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DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2495 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 10 March 2010 10 01 47 am    Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden New page, new disclaimer! I still do not own Harry Potter. Chapter 26: The Presuler Professor Balladanis didn't say anything for a long time after he, Albus, and Malfoy returned to the Defense classroom. Albus landed next to Malfoy, still confused as to how he managed to get out of the pensieve, in front of Balladanis's desk. Balladanis landed behind his desk, facing the wall, and didn't turn around for a few minutes. Albus glanced nervously at his professor as he thought of questions he was just burning to ask. In fact, there was nothing about the scene he had just witnessed that didn't make Albus curious. Everything about it had been confusing. Malfoy looked just as confused. They kept looking at each other and it was kind of strange. They were on the same side. Both of them wanted Balladanis to explain. Balladanis finally turned around and looked at them. He put his hands on his desk and leaned forward, looking both Albus and Malfoy in the eye. It happened in a split second. Albus looked at his professor and immediately thought back to the face of the boy in the scene. That was why he looked familiar. The boy was Balladanis. Then, Balladanis shifted slightly and the likeness was gone. But Albus knew it. That scene had been from Balladanis's childhood. “Sit down,” Balladanis said. Albus and Malfoy sat down quickly at the table in front of Balladanis's desk. They were sitting right next to each other and Albus didn't care. At the moment, finding out what that scene was was more important than staying away from Malfoy. “A few weeks ago you asked me what I did before I started teaching here, Mr. Potter,” Balladanis began, “I have always had the intention of telling you, of telling both of you. I was merely waiting for the right moment. I feel that that moment is now.” Balladanis paused and walked around to the front of his desk. He began to pace in front of it. “There is a reason why I am telling you this now. Why I am not explaining to all of my classes what I did before teaching. The reason is that you two are incredible duelers. Both of you have skills beyond your years that I have never seen before, and believe me, I have seen plenty of exceptional duelers in my time. This may be a good time to tell you how rare it is to have two such skilled duelers in the same year at Hogwarts.” Albus turned to look at Malfoy. What was Balladanis getting at? It sounded like the start of some sort of house unity speech or something. “I know the two of you aren't the best of friends,” Balladanis continued, “But I must say how impressed I am that you seem to put the animosity behind you when you step into my classroom for your lessons.” The sole reason for that, at least for Albus, was because of Balladanis himself. Albus doubted he would tolerate Albus and Malfoy bickering with each other during lessons. “Back to what I was going to tell you,” Balladanis said, “That scene that I just showed you, in case you have not figured it out yet, took place while I was a boy of only thirteen. It was the summer before my third year at school. “I grew up in Greece, in that very house we just saw. My parents, although they loved me deeply, were very poor and could barely afford to put food on the table. I think they were grateful when I went away to school, the sole reason being that they wouldn't have to worry about me getting enough to eat. “I had two blissfully innocent and fun years at the Grecian School of Magic. I returned home during summers full of stories about my friends and all the mischief we'd gotten into.” Albus found it difficult to imagine Balladanis getting into trouble at school or doing anything fun in general. “Everything changed the summer before my third year. It changed on the night you just witnessed. A coven of vampires entered my house that night. They attacked my parents and drank them dry. I hid in a closet, too scared to do anything. Then, once the vampires left, I fled. I ran until I could not run anymore. I wound up at the house of one of my friends. His parents took me in, but things were obviously never the same. I changed on that night.” Balladanis stopped talking and Albus sat in complete shock. Balladanis's parents had been murdered by vampires? That was one thing that had never crossed Albus's mind. “I returned to school that September hardened. Nothing was fun anymore. Nothing was funny. It was then that I decided to devote my life to ridding the world of such evils. Vampires, dark wizards, werewolves, anyone and anything that murders viciously.” Albus couldn't help but glare at Balladanis when he mentioned werewolves. Balladanis seemed to notice this and gave Albus the slightest of smiles. “However, I did realize that not all vampires, werewolves, giants, and other beings are inherently evil. Not all of them want to kill. It was for this reason that I did not wish to be employed by the Greek Ministry. The Greek Ministry prefers to deal with magical creatures as a whole and not distinguish between them. Perhaps this is because Greece has a very large population of vampires. “Thus, becoming an Auror was out of the question. Instead, I chose to enter a more secretive profession. One that you will not find pamphlets on when you get career advice from your heads of house. One that no one except me is going to suggest to you. Yet it is one that I believe the two of you are quite suited for.” Albus's heart sped up at this. Balladanis was going to give them career advice? They were only thirteen. But at the same time, Albus felt excited. Balladanis thought he was a good enough dueler for this career, whatever it was. “I am a Presuler,” Balladanis said, “I am sure neither of you have heard of one. A Presuler is somewhat like an Auror, in that we seek out dark wizards and dark magic. However, we not only seek out dark wizards and dark magic, we seek out dark and dangerous creatures as well. “The biggest difference is that Presulers are not employed by the Ministry. There are very few Presulers in the world and we are often sought out by various Ministries and hired on an as-needed basis. We travel from country to country, whenever we are needed. It is quite secretive. I suppose Presulers are a combination of Aurors and private investigators.” Balladanis was right in that Albus had never heard of a Presuler before. The idea intrigued him, though. A secretive kind of Auror who did not work for the Ministry. “I never caught the vampires who killed my parents. I have met one vampire who knew them, but she is not like them. I am still searching for them, however.” Balladanis stopped pacing and leaned up against the front of his desk. He looked at Albus and Malfoy, but did not say anything else. “Why are you teaching here, then?” Malfoy asked. “That is one thing that is between myself and Professor Kendrick,” Balladanis replied. “Are you coming back next year?” Malfoy asked. “As of right now, I have no idea,” Balladanis answered, “It is getting late. I've kept you here much longer than normal. If you think of anymore questions, do not hesitate to see me. I'll walk you back to your common rooms.” Albus walked alongside Balladanis in silence on his way back to the Gryffindor Tower. His mind was racing with what he just learned. He didn't know what to make of it. It was just so much information at once. The common room was nearly empty when Albus climbed through the portrait hole. It must have been really late, since it was Friday night. Albus really didn't know what time it was. “There you are!” Rose shouted, “Merlin, you've been gone for hours!” “What did he have you doing?” Matt asked. “I'll tell you tomorrow,” Albus muttered, realizing that all he wanted to do was lay in his bed and think about what Balladanis had just said. Albus was vaguely aware of his friends sighs of disappointment as he went up to his dormitory, but he didn't feel like talking about it right then. He was tired and his mind was racing at the same time. Albus tossed and turned the entire night. He alternated thinking about what he had seen in the pensieve and about becoming a Presuler himself. Then he wound up thinking about Linda and what Balladanis thought of her. He had said he didn't hold a grudge against vampires that didn't kill people, but who knew what he really thought. Was Linda the vampire he had met who knew the vampires who killed his parents? It was possible since vampires never aged. Or maybe she was a completely different vampire. Albus wondered how many vampires Balladanis knew. Eventually Albus fell into a restless sleep, but his dreams were plagued by what he had seen in the pensieve. ****** “Merlin, Albus, get up!” Albus rolled over in his bed and put his pillow over his head. After waking up drenched in sweat at four in the morning after a nightmare in which his whole family had been killed by vampires, he had finally drifted off into a somewhat decent sleep. One that he wished he was still in. “It's nearly one o'clock.” “He's like you are after full moons.” “Shut it. Seriously, Albus, get up.” “Yeah, we want to know what happened last night.” Someone pulled the curtains open and took the pillow off Albus's head. He looked up and saw John and Matt. “Did you lose to Malfoy or something?” John asked, “Because that would make me want to hole up in bed for the day.” “No, it's not that,” Albus muttered, “I'll tell you, but I'm only explaining it once, so one of you better find Rose, Amanda, and Kaden. And I'll tell you in the Marauder's Den because there is no way Linda can be around to hear this.” The girls and Kaden met them in the Marauder's Den after Albus, John, and Matt had lunch. John kept pestering Albus all through lunch, wanting to know why Linda couldn't hear about it, but Albus said nothing. He wasn't even sure if he was allowed to tell his friends about this, but Balladanis hadn't really forbidden him. “Albus, what in the name of Merlin happened last night?” Rose asked as soon as they were all in the Marauder's Den. “Balladanis told us what he did before he started teaching at Hogwarts,” Albus said quietly. “And you neglected to tell us until now?” John gaped, “I've been wanting to know for the entire year!” “I know, John,” Albus snapped, “But it's not anything what you'd think.” “Sorry,” John muttered. “Balladanis took us into a pensieve last night,” Albus began. “Really?” Rose looked impressed, “What was that like?” “Not that great, to be honest,” Albus said, “Probably would have been better if it was a better memory. “Anyway, he took us without any explanation of what we were going to see. He took us to this really old broken down house in Greece. Kind of looked like a smaller more run-down version of the Shrieking Shack.” “In Greece?” Kaden asked. “Yeah,” Albus nodded, “We watched the house for what seemed like hours and then these figures broke into it and we heard this awful screaming. Then the figures left. Then this bloke who was about our age came running out with this horrible scared look on his face. Then we left.” “What does that have anything to do with what Balladanis does for a living?” John asked. “Everything,” Albus sighed, “That had been his house. The screams were his parents. The boy was him. He told us this after. His parents were killed by a coven of vampires.” Nobody said anything for a long time. Albus looked at his friends and they all wore equal looks of shock. “And you watched it?” Matt asked. “From a distance,” Albus replied. “Merlin, no wonder Balladanis is so bloody insane,” John let out a low whistle. “He decided to devote his life to ridding the world of evil, whether it be vampires, dark wizards, or other dark creatures,” Albus continued. “So he's an Auror?” Rose asked. “No,” Albus shook his head, “He's a Presuler.” “What is that?” Kaden asked. “It's like an Auror, only they go after dark creatures, too. And they aren't employed by the Ministry. They're hired by Ministries all around the world. They're investigators as well. Apparently it's all very secretive,” Albus explained. “Wow,” John said, “I thought he was an Auror or something.” “Me, too,” Matt agreed, “Instead he just hunts down vampires. And, werewolves.” “Only ones that kill people,” Albus assured his lycanthropic friend. “All werewolves have the capability of killing people, Albus,” Matt said quietly. “So does everyone,” Albus replied. “Whatever his view on vampires and werewolves truly is, it's going to be interesting to see how he teaches us about them,” Rose mused. “Guess this is why you didn't want Linda to hear about this,” John said. “Yeah,” Albus replied, “Apparently he still hasn't found the vampires who killed his parents, but he knows a vampire who knows them. That vampire doesn't kill people. I wonder if it's Linda.” “Who knows?” Rose shrugged, “I doubt we'll ever find out.” “Oh, I've got to tell you what he said after he told us all of this,” Albus took a deep breath, “He thinks Malfoy and I should become Presulers.” “Seriously?” Matt asked. “Yeah, because we're good duelers,” Albus explained, “But I don't know.” “You don't have to know. You're only thirteen. And Albus, don't decide anything until you've read about this. Don't just go on what Balladanis is saying. I think we've finally discovered why he's so passionate about fighting the Dark Arts, but it might cloud his judgement sometimes,” Rose warned. “I know, that's what I don't get,” Albus said, “Why is he telling us this now?” “Maybe because he doesn't plan on staying,” Matt replied, “Why would he stop searching for the vampires who killed his parents to teach here anyway?” “Malfoy asked,” Albus told him, “But he wouldn't tell us. He said it's between him and Kendrick.” “Because that's not suspicious or anything,” John rolled his eyes, “There's still something funny about Balladanis.” “What are you going to do, Albus?” Matt asked. “I'm not deciding anything now,” Albus replied, “I'm just not going to think about it.” ****** Not thinking about Presulers and what happened to Balladanis's parents proved to be easier said than done, especially since Defense class was soon devoted to learning about vampires. Balladanis seemed to teach that particular unit with much more enthusiasm than usual, a feat that nobody thought possible. Everyone speculated as to why Balladanis was more enthusiastic than usual, but most just attributed it to the fact that he was bloody insane. A lot of what Balladanis taught about vampires was stuff Albus already knew due to what Matt had told them earlier in the school year. It was still fairly interesting, though. Albus found that the more dangerous the creature they were learning about, the more interesting it was. Not to mention the fact that they didn't use the anamatek anymore, a fact that nearly every student was grateful for. However, partway through their second week devoted to vampires, the anamatek's trunk reappeared in the Defense classroom. There was an audible groan from every student who stepped into the room. “If that thing turns into a vampire, I think I'm going to get up and leave,” John seethed as they took their seats. “Maybe we're moving onto another creature,” Albus suggested even though he knew the chances were slim to none. “That wouldn't be any better. We're doing werewolves next,” John reminded him, “And Matt said that thing couldn't turn into an actual werewolf. Speaking of Matt, he's lucky he's missing this.” “I think he'd say otherwise,” Albus replied. The full moon had been the previous night. “Quiet,” Balladanis said, “We'll be continuing our vampire lesson today. Today I wish to show you what a vampire looks like, which is why I have brought back the anamatek. However, you will not be fighting it. None of you have the skills necessary to fight a vampire.” “He's mental,” John muttered. Balladanis drew his wand and pointed it at the trunk. It snapped open and out stepped a very pale man with chiseled features. He didn't move, but merely stared out at all the students. “Vampires are the perfect predator,” Balladanis announced, “They're incredibly fast,” he pointed his wand at the vampire and it disappeared. It reappeared in the back of the classroom, but it had not Apparated. The vampire had moved so fast that Albus had missed it in the blink of an eye. “They're agile,” Balladanis continued, “They're good looking. They attract you in. Then they kill, they suck you dry until you are dead. The alternative is not great, either. From the moment their teeth break your skin, you begin to transform into a vampire as well. You will become one if they do not suck you dry. There is no way to stop it, no potion to counteract it. “Vampires hunt at night when their vision is still excellent, but when human vision is compromised. However, that is not the only reason. Does anyone know the other?” Rose raised her hand. Linda did not. “Yes, Miss Weasley?” Balladanis said. “Vampires are in essence allergic to the sun,” Rose explained, “When the sunlight hits them, it hurts them. The sun gives them headaches and makes them feel sick.” “Precisely,” Balladanis gave her a rare smile, “There is no potion to counteract the effects of the sun on vampires. Therefore they tend to inhabit areas that see less sun and areas of dense forest, such as the Northwestern and Northeastern United States, parts of Canada, and parts of Russia. However there is also a significant vampire population in Greece.” Balladanis pointed his wand at the vampire again and it retreated back into the trunk. Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief. The lesson continued until the bell rang. Balladanis made no mention of moving onto the next unit, nor had he assigned the usual end of the unit essay. Albus and his friends went to visit Matt late that night after Albus got out of Quidditch practice. They only had a half hour or so until curfew, but they hadn't visited at all yet. “You missed an excellent Defense lesson today,” John said once Madam Pomfrey had gone back into her study after leaving to see who had entered her ward. “Was it any different from the usual ones?” Matt asked tiredly. He looked ready to fall asleep at any moment. “Balladanis brought back the anamatek,” Albus told him. “He what?” Matt shouted, although since his voice was hoarse it wasn't very loud, “We're still doing vampires, aren't we?” “Yeah, he had it turn into a vampire,” John said, “We didn't have to fight it. He just used it to show how fast vampires were and what they looked like.” “That is weird,” Matt replied, “He assign the vampire essay yet?” “Nope,” John shook his head, “I think we're in for a few more days of vampires.” “Well, the longer we spend on vampires, the more time we have before we start werewolves,” Matt said quietly, “I really hope he doesn't spend as much time on them as he has on vampires.” “I don't think he will,” Albus said, “His parents weren't killed by werewolves.” “Thank Merlin for that,” Matt yawned. “You're tired,” Rose said, “We should leave.” “We'll be back tomorrow after lunch,” Albus told him, “Good night.” “'Night,” Matt said. They left the ward just as Madam Pomfrey was coming out of her study, presumably to tell them to leave and give Matt more potions. Albus and his friends headed straight for the common room, where they got started on all the homework that had been piled on them that day.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2495 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Sunday 28 February 2010 03 53 06 pm    Post subject: Re: Beyond the Shadow in topic:Beyond the Shadow Chapter 3: Sophie Nymphadora Lupin Farina gave me a glare that would make a dragon shrink back in fear when I ran into the clinic at exactly 1:30. I think she had been hoping that I would've been a minute late so she could've yelled at me. Luck had been on my side that time. I went to the nurse's station and they handed me the chart for the wizard in Exam Room One. “What seems to be the problem?” I asked once I was inside the room. The wizard sitting on the exam table didn't look particularly sick, nor did he have any obvious injuries. In fact, he looked perfectly fine. “Er,” he muttered, “I've got this, well, growth on my, er, arse.” “Roll over,” I told him. He did so and I noticed his wand sticking out of the back pocket of his jeans. “Here's your problem,” I said as I yanked his wand out of his pocket, “There are a million reasons not to keep your wand in your back pocket, growths on your arse being just one of them. “Oh,” the man sat up and his face was bright red, “Well, I'll just stop doing that.” “Good idea,” I said and handed him his wand. I got rid of the growth with a wave of my own wand and the man left, still bright red. We've actually gotten quite a few people in the clinic with the same complaint. I was beginning to think that someone needed to tell all the first years at Hogwarts not to put their wands in their back pockets. It seemed kind of obvious to me, but I guess not everyone thought of it. The afternoon droned on and I healed various ailments and injuries. A few colds, one case of the flu, and a few minor spell damages. I also assured one very worried mother that just because her four-year-old daughter had not yet displayed any signs of magic, it did not mean she was a Squib. I left the clinic at exactly five o'clock and went straight down to my brewing room. It was so nice to escape to the peace and quiet of the room after being in the chaotic hospital all day. My potion was ready to send off for testing. Whenever new potions were created at St. Mungo's, they were sent to a different department of the hospital for testing. They had to be mixed with other potions and run through various lab tests to find out if they were dangerous or would interact with other potions. Potions testers also worked in the basement, in separate rooms. It often took a very long time to get results back from the testing and it was always a very nerve-wracking time. A few of the potions I had created had come back labeled as dangerous and it was such a let-down when that happened. I let the Wolfsbane simmer for a half hour before bottling it and filling out the form for testing. Then I walked down the long corridor towards the testing room. The testing room looked like something out of a Muggle horror movie. It was filled with all sorts of stainless steel contraptions and cauldrons bubbling with various potions. The testers wore white hazardous waste robes and masks. There was a window with a small two door box which potions were transferred with. I rang the bell next to the door and one of the testers came over. “Amy,” he greeted me, “Another version of Wolfsbane?” “Yep,” I said as I put it in the box, along with the form, “Hopefully this one's better than the last one.” My last potion had failed the tests. I had had to completely start over. “It should be ready in a few weeks,” he told me, “We'll owl you the results.” “Thanks,” I said as I left. ****** Victoire was waiting outside my flat when I got home a little while later. She was glancing at her watch when I first saw her and then she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw me. “There you are,” she said, “I thought you were done at the clinic at five. Did Farina make you stay longer?” “No, but I had to go send my potion to testing,” I said as I unlocked the door, “You know you could've gone to Matt's and gotten the spare key. You didn't have to wait outside.” “I did,” Victoire replied as we walked inside, “He wasn't home. Neither was Albus.” “Albus had to leave again today,” I said, “Oh, right, Matt had to work late tonight.” “Well, it doesn't matter. You're here now. I just have to be home by eight because Teddy's got night duty at eight-thirty,” Victoire said as she sat down on the couch. Teddy was an Auror and his hours were worse than Victoire's. The two of them were lucky if they were able to pass each other in the doorway. Sophie spent a lot of time either at my place or with her grandparents. She didn't mind, though. Teddy and Victoire were lucky she was such an easy going kid. “So, why were you loitering around my door waiting for me to come home?” I asked as I put a pot of water on the stove and dug out a box of pasta. “Are you working the day after the full moon?” Victoire asked. “No,” I turned around and looked at Victoire, “Farina gave me the day of and the day after off. Why, is she making you work that day?” “Yes,” Victoire sighed and put her head down on the table, “I got the day of off, but she won't give me the day after off. And Teddy's got to work that day, too.” “Don't worry,” I told her, “I'll watch Sophie. Just drop her off here before you go to work.” “Thanks,” Victoire said, “I just hate being away from her the day after.” Sophie may have been a very easy going child, but there was one thing that set her apart from other kids her age. Sophie Nymphadora Lupin was a werewolf. Wolfsbane worked fine for her, but she was still incredibly exhausted the day of and the day after full moons. Victoire and Teddy had found out about it while Victoire was still pregnant. Starting in the second trimester, Sophie became incredibly restless during full moons. Victoire, being a Healer, and Teddy, being the son of a werewolf, noticed this and Victoire had a test done to find out if the baby had lycanthropy. It came back positive. The remainder of the pregnancy had been incredibly stressful. Lycanthropic babies are incredibly rare and nobody really knew what was going to happen. Victoire had had to take Wolfsbane and spend every full moon in St. Mungo's, in case the baby transformed. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when Victoire gave birth to a seemingly perfectly healthy baby. Sophie did not transform until she was almost three. Nobody knew why and we still don't know. Victoire and Teddy had started her on Wolfsbane as soon as she was born, but nothing ever happened until she was almost three. Teddy and Victoire tried hard to make sure at least one of them didn't have to work the day of and the day after full moons, but every once in a while they both had to work. If that happened on a full moon, I stayed with Sophie at their house. If it was the day after, Sophie would come stay with me. There had yet to be a full moon where Teddy, Victoire, and I all had to work. We had a back-up plan that if that ever happened, one of my parents would stay with her. Sophie was actually the most well-adjusted werewolf I had ever met. She didn't seem to care one bit that she was a werewolf and went through transformations in stride. Victoire left a little while later and then Matt showed up for dinner, as he often did when Albus was gone. He didn't really like to cook and even though my own cooking was mediocre, he said it was better than his. ****** The next day at work was just one of those days where nothing went right. First, the bloke who had been attacked by a manticore took a turn for the worse. He wasn't responding to conventional treatment. Healer Sterling took over his case because he had more experience with that sort of thing. Jamie had a high fever the entire day that potions just didn't seem to fix. It finally decreased at the end of the day, but he had barely woken up at all. George and Candace were tense the entire day and were taking it out on Kyle, who really didn't know what was going on. Eventually I had Kyle play in my study while I did paperwork just to give everyone a break. I knew all too well what it was like to be in Kyle's shoes. What I really needed after that day was to go to the Leaky Cauldron with Victoire and Teddy and get my mind off of work, but instead I went to visit Cinda with Matt. Visiting a nursing home does absolutely nothing to lift one's spirits. Cinda's nursing home is like a palace. It's a state of the art facility where all the residents get their own rooms that are decorated to look like living quarters in a castle. A king's castle, not Hogwarts. It costs a fortune to live there, but Cinda's got loads of money. Matt and I arrived shortly after dinner was over and the receptionist told us that Cinda was in her room. Cinda's room was decorated with pink and a lot of flowery patterns. There were a lot of pictures of Mum as a kid and a few of Matt and I as kids. Plus there are a few of Cinda and Richard. “Cinda?” I asked loudly and knocked on the door as we walked inside her room. “Oh, Amy! Matt!” she shouted, “I was wondering when you'd come see me.” Cinda has lost none of her wit as she's gotten older. She's still as sharp as she was when she was young. It's her body that's going. She's just gotten old. She can't walk very well and uses a wheelchair. Her hearing's gone as well. “Hi, Cinda,” I said as I gave her a hug, “How are you feeling?” “As well as can be expected,” she replied, “Now, Amy, where on earth did you get that sweater? It's positively dreadful.” “It's what I wear under my work clothes,” I said as I sat down on the couch, “No one can see it.” I didn't think the sweater was that bad. It was brown and white striped. At least it didn't have any reindeer on it. Then it would be an awful sweater. “Oh, happy birthday, Amy!” Cinda said. “Thanks,” I smiled. “I have to tell you this, Amy. You know the lady who lives across the hall? Well, her daughter just got arrested. Can you believe that? She robbed a grocery store...” Cinda said. I spent the rest of the evening listening to Cinda gossip about the various ladies who lived in the nursing home. Some things never changed. Each time I visited Cinda was the same. The gossip was different, but it was always there. Cinda never seemed to tire, either. Most older people went to bed at seven or eight at night. Not Cinda. She always kept talking until one of the nurses came in and told us visiting hours were over. I never really minded. Some of the gossip was boring, but it obviously kept Cinda happy and there wasn't much else to do in a nursing home. She had been so depressed after Richard died; it was nice to see her happy again. “Cinda,” one of the nurses said as she knocked on the door, “I'm afraid visiting hours are over.” Cinda sighed, “Well, don't wait so long before you next visit.” “I won't,” I got up and gave her another hug. Then I nudged Matt awake. He never really had the tolerance for Cinda's gossip. “Hmm?” Matt asked. “Time to go, Sleeping Beauty,” I grinned. “Shut it,” he muttered and then turned to Cinda, “We'll be back soon.” “Good,” Cinda told him, “And no falling asleep next time.” “Merlin, that place is too pink,” I said to Matt as we walked towards a back alley to disapparate. “It's like your room at her house,” Matt laughed. “Seriously, one room should not have that much pink,” I said, “If I ever have kids, none of them are going to have pink rooms.” We took a break in the conversation to disapparate and reappeared a few blocks away from our building. “What if one of them likes pink?” Matt asked. “Then they can paint their room pink when they're older,” I told him, “Do you want to come over and have dessert or something?” “Nah,” Matt shook his head, “I think I'm just going to go to bed.” I left him at his flat and then climbed up the stairs to mine, where I drowned my work sorrows in a pint of chocolate ice cream. Chocolate didn't solve everything, but it never hurt things either. ****** “You've got an owl,” Natalie handed me a letter as I ran out of my study the next day. I thanked her and pocketed it. I was late for clinic duty. Farina was going to murder me. I didn't even have a good reason. I had been reading a potions book in my study and lost track of the time. Three minutes late. I skidded into the clinic three minutes late. In Farina's book, that was nearly as bad as skipping a shift all together. “Eckerton!” Farina shouted as I grabbed a chart off the nurse's station desk. “I'm sorry!” I shouted back. “Consider this your warning,” she told me. She must have been feeling generous that day. Farina didn't give warnings. They just weren't her thing. I didn't have time to open the letter until after the clinic was closed. I made sure to stay an extra three minutes and then went back to my study. Sterling was on call that night and was in his study doing charts. He looked up when I walked past. “Are you going to be in on Friday?” he asked. “For a little while,” I answered, “I have to, for Jamie. But I'm also watching Sophie that day. I might have to bring her with me, depending on whether Matt's well enough to keep an eye on her.” The letter was quite wrinkled after having been shoved so hastily into my pocket. I hoped it wasn't anything too important. I sat down in my chair and ripped it open. [i]Amy, Matt never came into work today. Could you check up on him when you get out? Love, Dad[/i] I sighed and started to get my things together. Matt usually only missed work the day of the full moon and then two days after. “See you Friday,” I said to Morris on my way out of the room. “Bye, Amy,” he replied. There was not much food in my flat, so I stopped by the Magical Market on my way back. I have the tendency to wait until the last minute to grocery shop and the day I was forced to do it was never convenient. I finished in record time and put it haphazardly away before going down to Matt's flat. He had given me a spare key when he moved in, so I just went right inside. Matt and Albus's flat was the same lay-out as mine, but it looked drastically different. The place was filled with mismatched furniture and absolutely nothing was put away. My flat was organized chaos, theirs was just chaos. It wasn't nearly as bad as John and Kaden's, which I had only seen on one occasion, but it was still a mess. It was so quiet that it almost seemed like no one was home. I headed straight to Matt's bedroom. The door was shut and I opened it as quietly as I could. Matt was sound asleep in bed, buried under numerous blankets. His face was flushed and a wave of my wand told me he had a fever. I gently nudged him and he rolled over and opened one eye. “Ugh,” he groaned. “How do you feel?” I asked. “Like shit,” he muttered, “What time is it?” “Just after seven,” I told him, “Did you know you slept through work?” “Oh Merlin,” he said, “I haven't done that in months.” “It's ok. Dad understands,” I told him. “No one else would,” Matt said. “No one else needs to,” I replied, “Now you're staying with me until tomorrow night.” “I don't want to move,” he mumbled. “I told you not to stay up late with your friends this past weekend,” I said as I pulled the covers off the bed, “Maybe next time you'll listen. Now come on, you've got a fever and you need potions.” “Ok, I'm getting up,” he said. It took us a while to get back to my flat because Matt kept stumbling. He looked a little drunk, which earned us two weird stares from various tenants. It had been so much easier when we were kids and Mum and Dad could carry him. In some ways I never get away from work. I mean, obviously I leave the hospital and go home, but there's still work to do there. Between Matt and Sophie, there's always something that needs to be done when I'm not at St. Mungo's. This was especially evident around the full moon. Me practically dragging Matt to my flat was a normal occurrence, especially if Albus wasn't home. I helped Matt into the spare bedroom and then went to get him his usual potions. I could probably dole them out in my sleep I've done it so many times. Once I'd gotten him settled, I cooked myself dinner and settled down to read for the evening. However, I couldn't concentrate. Usually I could read for hours, but that night was different. There was something I had been thinking about doing for a long time and I couldn't put off deciding about it any longer. When I first started my Healer training, I decided to keep my work and family life separate. What that meant was that I never have told any of my patients about Matt. It was his secret to share and I never thought it would be fair to me to tell people about it, even if they were other werewolves. It hadn't been easy. I couldn't count the number of times I'd been yelled at by newly bitten werewolves who insisted that I had no idea what it was like. I'd assured so many of them that they could live normal lives and half of them sneered at me, telling me I was just saying that to be nice. They'd had no idea how much experience I'd had. Mum was the same way. A few years ago she founded the Lycanthropic Children's Foundation. Never once has she told anyone her real reasons for starting it. It's a strange organization as it's built on secrets. None of the active members have said they have a child with lycanthropy, but quite a few of them do. I know due to the fact that I'm many of the children's Healer. Mum's the President, I'm the Vice-President, and Victoire is the Treasurer. There was one family whom I wanted to tell about Matt. I wanted them to know that I knew what they were going through, wanted them to know why I was working so hard on the Wolfsbane Potion. Jamie's family. If only they could really know that Jamie could live a normal life. If only they could know that another werewolf had attended Hogwarts. His parents could benefit so much from talking to my parents. The idea had really gotten me thinking. What if we got rid of the secrets in the Lycanthropic Children's Foundation? What if we branched out to offer support for parents and children alike? As of right now we focused on raising money and distributing it to those children who suffered from lycanthropy to help with medical bills and to buy Wolfsbane. Support groups would do wonders. Parents could talk to other parents and children could play with one another. Matt hadn't really had any friends until he got to Hogwarts. If he'd known other children with lycanthropy when he was little, maybe he wouldn't have been such a shy kid. My mind was racing. Was this a good idea? Nobody who was a part of the Foundation would be angered to find out who was a werewolf, right? Otherwise they wouldn't be in the Foundation. I'd have to bring it up at the next meeting. I stayed up half the night working on the proposal for the next meeting. Mum would want most of the details hammered out before I brought it up. It was nearly one in the morning when I finally decided to call it a night.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2495 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 24 February 2010 11 51 54 am    Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden Chapter 24: Darker Times Lunch was very subdued the next day. Most people had slept quite late since it was a Saturday. Every student of Hogwarts had their nose in a copy of the Prophet, be it their own or a friend's. The staff table looked the same, with every professor either reading the Prophet or whispering with another professor, no doubt about what they'd read. Albus was reading Georgia's Prophet as she had finished with it and made a mental note to start subscribing himself. All of his friends were peering over his shoulders. Even Linda was hovering around them, a foot or so away. [i][b]HOGSMEADE SHOPKEEPER MURDERED[/b] A disturbance in Dervish and Banges late yesterday evening that sent one Hogsmeade resident to Hogwarts to find the Auror on duty lead to the discovery of the death of a shopkeeper. Leroy Wisander, 42, the ten-year owner of Dervish and Banges was pronounced dead on the scene by Ministry Aurors yesterday evening. His shop had been broken into and it showed signs of a struggle. Wisander was discovered in the middle of destroyed merchandise with his wand laying a few feet away. Aurors confirmed that he was killed with the killing curse. An extensive search of Hogsmeade, the forest, Hogwarts, and its grounds turned up nothing despite the hours Aurors spent searching. No fingerprints were found on the scene. Aurors will be devoting time to finding Wisander's killer and a possible motive. Leroy Wisander had owned Dervish and Banges for a little over ten years, when he purchased the shop from its previous owners who retired. However, Wisander is more known for the scathing editorials he writes for this very newspaper. Anyone who knew Wisander knew he was a man of very strong opinion and did not hesitate to let others know his opinions. His most recent editorials have explored the subject of werewolf, vampire, and other so called 'half-breeds' rights. Aurors have declined comment on whether they believe Wisander's editorials are a possible motive for his murder. Wisander's obituary can be found on page five.[/i] Albus set the paper down and his friends all resumed their seats. Nobody said a word for a few minutes. Albus didn't know what to think. The article certainly made it seem like Wisander was killed because of his beliefs. However, it didn't exactly say what his beliefs were. Albus hadn't ever read any of his editorials, so he couldn't say either. “What kind of editorials did he write?” Matt asked quietly. “I have no idea,” Albus replied, looking at his friend whose face was quite pale, “Want to go to the room?” “Yeah,” Matt nodded, “I'm not really hungry.” Albus got up and was followed by all of his friends. John and Kaden each grabbed a stack of toast before leaving. Even Rose and Amanda went with them instead of going off to study with Linda. “Have any of you read his editorials?” Matt asked as soon as they were in the Marauder's Den. Nobody had read them. Not even Rose. Matt sighed and collapsed onto one of the couches. “I've got to find out what they were about. I don't even know which would be better, him being for or against werewolf rights. If he's for them, that means some bloke is on the loose killing people for wanting werewolf rights.” Matt didn't even have to continue for Albus to know why that worried him. Matt's dad was possibly the biggest proponent of werewolf rights in all of Britain and everyone knew it. If someone had been killed just for writing about werewolf rights, what would happen to someone who was actually passing laws for them? “That might not be why Wisander was killed,” Rose pointed out. “Why else would someone have killed him?” Matt asked, “He was just a shop owner in Hogsmeade.” “Why did someone kill Professor Torro?” John replied, “He wasn't even writing any editorials or anything.” “To scare people,” Albus said quietly, “The Defense teacher position used to be cursed, back when our parents were in school.” “Well, I don't think you should worry until you find out what the editorials are about,” Rose said to Matt. “The other option isn't much better,” Matt muttered, “If he didn't write editorials for werewolf rights, then he wrote them against them.” Albus thought Matt had a point, but he kept his mouth shut. Any way you looked at it, this murder pointed to the fact that things were changing. Aurors had been patrolling Hogwarts for months, but Albus had quickly adjusted to that and didn't really think much about it, but maybe there was more happening outside of Hogwarts than Albus was aware of. “Let's go to the library,” Rose said as she stood up, “They'll have old copies of the Prophet there.” Everyone agreed with this and they set off to the library. When they arrived, they were surprised to find how crowded it was. Usually Saturdays were the days everyone put off their homework and then Sundays were spent in the library. Once they stepped inside, Albus saw that everyone was looking through old copies of the Prophet. Nearly every table had a few newspapers on it and a few students poring over them. Madam Pince was bustling about, no doubt worrying about whether the students would rip her precious newspapers. “Might not be any left,” John muttered. “This is good,” Albus replied, “Now it won't look suspicious for us to be investigating.” John was almost right. There was a very small stack of newspapers left. Albus grabbed them all and then they went to a secluded table towards the back of the library. Albus, Matt, and Rose each took a newspaper while John, Kaden, and Amanda played tic-tac-toe on a spare bit of parchment. Albus leafed through his newspaper, which was about two years old, until he got to the editorial section. In the very middle, in the biggest font, was an editorial by Leroy Wisander. [i][b]HEALERS, BREWERS TO BLAME, NOT MINISTRY OFFICIALS[/b] As I was locking up my shop last night, I noticed that it was a full moon. I could not help but think of the poor people plagued with lycanthropy currently shut up while attacking themselves. Now, I know what you all are thinking. Wolfsbane. The stuff works miracles if taken correctly. However, it does no good if it's sitting in St. Mungo's and not being used by witches and wizards with lycanthropy. The stuff is expensive. I myself did the calculations and discovered that it would be extremely difficult for anyone with a low income to afford it. And what kind of jobs are lycanthropes often stuck with? Menial, low-paying ones. The jobs where they make hardly enough money to pay the rent and buy food, let alone purchase a potion that could alter their lives for the better. I am absolutely appalled that Healers and potion brewers charge for this important potion. They must be making a nice profit. They can use the profits to take extravagant holidays while the poor witches and wizards who buy it struggle to afford it. There is only so much Ministry officials can do. Head of Werewolf Support Services, Walter Eckerton, says he would love to give away free Wolfsbane, but there just isn't room for it in the budget. What do I propose? I propose that Healers and potion brewers give it away for free. They have the abilities to brew it, not the Ministry. Most Healers claim to love helping people, but often it is those who need it most, such as those with lycanthropy, are often forced to go without, all because those with the abilities to brew it like to have a little extra spending money.[/i] “Nothing in this one,” Rose said as she shoved hers aside. “This one's got one about vampires,” Matt said as he set his paper on top of Rose's. “Read this,” Albus handed Matt his paper, “Wisander even mentions your dad.” Matt took the paper and he and Rose began to read it. John, Amanda, and Kaden peered over as well. Albus sat and waited while they read. “Let's go back to the room,” Matt said as soon as he'd finished reading it. Albus nodded and they returned the newspapers and walked as fast as they could back to the Marauder's Den. “Bloody Hell, that bloke must have had so many enemies!” John shouted as soon as they were back. “I know,” Albus agreed, “And that one's from two years ago. Imagine what he's written recently.” “Why did he have to mention my dad?” Matt groaned, “He made it sound like my dad agrees with that editorial and he definitely doesn't.” “He was just trying to stir something up,” Rose replied, “And look where it got him.” “Healers aren't like that. Most of the ones I've met would give away free Wolfsbane, but it's more complicated that that. The ingredients are expensive and it takes forever to brew. Not to mention how difficult it is. There aren't many Healers who can brew it and even most brewers can't brew it,” Matt explained. “That bloke didn't know the half of it,” John agreed, “My dad's a Healer and he'd love to give away free potions. It just doesn't work that way.” “My dad's linked with that bloke,” Matt said quietly, “And now that he's head of the entire department, he'll be passing more laws. Whoever killed Wisander's not going to be happy.” “Your dad's a really good wizard, though,” Albus pointed out to his worried friend, “Plus he works at the Ministry, where there are loads of Aurors milling about. And your house is more protected than any other house I've seen, well, except the Minister's Mansion.” “I know, but it's still not good,” Matt sighed. Albus couldn't argue with that. Something was going on outside of Hogwarts. Something far more important than the Quidditch tournament and the dueling tournament. ****** Albus and his friends scoured the Daily Prophet every morning the following week. Every day there was an article about Wisander, the investigation, or both. So far the investigation had turned up nothing. The Aurors had questioned quite a few people, namely those very outspoken against werewolf and vampire rights, but the search had proved fruitless. The articles about Wisander were far more interesting. It seemed that his editorial about Wolfsbane Potion was one of the tamer ones. Each day little pieces of his various editorials were being published. In one, he stated the reasons why werewolves shouldn't be locked up on full moons. The reasons were quite absurd, but the Prophet had printed it anyway. Another editorial talked about why vampires should be allowed access to humans to bite. He suggested using prisoners and allowing vampires to suck them dry. Thus helping vampires and reducing prison costs at the same time. “I reckon this bloke was off his rocker,” John announced at breakfast the following Sunday. He had just finished reading an article about how Wisander spent a year living with a vampire tribe in Turkey when he was young. They were some of the few people actually up at an early hour, as Albus had Quidditch practice and John had a morning detention with Filch for putting dungbombs in the toilets in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom the previous day. “That's a nice way of putting it,” Albus said as he served himself more eggs. “What are you doing after Quidditch practice?” John asked. “After Quidditch?” Albus laughed, “You mean, I'm going to get to leave eventually? Wood won't make us practice for the next week? I thought he was going to keep going until the actual match on Saturday.” “He's got to let you out for class,” John grinned. “What a shame,” Albus rolled his eyes, “Anyway, I'll probably have to do homework, since practice will go until late. How about you? Any plans for after detention?” “Thought I might earn another detention,” John grinned, “But Kaden's busy with chess club this afternoon-” “Wait,” Albus nearly choked on his juice, “Kaden joined the chess club? Kaden? Kaden Dursley?” “Know any other Kadens?” John laughed, “Rose said they want to teach him how to play properly, you know, like a challenge of sorts.” “I'll tell Rose good luck with that,” Albus said. “Yeah, so both Kaden and Rose will be busy with that. Not that Rose would want to earn detention with me anyway. And Amanda's doing something with Linda today, homework, I think. And I doubt Matt will be up for doing anything,” John continued. “Right,” Albus said, remembering that the full moon was that night, “But you did the dungbombs on your own.” “But it's not as fun,” John sighed, “I guess I'll just hang around the den with Matt. I can have a nice one-sided conversation.” “You can do your homework,” Albus told him. “Nope, I'm waiting until you get back for that,” John said. “Well, have fun in your detention. I've got to get to practice,” Albus said as he got up. There were a few choice words Albus had for practice that day. Long, grueling, and intense. Wood was in his finest form as he ordered the team to do drills hour after hour. He seemed to get more and more stressed as the day wore on. James did a lot of one-on-one training with Teddy and Albus was more than a little envious. Teddy was a much more patient captain than Wood was and yelled a whole lot less. Tyler Pike mostly helped Wood. Wood let them have a short break for lunch, making sure they knew to come back afterwards. Albus heard the Slytherins on the team talking about skipping out of the rest of practice, but they were back on the pitch at the time Wood told them to be. The afternoon was very similar to the morning and Albus found that he could tune out Wood's yelling quite easily. It was similar to tuning out his mum's yelling. Practice finally ended at three, when the New York team walked onto the pitch and demanded they leave, because they had booked the pitch for three o'clock that day. “Remember, practice Tuesday evening!” Wood shouted as the whole team rushed to get off the pitch. Albus trudged back to the castle tired and shivering. He went straight to Gryffindor Tower and took a very long, hot shower and then set off to find his friends. Rose, Amanda, and Linda were in the common room, but the boys weren't. Albus figured they were in the Marauder's Den and set off to look for them after saying a quick hello to the girls. John and Kaden were in the middle of a heated game of Exploding Snap when Albus walked into the Marauder's Den a few minutes later. John's face was full of ash, but Kaden's was quite clean. There was also a big grin on his face which contrasted the scowl on John's face. Matt was laying on the couch facing them, like he had been watching the game, but he was sound asleep. “Albus!” Kaden shouted, “How was practice?” “Grueling. Wood's ten times worse than Georgia. Five hours we were out there. Five bloody hours in the cold!” Albus groaned as he collapsed onto the other couch. “Better than scrubbing Moaning Myrtle's bathroom with a toothbrush,” John muttered, “I don't know what was worse, the scrubbing or listening to Myrtle.” “All three of you are so cheery today,” Kaden said, “So many complaints.” “Can you blame us?” Albus muttered. “No, not really,” Kaden shrugged. “How was chess?” Albus asked. “I got beaten by every single person in the chess club,” Kaden shook his head, “But they think I have potential.” “Albus,” John said as the cards blew up in his face again, “Have you done that Defense essay? “No,” Albus groaned. “I need your help,” John said as he got up and started digging around in his bag. Albus groaned again and fished around in his own bag for his Defense book. Balladanis wanted a foot long essay about basilisks, which were the current dark creature of the week. John sat down at the table while Albus lay on the couch. He just couldn't bring himself to get up and do his essay. Instead, he mumbled answers to John whenever he asked a question. “Do you hatch the chicken egg under a frog or a toad?” John asked. “Toad,” Albus mumbled. “You know, I could pull a Rose and tell you to do your essay,” John replied. “Don't even bother,” Albus said. Even Rose wouldn't be able to get him off the couch. “Quidditch seems less grueling than football,” Kaden commented, “I mean, you fly, you don't run.” Albus lifted his head up and glared at Kaden. “Wood had us doing push-ups and running laps.” “Really?” Kaden sounded surprised, “Why?” “To get us into shape after the holiday,” Albus answered, “So yes, Quidditch is a lot of work.” “Ok, ok,” Kaden muttered as he located some of his own homework. Albus managed to get in a somewhat comfortable position on the couch and wrote his essay with his book and parchment perched on his knees. It beat sitting at the table; at least he was able to sort of lie down. A few hours later both Albus and John had their essays completed. Kaden was still scribbling furiously on whatever homework he was working on. “We should probably wake him up,” Albus gestured to Matt, who had not moved one muscle since Albus had came back from practice. John got up and began to prod Matt's arm. It took a good two minutes for Matt to open his eyes. “It's nearly six,” John told him. “Then I should probably go,” Matt mumbled, “Oh, Albus, you're back from practice.” “Yeah,” Albus nodded, “It was really long, though.” “I'll go with you to the hospital wing,” John said and Matt did not object. Albus assured him they'd visit him the next day and then they left, leaving Albus and Kaden alone in the room. John returned a little while later and the three of them went down to dinner. They returned to the Marauder's Den afterwards and John and Kaden continued working on their homework while Albus slept on the couch. ****** “Albus, get up!” Albus mumbled something incoherently and rolled over in his bed. It felt far too early to wake up. “Albus!” Whoever was shouting was now prodding him in the side. Albus opened his eyes and saw Teddy standing over his bed. A glance at the clock told him that, yes, it was far too early to wake up. It was six in the morning. On a Saturday. Yes, it was the day of the Quidditch match against New York, but that wasn't until one o'clock and Albus was only a reserve player anyway. “Albus, you'd better get up now. Wood's in the common room,” Teddy whispered. That got Albus's attention. His eyes shot back open and he sat up. “What?” “Fielding's sick,” Teddy told him, “You're playing today.” Now Albus was wide awake. “Seriously? What about O'delle?” Hailey O'delle was the other reserve Chaser, a seventh year Slytherin. “She's sick, too,” Teddy explained, “The two of them are going out, so it doesn't surprise me.” Albus took that to mean that Teddy thought they were snogging and one got the other sick. “I'll be down in two minutes,” Albus muttered. Teddy nodded and left. Albus threw on a t-shirt and a pair of jeans before running down to the common room, where he found Oliver Wood pacing in front of the empty fire. “Albus,” he said as soon as Albus stepped into the common room, “You're playing Chaser today.” Albus nodded and sat down for what was sure to be a very long speech. Wood paused and then launched into an explanation of tactics, which Albus had already heard during practices that week. He couldn't figure out why he had to be woken up at six to be told he was playing. Wood could have accomplished the same thing at ten. Wood and Teddy left after Wood finished lecturing Albus and Albus considered going back to bed, but as he was wide awake, it would be pointless. Part of Wood's speech had been on the weather, which was cold and slightly snowy. Could be worse, Albus thought. At least there wasn't a blizzard. The conditions were very similar to those they had been practicing in all week. Albus sat in the common room reading a book he found laying around until his friends got up around ten. “There you are,” Matt, who was looking significantly better than he had a few days ago, said, “What time did you get up?” “Six,” Albus muttered, “Teddy got me up. Wood had to tell me I'm playing Chaser today.” “What?” Matt shouted, “That's brilliant!” “This is great, Albus!” John grinned, “But why?” “Fielding's sick and so is the other reserve Chaser,” Albus explained, “I'm just glad we're playing New York and not Australia.” Albus went to the Great Hall to eat lunch with his friends, but he wasn't really hungry. He didn't think he had ever been more nervous for a Quidditch match. This was a really important match, as Wood had pointed out numerous times. If they won by a wide enough margin, they'd be in second place. Word had gotten around that Albus was playing in the match and numerous people came over to the Gryffindor table to wish Albus luck. “Al,” Harry sat down next to Albus. “Dad,” Albus smiled. He hadn't been sure if his dad was coming to the match or not. “I'll be watching the whole time. I'm sure you're going to do great. Just think of it as a match against another house. Ravenclaw, I guess, since their robes are blue,” Harry grinned, “Good luck.” “Thanks,” Albus replied. Albus left with the rest of the Hogwarts team a few minutes later. All his friends wished him good luck as he left the Hall. Nobody talked much as they changed into their robes. Everyone sat down afterwards, ready for Wood's pre-match speech. However, Wood seemed to be all speeched out. He merely said that they'd trained well and to give it their all. Albus was a little shocked by the shortness of the speech, but quickly got over it as he walked out onto the pitch.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2495 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 17 February 2010 10 36 20 am    Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden Thanks Dawn! So glad you're enjoying it! Chapter 23: All in Good Time It was nearing midnight when Albus, Matt, and Rose re-entered the building, escorted by Professor Balladanis. Albus had been hoping the professor would just see them to the door and then continue his search of the perimeter, but instead he went back to the ballroom with them and marched them right up to Harry. “Potter,” Balladanis interrupted the conversation Harry had been having with some wizard Albus didn't know, “I found your son, your niece, and their friend wandering around outside.” “Albus,” Harry groaned, “I thought we made it clear that you were to stay inside.” “I'll leave them with you,” Balldanis said, “Happy New Year.” “Happy New Year,” Harry replied, “And thanks.” Balladanis disappeared into the crowd and Albus shifted uncomfortably as his dad stared at him for a few moments. “Care to explain?” Harry raised an eyebrow. “We were just, er, exploring,” Albus muttered. “Don't do it again,” Harry sighed. “We won't,” Albus assured him. Harry went back to his conversation and Albus lead his friends back to the buffet. “I hope you've learned your lesson,” Rose muttered, “I am not doing that again.” “We won't do it again. Not tonight, that is,” Albus grinned. “10!” someone shouted. Albus looked at the nearest clock and saw that it was almost midnight. Everyone else joined in the countdown, holding their glasses of champagne in the air. Amy joined Albus, Rose, and Matt. “3, 2, 1, Happy New Year!” Albus shouted along with everyone else. The crowd began to thin out a little while later. Most of the people Albus didn't know left, along with his Uncle Percy, Aunt Corrine, and his cousins. Albus's parents didn't look like they were in any hurry to leave, so he got a plate of the leftover desserts and at them with his friends. Rose's family and Amy left, and then it was just the Potters, Matt, his parents, the Minister, and his wife left. All the adults were talking, James was teasing Lily about something, and Albus and Matt were finishing off the last of the desserts. “Do you think there's any way for Hogwarts to win the Quidditch tournament?” Matt asked as he polished off a piece of chocolate cake. “Only if Linda's sick the day of one of the matches,” Albus sighed. “Maybe that'll happen,” Matt said, “You never know.” “Al, we've got to go,” Ginny tapped him on the shoulder. “Ok, Mum,” Albus replied and then turned back to Matt, “I'll see you soon.” “Yeah, see you on the train,” Matt said. Albus waved goodbye and then joined his mum, dad, James, and Lily. They all said congratulations to Matt's dad and then left the Minister's Mansion. Albus peered into the bushes as he left, but there was no sign of Professor Balladanis. ****** The remainder of the Christmas holiday went by very slow for Albus. He did all his homework, which was quite boring, and there was nothing to do after that. Rose was visiting her other grandparents and James was at Nathan's house. Even Kaden was busy visiting his grandparents (Vernon and Petunia). He sent Albus a letter complaining about it, since the visit was also with Aunt Marge. Albus was very grateful that he didn't have to go. Neither of his parents had mentioned anything about visiting with Vernon and Petunia again. Finally the day to return to school arrived and the Potters made it to Platform 9 ¾ just in time. Albus found all his friends in one of the compartments and once they kicked Lily, Ashtyn, and Hugo out, they told each other about their holidays. “Aunt Marge has got to be the most horrible aunt in the entire world,” Kaden fumed, “My dad told her about magic a few months ago and she's been awful ever since. I mean, she was always kind of horrible, but now she's worse. She just hates magic so much. She's worse than my grandparents.” “Wow,” Albus replied, “Glad I've never met her.” “Consider yourself lucky,” Kaden muttered, “I'm guessing you lot had better holidays?” “We found Professor Balladanis lurking around the Minister's Mansion,” Albus announced. “What?” John, Kaden, and Amanda shouted at the same time. “I saw someone sneaking around outside and Albus insisted we go investigate,” Rose said, “Turns out it was Balladanis and the Minister had apparently asked him to check the grounds for trouble.” “Did he find you?” John asked. “Yeah,” Albus nodded, “He wasn't to happy either.” “Told us we could've been killed,” Matt explained. “Well, we could've,” Rose muttered. “Weird though,” John said, “Why would the Minister think someone would be hiding around his house?” “Doesn't he have guards around anyway?” Amanda asked, “The Muggle Minister does.” “Again, that's why it's weird,” John replied, “He does have guards.” “Why would he ask Balladanis anyway?” Matt asked, “Why not ask an Auror? Balladanis is a professor.” “He hasn't always been,” Albus pointed out, “He had some sort of mysterious job before.” “Again, weird,” John said. “Yeah, there were a bunch of Aurors at the party, not to mention Albus's dad,” Matt pointed out. “That settles it,” John announced, “Albus, you've got to find out what he did before he started teaching Defense?” “Why me?” Albus asked. “Because you've got those special dueling lessons with him. He likes you for some reason. Of course, he also likes Malfoy. But that's probably just because Malfoy's a good dueler, too,” John explained. “I'll try,” Albus sighed, “But I really don't think he'll tell me.” “You never know,” John said. ****** “Quiet, quiet!” Balladanis shouted the following Tuesday, their first day of Defense after the holiday. Albus immediately stopped talking to Matt and John and turned to face Balladanis. He was really hoping that the professor would say nothing about what happened at the party and so far Balladanis was showing no recollection of it. “I trust you all had superb holidays,” Balladanis said, “But the holidays are over and although I am sure none of you thought a bit about defensive magic during said holidays, it is now time to commence that thinking once again. “First, I'll say that there is no time to not be thinking about defensive magic, as the dark arts do not take breaks for trivial things such as holidays. “Second, in this term we will begin to explore creatures far more dangerous than hinkypunks and kappas. In this term we shall learn about those terrifying creatures such as acromantulas, basilisks, werewolves, dragons, and vampires.” Albus couldn't help but glance at Linda when Balladanis said vampires. Balladanis had glanced at her as well, and he also glanced at Matt when he said werewolves. Of course, he had looked at Albus when he said basilisks, so it didn't necessarily mean anything, but Albus had a feeling it did. “As the headmaster would find it highly inappropriate for a dragon to manifest itself in this classroom, we shall not be using the anamatek as often this term,” Balladanis continued, “But we will be using it a few times. You will find that there are more lectures in this term, much to my dislike. There is nothing I would like better than to teach you about acromantulas and werewolves with practical lessons, but there are both laws and school rules that prevent such lessons.” Albus and Matt glanced at each other. It was official. Professor Balladanis was insane. What kind of teacher would want to teach about dragons with live dragons? Well, Hagrid would, but he wasn't the same as Balladanis. “Take out some parchment,” Balladanis said, “We're going to begin learning about acromantulas today....” The rest of the day went by relatively quickly. Albus actually did not have Quiditch practice that night, so everyone went to the Marauder's Den after dinner. “Divination is such a joke,” John said as he tossed his bag onto the floor and collapsed onto a couch, “We started crystal ball gazing today. All I saw was a load of fog.” “I told you not to take it,” Rose said as she pulled a stack of books out of her own bag. “I didn't think it would be this bad,” John groaned, “There is no way anyone could see anything in a crystal ball.” “Palmistry was better,” Amanda said, “And Trelawney makes the whole thing worse.” “Trelawney could make Defense bad,” Albus replied. “Balladanis told us that he wished he could teach us about dark creatures using the anamatek,” Rose said, “Seriously, he wanted a basilisk to appear in the middle of the classroom.” “That would be stupid,” Kaden said as he unwrapped a Chocolate Frog, “Those can kill you with their eyes.” “I know,” Rose said, “Balladanis is insane.” “Do you think that anamatek could turn into a werewolf if the moon wasn't full?” John asked. “Probably not,” Matt answered, “It would just be a wolf. I think it would just be a wolf any other time of the month, too, because there's no way it could turn someone into a werewolf by biting them.” “That's good,” Albus said, “Because he did say that he'd use the anamatek a few times this term. Wonder if he'll have it turn into a vampire.” “No need,” John laughed, “We've got Linda.” “If you think of it that way, there's no point to have it turn into a fake werewolf either,” Rose pointed out. “Good point, I guess,” John muttered. ****** The rest of the week went by quickly. Albus had Quidditch practice Thursday evening, and Wood informed the whole team that they'd gotten rusty over the holiday. He also told them that the next match was in two weeks and they'd be playing New York. If they won, they'd be in second place. Albus had a dueling lesson with Balladanis the following evening and he had absolutely no idea how he was going to ask what Balladanis's previous job had been. Albus arrived at Balladanis's room before Malfoy and entered to find Balladanis clearing all of the desks from the middle of the room. “Mr. Potter,” Balladanis turned around and greeted Albus, “Is it safe to assume that you did not go wandering about late at night alone after New Year's?” “Yes, sir,” Albus muttered as he felt his face turn red. He was quite glad Malfoy wasn't there yet. “Mr. Malfoy,” Balladanis said as Malfoy walked into the room, “Now we may begin. I have decided that your understanding of the Protego charm is satisfactory so we are going to move on to something else. “This particular charm, when performed correctly, manages to disarm and disorient a person at the same time. The sensation is often described as dizziness. Can either of you tell me what why this charm would be more useful than a standard disarming spell?” “Because it's easier to duel someone who's dizzy than someone who isn't,” Malfoy said. “More specifically than that,” Balladanis said, “Mr. Potter?” “Er, because you can get the person tied up while they're disoriented? If they're a dark wizard you're trying to catch,” Albus replied. “Another good reason, but not the one I was thinking of,” Balladanis began to walk slowly around the room, “Wizards who are expecting to have to duel other wizards often keep multiple wands on their person. There are spells that can be performed on these wands to keep them attached to your robes or your actual body, spells that Expelliarmus won't overcome easily. However, these spells require constant concentration. “If a wizard is hit with the charm I am about to teach you, they will lose the concentration necessary to keep their extra wands affixed. Then, you can use Expelliarmus to get the extra wands.” “Can you teach us that charm to keep extra wands in our robes?” Malfoy asked. “Perhaps towards the end of the year. It takes immense concentration and magical energy to simultaneously perform that charm while dueling someone,” Balladanis explained, “For now, you will learn the charm to disarm and disorient a person at the same time. “The incantation is 'Confundo-Expelliarmus'. A combination of Confundus and Expelliarmus. Mr. Malfoy, you will go first. When I say so, perform the charm against Mr. Potter. Mr. Potter, you may try and stop him using the Protego charm I taught you earlier.” Albus nodded, wishing he had been chosen to perform the new charm first, and faced Malfoy. He held his wand up and muttered 'Protego' under his breath. He focused all of his concentration on holding the shield up. “Now, Mr. Malfoy,” Balladanis muttered. “Confundo-Expelliarmus!” Malfoy shouted. Albus felt the charm hit his shield, but it didn't break through. He gripped his wand harder and stared at Malfoy. “Keep going,” Balladanis said to Malfoy. “Confundo-Expelliarmus!” Malfoy shouted again. The charm hit Albus's shield a little harder this time. Albus could feel beads of sweat forming on his forehead. Malfoy kept going and it took him five times to break through Albus's shield. When it happened, Albus felt his wand leave his hand and was overcome by a wave of dizziness at the same time. He felt exactly like he had when he had gotten the flu the previous year, only without the fever. Albus didn't pay any attention to what Malfoy and Balladanis were doing. He felt like he was going to pass out and he had to sit down. He sat down right on the floor and was vaguely aware of Balladanis standing over him. Then, all of a sudden, the dizziness was gone. Albus shook his head and then looked up and saw Balladanis and Malfoy standing in front of him. Malfoy looked impressed and Balladanis looked like he always did. “You did quite well with that shield,” Balladanis said as Albus stood up, “And I think it's safe to assume that you couldn't have held concentration for any spells after Mr. Malfoy succeeded in breaking your shield.” “No, sir,” Albus shook his head. “Normally the charm's effects would have lasted longer, but I performed the counter-curse because it looked like you were ready to pass out,” Balladanis explained, “When you're ready, you can try the charm.” “I'm ready,” Albus said as he took his wand back from Malfoy. Balladanis gave Malfoy a few seconds to get his shield up and then nodded at Albus to perform the charm. “Confundo-Expelliarmus!” Albus shouted. As he expected, the charm did not break Malfoy's shield. Much to Albus's delight, he managed to break the shield on the fourth try. One less try than Malfoy had needed for Albus. The charm hit Malfoy in the chest and his wand soared towards Albus. Albus caught it and watched as Malfoy bent over and fell to the ground, much like Albus himself had done. Balladanis gave Albus one of his rare smiles and then pulled out his own wand. He waved it at Malfoy and Malfoy looked up. “That was weird,” Malfoy muttered. “It's supposed to be,” Balladanis said, “Now get up and we'll do it again.” Balladanis kept them at it for the better part of an hour, past when Albus would have liked to quit. It was exhausting to be hit with that spell time after time while trying to hold up a shield charm. Malfoy didn't seem to be faring much better and Albus thought he was even going to ask Balladanis to stop after a half hour, but Malfoy closed his mouth, obviously thinking better of it. The practice wasn't for nothing, though. Albus managed to hold Malfoy off longer and longer each time and although Malfoy was getting better at the shield charm as well, Albus broke through it a few more times. “That's enough for tonight,” Balladanis finally said after he performed the countercurse on Albus for what must have been the tenth time that night, “I'll see you in class on Tuesday.” Malfoy made a beeline for the door, but Albus turned to Balladanis instead. He might as well just get it over with. There was no good way to ask Balladanis what his previous job had been. He just had to do it. “Er, Sir,” Albus began, “I was just wondering, what did you do before you began teaching here?” Balladanis gave Albus the strangest look he had ever seen. It was a mixture of anger, sadness, and even regret. For a moment, Albus wished he hadn't asked. It was too personal. He should have just told John they wouldn't be able to find out. “Now is not the time,” Balladanis said quietly, “All in good time, I will tell you.” Albus was taken aback. That was more than he had expected. He had thought Balladanis would have told him to mind his own business and get back to Gryffindor Tower before curfew. Albus was going to find out, he was just going to have to be patient. Albus left the room as quickly as he could in his exhausted state, before Balladanis could change his mind about eventually telling Albus about his previous career. The walk back to Gryffindor Tower seemed longer than usual and all Albus wanted to do was collapse into bed when he finally got there. Instead, he was ambushed by all of his friends. All five of them looked shocked and Amanda looked like she was going to be sick. He looked around the common room and saw that most people looked shocked and everyone was subdued. There was no joking around going on. Even James was quietly sitting at one of the tables. “What happened?” Albus whispered as he followed them back to their usual table. Rose opened her mouth to speak and then closed her eyes, unable to do so. Albus turned to John and raised his eyebrows. “You know that bloke who owns Dervish and Banges?” John asked quietly. Albus nodded, having seen the man on numerous occasions when he was in Hogsmeade. He was slightly older than Albus's parents, with greying hair and a very intense personality. He never hesitated to make his opinions known “Someone killed him,” John said in barely more than a whisper. “Wh-what?” Albus turned to look at all his friends in turn. Matt nodded ever so slightly and then put his head on his hands. “Must've just happened,” John said, “They just found him. Madam Rosmerta heard a commotion and Flooed here, to get the Auror on duty. By the time they got back, his shop was a complete mess inside and he was laying dead on the floor. Avada Kedavra. They're searching Hogsmeade, the forest, the grounds, and the school. Nobody's allowed out of their common rooms and dormitories.” “We thought Balladanis would bring you back here when it happened,” Rose said. “Nobody even came in to tell us,” Albus replied, still in shock. People weren't just randomly killed in Hogsmeade. That sort of thing just didn't happen anymore. Not since Voldemort had been defeated. Well, Professor Torro had been killed back before his first year and then that one witch from the Ministry had been killed over Christmas, but their killers had never been found and nothing had happened since. “Why would anyone kill him?” Matt wondered aloud. “Why would anyone kill anyone?” Rose replied. The portrait hole opened and all the whispering stopped. Everyone looked to see who came in. It was Professor Longbottom, looking worse for the wear. His robes were disheveled and his tie was askew. “Aurors are still searching the castle and the grounds,” he told them, “I suggest you all try and get some sleep. The search will be long over by morning, so you will be free to leave the common room then.” Albus and his friends looked at each other after Longbottom left. They wordlessly went up to their dormitories, Kaden going with Albus instead of to the second years' dorm. Nobody said anything as he curled up on the floor with one of Albus's spare blankets. Albus got into bed and stared at the ceiling. He had been so exhausted earlier, but now there was no way he'd get much sleep that night.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2495 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: 2495 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: 2495 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: 2495 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: 2495 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: 6409 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: 1754 Location: NanoWrimo, baby! I'm gonna write until my hands bleed!!!	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: 878 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.