Harry Potter Watch - Pocket and Wrist Watches

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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

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: Ultimate Edition (BD) Welcome to the Third Harry Potter Ultimate Edition! Immersive 3-Disc Set Includes: CREATING THE WORLD OF HARRY POTTER, PART 3: CREATURES ... the Next Chapter in the Spellbinding 8-Part Series. Never-before-seen footage of the Creature Shop. Explore never revealed concept drawings, interviews with creators who describe the quest to create real creatures with emotional power to move the adventure forward. Go behind the scenes with Daniel, Rupert and Emma interacting with a marvelous menagerie from magnificent Buckbeak to malevolent Dementors. Watch creatures develop from page to sketch to model to screen. Discover how actors are transformed from humans to rats and werewolves. Witness Voldemort’s evolution from grotesque, infant-like creature to the Darkest Force of all. DISC 1: MOVIE DISC 2: CREATURES • Creating the World of Harry Potter Part 3: Magical Creatures • Tour Nick Dudman’s Creature Shop • An Interview in Spanish with Alfonso Cuarón • 3 Vintage TV Specials: The Magic Touch of Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: Something Wicked This Way Comes, The Making of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban • Theatrical Trailers DISC 3: SPECIAL FEATURES • Additional Scenes • Creating the Vision: Interview with J.K. Rowling and the Filmmakers • Conjuring a Scene: Creating Buckbeak and the Dementors for the Screen • Johnny Vaughan and the Shrunken Head Lead Raucous Interviews with the Cast • Self-Guided Tours of Honeydukes and Professor Lupin’s Classroom • Meet the Animal Trainers in Care of Magical Creatures • 3 Great Challenges: Test Your Memory with Magic You May Have Missed, Help Crookshanks Catch Scabbers, and Go on an Unxepected Quest with Sir Cadogan COLLECTIBLES: • 48-Page Creatures Photo Book with Rare Images from Years 1-7 • Year 3 Lenticular Card • Two in a Series of Character Cards: Hermione Granger & Sirius Black $39.95

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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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DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2537 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Sunday 8 August 2010 04 51 20 pm    Post subject: Re: Beyond the Shadow in topic:Beyond the Shadow Chapter 13: The Riddleless Ravenclaw I was honestly worried that I would not get out of work in time to go out with Dillan, and what was more shocking was that I was actually upset about it. Usually when work got in the way of social engagements I didn't care and was often even relieved. For whatever reason this was different and I wanted nothing more than to leave the hospital and go to whatever restaurant Dillan had reservations at. No sooner had Matt vacated the Dai Lewellyn ward had a couple idiots turned up who decided to get into it with a hippogriff, resulting in bites that would scar. Served them right, I thought, aggravating a poor hippogriff. As much as I loved how much I helped people in my job, I hated the fact that part of it was cleaning up the messes of idiots. That cut into my brewing time so I had to stay late to work on a batch of Skele-Gro, which resulted in my staying at St. Mungo's until 7:30 on Friday night. Fifteen minutes later I was back in my flat taking a very fast shower and hoping I had something in my closet that was nice enough to wear to a fancy restaurant with Dillan. Once I stepped back into my bedroom, I found Victoire sitting on my bed alongside a very elegant navy blue dress with long sleeves that looked like it would go down to my knees. “You are a godsend,” I said as I grabbed the dress and walked back into the bathroom. “Where did you get it?” “My closet,” she shouted through the door. “Another one of those things I actually thought I might be able to fit into again after having Sophie but now have no hope whatsoever since having twins will surely be twice as bad for my body.” “Well, my wardrobe has certainly benefited from your pregnancies,” I replied. “Thanks.” “Hey, that dress did its magic on Teddy and now it's time for it to do the same with Dillan.” “Victoire!” I shouted as I stuck my head out into the hall. She was grinning mischievously. “This is only our second date. It's not like I'm going to marry the guy.” “You never know. I never thought I'd marry the kid who I played Exploding Snap with while our grandmothers baked banana bread in the other room,” Victoire pointed out. “I still don't even want to think about marriage at this point. I just want to have a good evening,” I said. “You will,” Victoire said as she stood up. She flicked her wand a few times to dry and straighten my hair. “Now stop worrying and just loosen up.” “I'm not worried; why do you think I'm worried?” “We've been friends for fifteen years. I know when you're worried,” Victoire said. “Oh, I meant to ask you earlier, I'm on call this weekend, so could you watch Sophie if I get called in? Ted's on another mission.” “Of course. How long does he think this one's going to last?” “He doesn't think it'll go past Sunday,” Victoire replied. “Let me know if anything exciting happens tonight and I really want to hear all about this bloke. Come over to dinner at my place tomorrow if I'm not called in.” “Definitely,” I said. “See you tomorrow, then,” Victoire said as she left the flat. I paced in my living room for a few minutes before there was a knock on the door at exactly eight-thirty. Dillan was punctual, that was for sure. The last bloke I had dated was always at least ten minutes late for anything, which was one of the many reasons I broke it off with him. I opened the door and saw Dillan standing in the corridor with a bouquet of wildflowers. They were various shades of blue and green. “You look great in that dress,” he said as he handed me the flowers. “Hope you like wildflowers. I was going to go with roses, but I thought these were more your style.” I stepped aside to let him in and went to put the flowers in a vase, leaving him in the entryway, which gave me time to return my breathing back to normal. How did he know I hated roses? I never mentioned a thing about how Cinda decorated my bedroom in her house with a rose theme, resulting in my hatred of the flower. “I love the flowers,” I said once I returned. “And I hate roses. Did you take Divination?” “For a year. Thought it would be an easy class. I was wrong, so I switched to Ancient Runes,” he replied. “Well, I've got reservations at a French restaurant a few blocks away. It's a Muggle one, so I thought we'd walk.” “You sure like Muggle restaurants, don't you?” I commented as we left the flat. “Muggles have a way with food that most wizards don't. Magic tends to ruin food, I've noticed.” “You've never eaten my friend Victoire's grandmother's cooking then,” I said. “Nope, can't say that I have. What about your grandmothers? Are they the cooking type?” “Let's put it this way, when my mum's mother, Cinda, lived in her house in Australia, her oven and stove were just for show. My dad's mum, she cooked a bit, but I don't really remember much. She died when I was young.” “We're in the same boat, then. My grandmothers, bless their hearts, wouldn't have known what to do with a spatula if it came with an instruction manual. Guess that's why I've eaten at practically every restaurant in London.” It wasn't a very long walk to the restaurant and the weather was surprisingly nice anyway. Cold, but not windy, which was pretty much considered beautiful for January. It was a very small and quiet restaurant with dim lighting and cozy booths. Nobody in it seemed to be under the age of twenty and all of the waiters and waitresses were wearing suits. The maitre d' led us to a booth in the back and lit the candle on the table before producing two menus and telling us that our server would be with us shortly. I opened my menu only to discover that the entire thing was in French and the extent of my knowledge of the French language is 'bonjour', 'fromage', and 'ou es la toilet?'. Sure, knowing French was common for a lot of people in England but since I spent my first fourteen years in Australia I never bothered learning it. I should have Victoire give me a brief lesson in it sometime. “I haven't the slightest idea what any of this means,” I whispered across the table. “It's ok,” he assured me. “I'll order for you.” I suppressed the urge to rattle off a list of foods I didn't like and decided to just let him order for me. French food was French food, right? It was all going to be gourmet and amazing. I could always just eat around the mushrooms, trying not to be very obvious with picking them out. The waiter arrived and Dillan must have ordered something in French because a few minutes later the waiter delivered a bottle of red wine, a baguette, and a platter of cheese to the table. I assumed it was brie, and tentatively put some onto a piece of baguette while Dillan poured two glasses of wine. The French cheese was actually really good. “So,” I began as I spread a bit more cheese on another piece of bread, “what house were in you in at Hogwarts?” “Ravenclaw,” Dillan answered after setting down his glass. “Spent most of my time wishing I was in Hufflepuff because I'm terrible with riddles. Usually had to wait until someone else wanted to get into the common room before I could. Bloody embarrassing as a seventh year, waiting for the eleven-year-olds to let me in.” I didn't even try to suppress my laugh. “Poor Dillan, forced to wait every time he wanted to get into the common room.” “You'd think the Sorting Hat, having the brains of Godric Gryffindor, would have been able to tell that I couldn't solve a riddle to save my life, let alone gain me entrance into the common room,” Dillan muttered. “Maybe it likes a joke?” I suggested. “Pretty awful joke if you ask me, making someone be the butt of everyone's jokes for seven years. The only Ravenclaw too stupid to get into his own common room. The Slytherins called me 'Dumb Dillan' for two years before they realized it had gotten old. Then they dubbed me the 'Riddleless Ravenclaw'.” “Really? You were known throughout the school for this?” I asked. I'd never heard of anyone not being able to get into their common room. Either Dillan was a lot older or younger than me, or I was clueless while at Hogwarts. “What year did you graduate?” “2013. What about you?” “2017, but I didn't move to England until 2013, so I started Hogwarts the year after you graduated. That would explain why I hadn't heard of the Riddleless Ravenclaw.” “If you call me that I'll order you the escargot,” Dillan said as he ripped off a chunk of bread. “That's one bit of French that I do know and I won't let you order me snails.” “Too bad. They're tasty.” The waiter returned and Dillan ordered something in French. I did hear the word 'escargot', but I really hoped he was ordering them for himself. But really, who could possibly enjoy eating snails? Even Victoire didn't like them and she was half-French. “You really like escargot?” I asked after the waiter left. “Sure,” Dillan replied. “It's an acquired taste, but it's pretty good.” “Is there any food you don't like?” “Nope.” Dillan grinned. We both reached for our wine glasses at the same time, resulting in a few moments of silence, but it wasn't awkward like so many silences during other dates I'd been on. I set down my glass. “So how did a Ravenclaw such as yourself start working as a counterfeit coin checker at Gringotts?” “That would be the result of my inability to make a decision about what I wanted to do with my life so I got a menial job to do while I decided and well, sixteen years later, I still haven't decided. Well, I've sort of decided.” Completely the opposite of me, I thought, as I had my entire career planned out at the age of fifteen. “What did you decide on?” “You're going to think I'm crazy,” Dillan began. “But I would love to open my own restaurant. “Like a pub?” “No, like a real restaurant, like this only less fancy,” Dillan explained. “I like to cook, Muggle style, of course. That's the idea, I'll start a restaurant in the magical world, only I wouldn't use magic to cook. Some place like Diagon Alley or something.” “That's not crazy,” I said. “You should do what you really want to do.” “You think?” Dillan asked. “It would be a risk, of course, starting a business always is, but my parents left me enough when they died and I haven't spent it. They weren't rich by any means, but it's enough start-up for a restaurant.” “Then do it,” I told him. “You obviously want to.” “It's weird, though, I always thought I'd work for the Ministry like my dad did and his dad before him, doing some sort of middle of the road job and then retiring with enough to get by.” “My dad works for the Ministry and so does my brother. I couldn't do it, though. I wouldn't be able to keep my mouth shut when I needed to. Politics are just too...political,” I replied. “What department did your dad work in?” “He was an obliviator, so he worked wherever he was needed. Definitely an interesting department and he always had stories when he came home, but I just can't see myself being a Ministry worker. What about your dad and your brother?” “My dad's Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures and my brother works in Werewolf Support Services,” I said. “Wow, your dad's pretty high up there. Is your brother going to follow in his footsteps?” “I don't know. I mean, my dad's never been one to sit back and watch things happen, which is how he got that position. He started in Werewolf Support Services here, but he had been Head of the entire magical creatures department in Australia, too. My whole family's like that, though, wanting to change the world kind of thing, always have been. Matt's different, though.” I paused, trying to figure out the best way to say it. There was no way Matt would ever be head of the department, being a werewolf. “I don't think he's outspoken enough.” “What about you?” Dillan asked. “Are you going to change the world?” At that moment the waiter arrived with our food. Even though I had already decided I wasn't going to tell Dillan about my work with the Wolfsbane, at least not yet, I was grateful. Maybe he would forget his question. I knew there was a big difference between telling him about the Wolfsbane and telling him about Matt, but the two were so interconnected for me that telling him about the first would almost be like telling him about the latter. The waiter set some sort of chicken dish in front of me and luckily it did not contain any mushrooms. It actually looked quite good. Dillan had his escargot along with some sort of steak dish. Like with the pizza, Dillan waited for me to try my meal before he tried his own. I took a bite and yet again, Dillan had introduced me to an amazing dish. “Delicious,” I said after I had swallowed. “Glad you like it, but I'm not waiting for you to try the food, you know.” He smiled and I realized he was waiting for me to answer the question about changing the world. “I guess you could say I'm not trying to change the world like my dad is, but I'm just trying to make it easier for a few people.” “See, that to me is changing the world more than what they do at the Ministry, no offense to your dad or anything.” “None taken,” I replied as I began to dig into my chicken. I never really thought of what I was doing as changing the world anyway. Changing the world to me seemed like something that would involve bringing about world peace or solving poverty or ending world hunger, or even like what Harry Potter did, but not fixing a potion that someone else created. Whether Dillan was analyzing my answer or merely enjoying his steak, I didn't know, but we were silent for the next few minutes, each of us lost in our food and thoughts. I'd never met anyone like Dillan before, and it both excited and scared me. The last thing I wanted was for him to be like the few blokes I had dated before, but it's honestly what I expected. I expected him to be a nine-to-five Ministry drone who wanted to spend every minute of every weekend together completely forgetting the fact that my job wouldn't allow for that. But Dillan didn't give off that vibe, simply because he wanted to open a restaurant and that would require a lot of his time. We finished our dinners over the next half hour, pausing for sips of wine and tales of our times at Hogwarts. We both ranted about Professor Washburn and the Slytherins who had tormented us. But we also talked about the good times, the times we snuck out of our dormitories with our friends and impromptu trips to the kitchens. By the time dessert arrived (crème brule, something surprisingly tasty for not having any chocolate in it), we were laughing and had earned glares by other patrons. I suppose loud raucous laughter was frowned upon in fancy restaurants. Dillan paid the bill and we were soon back out in the cold winter night. The sidewalks were less crowded now, and the only people out and about were hurrying towards buildings, most likely due to the fact that the wind had picked up. I wrapped my jacket tighter around myself as Dillan took my hand and squeezed it. “I had fun tonight.” I said as I smiled up at him. “Me too,” Dillan agreed. “I was wondering if maybe I could cook dinner for you sometime, now that I've told you about my restaurant idea.” “I'd like that.” “Next weekend then? Friday or Saturday, whichever works better for you,” Dillan suggested. Next weekend. Next weekend I was on call. I was a little taken aback at how upset I was about this. Normally when blokes asked for second or third dates I hoped they'd pick a day when I was on call, just so I'd have a decent excuse to say no, but not this time. This time I wished I wasn't. “I'm actually on call next weekend,” I said quietly. “I wish I could, though.” “Not a problem. How about the weekend after?” “That would be great.” I smiled. A few minutes later we reached my flat building. We paused at the door and Dillan took both of my hands. I gazed into his eyes and smiled as I noticed they were the perfect chocolate color. He smiled back and tilted his head as he leaned closer to me. His lips met mine and I closed my eyes. The kiss was brief, like all first kisses are, but to me it was the perfect length. We were both smiling when we pulled apart and I could feel the heat in my cheeks, despite the frigid air. “Good night, Amy,” he said quietly, still smiling at me. “Good night, Dillan,” I echoed, still in a daze from the kiss. He walked away slowly, looking back every so often to gaze at me. I stood at the door until he disappeared into a nearby alley and I imagined the sound of him Apparating. Only then did I walk inside, still feeling his lips on mine.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2537 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Sunday 11 July 2010 04 45 38 pm    Post subject: Re: Beyond the Shadow in topic:Beyond the Shadow Chapter 12: Victoire's News I thought it would have been easy to get sucked into work again and not think about my lunch with Dillan, but even while my mind was on wizards with plants sprouting out of their ears, witches with odd orange rashes, and children with spattergroit, Dillan was there in the back of my mind. It was strange since every other time I'd gone on a date I'd easily been able to forget about the blokes at work. Although, thinking about that now, it probably wasn't a good thing. Victoire bombarded me with questions about the lunch as I was walking back to my study after clinic duty and I told her everything, as I promised. She was thoroughly excited and promised to help me pick out an outfit for our date on Friday. However we couldn't talk for very long since she was seeing patients all afternoon. As she headed back to the Spell Damage floor I headed off to find Morris to see if he'd ran Matt's tests yet. Morris was in his study writing up notes when I entered a little while later. He must have known immediately why I was there because as soon as I sat down he handed me a piece of parchment with Matt's name, the date, and a time stamp of an hour earlier. It was his test results and according to them he no longer had any Wolfsbane in his system. “Thank Merlin,” I muttered. “Did you run it twice to be sure?” “Three times,” he answered. “They all gave the same results and Matt seems much better. He's tired of course, but I'm planning on discharging him before I go home tonight.” I nodded. I'd insist he stay with me for the night, but he'd be far less bored in my flat than in the ward. “Mind if I keep this?” “Go right ahead,” Morris said. “I've got another copy.” “Thanks. I'm not starting a new version of the potion until I figure out why he reacted like this. I don't want it happening again,” I said. “Probably a good idea,” Morris agreed. “Let me know what you find out.” “I will,” I answered as I left his study. My next stop was the ward, where I found Matt sitting up in bed reading some sort of book on the Chudley Cannons. He has so many books on that team that it makes me wonder not only where he finds them but what sort of authors would actually want to write books about such an awful Quidditch team. And I mean awful as in their playing, not that I hate them, because I'm quite indifferent about Quidditch. “Hey, Amy,” he greeted me. “Hear the good news?” “Sure did,” I replied. “All the Wolfsbane is gone, but we still haven't got a clue as to why it stayed in there. Morris said he's going to discharge you sometime today, but I think you should come spend the night at my place.” “Sounds good.” “And you're not going back to work tomorrow. I think you need to rest another day,” I told him. “Seriously? But I've already missed so many days.” “Don't tell me you're starting to become a workaholic, too.” I groaned. “No, you got all of those genes. It's just I know the only reason I got that job is because of Dad and I don't want to give the Ministry anymore reasons to dislike the fact that I'm working there.” “They don't dislike it,” I argued. “I'm not five anymore,” Matt said. “You can't hide stuff like that from me anymore.” He had a point, I thought. “All right, we'll compromise. You can go in in the afternoon so long as you continue to get better tonight. I'm sure Morris would agree with me on this.” “Ok, that'll work,” Matt agreed. “Good,” I replied. “I'm going down to the basement to work for the rest of the afternoon, but I haven't got anymore patients to see today so when Morris discharges you we'll go home.” “Sounds like a plan.” After swinging by my study to gather my very large collection of notes on every single version of Wolfsbane I had ever created, along with Matt's medical file from Morris's study, I headed down to the brewing rooms. By some stroke of luck I wasn't stopped by anyone on my way. I wasn't planning on doing any actual brewing that day, but experience had taught me that holing myself up in a brewing room would result in less interruptions than doing the same in my study. My usual room was empty so I dumped the stack of notes onto the desk and settled down for what was sure to be a long afternoon. I couldn't risk creating a potion like my most recent one again so I had to figure out what had caused Matt to have such an awful reaction. The only way to do that was to study my notes until I reached some sort of conclusion. Now that Matt was better and I had had a day to think about what had happened I realized that Morris was right. As awful as it had been for Matt to have a reaction like that to a potion, it was helpful in the long run. Generally, with experimental potions, negative reactions were better than no reaction at all when it came to figuring out how to make the potion better. When Matt had no reaction to a potion I created I had nothing to go on; all I was able to say was that that specific potion didn't work. Now I had a clue, something to tell me what was going wrong. If only I knew what that specific clue was. No matter what Matt's reaction was to new potions, my first step afterwards was to add a new line into my ever expanding chart of failed potions. Each potion had a line that included the ingredients, the type of cauldron it was brewed in, the amounts of ingredients, and every other seemingly insignificant step that went into brewing potions. The littlest thing could be the difference between a useful and useless potion. Along with information about the actual potion I also kept a separate chart of each person who had taken each potion. The people varied, although Matt had taken each one. For that very reason (and of course the fact that he was my brother) I was focusing the most on his reactions. Each year I created and tested either three or four potions and since I had been working on it for six years, there were a lot of entries. Some had been as useless as original Wolfsbane and others had had awful side effects, but the most recent one was the worst yet. After entering the new information into the charts, the first thing I looked at was the concentration of pure Wolfsbane in the potion. Wolfsbane potion was different from pure Wolfsbane, the latter being the active ingredient in the potion. It is the most tricky ingredient to add and if the proportion of it to the other ingredients isn't right, it can have disastrous effects, which is why I thought it had something to do with Matt's reaction. Regular Wolfsbane potion uses a concentration of .01 percent pure Wolfsbane. Most brewers agree that anything less than .008 concentration is completely useless while anything above .05 percent is deadly. My potions have ranged between .007 and .49 in terms of concentration, with the most recent having .04 percent. Matt's reaction would have made more sense if the potion had had a higher concentration, especially since the potion made with .49 percent had had no effect on him whatsoever, with the Wolfsbane filtering out of his system in the normal twelve hour window. That meant that this was far more complicated than the concentration of pure Wolfsbane. It meant that it had something to do with a reaction amongst the ingredients. To make matters even more confusing, Morris had discovered years ago that Matt had a very high metabolism, which was part of the reason why he believed Wolfsbane potion didn't work for him. Morris discovered that Matt's body processed Wolfsbane between eight and nine hours rather than the standard twelve, but even when he was given Wolfsbane potion every eight hours instead of twelve, it still didn't help him. But it made it even more confusing that this time the Wolfsbane wouldn't filter at all. Scouring my notes for anything that might help is a very tedious task and after working at it for two hours I still came up with nothing. I was about to start my third time reading them when there was a knock at the door. “Come in,” I said, thinking it was probably one of the junior brewers with a question. “I knew I'd find you here.” I looked up and saw Victoire, looking if possible, even more pregnant than she had the previous day. “It's where I'll be for the foreseeable future until I figure this potion out.” “Well can you pry yourself away from your notes long enough to hear my good news?” Victoire asked. I glanced up again and really looked at Victoire. She was glowing, positively glowing, and had a huge smile on her face. She looked even more excited than she did when she was told her baby didn't have lycanthropy. “Of course.” “Just had another Healer appointment,” she told me. “You did?” I asked. I couldn't recall her telling me about it. “I don't remember you saying anything about it.” “I mentioned it a while ago, but I'm sure you forgot after what happened,” she said. “Anyway, they ran another test, this one to tell us the sex-” “Did you find out?” I interrupted. “Yup,” Victoire said. “But that's not the best part. The best part is that I'm having twins!” “Oh my God!” I shrieked and got up to hug her. “Congratulations!” “Thanks. Teddy's thrilled, especially since they're both boys.” “Poor Sophie!” I laughed. “I know. I'm hoping she'll eventually have some cousins who are girls, but I think Weasleys tend to be prone to having boys.” “Well you can always try for another girl after those boys are born,” I pointed out. “I was just told that I'm going to have to give birth to not one but two boys in June. The last thing I want to do is thinking about having a fourth,” Victoire said. “Fair point,” I agreed. “I haven't even had one and I can't even imagine it. I love Sophie of course, but she's like the perfect kid. Surely they're not all like her.” “Trust me, they're not. I'm sure these boys will be like my Uncles Fred and George, only worse. I've got it coming to me after only having Sophie for five years.” “Sophie will keep them in line,” I said. “Even Sophie wouldn't be able to control them if they're like Fred and George,” Victoire said. “Merlin, Amy, even if they're like Sophie I'm still going to have three times as many kids. It's all Teddy and I can do to make sure someone's always around to watch Sophie. We can't rely on my parents and grandparents to watch three kids.” “But Sophie will be in school soon,” I pointed out. “Are you starting her at that preschool soon?” “Not all the time. Teddy and I both work a lot of weekends and Sophie won't have school on weekends,” Victoire said. “And yes, she's starting next week. She's so excited!” “Good.” I smiled. Sophie needed to be around kids her own age. “I just don't think I can do the working full time thing with two newborn babies and a five-year-old.” “What do you mean?” I asked. “I mean...” she paused and sat down in one of my extra chairs, “that I'm thinking of not coming back to St. Mungo's after my maternity leave is up.” I said nothing for a few minutes. While after hearing what Victoire was saying about taking care of three kids and working full time I sort of expected her to say that, it was still a shock. Victoire wasn't nearly as much of a workaholic as I was, but she had always been determined to work hard at what she does and I couldn't see her not working. Ever since I met her she knew exactly what she wanted career wise and nothing had ever swayed her. “Have you talked to Teddy about it yet?” I asked. “Yes,” Victoire answered. “He agrees with me. I mean, he makes a decent salary as an Auror so we don't necessarily need my income. It's weird. When I was in Hogwarts I always imagined having a job and kids but I never thought about how the two would compete. My mum stayed home with me and Gabriella and Ben when we were little and it was so much fun. We weren't ever shuttled off to anyone else's house for a weekend and we never waited until ten or eleven at night for our parents to come home to say good night while a baby-sitter sat in our living room.” “Sophie doesn't mind that,” I said quietly. “Has she ever complained once about having to spend the day with your parents or grandparents?” “No,” Victoire said. “But that doesn't mean she doesn't miss us. It wouldn't be forever. Just until the boys were at Hogwarts.” She looked down and placed her hands on her stomach. “It's up to you,” I said. “My mum was home with Matt and I when we were little, too, so I can see why you would want to. I'll miss you here, if you don't come back.” “And I'll miss you too. I'll miss everything about this place. It's why I'm so torn. I'm not deciding yet since I won't even leave on maternity leave until May or so.” “Farina won't be pleased.” I laughed. “No, definitely not,” Victoire agreed. “So what were you working on when I so rudely interrupted you?” “You're always welcome to interrupt me,” I said. “Anyone else will get yelled at, but you can.” “I feel so honored.” Victoire grinned. “So what are you up to? I don't see any steaming cauldrons filled with disgusting tasting liquids that will save the world.” “Very funny,” I replied. “And I'm not brewing anything today. I'm trying to look at years of notes in order to figure out why Matt had that awful of a reaction to the potion. I get interrupted less down here than in my study, due to my reputation of hexing people who barge in on my brewing.” “Ah, yes, that intern who you hexed last week never did return.” “Again, very funny. I did not hex an intern.” “So I take it you're staying late tonight? I was going to invite you over to dinner tonight. It's just Gabriella, Sophie, and I since Teddy's working,” Victoire explained. “Nope, not staying late, since Morris is releasing Matt today, but he's coming over to my place for the night. I've got to stay with him.” “Another time, then. Going to bring all of this home with you?” “Of course,” I said. “Has Gabriella made any mention of taking off again?” “No,” Victoire replied. “But she disappears everyday so she must be actually doing something here.” “If she wasn't, you could hire her as your nanny.” Victoire and I looked at each other and then burst out laughing at the thought of Gabriella being a nanny. That girl would be a nanny the day John Brickston managed to have a girlfriend for more than a month. “It's so weird,” I began, “because when we were kids Gabriella was so responsible. She was a prefect and everything.” “Hey, I suppose some kids rebel in their teenage years and others wait until they're out of Hogwarts.” Victoire shrugged. “And others don't ever rebel,” I pointed out, thinking of Victoire herself. “I'm hoping Sophie will take after me.” My Galleon alert vibrated and I pulled it out of the pocket of my robes. Morris was paging me so that meant he was probably ready to discharge Matt. “I've got to go,” I said. “I think Matt's going to be leaving.” “All right,” Victoire said as she stood up. “I'll see you tomorrow.” “Yep, sounds good.” I grabbed all of my paperwork and notes and followed Victoire out of the room, being sure to lock it behind me. ****** Morris was waiting in the Dai Lewellyn ward when I got there a few minutes later, and so was Mum. She was wearing nurse robes and had a stack of clipboards in her arms, so presumably she had snuck away from clinicals for a few minutes to see Matt before he went home. Judging by the irritated look on Matt's face and the bemused one on Morris's, Mum was doing more than just saying hi to her son. “I just don't think it's a good idea for you to go back to work tomorrow,” Mum said as I shut the door to the ward. “You need another day to rest.” “Mum.” Matt sighed. “I've been resting for the past three days.” “You've been here! In the hospital! Twenty-four hours ago you were practically unconscious on that bed, so you can't tell me you don't need another day of rest.” “I'm practically unconscious once a month but I still only take a couple of days off,” Matt pointed out. “If I rested as much as you wanted me to I'd never get anything done.” Morris and I shared a look, knowing that this could go on for ages. Despite the fact that both of us had degrees in healing, neither of us had any say in whether Matt went to work tomorrow where Mum is concerned. We could both assure her that Matt was as healthy as she was but she would still insist he stay in bed and eat soup all day. Degrees were nothing compared to motherly love. When Matt was little, Mum constantly told him to rest and she hardly let him do anything that other little kids did. As he got older he got fed up with it and started arguing with her, but even now that he's in his twenties she still has that pull over him. Hell, she still has that pull over me. If she demanded that I stay in bed and rest I'd probably listen to her, even if Farina was barking in my other ear to get to work. “Amy said I could go in in the afternoon if I rested in the morning,” Matt said. “Isn't that a good compromise?” Instead of agreeing with him, Mum turned around and glared at me, as if that wasn't a compromise at all. “Amy's not your mother,” Mum said. “But she's a Healer!” Matt shouted. “Not your Healer,” Mum countered. “Healer Sterling agrees with her,” Matt pointed out. Morris sighed and shook his head, looking as if he wished he hadn't gotten involved with this, even though he really hadn't. Matt dragged him into it. “We're busy at work, Mum. We're looking at that proposal Amy did for the foundation and Dad thinks we might be able to get funding for it if you work with the Ministry and it gets declared an official Werewolf Support Services program. I really need to be there.” I looked at Matt, raising my eyebrows and trying to silently ask him why he hadn't told me about that. Last I knew we were putting that off until after the holidays. Plus, the Ministry had never gotten involved with anything the foundation did. Mum sighed, clearly defeated. She glanced at her watch and I realized that her defeat probably had less to do with Matt's reasoning than the fact that she needed to get back to work. “Fine. Rest in the morning and work in the afternoon. Dad will tell me if you show up early, so don't.” Mum set down her clipboards and gave Matt a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek before turning to me. “Don't let him go if he seems to get ill again.” She picked up her clipboards and gave me a one-armed hug before leaving the ward. “Merlin,” Matt groaned as he sat back down on the bed. “You'd think I was twelve again.” “She's your mother,” Morris said as he flicked his wand above Matt's head. “She'll worry about you forever, no matter how old you are. Your vitals are normal, so you're good to go.” “Thanks,” Matt said as he got up. “I'm sure I'll be seeing you again soon.” “Hopefully not too soon,” Morris replied and then turned to me. “Amy, I'll see you tomorrow.” I nodded and Matt and I followed Morris out of the now empty ward. I stopped at my study to pick up a few more things and then we headed off for the Floo room. With any luck, I'd have a few hours to try and figure out my notes later that evening.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2537 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Monday 28 June 2010 05 23 43 pm    Post subject: Re: Beyond the Shadow in topic:Beyond the Shadow Chapter 11: Dillan Blayney It was a very odd feeling to sit in my study and have absolutely nothing to do and it was a feeling that I never had very often. I felt like there was something I should be doing, but after replying to George's letter, there really wasn't anything left, since Farina had given me the day off I had no clinic hours, the only patient in the Dai Lewellyn Ward was Matt, and I hadn't started over on the Wolfsbane yet. The only thing I could have possibly done was look over the data I had just received, but my headache was slowly breaking through the potion I had taken and I knew there would be no way to concentrate on it. Instead, I just waited. I sat in my chair and did absolutely nothing and it was actually quite refreshing. I couldn't remember the last time I had absolutely nothing to do. Morris was obviously running late, since 4:30 came and went without him showing up. When I finally heard footsteps I got up and met him in Natalie's study. “Morris,” I said as he set a chart down on Natalie's desk and then picked up another. “How is Matt doing?” Morris paused and set the chart back down again. “Cancel my five o'clock,” he said to Natalie, who immediately got up and left, presumably to find Morris's five o'clock. My heart started beating fast as Morris gestured for me to follow him into his study. If Matt had been doing all right, Morris wouldn't have canceled an appointment. What had happened that was so awful he needed an entire appointment time to tell me about? Morris's study looks exactly like mine except it was filled with far more books and several pictures of his wife, children, and grandchildren adorned the walls and sat upon his desk. I sat in in the leather armchair in front of his desk while he took the seat behind it. He flipped through a stack of parchment and set a sheet in front of me. I glanced at it. “Matt's results from yesterday?” I asked, curious as to why he was showing them to me again. “No,” Morris said quietly. “Those are new. Results from a blood test taken only three hours ago.” He pointed to the date in the upper right hand corner. January second, 2:07pm. Morris set another piece of parchment alongside it. Matt's results from the day before. The numbers were exactly the same. The exact same amount of Wolfsbane was running through Matt's system that afternoon as had been the previous day. Why wasn't it getting processed? Why was it staying in his system? Why was a medicine that was supposed to be filtered through a person's system in less than twelve hours staying there for nearly forty-eight? “Again, I ran the same test three times. I had three different technicians run it and used three separate test potions. Then I had the test potions sent for testing and ran three tests each on each of them. The potions are fine. The results are as they are,” Morris said quietly. I swallowed hard. In all my years of studying lycanthropy, all my years of treating people with it, and all my years of brewing various types of Wolfsbane I had never seen a case where Wolfsbane did not filter out of a person's system in twelve hours, give or take a few. And if had never happened before, what were we supposed to do? “Have you ever known this to happen before?” I asked, hoping that since Morris had been working as a Healer far longer than she had, he would know something. “No,” he replied. “But I think if we treat the Wolfsbane as any other toxin, because it is a toxin to someone with lycanthropy, we should be able to flush it out. That made sense. It was a good thing Morris was able to remain calm enough to think clearly. I suppose that was why I'm not Matt's Healer. Morris was able to separate the rational thinking from his emotions when it came to Matt, whereas I certainly wasn't. “What about the after effects?” I asked. “That is what I am more worried about,” he replied. “We won't know what they are until the Wolfsbane is gone and he's awake and conscious. At the very least he's going to be incredibly exhausted. Other than that, I really don't know. The best thing we can do is flush out the Wolfsbane as quickly as possible.” “Well let's start right now, then.” I stood up, wondering why we were wasting time talking. “I already have. I've had the potion running intravenously for the past hour.” Of course he had, Morris was always on top of things. “Have my parents been by?” “This morning, and on their lunch breaks,” Morris answered. “I expect they'll be back once they're done with work.” “I'm going to go sit with him.” “I'll go with you,” Morris said. “I've got to check the IV.” Morris and I walked in silence to the ward. Matt was curled up on his side on the bed, covered in three of those flannel hospital blankets that weren't really very warm, a tall pole with a bag of potion danging from it next to the bed. A tube ran from the bag into the back of Matt's hand, which was resting upon the blankets. It was a Muggle IV contraption since magic couldn't replicate the steady drip that an IV had. In order for his system to be properly flushed, he had to have constant potion dripping into his body. As we drew nearer I saw that his face was still flushed with fever, yet he was sleeping soundly. Morris drew his wand and waved it over Matt. “His fever's gone down.” “That's a good sign,” I said as I sat down in a chair next to the bed. “Definitely,” Morris agreed as he fiddled with the bag of potion. “I'm going to leave this in for twenty-four hours and then we'll test again.” I nodded. Morris finished doing whatever he was doing with the potion and left. Then it was quiet. Matt was sleeping very soundly and not snoring at all and the lack of other patients of course attributed to the silence. I was alone with my thoughts and at the moment which was kind of a scary thing. Deep down, I knew Dad was right that I couldn't liken this potion disaster to what had happened when Matt was eight, but on the surface it was hard not to. Plus, regardless of whether the two were similar or not something I had created had still harmed my brother and there was no getting around that. People could assure me time and time again that Matt had consented to take the Wolfsbane but that didn't matter. He didn't have a degree in healing or brewing so he counted on me to tell him what was safe and what wasn't when it came to those fields. I hadn't done that. The door to the ward opened and Mum and Dad walked in, both looking in dire need of a nap. They took seats on the other side of Matt's bed. “The Wolfsbane is still in his system,” I told them, and proceeded to explain everything Morris had already told me. “Nothing to do but wait, then,” Dad said quietly. “Sometimes I wonder if it'll even be worth it, in the end,” I said. “What?” Mum asked. “This,” I gestured to Matt. “Giving him potions that nearly kill him just for the small chance that I might come up with one that will work. What if in the end I don't come up with one? Then he will have gone through all of this for nothing.” “You will come up with one,” Dad assured me. “Stop thinking you won't. And it's not for nothing because even though this one didn't work, it will provide answers once you sit down and compare it with the others.” “But is it worth it to use my own brother as a guinea pig?” “That's a question that has no answer,” Dad said. “If he comes out of this not wanting to test anymore potions then fine. But if he still wants to try them, that's his decision.” I nodded, mostly to appease my father and not because I necessarily agreed, because I was not sure that I did. My father, as intelligent as he was, did not have the training in healing and medicine that I had. Give him a complicated question about a magical creature and he'd give you the answer with hardly a thought and no doubt it would be correct, but there were aspects to the morals of healing that he did not understand. Even I did not completely understand them because they were beyond the scope of the few morals classes I took in training. Patients don't get to decide what treatment they get even if a healer explains the risks and they claim they understand the risks. A healer still has the final say. If Jamie's parents had wanted to start him on my experimental Wolfsbane as soon as he'd stopped taking normal Wolfsbane, even claiming to understand the risks, I would have said no. Similarly, it was not solely Matt's decision whether or not to continue taking experimental potions; it was up to Morris and I as well. However, so long as I kept those potions available for any of age lycanthropic witches and wizards to try, I had to let Matt use them if he wished. The only way I could stop him is if I found a medical reason for him not to, and without understanding why this particular potion had affected him so badly, I would not have a medical reason for him not to try the next one. ****** Farina greeted me the next morning without any recognition that she'd given me the previous day off. It was like it never happened. Instead she told me I was due in the clinic as soon as my lunch hour was over, and not a minute later. My morning was filled with three routine appointments and going over that month's data. Since we have such a small amount of data I cannot draw any conclusions yet, but I still like to look it over to make sure it's useable. Luckily all of this month's looked fine. It wasn't until nearly eleven-thirty that I remembered that I had told Victoire I would meet the bloke from the pub for lunch. I cringed when I realized all I had on underneath my healer robes was a pair of old jeans and a sweater Victoire's grandmother had knitted for me, one adorned with a Gryffindor lion. I didn't even have time to floo home to change because it was either floo home or visit Matt, which I hadn't had time to do yet that morning. Matt was awake when I entered the ward and he looked slightly bored which I took to be a good sign. He looked over immediately when I entered. “Hey, how are you feeling?” I asked as I bent over to give him a hug. “Better than yesterday,” he replied. “Good, that means the wolfsbane is finally being flushed out,” I told him. “We'll know for sure when you're tested this afternoon.” Victoire was waiting for me in my study when I rushed in to strip off my lime green robes after visiting Matt. She wasn't impressed with what I was wearing underneath but she at least had some make-up on hand and straightened my hair with her wand before I promised her to tell her all about the lunch and rushed downstairs to meet the guy. I was five minutes late by the time I got there and he was standing amongst the distressed witches and wizards in the waiting room, looking sorely out of place. For one, he did not look distressed. Two, he kept glancing around like he was looking for someone. Three, he was dressed solely in Muggle attire, wearing jeans and a jacket over a button-up shirt. His eyes rested upon me and he smiled. I met him near the door but didn't say anything until we left the chaotic waiting room for the slightly less chaotic streets of Muggle London. “Sorry I'm late,” I said. “You're closer to being on time than any Healer I've ever met before,” he joked. “And you look great.” I raised my eyebrows and gestured to my Gryffindor jumper. “I look like I'm ready for a day of lounging around at Hogwarts.” “Well the jumper does kind of answer one of the questions I was going to ask you over lunch,” he confided. “I'm Dillan Blayney, by the way. I don't think I properly introduced myself yesterday.” He stuck out his hand. “No, you didn't,” I replied as I shook his hand. “I believe I did.” “You did. I thought we could go get pizza. I know a great little place around the corner.” “What if I hadn't worn Muggle clothing?” I asked. “I took a chance. I figured you weren't the sort of person to stroll around London in green Healer robes.” He was right about that. Of course I didn't know anyone who wore their Healer robes outside of St. Mungo's due to their hideous nature. He seemed to be quite the jokester and I did have to admit that he was attractive. Very attractive. As much as he'd reminded me of Al Potter the previous day, now he seemed older and better looking which was a good sign since I thought of Al as a little brother. We walked in silence until we reached a very tiny shop on the corner that I would have missed had I not been with Dillan. He held the door open for me and I walked into what was a very adorable little pizza shop. There was a large picture of some city in Rome along one of the walls and a picture of the Italian Football team from 2006, when they won the World Cup. On various ledges were bottles of oils filled with herbs and a variety of meats and salads chilled in a display near the counter. Dillan chose a small booth in the back and plucked two menus out from behind the napkin holder, handing one to me. “Get whatever you want, so long as it's pizza,” Dillan said. “I do insist that you choose pizza because this is the best pizza, outside of Italy.” “Obviously you've never been to Mama Rizzo's in Sydney,” I told him as I scanned the menu. “Sydney?” he asked. “As in Australia? No, I can't say I've ever traveled that far for pizza. What was a Londoner like yourself doing in Sydney?” “I grew up in Australia, just outside Brisbane. My grandparents used to live near Sydney,” I said, making sure to watch his face for the look of surprise that always showed up on people's faces when I tell them I used to live in Australia. However, Dillan didn't seem surprised at all. He looked like he would've if I said I grew up in Scotland. “Yet you're wearing a Gryffindor jumper. Here I thought you were a Hogwarts alumnus.” “You were right about that,” I said as the waitress set down two waters. Thank Merlin, I thought, perhaps the waitress would distract him from asking why I moved to England. “Ready to order?” she asked. Dillan gestured to me. “Um, I guess we'll take a small pizza with peppers, olives, and extra cheese.” “Coming right up,” she said. “So let me get this straight,” Dillan said as he stirred his water with his straw. “You grew up in Australia yet you went to Hogwarts. I think I'm missing something.” “I moved here when I was fourteen,” I explained, although that really wasn't much of an explanation. “Ah,” he replied, “and may I ask why?” “You can ask,” I said, “but you won't necessarily get an answer.” “Then I won't ask,” he replied. “Although I shall remain curious. I was born and raised in the same house as I am living in right now.” Oh, Merlin, I thought. I've attracted a thirty-year-old guy who lives with his mother. “Literally,” he continued. “I didn't wait until my mum got to St. Mungo's and I was actually born in the house. I love the place. So many great memories there that when my parents died I moved back instead of selling the place.” So glad I didn't mention the 'living with his mother' thing. That would have been even more awkward than thinking it. As much as I would like to know why his parents died so young, I felt like if I were to ask that I would have to tell him why I moved which certainly wasn't going to happen. “About yesterday...” I began. “I'm sorry,” he said as he looked down into his glass. “I'm sure I was overstepping my boundaries a bit with that bet, but I was having an awful day and I don't normally drink that much-” “It's ok,” I assured him. “I was actually just wondering what job you were sacked from. Must have been an amazing job if you were that upset about losing it.” I saw an ever so slight tinge of pink creep up on his cheeks as he averted his gaze once again. “The funny thing is, it was kind of an awful job to begin with and not one I really saw myself in for the rest of my life. So really, it was a blessing in disguise. Not really sure why it sent me on a drinking binge. Anyway, I was a counterfeit coin checker at Gringotts.” I looked at him for a few seconds before responding. “Seriously?” “Yep.” He laughed. “Not a job that appears in a pamphlet in the common rooms in fifth year.” “No, definitely not,” I agreed. “But it paid the bills up until yesterday,” he said. “Unfortunately goblins do not take suggestions to their standard procedures nicely. I made a few suggestions to improve efficiency and they showed me the door, threw a sackful of Galleons out after me as my last paycheck and that was that.” “Wow,” I replied. Even Farina took suggestions on how to improve efficiency. I guess I should be lucky I don't work for goblins. “I suppose I'm lucky they're letting me keep my account there,” Dillan pointed out. The pizza arrived a few minutes later, after we had thoroughly exhausted the topic of Dillan's job at Gringotts and right before I was going to ask what sort of job he wanted to get next. I didn't get to ask since Dillan seemed preoccupied with watching my reaction to the pizza. He served me a slice and then watched in anticipation as I took a bite. “This is amazing!” I said after I'd finished swallowing. “Better than Mama Rizzo's.” “And closer,” Dillan pointed out as he served himself a slice. “You'll save millions on airfare alone.” I laughed before taking my next bite. He was funny, very funny. I hadn't ever really gone out with a funny guy before, mostly because the only funny blokes I knew were Teddy, Landon, and Matt's friends, none of whom I could or would date. Merlin, was I thinking of dating him already? We'd just gone out for pizza and hadn't even known each other forty-eight hours. We didn't talk much while we were polishing off the pizza and by the time we'd finished I only had ten minutes to get back to St. Mungo's and up to the clinic. We practically ran up the sidewalk and were out of breath by the time we reached the hospital. “I had a lot of fun,” he said as he smiled at me. “Maybe we can do it again sometime.” “I had fun, too,” I said. “Maybe next time we can do dinner and I won't have to rush out at the end.” “That would be good,” he replied. “What are you doing Friday night?” “Working until seven, but I'm free after that.” “Want to have a late dinner at eight-thirty?” he asked. “Sure. I'd like that.” I smiled. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a piece of paper and a pen, scrawling my address on it. I handed it to him. “I'll see you then,” he said and then turned, disappearing into the crowd. I walked back into St. Mungo's and hurried up to my study to don my tacky green robes before getting to the clinic, all the while wondering what the hell I was getting myself into.
FawkesthePhoenix Joined: 31 December 2006 Posts: 3534 Location: No idea, all I know is that there are a LOT of felt-tipped pens...	Posted: Saturday 26 June 2010 03 42 32 pm    Post subject: Re: Some Secrets in topic:Some Secrets Chapter 2: Sometimes I feel like I'm moving at a different speed than the rest of the world, going slow-motion while everyone else speed-walks. Other days it's like I'm the one going faster, but that the ending I'm hurtling towards with so much more speed than anyone else is something terrible that I haven't had the good sense to avoid. Today is one of those days. I'm walking to Potions class, and I'm suffocating. The crowd of students is stifling my breath. Smothering me. I begin to breath faster, then force myself to slow down and inhale deeply. I'm having a panic attack, Madame Pomfrey would have said. She always tells me breathing deeply helps, and it does, a little. But not enough because that's the thing; I can't breathe. I try to make my way nonchalantly through the seemingly crowded hallway, but I don't need to worry. No one cares about my slight hyperventilation, or the panicked look in my eyes. I'm just the loner girl, good for nothing except teasing and exploitation. After a few minutes of plodding through the impossibly large throng of students, I see it-- a bathroom. It might be Moaning Myrtle's, but I don't care. Maybe we can have a good cry together. Either way, it's a place I can be alone, away from this mesh of cluttered activity. I renew my efforts to get through the hallway, and eventually push my way into the bathroom, ignoring the fifth-year walking past it, and not even stopping to mutter an apology as I step on his foot in my hurry. Once inside the cooler, emptier area of the bathroom, I start to calm down. That hallway really wasn't very crowded at all, I realize with chagrin. I was imagining the situation to be worse than it was. How stupid of me, I think to myself, and start gathering up the contents of my bag, which had spilled out over the floor in my frenzy. I'm going to be late for Potions. The classroom is quiet as I sneak in late, and, other than a reprimand from Professor Slughorn about my behavior and timing, the class goes without a hitch. I know that my fellow students will pounce upon my lateness as an excuse for berating me the moment they get the chance, but what else is new? I should be used to this by now. And yet, I still find anxiety creeping into my stomach as I enter the common room that night. Perhaps some things never change. Sitting by the fire with my homework splayed half-finished across my lap, I catch a fluttering by the window in my peripherals, the same as last night. I try to ignore it, mindful of the precarious position of all the various books and papers on my person. But I keep a close watch on it as I struggle through the rest of my assignments, getting up to go to bed only when it fades from sight. I walk into the Girl's Dormitory, only to stop up short when I see that Mia and some of her friends are still up. They scurry out of the way, with barely a glance in my direction as I walk towards my bed. Odd. I discover the cause of their actions as I open my four-poster bed a few moments later. Stenciled across my bedspread in red paint is the word, “loser” in elegant print. Very original. I bundle up the soiled cloth and leave it in a pile on the floor. The house elves will take care of it by morning, and if I'm lucky, maybe Mia will step in the wet paint on her way to the bathroom that night. Herbology the next day would've been a cause for extreme embarrassment, if I hadn't stopped caring about my life in general years ago. The boy who I had almost steamrolled over as I rushed to the bathroom in the midst of the previous day's panic attack, was not, I discovered, a fifth-year who I'd hopefully never encounter again, much less remember. Fate hates me too much for that. No, he's a new student in my year, and had been assigned as my partner. Not that I volunteered or anything. I, being the social pariah I was, had been left partnerless at the beginning of the year when everyone was told to pair up, and had been working either by myself or with the professor all year. It seemed all that was about to change. His name is Jarret, and with his dark hair and intense brown eyes, I might have been lusting after him along with all the other girls (Mia's mouth seemed to be watering). That is, if he had said a word to me the entire period. Or even made eye contact. Now, as I sit alone at the house table during lunch, I wonder if I ought to have made an attempt to make conversation. Or to be friendly at all. But, having been forbidden contact with other people my age after being bitten as a child, I never developed any terribly adept people skills. Besides, what was there to talk about? I don't eat much, and soon I'm sitting in Defense Against the Dark Arts, where I'm again sitting next to Jarret. He starts writing the moment the teacher begins lecturing, successfully guilting me into talking careful notes on the various types of jinxes throughout the duration of the class. I'm making my bravest attempt at listening to the teacher, but it's a struggle. I'm so used to looking through a fog that the writing on the board is a mystery. I'm copying the letters down, but I have no idea what the lesson is about. Just as my quill is about to snap from all the pressure I'm putting on it in my concentration, the class miraculously ends. “Remember, essay due next week!” the professor calls out as everyone begins to pack up their things. “Eight inches of parchment, and no writing in all capitals!” A couple boys in the back groan at this pronouncement. I roll my eyes discreetly. I always try to be the first one out of each class, so as to avoid too much interaction with my fellows, but today I drop my bag as I stand up, and so have to pick up the scrambled contents from the floor before I can leave. I try to get everything as quickly as possible, before anyone notices my clumsiness. I can feel my face turn a deep scarlet, and my embarrassment only thickens when Mia notices me scrambling on the floor. “Oh, dear!” she exclaims in mock pity, “Poor Lia has dropped her bag! I'll catch up with you later,” she says to her friends, who cover their smirks with nods of fake understanding. “I ought to help clean up this mess.” I cringe as she walks over. I hate her. I hate her wavy brown hair, so shiny compared to my stringy, mousy brown locks. I hate that her name sounds so much like mine. But most of all, I hate that her courtesy is such a thin pretense; everyone knows that helping me is the very last thing on her mind as she saunters over, but even the teacher doesn't lift a finger. After gathering up a few forgotten papers from one of the desks, the professor bustles out of the classroom, leaving Mia and I alone. Or so I think, until I notice third set of shoes out of the corner of my eye. Jarret was still here. Great. Really fantastic. The good news was that Mia wouldn't dare jinx me with a possible love interest standing nearby, fiddling absently with the shoulder strap on his bag. The bad news was that now I had one more witness to my teasing. “Here, Lia,” Mia offered, “Let me help you clean this up.” She sounded cheerful, but I could tell that she was clenching her teeth. She'd obviously hoped to hiss a few choice words at me and kick my bag so that its contents would be more messily strewn across the floor, but with Jarret present, she now had to feign manners and get creative. I could see her nose wrinkling as she knelt down next to me and slowly poked a bottle of ink back into my bag. She crumpled each paper as she picked it up and shoved it in my direction, all the while spouting an endless stream of sickly sweet chatter, about anything from homework to quidditch. I could see Jarret's ankles out of the corner of my eye, but I didn't dare look up at his face. Why hadn't he left yet? Did he take pleasure at my humiliation? I couldn't understand his motives. At last the floor was free of my clutter, and I scrambled to my feet before Mia could pretend to help me up. She got to her feet more gracefully than I, and was out the door before I had even taken a step. This confused me. She hadn't made a move to insult me. What was up? I take a few steps towards the door, reorganizing the contents of my bag. I come up short when I find an unfamiliar slip of paper. It's folded twice, and I recognize Mia's handwriting instantly as I open it up. [i]Freak,[/i] it reads as an introduction,[i] loser, loner, whatever you are.[/i] How very original. I'm about to throw it into the trash bin, when one of the later sentences catches my eye. [i]You're no better than an animal. My dog has more of a spine than you do. Do you always howl at the moon?[/i] My breath catches in my throat, and the note crinkles as I crumble it into my fist. Does she know? I hadn't said a word. [i]She can't know. [/i]She can't, she can't! [i]She knows.[/i] How can she possibly know?[i] How did she find out?[/i] Both the paper and my bag fall from my hands, and it's all I can do to contain my sobs as I tearfully flee the classroom.
GryffindorAnimagus Joined: 4 June 2010 Posts: 36 Location: New Jersey USA	Posted: Monday 7 June 2010 06 58 57 am    Post subject: Nocturnal Suprise in topic:Nocturnal Suprise This is a story that I wrote for my writing class. I hope you all enjoy it. She was sitting in the corner of the smallest room at number twelve Tolhurst Drive in Ascot. The room was tiny with no personal touches; it was painted a pale sickly green that clashed with the rest of the house. The room smelled like the woods that surrounded the house. There was a mattress on the floor with a beat up quilt lying across it and a wardrobe along the wall closest to the door. In the corner by the tiny window that had a wonderful view of the woods sat Leda, she was small for her age, with bright red hair down to her waist and piercing green eyes. Leda was living in this house because her parents were murdered when she was just two years old but she did not know how or why. Leda jumped up and ran toward the door; her Uncle Gordon just arrived home. Gordon was tall and thin, with black hair and he smelled of cigar smoke and alcohol no matter what time it was. He did not like Leda, so she went out the backdoor as he came in the front. This had become a ritual of sorts, Leda would leave the second Uncle Gordon arrived home and would stay gone, usually walking around the woods until dinner time. Leda could hear her father’s sister, her Aunt Larissa welcoming Gordon home and she moved quicker into the woods. No matter how long she was gone she was sure to hear the same thing when she got back for dinner. Uncle Gordon would ramble on about how she had ruined everything and that he was forced to take her on as a ward because nobody else wanted her after her parents died. Uncle Gordon and Aunt Larissa did not have children of their own. It was clear to Leda that her uncle hated children and that her aunt would do whatever she could to keep him happy. Tonight was no different than any other night except that tomorrow is Leda’s sixteenth birthday. This was a fact that she and her aunt had spoke about earlier that day but neither would dare bring it up in front of her uncle. Leda walked for a few hours around the woods and imagined how it would be to get away from the home that she hated so much. The only good thing that she liked about living with her Aunt and Uncle were the hours that her Uncle was at work. Those were the hours when her Aunt would loosen up a little bit, a very little bit. She would not yell at Leda during these hours and would allow Leda to ask a few questions about anything but Leda’s parents. When Leda got home it was just like every other night, Uncle Gordon was sitting at the table already starting to ramble about Leda and Aunt Larissa was sitting there looking at him with such devotion but not saying a word. Leda blocked them out and ate the meatloaf that was put on her plate. She snuck away to her room as soon as her Aunt got up to get the coffee. She laid in her bed staring out the little window in her room. She listened to the rambling of her uncle muffled through the floor and then her aunt saying that she was tired. Leda heard them go into their room and close the door. Leda woke at a quarter till midnight; she thought she heard something outside. She stood and stared out the window, she could not believe her eyes. Her Aunt was sneaking into the woods. Leda rushed to follow her and for some reason found it to be really easy. She could hear her aunt’s footsteps even though she was yards ahead of her, she could see like it was still daylight. Leda ran to catch up to her aunt and as she was running she felt exhilarated. A feeling of warmth swam down her spine and she felt like she could run forever. The warm feeling spread down her legs and into her toes, through her arms and hands and finally into her chest, Leda had no idea what was going on and she was a little scared but she also felt strong. When the warmth touched her chest she stopped running and examined herself slowly. She could see hair sprouting up her arms and down her legs; it was the same color as her hair, bright red. All of a sudden she sank to the floor with a shriek but it came out as a howl. She was twitching and anyone who would have seen this would say she was having a seizure. Leda arms were stretched out and she was watching terrified as her fingers became shorter and eventually turned into paws. Her legs and feet felt like they two were changing but she could not see them because she shut her eyes trying to force herself to wake up from this dream. Leda lay on the forest floor for a few minutes’ eyes shut tightly and breathing very heavily. Her breaths came in quick pants and she was able to smell everything around her. She could smell that she was close to the pond and she could smell the other animals around her. There were so many new sounds and smells that she could not identify right away but she promised herself that she would find out what all of them were. Leda went to stand but was very shaky. When she finally got to her feet she opened her eyes and was shocked to see that she was standing on four paws. She ran to the pond that was no far from the house but was well hidden in the forest. Leda looked down at her reflection and could see that she had become a large red wolf. She did not believe at first that this was her. Then she could see the piercing green eyes and knew that she was the wolf in the water. Leda stood staring at herself in the pond for what seemed like days, until out of nowhere she could hear the howling and the falls of paws somewhere nearby. Leda’s first reaction was to hide. She did not know what was going on or what would happen to her. Just as she turned to runaway three massive wolves walked toward her and she could sense that she should not run but follow. Leda stared at them for a few minutes before they turned and started to walk away. She walked with the others for a quarter of an hour until they came to a clearing. The others entered ahead of her and when she finally caught up she was surprised to find two wolves and a teenage boy. She noticed as she watched him that he was attractive. He had black hair, eyes of ocean blue, and stood very tall. He spoke as soon as she sauntered in. He bowed and said “I am Cain, this is Connor,” he pointed at the sandy colored wolf and then pointed at the brown one, “and that is Deimos. We were asked to find you and bring you back to the meeting. Leda we have been waiting for you, we have missed you very much. If you would like to change back and talk to us, all you have to do is focus your mind and you will transform.” Leda, still scared but determined to find out what the hell was going on, focused on a picture of her human self in her mind and she could feel the cold spread through her. She lay on the ground this time voluntarily because she did not want to fall again. Her legs spread out and started to shake with the cold of the night. When she looked up she could see that the others were turned away. “It’s really cold” she said. Cain passed her a robe without looking at her, “I am sorry. It is really scary the first time. If you will follow us we will take you to the next clearing where the others are waiting.” Leda walked to him and simply said, “Where too?” She was feeling braver now that Cain was standing next to her. She could not explain to herself why his presence made her feel more at home. “We have to go to the rest of the clan. There the elders will explain to you what has been going on for the last thirteen years, fill you in on everything that has happened since you were taken.” “What do you mean taken?” Leda asked but before she could finish the question they walked into a new clearing. There were at least ten people in the clearing sitting on logs and staring into the fire that was built right in the middle of the group. She leaned into Cain and asked, “All of these people are wolves?” He gave a short laugh and nodded his head before leading her to the part of the circle where four chairs were vacant. Seconds later her Aunt Larissa stood up, Leda’s jaw dropped and she quickly shut it before anyone could notice. Larissa started speaking to the group, “Leda is now of age. She has been brought back to take what is rightfully hers. She will be brought up on the conditions of the clan and then decide if she wants what her parents have left her.” Larissa turned and spoke directly to Leda, “Leda, I know that this is scary for you but you are a werewolf. I, as you know am your father, Evan’s sister. Although Gordon does acknowledge this he does not believe it is true. I will explain it to you shortly, I promise. Your mother was leader of this clan until she was murdered. Tonight you will find out why and how, if you wish. Do you wish me to continue or will you return to your home?” Leda was still in shock but she whispered, “I want to know what happened?” Her aunt continued, “Thirteen years ago on this night your parents were walking through these very woods with you. Miranda, your mother, wanted to run for a while and your father told her to go ahead, that he would watch you. She was changing when a human walked into the area. He started yelling at your parents. They grabbed you and ran back to the manor but they did not realize that they were being followed. The young man who walked in on your mother changing followed and once it was clear that everyone within the house was asleep he set the house on fire. Your mother and father could not get out and the door to your room was blocked. The man who set the house on fire could hear a baby crying and he sprinted into your room from the back way. He snatched you and ran from the house. I did all I could to keep up with him. Once he got back to his house I knocked on the door and explained that I was new to the area. I courted him but not out of interest,” She looked disgusted and then continued, “I just wanted to make sure you were safe. I knew that it would be too dangerous for you to return to the clan until you came of age, so I married the idiot and took care of you as best I could without raising too many concerns from him. If he thought I took too much interest in you I would never be allowed alone with you. He told me what had happened but he swore that they must have taken you from some family nearby because you were just a baby and he believed that werewolves could not have children. I told him that we had to claim that you were my niece and that we took you in because my brother had passed away. I explained to him that this would quiet any questions that the neighbors would raise.” Larissa came to Leda and sat down in the chair next to her and continued, “Your mother was the leader of this clan, you inherited her duties. You have the right to refuse but we,” she waved her arm around the circle, “we would like you to stay and become our queen. Personally I would be forever grateful because I would never have to go back to that fool Gordon again. Will you join us Leda, will you be our queen?” Leda still shocked felt a surge of love toward her aunt and stronger now that she knew what had happened. This was the life she was supposed to have. She was supposed to grow up in this clan with her mother and father in the lead. She would not have been worried during the change tonight she would have known and probably looked forward to the change occurring. She looked at the group before standing then she said, “Of course I will join you and help in whatever way I can. I know that I belong here!” Everyone in the group came up to her to kiss her cheeks, give her hugs and whisper words of welcome. Larissa introduced everyone but Leda focused more on the kids her own age. She had never had friends before. Her uncle would never allow her to talk to anyone. First, were the boys she already met but now two of them had girls on their arms. Deimos had a beautiful blonde with him, he introduced her as Luna. Luna had yellow eyes that matched her bright hair. She smelled of lilies and walked like she was on a runway. Her smile was amazingly sweet and she pulled the girl that was hugging Connor toward her. Luna said, “This is Carme. You probably don’t remember us but we use to be together all the time. My parents have pictures of the three of us running around when we were very little.” Leda laughed and was astonished because this felt familiar, like she was finally home. Carme was shorter than Leda and had short auburn hair that made her look more fairy like. When Carme hugged her, Leda was hit with the sweet smell of brown sugar. Next was Cain, he walked up to her and pulled her away from the group. “You are so beautiful. I have truly missed you! We were best friends when we were little. I have been keeping watch over you from the woods over the past year and I am so sorry I could not do anything to pull you away from that place.” Then he embraced her so tightly that she could not breath but the sensation of rightness came over her and when they walked back to the group she held tightly to his hand. It seemed like minutes but was probably hours later that Larissa suggested that they show Leda to the new manor. The adults lead the way and the teens fell back to talk and joke but still followed. Leda and Cain walked yards behind the others. They talked for the past few hours but still had a lot to talk about. Leda wanted to get him alone to tell him something that was strange yet felt amazing. This was her chance so she stopped and looked up at him, “Cain,” but before she could go any further he was kissing her. He kissed her so deeply that her head was spinning, this was right she could tell that they were destined to be together. The others had explained to her that werewolves are born with a match already picked, there companion was always built perfectly for them and that once the two meet they would be in love forever. Every wolf had one from the moment they were born. The others say that they usually meet their matches younger than their transformation age of sixteen and that Cain was the only one in the group who had not found his companion. They explained it as walking around as only half of yourself until you meet him or her. Then once you meet, you would finally be whole and can be truly happy. Cain pulled away and looked into Leda’s eyes, “I have been waiting all year to do that. Happy birthday and welcome home.” He turned her toward the huge house that was now in front of them. Leda was amazed at how wonderful the house was. It was big enough for the entire clan and looked to be very old but restored to like new conditions. She dashed toward the door with Cain holding her hand. The entrance opened and the entire clan was standing around an enormous birthday cake and singing happy birthday. Behind them was a banner that said “Welcome Home!” Leda walked through the doors and was finally were she was meant to be.
GryffindorAnimagus Joined: 4 June 2010 Posts: 36 Location: New Jersey USA	Posted: Sunday 6 June 2010 07 40 15 pm    Post subject: Deathly Hallows preview in topic:Deathly Hallows preview Just watch the preview on the MTV movie awards. What did everyone think? I think it looked great and was suprised at how much they put into it!
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2537 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 5 May 2010 10 04 55 am    Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden Sorry, again I forgot to update last week. But that just means two chapters this week! Chapter 33: In Dervish and Banges The atmosphere in the Great Hall the next morning was unlike anything Albus had seen before. The Hogwarts team was sitting together at the Ravenclaw table, surrounded by students from all four houses. Teddy and Tyler seemed to be in the thick of it and were loudly discussing tactics. The Australian team was sitting together at the Hufflepuff table, with a large distance between them and the Hufflepuffs. A small crowd of Australians had congregated around them. Albus decided not to join the rest of the Hogwarts team at the Ravenclaw table. Nobody was unable to play that day, so Albus's days on the team were pretty much over. To be honest, he was kind of relieved. There was just so much pressure. “I think this tournament has been good for Hogwarts,” Rose mused, “Look at everyone. Nobody seems to care who's in what house.” “It'll all go back to normal once the match is over,” Albus pointed out. “Maybe not,” Rose shrugged, “You never know.” “I don't know, Rose,” Matt said, “I don't think one year can change centuries of tradition.” “It's worth a try,” Rose said, “I think we should all try and get along.” “I don't think this has helped international magical cooperation,” John gestured to the Australian team. The Hufflepuffs sitting nearby were glaring at them. “Competition rarely does that,” Rose muttered. “Well, they'll all be going home soon,” Matt said cheerfully. Rose shot him a dirty look and then looked up at the staff table. Albus's gaze followed. The staff table was quite overcrowded that morning. There were scouts from Quidditch teams, Ministry officials including Albus's Uncle Percy, and a variety of people from Australia and New York. “Look at that witch,” John pointed to a very tall, beautiful witch with pale white skin and long dark hair. “She's Linda's mother,” Rose told them. “Is she-” John began. “Yes,” Rose whispered, “She's one, too.” “I thought so,” John said without taking his eyes off the witch. There was a loud cheer from the Ravenclaw table and the Hogwarts team began to leave the Hall. Their entourage followed until they reached the door and then they went to sit back down at various tables. The Australian team followed shortly. The excitement only seemed to increase now that the teams had gone down to the changing rooms. A few minutes later people began to leave for the pitch. The crowd at the staff table left first and the students followed. “Albus,” John said as they got up from the table, “I've got a few pairs of omnioculars in my trunk. I want to see it up close when Linda catches that Snitch.” “Let's go get them, then,” Albus replied. Rose rolled her eyes. “Meet us down at the pitch.” She and Amanda turned towards the door as the boys ran up the grand staircase. “Why didn't you just bring them to breakfast?” Matt asked. “Forgot,” John said. The castle was absolutely deserted as they made their way back to Gryffindor Tower. Albus hadn't seen it that empty during the day. It was almost disconcerting. John had to empty out his entire trunk in order to find the omnioculars. He had four pairs and handed one to each of the boys. “Let's go,” Albus said, “We're going to miss the start of the match.” Albus completely ignored the no running in the corridors rule as he made his way through the castle. There wasn't anyone to scold him anyway. The footsteps behind him told him his friends weren't far behind. Albus turned a corner and ran smack into something. He fell down onto his back and looked up, only to see that it was someone. Not just anyone either. Albus had collided with Matt's boggart. Only, it couldn't be a boggart because if it had been a boggart, it would have manifested itself into what Albus was most afraid of. At that moment, it probably would have been Willinson. The man sneered down at Albus and then smiled creepily. Albus scrambled up and turned back to look at his friends. Matt had turned white and looked far more afraid than Albus had ever seen him before, including when he had faced the boggart and when Malfoy had found out about his lycanthropy. John was looking from Matt to the man, an obvious horror on his face. Kaden was looking extremely confused. Albus turned and grabbed all three of his friends, pulling them into the nearest classroom. He slammed the door and pulled out his wand, putting every locking charm he knew onto the knob. Matt collapsed onto the nearest chair and put his head in his hands. “Th-th-that's-” “We know,” Albus whispered. “What the hell is he doing here?” John ranted, “He's got no business here!” “Why's he in the castle anyway?” Albus began to pace around the room, “If he's here to watch the Quidditch match, then why isn't he down there?” “What if he's not here to watch the Quidditch?” John said darkly. “Who the bloody hell is he?” Kaden asked loudly. Albus glanced at Matt before looking at Kaden. Matt didn't seem to have heard Kaden's question. “His name's Lubar. He's the Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures in Australia,” Albus explained, “He's the reason why Matt had to move here, amongst other things.” “He's a sick and twisted evil git,” John muttered, “What are we going to do?” Albus walked over to the door and peered out the small window at the top. Lubar was no longer in sight. “I've g-got to go to the Ministry,” Matt said, “I've got to t-tell my dad. L-Lubar, he can't be here.” Albus paced back and forth in front of the door. The Ministry. How would they get there? Brooms? No, that would take too long. They'd have to use the Floo Network, but none of the fireplaces at Hogwarts were hooked up, as far as Albus knew. “We're going to have to get to Hogsmeade,” Albus said, “You wait here. I'll get my Cloak and the map. Then we'll sneak into Hogsmeade and Floo to the Ministry.” Matt nodded. “You guys don't have to come. You can go to the match.” “Are you mental?” John exclaimed, “That bloke out there is probably worse than Willinson. We're not letting you do this alone.” Albus nodded in agreement before waving his wand and undoing the locking charms. He cautiously looked out into the corridor before leaving. It was empty. Much to Albus's relief, both the Cloak and the map were right where he'd left them. He shoved them into his robes and ran back to the classroom. Matt, John, and Kaden were all talking quietly. Matt didn't look any less scared, but at least he didn't seem to be in shock anymore. “We're not all going to fit underneath it,” Albus said as he unfolded the cloak. “You three get under it,” John said immediately, “I'm tallest so I'll take up the most room anyway. Plus, if we meet up with Lubar again, I'm the best liar.” Albus couldn't argue there. Both he and Matt were horrible liars and Kaden still hadn't gotten over his inability to keep secrets. “You take the map, then,” Albus handed the map to John, “We've got to get to the one-eyed witch statue on the third floor. Albus threw the Cloak over himself, Matt, and Kaden, and the three of them followed John out of the room. The corridor was still empty, much to Albus's relief. John set a very fast pace and he was soon quite a bit ahead of Albus and the others. Albus couldn't say anything, though, as it would give away his presence. Instead he tried to run as fast as he could while making the least amount of noise possible. The boys made it down the two flights of stairs necessary to get to the third floor and arrived at the statue without seeing anyone. Albus pulled the Cloak off of them and stuffed it into his pocket. With a quick tap of his wand, he statue's hump opened and the boys climbed inside. Albus lit his wand and took off down the small passageway. Matt, John, and Kaden followed suit. “Why did Kendrick let him in?” John asked as they ran, “Doesn't he know what he did?” “Yes,” Matt answered, “I don't think Kendrick knows he's here.” “What did he do?” Kaden asked. “You don't think he came here to see you?” Albus asked Matt, “I mean, remember when Killigan saw us that one time and he seemed so interested in finding you?” “Of course I do,” Matt muttered, “And it really wouldn't surprise me if that's why he's here. But I'm betting there's another reason.” “What did he do?” Kaden repeated, a bit louder. “Why else would he be here?” Albus asked, “The match?” “Maybe, but I'm betting it's got something to do with Linda,” Matt replied, “I don't know for sure, but it seems too coincidental for him to be here just to see me.” “What did he do?” Kaden shouted, “Why would he want to see you?” Matt stopped running and wheeled around to look at Kaden. “It's a long story. Lubar's got a grudge against my dad, one that he obviously still has even though we haven't lived in Australia for six years,” Matt paused, “He passed a bunch of laws against werewolves and I wound up having to transform with a bunch of other werewolves. It was bad.” Matt resumed walking and didn't elaborate on the subject. Kaden didn't ask him to. “What's your dad going to do about it?” Kaden asked. “I dunno,” Matt shrugged, “Maybe talk to Kendrick or something.” There was no doubt in Albus's mind that Matt's dad would be able to get Lubar to leave Hogwarts, possibly even leave the country. Albus had known little about Mr. Eckerton prior to this year, but now he knew that you did not want to be on his bad side. When it came down to it, Mr. Eckerton was the one who had Balladanis sacked. The passage finally began to rise until it came to an abrupt stop at a knotty wooden door. Albus pressed his ear to the door, but heard nothing. He carefully pushed it open, wincing as it creaked. Seeing nobody in the storage room beyond, Albus beckoned his friends forward. The room was dimly lit, enough for Albus to see a huge amount of boxes littering the floor. On the far wall he could see a fireplace. The boys climbed over the various boxes and stood in front of the fireplace. Albus located a small sack of Floo Powder and then lit a fire. He turned to his friends. “You can't Floo directly into someone's study at the Ministry. We're going to have to go to the Atrium,” Albus told them, “I'll go first, you follow.” Albus took a handful of powder and then handed the bag to Matt. He tossed the powder into the fire and stepped inside, shouting “The Ministry of Magic!” Albus stumbled out of a different fireplace seconds later. The Atrium was nearly deserted, save for a few wizards striding towards the lifts, clearly too busy to notice Albus. Matt landed rather ungracefully on the floor. He picked himself up, brushing stray ash off his robes. “Place is deserted,” Matt said as he looked around. “It's a Saturday,” Albus pointed out, “Does your dad work Saturdays?” “Yeah,” Matt nodded, “At least mornings.” John was next to step out of the fire, doing so more elegantly than Matt had. He stood in front of the fire, staring around at the Atrium. His eyes rested on the Fountain of Magical Brethren. “This is more fancy than I imagined,” John said. “Bloody hell!” Kaden shouted as he fell out of the fire, “This is the Ministry?” “Yes,” Matt said quickly, “But we haven't got time to explore. Let's go.” Albus followed Matt towards the desk in the front of the Atrium. There was an old wizard leafing through a copy of the Quibbler, oblivious to his surroundings. Albus almost thought they'd be able to sneak around him, but he looked up just as they were about to pass. “Where do you think you're going?” he asked and then his eyes rested on Albus, “Albus Severus Potter. Why aren't you in school?” “Er,” Albus began, a little unnerved that the man knew who he was. Matt stepped in front of Albus. “We need to go see my dad. He's the Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. It's kind of an emergency.” “Very well,” the man looked at them oddly, “Put your wands up here.” Albus did as he was told and the others followed suit. They waited impatiently as the old wizard tested their wands and then handed them back. He waved them on towards the lifts. “What's the point of that?” Kaden asked as they waited for a lift. “So if you murder anyone, they can tell whose wand did it,” Albus said bluntly. “That's cheerful,” Kaden replied. Once the lift arrived, the boys piled in and Matt pushed the number four. Nobody said anything as the lift creaked its way to the fourth floor. Matt took off at a run down the corridor after they left the lift. Albus had never been to this particular floor. It looked rather similar to the Magical Law Enforcement's floor, with nondescript sets of double doors on one side. Matt skidded to a halt in front of the only door that was single and banged his hand loudly on it. When there was no answer after a few seconds, he banged again. “Hold your hippogriffs!” called a voice from the inside, “I'm coming, I'm-” Matt's dad said as he opened the door. Mr. Eckerton seemed to freeze at the sight of his son and the other three boys. He gaped at them for a second before shaking his head. “Matt?” he asked and rubbed his eyes, as if he thought he was seeing a hallucination, “But, why aren't you in school? How did you get here? Why are you here? Albus? What are you- and John, Kaden?” His eyes rested on Matt again. “Matt? What's wrong?” Mr. Eckerton stepped aside and let the boys into his study. He shut the door quietly behind them. The study reminded Albus of his dad's. There were large windows on the side opposite the door, although the scene outside was not real, nor was the gentle rain that was pattering onto it. There was a large leather covered chair behind the huge oak desk and a few smaller chairs in front of it. Along the other two walls were shelves with loads of books. Most of them were about various magical creatures. Albus, Matt, and John took the seats that were in front of the desk while Kaden wandered around the study looking at things. Mr. Eckerton leaned against the front of his desk and looked at his son. “What's happened?” he asked quietly. “L-Lubar,” Matt said in barely more than a whisper, “He-he's at Hogwarts.” “What?!” Mr. Eckerton exclaimed. “We were on our way to the Quidditch final,” Matt said, “A-and we saw him.” “Bloody hell!” Mr. Eckerton stood up and slammed his fist loudly against his desk, “Did Professor Kendrick allow this?” “I don't know,” Matt replied, “B-but everyone else was at the match and he was just lurking about the castle.” Mr. Eckerton's face hardened. He looked just like he had when he talked with Professor Balladanis earlier in the term. “Let's go, boys,” he said darkly, “I've got to have a word with Professor Kendrick.” Albus followed Mr. Eckerton out of his study and down towards the lifts. John's walking speed was nothing compared to Matt's dad's. The boys had to run to keep up. “Where did you Floo from?” Mr. Eckerton asked once they were in the lift. “Honeyduke's,” Albus answered. “We'll Floo there now,” Mr. Eckerton replied. The wizard at the welcome desk looked at them curiously as they rushed towards the fireplaces, but didn't say anything. Mr. Eckerton handed Albus a bit of Floo Powder and gestured for him to go first. Albus stepped into the fire and shouted, “Honeyduke's!” Albus began to spin faster and faster. He saw glimpses of people's houses, shops in Diagon Alley, and a variety of other places he did not recognize. Then, out of one of the fireplaces, came a hand. Everything seemed to slow down, but Albus wasn't sure if it actually did or not. The hand grabbed him. Albus fought against it, but it was too strong. All of a sudden he was laying on a dusty wooden floor, one that was not at all like the one in Honeyduke's. Albus coughed and stood up. His heart was beating fast. What had happened? Why wasn't he in Honeyduke's? Where was he? Whose hand was that? Albus grappled for his wand and shakily held it up. He lit it and looked around the room, seeing no one. “Nice to see you, Potter,” a cold voice said from behind him. Albus jumped and turned around. There, crouching next to the fireplace with his hand inside of it, was Lubar. He looked even more creepy in the dank room than he did in Hogwarts. The fireplace glowed green and Lubar yanked his arm out of it. John came tumbling out of the fire and scrambled too his feet, looking about. Lubar muttered something underneath his breath and stuck his hand in the fire again. “What the?” John whispered to Albus, “Where are we? Is that? Bloody Hell!” “Shut up!” Lubar shouted. Albus gazed around the room. It looked vaguely familiar, but Albus couldn't put his finger on it. The windows were boarded up, but it was definitely not the Shrieking Shack. Albus doubted that was connected to the Floo Network anyway. The fireplace glowed green yet again, this time sending Kaden onto the floor. This earned another shout from Lubar, who stuck his hand in the fire again. Kaden gaped and then got to his feet and stood next to Albus. He looked absolutely terrified, even before he laid eyes on Lubar. Albus wanted nothing more than to run from the room, but he did not know where the building was even located. Plus, Lubar would probably stun him or something. Green light filled the room as the fireplace glowed once more. Albus knew even before it happened that Matt would be the one to next fall out of the flames. Mere seconds later, that suspicion was confirmed. Matt coughed and scrambled to his feet. He gasped when he saw Lubar and ran over to Albus. Lubar, finally satisfied, doused the fire and lit his wand, which illuminated his sinister face. He began to pace slowly in front of them. “Well, well, you went crying to Daddy just as I expected,” Lubar grinned manically, “I do love when things work out the way I expect them to.” Albus could feel Matt shaking next to him. He gripped his wand hard, debating whether to try and disarm Lubar. “Any idea where you are?” Lubar asked, “Dervish and Banges. Lovely shop, pity about the owner. Yes, a real shame.” Lubar didn't seem at all upset about what happened to the shop owner. Albus looked around the shop again and now he recognized it. “Well, let's not waste our time here,” Lubar said, “There's a few people who've been dying to see you.” Lubar snapped his fingers three times and Albus heard footsteps on the stairs. Three wizards descended the stairs and strode into the room. They lit their wands at the same time and Albus gasped when the light showed their faces. Jarrett and Quinton Willinson, along with Washburn. Three people Albus hoped never to see again. Albus swallowed hard. He could see no way out of this. As good a dueler he was, he was up against four fully qualified wizards. Three of them did not possess the skills to duel, but Albus had no idea what Lubar was capable of. “Ah, yes,” Lubar smirked, “What a lovely reunion. Unfortunately we haven't got time to chat.” Before Albus knew it, Washburn had him in a headlock with his wand pointed at his neck. Quinton Willinson had Kaden and his father had John. Matt, seeing his friends restrained, made a run for the nearest window. “Not so fast, young werewolf,” Lubar caught him by the back of his robes and wrapped one of his arms around his middle. Lubar reached into his robes with his free hand and pulled out an old tea kettle. He held it out to the other three men and each one put a free hand on it. Albus knew what was going to happen right before it did. He shared a frightened glance with Matt before feeling a jerk behind his belly button.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2537 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 21 April 2010 10 50 29 am    Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden Chapter 32: The Breakout Despite the fact that he did not have Defense Against the Dark Arts the next morning, Albus was down in the Great Hall bright and early because he wanted to read Rose's Daily Prophet. Having Kendrick announce Balladanis's sacking was one thing, reading it in the Prophet was entirely different. Rose was already there when Albus, Matt, and John sat down at the Gryffindor table. Amanda and Linda were on either side of her and all three girls were reading the article. Albus drummed his fingers impatiently on the table while he waited for them to be finished. Finally, Rose handed him the paper without saying a word and Albus read it, with Matt and John looking over his shoulder. HOGWARATS TEACHER REMOVED FROM POSITION BY MINISTRY In an event that causes much of the wizarding world to remember back to Voldemort's reign, Hogwarts Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Tethys Balladanis, has been removed from his position by the Ministry of Magic's Department of Magical Education. During Voldemort's reign, Defense teachers rarely lasted more than a year at the school, a mystery that abruptly ended when Voldemort was defeated on May 2, 1998. Up until two years ago, Hogwarts had had only one Defense teacher since that fateful May day. Professor Torro taught at Hogwarts for years until he was mysteriously murdered nearly three years ago. He was replaced by Head Auror, Harry Potter, who is rumored to have only taken the position after nobody else agreed to fill it. Harry Potter left the position this past autumn and it was filled by Balladanis. Balladanis taught until two days ago, when he was removed from his position. Approximately a week and a half ago, a complaint was lodged by Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, Walter Eckerton, whose fourteen-year-old son currently attends Hogwarts. The complaint included harsh teaching methods, the use of an anamatek as a teaching tool, singling students out for lack of skill, and embarrassing students in front of their peers. An investigation by Ministry officials ensued and included the interviewing of select students and staff. The department concluded their investigation late Sunday evening and informed both Balladanis and Headmaster Fabius Kendrick of their decision. Balladanis left the castle willingly and will not be appealing the decision. When asked for a statement on the issue, both Kendrick and Balladanis declined. Upon hearing the news, Walter Eckerton said, 'I am very happy with the decision and that the investigation was concluded in a timely fashion. I am not happy that it came to this, but I feel that nothing should be put ahead of children's safety.' Hogwarts students will not attend Defense classes until a replacement is found. As of right now, one has not been found. “I knew they'd stick your dad in there somehow,” John announced once they'd finished reading. “There wasn't anything in there that we didn't already know,” Albus muttered, “I was hoping Balladanis would've said something or we'd find out what happened when he left the castle.” “Maybe he really did go quietly,” Matt shrugged, “Maybe he wanted to get back to his anamatek.” “I wonder where he lives,” Amanda mused, “Think he lives in England?” “Doubt it,” Rose answered, “Even if he did before I doubt he does now.” ****** Life soon returned to normal for the Hogwarts students, as it often does after something exciting happens. Everyone talked about Balladanis the day the article was published, but soon there was nothing left to say and the students focused on the upcoming Quidditch match, which was mere days away. Albus had an easy time forgetting about Balladanis due to Quidditch practice. He was out on the pitch every evening and was soon hearing Wood's commands in his head as he fell asleep, which was something that certainly couldn't be deemed normal. Albus was almost glad that the year was drawing to an end because once the tournament was over, he wouldn't have to deal with Wood anymore. Thinking about that made Albus realize that Gryffindor would have a new captain the next year since Georgia was graduating. Albus was sure it would be either Fred or Heather, but he wasn't sure which. Albus trudged into the Great Hall on Thursday morning sorely wishing that John hadn't woken him up. They didn't have a class first thing, so why'd he bother doing that? Albus was already running on little sleep. “I'm going to wake you up at five in the morning this Saturday,” Albus muttered to John as he poured himself some pumpkin juice. “No you won't, you'll still be asleep,” John grinned, “I need you to help me finish that Herbology essay that's due today.” “That's the reason for you waking me up?” Albus groaned, “Why can't Rose help you?” “She's a bit sore with me right now,” John muttered. “What did you do?” Albus asked. “I may or may not have accidentally set fire to her Potions notes last night,” John said. “And I should have to suffer because of that?” Albus replied, “How did you manage that anyway?” “It wasn't an accident,” Matt put in, “John and Kaden were tinkering with those super strength dung bombs last night in the Marauder's Den. They stupidly decided to do this at the table right where Rose's notes were. The dung bombs exploded and Rose's notes caught fire.” “See, an accident!” John exclaimed. “No, stupidity,” Matt said, “You should've done it somewhere else. Oh, Albus, I wouldn't suggest going in the Marauder's Den anytime soon. It smells.” “I wouldn't have time to anyway,” Albus muttered, “Quidditch practice again tonight.” “Oi, Albus!” James shouted. “What?” Albus said. “Is Dad patrolling here this week?” James asked. “I don't know, why?” Albus replied. “He's here,” James pointed to the staff table. Albus looked up and saw that his dad was talking with Neville. Except he wasn't wearing his Auror robes, he was just wearing normal robes. Albus glanced back at James who shrugged. “May I have your attention?” Kendrick announced, “Thank you. I just wish to inform you all that Harry Potter has kindly agreed to take over Defense classes for the remainder of term. Because of this, Defense classes will resume today.” “Good thing I woke you up,” John grinned. “Guess you won't be able to finish that essay,” Albus shot back. “Merlin,” John muttered. Albus wasn't that surprised, nor did he care that much. He'd already had his dad teach for two years and it hadn't been bad at all. Plus, his dad was a far better teacher than Balladanis. Albus walked with Matt and John to Defense. Rose was still not speaking to John and she walked with Amanda and Linda a little ways ahead. Albus seriously hoped that this wouldn't turn into what happened earlier in the year. The entire class erupted in applause as soon as Harry entered the room and Albus noticed that this caused him to blush. Even Malfoy was clapping, albeit half-heartedly, but he was clapping nonetheless. “Thanks,” Harry muttered, “Well, I did not think I'd be back here. I do have to continue with the curriculum, so I must ask that you complete the werewolf essay for next Thursday. However, it only has to be one foot of parchment.” There was a collective groan from the entire class. “Great,” John muttered, “I was hoping to get out of it.” “It won't be that hard,” Matt rolled his eyes. “But it'll be time consuming,” John replied. “I know, I know,” Harry smirked, “But there is a month and a half of term left and I can't just let you have this time to mess around.” The class was the most enjoyable Defense class the third years had had in quite a while. Harry lectured for the entirety of the class, but it wasn't boring. Albus did not mind in the slightest that his dad was going to be finishing out the term. ****** By the time Saturday arrived, virtually no one in the castle was talking about Professor Balladanis. Quidditch was on the forefront of everybody's minds and the tensions ran higher than they had all year. The outcome of this match would determine who played Australia in the final. Albus himself was not particularly worried. Hogwarts had already beaten New York once and they could easily do it again. The entire team was in good health and none of the alternates were needed. Albus was perfectly content to sit in the stands with his friends and just watch the match, rather than have to play in it. It was a warm spring day with a slight wind and cloud cover, perfect playing conditions. Wood had spoke of the weather during the previous night's practice, telling the team that a large storm had been predicted for that day. Luckily it had not appeared yet. The match commenced with a lot of shouting and cheering from the crowd. Hogwarts scored five goals within the first fifteen minutes of the match and New York scored two. The teams remained neck in neck for the remainder of the match, until James pulled out of a dive clutching the golden Snitch in his left hand. The crowd erupted into cheers and James was soon hoisted onto the shoulders of some of the older students. “I have an announcement to make!” Professor Kendrick shouted over the crowd, “Due to Hogwarts's win, they will be competing against Australia in the final Quidditch match, scheduled to take place on the first of June!” The usual after Quidditch party ensued in the common room and everyone rehashed their favorite parts of the match. No one talked about the final match, although Albus was sure it was in the backs of everyone's minds. Australia seemed impossible to beat. Once the excitement from another Quidditch win abated, the Hogwarts students seemed to realize that exams were quite near. The library soon became a popular place to be and fifth and seventh years in particular could be seen there all hours of the day. As the middle of May arrived, Gabriella demanded a quiet common room in the evenings, much like her sister had two years prior. Albus and his friends spent more time in the Marauder's Den after that, usually without Rose, Amanda, and Linda. The three girls seemed to like the quietness of the common room. Rose did forgive John for messing up her notes, but she became more tense and snappish as exams drew nearer. It wasn't something that surprised Albus or anyone else because it had become a sort of end of term tradition with Rose. Defense lessons took a drastic turn for the better. Albus and all of his friends got perfect marks on their werewolf essays, to the surprise of no one. After that, the classes bared no resemblance to Balladanis's. “Aw, Merlin!” John shouted at breakfast one Friday in the middle of May. He had been reading the Prophet. “What is it?” Albus asked, thinking Balladanis had been reinstated as Defense teacher or something. “England didn't make it into the World Cup final,” John sighed, “They were so close.” “Who did make it?” Albus grabbed the paper from John, suddenly remembering the tickets he'd gotten for Christmas. He hadn't picked who he was going to invite to go with him. Actually, he hadn't even told his friends about the tickets. “Portugal and Russia,” John groaned, “Russia! They've got a rubbish Quidditch team!” “Obviously not,” Rose smirked, “Albus, did you pick who you're going to take when you go to the Cup?” “Wait, what?” John gaped at Albus, “You got tickets?” “Er, yeah, for Christmas,” Albus said. “And you didn't tell me!” John exclaimed. “Well, I only got one extra and I didn't know how to pick. I had it narrowed down to you and Matt. Mind you, if you hate Russia, I'll just pick Matt,” Albus smirked. “No, no, I didn't say I hate Russia,” John said quickly, “They've just got a bad team.” “How am I supposed to pick then?” Albus asked. “You don't have to,” Matt said as he sat down next to Albus. “Nice to see you awake,” John grinned. Albus and John had attempted to wake Matt up before they went down to the Great Hall and had no luck. The full moon was the next day, so Albus hadn't even been sure if Matt was going to go to class. “Why, is the Cup a bad time of the month?” Albus whispered. “No,” Matt shook his head, “It's just that my dad got tickets, so you can just give your extra one to John.” “Oh,” Albus grinned, “That makes things easy.” “Where is the Cup?” Amanda asked. “Canada,” Rose replied. “How are we getting there, Albus?” John asked, “Are we going to take a Muggle airplane?” John looked excited at that prospect. “No idea,” Albus shrugged, “Dad might get a Portkey.” “That's boring,” John said. “Wish I could go,” Kaden sighed. “Why, don't you not like Quidditch?” John asked. “It's ok,” Kaden shrugged, “I just want to try out a Portkey.” “You're weird, Kaden,” John laughed. “So are you. Airplanes are boring,” Kaden argued. “I'm with Kaden on this one,” Matt said, “I'd take a Portkey any day.” ****** Between studying for exams and Quidditch practice, Albus had no time for anything else. He managed to squeeze in time to visit Matt in the hospital wing on Sunday, but only briefly before he went to Wood's day long Quidditch practice. The following weekend was the final match of the Junior's Dueling Club, something Albus had been forced to neglect due to Quidditch practice. After begging Wood and a bit of help from Teddy, Albus was able to attend the final. Albus's team won, much to the delight of both Albus and Malfoy. Albus had not spoken to Malfoy since the incident with Professor Balladanis. Nor had Malfoy said a word to Albus, or any of his friends. Malfoy remained mysteriously quiet around the full moon, not saying anything about it to either Albus or Matt. It was strange, but not something any of the boys were going to complain about it. Three days before the Quidditch final, the Great Hall was filled with whispering voices that reminded Albus of the day Balladanis had been sacked. Copies of the Prophet were being passed back and forth and quite a few students looked extremely scared. “What's happened?” Albus asked Rose as he sat down. “Willinson has broken out of Azkaban,” Rose whispered, her face completely white. “What?!” Albus shouted as he grabbed the nearest copy of the Prophet. Matt and John crowded around him as he read it. AZKABAN BREAKOUT Officials have reported that three prisoners broke out of Azkaban late last night. It is still unknown how it happened. Azkaban guards have refused to speak with reporters, and the Ministry does not wish to divulge information at this time. The names of the escaped prisoners have been released and anyone with information reguarding any of them are asked to contact the Ministry. The Prophet then gave detailed information about all three of the escaped prisoners. Albus only recognized Willinson. The other two had been imprisoned for more petty crimes. “How did he get out?” Albus wondered, “He's an idiot!” “I think everyone's confused about that,” Rose said. Any hope Albus had of getting homework done that week was gone. He was lucky he was able to concentrate on Quidditch practice. Willinson was out of Azkaban. He was galavanting about England, doing whatever he pleased. That in itself was not necessarily that bad, due to Willinson's stupidity. If he somehow met up with his father and Washburn, then it could be quite bad. What worried Albus the most was the fact that he would be after the Hallows, all of which still resided somewhere in or around Hogwarts. Willinson was bound to come back, especially now that he was out of prison. ****** Before Albus knew it, the night before the Quidditch final arrived and Wood called the team into the changing room after ending practice. “It has been incredibly rewarding to manage this team,” Wood said as he began to pace in front of them, “There were difficulties in the beginning,” he paused and looked at the two Slytherins on the team, “But I am proud to say that you came together as a team wonderfully. “It still amazes me that a group of students from all four houses can come together and play together on the same team. I am not sure this could have been done when I was in Hogwarts. “You have all come a long way over the year. You've all made vast improvements in your skill. Quite a few of you are seventh years and I am very happy to tell you that there will be scouts from a couple Quidditch teams watching tomorrow's match. I have high hopes for the lot of you, when it comes to Quidditch. “I cannot say whether we will win tomorrow. Australia is good, there is no denying that. However, I have faith in all of you. Tomorrow, go out there and give it your best. Now, I think you should all turn in early and eat a proper breakfast tomorrow before the match. Teddy, Tyler, anything to add?” Wood turned to the boys. Teddy and Tyler both shook their heads and Wood turned back to the team. “I'll see you all down here tomorrow. Good night.” Wood, Teddy, and Tyler stayed behind to discuss tactics while the team left. Albus and James were the last two to leave. Georgia had left with the other seventh years, excitedly discussing the prospect of scouts. “You think Georgia's going to sign with one of the professional teams?” Albus asked James as they walked back to the castle. “I'd be surprised if she didn't,” James said, “I just hope it doesn't hurt her chances when we lose.” “We might not lose,” Albus pointed out. “We're going to lose,” James muttered, “Linda's too good of a Seeker.” Albus said nothing. He wished he could just tell James that Linda was a vampire. It would be so much easier. They kept walking, each lost in their own thoughts. Albus stopped abruptly when he heard a loud crack in the forest. “What was that?” he asked anxiously. “Probably just a branch breaking,” James answered. “It was too loud,” Albus said as he looked into the forest, “It sounded like someone Apparating in there.” “I don't think you can Apparate in the forest,” James pointed out, “And it didn't sound that loud. You're just tired from all the Quidditch practice.” “I guess,” Albus said as he and James kept walking, “But what if it was someone Apparating? What if it was Willinson?” “You worry too much, Al,” James groaned, “This place is filled with Aurors and Dad's here full time now. You'd have to be mad to Apparate here if you're wanted by the Ministry.” “But Willinson is stupid enough to do that,” Albus replied. “That's just it,” James laughed, “If he's stupid enough to do that, he's going to get caught and sent back to Azkaban.” Albus nodded but he wasn't reassured. Willinson may be stupid, but he did manage to kidnap Kaden the previous spring, and he had been on the run for a year prior to that. He may be a rubbish dueler, but he was certainly good at not getting caught for the most part.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2537 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Sunday 11 April 2010 11 14 38 am    Post subject: Re: Beyond the Shadow in topic:Beyond the Shadow Chapter 6: Pickles and Ice Cream Farina was never anywhere close by when you needed her. It took us fifteen minutes to find her, during which no less than ten nurses asked if Victoire was all right. At least if Farina didn't want to let her leave, we'd have half the nurse staff on our side. We finally located Farina in the clinic, barking orders at what looked like a crowd of new, and very terrified looking, residents. “Lupin!” Farina shouted once she saw us, “You're over a half hour late!” Farina pushed through the crowd of residents and over towards us. She looked murderous, but then her face softened when she noticed Victoire. “Lupin, are you all right?” Farina asked in an uncharacteristically soft voice. “No,” I answered for her, “I am requesting that you let me take Victoire home. She's in no state to be treating patients.” Farina nodded. “Very well. I'll expect you back here brewing Skele-Gro in two hours, Eckerton. Lupin, take all the time you need.” Farina didn't wait for a response before returning to her group of residents, who looked disappointed that she'd returned. “Weird,” I muttered as we hurried out of the clinic before she could change her mind. Despite the fact that Victoire and I were obviously visitors to the Ministry, we did not have to use the visitor's entrance. We'd both been there so many times that we knew each and every security guard and never had to bother with anything besides obtaining name tags. Hoping that Teddy was in his study, we hurried up to the Auror Headquarters. Victoire was still in a sort of daze and hadn't said anything since we left the loo. We received a few curious looks as we hurried down the corridor, but nobody stopped us. The Auror Headquarters was busy as usual and I directed Victoire straight to Ted's cubicle, which he was thankfully in. He looked up when he saw us and immediately frowned and stood up, walking towards Victoire and embracing her. “Victoire, what's wrong?” he asked and then looked curiously at me. Victoire started crying again and Teddy said nothing else, but lead us towards Harry Potter's study in the back of the room. He knocked on the door and I heard Harry tell us to come in. “Could I use your study?” Teddy asked immediately. Harry looked up and, taking one look at Victoire, nodded and left the room. I loitered in the doorway, but Teddy gestured for me to come in as well. I shut the door behind me and sat down on one of the chairs. Teddy said nothing for a while, just letting Victoire cry into his chest while he rubbed her back. He didn't ask what was wrong and I did not explain. This was something Victoire had to explain herself. After a few minutes, Victoire's sobs began to subside and she pulled away from Teddy, turning her back to him and staring up at a portrait of Mad-Eye Moody. He looked at her and then ambled out of the frame. “Victoire, what's going on?” Teddy asked quietly, staying where he was. “I'm-” her voice cracked, “I'm pregnant.” The room was silent for a full minute and then Teddy walked towards Victoire, wrapping her in a hug from behind. He didn't say anything, just hugged her. I glanced at my watch. “I've got to get back,” I said as I stood up. “I'll stop by tonight, ok?” “Ok,” Teddy nodded. I hurried out of the Auror Headquarters and back to the lobby of the Ministry. I stepped into a fireplace and was spinning back to St. Mungo's in seconds. Farina was talking to one of the nurses when I reentered the hospital and turned around as I passed her. “Have you started that Skele-Gro yet, Eckerton?” she demanded. “I'm on my way to the brewing rooms right now,” I told her. She nodded curtly and I headed straight to the nearest set of stairs. Brewing Skele-Gro took hours and I was sure to be down there for the remainder of the day, which was just what I needed after the morning I had had. ****** Ten hours and five batches of Skele-Gro later, I was standing on Teddy and Victoire's front porch armed with the biggest jar of pickles the store had and a five gallon tub of Neapolitan ice cream, Victoire's biggest cravings when she was pregnant with Sophie. Shifting the bag to my other hand, I rang the bell and waited. Five seconds later I heard the pitter-patter of tiny feet and then saw Sophie's face peering through the curtains. The door flung open and Sophie shouted, “Aunt Amy! I didn't know you were coming over!” I set down the bag and picked her up, shutting the door with my foot, and carried her back into the house. She was clad in her pajamas, her hair wet from a bath, and a stuffed wolf tucked under her arm. I recognized it as the one Matt had gotten her when she was born. It had seen better days, but it was her favorite stuffed toy. “Amy,” Victoire said as she walked out of the kitchen. She looked exhausted, but was smiling. “It's time for bed, Soph. Say good night to Aunt Amy.” “Night,” Sophie said as she wrapped her arms around my neck. “Night, sweetie,” I said as I set her down. Victoire followed Sophie up the stairs and returned a few minutes later. We entered the living room, where Teddy was reading a Quidditch magazine, and I handed Victoire the bag of ice cream and pickles. “Amy, you're a lifesaver,” she grinned as she pulled the top off the ice cream. Then she took a pickle and dipped it into the container, making sure to get all three flavors of ice cream on it. “Vic, that's disgusting,” Teddy grimmaced. “It's half your fault,” Victoire pointed out. “So, you're looking happier,” I said. “I've decided not to worry about what might happen,” Victoire said in between bites. “They can't test for lycanthropy until the second trimester. I've got an appointment for tomorrow morning, though.” “That's good,” I replied. “We're not telling anyone right away,” Victoire continued. “Not until the second trimester. You're the only one who knows. And we're not going to tell Sophie until then either.” “Makes sense,” I agreed. “But you won't be able to eat anything weird around other people,” Teddy smirked. “Or they're going to know.” “Shut it, Ted,” Victoire snapped. It was strange, just hours ago Victoire had been so completely upset and now she seemed almost happy. Pregnancy did strange things with your hormones and I couldn't even begin to imagine what that was like. Sure, I was a healer, but I'd never been pregnant myself and there was nothing compared with going through it yourself. I spent much of the evening at Victoire and Teddy's, in which time Victoire polished off half the pickles and ice cream. I had a feeling Teddy would be out buying more of both sometime soon. Teddy had already fallen asleep on the couch when I left, assuring Victoire that I'd meet her for her healer appointment the next day. Victoire's appointment was the reason I found myself scanning the corridor for Farina five minutes before I was due in the clinic the next morning. The maternity ward was running behind so Victoire was still in with the healer when I was supposed to be heading up to the clinic. Maybe I'd get lucky and Farina wouldn't notice that I was late. I laughed, that would be the day. Victoire and Teddy emerged from the examination room a few minutes later and I immediately ran up to them. “Well?” “Pregnant, of course,” Victoire said. “They just told me the same thing they told me with Sophie, and they want me to start taking Wolfsbane during full moons right away.” I nodded. That made sense. Wolfsbane didn't have any harmful effects on people without lycanthropy, so it certainly couldn't hurt even if the baby wasn't a werewolf. “How far along are you?” “Seven weeks,” Victoire replied. “Wow, you won't have to wait long to tell people,” I said. “Nope,” Victoire said. “Listen, I was supposed to be in the clinic five minutes ago, so I better go,” I sighed. Victoire's eyes widened. “Go! Before she murders you!” ****** November went by extremely quickly, in a whirlwind of working, researching, and potion brewing. The Lycanthropic Children's Society came to an agreement that we could start holding support group sessions, but we wouldn't start planning until after the holidays. Victoire's cravings increased and it seemed the only time she wasn't eating pickles was when she was having morning sickness. When the first full moon of December arrived, she managed to choke down a dose of Wolfsbane, but it was clear that Teddy was going to have to be in charge of Sophie's doses until Victoire had the baby. Victoire and Teddy decided to wait until Christmas to tell their family, so they could tell them all at once. It would be far easier than trying to track down all the members of the Weasley clan before that. They planned to tell Sophie on Christmas Eve, before they went to the Burrow. Matt and Sophie both survived December's first full moon, Sophie better than Matt, but he recovered and was back at work a few days later. Jamie did surprisingly well without being on Wolfsbane, thrilling his parents and shocking Morris and I. I wasn't complaining, of course, but it just added to the strange mystery that was lycanthropy. Jamie took a few days to recover, but then seemed healthier than he had in months, and busied himself with helping Kyle to write his Christmas list. I could hardly believe that the Christmas season was already upon us. Christmas has always been a big deal in my family, for as long as I could remember. When I was really little, Christmas meant constant chaos and activity, going from one party to the next, in both the Muggle and wizarding worlds. My parents would sit me down before each one and make sure I understood whether it would be appropriate to discuss magic and wands and such at that day's party. On Christmas, we'd visit both sets of grandparents until my dad's parents died. Then Richard and Cinda took to visiting us instead. All of that changed when Matt got bitten. Christmas became solely a family affair as my parents began to withdraw from the public eye. Our attendance at parties was a rare occasion after that. But Christmas became even more of a big deal, but for different reasons. Going out and chopping down a tree became more special, something we nearly always did as a family. I still remember our last Christmas in our old house in Australia when my parents finally agreed to chopping down a twelve-foot-tree, but at the time I had no idea it would be our last there. Things changed again once we moved to England. What started with a one Christmas decision to go spend the holiday in Australia morphed into a yearly tradition of flying down there every Christmas. I never minded it, but Matt always wished we could just stay in England. However, since Richard died, we have been spending Christmas in England. It's different, but it's still Christmas. Honestly, the thing I had to get used to the most was the snow. Victoire laughed hysterically when I told her that. Snow's just not a part of Christmas in Australia. Even as Matt and I grew up and moved out, we still spent Christmas at home. We still went home to chop down a tree and this year was no different. One Sunday in early December Matt and I Apparated home and found Dad clad in a few jumpers and a cloak, and Mum busy baking a batch of biscuits. It was a frigidly cold day and windy at that, so we didn't take long in the bush to find the perfect tree. Mum would have settled for the first tree we saw, but I had always insisted on finding the perfect one and that wasn't something I was about to change. We found the tree, chopped it down, and brought it back to the house to decorate it. Afterwards, we sat around admiring it and eating Mum's biscuits. “Is Albus going to be home for Christmas this year?” I asked Matt. “I think so,” Matt replied. “He sort of has to be, after last year.” I smirked. Christmas is an even bigger deal in the Weasley-Potter clan, encompassing an entire week instead of just a day and anyone who misses it for whatever reason gets the silent treatment from Molly Weasley, after she sends a Howler. Last year, Albus had the unfortunate luck to be working over Christmas, and couldn't show up at his grandparents' house until New Year's. “Do any of you have to work Christmas?” I asked. Everyone shook their heads and I grinned. This would be two years in a row that none of us had to work, which was rare. There wasn't even a full moon near the holiday this year. However, this December happened to contain a blue moon, which would rise on New Year's Eve. Matt and I stayed for the usual Sunday night dinner and then returned to our respective flats. The next day was Monday, which meant a hectic day at St. Mungo's, and the start of a very crazy week for me since I was scheduled to be on call the following weekend. Add that to the fact that it was time to start brewing the next batch of Wolfsbane (the original version) and I was in for a sleepless week.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2537 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Sunday 28 March 2010 01 24 40 pm    Post subject: Re: Beyond the Shadow in topic:Beyond the Shadow Chapter 5: A Surprise Matt and Sophie were both asleep when I returned to my flat. It was kind of cute. Sophie was curled up on the foot of his bed, the copy of Beedle the Bard next to her head. I reached down to pick it up and she opened her eyes and yawned. “When's Mummy coming back?” she asked. “In an hour or so,” I replied, “Do you want to help me make dinner? I bet she'll be back just when it's ready.” “Yeah!” Sophie said excitedly. She ran ahead of me into the kitchen and was already wearing an apron that was way too large for her by the time I got there. Sophie absolutely loves to cook. I'm sure that in a few years she'll be a better cook than I am. Mum always told me that cooking was like potions, but I never got the hang of it. Maybe Sophie will be good at both. We decided to make chicken parmesan, one of Sophie's favorites. Her favorite thing to do was grate the cheese and half of it wound up in her mouth. She grinned sheepishly as I took the remaining cheese and I had to hide my laughter. There was a knock on the door while the chicken was in the oven and Sophie made a beeline towards it. I followed her and found Victoire letting herself in. “I snuck away,” she grinned as she picked up Sophie, “How's my little angel?” “We're making chicken parmesan for dinner!” Sophie said excitedly, “Only I think Uncle Matt's going to sleep through it.” “Why don't you go wake him up and see if he's hungry?” I suggested. Victoire put Sophie down and she disappeared into the bedroom. I went into the kitchen to discover that I had nearly burnt the chicken. “How was she?” Victoire asked as she began to set the table. “Fine,” I said, “I found her asleep on Matt's bed when I got back. Then we made dinner.” “Good,” Victoire smiled, “Teddy and I are thinking of enrolling her in a preschool program.” “This year?” I asked, “Isn't she a bit old for that?” “We've been researching and we found one that takes kids up to age six,” Victoire said, “It's private, in London. They only go three days a week, too. Mum keeps telling me that she's bored during the day.” I nodded as I scooped spaghetti onto all the plates. Victoire's grandmother watches Sophie most days, but she also watches a few other kids. Victoire's cousins kids, to be specific. Sophie's better off at my flat after full moons, where it's quiet. “That would probably be good for her,” I said. “I think so too,” Victoire replied, “It'll get her ready for next year, if we send her to Kindergarten. I think she's just bored at Grandma's. She's the oldest one there. Andrew's only two and he's closest to her age.” Andrew was Victoire's cousin Fred's son. The rest of the kids that Victoire's grandma watched were babies. “She needs to play with kids her own age,” I agreed, “And if it's only three days a week, some months she won't even have to miss any days.” “Exactly,” Victoire said, “No one's going to notice. Kids get sick a lot. No one will pay attention that she misses a few days every few months.” “Can you enroll this late in the school year?” I asked. “I think we'll have to wait until after Christmas,” Victoire said, “So don't mention anything to her.” “What's for dinner?” I turned around and saw Matt slowly following Sophie into the room. He still looked utterly exhausted, with large purple bags under his eyes and a yellowish bruise on his forehead. His arm was still wrapped up in bandages and he was limping slightly. “Chicken parmesan,” I replied, “Are you hungry enough to eat?” “I'll probably just have spaghetti,” Matt said as he collapsed into the nearest chair. “How are you?” Victoire asked him. “Awful,” he muttered, “My head is killing me.” “Here,” I set a goblet of pain potion in front of him, “I'm sure you're due for a dose.” “Thanks,” Matt said and downed the potion. Sophie dominated the dinner conversation. Matt was far too tired to pay attention, much less participate in the conversation. Victoire always listened to everything her daughter said, careful not to interrupt. I paid vague attention, but my mind kept wandering towards the poor Muggle who had been attacked by a werewolf. I was hungry for more information about it. Who did it? Why were they out in the open? “Have you got any pickles?” Victoire asked as we were cleaning up the kitchen. “Pickles?” I stared at her, “Er, possibly in the fridge, but why?” “I just feel like a pickle,” Victoire shrugged as she looked in the fridge. “Excellent,” she grinned as she pulled out a jar. “You're strange, you know,” I laughed. “I know,” Victoire shrugged, “I blame it on the odd hours Ted and I keep.” “What time is he done at work?” I asked. “Nine,” Victoire answered as she took a bite out of one of the pickles, “But he's got the weekend off. We're visiting my parents.” “That'll be nice,” I said as I loaded the dishwasher. “Yep,” Victoire said as she polished off the pickle, “And then back to the grind on Monday.” ****** Monday was very chaotic. Not only did I have to catch myself up on what had gone on in the ward over the weekend, but I also had to track down the two trainee Healers who were in charge of data collection for the study Rose and I were running. Trainee Healers basically have to do fully qualified Healers' bidding, much like assistant brewers. This often included data collection for Healers who were running studies. Luckily for me, the two trainees involved with my study had actually wanted the job. Finding them was often a whole day process since they were never in the same place for more than ten minutes. I finally managed to find one after I finished up my clinic hours at eleven o'clock. Lianne Dorsay had been studying to become a Healer for just over a year and was very interested in the research aspect of it. Her short stature, round face, and curly brown hair gave her the look of someone still in Hogwarts, but she was far more mature than she looked. “Lianne!” I shouted as I ran to catch up with her. She turned around and smiled when she saw me. “Amy! I've been looking for you.” “Where are you headed?” I asked. “Spell damage,” she replied, “They're short handed today.” “I'll walk with you,” I said as we continued down the corridor, “How did data collection go?” “Fine,” Lianne said, “Eight people showed up and none of them had any issues with the charms and potions.” “Good,” I said, “All the data look usable?” “Yep,” Lianne said, “It's all entered into the book.” “Thanks,” I said as we got into one of the lifts. “No problem,” Lianne replied. The study Rose and I were conducting was slow going. We could only collect data once a month and we usually only got five or so participants each time. I had yet to get enough data to reach any conclusions, so we kept going at it. I didn't have any time to look at the data that day. Morris was busy with the Muggle who had begun to come to terms with the fact that he was now a werewolf and did not have much time to deal with the rest of our patients. I spent my day with the rest, healing various burns, bites, and stings, and administering potions to the people who had had to spend the night. Five o'clock arrived and I was finally able to escape to the basement to brew. It wasn't that I hated working with patients; it just got draining after a while. Spending my evening hours in solitude with only simmering solutions for company was a nice break. Even while my newest version of Wolfsbane is being tested, I still have to brew regular Wolfsbane. It's a month long process for each batch and there are not many Brewers who can manage it. Three at St. Mungo's can, including Morris and I. There's an old witch who can brew it as well, but she's getting on in years and is looking to retire. “Merlin, Amy, what is that smell?” I jumped and turned to the door. Victoire was standing there, with her hand over her mouth, looking a tad green. I glanced at the clock. I'd been brewing for nearly two hours. “Wolfsbane,” I said as I stood up stirred one of the cauldrons, “Same as always.” “Really?” Victoire said, “Did you do anything funny to it?” “No,” I shook my head curiously, “This is the normal kind. Are you sure you're ok?” “Fine, really,” Victoire shrugged, “The smell of Wolfsbane never makes me feel ill. Except-” She cut herself off and we looked at each other. A look of horror appeared on her face and she slowly sat down on the nearest chair, looking greener than before. “Let's get out of here,” I said, grabbing her arm and pulling her out of the room. I quickly locked it and we headed to the nearest loo. Luckily no one was in it. Victoire leaned against one of the sinks and slowly shook her head. “Why didn't I realize it before. Vomiting in the morning, wanting pickles of all things after dinner....” “How long has it been going on?” I asked. “Few days,” Victoire sighed, “And I'm late. I thought it was stress. Ted's been working longer shifts, Sophie's growing up and I'm trying to decide whether to send her to school. I just, it never crossed my mind. Ted and I weren't going to do this again! We swore!” I stood perfectly still and didn't say a word. Victoire looked worried and slightly scared. I couldn't blame her. After Sophie was born, Victoire and Ted decided not to have anymore children. It was too risky. There was very little known about children who were born as werewolves and every case seemed to be different. Whose to say if Victoire and Ted had a second child the pregnancy would go as well as it did for Sophie? “You don't know for sure,” I said quietly, knowing without a doubt that she was pregnant. Nothing made Victoire feel ill, ever. It was one of the traits that made her an excellent Healer. When Victoire was pregnant with Sophie, the smell of Wolfsbane made her positively ill. If she was near it too long, it made her dizzy, gave her a headache, and made her vomit. The same thing happened to Matt whenever he was around it. At first she thought it was just one of those weird pregnancy things, but once she found out Sophie was a werewolf, she knew otherwise. “Ted's going to be so angry,” Victoire groaned, “We agreed, no more kids!” “It's half his fault!” I rolled my eyes at the thought of Ted ever getting angry. I could count the number of times he'd been angry on one hand. He and Victoire never fought. “I guess,” Victoire giggled, “But still, Amy this is so bad. What if the kid's like Sophie? Or, what if, you know, if the kid's like Matt.” “Then you'll deal with it,” I told her, “You guys are great with Sophie. She's such an awesome kid, Victoire. Honestly, there's kids who don't have lycanthropy who are more difficult than she is. And if the kid's like Matt? Well, then even more incentive for me to get this potion right.” “I know, I know,” Victoire sighed, “We can do it, it's just is it even fair for the kid?” “Plenty of kids deal with things that aren't fair, many worse than lycanthropy,” I said quietly, “Look, first you've got to take a pregnancy test. Tomorrow, right when you get to work.” Victoire nodded. “All right. I'm not saying a word to Teddy until I know for sure.” “Makes sense,” I agreed, “Is he going to the meeting?” “Yeah,” Victoire said and glanced at her watch. “Merlin, we'd better leave now. Your mum'll murder us if we're late.” ****** The Lycanthropic Children's Foundation is a very small organization that meets every Monday at my parents' house. There are only six members, which is all we really need for what we do. Basically, we obtain donations and then people with lycanthropic children seek us out, usually through St. Mungo's. Most of our donations come in the form of spare change tossed into the containers we have set out at various shops, and large anonymous donations. The money is then given out anonymously, through me. I have access to the children's information through work anyway, so applications are sent to me and then I present them, omitting names. Besides Victoire, Mum, Teddy, and I there were two other members. Joe Gordon was our Treasurer and Betsy Wrigley worked with Teddy to seek donations. Everyone else was there when we arrived, even Teddy and he was usually late. Mum had set out a tray of biscuits and a pot of tea. “Amy, Victoire, you're nearly late,” she said as we entered the living room. “Sorry,” I replied, “Work.” “Well, you're here now,” Mum said, “Anyway, I was about to tell everyone that we received another 100 Galleon donation the other day.” “Brilliant!” I grinned. Donations that large were rare. Once everyone had announced their excitement over the donation, we spent the remainder of the meeting deciding who to give it to. It was always so difficult to decide who to give donations to. Every single one of the kids deserved something, but we just did not have the funds to give everyone something. After a bit of debating, we decided to split it between three different kids. Victoire wrote the checks and I got the envelopes ready for owling the next day. “Does anyone else have anything to discuss?” Mum asked. “I do,” I stood up and took a deep breath. Here it goes. The proposal. Mum looked at me curiously, but didn't say anything. “All right,” I said, “We've spent the past few years drumming up donations and giving them to children, which is extraordinary. The money is so helpful for the kids and their families. It pays for hospital bills and Wolfsbane. “However, I feel that we can do more, so much more. Working at St. Mungo's I've seen that these kids need more than money. They need support and so do their families. The parents feel so alone and so do the kids. “Money helps them, it really does, but no amount of Galleons can ease the loneliness and feeling that it's you against the world. Which is why I feel that we need to expand what we do. I think we could organize support groups. One for the kids, the parents, and even siblings. I really think it would help a lot.” I stopped and looked out at everyone. Mum and Betsy looked shocked, grins were slowly appearing on Victoire and Teddy's faces, and Joe looked skeptical. “But if we do that, people are going to find out who the kids are,” Joe pointed out. “Only the other people in the support groups and us, and I don't think anyone who would be attending the support groups would use that information against the kids,” I said. “Good point,” Joe agreed. “I think it's a great idea,” Teddy said. Victoire nodded. “Why don't we think on it for a week and if we all still agree next week, we'll start making plans,” Mum decided. Everyone thought that was a good idea. Mum adjourned the meeting and Betsy and Joe left shortly after that. Teddy and Victoire stuck around for a little while to eat a few more biscuits, and then left as well. “It's going to be ok,” I whispered to Victoire as they left. She nodded and then left. She was going to have a hell of a time keeping her suspicions from Teddy; she looked so worried. “Is everything ok with Victoire?” Mum asked as we cleaned up, “She looked preoccupied tonight.” “It's work,” I said quietly, “Don't worry, she'll be fine.” “The lot of you need to take a holiday,” Mum said, “You, Victoire, Teddy, your father. All of you, workaholics.” “Healing is a time consuming profession,” I shrugged, “I knew that when I started.” “Still, you could surely take a week and go to France or something,” Mum told me. “What would I do in France?” I sighed, “I'd worry about my patients and lose a week of brewing. I can't afford to do that. You know that.” Mum turned and looked at me. Her eyes looked strangely sad. “Amy, just keep in mind that it's good to take some time for yourself. If you don't, you'll regret it when you're older.” ****** “I feel like we're sixteen and trying to secretly take a pregnancy test at Hogwarts or something,” Victoire whispered to me the next morning. Victoire had appeared in the doorway to my study five minutes earlier, clutching a paper bag in her hand and looking paler than I'd ever seen her. I immediately got up, told Morris to cover my patients until I returned, and rushed out the door. “Well, we're not sixteen. You're twenty-nine and married. There's nothing wrong with you being pregnant,” I told her. “Then why are we sneaking around, trying to find an empty loo?” Victoire asked. “Do you really want to do this with strangers around?” I pointed out. “Very true,” Victoire agreed. We slowed down as we neared the next ladies' loo and I began to push the door open. “Lupin! Eckerton!” I groaned inwardly and lowered my hand. Farina. How was she always able to pop up at the worst moment? “What are you two doing on the Magical Bugs floor?” Farina barked, “Lupin, you're due in the clinic in ten minutes!” “Er,” I began, trying to think up a good excuse. “I have to do something,” Victoire muttered, gesturing to the bag, “But I'll be in the clinic as soon as I can.” Farina's eyes narrowed on the bag and then her stern face softened. I had to rub my eyes to make sure I was seeing clearly. Farina's gaze never softened. But I was seeing clearly. Farina's expression was almost sympathetic. “Take all the time you need, Lupin,” Farina said, “Eckerton, Spell Damage is running low on Skele-Gro, I'll need you to brew more this afternoon.” “Right,” I nodded as she walked away. I quickly opened the door to the loo, hoping no one else was inside. “What was that about?” I asked as I peeked under all the stalls, “Ok, this one's empty.” “No idea,” Victoire shrugged as she entered one of the stalls, “I've never seen her like that before.” “Does she know about Sophie?” I asked. “No,” Victoire answered, “I mean, she knows I had a difficult pregnancy but she doesn't know Sophie's got lycanthropy.” “Do you think she's actually worried?” I asked. “Possibly, but I find it hard to believe,” Victoire said, “I've never seen Farina show any emotion besides anger and indifference.” “Me either,” I said as the door opened. I turned and saw a witch with a bright green hat entering the bathroom. “Sorry, this one's closed,” I told her, “Toilet's been regurgitating.” “Then you should lock it!” the witch said as she left in a hurry. She had a point, I thought as I pulled out my wand and locked the door. Victoire came out of the stall, holding a small cup and looking quite worried. She wordlessly set the cup down on one of the sinks and we stood next to each other, staring at it. If Victoire was pregnant, the solution would emit blue hearts in ten minutes. If she wasn't pregnant, the solution would turn green and emit nothing. “Remember when I found out I was pregnant with Sophie?” Victoire said quietly. I nodded. I remembered that day like it was yesterday. I was the one who had first suggested to her that she may be pregnant. Victoire denied it, thinking she was just overtired and getting ill. Fresh out of Healer training, we were given the worst hours, occasionally having to pull twelve hour shifts. We were both coming off a twelve hour shift and I insisted she come over to my flat and take the test before going home. She agreed and did. The test was positive and we were both thrilled. Ted had been on a mission and the day long wait for him to return seemed to take forever. When Victoire was finally able to tell him, he was so tired that after he woke up, he thought it had been a dream. This was so different. Victoire had been nervous before, but that was nothing compared to now. Then, we had been hoping the test was positive. Now, we were hoping for a negative. “I wanted a huge family, Amy,” Victoire said in a shaky voice, “I wanted at least four kids. But now...” her voice trailed off. “I know,” I said, “But things don't always work out the way you want.” “Amy, if this is positive-” Victoire cut herself off. The cup was bubbling. Any second now we would know the result. I held my breath and didn't blink. Then it happened. A tiny blue heart rose above the surface and popped immediately. It was followed by more and soon the potion was bubbling and emitting heart after blue heart. I turned and looked at Victoire. She was staring at the potion, her face as white as Nearly Headless Nick. Then, all of a sudden, she burst into tears and I put my arm around her. “Wh-what am I g-going to do?” she sobbed, “I can't be p-pregnant again, I just c-can't. I got lucky last time, Amy. I won't get lucky again, that just d-doesn't happen!” “Maybe it will,” I soothed, “You're going to get through this.” “What's T-Teddy going to say?” Victoire wailed, “We swore we wouldn't d-do it again!” “Like I said last night, this is half his fault,” I told her. “I know, but it's not T-Teddy who's pregnant!” Victoire cried, “I'm p-pregnant!” “Listen, we're going to go to the Ministry and tell him right now,” I said, “Take deep breaths. In and out. Teddy is not going to be mad.” “I can't!” Victoire said as she glanced at her watch, “Merlin, I'm ten minutes late for the clinic! Farina's going to murder me!” “No,” I shook my head, “We're going to tell Farina you've got to go home early. You saw her face when we went in here, she might actually let you.” “N-no she won't,” Victoire sobbed, “I have to get to the clinic.” “No,” I said a bit louder, “You're going see Teddy and then you're going to go home.” It took another five minutes to convince Victoire to go home and then another five to calm her down. She still looked like she'd been crying for fifteen minutes, but better than before.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2537 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Sunday 14 March 2010 07 30 48 pm    Post subject: Re: Beyond the Shadow in topic:Beyond the Shadow Chapter 4: The Full Moon My days off for full moons shouldn't really count as days off. I still go into St. Mungo's at least once each day I'm 'off' and then I do plenty of research at home. I'm pretty sure the only reason Farina lets me have the days off is because she knows I won't really be off. This particular full moon was no different. I woke up at my usual early hour (I've never been able to sleep in, even as a child) and read Potion Master's Monthly while eating brekkie. Matt was still sound asleep when I finished. I inched quietly into the second bedroom and saw him curled up beneath four blankets, his chest moving slowly up and down. “Matt,” I whispered, poking him. He rolled over and opened one eye. “I've got to go to St. Mungo's for a bit,” I told him, “I'll be back later.” He nodded and went back to sleep. I doubted whether he'd even remember me telling him I was leaving. I quietly left the flat to find a place to Disapparate. Stopping into St. Mungo's the day of the full moon is always tricky. I don't want to be seen by too many people because without a doubt someone will ask me to do something for them and I could be there all day. Farina in particular is one to avoid when I'm trying to just pop in for a second. Luckily Farina was nowhere in sight when I arrived. I made it up to the Dai Lewellyn ward without being flagged down by anyone. Maybe this would be a quick trip after all. Jamie was the only patient I needed to see. There wasn't anything I could do for him at this point, but I wanted to at least check his vitals. Only George was sitting by Jamie's bed. It didn't look like he'd gotten any sleep in days. “Morning,” I said as I sat down on the edge of Jamie's bed. He was sound asleep. “Hello, Amy,” George sighed. “He's been asleep since yesterday afternoon.” “That's for the best,” I said as I took his vitals. “The more sleep he gets before tonight, the better.” “I know,” George said. “I just hate seeing him so sick like this.” “He won't be quite this sick once we stop the Wolfsbane,” I told him. “But the actual full moons,” George shook his head. “They're going to be awful.” “I'm not going to lie to you. They will be awful,” I told him. “But the rest of the month he's going to be a regular kid. He won't be sick like this all the time.” “I suppose that will be best, in the long run,” George said. “Yes, it will,” I said. “Well, his vitals are normal for the day of the full moon. Would you like to go home now or wait until later?” “Now would be best,” George said as he stood up. “Candace took Kyle home last night. He was so wound up.” After Jamie was discharged, I went to my study and answered a few owls. I hated letting them build up until after the full moon. It took so long to answer that many. Then I decided to go back home. With Jamie discharged, there was no point in staying. Taking a slight detour to avoid Farina, who was striding up the corridor towards the lifts, I made it to the Apparition room and left. My flat door was already unlocked when I got there, which was strange. Matt was never up for leaving the flat on the day of the full moon. It could only mean one thing. Mum. I opened the door to find her doling out potions in my kitchen. She looked up when I came in. “Amy, there you are,” she said. “Have you been at work?” “Yes,” I nodded as I set my bag down, “I had to check on one of my patients. Do you have the day off?” “Just a few hours,” Mum replied. “I've got an evening clinical tonight. I just thought I'd stop by to see how Matt was.” “He's fine,” I assured her. “He was asleep when I left.” “He's got a headache,” Mum told me as she put away the potion bottle and walked towards the bedroom with a goblet. I rolled my eyes as I followed her. Mum knew I was perfectly capable of giving Matt potions, but that never stopped her from Apparating miles in order to do it herself. Deciding that it was pointless to try and help Mum, I settled down to work on the proposal. It was nearly finished, but I still hadn't told Mum about it. She'd find out at the meeting. Mum left for her clinical shortly before I Apparated with Matt to the house. He was never in any fit state to Apparate the day of the full moon. Dad wasn't home when we got there, so I put up the protective charms on the safe room door. I always stay over at my parents' house during the full moon. We don't talk and we never get any sleep, but it's a support thing. Dad isn't always home from work by the time the moon rises, but he always joins Mum and I in the living room when he gets there. Dad got home long before Mum, though. She didn't get home until nearly midnight. I knew she didn't like evening shifts, but she didn't get to pick. We sat our silent vigil, watching the clock, hoping it would go faster, waiting for the minute that the moon would finally set. ****** The next morning was stressful to say the least. I had to go to St. Mungo's to see Jamie, who would surely be back there as soon as the moon set, and get Matt back to my flat before seven, when Victoire would stop by with Sophie. I was at St. Mungo's before Jamie even got there. As much as I hated leaving Matt before the moon fully set, it was the only way to take care of Jamie before Sophie got dropped off. The ward was quiet, something that only happened in the wee hours of the morning. Morris wasn't even there yet. Footsteps in the corridor alerted me to Jamie's arrival. I jumped up from my desk and met them in front of the door to the ward. George was carrying Jamie, who was asleep. Candace and Kyle weren't there. “He hasn't woken up yet,” George said as he lay Jamie on his usual bed. “I'm not surprised,” I sighed as I waved my wand over him. “No fever, that's a good sign.” “Thank Merlin,” George said. “Just his usual potions,” I said as I stowed my wand. “I'll have one of the nurses bring them, and Healer Sterling should be in later. He'll owl me when Jamie wakes up and I'll be back then.” George nodded and I rushed out of the ward to find a nurse. Lynne was at the nurse's station and I was relieved to see her. She already knew what Jamie would need; I wouldn't have to take the time to explain. “Jamie needs the usual,” I told her. “I've got to go.” “No problem,” Lynne said as she got up. “How's Matt?” “No idea,” I said. “Had to leave before the moon set. I'm watching Sophie today and Victoire has to be in by seven-thirty, so I'm in a bit of a hurry this morning.” “I wish I had your stamina,” Lynne replied. “Will you be back later?” “Of course,” I nodded. “I'll have to check on Jamie once he wakes up.” I checked my watch as I rushed down to the Apparition room. Six-thirty. Groaning, I turned and Disapparated. The house was quiet when I opened the door and walked inside. Figuring that Dad had already given Matt his potions, I ran upstairs to his bedroom. Matt was sound asleep under the Chudley Cannons bedspread he'd had since he was nine and Dad was reading the Prophet, dressed in his work robes. “Hey, Dad,” I said. “Sorry I had to leave.” “Not a problem,” he said as he closed the Prophet. “He's got a broken arm and a concussion. I've healed them and given him potions.” I nodded. “Mum asleep?” “Yes,” Dad replied. “Do you need me to help you get him to your flat?” “Yeah,” I said. “We'd better go now. Victoire and Sophie will be there soon.” No one can Apparate or Disapparate in our house. Nor are we connected to the Floo Network. It's kind of a hassle when we have to get back to my flat after full moons, but it's for the best. Dad and I managed to wake Matt up and help him outside in order to Disapparate. We went straight to my flat, something we didn't normally risk. I hoped the muffling charm on my flat managed to hide the crack. I helped Matt into the spare bedroom and he fell asleep as soon as he got into bed. Dad left for the Ministry and I sat down for two seconds before the doorbell rang. Victoire was standing on the other side holding Sophie, who looked exhausted. Well, both of them looked exhausted. Victoire herself looked paler than usual. “Victoire, are you ok?” I asked as I stepped aside. “I'll be fine,” she replied as she set Sophie down on the couch. “I've just got a bug or something.” “You're sick?” I said. “Maybe you ought to take a sick day.” “No,” Victoire shook her head, “You know what Farina says.” “If you can walk and talk, you can work,” we said in unison and then started laughing. “Good point,” I replied. “How's Sophie?” “Just tired,” Victoire answered. “Like usual. I'm sure by the end of today she'll be back to asking Teddy for dung bombs.” “Dung bombs?” I raised my eyebrows. “Teddy showed her one the other day,” Victoire groaned. “I think she inherited his mischief gene.” “Well, she gets it from both sides of the family,” I pointed out. “True,” Victoire agreed. “I'd better go.” Victoire said goodbye to Sophie and then left. Sophie sat on the couch, looking a little forlorn, and I sat down next to her. She curled up next to me and rested her head on my side. “My head hurts,” she said, “and I want Mummy to come back.” “She has to work,” I told her. “I promise she'll be back later. I think it's time for you to go to sleep. Do you want to sleep out here or in my room?” “Out here,” Sophie said. “Where's Uncle Matt?” “He's asleep,” I told her. “Do you want me to read you a story?” “Yeah!” Sophie said. “Babbity Rabbity and her Cackling Stump!” I laughed and dug out my old copy of the Tales of Beedle the Bard. Even Victoire didn't know why Sophie liked that tale the best, although I suppose it was better than the Warlock's Hairy Heart. Sophie curled up underneath a huge Gryffindor blanket and I began to read. I used a different voice for each character and Sophie giggled every time I switched. She was asleep before the charlatan declared that the tree be cut down. I smiled and set the book down on the table. The difference between Sophie and Matt at that age still amazed me. Looking at Sophie, you would never guess in a million years that she was a werewolf. The only time you'd ever know was the day of and the day after the full moon. Then she was tired and cranky, but she rarely got ill the way Matt did. In fact, Sophie never got ill. She rarely got colds or anything else that little kids so often contracted. When Matt was that age, he not only got sick around the full moons, but he caught every little cold and flu that was going around. I would catch them at Muggle school and bring them home and undoubtedly Matt would get sick. Victoire was even considering sending Sophie to Muggle school the following year. She could've gone this year, but Victoire still wasn't sure. I was all for it. So long as the school didn't mind that Sophie would be out two days a month, I didn't see the harm. In fact, it would do her a world of good. Sophie would do so much better at Hogwarts if she was already used to being around kids her own age. Friends did a world of good. Both Matt and Sophie slept right through lunch. I did a bit of research and then started worrying about Jamie. Morris still hadn't owled me, which meant Jamie had yet to wake up. The doorbell rang and I knocked over a bottle of ink. Cursing and siphoning the ink off of my book, I got up to see who could possibly be at the door at two in the afternoon. At least it hadn't woken Sophie up. One way that she and Matt were similar was their ability to sleep through anything. I opened the door and saw two of Matt's friends standing there. John Brickston was at least a foot taller than me and his dark hair didn't look like it had been combed in days. Dressed in a Puddlemere United t-shirt and a pair of jeans covered in dirt, he looked like he'd just stepped off the Quidditch pitch. In fact, he probably had. John was one of Puddlemere United's strategists. Kaden Dursley was slightly shorter than John and a little on the chubby side. His light brown hair nearly covered his eyes, but was slightly neater than John's. He was wearing a set of dark red robes, the color Brewers at St. Mungo's wore. Kaden was one of the Assistant Brewers, which basically meant he had to do whatever the Senior Brewers asked him to do, be it actual brewing or washing cauldrons. It wasn't a pleasant job and I was quite grateful that I never had to do it. Being both a Healer and a Brewer enabled me to skip it. “John, Kaden,” I said as they pushed past me into the flat. “Matt here?” John asked. “Of course,” I said. “But he's asleep!” “You sound like Madam Pomfrey,” Kaden said as they walked towards the second bedroom. “How'd you get out of work so early?” I asked suspiciously. “Had a short shift today,” Kaden shrugged. I followed them into the second bedroom. John and Kaden were the most boisterous of Matt's friends. They could be rather annoying, but they'd stuck by him since their first years of Hogwarts. “Oi, Matt!” John shouted as he sat down on the foot of the bed. “Couldn't you have at least changed out of your Quidditch stuff before coming here?” I groaned. “Nope,” John said and then turned back to Matt. “Wake up!” “What can you possibly have to tell him that can't wait until later?” I asked. “Ugh, John?” Matt said as he rubbed his eyes. “Have you any idea what last night was?” “Of course I do,” John said. “But this couldn't wait. Guess whose just been drafted to play for Puddlemere?” “No bloody idea,” Matt replied wearily. “Vince Spencer,” John grinned. Matt sat up in bed, staring shocked at John. I didn't have the slightest clue as to why this surprised him. I don't follow Quidditch and have no idea who Vince Spencer is. “But why?” Matt lamented. “He was the Cannons' best player!” That would explain Matt's reaction, I thought. Matt was a very avid supporter of the Cannons, something John found incredibly hilarious. “Maybe he wanted to be on a winning team?” John shrugged, “Honestly, he's just too good of a player to play for the Cannons.” “There goes our winning streak,” Matt muttered. “Since when is winning two games considered a streak?” John laughed. I decided to leave the room after that. They were sure to start a long and rather boring argument about Quidditch, which would probably only end when Matt decided he wanted to go back to sleep. Sophie was awake when I got back to the living room, looking more like herself. She grinned when she saw me and jumped off the couch. “I'm hungry,” she announced. “Glad to hear it,” I smiled. “Let's find you something to eat.” Sophie followed me into the kitchen, where I made her a grilled cheese sandwich. She ate it while giving me a very long description of what her pygmy puff did the previous day. Apparently it had gotten into Teddy's study and knocked over all of his Quidditch trophies. “Daddy didn't care,” Sophie said as she finished both her story and the sandwich. “He thought it was funny. Then he said that a niffler would be even funnier to watch get into his study and told me he'd get me one when I'm older. But Mummy said no.” “I think pygmy puffs make better pets than nifflers,” I told her. “Why don't you go see Uncle Matt? He's awake now.” Sophie grinned and ran out of the room. It was amazing how fast she was able to bounce back. John and Kaden left a little while later, whispering to each other and all I heard was that they needed to make a trip to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. It still amazed me that they were able to share a flat and not burn the place down every other night. There was a tap on the window and I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I saw Morris's tawny owl standing on the sill. I hurried and opened the window, taking the piece of parchment from the owl's leg. Jamie was awake and doing all right. Morris said there was no reason for me to come in, but I wanted to. I had to. Sophie was sitting on Matt's bed when I walked into the bedroom. She was trying to read Beedle the Bard, but was having to ask Matt what some of the words were. He still looked exhausted. “Will you two be ok if I run into St. Mungo's for a bit?” I asked. “Uh-huh,” Sophie nodded. “I'm reading Uncle Matt Babbity Rabbity.” I smiled. “I can take her with me if you want to get some sleep,” I told Matt. “No, it's fine,” he said. I nodded and left for St. Mungo's. Matt never minded watching Sophie, even if he was exhausted. Sophie had always gravitated towards him, even when she was a baby. I think it's because he knows what she goes through. I have no idea if they ever talk about being werewolves. ****** Victoire was talking with one of the receptionists in the main waiting room when I arrived at St. Mungo's. I was happy to see that she was looking better. “Victoire,” I said as I neared the reception area. “Amy!” Victoire replied. “How is Sophie?” “She's great,” I smiled. “I left her reading Babbity Rabbity to Matt.” Victoire laughed. “She's going to have that one memorized soon.” “And are you feeling better?” I asked as we walked towards the lifts. “Much,” she replied. “Whatever I had, it's gone now. Had a double cheeseburger with extra pickles for lunch.” “That's good,” I said. “Think you'll get out at a decent time?” “I think I'll be able to sneak away around six,” Victoire answered. “Are you on call this weekend?” “Thank Merlin, no,” I said. “I've got a really radical proposal for the Foundation that I've got to finish getting ready before Monday's meeting.” Victoire raised her eyebrows. “Really?” “You'll find out about it on Monday,” I told her as the lift clattered to the Creature-Induced Injury floor. “See you tonight.” The corridor was packed with people, which was very unusual. I stood frozen in front of the lift before shaking my head and plowing through the crowd. Judging by the amount of cameras flashing and people holding notebooks, they were mostly press. “Are you a Healer?” one of them asked me. “No comment,” I replied, regretting my decision to wear Healer robes that day. I didn't even know what the press were there for, but I didn't want any of them bothering me. Squeezing in between two photographers I made it into my study, only to find Morris conversing quietly with my dad. “What's going on?” I asked curiously. Both of them looked up, wearing nearly identical somber looks. Fearing the worst about Jamie and ignoring the fact that writers from the Daily Prophet would not be interested in his case, I waited for their answer. “Werewolf attack last night,” Dad replied, “on a Muggle, in plain view of a crowd of Muggles. It was just outside a bar in a very rural area and most of the witnesses were drunk. So was the victim.” “And the Muggle is here?” I asked. Morris nodded. “He's going to make a full recovery, aside from the lycanthropy.” I sighed and shook my head. There had been two other instances like this since I had become a Healer. The press always had a field day with it, which didn't help the poor victim. Muggles who were bitten by werewolves not only had to come to terms with the fact that they were now werewolves themselves, but also with the simple fact that werewolves existed and the magical world in general. It was a lot to take in and they often didn't truly believe us until the next full moon. “I've put him up in one of the private rooms,” Morris continued. “He's asleep right now, but the last time he was awake he tried to escape, thinking he was going mad.” “Can't you make all the reporters go away?” I asked. “We're trying,” Dad answered. “It's all we can do to keep them out of the poor man's room. How is Matt doing?” “Like usual,” I told him. “John and Kaden woke him up a while ago with news about some Chudley Cannons player transferring to Puddlemere.” Dad laughed. “Are they still there?” “Merlin, no. I'd never let the two of them stay in my flat while I'm not there. They left to destroy their own flat,” I said. “Well, I'd better fight through the reporters to go check on Jamie.” Three reporters rushed towards me as I left the study. Flashbulbs went off and I had to forcefully push my way through them. Wasn't there other news going on that day? Why were all the reporters in Britain at St. Mungo's? “All right, clear out! The lot of you!” I looked up and saw the reporters parting. Farina was striding up the corridor and I had to smirk at the shocked looks on half the reporters' faces. Farina was a force to be reckoned with. She looked positively mutinous. “It'll be on your heads if one of the Healers can't get through this corridor and someone dies in their absence!” Farina shouted. “I don't know why you think you've got the right to be loitering in a hospital corridor anyway! Get out!” “Who are you?” a brave reporter demanded. “The director of this bloody hospital!” Farina exclaimed as she started pushing reporters towards the lifts. “I'll have the lot of you arrested if you don't leave this minute!” The reporters moved out of the corridor faster than they would have if someone let off a load of garroting gas. It was kind of funny. One of them even looked slightly afraid as he nearly tripped over his own robes in his haste to get to the lifts. “Bloody reporters,” Farina muttered as she walked towards me. “Has Sterling filled you in, Eckerton?” “Yes,” I nodded, “but I'm just here to see Jamie today.” “Right,” Farina said. “I'll see you here Monday morning, then.” “Of course,” I said as I turned to enter the ward. Jamie and the man who had been attacked by the chimaera were the only people in the ward. The man was looking better, which I was quite happy to see. Jamie was asleep, which I had been expecting. Candace was sitting next to him, reading the Prophet. She set it down when I entered. “He fell asleep about five minutes ago,” Candace told me. I nodded. I took out my wand and got his vitals. As far as I could tell, he was fine with the exception of being completely exhausted. The main thing I was worried about was a fever, but his temperature was normal. I decided to just discharge him then since I wouldn't be back at the hospital until Monday.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2537 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	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 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.