My wand's holly, a muggle pen, band aids, Chudley Cannon jersey, and a Nintendo DS, although I'm not sure why I still bother to bring it since it doesn't work here." "Excellent," Albus grinned, "Let's get back to the Great Hall." When Albus and Matt got back to the Hufflepuff table, Willinson and Rodner had already returned. There was a pile of stuff on the table between them. Albus looked through it and saw that they now had a copy of The Hobbit, color changing ink, a beater's bat, Muggle playing cards, and a sneakoscope. "All right, we've got a good start," Albus said as he added his and Matt's stuff to the pile. "I guess we'll have to ask the older students to borrow the rest. "Rodner," Albus began, "You see if you can get a light saber, a Quaffle signed by Oliver Wood, a Shooting Star broomstick, drum sticks, a receipt from Madam Malkin's, foe glass, and a Beatles CD." "Sure," Rodner said and took off out of the room. "Willinson," Albus turned to the Slytherin, "Go down to the kitchens and see if you can get a silver goblet, tortilla chips, a tea cozy, the names of five House Elves, and a Hershey bar." "Why should I?" Willinson grumbled, "Who put you in charge?" "Someone's got to do it," Albus told him. "Make Eckerton do it." "Him and I are getting the rest," Albus replied, "If you want to win, you'll get the stuff." "Fine," Willinson muttered and left the Great Hall. "Ok, that leaves the shoe laces, empty green potions bottle, purple gloves, a My Little Hippogriff, a toad, purple parchment, a rubber duck, two batteries, and five more Extendable Ears. Oh, and Filch's autograph." "We'll do that one last," Matt shuddered. "We can probably just go back to the common room and ask if anyone's got this stuff." "Good idea," Albus agreed. The two boys set off at a run back to their common room. Luckily it was still packed with students and some of them grinned as Albus and Matt entered. "How's it going?" Ben asked. "Good," Albus grinned back, "But we've got a bunch of stuff to find. Listen up everyone!" he shouted. The entire common room quieted and turned to Albus. Albus was momentarily shocked that everyone actually stopped what they were doing to pay attention to him. "Er, we're doing the scavenger hunt and need some stuff. Has anyone got a My Little Hippogriff, purple gloves, a toad, purple parchment, a rubber duck, batteries, or Extandable Ears? Also, we need twenty shoe laces. I promise we'll return it all once we're done." About half the students got up and went up to their dormitories. A few minutes later they came back down with various items for Albus. He managed to borrow a rubber duck, purple parchment, and a few Extendable Ears. Plus he got at least twenty shoe laces. "That worked well," Albus said as he and Matt left the room. "I'd say so," Matt agreed, "Now Filch's autograph. This ought to be fun." Albus smacked his hand to his forehead, "I should have grabbed the map!" Albus groaned and ran back to the common room. Everyone laughed as he ran up to his dormitory and back down to the common room. Albus ignored them and pointed his wand to the map. A few seconds later he saw that Filch was lurking near the library. Albus and Matt took off for the library and spotted Filch a few yards away from the door. "How are we supposed to ask him?" Albus whispered. "No idea," Matt said back. Albus's heart sped up as he got closer to the old caretaker. "Er, Mr. Filch?" he asked. Filch startled and turned around. He saw Albus and smirked. "Potter. Up to no good again? In need of another detention, perhaps?" "Uh, no," Albus replied, "Actually, I was just, er, well, we're doing this scavenger hunt. Maybe Kendrick told you about it. It's to promote Inter House Unity and we have to find all this stuff throughout the castle and-" "We need your autograph," Matt interrupted, holding a piece of parchment and the Muggle pen in his outstretched hand. Filch stared at them and then started muttering to himself. "Don't see why I should bother... Students never do anything for me..." Nevertheless, Filch took the pen and scribbled his name onto the purple parchment. He thrust it wordlessly back into Matt's hand and shuffled off down the corridor. "That went better than expected," Matt said. "Yeah, thanks. I couldn't really figure out how to ask him." "I figured," Matt grinned, "Anyway, we still need a few things. Hey, Kendrick never mentioned anything about the Room. Do you think we could just ask it for the rest of this?" Albus wondered why he hadn't thought of that. It almost seemed like cheating, but Kendrick never said anything. "That's brilliant!" The two of them set off for the Room, but when they got there, there was a Hufflepuff prefect milling around right in front of the Room. Albus slowly walked back and forth in front of it, keeping an eye on the prefect. He was about to make his third pass, when the prefect stopped him. "Sorry," he said, "You can't go in there if you're in the scavenger hunt. Kendrick's rule." Albus sighed, "All right." "Of course," Matt muttered as they left, "Kendrick couldn't announce that rule because then everyone would find out about the Room. Oh, well. What have we got left?" Albus handed Matt the list and he looked it over for a few seconds. "Hey, I know Madam Pomfrey's got green potion bottles." "Let's go," Albus said, "We'd better hurry, there's only fifteen minutes left." They made it to the Hospital Wing in record time. Albus pushed the door open and walked in, followed by Matt. "I've got patients to tend to!" Madam Pomfrey was shouting at a Ravenclaw first year, "I haven't got time for this scavenger hunt nonsense! You're the fifth person I've had come in here looking for potions bottles and band aids! I haven't got any!" The girl nodded and ran quickly out of the room, completely ignoring Albus and Matt as she went. "Er, she says she hasn't got any," Albus whispered. "I know she does," Matt whispered back, "Let me just ask her." Albus shrugged and followed Matt over to the nurse, who was bent over one of the beds. "Hello, Madam Pomfrey," Matt greeted her. Madam Pomfrey turned around and her irritated face softened immediately when she saw Matt. "Hello, Matt, dear. Are you all right? You look a bit flushed," Madam Pomfrey said and put her hand to his forehead. "I'm fine," Matt assured her, "I've just been running around working on the scavenger hunt." "Not you, too," Madam Pomfrey sighed and then noticed Albus, "Oh and Albus as well." "Yeah," Matt said, "We were just wondering if you might have an empty green potions bottle." The nurse sighed and walked over to her potions cabinet. "I suppose. Just be sure to return it." Albus watched in shock as she returned with the exact item they were looking for. Matt grinned at Albus and took the bottle. "Thanks," Matt smiled. Madam Pomfrey shook her head, "No problem. Have fun, boys." "We will," Matt said as he turned to leave the room. Albus followed him out the door, still in shock that the nurse had actually given them the bottle when she had yelled at that first year only minutes ago. "You're certainly on her good side," Albus muttered after they left the room. "One of the few perks of being there once a month," Matt said dryly. "We'd better get back to the Great Hall," Albus said as he looked at his watch. Albus and Matt ran as fast as they could back to where their team was. The rest of the team was working hard to finish the remaining trivia. Rachel herself was dressed up as Godric Gryffindor, complete with a fake beard. Rodner was dressed up as Helga Hufflepuff. However, neither was as funny as what Willinson was wearing. He was decked out in Gryffindor finest, with robes, a scarf, and a 'Loyal Gryffindor' hat. Albus could hardly stifle his laughter. "Don't say a word, Potter," Willinson growled. "Albus!" Rachel shouted, "You've got to dress up as a Slytherin! The robes I've got are too big for Matt and Abby." Rachel pointed to the other Gryffindor on the team. Albus groaned and Willinson burst out laughing. Albus reluctantly put on the Slytherin robes, scarf, and 'Slytherins Are Best' hat. It would only be for a few minutes and if it helped them win.... Albus did feel a bit strange in the Slytherin robes. He couldn't help but remember back to his sorting and how the hat had wanted to put him in Slytherin at first. If it had, he would be wearing these robes all the time. He might have even been more friendly with Malfoy at first. He probably wouldn't have really befriended John, Matt, or Amanda if he'd been in Slytherin. Albus shook the thought from his head and concentrated on the fact that he was just wearing the robes to help his team win. Rachel took stock of the items on the list as Matt tied all the shoelaces together. It turns out that the only things they were missing were the light saber, Quaffle signed by Oliver Wood, Shooting Star broomstick, foe glass, Hershey's bar, toad, and one battery. Rachel thought that was pretty good. The other Ravenclaw returned a minute later and told everyone that he had finished the riddle quest and had managed to get the bonus points. "Time is up!" Kendrick announced, "The professors will be around soon to check your lists. They will also collect your trivia sheets which will be marked later today. The winner will be announced at dinner tonight." Patil came over to Albus's team a few moments later and looked over their list. She took a picture of the four people who were dressed up, much to Albus's dismay. Now there would be permanent evidence of his Slytherin moment. As soon as the picture was taken, Albus took off the robes and he noticed Willinson doing the same. "Ok," Patil announced as she gathered up the pieces of parchment, "You can leave. Please return anything you borrowed." Albus and Matt gathered up their stuff as well as everything they'd borrowed from various Gryffindors. They stopped by the Hospital Wing to return the bottle and then headed back to their common room. The two of them passed out everyone's stuff and then went to sit down at their usual table. Rose, John, Amanda, and Kaden joined them shortly. "That was fun," Rose said as she sat down. "Yeah," Albus agreed, "Even though we were with Slytherins. Willinson wasn't too bad." "That's good," John said, "I caught a glimpse of him in the Gryffindor robes. Priceless." "Yeah, I thought so. Until I had to put on the Slytherin ones," Albus replied. John burst out laughing, "I wish I'd seen that!" "You'll be able to," Albus told him, "Patil took a picture." "Excellent." "Didn't any of you lot have to dress up?" Albus asked. "I was Helga Hufflepuff," John said. "And I was Godric Gryffindor," Amanda added. "How did everyone do on the list of stuff to find?" Matt asked. "I'm pretty sure my team was the only one with a light saber!" Kaden said excitedly, "I'm so glad I decided to bring it." "We did all right," Rose shrugged, "Missed a lot of stuff, but I think we did well in the trivia." "Of course you did," John grinned. "Hey, did anyone manage to find the potions bottle? Slughorn didn't have any green ones and Madam Pomfrey looked ready to hex me when I asked her. It's not really fair that Kendrick put something on there that was impossible to get." Albus grinned at Matt, who grinned back. "What?" John asked. "We got it," Matt told him. "How?" Kaden asked, "Madam Pomfrey was downright scary when I asked her. May have been because she was busy fixing someone's broken arm, but still...." "Matt asked her and she gave him one," Albus explained. Matt shrugged, "Simple, really." John sighed, "Well, you're probably the only one in the school who could get it. She'd probably give you whatever you asked for." "Why?" Kaden asked curiously. "Sorry, not telling," John replied. Kaden sighed, "Oh, part of that whole secret I can't know about?" "Yeah," John said and then changed the subject, "Hey, did any of you do the riddle thing?" "I did," Rose said, "Want to hear it?" "Of course," John said. "Ok, I'll see if you can get it. I thought it was a bit simple, really," Rose said. She pulled a piece of parchment out of her robes and read off of it. " 'In an event known by wizards worldwide Where good and evil are forced to collide A terrible force can now no longer reside. A place where just one part of Voldemort died.'" Albus looked at John, Matt, and Amanda and shrugged. He didn't think it was simple, but Rose was good at those sorts of things. "No idea," John announced. "Dunno," Matt shrugged. "Hmm," Amanda muttered. "Don't look at me," Kaden said. "The Great Hall?" Albus asked, thinking of the place where Voldemort died. "Nope," Rose grinned, "That was the trick part. It's actually that monument outside, where Professor Longbottom killed Voldemort's snake." "Oh," Albus groaned, "Of course! Didn't even think of that." "How long did it take you to figure it out?" Matt asked. "Not long," Rose smiled, "But then I had to follow the clues to find the bit of information to give Professor Kendrick." "And where was that?" Amanda asked. "Library," Rose grinned, "Herbology section." "Wonder how many teams got it," Albus thought aloud. "Well, my team did, obviously," Rose said, "And you said your team did, Albus. What about you two?" "We didn't," John sighed and Amanda shook her head. "We did," Kaden put in. "Guess we'll find out tonight how everyone did," Albus said. "Yeah," Rose agreed, "But I'm not going to think about it now. Might as well get some homework done." Albus managed to get half an essay done before dinner. Rose wrote an entire essay and did a set of homework questions. Matt helped Amanda with her Astronomy and still got his Herbology done. John and Kaden on the other hand, spent he rest of the afternoon goofing off and playing chess. The excitement was running high in the Great Hall during dinner that evening. Everyone was comparing what they managed to find during the Scavenger Hunt. Albus kept glancing up to the staff table to see when Kendrick would make the announcement, but he seemed to be waiting until the last minute to do so. After what seemed like forever, Kendrick got to his feet. "Good evening, everyone. I hope all the first and second years enjoyed the Scavenger Hunt. It was certainly a success and I'm sure the older students will look forward to their turns. "And, without any further waiting, I shall announce the results. The first, second, and third place teams will all be awarded medals. "In third place, with 572 points, Team Two!" Kendrick announced, "Will the members of Team Two please come up here." "Yes!" Albus shouted and jumped up, "Third place, that's not bad!" "Yeah, I'd say that's pretty good," Matt grinned and followed Albus up to the staff table. Albus and Matt joined the rest of their team in front of the staff table. Kendrick put a bronze medal over each of their necks and pulled out a camera. He took a few pictures and then told them to return to their seats. Rose, Amanda, John, and Kaden congratulated Albus and Matt as they sat back down. A few of Albus's cousins patted him on the back and told him good job. "Excellent, Albus," James grinned, "But my team will get first place next week." "I'll believe it when I see it," Albus rolled his eyes. "And in second place, with 580 points, is Team Seven!" Kendrick announced. The members of Team Seven ran up to the staff table to get their silver medals and have their picture taken. "And in first place, with 673 points, is Team Six!" Kendrick shouted. "Congratulations to the winning team!" "Woohoo!" Kaden stood up and started jumping up and down as he ran up to the staff table, "Yes!" "Wow, who would've thought that," Rose grinned, "Kaden's team won." "Well, he does have a very large amount of random stuff in his dormitory," Albus commented. "I'll bet it was the light saber that put his team over the edge," John shook his head, "I mean, I think his team was the only one to get it." "Probably," Albus shrugged. "I can't believe I won!" Kaden shouted as he sat back down with his big gold medal a few minutes later. "Congratulations," Albus grinned, "At least one of us got first place." "We were so close to second," Matt groaned, "Eight measly points!" "Well, third's good," John muttered, "Better than not getting a medal at all." "Oh, John, it's just a game," Amanda said, "The point is that we all had fun." "Congratulations to our winning teams and everyone else that participated," Kendrick said, "I will be looking forward to the next round, third and fourth years, a week from today!" Albus hung his bronze medal from his bed post before he went to bed that night. He crawled beneath the covers feeling very content with third place. He hadn't really been expecting to win at all. The Scavenger Hunt had been a lot of fun, and Albus hoped Kendrick would hold it again sometime. It had been so much fun, that Albus hadn't even thought about the new map the entire day. He made a mental note to ask Rose about the Sileo Altus charm the next day. They would have to tell Kaden about everything soon if they wanted to make anymore progress on the map. Plus, they'd have to research more about how to prove to the map that they really were like the Marauders.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Friday 17 October 2008 05 23 58 pm    Post subject: Re: Albus Potter and the Tracks They Left Behind in topic:Albus Potter and the Tracks They Left Behind Thanks Obladi and Teyannanecole! Disclaimer- I don't own Harry Potter. Nor do I own [i]The Hobbit[/i], Hershey's, Nintendo, or the Beatles. Also, the idea for the scavenger hunt isn't mine either. I got it from the resort we go to on vacation. They organize a scavenger hunt just like this one. <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.woodlochpines.com">www.woodlochpines.com</a><!-- w --> Chapter 28: Scavenger Hunt When Albus awoke the next morning, he felt much better. In fact, he felt mostly normal. He wasn't achy anymore and his head felt better as well. He hungrily ate all the breakfast Madam Pomfrey provided. The same couldn't be said for Matt, who was looking much worse than the previous day. He was either asleep or unconscious, Albus was betting on the latter, and he had numerous cuts and scrapes on his face. His right arm and forehead were covered in a large bandages. "So when can I leave?" Albus asked as Madam Pomfrey performed some kind of spell on Matt. "Later today, most likely," she said after she'd finished her incantation. Albus sighed. He had been hoping he'd be able to leave that morning. He was starting to feel incredibly bored with the Hospital Wing, although not bored enough to start the homework Rose had brought the previous evening. Albus spent the remainder of the morning drifting in and out of sleep out of lack of anything else to do. Madam Pomfrey gave him a few more nasty tasting potions and lunch, which Albus ate ravenously. After going two days without food, he was starving. The doors to the Hospital Wing opened just as Albus was finishing his lunch. John, Rose, and Amanda walked inside and immediately headed for Albus's bed. Madam Pomfrey was in her office and didn't seem to notice the visitors. "Hey, how are you?" Rose asked. "Bored," Albus replied. "That's good," Rose grinned. "Are you better now?" Amanda asked. "Pretty much. Madam Pomfrey won't let me leave until later, though. Wish she'd let me leave now." "She just wants to make sure you're completely better," Rose said, "And it's not like you're missing class since this is our afternoon off." "Exactly!" John sighed, "He could be doing much better stuff on his afternoon off if he wasn't here." "Yeah," Albus agreed, "Like figuring out the new map." "How are we going to do that anyway?" John asked. "Go to the library," Albus replied, "We've got to look for ways of proving who we are." John groaned, "And I doubt there will just be a book titled 'Prove Who You Are to a Piece of Parchment." "Probably not," Rose laughed. "But we'll find it." "Making anymore progress on the charm for Kaden?" Albus asked. "A bit, yeah. I tried it again last night on John and this time he couldn't even move his mouth like last time. Now I've just got to figure out how to involve other people in the secret." "And then all we've got to do is convince Matt that the charm is foolproof," John said. Everyone glanced over at Matt's bed, where he was still sleeping. "He been asleep all day?" Amanda asked. "Yeah," Albus said, "Ever since I've been awake." Matt groaned and opened his eyes, "You lot here?" "Yeah," John replied, "How are you?" "Horrible," Matt said flatly, "My head is killing me. Were you talking about me?" "A bit," John said, "Just about that charm for Kaden. We're going to get working on the map once you two are out of here. Got to find some way to prove to it that we're like the Marauders." "Sounds good," Matt yawned. "When do you get to leave?" Amanda asked, "Albus is leaving later today." "No idea," Matt said, "Not until at least tomorrow night. Might be out in time for Astronomy." "Can't you not be outside when the moon is close to full?" Amanda asked. "Only when it's waxing. When it's waning I'm fine." "So, we'll plan on working on the map this weekend, then," Albus said. "Unless any of you catch what I had." "Hope not," John said. "Maybe Malfoy will catch it," he added gleefully. "John, that's not funny," Rose scolded, "He'd be really sick." "He'd get better. Albus is fine now." Albus heard a door open and Madam Pomfrey came strolling out of her office. She looked up and saw the crowd around Albus and Matt's beds and made a beeline for them. "What are you lot doing here?" she demanded. "Visiting Albus and Matt," Rose answered. "Oh, you're awake!" the nurse exclaimed and went over to Matt's bed, apparently forgetting that Rose, John, and Amanda had burst in without her permission. "How do you feel?" "Awful," Matt replied. "My head hurts and so does pretty much everything else." "You must have hit your head much worse than usual last night," Madam Pomfrey sighed, "You had quite the concussion earlier. I'll go get some pain potions." She returned a minute later with a potion for Matt, who drank it in one gulp. "Now, you three have to leave," Madam Pomfrey said to Rose, John, and Matt, "Albus will be out later and you can see him then." Boredom set in for Albus shortly after his friends left. Matt had fallen back asleep quickly after he took his pain potion. Albus couldn't even sleep anymore because he had already slept so much that day. ****** "What are we supposed to be looking for anyway?" John sighed as he slammed a book shut. Albus, John, Matt, Rose, and Amanda were all crowded around a secluded table in the library. It was covered in books that covered all sorts of topics. The five of them had spent the last hour searching for ways to prove to the new map that they were like the Marauders. So far, nobody had found anything useful. "I don't know," Albus replied, "Anything that might prove that we're like the Marauders." "That's not very specific," John muttered, "I really don't want to spend an entire Saturday here." "It'll do you some good," Rose said. "Wish we could just use that book that you used to find the other charm," Albus said to Rose, thinking of Flitwick's book. "Me too, but it's in the Restricted Section," Rose said. "Why can't we just get Professor Potter to give us a note? Bet he would," John said. "Bet he wouldn't," Albus disagreed, "He'd know we're up to something." "Besides," Rose interjected, "It might not be a Charm we're looking for." "We're just going to have to keep looking," Albus said as he opened another book. "But I've got Quidditch practice in a half hour." "We'll just look every time we can get away from Kaden," Matt suggested. "Where is he anyway?" Amanda asked. "Dunno," Albus shrugged. Come to think of it, he hadn't seen Kaden since breakfast. It was kind of strange since Kaden spent every waking moment of his day (when he wasn't in class) no less than four feet away from Albus. "There he is," Matt pointed to somewhere behind Albus. Albus turned around and saw his cousin running through the library with a clipboard in his hand. "Albus!" he shouted. "Quiet!" Madam Pince shouted even louder, "Or I'll throw you all out!" "Albus," Kaden said more quietly as he sat down in an empty chair at their table. Albus eyed Kaden's clipboard but he couldn't read what it said. "Hi Kaden." "Hi," Kaden replied, "Will you sign my petition?" "Petition?" Albus asked, "What in the name of Merlin are you petitioning for?" "TVs in the common rooms," Kaden grinned. "What?!" John and Matt shouted. "Quiet!" Madam Pince screeched. Rose laughed, "What on earth for?" "I wouldn't mind having a TV in the common room," Amanda commented. "Exactly," Kaden said, "It's hard enough for us Muggle-borns to adjust to Hogwarts and if we had TVs, it would make it easier." "You're kidding, right?" John laughed. "Nope, not kidding," Kaden said, "I've got loads of signatures already. I'm not really sure how many I'll need, though. I figure I'll try and get as many as I can in a few days and then give it to Professor Longbottom." Albus tried to suppress his grin, but he couldn't. The idea of Kaden trying to get televisions put into the common rooms was just too funny. There would be no way any of the teachers would agree to it even if everyone in Hogwarts signed the petition. "So will you sign it?" Kaden asked, "If this goes through, I'll try for computers next." "Computers," Matt laughed, "You're mad." "I'll sign," Amanda grabbed the clipboard and quill. "Sure, why not?" Albus shrugged. It couldn't hurt to sign the thing, and he was sure Kaden wouldn't stop bugging them unless they did. John and Matt signed as well, although they were laughing the whole time. Rose signed a bit reluctantly, but she eventually gave in. "So what are you doing?" Kaden asked after Rose finished signing. "Homework," Albus replied automatically. Kaden stared at the large pile of books, "Second year must be bloody insane." "Oh, it is," John said, "You won't have any time to watch any TV." "I'll make time," Kaden said as he stood up, "Well, I'm going to get more signatures." Albus watched as his cousin went from table to table trying to get people to sign. Some of them liked the idea and signed willingly. Others laughed until Kaden gave up and others looked at him like he was crazy. Eventually, Madam Pince found out what he was doing and threw him out of the library. "Your cousin is the weirdest bloke I've ever met," John said after Kaden was kicked out. "Yeah, he is a bit strange," Albus agreed and closed the book he was reading, "Well, I'm off to practice. I'll see you lot later." After practice, Albus went to the common room and found his friends sitting around their usual table doing homework. Unfortunately, none of them had found anything that would help them to prove that they were like the Marauders. Albus was beginning to wonder if they'd ever get that map working. Even if they did find a way to prove they were like the Marauders, what would they have to do next? How many things would they have to do before they would actually be able to see the map? Albus had no idea, but he knew the Marauders weren't going to make this easy. ****** The rest of February passed quickly. Albus and his friends continued to scour the library for any sort of charm, spell, or potion that would help them in their quest to reveal the map. None of them found anything. Kaden thought they were all doing homework as they searched the books every weekend. Rose was making progress with the Sileo Altus charm, but it wasn't quite perfected enough to use yet. Rose was sure she'd have it learned by the end of the month. Matt never said much when the charm was brought up and Albus was hoping he would still agree to tell Kaden once Rose perfected the charm. Kaden's petition to have televisions put into the common room was rejected shortly after he gave it to Neville. Kaden didn't seem in the least bit deterred by this. He insisted it was rejected due to lack of convincing evidence as to how the televisions would benefit the students. He was planning on resubmitting it along with a detailed essay on the subject later on in the term. "You know, Kaden," Rose said at dinner one night, "Even if the teachers accepted your petition, the televisions wouldn't even work here. There's too much magic." "Oh, I'm sure there's a charm that would counteract that," Kaden said. "It won't work," Matt said, "Magic just doesn't agree with electronics. This one time when we were visiting my Uncle Jack in the United States, Amy accidentally broke one of the metal detectors at the airport. It wasn't her fault or anything, the magic just interrupted it or something. The thing started beeping and wouldn't stop until they turned it off." John laughed, "That would've been hilarious to see." "Amy didn't think so. She was mortified," Matt said, "It was a while ago, before we even moved here. I think she was fourteen." "Well, I still say they could find a way," Kaden said. "Hey, look," Albus pointed to the Head table. Professor Kendrick was standing up. "Wonder what he's got to say?" John asked. "Hope it's nothing bad," Rose said. "He looks happy enough," Amanda commented. "May I have your attention!" Kendrick announced. The room fell silent. "Thank you. Don't worry, I'm not giving out bad news. In fact, I think you'll find this announcement most exciting." There was a general murmur of excitement throughout the Great Hall at this. Kendrick waited for everyone to stop talking before he continued. "If you'll remember at the beginning of the year, when I announced the changes for the Dueling Club, that that would only be one part of the House unity effort. I am announcing today that the other professors and I have organized another unity event. It will be a scavenger hunt, with inter-house teams, of course." Albus groaned. A scavenger hunt would be fun, but not if he had to do it with Slytherins. Everyone else seemed to be in agreement, because there was a general groaning throughout. "I know you don't like it, but the school needs to be unified. Now, I will explain the event. It will not be like a regular scavenger hunt. It will take place on the next three Saturdays. This Saturday will be for the first and second years. The following will be for third and fourth years. The last will be for fifth, sixth, and seventh years. "The other professors and I will be organizing the teams, which will consist of members of other years and other houses. Each team will have about ten members. You will have one hour to complete the tasks given. "You will receive a list of items to obtain before this hour is up. There are rules, of course. Some of these items will be required to obtain without magic. We will be performing charms on these items and if we find that any of them were spelled, transfigured, conjured, charmed, etc. within the hour they will be disqualified. "However, the scavenger hunt will not only include a list of items to find. You will also receive multiple trivia sheets. These will include both wizard and Muggle trivia. "Finally, each team will receive a riddle, which if they deceiver correctly, will lead them on a quest throughout the castle and grounds. When you reach the end, there will be a bit of information that must be returned to me. If you are successful, you'll get a 100 point bonus. However, there is also a false trail that will lead you to worthless information. If that is brought back, you'll receive no bonus. "I will give you a more detailed list of rules on the day of the event. Until then, keep your brains sharp and don't get rid of anything you would otherwise deem useless," Kendrick smiled and returned to his seat. Albus turned to his friends, "This sounds, er, interesting." "It's really an excellent idea," Rose grinned, "I mean, there's no way a single person would be able to achieve all of it alone. It's a great idea for House unity." "It'd be better if we didn't have to team up with Slytherins," John muttered. "But what if there's something on that list that's in the Slytherin common room or something?" Rose pointed out. John groaned, "I guess you're right." "Sounds fun, though," Amanda said. "Yeah. Wonder what we get if we win?" Matt asked. "Hopefully some coupons to get out of homework or something," John said. "Since when have they given away those?" Albus laughed. "Now's the perfect time for them to start," John replied. "I hope I'm on your team, Albus," Kaden piped up. "That would be great," Albus smiled, and he actually meant it. It sounded like there was going to be a lot of random stuff on that list and if there was anyone in the school that had loads of random stuff, it was Kaden. ****** The next few days seemed to drag on forever for Albus and the rest of the first and second years. Everyone was getting excited about the scavenger hunt and the teachers were getting a bit annoyed that nobody was paying attention in class. Soon enough, Saturday arrived and Kendrick announced at lunch for all the first and second years to remain seated after they were done eating. Once all the older students left, Kendrick got to his feet once more. "Now, the moment you've all been waiting for," Kendrick said, "The Scavenger Hunt will begin shortly. First, I have a few more rules to go over. "As I said earlier in the week, there are items on this list that are not allowed to be created using magic. You may not conjure, transfigure, spell, or charm any of those items. Asking an older student to do so is also against the rules. We have spells that will detect if any item was magicked during the hour of the scavenger hunt. "The items must be found within the school and grounds. Hogsmeade, the Forbidden Forest, the Whomping Willow, and Hagrid's hut are all out of bounds and you may not search for items in or around them. You may not ask older students or teachers for help, nor may you owl family members or other people. However, you may ask older students if they have any of the items on the list. It is up to them if they let you borrow them or not. Do not steal anything from anyone or there will be punishment. You are permitted to use the library for help with the trivia." Rose's face lit up at that and Albus knew she would be the official library researcher for her team. "There are going to be eight teams of approximately ten students each. Your House prefects have your team assignments. Teams one and two are to gather at the Hufflepuff table, one at each end. Teams three and four at the Gryffindor table, five and six at Ravenclaw, and seven and eight at Slytherin. You will be given a few minutes to get organized in your teams and then the other professors will hand out the appropriate material. Each team is given one set of material, no more. If you lose it, tough luck. Now please see your prefects." Albus got up from the table and looked around until he spotted Georgia. He and his friends wound their way through the crowd until they managed to get to her. "Hey, Albus!" Georgia grinned and looked at her clipboard, "Ready?" "Yeah," Albus smiled, "I'm on a good team, right?" "Well, there are Slytherins on all the teams, if that's what you mean," Georgia laughed, "Anyway, you're on Team Two." Albus nodded and waited for his friends to get their team assignments. Georgia scanned her clipboard again, "Let's see, Rose is on Team One, John is on Team Four, Matt's on Team Two..." Albus grinned at Matt. He was relieved that one of his friends was on his team. Now all he had to do was hope Malfoy wasn't on his team. "Amanda's on Team Four, and Kaden's on Team Six," Georgia looked up at them, "Have fun." "Thanks," Albus said and then turned to his friends, "Guess we'll see you after. Good luck." Albus and Matt worked their way through the crowds to the Hufflepuff table along with Rose. Albus was a bit disappointed that Kaden wasn't on his team, but there wasn't anything he could do about that. The chances weren't great that he would have two of his friends on his same team. He was just lucky he had one of his friends on the same team. The Hufflepuff table was already filling with people from teams one and two. Team Two was gathering at the half closest to the staff table, so Albus and Matt made their way there. There seemed to be a fairly even number of each house at the table. Besides Albus and Matt, there was one other Gryffindor, a first year girl Albus had seen but didn't know her name. There were also two Ravenclaws Albus didn't know, three Hufflepuffs, and two Slytherins. Albus groaned when he saw who the Slytherins were, Felix Willinson and Leigh Montague. Leigh was Rose's potions partner and not the sharpest quill in the box. Felix Willinson narrowed his eyes when he saw Albus and Matt coming over. Albus found seats far away from him and sat down, waiting for the scavenger hunt to begin. One of the Ravenclaws stood up a few seconds later, "Hi, I'm Rachel Underwood and I've been assigned as team captain." Everyone muttered hello to her and Rachel had everyone introduce themselves. So far, Willinson and Montague didn't seem enthused about their team, but Rachel didn't pay any attention to their animosity. Professor Patil came over a little while later with a handful of parchment. Albus assumed they were the lists of stuff to look for and the trivia. "The hunt will start in one minute!" Kendrick announced, "The professors will give you your lists as soon as I say go. You'll have one hour to be back here with as much stuff you can possibly get." A minute later, Kendrick shot out a shower of blue sparks from his wand and Patil handed the stack of parchment to Rachel. "All right!" Rachel shouted as she leafed through the parchment, "We need someone to decipher the riddle and run around to get the bonus points." "I'll do it," the other Ravenclaw volunteered. Rachel nodded and handed him the parchment. He ran out of the Great Hall while reading the riddle. "Ok, here's the trivia," Rachel continued, "We've got Famous Witches and Wizards, Famous Muggles, What Not To Do While Interacting With Muggles, What Do You Know About Quidditch, and What Do You Know About Football." Albus turned to Matt and laughed. Kaden would surely love the football one. Rachel handed out the trivia to the people who thought they'd be able to do it. Willinson hadn't taken any of the trivia sheets, but Montague took the Quidditch one. Albus hoped she actually knew something about Quidditch. "Now we've just got the list of items to find," Rachel announced to the remaining team members, which were Albus, Matt, Willinson, and one of the Hufflepuffs. "You four get started while I work on the trivia. Oh, but I'll take care of the costumes. You'll just have to wear them." Albus nodded and took the parchment from her. Costumes? He hoped he wouldn't have to wear anything too humiliating. He set it down on the table and began to read it, with everyone else looking over his shoulder. 'Items Are To Be Gathered Without Magic -holly wand -five vomit flavored Bertie Botts Beans -Slytherin wearing Gryffindor robes -Gryffindor wearing Slytherin robes -light saber -Dumbledore Chocolate frog card -twenty shoelaces tied together -Quaffle signed by Oliver Wood -Shooting Star broomstick -Muggle pen -copy of [i]The Hobbit[/i], by J.R.R. Tolkein -a Nintendo DS -girl dressed up as Godric Gryffindor -boy dressed up as Helga Hufflepuff -color changing ink -beater bat -drum sticks -silver goblet -Chudley Cannons jersey -six Extendable Ears -Muggle playing cards -receipt from Madam Malkins -Argus Filch's autograph -the names of five Hogwarts House Elves -rubber duck -copy of [i]Hogwarts, A History[/i] -sneakoscope -foe glass -tea cozy -Hogwarts graduation picture -band aids -green empty potions bottle -Beatles CD -purple gloves -Hershey's chocolate bar -My Little Hippogriff -pet toad -purple parchment -two batteries -tortilla chips' Albus looked up from the list and waited for everyone else to finish reading. "What the bloody hell is a CD?" Willinson asked. "Muggle way of listening to music," Albus explained, "One of my cousins might have one." "I've got one," the Hufflepuff, who Albus now knew to be Nelson Rodner, said. "Good," Albus replied, "Anyone else know they've got some of this stuff?" Everyone nodded. "Let's go get the stuff we know we've got and then meet back here," Albus said as he got up. "Then we can work on the stuff we don't." The other three boys agreed and Albus ran out of the Great Hall with Matt. The two of them ran as fast as they could up to Gryffindor Tower.
Ms. Elsewhere Joined: 13 January 2008 Posts: 881 Location: In role play game of course!	Posted: Wednesday 15 October 2008 06 44 25 pm    Post subject: Re: Next Generation 2 in topic:Next Generation 2 Geneve ran down to the Slytherin Common Room where she stumbled into her room to gather her books for the next class. Lunch was well and trully over, and when she looked at the clock, she could not believe the time; it was nearly 3 o'clock! She had missed the school day. The noise of milling students in the common room travelled through her dormitory door. She quickly pulled off her robes and jumped into her bed just before her room mates came in. She closed her eyes. "Geneve?" one of them said. Geneve did her best to pretend she had just woken up. "Ohh.... what time is it?" she said, putting a hand to her head. "Classes are finished. We missed you! Were you sick today?" the girl approached her. "You look terrible, your cheeks are all red. What's the matter?" "Oh.. Madam Pomfrey sent me her to get some rest. I've.... I've got low blood sugar." Geneve smiled sheepishly. When the girl looked at her like she had two heads, another girl approached, who Geneve knew had grown up in the Muggle world just like she had. "It means she feels faint all the time." the girl said. The other nodded with sudden understanding. "Well, we'll let you rest. Will you be at dinner? I hear we have a guest today!" the girl said to Geneve. A guest? Who could this be? Maybe a new teacher, or another ministry official? Geneve's head swam. "Um... I'll see how I feel." she turned over and faced away from the girls. When they had left the room, Geneve pulled out the parchment Nikolaus had given her. She reached into her bedside table and pulled out a quill and some ink. "I hear someone new has arrived at Hogwarts. You had better make an appearance at dinner. I can't explain it, but I have this.... awful feeling....." Her curvy writing disappeared into the page. Geneve blinked once, twice, waiting for a response. But then exhaustion took over and she fell asleep without knowing what Nikolaus had repiled.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Sunday 12 October 2008 03 18 04 pm    Post subject: Re: Albus Potter and the Tracks They Left Behind in topic:Albus Potter and the Tracks They Left Behind Thanks, Obladi! Questions, comments, and general reviews always appreciated! Chapter 27: Slytherpuff Matt's birthday was a few days after the Dueling Tournament. Albus and his friends didn't throw him a party like they had last year. That had mostly been done to cheer him up since he had been in the Hospital Wing at the time. This year they went down to the kitchens and got a cake, and then ate it in their dormitory. By the time the Quidditch match arrived the following Saturday, Albus was utterly exhausted. Between Quidditch practice and homework, he hardly had anytime to sleep. Throw in a trip down to the kitchens for Matt's birthday after Quidditch practice the other night, and Albus was ready to sleep through an entire day. Albus yawned, got out of bed, and looked out the window. He had been hoping that the raging blizzard would have let up, but it hadn't. Wonderful, he thought, James wouldn't be catching the Snitch quickly in this weather. A few hours later, Albus bade his friends goodbye and headed down to the changing rooms at the Quidditch pitch. His friends had bundled themselves up in as much scarlet and gold clothing as they owned and were ready to huddle against the howling wind for a few hours of Quidditch. John, Matt, and Amanda didn't seem to mind the weather at all and were excited about the match. Rose, on the other hand, clearly would have rather spent the afternoon in the castle studying. Kaden still liked football better than Quidditch and Albus had a feeling he wouldn't have minded the storm if he was watching a football game. "Ok!" Georgia shouted a few minutes after Albus entered the changing rooms, "Everyone come over here!" "I know the weather isn't ideal," Georgia began once everyone was gathered around her, "But we've played in worse than this!" "Yeah, if you count that flood we played in during third year," Fred muttered, "But other than that...." Georgia glared at Fred, "Anyway, we're playing Hufflepuff, so we'll win. Harper's still captain, but it's her last year, so she'll be dead set on getting the Cup. That means she'll have trained his team even harder. They've got a new Keeper, though. Someone named Tanner Royce. He's a fifth year. Other than him, the team's the same as last year. So, with that, get out there and kick some badger ass!" Albus grinned to himself as he picked up his broom and started to walk to the door. Georgia was a great captain, but wasn't much for long winded speeches. "Albus," Georgia whispered and put her hand on his shoulder. "Yeah?" "You're, er, less nervous this match, right?" "Oh, yeah," Albus smiled, remembering how he had told her he was extremely nervous the last match. In reality, he'd been too preoccupied with the new map. Sure, he'd been a little nervous, but not as much as Georgia thought he had been. This match, however, he wasn't nearly as distracted, although he still was a bit nervous. "I'm a bit nervous, but not as much." "Good," Georgia grinned and walked out the door and onto the pitch. Albus followed his cousin onto the pitch and was immediately hit by the forceful winds that were prevailing. "Welcome to the Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff match!" Todd Smith's voice sounded over the pitch. It sounded faint and kind of far away in the wind. "It's bloody cold out here so let's make it quick! "Here are the Gryffindors! Captain Georgia Weasley, followed by Ryan O'Malley, Albus Potter, James Potter, Bradley Weasley, Fred Weasley, and Heather Weasley! "And the Hufflepuffs! Captain Jessica Harper, followed by Shawn Ames, Lisa Galivant, Andy Kaper, Stacey Manson, Anna Reilly, and Tanner Royce!" Professor Oteski motioned for Georgia and Harper to shake hands and as soon as they did so, Albus and the rest of the players rose into the air. Oteski released the balls and Heather immediately took possession of the Quaffle. "And Heather's got the Quaffle! She passes to Fred, then back to Heather, and to Albus." Albus caught the Quaffle and started flying towards the Hufflepuff goals. He was amazed that he had actually caught it since the weather was so awful. He could hardly see two feet in front of him. His robes were already soaked with snow and ice and he was frigidly cold. Nevertheless, he kept flying towards the goal until he had to stop short and toss the Quaffle back to Heather, since he almost flew straight into an oncoming Hufflepuff chaser. Heather caught the Quaffle and flew it the rest of the way to the goal. She threw it in and it easily went past Hufflepuff's new Keeper. "Goal! Ten-zero Gryffindor! Now hurry up and catch that Snitch, James! I'm freezing my bloody-" "Smith!" Patil shouted, "Watch your language!" "Sorry, Professor." The Quaffle was now back in play and was in Hufflepuff possession. Albus wasn't even sure which Chaser had it, but he knew it was a Hufflepuff. Whichever Hufflepuff had the Quaffle managed to take it to the Gryffindor goals, but Georgia saved it. Fred took the Quaffle and flew it back to the other end of the pitch, scoring another goal for Gryffindor. The game continued this way for the next half hour. Hufflepuff managed to score two goals, but Gryffindor scored about eight. Albus currently had the Quaffle and was flying straight at the Hufflepuff goals. He narrowly avoided a bludger and both Hufflepuff beaters, but soon he was within throwing distance of the goals. He faked to the right and then threw the Quaffle at the left hoop. Royce tried to save it, but he wasn't quick enough. "Goal! Albus Potter has scored against Hufflepuff! The score is now 90-20 Gryffindor!" Albus was ecstatic. That was the first goal he had ever scored in a Quidditch match. Up until now, all he'd done were assists. Albus took a victory lap around the pitch and then caught the Quaffle from Heather. Albus managed to score another goal and Heather scored two more in the next half hour of the match. Hufflepuff scored a few more goals, but were still far behind. By now, Albus was sure he had turned into an icicle and was getting a bit sick of flying around in the cold. He was even getting a bit of a headache from it. Albus wasn't even sure if he'd know if James or Galivant caught the Snitch, due to the increasingly bad visibility and snowfall. The blizzard seemed to be getting worse by the minute. If Hogwarts actually called off Quidditch, they would have called it off a while ago. A few minutes later, cheers broke out in the stands and Albus was sure someone must have caught the Snitch. He was very happy to land his broom and knew he'd be even happier when he finally got into the warm common room. The rest of his team was shouting in glee and were surrounding James. He must have caught the Snitch, Albus thought. The rest of the Gryffindors were swarming the pitch and soon James was lifted onto a few people's shoulders. Albus joined the throngs of his house and started his way back to the castle. On his way back to the common room, numerous people stopped him in order to congratulate him on the win. Albus was thrilled that they had won, but all he really wanted to do was find his friends and get into some warm robes. James loved the attention he got after winning a Quidditch match, but Albus could take it or leave it. Right now, he could leave it, since his headache was getting worse. The party in the common room was just getting started when Albus entered a few minutes later. Someone must have snuck down to the kitchens because there was an entire table filled with food. Someone else had obviously gotten into Hogsmeade because just about everyone had a butterbeer in their hand. Somebody shoved a butterbeer into Albus's hand as he made his way through the crowd. James was in the thick of it as usual and was rehashing how he caught the Snitch. "And I saw it lurking near one of the goal posts. Galivant was on the other end of the pitch, so I knew she had no hope..." James was saying to a couple of giggling girls. The rest of the team was nearby and were digging into the food that was on one of the tables. "Great job, Albus!" Georgia shouted as he passed, "I knew you could get over those nerves!" "Thanks," Albus smiled as he went up the stairs to his dormitory. Albus quickly changed out of his cold, wet robes and felt a bit better afterwards. He went back down to the common room and it was even fuller than before. It looked like all the Gryffindors had returned from the pitch and the party was in full swing. Albus found his friends sitting at their usual table and they all seemed to be enjoying the party. "Albus!" John shouted as Albus sat down, "Brilliant playing!" "Definitely," Matt agreed. "You're quite a good Chaser, Albus," Rose said, "Although I honestly don't know why they didn't cancel the match with this blizzard..." "Cancel the match?" John stared at her, "Never!" "If it was football, it would've been canceled," Kaden commented. "Yeah, because you wouldn't be able to run around in two feet of snow," John laughed, "But Quidditch is in the air, so it doesn't matter." "Will you two just quit arguing about football?" Rose sighed. "Just trying to turn Kaden into a proper wizard," John shrugged. "Quidditch is hardly the definition of a proper wizard," Rose said, "I believe potion brewing is a bit more important and I'm sure Kaden could teach you a thing about it, Mr. Exploding Potions." "That was Goyle's fault," John muttered. "Why don't all three of you just quit arguing?" Albus snapped. His head was pounding and listening to his friends' arguing was not helping. "What's with you?" John asked, "We're not fighting anymore than normal." "Maybe it's got to do that he's been flying around in a blizzard for the past two hours?" Rose suggested, "If they'd just have canceled the match-" "They don't cancel Quidditch!" John shouted and then turned to Matt, "You understand this, don't you?" "It's true," Matt agreed, "Quidditch isn't ever canceled for trivial things like blizzards." "I think the weather just makes it more interesting," Amanda commented. "Not you too!" Rose groaned. "Football's only played in the warm months anyway," Kaden said, "They wouldn't even schedule an outdoor football match in the winter." "Well that's boring," John replied. Albus leaned his head on his hand and closed his eyes while trying to drown out his friends conversation. John, Rose, and Kaden continued to argue about the merits of Quidditch and football. Matt and Amanda stayed out of it for the most part and seemed kind of amused with the entire thing. Albus wasn't, though. He wished they'd just shut up. Albus's head was steadily feeling worse, like he was being hit with a bludger over and over again. Besides that, he still hadn't completely warmed up from the match and was shivering, despite his dry robes. "I think football would be a decent sport if it were played on brooms," John said. "Oh come on, John!" Rose sighed, "Be serious! You can't play football on brooms. How would you kick the ball?" "Not to mention that Muggles play football!" Kaden shouted, "Muggles can't fly!" "I'm not saying that Muggles should play football on brooms. I meant if football were ever played by wizards, it should be done on brooms." Football on brooms, Albus thought, what an insane idea. His friends were now trying to merge football and Quidditch. "Albus, are you all right?" Matt asked. Albus opened his eyes and lifted his head off his hand. "I dunno." "You don't look that great," Matt said concernedly. John, Rose, and Kaden stopped arguing and looked at Albus. "Yeah, you look worse than Matt does when he gets sick," Kaden said loudly. "Thanks," Matt muttered. "Matt's right," Rose said, "You do look awful, Albus." "I've got a headache," Albus mumbled. "You should go see Madam Pomfrey," Kaden told him. "I think I'll just go to bed," Albus got up from his chair, "I haven't really slept much the past few nights. I'm probably just tired." Albus stumbled over to the dormitory door, feeling worse than he had a few minutes ago. He collapsed into his bed and fell asleep minutes later. ****** Albus awoke with a start and he wasn't sure how much time had passed since he went to sleep. He still felt extremely tired and his head still hurt. He groaned and closed his eyes again, wanting only to sleep for a few days straight. Right when he was about to drift off again, someone threw the curtains back and Albus's bed was flooded in light. "Ugh," Albus groaned and covered his eyes with his hands. "What was that for?" "You've slept almost an entire day," someone said. Albus moved his hands and slowly opened his eyes. John was standing over his bed with a look of concern on his face. "And I'd like to sleep a bit more if you don't mind," Albus mumbled. "You slept through dinner last night, and breakfast and lunch today. Aren't you hungry?" "Not really." "Are you sure you're ok?" John asked, "Rose sent me up here to check on you." Honestly, Albus wasn't sure he was ok. He couldn't remember the last time he had slept an entire day. But right now all he wanted was for John to go away so he could sleep some more. "I'll be fine once I sleep some more," Albus replied and rolled over away from John. "If you're sure," John said quietly and closed the curtains. It didn't take Albus long to fall back asleep. He had some strange dreams that involved Teddy telling him his broom broke and he'd have to play Quidditch without it by running around on the ground. Then, instead of a Quaffle, the match was played with a football. Albus woke up briefly after one of these dreams, only to find that the dormitory was dark. He could hear Ethan's muffled snoring and an owl hooting outside. Unfortunately, he didn't feel any better than he had when John woke him up. In fact, he now felt worse. Every one of his muscles were aching, like he had fallen from his broom during the match. But Albus couldn't recall falling from his broom. When had the match been anyway? Yesterday or the day before? Albus couldn't even remember and he didn't even know what day it was currently. "Albus!" Someone shouted. Albus was dreaming about Quidditch again and someone was hitting him with their beater's bat. "Quit it," Albus mumbled. "Albus, are you all right?" "Go away," Albus said, "And stop smacking me with that beater's bat." "Beater's bat?" they repeated, "That's it, I'm getting Professor Potter." "I'll go," someone else said, "You stay here with him." Whoever had been hitting Albus with the bat had stopped, and he was grateful. Georgia had taken the bat away and was now yelling at its owner. Then she announced that they would be playing football instead of Quidditch. James complained loudly, since there weren't any Seekers in football. "Albus, wake up!" "I think Kaden said you'll have to play defense, James," Albus mumbled in his sleep. "There isn't a Snitch in football." "Hang on, Albus, John's getting your dad." "My dad? He'll have to play defense, too." "What's wrong?" someone new shouted. "He's been sleeping since after the match, Professor Potter. I think he's sick." "Since after the match?" "Er, yeah. We thought he was just tired, but he's been sleeping for two days." "The match?" Albus muttered, "Did we beat Slytherpuff yet?" Albus felt himself being lifted out of his bed and into someone's arms. He rested his head on their shoulder and shivered as his blanket fell back onto the bed. Albus fell back into a deep sleep and next woke up as he was being laid down on another bed. Albus heard people talking all around him, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. Someone poured a few disgusting potions down his throat and forced him to swallow them. There was more muttering around him, but Albus soon drifted off to sleep again. The room was quieter when Albus next woke up. He opened his eyes and looked around. Where was he? Albus was certain he had fallen asleep in his dormitory, but now it looked as if he was in the Hospital Wing. The place was nearly deserted, save for Madam Pomfrey sitting at her desk. Albus yawned and tried to sit up, but he was still dizzy. The good thing was that his head felt much better. However, his body still ached. Madam Pomfrey looked up from her desk and got up once she saw that Albus was awake. She grabbed a few bottles and put them on a tray, which she then carried over to Albus's bed and set it on the bedside table. "Good, you're up," Madam Pomfrey said as she poured one of the potions into a cup, "You gave us all quite a fright." "What time is it?" Albus asked, still confused about what he was doing there. "Just after six o'clock." "Er, and what day?" "Monday," the nurse said as she thrust the cup under Albus's nose, "Drink that." Albus downed the potion quickly, "Yuck. It's really Monday? I've missed classes?" "I'd say so." "Er, what exactly happened? I mean, I went to bed in my dormitory and now I'm here..." "You're ill," Madam Pomfrey said, "You've caught the flu. Your friends told me you slept for almost two days and then they went to get your father since you weren't getting any better and had started becoming delirious. You've been here since around lunch time." "Oh. Well, how long do I have to stay?" "Another two days, probably," Madam Pomfrey told him. "Now I want you to drink these other two potions and eat that bowl of soup." Albus nodded and Madam Pomfrey strode back over to her desk. Albus thought back and could vaguely remember being taken out of his dormitory, but it was only a foggy memory. The last thing he could really remember well was the Quidditch match. He was very happy he hadn't fallen ill before the match. No sooner had Albus drank the first potion that the doors to the Hospital Wing swung open and John, Matt, Rose, and Amanda came bursting through. Madam Pomfrey got up quickly from her desk and met them halfway. "Is Albus awake?" Rose asked. "Yes, he's only just woken up. I suppose you can visit him for a few minutes. But calmly! He needs to rest!" "Albus!" Rose shrieked when she ran over to his bed, "Thank Merlin you're all right!" "How are you?" Amanda asked. "Doing better?" John asked. "Well," Matt said with a half smile on his pale face, "This is a switch." Albus grinned at them, "Yeah, can't really remember a time where it was [i]you[/i] visiting [i]me[/i] here." "What exactly have you got anyway?" Amanda asked. "Flu," Albus answered, "But I'm getting better. Not nearly as tired as before." "I would hope so," John smirked, "You slept two days." "I'll probably sleep another two," Albus said, "Pomfrey said I've got to stay another two days." "We'll be here together, then," Matt replied. Albus looked at his friend, who was looking a bit exhausted himself. "When's the full moon again?" "Tomorrow," Matt sighed. "Did you take that new potion?" Albus asked. Matt nodded, "Yeah, and I'm more knackered than usual." "He fell asleep in History of Magic and almost fell asleep in Potions," John said. "Well, you didn't sleep through two whole days like I did," Albus pointed out. "I've done it before. I've slept through more than two days actually. I think four is my record." "All right!" Madam Pomfrey announced, "Time for you lot to be off to bed, especially you, Matt. And Albus needs to rest." "See you tomorrow," Albus said as his friends left the room. "Sure will," Matt replied. Albus slept on and off throughout the night and the next morning. He was still tired, but felt much better when he woke up late the next morning. His dad had stopped by earlier before class, but Albus fell back asleep after he left. Madam Pomfrey was fussing over him and giving him numerous potions to drink. Albus was the only patient in the entire ward, so the nurse's fussing was all focused on him. The nurse had been giving Albus what must have been his tenth glass of water that morning when the doors to the ward opened. Matt stumbled inside and walked shakily over to the bed next to Albus's. He collapsed onto it and winced in pain. Madam Pomfrey immediately put down the water pitcher and descended upon Matt. "You're here earlier than usual," she said as she felt his head, "And you're burning up." "Why are you here earlier?" Albus asked once Madam Pomfrey had gone to get another potion. "Tired," Matt mumbled, "Fell asleep in Defense and your dad told me to come here." "Is it the new potion?" "Yeah, it doesn't exactly help much, does it?" "I thought you said they were going to find something to counteract the part of it that makes you tired," Albus said. "They are, they just haven't found it yet." "Oh." Madam Pomfrey returned a moment later and gave Matt a few potions. He drank them and was asleep minutes later. Albus wasn't really tired, but he fell asleep anyway out of lack of anything else to do. John, Rose, and Amanda stopped by after dinner to see Albus and Matt, but Madam Pomfrey didn't let them stay long. Matt had been asleep anyway. Shortly after their friends left, Madam Pomfrey woke Matt up and took him down to the Whomping Wilow.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 8 October 2008 01 12 42 pm    Post subject: Re: Albus Potter and the Tracks They Left Behind in topic:Albus Potter and the Tracks They Left Behind Thanks, Obladi! I try to have Kaden use Muggle expressions like 'crap' instead of wizard ones like 'Merlin'. Although I'm not entirely sure if 'crap' is a common term used by British kids. Questions, comments, and general reviews are always appreciated! Chapter 26: Filch? Dancing?! Albus and John were immediately bombarded by Kaden when they entered the common room. Rose, Amanda, and Matt were standing just behind Kaden with smirks on their faces. "Did your cauldron really explode?" Kaden asked excitedly. "The potion did," John replied, "And it was completely Goyle's fault, really. I gave him directions as to what to do and he screwed it up." "You know," Rose said, "You're not exactly the best potion brewer either, John." "Are you two all right?" Amanda asked. "Oh, yeah. Madam Pomfrey sorted everything out," Albus assured her. "So what are you doing tonight, Albus?" Kaden asked excitedly as he followed Albus and John to the dormitory door. Albus groaned inwardly. He had been planning on grabbing a quick dinner with his friends after he changed robes, and then head to the Room to try out the new map. They had all the paw prints (John had gone up to the dormitory ahead of Albus with the rat and got the print from it. Albus didn't want to know what happened to the rat afterwards) now, so Albus was impatient to try it out. But they wouldn't be able to if Kaden was around. "Dunno," Albus shrugged. Kaden spent the entire evening with Albus and his friends. Normally, this really wouldn't have bothered Albus, but that night his cousin was driving him mad. All Albus wanted to do was try out the map, but he couldn't think up a good excuse for them to go somewhere and not let Kaden follow. So they spent the evening in the common room, working on homework. Albus and his friends were far too busy the next few days to try out the new map. Albus had Quidditch practice on Tuesday and Thursday and dueling practice on Wednesday. Rose had dueling practice on Friday. John normally had his practice on Saturday, but due to the Quidditch match, it had been rescheduled for Sunday. Any bit of time where neither Albus or his friends had any practices, Kaden was around. It wasn't until Saturday, following Slytherin's spectacular loss to Ravenclaw, that they were finally able to try out the map. Kaden had been recruited to tutor a fellow first year in Potions and was going to be spending a few hours in the dungeons after the Quidditch match. "Come on, let's go try it now," Albus whispered to his friends after Kaden left the common room. "Got the prints?" Matt asked. Albus nodded and grabbed his bag. They quickly left the common room and ran for the Room of Requirement. They almost bumped into a Ravenclaw prefect, but luckily he was feeling generous and didn't scold them for running in the corridors. Matt paced three times in front of the empty wall and as soon as the door appeared, the five friends ran inside. Albus set his bag down on the table and everyone crowded around it. Albus pulled out all four prints and the map. "All right," Albus unfolded the map, "Rose, you're good with the charm, right?" Rose nodded, "I've practiced it and it works every time." "Good," Albus stared at the map, unsure of how to begin, "Er, maybe I should do what I did last time to get it to tell us we've got to prove we know the Marauders?" "Probably," Rose agreed. "Wait!" John shouted, "Can I do it this time?" "Sure," Albus shrugged and handed John the map. "Excellent," John grinned and pointed his wand at the map, "I solemnly swear that I am Messr Padfoot." Ink appeared on the map, but not nearly as much as when Albus had done it earlier in the year. 'No, you're not.' The ink disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. "What?" John shouted, "But it worked last time!" Albus's hopes plummeted. Why wasn't it working now? Was it on some kind of a timer? Like it could only work on a certain day of the month? He had been so excited about getting the new map to work, and now it wouldn't even tell them to prove they knew the Marauders. "Let me try," Matt grabbed the parchment and pointed his wand at it, "I solemnly swear that I am Messr Moony." 'No, you're not.' The map said once again. "This sucks," John muttered, "It worked last time." "Maybe it's got to be Albus," Rose suggested. Albus wordlessly grabbed the map and pointed his own wand at it, "I solemnly swear that I am Messr Prongs." The ink he had been expecting to appear rose to the surface of the parchment and formed the familiar words. 'Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs welcome you to the Marauder's Map, Second Edition.' "Ha!" Albus grinned in excitement, "There it is!" "But why didn't it work for us?" John asked dejectedly. "Does that mean we can't be Padfoot and Moony?" "Dunno," Albus sighed. He really hoped his friends would be able to be Padfoot and Moony. Who else could be Padfoot and Moony? The map wouldn't even work without someone to be Padfoot, Moony, and Wormtail. Albus couldn't do it alone. 'Mr. Prongs disagrees with you and insists that you are not Prongs. However, you could be the second Prongs.' "See? Why didn't it say 'However, you could be the second Padfoot' when I did it?" 'When four boys, who are Gryffindors, are linked together through friendship and mischief, they may present themselves as the next generation of Marauders. These four friends must each represent one of the Marauders, for if even one is missing, this map will not work. Before this goes any further, you must prove that you know the secrets of the Marauders. Prove that you know, and you may continue along the path of discovery.' 'The path of discovery? I never knew you were so poetic, Mr. Prongs.' 'Oh, believe me, Mr. Padfoot, I am not. Mr. Moony came up with that whole thing.' 'Then I pay my compliments on the wording to Mr. Moony.' 'Mr. Moony advises that whomever is reading this ignore Mr. Prongs and Mr. Padfoot and start proving that they know the Marauders.' 'Mr. Padfoot agrees with Mr. Moony and also advises that if whomever is reading this has no idea who the Marauders are, that they quit while they're ahead.' 'The Marauders wish you good luck.' "Well, now what?" John asked. "I guess we've just got to transfer the paw prints," Albus said tentatively. Rose picked up the paw prints and the map, setting them down in front of her. She pulled out her wand and muttered an incantation at the werewolf print. Then she muttered another incantation at the map. The werewolf print appeared on the map, just as it had been on the other piece of parchment. "That, was bloody amazing," John said in awe. Albus agreed. He was forever grateful that his cousin was so brilliant. Albus didn't think he'd ever be able to pull off something like that. At least not until he was at least in fifth year. Rose repeated the procedure with the dog, stag, and rat prints, positioning them in the exact same way that the little mark that the Marauders had put on the map. "There," she said once she was done. The five friends stared at the map for a few seconds, waiting for something to happen. The paw prints weren't doing anything and neither was the map. No new ink had appeared and the paw prints weren't disappearing or anything. "Er," Albus began, "Maybe I've got to tell the map that we know the Marauders?" "Worth a shot," John shrugged. Albus pulled the map over to him and tapped his wand to it, "I, Albus Severus Potter, the second Prongs, know the Marauders." The paw prints quickly faded until there was nothing left but a blank parchment. Albus glanced up and looked at his friends before returning his gaze to the new map. 'Prongs agrees that you do know the Marauders, and is especially impressed that you managed to get a werewolf paw print.' "It worked!" Albus shouted happily. 'Due to your obvious knowledge of the Marauders' secrets, we shall now tell you more about this map. When the Marauders were seventh years, they realized that within a few short months, they would be gone from Hogwarts, and the school would be left without their chief mischief makers. 'Prongs suggested-' 'Do you always talk about yourself in the third person, Prongs?' 'Only when I have a stroke of brilliance, Padfoot.' 'Not too often then, right?' 'Oh, get on with the explanation, Prongs.' 'Calm yourself, Moony. You're letting your furry self show.' 'Shut it, Prongs.' 'All right. Anyway, I (happy now, Padfoot?) had a stroke of brilliance that the Marauders could find a way to ensure that they would never be gone from Hogwarts.' "I knew it!" Rose shouted in glee, "I knew that was what this was about!" 'The Marauders decided to create another map. The first map was only the beginning. The Marauders wanted to find a way to put themselves into a map, in order to help the next generation of mischief makers. That is what this map is about. 'However, not just anyone would be able to have access to the map.' 'Yeah, we wouldn't want any old dunderheads stumbling upon it.' 'Right, Padfoot. Or even worse, having Slytherins get their slimy paws on it.' 'I shudder at that thought, Moony. Anyway, the Marauders had to figure out a way to ensure that only those worthy would be able to access this map. The Marauder's Map is actually quite simple to figure out, compared to this one. All you have to do to open that is say a certain phrase. For this map, you have to be a certain person to open it. 'You may or may not have figured out that in order to get the first bit of information out of this map, you have to be a blood relative of one of the Marauders. However, not everyone representing the Marauders must be related. Because, you know, we might not all have kids.' 'Yeah, you wouldn't want to be passing along any genes, Prongs.' 'Better mine than yours, Padfoot.' "That's why only Albus could do it!" John shouted. Albus felt immense relief from this. John and Matt would be able to represent Padfoot and Moony. "So really, only James, Lily, Teddy, my dad, and I could get it open," Albus said. 'The rest of you must be Gryffindor boys, because we want you to be like us.' 'Lily won't like that, Prongs.' 'I know, Moony, but Lily doesn't know about this. I don't plan on telling her, either.' "Guess that counts out my sister," Albus commented. 'So, now you've proven that you know the Marauders. Your next step is to prove that you are the next Marauders.' The ink slowly faded once again until the parchment was as blank as before. Albus stared at it for a few moments, thinking about what he had just found out. The map wasn't going to work yet. He had been so sure that all they'd have to do was prove they knew the Marauders. But now they had yet another thing to do. They had to prove that they were the next Marauders. How were they going to do that? "That was weird," John said. "I'll say," Matt agreed, "They didn't even really tell us what it was a map of." "Yeah, they just said they wanted to make sure they'd never leave Hogwarts. Like the map is a part of them," John replied. "To be honest, it sounds a bit like a Horcrux," Rose commented. "Yeah, but it's not like they put their souls in there, Rose," Albus pointed out. "It's like the Marauder's Map. It's just enchanted." "I still wish we knew what it was a map of," John muttered, "I mean, this isn't fair! We spend weeks getting those paw prints and we still haven't figured the map out." "I knew you'd have to do something like this," Rose said, "Otherwise it wouldn't matter if there were four of you to represent the Marauders. If it was just this, Albus could have done the whole thing himself." She made a good point. Albus hadn't really thought about that, but it was true. They had to do something that required each of them to represent one of the Marauders. "I guess we've got to prove we are the Marauders, then," Albus said, "Wonder what that involves." "Maybe we've got to do something the Marauders would have done," Matt suggested. "Like become illegal Animagi?" John grinned mischievously. "No!" Matt sighed, "I told you, you're not doing that!" "I don't think that's it," Rose began, "How would you go about proving to a piece of paper that you're illegal Animagi?" "Maybe we've got to pull a huge prank or something," Albus said. "Again, how would you prove that to the map?" Rose asked. "Well, does anyone have any other ideas?" Albus asked. "We'll think of something," Amanda said, "I mean, there's got to be a way." "Of course their is!" Rose said, "We've just got to go to the library and see if we can find anything there." "We can't do anything anyway until you've got that Sileo Altus charm down, Rose," Albus pointed out. "Right," Rose replied, "It's coming along well. I just need to get some practice. Anyone want to be my tester?" "I will!" John shouted and jumped up out of his chair. "Ok, come here," Rose got up and went to the other side of the room. Albus watched as the two of them worked. First, they had to think up a secret, which took a good bit of time. John finally suggested that the secret be 'Filch likes to dance in the moonlight with a long handle mop with Frank Sinatra music playing in the background.' Albus burst out laughing at that. "Filch? Dancing?" "Yes," John said in a serious tone, "I saw him once. He was rubbing the mop head to his face and had on a look of pure joy." "And soon you won't be able to tell anyone about it," Amanda grinned. "What a shame." "Yes, it is, isn't it?" John laughed. "You lot can still spread it around, though." "Ok, John, let's try it," Rose said. Rose pointed her wand at herself and recited the charm that would make her the secret keeper. Then, she pointed her wand at John and said a slightly different charm. "Now you say the secret, John." "Filch likes to dance in the moonlight with a long handle mop with Frank Sinatra music playing in the background," John smirked. "Good," Rose replied and then performed another charm on John. "I'm not ready to try including other people yet, so John will only be able to talk about Filch's little habit to me." Rose waved her wand around in an intricate pattern and then said one last incantation. She lowered her wand and stared at John. Then she turned to face Albus. "There. Now you can try asking him about it, Albus." Albus grinned, "All right. So, John, heard anything interesting about Filch lately?" "Yeah!" John shouted, "Actually, just the other night I saw him and he was-" John's mouth continued moving but no sound was coming out of it. Albus and Amanda burst out laughing. John looked like a fish out of water. "I think it worked!" Albus shouted. Rose was staring at John with a slight look of disappointment. "Not quite. He wasn't even supposed to be able to move his mouth. You know, in case people can read lips. I guess it's a start, though." "Definitely. I mean, this is a really advanced charm. You can't have expected to get it on the first try," Albus pointed out. Although, he did kind of think Rose expected to get it on the first try. "I suppose," Rose sighed, "I'll just undo it." Rose waved her wand around and muttered some more incantations. "Ok, he should be able to talk about it now." "Heard anything funny about Filch recently?" Amanda asked. "Yeah, he likes to dance with a long handle mop by moonlight while Frank Sinatra plays in the background," John told her. "Looks like the countercharm worked," Albus said. "But that's not even what we'll need," Rose pointed out, "We're not going to perform the countercharm on Kaden. Not for another few years at least." "Yeah, but it's lucky for John that it worked," Albus grinned, "Otherwise he wouldn't be able to share Filch's secret joys of life." ****** Over the next few days, John actually did share that Filch liked to dance with a long handle mop by the moonlight with Frank Sinatra playing in the background. All he had to do was mention it to a few other Gryffindors at meal times and the bit of gossip was soon spreading throughout the school. The reactions from students ranged from hysterical laughter to raised eyebrows to exclamations of 'Who the hell is Frank Sinatra?' Albus couldn't help but smirk every time he heard his fellow students mentioning the story. Filch, on the other hand, was actively trying to find the culprit. There wasn't really any point, since he wouldn't be able to find who started it, but he tried. He spent the days prowling the halls and listening in on students' conversations, trying to find out any sort of information regarding the false story. Whenever the students noticed him, they would burst out laughing, which would cause Filch to start muttering about 'rotten students' and 'ought to whip them all'. Filch's main suspect was Kaden, which Albus found kind of funny. Kaden of course had laughed the loudest when he heard the story. Since Filch had developed an intense dislike for Kaden since their detention months ago, he gave Kaden ominous stares every time Kaden passed him in the corridors. Kaden just found this funny, since he knew John had invented the story. The story about Filch provided a nice break from the intense studying that all the students were occupied with. Like usual, the teachers had increased the homework after the holidays. Albus was happy it wasn't yet his O.W.L. year and he couldn't imagine how he would manage to cope with that in three short years. Along with homework, Albus also had Quidditch and dueling practice. Both Georgia and Kate had increased practice times in order to prepare for the upcoming match and tournament. The third dueling tournament was to take place the first weekend of February and Quidditch on the following weekend. Albus now had Quidditch practice on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Dueling practices were as usual, not mandatory, but were now not only on Wednesdays, but on Fridays as well. The only day Albus had off was Sunday, which didn't give much time for him to try and figure out how to prove he was like the Marauders to the new map. The morning of the Dueling Tournament was cold, snowy, and blustery. Albus was very happy the Quidditch match wasn't that day. He got up a few hours before the tournament started and went down to breakfast with his friends. "I can't wait until I can duel next year," Kaden said in between bites of egg. "It's not really as cool as it's made out to be," John commented, "A lot of waiting around time during tournaments." "That's because there's so many of us," Rose explained, "In the regular Dueling Club, the one that you can only be in if you're fifth year or above, not everyone gets on the teams. It's like Quidditch and you have to try out." "That sounds better," John said, "But I don't know if I'd make the team." "I know I wouldn't," Amanda replied. "You're getting better," Albus assured her, "You might make it by the time you're a fifth year." "Yeah, that's the point of the junior's club," Rose said, "So you can get better. They don't expect us all to be expert duelers." "Albus is," Amanda grinned, "He's brilliant." Albus felt his face turn red, "Well, I'm not that great...I mean, there are loads of people who are better than me." "Not on our team," Amanda continued, "He's beat almost everyone on the team." "Yeah, everyone except Malfoy," Albus muttered. He still hadn't managed to beat Malfoy during their practice duels. "That's good, though!" Rose sighed, "You're both excellent duelers, so you've got a good team!" Albus shrugged. He kind of would rather just be able to beat Malfoy than beat the other teams, but he didn't mention anything about it. Albus and his friends continued their talk about dueling throughout breakfast and as they sat around the common room afterwards. Soon, it was time for them to go down to the dueling chamber for the tournament. They passed Filch on their way down the stairs, and he was muttering to himself as usual. "Damn kids...better when Umbridge was around...wonder if she'll come back...she'd let me whip them..." "I swear he's gotten more mad over the year," John muttered to Albus as they passed him. "Dad says he's getting senile," Albus whispered back. The dueling chamber was packed with students, just like the past two tournaments. Albus and Amanda squeezed their way through the crowd to their usual table, where their team was sitting. "Hi Albus, Amanda," Kate greeted them. "Ready to win?" "Definitely," Albus grinned. The tournament got under way a few minutes later. It was much like the past two tournaments, with a lot of sitting around time. Albus was happy that he and Amanda were on the same team so they were able to talk to each other in between duels. Albus won both of his duels, just like the last two tournaments. So did Malfoy and once again, Albus found that he was kind of happy and kind of angry about that. Amanda won one of her duels, which Albus was very happy about. He knew half her dueling issues were from nerves and the fact that she thought she wouldn't do well. Rose, John, and Matt each won one of their duels as well. Albus clapped for them even though they were on other teams, which earned him glares from Malfoy. Albus didn't care, though. Malfoy could sulk as long as he wanted, it wasn't going to stop Albus from cheering for his friends. The points were tallied after the last duel and John's team was declared the winner. Albus was slightly disappointed, but there were still three more tournaments before the final. Harry announced the point totals for the entire year and Rose's team was in first place so far. In second was the team led by Hufflepuff Paul Galivant and in third was John's team, led by Albus's cousin Bradley. Albus didn't think that the inter-house dueling was decreasing the rivalry between houses. Albus wasn't anymore fond of the Slytherins than he had been in the beginning of the year. None of the Slytherins really got along with the Gryffindors on his team, and vice versa. He wasn't exactly sure how it was working with the regular dueling club, but he had overheard Stanley complaining about how uncooperative the Slytherins on his team were. But that was months ago and he didn't know what had been going on with it recently.