Harry Potter Party Supplies

Harry Potter Deluxe Party Kit The Harry Potter Deluxe Party Kit includes: (8) 9" Dinner Plates, (8) 7" Dessert Plates, (8) 9 oz. Paper Cups, (16) Lunch Napkins, (8) Invitations with envelopes, (24) Piece Black Cutlery Set*- (8) Forks (8) Spoons (8) Knives, (24) Black Cake Candles*, (1) Plastic Tablecover, (18) 12" Latex Balloons*- 6 each: Radiant Gold, Pitch Black and Bright Orange, (1) 18" Harry Potter Foil Balloon with balloon cup* and stick*, (3) 81' Crepe Streamers* - 1 each; Goldenrod, Orange and Black, (3) 50' Curling Ribbon* - 1 each; Orange, Green and Black . These products are officially licensed by TM/MC Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Harry Potter Publishing Rights JKR. * Please Note: These items (*) are not officially licensed. $29.99

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Ms. Elsewhere Joined: 13 January 2008 Posts: 878 Location: In role play game of course!	Posted: Tuesday 15 December 2009 11 06 55 pm    Post subject: Re: The Shadow in topic:The Shadow Jonathan Deis woke up with a start and looked at the clock on his bedside table. 630am. He groaned. He didn't have to get up for hours. He was so tired of waking up at the same time every morning. But this time, it wasn't just his mind that was knocking him out of his dreams. He noticed someone standing at the door. "Happy Birthday son." a tall, grey haired but very fit looking man in a business suit and tie said to him from his bedroom door. Jon sat up. His father was holding two packages. "Hey dad. Thanks." he said with a croak. He had not used his voice yet and the room was so dry. He dad entered the room. "I come bearing gifts!" he said jokingly. His father didn't joke usually, but it was nice that he was trying. He layed one on Jon's lap. "This one first." he said quietly. Jon opened it obidently. It was a long box, and inside it was a long, black jacket that buttoned to the neck, and probably hung right to the floor. Jon smiled. "it's perfect. I like this sort of thing. Oh ya, it's Guess too. Cool." Jon was a big fan of designer clothing. "And now.. this one." he said, and handed the other package to him. Jon opened it too, a smaller box, and heavier. "It's from your mom. She.. wanted you to have it on your 16th birthday." Jon paused when he heard this, looking at his father. His dad did not take his eyes off the box. Jon continued to open the box, and within it were assortments of keepsakes. A ring, diamond and ruby and safire; some shells, a little tube of perfume, a few oregami swans and other treasures. A little card was inside, addressed to 'my son, Jonathan'. Jon lifted it up, and opened it up. He read it. "What did she say?" his father asked Jon. Jon paused for a moment. He felt his eyes welling up, and then he said. "It says; these are for you, my dearest. Always remember me." Jon closed the box with the card inside. He looked up at his father. "I think I'll get dressed. Are you going to work?" His father searched Jon's face for a long moment. "your mother did love you very much. I'm sorry you couldnt' know her. I'll leave now, and see you tonight for your birthday party." he leaned in and kissed his son on the head. "have a good day at school." And he left the room. Jon waited until he was sure his father was gone, then he fumbled and opened the box again. He pulled out the card and stared at it. It didn't say what he had told his father, it said; "Keep what you have a secret, or he will destroy you." Jon's breathing was fast, and the bedside table started to shake. "No." he said to it, and it stopped. He kept breathing heavily, frightened, and reached out to the bathroom. The taps within turned and steam from the hot water in the shower billowed out the door. He brought his hand down and sighed. "Right." his mother was speaking of his father, a general for the organisation called THE LIGHT. And sure as he was 16 today, he would be killed if his father knew that his bloodline now had super human dirt in it. Jon realised that his mother was probably super human too, but he hoped that her death was a tragic accident. He hoped with all his heart. He jumped out of bed, hid the box, and got ready for school.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2495 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Tuesday 15 December 2009 05 19 28 pm    Post subject: Bringing the Magic Back in topic:Bringing the Magic Back This was the first story I wrote for Fiction Workshop this semester. Thought I'd post it here! Let me know what you think. My dad named me after his favorite flower, the iris. Everyone I know was named by their mother, except me. My cousin, Alex, told me that his father wanted to name him Timothy but my aunt wanted Alexander and my aunt shouted “oh, the pain!” and my uncle gave in. That's the way it works in most families, but not mine. My mother did not care what I was named and did not even care that I was a girl. She wanted nothing to do with me, and when I was two she finally up and left, leaving Dad and me to fend for ourselves. The day my mother left was the day all the magic left Dad's life. He loved her, despite her faults, something I was never capable of doing. She did not take the magic out of my life, but instead left me with a father who I knew loved me, yet was distanced. How do I know he loved me? My name, Iris. He put thought into that name, something my mother never did. ****** I was only fifteen when the magic left me, ten years younger than Dad had been when the same happened to him. I was only fifteen when my father committed suicide. My Aunt Helen told me that the depression is what did it; that he just could not take being sad all the time anymore. Before he died I could never have imagined being sad all the time. Now, I don't know anything else. Aunt Helen and Uncle Tom told me not to blame Dad, not to be angry with him. They needn't have worried. Never once did it cross my mind to be angry with Dad. In my mind, it was my mother who did it. It was my mother who held that gun to Dad's head rather than Dad holding it to his own head. Life at Aunt Helen and Uncle Tom's couldn't have been more different than life with Dad. Uncle Tom was a lawyer and made more money in a month than Dad had made in a year at his job at the mechanic's. People whispered that I would be better off at my aunt and uncle's than I was with Dad. They were wrong. No house is big enough to replace the love of your father. Dad and I had lived close to my aunt and uncle's. We lived in the same town, Agloe, New York, and the same school district. Agloe is the sort of place where everyone knows everyone and you can't so much as get your ears pierced without half the town knowing about it. However, my aunt and uncle lived in the outskirts, where all the McMansions were. Dad and I lived near the center, in a house he had been able to afford. “Iris, long time, no see!” someone shouted. I looked up from the leather couch where I was playing Tetris on my iPod. Alex's best friend, Scott, towered over me, him being six feet tall and me only being about five feet five, and his sandy brown hair was mussed the way a surfer's would be. I didn't really understand why boys did that. The nearest body of water was a tiny lake a few miles away, hardly big enough to sail a canoe on, let alone surf. “You dyed your hair black and cut it,” Scott commented. “I liked it when it was long and blonde.” “My mother had blonde hair,” I muttered, switching the position of a tall Tetris piece so I was able to clear five rows at once. “I don't want to look like her.” “Right.” Scott shifted uneasily from foot to foot. “Well, Alex and I are going to play Rock Band downstairs. You can play, if you want. I'll even let you play the drums.” I ignored him. He was only offering me the drums because my dad had killed himself a few weeks ago. Usually Scott held the drum sticks above his head and said 'you can't reach them' in a singsong voice. That was not the kind of sympathy I wanted. Scott and I had known each other as long as I could remember. He and Alex had been in Kindergarten together, a year before I was old enough to go, and had spent their days teasing me ever since. ****** “Why do I have to be the prisoner?” I whined as I sat on the grass in the jungle gym in Alex's backyard. “Because you're six and we're seven,” Alex answered. He waved his green light saber at me. “Now, sit there and watch as I defeat Darth Vader!” “I want to play Barbies!” I shouted, crossing my arms over my chest. “Barbies are for babies,” Scott said. He smacked Alex with his red light saber. Long since accustomed to having to sit through Alex and Scott's light saber fights, I pulled my brand new Malibu Barbie out of my coat and set her on the ground in front of me. I smiled and looked at her perfect long blonde hair. Fingering my own hair, I wondered how long it would take me to grow it down to my waist. ****** Aunt Helen dragged me to a psychiatrist three weeks after Dad killed himself. The school had called and suggested it, since I had missed more days than I had attended. Aunt Helen had been shocked, claiming she saw me leave each and every day. Little did she know that I hid in the garage until she and Uncle Tom left for work, only to sneak back inside and spend the day watching bad daytime television. Aunt Helen's discomfort of being in a psychiatrist's office was obvious as she sat there fidgeting with a health magazine, glancing up at the other patients with a wrinkled nose every so often. Looking very out of place in her Gucci high heels and newly dyed red hair, she seemed relieved when a nurse came and got us for my appointment. The psychiatrist was a slightly overweight old man with glasses perched on his bald head. He was exactly as I imagined he would be. Poised with a clipboard in hand, he gestured for me to sit down on a comfortable-looking armchair. I did not talk at all during that session. Aunt Helen did all the talking, explaining the 'issues' from her perspective while Dr. Baldy scribbled it all down. No diagnosis was made during that session. It took Dr. Baldy a few weeks to diagnose me with Major Depressive Disorder. Apparently that cannot be diagnosed until the person has been depressed for at least two weeks. I left the office that day with a bottle of green pills I did not want to take, but had to, since I was only fifteen and under my aunt and uncle's roof. ****** “Why are you over here all the time?” Scott asked, not taking his eyes off the television screen. He was in the process of beating Alex at the newest Mario Kart, which Alex had received for his ninth birthday the week before. “Because my dad's sick,” I replied as I played Mario Kart on Alex's old Game Boy. I wished one of them would let me play the new game. Alex's old Game Boy wasn't nearly as fun. “What's he got?” Scott asked just as he crossed the finish line. “Yes, you lose!” “Depression,” I said quietly. “Can I please play?” “You mean he's just sad?” Scott asked as he reluctantly handed me the controller. “No, it's like his mind is sick and he can't be happy,” I answered as I took the controller from him, tossing the Game Boy carelessly onto the floor. ****** “Have you thought at all about going to college?” Dr. Baldy (I never got out of the habit of calling him that) asked one day when I was seventeen and a senior in high school, the time when all of my classmates were applying to college. They'd spent the past two years counting down the days until they could leave their parents and go away to college. I'd spent the last two years shut in my room playing video games, only leaving when Aunt Helen forced me to go to school, and going to Dr. Baldy's every week. “No,” I replied. The idea of college terrified me. High school was bad enough. Four more years of it? Never in a million years. Dad got along fine without college and I could as well. “How about community college?” Dr. Baldy suggested. “I'm not going to college,” I said, slightly louder. “I don't have to.” “That is true,” Dr. Baldy nodded, “but I wish you would consider it. You're quite smart; you could go far.” “I'm not going to college! I'm just not, ok?” “All right,” Dr. Baldy said quietly, “I think our time is up for today.” I stormed out of the building, squinting at the light. Nobody was there to pick me up. I looked around, trying to figure out what to do. The world seemed huge. Never before had I appreciated just how big the world was, or how many people were in it. People bustled past me, hurrying on their way, completely ignoring me. There were so many of them and their voices seemed to get louder and louder. Someone jostled me from the side, hitting me with her large bag of groceries. I shrank back and leaned against the building. My head was swimming. My heart was hammering. My hands were tingling. I bent over to steady myself. The dizziness lessened slightly, but it was still there. What was happening? What was wrong with me? Maybe I was crazy; maybe Aunt Helen was right. I couldn't think straight. My mind was filled with so many thoughts that I couldn't make any of them out. “Iris!” I heard a car in front of me. Looking up, I recognized Scott's red SUV. It seemed far away, blocked by the crowd of of people who seemed to all be morphed together. Trying not to think too hard, I ran for it, jumped in the passenger seat, and tried to steady my breathing. I felt like I was going to be sick. “Iris, are you ok?” Scott asked. “Sorry your aunt wasn't here to get you. She got held up in traffic and called me to get you.” He actually looked worried. I must have looked bad. “I think- I don't know.” I swallowed, forcing the tears not to leak out of my eyes. ****** The door to the stairway slammed behind me, echoing in the strange emptiness. Why was the stairwell empty? Why weren't any other students using it? I shrugged and smiled to myself as I ran up the stairs, excited that I had discovered a secret stairway in the high school as a freshman. I glanced at my watch as I reached the top. Two minutes until the bell rang. I was going to be on time for the first time that day. I leaned against the door and pushed. It didn't budge. One, two, three more times I tried to push the door open. Panic came over me as I realized that there was a reason nobody else used this set of stairs. Who locks an entire set of doors? Why would the school do that? Not sure of what else to do, I banged on the doors. My heart started racing and it felt like someone turned up the heat to ninety degrees. I tried to catch my breath, but it was no use. I was going to be late again. What if I couldn't get out? What if I was stuck in there forever? “Whoa, stop banging!” someone said as they pushed open the door. Scott was standing there, looking bemused. His head was cocked to the side and he was grinning. It made me want to punch him. He knew about this stupid staircase. “Found the Freshman staircase, did you?” Scott smirked. “Freshman staircase?” “Every year a bunch of Freshmen get stuck in here,” Scott said as I walked into the corridor. “And you didn't tell me?” “No, that would've ruined the fun.” I pushed past him without saying another word and stalked off to Global History, which I was now a good ten minutes late for. ****** Panic attack. That was what Dr. Baldy called what had happened after I left his office that day. Another disorder to add to my list. It wasn't just that one, either. They happened frequently after that. Twice in school, once at the grocery store, once in the car. Aunt Helen demanded that Dr. Baldy give me more medication, which he did. It made me tired all the time. I skipped more school. Aunt Helen yelled at me. Alex, who had left for college that fall, called me less. Alex was everything Aunt Helen could have wanted in a son. Star student, captain of the football team, acceptance letter to Notre Dame. In other words, he was normal. Aunt Helen had thrown him a huge graduation party the previous year. She got him a green SUV, just like Scott's. Aunt Helen didn't offer to throw me a graduation party and I didn't care. I didn't want one. She did show up to graduation, though, as did Alex and Scott. The only reason I showed up was because I knew it would make my dad proud. It scared me to go and I nearly had another panic attack, but I had to do it. I had to make Dad proud. My eighteenth birthday was a few weeks after graduation. I woke up bright and early, something I hadn't done in years. My first act of celebration was flushing every single pill down the toilet. I was eighteen. Aunt Helen couldn't force me to take anymore medication. Aunt Helen made me pancakes, something that rarely happened. She set them in front of me along with a large manilla envelope. Her face was hardened and it almost looked like she'd been crying. I'd never seen her cry. Not even when Dad died, and he had been her brother. “Your father's will,” she said quietly as she pushed the envelope closer to me. I choked on my juice. No one had ever mentioned my dad's will and I had always assumed he didn't have one. “He left me a note, telling me to give this to you on your eighteenth birthday,” Aunt Helen said quietly. I nearly knocked over my chair in my haste to get out of the kitchen. Grabbing the envelope, I ran back upstairs, shutting myself in my room. My hands were shaking as I ripped open the envelope. Why did he want me to be eighteen to open it? Why had he made me wait three years? I pulled a stack of papers out of the envelope. Most were official looking documents, but on the very top was a wrinkled sheet of notebook paper. The writing on it was slanted and messy; I recognized it instantly. Dad's handwriting. [i]My little Iris flower, By the time you read this you'll be eighteen, an adult, a young woman, a high school graduate. I am sorry that I did not get to see you graduate, or learn to drive, or go to Prom. I know it's difficult for you to understand, but I could not go on. Life was suffocating. All the magic was gone. I used to see the magic everywhere. In the wind, the flowers, the rain, the sun, the snow. Life was amazing, like magic. Not anymore. You have to understand that it wasn't you. You were the small bit of magic left. Try not to be sad, try not to let the magic leave you. I've left you everything. The house, the car, everything. I love you, Iris. Even though I'm physically gone, I'm still there, all around you. Love, Dad[/i] Tears were leaking out of my eyes onto the paper. It was too late, Dad, too late to tell me not to let the magic leave me. It's gone. It left the day you put that gun to your head. I didn't bother looking at the will. I knew what it said. Everything was mine. I didn't have to stay at my aunt and uncle's house anymore. Alex drove me to the house on his way to work. I hadn't talked to Aunt Helen since reading the letter, but I had a feeling she already knew what the will had contained. It didn't look like anyone had even stepped onto the property since Dad died. I hadn't been there since he died. I'd been too scared of what I would find, too scared of what it would do to me. The lawn was overgrown and covered in weeds. Patches of dirt and dead grass intermingled with the weeds. I peeked in the garage and saw that Dad's old Ford pick-up was still there. The inside of the house looked exactly the same, with the exception of a very large layer of dust covering everything. Dad's Carhartt jacket was slung over the coat rack and my old purple umbrella was still lying on the floor, half open. I walked slowly into the kitchen, my heart pounding fast in my chest. A pile of dirty dishes lay in the sink, as if they were waiting for Dad or me to come wash them. The small living room's floor was littered with old newspapers and homework assignments. I took a deep breath before opening my bedroom door. It was the only room that was empty. Aunt Helen or Uncle Tom had come and gotten all my stuff for me shortly after Dad died. Only my bed, desk, and dresser remained, along with a smattering of crumpled papers on the ground. I paused outside Dad's bedroom before shaking my head and turning away from it. I couldn't go in. I just couldn't do it. Even three years later, it was just too hard. Maybe Dad had a point in not giving me the will until I turned eighteen. The place was a mess, but it was my house, my home. It was more of a home than Aunt Helen and Uncle Tom's house had ever been. Three years of living in that place and I still felt like a guest. Three years away from my house and it still felt like home. I threw myself into cleaning the place up. Every room needed it and I worked all day. I threw out the old newspapers, vacuumed, mopped, dusted, and washed dishes. Nothing was left untouched, except Dad's room. Cleaning was calming. My heart returned to its regular pace, my breathing returned to normal. For the first time in three years, I felt all right. Not great, of course, but not awful either. ****** Cleaning only took me two days. Nobody came to the house while I cleaned. Not Alex, not Aunt Helen or Uncle Tom. After I finished, I sat on the couch and turned on the television, but didn't watch. It was just background noise. Nor did I think about how the power was actually on, in a house that had been abandoned for years. I suppose Aunt Helen must have been paying for it. I sat there doing absolutely nothing for hours. They felt like the longest hours I'd lived through and the shortest ones at the same time. Cleaning had taken my mind off everything. With the whole house (except Dad's room) now spotless, there was nothing to do but sit there and think. Everything was on my mind. It was like a huge rush of the past three years of my life all jumbled up. It was just too much; too overwhelming. I was sitting there shaking on the couch, tears running down my face. Dad was gone, never coming back. Owning the house seemed to just clinch that even more. I had no one. It had been Dad and me against the world for so long. Aunt Helen and Uncle Tom didn't really count. They were my guardians because they had to be. Neither of them had taken the time to truly understand. Instead they just shuttled me off to the psychiatrist and shoved pills down my throat. Dad wanted me to succeed. He wanted me to be happy, to keep the magic in my life. I had failed at that. Grudgingly finishing high school, staying cooped up in my room whenever possible, not even considering the possibility of college. Dad wouldn't have wanted that. He would have wanted me to be all I could be, no matter how cliched it sounded. There was a knock on the door, shaking me out of my thoughts. Hastily wiping the tears off my face, I walked to the door. I cautiously opened it and was quite surprised to see Scott standing on the front step. He had cut his hair and it looked nice. “Iris,” he said quietly, “Alex told me. About the will.” I nodded. “Yeah.” “Look, I know I used to tease you all the time, but, I just want to show you something.” “All right,” I said. What was going on? Scott turned around and cut across the front yard. I followed him. He led me to the lone tree in the front yard, the one that Dad had told me would eventually be large enough for me to climb, but was still small and scraggly. I gasped when I saw what was underneath. Iris flowers. Small, but grown enough to have the purple flowers, surrounding the tree in a perfect circle. “I know they're your favorite kind of flowers,” Scott said quietly. I nodded as tears began to form in my eyes. Only this time, they were tears of happiness. Someone cared. Someone actually knew me. I felt something on my shoulder and looked up. Scott had awkwardly placed his arm over me, looking slightly nervous about it. It was then that I knew the magic wasn't gone completely. It had disappeared for a while, buried itself deep inside me underneath the grief, so deep that I thought it was gone. But it was there and had been there the whole time. The problem was that I hadn't dug deep enough to find it. Now I had brought it back and it was there, blossoming like the Iris flowers that now lived in my front yard.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2495 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 25 November 2009 09 24 26 am    Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden Chapter 11: Halloween Costumes "All right, we need to come up with a good costume idea," John announced the following Saturday as he flew poorly made parchment airplanes around the Marauder's Den. "Definitely," Kaden agreed as his much better parchment airplane flew gracefully over John's head and landed softly on the couch. "Anyone got any ideas?" Matt asked. "Haven't even thought about it," Albus muttered as he tried not to move anymore muscles than he had to. He just completed a four hour Hogwarts Quidditch practice, which mainly focused on dodging Bludgers. Unfortunately, Albus hadn't dodged them all. "You should go see Madam Pomfrey," Matt told him. "I've already been there twice this week," Albus groaned, "If this keeps up, I'll break your record. I'm fine, I just need sleep. Georgia canceled practice for tomorrow because of the Dueling Tournament, so I think I'll be fine." "Back to the costumes," John said, "I was thinking that we could be the Marauders. You know, their animal forms." Albus craned his head to see John. John looked quite excited by this idea. Albus had to admit that it was a pretty good idea. He could affix fake antlers to his head. Or see if one of his older cousins could transfigure some onto his head. "That's brilliant!" Kaden shouted excitedly. "I like it," Albus grinned. "No bloody way," Matt said flatly, "I am not dressing up as a werewolf in front of the entire school." Albus hadn't even thought about that. No, there was definitely no way Matt could do that. "Oh, right," John sighed, "Sorry, hadn't thought about that." "How about we just dress up as the Marauders in their human forms?" Albus suggested. All he'd have to do is get a pair of round black glasses and he'd be set. "I don't know..." Matt said, "Everyone knows Teddy's dad was a werewolf. What if they realize that I'm one, too, since I dressed up as him?" "I bet people will just think we dressed up as them because of Albus," John pointed out, "And someone would have to be Moony. Might as well be you. You probably look the most like him anyway." "He does," Albus said. "See?" John replied. "Yeah, but still..." Matt sighed. "It doesn't matter," Kaden said, "Because there is no way that I am dressing up as Pettigrew unless it's his rat form." That Albus could definitely understand. "Ok, so I guess we're not doing the Marauders thing." "Too bad," John sighed, "Would've been cool." "Says the bloke who wouldn't have to dress up as a traitor," Kaden pointed out. "And we're back to square one," Albus said, "Any other ideas?" "The players from Puddlemere United?" John suggested after a few minutes. "You know, if Rose, Amanda, and Linda joined us, we'd have enough people to be the entire team." "Why not the Cannons?" Matt asked. "Because they're awful," John groaned. "Are not," Matt refuted. "Are to," John said, "Let's be Puddlemere." "Cannons," Matt said adamantly. "Manchester United," Kaden interrupted. "Who?" John and Matt said at the same time. "Manchester United," Kaden repeated, "Football team." Both John and Matt groaned. "Puddlemere," John said once again. "Cannons." "Manchester." "Puddlemere." "None of them!" Albus shouted. He was already irritable due to his aching muscles and fatigue from Quidditch practice. The last thing he wanted to do was listen to his friends squabble about Quidditch and football teams. "Well, have you got any other ideas?" John asked. "Actually, yeah," Albus replied. Matt's mention of not wanting to dress up as a werewolf had sparked an idea. Albus had been mulling it over while his friends argued about Quidditch teams. "What is it?" Matt asked. "Well, I kind of thought it would be neat to use Muggle costumes," Albus said, "You know, we can dress up as things Muggles usually dress up as on Halloween." Matt, John, and Kaden stared at Albus for a few moments. Albus shrugged. He had thought it was a good idea, but maybe his fatigue was clouding his thinking. Then, all three of his friends broke out in huge grins. "That's brilliant!" Kaden shouted, "No one else will think of it!" "Yeah," John agreed, "We'll be the only ones at the party with Muggle costumes." "As long as I don't have to dress up as a werewolf, I'm fine with it," Matt said. Albus grinned. "Good. Kaden, what are some classic Muggle costumes?" "Ghosts, witches, vampires, skeletons, mummies," Kaden rattled off, "Oh, and zombies. Frankenstein, too." Albus had no idea who Frankenstein was and he wasn't in the mood to listen to Kaden explain it, but the other ideas were good. "Who wants to be what?" Albus asked. "Matt should be a vampire," Kaden grinned. "Why's that?" Albus asked. "Vampires and werewolves are mortal enemies," Kaden explained, "At least in the Muggle world." "In this world, too," Matt muttered, "And I'm not dressing up as a vampire." "Aw, come on," John said. "No," Matt said adamantly, "I'm being a ghost. The only question is, how do I make myself transparent." "Aw, no!" Kaden sighed, "When Muggles dress as ghosts, they just put a white sheet with eye holes over themselves. That's what Muggles think ghosts are. White." "Oh, that makes things easier," Matt laughed, "But seriously?" "Yep," Kaden laughed, "White sheets. Now, what about the rest of us?" A half an hour later, everyone had settled on what they were going to dress up as. With Kaden's help, that is. Albus, Matt, and John really had no idea as to what Muggles wore when they dressed up for Halloween. John insisted on being a vampire, much to Matt's disgust. However, John was going to be a classic Muggle vampire. The ugly, waxy, blood-stained lips, turn into a bat type of vampire that Muggles thought of when they heard the word 'vampire'. Albus didn't know much about vampires, but he knew they weren't completely like the ones Muggles thought of. Kaden was going to dress up as a mummy, which was a very simple costume. All he'd have to do was obtain a bunch of strips of white cloth. Albus said he'd pick some up in Hogsmeade. Albus was going to be a skeleton, which was the most difficult of all the costumes. He was going to buy a black long-sleeve t-shirt and a pair of black pants and then paint on bones in white paint. He was hoping Amanda would be able to help with it. She was the only one in their group who had any artistic talent. "Maybe the girls can be witches," Kaden suggested. "They are witches," John smirked. "You know what I mean," Kaden sighed. "I know," John grinned, "Hey, Albus, catch!" Albus snapped his eyes open just in time to see a Quaffle come sailing across the room. It hit him right in the stomach before he had a chance to catch it. "Oh, ow!" Albus groaned and curled up, "That's where I got hit with a Bludger!" "Brilliant, John," Matt sighed, "Are you ok, Albus?" Albus squeezed his eyes shut and nodded. It did hurt. It hurt a lot. A lot more than it should, he thought. He was sick of getting pelted by Bludgers during practice. "Albus?" John asked worriedly, "Merlin, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hit you with it." "It's ok," Albus whispered. He inhaled sharply. Now it was getting hard to breath. This was not good. "Albus, you've got to go to the Hospital Wing," Matt announced. He walked over to Albus and helped him off the couch. "C'mon." Albus nodded. There was no point in objecting. He knew he had to go. But honestly, three times in one week seemed excessive. The Hospital Wing was empty when Albus stumbled inside, being supported by Matt and John, a little while later. Madam Pomfrey came out of her office when she heard the door open. She saw who it was and threw her hands up in the air. "You again!" she groaned, "Let me guess. Quidditch?" Albus nodded and collapsed onto the nearest bed. "Well, what did you injure this time?" the nurse asked. "Bludger in the stomach," Albus replied, not bothering to mention that John hit him with a Quaffle as well. Madam Pomfrey clucked her tongue and waved her wand over Albus. "Broken rib. That's the second one this week," she waved her wand again and pressed it to Albus's ribs. Then she bustled away to a Potions cupboard. Albus's stomach immediately felt better and he sank back into the bed. The rest of his muscles still ached, though, and he wanted nothing more than to fall asleep right there. Madam Pomfrey returned a few minutes later and thrust a potion into Albus's hands. He drank it quickly and grimaced at the disgusting taste. "You're staying the night," she announced in a tone that Albus knew not to argue with. Not that he really felt like arguing anyway. He was just too exhausted. Madam Pomfrey turned to Matt, John, and Kaden. "You lot can return to Gryffindor. Albus needs to rest." Albus's friends said good night and then left the room. "I'll be speaking with Professor Kendrick," Madam Pomfrey muttered to herself, "Honestly, what was he thinking? Twice the amount of Quidditch? Twice the amount of injuries is what I say!" Albus didn't have the faintest idea as to what Madam Pomfrey wanted Kendrick to do, but he didn't think about it for long. Exhaustion overcame him and he was asleep within minutes. ****** Albus awoke feeling better than he had in days. One look at the clock told him why. He had slept over twelve hours. It was just after eleven o'clock. Two hours until the Dueling Tournament. Albus pulled the blankets off and started to get up. "Where do you think you're going?" Madam Pomfrey appeared at his bed. "Er, the common room?" Albus slowly sat back down, "The Dueling Tournament is in two hours." "Dueling? You think I'm going to let you duel?" Madam Pomfrey demanded. "Well, yeah," Albus muttered. Come to think of it, he actually wasn't surprised that the nurse wasn't going to let him duel. "Definitely not!" she exclaimed, "You're spending the day in bed!" "Come on!" Albus groaned, "Please?" He had to duel. He was practically the best on his team. What would Malfoy say when he didn't show up? "I won't have it!" Madam Pomfrey said, "You were dead on your feet last night! You're going to rest today!" Albus groaned in defeat. He was going to miss the first Dueling Tournament of the year, because of a Quidditch injury. His two favorite things to do were now conflicting with each other. Madam Pomfrey brought a tray of breakfast, or maybe it should have been lunch, for Albus a little while later. He wasn't in the mood to eat, though. Why couldn't he just go to the tournament? He felt fine now. Matt, John, Kaden, Amanda, Rose, and for some reason, Linda, burst into the Hospital Wing just as Albus was finishing up his food. Madam Pomfrey looked a bit taken aback at the amount of visitors, but she didn't say anything. "Albus!" John shouted, "Dueling's in an hour. You going to be getting out of here soon?" "She won't let me go," Albus muttered. "What?" John exclaimed, "Why not?" "She says I need to rest," Albus explained. "Honestly, it would have surprised me if she did let you go," Matt commented. "I'll convince her, Albus," John announced and walked over to where Madam Pomfrey was organizing potions. "You've got to let Albus duel." "I do not have to do any such thing," she replied, not looking up. "But it's Kaden's first tournament," John pointed out. "I wouldn't care if it was Merlin's first tournament, I'm not letting Albus go." "Please?" John begged. "No," she said, "And if you don't stop arguing, I'll make you leave." John sighed and walked glumly back to Albus's bed. "Sorry," he muttered, "And this was sort of my fault since I threw that Quaffle at you." "No it wasn't," Albus assured him, "A Quaffle wouldn't have broke my ribs. It was that Bludger from Quidditch practice." "But still..." John said. Albus's friends remained in the Hospital Wing until it was time for them to go to the Dueling Tournament. It was sort of tense, and Albus could only attribute this to the fact that Linda was there. It was strange how someone who never said a word could cause the rest of Albus's friends to remain quiet as well. After his friends left, Albus was filled with boredom. The Hospital Wing really was a boring place, especially when you weren't actually sick or injured. Albus began to count the cracks on the ceiling, but lost track after 467. It wasn't until after the tournament was over that Madam Pomfrey actually let Albus leave. He figured she hadn't let him leave earlier since then she would've had no way to know he wouldn't go to the tournament. Albus jumped out of bed as soon as he promised Madam Pomfrey that he wouldn't play Quidditch that day. He ran as fast as he could down to the dueling chamber, hoping that the tournament was still going on. Unfortunately, students were already streaming out of the room chattering excitedly about the tournament. Albus sighed dejectedly and slumped against the wall, where he waited for his friends. "Hey, Albus," Matt said. "Oh, hey, Matt," Albus replied, "Who won?" "My team. No thanks to me, of course." "Who'd Malfoy duel?" Albus asked, thinking of his threat to Rose and Amanda. "Some Slytherin second year and a Ravenclaw fourth year," Matt answered. Albus nodded, relieved that he hadn't dueled either Rose or Amanda. "Albus!" someone shouted excitedly. Albus turned around and saw Kaden with a huge grin on his face. John was standing next to him, looking equally happy. "Hey, John, Kaden," Albus smiled. "I won one of my duels!" Kaden announced, "I dueled a Ravenclaw and I actually beat him!" "That's great," Albus told him, still wishing that he had gotten to beat a Ravenclaw. Or a Slytherin, Hufflepuff, or Gryffindor. "But he was horribly beaten in his second duel," John laughed. "At least I won one of them," Kaden smirked. "Yeah, yeah," John muttered. "Did you lose both?" Albus asked. "Yeah," John sighed. The boys set off for Gryffindor tower, figuring they'd catch up with the girls once they were up there. Albus was eager to see Amanda because he wanted to know how his team had done. Amanda, Rose, and Linda were talking about the tournament when Albus entered the common room. He was shocked to see that Linda was actually talking. Although, she immediately stopped when Albus and the other boys showed up. Apparently Albus's team had came in second place. Amanda said they were only two points behind Matt's team, which caused Albus to wish even more that he had been there. He could have easily gotten the two points they needed. Amanda said that Malfoy thought the same thing, because he shouted angrily about Albus not being there once they announced the winner. Albus was kind of amused by this. He never thought Malfoy would ever be lamenting Albus's absence from anything. The group, including Linda, spent the remainder of the afternoon in the common room. It was sort of odd, though. Linda didn't say a word, yet Rose and Amanda tried to engage her in every conversation. Matt remained almost completely mute, whispering quietly so only Albus and John could hear what he was saying. Kaden of course didn't notice any of this and talked as loudly as he usually did. It didn't really help that various boys kept coming up to Linda and asking her useless questions about Australia and Quidditch and various other topics. Linda gave them very short, quiet answers. John paid rapt attention to every little thing she said. "So," Rose began, "First Quidditch match in a week. Australia versus New York. Are you nervous, Linda?" Albus stared at Rose. He couldn't remember the last time Rose actually brought up Quidditch in a conversation. "A bit," Linda muttered, not looking up. "Well, I hope you win," Rose smiled, "Since Hogwarts isn't playing." "Thanks," Linda whispered. Albus was looking forward to the first match. He was glad he wasn't playing in it. His team would be able to assess both Australia and New York's skill before they played either team. That was definitely good for strategy. Then when they actually played, they'd be able to use the team's weaknesses to their advantage. Wood had given them specific directions to look for weaknesses in both teams. Of course, chances are Albus wouldn't be playing in the first Hogwarts match, or really any of the matches. Albus walked down to dinner with his friends and Linda sat in between Rose and Amanda. He glanced absentmindedly at the staff table as he scooped mashed potatoes onto his plate and noticed a new wizard talking with the headmaster from Australia. He was a rather short man, compared to Killigan, and his face seemed to have absolutely no emotion on it. His dirty blonde hair sat flat on his head and fell over his eyes. He was wearing plain black robes. "I wonder who that bloke is," Albus said to John as he pointed at the staff table. "Dunno," John shrugged, not really seeming interested. Rose turned to look at him. "Probably some bloke from Australia, I'd be guessing. I imagine a few people from Australia and New York will visit to see what's going on with the tournaments." "Recognize him, Matt?" Albus asked. Matt looked up and then quickly turned away. "No." "How about you, Linda?" Rose asked. "No," Linda whispered. Albus shrugged and returned to his dinner. It seemed like he was really the only one interested in the unfamiliar wizard at the staff table. Was he really only there to see the tournament? The Quidditch match wasn't for another week, so why was he there already? Would he really be spending the whole week at Hogwarts? Kendrick stood up after dinner started to wind down. Albus immediately stopped eating and paid attention. Maybe he was going to tell everyone who the strange wizard was. "If I could have your attention for just one moment," Kendrick announced, "Thank you. When I first began to organize this competition, I always thought we would continue with the usual Hogwarts Quidditch Cup tournament like usual, but I didn't think about what affect it would have on the players who would play on both their house team and the Hogwarts team." Albus had a feeling he knew where this was going and it had everything to do with that talk Madam Pomfrey said she was going to have with Kendrick. Albus sank lower in his seat and tried not to look at anyone. "It's come to my attention that playing on two Quidditch teams at once is much more work than could have been anticipated. Therefore, I have decided to cancel the Quidditch Cup tournament for this year only, while the tournament is going on." "What?!" Over half the room erupted in various shouts and jeers. Albus sank even lower in his seat. This was all his fault. He was the one who had been to the Hospital Wing so many times that week. He had gotten Quidditch canceled for the whole school. "Quiet down," Kendrick shouted, "It's what's best for the players. Plus, it's been rather tight to squeeze in so many practices for so many teams. We only have one Quidditch pitch. With four less teams to accommodate, it'll be easier to schedule practices. This is my final word on the subject. Remember that we still have excellent Quidditch going on this year." "I shouldn't have gone to see Madam Pomfrey last night," Albus muttered. "Albus, this isn't your fault," Rose assured him, "You're not the only one who's been injured numerous times." That was true. Pretty much everyone on the Hogwarts team had been to see Madam Pomfrey at least once a week since the start of term. So maybe it wasn't all his fault. Plus, there was the scheduling conflicts on the pitch. Albus had witnessed a few fights between the house captains that certainly couldn't be good for teamwork on the Hogwarts team. Albus had to admit that life would be a lot easier without Gryffindor team practices. Now he would only be practicing Quidditch twice a week. Well, Wood would probably increase it to three times now that Kendrick canceled the house Quidditch. But even that would be less than he had been doing. He might even have an evening or two off a week now. The Gryffindor team was sitting together in the common room when Albus returned. Georgia immediately flagged him over. "I still don't like it," Fred sighed, "Now I don't get to play at all this year." "Yeah, well I don't get to play for Gryffindor in my seventh year, but it really is for the best," Georgia said. "I'll say," James agreed, "I'm already behind on homework and it's only October." "Me, too," Albus said. "Just think, Fred," Heather began, "Next year, one of us will be captain." "It'll be me," Fred announced. "Really?" Heather raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, Gryffindor's had two girl captains recently. It's time for another bloke." Heather rolled her eyes. "Not if I'm a better leader." "What makes you think it'll be either of you?" Bradley asked, "It might be Ryan or I. We'll be sixth years. They don't always choose seventh years." "Maybe," Fred replied, "I'm still going to miss it, though." "We could play pick-up matches on the weekends," Ryan suggested. "I guess," Fred sighed. Albus remained quiet for the rest of the time with the team. Although he didn't blame himself for the cancellation of house Quidditch, he felt guilty that he was relieved it was canceled. But most of the team was far from happy about it. In fact, it seemed like only James and Albus were relieved.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2495 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 18 November 2009 02 31 27 pm    Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden Chapter 10: Threats Rose handed in her unedited essay to Balladanis the next morning. Albus did notice her scribbling some last minute sentences onto it as Balladanis collected the essays. Defense Against the Dark Arts continued to be the strangest class in Albus's schedule. Balladanis expressed such a strong dislike for the dark arts that he started nearly every class with a stern lecture about why they were learning defensive spells and why the dark arts were bad. His eyes tended to rest on Matt and for some odd reason, Linda, whenever he gave these talks and Albus got the feeling it made Matt extremely uncomfortable. Albus couldn't blame him. He certainly wouldn't want to be under the teacher's eye like that. Albus couldn't really say whether he enjoyed Balladanis's class or not. It had been nearly a month since the term started, but Albus still didn't know whether he liked the class or not. It was definitely different than when his dad taught. Balladanis was strict, but a good teacher. The rest of the day went by quickly. Albus listened to John tease Rose during Herbology since she was fretting about her Defense essay. Ancient Runes was rather boring and Albus doodled idly on his notes while Matt fell asleep on his. Charms was rather fun since they worked on Cheering Charms and Albus left the room grinning profusely, along with most of the other class. Matt in particular looked strange with a huge grin across his pale fatigued face. Matt left for the Shrieking Shack shortly after dinner and Albus went to the Marauder's Den with his friends where they distracted Rose from her studying by playing Wizard's Chess. The next day Albus truly began to realize how busy his third year schedule was. For the past two years, he and his friends almost always had time to visit Matt in the Hospital Wing in between classes. This year, however, they didn't have time until after dinner. Albus was positively exhausted by that point, as he had stayed up late working on homework the night before, and still had Dueling Club practice afterwards. Lynley Anderson, the fourth year Hufflepuff who had replaced Kate as captain, had insisted that the whole team attend that meeting, as it was the first one and there were new second years on the team. Kaden wasn't put on Albus's team, but he was put on John's team, much to the delight of both boys. Hectic was really the only way to describe Albus's life at Hogwarts. As September turned into October, it only got busier. Gryffindor Quidditch team practices picked up again and along with Hogwarts Quidditch practices and Dueling Club practices, Albus hardly had anytime to rest. The Hogwarts Quidditch team was shaping up nicely after Wood's stern warning during the second practice. That and the fact that they now practiced on both Tuesdays and Saturdays. Even the Slytherin team members were beginning to work together. They didn't really acknowledge their teammates outside of practice, but Albus didn't care as long as they got along with everyone during practice. Albus was really starting to enjoy the Hogwarts Quidditch team. He was actually beginning to wish he could play in the first match, which would be taking place towards the end of October. "First Hogsmeade weekend!" John said excitedly to Albus one Friday evening as Albus was trying to catch up on his homework. Kaden was standing next to him. Albus guessed they had just returned from Dueling Club practice. "When?" Albus asked without looking up. "October 27th," John grinned, "Can't wait!" "Yeah, it'll be brilliant," Albus agreed, hoping he wouldn't have too much homework to go. "That's not all, either," John went on, "There's a Halloween party that night." "You mean the Halloween feast?" Albus asked. "No, there's an actual party!" John said, "But it's not on Halloween, it's on the 27th. It's because of the Tournament. So we can mingle with the foreign students. Or at least that's what the poster on the notice board says." Albus nodded. He really hadn't had that much contact with the foreign students. Sure, he'd seen them in the corridors and the common room and stuff, but that was about it. The only one who was around his age was Linda and she still didn't seem to talk to anyone. "And," John continued, "Costumes are encouraged." "Costumes?" Albus asked, finally looking up. "Yeah, costumes," John grinned, "We get to dress up! This is going to be brilliant!" "What should we dress up as?" Kaden asked. "Dunno," Albus shrugged. "We'll figure it out later," John said, "Where's everyone else?" "Rose and Amanda are at the library," Albus told him, "And Matt's with Balladanis." "Merlin, is he ever going to give up about that boggart?" John asked. "Knowing Balladanis, probably not," Albus said. "Well, let's go to the library," John announced, "We've got to tell Rose and Amanda about Hogsmeade." Albus was all too eager to agree to this. He was thoroughly sick of trying to catch up on all his homework. It was good to take a break every now and then anyway. Albus pushed open the door to the library a little while later, fully expecting to see Rose up to her elbows in books furiously scribbling away on a roll of parchment that was nearly used up. He gazed around the library and he spotted Rose's bushy red hair and walked towards her table. Rose was up to her elbows in homework. In fact, there were so many books on Rose and Amanda's table that you could no longer see the actual table. What Albus wasn't expecting to see was a third person at their table. Linda Morales Albus stopped short a few feet from the table. He turned to look at John, who looked equally shocked. "Is that-" John began. "Linda Morales?" Albus gaped. He blinked twice to make sure he wasn't seeing things. After all, he was quite tired. But even after he blinked, Linda was still sitting across from Rose and Amanda. All three of the girls were working quietly. In fact, none of them even seemed to notice the others. Albus slowly walked towards the table and John followed. Albus wasn't entirely sure what to say. He hadn't had much interaction with Linda. Albus had hardly said hello to her since she arrived at Hogwarts. He wasn't trying to ignore her or anything; it had just ended up that way. Linda hadn't shown any real interest in making friends with Albus or any of his friends. Yet here she was, doing homework at the same table as Rose of all people. Albus hadn't the slightest idea why either. "Rose," Albus whispered once they arrived at the table. Rose startled and then looked up at Albus. "What? I'm trying to study!" "Can I talk to you?" Albus glanced at Linda, "Alone?" Rose sighed loudly. "Fine, but make it quick." Albus led his cousin over to a deserted area of the library. John took Rose's vacated seat and began to whisper to Amanda about the Hogsmeade visit. "All right, what is it?" Rose asked once they were alone. "Couldn't help but notice that you were studying with Linda..." Albus's voice trailed off. He really didn't know what he wanted to say to Rose about it. "Oh, well..." Rose began, "I guess I just realized I was being stupid in trying to compete with her." Albus smirked, "Yeah, you were. But I told you that loads of times and you didn't listen." Rose sighed. "I know. Amanda's the one who convinced me to stop trying to compete with her. She said Linda would know a lot about Australian wizarding history and I could learn a lot from her if I stopped with the competition thing." Of course, Albus thought. Appealing to Rose's love of learning would definitely work. Although he hadn't really been trying to have Rose and Linda become friends. He just wanted Rose to ease up on the studying. "I guess, if you can't beat 'em, you might as well join 'em," Rose shrugged. "So now you're friends with her?" Albus asked. "That's where it gets complicated," Rose sighed, "You see, she still doesn't really talk to us." "How did you wind up studying with her then?" Albus was still thoroughly confused. "Amanda and I came in and she was sitting alone at the table, so I asked if we could join her. She just nodded and moved her books over. She hasn't said anything yet." Albus nodded. "I don't think I've heard her say anything outside of class." "Neither have I," Rose said, "Amanda and I figure we'll just be nice to her and maybe she'll start talking to us." Albus thought that was probably a good idea. She was the competition, but even if they played against each other on the Quidditch team, that didn't mean they couldn't be friends off of it. Linda seemed nice enough. Of course it was hard to tell since she hadn't said much. And she certainly was pretty. Albus couldn't deny that. Linda wasn't surrounded by half the male population of Gryffindor every evening for nothing. "Oh, the first Hogsmeade visit's on October 27th," Albus said, suddenly remembering the reason he had gone to see Rose in the first place, "Followed by a Halloween party in the Great Hall." "That sounds like fun," Rose grinned, "And maybe Linda will want to go with us." "And it's a costume party," Albus told her. "This could get interesting," Rose said. ****** Albus didn't have a clue as to when he'd actually have time to figure out his costume for the Halloween party. John thought it would be cool if their group's costumes coordinated, but that was the last thing on Albus's mind. The weekend seemed to literally fly by for Albus, meaning he was on the Quidditch pitch more than he was off it. He had heard stories about Wood's ruthlessness when it comes to practice from his dad and similar stories about Teddy from his older cousins. Having the two of them captain one team seemed to create practices that lasted nearly five hours, with short breaks every so often. Albus would never again complain about Georgia's length of practices. Albus had a fleeting thought that since he was a reserve player, he wouldn't have to practice as much as everyone else, but Wood shot that down during that Saturday's practice. He said he saw no reason for the reserve players to be any less prepared for the upcoming match than the regular players. It wasn't that Albus didn't enjoy Quidditch practice. He did, and very much so. He loved Quidditch, but too much of anything could run a person down. Albus spent a lot of his Sunday on the Quidditch pitch as well, in the middle of a drenching rain. Georgia had scheduled Gryffindor Quidditch practice that day and she flat out refused to cancel due to rain. James had asked. He was even more run down than Albus, since either Teddy or Tyler were constantly training the two Seekers during Hogwarts Quidditch practice. Albus returned to Gryffindor tower after eating a late dinner with the Gryffindor team Sunday evening, realizing he had no idea what his friends had spent the weekend doing. He had seen them on occasion, but most of his free time had been spent doing homework or sleeping. Two things he still had to do. Albus grabbed his bag from his dormitory and walked down to the crowded common room. He saw Rose, Amanda, and Linda at one table, but his other friends were no where in sight. The girls looked very absorbed in their homework, so Albus decided to go check the Marauder's Den for his other friends. By the time Albus made it to the Marauder's Den, he felt ready for a good twelve hour sleep. Unfortunately, he still had plenty of homework to do. Albus sighed to himself and opened the door to the room. He paused in the entryway, surprised to see that Matt was the only one there. "Hey, Matt," Albus said as he sat down at the table. "Oh, hi Albus," Matt looked up and smiled, "I was wondering when you'd show up." "Me, too," Albus said wryly, "I never thought Georgia would end practice." "Makes me glad I'm not on the Quidditch team," Matt commented. "Where are John and Kaden?" "Detention, again," Matt smirked. "What did they do this time?" Albus groaned. John and Kaden had been earning quite a few detentions every week. Albus was quite glad they weren't involving him in their pranks, since he had no available time in his schedule for detention. "They were levitating rolls of toilet paper around the corridors and charming them to hit people in the head yesterday," Matt explained, "I think you were at Quidditch practice." "Probably," Albus laughed, "Wonder what they're in for this time." "No idea," Matt said. "What are you doing here? Rose and Amanda are in the common room." "Yeah, I know. But they're with Linda," Matt muttered. "Oh, ok," Albus replied, a little confused. He still didn't quite understand why Matt didn't seem to like Linda. Sure, she was from Australia, but Matt wasn't avoiding anyone else from Australia. Of course, the rest of the Australian students were older and Matt wouldn't really have to avoid them. "John said Rose is actually trying to become friends with Linda." "She is," Albus confirmed, "She's finally realized that it's pointless to try and compete with Linda." "I guess that's good," Matt shrugged. John and Kaden burst into the room a short while later, successfully ending the conversation about Rose and Linda. Both of them were freely cursing Filch, who had made them clean the Entrance Hall without magic. Once they finally seemed to run out of curses, all four boys settled into doing their homework and no one brought up the topic of Linda again. Albus still thought it was odd how Matt seemed to have taken a dislike to her, although Linda herself was rather odd, in Albus's opinion. Rose and Amanda joined Linda at her table during Transfiguration the next day. Linda had arrived before them, as always, and didn't seem to notice or care that Rose and Amanda sat on either side of her. The same thing happened in double Potions after lunch. Rose, Amanda, and Linda even worked together on that day's potion. Slughorn had decided to give up on the inter-house pairs idea of the previous year, which Albus was very grateful for. Linda had previously worked alone on her potions because there was an odd number of people in the class, but Slughorn didn't object to all three girls working together. In fact, he seemed thrilled that the two smartest people in the class were now working with each other. "Ah, yes!" Slughorn exclaimed excitedly as he peered into their cauldron, "Your potion is turning just the right shade of green." Albus looked up from his and Matt's slightly brown potion and saw Slughorn gently stirring the girls' cauldron. "Ours is better," Malfoy muttered from behind Albus. He was working with Jackson Limbert, Albus's partner from the previous year. Malfoy and Limbert were easily the two best Slytherin potion-brewers in the class. Albus turned around and looked at Malfoy's cauldron. It was indeed the correct shade of green. "And what are you looking at, Potter?" Malfoy asked, "Jealous that I'm Limbert's partner now? I doubt your potions grade will be be that good with Eckerton as your partner." "At least I'm partnering with him for a reason other than trying to get a decent grade," Albus glowered at him. "Yeah, well..." Malfoy's voice trailed off. Albus smirked to himself and turned back around, happy that Malfoy couldn't come up with a good comeback. At the end of the class, Slughorn announced that Rose, Amanda, and Linda's potion had been the best, much to Malfoy's dismay. "You'd better watch out at the Dueling Tournament," Malfoy seethed as they left the room. "We're on the same team, Malfoy," Albus pointed out. "I wasn't talking to you," Malfoy turned and glared at Rose, Amanda, and Linda. "Is that a threat, Malfoy?" John asked loudly. "I think you can figure that out for yourself, Brickston," Malfoy said as he turned in the direction of the Slytherin common room, flanked by Limbert and Goyle. "He's just jealous," Rose muttered as they made their way out of the dungeons. "Probably," Albus agreed, "But he's a good dueler, much as I hate to admit it." "Chances are, I won't even duel him, Albus," Rose sighed, "And even if I do, there's only so many spells he's allowed to use." Albus didn't bother reminding Rose about the Slytherin who used a forbidden curse on Matt last year. Albus was kind of worried about one of his friends having to duel Malfoy. Malfoy was the only one Albus had ever dueled and didn't manage to beat. And Albus had beaten students who were two years older than he was.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2495 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 11 November 2009 06 35 51 pm    Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden Chapter 9: The Hogwarts Quidditch Team John and Kaden returned to the common room an hour or so later, completely healed and scolded. They had a week's worth of detention with Filch and fifty points taken from Gryffindor. The other Gryffindors had been congratulating John and Kaden on their nerve and stupidity until they heard about the points. After that, John and Kaden were glared at and ignored by their house-mates. The boys joined Rose and Amanda in their studying once the excitement died down. All of the boys had neglected their homework over the weekend. Albus tried to concentrate on his Potions essay, but he couldn't. The list of who made the Hogwarts Quidditch team was going to be up within the next few hours. Albus kept stealing glances at the message board as if the list would suddenly appear there. It didn't help that various members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team were coming up to Albus and trying to get his opinion of whether they made the team or not. How was he supposed to know if they made the team? He was the youngest one trying out. If anyone was going to be asking about whether they made the team, it should be Albus. Would it even be that bad if Albus didn't make it? He wasn't sure. He did want to make the team. He wanted that more than anything, but at the same time, he knew it was going to be a lot of work and quite nerve wracking. It would be a bigger deal than playing for Gryffindor, that was for sure. The entire school would be watching his chasing skills and hoping he would win. Albus loved playing Quidditch, but if he was honest with himself, he didn't like a whole lot of people watching him. Making the Hogwarts team would ensure that hundreds of people would be watching him. Albus managed to write about half his essay before dinner, but he didn't think it was very good. Oh, well, he thought. One failed essay wouldn't matter in the long run. He went down to dinner with his friends, but didn't participate much in their conversations. In fact, he was probably as quiet as Linda. Albus glanced up at the staff table. His eyes rested upon Professor Oteski, who was deep in conversation with a grey-haired Auror who had been assigned to patrol Hogwarts for the week. Oteski had probably already decided on the team. Albus hoped he'd hurry up and post the list. "Albus!" Georgia nearly collided with Albus on his trek back up to the Gryffindor common room after dinner, "The list is posted!" Georgia turned around and sprinted back to the common room. Albus took a deep breath and his heart sped up. This was it, he thought. Within a few minutes, he'd know whether he made the team or not. There was a large crowd around the message board when Albus entered the room. James burst out of the crowd with a huge grin on his face. "I made it!" he shouted, "I'm the Hogwarts Seeker!" The entire common room burst into applause. Albus grinned through his nerves and patted his brother on the back. "What about me?" Albus whispered to James, "Did I make it?" "Look for yourself," James grinned and pushed him towards the message board. "I don't think I can," Albus sighed. This was worse than last year when he tried out for the Gryffindor team. "You have to," John insisted. Albus took a deep breath and squeezed his way through the crowd. He closed his eyes and then stared at the list. Keeper- Georgia Weasley, Gryffindor, 7th year. That didn't surprise Albus in the least. In fact, he would have been shocked if Georgia hadn't made the team. No wonder she looked so excited when she ran into Albus. Chaser- Damien Waverly, Ravenclaw, 7th year. Chaser- Anna Reilly, Hufflepuff, 7th year. Chaser- Ferris Fielding, Slytherin, 7th year. Albus felt a wave of disappointment overcome him. He hadn't made it. All the other Chasers were seventh years, and captains of their respective house teams at that. Why had he thought he'd be able to compete with them? He continued to read the list. There were still the reserve players after all. Beater- Andy Kaper, Hufflepuff, 5th year. Beater- Allie Davis, Ravenclaw, 4th year. So, James wasn't going to be the only one who wasn't a seventh year on the team. That was good. But still, most of the team were seventh years. All the team captains made the team. That made sense. As captains, they were most likely the best Quidditch players in the school. Seeker- James Potter, Gryffindor, 4th year. Reserve Players Keeper- Kate Waverly, Ravenclaw, 5th year. Kate would be happy, Albus thought. She had been Albus's dueling captain last year. She was nice and Albus was happy she at least got to be the reserve Keeper. Chaser- Hailey Odelle, Slytherin, 7th year. Chaser- Albus Potter, Gryffindor, 3rd year. Albus gaped at the list. He blinked and read it again, just to make sure his eyes were working properly. They were. He, Albus Severus Potter, was one of the reserve Chasers! Suddenly, the disappointment was gone and Albus felt as happy as he would have if he made the regular team. Reserve was better than nothing after all. Plus, there wouldn't be as much pressure. Beater- Talan Flint, Slytherin, 5th year. Seeker- Lisa Galivant, Hufflepuff, 4th year. Albus turned around and walked back to where his brother and friends were gathered. "I'm a reserve Chaser," he announced. "See!" James grinned, "Told you you'd make it!" "Well, I'm not actually on the team," Albus pointed out. "Yeah, you are," James contradicted, "Didn't you read at the bottom where it said the reserve players have to go to practices and everything?" "Er, no," Albus shrugged sheepishly. He hadn't noticed much after his own name. "Well, that's what it said," James continued, "First practice is on Saturday." Albus tried to work on his Potions essay later that evening, but it was no use. The common room was in the midst of a party that usually only followed a spectacular win at Quidditch. Georgia, James, and eventually Albus were thrown into the throngs of it and he quickly gave up on his essay. No one else, besides Rose and Linda, was working on homework and Albus figured it would be pointless to even try. Maybe Slughorn wouldn't have enough time to even get to Albus's essay due to the length of Rose's and Linda's. ****** In fact, the rest of the week was much like that night in the Gryffindor common room. Albus seemed to attract attention wherever he went. On his way to class, in class, even on his way to the bathroom, people came up to him and congratulated him. Students who he had never even talked to before were telling him what a brilliant Chaser he was. All in all, he was kind of shocked at the whole thing. It's not like he was one of the main Chasers on the team. Albus's friends were kind of enjoying the whole thing. They were kind of attracting attention by association. John and Kaden were already known as 'those Gryffindor blokes who rode the Giant Squid' and now had the added fame of being some of Albus's closest friends. Rose seemed oblivious to the whole thing and devoted more time than ever to studying. Matt and Amanda seemed to wish they wouldn't attract so much attention. Even Lily and Hugo were attracting attention by being the sister and cousin of the Hogwarts Seeker. Albus's fame paled in comparison to James's. James had a group of admirers following him all the time. Lily and Hugo told anyone they could that they were the sister and cousin of James. Ashtyn, John's sister, told everyone she was the sister of one of the blokes who rode the Giant Squid and that her brother was friends with Albus. John and Kaden had nightly detentions with Filch and both boys came back quietly cursing Filch every evening. Apparently the caretaker was as ruthless as ever with his detentions. The detention wasn't the only thing John earned from his trip into the lake either. On Monday morning, he was blessed with a Howler from his mother. Instead of running into the Entrance Hall like most students did with their Howlers, John opened it at the Gryffindor table and the entire room, including the teachers, listened to John's mum screaming at the top of her lungs about how stupid he had been. John said it was worth it, though, and wasn't fazed at all by the Howler. Albus was relieved when the week was finally over. He was hoping that the excitement of the Hogwarts Quidditch team being picked would die down over the weekend. On Saturday afternoon, Albus left his friends in the common room and walked with Georgia and James to the Quidditch pitch. Oliver Wood, Tyler Pike, and Teddy were already there, along with a few of the team members. Albus stood with Georgia and James as they waited for the rest of the team to show up. "First, I'd like to say congratulations," Oliver announced once everyone arrived, "You are now the Hogwarts Quidditch Team. I'm Oliver Wood and I will be your captain. Teddy and Tyler are here to help. "Now, I know regular Quidditch is still going on, so we'll have to work around each house's practice schedules. I've looked at those and I think Saturday afternoons will work best for practice. For now, we'll stick with once a week practice and increase if necessary. "I thought we'd start by doing a few drills, just so everyone can get used to playing with each other. I know it'll be an adjustment, since you usually compete against the other houses, not play on the same team as them." An adjustment was an understatement, Albus thought. As the practice progressed, it became apparent that it was extremely difficult to work with members of other houses. Albus found that it was instinct to try and keep the Quaffle away from his fellow Chasers rather than to pass it to them. Wood, Teddy, and Tyler tried to get everyone to work together, but Albus thought it would take more than one practice. Everyone was rather subdued by the time the practice ended. Nobody had been able to work together, except for James and Lisa. The two of them actually cooperated. But the Chasers and Beaters in particular had a hard time working together. Ferris Fielding, Hailey Odelle, and Talan Flint left the pitch muttering about how they couldn't work with 'bloody Gryffindors'. Wood looked ready to scream and throw things by the time everyone left. He was whispering to Teddy and Tyler as Albus left with James and Georgia. "That was a disaster," Georgia groaned on their way back to the castle. "Yeah," Albus agreed, "I don't know how this is going to work." "It's got to work," James said adamantly, "I mean, Lisa and I practiced just fine with each other. Why can't everyone else?" "It's Fielding and Odelle," Albus muttered, "They wouldn't pass anyone else the Quaffle! It's like they're trying to prove they're the best Chasers!" "Well, they're idiots, then," James said, "And they better stop if they want to actually win this." Albus definitely agreed with that. Fielding and Odelle certainly weren't acting like team players. Fielding had actually pushed Albus out of the way in order to get the Quaffle before him. Albus felt rather depressed about the practice for the rest of the day. It seemed that the house rivalries really were awful. Albus would be the first to admit that the disliked Slytherin and certainly wasn't lining up to become best friends with any of them, but he was willing to put the rivalry behind him for the sake of the Quidditch tournament. But it didn't seem like many other members of the team wanted to do so. Luckily for Albus, the fame of being a reserve player on the team seemed to decrease during the next week. He was able to catch up on his homework and spend time with just his friends, without anyone else following him. Of course, spending time with Rose was beginning to be pointless. Albus couldn't remember the last time he'd had a real conversation with her or seen her without a book open in front of her. "Rose, you've got to give it a rest," Albus said the following Saturday. He was sitting in the common room, killing time before the second Quidditch practice. "No one can possibly study this much." "I can," Rose muttered as she read, "Linda can. She studies at night. I woke up in the middle of the night and saw her reading. I don't think she sleeps. I've heard her sneek out in the middle of the night before. I think she goes into the common room and studies." Albus stared at Rose. He had never seen her like this. Usually Rose was rational. "Rose, I'm serious. Take a break." "No," Rose said adamantly. Albus sighed and got up to go to practice. He was really worried about Rose. Unfortunately, Quidditch practice did nothing to lift his spirits. The practice was another disaster. "All right, all right!" Wood shouted and motioned for everyone to fly down. Albus landed next to James and looked at Wood. He was looking very very stern and determined. "We've had two practices," Wood began to pace, "Two practices and you're still flying like you're a team comprised of five-year-olds. Five-year-olds who don't get along. I'm sick of it. I agreed to captain the team because I thought you'd be the best of Hogwarts's Quidditch players. The ones who could someday play professionally. But I've been sorely disappointed. "The house rivalries are disrupting your playing. I've got as much Gryffindor pride as the next Gryffindor, but I would put that aside if I had gotten the opportunity to do this while I was in school. This is the opportunity of a lifetime. You realize that there will be scouts for professional teams at these matches? "In real life, you're going to have to work with people you don't like. So you'd better get used to it. All I have to say is that if you don't shape up and put the petty bickering aside, I will not hesitate to kick you off the team. I'll give you a week to do it. If any of you are still fighting next Saturday, you're off the team. Practice is over." No one said a word as they filed out of the pitch. Albus thought Wood's speech had been good. He was sick of the fighting as well. He'd put the rivalries aside for the sake of Quidditch. After all, Albus was on the same dueling team as Scorpius Malfoy and they acted civilly towards each other. Albus wondered if the Australian and New York teams had had this many issues with getting along. He hadn't watched any of their practices, but Georgia had. She said both teams were incredibly good. ****** "I can't take it anymore!" Rose shouted as she slammed her book down on the table, which startled Matt out of his homework and impending full moon induced slumber. Albus and his friends were in the Marauder's Den, working on the plethora of homework they had been assigned on that particular Monday. Albus, who had been watching Rose grow steadily more tense and snappish over the past few days, knew it was only a matter of time before she cracked. "Er, Rose, are you ok?" Albus asked tentatively. "No!" Rose shouted so loudly that Matt winced and rubbed his head. "I'm not ok! I can't take it! I just can't! Nothing I do is good enough, nothing! I just can't beat her. She got a higher grade on that Potions essay and she answered more questions in Transfiguration today. Not to mention the fact that she doesn't look like she's going to fall asleep at any moment, like John was so kind to point out about me earlier." Rose glared at John. John shrugged. "Well, you do...." "I know!" Rose shouted. Albus looked at his cousin. She did look ready to fall asleep at any moment. Her eyes had purple bags under them and were bloodshot. Combine that with the fact that she was nearly in tears, and she looked awful. In fact, she looked an awful lot like Matt did. "Rose," Amanda said quietly, "You don't have to beat her at everything." "But I do!" Rose wailed, "I don't even know why, but I do!" "Look," Amanda continued, "She's from Australia. They might teach stuff in a different order down there. Maybe she's already learned this. But eventually, we'll get to something she hasn't learned and then maybe she won't beat you." "Maybe," Rose sighed and poked Matt, "Matt! Do you know what they're learning in Australia now? Amy went there, did she tell you?" Matt groaned and glared at Rose. "No, how would I know? Amy went there years ago." He stood up and walked slowly over to his bed and collapsed onto it. "Did I say something?" Rose asked. Albus sighed, "You just woke him up. Do you even know what tomorrow is?" "Tomorrow?" Rose asked, "What's significant about tomorrow? Oh, we've got a Defense essay due! I have to edit mine!" "No," Albus groaned, "Tomorrow's the full moon." Rose froze. "Oh, Merlin. I hadn't even realized." "I figured," Albus said, "Listen, you're not doing anymore homework tonight." "But I need to edit-" "No," Albus said, "You need a break." "Albus is right," Amanda agreed and took Rose's pile of books away, "You're not studying for the rest of the night." "Uh, ok," Rose smiled nervously, "I can do that. I mean, what's the worst that can happen?" Rose didn't seem to know what to do with herself. Albus found it difficult to concentrate on his own homework as he watched Rose pace around the room, trying to figure out something to do. Eventually, she settled on helping Kaden with his Transfiguration essay. Albus and Amanda exchanged glances at this, but neither of them said anything since Rose wasn't technically doing any homework. She was merely helping Kaden. Albus, Matt, John, and Kaden wound up spending the night in the Marauder's Den. Matt had been so sound asleep by the time curfew arrived, that no one wanted to wake him up nor did anyone want to leave him there alone. Albus certainly didn't mind. He liked spending the night there. It gave him a sort of connection with his grandfather.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2495 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Thursday 5 November 2009 12 50 20 pm    Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden Chapter 8: The Incident With the Giant Squid The remainder of the week went by quickly. Albus spent all his spare time on the Quidditch pitch, trying to hone his skills for the try-outs on Saturday. Unfortunately, the Slytherin Quidditch team booked the pitch all Friday evening, so Albus was unable to cram in a last minute practice session. Instead, Albus sat in the common room with the rest of his friends, trying to write an essay for Transfiguration. He was supposed to research a famous Animagi and write a foot long essay about him or her. Albus had wanted to write about his grandfather, but given the fact that Prongs's Animagus status had been a secret, Albus didn't think such an essay would work. So, Albus eventually decided to write about McGonagall. He had a feeling half the class would write about her. "What are McGonagall's markings?" John asked, proving Albus's theory. "Spectacle marks around her eyes," Albus answered as he stared at his mostly blank piece of parchment. "Thanks," John grinned, "You just saved me fifteen minutes of research." "No problem," Albus replied. He wasn't sure why the essay was taking him so long. He knew a great deal about McGonagall and her Animagus capabilities. He supposed he just had his mind on other things, like the Quidditch try-outs. "How can she even concentrate on her studying?" Rose sighed loudly. "Who?" Albus asked. "Linda Morales," Rose muttered, with a hint of contempt in her voice, "Just look at her." Albus turned around and saw Linda sitting at a table with a bunch of books and parchment strewn about it. There was quite a crowd of boys surrounding her, including Bilius, Ethan, James, Ben, Cedric, Nathan, and a few second years Albus didn't know the names of. They all seemed to be talking at once while Linda had her eyes fixed on one of the books. "Well, from what you've said, she's so freakishly smart she doesn't need to study," Kaden said. "Humph," Rose huffed, "Everyone needs to study." "I think you're jealous, Rose," Albus smirked. "Am not," Rose replied. "I wonder what position she plays," John mused. "What?" Albus asked. "Position. You know, in Quidditch," John explained, "She must be on the Australian team. Since she's our age, she can't be on the dueling team." "Seeker," Rose said. "How do you know?" Albus asked. "Karina asked her one day in the dormitory," Rose explained. "Who's a Seeker?" Matt dropped his bag onto the table and sat down in the chair next to Albus. "Linda Morales," Albus told him, "How was your boggart lesson?" "Weird," Matt replied, "Balladanis wasn't stern like he is in class." "Really?" Kaden gaped, "I don't think I could imagine him not strict." "Yeah. I wouldn't say he was nice, but he didn't act like he does in class." "What did he do?" John asked. "Well, I walked in and he was sitting at his desk. So I walked up to him and he got up and went over to the trunk. He didn't say much, just told me to battle the boggart. And then I did. Over and over again until I thought I was going to go mad." "That sounds like Balladanis," Kaden interrupted. "I know," Matt replied, "I'm getting there. Anyway, eventually he told me I could stop. Then he told me to sit down and that he wanted to talk to me. He basically told me the same thing he told everyone in class the other day. But he changed it a bit." Matt lowered his voice. "He said that the point of Defense class wasn't only to learn how to defend ourselves against the dark arts. He said it's also to teach us why the dark arts are so horrible. He then went on to tell me that it was especially important for me to know that." "That is weird," Albus said quietly, "You don't think he said that because of, well, you know." "Yeah, I think he did," Matt replied, "But he didn't say it in a mean way or anything. It was just really really odd." "I'll say," John agreed, "Do you have to go there again?" "Unfortunately, yes," Matt muttered, "He wants me to go every Friday until he says I don't have to anymore." "How did it go with the boggart, though?" Rose asked. "I thought it went ok. I mean, I'm doing better than I was. But he still wants me to go in for extra help." "Well," Kaden said after a few moments, "This just proves that Balladanis is a very very strange teacher." ****** Albus awoke riddled with nerves the next morning. It reminded him of the nerves he had only one year ago prior to the Gryffindor team try-outs. Only this was ten times worse. He felt like he'd eaten a few live pygmy puffs and they were bouncing around his stomach trying to escape. Try-outs were to be held shortly after lunch and Albus spent all morning talking with his fellow Gryffindor teammates in the common room. Georgia spent over an hour talking about the strengths and weaknesses of the other people who would be trying out. Albus only sort of paid attention. The rest of the team seemed excited and not nearly as nervous as Albus. Albus thought James was lucky; he was only competing against Lisa Galivant of Hufflepuff and Miranda Corner of Ravenclaw, as Slytherin was getting a new Seeker that year. Albus sat with his team at lunch, although he didn't eat much. Georgia continued talking about everything they'd need to know for the try-outs. The other Gryffindors kept coming up to him and wishing him luck. All Albus could manage to do was nod and mutter 'thanks'. In an effort to keep order on the Quidditch pitch, the headmaster had banned the rest of the students from watching the try-outs. Albus was very grateful of this and was kind of relieved when Georgia finally announced that they should leave for the pitch. Albus's friends wished him luck and he left the Great Hall following James. The walk to the pitch was quiet. Georgia had stopped her running commentary on the strategy of the rest of the Hogwarts Quidditch players and everyone else seemed to realize they were more nervous than they thought. Albus took a deep breath as he entered the pitch and adjusted his broom on his shoulder. He tried to think positive thoughts and followed his team onto the pitch. Then, he stopped in his tracks and felt his jaw drop to the ground. Standing in the middle of the pitch, next to Professors Oteski, Longbottom, Slughorn, Patil, and Polo, was none other than Teddy Lupin. Standing with Teddy and the professors were Oliver Wood and Tyler Pike, the Head Boy from Albus's first year. "What's Teddy doing here?" James whispered. "No idea," Albus whispered back, wondering the same thing. Why was Teddy there? He hadn't mentioned anything over the summer about doing anything at Hogwarts that year. Albus stood with his team and looked at the rest of the students who were trying out. The Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff players were already there. Amongst the Ravenclaws were Kate Waverly, the Keeper; Natalie Cable, Damien Waverly, and Dan Burke, the Chasers; Zack Valentino and Allie Davis, the Beaters; Miranda Corner, the Seeker. Their entire team was trying out, like the Gryffindor team. The Hufflepuffs had a few less players trying out. Their Keeper, Tanner Royce was there, along with Anna Reilly and Shawn Ames, the Chasers. One of their Beaters, Andy Kaper was there. Albus remembered that their other Beater had graduated the previous year. Lisa Galivant, their Seeker, was there as well, looking determined. The Slytherins showed up a few minutes later. Leading them was their new captain, Ferris Fielding, who was a Chaser. His fellow Chasers were Peyton Haines and Hailey Odele. Their remaining Beater, Talan Flint, glared at the Gryffindor team as he walked by. Professor Oteski gazed around the pitch and then looked at his watch. He said something to the four heads of houses and then cleared his throat. Albus stopped watching the Slytherins and turned to Oteski. "I think everyone's here now," Oteski began, "First, I want to introduce you to your Head Captain and your Assistant Captains. Oliver Wood, formerly of Puddlemere United, has agreed to captain the team." There was a very loud round of applause and a few whistles from the crowd of students. Albus grinned and clapped until the applause began to quiet down. "And your Assistant Captains are former students you probably all remember. Teddy Lupin, former Seeker and Captain of the Gryffindor team, and Tyler Pike, former Seeker and Captain of the Ravenclaw team will be your Assistant Captains." Albus clapped hard enough to make his hands hurt. He had no idea Teddy was going to help run the Hogwarts team! Teddy must have had a hard time keeping that a secret over the summer. "You will all try out this afternoon and I, along with your captains and heads of houses will make the decisions tonight. The final list of the team as well as the reserve players will be posted in your common rooms late tomorrow. "Now, I thought we'd start with the Seekers. Everyone else please go sit in the stands." Albus and the vast majority of the crowd drifted towards the stands. James, Lisa, and Miranda remained in the pitch. Miranda was a third year and Lisa was a fourth year. Albus thought James had a pretty good chance of making the team. He had beaten both of the other Seekers numerous times. Albus paid some attention to James's try-out, but mostly he was thinking about his own try-out. Eventually, James and the other Seekers finished and Oteski called for the Keepers. Georgia practically ran down to the pitch, followed by the other two Keepers. Albus watched and he was pretty confident Georgia would make the team as well. After Georgia returned with a huge grin on her face, Oteski called the Beaters down. Albus's cousin, Bradley, as well as Ryan O'Malley did well with their try-out, but so did the other Beaters. Finally, Oteski announced for the Chasers to enter the pitch. Albus stood up with his cousins, Heather and Fred, and walked nervously down to the pitch. Teddy flashed him a grin as he entered the pitch. There were ten other Chasers besides Albus; the worst chances of all the positions to get a spot on the team. "Ok, I want everyone to fly around the pitch a few times," Oliver Wood announced. Albus mounted his broom and flew into the air. His nerves seemed to calm down as he felt the wind blowing against his face. Just think of it as another Quidditch match, he thought as he flew amongst the other Chaser hopefuls. The thought of try-outs being like a Quidditch match carried Albus through the whole try-out. He was still nervous and did drop a few Quaffles, but all in all, it wasn't as bad as he thought it would have been. The rest of the Chasers had dropped a few Quaffles as well. Albus still wasn't sure he'd make the team, but at least he hadn't made a fool of himself. "Everyone did great," Oliver Wood said at the end of the try-out, "We'll make our decision and post the team list tomorrow. I'll be seeing some of you really soon." The group started to disband and Teddy made his way towards the Gryffindor team. "Teddy!" Georgia shouted, "I can't believe you might be my captain again! How in the name of Merlin did you keep this a secret?" Teddy shrugged. "Honestly, I'm not even sure. I guess I kind of liked knowing something you lot didn't." Georgia groaned. "Oh, shut it, Teddy." "You all did really well, though," Teddy grinned. "Yeah, but there's so many other Chasers," Albus pointed out. "Al, even if you don't make it, you're a brilliant Chaser and you'll still have the house Quidditch. That's still going on during this whole thing." "Oi, Teddy!" Tyler Pike called, "Get a move on, we've got to discuss the team!" "I'll see you later, Al, everyone else," Teddy waved as he left. Albus left the pitch with the rest of his team, who were all talking animatedly about the highlights of the try-outs. Albus was thrilled that Teddy was going to be one of the captains and it made him hope for a spot on the team even more than he had before. Albus and the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team were greeted by raucous applause when they returned to the common room. Albus thought it was kind of premature, since none of them were actually on the team yet, but it was still nice. Rose, Matt, and Amanda were sitting at their usual table and Albus went over to them. "How was the try-out?" Matt asked immediately. "Better than I thought," Albus replied as he sat down, "I think I have a slight chance of making it." "That's good," Matt grinned. "Oh, and Teddy's one of the captains!" Albus told them. "Really?" Rose said, "Who are the others?" "Tyler Pike, the Head Boy from our first year, and Oliver Wood-" "John is going to be thrilled when he finds that out," Matt interrupted. Albus grinned. Oliver Wood had gone to Slughorn's Christmas party in their first year and John had given him a Quaffle to sign. John was a big supporter of Oliver Wood and Puddlemere United. "Where is John anyway?" Albus asked, "And Kaden?" "In the Marauder's Den," Matt answered, "Plotting. They're planning on swimming in the lake tomorrow with the Giant Squid." "I'm rather afraid of what sort of plotting they're doing," Rose muttered, "If swimming requires plotting, nothing good will come of it." "I take it you three don't want to join them?" Albus laughed. "Definitely not," Amanda said. "Are you insane, Albus?" Rose raised her eyebrows, "Of course not." "Nope," Matt shook his head, "I'd rather not get in trouble this soon into the year." "Yeah," Albus agreed, "I don't want to either." Albus and his friends had gotten into quite a bit of trouble, mostly because of Kaden, the previous year and Albus was hoping he'd keep Filch's detentions to a minimum this year. "The two of them are going to be in detention more often than they're not," Rose muttered. "That wouldn't surprise me," Albus replied. John had always been the trouble-maker of Albus's group, even before Kaden entered the scene. And then when Kaden had arrived, nothing was going to stop him. Now John had someone to conspire with for all of his mischievous schemes. ****** Although Albus and Matt flat out refused to swim in the lake with John and Kaden, the two mischievous boys managed to convince them to at least watch by the side of the lake. However, Rose and Amanda refused to be anywhere near the lake when this took place. Rose insisted that she needed to devote the day to studying and Amanda decided to join her. Albus had a feeling Rose's increased amount of studying had a lot to do with Linda Morales, but knew better than to mention this to his cousin. John and Kaden walked excitedly ahead of Albus and Matt on their way out of the castle the next day. Albus still had no idea what exactly they were planning on doing, and for that he was grateful. If John and Kaden got caught, Albus preferred to not know anything about it, so he could deny his involvement. There were a few students sitting around the lake enjoying the warm late summer day when the boys arrived. Albus and Matt chose a spot underneath a large beech tree and sat back to watch the event unfold. John and Kaden grinned at each other and then pulled off their shirts and shoes, so they were only wearing shorts. A few first year girls who were sitting near Albus and Matt giggled and began whispering to each other. Albus turned to Matt and rolled his eyes. Matt stifled a laugh. "This isn't going to end well," Albus said. "But it will be entertaining to watch," Matt laughed. John and Kaden began to obnoxiously stretch by the edge of the water. Albus had a feeling they were doing it only to try and gain the attention of the few students who weren't watching them. Next, they bent down to the water and felt the temperature. "Bloody hell!" John shouted, "It's freezing!" "That means we'll just jump right in!" Kaden announced. He turned around and walked away, and then took a running start into the lake. He landed with a loud splash that soaked John, who was still standing by the edge. "They're mad," Albus grinned. "All right, here it goes!" John shouted and followed Kaden into the water, "Merlin, that's cold!" Albus laughed as John and Kaden got used to the water. The two of them were flailing around and shrieking like little girls. They had gained quite a few on-lookers who were standing around the lake laughing their heads off. Albus may not have wanted to do something this crazy himself, but he was having a good time watching his friends do it. The two of them got used to the water and then began swimming around. However, merely swimming in the Black Lake wasn't that exciting. Albus knew they had something else up their sleeves (or lack thereof) and it was only a matter of time until they put their plan into action. John and Kaden were just beginning to have a contest to see who could remain underwater the longest when a long tentacle appeared out of the water a few feet behind them. "Ooo!" a girl shouted, "It's the squid!" Both John and Kaden turned around. "Yes!" they both shouted at the same time, "The squid has arrived!" Albus watched as John and Kaden swam towards the tentacle, wondering what sort of torment they were going to inflict upon the squid. He didn't think the squid was particularly dangerous, but who knew what it would do if it was provoked. John and Kaden treaded water on either side of the tentacle and then began to tickle it. This earned a bunch of loud gasps and more hysterical laughter from the crowd. A few more of the squid's tentacles appeared out of the water and two of them smacked John and Kaden on their heads. "Hey!" John shouted and pushed the tentacle away. Then, the squid's head emerged from the surface of the water. A few of the younger girls who were watching began to shriek and the older students laughed even harder. Albus was laughing and shaking his head at the same time. He couldn't help but laugh at his friends' stupidity. They should have known that the squid would try and tickle back. And it had more arms than John and Kaden combined. John and Kaden grinned at each other and then swam towards the back of the squid as it rose out of the water. They grabbed onto its back and began to ride it. Albus gaped as the squid began to swim around with John and Kaden on top of it. The two of them had actually decided to ride the Giant Squid. "They're idiots," Matt commented. Albus nodded as the squid swam closer and closer to the shore. The onlookers retreated and scattered as it drew nearer. John and Kaden both looked thrilled, until the squid propelled them onto the shore. They landed in the grass and the squid returned into the murky depths of the lake. Albus jumped up and ran towards John and Kaden, followed by Matt. He squeezed his way through the crowd and looked down at his two friends. "Urgh," John groaned as he sat up, rubbing his head. "That was incredibly stupid," Albus grinned, "And very entertaining." "Let's do it again!" Kaden said excitedly as he examined his arm, which was bleeding. "How can you actually want to do it again when the squid threw you five feet into the air?" Matt asked. "It was fun," Kaden shrugged. "Move aside!" a female voice shouted. The crowd immediately dispersed and people ran towards the castle and to other areas of the grounds. Albus looked up and saw Professor Patil striding towards them. Albus groaned. He knew they wouldn't get away with this. "I've just been informed that the two of you were riding the Giant Squid!" Patil shouted at John and Kaden, "Is that true?" "Er-" John began. "Well..." Kaden said. "Of course it is!" Patil replied, "Look at you! I'm very disappointed! I thought it was a given not to swim in that lake and the fact that you provoked the squid..." she shook her head, "Well, you two will need to go to the Hospital Wing and then I'll assign you detention." John and Kaden stood up and nodded. The thrill that had been on their faces just moments before, was completely gone. "And what about you two?" Patil said to Albus and Matt, "Were you involved? I see you're both dry, but I've noticed that the four of you are always getting in trouble together." "They didn't do it, Professor," Kaden announced. "Yeah," John agreed, "They didn't even know what we were going to do." Albus felt a surge of gratitude for his friends, especially Kaden. Just a year ago, Kaden had been getting all four of them in trouble for things only he had done. Now, he was actually telling teachers that Albus wasn't involved. True, Albus hadn't been involved, but it was the principle of it. Patil nodded. "All right. Mr. Brickston, Mr. Dursley, you'll need to follow me. Mr. Potter and Mr. Eckerton, you may return to your common room." Albus didn't need to be told twice. He and Matt took off towards the castle and once they were out of earshot of Patil, started talking about John and Kaden's adventure. "I think the two of them could single handedly cause the destruction of the entire castle," Albus laughed. "It's only a matter of when they'll do it," Matt smirked, "Let's see, Kaden's already tormented the Whomping Willow, and now they've tormented the Giant Squid. What'll be next?" "Filch's new cat?" Albus suggested. "Filch would love that," Matt replied. At some point in between the end of the last year and the start of this one, Filch had obtained another cat. Albus had heard stories about his previous cat, Mrs. Norris, from his parents, aunts, and uncles, but had never actually met her. She had died before Albus was born. Apparently Filch had been so overcome by grief that he hadn't gotten another one, until now. The new cat, Josie, was a young sprightly kitten, whose only resemblance to Mrs. Norris was her uncanny ability to locate students who were breaking rules. All the students took an immediate dislike to Josie and turned in the other direction when they saw her small orange body emerge from around the corner. People were already talking about John and Kaden's swim in the lake when Albus and Matt entered the Gryffindor common room. Albus had a feeling it would be weeks before anyone forgot about it. Albus and Matt spotted Rose and Amanda and sat down at their table. It was spread with numerous books and rolls of parchment and quills. The only other table that rivaled its amount of books was the one Linda Morales was sitting at. "I take it you've heard about John and Kaden's incident with the squid?" Albus asked. "Bits and pieces," Rose muttered without looking up. Albus and Matt launched into the entire story and Amanda was in stitches by the time they finished. "Those two are going to be expelled if they're not careful," Rose said as she frantically scribbled something onto a roll of parchment. Albus looked curiously at his cousin. Rose had always been a stickler for homework, but never had he seen her this obsessed with it unless it was right before the end of term exams. And this was only the first week of school. "Rose, why don't you take a break?" Albus suggested. He was actually kind of worried about her. Studying was good, but too much was kind of unhealthy. "Can't," Rose muttered, "My Potions essay is only a roll and a half of parchment." Albus gaped at her, "Rose, you do know that Slughorn only wants a half a roll, right?" Rose nodded. "Yeah, but Janie said that Linda's essay is already two rolls. So I've got to make mine at least that long." "Rose," Albus sighed, "Your essay doesn't have to be longer than Linda's." "Yes, it does," Rose insisted. Albus sighed and sat back in his chair. He knew it was a lost cause. His cousin had that determined look in her eyes and Albus knew there was no convincing her that she didn't have to be so competitive with Linda. "I think she studies so much because she doesn't really have any friends here," Amanda said quietly. "What?" Albus looked at her incredulously. At any given moment, Linda was surrounded by at least five other people. She was easily the most popular of all the Australian students. "Look at her! She's got eight people talking to her at once!" Amanda groaned. "They're not her friends. They just think she's pretty. She doesn't even want them around. They do all the talking. All she does is sit there and study. Plus, ever notice how she's never around any of the other Australian students?" Albus looked at Linda again. Amanda was right. Linda wasn't actually talking to any of the students around her. And come to think of it, he hadn't seen her talk to any of the other Australian students either. "Wonder why that is?" Amanda shrugged. "Well, all the other Australian students are a lot older than her. All her friends are probably still in Australia." "She could befriend any of those blokes near her," Albus pointed out. "Again, they're only there because they think she's pretty," Amanda sighed, "But she's really really quiet. Her first night here, she didn't say a word in the dormitory. Now, Janie's really the only one she talks to. I mean, being shy is one thing, but never talking at all?" Albus turned to Linda once again. It was kind of odd for her never to talk to anyone, besides the teachers. It was like the only thing she wanted to do was study. Her obsession with homework seemed to be ten times that of Rose's and Albus wasn't sure if Rose could keep up.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2495 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 23 September 2009 09 03 52 pm    Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden Chapter 2: Football Albus Severus Potter awoke to a high pitched shriek. He sat up quickly in bed and listened. It was coming from downstairs and sounded exactly like his little sister, Lily. He groaned and got out of bed. It would be pointless for him to try and go back to sleep. Lily had been impossible to deal with ever since Albus returned home from Hogwarts. She was incredibly excited about the fact that she was going to go to Hogwarts in the fall. Therefore, Lily had been constantly asking Albus about Hogwarts and the questions were usually ones Albus did not know the answer to or did not want to answer. Albus quickly changed his clothes and ran downstairs. It was a mystery as to what Lily was shrieking about now. His mum probably told her some new piece of information about Hogwarts. "Al!" Lily shoved a piece of parchment in Albus's face, "It came! It came! My Hogwarts letter came!" So that was what the shrieking was about, Albus thought. Lily had been waiting for that letter all summer. Every morning she'd watch the window waiting for the post owl to arrive. "Congratulations, Lily," Albus grinned at her and continued his walk down to the kitchen. Lily ran ahead of him and was literally dancing around the room by the time Albus arrived. "Lily!" James shouted, "One does not shriek and dance like a lunatic when one receives their Hogwarts letter." "Oh, really, James?" Ginny smirked at him, "Weren't you the one to stand on top of the table and do some sort of dance?" James blushed. "Er, no." "Oh, don't be ashamed, James," Albus grinned as he sat down next to his brother, "At least you didn't shriek like a girl." "Yeah, that was you," James laughed. "I did not!" Albus shouted, "I acted perfectly normal!" "Normal for a girl," James replied. "Stop it, James," Ginny scolded as she set a bowl of oatmeal and a few envelopes in front of Albus, "You got some post as well, Al." Albus picked up the pile of letters and opened the top one. It was the usual book list as well as his Hogsmeade permission slip. "Here, Mum," he handed her the slip, "You'll have to sign that." Ginny took the parchment. "I can't believe you're a third year, Al. You're growing up so fast." "Mum!" Albus groaned. "I can't believe it either," James sighed, "Ickle Al is getting so big!" "James!" Albus smacked him. "Mum, Al hit me!" James shouted. "Behave yourselves, boys," Ginny said without looking at them. Albus opened the other envelope. It was from Matt. [i]Dear Albus, My parents said you could come visit on the 16th for a few days. They're going to take us to Diagon Alley too. Let me know if you can come! Your friend, Matt[/i] "Mum!" Albus shouted, "Can I go to Matt's house on the 16th?" Ginny read the letter over Albus's shoulder. "Sure. We'll meet you in Diagon Alley and get James and Lily's stuff then." Albus grinned. He was very excited about going to Matt's house. He had never been there. He hoped that John and Kaden would be able to go as well. They hadn't seen each other in about a month, when Albus and Rose had had their birthday party. "Thanks, Mum." "Mum!" Lily whined, "I wanted to go to Diagon Alley today!" "Sorry, Lily," Ginny replied, "I'd rather get everyone's supplies at once." "I don't want to wait!" "Lily, you have to wait," Ginny sighed. Albus turned to James and they smirked at each other. Lily still hadn't grown out of her whiny phase. It got rather annoying. Albus hoped that she wouldn't be like that at Hogwarts. ****** The next few days passed very slowly. Albus was anxious to get away from Lily. She asked him no less than fifty times how the sorting was done and Albus replied with fifty 'I can't tell yous'. Eventually the sixteenth arrived and Albus sat in the drawing room waiting for Matt and his parents to show up. Kaden was with him. He had arrived a few hours earlier and they had spent their time trying to stay away from Lily. "You know, Kaden, you were as irritating as Lily a year ago," Albus pointed out. "Was not," Kaden replied, "And I've matured." "Yeah, sure," Albus rolled his eyes. The two boys looked up when they heard a loud crack. Matt's entire family had Apparated into the drawing room. Ginny walked into the room and greeted Matt's parents. "Matt!" Albus grinned, "I am so glad to see you. I can't wait to get away from Lily." "Oh, Al, be nice," Ginny sighed. "What? She's irritating," Albus shrugged, "Bye, Mum." "Goodbye, Al, I'll see you in a few days," she gave Albus a hug. "All right," Mr. Eckerton said, "Albus, you can Apparate with Amy. Kaden, you can Apparate with my wife." Albus nodded and stepped over to Amy. She wrapped him in a hug and the two of them disappeared with a crack. They reappeared in the middle of a large field. There was a log house in the distance. "This doesn't look like a house," Kaden announced as he stepped away from Matt's mum. "It's not," Matt said as he pointed to the log house, "That's my house." "Oh," Kaden replied as they started towards the house, "Why didn't we just Apparate into it?" "My parents put anti-Apparition wards on the house," Matt explained. "Why?" Kaden asked. "I don't want to get into it," Matt muttered. Kaden groaned. "I thought you were done keeping secrets from me." "There are some things I don't tell anyone, Kaden," Matt sighed. Albus smirked and shook his head. Some things never change. Kaden still didn't know how to keep his mouth shut. Matt's house was the only one in the area. Albus couldn't see any other buildings besides a shed behind the house. There were fields surrounding the house and a low fence surrounding the property. Beyond the fence was farmland. Matt's dad unlocked the door and Albus followed him inside. He stopped in the entryway and looked around. The place was about as different as a house could be from Grimmauld Place. It was open and airy and decorated in a modern yet rustic way. From the doorway, Albus could see the kitchen straight ahead, the dining room next to it, and the living room next to the door. On the other side of the door was a set of stairs leading upstairs. Albus continued walking into the living room and saw a corridor next to the kitchen that lead to a few more rooms. Albus liked it instantly. It had a homey feel to it like the Burrow did. Except it was much cleaner. Matt had said his mum was kind of a neat freak, but Albus wasn't expecting it to be this neat. "Great house, Matt," Albus grinned. "Yeah," Kaden agreed, "But it's too neat. We're going to have to change that." "My mum likes it neat," Matt said, "She'll make you clean up whatever you mess up." "I'll go get John now," Mr. Eckerton announced, "You can come, Matt. I'll be able to Apparate both of you." "Ok. I'll be right back, Albus," Matt said and left the house with his dad. "You can just wait in the living room," Mrs. Eckerton gestured for Albus and Kaden to turn to their left. Albus nodded and sat down on one of the couches. It was quite comfortable. Kaden sat down next to him and put his feet up on the coffee table, earning a stern gaze from Mrs. Eckerton. Kaden sheepishly removed his feet from the table. Amy sat down on a chair and pulled a book off the table. She opened it and began reading. It was some sort of potions book. Kaden tilted his head and read the title. "Do you like potions?" he asked. "Yeah," Amy replied, "I'm studying to be a Healer." "That's great!" Kaden exclaimed, "I like potions too. Albus thinks I'm insane. Well, so do Matt and John." "There aren't many people who appreciate brewing," Amy replied, "But I'm glad you like it." "Me, too," Kaden said. Amy set her book down. "So, Albus, how has your summer been?" "Good," Albus said, "Well, Lily is driving me mad because she got her Hogwarts letter the other day." "I still remember when I got my letter to the Australian School of Sorcery-" "The what?" Kaden asked. "The Australian School of Sorcery," Amy repeated, "The school of magic in Australia. I went there for three years. Then we moved here." "You lived in Australia?" Kaden gaped. "Er, yeah," Amy looked at him strangely, "You didn't know that?" "Nope. Matt never told me," Kaden turned to Albus, "Did he tell you?" "Yeah, my first year," Albus replied, "I never really noticed that he didn't tell you." "Well, he didn't," Kaden muttered, "But it would explain the funny accent he's got." Albus stifled his laughter. "Er, yeah." The three of them sat quietly for another few minutes. Kaden began to laugh and it became louder and louder until Albus turned to look at him. "What?" Albus asked. "The Australian School of Sorcery," Kaden laughed, "A, S, S. Ass!" Albus groaned. Leave it to Kaden to figure that out. Amy laughed. "You know, that's what Teddy said when he first heard about it." The front door opened and Matt and John ran inside followed by Mr. Eckerton. John paused in the entryway and looked around. "Whoa," he grinned, "This house is bloody brilliant!" "Thanks," Matt said and the two of them entered the living room. "What are you three laughing at?" "My old school," Amy smirked, "Kaden figured out its acronym." "Oh, ASS," Matt laughed, "Yeah, I laughed about that for days when I figured it out." "Well, I've got to get to work," Amy stood up, "I'll try and stop by for dinner sometime this week." "Bye, Amy," Mr. Eckerton gave her a hug. "Bye, Dad." "So, I'll show you the upstairs," Matt said after Amy left. Albus grabbed his bag and followed Matt upstairs. John and Kaden thundered behind them. Once they reached the top, Matt led them to the door on the left along the back wall. "This is my room," Matt announced as they entered. Albus stepped inside and looked around. The carpet was blue and the walls were white. It was messier than the rest of the house, but nowhere near as messy as James's room. There was a Chudley Cannons bedspread on the bed and multiple posters on the wall. "Nice bed," John smirked, "Nice to see the Cannons can still sell merchandise. If only they devoted that effort to their playing...." "Shut it, John," Matt replied, "The Cannons have been playing better this season." "Oh, yeah, they did get three goals in their game against Puddlemere," John said, "Too bad Puddlemere had a hundred times that many goals." Matt groaned. "Come on, I'll show you the other rooms." Albus followed Matt out of the room and down the corridor. The next door was a bathroom and the one after that was Amy's room. The last door was alongside a different wall and Matt gestured for them to step inside. "This is the library," Matt announced, "We'll be sleeping here." "Sounds like Rose's dream come true," John laughed. The library was twice the size of Matt's room. Bookshelves covered all the walls and there were a few desks sitting in the middle of the room. A squashy looking couch was sitting below one of the windows and there were a few armchairs in various places. There were also four cots in the middle, but Albus doubted they were normally there. Albus tossed his bag down on a cot as John and Kaden did the same. Kaden started wandering around the room and looking at the various books. "I don't think I've ever been in a house with this many books," Kaden said. "There's even more in Dad's study." "You should see Rose's house," Albus commented. "You've got a lot of books about magical creatures," Kaden pointed out. "Yeah, well, that's what Dad's into." "Especially werewolves," Kaden went on, "There's a whole row of them." "Yeah, you can probably guess why," Matt mumbled. "So," Albus changed the subject, "How was your trip to New York?" The discomfort that had been on Matt's face moments before disappeared. "It was brilliant! We had so much fun." "And how was the airplane?" John asked eagerly. Matt laughed. "Just like every other one I've been on." "Anything else new with anyone?" Albus asked. "Bethany thinks she's a witch," Kaden announced, "She found a stick outside and has been pretending to cast spells." "Bet your grandpa loved that," Albus laughed. "He turned a lovely shade of purple," Kaden laughed. "I'd pay to see that," John replied. Albus and Kaden laughed. "I wouldn't suggest being anywhere near my Uncle Vernon when he turns purple," Albus put in. "Did I tell you that my dad's getting a promotion?" Matt asked. Albus turned to him. "Nope. What kind of promotion?" "The head of the Department of the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures is retiring at the end of the year," Matt explained, "And he's recommending my dad for the position. It's not final, but it'll most likely happen." "That old bloke is finally retiring?" Albus asked, "He's been there for decades." "Yeah. Dad wasn't sure he wanted the promotion, but after thinking about it, he decided to take it if it's offered to him," Matt continued. "Why wouldn't he want it?" John asked. "Well, that's what he did in Australia. And he hated it towards the end. But he thinks it'll be better up here." "From what you've told us, everything is better up here," Albus said. "What does your dad do now?" Kaden asked. "He works in Werewolf Support Services." Kaden nodded. "You know, that is kind of funny, considering...." Matt rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I know. The general public didn't really think it was that funny when we were living in Australia." "And that's why you moved?" Kaden asked. "Pretty much, yeah," Matt said quietly, "But I like Hogwarts, so I don't really care that we had to move." "How about you, Albus?" John asked, "Anything exciting happening in the most famous wizarding family?" Albus rolled his eyes. If anyone besides his friends referred to his family that way, he probably would have hexed them. "Actually," Albus began, surprised that he had momentarily forgotten about it, "I do have some interesting news about the Hogwarts staff." "What is it?" John asked eagerly, "Is Slughorn finally retiring for good?" "No," Albus laughed, "I don't think that will ever happen." "Then what is it?" Matt asked. "My dad's not teaching Defense this year," Albus answered. Harry had broken the news to Albus, James, and Lily a few weeks ago. Albus was disappointed, but not really surprised. He had been surprised that Harry had stayed for more than a year. Matt, John, and Kaden gaped at him. "What?" John asked, "Are you serious?" "Yeah," Albus nodded. "Why?" Matt asked, "He's a brilliant teacher." "He thinks he needs to focus more on his Auror job," Albus explained, "He wants to fully devote his time to finding Willinson and Washburn." "Oh, well, that makes sense," Matt replied. "Who's replacing him?" John asked. "Dunno," Albus shrugged, "Dad didn't tell me. He said he wants me to develop my own opinions of the teacher." "I wonder if we'll ever have the exact same staff for two years in a row," John commented, "I mean, first year they were all new to us. Last year we got Cedonia. And this year we've got some new Defense teacher." "I just hope whoever the new teacher is, that they're nice," Matt said, "So what do you lot want to do? We've got a few hours until dinner." "Hmm," Albus mused, "Want to play Quidditch? That field would be excellent for it." Matt groaned. "That's the one thing we can't do. The Muggle farmer is often out tending to his fields and he'd see us." "I've got an idea," Kaden grinned mischievously and dug around in his bag. He pulled out a football. "Let's play football." The boys decided it was as good an idea as any and they ran downstairs. Albus had limited experience with football. He had watched a couple matches and played it a few times, but that was it. He didn't think John had ever played and he wasn't sure about Matt. John was skeptical about the fun of football, but he was willing to give it a try. "Where are you boys going?" Mrs. Eckerton shouted from the kitchen as they ran to the back door. "We're going to play football," Matt said as he pulled the door open. "Be careful!" Mrs. Eckerton replied. Albus followed Matt down the deck stairs and into the field. He stood next to Matt and John and all three of them turned to Kaden, who had set the ball on the ground and had one foot on it. "Have any of you played football before?" Kaden asked. "A few times," Albus answered. "Nope," John said. "When I was younger, I played a bit," Matt replied, "But I was never any good." Kaden sighed. "All right. Why don't we just play two on two. John and I versus Albus and Matt." The other three boys nodded. Kaden pointed out two different trees that would serve as makeshift goals. He next explained the rules of the game and they began playing. Albus found the concept very similar to that of his Chaser position in Quidditch, only he couldn't use his hands. That was very odd. He had trouble keeping the ball near his feet and even more trouble aiming it to Matt. Half the time Kaden would steal it and he wouldn't even get a chance to pass it. John was hardly any better than Albus. He never managed to kick the ball where he aimed it, but Kaden's superior skill seemed to compensate for John's lack of skill. The two of them (well, Kaden) had scored more goals than Albus and Matt. Matt seemed to be able to aim the ball, but he wound up tripping over it a lot. He did manage to score a few goals, though. All in all, Albus thought it was kind of fun. It wasn't something he desired to be on an official team of, but it was fun to play informally. Not nearly as exciting as Quidditch, though. "John!" Albus shouted as John picked up the ball and took off across the field, "You can't touch the ball!" "I'm turning the game into Quidditch-football!" John shouted and threw the ball at the goal, "See, we've got another point now!" Kaden groaned and kicked the ball back into play. "That's cheating, John! And we're winning, so we don't need to cheat!" "I don't care!" John grinned and picked the ball up again. Kaden tackled John and tried to wrestle the ball out of his arms. John tried to escape, but Kaden was holding onto his leg. "Now it's Quidditch-football-wrestling," Albus said to Matt as the two of them walked towards their wrestling friends. "Albus! Help! Your cousin is Muggle dueling with me!" "Well, we are playing a Muggle sport, John," Albus smirked and yanked the football out of his hands. "Hey!" Kaden shouted and grabbed Albus's leg, "Give that back!" Albus stumbled and fell onto the ground. He held the ball out of Kaden's reach and Kaden tackled him. John, now free of Kaden's wrath, grabbed Matt's leg and pulled him into the mix. "Hey!" Matt shouted, "I didn't take the football!" "Doesn't matter," John grinned, "We're not going to let you stand there while we're Muggle dueling each other." "Got it!" Kaden shouted a few minutes later. He held the football up over his head. "And I declare John and I the winners!" Albus stood up and shook his head. John and Matt stood up after him. John looked quite triumphant at the win, even though he hadn't really contributed to it. "Congratulations," Matt smirked, "You beat a clumsy wizard and a Chaser at football." "Any win is a good win," Kaden grinned. "Boys!" Mrs. Eckerton shouted from the window, "Dinner is ready!" Albus grinned as he walked towards the house. As much as he enjoyed his own house, it was fun to spend a few days with Matt and his other friends. Plus, the girls weren't there. They had never really had time away from Rose and Amanda and it was kind of fun. Not that he didn't enjoy their company, there were just things they couldn't really do around Rose and Amanda. Like turn a football match into a wrestling match, for example. "What did you boys do?" Mrs. Eckerton exclaimed as they entered the house, "You're filthy! I want you all to go shower before you eat!" "Just like home," Kaden commented, "You're a lot like my mum." "Well, I'll take that as a compliment," Mrs. Eckerton smiled.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2495 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Sunday 13 September 2009 06 40 09 pm    Post subject: Re: In Moonlight's Shadow in topic:In Moonlight's Shadow Thanks hprocks and Wratha! Chapter 61: An Interesting Combination Once May arrived, the exams seemed so much closer. Victoire and I threw ourselves into our studies. I tutored her in potions and she tutored me in transfiguration. We spent hours upon hours in the library, only leaving to eat and sleep. Teddy and Landon joined us most of the time since they had O.W.L.s to study for. Victoire told me that it was the only time she'd really seen Teddy study. “Still studying?” Victoire asked Teddy as we sat down at the table he and Landon were at in the common room. We had been at the library for a few hours. “Nah,” Teddy shook his head, “Took a break in order to figure out what we want to do with our lives.” “Longbottom's giving us career advice this week,” Landon gestured to a pile of pamphlets that littered the table. “Oh, and are you going to train security trolls?” Victoire laughed as she pointed to the pamphlet Teddy was holding. “Anything's a possibility at this point,” Teddy shrugged, “I have no idea what I want to do with my life.” “What about you, Landon?” Victoire asked. Landon was holding four pamphlets and trying to read them all at the same time. “No idea.” “How can they expect us to figure out what we want to do when we're already worried about our O.W.L.s?” Teddy groaned and threw the troll pamphlet on the table. “You, Theodore Remus Lupin, are worried about a test?” Victoire laughed. “Possibly,” Teddy muttered. I picked up a few pamphlets and started looking through them. There were pamphlets for just about every department in the Ministry, including the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office. Then there was one for wizard lawyers, business, and at the bottom of the stack was one about healing. The pamphlet was entitled, 'What You Need To Know About Healing'. I opened it up and started reading it. [i]Do you like helping people? Does blood not make you queasy? Are you good at potions? If yes, then a career in healing might be for you! There are many fields one can get into in healing, including research. Training involves four years of study at St. Mungo's, with the last two years spent in one area of expertise you are interested in.[/i] There was then a very long list of the O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s that were required. I turned to the last page of the pamphlet, which listed a bunch of famous healers. One of the last names on the list hit me like a bludger to the stomach. Damocles Belby (1949-)- Healer Damocles Belby invented the Wolfsbane Potion in 1989. The potion changed the lives of many werewolves by allowing them to keep their minds while transforming. Belby received the Order of Merlin for his discovery. I really don't know why it shocked me. Of course it had been a Healer who invented Wolfsbane Potion. Who else would have done it? I hadn't really thought much about it before. It would probably be a Healer who found a variation of it that would work for Matt. My mind started racing. What if I became a Healer? I hadn't given a second thought to what I wanted to do with my life. Honestly, I had just wanted to get through this first year at Hogwarts. But now that year was almost over.... I would be a fifth year very soon. Healing made sense. I loved potions. I'd already spent a good portion of my life in various hospitals. What if I could become a Healer? What if... I swallowed hard. What if I could create a new Wolfsbane Potion? Potions and Astronomy, interesting combination. The words both Healer Norlam and Madam Pomfrey had said months ago hit me. I had had no idea what they meant by it at the time, but now I knew. It was so obvious! If someone was going to create a new version of Wolfsbane, they would need extensive knowledge of both Potions and Astronomy! Plus a good background on werewolves. “Amy, are you all right?” Victoire asked, “You look like you've been stupefied.” I jumped at the sound of her voice. I had forgotten that I was in the crowded common room. “I'm fine, I just, I have to go. I'll be back later.” I ran out of the common room with the pamphlet before Victoire could say anything else. There was only one person in the school I could completely explain this to. I could tell Victoire I had decided to become a Healer, but I couldn't tell her why. The only person I could fully explain it to was Madam Pomfrey. The Head Girl (a Hufflepuff who thinks rules are the greatest things in the world) yelled at me while I was running to the Hospital Wing, but I ignored her. Luckily she got distracted by a second year who was throwing a Quaffle at another second year and didn't pursue me. Madam Pomfrey was busy with a student whose hair was growing at an alarming rate when I burst into the ward. I stood impatiently next to one of the beds while the nurse charmed the boy's hair back to normal. “Are you all right, Amy?” Madam Pomfrey asked once the boy left, “You look a bit flushed.” “It's because I ran here from Gryffindor Tower,” I explained, “I need to talk to you, in private.” She nodded and lead me to her study. I started pacing around as soon as she shut the door and sat down in a chair. “Is something wrong?” she asked concernedly. “No,” I shook my head, “The fifth years have career advice this week and there were a bunch of pamphlets in the common room and I found this one,” I handed her the Healing pamphlet. Madam Pomfrey looked at it and then smiled knowingly. “Ah, I never wondered if you would ever come talk to me about this. I wondered when.” “You knew I would think about becoming a Healer?” I asked. “Potions and Astronomy is a very interesting combination,” she said. “It is, and I know what you meant by that now,” I said quietly. “I've gotten the impression that you're very interested in healing. You always want to help me with potions,” she explained. “I know and I've been thinking and I know it probably sounds mad and I know I shouldn't plan on doing it, but I really want to try and I think I might be able to,” I took a breath, “I want to find a new version of the Wolfsbane Potion. One that will work for Matt. If Sterling's study doesn't work.” “That's quite the ambition,” Madam Pomfrey said, “I know I should not get your hopes up for such ambitions, but I do believe you have the right combination of abilities to accomplish it.” “That's what I thought,” I said quietly, “If anyone's going to do this it's going to be someone who has knowledge in potions, astronomy, and knows a lot about werewolves.” “It's not only that. You have the drive to do it. You have a reason to work hard at this. You have the right motivations. You would not be doing it for fame or fortune. You would be working at this for very unselfish reasons, and I do believe that is helpful in this sort of thing,” Madam Pomfrey elaborated. I hadn't even thought about that, but it was true. Fame had never crossed my mind. All I wanted to do was make life easier for my brother and others like him. “I think what you will be looking to get into with this sort of thing is research,” Madam Pomfrey went on, “However, you can't just be a research Healer from the start. You have to start out working in the hospital or setting up your own practice.” “I want to work in the Creature-Induced Injury ward,” I said immediately, “Even when I'm researching, I want to work there.” “As much as I believe you would make an excellent Healer, I want you to remember to keep your options open. You're only fifteen. You do not have to decide this yet,” Madam Pomfrey said. “I won't change my mind,” I replied. “I do not doubt that,” Madam Pomfrey said, “I am going to give you a bunch of information on the field of Healing, as well as a few career tests. I think you should take them. I know you have decided on Healing, but I want you to be aware of other options.” Madam Pomfrey got up and started rummaging around in her filing cabinets. She handed me a very large stack of booklets and papers. They looked much more detailed than the pamphlet I had read in the common room. “Feel free to ask me any questions,” Madam Pomfrey said. I nodded. “Thanks.” I said goodbye and then left the ward with my stack of booklets. I went straight to the Room of Requirement. There was still an hour left until curfew; plenty of time to get through some of the reading. I turned the Room into my room from my house in Australia, just out of habit. I wasn't really homesick for Australia anymore. The booklets were really interesting. Apparently there was a lot you could do in the field of Healing. You could be a nurse, a Medi-Wizard, or a Healer. Then there were different types of Healers. Healers who specialized in spell damage, creature-induced injuries, surgery, pediatrics, pregnancy, psychiatry, and psychology. Then there were research opportunities in all of the different fields. The way it seemed to work was that you would work as a research assistant for a Healer who was already doing research and then either take over their research when they retired or branch out into your own research. It seemed rare that anyone would start out on their own, though. That was reasonable. I could do that. I would train with Healer Sterling and then work in the Creature-Induced Injury ward at St. Mungo's. I could be his research assistant and then do my own research. It was strange to plan out my entire life like that. I had never been one for planning. Usually I just took things as they came, never really thinking much about the future. Deciding on a career was pretty much the definition of planning. I was deciding what I wanted to devote my life to. I really couldn't think of anything else I'd rather do than Healing. I did take Madam Pomfrey's career tests, just to appease her. I got the answer of 'Healer' on every single one. On the ones that were about which type of Healer I should become, I got 'Potions Researcher'. Every time. There was no variation. I heard the door open and I jumped. How could other people get in the Room while I was there? It was only Victoire, luckily. “Amy?” Victoire asked, “Have you been in here the whole time?” “Erm, I went to see Madam Pomfrey first and then came here,” I told her, “How did you get in here?” “The Room can sense if you want other people to be able to find you. You must have wanted me to be able to get in here,” Victoire explained, “But are you ok? You looked kind of funny in the common room.” “I, I think I just figured out what I want to do with my life,” I said quietly. “Really?” Victoire said as she walked over to me, “Teddy and Landon will be jealous. What did you decide?” “I'm going to become a Healer,” I said, not elaborating on the research part. I didn't think I could explain that without giving away the fact that Matt was a werewolf. “Really? That's great!” Victoire grinned, “We can train together. What made you decide?” “I was just looking through the pamphlet about it and then I went to talk to Madam Pomfrey and she gave me all this other stuff,” I gestured to the multitude of booklets, “And I think it's really what I want to do.” “It's almost curfew,” Victoire told me, “We should go back to the common room. I'm sure Teddy and Landon will want to know about your career decision.” Teddy and Landon had both made career decisions by the time we got back to the common room. Teddy had decided to become a professional Quidditch player and Landon wanted to be a professional student. I was pretty sure he wanted to do that in order to put off his real career decision, not because he liked studying. “Amy's got a career announcement to make,” Victoire said after Teddy and Landon told me about their ambitious aspirations. “I'm going to become a Healer,” I told them. “Great,” Teddy rolled his eyes, “Both the fourth years know what they want to do but we don't.” “I think it's great,” Landon said, “Because you'll have two friends who are Healers and they can heal you when you get injured during professional Quidditch matches.” “Very funny,” Teddy said flatly. We stayed up a while later talking about Teddy and Landon's careers (or lack thereof) and then went to bed. I laid awake for hours. I just couldn't sleep. It was weird how that one pamphlet had changed the course of my life. Ok, so maybe that was a bit dramatic. Chances are I would have thought of becoming a Healer eventually. I couldn't shake the feeling that I was going to go places as a Healer. I had heard of other people getting these weird feelings about stuff that they knew was going to happen, and then it really did happen. It wasn't exactly divination, but more like intuition. I had never had that feeling before, but I had it now. My research would lead somewhere. I could do it. I was going to find that new Wolfsbane Potion. ******* After Double Potions the next day, I went to the Hospital Wing to show Madam Pomfrey my career test results. I waited until she was done giving a potion out to a Ravenclaw and then dropped the pile of results onto her desk. “Healer,” I said, “All of them said I should be a Healer.” “All of them?” Madam Pomfrey said as she picked up the stack, “That almost never happens. There's usually some variation...” “There wasn't,” I said, “Every single one said Healer.” Madam Pomfrey leafed through the stack of career tests and then looked at me. “All right, then. You can still do other things, though.” “I don't want to do anything else,” I sighed. I wasn't sure why she kept telling me that. Was it really a bad thing that I knew what I wanted to do with my life? “I will do whatever I can to help you, then,” Madam Pomfrey replied, “But you'd best be off to lunch before you run out of time.” “Thanks,” I said. I took my stack of papers and left the Hospital Wing. Teddy and Landon had their career advice meetings the next day. Victoire and I didn't get a chance to find out how either of them went until after dinner. “How were your career meetings?” Victoire asked as we settled down for an evening of studying in the common room. “The only good thing about it was that I got to miss part of History of Magic,” Teddy muttered. “Same here, only it was Transfiguration that I got to miss,” Landon added. Victoire and I looked at each other and smirked. “Well, what happened?” Victoire asked. “Longbottom wasn't impressed with my idea to become a professional Quidditch player,” Teddy explained, “He said that I was a good Seeker, but that I shouldn't plan on actually playing professionally. And then he gave me a bunch of ideas, but I have no idea what I actually want to do.” “Well, you have a few years to think about it,” I said. “That's what I keep saying,” Teddy groaned. “Well, you do have to choose your classes for next year,” Victoire pointed out, “And you're supposed to choose ones that you'll need for whatever career you want.” “It's too early to figure that out,” Teddy muttered. “And what about you, Landon?” Victoire asked. “Longbottom didn't like my idea of being a professional student. So I told him I'd work in the Ministry, even though I don't really know if I want to do that. Then he gave me a bunch of pamphlets about the Ministry,” Landon told them. “You know, Longbottom's a good teacher and an nice bloke, but he's kind of uptight about careers,” Teddy said, “I don't get it.” “I think he just doesn't want us to waste our potential,” Victoire shrugged. “He's going to love you two next year,” Landon rolled his eyes, “You'll just walk in, tell him you want to be Healers, and that'll be it.” ******* I didn't owl my parents about my career choice. I'm not exactly sure why. It was the sort of thing they'd want to know about and probably be pretty excited about. I guess I just wanted to wait until I was home. The next full moon came and I snuck away to open the letter from my parents. I didn't go to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, though. Matt hadn't been anymore injured than usual. There was only one full moon left in the school year. Before I knew it, exams were upon us. I wasn't exactly sure where the month of May had gone, but it must have disappeared in a whirlwind of studying. Hogwarts had taken a small break from studying for the Quidditch final, which was between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. Gryffindor won, which provided us with a much needed excuse to not study for a whole evening. However, that only lasted one evening and then it was back to the books. Studying was only interrupted by Teddy and Landon's complaining about how much they had to re-learn. Teddy and Landon began their O.W.L.s a week before Victoire and I began our regular exams. Neither of them cared to listen to us complain about our exams since theirs were apparently more grueling. Exams were over the day of the June full moon. Victoire and I walked around the lake afterwards, enjoying the unusual sunny day. “I can't believe fourth year is over,” Victoire said. “Me either,” I agreed, “I was dreading coming here and now I love it.” “Weird, isn't it? Amazing how one year can change so much,” Victoire mused. I nodded. A year can change your life. So can one night. “I never thought I'd say this, but I am really glad we moved here.” “I'm glad you did too,” Victoire agreed. “Hey, Aussie!” Teddy shouted from behind us, “Victoire!” We turned around and saw Teddy and Landon running to catch up with us. “Last O.W.L. is finished! Teddy shouted. “Congratulations,” Victoire and I said. We continued walking around the lake until it was time for dinner. We didn't really do anything; just walked around. It was fun. It reminded me a lot of what I did in Australia with Olivia, only somehow different. Not a bad different, either. I stayed up later that night than I had in weeks. Without anymore exams, we didn't have to worry about sleeping until noon the next day. The entire Gryffindor common room was in a party-like state much like that of the one following the Quidditch final. I woke up the next morning to Jasper pecking me on the foot. I sat up and took the letter he had attached to his leg and he flew off. The dormitory was very quiet. I listened for a few more seconds and then carefully opened the letter. It looked like I wasn't going to have to sneak off to read this month's letter. The letter was much like the ones I had been receiving all year. Matt was ok, but it would take a few days for him to be completely better. Last full moon of the school year. I would be home for the next one. I wondered where my parents would ship me off to this summer. My curtains rustled and I looked up and saw Victoire's head peeking in between them. I quickly shoved the letter into its envelope. Victoire pulled the curtains open a bit more and then sat down on my bed. “Who's that from?” she asked. “Er, my parents,” I replied. Victoire took a deep breath. “Ok, I've been wondering this for a while and I'm just going to ask. Every time you get a letter from your parents, you look all worried and half the time you run off to read it alone. Like the time you went to Myrtle's bathroom. Then after you read it, you're perfectly fine. Why?” I sighed. I had had such an easier time sneaking off to read letters in Australia. Olivia didn't really suspect anything. “It's my brother,” I said quietly, “He, er, gets sick a lot. And every time he does, my parents send me a letter to tell me. Usually he gets better pretty quickly, but sometimes he has to go to the hospital.” “Oh,” Victoire said, “Is that why you want to be a Healer?” “Yeah, mostly,” I said. “Erm, is he ok?” Victoire asked. I nodded. “He'll be fine in a few days.” “That's good,” Victoire replied, “Want to go get breakfast,” she looked at the clock, “Er, lunch?” ****** “Your exam grades are excellent,” Healer Norlam smiled at me the following week, “I want to congratulate you.” “Thanks,” I smiled. Mostly thanks to Victoire's tutoring, I managed to pass everything. I got a perfect score in both Potions and Astronomy, did decently in Herbology, Ancient Runes, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Care of Magical Creatures, and squeaked by in Transfiguration and History of Magic. “I'm not only talking about your grades, either,” Norlam went on, “You really seem to have adjusted to Hogwarts well. How do you feel about it?” “I'm glad we moved here,” I said, “I honestly am now.” “Which is more than your parents were ever hoping for,” Norlam chuckled, “Have you told them of your career aspirations yet?” “No,” I shook my head, “I want to tell them after I go home.” “I think they'll be very proud of you,” Norlam said, “Now I want to talk to you about something. When your parents arranged for you to meet with me, we never discussed whether it would continue after the year was up. What do you think?” I had never really thought of whether I would see Norlam after the year was over. He was nice and I liked talking to him, but there were other things I wanted to do. “Well, honestly, I'd rather just spend time with my friends next year...” I said. Norlam smiled. “And that is how I know I've done my job and we don't have to do this anymore. Unless you want to, of course.” “I don't think I really need to,” I shrugged, “Do you think my parents will want me to?” “I've spoken with them and they've agreed to whatever you decide,” Norlam replied. That was a first. My parents pretty much never agreed to whatever I wanted. They had actually let me decide something of my own life. “I am sure I will see you again, even if it is not every week,” Norlam said, “I am very glad you like Hogwarts now.” “Me, too,” I said as I stood up, “And thanks, for everything.”
FawkesthePhoenix Joined: 31 December 2006 Posts: 3523 Location: No idea, all I know is that there are a LOT of felt-tipped pens...	Posted: Saturday 8 August 2009 06 28 44 am    Post subject: Re: The Next Generation in topic:The Next Generation *produces cake* Yay! I'll attempt to party, despite it being very early and me being very tired... *victory dance*

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