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DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Sunday 14 February 2010 11 12 00 am    Post subject: Re: Beyond the Shadow in topic:Beyond the Shadow Thanks Linda! Chapter 2: The Study My house had not changed since we bought it. It was a wooden log home nestled in between two Muggle farms with bush behind it. It looked exactly as it had when I moved out after Hogwarts. Even my room was the same. Mum and Dad weren't the kind of parents who turned their kids' rooms into spas and fitness rooms after they moved out. No, they were the type of parents who left the rooms exactly the same in hopes that their children would move back eventually. Mum tried to convince me to move back for six months after I got a flat with Victoire when we began Healer training. She visited us nearly every day, bringing baked goods, advice, and offers to clean with her. Eventually, she came to terms with the fact that I was grown up and wasn't going to move back home. That was when the Saturday evening family dinner started. She was worse with Matt. At first, she flat out refused to let him move out. He wound up staying home for about a year after graduating Hogwarts, partly because of Mum and partly because he just couldn't find a job. Not many people want to employ werewolves. Then he got a job in Werewolf Support Services and a few months later he told Mum he was moving out to live with Albus. Dad had to convince Mum that Matt would be ok. I think it helped that I lived in the same flat building as Albus. Mum still went over there at least three times a week, though. I didn't think she was ever going to stop doing that with him. “Amy! Matt!” Mum greeted us at the door with tight hugs. It was like she hadn't seen us in years, rather than just twenty-four hours. “Hi, Mum,” I smiled as I stepped into the house. “Dinner is just about ready, so you can come right into the kitchen,” Mum instructed. Matt and I followed her into the kitchen, where Dad, Uncle Jack, and our house elf, Ellie, were already at the table. I sat down next to Uncle Jack and Mum put the last dish on the table. “How are things at St. Mungo's?” Uncle Jack asked as he served himself some spaghetti. “Good,” I replied. “Busy as usual. I've got a new potion that's nearly finished. It'll be ready to be sent off for testing tomorrow, but I won't get the results back for awhile.” “I'll be crossing my fingers,” Uncle Jack said and turned to Matt and Dad. “What's new in the old Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures?” “Not much,” Dad said as he served himself some salad, “Had some issues about people wanting to keep Grindylows as pets in their ponds. Bad idea if there are Muggles around. Had to Obliviate a few Muggles last week. I really don't see the appeal in Grindylows as pets, though.” “People are stupid,” Matt agreed, “Honestly, they should just get pygmy puffs and be done with it.” “That they are,” Uncle Jack shook his head, “There is nothing appealing about a Grindylow. What about you, Julie? How is training?” Almost two years ago, Mum decided to go back to school to train to be a nurse. I don't know why she didn't do it sooner. She already knows nearly everything a nurse does, after taking care of Matt for so many years. But soon she'll have certification and she'll be able to work at St. Mungo's or something. “Oh, it's wonderful,” Mum smiled, “I'll be certified in a few months. I'm mostly doing clinicals at St. Mungo's at the moment, which is really nice. It's such a rewarding career.” “Glad to hear it,” Uncle Jack said, “I could always see you as a nurse.” “How about you, Jack?” Dad asked, “How are things in New York?” “Pretty good,” Jack said, “I'm actually considering retiring from the book store. Perhaps traveling a bit, looking for obscure magical objects.” “Like when we were young,” Dad mused. “Exactly,” Uncle Jack winked, “Any chance you're considering retirement?” “Nope,” Dad grinned, “Ministry can't get rid of me just because I'm getting old.” “You just work too much,” Uncle Jack replied. Dad has always been a little bit of a workaholic, but ever since Matt graduated from Hogwarts, he's really thrown himself into his work. I suppose it's because there really isn't anything else for him to do. I think he needs a hobby. We finished dinner and then moved onto dessert. Mum had made a chocolate cake and everyone sang happy birthday. Then I had to eat my cake without talking, which was a tradition that we had been doing on birthdays for as long as I could remember. Matt tried to get me to talk while I ate, but it didn't work. After dinner, my family gave me presents and cards. Mum and Dad got me a personalized stethoscope, which was nice because I had recently lost mine. Matt got me a really nice bracelet with my birthstone on it. Uncle Jack got me a few books about the history of potion brewing. “Cinda gave me this to give to you, too,” Mum handed me an envelope. Cinda, my maternal grandmother, was nearing 95 years old and lived in a Muggle nursing home a few kilometers away from my parents' house. My grandfather, Richard, had died five years ago and Cinda did not adjust well. She lived in Australia for a few more months and then Mum insisted that she move to England. She got sick shortly after that and had to go to the nursing home. I opened the envelope and found a card, along with a very generous check and instructions to 'get yourself something nice'. Cinda had never held back for birthday or Christmas gifts, even after she went into the nursing home. “I'll visit her soon,” I said as I put the card and check back in the envelope. “Good,” Mum said quietly, “She's not doing too well.” I swallowed hard. “What's wrong?” “She's just getting old,” Mum sighed. I nodded. “Yeah, I'll visit soon.” “I'll go with you,” Matt said. “She'll be thrilled to see you two,” Mum smiled. Matt and I stayed at the house for a few more hours, playing Exploding Snap and talking. It was nice to have Uncle Jack there. He was the king of Exploding Snap and by the time Matt and I left, we both had faces covered in soot. Mum and Dad's faces matched. We left when Mum and Dad decided they had to go to bed. Mum made us tell her every detail about the full moon plans, down to the exact minute Matt would go home to transform. We both assured her that everything would be fine and we would contact her if we needed anything. “Always a worrier,” Matt muttered as we walked out to the yard to disapparate, “Our mum.” “Always will be,” I said. ****** I breezed into St. Mungo's bright and early on Monday, ready to work. Mondays were always hectic at work. They consisted of me playing catch-up on what went on in the hospital during the weekend, unless I had been on call of course. “Farina's in a foul mood,” Lynne, one of the nurses fell into step next to me as I walked through the waiting room towards the lifts. Lynne Warner was a middle-aged woman with greying red hair and glasses that were always perched on the tip of her nose. She was slightly overweight and around my height. She was also one of the nicest nurses in the entire hospital. I was very happy that she worked on my floor. “What happened this time?” I groaned. Eleanor Farina was in essence the matriarch of St. Mungo's. She was the hospital's director and the boss of all the bosses. Nothing happened in the hospital without her knowing about it and any major decision had to be run by her first. She was strict, had absolutely no sense of humor, and was not someone you would want to cross. The funny thing was that she was a very small person. Not only was she short, but she was quite skinny as well. She also dyed all the grey out of her hair and wore large amounts of make-up so she barely looked older than me. “Someone left one of the brewing rooms unlocked on Saturday night,” Lynne told me, “She's trying to find out who it was. It wasn't you, was it?” “Merlin, no,” I assured her, “I was at my parents' house that night.” It was a well known fact that all brewing rooms had to be kept locked when not in use. They were just too dangerous to leave unlocked. Only brewers and Farina herself could unlock them. I almost felt bad for the poor sap who had left the room unlocked. Almost. It had been pretty stupid of them not to lock it. What if a patient had wandered down there? We entered a lift and rode it up to our floor. It was still quiet, as it was not even nine o'clock, but I knew it would be bustling before long. “Eckerton!” someone said from behind me. I knew the voice even before I turned around. That high pitched but forceful voice could only be that of Farina. “You got an alibi for Saturday night?” she barked. “I was at my parents'. My mum will vouch for me. As will my dad and brother, if you care to owl them at the Ministry. Plus my uncle if you care to owl him in New York,” I told her. “I'll do that,” she replied and then handed me a chart, “And you're on clinic duty this afternoon. One until five.” I groaned inwardly. I didn't really like doing clinic hours because they took away time from brewing and research. “All right. I'll be there.” Farina left and I walked the remainder of the way towards my study. Lynne said goodbye to me at the nurse's station, where she joined Dina, a very quiet young nurse who had only been working at St. Mungo's for a few months. “Morning, Morris,” I said to Healer Sterling as I walked past his study. “Morning, Amy,” he replied, “You've got a few letters. They're on Natalie's desk.” Natalie Caberney was our secretary and both of our studies branched off from hers. I grabbed the stack of letters from her desk and went into my own study to read them. My study was extremely messy. There were numerous filing cabinets everywhere and books scattered throughout the small room. Miscellaneous charts were scattered everywhere, but I knew where to find them all. It was organized chaos. I sat down in the comfy chair behind my desk and opened the first letter. It was from Rose, giving me the times of the three appointments with the new people for our study. Two were this morning, but one was right when I was supposed to be in the clinic. Perfect. That meant I'd have to track down Farina before one o'clock. The second letter was from someone interested in participating in the study. I set it aside for when I would have more time to write a response. The third letter was from '[i]Magical Creatures Monthly[/i]' wanting to interview me about the study. I threw that one in the fireplace. I refused to do interviews for magazines that saw werewolves as 'creatures' and not people. [i]Magical Creatures Monthly[/i] was definitely one of those magazines. Once the clock struck nine, I set off to do my rounds. Rounds never took me long since all of the patients were in the same ward. Mondays were always interesting because they included new patients that I knew little or nothing about. I grabbed the charts out of the basket on Natalie's desk and looked through them as I walked to the ward. There were four of them. The first two were patients who had been there on Friday. One wizard who had gotten a very nasty burn from a dragon and a witch who had been bitten by an ashwinder. Normally, those bites weren't bad, but this particular witch was allergic to their venom. The third chart was for a wizard who had been bitten by a manticore. That made me shudder. Manticore attacks were pretty rare because most witches and wizards rarely came in contact with them, but the occasional one did crop up and they were bad. The fourth chart was for one of my own patients. Some Healers at St. Mungo's did not have any patients they saw on a regular basis and dealt with emergencies only. Others practiced family healing and only saw their own patients, be it for check-ups or emergencies. Still others dealt with emergencies and had a small amount of their own patients as well. I was one of those Healers. I had a few patients whom I saw on a regular basis for check-ups and then for emergencies. They all had lycanthropy. Healer Sterling was the same way. Between the two of us we saw nearly all of the people with lycanthropy in England. This particular patient really tugged at my heartstrings. Since my job was so heartbreaking, I often had to try and distance myself from patients, but that never worked with this patient. He was only six years old and had been attacked by a werewolf at the age of three. Although Wolfsbane did work for him, it did not have the effect it was supposed to have. It rendered him very calm and harmless during full moons, but it made him violently ill as soon as he started taking it. Since Wolfsbane has to be taken for the week preceding the full moon, he would often be sick for a week. His parents had been struggling with the decision whether to keep him on Wolfsbane for years. It was so difficult to decide whether it was really worth it for him. I opened the door to the ward and went to the wizard with the dragon burn first. He was sitting up in bed reading the Prophet. I examined his burn and pronounced him in good health. I gave him a potion and a salve and discharged him. He was quite happy to be out of the ward. The witch with the ashwinder bite had been able to leave, too. I warned her not to go near the snakes again and sent her on her way. Next was the wizard with the manticore bites. He was covered in bandages. He was also asleep and did not wake up as I changed the bandages. That was probably for the best since there was really no way to change them in a painless way. I made a mental note to check up on him later once he was awake. Then it was time for my youngest patient. His name was Jamie Allen. His mother, Candace, was sitting in a chair next to the bed, holding his hand. She was fast asleep. George, his father, was on the other side of the bed. In George's lap was their four-year-old son, Kyle. They reminded me a lot of my family when Matt and I were younger. I suppose that was why Jamie broke my heart so much. “George,” I greeted him as I conjured a chair and sat down in it. “Amy,” he gave me a weak smile, “Thank Merlin you're here.” “Been here since Saturday?” I asked as I looked over the chart. “Yes,” George sighed, “High fever, nausea, the usual.” I nodded and pulled out my wand. I got up and gently shook Jamie. He opened his eyes and smiled at me. “Healer Eckerton,” he whispered. “Hi, Jamie,” I smiled, “How are you feeling?” “Tired,” he said. “You can go back to sleep soon,” I assured him, “I just need to get your vitals.” He nodded and I waved my wand over him. A few seconds later, his vitals appeared on his chart. He was asleep before I even stowed my wand. “He's better today,” I told George and Candace, who had woken up, “But only because of the potions. I'll go get his morning doses.” Jamie could not keep taking Wolfsbane, I thought as I went to get the potions. Getting that ill every month was taking a toll on his body. The past few months he had been tired all the time, not only around the full moon. “I'd like to talk to you in my study,” I told George and Candace after I'd given Jamie his potions. They looked at each other and then nodded. Candace sent Kyle to stay with Lynne while we talked and I led them into my study. Giving people bad news was my least favorite part of my job. I didn't have to do it nearly as often as Victoire did, but it did occasionally happen. George and Candace seemed to know that I was giving them bad news. They sat down in the chairs in front of my desk and waited for me to begin. Both of them looked like they hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in days. “Jamie's been taking Wolfsbane for three years,” I began, “And because of that he hasn't really suffered on full moons. However, the Wolfsbane has been making him incredibly ill. I know you mentioned that he's been acting off even when he's not taking Wolfsbane.” “Yes,” George sighed, “He's tired all the time now.” “It's because of the Wolfsbane,” I said quietly, “Even though it's out of his system during the rest of the month, it wreaks havoc when it is there and it's been leaving lasting damage.” “What does that mean?” Candace asked. “It means that if he keeps taking Wolfsbane, he's going to be left with permanent damage to his immune system and he'll get sick all the time,” I said, “I'm really sorry.” “We're going to have to take him off it,” Candace said. “Yes, you are,” I told them, “Not this month because he's already been taking it for a few days and if he goes through this transformation without Wolfsbane I don't think he'll survive in his weak state.” George put an arm around Candace, whose eyes were tearing up. “Next month, then,” George said. “Next month,” I agreed, “It's going to be hard, but I think it'll be better in the long run. He won't be as sick before full moons.” “But he'll be injured afterwards,” Candace choked. “He will. It'll probably take him two or three days to recover, but after that he'll be fine,” I assured them. “We don't exactly have a choice,” George sighed. “I'm working to fix that potion. You know that,” I said quietly, “It will happen. Jamie will get through this. Have you thought much about him going to Hogwarts?” “No,” George shook his head, “We try to get through one full moon at a time.” “Think about it,” I smiled, “Even if I haven't created a better potion by then, he can still go.” “I really doubt Professor Kendrick would let a werewolf attend Hogwarts,” George muttered, “That's too dangerous.” I smiled. “Send him an owl. You might be pleasantly surprised.” “I guess it can't hurt,” George sighed. “No, definitely not,” I agreed, “Just ask him.” “All right,” George agreed, “We will.” ****** After a morning of paperwork, owl answering, and the first two lycanthropy appointments it was time to go find Farina and get down on my hands and and knees and beg to be late to clinic duty that afternoon. Tracking Farina down was always an interesting task. She was rarely in her study. I checked there first anyway and it was as predicted, empty. It didn't seem fair that she had the biggest study and was rarely in it. I finally found her in the basement. Apparently she had found the culprit who left the brewing room unlocked. She was yelling at Elliot Rodney, the newest brewer who had just been hired the previous week. He was in his mid-twenties, a few years older than Matt, and very tall and good looking. However, while being yelled at by Farina, he looked like he was about to cry. I swear she could bring the Minister of Magic to tears. “Healer Farina,” I cleared my throat. She stopped yelling and turned around. She sighed and shook her head when she saw me. “Get back to work, Rodney.” Rodney didn't have to be told twice. He bolted away and shut himself in his brewing room. I felt bad for him. I cried the first time Farina yelled at me, too. “What is it, Eckerton?” she asked. “I would like to request that my clinic hours be put off until two o'clock,” I said. “And what makes you think that I would grant that request?” she raised her eyebrow. “I have a previous commitment,” I explained, “I have an appointment with a wizard who wishes to join my lycanthropy study.” “The one you're doing with Weasley?” she asked. “Yes, that one. The appointment is at one o'clock and I wish to be present, along with Healer Weasley, because she does not have the specialization in lycanthropy like I do. She will not be able to answer all of the wizard's questions,” I continued. “Fair point,” Farina agreed, “You have until one-thirty to show up in the clinic or face the consequences.” “Thank you,” I replied and left for the lifts. One thing that I learned shortly after being hired at St. Mungo's was that Farina never gave you exactly what you wanted. If you wanted to push back your clinic hours by an hour, she would give you a half hour. If you wanted two days off, she'd give you one day off. The best thing to do was to ask for more time than you actually needed. Of course, it was pointless unless you had a good reason. I was just grateful she gave me time off around the full moon. It wasn't real time off since I did pop into the hospital for a few hours the day after the full moon, but it was still considered time off. It was the least I could do since that was one of the busiest days in the ward. I ate a very hurried lunch on my way to the very top floor of the hospital. That floor was added after the defeat of Lord Voldemort, mostly to add a psychiatry ward. Psychology and psychiatry still were not very well known in the wizarding world, but they became more so after the war. When Farina became head of the whole hospital a few years later, she took half that floor and created the clinic. It was added solely for efficiency. She had noticed that a lot of the ailments and injuries that people went to the hospital with were quite minor and could be healed quickly. The clinic is now used for those ailments and the more major ailments are taken care of on the other floors. Plus, that's where people get their check-ups. It really was a good idea. Rose was already set up in one of the rooms, complete with a clip-board and a stack of information on the psychology part of the study. She was always early and incredibly organized. We made an interesting pair for doing a study together. “I've got clinic at 1:30,” I said as I walked in, “I hope this bloke is on time.” The people we had met with earlier had both been late. Only the witch agreed to be in the study, though. The wizard didn't think the amount of money we would pay him was enough. A few minutes later a middle-aged man with greying brown hair walked in. His face was lined with wrinkles, but his eyes were bright. “Dan Bartholomew?” I asked. He nodded. “You two the Healers?” “Yes,” I said and gestured to the open chair, “Please have a seat.” “So,” he began, “Healer Weasley said you're doing a study on lycanthropy?” “Yes,” I replied, “We are hoping to discover the reason why werewolves do not remember what happens while they are wolves. Our first theory is that the transformation itself is so traumatic that the brain represses the memory in order to protect the psyche. However, it could also be that the wolf's memories are just not transferred when a werewolf transforms back into a human.” “Why does it matter to figure that out?” Dan asked. “I have a theory that it might help us to figure out why the Wolfsbane Potion does not work for all werewolves,” I explained. “Oh,” he said, “That might be useful.” “We're hoping it will be,” I said, “Now, does Wolfsbane work for you?” “Yep,” Dan nodded, “But I'll still do the study. Just as long as I don't have to stop taking Wolfsbane.” “No, you can still take it,” I answered, “What you will have to do is come in after every full moon and take a few potions that will allow us to examine your brain and to try and get you to remember what happened during full moons.” “Will that hurt?” he asked skeptically. “No,” I replied, “And you will be compensated for your time.” The man nodded. “Now, do I still keep seeing you every week, Healer Weasley?” “Yes, this will not affect your appointments with me,” Rose told him, “There are also no known emotional side effects from participating in this study.” “I think I'll need to think about it,” Dan said. “Understandable,” I said as I handed him a stack of papers, “This explains everything in more detail. If you decide to participate, owl us the forms on the bottom, signed and dated, and we'll contact you about your first appointment.” “Do I have to decide before the next full moon?” Dan asked. “No,” I shook my head, “We've already made appointments for this upcoming full moon and wouldn't be able to squeeze you in anyway. Think about it for a couple weeks and then get back to us.” “I'll let you know,” Dan said as he stood up. “Thanks,” I smiled. “Two in one day isn't bad,” Rose said once he left. “Nope,” I agreed, “Not bad at all.”
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 10 February 2010 07 46 13 am    Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden Thanks, Dawn! I'm glad you like it! Here's the family tree- Bill-Fleur -------- Charlie-Katherine (witch)---Percy-Corrine (Muggle) Victoire, 19 ------- Stanley, 18--------------Georgia, 7th year Gabriella, 7th year--Heather, 6th year---------Bradley, 5th year Ben, 4th year------ Mark, 5th year-----------Cedric, 4th year ----------------- Eddie, 7 years old--------Samantha & Lindy (twins), 8 years old George-Alicia Spinnet----Ron-Hermione-------Ginny-Harry Fred, 6th year-----------Rose, 3rd year-------James, 4th year Angie, 10 years old------Hugo, 1st year-------Albus, 3rd year ------------------------------------------Lily, 1st year Dudley-Christina (Muggle) Kaden- 2nd year Bethany- 8 years old *all in Gryffindor* Chapter 22: The Party The party was at the Minister's Mansion, the house where all the Ministers of Magic had lived. Albus had been there a few times before, but not in a couple years. Usually all the parties the Minister held were while Albus was at Hogwarts. A few hours before the party, Ginny made Albus, James, and Lily all take showers and comb their hair properly. She spent a good fifteen minutes trying to get James's hair to lie flat and another fifteen minutes putting Lily's up in some sort of elaborate bun type thing. Albus was very happy his own hair was far too short for that sort of thing. Before they left, Albus's parents sat him, James, and Lily down on the couch and proceeded to tell them the rules for the evening. “Absolutely no making trouble!” Ginny stared at James as she said this, “None at all! This is the Minister's house! I will not have you wreaking havoc in it.” “We're trusting you to keep yourselves occupied during this. I'm going to have to mingle with everyone and we won't be able to watch you every second,” Harry added, “You're all at Hogwarts now. You're old enough to not be glued to us for the evening.” “Don't worry,” James said, “I know when mischief isn't appropriate.” “Let's hope so,” Ginny sighed. Albus and his family Apparated to the Minister's house, which meant side-along Apparition for Albus. He hated side-along Apparition. It felt like he couldn't breath. It was worse when the person who was Apparating him was also Apparating another person, which was always the case in his family. It was the curse of being the middle child. He was either with James or Lily. This time it was with Lily and Harry was Apparating them. When Albus had regained his ability to breath properly, he looked around at where they had landed. He was standing on the front lawn of what was the most extravagant mansion he had ever seen. It couldn't be considered a house; it was just too monstrous. A long and winding sidewalk, framed with bushes and lights on either side, lead up to the front door. Albus's parents started walking up and Albus followed. The mansion seemed to get bigger as they got closer. It was painted brown with a black roof and reminded Albus of a castle. It wasn't nearly as big as Hogwarts, of course, but it was still huge. Harry rang the bell when they arrived at the door and it was answered by the Minister himself. “Harry!” he shouted, “Come in!” Minister Langston Hartwell was the third minister since the fall of Lord Voldemort. He was a tall, rotund man with very little hair left on his head. He did sport a rather large mustache, which caused Albus to think of him as a much taller version of Professor Slughorn. Hartwell was one of those very educated wizards who spoke using very large words that Albus couldn't really understand. He was long-winded and most of his speeches could be condensed down into a few sentences, according to Harry, that is. He was a very nice man, though. “Right this way,” Hartwell motioned for them to follow him. Hartwell lead them through the house, which was just as immaculate as Albus remembered, and into what could only be described as a grand ballroom. It was the same ballroom all the parties Albus had been to were held. The room was decorated with silver and black and was already filling up with people. Albus spotted Rose and Matt in the back of the room and left his family in the doorway to go see them. “Some place, huh?” Albus said once he reached them. “This is the biggest house I've ever seen,” Rose agreed, “I see you're wearing your Slytherin robes.” Albus rolled his eyes. “Shut it.” “What do you think, Matt?” Rose turned to Matt, “His mum says they match his eyes, but James says they're Slytherin robes.” “Slytherin,” Matt said immediately. “Then yours are Ravenclaw,” Albus pointed out, gesturing to Matt's blue robes. “I don't care,” Matt shrugged, “So, did you just get here?” “Yeah,” Albus replied. “I've been here for two hours already,” Matt said, “We were the first ones here. Dad keeps introducing me to people and they all think I'm a first year.” “Bet that's fun,” Albus laughed, “Do you know most of these people?” “Some,” Matt said, “That's the bloke Dad's taking over for,” he gestured to a very large wizard, “McVicar.” “Right,” Albus said, “I've heard of him. Dad's always said he would never retire.” “Dad never thought he would either,” Matt laughed, “Then we've got your Uncle Percy, I think you probably know him. Those people are a few of Dad's colleagues,” Matt gestured to a few more witches and wizards, “Then there's a bunch of people from other departments, but I don't remember any of their names.” “Looks like it's going to be a fun night,” Albus said sarcastically. “Oh, it will be,” Matt grinned, “When I was really little, we went to parties like this a few times a month. You make your own fun.” “Like what?” Albus asked. “Charming alcohol out of the wine and champagne. It'll still taste exactly the same,” Matt grinned mischievously, “By the time midnight rolls around, everyone will be wondering why they're not drunk. It'll be funny.” “You've done this before?” Rose raised an eyebrow. “Amy has,” Matt said, “She's here somewhere and she's going to do it soon.” “I have to admit, that's really creative,” Rose giggled, “What else?” “Mostly stuff with the food. Charm the chocolates to taste like vanilla, charm the serving utensils to move every time you go to pick them up, that sort of stuff,” Matt explained. “My parents gave us this speech about how we can't play pranks here,” Albus said, “She was saying it mostly for James, but I think she should've given it to you.” “My parents never say that stuff to me,” Matt laughed, “They never suspect me of anything. The minute they find out the alcohol's been charmed out of the drinks, they'll find Amy.” “She is the one who's going to do it,” Rose pointed out. “It was my idea, though. She wasn't originally going to do it at this party,” Matt explained. “Alcohol's gone,” Amy said quietly as she came up behind Matt, “This is going to be interesting.” “What exactly happens when you use this charm?” Rose asked. “Oh, it's great,” Amy grinned, “First, only a couple people notice and they make a very quiet mention to another person and then that person agrees that there's something wrong with the drinks. Then it just snowballs from there until it's all they're talking about. Then someone will test the drinks, discover the alcohol's been charmed away, replace it, and then everyone will cheer. But some of them will act drunk because they think there's alcohol in the drinks.” “Aren't your parents going to be upset?” Rose asked. “They might tell me they wish I hadn't done it, but there's not much they can do,” Amy shrugged, “That's why I'm doing it and not Matt.” “I couldn't see your parents yelling at you anyway,” Albus laughed. “You never know,” Matt shrugged. “I bet James and Cedric are going to do something,” Albus said as he scanned the crowd. James and Cedric were sitting at one of the tables, heads close together like they were plotting something. “I'd be shocked if they didn't,” Rose smirked, “Aunt Ginny has no hope of stopping James.” “And I'd bet my last Galleon that Georgia and Bradley are talking about Quidditch,” Albus gestured to his other two cousins, who were standing near the buffet. “That's all they talk about,” Rose said, “And Lily looks bored. Five Sickles says she's over here in about ten minutes or so.” “I wouldn't bet against that,” Albus said, “And Samantha and Lindy will sneak out of the room the next time Aunt Corrine looks away.” Albus's Aunt Corrine was talking with two witches Albus didn't know and his twin cousins were chasing each other around the room. “Are any of your other cousins coming?” Amy asked. “Nope,” Albus shook his head, “None of my other aunts and uncles work for the Ministry.” “Let's go get something to eat,” Matt said. Albus and Rose agreed. Amy left to go talk to someone else and the three friends walked over to the buffet. There was already a small queue in front of it. “There go Samantha and Lindy,” Rose said as they waited. The twins ran out one of the doors and Corrine quickly followed. The queue moved quickly and soon Albus was in front. He grabbed a plate and piled it high with just about everything. There was always the best food at this sort of party. They found an empty table far enough away from James and Cedric. Albus didn't want to be anywhere near them when they did whatever they were planning on doing. “I don't even know what half this stuff is,” Matt said as he began eating, “But it's good.” More and more people arrived as Albus ate his dinner. He recognized a few of them, but didn't remember any names. He also noticed that nobody was acting strangely due to Amy's charm. They were all acting perfectly normal for adults who had had a few drinks. Albus, Matt, and Rose wandered around the room once they finished their food. A few adults stopped to exclaim how big they'd gotten and to inquire what year they were at Hogwarts. Lily joined them because she didn't want to be associated with James and Cedric's mischief. “Hello, everyone!” Minister Hartwell shouted from the podium at the front of the room. Everyone quieted down and turned to watch him. Albus, Rose, and Matt were somewhat close to the podium. “Thank you,” he smiled, “I assume you all know why I've thrown this party, and it's not just to unload the large amount of wine I was given for Christmas!” The adults all chuckled at Hartwell's attempt at a joke and then quieted down once again. “Yes, yes, well, this party is in honor of none other than Walter Eckerton, whom I have appointed to the position of Head of the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. There is no one else whom I would trust with such a job....” Hartwell's speech soon descended into one of his usual speeches, which Albus could not understand. It was long, drawn-out, and Albus could've sworn he saw his dad yawn at one point. Albus clapped loudly when Hartwell finally finished and turned the podium over to McVicar. “Thank you, Minister,” McVicar began, “That was quite an interesting speech. I, too, would like to congratulate Walter Eckerton on his promotion. “I am sure at least half of you were quite surprised to hear that I was retiring. I myself was surprised. In fact, I probably wouldn't have done it if it weren't for the fact that my wife has been begging me to for the past ten years. “However, the main reason for my lack of an earlier retirement was because there was not a single person employed in the Ministry whom I would have trusted with this job. Nobody had the capabilities to carry out this position in the way I would like. Like they always say, if you want something done right, do it yourself. That was my motto up until five years ago, that is. “A little over five years ago, a man came into the Ministry looking for a job in the Department of the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. He applied for a job in Werewolf Support Services, a position that had been open for well over a year. I was ready to hire anyone who walked through the door at that point, but I had no idea what was to come when I hired Walter Eckerton. “Some of you may know that Walter has experience in this field. He was the Head of the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures in Australia for three years before leaving the position in order to move to England. “Walter revolutionized Werewolf Support Services as soon as he started. The ideas he had were ones that even I hadn't thought of. In five short years, he has bettered life for those plagued with lycanthropy more than anyone else in the department have in their entire careers. “It took only six months for me to realize that I wanted Walter to take over for me when I retired. Not only does he have the experience and intelligence for the job, but he also has dedication that I have never seen before. I even have to admit that his dedication surpasses my own. I have never seen anyone fight as hard for werewolf rights as he has. “The only thing left for me to do was convince myself it was time to retire,” McVicar chuckled, “And yes, it did take the better part of five years to do that. But now, I feel very confident as I hand the reins over to Walter.” Everyone clapped as McVicar stepped away and Matt's dad took the podium. “That was quite the speech,” Albus muttered to Matt. “I'll say,” Matt agreed, “And McVicar doesn't usually praise people like that.” “Well,” Matt's dad began, “Thanks for your vote of confidence, Rob. I certainly hope I can live up to your expectations. “I have to begin by saying how unexpected this was. I really had no intentions of becoming the head of the entire department again, no matter which country I was living in. Werewolf Support Services has been such a great place to work these past few years. It truly is my passion. “However, when Langston and Rob approached me about taking over when Rob retired, I found it difficult to say no. In the end, I said yes because I want to make more of a difference. “Of course, I could not have gotten to this place without the help of my wife, Julie,” he gestured to Matt's mum, who was standing near the podium, “And my daughter, Amy, and my son, Matt. “I'm not one for long speeches, so I'll just say that I look forward to starting the job and I truly hope I can be at least half of the head of the department Rob has been.” “I just hope none of them find out why my dad's so dedicated,” Matt whispered. “They're too drunk to think much on it,” Rose smirked. “They're not really drunk,” Albus reminded her. “They're certainly acting like they are,” Rose pointed out. A good portion of the adults were acting very drunk. In fact, if Albus hadn't known about Amy's charm, he would say they all really were drunk. The weird thing was that everybody was acting drunk. There didn't seem to be anyone who was thinking there was something wrong with the drinks. “Let's go ask Amy about it,” Matt suggested. Amy was standing nearby, so Albus, Matt, and Rose squeezed their way through the crowd to get to her. “Amy,” Matt whispered, “Why's everyone acting normal? “I don't know,” she whispered back, “Let's go look at the drinks.” James and Cedric were also standing near the drink table, looking nearly as confused as Albus felt about this charm. That was kind of strange. Amy grabbed a glass of wine and tried it. “Well, it tastes fine, but it's supposed to.” “You'll have to drink a lot more than that to get properly drunk,” Matt grinned. “I'm not doing that,” Amy rolled her eyes. “Actually,” James grinned mischievously, “That might get you drunk.” “What did you do?” Albus groaned. “Cedric and I added some extra alcohol to that wine,” James whispered. Albus, Rose, Matt, and Amy burst out laughing. Albus could not believe it. All of their pranks had backfired. The wine was now perfectly normal. “What's so funny?” Cedric asked. “Amy pulled a prank, too,” Albus said. “I put a charm on all the wine to remove the alcohol, while keeping the taste,” Amy explained, “I did it right when the party started.” “So much for that prank,” James groaned. “Now you won't get in trouble,” Albus pointed out, “Mum's been watching you two.” “I know,” James muttered, “That's why we can't do it again.” “What do you want to do now?” Albus asked as James, Cedric, and Amy left. “Want to explore the Minister's Mansion?” Matt suggested. “Is that allowed?” Rose asked skeptically. “I don't see why not, I mean, this is my dad's party,” Matt pointed out, “Plus, we'd just be walking around.” “Let's go,” Albus said and lead them out of the ballroom. It was much quieter in the rest of the house. They started wandering through any rooms that had open doors. “This place is so bloody fancy,” Albus said. “It reminds me of my grandparents' house,” Matt said. “Their house is this big?” Rose asked. “Nearly,” Matt replied, “They've got a ballroom and everything.” The three friends wound up in a very large living room filled with antique furniture. There was an oriental carpet on the ground and oak tables and bookshelves around the perimeter. Atop the tables were fancy vases of flowers and crystal sculptures. “We'd better be careful in here,” Rose said as she walked into the room, “If we break any of this stuff, our parents would murder us.” “Cinda's got one of these,” Matt pointed to a crystal swan. “Don't touch it!” Rose hissed. “I wasn't,” Matt assured her, “I broke Cinda's once, but Mum fixed it.” “Look at all these books,” Albus gazed up at one of the bookcases, “Madam Pince would love to get her hands on these.” “They're all about politics, though,” Matt pointed out, “Pretty boring.” “Mum would like them,” Rose said “I wonder how old this furniture is,” Matt said as he looked at a rather uncomfortable looking armchair. “Probably older than Aberforth Dumbledore,” Albus replied. “Hey, Albus, Matt, come here,” Rose said as she looked out the window. Albus and Matt walked over to the window and leaned over the table that was in front of it. “What is it?” Albus asked. “Look, there's-” Matt leaned farther over the table and knocked one of the crystal sculptures off. Rose gasped and managed to catch it before it crashed onto the floor. “Merlin,” Rose whispered as she set it back on the table, “Be careful.” “Sorry,” Matt replied, “What were you saying?” “There's someone sneaking around out there,” Rose said. Albus peered out the window into the darkness. He could just barely make out a shadow lurking around the bushes. It didn't look like the person was walking up towards the house to go to the party. Plus, why would he show up three hours late? “There's definitely someone out there,” Matt said. “Let's go find out who it is,” Albus said. He didn't have a clue as to who it was, but he wanted to find out. There was no reason for someone to be sneaking around the Minister's Mansion at this time of night. “Albus Severus Potter, are you bloody insane?” Rose exclaimed, “I think you are!” “Look, I just want to go see if we can find out who it is. I'm not saying we should go duel them. Plus, there's a whole room full of Ministry officials in case whoever is out there is someone bad,” Albus said. “That's a good point,” Matt replied, “Why would someone sneak around a house that's full of Ministry officials, especially when the two top Aurors are inside?” “I don't know,” Albus said, “But I want to find out who it is.” Rose reluctantly agreed and followed Albus and Matt, muttering under her breath. They found the nearest door and went out into the cold night, drawing their wands as they did so. “If we aren't killed, we'll freeze to death,” Rose muttered. Albus ignored her and started looking around. He stayed close to the house and tried to keep himself concealed in the bushes as he looked for the figure. However, he couldn't see or hear anything. “Do you hear anything?” he whispered to Matt. “No,” Matt replied, “It's like they disapparated or something.” “Good,” Rose muttered, “Now let's go back inside.” “They could've just moved,” Albus pointed out, “Let's keep going.” Albus continued creeping around the house, with his wand out in front of him. His heart was beating fast and his hands were sweaty despite the cold. He didn't want to stop, though. Figuring out who this bloke was was exciting and nerve wracking at the same time. “Don't move!” someone shouted and all of a sudden there was a bright light in Albus's eyes. Wand light. Rose screamed and grabbed hold of Albus's arm. Albus held up his own wand, his hand shaking. “Who are you?” the person shouted. “Wh-who are y-you?” Albus stammered. “He sounds familiar,” Matt whispered, “Hang on. Bloody hell, that's Professor Balladanis!” Albus thought for a second and the voice did sound a lot like Balladanis. But why would he be sneaking around the Minister's Mansion? “Albus Potter, is that you?” the man shouted. “Er, yes,” Albus replied. The wand light lowered and Albus heard the man step through the snow towards him. Albus saw that he was indeed Professor Balladanis. He breathed a sigh of relief as Rose let go of his arm. “Mr. Potter,” Balladanis said and then waved his wand around, “And Miss Weasley, Mr. Eckerton. Oh, I suppose this party is for your father, Mr. Eckerton?” “Y-yes, sir,” Matt replied. “What are the three of you doing sneaking around outside in the dead of night? I thought I'd taught you better than that. You're just asking for trouble,” Balladanis said sternly. “Told you,” Rose whispered to Albus. “Er,” Albus began, “We saw someone lurking around out here and went to investigate. I guess that person was you....” “And you're lucky it was me,” Balladanis barked, “The three of you could have been dead if that person had been a dark wizard. Now, I'm taking all three of you back inside.” Albus nodded and followed Balladanis through the snow and towards the door. “Sir,” Albus said, “If you don't mind my asking, what were you doing outside?” “If you must know, the Minister asked me to check the grounds in order to make sure nobody was lurking around,” Balladanis replied. That did nothing but spark Albus's curiosity even more. He knew better than to press further, though. Balladanis was not one to explain his motives.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 20 January 2010 07 50 17 am    Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden Chapter 19: The Unbeatable Seeker "What did Balladanis teach you?" was the first thing Matt asked Albus when he went to see him the following afternoon. Albus had given every little detail about the evening to his other friends once he returned to the dormitory afterwards and they were impressed. John's first reaction had been that perhaps Albus would be able to find out what Balladanis did before he began teaching. "He didn't really teach us anything," Albus explained to Matt, who looked exhausted but was paying rapt attention. "I dueled Malfoy." "Wow," Matt looked impressed, "How was that?" "Neither of us won," Albus sighed, "Balladanis made us stop because we pretty much destroyed his classroom." "I wish I had seen it," John chimed in, "Bet the look on Balladanis's face was priceless." "He just looked impressed. He wasn't angry or anything," Albus told them, "Then he asked us what we wanted to do with our lives." "Like what kind of job you want to get?" Matt raised his eyebrows, "You're only thirteen." "Yeah, I thought it was strange," Albus shrugged, "But he said I should think about doing something that would put my dueling skills to use." "Like an Auror?" Matt asked. "I don't think so. I mentioned that and he kind of made it seem like that wouldn't put my dueling skills to use." "I can't think of any other job that you'd duel more than that," Matt replied. "I have no idea what I want to do with my life," Kaden announced. "Me either," John said, "I say we've got plenty of time to figure it out." "I'll say," Madam Pomfrey stuck her head in between the curtains, "And you certainly do not have to figure it out now. It's time for you lot to leave." Albus, John, and Kaden reluctantly left the hospital wing, lamenting the fact that Madam Pomfrey hadn't let them stay very long. They had no idea why the nurse had shortened visiting time so much, considering that Matt hadn't seemed worse than usual, but they never understood why Madam Pomfrey did most of the things she did. ****** Albus's week could be easily summed up in two words. Quidditch and homework. Normally he would only complain about the latter, but Oliver Wood was like a Muggle drill sergeant when it came to Quidditch. Since the match was on Saturday, Oliver was insisting on daily practices. Albus and the other alternates had to be at every practice because according to Oliver, 'you never know when someone will get sick or hexed right before a match.' In fact, Oliver even wanted them to practice on Friday night, the night before the match. Albus wasn't too happy about this since he had his lesson with Balladanis at eight. That was the same time Quidditch practice let out, so he had to run to the Defense classroom still completely covered in mud from practice. He ran into the classroom ten minutes late, heart pounding with worry about what Balladanis was going to say. "Mr. Potter, you're late," Balladanis said as Albus entered the room. He and Malfoy were sitting at the front desk. "Sorry, sir," Albus said as he joined them, "Quidditch practice." "So I gathered," Balladanis eyed Albus's muddy robes, "I was just telling Mr. Malfoy about the responsibilities that come with learning advanced dueling spells." Balladanis pulled out his wand and pointed it at Albus. Albus's robes were clean and dry and he muttered a thank you to the professor. Malfoy was smirking to himself. "The most important responsibility is that you cannot and I repeat, cannot, use the spells I teach you here in the junior dueling tournament. It would give your team an unfair advantage and you could inadvertently injure your opponent. The spells I teach you are not to be used outside this classroom, unless I instruct you otherwise. "You are not to duel your fellow students in the corridors with these spells. Nor are you to use them against your siblings and cousins," his eyes rested on Albus. "I also feel the need to warn you that these spells are more exhausting than the ones you have been learning. They use a lot of magical energy and do not be surprised if you feel as though you have just run a marathon," he turned to Albus again, "Or played in a very long Quidditch match." Balladanis stood up and gestured for the boys to do the same. Once they did, Balladanis moved the desks aside and stood in between where Albus and Malfoy stood. "I am going to have you work on your shield charms first-" "I already know how to do a shield charm," Malfoy announced. "I am well aware of that, Mr. Malfoy, and I do ask that you not question my teaching style," Balladanis said darkly, "The shield charms you have been using are relatively weak and fade away after only a few spells are cast against them. "With a fair bit of practice and mental concentration, one is able to keep the shield up for long periods of time in order to block multiple spells. Really skilled duelers can even keep the shield up while casting other spells. That is quite useful, as you can imagine. It is also possible to shield a great many people with just one person's shield charm, which is also very useful. Some shield charms can even protect one against magical creature attacks," Balladanis lowered his voice and averted his eyes at this, which Albus thought was odd. "It takes a lot of concentration to maintain hold of a shield charm for so long, which is why the charm can be difficult. I doubt either of you will produce a long term shield charm tonight, so don't be disappointed. Wands out, both of you, and we'll see how long you can hold the charm, without any spells hitting it." Albus held up his wand and muttered the incantation for the shield charm. He had practiced this charm numerous times before, usually with someone else trying to hex him at the same time. It was quite easy to just hold it there and even kind of boring. He and Malfoy just stared at each other and Albus doubted that either of them were going to drop their shields. It would be like admitting defeat to the other. After what must have been at least ten minutes of holding the shield charm, Albus found he was getting tired. His arm ached from holding his wand up and from throwing so many Quaffles at practice earlier. Malfoy had the advantage since he didn't have Quidditch practice. Much to Albus's dismay, he noticed his shield starting to fizzle. He wasn't going to be able to hold it much longer and Malfoy's still looked strong. Balladanis looked at his watch. "Let the shields go," he instructed, "Wands down." Relieved, Albus lowered his weary hand and then sat down in a chair. Balladanis was right when he said advanced shields were exhausting. "Very good," Balladanis said, "Stand up again. Now I'll see how many spells each of your shields can withstand." Albus and Malfoy both put their shields up again and Balladanis sent disarming charms at both of them. Albus could feel his shield faltering after the first charm and didn't think it would last as long as Malfoy's. Albus's shield fizzled out after three charms. Malfoy's dismantled after four. He had the biggest smirk on his face afterwards, but didn't say anything. He probably didn't want to gloat in front of Balladanis. Albus knew he'd hear about it the next time they had a class together, though. If only he hadn't had Quidditch practice! Then Albus would have beaten Malfoy. Or at least tied with him. "That's enough for tonight," Balladanis said as he eyed Albus. Albus had a feeling that he looked absolutely exhausted. "Looks like I'm the better dueler," Malfoy said once they were out of the room. "That's not what it meant," Albus muttered, "We didn't even duel each other. I could beat you in a real duel." "And I could beat both of you," a Slytherin Prefect, who was making his rounds, said as he walked by, "So get to your dormitories." Albus had no idea if he could beat the Prefect or not but he didn't want to stick around to lose house points. Plus, it was a good excuse to stop talking to Malfoy. ****** The excitement that filled the Great Hall the next morning reminded Albus yet again of the previous year's Quidditch finals. Only this wasn't a final. It was the Hogwarts versus Australia match, the first match Hogwarts was going to play in. The Hogwarts team did not sit together at breakfast or lunch. There was considerable argument at practice the previous night about this. Oliver Wood, Tyler Pike, and Teddy all wanted the team to sit together in order to squeeze in last minute strategizing, but nobody could agree on which table to sit at. In the end, Teddy sat with the Gryffindor players at the Gryffindor table, Tyler sat with the Ravenclaw players at the Ravenclaw table, and Oliver walked from table to table giving out last minute advice. Albus thought this worked out fine since Oliver didn't seem to be able to sit still for more than a minute. Albus was kind of relieved that nobody on the Hogwarts team came down with Spattergroit or lost a finger in potions class because he didn't really want to play. He loved Quidditch, but so much was at stake. He wanted to merely watch the first match that Hogwarts participated in. Then, if right before the next match, one of the Chasers came down with a cold and Madam Pomfrey forbid them from playing, Albus would gladly take their place. The excitement only increased as Albus and his friends walked to the pitch. Rose and Amanda were there, although Linda wasn't. Albus thought this was only fitting since Hogwarts was playing against Australia in this match. “Welcome, everyone!” Todd Smith's voice boomed over the crowd, “Hogwarts is playing its first match in the Cup and they are up against Australia! The Hogwarts team is captained by Oliver Wood with help from Ted Lupin and Tyler Pike! “The team is comprised of Georgia Weasley as Keeper; Damien Waverly, Anna Reilly, and Ferris Fielding as Chasers; Andy Kaper and Allie Davis as Beaters; and James Potter as Seeker. “The biggest excitement in this match is whether James Potter will be able to beat Australian Seeker Linda Morales, who shocked everyone with her speed and agility in the last match. Potter, of course, is the son and nephew of legendary Gryffindor Seekers Harry Potter and Charlie Weasley. He is also being coached by Gryffindor's other legendary Seeker, Ted Lupin, and is on his way towards becoming another legend in the house of Gryffindor.” “Not being very modest about James, is he?” Rose muttered to Albus. “No, not really,” Albus replied, happy that he wasn't in James's position. “The captains shake hands,” Smith continues, “And they're off!” All fourteen players, half in emerald green Australian robes and half in black Hogwarts ones, rose into the air. Whoever decided on the colors must not have been thinking about visibility. If it was a rainy, snowy, or foggy day, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the two colors. The match was fast-paced like the first one had been. All of the Hogwarts players were superb and as far as Albus could tell, equally matched against Australia. The teams were tied fifteen minutes into the match, each with 120 points. The Quaffle exchanged hands so often that Albus had a hard time keeping up. Rose had already given up and was talking to Amanda about something. Matt, John, and Kaden were all trying to keep up with the match. It happened so fast that if Albus had blinked, he would have missed the whole thing. Linda had been hovering above the Hogwarts goal posts and then she shot down towards the ground, pulling out of her dive with the golden Snitch in her grasp. James had been next to her and was a few metres above her when she caught it. Just like that, in a matter of seconds, the match was over. “Linda Morales has captured the Snitch, which means Australia wins 270-120,” Smith announced less than enthusiastically. “She caught it?” John gaped, “But she was above the goal posts two seconds ago!” “No one can fly that fast!” Albus agreed. “It can't be over!” Matt exclaimed, “It just started twenty minutes ago!” Everyone around Albus was talking about how fast Linda flew to the Snitch. Albus and his friends descended onto the pitch and Albus quickly lost them in the sea of people. He pushed his way through the crowd until he found his team. “They've got to be cheating!” Andy Kaper shouted to Teddy, “They've rigged her broom or something!” “All the brooms were fully checked before the match,” Teddy reminded him. “Well, check it again!” Andy exclaimed, “There's a speed charm on that thing, I guarantee it.” “We'll have it checked again,” Wood assured him. “I want a rematch,” Georgia muttered, “They've got to be cheating. Even a Firebolt 2000 can't fly that fast.” “We're only going to get a rematch if there is something wrong with that broom,” Wood sighed. “I want an unofficial flying competition between her and James,” Damien Waverly said, “There's no way she's a better flyer than he is.” James was the only one not talking. He appeared to be in shock. The entire team was shouting around him, but he didn't seem to hear any of it. “James?” Albus asked tentatively. James jumped and looked at Albus without saying a word. Then he trudged off to the changing room. No one else noticed that he left. No one had noticed Albus show up either, so he joined the crowd of people going back up to the castle. He figured it would be easier to talk to the James once he returned to the common room. The common room was ominously silent when Albus walked through the portrait hole. Most people were sitting, staring into space, and not talking to anyone. It was a scene more fitting to someone just dying than a lost Quidditch match. None of the Australians who had been sorted into Gryffindor, including Linda, were there. Albus briefly wondered where they were going to go, now that they'd probably be chased out of every common room. Albus's friends were sitting at their usual table and Albus joined them. Rose and Amanda were whispering to each other, but John and Matt were silent. Kaden was rifling through a stack of chocolate frog cards. The match had been the definition of anti-climactic. Hogwarts had spent weeks preparing for it, working every day well past when the sun set. Homework had been ignored and studying put off. All so Hogwarts could beat Australia. Then, Linda Morales had caught the Snitch twenty minutes into the match. Linda Morales, the only one who had managed to best James Potter at Quidditch. “You know,” Kaden set down his cards, “If James and Linda had a kid, he or she would be the best Seeker in the world.” Nobody responded. Albus thought it would be more likely to become best friends with a chimaera than James and Linda to get married and have a kid. Not to mention the fact that vampires couldn't bear children. Kaden probably didn't know that, though. “I just don't get it,” John mumbled, “She must've cheated.” “You just don't want to admit that Hogwarts might not have the best Quidditch players in the world,” Rose muttered. “Let's go to the Marauder's Den,” Matt whispered as he stood up. Albus didn't know why Matt wanted to go there, but considering how depressingly quiet the common room was, he wasn't about to object. They passed no one except an Auror on their way to the room. Everyone must have been lamenting the Quidditch loss in their common rooms. “Finally,” Kaden said as he collapsed onto one of the couches in the room, “Now we can actually talk. The common room is depressing.” “What do you expect?” John groaned, “We lost our first mach. We're in last place.” “No, we're not,” Rose said, “New York lost to Australia with only 40 points. They're in last place.” “Doesn't matter,” John shook his head, “We still lost.” “No one's ever going to beat Australia,” Albus sighed. “You're probably right,” Matt said darkly, “Remember the last match? How quickly she caught the Snitch? I knew she'd be fast, but I thought maybe she'd slow down to even things up a bit. This match proves that wrong. She's using the fact that she's a vampire to her advantage.” “That's completely unfair!” John shouted, “Why would Kendrick let her do that?” “He obviously doesn't know,” Rose sighed. “So, she is cheating,” Albus said. “Technically, she's not,” Matt replied, “She's just really skilled at Quidditch. Vampires, and werewolves, have really keen eyesight in order to,” he paused, “Catch prey. She's better at seeing a Snitch than any human.” “Then why don't you play Seeker against her!” Kaden exclaimed, grinning at the idea, “That would be more fair.” Matt burst out laughing. “You didn't see me at flying lessons in first year. I'm an awful flyer. Sure, I could see the Snitch, but I'd fall off my broom trying to catch it.” “Oh,” Kaden deflated. “Plus she's super fast,” John pointed out, “And Matt's not. No offense or anything.” “None taken,” Matt said. “So, what are we going to do about this?” Albus asked, “If she doesn't stop, Australia's going to win this competition.” “I think Rose should talk to her,” John suggested. “Why?” Rose asked. “Because she likes you and you like her,” John said, “Just tell her to fly a little slower.” “Yeah, right,” Rose rolled her eyes, “Believe it or not, she's about as fanatical about Quidditch as you lot are. No way is she going to agree to that.” “It's true,” Amanda agreed. The room descended into silence. The only other thing Albus could think of to do would be to tell Kendrick that Linda was a vampire. That would get her off the Australian Quidditch team for sure. However, Albus didn't really want to do that. Rose would hex him to next century and she'd probably never speak to him again. It would be a lot like if Rose told someone Matt was a werewolf and if that happened, Albus would have the same reaction. Not that Rose would ever do that. They stayed in the Marauder's Den until dinner. Dinner was much more subdued than normal and James never made an appearance. Linda was sitting at the far end of the Gryffindor table with only fellow Australians near her. That kind of surprised Albus since he had never once seen her interact with anyone besides Rose and Amanda. “Albus,” someone put their hand on Albus's shoulder. Albus turned around and saw his dad, wearing the same forlorn look all the students were wearing. “Dad,” he said, “Were you at the match?” “Yeah, I was sitting with Lily,” Harry nodded, “Have you seen James?” “Haven't seen him since right after the match. He went into the changing rooms. Actually, I haven't seen Teddy either. Maybe he's with James.” “Merlin, I hope so,” Harry ran a hand through his hair, “I've checked everywhere I can think of. Makes me wish I hadn't given him the map.” “You can use mine,” Albus suggested, “But I want to go with you.” “All right,” Harry said, “Let's go.” Albus said goodbye to his friends and walked up to Gryffindor Tower with his dad. He ran up to his dormitory once he was there and retrieved the map. The dormitory was empty, so Albus and his dad looked at it there. They scoured the Hogwarts section of the map for nearly five minutes before coming to the conclusion that James was no longer in the school. “Bloody hell,” Harry muttered, “Where did he go?” Albus pressed the number two in the corner of the map with his wand and the map of Hogsmeade appeared. This one was a bit more difficult to search than the Hogwarts one had been. Most of the Hogwarts students had been in the Great Hall. Everyone was spread out in Hogsmeade. Two dots made Albus freeze. Two dots were in the Shrieking Shack. A closer look told him they were Teddy and James. Albus gasped. Why were they there? How did they get in for that matter? “Dad,” Albus pointed to the Shrieking Shack. “The Shrieking Shack?” Harry shouted and stood up. Albus followed him out of the dormitory and then out of the common room. “How'd they get in?” Albus asked once they were walking through the corridors. “Teddy knows the counter-charm for those wards,” Harry muttered. “Why?” “Everyone who goes through Auror training learns a very large variety of counter-charms. One of them was bound to work on that tree. Now, he wasn't supposed to use them outside of training, so I really have no clue what he was thinking,” Harry explained It had gotten cold and windy outside since the match, which really made Albus wonder why Teddy and James would go to the Shrieking Shack of all places. The decrepit old building had no heat, for Merlin's sake. Albus dodged a branch from the Whomping Willow as they neared it. Harry aimed his wand at the bottom and muttered the counter-charm. Then he froze the tree. Albus hurried after him into the passageway. The walk to the Shrieking Shack was brisk and silent. Albus, who had been on the receiving end of many a lecture from his dad, knew that both Teddy and James were going to get one once they made it to the Shack. Harry carefully opened the door and walked into the quiet old building. Hushed voices could be heard from the back room. Albus followed his dad back there. Teddy and James were both sitting on the floor. James looked a complete mess, still wearing his muddy Quidditch robes and his face was all blotchy. Teddy didn't look much better, although his robes were a bit cleaner. “Teddy. James,” Harry said sternly when he entered, “What in the name of Merlin's pants are you doing in this place?” Both boys snapped their heads up at the sound of Harry's voice. “Trying to convince James not to make the biggest mistake of his life,” Teddy muttered. “That sounds a bit overdramatic,” Harry said. “He wants to quit the Quidditch team,” Teddy said dryly. “That is the most idiotic thing I've heard,” Albus shouted, “You can't do that!” “Albus,” Harry warned. Albus shut his mouth, but he still thought the very idea of James quitting the team was mental. They'd have no hope of ever beating New York, let alone Australia, without James. “Twenty minutes, Dad,” James said in barely more than a whisper, “Twenty minutes.” “We've all had our bad matches,” Harry said quietly as he sat down next to James, “I fell off my broom in my third year and lost a match.” “Because of the dementors,” James muttered, “There weren't any dementors at this match.” “James, I'm afraid everyone has made you out to be the unbeatable Seeker. Todd's commentary today proved that. The stakes are set so high with you that when you do lose a match, it completely shocks everyone. It's kind of unfair, actually, because nobody can win every match,” Harry replied, “You're not the unbeatable Seeker, I'm afraid. And running away will get you nowhere.” “I suppose,” James sighed. “You're playing New York next,” Harry reminded him, “They lost to Australia sooner than we did. I think you have a chance at catching the Snitch then.” “I guess,” James replied. “So you won't quit?” Albus asked, unable to keep quiet any longer. “No,” James said. “Good. Because Lisa Galivant is nowhere near as good as you. You're the best Seeker Hogwarts has got,” Albus told him. “Thanks, Al,” James gave him a half-smile, “Too bad Australia's got a better one.” Albus nodded, wishing that he could just tell James why Linda was so good. But he had sort of promised Rose he wouldn't.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 13 January 2010 11 07 10 am    Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden Chapter 18: Advanced Lessons Much to Albus's surprise, the anamatek was still sitting in Balladanis's classroom the next class. Albus really thought Kendrick would have made him get rid of it. The class continued practicing on it and after a few sessions with it, Albus got used to the fact that it was an anamatek. As long as it didn't turn into a dementor or a chimaera or something else really dangerous, Albus didn't mind. Practicing on the anamatek was a lot like practicing dueling anyway. That's how Albus saw it. Defense classes were beginning to be a lot like dueling practice. Albus was very happy about this, especially since the next dueling tournament was quickly upon him. It took place on a Saturday in the middle of November, the day before the second inter-school dueling tournament. "Nice to see that you actually showed up today, Potter," Malfoy smirked as Albus and Amanda sat down at their team table. "Shut it, Malfoy," Lynley Anderson said as she walked past Albus, "Or you won't duel in the next tournament." Malfoy scowled and Albus smiled to himself. He sat down and looked to the front of the room. The usual dueling rings were set up and Neville was standing in front of one. Balladanis was standing in front of the other one. He must have been chosen to be the other professor in charge of the dueling club since Albus's dad left. The tournament began a short while later and Albus sat back to wait for his turn. As much as Albus loved dueling, he couldn't stand having to wait while everyone else dueled. He couldn't wait until he was a fifth year and could try out for the regular dueling club. The teams were much smaller for that and Albus would get to duel more during each tournament. If he made the team, that is. "Albus Potter and Kaden Dursley," Balladanis announced. Albus looked up and stared at him. Kaden? Albus turned to gape at Amanda, who shrugged. Albus was going to have to duel Kaden? Albus had yet to duel any of his cousins. Albus got up and walked towards the ring. Kaden was already there when he arrived. Albus and Kaden bowed to each other and then raised their wands. "Begin," Balladanis said. "Expelliarmus!" Albus shouted and pointed his wand at Kaden while silently apologizing to him. He really didn't want to duel Kaden. Kaden's wand flew from his hand and Albus caught it. Albus looked up at Balladanis. Balladanis was looking at Albus with his piercing stare and Albus quickly looked away. "Point to Potter," Balladanis said without taking his eyes off Albus. Albus handed Kaden back his wand and went back to his team's table. Lynley and Amanda congratulated him and he sat back down. "I can't believe they had you duel Kaden," Amanda giggled. Albus shrugged. It hadn't been much of a fight. Albus rarely had trouble dueling anyone during the tournaments. The only person who Albus ever had difficulty dueling was Malfoy, and he was on Albus's team. Albus wasn't really thinking much about having to duel Kaden. He couldn't get the look Balladanis had given him out of his mind. It was sort of like the looks he'd received in class, only more intimidating. There was a hint of curiosity mixed in with something Albus couldn't describe. It was almost like he was trying to read Albus's mind, but Albus had had enough experience with that to know that Balladanis wasn't doing it. Malfoy was up next and he dueled James. It was a very fast-paced and exciting duel. In the end, Malfoy managed to disarm James. Albus had no idea how he felt about this. Part of him was happy that his team got the point, but on the other hand, the thought of his brother losing to Malfoy was rather unsettling. James had a mutinous look on his face as he grabbed his wand out of Malfoy's outstretched hand. He stormed back to his table without a second glance at Malfoy or Balladanis. Albus looked back to Balladanis and saw him giving Malfoy the same odd look he had given Albus earlier. Albus had no idea what to make of that. Balldanis hadn't looked at anyone else like that. The next person Albus dueled was a bit more challenging, but Albus still disarmed her within three minutes. She was a fourth year Ravenclaw who had the reputation of being the smartest of all the fourth years. Balladanis gave Albus the same strange look as he awarded him the point. Albus quickly gave the girl back her wand and went back to his table. Albus's team narrowly won the tournament. Lynley congratulated everyone and said the entire team had improved greatly since the last tournament. Albus and Amanda got up and joined the throngs of people leaving the room. They headed up to the common room, where they had agreed to meet their friends after the tournament. "Good job," John said as he sat down next to Albus. "Thanks," Albus smiled. "Yeah," Kaden agreed, "I mean, you beat me pretty quickly." "Albus is the best dueler out of all of us," Matt said as he joined them. "Balladanis was certainly interested," John said, "What was up with him looking at you like that?" "I dunno," Albus said, "It was really odd." "He was looking at Malfoy like that, too," Rose said as she and Linda sat down. "I'll bet it's because you're both such good duelers," Matt replied, "I hate to admit it, but Malfoy is really good." "Did you see James's face after Malfoy beat him?" John laughed, "That was pretty funny." "I don't think James would agree with you," Albus smirked. "Well, we should probably do some homework," Rose said. Everyone groaned but nobody disagreed. Albus went up to his dormitory and returned with his books. He cracked open his Herbology book and started an essay that was due on Tuesday. "You're from Australia, aren't you?" Albus's head snapped up. Linda was staring curiously at Matt, whose eyes were darting about. Everyone else was now staring at Linda. Albus didn't think he had ever heard her talk outside of class. "Er, why do you think that?" Matt asked nervously. "The other day after Defense, you mentioned that your dad hadn't seen an anamatek even though he worked down there," Linda explained. "Oh, yeah," Matt muttered, "I did used to live there." "Why did you move?" Linda asked. "My dad's job," Matt said. "Oh," Linda replied, "Well, if you hadn't, we could have gone to school together." Matt mumbled something under his breath. "What?" Linda asked. "Nothing," Matt said and closed his book, "I'm, er, going to the library." Albus closed his own book and got up to follow Matt, but he had already left. Albus sighed and looked at Rose, who was slowly shaking her head. That was exactly why Matt had wanted to stay away from Linda and Albus couldn't blame him. The rest of the afternoon was spent in silence in the common room. Albus managed to finish his Herbology essay just before dinner. He had no idea if Matt actually went to the library, but found him in the Great Hall at dinner. He made no mention of what Linda had said, so Albus didn't bring it up. Albus only had enough time to eat a quick dinner anyway, because he had Quidditch practice afterwards. ****** "All right, that's enough for today," Balladanis announced as the bell rang the following Tuesday, "Leave your essays on my desk on your way out." Albus stowed his wand in his robes and rummaged around in his bag for his essay. For some reason, Balladanis always collected essays at the end of class. Albus had no idea why. All the other teachers collected them at the beginning, presumably to prevent students from frantically scribbling their essay during class the day it was due. That would be impossible in Balladanis's class, though. "Potter, Malfoy!" Balldanis shouted, "Please see me before you leave." "Looks like you're getting extra help, too," John laughed, "Welcome to the club." "Somehow I doubt that," Matt replied, "Albus was the only one to cause that anamatek to fly halfway across the room today. Well, besides Malfoy." Albus shrugged and muttered that he'd meet them in Herbology. His heart started beating a bit faster as he placed his essay on the pile and stood in front of Balladanis's desk. Why did he want to see him anyway? Could Balladanis really think he needed extra help? Malfoy tossed his essay onto the pile and then leaned up on Balladanis's desk as he watched the rest of the class leave. "Stand up, Malfoy," Balladanis said as he shut the anamatek's trunk and walked over to his desk. Malfoy jumped and quickly stood up straight. Albus stifled a laugh and turned to Balladanis, whose face was expressionless. Balladanis walked over to the door, shut it, and returned to his desk. "I couldn't help but notice that both of you won both of your duels last Saturday." "I always win both of my duels," Malfoy said pompously. "I thought so," Balladanis replied, ignoring Malfoy's less than respectful tone, "I'm assuming the same goes for you, Mr. Potter?" "Yes, sir," Albus nodded. "Have either of you ever been defeated in a duel before?" "I've disarmed Potter during practice," Malfoy smirked. "And I've disarmed you, Malfoy," Albus rolled his eyes. "Any other times?" Balladanis asked. Albus opened his mouth, but Balladanis interrupted him. "During the dueling tournaments, Mr. Potter. I have heard about your altercation with Jameson Washburn, Jarret Willinson, and his son." "No other times," Albus replied. "I could have defeated Washburn," Malfoy announced. "I sincerely doubt that," Balladanis said, much to Albus's delight, "But that is not what I have asked to discuss with you. I have noticed, both in class and during dueling tournaments, that the two of you seem to possess exceptional skill when it comes to dueling. You're dueling skill appears to be much higher than the third or even fourth year level. "Therefore, I would like to train both of you privately. There is only so much you can learn in a large group with those whose skill is less than your own. I will be able to teach you spells you wouldn't normally learn until fourth or fifth year. Are either of you interested?" "Of course," Malfoy said immediately. Albus couldn't believe it. His family and friends always told him he was an excellent dueler, but somehow having Balladanis tell him meant more. Balladanis was incredibly hard to please, and not only did he think Albus was a great dueler, he was offering to teach him more advanced spells. That was incredibly exciting. Albus would be able to learn spells that James hadn't learned yet. "Yes, I'd like that," Albus grinned, thinking it would be brilliant to beat James in a duel. "I shall see you on Friday at eight, then," Balladanis told them, "After I am done tutoring the less skillful in your class." He pulled out two pieces of paper and scribbled onto both of them. "Give these to your teachers, as you are quite late to class by now. Get out of here." Albus took his note and left the room feeling that Friday was an incredibly long time away. Private dueling lessons. He couldn't wait. Sure, they'd be with Malfoy, but Albus was willing to put up with him in order to learn advanced spells. Albus hurried to Herbology, but the class was already well into that day's lesson by the time he arrived. He handed his note to Neville and then sat down next to Matt, who was shoveling dirt into an empty pot. "What did Balladanis want?" Matt asked. "You're never going to believe this," Albus said as he pulled on his gloves, "Balladanis wants to give Malfoy and me private dueling lessons. He wants to teach us advanced spells that we wouldn't normally learn until fourth or fifth year." "You're kidding," Matt said in awe. "Nope," Albus grinned. "But why?" Matt asked, "Did he say why he's teaching you?" "Just because he thinks we're good duelers, I guess." "Well, you are a good dueler, Albus," Matt agreed, "When do you start?" "Friday at eight. Right after your help session, actually," Albus answered. "I'm not going to the help session this week," Matt lowered his voice, "And you'll be having loads more fun than me." "Oh, right," Albus whispered, remembering that the full moon was Friday night, "I'll let you know how it goes, though." After Herbology was over, Albus told John, Rose, and Amanda about Balladanis's dueling lessons and then had to repeat it to Kaden when they ate lunch. All of them were excited about it, especially Kaden. Albus suspected he was a bit jealous, too. The remainder of the week seemed to creep by at a flobberworm's pace. It wasn't like Albus didn't have anything to keep him busy, but he just couldn't think about anything other than the dueling lesson. "Albus, you've got to stop tapping your quill," Rose said shortly, "It's driving me mad." Albus and his friends were in the Marauder's Den. It was Friday evening and dinner had just ended. Albus was trying to concentrate on homework, but it wasn't working. Rose and Amanda were both reading. Linda had mysteriously disappeared after her last class and Rose and Amanda had been with Albus and the other boys ever since. John and Kaden were discussing a prank that involved charming gobstones to follow the Aurors and prefects around as they patrolled the corridors. Rose had already advised against this, but John and Kaden didn't listen. Matt was laying on the couch with his eyes closed, but he wasn't asleep. John and Kaden kept asking him things and he'd respond with very short answers. "Sorry," Albus muttered and dropped his quill. "So where's Linda tonight?" John asked. "I dunno," Rose shrugged, "She didn't look that great today, though." "Then she's probably sucking some animal's blood in the forest," Matt announced. "Well, there's a lovely picture," Kaden said loudly, "Linda biting the neck of some helpless animal and sucking the life out of it. Think of all the blood. It must get all over her face and neck. That's pretty gross." "Thanks for that image, Kaden," Matt replied. "It's better than her sucking human blood," Rose pointed out. "That's true," Kaden agreed, "So, should we fill the gobstones with stink sap before we charm them?" "Of course!" John grinned. "And that's my cue to leave," Matt sat up slowly and rubbed his head, "I'll see you lot tomorrow, probably." "Yeah, we'll see you in the morning," Albus assured him. "Have fun," Kaden said. "Fun," Matt muttered on his way out, "That's a word I've never used to describe it." "We'd better go, too," Amanda said. "Yeah, time to go sit through an extra Defense lesson," John groaned as he stood up. "I thought you didn't mind them," Rose said. "I don't. They just get old after a while," John sighed as he and Amanda left. Albus worked on his homework for the next hour, mainly because there wasn't anything else to do. Rose was working on her own homework and didn't seem to want to do anything else. The hour dragged by at an incredibly slow rate, but eventually Albus packed up his books, said goodbye to Rose, and left for Balladanis's room. The door was half-way open when Albus arrived. He took a deep breath, suddenly overcome by nerves, and knocked lightly. There was no answer. Albus pushed the door open and walked very slowly inside. The room was dim. The only light stemmed from a few torches lit on the walls. It was obviously the same classroom he had Defense class in, but it looked completely different in the evening. There wasn't anyone left in the room from the extra Defense lesson earlier. Albus had passed John and Amanda in the corridor. They both wished him good luck. Albus looked around the room and saw the trunk that contained the anamatek sitting unnaturally still in front of Balladanis's desk. Balladanis himself was also sitting unnaturally still at his desk. He stared directly into Albus's eyes and Albus, remembering the Occlumency lessons he received two years prior, quickly averted his own eyes and began to close his mind. "You know Occlumency, Mr. Potter," Balladanis said not as a question, but as a statement. Albus nodded as Balladanis slowly rose from his chair and walked around to the front of his desk. Albus took a step back and nearly collided with the front table. He swallowed nervously and kept his eyes off of Balladanis. Albus had always been a little wary of Balladanis, but now he had to admit that he was a bit scared. The only way for Balladanis to know that Albus had been practicing Occlumency was if he had actually been performing Legilimency. Albus had enough experience with teachers performing Legilimency on him and he didn't want to do go through that again. The only thing Albus was thinking about then was how he could leave the room without Balladanis getting suspicious. He wished he had a Puking Pastille or something in his pocket. "Who taught you?" Balladanis asked. "My Aunt Hermione," Albus muttered. He wondered where Malfoy was. That had to be the first and probably only time he would ever wish Malfoy to be present. "Hermione Weasley," Balladanis mused, "Yes, she is one of the most accomplished Occlumenses of her generation." Albus's head snapped towards the door as he heard footsteps enter the room. He breathed a sigh of relief and had to stifle a laugh at the fact that he was happy Malfoy was in the room. "Mr. Malfoy, you're late," Balladanis said. "Sorry, sir," Malfoy muttered. "Sit down," Balladanis pointed to the front table. Albus turned around and sat as quickly as he could in one of the chairs. Malfoy took his time in sauntering over and sat in the chair next to him. "Mr. Potter. Mr. Malfoy," Balladanis began to pace in front of them, "By now I am sure you are both aware of my stance on the Dark Arts. If not, I suggest paying a bit more attention in class. "You may also be aware of my devotion to helping the students who are struggling in my classes. I hold extra help sessions every single day after dinner. However, I also wish to help those who are truly talented to reach their true potential. "You two are the most talented duelers in the third year," Balladanis paused and looked at each of them in the eye, "I would argue that you are the most talented duelers amongst the students below fifth year. I would even wager that you could give a couple of the sixth years a run for their Galleons." Albus stared at Balladanis. He didn't think he was that good of a dueler. He knew he could beat most of the students in the Junior's Dueling Club, but sixth years? They were doing N.E.W.T. Defense classes. They knew spells Albus had never even heard of. "I wouldn't go picking fights with sixth years, though," Balladanis continued, "They know spells you do not. What I mean is that you have the talent to learn spells that the sixth years are learning. The spells I am currently teaching in class are incredibly simple for the two of you. What I hope to do is teach you spells that are more at your level. Now, stand up, the both of you. Let's see what you can do." Albus stood up and pulled out his wand. He had no idea what Balladanis wanted him to do. Would they be practicing on the anamatek? Balladanis waved his wand and the desks moved to the sides of the classroom. Another wave and the light increased. "I would like you to duel each other. Use any spell that you have learned in school. Do not use any spells you have picked up elsewhere. Madam Pomfrey would not be happy with me if I sent the two of you to the Hospital Wing with missing limbs. Keep going until I say to stop." Albus couldn't believe it. He was getting to duel Malfoy! He had been wanting to do that ever since Kendrick had first announced the dueling club. The little practice duels they did weren't really what he had wanted to do, though. Albus raised his wand and stared at Malfoy. Malfoy was smirking and pointing his wand at Albus. The two of them bowed and Albus took a step forward. "Petrificus Totalus!" Albus shouted and pointed his wand at Malfoy. Malfoy easily dodged the spell and sent a tickling hex at Albus. Albus threw up a shield and then tried to disarm Malfoy. Malfoy jumped onto a nearby desk and the spell collided with a chair which collapsed. The duel continued in this matter for quite some time. Albus tried as hard as he could to actually hit Malfoy with a spell, but Malfoy kept dodging and blocking them. It was driving Albus mad. He kept thinking of everything Malfoy had done to him in the past two years and how much he wanted to beat him in this duel. If he beat Malfoy, he'd have something on him for the rest of the year. "Expelliarmus!" Albus shouted for what must have been the tenth time. Malfoy dodged it and sent the same spell at Albus. Albus jumped and the spell hit Balladanis's desk. "That's enough!" Balladanis shouted. Albus lowered his wand and glared at Malfoy. Albus shoved his wand back in his robes and looked around to find a chair that remained intact. He found one and collapsed into it. That duel had been exhausting. "Well, that was certainly interesting," Balladanis gave a rare smile, "Not a scratch on either of you but my classroom has been destroyed. It seems that I was not premature in my judgment of your dueling skills. "Have either of you thought about what you want to do when you get out of Hogwarts?" Albus stared curiously at Balladanis. That was an abrupt change in conversation. Albus had never thought about life beyond Hogwarts. He was only thirteen. He never thought there was any need to think about it yet. "Er," Albus began, "Not really. I mean, I always thought being an Auror would be interesting." "Indeed it would," Balladanis said, "Your father certainly is happy with it. How about you, Mr. Malfoy?" "No idea," Malfoy replied. "There are many things you can do with dueling skills such as yours. I would suggest looking into it," Balladanis said. "But sir, we're only third years," Malfoy scoffed, "Isn't it a bit early?" "I already knew what I wanted to do at thirteen," Balladanis said quietly. "And what is that exactly?" Malfoy asked. Balladanis gave Malfoy the strangest look Albus had ever seen. It was a combination of sadness, anger, and pride. "I do not wish to discuss that," Balladanis said, "Perhaps you will find out someday. For now, I think it best we call it a night. If you wish to learn advanced spells, return at this time next week and we will begin." "I'll be here, sir," Malfoy said as he walked out the door. "Thanks, Professor," Albus said as he followed. "Mr. Potter," Balladanis said, "Please tell Mr. Eckerton that it will not do for him to skip his extra help sessions." "But sir," Albus looked at him incredulously, "You know what tonight is. He couldn't possibly have gone." "The moon didn't rise until after the session was over. I do not take excuses." Albus sighed to himself as he left. Balladanis had been teaching him for over two months and he still surprised Albus all the time. Albus had seen a different side of him that night. He did truly hate the Dark Arts, that was something Albus did not doubt. But he had also performed Legilimency on him. Albus didn't think he could ever trust a teacher that did that. Not after his experience with Washburn.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 6 January 2010 12 34 28 pm    Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden Chapter 17: The Anamatek In all the excitement of the possible sighting of Washburn in Hogsmeade, Albus nearly forgot about talking to Rose that evening. He was sitting in the common room trying to read his Defense Against the Dark Arts book when John prodded him. "What?" Albus looked up at John. "Linda just went to Quidditch practice," John gestured to the portrait hole, which just closed behind someone, "We can talk to Rose now." Albus nodded and closed his book. He had to admit that he was a bit nervous about telling Rose that Linda was a vampire. He had a feeling she wouldn't take it well. They were going to have to break this to her very nicely. It wasn't that Albus was worried that Rose would be upset that Linda was a vampire. Albus knew that wouldn't bother her in the slightest. It was the fact that Albus was the one who figured it out that he was worried about. Albus fully expected Rose to deny that Linda was a vampire for the sole reason that she hadn't figured it out herself. "I guess we'd better," Albus said as he got up. He glanced around the common room and his eyes rested on the table Rose and Amanda were sitting at. Albus walked over to her table with Matt, John, and Kaden following. The two girls looked to be working on homework. "Rose," Albus sat down next to her, "We need to talk to you about something." Rose put down her quill and looked up. "Is it about Washburn? If you're worried about him coming back, don't be. He can't get into the castle." "It's not about him," Albus sighed, although he had a feeling Washburn could get into the castle if he wanted. "Then what?" Rose said shortly. "It's about Linda-" "Then I don't want to hear it," Rose interrupted. "Rose, it's important," Albus insisted, "Just come talk to us." "No," Rose said a bit louder, "I know you lot don't like her, but I do. And I don't need you telling me who I can and can't be friends with." "That's not what we're going to tell you," Albus groaned, "There's just something about her you should know." "Just talk to them, Rose," Amanda said, "To be honest, I'm sick of you ignoring them." Rose looked a bit taken aback. "All right, fine." She shoved her books into her bag a bit harder than necessary and stood up. Albus said nothing but lead everyone out of the common room. Nobody said a word until they were in the Marauder's Den. Rose sat in one of the chairs and folded her arms across her chest. "What?" she asked, "What do you possibly have to tell me?" Albus glanced at Matt, who nodded. Albus took a deep breath. "Linda is a vampire," he said quietly. Rose's mouth fell open and then she burst out laughing. "Are you bloody insane? How in the name of Merlin did you possibly come up with that stupid idea?" Albus groaned. "It's not a stupid idea. It's true. And Matt told us." Rose rolled her eyes and glared at Matt. "Of course. You're the one who hates Linda the most." "Rose, it's true!" Matt insisted, "Do you honestly think that I would just randomly claim someone was a vampire? For all the differences between vampires and werewolves, they both get discriminated against." "Oh, I don't know. Maybe because you want me to stop being friends with her?" Rose shouted. "Well, that would be stupid of me because I know you wouldn't stop being friends with her because of that," Matt said quietly, "After all, you're friends with me. Or at least you used to be." "I still am," Rose whispered. Albus smiled to himself. That was promising. Maybe their friendship wasn't totally destroyed. "But don't you lot think that if Linda was a vampire, I would have figured it out?" Rose asked, "I mean, I was the only one to figure out that Matt's a werewolf." "How much do you know about vampires, Rose?" Albus asked. "Er, not much, I guess," Rose said sheepishly, "But still, how do you know?" Albus opened his bag and pulled out his Defense book. He tossed it at Rose. "Read the bit about vampires." Rose caught the book and opened it up. She began to read it with Amanda reading over her shoulder. A few minutes later, Rose set the book down. Her face was pale. "You're right," she whispered and then turned to Matt, "Is that why you don't like her?" "Sort of," Matt shrugged, "It's not the fact that she's a vampire. It's the fact that she knows I'm a werewolf." "Oh," Rose nodded, "And she's from Australia and Killigan doesn't like werewolves. I get it. But, wait, how come Killigan lets Linda go to school but he wouldn't let you?" "No idea," Matt sighed, "It's a mystery." The room descended into an awkward silence and Albus looked at all of his friends. Rose still looked a little shocked and Amanda did as well. "So," Albus began, "Are you going to keep ignoring us, Rose?" "Are you going to let Linda come in here?" Rose asked. "No way," Albus, Matt, John, and Kaden said at once. Rose sighed. "Fine. I've missed you lot, but I am still going to spend time with Linda. I guess I'll just split my time, then." Albus grinned. "Good. But next Hogsmeade trip, you're coming with us." ****** Over the next couple of weeks, Rose and Amanda began spending more and more time with Albus and the other boys. Albus was thrilled about it, especially since after a few days passed, it was like Rose and Matt hadn't rowed at all. Nobody ever brought up the topic of Linda, though. Rose and Amanda both spent time with Linda, usually in the library, but Albus didn't particularly mind. He kind of liked having time to spend just with Matt, John, and Kaden. John and Kaden found it increasingly difficult to pull pranks due to the fact that Hogwarts was being patrolled by more Aurors since the Washburn sighting. Teachers, prefects, and the head boy and girl were also patrolling more often than they used to. Albus was secretly happy about this since he had an increasing fear of Washburn breaking into his dormitory to steal the Invisibility Cloak. John and Kaden, on the other hand, came back to the common room ranting about how they couldn't pull off some prank or the other due to an Auror or prefect finding them. Matt didn't seem to have an opinion on the subject and Albus suspected he would be happy so long as Killigan stayed away from him. The next Quidditch match was in the beginning of December, and although that was still a month away, Wood increased practice to three days a week instead of two. Wood was especially tough on James since the next match would be between Hogwarts and Australia. Wood was determined to beat Australia and that meant James would have to try and fly faster than Linda. Teddy was working with him one on one during all the practices. The next junior dueling tournament was coming up as well and Albus was determined to actually duel during this one. He didn't care if both his legs were broken, he would still go. Between his various practices and classes, Albus didn't have much time for anything else. All his teachers were increasing the work load, especially Balladanis. He started packing more and more into each lesson and had begun assigning weekly essays. And since all the lessons were practical, Albus had to read the book to do the essays. There were no notes from class to use. Albus and the rest of the students no longer bothered taking their books and parchment out at the beginning of class. In fact, the majority of Albus's class didn't even bother sitting down. Albus wondered why Balladanis even bothered to put the desks back at the end of class, since he had yet to hear of any of the years having an actual lecture in that class. Due to this, Albus was completely shocked when Balladanis told the class to sit down at the beginning of Defense in the beginning of November. Albus turned to Matt and John, who looked equally surprised. Balladanis, on the other hand, was acting like this was perfectly normal. Albus sat down in between Matt and John amongst the whispering of the rest of the class. Balladanis stood in front of his desk and looked out at the students. There was a large trunk in front of him which reminded Albus of the first day of class. But why would Balladanis bring a Boggart back to class? Matt told Albus that Balladanis wasn't even using Boggarts in his help sessions anymore. "Today's lesson will be part lecture," Balladanis announced, "The reason for this being that the particular creature we are studying today is not in your text book." The class erupted in more whispering and Albus distinctly heard Rose gasp. "Settle down," Balladanis said, "The creature is not in your book because it is extremely rare and most wizards will go their entire lives without ever encountering one. Because of this, it is not normally in a third year curriculum. The creature is usually studied in advanced N.E.W.T. Defense Against the Dark Arts only. I however, believe this creature is extremely beneficial to third year defense and am adding it in, despite the fact that it is not in your book." Albus was on the edge of his seat now. He was staring directly at the trunk in front of Balladanis, where the creature probably resided. It couldn't be that dangerous, could it? Otherwise, Balladanis wouldn't have brought one. Although, there wasn't much that Balladanis could do that would actually surprise Albus. He was a very odd teacher. "The creature I am talking about is an anamatek," Balladanis said as he began pacing back and forth in front of the trunk. He stopped in front of Rose, Amanda, and Linda's table. "Does anyone know what an anamatek is?" Albus had never heard of one in his life. Rose didn't put her hand up either. The only hand in the class that went up was Linda's. "Yes, Miss Morales," Balladanis said. "An anamatek is a shape-shifter, but it is different from a boggart. anamateks are forced to change into whatever form the wizard controlling them wants," Linda explained. "Correct," Balladanis began pacing again, "anamateks are very strong and powerful creatures. It takes a very strong and powerful witch or wizard to control them. Not many are able to do so. But if a witch or wizard can, the anamatek must transform into whatever form the wizard wants. "This of course is very dangerous if a dark wizard gets hold of one. Can you imagine if Voldemort had been able to control a few anamateks and had them transform into chimaeras?" The entire room was silent. Albus shivered at the thought of an army of chimaeras, especially in the hands of Voldemort. "Luckily for us, anamateks are extremely rare and the majority of wizards can't control one, let alone an army of them. The few anamateks that exist in the world reside in warm climates and they prefer to stay hidden amongst trees or bushes. Anamateks are rarely sighted in Britain and I would guess that there aren't more than four or five in the entire country. They are a bit more common in warmer climates such as the Southwestern United States, Latin America, South America, Africa, and Australia. However, you could search all of these countries extensively and never come across one. "Anamateks do not like wizards because they do not want to be controlled. Not only can wizards control what the anamatek turns into, they can also make it do whatever they please. When they are not controlled, they can turn into whatever they like and usually choose a particularly dangerous creature in order to dissuade wizards from capturing them. They cannot, however, turn into humans, for the most part. There are exceptions to that. Certain powerful witches and wizards have had success turning them into humans, but they do not act like humans. No anamatek can turn into a human on its own." Balladanis paused and stopped next to his trunk. "I have captured an anamatek. I captured it many years ago and it has been under my control ever since. Having an anamatek at my disposal provides a great learning opportunity for all of you. Can anyone guess why?" Rose's hand shot into the air. "Yes, Miss Weasley," Balladanis said. "You can have it turn into whatever we're studying and we can learn to fight it instead of having to fight a real one. That way, you can control what its doing and none of us will get hurt," Rose answered. "Correct," Balladanis said, "Before class, I performed a spell which caused the anamatek to turn into a kappa, which I hope you are all aware that we are currently studying. When I say so, get up and form a line in front of my desk. You will be performing the spell you learned last class to try and repel the anamatek, which is going to look and act exactly like a kappa." "Sir?" Malfoy raised his hand. "Yes, Mr. Malfoy?" "Sir, are you going to tell us the spell to bring an anamatek under a wizard's control?" "No, Mr. Malfoy, I am not," Balladanis said darkly, "First, it's not just one spell, it is a set of extremely difficult spells, beyond N.E.W.T. level. Second, there is much debate as to whether the spells are Dark Magic or not. Third, it would be pointless since none of you would have the capability of performing such magic and will likely never have the opportunity to perform it. Fourth, the headmaster would not be happy if I did so. I will also not sign any notes to admit any of you into the Restricted Section of the library to research the spells." Malfoy scowled at this and Albus stifled a laugh. It didn't surprise him in the slightest that Malfoy would want to learn the spells. Albus was extremely curious as to how Balladanis managed to perform them, and how he had come across the anamatek in the first place. Albus doubted that he would tell that story, though. Balladanis never talked about his past. "Everyone get up!" Balladanis shouted. Albus hastily stood up and watched as the rest of the class did the same. Rose and Linda shoved their notes into their bags, but nobody else had bothered to take notes. The thought hadn't even crossed Albus's mind. He was so used to not taking notes in Defense. Balladanis moved the tables to the sides of the room and Albus joined the queue forming in front of the trunk. He stood on his tip-toes and peered around John to try and catch a glimpse of the anamatek when it emerged from the trunk. Balladanis pointed his wand at the trunk and it shot open. Nothing happened for a few seconds and then a slimy, scaly kappa crept up over the top of the trunk and climbed out. It stretched out its webbed hand and started towards Janie Creevey, who was first in the line. Janie held up her wand and muttered the spell. The kappa was shot back towards the trunk and Balladanis nodded at Janie. She stepped to the side and Karina walked forward as the kappa recovered. The queue moved forward and Albus was able to get a good look at the anamatek. It looked exactly like a kappa. If Albus didn't know any better, he would say that it was a real kappa. Balladanis made everyone perform the spell until they could do it successfully. Rose and Linda got it on their first tries, but Amanda had a bit of trouble. Albus had a feeling she would be working with the anamatek in her next extra help session. John managed to have success on his first try and he stepped to the side and Albus stepped forward. The anamatek crept towards Albus, who held up his wand. Kappas didn't really scare him in the slightest, yet his heart had begun pounding faster. The anamatek is what scared him a bit. The thing had the potential to change into something dangerous like a chimaera at any moment. How much control did Balladanis really have over the thing? Albus shouted the spell and the anamatek was thrown back against the trunk and landed with a loud crack. "Very good, Mr. Potter," Balladanis smiled ever so slightly, "A few of the rest of you might wish to take note of the force Mr. Potter put behind his spell. A determined kappa would have been able to recover very quickly from most of your spells. Mr. Potter, on the other hand, would have been able to escape if this had been a real kappa." Matt's turn was next and Albus stood next to John to watch him. The kappa was only slightly deterred by Matt's first spell and he had to try about three times to get it to work. "Now I know what Balladanis is going to have me do tomorrow night," Matt whispered to Albus as they watched Malfoy take on the kappa. Malfoy sent the kappa slamming into the trunk with almost as much force as Albus had, earning him a slight smile from Balladanis as well. "Where in the name of Merlin did Balladanis get that thing?" John exclaimed after they'd left the classroom. "No idea," Albus shrugged, "But I wish he'd tell us." "He won't," Matt sighed. "I know, but I still want to know," John said, "And what did he do for a living before this? I mean, I don't think teachers normally come upon anamateks." "Probably not. I don't think my dad has ever seen one and he's an Auror," Albus pointed out. "They are extremely rare in Britain," Rose ran up next to Albus, "I bet Balladanis lived in some other country before he started teaching here. Africa or Australia or one of those places where anamateks are more common." "Yeah, but they're not exactly common in those places either. My dad hasn't seen one either and he worked with magical creatures in Australia for years," Matt said. "I'm surprised Kendrick lets him have that thing in the school," Amanda said. "I doubt Kendrick knows about it," Albus replied. If Kendrick hadn't known about the anamatek before, he most likely did by the end of the day. The entire school was buzzing about it. Apparently Balladanis had not only shown it to his third years, but second and fourth through seventh years as well. The common room was filled with chatter about it after dinner, as well as extremely jealous first years. Lily, Hugo, and Ashtyn whined about not being able to see it. "Are you ready for Quidditch practice, Al?" Georgia said to Albus as Lily and her friends left. Albus looked up. Georgia's face was white and she looked more than a little scared. Albus stared at her curiously. "Yeah. But, Georgia, are you ok?" "I'll be fine," she assured him, "Balladanis had that anamatek thing turn into a dementor during class right before dinner. We spent the entire class trying to cast Patronuses against it. Let me tell you, that anamatek was just like a dementor." Georgia closed her eyes and shuddered. "You should have some chocolate," Albus told her and pulled a chocolate frog out of his bag. He tossed it to her. Georgia caught it and ripped it open. "Thanks. Let's go find James." Albus said goodbye to his friends and went to go find James with Georgia. He felt a bit unsettled that Balladanis had used the anamatek as a dementor. Having it turn into a kappa was one thing, but a dementor? They were really dangerous. As far as Albus knew, the Patronus charm wasn't actually practiced on dementors until Auror training. Part of Albus hoped that Kendrick would ban the anamatek from the school before he started learning the Patronus charm in seventh year.
Scellanis Joined: 11 September 2002 Posts: 6457 Location: Pretending to be a sea slug with 'go faster' stripes...	Posted: Sunday 13 December 2009 11 39 14 am    Post subject: Re: Introductions and FAQ's in topic:Introductions and FAQ's Hello!! I think I'm slightly late but Welcome to BaO!! *waves wand and makes Sorting Hat shaped Christmas chocolates fall from the ceiling*
salemboy Joined: 20 May 2008 Posts: 1762 Location: Enjoying being a Senior whilst my friends merely become Juniors.	Posted: Sunday 6 December 2009 04 57 53 am    Post subject: Re: RPG: The Six Wizards in topic:RPG: The Six Wizards After gathering his supplies- his potions jacket, his wand, and a water bottle- Damien stepped out the door into the hallway. He could see Yuki moving from room to room, gathering dirty clothes as she went. She stopped in front of Damien. "Does Master Damien wish for me to clean his room?" she squeaked. Nodding, Damien stepped aside for the house-elf to enter. With haste, Yuki went in and began setting about to cleaning. Closing the door behind him, Damien went down the stairs to the room with the large painting. Ouki was waiting there. "Are the others awake?" he asked her.
Ms. Elsewhere Joined: 13 January 2008 Posts: 881 Location: In role play game of course!	Posted: Tuesday 1 December 2009 08 24 32 am    Post subject: Snape and Umbridge??? in topic:Snape and Umbridge??? Dare if you will to imagine what would happen if..... I just want to say as well, I do not own Harry Potter, but appreciate the opportunity to write fan ficiton about it at every chance! This happens to be my first finished one! yay! hope u like. x Professor Snape had just released his students from his class after holding them back for yet another display of incompitence. It was disturbing how he could sleep at night allowing students to graduate with such a dim understanding of the delicate art of Potions. Muttering to himself, he started to organise his desk before closing up the classroom for the day. As he did so, something caught his eye and nearly made his stomach turn. It was very large, and very pink. Professor Umbridge was sauntering into the classroom with one of her clipboards, a dreamy look on her face, and that annoying giggle escaping from otherwise pursed and sealed lips. She approached his desk. "Professor, I have just come down, as I have done with so many other of your collegues.." she paused, lookign for a moment exhausted ,and then returned to her dreamy cheery nature. "...to test your skills in your chosen area of expertise. I wonder if you could make this potion for me?" she put her clip board down and turned it so that the writing was upright for Professor Snape to read. He scanned the paper with a bored expression. Only his eyes lifted to acknowledge her request. "This is a complicated potion. And you plan to test it yourself?" he asked, his eyebrows raised. Professor Umbridge stood up straighter. "I do." she said matter-of-factly. Snape nodded and set about gathering the ingredients and tools necessary to make the potion. Within twenty minutes, the potion was brewed. "Impressive timing. But are you sure that it will be effective?" Professor Umbridge chimed. Snape held back an irritated groan. "Only one way to be sure." he said ,and poured a servign of the potion into a vial. He passed it to the Professor, who first took a sniff, and then, watching Snape, drank the whole potion in one gulp. She closed her eyes and waited. Then she opened them and looked at Snape. "I feel... different..." she swooned for a moment. Then with a look of recognition on her face she stared at Snape and tried to collect herself before nearly falling to the floor. Snape moved quickly around the desk, his cloak whipping behind him. He grabbed her shoulders but she would not look at him. She closed her eyes and turned her head away. "You know what it is?" he asked her quietly. She nodded furiously. Snape's mouth formed into a satisfied snarl. "Then I guess I failed your little test. But if you would just look at me.." he turned her face to him now and her eyes fluttered open. " YOu will find that I am exactly what you are looking for." he paused, watchign her the emotion behind her eyes change to admiration. "In a Potions master that is." he released her, and she swooned again, staring at him love struck. He looked at her with disgust. "Leave here now." he scoffed. Professor umbridge skippd out of the room like a child on the playground. If he were not Professor Snape, the man would have laughed. The potion would wear off in 24 hours. *************************** Harry was annoyed to be called to Umbridges office at such a late hour. She had taken over the school as was seriously taking every liberty. He reached the door of her office and knocked. Entering the room, he was so shocked with what he saw, he thought perhaps it was a terrible nightmare. All over the walls were pictures of Professor Snape. They had replaced the little cats she had there before. She was on the floor, her hair was a mess, her eyes were black and puffy from crying and her hands were black too from ink. The floor was littered with parchments that had been written on and scrunched up. She looked up at Harry and a look of hope replaced her look of dispair. "Oh harry! yes, yes.. you can help!" she dragged him to the floor and put a quill in his hand and some paper. "You know the perfect thing to say to someone you love. Please... waht shall I write? You see..." she said, leaning close to Harry, her breath smelled sweet like some kind of cherry drink. "I have never ever felt this way about anyone before. I am actcually a very picky person.. " she smiled to herself and rolled her eyes. "But I can't stop thinking about Professor Snape! what shall I do???" she grabbed Harry by the robes and pulled at him. Harry tried to unpry her hands, but it was useless. He spoke instead. "Professor, you're ... you can't mean... Professor Snape.. that you ... did you say you like him?" "I love him! I can't live without him. But I can't go and see him.. he has expelled me from his presense!!!" she wailed. Harry couldn't help but smile at the display of emotion. She was obviously under the influence of some kind of spell. harry decided it would be fun to exploit it. "Wait here." he said, and gently pushed Umbridge away from him. He stood up and left the room, hurrying back to Griffindor tower where he woke up Hermione and Ron. "You're not going to believe this, but Snape has put a love spell on Umbridge." Harry confided. "Are you sure?" Hermione yawned. "Bloody Hell..." said Ron. "That's brillant! But why would he do that?" "I don't know! But dont' you think it would be fun to send Umbridge back to him? i don't know how long it will last, and it would be great to see Snape's little prank backfire." Harry looked from Hermione to Ron. "I'm going back to bed, u are evil, Harry Potter." Hermione groaned. "I'm in. What's the plan?" Ron said, leaning in closer. ********************************** Professor Snape was sound asleep in a self induced dreamless slumber when something woke him. The room was very very dark, as he liked it, but someone was there. He reached for his wand. "Lumus!" he called out. His wand lit up, and revealed the intruder. He groaned. "Didn't I tell you to leave me alone?" He was embarrassed to see she was wearing some sort of see through nightgown. He rolled his eyes. This was not good. "I couldn't stop thinking about you! Please, don't reject me! YOu are my first love! I have never felt like this before!" Umbridge started to walk forward, her arms out to him. Snape pulled his blanket up a bit more. "Nore will you feel this way again. Come. Let us have a drink." he pushed his blankets off and stalked over to his cupboard where some vials were kept. He took out two cups and then started to look for the right mixture. Before he could get organised, he felt Umbridge tap him on the back. He turned around and looked down. She was impossibly short. She looked up at him adoringly. "couldn't you just, hold me for a little while? " she chimed. Snape stared at her. She smiled sickenly. He reached out and patted her on the shoulder. He turned to continue making the drink but she wrapped her arms around him, pinning his arms to his sides. "Oh I love you! I love you!!!" she stared to scream. Snape could barely remove her from the grip. He bumped into the cabinet and sent several vials crashing to the floor. He cursed. "Woman, look what you made me do!" he yelled, shrugging out of her hold. She stepped back, her hands still out, her face stricken. "I'm so sorry!" she ran for him again, and held him. He stood there as limply as he could. She sobbed into his night shirt. In the corner, Ron and harry snickered under the invisibility cloak. "Look, it's okay. Here, sit on the bed." he brought her over to the bed and set her down. She gathered up the blankets and brought them to her face, breathing them in. harry almost fell over. Ron whispered. "They must stink!!! He never bathes!" Umbridge sighed and fell back dreamily onto the pillows. Snape raced over to the cabinet again and pulled out the appropriate vial; the same potion he had made her before, only when taken a second time, would reverse the effect. A moment later he was back on the bed, wrenching Umbridge up and putting the steaming cup in her hand. He held another cup in his hand; a placebo. "Er.. to us. " he said, and tapped the cups together. Umbridge smiled and with excitement crossed arms with Snape, pushing her cup to his lips and drinking from his cup instead. Snape was so surprised he almost inhaled the potion. He choked and sputtered, but it was too late. The rest of the potion fell to the floor and the cup smashed. Umbridge shrieked. "Oh no! Please don't be mad!" she took his hands and the look on her face was pure horror. Snape seemed unsteady, and swooned a bit before falling to his side onto the bed. "Oh no! Dearest! What's wrong?!" Umbridge leaned in to get a closer look at Snape. He sat bolt upright, seemingly possessed. He turned to look at Umbridge and his expression changed from his usual hardened one to one that was, well, entirely creepy. Umbridge seemed to appreciate it though, and she jumped on him and stared to kiss him. Much to Harry and Ron's disgust, Snape reciprocated. "Ewww!!! I didn't sign up for this!" Ron whispered. "Let's get out of here." Harry whispered back. When they were sure the two professors were not looking, they snuck out the door. Back at Griffindor tower, Ron scowled at Harry. "I hope you're happy. I'm scarred for life now." Ron fell back on his pillow and punched at it, trying to push away the horrible images of Snape and Umbridge. ****************************** the next morning at Breakfast, Snape and Umbridge sat at their usual places at the front staff table. "Seems to have worn off?" Ron asked harry. "Maybe." Harry said, trying not to observe too obviously. "Well there is such a thing that only lasts 24 hours. When did Snape take the potion? " Herimone sat down with the boys and offered her expertise. "I don't know. Midnight?" Ron ventured. "Right. They are still at it then." Hermione pointed, and the others looked. Umbridge had just suttly blown Snape a kiss. And Snape had caught it. Ron nearly flipped his bowl of porridge. "What have we done? " he said, his face pale and bleak. "Don't worry, they'll be over each other as soon as the potion wears off. Besides.."Hermione looked up at them and shrugged " it's kind of cute." "Cute? You're really sick Hermione." Ron groaned and tried to shield his eyes when Umbridge started to flutter her eyelashes at Snape. "Well, at least it will keep them busy so we can sort out what to do about.............." and so Harry, Hermonie and Ron stared to plan their next adventure in order to bring the story back to the original plot line.
Ms. Elsewhere Joined: 13 January 2008 Posts: 881 Location: In role play game of course!	Posted: Tuesday 1 December 2009 08 09 43 am    Post subject: Re: Who would you date in Harry Potter? in topic:Who would you date in Harry Potter? hahahah!!!!! I think i would like to write one where she gets all obsessed with Snape! Professor Snape had just released his students from his class after holding them back for yet another display of incompitence. It was disturbing how he could sleep at night allowing students to graduate with such a dim understanding of the delicate art of Potions. Muttering to himself, he stared to organise his desk before closing up the classroom for the day. As he did so, something caught his eye and nearly made his stomach turn. It was very large, and very pink. Professor Umbridge was sauntering into the classroom with one of her clipboards, a dreamy look on her face, and that annoying giggle escaping from otherwise pursed and sealed lips. She approached his desk. "Professor, I have just come down, as I have done with so many other of your collegues.." she paused, lookign for a moment exhausted ,and then returned to her dreamy cheery nature. "...to test your skills in your chosen area of expertise. I wonder if you could make this potion for me?" she put her clip board down and turned it so that the writing was upright for Professor Snape to read. He scanned the paper with a bored expression. Only his eyes lifted to acknowledge her request. "This is a complicated potion. And you plan to test it yourself?" he asked, his eyebrows raised. Professor Umbridge stood up straighter. "I do." she said matter-of-factly. Snape knodded and set about gathering the ingredients and tools necessary to make the potion. Within twenty minutes, the potion was brewed. "Impressive timing. But are you sure that it will be effective?" Professor Umbridge chimed. Snape held back an irritated groan. "Only one way to be sure." he said ,and poured a servign of the potion into a vial. He passed it to the Professor, who first took a sniff, and then, watching Snape, drank the whole potion in one gulp. She closed her eyes and waited. Then she opened them and looked at Snape. "I feel... different..." she swooned for a moment. Then with a look of recognition on her face she stared at Snape and tried to collect herself before nearly falling to the floor. Snape moved quickly around the desk, his cloak whipping behind him. He grabbed her shoulders but she would not look at him. She closed her eyes and turned her head away. "You know what it is?" he asked her quietly. She knodded. Snape's mouth formed into a satisfied snarl. "Then I guess I failed your little test. But if you would just look at me.." he turned her face to him now and her eyes fluttered open. " YOu will find that I am exactly what you are looking for." he paused, watchign her the emotion behind her eyes change to admiration. "In a Potions master that is." he released her, and she swooned again, staring at him love struck. He looked at her with disgust. "Leave here now." he scoffed. Professor umbridge skippd out of the room like a child on the playground. If he were not Professor Snape, the man would have laughed. The potion would wear off in 24 hours. *************************** Harry was annoyed to be called to Umbridges office at such a late hour. She had taken over the school as was seriously taking every liberty. He reached the door of her office and knocked. Entering the room, he was so shocked with what he saw, he thought perhaps it was a terrible nightmare. All over the walls were pictures of Professor Snape. They had replaced the little cats she had there before. She was on the floor, her hair was a mess, her eyes were black and puffy from crying and her hands were black too from ink. The floor was littered with parchments that had been written on and scrunched up. She looked up at Harry and a look of hope replaced her look of dispair. "Oh harry! yes, yes.. you can help!" she dragged him to the floor and put a quill in his hand and some paper. "You know the perfect thing to say to someone you love. Please... waht shall I write? You see..." she said, leaning close to Harry, her breath smelled sweet like some kind of cherry drink. "I have never ever felt this way about anyone before. I am actcually a very picky person.. " she smiled to herself and rolled her eyes. "But I can't stop thinking about Professor Snape! what shall I do???" she grabbed Harry by the robes and pulled at him. Harry tried to unpry her hands, but it was useless. He spoke instead. "Professor, you're ... you can't mean... Professor Snape.. that you ... did you say you like him?" "I love him! I can't live without him. But I can't go and see him.. he has expelled me from his presense!!!" she wailed. Harry couldn't help but smile at the display of emotion. She was obviously under the influence of some kind of spell. harry decided it would be fun to exploit it. "Wait here." he said, and gently pushed Umbridge away from him. He stood up and left the room, hurrying back to Griffindor tower where he woke up Hermione and Ron. "You're not going to believe this, but Snape has put a love spell on Umbridge." Harry confided. "Are you sure?" Hermione yawned. "Bloody Hell..." said Ron. "That's brillant! But why would he do that?" "I don't know! But dont' you think it would be fun to send Umbridge back to him? i don't know how long it will last, and it would be great to see Snape's little prank backfire." Harry looked from Hermione to Ron. "I'm going back to bed, u are evil, Harry Potter." Hermione groaned. "I'm in. What's the plan?" Ron said, leaning in closer. ********************************** Professor Snape was sound asleep in a self induced dreamless slumber when something woke him. The room was very very dark, as he liked it, but someone was there. He reached for his wand. "Lumus!" he called out. His wand lit up, and revealed the intruder. He groaned. "Didn't I tell you to leave me alone?" He was embarrassed to see she was wearing some sort of see through nightgown. He rolled his eyes. This was not good. "I couldn't stop thinking about you! Please, don't reject me! YOu are my first love! I have never felt like this before!" Umbridge started to walk forward, her arms out to him. Snape pulled his blanket up a bit more. "Nore will you feel this way again. Come. Let us have a drink." he pushed his blankets off and stalked over to his cupboard where some vials were kept. He took out two cups and then started to look for the right mixture. Before he could get organised, he felt Umbridge tap him on the back. He turned around and looked down. She was impossibly short. She looked up at him adoringly. "couldn't you just, hold me for a little while? " she chimed. Snape stared at her. She smiled sickenly. He reached out and patted her on the shoulder. He turned to continue making the drink but she wrapped her arms around him, pinning his arms to his sides. "Oh I love you! I love you!!!" she stared to scream. Snape could barely remove her from the grip. He bumped into the cabinet and sent several vials crashing to the floor. He cursed. "Woman, look what you made me do!" he yelled, shrugging out of her hold. She stepped back, her hands still out, her face stricken. "I'm so sorry!" she ran for him again, and held him. He stood there as limply as he could. She sobbed into his night shirt. In the corner, Ron and harry snickered under the invisibility cloak. "Look, it's okay. Here, sit on the bed." he brought her over to the bed and set her down. She gathered up the blankets and brought them to her face, breathing them in. harry almost fell over. Ron whispered. "They must stink!!! He never bathes!" Umbridge sighed and fell back dreamily onto the pillows. Snape raced over to the cabinet again and pulled out the appropriate vial; the same potion he had made her before, only when taken a second time, would reverse the effect. A moment later he was back on the bed, wrenching Umbridge up and putting the steaming cup in her hand. He held another cup in his hand; a placebo. "Er.. to us. " he said, and tapped the cups together. Umbridge smiled and with excitement crossed arms with Snape, pushing her cup to his lips and drinking from his cup instead. Snape was so surprised he almost inhaled the potion. He choked and sputtered, but it was too late. The rest of the potion fell to the floor and the cup smashed. Umbridge shrieked. "Oh no! Please don't be mad!" she took his hands and the look on her face was pure horror. Snape seemed unsteady, and swooned a bit before falling to his side onto the bed. "Oh no! Dearest! What's wrong?!" Umbridge leaned in to get a closer look at Snape. He sat bolt upright, seemingly possessed. He turned to look at Umbridge and his expression changed from his usual hardened one to one that was, well, entirely creepy. Umbridge seemed to appreciate it though, and she jumped on him and stared to kiss him. Much to Harry and Ron's disgust, Snape reciprocated. "Ewww!!! I didn't sign up for this!" Ron whispered. "Let's get out of here." Harry whispered back. When they were sure the two professors were not looking, they snuck out the door. Back at Griffindor tower, Ron scowled at Harry. "I hope you're happy. I'm scarred for life now." Ron fell back on his pillow and punched at it, trying to push away the horrible images of Snape and Umbridge. ****************************** the next morning at Breakfast, Snape and Umbridge sat at their usual places at the front staff table. "Seems to have worn off?" Ron asked harry. "Maybe." Harry said, trying not to observe too obviously. "Well there is such a thing that only lasts 24 hours. When did Snape take the potion? " Herimone sat down with the boys and offered her expertise. "I don't know. Midnight?" Ron ventured. "Right. They are still at it then." Hermione pointed, and the others looked. Umbridge had just suttly blown Snape a kiss. And Snape had caught it. Ron nearly flipped his bowl of porridge. "What have we done? " he said, his face pale and bleak. "Don't worry, they'll be over each other as soon as the potion wears off. Besides.."Hermione looked up at them and shrugged " it's kind of cute." "Cute? You're really sick Hermione." Ron groaned and tried to shield his eyes when Umbridge started to flutter her eyelashes at Snape. "Well, at least it will keep them busy so we can sort out what to do about.............." and so Harry, Hermonie and Ron stared to plan their next adventure in order to bring the story back to the original plot line. (oh my gosh... I went overboard there!!!! Must bring it to fan fic ...)
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 25 November 2009 09 24 26 am    Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden Chapter 11: Halloween Costumes "All right, we need to come up with a good costume idea," John announced the following Saturday as he flew poorly made parchment airplanes around the Marauder's Den. "Definitely," Kaden agreed as his much better parchment airplane flew gracefully over John's head and landed softly on the couch. "Anyone got any ideas?" Matt asked. "Haven't even thought about it," Albus muttered as he tried not to move anymore muscles than he had to. He just completed a four hour Hogwarts Quidditch practice, which mainly focused on dodging Bludgers. Unfortunately, Albus hadn't dodged them all. "You should go see Madam Pomfrey," Matt told him. "I've already been there twice this week," Albus groaned, "If this keeps up, I'll break your record. I'm fine, I just need sleep. Georgia canceled practice for tomorrow because of the Dueling Tournament, so I think I'll be fine." "Back to the costumes," John said, "I was thinking that we could be the Marauders. You know, their animal forms." Albus craned his head to see John. John looked quite excited by this idea. Albus had to admit that it was a pretty good idea. He could affix fake antlers to his head. Or see if one of his older cousins could transfigure some onto his head. "That's brilliant!" Kaden shouted excitedly. "I like it," Albus grinned. "No bloody way," Matt said flatly, "I am not dressing up as a werewolf in front of the entire school." Albus hadn't even thought about that. No, there was definitely no way Matt could do that. "Oh, right," John sighed, "Sorry, hadn't thought about that." "How about we just dress up as the Marauders in their human forms?" Albus suggested. All he'd have to do is get a pair of round black glasses and he'd be set. "I don't know..." Matt said, "Everyone knows Teddy's dad was a werewolf. What if they realize that I'm one, too, since I dressed up as him?" "I bet people will just think we dressed up as them because of Albus," John pointed out, "And someone would have to be Moony. Might as well be you. You probably look the most like him anyway." "He does," Albus said. "See?" John replied. "Yeah, but still..." Matt sighed. "It doesn't matter," Kaden said, "Because there is no way that I am dressing up as Pettigrew unless it's his rat form." That Albus could definitely understand. "Ok, so I guess we're not doing the Marauders thing." "Too bad," John sighed, "Would've been cool." "Says the bloke who wouldn't have to dress up as a traitor," Kaden pointed out. "And we're back to square one," Albus said, "Any other ideas?" "The players from Puddlemere United?" John suggested after a few minutes. "You know, if Rose, Amanda, and Linda joined us, we'd have enough people to be the entire team." "Why not the Cannons?" Matt asked. "Because they're awful," John groaned. "Are not," Matt refuted. "Are to," John said, "Let's be Puddlemere." "Cannons," Matt said adamantly. "Manchester United," Kaden interrupted. "Who?" John and Matt said at the same time. "Manchester United," Kaden repeated, "Football team." Both John and Matt groaned. "Puddlemere," John said once again. "Cannons." "Manchester." "Puddlemere." "None of them!" Albus shouted. He was already irritable due to his aching muscles and fatigue from Quidditch practice. The last thing he wanted to do was listen to his friends squabble about Quidditch and football teams. "Well, have you got any other ideas?" John asked. "Actually, yeah," Albus replied. Matt's mention of not wanting to dress up as a werewolf had sparked an idea. Albus had been mulling it over while his friends argued about Quidditch teams. "What is it?" Matt asked. "Well, I kind of thought it would be neat to use Muggle costumes," Albus said, "You know, we can dress up as things Muggles usually dress up as on Halloween." Matt, John, and Kaden stared at Albus for a few moments. Albus shrugged. He had thought it was a good idea, but maybe his fatigue was clouding his thinking. Then, all three of his friends broke out in huge grins. "That's brilliant!" Kaden shouted, "No one else will think of it!" "Yeah," John agreed, "We'll be the only ones at the party with Muggle costumes." "As long as I don't have to dress up as a werewolf, I'm fine with it," Matt said. Albus grinned. "Good. Kaden, what are some classic Muggle costumes?" "Ghosts, witches, vampires, skeletons, mummies," Kaden rattled off, "Oh, and zombies. Frankenstein, too." Albus had no idea who Frankenstein was and he wasn't in the mood to listen to Kaden explain it, but the other ideas were good. "Who wants to be what?" Albus asked. "Matt should be a vampire," Kaden grinned. "Why's that?" Albus asked. "Vampires and werewolves are mortal enemies," Kaden explained, "At least in the Muggle world." "In this world, too," Matt muttered, "And I'm not dressing up as a vampire." "Aw, come on," John said. "No," Matt said adamantly, "I'm being a ghost. The only question is, how do I make myself transparent." "Aw, no!" Kaden sighed, "When Muggles dress as ghosts, they just put a white sheet with eye holes over themselves. That's what Muggles think ghosts are. White." "Oh, that makes things easier," Matt laughed, "But seriously?" "Yep," Kaden laughed, "White sheets. Now, what about the rest of us?" A half an hour later, everyone had settled on what they were going to dress up as. With Kaden's help, that is. Albus, Matt, and John really had no idea as to what Muggles wore when they dressed up for Halloween. John insisted on being a vampire, much to Matt's disgust. However, John was going to be a classic Muggle vampire. The ugly, waxy, blood-stained lips, turn into a bat type of vampire that Muggles thought of when they heard the word 'vampire'. Albus didn't know much about vampires, but he knew they weren't completely like the ones Muggles thought of. Kaden was going to dress up as a mummy, which was a very simple costume. All he'd have to do was obtain a bunch of strips of white cloth. Albus said he'd pick some up in Hogsmeade. Albus was going to be a skeleton, which was the most difficult of all the costumes. He was going to buy a black long-sleeve t-shirt and a pair of black pants and then paint on bones in white paint. He was hoping Amanda would be able to help with it. She was the only one in their group who had any artistic talent. "Maybe the girls can be witches," Kaden suggested. "They are witches," John smirked. "You know what I mean," Kaden sighed. "I know," John grinned, "Hey, Albus, catch!" Albus snapped his eyes open just in time to see a Quaffle come sailing across the room. It hit him right in the stomach before he had a chance to catch it. "Oh, ow!" Albus groaned and curled up, "That's where I got hit with a Bludger!" "Brilliant, John," Matt sighed, "Are you ok, Albus?" Albus squeezed his eyes shut and nodded. It did hurt. It hurt a lot. A lot more than it should, he thought. He was sick of getting pelted by Bludgers during practice. "Albus?" John asked worriedly, "Merlin, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hit you with it." "It's ok," Albus whispered. He inhaled sharply. Now it was getting hard to breath. This was not good. "Albus, you've got to go to the Hospital Wing," Matt announced. He walked over to Albus and helped him off the couch. "C'mon." Albus nodded. There was no point in objecting. He knew he had to go. But honestly, three times in one week seemed excessive. The Hospital Wing was empty when Albus stumbled inside, being supported by Matt and John, a little while later. Madam Pomfrey came out of her office when she heard the door open. She saw who it was and threw her hands up in the air. "You again!" she groaned, "Let me guess. Quidditch?" Albus nodded and collapsed onto the nearest bed. "Well, what did you injure this time?" the nurse asked. "Bludger in the stomach," Albus replied, not bothering to mention that John hit him with a Quaffle as well. Madam Pomfrey clucked her tongue and waved her wand over Albus. "Broken rib. That's the second one this week," she waved her wand again and pressed it to Albus's ribs. Then she bustled away to a Potions cupboard. Albus's stomach immediately felt better and he sank back into the bed. The rest of his muscles still ached, though, and he wanted nothing more than to fall asleep right there. Madam Pomfrey returned a few minutes later and thrust a potion into Albus's hands. He drank it quickly and grimaced at the disgusting taste. "You're staying the night," she announced in a tone that Albus knew not to argue with. Not that he really felt like arguing anyway. He was just too exhausted. Madam Pomfrey turned to Matt, John, and Kaden. "You lot can return to Gryffindor. Albus needs to rest." Albus's friends said good night and then left the room. "I'll be speaking with Professor Kendrick," Madam Pomfrey muttered to herself, "Honestly, what was he thinking? Twice the amount of Quidditch? Twice the amount of injuries is what I say!" Albus didn't have the faintest idea as to what Madam Pomfrey wanted Kendrick to do, but he didn't think about it for long. Exhaustion overcame him and he was asleep within minutes. ****** Albus awoke feeling better than he had in days. One look at the clock told him why. He had slept over twelve hours. It was just after eleven o'clock. Two hours until the Dueling Tournament. Albus pulled the blankets off and started to get up. "Where do you think you're going?" Madam Pomfrey appeared at his bed. "Er, the common room?" Albus slowly sat back down, "The Dueling Tournament is in two hours." "Dueling? You think I'm going to let you duel?" Madam Pomfrey demanded. "Well, yeah," Albus muttered. Come to think of it, he actually wasn't surprised that the nurse wasn't going to let him duel. "Definitely not!" she exclaimed, "You're spending the day in bed!" "Come on!" Albus groaned, "Please?" He had to duel. He was practically the best on his team. What would Malfoy say when he didn't show up? "I won't have it!" Madam Pomfrey said, "You were dead on your feet last night! You're going to rest today!" Albus groaned in defeat. He was going to miss the first Dueling Tournament of the year, because of a Quidditch injury. His two favorite things to do were now conflicting with each other. Madam Pomfrey brought a tray of breakfast, or maybe it should have been lunch, for Albus a little while later. He wasn't in the mood to eat, though. Why couldn't he just go to the tournament? He felt fine now. Matt, John, Kaden, Amanda, Rose, and for some reason, Linda, burst into the Hospital Wing just as Albus was finishing up his food. Madam Pomfrey looked a bit taken aback at the amount of visitors, but she didn't say anything. "Albus!" John shouted, "Dueling's in an hour. You going to be getting out of here soon?" "She won't let me go," Albus muttered. "What?" John exclaimed, "Why not?" "She says I need to rest," Albus explained. "Honestly, it would have surprised me if she did let you go," Matt commented. "I'll convince her, Albus," John announced and walked over to where Madam Pomfrey was organizing potions. "You've got to let Albus duel." "I do not have to do any such thing," she replied, not looking up. "But it's Kaden's first tournament," John pointed out. "I wouldn't care if it was Merlin's first tournament, I'm not letting Albus go." "Please?" John begged. "No," she said, "And if you don't stop arguing, I'll make you leave." John sighed and walked glumly back to Albus's bed. "Sorry," he muttered, "And this was sort of my fault since I threw that Quaffle at you." "No it wasn't," Albus assured him, "A Quaffle wouldn't have broke my ribs. It was that Bludger from Quidditch practice." "But still..." John said. Albus's friends remained in the Hospital Wing until it was time for them to go to the Dueling Tournament. It was sort of tense, and Albus could only attribute this to the fact that Linda was there. It was strange how someone who never said a word could cause the rest of Albus's friends to remain quiet as well. After his friends left, Albus was filled with boredom. The Hospital Wing really was a boring place, especially when you weren't actually sick or injured. Albus began to count the cracks on the ceiling, but lost track after 467. It wasn't until after the tournament was over that Madam Pomfrey actually let Albus leave. He figured she hadn't let him leave earlier since then she would've had no way to know he wouldn't go to the tournament. Albus jumped out of bed as soon as he promised Madam Pomfrey that he wouldn't play Quidditch that day. He ran as fast as he could down to the dueling chamber, hoping that the tournament was still going on. Unfortunately, students were already streaming out of the room chattering excitedly about the tournament. Albus sighed dejectedly and slumped against the wall, where he waited for his friends. "Hey, Albus," Matt said. "Oh, hey, Matt," Albus replied, "Who won?" "My team. No thanks to me, of course." "Who'd Malfoy duel?" Albus asked, thinking of his threat to Rose and Amanda. "Some Slytherin second year and a Ravenclaw fourth year," Matt answered. Albus nodded, relieved that he hadn't dueled either Rose or Amanda. "Albus!" someone shouted excitedly. Albus turned around and saw Kaden with a huge grin on his face. John was standing next to him, looking equally happy. "Hey, John, Kaden," Albus smiled. "I won one of my duels!" Kaden announced, "I dueled a Ravenclaw and I actually beat him!" "That's great," Albus told him, still wishing that he had gotten to beat a Ravenclaw. Or a Slytherin, Hufflepuff, or Gryffindor. "But he was horribly beaten in his second duel," John laughed. "At least I won one of them," Kaden smirked. "Yeah, yeah," John muttered. "Did you lose both?" Albus asked. "Yeah," John sighed. The boys set off for Gryffindor tower, figuring they'd catch up with the girls once they were up there. Albus was eager to see Amanda because he wanted to know how his team had done. Amanda, Rose, and Linda were talking about the tournament when Albus entered the common room. He was shocked to see that Linda was actually talking. Although, she immediately stopped when Albus and the other boys showed up. Apparently Albus's team had came in second place. Amanda said they were only two points behind Matt's team, which caused Albus to wish even more that he had been there. He could have easily gotten the two points they needed. Amanda said that Malfoy thought the same thing, because he shouted angrily about Albus not being there once they announced the winner. Albus was kind of amused by this. He never thought Malfoy would ever be lamenting Albus's absence from anything. The group, including Linda, spent the remainder of the afternoon in the common room. It was sort of odd, though. Linda didn't say a word, yet Rose and Amanda tried to engage her in every conversation. Matt remained almost completely mute, whispering quietly so only Albus and John could hear what he was saying. Kaden of course didn't notice any of this and talked as loudly as he usually did. It didn't really help that various boys kept coming up to Linda and asking her useless questions about Australia and Quidditch and various other topics. Linda gave them very short, quiet answers. John paid rapt attention to every little thing she said. "So," Rose began, "First Quidditch match in a week. Australia versus New York. Are you nervous, Linda?" Albus stared at Rose. He couldn't remember the last time Rose actually brought up Quidditch in a conversation. "A bit," Linda muttered, not looking up. "Well, I hope you win," Rose smiled, "Since Hogwarts isn't playing." "Thanks," Linda whispered. Albus was looking forward to the first match. He was glad he wasn't playing in it. His team would be able to assess both Australia and New York's skill before they played either team. That was definitely good for strategy. Then when they actually played, they'd be able to use the team's weaknesses to their advantage. Wood had given them specific directions to look for weaknesses in both teams. Of course, chances are Albus wouldn't be playing in the first Hogwarts match, or really any of the matches. Albus walked down to dinner with his friends and Linda sat in between Rose and Amanda. He glanced absentmindedly at the staff table as he scooped mashed potatoes onto his plate and noticed a new wizard talking with the headmaster from Australia. He was a rather short man, compared to Killigan, and his face seemed to have absolutely no emotion on it. His dirty blonde hair sat flat on his head and fell over his eyes. He was wearing plain black robes. "I wonder who that bloke is," Albus said to John as he pointed at the staff table. "Dunno," John shrugged, not really seeming interested. Rose turned to look at him. "Probably some bloke from Australia, I'd be guessing. I imagine a few people from Australia and New York will visit to see what's going on with the tournaments." "Recognize him, Matt?" Albus asked. Matt looked up and then quickly turned away. "No." "How about you, Linda?" Rose asked. "No," Linda whispered. Albus shrugged and returned to his dinner. It seemed like he was really the only one interested in the unfamiliar wizard at the staff table. Was he really only there to see the tournament? The Quidditch match wasn't for another week, so why was he there already? Would he really be spending the whole week at Hogwarts? Kendrick stood up after dinner started to wind down. Albus immediately stopped eating and paid attention. Maybe he was going to tell everyone who the strange wizard was. "If I could have your attention for just one moment," Kendrick announced, "Thank you. When I first began to organize this competition, I always thought we would continue with the usual Hogwarts Quidditch Cup tournament like usual, but I didn't think about what affect it would have on the players who would play on both their house team and the Hogwarts team." Albus had a feeling he knew where this was going and it had everything to do with that talk Madam Pomfrey said she was going to have with Kendrick. Albus sank lower in his seat and tried not to look at anyone. "It's come to my attention that playing on two Quidditch teams at once is much more work than could have been anticipated. Therefore, I have decided to cancel the Quidditch Cup tournament for this year only, while the tournament is going on." "What?!" Over half the room erupted in various shouts and jeers. Albus sank even lower in his seat. This was all his fault. He was the one who had been to the Hospital Wing so many times that week. He had gotten Quidditch canceled for the whole school. "Quiet down," Kendrick shouted, "It's what's best for the players. Plus, it's been rather tight to squeeze in so many practices for so many teams. We only have one Quidditch pitch. With four less teams to accommodate, it'll be easier to schedule practices. This is my final word on the subject. Remember that we still have excellent Quidditch going on this year." "I shouldn't have gone to see Madam Pomfrey last night," Albus muttered. "Albus, this isn't your fault," Rose assured him, "You're not the only one who's been injured numerous times." That was true. Pretty much everyone on the Hogwarts team had been to see Madam Pomfrey at least once a week since the start of term. So maybe it wasn't all his fault. Plus, there was the scheduling conflicts on the pitch. Albus had witnessed a few fights between the house captains that certainly couldn't be good for teamwork on the Hogwarts team. Albus had to admit that life would be a lot easier without Gryffindor team practices. Now he would only be practicing Quidditch twice a week. Well, Wood would probably increase it to three times now that Kendrick canceled the house Quidditch. But even that would be less than he had been doing. He might even have an evening or two off a week now. The Gryffindor team was sitting together in the common room when Albus returned. Georgia immediately flagged him over. "I still don't like it," Fred sighed, "Now I don't get to play at all this year." "Yeah, well I don't get to play for Gryffindor in my seventh year, but it really is for the best," Georgia said. "I'll say," James agreed, "I'm already behind on homework and it's only October." "Me, too," Albus said. "Just think, Fred," Heather began, "Next year, one of us will be captain." "It'll be me," Fred announced. "Really?" Heather raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, Gryffindor's had two girl captains recently. It's time for another bloke." Heather rolled her eyes. "Not if I'm a better leader." "What makes you think it'll be either of you?" Bradley asked, "It might be Ryan or I. We'll be sixth years. They don't always choose seventh years." "Maybe," Fred replied, "I'm still going to miss it, though." "We could play pick-up matches on the weekends," Ryan suggested. "I guess," Fred sighed. Albus remained quiet for the rest of the time with the team. Although he didn't blame himself for the cancellation of house Quidditch, he felt guilty that he was relieved it was canceled. But most of the team was far from happy about it. In fact, it seemed like only James and Albus were relieved.
Ms. Elsewhere Joined: 13 January 2008 Posts: 881 Location: In role play game of course!	Posted: Sunday 22 November 2009 08 40 09 am    Post subject: Re: Next Generation 2 in topic:Next Generation 2 Geneve felt anger building up inside her. How dare he speak to her like that? She shot him the dirtiest look she could muster before turning around. She flew fast and recklessly back, and took a glimse back to see if they were checking. But looking back meant loosing control of her broom, and Geneve flipped and fell. The speed of the fall was so intense Geneve could not even scream. She instead felt herself reaching for her wand in slow motion and drawing on a spell she did not know she knew. The ground recieved her like a soft feather down mattress. Geneve rolled over and stood up, and looked around. Beyond the clearing, the forest was dark and menacing from all angles. And when she had turned to check on Hagrid and Professor Nomare, they had both turned to continue their own pursuit. Geneve swallowed loudly.
salemboy Joined: 20 May 2008 Posts: 1762 Location: Enjoying being a Senior whilst my friends merely become Juniors.	Posted: Thursday 19 November 2009 12 44 44 am    Post subject: Re: Next Generation 2 in topic:Next Generation 2 Smiling, Damien raised his wand and summoned two broomsticks: His and another one that Geneve could use. The two brooms came zooming towards them, seeming to race eachother to reach Damien and Geneve first. Damien's broom, a Nimbus 2000 flew into his free hand while the other broom, a Nimbus 2001 flew into Geneve's. "Wow," Damien thought. They actually upgraded the brooms at the school. It was still way behind where the current models were, but it was good enough. Pulling his leg over the broomstick, Damien waited and watched as Geneve did the same. "Are you ready?" he asked her.