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DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 21 April 2010 10 49 48 am    Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden In the insanity that was last week, I completely forgot to update here. I updated HPFF, but not BaO. Sorry! So you'll get a double update today Chapter 31: Balladanis's Fate There was another Prefect standing next to the gargoyle that concealed the entrance to Kendrick's study. It was apparently his job to mutter the password to the gargoyle to allow all the students being interviewed in. He looked incredibly bored. Albus and Matt ascended into the study and found three other students waiting in front of Kendrick's closed door. A very bored looking Hufflepuff, who was probably in sixth or seventh year, Scorpius Malfoy, and much to Albus's dismay, one of those Ravenclaws they had encountered on the grounds earlier. Albus was not at all surprised to see Scorpius Malfoy there. After all, he had private lessons with Balladanis as well. However, he chose to ignore Malfoy's presence and leaned against the wall to begin the long wait. What had been the point in sending them all to Kendrick's study at the same time? They were obviously only interviewing one person at a time. Why couldn't they have just summoned Albus later, when there were less people waiting? Kendrick's door opened and a pale-faced Gryffindor first year walked out. She hurried out of the study and one of the Ministry officials motioned for the Ravenclaw to enter. The Ravenclaw was in Kendrick's study for about fifteen minutes. Then it was Malfoy's turn. He took a bit more time, but finally came out and left without so much as a glance towards Albus and Matt. In the mean time, two more students had entered. One Albus recognized as Peyton Haines, one of the Chasers from the Slytherin Quidditch team. The other was a young Hufflepuff Albus didn't recognize. Finally, after what must have been at least an hour, Albus was finally called into the room. Kendrick was not in his study. Only the three investigators were. Albus was now able to see them up close. The one who had called him into the room was quite tall and wore a menacing glare. Her robes were perfectly pressed, without a single wrinkle, and her hair was pulled into a tight bun. She reminded Albus of Minerva McGonagall. The other witch was the complete opposite. She was short and quite a bit overweight. Her frizzy brown hair stuck up at all sorts of odd angles and she had a small pair of glasses perched on her nose. The remaining investigator was a wizard and he was seated behind Kendrick's desk, a quill in hand. He looked a bit bored by the entire thing. He was gazing about the room and had the look of someone who wasn't quite paying attention. Two people who were paying rapt attention, or should he say portraits, were Dumbledore and Snape. Both were sitting straight up and looking straight at the investigators. The tall witch gestured for Albus to take a seat in front of the desk. Albus did so. “My name is Katherine Torenzo and this is Lorraine Smyth,” the tall witch gestured to the short witch, “And that is Herb Cletus. He'll be transcribing our interview.” No wonder he was so bored, Albus thought. He didn't even get to ask any of the questions. “Please state your full name, age, year, and house for the record,” Torenzo said briskly. Albus raised his eyebrows. Wouldn't they already know all of that information? “It's protocol, dear,” Smyth told him. “Albus Severus Potter, thirteen, third year, Gryffindor,” Albus answered. “Excellent,” Torenzo replied, “Now, perhaps you can tell us what goes on in an average lesson with Professor Balladanis, in your own words.” “Er, all right,” Albus said, “Well, he comes in and tells us all to stop talking. Then he'll collect the homework. Oh, and you have to get the homework in on time, no matter what. He doesn't take late work, even if you've got a good excuse. You could be sick in the hospital wing and he wouldn't take late homework. “Then he'll teach us a new spell or about some new creature. Then we'll have to perform the spell.” “What happens if you don't perform it properly?” Smyth asked. “He makes you do it again, and again, until you get it,” Albus answered, “If you don't get it, he makes you go to extra help sessions.” “Has this caused distress to any of the students in your class?” Smyth asked. “Not in my class, but I've heard of other students crying because of it,” Albus answered. “Have you attended any extra help sessions?” Torenzo asked. “No,” Albus shook his head, “Professor Balladanis has never told me I had to.” “I understand you have been given dueling lessons by him, however,” Torenzo said, “Can you tell us a bit about them? What do they consist of?” “Most times he just teaches me new spells, spells that are harder than the ones we learn in class. Scorpius Malfoy is there, too, and we duel each other with the spells,” Albus explained. “You said 'most' times,” Smyth said, “What else does he have you do?” “Er,” Albus shifted uncomfortably in his chair, “One time he had us go into his pensieve.” “Did he,” Torenzo muttered, “Please elaborate.” “We watched his parents be murdered by vampires,” Albus said after a brief hesitation. He doubted Balladanis would be happy about this, but Kendrick had said to be truthful. Both Torenzo and Smyth looked horrified. Cletus was writing away furiously on the parchment. Snape was smirking and Dumbledore's face had seemed to harden. “We didn't actually see it,” Albus said quickly, “We stood outside the house as it happened. Balladanis's parents were in the house. Then we watched Balladanis, in the memory, run away from the house. He was thirteen.” “And then what?” Torenzo prodded. “We left the pensieve. Balladanis explained what we had seen-” “He didn't tell you ahead of time?” Smyth asked. “No,” Albus shook his head, “He just told us to go in the pensieve.” “Did he explain why he wanted you to see this?” Torenzo asked. “Yeah. He wanted to show us why he became a Presuler,” Albus said. “He told you he's a Presuler?” Torenzo raised her eyebrow. “Yes, he thinks me and Malfoy should become Presulers,” Albus explained. “Very well,” Torenzo said as she walked towards Albus, “I have one final question. Would you feel comfortable if Professor Balladanis continued to teach here?” Albus thought about it for a moment. Balladanis was certainly a motivated teacher and one Albus could learn a lot from. But on the other hand, he wasn't the kind of wizard Albus felt comfortable around. “No,” Albus said quietly, “I guess not.” Torenzo nodded. “Please return to your common room. You are not to speak of this interview to anyone until after the investigation is completed.” Albus got up from the chair and Torenzo followed him out of the room. She called Matt in as Albus left. Albus muttered a quiet 'good luck' to him before descending from the room. ****** “Why can't you just tell us?” John lamented as the boys sat around the Marauder's Den after dinner. Rose and Amanda were currently in the girls' dormitory with Linda, who had recently been interviewed. “I've told you a million times,” Albus said, “The Ministry witches said we couldn't talk about the interview.” “But how would they know?” John asked, “It's not like I'm going to go telling the whole school about it.” “Neither will I,” Kaden added. Albus snorted. “I'll tell you about it after Balladanis is sacked, or isn't sacked. I don't think it's going to take long for them to decide.” “He's going to be sacked,” Matt said adamantly and then turned to John, “You're not going to his extra help session tonight, are you?” “Not if I was paid twenty Galleons,” John replied, “Well, ok, maybe if I was paid twenty Galleons, but not for less than ten. What about you, Albus? Going to go to your dueling lesson?” Albus shrugged. He still hadn't decided. What he really wanted to know was whether Malfoy was going, but he couldn't very well waltz down to the dungeons, barge into the Slytherin common room, and ask. “No idea,” Albus sighed. “Don't go,” Matt said, “If you go, I'm going to start worrying about your sanity.” “Why would you want to go?” John gave Albus a strange look. “I might find out something about how the investigation is going, or something,” Albus muttered. John opened his mouth to reply, but instead turned to the door. A loud squawking noise had seemed to emit from it. “Did you hear that?” John asked. Albus nodded and got up from his seat. He walked over to the door and paused next to it. The squawking noise was repeated. One thing Albus loved about the Marauder's Den was that it was always very quiet. No noises could be heard from the corridor while he was inside. Albus rarely ever heard noises from the corridor, let alone squawking noises. Albus cautiously opened the door and instead of the bizarre bird he had expected to see, Rose was standing there with her wand out. “Finally!” she groaned, “I thought you'd never come to the door.” “Rose?” Albus asked, “What is it? Was that squawking you?” “Yes,” Rose said hurriedly, “I had to get you to come out of there. Uncle Harry's looking for you. He's waiting in the common room. I told him I'd find you.” Albus turned around and told Matt, John, and Kaden, all of whom had followed him out of the room, that he would be back soon. He had no idea what his dad wanted, but it must have been important for him to go to the castle on a day he didn't have to patrol it. Harry was sitting in one of the squashy armchairs in front of the fire when Albus arrived. Georgia and Fred were both talking with him, most likely about Quidditch judging by their excessive use of hand gestures, but stopped abruptly when Albus entered. Harry got up and met Albus near the portrait hole. “Let's talk outside,” Harry said. Albus followed him out of the portrait hole and down the corridor a little ways. “What were you up to just now?” Harry asked, grinning a bit. “Nothing,” Albus shrugged truthfully. “Well, I'm no longer a teacher here, so I won't say a word about you causing trouble, if that's what you were doing,” Harry told him, “But anyway, what I wanted to ask you is whether you were planning on going to Professor Balladanis's dueling lesson tonight?” That seemed to be the question of the evening, Albus thought. “I dunno,” Albus shrugged. “I realize that the decision is completely up to you,” Harry said quietly, “But I would advise you not to go. Professor Balladanis is under a considerable amount of stress, of which you don't know the half of. I'd say the chances are high that he may take out this stress on you and Scorpius.” “Do you know if Malfoy's going?” Albus asked. “I really have no idea,” Harry answered, “But I tend to believe he won't.” “I don't think I will either,” Albus said. “A wise decision,” Harry smiled. Harry said good night to Albus and then Albus went back to the Marauder's Den. Kaden was in the middle of showing Matt and John how to make a proper paper airplane. “What did your dad want?” John asked without looking up from the parchment he was folding. “To tell me it wasn't a good idea to go to Balladanis's lesson tonight,” Albus said as he flopped down onto the empty couch. “And?” Matt asked. “I'm not going,” Albus answered. “Good,” Matt replied. “You know what was weird, though?” Albus began, “My dad said Balladanis was under a lot of stress, most of which I don't know about. So I'm guessing it's not only the investigation.” “Weird,” Kaden shook his head, “I'll be happy when he's sacked.” “We don't know for sure that he'll be sacked,” Albus pointed out, “I just wish I knew what else he was stressed about.” “Maybe he's got to battle a beautiful woman,” John smirked, “Remember his boggart?” “His boggart!” Albus shouted, “I can't believe I didn't put that together sooner. It wasn't a beautiful woman; it was a vampire. It's so obvious now that we know what happened to his parents, too.” “Yeah, that does seem fairly obvious,” Matt agreed, “But what's that got to do with his stress?” “Probably nothing,” Albus shrugged, “I just realized it.” “You know,” John began, “This is the first Friday we've had to ourselves.” “You're right,” Albus said, “What should we do?” “Let's go down to the kitchens,” Kaden said. “And spend the night here,” Matt added, “We hardly ever do that.” They did just that. The boys snuck down to the kitchens and were given as many sweets and puddings as they could carry by the house elves. Then they stayed up late eating all of it and playing various games. Albus was even able to forget about Balladanis for a while, something that had not happened in quite a while. ****** The Ministry officials remained a permanent fixture at Hogwarts throughout the remainder of the weekend. Albus overheard a lot of students mentioning that they'd been interviewed, including John's cousin Isabelle, one of the Chasers on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, and Gabriella. Professor Balladanis did not show up at a single meal. In fact, he wasn't seen at all throughout the weekend. Nobody saw him, which raised the question of whether he was even still in the castle. Albus was hoping he ran for it. Got out before the Ministry had a chance to make their decision. Albus was more than a little nervous about going to Defense on Tuesday and hearing what Balladanis had to say about Albus's absence from their dueling lesson. It was on Monday morning that all the Hogwarts students knew a verdict had been reached. Professor Kendrick rose partway through the meal, something that only happened when something important happened. He was flanked by the two witches from the Ministry. The wizard was no longer there. The Hall immediately quieted, without Kendrick even having to ask. Albus was slightly taken aback by Kendrick's impending announcement, since there had not been a single mention of Balladanis in that morning's Prophet. “A decision has been reached about Professor Balladanis,” Kendrick announced, “Madam Torenzo will inform you of it. The Prophet has kindly agreed not to publish the article about it just yet, as I wished to inform you of it first.” “He's sacked,” John muttered, “Otherwise he'd be at breakfast.” “Good point,” Albus said. Torenzo stood up and gazed out at the students with a neutral look on her face. “Upon extensive investigation of Professor Balladanis's teaching methods and thorough interviews of selected students, the Ministry has seen it fit to remove him from his teaching position here at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Professor Balladanis packed his things late last night and no longer resides in the castle. Professor Kendrick will inform you about what will happen with Defense classes for the remainder of the year. I would like to thank all of you for your cooperation during this time.” Torenzo sat back down and continued eating her breakfast like nothing had happened. The Great Hall immediately erupted into whispers, but they were quickly stopped by Kendrick. “Defense Against the Dark Arts classes will not take place until further notice. I will try and procure a suitable replacement for Professor Balladanis as quickly as possible. Until then, please use the time to study for your upcoming exams,” Kendrick said and then resumed his seat. He began to talk with Torenzo and the students voices rose in the Hall. “I knew it!” Matt exclaimed, “Best news I've heard this month!” “Yes!” Georgia shouted and then turned to Fred, “Pay up!” “Merlin!” James groaned, “Why'd they have to do that investigation so quickly?” Money began to exchange hands throughout the Gryffindor table as Fred collected and handed out Galleons. “Do you think Kendrick'll find a replacement?” John asked. “Dunno,” Albus shrugged, “No one really wanted that job to begin with.” “Glad I didn't do that werewolf essay,” John grinned. “Maybe Kendrick won't find a replacement,” Kaden said, “Then we'd have one less exam.” “That would be brilliant,” John replied. The atmosphere in the castle for the rest of the day was incredibly upbeat. Hardly anyone seemed at all sad that Balladanis had left. Quite a few students asked Matt to thank his dad for them. It seemed that the only students upset by it were those who had lost bets because of it. Argus Filch was another who was unhappy. The general excitement of the castle caused him more work. Peeves destroyed the Defense classroom in celebration (Balladanis never liked Peeves), James and his friends set off a few Weasley fireworks, and then there was the general mess that was associated with students celebrating by playing outside in the muddy grass. Plus, Moaning Myrtle flooded her bathroom when a few students told her that even she ought to be excited about it. Apparently she did not agree. For some odd reason it reminded her of her death. One person who seemed incredibly excited was Linda. Linda who rarely showed any emotion whatsoever walked around the castle with a big smile on her face. Albus could only attribute this to the fact that Balladanis had taught so extensively about vampires. But he never taunted her the way he'd taunted Matt. Perhaps that was because his biggest fear was vampires. There was even a party in the Gryffindor common room that night. Rose thought it was a little ridiculous, to celebrate the sacking of a teacher, but everyone else, including Linda, thought it was an excellent thing to celebrate. “Just think,” John said, “We don't ever have to listen to him go on and on about how bad the dark arts are. I mean, we all know they're bad. We all know about Voldemort and what he did.” “And that bloody anamatek,” Matt added, “I could've gone my whole life without seeing one of those.” “What do you think he's doing now?” Rose mused. “Maybe some Ministry hired him,” Albus said quietly, “I hope it's some place far, like Madagascar or somewhere.” “Yeah,” Matt agreed, “I bet he's not even in Britain anymore.” “I don't see why he'd bother to stick around,” Albus replied, “I mean, he snuck out in the night to avoid anyone seeing him.” “Wish we could've seen him leave,” John grinned mischievously, “Would've been nice to give him a proper send off.” “I'm just glad it's over,” Rose muttered, “Maybe now you lot can concentrate on exams. And maybe the castle will get back to normal.” “Normal?” Albus raised his eyebrows, “This place will never be normal. Plus, we've got Quidditch on Saturday. It's the last match before the final.” “When's the final?” Rose asked. “Beginning of June, I think,” Albus answered, “Australia's already so far ahead that they'll be in it.” Albus, John, Matt, and Kaden all sent scathing looks at Linda, who looked down at the table. “But if we beat New York in this match,” Albus continued, “We'll be in it, too. So Wood is in full form this week. I'm practicing every night starting tomorrow.” “Oliver Wood is insane,” Rose muttered. “Insane, but brilliant on the Quidditch pitch,” John grinned, “I would love to get yelled at by him during a Quidditch practice.” “Excellent,” Albus said, “You can take my place.”
Hermione1981 Joined: 19 July 2008 Posts: 27 Location: USA	Posted: Wednesday 14 April 2010 02 48 35 pm    Post subject: Re: The boy who live and the Vampires Slayer comes to Hogwart sc in topic:The boy who live and the Vampires Slayer comes to Hogwart sc I find a mistake in the the paragraph and fixes, but since it was after the edite cut off and could not changes it so I repost the first chapter. Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in the Harry Potter books or Movies J. K. Rowling's own them . I did make up Bethany and her deceased mom Elizabeth Prince Tonks and dad Timmothy (Tim) Tonks. Chapter one: Bethany double life! It is August thirty first, 1991 and Bethany is shopping in Diagon Alley with her aunt Andromeda Tonks and Cousin Nympadora Tonks for her schools supplies. They have just walk out of Gringotts wizarding bank, when Bethany sees Harry Potter walking by her with Hagrid the gatekeeper at Hogwart school of witchcraft and wizards. She stops walking and stares at Harry and Hagrid. When Harry sees that a girl has stop walking and that she is staring at him, he walks over to her and stops in front of her. Hagrid, Andromeda and Nympadora walk over to Harry and Bethany. Harry’s see that she is looking at his lighting blot shape scar on his forehead. She knew that Harry Potter was starting at Hogwart that year, but she hope not to see him yet seeing that she is two years old then him and is just starting there too, but the reason she was hoping not to see him was that she was at his parent’s house the day they were killed. She was playing hide and seek with Lily and James Potter and was hiding in the closet in Harry room when Lord Voldemort show up. She stays hiding because see had already seen Voldemort kill her parents a few days before. As she was hiding in the closet and she saw Lord Voldemort’s kill Lily through the crack in the door. She stops staring at Harry when her cousin tap her on the shoulder. I am Harry Potter. What is your name and do you know me because you could not stop looking at me? My name is Bethany Tonks and yeah I know you when you were a baby and till you went to live with your aunt and uncle at the age of one. How do you remember me then, because I do not remember you? Because I was three years old then. So you going to Hogwart for you third year then? Bethany shake her head No, I am just starting Hogwart this year, I had personal issues that keep me from starting two years ago. So Bethany that would make you thirteen years old right? Yeah I Just turn thirteen today. Hagrid taps Harry on his right shoulder to get his attention. I hate to break up the reunion but we need to get to Gringotts wizarding bank and get your money Harry. Ok, Hagrid and nice to meet you again Bethany. Yeah, see you at school, Harry have fun getting you school thing. Harry and Hagrid walk towards the bank and Bethany, Andromeda and Nympadora walk down the street and into Quality Quidditch Supplies. Bethany and her aunt heads over to look at the new Nimbus 2000. While Nympadora sees a friend and goes over to talk to her. Bethany looks over at her cousin then back at her aunt who is holding a new Nimbus 2000 in her hands and give it a good look over. Bethany leans towards her aunt and whisper quietly to her. I do not know why I can’t take Nympadora old broom to school, see that it not for playing Quidditch, but for slayer related business and beside first years are not even allowed to have brooms. Bethany’s aunt looks at her daughter and then at her niece before speaking, Because Nympadora needs her broom for Auror school that is way. But she says she does not mind if I used her broom, she will just buy a new one. No, I buying you a new one, you had enough hand me down from your cousin in your life time since you come to live with us and for once I am buying you all new items for school. But I’m not your daughter and I am ok with hand me downs Aunt Andromeda. You are my niece and your mom and dad did left Ted and I money to buy you school supplies when you start at Hogwart, so let me buy you new items this year. All right, I let you buy me new thinks this year. I think this Nimbus 200 we do just fine, I am going to go pay for it. Why Andromeda goes and pays for the broom, Bethany walks over to her cousin. Once her aunt had finish pay for the broom and the sale person had warped it up and put it into a large bag. Bethany, Andromeda and Nympadora left Quality Quidditch Supplies and walks over to Ollivander's to buy Bethany some wands. Both Andromeda and Nympadora take a set in the chair by the door and Bethany walks up to the counter and rings the bell to get Mr. Ollivander attention. Mr. Ollivander walks downstairs and passes Nympadora and Andromeda and heads behind the counter. At the sometime Andromeda stand up and walks up to the counter next to Bethany. Mr. Ollivander smiles at Andromeda and her niece and Nympadora will set in one of the chairs. I see that Bethany is finally starting at Hogwart this year and I see you change the look of you hair by add pink highlights since the last time I saw you Bethany, did you dye your hair or are you a Metamorphmagus Like Nympadora? Yeah I am starting Hogwart and I want a change from my plain light brown hair. I did not dye my hair I am a Metamorphmagus like my cousin. Well I like you hair with the pink highlights and today so a great day, I finally get to sale Bethany a wand and on the someday as I sale Harry Potter his first wand too. Andromeda over the counter and speak softly to Mr. Ollivander, Bethany is going to need a couple of wands one for school and a few for her slayer duty. Oh yes, I remember talking to you about that and yes I did make seven wands with cores that I normally don’t use for her to try out. First lets try wands out for school. First I will have you try out this 12 in. wand that is made from rosewood and a Unicorn Tail for the core. Bethany smiles at Mr. Ollivander and takes the wand from him. She then moves the wand up and down but nothing moves. Mr. Ollivander takes the wand back from Bethany and puts the wand away. He picks up another wand box. He then hand her a box with a 15 1/2 in rosewood wand with a Unicorn Tail as it core. I know this wand still has the some core as the last one, but I think that is the core that would work for your school wand. Ok I will give it a try Mr. Ollivander. Bethany tries that wand and gets the book on the counter to move a little. Mr. Ollivander shakes his head and takes the wand from Bethany. He puts that wand away and goes over to the back shelve and grab a black box. He walks over to the counter and hands Bethany the next box, which is 15 1/2 in rosewood wand with a phoenix father as the core. Bethany picks the wand up and boxes go fly everywhere. That is not the wand for you. Lets try this 15 1/2 in Willow with a Dragon Heartstring core go head and give it a try. I hope this wand works Mr. Ollivander? Bethany picks up the wand and the area around her light up in a gold color. Bethany, Andromeda, Nympadora and Mr. Ollivander smile at each other. Mr. Ollivander box up the wand and put it into a bag and he marks the first wand down in his book. He then grabs the first box out from under the courter that is 15 1/2 in wand made from Willow with a Leprechaun hair core. Now I do not think this wand will work for you, because Leprechaun hair cores tend to favor only the Irish but we will see if it works. Bethany nods her head yes and picks up the wand and once again boxes go fly everywhere. Bethany then tries the 15 1/2 in wand that is made of willow with the demiguise hair core next but nothing happens. Mr. Ollivander then hand Bethany’s another 15 1/2 in wand that is made of willow with a Hippogriff Talon core to try, when Bethany flick the wand it make Mr. Ollivander hair turn green. He takes the wand form her and hand her another 15 1/2 in wand that is made of Willow with a Runespoor Fang core and the room turn a gold color again. She also buy two more 15 1/2 in wands made from willow one with Chimaera Scale core and one with Ashwinder Ash core (which cast awesome protection charms.) Bethany’s aunt pays for the four wands and Mr. Ollivander hand the bag with the wands in it to Bethany. The three ladies walk out of Ollivander’s and walk down the street and into Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Madam Malkin looks up from fitting Hermione Granger robe and smile at the ladies when they walk into the store. I will be with you in a few minutes Mrs. Tonks. That is fine Madam Malkin. Three minutes later a girl with long brown hair walks over to Bethany and stop in front her. Bethany smiles at the girl and the girls smiles back at her. Hi my name Bethany Tonks, what is your name? My name Hermione Granger, are you getting robes for Hogwart school of witchcraft and wizardry? Yeah, I am and nice to meet you Hermione. It nice to meet you to Bethany and I am start my first year Hogwart. I am so excite, because I am the first witch in my family. Are you the only witch in your family or is everyone one in your family witches and wizards? My Mom pure blood, my dad was muggle born but get chosen to go to Hogwart. My dad brother also went to Hogwart. My aunts are also pure blood. Hermione mom and dad walk up behind her and then the three of them leave the shop. Bethany gets fitted for her robes and cloak and also gets a point hat along with a pair of protective gloves. When her robes and cloak are ready, they pay for them, then Andromeda, Nympadora and Bethany go and gets strawberry ice cream cones from Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlou. Once they have getting they ice cream they walks down Diagon Alley to head to Flourish and Blotts. When the three of them walk into Flourish & Blotts Nympadora head to the section where the textbooks she needs are and Bethany and Andromeda go over to the section where Hogwart first year textbooks are location at. Bethany looks down at the list of books she needs to buy and see the first one on the list is Standard book of spell grade one which is by Miranda Gosghawk. She has just grab a book off the shelve when she hear Mrs. Wesley fighting with her youngest son Ron about having to buy used books and not new books. Bethany quietly grabs a copy of a history of magic by Bathilda Bagshot, a beginner’s guide to transfiguration by Emeric Switch, one thousand magical herbal and fungi by Phyllida Spore, magical drafts and potions by Arsenius Jigger, Fantastic beast and where to find them by Newt Scamander and the dark farce guide to self protection by Quentin Trimble. Andromeda goes to pay for the books and Bethany goes to find her cousin to see if she is ready to go. Bethany finds that her cousin had already pay for her books and she is waiting for her mom and Bethany to finish up in the book store. Bethany and Andromeda leave the book store and head to the Cauldron Shop, they only in the shop for two minutes because the only item Bethany’s need from there is a size two Pewter cauldron. Nympadora goes to the Apothecary and picks her cousin up two set of crystal phials, bass scale. Nympadora then goes to one of the street stall and buy Bethany the telescope she needs for school. Nympadora meets up with her mom and cousin at Eeylops Owl Emporium. When she walks into the store, she sees Bethany is looking at one of the white snow owls. Once Bethany had chosen the white snow owl that she wanting Nympadora, Andromeda and Bethany head to the Leaky Cauldron for some dinner. The three ladies are walking over to a table and take when Harry and Hagrid walk into the Leaky Cauldron and come and joins them for dinner. As Harry is walking over the table that Bethany, her cousin and her are set at Bethany puts her hands into her jean pocket. Hagrid and Harry take and set then the five of them order their food. When the food gets there and everyone as start to eat Harry looks over at Bethany. Bethany can I ask you something about when you were three years old? Yeah you can Harry, what is it that you want to know? Hagrid says that you were at my parents house the night they dead, did my parents try to fight back against Lord Voldemort? Yes, they try to fight back, but nothing could stop Lord Voldemort . Hagrid also told me that your mom and dad were kill two nights before my mom and dad by Lord Voldemort is that way you were staying with my parents? Yeah Harry that was way I was staying at your parent’s house! As Bethany is answering, Harry questions her hair change from light brown with pink highlights to a light gray color. Nympadora puts her right arm around her cousin and whispers into her ear that she was doing the right thing by answers Harry questions. When they finish eating and talking Bethany, Nympadora and Andromeda head home for the night. The Next morning Bethany wakes up at the creak of dawn and quietly finishes packing, because she shares a bedroom with her cousin and Nympadora who is still sleeping. First Bethany packs her school supplies, textbooks and clothing into one truck. She then packs her slayer supplies into a second truck and has to pack all her slayers relate books into a third truck. She has just lock up the third truck when Nympadora rolls over in her bed to face Bethany. Nympadora opens up her eyes and looks at her younger cousin. Bethany: Did I wake you up, Nympadora? Nympadora: Yeah, but it all right and how many times do I have to tell you Bethany call me Tonks, I hate being called Nympadora. Bethany: Ok, I will call you Tonks for now on. Bethany and her cousin then leave their bedroom and head into the Kitchen for breakfast. After breakfast everyone gets ready to take Bethany to the train station and to meet up with the Wesley’s family once they get the train station.
Hermione1981 Joined: 19 July 2008 Posts: 27 Location: USA	Posted: Monday 12 April 2010 06 59 30 pm    Post subject: Re: The boy who live and the Vampires Slayer comes to Hogwart sc in topic:The boy who live and the Vampires Slayer comes to Hogwart sc * small note I have made the choice to continue to write the Harry potter fan fiction but only one of them at a time so I am going to start with this. I reread it and made changes to the first chapter and add to the chapter also, so her the new vision of chapter one. Full Title: The boy who live and the Vampires Slayer comes to Hogwart school of witchcraft and wizardry Fan fiction Rating:15+ Ship/s (if applicable): Fred Wesley and Bethany Tonks Summary: It takes place doing Harry, Ron, Hermione and Bethany ( born Aug 31 1978) first year at Hogwart school of witchcraft and wizardry. Bethany befriends Harry, Ron and Hermione, But hang out mostly with the students her own age, which are Fred, George Wesley, Etc. and Bethany also start to date Fred Wesley. Bethany also has to balance being a normal everyday Hogwart student and a vampire slayer at the sometime, but she does let Fred and George in on the fact that she is a vampire slayer. Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in the Harry Potter books or Movies J. K. Rowling's own them . I did make up Bethany and her deceased mom Elizabeth Prince Tonks and dad Timmothy (Tim) Tonks. Chapter one: Bethany double life! It is August thirty first, 1991 and Bethany is shopping in Diagon Alley with her aunt Andromeda Tonks and Cousin Nympadora Tonks for her schools supplies. They have just walk out of Gringotts wizarding bank, when she Bethany sees Harry Potter walking by her with Hagrid the gatekeeper at Hogwart school of witchcraft and wizards. She stops walking and stares at Harry and Hagrid. When Harry sees that a girl has stop walking and that she is staring at him, he walks over to her and stops in front of her. Hagrid, Andromeda and Nympadora walk over to Harry and Bethany. Harry’s see that she is looking at his lighting blot shape scar on his forehead. She knew that Harry Potter was starting at Hogwart that year, but she hope not to see him yet seeing that she is two years old then him and is just starting there too, but the reason she was hoping not to see him was that she was at his parent’s house the day they were killed. She was playing hide and seek with Lily and James Potter and was hiding in the closet in Harry room when Lord Voldemort show up. She stays hiding because see had already seen Voldemort kill her parents a few days before. As she was hiding in the closet and she saw Lord Voldemort’s kill Lily through the crack in the door. She stops staring at Harry when her cousin tap her on the shoulder. I am Harry Potter. What is your name and do you know me because you could not stop looking at me? My name is Bethany Tonks and yeah I know you when you were a baby and till you went to live with your aunt and uncle at the age of one. How do you remember me then, because I do not remember you? Because I was three years old then. So you going to Hogwart for you third year then? Bethany shake her head No, I am just starting Hogwart this year, I had personal issues that keep me from starting two years ago. So Bethany that would make you thirteen years old right? Yeah I Just turn thirteen today. Hagrid taps Harry on his right shoulder to get his attention. I hate to break up the reunion but we need to get to Gringotts wizarding bank and get your money Harry. Ok, Hagrid and nice to meet you again Bethany. Yeah, see you at school, Harry have fun getting you school thing. Harry and Hagrid walk towards the bank and Bethany, Andromeda and Nympadora walk down the street and into Quality Quidditch Supplies. Bethany and her aunt heads over to look at the new Nimbus 2000. While Nympadora sees a friend and goes over to talk to her. Bethany looks over at her cousin then back at her aunt who is holding a new Nimbus 2000 in her hands and give it a good look over. Bethany leans towards her aunt and whisper quietly to her. I do not know why I can’t take Nympadora old broom to school, see that it not for playing Quidditch, but for slayer related business and beside first years are not even allowed to have brooms. Bethany’s aunt looks at her daughter and then at her niece before speaking, Because Nympadora needs her broom for Auror school that is way. But she says she does not mind if I used her broom, she will just buy a new one. No, I buying you a new one, you had enough hand me down from your cousin in your life time since you come to live with us and for once I am buying you all new items for school. But I’m not your daughter and I am ok with hand me downs Aunt Andromeda. You are my niece and your mom and dad did left Ted and I money to buy you school supplies when you start at Hogwart, so let me buy you new items this year. All right, I let you buy me new thinks this year. I think this Nimbus 200 we do just fine, I am going to go pay for it. Why Andromeda goes and pays for the broom, Bethany walks over to her cousin. Once her aunt had finish pay for the broom and the sale person had warped it up and put it into a large bag. Bethany, Andromeda and Nympadora left Quality Quidditch Supplies and walks over to Ollivander's to buy Bethany some wands. Both Andromeda and Nympadora take a set in the chair by the door and Bethany walks up to the counter and rings the bell to get Mr. Ollivander attention. Mr. Ollivander walks downstairs and passes Nympadora and Andromeda and heads behind the counter. At the sometime Andromeda stand up and walks up to the counter next to Bethany. Mr. Ollivander smiles at Andromeda and her niece and Nympadora will set in one of the chairs. I see that Bethany is finally starting at Hogwart this year and I see you change the look of you hair by add pink highlights since the last time I saw you Bethany, did you dye your hair or are you a Metamorphmagus Like Nympadora? Yeah I am starting Hogwart and I want a change from my plain light brown hair. I did not dye my hair I am a Metamorphmagus like my cousin. Well I like you hair with the pink highlights and today so a great day, I finally get to sale Bethany a wand and on the someday as I sale Harry Potter his first wand too. Andromeda over the counter and speak softly to Mr. Ollivander, Bethany is going to need a couple of wands one for school and a few for her slayer duty. Oh yes, I remember talking to you about that and yes I did make seven wands with cores that I normally don’t use for her to try out. First lets try wands out for school. First I will have you try out this 12 in. wand that is made from rosewood and a Unicorn Tail for the core. Bethany smiles at Mr. Ollivander and takes the wand from him. She then moves the wand up and down but nothing moves. Mr. Ollivander takes the wand back from Bethany and puts the wand away. He picks up another wand box. He then hand her a box with a 15 1/2 in rosewood wand with a Unicorn Tail as it core. I know this wand still has the some core as the last one, but I think that is the core that would work for your school wand. Ok I will give it a try Mr. Ollivander. Bethany tries that wand and gets the book on the counter to move a little. Mr. Ollivander shakes his head and takes the wand from Bethany. He puts that wand away and goes over to the back shelve and grab a black box. He walks over to the counter and hands Bethany the next box, which is 15 1/2 in rosewood wand with a phoenix father as the core. Bethany picks the wand up and boxes go fly everywhere. That is not the wand for you. Lets try this 15 1/2 in Willow with a Dragon Heartstring core go head and give it a try. I hope this wand works Mr. Ollivander? Bethany picks up the wand and the area around her light up in a gold color. Bethany, Andromeda, Nympadora and Mr. Ollivander smile at each other. Mr. Ollivander box up the wand and put it into a bag and he marks the first wand down in his book. He then grabs the first box out from under the courter that is 15 1/2 in wand made from Willow with a Leprechaun hair core. Now I do not think this wand will work for you, because Leprechaun hair cores tend to favor only the Irish but we will see if it works. Bethany nods her head yes and picks up the wand and once again boxes go fly everywhere. Bethany then tries the 15 1/2 in wand that is made of willow with the demiguise hair core next but nothing happens. Mr. Ollivander then hand Bethany’s another 15 1/2 in wand that is made of willow with a Hippogriff Talon core to try, when Bethany flick the wand it make Mr. Ollivander hair turn green. He takes the wand form her and hand her another 15 1/2 in wand that is made of Willow with a Runespoor Fang core and the room turn a gold color again. She also buy two more 15 1/2 in wands made from willow one with Chimaera Scale core and one with Ashwinder Ash core (which cast awesome protection charms.) Bethany’s aunt pays for the four wands and Mr. Ollivander hand the bag with the wands in it to Bethany. The three ladies walk out of Ollivander’s and walk down the street and into Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Madam Malkin looks up from fitting Hermione Granger robe and smile at the ladies when they walk into the store. I will be with you in a few minutes Mrs. Tonks. That is fine Madam Malkin. Three minutes later a girl with long brown hair walks over to Bethany and stop in front her. Bethany smiles at the girl and the girls smiles back at her. Hi my name Bethany Tonks, what is your name? My name Hermione Granger, are you getting robes for Hogwart school of witchcraft and wizardry? Yeah, I am and nice to meet you Hermione. It nice to meet you to Bethany and I am start my first year Hogwart. I am so excite, because I am the first witch in my family. Are you the only witch in your family or is everyone one in your family witches and wizards? My Mom pure blood, my dad was muggle born but get chosen to go to Hogwart. My dad brother also went to Hogwart. My aunts are also pure blood. Hermione mom and dad walk up behind her and then the three of them leave the shop. Bethany gets fitted for her robes and cloak and also gets a point hat along with a pair of protective gloves. When her robes and cloak are ready, they pay for them, then Andromeda, Nympadora and Bethany go and gets strawberry ice cream cones from Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlou. Once they have getting they ice cream they walks down Diagon Alley to head to Flourish and Blotts. When the three of them walk into Flourish & Blotts Nympadora head to the section where the textbooks she needs are and Bethany and Andromeda go over to the section where Hogwart first year textbooks are location at. Bethany looks down at the list of books she needs to buy and see the first one on the list is Standard book of spell grade one which is by Miranda Gosghawk. She has just grab a book off the shelve when she hear Mrs. Wesley fighting with her youngest son Ron about having to buy used books and not new books. Bethany quietly grabs a copy of a history of magic by Bathilda Bagshot, a beginner’s guide to transfiguration by Emeric Switch, one thousand magical herbal and fungi by Phyllida Spore, magical drafts and potions by Arsenius Jigger, Fantastic beast and where to find them by Newt Scamander and the dark farce guide to self protection by Quentin Trimble. Andromeda goes to pay for the books and Bethany goes to find her cousin to see if she is ready to go. Bethany finds that her cousin had already pay for her books and she is waiting for her mom and Bethany to finish up in the book store. Bethany and Andromeda leave the book store and head to the Cauldron Shop, they only in the shop for two minutes because the only item Bethany’s need from there is a size two Pewter cauldron. Nympadora goes to the Apothecary and picks her cousin up two set of crystal phials, bass scale. Nympadora then goes to one of the street stall and buy Bethany the telescope she needs for school. Nympadora meets up with her mom and cousin at Eeylops Owl Emporium. When she walks into the store, she sees Bethany is looking at one of the white snow owls. Once Bethany had chosen the white snow owl that she wanting Nympadora, Andromeda and Bethany head to the Leaky Cauldron for some dinner. The three ladies are walking over to a table and take when Harry and Hagrid walk into the Leaky Cauldron and come and joins them for dinner. As Harry is walking over the table that Bethany, her cousin and her are set at Bethany puts her hands into her jean pocket. Hagrid and Harry take and set then the five of them order their food. When the food gets there and everyone as start to eat Harry looks over at Bethany. Bethany can I ask you something about when you were three years old? Yeah you can Harry, what is it that you want to know? Hagrid says that you were at my parents house the night they dead, did my parents try to fight back against Lord Voldemort? Yes, they try to fight back, but nothing could stop Lord Voldemort . Hagrid also told me that your mom and dad were kill two nights before my mom and dad by Lord Voldemort is that way you were staying with my parents? Yeah Harry that was way I was staying at your parent’s house! As Bethany is answering, Harry questions her hair change from light brown with pink highlights to a light gray color. Nympadora puts her right arm around her cousin and whispers into her ear that she was doing the right thing by answers Harry questions. When they finish eating and talking Bethany, Nympadora and Andromeda head home for the night. The Next morning Bethany wakes up at the creak of dawn and quietly finishes packing, because she shares a bedroom with her cousin and Nympadora who is still sleeping. First Bethany packs her school supplies, textbooks and clothing into one truck. She then packs her slayer supplies into a second truck and has to pack all her slayers relate books into a third truck. She has just lock up the third truck when Nympadora rolls over in her bed to face Bethany. Nympadora opens up her eyes and looks at her younger cousin. Bethany: Did I wake you up, Nympadora? Nympadora: Yeah, but it all right and how many times do I have to tell you Bethany call me Tonks, I hate being called Nympadora. Bethany: Ok, I will call you Tonks for now on. Bethany and her cousin then leave their bedroom and head into the Kitchen for breakfast. After breakfast everyone gets ready to take Bethany to the train station and to meet up with the Wesley’s family once they get the train station.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 31 March 2010 01 59 35 pm    Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden Chapter 29: Increasing Tension Albus and John burst into the Marauder's Den a little while later to find that Matt and Kaden were the only ones there. Matt's face was covered in ash and Kaden was grinning. They were in the middle of a game of Exploding Snap. “And that makes four wins for me and none for you,” Kaden announced as he collected the cards, “Oh, Albus, John! How was your detention? Want to play?” “Not now,” Albus said hurriedly as he sat down next to Matt, “Matt, did you know your dad was just here?” “Yeah,” Matt nodded, “When he got my owl, he wanted to go talk to Kendrick. I went with him.” “Well, do you know where he went after?” John asked. “Home, I guess,” Matt shrugged, “Why?” “He and Kendrick turned up in our detention,” John said. “He what?” Matt replied. “Yeah, it was really odd,” Albus said, “He came in with Kendrick and Kendrick introduced him to Balladanis. Only Balladanis said 'we've met'. You never told us your dad knew Balladanis.” “I never knew,” Matt shrugged, “Then what happened?” “Your dad was really angry,” Albus continued, “He thinks Balladanis taught us too much about how to figure out if someone's a werewolf and that's why Malfoy found out. Then he told him how dangerous it was for him to use that anamatek in class-” “Oh, yeah,” Matt said, “I told my dad about the anamatek and that's one of the reasons he came here, to tell Kendrick about it. Kendrick's making him get rid of it.” “Yeah, that's what your dad said,” Albus replied, “He's coming back to inspect Balladanis's room tomorrow to make sure he got rid of it. He also said that if any of Balladanis's teaching puts you in danger again, the Ministry's going to investigate him.” “It's really not a good idea to get on my dad's bad side,” Matt said, “What did Balladanis do during this?” “He kept saying that he was going to teach however he wanted,” Albus explained, “Honestly, he did not look happy that your dad was there. I think something happened between the two of them.” “But what?” Matt asked, “Dad's never mentioned him before.” “Think he'd tell you if you asked?” John wondered. “Probably,” Matt said, “I'll owl him about it.” “Oh, and then your dad told Malfoy he'd better not tell anyone you're a werewolf,” John said, “He looked pretty scary, too. I don't think Malfoy's going to tell anyone.” ****** It did not take very long for word to spread that Balladanis had gotten in trouble for having an anamatek. Galleons exchanged hands the next morning at breakfast, as a few older students had bet on how long he would have it. Somehow everyone knew that Matt's dad had showed up at Hogwarts the previous night and informed Kendrick about it. Kaden had Defense that morning and reported to Albus at lunch that Balladanis was even stricter than usual and seemed incredibly angry. That did not bode well for Albus's detention that evening. “He's downright scary,” Kaden said as he piled steak and kidney pie onto his plate, “Yelled at one of the Ravenclaws in my class for spilling her ink. She was nearly in tears. But I'd hate to be in your class, Albus, he's going to be brutal. I mean, it's pretty much because of Matt that he got in trouble.” Matt had gone up to the Marauder's Den after they got out of Herbology since he felt ill and wasn't in lunch. Albus knew that Kaden was right. Balladanis was going to take this out on Matt, and possibly Malfoy as well. “I don't know why he cares so much,” John shrugged, “I mean, the Ministry could have just taken that thing away. He's lucky he just had to take it back to his house or whatever.” “I don't think he likes the government,” Albus said, “That's the feeling I got after listening to him talk about what he did before teaching here. I think that's why he did that, instead of becoming an Auror.” “Well, I think it's a good idea for the Ministry to make him take that thing home,” John said. “Me, too,” Albus agreed, “I mean, he could've turned it into a manticore next.” Kaden went to class after lunch while Albus and John went up to the Marauder's Den with Rose and Amanda. “Think he's owled his dad yet?” John asked as he gestured to Matt, who was asleep in his bed. “Doubt it,” Albus said, “He's probably been asleep since he got up here.” “Merlin, I just want to know what happened between his dad and Balladanis,” John groaned. “You're so impatient,” Rose commented, “Just let him sleep.” “I wasn't going to wake him up,” John muttered. The remainder of the afternoon passed by quickly. Albus was dreading his detention later and John complained loudly about how he had to go to the extra help session about werewolves when he already knew so much about them. Albus woke Matt up shortly before dinner and he looked much worse than he usually did the day of full moons. They all escorted him to the hospital wing, where Madam Pomfrey rushed him into bed. Just as they were about to leave the hospital wing, the doors opened and in walked Matt's dad. Albus assumed he was there to check if Balladanis had gotten rid of his anamatek. John nudged Albus. “We should ask him about Balladanis,” John whispered. “He's not going to tell us now,” Albus muttered back, “Look at him.” Mr. Eckerton looked tired out and incredibly worried. He nodded to Albus and the others before rushing over to Matt's bed and talking to Madam Pomfrey in hushed whispers. As it turned out, Albus had been worrying about the detention for nothing. He entered the room before Malfoy and John was already doing his lines. Balladanis said absolutely nothing to Albus as he handed him parchment. Malfoy arrived a little while later and still Balladanis said nothing. Malfoy did not talk either. He did not ask anything about Matt and didn't even comment that the full moon was that night. Balladanis let them leave at half past ten. Albus and John found Kaden in the Marauder's Den and spent the remaining time left until Astronomy playing Exploding Snap and Wizard's Chess. “Why, why do we have to have this class with the Slytherins?” John groaned as they made their way to the Astronomy Tower, “If Malfoy doesn't make a single comment about the full moon, I'll eat an entire cauldron.” “I'm going to hold you to that,” Albus laughed, “But I don't think you'll have to.” Malfoy went so far as to actually set his telescope up next to Albus's. Professor Polo spent ten minutes telling them that they were to plot the position of Mars, Venus, the moon, and a handful of stars before turning them lose to actually do so. “The moon is so bright,” Malfoy whispered, “And big and...full....” Albus looked at John. “Looks like I won't be eating my cauldron tonight,” John muttered. “Just shut it, Malfoy,” Albus said. “Isn't his dad the Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures? Yeah, he must be, because he's the one who made Balladanis get rid of the anamatek. Can't say I'm really upset about that,” Malfoy said quietly, “But how ironic.” “Just stop talking about it,” Albus muttered. “Oh, come on, Potter. Even you have to appreciate the irony,” Malfoy said. “Will you just shut up,” Albus seethed. “Quiet over there,” Polo said. Malfoy smirked at Albus one more time before going back to his telescope. The rest of the lesson passed without anymore commentary from Malfoy and Albus was quite happy when he was able to return to his dormitory. ****** “It's like back in first year,” Albus sighed, “Remember when Madam Pomfrey locked the hospital wing?” “That's why this is bad!” Rose said. “Well, she didn't lock us out this time,” John pointed out. “She didn't exactly let us in either,” Kaden said. Albus and his friends had slept late on Saturday morning and after grabbing a quick bite to eat, had gone to visit Matt in the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey hadn't let them in. They were currently in the Marauder's Den, trying to figure out why. “She always lets us in,” John groaned. “He obviously had a really bad night,” Albus said quietly. “Yeah, but why?” Rose wondered. “Haven't you noticed that the full moons have been worse the past few months?” Albus asked, “He's been taking longer to recover.” “I wish he'd just let us become Animagi,” John muttered. “John, I honestly don't think you could become an Animagus,” Rose replied, “You'd wind up with a permanent tail affixed to your arse.” “That wouldn't be that bad,” John grinned, “Always thought it would be cool to have a tail.” “You're not helping,” Albus sighed, “What are we going to do?” “I think all we can do is just keep going back to the hospital wing,” John shrugged, “Until Madam Pomfrey lets us in.” Their efforts proved fruitless, though. They went to the hospital wing twice that afternoon and then right before Albus and John had to go to detention. Madam Pomfrey told them 'no' each time. Sunday, the last day of Albus and John's detention, was the same. Madam Pomfrey was quite livid when they showed up for the third time that day. “Nothing's changed!” she shouted, “Come back tomorrow evening! I'll give the lot of you detention if you come back any earlier than that!” With that, she strode back into the ward and slammed the door. “Can she even give detention?” Kaden asked. “I dunno,” Albus shrugged, “I wouldn't put it past her.” Albus and John broke away from the group to complete their last detention. Balladanis gave them lines, just like he had the past three nights. Albus sat quietly completing them, very grateful for the fact that Malfoy hadn't said two words to him since Astronomy. “You may stop,” Balladanis said quietly after they'd been writing for about an hour and a half. Albus threw his quill down and leaned back in his chair. Finally, it was over. “I hope you learned something,” Balladanis said, which shocked Albus. He had been expecting Balladanis to continue his silence. “If I catch any of you dueling in the corridors again, the consequences will be much more severe than detention and lost points. “Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy, I have given great thought to whether I should continue giving you extra lessons. I have decided to give you one more chance. Lessons will continue this Friday at their normal time. However, if either of you disregard my rules again, I will no longer hold them. You may go. I'll see all three of you in class on Tuesday.” “Merlin, I'm glad that's over,” John muttered to Albus once they were on their way to Gryffindor Tower. “Me too,” Albus agreed, “He's going to be awful in class, though.” “Yeah, can't say I'm looking forward to that,” John said. Albus couldn't concentrate at all in his classes the next day. All he wanted to do was go to the hospital wing and find out how Matt was, but Madam Pomfrey insisted that they wait until evening. Rose and Amanda ate dinner with Linda, but they met Albus, John, and Kaden near the hospital wing afterwards. They had all eaten a very rushed dinner due to Albus's Quidditch practice at seven. Albus cautiously opened the door to the hospital wing, half expecting Madam Pomfrey to yell at them again. He walked quietly inside, followed the the others. Madam Pomfrey was sitting at her desk and she visibly sighed when she noticed them. “Go ahead,” she gestured to the only occupied bed, which had the curtains pulled around it. Albus rushed over to the bed and yanked the curtains back. Matt looked exhausted and there was a rather large bandage wrapped around his head. “I was wondering when you'd come visit me,” Matt gave them a half smile. “We've been trying!” John said, “Madam Pomfrey hasn't let us!” “I know,” Matt smirked, “I've heard her yell at you. It's kind of amusing.” “Well, we're here now,” Albus said, “How are you? Why didn't Madam Pomfrey let us come visit?” “Because I didn't wake up until yesterday afternoon,” Matt answered. “But that was-” John began. “Nearly two days later?” Matt cut him off, “I know.” “But why?” Rose asked. “A bunch of things, really,” Matt sighed, “First, I was worried about Malfoy telling everyone and it's always worse when I'm worried about something. Second, I hit my head really hard at some point that night. It still hurts. Third, the transformations in general are getting worse, because I'm getting older.” That thought certainly hadn't crossed Albus's mind. Albus and all his friends were obviously getting older and that brought plenty of changes, but he hadn't even thought about how the wolf would change when Matt got older. “So, are all of the full moons going to be this bad now?” Kaden asked. “No,” Matt shook his head and then winced, “I mean, I don't really know what'll happen in the future, but this one was just a combination of bad things.” “That's good, I guess,” Albus shrugged, “When do you get to leave?” “Tomorrow night at the earliest,” Matt sighed, “Although that means I'll miss Defense.” “Wish I could miss Defense,” John muttered, “Speaking of Defense, did you owl your dad yet?” “John, he just woke up yesterday,” Rose pointed out. “I didn't owl him,” Matt said, “But he came to see me earlier and I asked him.” “Brilliant,” John grinned, “And?” “And,” Matt said, “He told me all about it. He told me Balladanis was a Presuler and was really surprised that I already knew. “Apparently, back when my dad had just been appointed Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures in Australia, he hired Balladanis to catch a band of vampires who were attacking Muggles on the outback. Balladanis caught them, but he thought Dad went too easy on them.” “What did he do to them?” John asked. “Sent them to prison. I think they got 20 years. Balladanis thought they should have gotten life sentences. Dad and Balladanis got into this huge argument at the Ministry about it and Balladanis stormed out. The Australian Ministry didn't hire him after that,” Matt explained, “Although, I'll bet Balladanis and Lubar would agree on punishments. I wonder if he's hired Balladanis.” “That explains a lot,” Albus said, “Did your dad say anything else about him?” “No, not really,” Matt replied, “Just that he's got a lot of issues. Oh, and he wanted me to warn you not to listen to everything Balladanis says during those dueling lessons you've got.” “I'm not going to,” Albus assured him, “I think we've all seen a different side of Balladanis during the past week.” ****** Tuesday morning dawned quickly and Albus trudged to Defense with John. Neither of them really knew what class would be like, but judging from what he heard about recent Defense classes in the common room, it wouldn't be fun. Malfoy was back to his smug self now that detention was over. He sat next to Goyle wearing a smirk on his face. Albus ignored him and went to his usual table. Balladanis stormed into the room a few minutes later. He waved his wand at the door and it slammed shut with a bang loud enough that it caused the Jordan-Bell twins, who had been sitting closest to it, to jump. “Pass your homework questions forward,” he growled. Albus handed his homework to the table in front of him and waited for Balladanis to collect it. He paused in front of the table in front of Albus's. “Potter,” he began, “You can tell Eckerton that his homework is late and therefore I will not accept it. If he wished to get credit for it, he could have graced us with his presence.” Malfoy snorted at this, earning him glares from both Albus and Balladanis. Balaldanis tossed the homework unceremoniously onto his desk and then turned back to his students. “Wolfsbane potion,” he barked, “Was created by a man by the name of Oliver Belby. He finished the creation in 1991. For most werewolves, the potion was a lifesaver. Who can explain what it does?” Nobody, not even Rose and Linda, raised their hands. Albus stared down at his desk, hoping that Balladanis wouldn't call on him. “Nobody?” he said, “Pity. Wolfsbane potion renders a werewolf harmless during full moons. The lycanthrope turns into a wolf, but a harmless one. One that will just sleep until the moon sets and will not have the urge to bite and kill. “The potion is a lifesaver to those plagued with lycanthropy. I had been hoping to show you what a werewolf would look like on Wolfsbane potion, but my anamatek has been banned from the castle,” Balladanis said with malice, “Therefore you will have to go without the visual. It seems that certain parents, Ministry officials, and the headmaster do not approve of my methods of teaching. Unfortunately, it is all of you who are suffering for it.” “I wouldn't call it suffering,” John muttered. “Quiet, Brickston!” Balladanis shouted, “Unless you have something to contribute to the class.” “No, sir,” John replied. “Good,” Balladanis muttered, “Anyway, the anamatek will not be making anymore appearances in this classroom and your education is going to suffer for it. Nothing, and I repeat nothing can replace hands on training.” Albus usually agreed with that, but he drew the line at having what was in essence a live manticore in front of him. There were some times when reading sufficed. The lesson continued with Balladanis talking about Wolfsbane. He spoke about how the potion doesn't work for all werewolves and Albus found his mind drifting. All in all, the lesson hadn't been as bad as he'd been expecting. Besides his brief rant about his anamatek being banned from the castle, he had been pretty normal. Normal for Balladanis, that is. “Next lesson will be the last on werewolves,” Balladanis announced at the end of class, “We will learn about lycanthropy's effect on children.” Albus groaned inwardly. Matt would be out of the hospital wing by then. Why couldn't Balladanis just finish the werewolf unit already? “He won't be back next year,” John muttered as they walked to Herbology. “I don't doubt that,” Albus replied, “I just wonder who we're going to get instead.”
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Sunday 28 March 2010 01 24 40 pm    Post subject: Re: Beyond the Shadow in topic:Beyond the Shadow Chapter 5: A Surprise Matt and Sophie were both asleep when I returned to my flat. It was kind of cute. Sophie was curled up on the foot of his bed, the copy of Beedle the Bard next to her head. I reached down to pick it up and she opened her eyes and yawned. “When's Mummy coming back?” she asked. “In an hour or so,” I replied, “Do you want to help me make dinner? I bet she'll be back just when it's ready.” “Yeah!” Sophie said excitedly. She ran ahead of me into the kitchen and was already wearing an apron that was way too large for her by the time I got there. Sophie absolutely loves to cook. I'm sure that in a few years she'll be a better cook than I am. Mum always told me that cooking was like potions, but I never got the hang of it. Maybe Sophie will be good at both. We decided to make chicken parmesan, one of Sophie's favorites. Her favorite thing to do was grate the cheese and half of it wound up in her mouth. She grinned sheepishly as I took the remaining cheese and I had to hide my laughter. There was a knock on the door while the chicken was in the oven and Sophie made a beeline towards it. I followed her and found Victoire letting herself in. “I snuck away,” she grinned as she picked up Sophie, “How's my little angel?” “We're making chicken parmesan for dinner!” Sophie said excitedly, “Only I think Uncle Matt's going to sleep through it.” “Why don't you go wake him up and see if he's hungry?” I suggested. Victoire put Sophie down and she disappeared into the bedroom. I went into the kitchen to discover that I had nearly burnt the chicken. “How was she?” Victoire asked as she began to set the table. “Fine,” I said, “I found her asleep on Matt's bed when I got back. Then we made dinner.” “Good,” Victoire smiled, “Teddy and I are thinking of enrolling her in a preschool program.” “This year?” I asked, “Isn't she a bit old for that?” “We've been researching and we found one that takes kids up to age six,” Victoire said, “It's private, in London. They only go three days a week, too. Mum keeps telling me that she's bored during the day.” I nodded as I scooped spaghetti onto all the plates. Victoire's grandmother watches Sophie most days, but she also watches a few other kids. Victoire's cousins kids, to be specific. Sophie's better off at my flat after full moons, where it's quiet. “That would probably be good for her,” I said. “I think so too,” Victoire replied, “It'll get her ready for next year, if we send her to Kindergarten. I think she's just bored at Grandma's. She's the oldest one there. Andrew's only two and he's closest to her age.” Andrew was Victoire's cousin Fred's son. The rest of the kids that Victoire's grandma watched were babies. “She needs to play with kids her own age,” I agreed, “And if it's only three days a week, some months she won't even have to miss any days.” “Exactly,” Victoire said, “No one's going to notice. Kids get sick a lot. No one will pay attention that she misses a few days every few months.” “Can you enroll this late in the school year?” I asked. “I think we'll have to wait until after Christmas,” Victoire said, “So don't mention anything to her.” “What's for dinner?” I turned around and saw Matt slowly following Sophie into the room. He still looked utterly exhausted, with large purple bags under his eyes and a yellowish bruise on his forehead. His arm was still wrapped up in bandages and he was limping slightly. “Chicken parmesan,” I replied, “Are you hungry enough to eat?” “I'll probably just have spaghetti,” Matt said as he collapsed into the nearest chair. “How are you?” Victoire asked him. “Awful,” he muttered, “My head is killing me.” “Here,” I set a goblet of pain potion in front of him, “I'm sure you're due for a dose.” “Thanks,” Matt said and downed the potion. Sophie dominated the dinner conversation. Matt was far too tired to pay attention, much less participate in the conversation. Victoire always listened to everything her daughter said, careful not to interrupt. I paid vague attention, but my mind kept wandering towards the poor Muggle who had been attacked by a werewolf. I was hungry for more information about it. Who did it? Why were they out in the open? “Have you got any pickles?” Victoire asked as we were cleaning up the kitchen. “Pickles?” I stared at her, “Er, possibly in the fridge, but why?” “I just feel like a pickle,” Victoire shrugged as she looked in the fridge. “Excellent,” she grinned as she pulled out a jar. “You're strange, you know,” I laughed. “I know,” Victoire shrugged, “I blame it on the odd hours Ted and I keep.” “What time is he done at work?” I asked. “Nine,” Victoire answered as she took a bite out of one of the pickles, “But he's got the weekend off. We're visiting my parents.” “That'll be nice,” I said as I loaded the dishwasher. “Yep,” Victoire said as she polished off the pickle, “And then back to the grind on Monday.” ****** Monday was very chaotic. Not only did I have to catch myself up on what had gone on in the ward over the weekend, but I also had to track down the two trainee Healers who were in charge of data collection for the study Rose and I were running. Trainee Healers basically have to do fully qualified Healers' bidding, much like assistant brewers. This often included data collection for Healers who were running studies. Luckily for me, the two trainees involved with my study had actually wanted the job. Finding them was often a whole day process since they were never in the same place for more than ten minutes. I finally managed to find one after I finished up my clinic hours at eleven o'clock. Lianne Dorsay had been studying to become a Healer for just over a year and was very interested in the research aspect of it. Her short stature, round face, and curly brown hair gave her the look of someone still in Hogwarts, but she was far more mature than she looked. “Lianne!” I shouted as I ran to catch up with her. She turned around and smiled when she saw me. “Amy! I've been looking for you.” “Where are you headed?” I asked. “Spell damage,” she replied, “They're short handed today.” “I'll walk with you,” I said as we continued down the corridor, “How did data collection go?” “Fine,” Lianne said, “Eight people showed up and none of them had any issues with the charms and potions.” “Good,” I said, “All the data look usable?” “Yep,” Lianne said, “It's all entered into the book.” “Thanks,” I said as we got into one of the lifts. “No problem,” Lianne replied. The study Rose and I were conducting was slow going. We could only collect data once a month and we usually only got five or so participants each time. I had yet to get enough data to reach any conclusions, so we kept going at it. I didn't have any time to look at the data that day. Morris was busy with the Muggle who had begun to come to terms with the fact that he was now a werewolf and did not have much time to deal with the rest of our patients. I spent my day with the rest, healing various burns, bites, and stings, and administering potions to the people who had had to spend the night. Five o'clock arrived and I was finally able to escape to the basement to brew. It wasn't that I hated working with patients; it just got draining after a while. Spending my evening hours in solitude with only simmering solutions for company was a nice break. Even while my newest version of Wolfsbane is being tested, I still have to brew regular Wolfsbane. It's a month long process for each batch and there are not many Brewers who can manage it. Three at St. Mungo's can, including Morris and I. There's an old witch who can brew it as well, but she's getting on in years and is looking to retire. “Merlin, Amy, what is that smell?” I jumped and turned to the door. Victoire was standing there, with her hand over her mouth, looking a tad green. I glanced at the clock. I'd been brewing for nearly two hours. “Wolfsbane,” I said as I stood up stirred one of the cauldrons, “Same as always.” “Really?” Victoire said, “Did you do anything funny to it?” “No,” I shook my head curiously, “This is the normal kind. Are you sure you're ok?” “Fine, really,” Victoire shrugged, “The smell of Wolfsbane never makes me feel ill. Except-” She cut herself off and we looked at each other. A look of horror appeared on her face and she slowly sat down on the nearest chair, looking greener than before. “Let's get out of here,” I said, grabbing her arm and pulling her out of the room. I quickly locked it and we headed to the nearest loo. Luckily no one was in it. Victoire leaned against one of the sinks and slowly shook her head. “Why didn't I realize it before. Vomiting in the morning, wanting pickles of all things after dinner....” “How long has it been going on?” I asked. “Few days,” Victoire sighed, “And I'm late. I thought it was stress. Ted's been working longer shifts, Sophie's growing up and I'm trying to decide whether to send her to school. I just, it never crossed my mind. Ted and I weren't going to do this again! We swore!” I stood perfectly still and didn't say a word. Victoire looked worried and slightly scared. I couldn't blame her. After Sophie was born, Victoire and Ted decided not to have anymore children. It was too risky. There was very little known about children who were born as werewolves and every case seemed to be different. Whose to say if Victoire and Ted had a second child the pregnancy would go as well as it did for Sophie? “You don't know for sure,” I said quietly, knowing without a doubt that she was pregnant. Nothing made Victoire feel ill, ever. It was one of the traits that made her an excellent Healer. When Victoire was pregnant with Sophie, the smell of Wolfsbane made her positively ill. If she was near it too long, it made her dizzy, gave her a headache, and made her vomit. The same thing happened to Matt whenever he was around it. At first she thought it was just one of those weird pregnancy things, but once she found out Sophie was a werewolf, she knew otherwise. “Ted's going to be so angry,” Victoire groaned, “We agreed, no more kids!” “It's half his fault!” I rolled my eyes at the thought of Ted ever getting angry. I could count the number of times he'd been angry on one hand. He and Victoire never fought. “I guess,” Victoire giggled, “But still, Amy this is so bad. What if the kid's like Sophie? Or, what if, you know, if the kid's like Matt.” “Then you'll deal with it,” I told her, “You guys are great with Sophie. She's such an awesome kid, Victoire. Honestly, there's kids who don't have lycanthropy who are more difficult than she is. And if the kid's like Matt? Well, then even more incentive for me to get this potion right.” “I know, I know,” Victoire sighed, “We can do it, it's just is it even fair for the kid?” “Plenty of kids deal with things that aren't fair, many worse than lycanthropy,” I said quietly, “Look, first you've got to take a pregnancy test. Tomorrow, right when you get to work.” Victoire nodded. “All right. I'm not saying a word to Teddy until I know for sure.” “Makes sense,” I agreed, “Is he going to the meeting?” “Yeah,” Victoire said and glanced at her watch. “Merlin, we'd better leave now. Your mum'll murder us if we're late.” ****** The Lycanthropic Children's Foundation is a very small organization that meets every Monday at my parents' house. There are only six members, which is all we really need for what we do. Basically, we obtain donations and then people with lycanthropic children seek us out, usually through St. Mungo's. Most of our donations come in the form of spare change tossed into the containers we have set out at various shops, and large anonymous donations. The money is then given out anonymously, through me. I have access to the children's information through work anyway, so applications are sent to me and then I present them, omitting names. Besides Victoire, Mum, Teddy, and I there were two other members. Joe Gordon was our Treasurer and Betsy Wrigley worked with Teddy to seek donations. Everyone else was there when we arrived, even Teddy and he was usually late. Mum had set out a tray of biscuits and a pot of tea. “Amy, Victoire, you're nearly late,” she said as we entered the living room. “Sorry,” I replied, “Work.” “Well, you're here now,” Mum said, “Anyway, I was about to tell everyone that we received another 100 Galleon donation the other day.” “Brilliant!” I grinned. Donations that large were rare. Once everyone had announced their excitement over the donation, we spent the remainder of the meeting deciding who to give it to. It was always so difficult to decide who to give donations to. Every single one of the kids deserved something, but we just did not have the funds to give everyone something. After a bit of debating, we decided to split it between three different kids. Victoire wrote the checks and I got the envelopes ready for owling the next day. “Does anyone else have anything to discuss?” Mum asked. “I do,” I stood up and took a deep breath. Here it goes. The proposal. Mum looked at me curiously, but didn't say anything. “All right,” I said, “We've spent the past few years drumming up donations and giving them to children, which is extraordinary. The money is so helpful for the kids and their families. It pays for hospital bills and Wolfsbane. “However, I feel that we can do more, so much more. Working at St. Mungo's I've seen that these kids need more than money. They need support and so do their families. The parents feel so alone and so do the kids. “Money helps them, it really does, but no amount of Galleons can ease the loneliness and feeling that it's you against the world. Which is why I feel that we need to expand what we do. I think we could organize support groups. One for the kids, the parents, and even siblings. I really think it would help a lot.” I stopped and looked out at everyone. Mum and Betsy looked shocked, grins were slowly appearing on Victoire and Teddy's faces, and Joe looked skeptical. “But if we do that, people are going to find out who the kids are,” Joe pointed out. “Only the other people in the support groups and us, and I don't think anyone who would be attending the support groups would use that information against the kids,” I said. “Good point,” Joe agreed. “I think it's a great idea,” Teddy said. Victoire nodded. “Why don't we think on it for a week and if we all still agree next week, we'll start making plans,” Mum decided. Everyone thought that was a good idea. Mum adjourned the meeting and Betsy and Joe left shortly after that. Teddy and Victoire stuck around for a little while to eat a few more biscuits, and then left as well. “It's going to be ok,” I whispered to Victoire as they left. She nodded and then left. She was going to have a hell of a time keeping her suspicions from Teddy; she looked so worried. “Is everything ok with Victoire?” Mum asked as we cleaned up, “She looked preoccupied tonight.” “It's work,” I said quietly, “Don't worry, she'll be fine.” “The lot of you need to take a holiday,” Mum said, “You, Victoire, Teddy, your father. All of you, workaholics.” “Healing is a time consuming profession,” I shrugged, “I knew that when I started.” “Still, you could surely take a week and go to France or something,” Mum told me. “What would I do in France?” I sighed, “I'd worry about my patients and lose a week of brewing. I can't afford to do that. You know that.” Mum turned and looked at me. Her eyes looked strangely sad. “Amy, just keep in mind that it's good to take some time for yourself. If you don't, you'll regret it when you're older.” ****** “I feel like we're sixteen and trying to secretly take a pregnancy test at Hogwarts or something,” Victoire whispered to me the next morning. Victoire had appeared in the doorway to my study five minutes earlier, clutching a paper bag in her hand and looking paler than I'd ever seen her. I immediately got up, told Morris to cover my patients until I returned, and rushed out the door. “Well, we're not sixteen. You're twenty-nine and married. There's nothing wrong with you being pregnant,” I told her. “Then why are we sneaking around, trying to find an empty loo?” Victoire asked. “Do you really want to do this with strangers around?” I pointed out. “Very true,” Victoire agreed. We slowed down as we neared the next ladies' loo and I began to push the door open. “Lupin! Eckerton!” I groaned inwardly and lowered my hand. Farina. How was she always able to pop up at the worst moment? “What are you two doing on the Magical Bugs floor?” Farina barked, “Lupin, you're due in the clinic in ten minutes!” “Er,” I began, trying to think up a good excuse. “I have to do something,” Victoire muttered, gesturing to the bag, “But I'll be in the clinic as soon as I can.” Farina's eyes narrowed on the bag and then her stern face softened. I had to rub my eyes to make sure I was seeing clearly. Farina's gaze never softened. But I was seeing clearly. Farina's expression was almost sympathetic. “Take all the time you need, Lupin,” Farina said, “Eckerton, Spell Damage is running low on Skele-Gro, I'll need you to brew more this afternoon.” “Right,” I nodded as she walked away. I quickly opened the door to the loo, hoping no one else was inside. “What was that about?” I asked as I peeked under all the stalls, “Ok, this one's empty.” “No idea,” Victoire shrugged as she entered one of the stalls, “I've never seen her like that before.” “Does she know about Sophie?” I asked. “No,” Victoire answered, “I mean, she knows I had a difficult pregnancy but she doesn't know Sophie's got lycanthropy.” “Do you think she's actually worried?” I asked. “Possibly, but I find it hard to believe,” Victoire said, “I've never seen Farina show any emotion besides anger and indifference.” “Me either,” I said as the door opened. I turned and saw a witch with a bright green hat entering the bathroom. “Sorry, this one's closed,” I told her, “Toilet's been regurgitating.” “Then you should lock it!” the witch said as she left in a hurry. She had a point, I thought as I pulled out my wand and locked the door. Victoire came out of the stall, holding a small cup and looking quite worried. She wordlessly set the cup down on one of the sinks and we stood next to each other, staring at it. If Victoire was pregnant, the solution would emit blue hearts in ten minutes. If she wasn't pregnant, the solution would turn green and emit nothing. “Remember when I found out I was pregnant with Sophie?” Victoire said quietly. I nodded. I remembered that day like it was yesterday. I was the one who had first suggested to her that she may be pregnant. Victoire denied it, thinking she was just overtired and getting ill. Fresh out of Healer training, we were given the worst hours, occasionally having to pull twelve hour shifts. We were both coming off a twelve hour shift and I insisted she come over to my flat and take the test before going home. She agreed and did. The test was positive and we were both thrilled. Ted had been on a mission and the day long wait for him to return seemed to take forever. When Victoire was finally able to tell him, he was so tired that after he woke up, he thought it had been a dream. This was so different. Victoire had been nervous before, but that was nothing compared to now. Then, we had been hoping the test was positive. Now, we were hoping for a negative. “I wanted a huge family, Amy,” Victoire said in a shaky voice, “I wanted at least four kids. But now...” her voice trailed off. “I know,” I said, “But things don't always work out the way you want.” “Amy, if this is positive-” Victoire cut herself off. The cup was bubbling. Any second now we would know the result. I held my breath and didn't blink. Then it happened. A tiny blue heart rose above the surface and popped immediately. It was followed by more and soon the potion was bubbling and emitting heart after blue heart. I turned and looked at Victoire. She was staring at the potion, her face as white as Nearly Headless Nick. Then, all of a sudden, she burst into tears and I put my arm around her. “Wh-what am I g-going to do?” she sobbed, “I can't be p-pregnant again, I just c-can't. I got lucky last time, Amy. I won't get lucky again, that just d-doesn't happen!” “Maybe it will,” I soothed, “You're going to get through this.” “What's T-Teddy going to say?” Victoire wailed, “We swore we wouldn't d-do it again!” “Like I said last night, this is half his fault,” I told her. “I know, but it's not T-Teddy who's pregnant!” Victoire cried, “I'm p-pregnant!” “Listen, we're going to go to the Ministry and tell him right now,” I said, “Take deep breaths. In and out. Teddy is not going to be mad.” “I can't!” Victoire said as she glanced at her watch, “Merlin, I'm ten minutes late for the clinic! Farina's going to murder me!” “No,” I shook my head, “We're going to tell Farina you've got to go home early. You saw her face when we went in here, she might actually let you.” “N-no she won't,” Victoire sobbed, “I have to get to the clinic.” “No,” I said a bit louder, “You're going see Teddy and then you're going to go home.” It took another five minutes to convince Victoire to go home and then another five to calm her down. She still looked like she'd been crying for fifteen minutes, but better than before.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 24 March 2010 11 53 14 am    Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden Chapter 28: Old Acquaintances Albus and John sat as far away as possible from Malfoy in Balladanis's study. Balladanis just stared at them before speaking. “I cannot begin to tell you how disappointed I am in all of you,” Balladanis began, “Especially you, Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy. I am sure I taught you better than this. The two of you especially should know how uncalled for that was. You are well aware of your dueling skills and what sort of responsibility lies with them. I have half a mind to discontinue our training sessions. However, I am willing to hear all sides of this story before laying out any sort of punishment. You may go first, Mr. Malfoy.” “I was just walking to class and Potter pulled out his wand and attacked me. Then Brickston joined in. I was outnumbered, sir. I had to defend myself,” Malfoy said. Albus had to try hard not to snort. He and John looked at each other and John rolled his eyes. “Very well,” Balladanis said, “Mr. Potter, if you please.” Albus took a deep breath. He was going to tell the story. The whole story. “Malfoy was threatening Matt, sir,” Albus began. “Mr. Eckerton?” Balladanis asked, “I did not see him anywhere.” “He left after Malfoy threatened him,” Albus continued, “You see, Malfoy has figured something out about Matt, after listening to your lectures on werewolves.” Balladanis's eyes widened and he looked at Malfoy. “Is that true, Mr. Malfoy?” “Yes,” Malfoy muttered, “And I wasn't threatening him. I was asking him about it. I think I have the right to know if I'm in school with a werewolf.” Malfoy said 'werewolf' with disgust and it made Albus want to hex him once more. “Mr. Eckerton has the right to keep his medical issues to himself,” Balladanis replied, “His health is none of your business whatsoever. Please continue, Mr. Potter.” “After Matt left, I wanted to be sure Malfoy wasn't going to go tell the whole school about Matt's lycanthropy,” Albus explained, “And I guess we just wound up dueling.” “Just wound up dueling?” Malfoy scoffed, “You had your wand on me.” “You sent the first hex,” Albus muttered. “Do you have anything to add, Mr. Brickston?” Balladanis asked. “No,” John replied, “Albus is telling the truth.” “Very well,” Balladanis replied, “I see this matter goes much further than a duel. All three of you will receive four nights' detention starting tonight at eight. Each of you have lost ten points from your respective houses. “However, I am taking all three of you to see the headmaster. There are things more important to discuss than detentions,” Balladanis said as he stood up. Albus knew full well what Balladanis was insinuating. He and John said nothing as they followed Balladanis to Kendrick's study. Malfoy walked a few feet behind them. Albus hadn't been to Kendrick's study since his first year, when he went to talk to Dumbledore's portrait. The place hadn't changed in the slightest. Everything seemed to be in the exact same place. Both Dumbledore and Snape were awake and in their portraits. Kendrick was behind his desk writing something when they entered. He looked up curiously at them. Albus, John, and Malfoy stood near the door while Balladanis strode forward. “We have a problem,” Balladanis said, “These three have been dueling.” “I trust you to hand out detentions, Tethys,” Kendrick replied, “I am busy at the moment.” “It's not the dueling,” Balladanis said, “It's what they were dueling about.” “And what would that be?” Kendrick asked. “Mr. Malfoy has discovered that Matt Eckerton is a werewolf,” Balladanis answered, “And I believe Mr. Potter and Mr. Brickston have known for quite some time.” Kendrick dropped his quill and looked up. “I'll take this from here. I believe you have a lesson to teach.” “I believe I do,” Balladanis replied and left the room. Kendrick conjured a few chairs and gestured for the three boys to join him at his desk. Albus sat down in the middle chair and waited for Kendrick to begin. He noticed that both Dumbledore and Snape were paying rapt attention. “Well, well,” Snape said, “Deja vu.” “Not now, Severus,” Kendrick said, “Mr. Potter, perhaps you can tell me if anyone else knows about Matt's lycanthropy?” “Er, yes,” Albus replied, “Rose Weasley, Amanda Tagger, and Kaden Dursley.” “I knew that Dursley kid knew something,” Malfoy muttered. “Not now, Mr. Malfoy,” Kendrick said, “I'll need to speak with them, as well as Matt. I imagine they're all in class.” “Sir,” Albus interrupted, “I don't think Matt's in class.” “You may be right,” Kendrick sighed, “Do you have any idea where he might be?” “Yes,” Albus answered. “Very well. Please go find him,” Kendrick said, “And Mr. Brickston, please go find the others.” Albus nodded and he and John left the study. Albus went straight to the Marauder's Den while John went to the dungeons as Rose and Amanda would be in potions. Matt was sitting on his bed in the Marauder's Den, staring at the wall and not moving a muscle. “I suppose Malfoy's told everyone,” Matt said without turning to look at Albus. His voice was hollow. “No,” Albus replied, “He hasn't had the chance. John and I dueled him after you left. Balladanis gave us all four nights of detention and took points away.” “He'll tell everyone soon,” Matt replied, “I should probably go pack. You know, I really thought I'd get to finish school. That's not even the worst part. It's going to be all over the Prophet. My dad's going to lose his job again. We'll probably have to move to New York.” He finally turned around and looked at Albus. He no longer looked anxious. He looked absolutely terrified, yet sad at the same time. “Why did Balladanis have to be such a good teacher?” Matt groaned and laid back on the bed, “If he had been some sort of awful teacher then maybe Malfoy wouldn't have found out. He's just so thorough! He left nothing out! Even the way he described the transformation. It was so, it was just so, realistic. “And that stupid anamatek!” Matt sat up and looked at Albus, “That thing looked just like me, only older. No wonder Malfoy found out.” “You're not going to get kicked out,” Albus assured him. “How do you know?” Matt shouted, “How do you really know? I know Teddy's dad got to stay after Snape found out, but this is different. That was when Dumbledore was here! Everyone says Dumbledore was barking mad. Kendrick isn't. Kendrick's perfectly sane and he's not going to want to deal with this.” Albus didn't really know what to say to that. Everything Matt said was true. Kendrick was not Dumbledore. Nobody could compare to Dumbledore. “Kendrick wants to see you,” Albus said, “He's got Malfoy up in his study. He wants to talk to all of us. Me, John, Rose, Amanda, and Kaden.” “I don't want to go up there,” Matt said, “I never want to see Malfoy again. I just want to stay here. Merlin, my head is killing me.” “I think you have to go,” Albus said quietly. “I know,” Matt groaned and got up off the bed, “This just isn't fair. I hate it. I hate this whole thing. I don't want to be a bloody werewolf anymore.” “I know,” Albus said, knowing just how miserable Matt was at that moment. Albus had never once heard him complain about being a werewolf. Not when he was too tired to do anything because of the full moon or when he was laid up in the hospital wing for days afterwards. They walked quietly back to Kendrick's study. Albus muttered the password, that he had overheard Balladanis say, to the gargoyle and they ascended into the study. Everyone else was already there and they all turned to Albus and Matt when they walked in. Matt froze in place and Albus stopped and looked at him. He was staring directly at Malfoy. “Take a seat,” Kendrick gestured to the two empty chairs, one of which was next to Malfoy's. Albus took the seat next to Malfoy's, but didn't look at him. Matt took the other one. “First, I want to assure you that you do not have to leave Hogwarts,” Kendrick said to Matt, “Nobody else will be finding out about your lycanthropy.” Matt didn't look reassured by this. Malfoy looked mutinous. “My father won't agree with that,” Malfoy muttered. “Your father has no say whatsoever in which students I admit to this school,” Kendrick replied, “He works in the Ministry, and may I point out that his position is not very high.” “Matt,” Kendrick turned away from Malfoy, “Does anyone else know?” Matt shook his head. “And did you tell the others, besides Mr. Malfoy, willingly?” Kendrick continued. Matt nodded. “Very well,” Kendrick said, “And how long have they known?” Matt seemed unable to speak. After a few moments of silence, Kendrick turned to Albus. “How long have you known, Mr. Potter?” “Two years,” Albus answered. Kendrick repeated this question with Rose, John, and Amanda, who all gave the same answer as Albus. Then he moved onto Kaden and Albus suddenly remembered the Sileo Altus charm. He shared one horrified glance with Rose and waited for Kaden's reply. Kaden looked at Kendrick and then turned to Albus. His mouth was agape and he looked a little panicked. “Are you all right, Mr. Dursley?” Kendrick asked. “Fine,” Kaden answered, “It's just, well....” “Professor, Sir,” Rose began, “We sort of put this charm on Kaden, so he wouldn't tell anyone. He can only talk about it with us. He won't be able to say a thing about it around you or Malfoy.” Albus braced himself for Kendrick's response, but before the headmaster could say a word, Dumbledore chuckled in his frame. “The Sileo Altus charm,” Dumbledore smiled, “Ingenious. Who performed it?” “I did,” Rose answered. “Remarkable,” Dumbledore said, “You must be an incredible witch, Miss Weasley.” “Too smart for her own good, more like it,” Snape muttered. “That is indeed quite the amazing feat, Miss Weasley,” Kendrick said, “Can you tell me how long Mr. Dursley has known?” “About a year,” Rose said. “Thank you,” Kendrick replied, “Now I have some things to discuss with Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Eckerton in private. The rest of you may go to the Great Hall. I believe there is still a half hour or so left of lunch.” Albus didn't really want to leave without finding out what was going to happen to Malfoy, but he knew Matt would tell him. Matt never showed up in the Great Hall for lunch, nor did he go to Ancient Runes or Charms. Albus could not concentrate on either of those classes and was very happy when Charms was over and he was able to leave. Wood was not very happy that Albus had acquired four detentions. In fact, he was livid. He spent twenty minutes telling Albus how he shouldn't be picking fights with other students so close to the next Quidditch match, especially in front of teachers' classrooms. The lecture had only ended when Albus told him he was late for Charms. Albus had run into Wood in in between Ancient Runes and Charms. “What do you suppose Balladanis is going to make us do?” John asked as they walked towards the Marauder's Den. “Haven't a clue,” Albus replied, “But whatever it is, it's going to be bad since we have to do it with Malfoy.” “True,” John agreed. Rose, Kaden, and Amanda were with them. Albus wanted to go find Matt before they went to dinner. They had to wait a while for the corridor to clear out before they were actually able to get into the room, though. Matt was fast asleep on the couch when they entered. “Good thing he doesn't have detention tonight,” John pointed out. “Yeah,” Albus agreed. John gently shook Matt's shoulder until he cracked his eyes open. “Wake up,” John said, “Or you'll miss dinner.” “I'm not hungry,” Matt muttered. “What's Kendrick doing about Malfoy?” Albus asked as he sat down on the other end of the couch. “He should put that charm on him,” Kaden announced, “The one you lot put on me.” “I wish he would,” Matt sighed, “All he did was tell Malfoy how important it was not to mention anything. He said telling his father would do nothing. Then he told him that if he ever did tell anyone, he would face expulsion for revealing another student's medical information. But that's it! I mean, Malfoy did promise he wouldn't say anything, but who really knows? Sure, if he tells, he'll be expelled, but that won't take it back. I'd still have to leave.” “As much as a git as he is,” Albus began, “I don't think he's going to tell anyone if it meant he'd be expelled. That would be the ultimate shame in the Malfoy family, besides being a Squib or marrying a Muggle or something, getting expelled and not being a fully qualified wizard. Malfoy won't want that.” “I guess you're right,” Matt sighed, “It's just so strange, knowing that he knows.” “I know,” Albus said, “Do you want to go eat dinner?” “No,” Matt shook his head, “You guys go on ahead. I've got to send an owl to my parents, let them know about this.” Albus nodded. “We'll see you later, then. John and I have got detention tonight.” “Oh, right. Good luck with that,” Matt replied. ****** Balladanis's detention was a bit anticlimactic. Albus had been expecting him to think up some really creative and taxing detention, but instead he assigned them lines. Lines were possibly the most boring detention ever thought up, but they were preferable to cleaning the bathrooms or something. “Potter, Malfoy,” Balladanis said after they'd been writing for ten minutes, “Your dueling lesson is canceled for tomorrow night due to your detention. Detention will be at nine, after my extra help session, something I'll expect you to be attending, Brickston.” Balladanis said nothing more and began grading essays at his desk. He completely ignored the three boys, which Albus didn't really mind. He just wanted to get his lines done and get out of there. “Where does he go?” Malfoy hissed at Albus. “What?” Albus whispered. “You know, on full moons, where does he go?” Malfoy elaborated. “I'm not telling you that,” Albus muttered. “My dad said a werewolf used to teach here, and he got fired when everyone found out,” Malfoy drawled. “He quit,” Albus corrected him, “He wasn't fired. He was the best Defense teacher any of our parents ever had.” “Quiet!” Balladanis shouted, “I didn't say you could talk.” Albus was grateful for Balladanis's scolding. Malfoy stopped asking questions and went back to his lines. Albus sighed and went back to his own. How far was Malfoy going to go? Why couldn't he just be satisfied with having worked out Matt's secret? A half hour into their line writing, when Albus was contemplating switching hands despite the fact that he wrote horribly with his right hand, there was a knock on the door. Albus looked up and saw Professor Kendrick standing in the doorway, along with none other than Matt's dad. Albus set down his quill and turned to John. John had set down his own quill. “Who's that?” Malfoy asked. “Shush!” Albus hissed. The last thing they needed was for Balladanis to remember they were there and tell them to get out so he could have whatever conversation he was about to have in private. “Tethys,” Kendrick said quietly, “This is Walter Eckerton.” “We've met,” Balladanis muttered. Albus turned again to John. Matt's dad knew Balladanis? How? Matt had never mentioned that before. “That's his dad?” Malfoy whispered. “Shush!” Albus said again. “I wish to talk to you about what happened earlier today,” Matt's dad said quietly. “What about it, Eckerton?” Balladanis asked. “My son told me about your lessons,” Mr. Eckerton said, “How, informative they are.” “I teach my students what they'll need to know in order to defend themselves,” Balladanis replied. “I think you go too far with that,” Mr. Eckerton disagreed, “Merlin, showing them exactly what a werewolf looks like before a transformation with an anamatek? Do you realize how dangerous those are?” “Of course,” Balladanis said, raising his voice a bit, “You're not the only expert on magical creatures. I have perfect control over my anamatek.” “Nobody has perfect control over an anamatek!” Mr. Eckerton said. “The headmaster has already told me I'm not allowed to use it anymore, so you really don't need to be lecturing me about this,” Balladanis seethed. “Oh, it's not only that,” Mr. Eckerton stepped a bit closer to Balladanis, “It's how much you taught the third years about werewolves. The details about their transformations, how to pick one out of the general population, what happens before, during, and after transformations. Your lesson was far more detailed than a third year text book.” “You'd find that all my lessons are like that,” Balladanis replied, “Text books do not give enough details.” “I think giving enough details about identifying a lycanthrope so that a third year would be able to work out that someone not even in their same house is one is going too far,” Mr. Eckerton seethed, “You knew about my son. You should have been a bit more cautious with your lesson.” “Withholding information from an entire class because of one student is not a good method of teaching,” Balladanis countered. “It is when it could be dangerous for that one student,” Mr. Eckerton said, “Fan of the greatest good for the greatest number, are we?” “There are times when that is a good philosophy,” Balladanis replied. “We'll agree to disagree, then,” Mr. Eckerton said, “But if I find that your lessons are putting my son in danger anymore, you may find that the Ministry is inquiring into your teaching practices.” “I'll teach however I like,” Balladanis muttered. Mr. Eckerton ignored this and turned to the three boys, none of whom were writing lines any longer. “Is that him?” he asked. “The one who found out?” Kendrick replied, “Yes.” Mr. Eckerton strode over to the table Albus, John, and Malfoy were working at. He nodded hello to Albus and John before turning to Malfoy. “I realize the headmaster has already gone over this with you,” Mr. Eckerton began, “But I feel the need to repeat that there will be consequences if you make public my son's condition.” Malfoy nodded. “I know,” he muttered. “Good,” Mr. Eckerton replied and returned to where Kendrick was standing. He turned once again to Balladanis. “I'll be returning to the castle tomorrow to search your study and classroom for the anamatek. If it is still here, I will take it into custody.” Balladanis muttered something under his breath as Matt's dad left the room with Professor Kendrick. Albus exchanged a glance with John. He wanted nothing more than to leave, so he could talk about what had just happened. “That's enough for tonight,” Balladanis barked, “Get out. Be back here tomorrow night at nine.” Albus nearly spilled his ink in his haste to get up. He ran out of the room as fast as he could with John following. Malfoy made no move to try and talk to them again, so they headed straight to the Marauder's Den.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 17 March 2010 01 57 31 pm    Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden Chapter 27: The Werewolf Lesson A few of Albus's cousins had begun to take up bets on how long Balladanis was going to spend teaching the third years about vampires. Fred was sure he'd spend the remainder of term, but Bradley was convinced he'd move onto the next unit partway through April. None of the third years were actually participating in these bets because they were all afraid Balladanis would find out. The vampire unit was still well underway when the next Quidditch match came along. This one was the second Hogwarts versus Australian School of Sorcery match, which meant Wood was in his prime when it came to practice. Albus considered just moving his bed to the changing rooms since he spent more of his time on the Quidditch Pitch than in the Gryffindor common room. Albus awoke the day of the match to John's loud swearing instead of Teddy, which told him that he did not have to play during that match. He couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed. Figuring there was no point in going back to sleep, he got up and asked John what happened. “Tripped over Matt's bloody cauldron,” John muttered, holding onto his right foot, “Why can't he just put that stupid thing away?” “Like you always do?” Albus smirked and gestured to John's own cauldron, which was sitting only a few feet away from Matt's. John muttered something indistinguishable and shoved his cauldron under his bed. He went into the bathroom while Albus woke Matt up. The three of them met Kaden in the common room a little while later and then went down to the Great Hall to get something to eat. A few hours later the boys were in the Quidditch stands, waiting for the match to begin. Rose and Amanda were with them. “Wonder how long it'll take Linda to find the Snitch this time,” Albus mused. “I'm betting on ten minutes,” John said, “Hey, remember that time we eavesdropped on Killigan?” “Yeah,” Albus replied, “Wasn't Linda supposed to start flying slower after that?” “That's what I thought,” John shrugged, “But she didn't during the last match.” “She probably won't this time, either,” Matt put in, “I mean, think about it, if James could fly that fast, would he really slow down to a normal speed?” “Definitely not,” Albus sighed. Matt's prediction proved correct. Linda did not slow down in the slightest. She flew at her usual abnormally fast speed, beating James to the Snitch by a few yards. Luckily for Hogwarts, they had been ahead of Australia at that point and only wound up losing by forty points. This put Hogwarts quite a bit ahead of New York as far as Quidditch points went. Australia was still in the lead, but they were not faring so well in the dueling tournaments. As of the most recent tournament, Hogwarts was winning. Australia was in last place and New York was somewhere in between. Albus was pretty sure that if the Quidditch and dueling tournament points were added up, Hogwarts and Australia would be neck in neck. Whatever the outcome of the remaining qualifying tournaments and matches, the finals for both were going to determine the winner of the competition. The points were just too close. Although there was obviously no celebration in the Gryffindor common room after the match, nobody was particularly depressed either. Albus figured this was because nobody had really expected Hogwarts to win anyway. ****** Two weeks into April, Bradley along with quite a few other older Gryffindors, were able to cash in on their bets about Balladanis. Fred and a few others grumbled loudly about it as they handed over Galleons to the winners. Balladanis had assigned the long awaited essay on vampires on Thursday, officially making the vampire unit the longest unit they had done. They had spent an entire month and a half on it. The essay seemed to match this length, as Balladanis wanted it to be two and a half feet. Albus, Matt, and John saved their essays for the last possible minute, settling down to work on them the day before they were due. It wasn't a particularly hard essay because Balladanis had given them so much information on the subject. It was just a very long essay to write. Rose and Amanda had done theirs over the weekend, presumably with Linda. Albus couldn't help but be slightly envious of them because doing the essay with an actual vampire would make it the easiest essay ever. “Bet Linda's glad this unit's over,” Albus said as they worked on their essays in the Marauder's Den Monday evening. “She is,” Rose answered, “She hated every minute of those lessons. Can't say I blame her.” “How long is your essay, Rose?” John asked as he measured his own essay. “Three feet,” Rose answered. John groaned. “Do you think Balladanis will notice if mine's three inches short?” “Yes,” Rose said, “If there's any essay he'll be extremely picky about, it'll be this one.” “Maybe if we don't finish it we can just skip class tomorrow,” Matt muttered, “After all, I wouldn't want to show up in class without the essay done.” “But it'll be worse when you finally do go to class,” Rose pointed out. “I still don't particularly want to go to class tomorrow,” Matt said, “Whether I've finished the essay or not.” “You're going to finish it,” Rose told him, “You've got two inches left.” “Finished,” Albus announced. “Excellent,” John said as he grabbed Albus's essay, “I'll copy bits of yours.” “You know,” Albus said quietly, “Nobody found out about Linda being a vampire even after we've spent a month and a half on them. I don't think anyone's going to find out you're a werewolf just because we're learning about them.” “I know, I've just got a bad feeling about it,” Matt sighed. “Look on the bright side,” Kaden put in, “When you get assigned the werewolf essay, you're sure to get a 100.” “I don't really care about the essay,” Matt said flatly. Both Matt and John managed to finish their essays before curfew and they returned to Gryffindor tower, and they soon went to bed. Albus didn't think Matt slept much, though. He heard him tossing and turning all night. Albus, Matt, and John got a late start since John had misplaced his vampire essay. After finding it under his bed (no one was sure how it go there), the three boys rushed down to the Great Hall to grab pieces of toast before running to Defense. They walked into the room right on time and barely had a chance to catch their breath before Balladanis asked for everyone to hand in their vampire essays. Albus passed his essay up and pulled out parchment and a quill. “Well, our unit on vampires is over,” Balladanis said once everyone had handed in their essays, “I trust you have all read the chapter on werewolves for today? If you had for some reason decided not to do that, I highly suggest doing it tonight.” Balladanis began his usual pacing in front of the classroom. He stopped in front of Rose and Linda's table and then stared out at the class. “I thought I would begin with werewolf history,” he announced, “Nobody is sure when the first werewolf came about, but they have existed in nearly every wizarding culture. Not only that, but even ancient Muggle cultures have lycanthropy in their histories. “Hundreds of years ago, before the Muggle field of psychology came about and long before Muggles had any understanding of the human mind, they tried to make sense of people whom they deemed 'insane'. “One way they did this was to attribute the insanity to the moon. Over the years, the myth of werewolves came about. Thus, werewolves have had a significant role in Muggle stories. In reality, the people Muggles accused of having lycanthropy were merely suffering from schizophrenia or bouts of insanity.” Albus frantically tried to write everything down. He knew absolutely nothing about the Muggle view of lycanthropy. He glanced at Matt and saw that he wasn't writing anything down, but his hand was shaking. “Muggles of course know nothing about real werewolves,” Balladanis continued, “And their Hollywood created werewolves have little in common with the real thing. “Werewolves are plagued with the illness lycanthropy. Does anyone know what that means?” Rose was the only one who raised her hand. Balladanis nodded to her. “It comes from the Greek words 'lykos' and 'anthropos',” Rose explained, “Lykos means wolf and anthropos means man.” “Very good,” Balladanis replied, “Lycanthropy refers to the disease and those who have it are called lycanthropes. “Lycanthropes have been shunned by wizarding society for as long as history has told us about them. In recent years, there has been much speculation about whether this is necessary or even a good idea. However, it is difficult to change the minds of the majority when we have been taught to avoid lycanthropes and shun them from wizarding society for so long. “It has not been for no reason that this general prejudice has came about. When in wolf form, werewolves cannot control their actions and thus attack helpless people. This has long been construed as lycanthropes wanting to attack people, wanting to infect them with the horrible disease. “This can not be farther from the case when it comes to most werewolves. Most do not wish to attack others. Within the past hundred years, lycanthropes have begun locking themselves up on the full moon in order to avoid attacking others. However, there is one significant drawback to this for the lycanthrope. Does anyone know this?” Balladanis's eyes rested on Matt, but he continued staring down at his empty parchment. Rose and Linda raised their hands. This time Balladanis called on Linda. “When werewolves don't have anybody to attack, they attack themselves,” Linda said, “They don't have a choice and they often wind up really injured because of it.” Balladanis took Linda's thought further, but Albus didn't hear what he said because Matt had knocked over Albus's ink. He looked incredibly nervous and Albus was happy that the class was almost over. He quickly cleaned up the ink and tried to pay attention to the rest of the lecture. “We'll pick up next class with what happens before, during, and after full moons for a person with lycanthropy,” Balladanis announced shortly before the bell rang, “If you have not read the werewolf chapter, please do so for next time. Mr. Eckerton, if you could please come see me.” Matt looked, if it was possible, even more nervous at this prospect. The rest of the class left and Albus tried to put away his things as slowly as possible, but Balladanis shooed him, along with John, out of the room. Malfoy was standing outside the classroom when Albus and John left. He had a slight smirk on his face. “Interesting lesson, Potter,” Malfoy said quietly, “Very interesting indeed.” “What do you want, Malfoy?” Albus asked, knowing perfectly well what he wanted. “Oh, nothing. Just a very illuminating lesson. I've learned so much,” Malfoy replied and then sauntered off down the corridor. “Shit,” John muttered, “He knows.” “If he doesn't yet, he'll know after next lesson. He's onto it, that's for sure,” Albus said. “Onto it?” John replied, “That's a nice way of putting it. The whole school's going to know in two days, after the next class.” “What are we going to do?” Albus groaned, “If we tell him what Malfoy said, he's going to be too scared to do anything. I mean, did you see him during this lesson?” “Yeah,” John nodded, “We can't tell him. Whatever Malfoy's going to do, he's going to do it whether Matt knows about it or not.” “I agree,” Albus nodded, “We won't tell.” “What are you two talking about?” Matt appeared behind them, looking no better than he had before. “Nothing,” John said, “What did Balladanis want?” “Told me I didn't have to go to the extra help during this unit unless I wanted to,” Matt told them. “What are you going to do?” John asked. “I don't know,” Matt said as they began walking to Herbology, “I know it'll look suspicious if I don't, but I really can't take many more lessons like that. Merlin, Thursday's lesson is going to be awful.” Albus saw no point in denying that. Matt didn't have a clue as to how awful it would be. They said nothing more about it the whole way to Herbology. ****** Albus had never been so happy about having ridiculously long Quidditch practices as he was Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. He was perfectly happy to spend all his free time on the Quidditch pitch and then be too tired to do much of anything else afterwards. It was just so difficult for him to keep what Malfoy said away from Matt. He wanted nothing more than to warn his friend about it, even though he knew that would accomplish nothing. All it would do was make Matt worry even more and then act even more anxious during Defense. Quidditch also kept Albus's mind off of what would happen after Malfoy's suspicions were confirmed. It wouldn't be anything like when Albus found out or even when Kaden found out. No, Malfoy was going to use this to his advantage. Albus was nearly one hundred percent sure Malfoy would announce it to all of Slytherin. Then, word would spread and the entire school would find out. Merlin only knew what would happen when students' parents found out. Albus knew that werewolf rights had come a long way since Teddy's dad was in school, but he also knew that most people would not be happy if their children were going to school with a werewolf, especially one that did not take Wolfsbane. Not to mention the field day the press would have with it. Matt's dad had just become Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures for Merlin's sake. It would be a repeat of what had happened when Matt and his family had lived in Australia. Not to mention what it would do to Matt himself. Albus remembered when there had been a slight chance that Malfoy found out about the passage under the Whomping Willow. He had nearly had a panic attack. What would happen if Malfoy found out he was a werewolf? It did not help that the full moon was that Friday. Matt barely spoke during the brief times that Albus was not occupied on the Quidditch pitch. He sat in the Marauder's Den with everyone else, but he stared off into space or slept. Yes, Wood's long Quidditch practices took Albus's mind off of all of that, but they did not stop Thursday from arriving and sooner than Albus would have liked he found himself sitting in Balladanis's classroom. Albus and John exchanged nervous glances as Malfoy walked in with a very smug look on his face. Albus was so focused on Malfoy that he nearly missed the fact that the anamatek's trunk was back in front of Balladanis's desk. Once he noticed it, he poked John in the side. “What?” John seethed. Albus gestured to the trunk. “Merlin's beard,” John exclaimed, “I don't even want to know what he's going to do with that.” “Quiet down,” Balladanis said, “We'll continue our werewolf discussion today by talking about what happens to a werewolf when the moon waxes. “Werewolves, in a similar way to vampires, are somewhat allergic to the moonlight when the moon waxes. For the few nights before the actual full moon, when exposed to moonlight lycanthropes will feel ill. The moonlight gives them headaches and when exposed long enough, causes them to lose consciousness.” Albus didn't bother writing any of this down, as he knew first hand what happened when a werewolf was exposed to too much moonlight shortly before the full moon. Instead he stole quick glances at Malfoy and Matt. Malfoy was furiously writing down everything Balladanis said and stealing quick glances at Matt himself. Matt was staring down at his parchment and Albus was sure he was trying to ignore everything Balladanis said. He was pale and ill, but Albus wasn't sure if that was because of the lesson or because the full moon was the next day. “Lycanthropes are often too ill to go about their daily activities the day of the full moon and occasionally the day before as well. Before I describe the actual transformation, I wish to show you what a person with lycanthropy looks like the day of the full moon.” For a brief second, Albus thought Balladanis was going to call Matt to the front of the room, but then realized that as a professor, Balladanis must have promised Kendrick that he wouldn't do anything like that. Balladanis pointed his wand at the trunk and a small man stepped out of it. His pallor looked exactly like Matt's and he looked just as ill. In fact, the two of them looked incredibly alike. Both of their faces bore scars and had a sickly look to them. Balladanis began to speak about what the anamatek looked like, but Albus paid no attention. Instead he looked to Malfoy. Malfoy stared at the anamatek for a minute or so with shock and then he glanced at Matt. Finally, he met Albus's gaze and Albus saw the biggest smirk he had ever seen on the Slytherin's face. That was it. Albus knew it. Malfoy had made the connection. The remainder of the lesson passed by in a sort of fog for Albus. He and John had exchanged glances and the look on John's face told him he had noticed Malfoy's realization as well. Albus heard Balladanis's lecture, but he didn't process it. The lesson seemed to drag on and speed by at the same time. Albus wanted it to be over so he could get out of there, but at the same time he did not want to know what was going to happen after. “Next lesson will focus on Wolfsbane Potion and the effects it has had on werewolf rights,” Balladanis announced at the end of the lesson, “Class dismissed.” Albus and John looked at each other. Albus didn't know what to do. Should he confront Malfoy? Or should he tell Matt what happened? Matt seemed oblivious to the whole thing. They silently decided just to leave the classroom and decide what to do after. Rose and Amanda had left with Linda with absolutely no idea what had happened. Malfoy was waiting for them outside the room and Albus was not sure if this was a good or a bad thing. He had the sudden urge just to hex Malfoy right then and there. “Another enlightening lesson,” Malfoy smirked, “Oh, Eckerton, feeling a bit ill?” “None of your business,” Matt muttered. Albus and John both stepped a bit closer to him and Albus clenched his hand around his wand. “Bet you'll be feeling even worse tomorrow,” Malfoy replied, “It's about that time of the month, isn't it? Tomorrow night?” That got Matt's attention. His head snapped up and he glared at Malfoy. Then he turned around and looked from Albus to John with the most panicked look on his face Albus had ever seen. “It's going to be a fun full moon, isn't it?” Malfoy whispered, just loud enough for Matt, Albus and John to hear. Matt didn't say anything. He shook his head and then ran. He pushed through the crowd, much to the dislike of the students who were trying to get to class, and disappeared in a matter of seconds. Albus suddenly felt more hatred for Malfoy than ever. Not only had he worked out Matt's secret, but he had used it to scare him. In essence, Malfoy had threatened him with it. That was one of the worst things he could have done. Ignoring all the other students who were going to class, Albus pulled out his wand and had it against Malfoy's chest in two seconds. “If you tell anyone,” Albus growled, “I will personally make sure you're so indistinguishable that even your own parents won't recognize you.” “Is that a threat, Potter?” Malfoy pulled out his own wand. “You need me to spell it out for you?” Albus asked, “I think we're about to find out just how much better I am at dueling than you are.” “Rictumsempra!” Malfoy shouted. “Protego!” Albus shouted at the same time. “Expelliarmus!” John shouted. The crowd moved away so that there was a circle of onlookers surrounding the duel. Albus ignored them. It was just him, John, and Malfoy. And Malfoy was outnumbered. Malfoy deflected John's disarming spell and shot another spell at Albus. It bounced off Albus's shield and hit a nearby portrait. The portrait's occupant shouted in disgust and moved into her neighbor's frame. Albus concentrated on his shield charm and glared at Malfoy. “Petrificus Totalus!” he shouted through his shield. Grateful for Balladanis's dueling lessons, Albus watched as his shield held up while the hex shot at Malfoy. Unfortunately, Malfoy dodged it and sent a tickling jinx at John. This one hit John and he collapsed onto the floor in a fit of giggles. Albus shot another hex at Malfoy and this one collided with his face. Malfoy's nose started bleeding and he rounded on Albus. “What is going on out here?” Balladanis shouted. Albus didn't lower his wand and neither did Malfoy, but they didn't fire off anymore hexes either. Albus let his shield down and noticed that the crowd had dispersed. John was still rolling around on the ground. Balladanis pointed his wand at John and John immediately stopped giggling and stood up. “Follow me,” Balladanis growled. All three boys followed Balladanis into his study. Albus looked nervously at John. Of all the professors to catch them dueling, it had to be Balladanis. Of course, the one good thing about this was that Malfoy couldn't announce Matt's lycanthropy to the entire school while Balladanis was lecturing them.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Sunday 14 March 2010 07 30 48 pm    Post subject: Re: Beyond the Shadow in topic:Beyond the Shadow Chapter 4: The Full Moon My days off for full moons shouldn't really count as days off. I still go into St. Mungo's at least once each day I'm 'off' and then I do plenty of research at home. I'm pretty sure the only reason Farina lets me have the days off is because she knows I won't really be off. This particular full moon was no different. I woke up at my usual early hour (I've never been able to sleep in, even as a child) and read Potion Master's Monthly while eating brekkie. Matt was still sound asleep when I finished. I inched quietly into the second bedroom and saw him curled up beneath four blankets, his chest moving slowly up and down. “Matt,” I whispered, poking him. He rolled over and opened one eye. “I've got to go to St. Mungo's for a bit,” I told him, “I'll be back later.” He nodded and went back to sleep. I doubted whether he'd even remember me telling him I was leaving. I quietly left the flat to find a place to Disapparate. Stopping into St. Mungo's the day of the full moon is always tricky. I don't want to be seen by too many people because without a doubt someone will ask me to do something for them and I could be there all day. Farina in particular is one to avoid when I'm trying to just pop in for a second. Luckily Farina was nowhere in sight when I arrived. I made it up to the Dai Lewellyn ward without being flagged down by anyone. Maybe this would be a quick trip after all. Jamie was the only patient I needed to see. There wasn't anything I could do for him at this point, but I wanted to at least check his vitals. Only George was sitting by Jamie's bed. It didn't look like he'd gotten any sleep in days. “Morning,” I said as I sat down on the edge of Jamie's bed. He was sound asleep. “Hello, Amy,” George sighed. “He's been asleep since yesterday afternoon.” “That's for the best,” I said as I took his vitals. “The more sleep he gets before tonight, the better.” “I know,” George said. “I just hate seeing him so sick like this.” “He won't be quite this sick once we stop the Wolfsbane,” I told him. “But the actual full moons,” George shook his head. “They're going to be awful.” “I'm not going to lie to you. They will be awful,” I told him. “But the rest of the month he's going to be a regular kid. He won't be sick like this all the time.” “I suppose that will be best, in the long run,” George said. “Yes, it will,” I said. “Well, his vitals are normal for the day of the full moon. Would you like to go home now or wait until later?” “Now would be best,” George said as he stood up. “Candace took Kyle home last night. He was so wound up.” After Jamie was discharged, I went to my study and answered a few owls. I hated letting them build up until after the full moon. It took so long to answer that many. Then I decided to go back home. With Jamie discharged, there was no point in staying. Taking a slight detour to avoid Farina, who was striding up the corridor towards the lifts, I made it to the Apparition room and left. My flat door was already unlocked when I got there, which was strange. Matt was never up for leaving the flat on the day of the full moon. It could only mean one thing. Mum. I opened the door to find her doling out potions in my kitchen. She looked up when I came in. “Amy, there you are,” she said. “Have you been at work?” “Yes,” I nodded as I set my bag down, “I had to check on one of my patients. Do you have the day off?” “Just a few hours,” Mum replied. “I've got an evening clinical tonight. I just thought I'd stop by to see how Matt was.” “He's fine,” I assured her. “He was asleep when I left.” “He's got a headache,” Mum told me as she put away the potion bottle and walked towards the bedroom with a goblet. I rolled my eyes as I followed her. Mum knew I was perfectly capable of giving Matt potions, but that never stopped her from Apparating miles in order to do it herself. Deciding that it was pointless to try and help Mum, I settled down to work on the proposal. It was nearly finished, but I still hadn't told Mum about it. She'd find out at the meeting. Mum left for her clinical shortly before I Apparated with Matt to the house. He was never in any fit state to Apparate the day of the full moon. Dad wasn't home when we got there, so I put up the protective charms on the safe room door. I always stay over at my parents' house during the full moon. We don't talk and we never get any sleep, but it's a support thing. Dad isn't always home from work by the time the moon rises, but he always joins Mum and I in the living room when he gets there. Dad got home long before Mum, though. She didn't get home until nearly midnight. I knew she didn't like evening shifts, but she didn't get to pick. We sat our silent vigil, watching the clock, hoping it would go faster, waiting for the minute that the moon would finally set. ****** The next morning was stressful to say the least. I had to go to St. Mungo's to see Jamie, who would surely be back there as soon as the moon set, and get Matt back to my flat before seven, when Victoire would stop by with Sophie. I was at St. Mungo's before Jamie even got there. As much as I hated leaving Matt before the moon fully set, it was the only way to take care of Jamie before Sophie got dropped off. The ward was quiet, something that only happened in the wee hours of the morning. Morris wasn't even there yet. Footsteps in the corridor alerted me to Jamie's arrival. I jumped up from my desk and met them in front of the door to the ward. George was carrying Jamie, who was asleep. Candace and Kyle weren't there. “He hasn't woken up yet,” George said as he lay Jamie on his usual bed. “I'm not surprised,” I sighed as I waved my wand over him. “No fever, that's a good sign.” “Thank Merlin,” George said. “Just his usual potions,” I said as I stowed my wand. “I'll have one of the nurses bring them, and Healer Sterling should be in later. He'll owl me when Jamie wakes up and I'll be back then.” George nodded and I rushed out of the ward to find a nurse. Lynne was at the nurse's station and I was relieved to see her. She already knew what Jamie would need; I wouldn't have to take the time to explain. “Jamie needs the usual,” I told her. “I've got to go.” “No problem,” Lynne said as she got up. “How's Matt?” “No idea,” I said. “Had to leave before the moon set. I'm watching Sophie today and Victoire has to be in by seven-thirty, so I'm in a bit of a hurry this morning.” “I wish I had your stamina,” Lynne replied. “Will you be back later?” “Of course,” I nodded. “I'll have to check on Jamie once he wakes up.” I checked my watch as I rushed down to the Apparition room. Six-thirty. Groaning, I turned and Disapparated. The house was quiet when I opened the door and walked inside. Figuring that Dad had already given Matt his potions, I ran upstairs to his bedroom. Matt was sound asleep under the Chudley Cannons bedspread he'd had since he was nine and Dad was reading the Prophet, dressed in his work robes. “Hey, Dad,” I said. “Sorry I had to leave.” “Not a problem,” he said as he closed the Prophet. “He's got a broken arm and a concussion. I've healed them and given him potions.” I nodded. “Mum asleep?” “Yes,” Dad replied. “Do you need me to help you get him to your flat?” “Yeah,” I said. “We'd better go now. Victoire and Sophie will be there soon.” No one can Apparate or Disapparate in our house. Nor are we connected to the Floo Network. It's kind of a hassle when we have to get back to my flat after full moons, but it's for the best. Dad and I managed to wake Matt up and help him outside in order to Disapparate. We went straight to my flat, something we didn't normally risk. I hoped the muffling charm on my flat managed to hide the crack. I helped Matt into the spare bedroom and he fell asleep as soon as he got into bed. Dad left for the Ministry and I sat down for two seconds before the doorbell rang. Victoire was standing on the other side holding Sophie, who looked exhausted. Well, both of them looked exhausted. Victoire herself looked paler than usual. “Victoire, are you ok?” I asked as I stepped aside. “I'll be fine,” she replied as she set Sophie down on the couch. “I've just got a bug or something.” “You're sick?” I said. “Maybe you ought to take a sick day.” “No,” Victoire shook her head, “You know what Farina says.” “If you can walk and talk, you can work,” we said in unison and then started laughing. “Good point,” I replied. “How's Sophie?” “Just tired,” Victoire answered. “Like usual. I'm sure by the end of today she'll be back to asking Teddy for dung bombs.” “Dung bombs?” I raised my eyebrows. “Teddy showed her one the other day,” Victoire groaned. “I think she inherited his mischief gene.” “Well, she gets it from both sides of the family,” I pointed out. “True,” Victoire agreed. “I'd better go.” Victoire said goodbye to Sophie and then left. Sophie sat on the couch, looking a little forlorn, and I sat down next to her. She curled up next to me and rested her head on my side. “My head hurts,” she said, “and I want Mummy to come back.” “She has to work,” I told her. “I promise she'll be back later. I think it's time for you to go to sleep. Do you want to sleep out here or in my room?” “Out here,” Sophie said. “Where's Uncle Matt?” “He's asleep,” I told her. “Do you want me to read you a story?” “Yeah!” Sophie said. “Babbity Rabbity and her Cackling Stump!” I laughed and dug out my old copy of the Tales of Beedle the Bard. Even Victoire didn't know why Sophie liked that tale the best, although I suppose it was better than the Warlock's Hairy Heart. Sophie curled up underneath a huge Gryffindor blanket and I began to read. I used a different voice for each character and Sophie giggled every time I switched. She was asleep before the charlatan declared that the tree be cut down. I smiled and set the book down on the table. The difference between Sophie and Matt at that age still amazed me. Looking at Sophie, you would never guess in a million years that she was a werewolf. The only time you'd ever know was the day of and the day after the full moon. Then she was tired and cranky, but she rarely got ill the way Matt did. In fact, Sophie never got ill. She rarely got colds or anything else that little kids so often contracted. When Matt was that age, he not only got sick around the full moons, but he caught every little cold and flu that was going around. I would catch them at Muggle school and bring them home and undoubtedly Matt would get sick. Victoire was even considering sending Sophie to Muggle school the following year. She could've gone this year, but Victoire still wasn't sure. I was all for it. So long as the school didn't mind that Sophie would be out two days a month, I didn't see the harm. In fact, it would do her a world of good. Sophie would do so much better at Hogwarts if she was already used to being around kids her own age. Friends did a world of good. Both Matt and Sophie slept right through lunch. I did a bit of research and then started worrying about Jamie. Morris still hadn't owled me, which meant Jamie had yet to wake up. The doorbell rang and I knocked over a bottle of ink. Cursing and siphoning the ink off of my book, I got up to see who could possibly be at the door at two in the afternoon. At least it hadn't woken Sophie up. One way that she and Matt were similar was their ability to sleep through anything. I opened the door and saw two of Matt's friends standing there. John Brickston was at least a foot taller than me and his dark hair didn't look like it had been combed in days. Dressed in a Puddlemere United t-shirt and a pair of jeans covered in dirt, he looked like he'd just stepped off the Quidditch pitch. In fact, he probably had. John was one of Puddlemere United's strategists. Kaden Dursley was slightly shorter than John and a little on the chubby side. His light brown hair nearly covered his eyes, but was slightly neater than John's. He was wearing a set of dark red robes, the color Brewers at St. Mungo's wore. Kaden was one of the Assistant Brewers, which basically meant he had to do whatever the Senior Brewers asked him to do, be it actual brewing or washing cauldrons. It wasn't a pleasant job and I was quite grateful that I never had to do it. Being both a Healer and a Brewer enabled me to skip it. “John, Kaden,” I said as they pushed past me into the flat. “Matt here?” John asked. “Of course,” I said. “But he's asleep!” “You sound like Madam Pomfrey,” Kaden said as they walked towards the second bedroom. “How'd you get out of work so early?” I asked suspiciously. “Had a short shift today,” Kaden shrugged. I followed them into the second bedroom. John and Kaden were the most boisterous of Matt's friends. They could be rather annoying, but they'd stuck by him since their first years of Hogwarts. “Oi, Matt!” John shouted as he sat down on the foot of the bed. “Couldn't you have at least changed out of your Quidditch stuff before coming here?” I groaned. “Nope,” John said and then turned back to Matt. “Wake up!” “What can you possibly have to tell him that can't wait until later?” I asked. “Ugh, John?” Matt said as he rubbed his eyes. “Have you any idea what last night was?” “Of course I do,” John said. “But this couldn't wait. Guess whose just been drafted to play for Puddlemere?” “No bloody idea,” Matt replied wearily. “Vince Spencer,” John grinned. Matt sat up in bed, staring shocked at John. I didn't have the slightest clue as to why this surprised him. I don't follow Quidditch and have no idea who Vince Spencer is. “But why?” Matt lamented. “He was the Cannons' best player!” That would explain Matt's reaction, I thought. Matt was a very avid supporter of the Cannons, something John found incredibly hilarious. “Maybe he wanted to be on a winning team?” John shrugged, “Honestly, he's just too good of a player to play for the Cannons.” “There goes our winning streak,” Matt muttered. “Since when is winning two games considered a streak?” John laughed. I decided to leave the room after that. They were sure to start a long and rather boring argument about Quidditch, which would probably only end when Matt decided he wanted to go back to sleep. Sophie was awake when I got back to the living room, looking more like herself. She grinned when she saw me and jumped off the couch. “I'm hungry,” she announced. “Glad to hear it,” I smiled. “Let's find you something to eat.” Sophie followed me into the kitchen, where I made her a grilled cheese sandwich. She ate it while giving me a very long description of what her pygmy puff did the previous day. Apparently it had gotten into Teddy's study and knocked over all of his Quidditch trophies. “Daddy didn't care,” Sophie said as she finished both her story and the sandwich. “He thought it was funny. Then he said that a niffler would be even funnier to watch get into his study and told me he'd get me one when I'm older. But Mummy said no.” “I think pygmy puffs make better pets than nifflers,” I told her. “Why don't you go see Uncle Matt? He's awake now.” Sophie grinned and ran out of the room. It was amazing how fast she was able to bounce back. John and Kaden left a little while later, whispering to each other and all I heard was that they needed to make a trip to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. It still amazed me that they were able to share a flat and not burn the place down every other night. There was a tap on the window and I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I saw Morris's tawny owl standing on the sill. I hurried and opened the window, taking the piece of parchment from the owl's leg. Jamie was awake and doing all right. Morris said there was no reason for me to come in, but I wanted to. I had to. Sophie was sitting on Matt's bed when I walked into the bedroom. She was trying to read Beedle the Bard, but was having to ask Matt what some of the words were. He still looked exhausted. “Will you two be ok if I run into St. Mungo's for a bit?” I asked. “Uh-huh,” Sophie nodded. “I'm reading Uncle Matt Babbity Rabbity.” I smiled. “I can take her with me if you want to get some sleep,” I told Matt. “No, it's fine,” he said. I nodded and left for St. Mungo's. Matt never minded watching Sophie, even if he was exhausted. Sophie had always gravitated towards him, even when she was a baby. I think it's because he knows what she goes through. I have no idea if they ever talk about being werewolves. ****** Victoire was talking with one of the receptionists in the main waiting room when I arrived at St. Mungo's. I was happy to see that she was looking better. “Victoire,” I said as I neared the reception area. “Amy!” Victoire replied. “How is Sophie?” “She's great,” I smiled. “I left her reading Babbity Rabbity to Matt.” Victoire laughed. “She's going to have that one memorized soon.” “And are you feeling better?” I asked as we walked towards the lifts. “Much,” she replied. “Whatever I had, it's gone now. Had a double cheeseburger with extra pickles for lunch.” “That's good,” I said. “Think you'll get out at a decent time?” “I think I'll be able to sneak away around six,” Victoire answered. “Are you on call this weekend?” “Thank Merlin, no,” I said. “I've got a really radical proposal for the Foundation that I've got to finish getting ready before Monday's meeting.” Victoire raised her eyebrows. “Really?” “You'll find out about it on Monday,” I told her as the lift clattered to the Creature-Induced Injury floor. “See you tonight.” The corridor was packed with people, which was very unusual. I stood frozen in front of the lift before shaking my head and plowing through the crowd. Judging by the amount of cameras flashing and people holding notebooks, they were mostly press. “Are you a Healer?” one of them asked me. “No comment,” I replied, regretting my decision to wear Healer robes that day. I didn't even know what the press were there for, but I didn't want any of them bothering me. Squeezing in between two photographers I made it into my study, only to find Morris conversing quietly with my dad. “What's going on?” I asked curiously. Both of them looked up, wearing nearly identical somber looks. Fearing the worst about Jamie and ignoring the fact that writers from the Daily Prophet would not be interested in his case, I waited for their answer. “Werewolf attack last night,” Dad replied, “on a Muggle, in plain view of a crowd of Muggles. It was just outside a bar in a very rural area and most of the witnesses were drunk. So was the victim.” “And the Muggle is here?” I asked. Morris nodded. “He's going to make a full recovery, aside from the lycanthropy.” I sighed and shook my head. There had been two other instances like this since I had become a Healer. The press always had a field day with it, which didn't help the poor victim. Muggles who were bitten by werewolves not only had to come to terms with the fact that they were now werewolves themselves, but also with the simple fact that werewolves existed and the magical world in general. It was a lot to take in and they often didn't truly believe us until the next full moon. “I've put him up in one of the private rooms,” Morris continued. “He's asleep right now, but the last time he was awake he tried to escape, thinking he was going mad.” “Can't you make all the reporters go away?” I asked. “We're trying,” Dad answered. “It's all we can do to keep them out of the poor man's room. How is Matt doing?” “Like usual,” I told him. “John and Kaden woke him up a while ago with news about some Chudley Cannons player transferring to Puddlemere.” Dad laughed. “Are they still there?” “Merlin, no. I'd never let the two of them stay in my flat while I'm not there. They left to destroy their own flat,” I said. “Well, I'd better fight through the reporters to go check on Jamie.” Three reporters rushed towards me as I left the study. Flashbulbs went off and I had to forcefully push my way through them. Wasn't there other news going on that day? Why were all the reporters in Britain at St. Mungo's? “All right, clear out! The lot of you!” I looked up and saw the reporters parting. Farina was striding up the corridor and I had to smirk at the shocked looks on half the reporters' faces. Farina was a force to be reckoned with. She looked positively mutinous. “It'll be on your heads if one of the Healers can't get through this corridor and someone dies in their absence!” Farina shouted. “I don't know why you think you've got the right to be loitering in a hospital corridor anyway! Get out!” “Who are you?” a brave reporter demanded. “The director of this bloody hospital!” Farina exclaimed as she started pushing reporters towards the lifts. “I'll have the lot of you arrested if you don't leave this minute!” The reporters moved out of the corridor faster than they would have if someone let off a load of garroting gas. It was kind of funny. One of them even looked slightly afraid as he nearly tripped over his own robes in his haste to get to the lifts. “Bloody reporters,” Farina muttered as she walked towards me. “Has Sterling filled you in, Eckerton?” “Yes,” I nodded, “but I'm just here to see Jamie today.” “Right,” Farina said. “I'll see you here Monday morning, then.” “Of course,” I said as I turned to enter the ward. Jamie and the man who had been attacked by the chimaera were the only people in the ward. The man was looking better, which I was quite happy to see. Jamie was asleep, which I had been expecting. Candace was sitting next to him, reading the Prophet. She set it down when I entered. “He fell asleep about five minutes ago,” Candace told me. I nodded. I took out my wand and got his vitals. As far as I could tell, he was fine with the exception of being completely exhausted. The main thing I was worried about was a fever, but his temperature was normal. I decided to just discharge him then since I wouldn't be back at the hospital until Monday.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 10 March 2010 10 01 47 am    Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden New page, new disclaimer! I still do not own Harry Potter. Chapter 26: The Presuler Professor Balladanis didn't say anything for a long time after he, Albus, and Malfoy returned to the Defense classroom. Albus landed next to Malfoy, still confused as to how he managed to get out of the pensieve, in front of Balladanis's desk. Balladanis landed behind his desk, facing the wall, and didn't turn around for a few minutes. Albus glanced nervously at his professor as he thought of questions he was just burning to ask. In fact, there was nothing about the scene he had just witnessed that didn't make Albus curious. Everything about it had been confusing. Malfoy looked just as confused. They kept looking at each other and it was kind of strange. They were on the same side. Both of them wanted Balladanis to explain. Balladanis finally turned around and looked at them. He put his hands on his desk and leaned forward, looking both Albus and Malfoy in the eye. It happened in a split second. Albus looked at his professor and immediately thought back to the face of the boy in the scene. That was why he looked familiar. The boy was Balladanis. Then, Balladanis shifted slightly and the likeness was gone. But Albus knew it. That scene had been from Balladanis's childhood. “Sit down,” Balladanis said. Albus and Malfoy sat down quickly at the table in front of Balladanis's desk. They were sitting right next to each other and Albus didn't care. At the moment, finding out what that scene was was more important than staying away from Malfoy. “A few weeks ago you asked me what I did before I started teaching here, Mr. Potter,” Balladanis began, “I have always had the intention of telling you, of telling both of you. I was merely waiting for the right moment. I feel that that moment is now.” Balladanis paused and walked around to the front of his desk. He began to pace in front of it. “There is a reason why I am telling you this now. Why I am not explaining to all of my classes what I did before teaching. The reason is that you two are incredible duelers. Both of you have skills beyond your years that I have never seen before, and believe me, I have seen plenty of exceptional duelers in my time. This may be a good time to tell you how rare it is to have two such skilled duelers in the same year at Hogwarts.” Albus turned to look at Malfoy. What was Balladanis getting at? It sounded like the start of some sort of house unity speech or something. “I know the two of you aren't the best of friends,” Balladanis continued, “But I must say how impressed I am that you seem to put the animosity behind you when you step into my classroom for your lessons.” The sole reason for that, at least for Albus, was because of Balladanis himself. Albus doubted he would tolerate Albus and Malfoy bickering with each other during lessons. “Back to what I was going to tell you,” Balladanis said, “That scene that I just showed you, in case you have not figured it out yet, took place while I was a boy of only thirteen. It was the summer before my third year at school. “I grew up in Greece, in that very house we just saw. My parents, although they loved me deeply, were very poor and could barely afford to put food on the table. I think they were grateful when I went away to school, the sole reason being that they wouldn't have to worry about me getting enough to eat. “I had two blissfully innocent and fun years at the Grecian School of Magic. I returned home during summers full of stories about my friends and all the mischief we'd gotten into.” Albus found it difficult to imagine Balladanis getting into trouble at school or doing anything fun in general. “Everything changed the summer before my third year. It changed on the night you just witnessed. A coven of vampires entered my house that night. They attacked my parents and drank them dry. I hid in a closet, too scared to do anything. Then, once the vampires left, I fled. I ran until I could not run anymore. I wound up at the house of one of my friends. His parents took me in, but things were obviously never the same. I changed on that night.” Balladanis stopped talking and Albus sat in complete shock. Balladanis's parents had been murdered by vampires? That was one thing that had never crossed Albus's mind. “I returned to school that September hardened. Nothing was fun anymore. Nothing was funny. It was then that I decided to devote my life to ridding the world of such evils. Vampires, dark wizards, werewolves, anyone and anything that murders viciously.” Albus couldn't help but glare at Balladanis when he mentioned werewolves. Balladanis seemed to notice this and gave Albus the slightest of smiles. “However, I did realize that not all vampires, werewolves, giants, and other beings are inherently evil. Not all of them want to kill. It was for this reason that I did not wish to be employed by the Greek Ministry. The Greek Ministry prefers to deal with magical creatures as a whole and not distinguish between them. Perhaps this is because Greece has a very large population of vampires. “Thus, becoming an Auror was out of the question. Instead, I chose to enter a more secretive profession. One that you will not find pamphlets on when you get career advice from your heads of house. One that no one except me is going to suggest to you. Yet it is one that I believe the two of you are quite suited for.” Albus's heart sped up at this. Balladanis was going to give them career advice? They were only thirteen. But at the same time, Albus felt excited. Balladanis thought he was a good enough dueler for this career, whatever it was. “I am a Presuler,” Balladanis said, “I am sure neither of you have heard of one. A Presuler is somewhat like an Auror, in that we seek out dark wizards and dark magic. However, we not only seek out dark wizards and dark magic, we seek out dark and dangerous creatures as well. “The biggest difference is that Presulers are not employed by the Ministry. There are very few Presulers in the world and we are often sought out by various Ministries and hired on an as-needed basis. We travel from country to country, whenever we are needed. It is quite secretive. I suppose Presulers are a combination of Aurors and private investigators.” Balladanis was right in that Albus had never heard of a Presuler before. The idea intrigued him, though. A secretive kind of Auror who did not work for the Ministry. “I never caught the vampires who killed my parents. I have met one vampire who knew them, but she is not like them. I am still searching for them, however.” Balladanis stopped pacing and leaned up against the front of his desk. He looked at Albus and Malfoy, but did not say anything else. “Why are you teaching here, then?” Malfoy asked. “That is one thing that is between myself and Professor Kendrick,” Balladanis replied. “Are you coming back next year?” Malfoy asked. “As of right now, I have no idea,” Balladanis answered, “It is getting late. I've kept you here much longer than normal. If you think of anymore questions, do not hesitate to see me. I'll walk you back to your common rooms.” Albus walked alongside Balladanis in silence on his way back to the Gryffindor Tower. His mind was racing with what he just learned. He didn't know what to make of it. It was just so much information at once. The common room was nearly empty when Albus climbed through the portrait hole. It must have been really late, since it was Friday night. Albus really didn't know what time it was. “There you are!” Rose shouted, “Merlin, you've been gone for hours!” “What did he have you doing?” Matt asked. “I'll tell you tomorrow,” Albus muttered, realizing that all he wanted to do was lay in his bed and think about what Balladanis had just said. Albus was vaguely aware of his friends sighs of disappointment as he went up to his dormitory, but he didn't feel like talking about it right then. He was tired and his mind was racing at the same time. Albus tossed and turned the entire night. He alternated thinking about what he had seen in the pensieve and about becoming a Presuler himself. Then he wound up thinking about Linda and what Balladanis thought of her. He had said he didn't hold a grudge against vampires that didn't kill people, but who knew what he really thought. Was Linda the vampire he had met who knew the vampires who killed his parents? It was possible since vampires never aged. Or maybe she was a completely different vampire. Albus wondered how many vampires Balladanis knew. Eventually Albus fell into a restless sleep, but his dreams were plagued by what he had seen in the pensieve. ****** “Merlin, Albus, get up!” Albus rolled over in his bed and put his pillow over his head. After waking up drenched in sweat at four in the morning after a nightmare in which his whole family had been killed by vampires, he had finally drifted off into a somewhat decent sleep. One that he wished he was still in. “It's nearly one o'clock.” “He's like you are after full moons.” “Shut it. Seriously, Albus, get up.” “Yeah, we want to know what happened last night.” Someone pulled the curtains open and took the pillow off Albus's head. He looked up and saw John and Matt. “Did you lose to Malfoy or something?” John asked, “Because that would make me want to hole up in bed for the day.” “No, it's not that,” Albus muttered, “I'll tell you, but I'm only explaining it once, so one of you better find Rose, Amanda, and Kaden. And I'll tell you in the Marauder's Den because there is no way Linda can be around to hear this.” The girls and Kaden met them in the Marauder's Den after Albus, John, and Matt had lunch. John kept pestering Albus all through lunch, wanting to know why Linda couldn't hear about it, but Albus said nothing. He wasn't even sure if he was allowed to tell his friends about this, but Balladanis hadn't really forbidden him. “Albus, what in the name of Merlin happened last night?” Rose asked as soon as they were all in the Marauder's Den. “Balladanis told us what he did before he started teaching at Hogwarts,” Albus said quietly. “And you neglected to tell us until now?” John gaped, “I've been wanting to know for the entire year!” “I know, John,” Albus snapped, “But it's not anything what you'd think.” “Sorry,” John muttered. “Balladanis took us into a pensieve last night,” Albus began. “Really?” Rose looked impressed, “What was that like?” “Not that great, to be honest,” Albus said, “Probably would have been better if it was a better memory. “Anyway, he took us without any explanation of what we were going to see. He took us to this really old broken down house in Greece. Kind of looked like a smaller more run-down version of the Shrieking Shack.” “In Greece?” Kaden asked. “Yeah,” Albus nodded, “We watched the house for what seemed like hours and then these figures broke into it and we heard this awful screaming. Then the figures left. Then this bloke who was about our age came running out with this horrible scared look on his face. Then we left.” “What does that have anything to do with what Balladanis does for a living?” John asked. “Everything,” Albus sighed, “That had been his house. The screams were his parents. The boy was him. He told us this after. His parents were killed by a coven of vampires.” Nobody said anything for a long time. Albus looked at his friends and they all wore equal looks of shock. “And you watched it?” Matt asked. “From a distance,” Albus replied. “Merlin, no wonder Balladanis is so bloody insane,” John let out a low whistle. “He decided to devote his life to ridding the world of evil, whether it be vampires, dark wizards, or other dark creatures,” Albus continued. “So he's an Auror?” Rose asked. “No,” Albus shook his head, “He's a Presuler.” “What is that?” Kaden asked. “It's like an Auror, only they go after dark creatures, too. And they aren't employed by the Ministry. They're hired by Ministries all around the world. They're investigators as well. Apparently it's all very secretive,” Albus explained. “Wow,” John said, “I thought he was an Auror or something.” “Me, too,” Matt agreed, “Instead he just hunts down vampires. And, werewolves.” “Only ones that kill people,” Albus assured his lycanthropic friend. “All werewolves have the capability of killing people, Albus,” Matt said quietly. “So does everyone,” Albus replied. “Whatever his view on vampires and werewolves truly is, it's going to be interesting to see how he teaches us about them,” Rose mused. “Guess this is why you didn't want Linda to hear about this,” John said. “Yeah,” Albus replied, “Apparently he still hasn't found the vampires who killed his parents, but he knows a vampire who knows them. That vampire doesn't kill people. I wonder if it's Linda.” “Who knows?” Rose shrugged, “I doubt we'll ever find out.” “Oh, I've got to tell you what he said after he told us all of this,” Albus took a deep breath, “He thinks Malfoy and I should become Presulers.” “Seriously?” Matt asked. “Yeah, because we're good duelers,” Albus explained, “But I don't know.” “You don't have to know. You're only thirteen. And Albus, don't decide anything until you've read about this. Don't just go on what Balladanis is saying. I think we've finally discovered why he's so passionate about fighting the Dark Arts, but it might cloud his judgement sometimes,” Rose warned. “I know, that's what I don't get,” Albus said, “Why is he telling us this now?” “Maybe because he doesn't plan on staying,” Matt replied, “Why would he stop searching for the vampires who killed his parents to teach here anyway?” “Malfoy asked,” Albus told him, “But he wouldn't tell us. He said it's between him and Kendrick.” “Because that's not suspicious or anything,” John rolled his eyes, “There's still something funny about Balladanis.” “What are you going to do, Albus?” Matt asked. “I'm not deciding anything now,” Albus replied, “I'm just not going to think about it.” ****** Not thinking about Presulers and what happened to Balladanis's parents proved to be easier said than done, especially since Defense class was soon devoted to learning about vampires. Balladanis seemed to teach that particular unit with much more enthusiasm than usual, a feat that nobody thought possible. Everyone speculated as to why Balladanis was more enthusiastic than usual, but most just attributed it to the fact that he was bloody insane. A lot of what Balladanis taught about vampires was stuff Albus already knew due to what Matt had told them earlier in the school year. It was still fairly interesting, though. Albus found that the more dangerous the creature they were learning about, the more interesting it was. Not to mention the fact that they didn't use the anamatek anymore, a fact that nearly every student was grateful for. However, partway through their second week devoted to vampires, the anamatek's trunk reappeared in the Defense classroom. There was an audible groan from every student who stepped into the room. “If that thing turns into a vampire, I think I'm going to get up and leave,” John seethed as they took their seats. “Maybe we're moving onto another creature,” Albus suggested even though he knew the chances were slim to none. “That wouldn't be any better. We're doing werewolves next,” John reminded him, “And Matt said that thing couldn't turn into an actual werewolf. Speaking of Matt, he's lucky he's missing this.” “I think he'd say otherwise,” Albus replied. The full moon had been the previous night. “Quiet,” Balladanis said, “We'll be continuing our vampire lesson today. Today I wish to show you what a vampire looks like, which is why I have brought back the anamatek. However, you will not be fighting it. None of you have the skills necessary to fight a vampire.” “He's mental,” John muttered. Balladanis drew his wand and pointed it at the trunk. It snapped open and out stepped a very pale man with chiseled features. He didn't move, but merely stared out at all the students. “Vampires are the perfect predator,” Balladanis announced, “They're incredibly fast,” he pointed his wand at the vampire and it disappeared. It reappeared in the back of the classroom, but it had not Apparated. The vampire had moved so fast that Albus had missed it in the blink of an eye. “They're agile,” Balladanis continued, “They're good looking. They attract you in. Then they kill, they suck you dry until you are dead. The alternative is not great, either. From the moment their teeth break your skin, you begin to transform into a vampire as well. You will become one if they do not suck you dry. There is no way to stop it, no potion to counteract it. “Vampires hunt at night when their vision is still excellent, but when human vision is compromised. However, that is not the only reason. Does anyone know the other?” Rose raised her hand. Linda did not. “Yes, Miss Weasley?” Balladanis said. “Vampires are in essence allergic to the sun,” Rose explained, “When the sunlight hits them, it hurts them. The sun gives them headaches and makes them feel sick.” “Precisely,” Balladanis gave her a rare smile, “There is no potion to counteract the effects of the sun on vampires. Therefore they tend to inhabit areas that see less sun and areas of dense forest, such as the Northwestern and Northeastern United States, parts of Canada, and parts of Russia. However there is also a significant vampire population in Greece.” Balladanis pointed his wand at the vampire again and it retreated back into the trunk. Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief. The lesson continued until the bell rang. Balladanis made no mention of moving onto the next unit, nor had he assigned the usual end of the unit essay. Albus and his friends went to visit Matt late that night after Albus got out of Quidditch practice. They only had a half hour or so until curfew, but they hadn't visited at all yet. “You missed an excellent Defense lesson today,” John said once Madam Pomfrey had gone back into her study after leaving to see who had entered her ward. “Was it any different from the usual ones?” Matt asked tiredly. He looked ready to fall asleep at any moment. “Balladanis brought back the anamatek,” Albus told him. “He what?” Matt shouted, although since his voice was hoarse it wasn't very loud, “We're still doing vampires, aren't we?” “Yeah, he had it turn into a vampire,” John said, “We didn't have to fight it. He just used it to show how fast vampires were and what they looked like.” “That is weird,” Matt replied, “He assign the vampire essay yet?” “Nope,” John shook his head, “I think we're in for a few more days of vampires.” “Well, the longer we spend on vampires, the more time we have before we start werewolves,” Matt said quietly, “I really hope he doesn't spend as much time on them as he has on vampires.” “I don't think he will,” Albus said, “His parents weren't killed by werewolves.” “Thank Merlin for that,” Matt yawned. “You're tired,” Rose said, “We should leave.” “We'll be back tomorrow after lunch,” Albus told him, “Good night.” “'Night,” Matt said. They left the ward just as Madam Pomfrey was coming out of her study, presumably to tell them to leave and give Matt more potions. Albus and his friends headed straight for the common room, where they got started on all the homework that had been piled on them that day.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Sunday 28 February 2010 03 53 06 pm    Post subject: Re: Beyond the Shadow in topic:Beyond the Shadow Chapter 3: Sophie Nymphadora Lupin Farina gave me a glare that would make a dragon shrink back in fear when I ran into the clinic at exactly 1:30. I think she had been hoping that I would've been a minute late so she could've yelled at me. Luck had been on my side that time. I went to the nurse's station and they handed me the chart for the wizard in Exam Room One. “What seems to be the problem?” I asked once I was inside the room. The wizard sitting on the exam table didn't look particularly sick, nor did he have any obvious injuries. In fact, he looked perfectly fine. “Er,” he muttered, “I've got this, well, growth on my, er, arse.” “Roll over,” I told him. He did so and I noticed his wand sticking out of the back pocket of his jeans. “Here's your problem,” I said as I yanked his wand out of his pocket, “There are a million reasons not to keep your wand in your back pocket, growths on your arse being just one of them. “Oh,” the man sat up and his face was bright red, “Well, I'll just stop doing that.” “Good idea,” I said and handed him his wand. I got rid of the growth with a wave of my own wand and the man left, still bright red. We've actually gotten quite a few people in the clinic with the same complaint. I was beginning to think that someone needed to tell all the first years at Hogwarts not to put their wands in their back pockets. It seemed kind of obvious to me, but I guess not everyone thought of it. The afternoon droned on and I healed various ailments and injuries. A few colds, one case of the flu, and a few minor spell damages. I also assured one very worried mother that just because her four-year-old daughter had not yet displayed any signs of magic, it did not mean she was a Squib. I left the clinic at exactly five o'clock and went straight down to my brewing room. It was so nice to escape to the peace and quiet of the room after being in the chaotic hospital all day. My potion was ready to send off for testing. Whenever new potions were created at St. Mungo's, they were sent to a different department of the hospital for testing. They had to be mixed with other potions and run through various lab tests to find out if they were dangerous or would interact with other potions. Potions testers also worked in the basement, in separate rooms. It often took a very long time to get results back from the testing and it was always a very nerve-wracking time. A few of the potions I had created had come back labeled as dangerous and it was such a let-down when that happened. I let the Wolfsbane simmer for a half hour before bottling it and filling out the form for testing. Then I walked down the long corridor towards the testing room. The testing room looked like something out of a Muggle horror movie. It was filled with all sorts of stainless steel contraptions and cauldrons bubbling with various potions. The testers wore white hazardous waste robes and masks. There was a window with a small two door box which potions were transferred with. I rang the bell next to the door and one of the testers came over. “Amy,” he greeted me, “Another version of Wolfsbane?” “Yep,” I said as I put it in the box, along with the form, “Hopefully this one's better than the last one.” My last potion had failed the tests. I had had to completely start over. “It should be ready in a few weeks,” he told me, “We'll owl you the results.” “Thanks,” I said as I left. ****** Victoire was waiting outside my flat when I got home a little while later. She was glancing at her watch when I first saw her and then she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw me. “There you are,” she said, “I thought you were done at the clinic at five. Did Farina make you stay longer?” “No, but I had to go send my potion to testing,” I said as I unlocked the door, “You know you could've gone to Matt's and gotten the spare key. You didn't have to wait outside.” “I did,” Victoire replied as we walked inside, “He wasn't home. Neither was Albus.” “Albus had to leave again today,” I said, “Oh, right, Matt had to work late tonight.” “Well, it doesn't matter. You're here now. I just have to be home by eight because Teddy's got night duty at eight-thirty,” Victoire said as she sat down on the couch. Teddy was an Auror and his hours were worse than Victoire's. The two of them were lucky if they were able to pass each other in the doorway. Sophie spent a lot of time either at my place or with her grandparents. She didn't mind, though. Teddy and Victoire were lucky she was such an easy going kid. “So, why were you loitering around my door waiting for me to come home?” I asked as I put a pot of water on the stove and dug out a box of pasta. “Are you working the day after the full moon?” Victoire asked. “No,” I turned around and looked at Victoire, “Farina gave me the day of and the day after off. Why, is she making you work that day?” “Yes,” Victoire sighed and put her head down on the table, “I got the day of off, but she won't give me the day after off. And Teddy's got to work that day, too.” “Don't worry,” I told her, “I'll watch Sophie. Just drop her off here before you go to work.” “Thanks,” Victoire said, “I just hate being away from her the day after.” Sophie may have been a very easy going child, but there was one thing that set her apart from other kids her age. Sophie Nymphadora Lupin was a werewolf. Wolfsbane worked fine for her, but she was still incredibly exhausted the day of and the day after full moons. Victoire and Teddy had found out about it while Victoire was still pregnant. Starting in the second trimester, Sophie became incredibly restless during full moons. Victoire, being a Healer, and Teddy, being the son of a werewolf, noticed this and Victoire had a test done to find out if the baby had lycanthropy. It came back positive. The remainder of the pregnancy had been incredibly stressful. Lycanthropic babies are incredibly rare and nobody really knew what was going to happen. Victoire had had to take Wolfsbane and spend every full moon in St. Mungo's, in case the baby transformed. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when Victoire gave birth to a seemingly perfectly healthy baby. Sophie did not transform until she was almost three. Nobody knew why and we still don't know. Victoire and Teddy had started her on Wolfsbane as soon as she was born, but nothing ever happened until she was almost three. Teddy and Victoire tried hard to make sure at least one of them didn't have to work the day of and the day after full moons, but every once in a while they both had to work. If that happened on a full moon, I stayed with Sophie at their house. If it was the day after, Sophie would come stay with me. There had yet to be a full moon where Teddy, Victoire, and I all had to work. We had a back-up plan that if that ever happened, one of my parents would stay with her. Sophie was actually the most well-adjusted werewolf I had ever met. She didn't seem to care one bit that she was a werewolf and went through transformations in stride. Victoire left a little while later and then Matt showed up for dinner, as he often did when Albus was gone. He didn't really like to cook and even though my own cooking was mediocre, he said it was better than his. ****** The next day at work was just one of those days where nothing went right. First, the bloke who had been attacked by a manticore took a turn for the worse. He wasn't responding to conventional treatment. Healer Sterling took over his case because he had more experience with that sort of thing. Jamie had a high fever the entire day that potions just didn't seem to fix. It finally decreased at the end of the day, but he had barely woken up at all. George and Candace were tense the entire day and were taking it out on Kyle, who really didn't know what was going on. Eventually I had Kyle play in my study while I did paperwork just to give everyone a break. I knew all too well what it was like to be in Kyle's shoes. What I really needed after that day was to go to the Leaky Cauldron with Victoire and Teddy and get my mind off of work, but instead I went to visit Cinda with Matt. Visiting a nursing home does absolutely nothing to lift one's spirits. Cinda's nursing home is like a palace. It's a state of the art facility where all the residents get their own rooms that are decorated to look like living quarters in a castle. A king's castle, not Hogwarts. It costs a fortune to live there, but Cinda's got loads of money. Matt and I arrived shortly after dinner was over and the receptionist told us that Cinda was in her room. Cinda's room was decorated with pink and a lot of flowery patterns. There were a lot of pictures of Mum as a kid and a few of Matt and I as kids. Plus there are a few of Cinda and Richard. “Cinda?” I asked loudly and knocked on the door as we walked inside her room. “Oh, Amy! Matt!” she shouted, “I was wondering when you'd come see me.” Cinda has lost none of her wit as she's gotten older. She's still as sharp as she was when she was young. It's her body that's going. She's just gotten old. She can't walk very well and uses a wheelchair. Her hearing's gone as well. “Hi, Cinda,” I said as I gave her a hug, “How are you feeling?” “As well as can be expected,” she replied, “Now, Amy, where on earth did you get that sweater? It's positively dreadful.” “It's what I wear under my work clothes,” I said as I sat down on the couch, “No one can see it.” I didn't think the sweater was that bad. It was brown and white striped. At least it didn't have any reindeer on it. Then it would be an awful sweater. “Oh, happy birthday, Amy!” Cinda said. “Thanks,” I smiled. “I have to tell you this, Amy. You know the lady who lives across the hall? Well, her daughter just got arrested. Can you believe that? She robbed a grocery store...” Cinda said. I spent the rest of the evening listening to Cinda gossip about the various ladies who lived in the nursing home. Some things never changed. Each time I visited Cinda was the same. The gossip was different, but it was always there. Cinda never seemed to tire, either. Most older people went to bed at seven or eight at night. Not Cinda. She always kept talking until one of the nurses came in and told us visiting hours were over. I never really minded. Some of the gossip was boring, but it obviously kept Cinda happy and there wasn't much else to do in a nursing home. She had been so depressed after Richard died; it was nice to see her happy again. “Cinda,” one of the nurses said as she knocked on the door, “I'm afraid visiting hours are over.” Cinda sighed, “Well, don't wait so long before you next visit.” “I won't,” I got up and gave her another hug. Then I nudged Matt awake. He never really had the tolerance for Cinda's gossip. “Hmm?” Matt asked. “Time to go, Sleeping Beauty,” I grinned. “Shut it,” he muttered and then turned to Cinda, “We'll be back soon.” “Good,” Cinda told him, “And no falling asleep next time.” “Merlin, that place is too pink,” I said to Matt as we walked towards a back alley to disapparate. “It's like your room at her house,” Matt laughed. “Seriously, one room should not have that much pink,” I said, “If I ever have kids, none of them are going to have pink rooms.” We took a break in the conversation to disapparate and reappeared a few blocks away from our building. “What if one of them likes pink?” Matt asked. “Then they can paint their room pink when they're older,” I told him, “Do you want to come over and have dessert or something?” “Nah,” Matt shook his head, “I think I'm just going to go to bed.” I left him at his flat and then climbed up the stairs to mine, where I drowned my work sorrows in a pint of chocolate ice cream. Chocolate didn't solve everything, but it never hurt things either. ****** “You've got an owl,” Natalie handed me a letter as I ran out of my study the next day. I thanked her and pocketed it. I was late for clinic duty. Farina was going to murder me. I didn't even have a good reason. I had been reading a potions book in my study and lost track of the time. Three minutes late. I skidded into the clinic three minutes late. In Farina's book, that was nearly as bad as skipping a shift all together. “Eckerton!” Farina shouted as I grabbed a chart off the nurse's station desk. “I'm sorry!” I shouted back. “Consider this your warning,” she told me. She must have been feeling generous that day. Farina didn't give warnings. They just weren't her thing. I didn't have time to open the letter until after the clinic was closed. I made sure to stay an extra three minutes and then went back to my study. Sterling was on call that night and was in his study doing charts. He looked up when I walked past. “Are you going to be in on Friday?” he asked. “For a little while,” I answered, “I have to, for Jamie. But I'm also watching Sophie that day. I might have to bring her with me, depending on whether Matt's well enough to keep an eye on her.” The letter was quite wrinkled after having been shoved so hastily into my pocket. I hoped it wasn't anything too important. I sat down in my chair and ripped it open. [i]Amy, Matt never came into work today. Could you check up on him when you get out? Love, Dad[/i] I sighed and started to get my things together. Matt usually only missed work the day of the full moon and then two days after. “See you Friday,” I said to Morris on my way out of the room. “Bye, Amy,” he replied. There was not much food in my flat, so I stopped by the Magical Market on my way back. I have the tendency to wait until the last minute to grocery shop and the day I was forced to do it was never convenient. I finished in record time and put it haphazardly away before going down to Matt's flat. He had given me a spare key when he moved in, so I just went right inside. Matt and Albus's flat was the same lay-out as mine, but it looked drastically different. The place was filled with mismatched furniture and absolutely nothing was put away. My flat was organized chaos, theirs was just chaos. It wasn't nearly as bad as John and Kaden's, which I had only seen on one occasion, but it was still a mess. It was so quiet that it almost seemed like no one was home. I headed straight to Matt's bedroom. The door was shut and I opened it as quietly as I could. Matt was sound asleep in bed, buried under numerous blankets. His face was flushed and a wave of my wand told me he had a fever. I gently nudged him and he rolled over and opened one eye. “Ugh,” he groaned. “How do you feel?” I asked. “Like shit,” he muttered, “What time is it?” “Just after seven,” I told him, “Did you know you slept through work?” “Oh Merlin,” he said, “I haven't done that in months.” “It's ok. Dad understands,” I told him. “No one else would,” Matt said. “No one else needs to,” I replied, “Now you're staying with me until tomorrow night.” “I don't want to move,” he mumbled. “I told you not to stay up late with your friends this past weekend,” I said as I pulled the covers off the bed, “Maybe next time you'll listen. Now come on, you've got a fever and you need potions.” “Ok, I'm getting up,” he said. It took us a while to get back to my flat because Matt kept stumbling. He looked a little drunk, which earned us two weird stares from various tenants. It had been so much easier when we were kids and Mum and Dad could carry him. In some ways I never get away from work. I mean, obviously I leave the hospital and go home, but there's still work to do there. Between Matt and Sophie, there's always something that needs to be done when I'm not at St. Mungo's. This was especially evident around the full moon. Me practically dragging Matt to my flat was a normal occurrence, especially if Albus wasn't home. I helped Matt into the spare bedroom and then went to get him his usual potions. I could probably dole them out in my sleep I've done it so many times. Once I'd gotten him settled, I cooked myself dinner and settled down to read for the evening. However, I couldn't concentrate. Usually I could read for hours, but that night was different. There was something I had been thinking about doing for a long time and I couldn't put off deciding about it any longer. When I first started my Healer training, I decided to keep my work and family life separate. What that meant was that I never have told any of my patients about Matt. It was his secret to share and I never thought it would be fair to me to tell people about it, even if they were other werewolves. It hadn't been easy. I couldn't count the number of times I'd been yelled at by newly bitten werewolves who insisted that I had no idea what it was like. I'd assured so many of them that they could live normal lives and half of them sneered at me, telling me I was just saying that to be nice. They'd had no idea how much experience I'd had. Mum was the same way. A few years ago she founded the Lycanthropic Children's Foundation. Never once has she told anyone her real reasons for starting it. It's a strange organization as it's built on secrets. None of the active members have said they have a child with lycanthropy, but quite a few of them do. I know due to the fact that I'm many of the children's Healer. Mum's the President, I'm the Vice-President, and Victoire is the Treasurer. There was one family whom I wanted to tell about Matt. I wanted them to know that I knew what they were going through, wanted them to know why I was working so hard on the Wolfsbane Potion. Jamie's family. If only they could really know that Jamie could live a normal life. If only they could know that another werewolf had attended Hogwarts. His parents could benefit so much from talking to my parents. The idea had really gotten me thinking. What if we got rid of the secrets in the Lycanthropic Children's Foundation? What if we branched out to offer support for parents and children alike? As of right now we focused on raising money and distributing it to those children who suffered from lycanthropy to help with medical bills and to buy Wolfsbane. Support groups would do wonders. Parents could talk to other parents and children could play with one another. Matt hadn't really had any friends until he got to Hogwarts. If he'd known other children with lycanthropy when he was little, maybe he wouldn't have been such a shy kid. My mind was racing. Was this a good idea? Nobody who was a part of the Foundation would be angered to find out who was a werewolf, right? Otherwise they wouldn't be in the Foundation. I'd have to bring it up at the next meeting. I stayed up half the night working on the proposal for the next meeting. Mum would want most of the details hammered out before I brought it up. It was nearly one in the morning when I finally decided to call it a night.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 24 February 2010 11 51 54 am    Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden Chapter 24: Darker Times Lunch was very subdued the next day. Most people had slept quite late since it was a Saturday. Every student of Hogwarts had their nose in a copy of the Prophet, be it their own or a friend's. The staff table looked the same, with every professor either reading the Prophet or whispering with another professor, no doubt about what they'd read. Albus was reading Georgia's Prophet as she had finished with it and made a mental note to start subscribing himself. All of his friends were peering over his shoulders. Even Linda was hovering around them, a foot or so away. [i][b]HOGSMEADE SHOPKEEPER MURDERED[/b] A disturbance in Dervish and Banges late yesterday evening that sent one Hogsmeade resident to Hogwarts to find the Auror on duty lead to the discovery of the death of a shopkeeper. Leroy Wisander, 42, the ten-year owner of Dervish and Banges was pronounced dead on the scene by Ministry Aurors yesterday evening. His shop had been broken into and it showed signs of a struggle. Wisander was discovered in the middle of destroyed merchandise with his wand laying a few feet away. Aurors confirmed that he was killed with the killing curse. An extensive search of Hogsmeade, the forest, Hogwarts, and its grounds turned up nothing despite the hours Aurors spent searching. No fingerprints were found on the scene. Aurors will be devoting time to finding Wisander's killer and a possible motive. Leroy Wisander had owned Dervish and Banges for a little over ten years, when he purchased the shop from its previous owners who retired. However, Wisander is more known for the scathing editorials he writes for this very newspaper. Anyone who knew Wisander knew he was a man of very strong opinion and did not hesitate to let others know his opinions. His most recent editorials have explored the subject of werewolf, vampire, and other so called 'half-breeds' rights. Aurors have declined comment on whether they believe Wisander's editorials are a possible motive for his murder. Wisander's obituary can be found on page five.[/i] Albus set the paper down and his friends all resumed their seats. Nobody said a word for a few minutes. Albus didn't know what to think. The article certainly made it seem like Wisander was killed because of his beliefs. However, it didn't exactly say what his beliefs were. Albus hadn't ever read any of his editorials, so he couldn't say either. “What kind of editorials did he write?” Matt asked quietly. “I have no idea,” Albus replied, looking at his friend whose face was quite pale, “Want to go to the room?” “Yeah,” Matt nodded, “I'm not really hungry.” Albus got up and was followed by all of his friends. John and Kaden each grabbed a stack of toast before leaving. Even Rose and Amanda went with them instead of going off to study with Linda. “Have any of you read his editorials?” Matt asked as soon as they were in the Marauder's Den. Nobody had read them. Not even Rose. Matt sighed and collapsed onto one of the couches. “I've got to find out what they were about. I don't even know which would be better, him being for or against werewolf rights. If he's for them, that means some bloke is on the loose killing people for wanting werewolf rights.” Matt didn't even have to continue for Albus to know why that worried him. Matt's dad was possibly the biggest proponent of werewolf rights in all of Britain and everyone knew it. If someone had been killed just for writing about werewolf rights, what would happen to someone who was actually passing laws for them? “That might not be why Wisander was killed,” Rose pointed out. “Why else would someone have killed him?” Matt asked, “He was just a shop owner in Hogsmeade.” “Why did someone kill Professor Torro?” John replied, “He wasn't even writing any editorials or anything.” “To scare people,” Albus said quietly, “The Defense teacher position used to be cursed, back when our parents were in school.” “Well, I don't think you should worry until you find out what the editorials are about,” Rose said to Matt. “The other option isn't much better,” Matt muttered, “If he didn't write editorials for werewolf rights, then he wrote them against them.” Albus thought Matt had a point, but he kept his mouth shut. Any way you looked at it, this murder pointed to the fact that things were changing. Aurors had been patrolling Hogwarts for months, but Albus had quickly adjusted to that and didn't really think much about it, but maybe there was more happening outside of Hogwarts than Albus was aware of. “Let's go to the library,” Rose said as she stood up, “They'll have old copies of the Prophet there.” Everyone agreed with this and they set off to the library. When they arrived, they were surprised to find how crowded it was. Usually Saturdays were the days everyone put off their homework and then Sundays were spent in the library. Once they stepped inside, Albus saw that everyone was looking through old copies of the Prophet. Nearly every table had a few newspapers on it and a few students poring over them. Madam Pince was bustling about, no doubt worrying about whether the students would rip her precious newspapers. “Might not be any left,” John muttered. “This is good,” Albus replied, “Now it won't look suspicious for us to be investigating.” John was almost right. There was a very small stack of newspapers left. Albus grabbed them all and then they went to a secluded table towards the back of the library. Albus, Matt, and Rose each took a newspaper while John, Kaden, and Amanda played tic-tac-toe on a spare bit of parchment. Albus leafed through his newspaper, which was about two years old, until he got to the editorial section. In the very middle, in the biggest font, was an editorial by Leroy Wisander. [i][b]HEALERS, BREWERS TO BLAME, NOT MINISTRY OFFICIALS[/b] As I was locking up my shop last night, I noticed that it was a full moon. I could not help but think of the poor people plagued with lycanthropy currently shut up while attacking themselves. Now, I know what you all are thinking. Wolfsbane. The stuff works miracles if taken correctly. However, it does no good if it's sitting in St. Mungo's and not being used by witches and wizards with lycanthropy. The stuff is expensive. I myself did the calculations and discovered that it would be extremely difficult for anyone with a low income to afford it. And what kind of jobs are lycanthropes often stuck with? Menial, low-paying ones. The jobs where they make hardly enough money to pay the rent and buy food, let alone purchase a potion that could alter their lives for the better. I am absolutely appalled that Healers and potion brewers charge for this important potion. They must be making a nice profit. They can use the profits to take extravagant holidays while the poor witches and wizards who buy it struggle to afford it. There is only so much Ministry officials can do. Head of Werewolf Support Services, Walter Eckerton, says he would love to give away free Wolfsbane, but there just isn't room for it in the budget. What do I propose? I propose that Healers and potion brewers give it away for free. They have the abilities to brew it, not the Ministry. Most Healers claim to love helping people, but often it is those who need it most, such as those with lycanthropy, are often forced to go without, all because those with the abilities to brew it like to have a little extra spending money.[/i] “Nothing in this one,” Rose said as she shoved hers aside. “This one's got one about vampires,” Matt said as he set his paper on top of Rose's. “Read this,” Albus handed Matt his paper, “Wisander even mentions your dad.” Matt took the paper and he and Rose began to read it. John, Amanda, and Kaden peered over as well. Albus sat and waited while they read. “Let's go back to the room,” Matt said as soon as he'd finished reading it. Albus nodded and they returned the newspapers and walked as fast as they could back to the Marauder's Den. “Bloody Hell, that bloke must have had so many enemies!” John shouted as soon as they were back. “I know,” Albus agreed, “And that one's from two years ago. Imagine what he's written recently.” “Why did he have to mention my dad?” Matt groaned, “He made it sound like my dad agrees with that editorial and he definitely doesn't.” “He was just trying to stir something up,” Rose replied, “And look where it got him.” “Healers aren't like that. Most of the ones I've met would give away free Wolfsbane, but it's more complicated that that. The ingredients are expensive and it takes forever to brew. Not to mention how difficult it is. There aren't many Healers who can brew it and even most brewers can't brew it,” Matt explained. “That bloke didn't know the half of it,” John agreed, “My dad's a Healer and he'd love to give away free potions. It just doesn't work that way.” “My dad's linked with that bloke,” Matt said quietly, “And now that he's head of the entire department, he'll be passing more laws. Whoever killed Wisander's not going to be happy.” “Your dad's a really good wizard, though,” Albus pointed out to his worried friend, “Plus he works at the Ministry, where there are loads of Aurors milling about. And your house is more protected than any other house I've seen, well, except the Minister's Mansion.” “I know, but it's still not good,” Matt sighed. Albus couldn't argue with that. Something was going on outside of Hogwarts. Something far more important than the Quidditch tournament and the dueling tournament. ****** Albus and his friends scoured the Daily Prophet every morning the following week. Every day there was an article about Wisander, the investigation, or both. So far the investigation had turned up nothing. The Aurors had questioned quite a few people, namely those very outspoken against werewolf and vampire rights, but the search had proved fruitless. The articles about Wisander were far more interesting. It seemed that his editorial about Wolfsbane Potion was one of the tamer ones. Each day little pieces of his various editorials were being published. In one, he stated the reasons why werewolves shouldn't be locked up on full moons. The reasons were quite absurd, but the Prophet had printed it anyway. Another editorial talked about why vampires should be allowed access to humans to bite. He suggested using prisoners and allowing vampires to suck them dry. Thus helping vampires and reducing prison costs at the same time. “I reckon this bloke was off his rocker,” John announced at breakfast the following Sunday. He had just finished reading an article about how Wisander spent a year living with a vampire tribe in Turkey when he was young. They were some of the few people actually up at an early hour, as Albus had Quidditch practice and John had a morning detention with Filch for putting dungbombs in the toilets in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom the previous day. “That's a nice way of putting it,” Albus said as he served himself more eggs. “What are you doing after Quidditch practice?” John asked. “After Quidditch?” Albus laughed, “You mean, I'm going to get to leave eventually? Wood won't make us practice for the next week? I thought he was going to keep going until the actual match on Saturday.” “He's got to let you out for class,” John grinned. “What a shame,” Albus rolled his eyes, “Anyway, I'll probably have to do homework, since practice will go until late. How about you? Any plans for after detention?” “Thought I might earn another detention,” John grinned, “But Kaden's busy with chess club this afternoon-” “Wait,” Albus nearly choked on his juice, “Kaden joined the chess club? Kaden? Kaden Dursley?” “Know any other Kadens?” John laughed, “Rose said they want to teach him how to play properly, you know, like a challenge of sorts.” “I'll tell Rose good luck with that,” Albus said. “Yeah, so both Kaden and Rose will be busy with that. Not that Rose would want to earn detention with me anyway. And Amanda's doing something with Linda today, homework, I think. And I doubt Matt will be up for doing anything,” John continued. “Right,” Albus said, remembering that the full moon was that night, “But you did the dungbombs on your own.” “But it's not as fun,” John sighed, “I guess I'll just hang around the den with Matt. I can have a nice one-sided conversation.” “You can do your homework,” Albus told him. “Nope, I'm waiting until you get back for that,” John said. “Well, have fun in your detention. I've got to get to practice,” Albus said as he got up. There were a few choice words Albus had for practice that day. Long, grueling, and intense. Wood was in his finest form as he ordered the team to do drills hour after hour. He seemed to get more and more stressed as the day wore on. James did a lot of one-on-one training with Teddy and Albus was more than a little envious. Teddy was a much more patient captain than Wood was and yelled a whole lot less. Tyler Pike mostly helped Wood. Wood let them have a short break for lunch, making sure they knew to come back afterwards. Albus heard the Slytherins on the team talking about skipping out of the rest of practice, but they were back on the pitch at the time Wood told them to be. The afternoon was very similar to the morning and Albus found that he could tune out Wood's yelling quite easily. It was similar to tuning out his mum's yelling. Practice finally ended at three, when the New York team walked onto the pitch and demanded they leave, because they had booked the pitch for three o'clock that day. “Remember, practice Tuesday evening!” Wood shouted as the whole team rushed to get off the pitch. Albus trudged back to the castle tired and shivering. He went straight to Gryffindor Tower and took a very long, hot shower and then set off to find his friends. Rose, Amanda, and Linda were in the common room, but the boys weren't. Albus figured they were in the Marauder's Den and set off to look for them after saying a quick hello to the girls. John and Kaden were in the middle of a heated game of Exploding Snap when Albus walked into the Marauder's Den a few minutes later. John's face was full of ash, but Kaden's was quite clean. There was also a big grin on his face which contrasted the scowl on John's face. Matt was laying on the couch facing them, like he had been watching the game, but he was sound asleep. “Albus!” Kaden shouted, “How was practice?” “Grueling. Wood's ten times worse than Georgia. Five hours we were out there. Five bloody hours in the cold!” Albus groaned as he collapsed onto the other couch. “Better than scrubbing Moaning Myrtle's bathroom with a toothbrush,” John muttered, “I don't know what was worse, the scrubbing or listening to Myrtle.” “All three of you are so cheery today,” Kaden said, “So many complaints.” “Can you blame us?” Albus muttered. “No, not really,” Kaden shrugged. “How was chess?” Albus asked. “I got beaten by every single person in the chess club,” Kaden shook his head, “But they think I have potential.” “Albus,” John said as the cards blew up in his face again, “Have you done that Defense essay? “No,” Albus groaned. “I need your help,” John said as he got up and started digging around in his bag. Albus groaned again and fished around in his own bag for his Defense book. Balladanis wanted a foot long essay about basilisks, which were the current dark creature of the week. John sat down at the table while Albus lay on the couch. He just couldn't bring himself to get up and do his essay. Instead, he mumbled answers to John whenever he asked a question. “Do you hatch the chicken egg under a frog or a toad?” John asked. “Toad,” Albus mumbled. “You know, I could pull a Rose and tell you to do your essay,” John replied. “Don't even bother,” Albus said. Even Rose wouldn't be able to get him off the couch. “Quidditch seems less grueling than football,” Kaden commented, “I mean, you fly, you don't run.” Albus lifted his head up and glared at Kaden. “Wood had us doing push-ups and running laps.” “Really?” Kaden sounded surprised, “Why?” “To get us into shape after the holiday,” Albus answered, “So yes, Quidditch is a lot of work.” “Ok, ok,” Kaden muttered as he located some of his own homework. Albus managed to get in a somewhat comfortable position on the couch and wrote his essay with his book and parchment perched on his knees. It beat sitting at the table; at least he was able to sort of lie down. A few hours later both Albus and John had their essays completed. Kaden was still scribbling furiously on whatever homework he was working on. “We should probably wake him up,” Albus gestured to Matt, who had not moved one muscle since Albus had came back from practice. John got up and began to prod Matt's arm. It took a good two minutes for Matt to open his eyes. “It's nearly six,” John told him. “Then I should probably go,” Matt mumbled, “Oh, Albus, you're back from practice.” “Yeah,” Albus nodded, “It was really long, though.” “I'll go with you to the hospital wing,” John said and Matt did not object. Albus assured him they'd visit him the next day and then they left, leaving Albus and Kaden alone in the room. John returned a little while later and the three of them went down to dinner. They returned to the Marauder's Den afterwards and John and Kaden continued working on their homework while Albus slept on the couch. ****** “Albus, get up!” Albus mumbled something incoherently and rolled over in his bed. It felt far too early to wake up. “Albus!” Whoever was shouting was now prodding him in the side. Albus opened his eyes and saw Teddy standing over his bed. A glance at the clock told him that, yes, it was far too early to wake up. It was six in the morning. On a Saturday. Yes, it was the day of the Quidditch match against New York, but that wasn't until one o'clock and Albus was only a reserve player anyway. “Albus, you'd better get up now. Wood's in the common room,” Teddy whispered. That got Albus's attention. His eyes shot back open and he sat up. “What?” “Fielding's sick,” Teddy told him, “You're playing today.” Now Albus was wide awake. “Seriously? What about O'delle?” Hailey O'delle was the other reserve Chaser, a seventh year Slytherin. “She's sick, too,” Teddy explained, “The two of them are going out, so it doesn't surprise me.” Albus took that to mean that Teddy thought they were snogging and one got the other sick. “I'll be down in two minutes,” Albus muttered. Teddy nodded and left. Albus threw on a t-shirt and a pair of jeans before running down to the common room, where he found Oliver Wood pacing in front of the empty fire. “Albus,” he said as soon as Albus stepped into the common room, “You're playing Chaser today.” Albus nodded and sat down for what was sure to be a very long speech. Wood paused and then launched into an explanation of tactics, which Albus had already heard during practices that week. He couldn't figure out why he had to be woken up at six to be told he was playing. Wood could have accomplished the same thing at ten. Wood and Teddy left after Wood finished lecturing Albus and Albus considered going back to bed, but as he was wide awake, it would be pointless. Part of Wood's speech had been on the weather, which was cold and slightly snowy. Could be worse, Albus thought. At least there wasn't a blizzard. The conditions were very similar to those they had been practicing in all week. Albus sat in the common room reading a book he found laying around until his friends got up around ten. “There you are,” Matt, who was looking significantly better than he had a few days ago, said, “What time did you get up?” “Six,” Albus muttered, “Teddy got me up. Wood had to tell me I'm playing Chaser today.” “What?” Matt shouted, “That's brilliant!” “This is great, Albus!” John grinned, “But why?” “Fielding's sick and so is the other reserve Chaser,” Albus explained, “I'm just glad we're playing New York and not Australia.” Albus went to the Great Hall to eat lunch with his friends, but he wasn't really hungry. He didn't think he had ever been more nervous for a Quidditch match. This was a really important match, as Wood had pointed out numerous times. If they won by a wide enough margin, they'd be in second place. Word had gotten around that Albus was playing in the match and numerous people came over to the Gryffindor table to wish Albus luck. “Al,” Harry sat down next to Albus. “Dad,” Albus smiled. He hadn't been sure if his dad was coming to the match or not. “I'll be watching the whole time. I'm sure you're going to do great. Just think of it as a match against another house. Ravenclaw, I guess, since their robes are blue,” Harry grinned, “Good luck.” “Thanks,” Albus replied. Albus left with the rest of the Hogwarts team a few minutes later. All his friends wished him good luck as he left the Hall. Nobody talked much as they changed into their robes. Everyone sat down afterwards, ready for Wood's pre-match speech. However, Wood seemed to be all speeched out. He merely said that they'd trained well and to give it their all. Albus was a little shocked by the shortness of the speech, but quickly got over it as he walked out onto the pitch.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 17 February 2010 10 36 20 am    Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden Thanks Dawn! So glad you're enjoying it! Chapter 23: All in Good Time It was nearing midnight when Albus, Matt, and Rose re-entered the building, escorted by Professor Balladanis. Albus had been hoping the professor would just see them to the door and then continue his search of the perimeter, but instead he went back to the ballroom with them and marched them right up to Harry. “Potter,” Balladanis interrupted the conversation Harry had been having with some wizard Albus didn't know, “I found your son, your niece, and their friend wandering around outside.” “Albus,” Harry groaned, “I thought we made it clear that you were to stay inside.” “I'll leave them with you,” Balldanis said, “Happy New Year.” “Happy New Year,” Harry replied, “And thanks.” Balladanis disappeared into the crowd and Albus shifted uncomfortably as his dad stared at him for a few moments. “Care to explain?” Harry raised an eyebrow. “We were just, er, exploring,” Albus muttered. “Don't do it again,” Harry sighed. “We won't,” Albus assured him. Harry went back to his conversation and Albus lead his friends back to the buffet. “I hope you've learned your lesson,” Rose muttered, “I am not doing that again.” “We won't do it again. Not tonight, that is,” Albus grinned. “10!” someone shouted. Albus looked at the nearest clock and saw that it was almost midnight. Everyone else joined in the countdown, holding their glasses of champagne in the air. Amy joined Albus, Rose, and Matt. “3, 2, 1, Happy New Year!” Albus shouted along with everyone else. The crowd began to thin out a little while later. Most of the people Albus didn't know left, along with his Uncle Percy, Aunt Corrine, and his cousins. Albus's parents didn't look like they were in any hurry to leave, so he got a plate of the leftover desserts and at them with his friends. Rose's family and Amy left, and then it was just the Potters, Matt, his parents, the Minister, and his wife left. All the adults were talking, James was teasing Lily about something, and Albus and Matt were finishing off the last of the desserts. “Do you think there's any way for Hogwarts to win the Quidditch tournament?” Matt asked as he polished off a piece of chocolate cake. “Only if Linda's sick the day of one of the matches,” Albus sighed. “Maybe that'll happen,” Matt said, “You never know.” “Al, we've got to go,” Ginny tapped him on the shoulder. “Ok, Mum,” Albus replied and then turned back to Matt, “I'll see you soon.” “Yeah, see you on the train,” Matt said. Albus waved goodbye and then joined his mum, dad, James, and Lily. They all said congratulations to Matt's dad and then left the Minister's Mansion. Albus peered into the bushes as he left, but there was no sign of Professor Balladanis. ****** The remainder of the Christmas holiday went by very slow for Albus. He did all his homework, which was quite boring, and there was nothing to do after that. Rose was visiting her other grandparents and James was at Nathan's house. Even Kaden was busy visiting his grandparents (Vernon and Petunia). He sent Albus a letter complaining about it, since the visit was also with Aunt Marge. Albus was very grateful that he didn't have to go. Neither of his parents had mentioned anything about visiting with Vernon and Petunia again. Finally the day to return to school arrived and the Potters made it to Platform 9 ¾ just in time. Albus found all his friends in one of the compartments and once they kicked Lily, Ashtyn, and Hugo out, they told each other about their holidays. “Aunt Marge has got to be the most horrible aunt in the entire world,” Kaden fumed, “My dad told her about magic a few months ago and she's been awful ever since. I mean, she was always kind of horrible, but now she's worse. She just hates magic so much. She's worse than my grandparents.” “Wow,” Albus replied, “Glad I've never met her.” “Consider yourself lucky,” Kaden muttered, “I'm guessing you lot had better holidays?” “We found Professor Balladanis lurking around the Minister's Mansion,” Albus announced. “What?” John, Kaden, and Amanda shouted at the same time. “I saw someone sneaking around outside and Albus insisted we go investigate,” Rose said, “Turns out it was Balladanis and the Minister had apparently asked him to check the grounds for trouble.” “Did he find you?” John asked. “Yeah,” Albus nodded, “He wasn't to happy either.” “Told us we could've been killed,” Matt explained. “Well, we could've,” Rose muttered. “Weird though,” John said, “Why would the Minister think someone would be hiding around his house?” “Doesn't he have guards around anyway?” Amanda asked, “The Muggle Minister does.” “Again, that's why it's weird,” John replied, “He does have guards.” “Why would he ask Balladanis anyway?” Matt asked, “Why not ask an Auror? Balladanis is a professor.” “He hasn't always been,” Albus pointed out, “He had some sort of mysterious job before.” “Again, weird,” John said. “Yeah, there were a bunch of Aurors at the party, not to mention Albus's dad,” Matt pointed out. “That settles it,” John announced, “Albus, you've got to find out what he did before he started teaching Defense?” “Why me?” Albus asked. “Because you've got those special dueling lessons with him. He likes you for some reason. Of course, he also likes Malfoy. But that's probably just because Malfoy's a good dueler, too,” John explained. “I'll try,” Albus sighed, “But I really don't think he'll tell me.” “You never know,” John said. ****** “Quiet, quiet!” Balladanis shouted the following Tuesday, their first day of Defense after the holiday. Albus immediately stopped talking to Matt and John and turned to face Balladanis. He was really hoping that the professor would say nothing about what happened at the party and so far Balladanis was showing no recollection of it. “I trust you all had superb holidays,” Balladanis said, “But the holidays are over and although I am sure none of you thought a bit about defensive magic during said holidays, it is now time to commence that thinking once again. “First, I'll say that there is no time to not be thinking about defensive magic, as the dark arts do not take breaks for trivial things such as holidays. “Second, in this term we will begin to explore creatures far more dangerous than hinkypunks and kappas. In this term we shall learn about those terrifying creatures such as acromantulas, basilisks, werewolves, dragons, and vampires.” Albus couldn't help but glance at Linda when Balladanis said vampires. Balladanis had glanced at her as well, and he also glanced at Matt when he said werewolves. Of course, he had looked at Albus when he said basilisks, so it didn't necessarily mean anything, but Albus had a feeling it did. “As the headmaster would find it highly inappropriate for a dragon to manifest itself in this classroom, we shall not be using the anamatek as often this term,” Balladanis continued, “But we will be using it a few times. You will find that there are more lectures in this term, much to my dislike. There is nothing I would like better than to teach you about acromantulas and werewolves with practical lessons, but there are both laws and school rules that prevent such lessons.” Albus and Matt glanced at each other. It was official. Professor Balladanis was insane. What kind of teacher would want to teach about dragons with live dragons? Well, Hagrid would, but he wasn't the same as Balladanis. “Take out some parchment,” Balladanis said, “We're going to begin learning about acromantulas today....” The rest of the day went by relatively quickly. Albus actually did not have Quiditch practice that night, so everyone went to the Marauder's Den after dinner. “Divination is such a joke,” John said as he tossed his bag onto the floor and collapsed onto a couch, “We started crystal ball gazing today. All I saw was a load of fog.” “I told you not to take it,” Rose said as she pulled a stack of books out of her own bag. “I didn't think it would be this bad,” John groaned, “There is no way anyone could see anything in a crystal ball.” “Palmistry was better,” Amanda said, “And Trelawney makes the whole thing worse.” “Trelawney could make Defense bad,” Albus replied. “Balladanis told us that he wished he could teach us about dark creatures using the anamatek,” Rose said, “Seriously, he wanted a basilisk to appear in the middle of the classroom.” “That would be stupid,” Kaden said as he unwrapped a Chocolate Frog, “Those can kill you with their eyes.” “I know,” Rose said, “Balladanis is insane.” “Do you think that anamatek could turn into a werewolf if the moon wasn't full?” John asked. “Probably not,” Matt answered, “It would just be a wolf. I think it would just be a wolf any other time of the month, too, because there's no way it could turn someone into a werewolf by biting them.” “That's good,” Albus said, “Because he did say that he'd use the anamatek a few times this term. Wonder if he'll have it turn into a vampire.” “No need,” John laughed, “We've got Linda.” “If you think of it that way, there's no point to have it turn into a fake werewolf either,” Rose pointed out. “Good point, I guess,” John muttered. ****** The rest of the week went by quickly. Albus had Quidditch practice Thursday evening, and Wood informed the whole team that they'd gotten rusty over the holiday. He also told them that the next match was in two weeks and they'd be playing New York. If they won, they'd be in second place. Albus had a dueling lesson with Balladanis the following evening and he had absolutely no idea how he was going to ask what Balladanis's previous job had been. Albus arrived at Balladanis's room before Malfoy and entered to find Balladanis clearing all of the desks from the middle of the room. “Mr. Potter,” Balladanis turned around and greeted Albus, “Is it safe to assume that you did not go wandering about late at night alone after New Year's?” “Yes, sir,” Albus muttered as he felt his face turn red. He was quite glad Malfoy wasn't there yet. “Mr. Malfoy,” Balladanis said as Malfoy walked into the room, “Now we may begin. I have decided that your understanding of the Protego charm is satisfactory so we are going to move on to something else. “This particular charm, when performed correctly, manages to disarm and disorient a person at the same time. The sensation is often described as dizziness. Can either of you tell me what why this charm would be more useful than a standard disarming spell?” “Because it's easier to duel someone who's dizzy than someone who isn't,” Malfoy said. “More specifically than that,” Balladanis said, “Mr. Potter?” “Er, because you can get the person tied up while they're disoriented? If they're a dark wizard you're trying to catch,” Albus replied. “Another good reason, but not the one I was thinking of,” Balladanis began to walk slowly around the room, “Wizards who are expecting to have to duel other wizards often keep multiple wands on their person. There are spells that can be performed on these wands to keep them attached to your robes or your actual body, spells that Expelliarmus won't overcome easily. However, these spells require constant concentration. “If a wizard is hit with the charm I am about to teach you, they will lose the concentration necessary to keep their extra wands affixed. Then, you can use Expelliarmus to get the extra wands.” “Can you teach us that charm to keep extra wands in our robes?” Malfoy asked. “Perhaps towards the end of the year. It takes immense concentration and magical energy to simultaneously perform that charm while dueling someone,” Balladanis explained, “For now, you will learn the charm to disarm and disorient a person at the same time. “The incantation is 'Confundo-Expelliarmus'. A combination of Confundus and Expelliarmus. Mr. Malfoy, you will go first. When I say so, perform the charm against Mr. Potter. Mr. Potter, you may try and stop him using the Protego charm I taught you earlier.” Albus nodded, wishing he had been chosen to perform the new charm first, and faced Malfoy. He held his wand up and muttered 'Protego' under his breath. He focused all of his concentration on holding the shield up. “Now, Mr. Malfoy,” Balladanis muttered. “Confundo-Expelliarmus!” Malfoy shouted. Albus felt the charm hit his shield, but it didn't break through. He gripped his wand harder and stared at Malfoy. “Keep going,” Balladanis said to Malfoy. “Confundo-Expelliarmus!” Malfoy shouted again. The charm hit Albus's shield a little harder this time. Albus could feel beads of sweat forming on his forehead. Malfoy kept going and it took him five times to break through Albus's shield. When it happened, Albus felt his wand leave his hand and was overcome by a wave of dizziness at the same time. He felt exactly like he had when he had gotten the flu the previous year, only without the fever. Albus didn't pay any attention to what Malfoy and Balladanis were doing. He felt like he was going to pass out and he had to sit down. He sat down right on the floor and was vaguely aware of Balladanis standing over him. Then, all of a sudden, the dizziness was gone. Albus shook his head and then looked up and saw Balladanis and Malfoy standing in front of him. Malfoy looked impressed and Balladanis looked like he always did. “You did quite well with that shield,” Balladanis said as Albus stood up, “And I think it's safe to assume that you couldn't have held concentration for any spells after Mr. Malfoy succeeded in breaking your shield.” “No, sir,” Albus shook his head. “Normally the charm's effects would have lasted longer, but I performed the counter-curse because it looked like you were ready to pass out,” Balladanis explained, “When you're ready, you can try the charm.” “I'm ready,” Albus said as he took his wand back from Malfoy. Balladanis gave Malfoy a few seconds to get his shield up and then nodded at Albus to perform the charm. “Confundo-Expelliarmus!” Albus shouted. As he expected, the charm did not break Malfoy's shield. Much to Albus's delight, he managed to break the shield on the fourth try. One less try than Malfoy had needed for Albus. The charm hit Malfoy in the chest and his wand soared towards Albus. Albus caught it and watched as Malfoy bent over and fell to the ground, much like Albus himself had done. Balladanis gave Albus one of his rare smiles and then pulled out his own wand. He waved it at Malfoy and Malfoy looked up. “That was weird,” Malfoy muttered. “It's supposed to be,” Balladanis said, “Now get up and we'll do it again.” Balladanis kept them at it for the better part of an hour, past when Albus would have liked to quit. It was exhausting to be hit with that spell time after time while trying to hold up a shield charm. Malfoy didn't seem to be faring much better and Albus thought he was even going to ask Balladanis to stop after a half hour, but Malfoy closed his mouth, obviously thinking better of it. The practice wasn't for nothing, though. Albus managed to hold Malfoy off longer and longer each time and although Malfoy was getting better at the shield charm as well, Albus broke through it a few more times. “That's enough for tonight,” Balladanis finally said after he performed the countercurse on Albus for what must have been the tenth time that night, “I'll see you in class on Tuesday.” Malfoy made a beeline for the door, but Albus turned to Balladanis instead. He might as well just get it over with. There was no good way to ask Balladanis what his previous job had been. He just had to do it. “Er, Sir,” Albus began, “I was just wondering, what did you do before you began teaching here?” Balladanis gave Albus the strangest look he had ever seen. It was a mixture of anger, sadness, and even regret. For a moment, Albus wished he hadn't asked. It was too personal. He should have just told John they wouldn't be able to find out. “Now is not the time,” Balladanis said quietly, “All in good time, I will tell you.” Albus was taken aback. That was more than he had expected. He had thought Balladanis would have told him to mind his own business and get back to Gryffindor Tower before curfew. Albus was going to find out, he was just going to have to be patient. Albus left the room as quickly as he could in his exhausted state, before Balladanis could change his mind about eventually telling Albus about his previous career. The walk back to Gryffindor Tower seemed longer than usual and all Albus wanted to do was collapse into bed when he finally got there. Instead, he was ambushed by all of his friends. All five of them looked shocked and Amanda looked like she was going to be sick. He looked around the common room and saw that most people looked shocked and everyone was subdued. There was no joking around going on. Even James was quietly sitting at one of the tables. “What happened?” Albus whispered as he followed them back to their usual table. Rose opened her mouth to speak and then closed her eyes, unable to do so. Albus turned to John and raised his eyebrows. “You know that bloke who owns Dervish and Banges?” John asked quietly. Albus nodded, having seen the man on numerous occasions when he was in Hogsmeade. He was slightly older than Albus's parents, with greying hair and a very intense personality. He never hesitated to make his opinions known “Someone killed him,” John said in barely more than a whisper. “Wh-what?” Albus turned to look at all his friends in turn. Matt nodded ever so slightly and then put his head on his hands. “Must've just happened,” John said, “They just found him. Madam Rosmerta heard a commotion and Flooed here, to get the Auror on duty. By the time they got back, his shop was a complete mess inside and he was laying dead on the floor. Avada Kedavra. They're searching Hogsmeade, the forest, the grounds, and the school. Nobody's allowed out of their common rooms and dormitories.” “We thought Balladanis would bring you back here when it happened,” Rose said. “Nobody even came in to tell us,” Albus replied, still in shock. People weren't just randomly killed in Hogsmeade. That sort of thing just didn't happen anymore. Not since Voldemort had been defeated. Well, Professor Torro had been killed back before his first year and then that one witch from the Ministry had been killed over Christmas, but their killers had never been found and nothing had happened since. “Why would anyone kill him?” Matt wondered aloud. “Why would anyone kill anyone?” Rose replied. The portrait hole opened and all the whispering stopped. Everyone looked to see who came in. It was Professor Longbottom, looking worse for the wear. His robes were disheveled and his tie was askew. “Aurors are still searching the castle and the grounds,” he told them, “I suggest you all try and get some sleep. The search will be long over by morning, so you will be free to leave the common room then.” Albus and his friends looked at each other after Longbottom left. They wordlessly went up to their dormitories, Kaden going with Albus instead of to the second years' dorm. Nobody said anything as he curled up on the floor with one of Albus's spare blankets. Albus got into bed and stared at the ceiling. He had been so exhausted earlier, but now there was no way he'd get much sleep that night.