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DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2090 Location: Boycotting All Future Warner Brothers Films	Posted: Tuesday 21 October 2008 02 06 01 pm    Post subject: Re: In Moonlight's Shadow in topic:In Moonlight's Shadow Comments, questions, and general reviews always appreciated! I've officially started posting this on Harry Potter Fan Fiction.com. Chapter 17: The Adirondack Academy of Magic The best way to describe Uncle Jack's house is, like Uncle Jack, unique. I have never been in a stranger house than Uncle Jack's. It's situated on a plot of land that's about 5 acres, that he owns. It's mostly bush, but there is about an acre of open area that Uncle Jack uses to grown his own fruit and vegetables. He grows all sorts of stuff like potatoes, cherry tomatoes, peas, corn, strawberries, blueberries, and apples. The house itself is on the small side compared to mine. Uncle Jack inherited a load of money from my grandparents just like Dad did, but I'm not really sure what he did with most of it. I know he bought his land and built his house with some of it, but I've got no idea what happened to the rest. His house has got to be the strangest design I've ever seen. On the first floor is the kitchen, dining room, and living room. When you first walk into the house, you're in the kitchen. If you turn right, you'll be in the dining room, the left you'd be in the living room. None of the rooms are square. The kitchen's actually got five walls. The other two rooms have four walls, but they're all different lengths. The doorways aren't level either. On the second floor are the bedrooms and bathrooms. There's three bedrooms and two bathrooms. Only one bathroom's got a shower and tub. These rooms aren't normal looking either. They've got sloped ceilings and strange sized doors. They're also situated in a circle. When you reach the top of the stairs, you're in the middle of a circle. Across from you is a bedroom, next to that a bathroom, then another bedroom, the second bathroom, and finally the third bedroom. However, the oddly shaped rooms and strange construction of the house is only the beginning. What's more interesting is what you'll find inside the house. The decor is all mismatched so much that Cinda would probably have a hippogriff as soon as she set foot in the kitchen. There's an assortment of Muggle contraptions all from various eras, from a telegraph to a black and white television to a fancy new computer. Then there are the wizard items, from old broken wands to sneakoscopes to worn out invisibility cloaks. Plus, there's the random junk that's just laying around. Uncle Jack swears he'll find a use for all of it, but I'm not so sure. He collects everything and I mean everything. He's even got a large box full of stones of various sizes that he insists he needs. Today was no different and as soon as I stepped out of the floo and into the living room, I saw the normal piles of stuff cluttering up the room. I didn't even try to suppress my grin as I gazed around at the house. It had been so long since we visited and I hadn't even realized how much I missed the place before now. Mum and Dad were already looking around at the room. Dad was grinning and shaking his head as he fingered an ugly cloak that Cinda wouldn't have touched with a ten-foot pole. Mum had picked up a broken copper kettle that no longer had a bottom and was eying it with trepidation. "Same old Jack," Dad smiled. A moment later, the fire turned green again and out stepped Uncle Jack and Matt. Uncle Jack lowered Matt to the floor and he immediately went to check out a pile of stuff on the floor. "Welcome back to my abode," Uncle Jack grinned. "Hasn't changed a bit," Dad laughed. "Just added more stuff," Uncle Jack commented, "Now, Amy, Matt, go look out the window." I ran over to the window and pulled up the blinds. Uncle Jack turned out the light and I gasped as I saw the white blanket that covered the yard. Snow! It was snowing! The snow looked so much better than it had in the few Muggle movies I had watched. It looked so peaceful outside with the white fluffy dots falling softly from the sky. It was as if nothing could be wrong in the world if the snow was there. "It's beautiful," I murmured. "I want to go play in it!" Matt shouted. "Maybe tomorrow," Uncle Jack told him, "It's almost dark now. And it's time for dinner." "Oh, yeah, spiedies!" Matt exclaimed and ran into the kitchen. "I'll have to cook them in the oven," Uncle Jack said as the rest of us went into the kitchen, "Since I can't barbecue in the snow." Uncle Jack had the spiedies cooked in no time. I'm pretty sure he has altered his oven with magic, but I can't say for sure. We all sat down at the table and I piled my roll high with spiedies. Then I added ketchup and mustard. I didn't care if that really wasn't how you were supposed to eat them. I liked the way they tasted with ketchup and mustard. After dinner, we went back into the living room and Uncle Jack and my parents started talking about the visit to the school the next day. I listened carefully as I played a game of Gobstones with Matt. "What do you know about this school?" Dad asked. "Not much," Uncle Jack shrugged, "Never really bothered to look into it much since I haven't got any kids. I know a few people who do have kids who go there, though. They're happy with it, although it's the only wizarding school in New York, so it's pretty much the only option besides home schooling. Just like in Australia." "Seems like it's that way everywhere," Dad said, "How about the Headmaster? Know much about him?" "Nope. Never met him. Heard he's a very understanding bloke, though. Kind of the opposite of Killigan." "That's what we're hoping for," Dad muttered. "Never thought Killigan would turn out like this, though," Uncle Jack continued, "I mean, he was tough when we were there, but it never crossed my mind that he was so prejudiced." "Never really would have, though, would it?" Mum said, "I mean, we were kind of blissfully ignorant at that school. Did either of you really think about what the teachers were like outside of school?" "Not really," Dad said. "I guess not," Uncle Jack said. I agreed with that. I hadn't really thought about any of my teachers besides how well they taught. It never once crossed my mind that any of them could be prejudiced or anything like that. They were just teachers to me, there to teach us and nothing else. "Makes me wonder what would have happened if we did know back then. If it would have changed anything," Dad sighed. "Think about it, Walt," Uncle Jack said, "Would it really have changed anything? Would you have moved years ago if you had known Killigan was so prejudiced?" Dad thought for a long time before answering. "Honestly, I don't really think we would have. Do you, Julie?" Mum sighed, "No, I don't think we would have. Because back then, it wouldn't have really mattered." "Exactly," Uncle Jack replied, "So you shouldn't be beating yourselves up over this. Nobody could have foreseen this. You've just got to deal with it as it happens." "I know, I know," Dad murmured. "It's just, I keep thinking that maybe we shouldn't have waited so long to find out if Killigan would let him in. If we had done it sooner, we could have had this all behind us...." "And it would have been just as hard then," Uncle Jack pointed out, "Maybe even harder. Could you have imagined dealing with finding a new school when you were already dealing with everything else?" "I guess not," Dad said after a few moments, "But there's plenty going on now...." "I think it's good you're doing it now. In reality, you could have even waited. Matt's got three years until school. But if you had waited until then, Amy would have been going to a new school just for her last year." I hadn't thought of that. They really could have waited. I shuddered at the thought of having to switch schools for just one year. Of course, maybe that would have been better. If I hate the new school, I'm going to have four years of it to deal with. "I suppose you're right," Dad sighed. "Now, when are you visiting the school?" Uncle Jack asked. "Tomorrow, ten o'clock," Dad replied, "We're Flooing to the nearby village and the headmaster is meeting us there." "Mind if I join you? I'm off work tomorrow." "Not at all," Dad smiled, "We'd be glad to have you. I was hoping you'd be able to direct us to a good real estate agent afterwards anyway. Got to look at houses while we're here." I groaned inwardly. Look at houses. Houses that we might live in. I just hoped that my parents wouldn't actually buy one this trip. But if they made up their minds that we were going to move to New York, chances are they would buy one this trip. "Of course," Uncle Jack said. Mum insisted that we go to bed shortly after that. Since I had slept on the plane, I wasn't the least bit tired, but I didn't want to argue over a simple issue like going to bed. It's not like I had to go to sleep anyway. Matt and I entered the bedroom we usually stayed in. Our room was also used as another storage place, so there were boxes of random stuff all over it. Among all the boxes were two ornately carved wooden beds with patchwork quilts. I set my suitcase down at the foot of the one that was closest to the window. I gazed out into the night sky and all I wanted to do was stargaze all night. The sky was totally different in the Northern Hemisphere and I rarely got to look at it. I watched the stars for a long time while Matt rifled through Uncle Jack's boxes. Eventually, the moon rose high enough to shine into the window and I had to close the blinds before it gave Matt a headache. Why my parents had scheduled this trip so close to the full moon, I had no idea. Maybe they were thinking that it would pay off in the long run if we wound up moving here. I dug a book out of my suitcase, grabbed my wand, and climbed underneath the quilt. Despite the cold outside, Uncle Jack's house was toasty warm. I settled back, lit my wand, and started to read. "Amy?" Matt whispered after a few minutes, "Are you awake?" "'Course I am," I muttered, "Slept all day on the plane." "You don't want to move, do you?" he asked so quietly I could barely hear him. "Not really," I replied, "I like my school." "But the headmaster doesn't like me." "Never said I liked the headmaster," I sighed, "I like my teachers and Olivia's there." "If we move here, I'll go to school like you do, right?" "I'm pretty sure that's the point of moving here," I rolled my eyes. Matt was silent for a few minutes and then mumbled something incoherent. "What?" I asked. "What if nobody likes me here either?" I sighed. I wasn't the person to have an emotional conversation with. Even though I had made it perfectly clear that I didn't want to move, my brother was looking to me for reassurance about it. That made a whole lot of sense. "Why wouldn't they?" I asked, hoping that maybe there was another reason besides the obvious one as to why he thought nobody would like him. "Because of what I am," Matt whispered. Nope, no other reason. "Well, we wouldn't be here if the headmaster hadn't already agreed to let you attend. And you heard Uncle Jack, the headmaster is nice." "I don't mean the headmaster," Matt's voice cracked, "I'm talking about the other kids." Oh. I definitely wasn't the one to be asking advice for on this. Most of the other girls in my year didn't like me. "Well, er, it's not like they're going to know. It's not like you'll be walking into brekkie the first day and shouting, 'Guess what? I'm a werewolf,'" I suppressed a laugh at the thought of that, "None of the other kids will have any idea you're a werewolf." "What if they guess? What if they figure out why I'm gone once a month?" "You'll have excuses, they won't find out. And if they do, I'm sure Dad will figure something out." "Are you sure?" No, I'm not sure. How could I possibly be sure? "Yeah, don't worry about it." "Ok." I sighed and went back to reading. Why was he looking to me for reassurance? It's not like I'd done anything remotely like this before. "Amy?" I sighed again and laid my book down on the bed. I guess I wouldn't be getting much reading done that night. I pointed my wand at my brother and he squinted his eyes as the light flooded him. When he opened them again, he looked scared. "What?" I asked. "Are you really that mad about moving?" he asked quietly, hardly moving. "Yes," I said after a moment. There really wasn't much point in lying to him. "The last thing I want to do is move right now, but I haven't got a say in the matter." "Oh," he replied and rolled over. My wand was now illuminating his small back. I watched him for a few minutes before picking my book up again. He didn't say anything else. I guess my blatant answer to his question made him not want to talk to me anymore. ****** I must have fallen asleep at some point during the night, because the next thing I knew, Mum was shaking me awake. I groaned and sat up, feeling very tired. I hated jet lag. Now I was going to be tired all day. I put on the bulky winter clothing I had packed and went downstairs. Uncle Jack, who was a morning person like I usually was, was reading the paper and enthusiastically eating a bowl of cereal. Mum and Dad were both looking exhausted and drinking large mugs of coffee. Matt was leaning his head on his hand and lazily eating a piece of toast. I poured myself a bowl of cereal and began to eat it. Shortly after I finished, Dad stood up and announced that it was time to leave. Suddenly, I was very nervous. We were about to visit the school that I might be spending the next four years at. What if I hated it? "We're Flooing to a place called The Mooning Dragon. It's in the village closest to the school, which is in the middle of the Adirondacks," Uncle Jack explained as we followed him to the fireplace. "I'll see you there." He threw in a handful of powder and disappeared. "You go first, Amy," Dad said. I nodded and threw in a handful of Floo powder. "The Mooning Dragon," I said clearly after I stepped in. Once the spinning stopped and I could begin breathing once more, I opened my eyes and stepped out of the fire. I was standing in a room that seemed the exact opposite of the pub we went to in New York City. This place was bright and airy and had a very homey feel to it. The tables and chairs were all wooden and looked to be hand carved. The bar itself even looked like it was hand carved. The lady behind the bar was a round woman with a large smile on her wrinkled face. Her curly white hair was half hidden underneath a knitted cap. She said hello to me as I looked around her pub. The walls were adorned with pictures of outdoorsy scenes, many of which included various animals. Most of them were so realistic that they could be mistaken for windows, had it not been the middle of winter. The customers were also vastly different from those at the pub in New York City. Here, there were parents with giggling children, older couples out for a late breakfast, little old ladies with shopping bags, men reading the paper by themselves, and a few older teenagers laughing at one of the tables. Uncle Jack was waiting for me next to the fireplace. A few seconds later, my parents and Matt stepped out of the fire and joined us. Uncle Jack gestured for us to sit at one of the nearby tables. "Welcome to The Mooning Dragon," he said as we sat down, "One of my favorite pubs." "It's a very nice place," Dad said as he looked around, "Quite rustic." "That's why I like it," Uncle Jack grinned. "Jack!" the lady behind the bar said as she strode over to the table, "How nice to see you." "You, too, Nat," Uncle Jack stood up and embraced the older lady. Then he turned to us, "This is Nat Fernski, she owns the place." "Nice to meet you," Dad stood up. "Nat, this is my brother, Walt," Uncle Jack gestured to my dad, "And his wife, Julie, and their kids Amy and Matt." Nat gave us all tight hugs. "It's really wonderful to finally meet Jack's family. Although I still say he needs to settle down and have some kids of his own." Uncle Jack blushed, "I'm happy the way things are now, Nat." "I know you are, dear," Nat smiled, "So, what brings you to New York?" "They're visiting the school," Uncle Jack told her. "Thinking of moving?" Nat asked. "We are moving," Dad told her, "Just not sure where yet." "Ah, well, the school here is excellent. I went here myself as a girl," Nat said. "Can I get you anything right now?" Dad looked at his watch, "Maybe after the visit. The headmaster is supposed to be here anytime." "All right. I'll see you in a few hours then," Nat smiled and went back to the bar. "She's nice," Mum commented after Nat was occupied behind the bar. "Oh, she's great," Uncle Jack replied, "Very motherly, though. Keeps telling me to settle down." My parents laughed along with Uncle Jack and I glanced towards the door. It had just opened and a man stepped in amongst a swirl of snow. He closed the door and looked around the pub. He was a tall man, who looked maybe ten years older than my parents. His face was lined, but his eyes were kind and he had a smile on his face. The man's hair was mostly hidden by the hood of his cloak, but I could see bits of grey sticking out underneath it. The man kept glancing around the pub and then his eyes met mine. His smile broadened and he started walking over to our table. I watched as he got closer and closer to our table. "Are you Walter Eckerton?" the man asked Dad. "Yes," Dad replied, standing up. "Hi, I'm Marvin Oliander, Headmaster of the Adirondack Academy of Magic," he said as he stuck out his hand. "Pleased to meet you," Dad shook his hand, "My brother Jack, my wife Julie, and our kids, Amy and Matt." The adults exchanged handshakes and greetings as I watched Marvin Oliander. He seemed nice enough. His smile seemed genuine and I didn't get the sense that he was particularly nervous about this. The man radiated a sense of calm and leadership. In the span of two minutes, I could tell that he was a better headmaster than Killigan. "Well," Oliander clapped his hands together, "I thought we'd start by a tour of the school and then we could talk in my office. I would show you around the grounds as well, but there's a raging snowstorm out there, so we'll skip that." Mum looked relieved about this, but I kind of wanted to wander around in the snow. I hadn't had a chance to do much with it yet. I wanted to build snowmen and go sledding and all the other snow related stuff Uncle Jack had told me about. "Sounds good," Dad replied. "Right this way," Oliander turned and led us out of the pub. Oliander was certainly right about the storm. Snow was billowing everywhere and my face froze as soon as I stepped outside. I didn't really care though since the rest of me was perfectly warm. From what I could see, the little village was beautiful under the blanket of white. "The village is called Dichtebos, which means 'dense forest' in Dutch. You can see why it got the name," Oliander shouted over the wind. I could barely make out the trees surrounding the village. It looked like the village was nestled in the middle of the bush. "Dutch wizards were the first to settle here," Oliander continued, "Long before European Muggles arrived." I followed Oliander through the village, passing a few more pubs and some shops. There were also quaint little houses and a church. It looked like a very nice place, but I didn't really want to live there or anything. Oliander explained the history of the village to my parents, but I didn't pay much attention. Mum and Dad were walking alongside Oliander and Uncle Jack and Matt were just behind them. I lagged behind, not really wanting to participate in the conversation. "The school is just up the path," Oliander said once we'd reached the outskirts of the village. He gestured to a snow covered path that went through the thick bush. The path was very short and a few minutes later, we emerged onto the grounds of the school. Oliander paused and turned to look at us. "The grounds start here. Directly behind me a couple yards is the main building, which houses the dining hall, library, my office, the nurse's office, and the other teachers offices. To the right of that is the upper level building, where all the classes for years four through seven. On the other side of the main building is the lower level building, where classes for years one through three are held. Behind the main building are the dormitories. The greenhouses are directly to my left and the Quidditch pitch is to my right. I'll start the tour with the main building." It seemed to me that we'd be doing a bit of touring the grounds since there were so many buildings. At my school, there were just two buildings. This place had four. I trudged through the foot deep snow behind my brother and soon we made it to the building. Oliander opened the door and we walked into the Entrance Hall. There was a staircase directly in front of us and a few doors that led off the large hall. "The dining hall is right this way," Oliander said as we followed him to the left. "There aren't any meals going on right now, so it will be deserted." Oliander opened the large wooden doors and stepped inside. I followed and saw that the dining hall looked much like the one at my school. It was filled with small round tables and chairs to go with them. There was a large rectangular table in the back, where the teachers probably sat. What caught my attention, though, was the way it was decorated. The ceiling was emblazoned by stars. Twinkling stars that looked incredibly real. They even formed the constellations of the Northern Hemisphere. That was one thing that I really liked. Even the tables each had a star carved into them. "The ceiling is brilliant," I said as we walked around the room. "Glad you like it," Oliander replied, "Our theme is the night sky here. Mainly because this is the best place in the state to star gaze. We are most well known for our Astronomy department." "I love Astronomy," I told him. "You should like it here, then," Oliander smiled. Maybe, I thought. So far it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but we had only seen the dining hall. After we'd finished in the dining hall, Oliander showed us the library. I was very impressed by their collection of Astronomy books and wished I could have just stayed there for a while. There were also a few students there who looked at us curiously, but didn't say anything to us. Next we moved onto the lower level classes building. It looked pretty much like any other building of classrooms I'd ever seen, not that I'd seen many. I loved the Astronomy department, though. It was much better than the one in Australia. The telescopes were state of the art, even better than the one I had at home. So that was another thing that wasn't as bad as I'd thought. The upper level building looked exactly the same as the lower level, only it was a bit bigger. The last stop of the tour was the dormitories, since no one really had any desire to see the greenhouses during the raging storm. The dorms looked pretty much like the ones at my school did, with two people per room. Oliander also showed us one of the common rooms, which was also decorated with a starry theme. I had to admit that it was a bit nicer than my common room in Australia. I was torn in my thoughts about the place as I followed Oliander back to the main building. On the one hand, I actually liked this place so far. But on the other, I still didn't want to move. I liked my school better because that's where Olivia was. I really didn't want to have to make all new friends. I wasn't even sure that I could. The headmaster led us up the stairs in the main building and down the corridor past the library. He muttered a password to a painting of a knight and it swung forward to let us in. Oliander's office was a warm cozy room with a roaring fire in the fireplace. There were comfy looking armchairs in front of it. The walls were painted a dark blue and everything else matched it. There were shelves of books and weird looking instruments all over the place. Oliander gestured for us to sit down in the chairs. I sat down in the one on the far left. Uncle Jack sat next to me and pulled Matt onto his lap. My parents sat on his other side. Oliander took the remaining chair and smiled at us. "What do you think of the school?" he asked. "It's very nice," Dad replied, "Seems like a good atmosphere." "I agree," Mum said, "I get the sense that it's a very relaxed place." "I like it," Uncle Jack commented, "Seems like a better place than where we went to school." "Good, good," Oliander said and then turned to me, "And how about you, Amy? Do you like it?" All eyes fell on me and I tried to think of a word to describe the school. "Er, well, it's nice enough. I like the star theme, but I still don't want to move." "Understandable," Oliander smiled, "Nobody wants to switch schools in the middle of their education. But I assure you that you'll fit in here." I wasn't so sure about that, but I nodded anyway. "And what about you, Matt? Did you like it?" Oliander asked. Matt yawned and shrugged, "I dunno." "We're all tired from the jet lag," Mum explained. "Ah, right. Jet lag is a killer," Oliander replied. I yawned as well. All I really wanted to do now was go to bed. I hadn't slept much the previous night and now that we weren't walking around anymore, the fatigue was hitting me. With that and the comfy chair and warm room, I was ready to drift off within a few seconds. "Well, I guess we'd better get down to the details," Oliander began, "The most obvious thing is figuring out some place for him to transform. You said he does not take Wolfsbane?" "No," Dad replied, "For some reason it does not work for him. It's got no effect whatsoever, so we stopped giving it to him." "How strange. And you've got no idea why?" "No. We've taken him to numerous Healers, but no one has figured it out." "Huh. Well then, he will obviously have to transform away from other people. I was thinking I could have another building put up. A small one to be used for this purpose. I would just have to come up with a good excuse as to why it's there.... Well, there's time to come up with excuses." "That might work," Dad rubbed his chin, "But I'd like to put up wards myself." "Of course," Oliander agreed, "That would be fine." "What about your Ministry? Do they have an opinion to this? Did they say it would be all right for my son to attend your school?" Dad asked. "Our Ministry stays out of school related matters for the most part. I did run this by them, since we've never done anything like it before, and they said it would be fine as long as precautions were taken. They even suggested that if it worked out, that we could advertise the school as a place werewolves could safely attend." That would be the complete opposite of my school, I thought. I couldn't imagine Killigan ever advertising the place as a school for werewolves. "That's an intriguing idea," Dad commented, "One I would be very supportive of." "I had a feeling you would," Oliander said, "I've heard a little bit about your opinions of werewolf control laws in Australia. I daresay I agree with you." "You're in the minority," Dad said darkly, "Things are changing down there and I cannot stop it my own." "Well, all we can do is set a good example," Oliander replied, "And having your son attend here is only the beginning." As I listened to Dad and Oliander's conversation, I became more and more convinced that we would be moving to New York. The two of them were talking about changing the way werewolves are perceived around the world, starting with this one state. I doubted there was anything that would convince my parents to move somewhere else. Even Mum seemed interested in what they were talking about. Uncle Jack looked absolutely fascinated. Matt was starting to fall asleep in Uncle Jack's lap. I turned away from their conversation and started reading the book titles on the shelf nearby. There were some potions books that looked good. After what seemed like forever, Oliander and Dad stopped talking about changing the world's opinion of werewolves. "Well," Oliander said, "We've gotten a bit off topic." "Quite all right," Dad replied, "It was an interesting idea. We'll have to talk about it again." "I shall owl you soon, then," Oliander smiled, "Now we should get back to the details of your son attending here. We were getting a bit ahead of ourselves." "A bit, yes," Dad laughed. "Well, I guess now we've got to talk about what exactly goes on during the full moon. What I'll need to know in order to fully understand." Dad glanced at Mum and then cleared his throat. "Right. I guess I should start at the beginning, then. He gets tired a few days before the full moon and then gets sick the day of. We usually give him potions for that, but he winds up spending the whole day sleeping anyway. Then he goes down to the basement shortly before the moon rises and spends the night there." Dad sighed and paused before continuing in a quieter voice. "I'm sure you know what goes on during the full moon if a werewolf is not on Wolfsbane and is shut away by himself. That's what happens with Matt. We get him from the basement as soon as the moon sets. He's always unconscious and we start with the healing spells and potions. "Is your nurse up to this? We would be able to teach her the appropriate spells if necessary." "I am sure she will be able to handle it," Oliander assured him, "She is quite skilled at healing. I'll admit that she has never treated a werewolf, but I don't think it will be a big deal." "Good to hear it," Dad replied, "We will of course go into greater detail if we decide to move here." If? I thought. If? It seemed to me that Dad had already made his decision. I guess he just didn't want to voice it yet. Either that or he had to discuss it with Mum. She had been awfully quiet. "Excellent," Oliander grinned. "Do you have any questions?" "Well, how do the other teachers feel about this?" Dad asked. "I have not told them yet. If you'd like me to get their opinions before you make your decision, I certainly will." "That would be nice," Dad replied. "I will owl them shortly, then," Oliander said, "When can I expect your decision?" "Soon. We'd like to have Amy enrolled for the upcoming year," Dad said. "We have a few more schools to visit. Within the next two months, we should know." Two months. I had two more months before I was officially going to move. Would we move right after that? Did I just have two whole months before we left Australia? Two months was nothing. Hardly any time at all. "All right," Oliander said as he stood up. "I'll be expecting your owl." "It was nice to meet you," Dad stood up and shook Oliander's hand. "You, too. I'll walk with you back to The Mooning Dragon." I followed everyone out of Oliander's office and down the stairs. It looked like lunch was about to begin because students were entering the dining hall, wrapped in layers of winter clothing. They looked happy, though. They were laughing and joking around. Would I be with them in six months? Was there a chance that some of the kids I was watching now would be my friends?
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2090 Location: Boycotting All Future Warner Brothers Films	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.
Distortia Joined: 13 January 2008 Posts: 527 Location: Over the sea	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: 2090 Location: Boycotting All Future Warner Brothers Films	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: 2090 Location: Boycotting All Future Warner Brothers Films	Posted: Sunday 5 October 2008 12 07 12 pm    Post subject: Re: Albus Potter and the Tracks They Left Behind in topic:Albus Potter and the Tracks They Left Behind Awesomey! That's a cool word, too! Thanks, Obladi. Comments, questions, and general reviews are always appreciated! Chapter 25: Explosion Potion Despite the fact that Quinton Willinson was no longer at Hogwarts, Albus still dreaded the Slug Club meeting on Saturday. His rational side told him that it wouldn't be nearly as bad with Willinson gone, but Albus still wasn't looking forward to it. Kaden, on the other hand, spent the days leading up to Saturday talking non-stop about the Slug Club meeting. Albus had already explained in detail what they involve, but that didn't stop Kaden from constantly wondering aloud about what the meeting would be like. Saturday arrived quickly and Albus was still without an excuse to not attend the meeting. Georgia had not called for Quidditch practice that day, mainly due to the fact that the Ravenclaws booked the pitch all morning and the Slytherins had it all afternoon. The two houses were scheduled to play each other the following Saturday. "It's time for the Slug Club meeting, Albus!" Kaden shouted excitedly a few minutes before eleven. Albus sighed and got up out of his chair in the common room. "See you lot in a little while," he said to John and Amanda. "Have loads of fun!" John laughed. "See you later," Amanda grinned. Albus, Kaden, and Rose, who had also decided to go, set off for the dungeons. Albus hoped he would only have to stay for a little while, maybe an hour at most. Just long enough for Kaden to see what the meetings were like. The meeting was held in the Potions classroom and a few students were milling about when Albus, Rose, and Kaden walked into the room. Albus recognized most of them from last year's meetings. A few of his cousins were there as well, but not all of them. James wasn't there, but Albus knew he had dueling practice that day. Albus was also happy to note that Felix Willinson was not there. Of course, after what happened with Quinton and his father, Albus guessed he shouldn't be surprised that Quinton's cousin wouldn't be invited to the Slug Club. There was a table full of food along one of the side walls and most everyone was crowding around it trying to get some lunch. Slughorn had a plate of food in front of him and was sitting at a large table in the front of the room. Albus led Rose and Kaden over to the table and picked up a plate. "What is this stuff?" Kaden pointed to a platter of some sort of meat. "Pheasant," Albus replied. Slughorn always served pheasant at his meetings. Albus tried it last year and hated it. Kaden shrugged and piled the pheasant onto his plate. Once Albus and his cousins had gotten enough food, they sat down at the table across from Slughorn. Shortly after, everyone else had sat down at the table as well. "Good to see you all again!" Slughorn greeted them and then turned to Albus. "And Albus and Rose! I'm very happy that you two decided to come! Haven't had you come in quite a while now. How have classes been going?" "Good," Albus replied. "Excellent, excellent," Slughorn nodded, "We also have someone new here today. This is Kaden Dursley," Slughorn gestured to Kaden. "He's Albus's cousin and is turning out to be quite the Potions brewer! Lily's genes must be coming out in you!" Kaden grinned, "Potions is fun. Loads better than Transfiguration." Slughorn laughed, "Don't let Professor McGonagall hear you say that. But I daresay I agree with you." Kaden laughed as well and then took a large bite of pheasant. Albus watched him as he did so, wondering if he'd like it. Kaden chewed for a few moments before a big smile appeared on his face. "This stuff is excellent!" "I'm glad you like it!" Slughorn said. Albus chuckled to himself. Of course Kaden liked the pheasant. If there was one thing Albus had learned about his cousin over the past six months, it was that he'd eat pretty much anything. This was obviously something he had inherited from his father. Slughorn soon launched into a lengthy explanation of what he did over his holiday and who he had spent time with. ("Barry Ryan used to play for Ireland, you know.") Albus found the whole thing rather boring but he noticed that Kaden seemed to hang on Slughorn's every word. Rose seemed to be paying attention as well, but probably only out of courtesy. Albus let his mind wander as Slughorn continued talking about his dinner with Barry Ryan. Matt was supposed to return to Hogwarts the next day, which meant that in as little as twenty-four hours, they could be having the map working. Well, if they could sneak away to the Room of Requirement, that is. Albus hoped Rose would have that charm working soon. Then they could just do all of this with Kaden. It would make it a whole lot easier. Of course, Matt still hadn't said that he agreed to tell Kaden even with the charm. Albus kept forgetting about that part. But why wouldn't he agree? The charm seemed like it would work well. Albus, Kaden, and Rose wound up staying until the end of the meeting. Kaden was enthralled by the entire thing and Albus knew he would refuse to leave early. Albus was incredibly bored by the time the thing was over and Rose looked as bored as Albus felt. Once the meeting was finally over, the three of them said goodbye to Slughorn and left the dungeons. "That was so cool," Kaden grinned. "Boring's more like it," Albus replied. "How can you think it was boring?" Kaden stared at Albus, "Slughorn knows so many famous people." "Trust me, it gets old after a while," Albus said. "Well, are you two going to the next one?" Albus looked at Rose. She didn't look like she wanted to go to the next one either. "Er, well, I might have Quidditch practice." "And I'll probably have too much homework," Rose explained. "I'd go even if I did have too much homework," Kaden told them. "That really isn't a good idea," Rose warned him. "You'll get behind." Albus laughed as Rose launched into a discussion about how important time management is and how homework should always come first. The three of them were nearly to the common room by the time Rose finished, and Kaden was wearing a blank look on his face much like the one Albus had worn during the Slug Club meeting. ****** "Got any idea what time he's coming back?" John asked shortly after lunch the next day in the common room. "No idea," Albus shrugged. Albus, John, Kaden, Rose, and Amanda were all sitting around their usual table in the common room. Rose and Kaden were playing chess and it was apparent that Rose was going easy on Kaden. The two of them had been playing the same game for fifteen minutes. If Rose wanted to, she probably could have beat Kaden in five minutes. John and Amanda were both working on the Transfiguration essay that was due the next day. Albus had already finished that particular essay and was watching Rose and Kaden's chess match. "Queen to D3," Kaden said. The queen gave Kaden a menacing glare and then reluctantly moved to the square. "Bishop to D3." Rose's bishop smashed Kaden's queen to pieces. "Checkmate," Rose grinned. "Crap," Kaden muttered as his king dropped its sword in defeat. "You're getting a bit better," Rose said as she repaired all the pieces with a wave of her wand. "Do you have Quidditch practice today, Albus?" John asked. "Yeah. Georgia managed to reserve the pitch for an hour after dinner. The Hufflepuffs weren't too happy, but Georgia got it first." "I hope Matt gets back before you leave," Amanda said. "Me, too," Albus agreed. "But Amy didn't say when he'd be coming back." "He's going to have a load of homework to make up," Kaden announced. "That sounds like something you'd say, Rose," John laughed. "How's your essay coming, John?" Rose smirked. "Yeah, yeah. I've got the first paragraph done," John grumbled. "I've only got one more to go," Amanda said. "Want to play again, Rose?" Kaden asked. Rose shrugged. "Sure, why not." Rose and Kaden set up their pieces and started to play again. Albus watched them. It was pretty funny to watch the two of them play chess. Kaden would sit there forever figuring out what move to make and once he made it, Rose would smile and move one of her own pieces within seconds. Rose's moves usually involved killing one of Kaden's pieces. The portrait hole to the common room opened a few minutes later and Albus looked up. Matt was just climbing through and headed straight for Albus's table once he noticed them. "Hey, Matt!" Albus grinned, "Welcome back!" "Hi Albus," Matt grinned back. He looked tired, but happy. There was still a yellowish bruise on his forehead, but other than that he looked fine. John, Rose, Amanda, and Kaden all looked up from what they were doing and greeted Matt as well. Matt grabbed a chair from a nearby table and sat down next to Albus. "How are you?" Albus asked. "All right," Matt shrugged. "Er, Kaden," Albus began, "You know how you said Matt's got a lot of homework to make up?" "Uh-huh," Kaden nodded as Rose declared checkmate once again, "Crap!" "Well, it would probably be a good idea for him to go see all the teachers now about it. So, we'll all go with him to do that, since we're in his classes. We'll help. You can stay here since you'd probably be bored." "Ok, I've got my own homework to start on anyway." "Good," Albus replied, "John? Amanda, Rose? You can come with us." "Sure, anything to put off finishing this essay," John closed his book and stood up. Once they were out of the common room and into the corridor, Matt turned around and looked at Albus. "You're not really making me go collect all my homework are you?" Albus laughed, "No. Just had to think of an excuse for Kaden to stay there while we went to the Room." "Good," John said, "I don't really want to go collect your homework with you." "You won't have to. I've already gotten it. They owled it to me over the holiday. I've already finished it all," Matt explained. "You're farther along than John, then," Rose laughed. "Shut it, Rose," John said. The five friends continued their walk to the Room of Requirement, which manifested itself in its usual form for them. They walked into the Room and settled onto the usual scarlet and gold furniture. "So," Albus began, "What happened with this new potion?" "Well, it didn't work the way it was supposed to, but Amy already told you that," Matt said. "Did it help at all?" Rose asked. "Nope." "And you'll still have to keep taking it?" John asked. "Yeah, that's what stinks," Matt sighed. "It didn't work the way it was supposed to, but it did other stuff." "I thought it wasn't going to have any bad effects," Albus said. "They weren't really dangerous side effects. It just made me really tired." "But you're always tired before the full moon," John pointed out. "I know, but the potion made it worse. Usually I can at least go to morning classes on the day of the full moon but with the new potion I'll just sleep right through them. It makes me tired as soon as I start taking it, which is a week before the full moon, just like the regular Wolfsbane was." "So you'll be tired for an entire week?" Amanda asked. "Dunno," Matt shrugged, "The Healers are trying to find a potion to counteract the fatigue, but I doubt they'll have one in time for next month." "I don't get why you have to keep taking it if it doesn't even work," John shook his head. "Because they have to make sure it wasn't just a fluke or something. That's the thing about these studies, they have to do multiple trials to analyze the effects and stuff." "There's a chance it might work next month?" Amanda asked confusedly. "I suppose, but I doubt it." "You don't seem that upset or anything," Rose commented. "I honestly didn't think it was going to work. My parents told me not to get my hopes up about any of these experimental potions. Plus, this was only the first one I've tried. They'll come up with others." "I just hope one of them actually works," John replied. "Me, too," Matt agreed, "You've got no idea how much I wish that. "Let's not talk about it anymore now, though. You've got to tell me if you got the stag print! It's been driving me mad for weeks now." "Oh, yeah!" Albus grinned. He had almost forgotten about that. Almost being the key word. The new map was always on Albus's mind now. "We got it. Rose and I did." "Brilliant!" Matt exclaimed. "And I've got the transference charm all worked out," Rose told him. "John's just got to get the rat print," Albus said. "I'm working on it!" John replied, "It's harder than you'd think to spot a rat during Potions." "Well, we've got Double Potions tomorrow, so try then. Slughorn'll be having us brew the whole class probably, so just keep your eye out," Albus told him. "I will. I'll pay more attention to potential rats than to my potion," John grinned. "I wouldn't suggest that," Rose smirked. "It'll explode or something, since you've got Goyle as a partner." "Eh, I'll take one failing grade if I can get the rat print," John shrugged. "Well, try to get the rat without destroying your potion," Rose sighed. "Just think, this time tomorrow, we may have the map working," Matt commented, "That would be awesome." "We'll have to get away from Kaden first," Amanda pointed out. "And I'm not entirely sure the map will work after we do this," Albus said, "It almost seems too simple." Albus had been thinking this for a few days now. They had had an incredibly easy time getting the prints. Almost too easy a time. Dogs, stags, and rats were quite common and anyone who could cast a simple Petrificus Totalus charm could get those prints. The only one that would be difficult for the average wizard to get was the werewolf print. Even so, Albus didn't think the Marauders would make it this easy to access the map. "I've been thinking the same thing," Rose agreed. John groaned, "That would suck." "We'll get it eventually," Albus assured him. "Plus, the map said we had to be like the Marauders. We haven't done anything that only the Marauders could have done so far. We got a bunch of paw prints. Anyone can do that." "Not anyone could get a werewolf print," John pointed out. "I know. But it's not something only the Marauders could have done," Albus told him. "Speaking of the Marauders," John turned to Rose, "How's the Sileo Altus charm coming?" "The what?" Matt asked. "Oh, yeah, we've got to tell you about that," John said. "Want to explain it, Rose?" "Sure," Rose shrugged, "It's a charm I found in a book at my house. It's a way to make sure someone keeps something a secret. Kind of like the Fidelius Charm, only it's for verbal secrets, not places. Whomever performs the charm is the Secret Keeper and only that person can undo the charm. After the charm is performed, the person can't talk about the secret with anyone except the Secret Keeper and anyone else who was involved in the charm performing. It's a way to keep Kaden from telling anyone that you're a werewolf." Albus held his breath as Rose explained and hoped that Matt would think it was a good idea. Albus watched as Matt thought about what Rose had said. Albus couldn't really tell what he thought. Matt looked a bit surprised, almost like he didn't think Rose would have ever found a charm to do that. "Well, what do you think?" Albus asked after a few moments silence. "I'm not sure," Matt said quietly, "Will it really work?" "I'm pretty sure it will," Rose said, "The only thing that will overcome it is Veritaserum." "And what if Kaden drinks Veritaserum?" Matt asked. "When would he drink that?" John raised his eyebrows. "I don't know," Matt sighed, "But he could." "I really don't think he would." "What if he did? What if he spewed all about me in the middle of the Great Hall or something?" "I doubt he's ever going to drink any Veritaserum," Rose said. "Is there even any of that in the castle?" Amanda asked. "There's some in Slughorn's private Potions cupboard, but that's it," Albus answered, "But that's locked anyway." "See? Hardly any chance of Kaden drinking any," John said. "Yeah, but still... I don't know..." Matt groaned, "I just don't really want to tell him." "I know. Just think about it, ok?" Albus gave Matt a half smile. "All right," Matt sighed, "We don't need Kaden yet, do we?" "No," Albus replied, "I'm not sure when we'll need him. The map just said we had to be like the Marauders, which means we'll need someone to be Wormtail at some point." "And I want to test that charm out before we use it on Kaden," Matt said. "We will," Rose assured him, "I've got to practice it anyway." "So, anyone got any secrets we can practice with?" John grinned mischievously. ****** "Settle down, settle down," Slughorn barked at his class. Albus turned around in his seat. He had been talking to John, who was sitting behind him next to Goyle. Albus was sitting next to Limbert and Matt was looking thoroughly miserable next to Maloy in the next row over at the front. Slughorn was still plowing forward with his inter-house partners in class, but Albus didn't think it was helping to decrease the hostility between Gryffindor and Slytherin. So far, the best that had happened was silent loathing during practical lessons and jinxing and hexing at worst. Based on the little duel between Ethan and Garth Octavius the previous week, it was only a matter of time before things really got out of hand. "Thank you," Slughorn said once everyone was paying attention, "Today you'll be brewing the Confusion Potion I taught you about on Friday. He waved his wand at the blackboard, "Directions are on the board. You have the entire class." "Light the fire," Limbert grunted as he got up from his chair. Albus nodded and pulled out his wand. Albus and Limbert had come to an unspoken agreement with brewing potions. Limbert would collect ingredients while Albus lit the fire and unpacked all the various scales and knives. Then, Albus would prepare the ingredients while Limbert added them and stirred the cauldron. Albus was fine with this since Limbert was a better Potions brewer than he was. Limbert returned with the ingredients and Albus started chopping them. He never said anything to Limbert while they worked and Limbert never said anything to Albus besides the occasional 'pass the asphodel' or something of the like. Albus listened to everyone else in the class as he chopped up ingredients. He thought it was especially amusing to listen to John and Goyle. "No, that's not clockwise," John groaned, "You're stirring counter-clockwise." "Oh." "Stir it the other way!" John shouted. Albus stifled a laugh and glanced to his left, where Rose and Leigh Montague were having a similar conversation. "They've got to be chopped finer than that. It says minced, not diced," Rose instructed. "They look fine to me," Leigh snapped. "No, they won't work like that. Let me do it," Rose grabbed a knife and started mincing the shrivelfig. "Fine. You do the whole thing if you're so smart," Leigh huffed. "You can stir the cauldron. Clockwise," Rose replied. Albus wasn't close enough to either Amanda or Matt to hear what was going on at their tables. It looked like Amanda and Dalila Avish were working much the same way Albus and Limbert were, since neither of their mouths were moving. Malfoy appeared to be yelling at Matt for something, but Albus couldn't quite make out what it was. Matt got up from the table with a bowl full of something and then emptied it in the bin. When he returned to his table, he started carefully chopping something up. Albus was guessing it was more of whatever he had thrown away. Albus continued mincing his shrivelfig and listened mostly to John and Goyle. Limbert kept smirking every so often, which gave Albus the impression he was listening to John and Goyle, too. "Keep stirring CLOCKWISE for another minute," John said slowly and clearly, "Then switch to COUNTERCLOCKWISE. I've got to go get something. Don't do anything besides the stirring." Goyle grunted and Albus heard John get up. Albus felt a prod in his side and looked up to see John standing next to him. "What?" Albus whispered. John pointed to a corner of the room, near the cupboard of ingredients. There was a large rat sitting there. Albus shuddered and looked back at John. "I'll be back," John winked at him. Albus tried to concentrate on his shrivelfig, but he couldn't stop glancing up at John. He was almost to the cupboard now, and the rat still hadn't moved. Albus watched as John pointed his wand at the rat, but he couldn't hear what spell John was using due to the noise in the room. Luckily everyone was concentrating on their potions and not paying an ounce of attention to John. Albus grimaced as John picked up the rat and shoved it inside his robes. Albus was incredibly happy that John was willing to do the rat print. The thought of putting a rat in his robes creeped Albus out. John went into the cupboard for a few moments and came back out carrying a jar of something. Probably a cover story, Albus thought. "Got it," John whispered to Albus on his way back to his desk. "Excellent," Albus said. Suddenly there was a loud explosion from somewhere behind Albus and he felt a hot liquid land on his head and drip down the back of his robes. "Ouch!" he and Limbert shouted at the same time. "Boody Hell!" John exclaimed as the orange potion landed on the front of his robes. Pandemonium erupted in the classroom. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to stare at the exploded potion. Albus turned around and saw that the explosion had come from John and Goyle's cauldron. Goyle was wearing a stupefied expression on his face and was staring into space while holding his ladle in the air. His face was covered with potion as well as his robes. His hair was singed and there was a small fire on his table. Albus could feel the potion burning down his back and it hurt like hell. It felt like his skin was on fire. He got up from his chair and felt his back. His robes were burnt straight through. John's and Limbert's were as well. "What did you do?" Slughorn asked as he strode to John and Goyle's table. "Uh...," Goyle stared up at the ceiling. "You must've gotten potion in your mouth," Slughorn shook his head. "Hospital Wing. Who else got hit?" "I did," Albus, John, Limbert, as well as Karina and Celeste Yeardly (who had been sitting behind John and Goyle) said at the same time. "Hospital Wing, all of you," Slughorn replied, "If one of you could please make sure Mr. Goyle arrives there, that would be appreciated." Limbert immediately dragged Goyle out of the room with Celeste following. Albus and John walked a little ways behind them and Karina behind them. "Idiot," John muttered as they climbed the stairs out of the dungeons. "What did he do?" Albus asked. "Not a clue," John shrugged, "Not what I told him to do." "I heard you talking to him. It seemed pretty straightforward." "Well, he's dumber than a troll," John groaned, "Merlin this stuff burns." "At least we didn't eat any of it," Albus pointed to Goyle, who was stumbling down the corridor like he was drunk. "True," John laughed and then lowered his voice, "Hey, it was worth it since I got the rat." "That thing's not still in your robes, is it?" Albus glanced warily at John. "Er, yeah, haven't had a chance to take it out." "I just hope it stays stunned." "It should," John said as they followed Goyle and Limbert into the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey was already busy taking care of a girl who had gotten bitten by something in Care of Magical Creatures and told them they would have to wait. Once she had finished healing the girl, she moved on to Goyle, since he wasn't able to sit still and was wandering around the room tripping over things. She took care of Limbert, Celeste, and Karina, and then moved on to the bed Albus and John were sitting on. "You lot again?" she sighed, "I'm surprised it's only the two of you." "Well, Matt, Rose, and Amanda were all too far away to be hit by the potion," Albus explained. "I swear the lot of you are exactly like your grandfather and his friends," Madam Pomfrey shook her head as she handed Albus a potion. John, who had just started drinking his own potion, choked and coughed the potion up onto the bed. He turned and grinned at Albus, who grinned back. Well, Albus thought, that was the general idea of the map. Madam Pomfrey sighed and with a wave of her wand the potion was cleaned up. "Drink the rest of it," she instructed them. Madam Pomfrey applied some sort of salve to their burns and a few minutes later they were allowed to leave. The nurse told them to go directly to their dormitory to get new robes and that she didn't want to see them in the Hospital Wing for the next few weeks. "Fat chance that'll happen," John smirked as they started back to Gryffindor Tower. "Yeah," Albus agreed. It seemed like one of them was always winding up in the Hospital Wing. Albus himself had already been there twice since returning to school after the Christmas holiday. "Next Quidditch match is what, in three weeks?" John asked. "Just about," Albus said. "Then you might be back there soon," John joked. "Shut it," Albus replied, &qu