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Harry Potter Clue by Hasbro
Dark magic has been performed at Hogwarts A fellow student has vanished from the famous School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and it is up to you to solve the mysterious disappearance. Play as Harry Ron Hermione Ginny Luna or Neville and try to discover WHO did it WHAT spell or item they used and WHERE the student was attacked. Was it Draco Malfoy with a Sleeping Draught in the Owlery Move around Hogwarts making suggestions but watch out Wheels on the board actually move to reveal secret passages hidden staircases and even the Dark Mark Think you've gathered all the facts you need Go to Dumbledore's office to make your final accusation to win the game For 3 5 players ages 9 and up. Contents 1 game board 6 movers 33 Help cards 33 Dark cards 21 Mystery cards 1 notepad 40 house point tokens 6 suspect tokens 6 item tokens 1 envelope 2 standard dice 1 Hogwarts die 4 wheels 4 plastic rivets 1 label sheet and instructions.
$34.98
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Brain Bending Trivia
Updated through the August 2009 Teen Choice Awards, this book covers all the pop culture kids ages 10-14 watch on Nickelodeon and the Disney Channel, read of Harry Potter and the Twilight series, and know about comics, sports, texting celebrities, movies, games and music, This book features questions, puzzles and word games about topics that preteens and early teens find most interesting. The book contains trivia questions, crosswords, word finds and matching puzzles.
$5.99
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Wizards, Wardrobes and Wookiees
Luke Skywalker. Lucy Pevensie. Harry Potter. For millions of children and adults alike, these names and stories are as familiar as those of close friends and family. We read and watch their adventures over and over again. We feel their fears and betrayals. We are inspired by their courage. And perhaps we wish we could live in their worlds, fight important battles and have our chance to become heroes.In these pages Connie Neal shows that we too in our seemingly ordinary world have a call on our life that's just as powerful, just as adventurous. While we won't run into Darth Vader or the White Witch on the street, we face villains as formidable as they. And though we don't have Obi Wan Kenobi or Dumbledore to mentor us, Wizards, Wardrobes and Wookiees reminds us of the Helper who teaches and guides as we walk through each day. By highlighting adventures from Star Wars, Narnia and Harry Potter, as well as true stories from Scripture and her own life, Neal shows us the way to victory over evil in the battles we face.This hope-filled, encouraging book takes us into mythical worlds we love in order to help us live wisely and well in our own so that our stories, in turn, can inspire all who see and hear.Market/AudienceCulture-watchersFans of C. S. LewisFans of the authorFans of the Harry Potter booksFeatures and BenefitsWritten by the bestselling author of The Gospel According to Harry PotterIncludes insights from three beloved book and movie seriesRelates popular book and movie material to Scripture and to everyday life
$12.98
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Harry Potter Broom
The official Harry Potter broom is exactly watch you need to fly around Hogwarts this Halloween.
$14.97
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Harry Potter Clue
Dark magic has been performed at Hogwarts! A fellow student has vanished from the famous School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and it is up to you to solve the mysterious disappearance. Play as Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna or Neville and try to discover WHO did it, WHAT spell or item they used, and WHERE the student was attacked. Was it Draco Malfoy with a Sleeping Draught in the Owlery? Move around Hogwarts making suggestions, but watch out! Wheels on the board actually move to reveal secret passages, hidden staircases, and even the Dark Mark! Think you've gathered all the facts you need? Go to Dumbledore's office to make your final accusation to win the game!<br /><br />For 3 - 5 players , ages 9 and up.<br /><br />Contents: 1 game board, 6 movers, 33 Help cards, 33 Dark cards, 21 Mystery cards, 1 notepad, 40 house point tokens, 6 suspect tokens, 6 item tokens, 1 envelope, 2 standard dice, 1 Hogwarts die, 4 wheels, 4 plastic rivets, 1 label sheet and instructions.
$29.98
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Don't just watch the movies and read the books - you can participate too in our friendly Harry Potter Forum, like these recent posts:
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DucksRMagical
Joined: 28 December 2006
Posts: 2495
Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal
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Posted: Wednesday 3 March 2010 10 03 26 am Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden |
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Chapter 25: The Memory
Ten minutes into the match, Albus decided there were four types of Quidditch in the world. Casual Quidditch, like what he played with his cousins; school Quidditch; professional Quidditch; and then there was the type of Quidditch he was playing now.
It was a combination of school Quidditch and professional Quidditch. The crowd was louder, the players more determined, and the stakes were higher than a normal school Quidditch match.
Albus dodged one of the New York Chasers and flew up to catch the Quaffle, which had been dropped by Waverly as he had been hit by a bludger. As soon as Albus had the Quaffle, he was flanked by the other two New York Chasers.
Albus pushed his broom to fly faster and held the Quaffle tighter to his chest. Then he plunged down to the ground, where nobody else was flying. He was back up high two minutes later when he had reached the New York goal posts. After dodging a Bludger, he threw the Quaffle into the left goal post. The Keeper was too slow and the Quaffle soared through.
“Potter of Hogwarts has scored!” Todd Smith shouted, “40-30 Hogwarts!”
James grinned at Albus as he flew past. Albus smiled to himself and joined Waverly and Reilly, who were waiting for New York's Keeper to throw the Quaffle out. That had been his first goal of the match.
The Quaffle continued to exchange hands quickly as the match went on. An hour later there was still no sign of the Snitch and both teams were neck in neck as far as points went. New York was up by ten.
Albus scored a few more goals and he began to relax a little. The match began to feel more like a school match and less like a professional match, even though the stakes were still high.
Wood had repeated over and over again that they had to be up by at least fifty points when James caught the Snitch, or they wouldn't be able to overtake New York as far as overall points went.
“New York's Seeker has seen the Snitch!” Smith announced.
Albus, who had been following one of New York's Chasers (the one who had the Quaffle), turned around and saw that their Seeker was making a beeline for the top of Hogwarts' middle goal.
James noticed as well and flew straight at the hoop. He had been significantly closer than New York's Seeker and flew away from the hoop with the struggling Snitch in his hand.
The crowd roared and James held the Snitch high above his head. Both teams flew to the ground and Albus saw the pained look on Wood's face. They hadn't won by enough to be in second place overall.
“I had no choice!” James shouted to him, “She was going to get it!”
Wood nodded in agreement, but he still looked disappointed. Albus chose to ignore this and helped the rest of the team to hoist James onto all of their shoulders.
“To update everyone on the points, the Australian School of Sorcery is in first place. New York and Hogwarts are currently tied for second. The next match will take place at the end of February!” Smith told the crowd.
Albus didn't meet up with his friends until they were back in the common room. Teddy had gone to Hogsmeade and a party was currently underway in the Gryffindor common room. Teddy informed everyone that the three other houses were hosting parties as well. The students from New York who had been sorted into Gryffindor, including their Seeker, were sulking in a corner.
“I think that was your best match yet,” John said to Albus as they settled down at their usual table.
“I think so, too,” Albus agreed, “I kind of wish I could play in the next match.”
“Maybe Fielding will still be sick,” John said.
“Doubt it,” Albus replied, “Plus, I'm sure O'delle will get first dibs on the next match if any of the other Chasers get sick.”
“At least you got to play in one match,” Rose pointed out.
“Anyway, the next match you'll probably be playing Australia,” Matt said.
“Yeah,” Albus nodded, “If we win that one, it'll be a miracle. But we're not even playing in the next one. Next match is New York versus Australia.”
The party continued until dinner time, when people began to leave as nobody had snuck down to the kitchens to get food. Harry came in to congratulate Albus and James shortly before Albus and his friends left for dinner. He was also scheduled to patrol the school for the remainder of the weekend and wanted to let his kids know.
******
Life at Hogwarts returned to normal shortly after the Quidditch match. The [i]Prophet[/i] printed fewer and fewer articles about Wisander until there were none at all. Everyone seemed to forget about his death. Everyone except Matt, that is, who was still worried about his dad.
However, the students at Hogwarts were reminded again of the unsolved murder when the next Hogsmeade trip arrived two days after Valentine's Day. A portion of the students were too lovesick to notice the boarded up shop of Dervish and Banges as they made their way to Madam Puddifoot's.
Neither Albus, John, or Matt were too preoccupied to notice the abandoned building, though. The three of them stopped to look at it for a while despite the biting wind. Rose and Amanda were spending the day with Linda.
“Who owns it now?” John asked as they looked at the empty building.
“Dunno,” Albus shrugged, “The Prophet never mentioned any family.”
“It's probably still part of the investigation,” Matt pointed out, “Plus, who would want a building that someone was killed in? I don't even want to go in it.”
Albus didn't think it was a good time to remind Matt that Severus Snape had been murdered inside of the Shrieking Shack.
“Good point,” Albus said, “But so far they haven't found anything.”
“They won't find who it was,” John said quietly, “They never found out who killed Torro.”
“I really hope they find who it was,” Matt replied.
“They will,” Albus said, “They're still focused on it.”
Albus, Matt, and John went to the Three Broomsticks a little while later because all three of them were frozen. They warmed up with Butterbeer and were just thinking about heading back to the castle when Albus heard someone whisper his name behind him.
“Albus,” they said again.
Albus turned around, but no one was there. The voice sounded familiar, though. Albus slowly reached his hand out and it touched something solid, but it looked like no one was there.
“Kaden,” Albus groaned, “Is that you?”
“Yeah,” Kaden whispered back, “I stole your cloak.”
Albus immediately stood up and motioned for Matt and John, who were both looking confused, to follow him. He assumed Kaden would follow as well. Albus lead them up High Street until they reached the Shrieking Shack. Nobody was hanging around it that day.
“Kaden!” Albus seethed, “You do realize how stupid this was.”
“Yes,” Kaden replied as he took off the cloak.
“Bloody Hell!” John shouted.
“You stole the cloak?” Matt asked.
“Kaden, you idiot!” Albus shouted, “I know I first told you this would be a good time, but there was a reason I changed my mind and told you not to sneak in today. Most of the teachers come to Hogsmeade for the February trip. My cousins told me. They want to make sure no one does anything stupid because they're in love or whatever.”
“Er,” Kaden muttered.
“How did you get in?” Matt asked.
“One-eyed witch statue,” Kaden replied, “Leads right into Honeyduke's.”
“Kaden, do you know how difficult it's going to be to get you back unnoticed?”
Kaden's face turned white and his mouth dropped open. Albus turned around to see what he was looking at and was met face to face with Professor Balladanis.
“Quite difficult, I'd expect,” Balladanis replied, “Come with me, all of you.”
Albus groaned inwardly as he followed Balladanis down the street. They had gone all year without Kaden getting them into trouble, but Albus should have known better than to think they could go the whole year.
Nobody spoke until they were shut in Balladanis's study. Balladanis sat down in his chair and looked at Kaden.
“Explain,” Balladanis said.
“They had nothing to do with it,” Kaden said quickly, “Albus was just telling me how stupid I was.”
“Then it would seem that Mr. Potter and I agree on something,” Balladanis replied, “Where'd you get that cloak?”
“It's Albus's,” Kaden said quietly, “I took it. He didn't give it to me to sneak in or anything.”
“Very well,” Balladanis said, “Mr. Potter, Mr. Eckerton, and Mr. Brickston, you may return to your common room. Mr. Dursley will join you after I arrange his detention.”
Albus, Matt, and John could not get out of there quick enough. They walked straight back to the common room, talking about how lucky they had been. It must have looked like all three of them had helped Kaden sneak into Hogsmeade. Good thing Balladanis believed Kaden.
Kaden returned fifteen minutes later, looking quite unhappy. He collapsed onto a chair and stared mutinously at the table.
“Detention every Saturday for the next month,” Kaden muttered, “Plus he gave me a lecture about how dangerous it was for me to sneak out and if I did it again I'd get a worse punishment than detention. Didn't elaborate on that, though.”
“He'd probably get you kicked out,” John commented.
“Did he say what you have to do for detention?” Albus asked.
“No,” Kaden said, “Guess it'll be a surprise.”
******
Kaden discovered what his detention was that night. Balladanis decided to have him alphabetize his private library, which was quite extensive. Kaden returned to the Marauder's Den ranting about the amount of books Balladanis had.
“He's got more books on dark creatures than your dad's got,” Kaden said to Matt.
“That's impressive,” Matt replied.
“Wish he had less,” Kaden muttered.
Kaden spent all four of his detentions alphabetizing those books. He almost didn't manage to finish and if that had been the case, Balladanis would have given him a fifth detention.
The next full moon came and went, as did the next Quidditch match. Albus was beginning to suspect that the full moons were becoming worse for Matt, although he didn't know why.
New York lost miserably to Australia in the Quidditch match. They had been doing pretty well until Linda caught the Snitch a half hour in. Wood insisted that this was a good thing, though. It meant that if Hogwarts managed to score a good amount of goals before Linda caught the Snitch in their next match, they would have more overall points than New York. Wood seemed to have lost any hope that James could beat Linda in Seeking, something James fumed about on a near daily basis.
March arrived and with it a three day rain storm that left the grounds completely flooded. Both Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures had to take place inside, which resulted in incredibly boring lessons. Wood continued to hold Quiditch practice and Albus returned to the castle completely soaked and covered in mud after each one.
All of the teachers were piling on the homework and Professor Patil had even gone so far as to mention the O.W.L.s even though they were a whole two years away. The only teacher who wasn't talking about the end of term exams was Professor Balladanis.
Balladanis conducted his lessons as if end of term exams did not exist. He changed nothing about his lessons except the dark creature they were learning about.
“We're starting vampires next week,” Balladanis announced at the end of class on Thursday, “Please read the chapter on them by Monday.”
Albus couldn't help but look at Linda before he began packing up his things. He wondered if Balladanis would be teaching them enough about identifying vampires for anyone to figure out that Linda was one.
“So,” John said as he flipped through his Defense book the following evening. Albus, Matt, John, and Kaden were in the Marauder's Den and John was just finishing the chapter on vampires. “Look what's after vampires.
Albus looked through his own book. “Werewolves,” he said quietly and then looked at Matt.
“Yeah,” Matt muttered, “It was bound to happen eventually.”
“I wonder if Balladanis is going to make you go in for extra help during that unit,” John grinned, “I'm sure you'll need loads of extra help in identifying werewolves.”
Matt rolled his eyes. “He better. It'll look suspicious if I don't go in for extra help. Speaking of extra help, we're due to go in for it in fifteen minutes.”
“We'd better go then,” John said, “See you two later.”
Albus managed to finish his Herbology homework while John and Matt were gone. Then it was time for him to go in for his dueling lessons.
The desks weren't pushed to the sides of the classroom when Albus entered. Balladanis was seated behind his desk and there was a stone basin sitting on it. Balladanis was pulling silvery strings of something out of his head and placing them in the basin.
It was a pensieve and the strings were memories, Albus realized. For a moment, he thought that maybe Balladanis had cancelled dueling and neglected to tell him.
“Sir?” Albus asked hesitantly.
“Mr. Potter,” Balladanis said quietly, “Come in.”
Albus stood awkwardly next to one of the front tables while he waited for Malfoy. Balladanis stared into the pensieve and acted like Albus wasn't there. When Malfoy arrived, he looked up and stared at the two boys for a few minutes before speaking.
“We're not dueling today,” he said, “Instead, I am going to show you something.” He motioned for them to join him at his desk.
Albus glanced nervously at Malfoy. Balladanis wasn't one for explanations, but Albus would have appreciated one right then.
“This is a pensieve,” Balladanis said, “It is used to explore memories. That is exactly what we're going to do. Albus, lean forward and put your head into the pensieve. Your body will follow. Scorpius, you will follow. I will come after you.”
Albus's pulse sped up a little bit as he leaned over the pensieve. Was this a stupid idea? He didn't even know what he was getting into. But it was just a memory. Nothing could hurt him in a memory, right?
Albus took a deep breath and plunged his face into the pensieve. He had never been in one before. He landed on the hard grass and looked around.
It was dusk and very quiet. There was a small house in the distance, atop of a rocky hill. In fact, the whole area was mostly rocky. Albus had landed on the one lone piece of grass in the whole place. It didn't look like any place in Britain.
He stood up as Malfoy landed next to him, followed quickly by Balladanis. Balladanis landed on his feet and they waited for Malfoy to get up.
“Follow me,” Balladanis said quietly.
Albus did so, but he still felt like he deserved an explanation. Where were they? Why were they there? Whose memory was this? What did it have to do with dueling?
“Excuse me, Sir,” Malfoy said, “Where are we?”
“Greece,” Balladanis replied.
This did nothing but increase Albus's curiosity. Why were they in Greece of all places? But he didn't ask. It didn't seem like Balladanis was in an explaining mood, judging by his short, one word answer to Malfoy.
They walked quietly towards the small house. The only noise was their footsteps. There weren't even any owls hooting or dogs barking. It struck Albus as very odd.
The house must have been their destination. Balladanis stopped when they arrived at the broken down wooden fence surrounding it. The house reminded Albus of the Shrieking Shack, only smaller. It was kind of broken down and didn't look like a place that would be good to live in.
Someone lived there, though. A light was on upstairs. It remained on for a few more minutes and then someone turned it off.
Balladanis made no move towards the house. Instead, he seemed focused on the forest that lay just beyond it. Albus decided the forest was as good a place as any to watch.
They watched the forest for a half an hour before anything happened. Then five hooded figures practically flew out of the forest. They were at the house before Albus even realized it. He looked at Balladanis. His face was hardened.
All was quiet for two minutes. The figures entered the house, but did not turn on any lights. Then the screams started. Albus jumped at the sound of the first one.
They were agonizing, long screams. Albus wanted nothing more than to go in and help whoever was screaming, but he knew he couldn't. It was nothing more than a memory. Instead, he looked again at Balladanis.
His professor's face showed nothing. Nothing but the same hardened look he had seen on it so many times. Malfoy on the other hand, looked horrified. He looked exactly how Albus felt.
The screaming was coming from two different people. There was a high-pitched one that must have been coming from a woman, and a lower one that must have been coming from a man.
Then, they stopped. First the woman, then the man. The hooded figures left the house as quickly as they had entered and returned to the forest.
Balladanis, however, made no move to leave. Instead he stared at the house. Two minutes later, someone fled from it.
They ran from the house, towards Albus, Malfoy, and Balladanis. As they drew closer, Albus could see that the person was a boy who looked no older than Albus himself. His face was etched with a sadness Albus had never seen before. It was too dark to tell, but Albus was sure there were tears running down his face.
The boy obviously didn't notice the three people watching him. He ran right past them, up the rocky hill in the distance. It occurred to Albus after he passed that the boy looked somewhat familiar. There was something about his face that Albus recognized, but he couldn't quite place it. |
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Ms. Elsewhere
Joined: 13 January 2008
Posts: 878
Location: In role play game of course!
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Posted: Monday 1 March 2010 07 50 16 am Post subject: Re: Hey,i am frensh in topic:Hey,i am frensh |
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I like the Beaubaxton idea too! I will watch for when it comes up, and join in! |
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DucksRMagical
Joined: 28 December 2006
Posts: 2495
Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal
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Posted: Sunday 28 February 2010 03 53 06 pm Post subject: Re: Beyond the Shadow in topic:Beyond the Shadow |
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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. |
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Ms. Elsewhere
Joined: 13 January 2008
Posts: 878
Location: In role play game of course!
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Posted: Thursday 18 February 2010 07 12 59 am Post subject: Re: RPG: The Six Wizards in topic:RPG: The Six Wizards |
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"Keep a careful watch. Use whatever this is that guides us like this. Your....awareness." Inu took Neko's hand and brought it up to look at it, running his hand over it, and then, allowed her claws to scrape against his skin. Razor sharp, they left red scrapes on his palm. He griinned and closed his eyes as they almost immediate repared themselves. He opened his eyes and looked down into Neko's face. "They will plot to defy what is inevitable. No matter where they go, it will be done. Of course, the sooner, the better." Inu put one finger under Neko's chin and tilted her face up to his. He leaned down and pressed his lips on hers, dragging his teeth off her bottom lip as he pulled back. "Now, prepare what you need to perform your craft well. We will meet later to assess what else is needed. Call me, should you notice anyone wandering too far...or approaching. Although.." Inu thought, and looked around him. "i seem to see and feel what you feel a great deal already." he sqeezed Neko's hand and turned to go, but an after thought occured to him. "As for tonight, I would like to explore our new weapon that binds us...privately." and with a burning gaze that would make any female blush, he released Neko and made his way outside. |
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DucksRMagical
Joined: 28 December 2006
Posts: 2495
Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal
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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 |
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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. |
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DucksRMagical
Joined: 28 December 2006
Posts: 2495
Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal
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Posted: Wednesday 3 February 2010 08 12 53 am Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden |
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Chapter 21: A Christmas Blizzard
Albus spent most of the days preceding Christmas at Rose's house. James was determined to use all of his spare time for Quidditch practice, and he had to go to Rose's house for that. Albus usually went with him and he and Hugo would help James practice while Rose read.
Harry had to practically separate James from his broom by magic on Christmas Eve so they could go to Godric's Hollow. James wanted to stay at Rose's house and keep practicing, but Harry refused to let him. The trip was quiet since James was rather sullen the entire time.
“Professor Patil says I'm a natural at Transfiguration,” Lily bragged to Albus as they walked towards the Burrow afterwards.
“That's good,” Albus replied.
“Yeah, so I'm going to become an Animagus eventually. I want to be a cat.”
“You don't get to choose what kind of animal you transform into,” Albus told her.
“Oh,” Lily said, “But I think I'll become a cat.”
Albus nodded as Lily began to describe in great detail what kind of cat she would transform into.
Everyone else was already at the Burrow and Albus felt an immediate warmth come over him as he stepped inside. It had nothing to do with the fact that it was so cold and snowy outside, either. There was something so comforting about being at the Burrow surrounded by all his family. He was able to forget all the issues with the Quidditch tournament and Professor Killigan. All he could think about was how ravenous he was and how good some of his grandmother's cooking would be right about then.
Rose sat down next to Albus as he tucked into a large bowl of onion soup with a side of homemade bread.
“Uncle Charlie and Aunt Katherine are going back to Romania this summer,” Rose announced.
“To tame more dragons?” Albus asked. His uncle and aunt hadn't done that since Stanley started Hogwarts, but they often talked about how they wanted to go back.
“Yeah,” Rose nodded, “They might stay even after the summer's over, but Heather and Mark will come back to go to Hogwarts.”
“They get to go, too?”
“Yup. Stanley and Eddie are going, too. Stanley's quitting his job for it. He's definitely staying in Romania after the summer's over. He wants to get into dragon training.”
“Wow,” Albus replied, “They're lucky. I guess it's good that Stanley decided what he wants to do.”
Stanley had been working at the Magical Menagerie since he finished Hogwarts, but knew he didn't want to do that his whole life. He just didn't know what he did want to do.
“I wish our parents would take us to some other country,” Albus sighed.
“Me, too,” Rose agreed, “Imagine the history we could learn.”
Albus personally had enough of History from Professor Binns, but he supposed learning history by traveling would be fun.
“Christmas Quidditch tomorrow?” Teddy asked as he sat down next to Rose.
“Definitely,” Albus grinned.
“I wouldn't count on it, Teddy,” Molly said as she handed Albus another hunk of bread, “We're supposed to get the snowstorm of the decade tomorrow. The Muggle electricity is already out in town.”
“Is it really?” Arthur popped his head into the room, “Fascinating! I may have to go see it tomorrow!”
“You'll do no such thing!” Molly shouted, “It's near impossible to Appparate during such a storm. Not to mention the fact that it's Christmas and you should be here.”
“We don't need electricity to play Quidditch!” Teddy exclaimed, “It'll be perfect training conditions! If you can catch a Snitch in the middle of a blizzard, you can catch one in any weather. It's not like Kendrick ever calls off Quidditch because of snow.”
“We'll see tomorrow, Teddy,” Molly sighed.
Albus finished his soup and he and Rose went into the den, where they were greeted by a loud chorus of 'Odo the Hero', sung by George, Alicia, Charlie, and Ron. Bill and Fleur were laughing while Hermione shook her head. Albus had a feeling the only reason why Fleur approved was because the singing was drowning out Celestina Warbeck.
“So then I said, I'm not paying seven Sickles for that!” Percy said to Katherine, who was only sort of paying attention, “And the bloke looked at me like I was mad. I say he's mad, charging that much for a tour of a questionably historic old building. There really should be regulations on such things. It's one thing I'll change if I'm ever Minister.”
Albus stifled a laugh. His Uncle Percy had been talking about running for Minister for the past ten years, but still hadn't done it. Most of his uncles and aunts got sick of hearing him talk about what he would and would not change.
“Hey, Albus, Rose,” Victoire waved at him from across the room.
“Hi Victoire,” Albus made his way over to her, “How is Healer training?”
“Exhausting,” Victoire sighed, “And I have to figure out which part of the hospital I want to do the rest of my training in by September. We've been rotating throughout all the floors, but now we have to pick one. I'm nowhere near decided.”
“You have until September,” Albus shrugged. It seemed like a long time to him.
“I know,” Victoire replied, “But Amy's known where she wants to finish training since we were in fourth year.”
“You're not in Amy's situation,” Teddy appeared and put his arm around her, “And I think you'll do great anyplace you decide.”
“Thanks, Teddy,” Victoire smiled, “I'm thinking either the Maternity ward or Spell Damage.”
“There's a busy ward,” Teddy grinned, “Spell Damage. You'll get all the funny injuries there.”
“That's not a good reason to pick a specialization,” Victoire groaned.
“Good a reason as any,” Teddy shrugged.
The time grew later and after Albus played numerous rounds of Exploding Snap with his cousins, his grandmother announced that it was time for bed. Everyone argued, but there was really no point. Everyone, including the other adults, knew that arguing with Molly Weasley was useless.
Albus trudged up the stairs to the highest bedroom that he shared with James, Ben, and Cedric. He climbed into bed and then realized just how big this impending blizzard was. The wind was howling louder than he'd ever heard before.
The wind was so powerful that Albus could feel it through the gaps in the window. Every once in a while, the house would creak and shake. Albus sighed and put his pillow over his ears to try and drown out the howling.
Albus didn't manage to drift off to sleep until after Cedric got out of bed, swore loudly, and disregarded the no magic outside of school rule to put a silencing charm on the room.
******
Albus was awoken by his annual Christmas wake-up call, Lily. She breezed through the door shouting about how they all needed to wake up and open their presents.
“And there's three feet of snow outside,” Lily said as she left the room, “I checked.”
“Merlin!” James jumped off the top bunk and looked out the window, “There is! And it's still coming!”
“Whoa, you can't see anything!” Cedric added.
“We could build the world's biggest snow wizard later,” Ben suggested.
“We could build an entire snow wizard army,” Albus said.
“Presents first,” James said as he located his pile of presents.
Albus descended upon his own pile of presents and began opening them. There were the usual sweets and Weasleys' products from his aunts and uncles. Another Weasley sweater, this one scarlet and gold striped. He pulled it on over his pajamas and opened the rest of the presents from his aunts and uncles. His Aunt Hermione had gotten him a few books he'd probably never read, including one about the history of house elves at Hogwarts.
Albus saved his parents' present for last, although he doubted they could top last year's. There really wasn't anything in the world that was better than the Invisibility Cloak.
“Al, did you open Mum and Dad's yet?” James shouted.
“I'm opening it now,” Albus said as he ripped the paper off the small box.
“You'll never guess what they got us!”
Albus opened the box and saw two tickets. Two tickets for the Quidditch World Cup that was taking place this summer!
“Whoa!” Albus shouted, “World Cup tickets!”
“I didn't even know they were on sale this early!” James said.
“You two get the best presents,” Cedric said.
“Hey, I got two tickets,” James replied.
“Yeah, two,” Ben sighed, “You can only pick one of us to go.”
Albus suddenly realized he had the same problem. Two tickets. Five friends he would want to take. Who was he going to choose? Not Rose. They may have been friends since they were babies, but she just didn't have a passion for Quidditch. Neither did Kaden. He was another to cross off the list. John and Matt were the Quidditch fans. He'd have to choose between them. Amanda liked Quidditch well enough, but she didn't follow a team or anything.
“Those are limited edition tickets,” Ben said, “They don't know who's playing yet, so they don't sell very many tickets ahead of time.”
“They're for the top box, too,” James said in awe.
Lily burst into the room with a big grin on her face. She was holding two tickets as well. “Did you get Quidditch tickets?”
“Yeah,” Albus and James said at the same time.
“This is going to be brilliant,” Lily said and then ran out of the room.
Albus's parents were already in the kitchen by the time Albus went downstairs. They were sitting at the table eating breakfast. Albus gave them each a huge hug and then sat down.
“How did you get the tickets?” he asked.
“They were a gift from the Minister,” Harry replied, “The Cup is in Canada this year and he's good friends with their president. Got him a lot of free tickets.”
Albus grinned as he began to eat breakfast. Somehow his parents had come close to topping last year's present. Now not only was he going to get to see the World Cup, he would get to travel to a different country.
Rose came downstairs a little while later and was impressed with the tickets. She had no desire to go to the Cup and had no suggestions on how Albus was going to choose between John and Matt.
“Anyone up for Quidditch later?” Teddy announced as he sauntered into the kitchen.
“Not under my watch!” Molly shouted, “You can't see a foot in front of you out there! And it must be close to 15 below!”
“Maybe after lunch, then,” Teddy shrugged.
Molly shook her head and sighed as she set a few more platters of eggs and toast onto the table.
There was a knock on the door that could only just be heard over the howling wind. Molly glanced at Arthur, who shrugged and got up to see who it was. Albus followed, very curious to see who would visit on Christmas morning in the middle of a huge blizzard.
“Xeno, is that you?” Arthur shouted outside.
“Yes!” Xenophilius Lovegood shouted back. Arthur stood aside as the man walked in and then shut the door behind him. “Quite the storm we're having! Just thought I'd stop by and see if this place was still standing.”
“Quite the storm, yes,” Arthur agreed, “I heard the Muggles lost electricity. Fascinating. I wonder what they do without it. But yes, the house is still standing.”
“Good, but if you feel it's too rickety, just let me know and I'll go get some of my Jutispy Plants. The leaves do wonders on old buildings. Makes them like new. I just put a bunch into my place and it's a good thing, too. Of course, they tend to attract Nargles...” Xenophilius's voice trailed off.
“I'll keep that in mind,” Arthur smiled, “Are you spending the holiday alone?”
“Yes, yes,” he replied, “Luna and Rolf are with his family this Christmas.”
“Then you must stay here a while. Molly's cooked far too much food, like usual,” Arthur lead Xeno into the kitchen.
Albus followed them. He always found Xenophilius Lovegood to be an interesting wizard, if not a little mad. Always going on about Nargles or Nom-Noms or something.
Molly was more than happy to provide Xenophilius with a large platter of breakfast and he settled down to discuss the storm with the adults.
Albus spent most of the morning playing Exploding Snap, Wizard's Chess, and Gobstones with his cousins. They tried to play hide and go seek, but the house was too crowded to play it properly.
Teddy and James kept looking out the window, willing it to stop snowing. Both of them were just itching to go play Quidditch. Albus would have gladly gone and played if it would stop snowing so much. He was dedicated to the game, but not enough to play in this storm.
Lunchtime came and the snow was still falling. George went outside to measure it and came back with the news that it was three and a half feet.
Teddy went upstairs after lunch and came back decked out in three jumpers, a thick cloak, and a pair of boots. Under one arm was his broom and under the other was a box of Quidditch balls. James was right behind him, dressed the same.
“Theodore Remus Lupin!” Molly shouted, “I suppose I can't stop you from going out there and catching death of a cold, but I will not let you drag James with you!”
“He's not dragging me, Grandma,” James rolled his eyes, “I want to go!”
“Just let them, Molly,” Harry said, “They'll get cold soon enough and come back inside.”
“Fine,” Molly replied and went back into the kitchen.
“Excellent,” Teddy grinned, “Anyone care to join us?”
Georgia, Fred, and Heather suited up in warm clothes and joined Teddy and James. Albus decided against it. Quidditch was fun, but he didn't want to freeze when he could stay inside and be warm.
The Christmas Quidditch lasted a half an hour. Teddy, James, Georgia, Heather, and Fred all stumbled back into the house shivering with their faces red and covered in snow and ice. Molly immediately descended upon them with mugs of hot chocolate and dry clothes.
“Told you, Molly,” Harry grinned.
“C-can't find the Sn-Snitch,” Teddy muttered.
Harry laughed. “That doesn't surprise me. You'll find it when the storm calms down. You put the charm on it to stay in the yard, right?”
“Y-yeah,” Teddy replied.
Christmas dinner came and went in its usual chaos. Xenophilius stayed for it and James snuck sneezing powder into his soup, which he found incredibly funny. Molly was not as impressed and gave James quite the scolding. How she found out it was James was beyond Albus.
The storm continued throughout the night and Cedric had to put the silencing charm back on their room in order for any of them to get any sleep.
******
Nobody left the Burrow until two days after Christmas. That was when the snow finally let up. It topped out at around four and a half feet, which was a new record for Albus's lifetime. The Burrow's yard had been decorated by dozens of snow witches and wizards, along with hippogriffs, owls, and a variety of other magical creatures.
When Albus found out what his family was doing after they left the Burrow, he wished the snow would have kept coming. They were going shopping for dress robes for the New Year's party.
“Why can't I just wear my old dress robes?” James whined as they walked down Diagon Alley towards Madam Malkin's.
“Because they're five inches too short,” Ginny replied, “They're even too small for Al.”
“Yeah, Hugo's the lucky one,” James muttered. Hugo was wearing James's old dress robes to the party and therefore did not have to go shopping.
“Mummy, I want purple robes,” Lily announced.
“If they have any,” Ginny replied.
Albus wanted to buy the first pair of dress robes he found, so long as they weren't pink or purple. The sooner they were done robes shopping the better.
Rose and Lily made a beeline for the girls dress robes as soon as they walked in the door. Albus stood awkwardly next to James while their mother found various robes for them.
“Here, try these on, Al,” Ginny handed him a pair of emerald green robes.
“Very Slytherin,” James snickered.
“Shut it, James,” Albus muttered.
“They'll bring out your eyes, Al,” Ginny told him, “Now go try them on.”
Albus reluctantly tried on the Slytherin colored robes and then left the dressing room for his mother to see.
“Too short,” she announced, “But the color is perfect. I'll find a bigger size.”
James wound up with a navy blue pair of robes, which Albus would have preferred. Lily found her purple robes and Rose got a sky blue pair.
“Next time you're getting green robes,” Albus muttered to James, who was still making fun of the color of Albus's robes.
“No I won't. I don't have green eyes,” James grinned.
“Then we'll get you a nice red set,” Ginny said, “They'll clash horribly with your hair.”
“I don't care. They'd be Gryffindor colored,” James laughed. |
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FawkesthePhoenix
Joined: 31 December 2006
Posts: 3523
Location: No idea, all I know is that there are a LOT of felt-tipped pens...
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Posted: Sunday 31 January 2010 02 29 21 pm Post subject: Re: Poetry by FawkesthePhoenix in topic:Poetry by FawkesthePhoenix |
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Has it really been more than half a year? It seems like I just posted yesterday. Anyways, here are a few more poems, separated by ***s
Comets
What if I'm not what you wanted?
You worked so hard and now I'm broke
What if I'm not what you dreamed of?
Lying alone, shattered from one stroke
What if I'm not who you thought of?
An illusion that's burning the book
What if I'm not who you fought for?
Huddled alone, battered when I'm shook
What if I'm not where you left me?
I won't always answer your call
What if I'm not on the wavelength?
You cannot keep watch on them all
What if I'm not what you wanted?
I won't always answer your call
What if I'm not what you wanted?
Comets eternally fall
****
How can I say what needs to be said
"I haven't the words! Haven't the time!"
To say all that I feel
I've always walked where you have lead
"It wasn't I! Who committed the crime?"
It wasn't theft, though they did steal
It's like a sparsely furnished room
"How do you know? Where have you gone?"
It makes me dry my eyes
Confusion lurks even in gloom
"Why say such things? Pray tell, what's wrong?"
What isn't wrong? You'd be surprised.
It's not like love, which conquers all
“What's not like what? Why are you not clear?”
But something less and more
It's not like hate, it doesn't call
“Are you afraid? What do you fear?”
Losing sight of the shore
More like indifference, the lack of care
“Then why explain? Why all the trouble?”
But knowing that I should
Result of when, caught unaware
“What have you lost, what's left in rubble?”
My sight caught in a hood
Chaos makes the nicest dance
“Would you do it, if given the chance?”
I'd like you to think you would
****
Idiocy
By storm we'll take the world, you said
Our lives were intertwined
A fortune made within the week
Two weeks, in a bind
Idiocy!
To spin such tales
But more that I believed
Every spoon-fed, cloying lie
I rejoiced! I should have grieved
For the palace is made of cardboard,
And rats live in the walls
I doubt that this is what you meant
When you said you'd be king
Of all! |
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DucksRMagical
Joined: 28 December 2006
Posts: 2495
Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal
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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 |
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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. |
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Phoenix in the Ashes
Joined: 23 January 2005
Posts: 5308
Location: Wandering around the RPG Area
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Posted: Wednesday 13 January 2010 06 18 55 pm Post subject: Re: Lost: Season Six in topic:Lost: Season Six |
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Gosh people, get up to date so you can watch the final season extravaganza! 
I've heard that although in the past we've traditionally aired the shows a few weeks after they screen in the States, we'll be getting them only a few days after this season. Which means people won't have to download as I know many of my Lost-loving friends do. |
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Phoenix in the Ashes
Joined: 23 January 2005
Posts: 5308
Location: Wandering around the RPG Area
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Posted: Saturday 9 January 2010 06 13 58 pm Post subject: Re: Lost: Season Six in topic:Lost: Season Six |
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Ohh Paul, you have to watch it the whole way! I get goosebumps in anticipation of this final season. Because of the writers' strike Season 4 was cut quite short, so that might be why you thought it was the 5th. Seasons 4 and 5 are the best in my opinion, just truly amazing television.
It's a pity so many people left after Season 2... if they'd stayed until 4, they'd have been hooked again. |
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DucksRMagical
Joined: 28 December 2006
Posts: 2495
Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal
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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 |
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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. |
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Ms. Elsewhere
Joined: 13 January 2008
Posts: 878
Location: In role play game of course!
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Posted: Monday 21 December 2009 08 18 14 am Post subject: Re: The Shadow in topic:The Shadow |
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Jon woke up with a start. He was laying face down in a very, very bright room. He groaned and rolled over; the floor was made of cold tile, and something was wet on his shoulder. He layed there, one arm shielding his eyes, the other reaching over to his shoulder. He had cut himself, and there was a bit of blood there. On the arm he was using to shielf his face, he noticed his watch, so he looked at the time and saw that only ten minutes had passed since he had set the time. He sat up, panicing as the words from his mother's note rang in his ears.
"Keep the right time..." he muttered out loud. He had to have been out longer than that. He looked around, desperate for a clock. Then his whole body weakened with a sickening, sinking feeling. Where was he? He had absolutely no idea. |
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