Albus Potter and the Potions Master's Solution

Albus Potter and the Potions Master’s Solution

1. Prefects

Albus let his jaw fall open as he stared at the piece of parchment he’d just pulled out of the envelope containing his book list for fifth year. It must be some kind of joke. Or a mistake. But surely Professor Kendrick and Professor Longbottom wouldn’t have intentionally made him, Albus Potter, a prefect? No one in their right mind would make him a prefect, he thought as he recalled the dozen detentions he’d earned the previous year. Perhaps a dozen was an exaggeration, but surely he didn’t have fewer detentions than Bilius or Ethan.

Yet there it was, clutched in his hands, with his name at the top— a letter informing him of his prefect status. It contained instructions to report to the prefects’ compartment on the Hogwarts Express in a month’s time. Albus, having quite a few cousins who were prefects, he already knew the basic job description— patrol the train, the castle, and be available to students who need someone to talk to.

“What was in your letter, Al?” Ginny asked. “It seemed a bit thicker than usual.”

Albus looked up from his letter and remembered that he was still sitting at the breakfast table with his parents and Lily, the latter of whom was focused on her own letter.

“Is that what I think it is?” Harry asked.

“Neville, er, made me a prefect,” Albus mumbled. “Haven’t got a clue why.”

Harry and Ginny grinned at each other. “Brilliant,” Harry said, clapping his son on the back. “First prefect of the family! Not counting the cousins.”

“That’s wonderful, Albus,” Ginny said as she gave him a hug.

“The only prefect, I’ll bet,” Lily said, smirking. “I doubt I’ll be one.”

“I didn’t think I’d be one either,” Albus replied, still thoroughly shocked. “You don’t think it’s a mistake, do you, Dad?”

Harry laughed. “No, Albus, it’s not a mistake. Remember, Al, your uncle Ron was a prefect, too, and none of us saw that coming.”

“But still, me, a prefect?” Albus shook his head at the thought. He’d have to try and get fewer this year.

“Who’s a prefect?” James asked as he thundered down the stairs and into the kitchen. “Did the book lists arrive?”

“Yes, here’s yours, James,” Ginny said as she handed James an envelope.

“Albus is a prefect,” Harry explained.

James burst out laughing. “But he nearly gets himself killed at the end of every year! He went into the Chamber of Secrets last year. Why would Neville choose him? No offense, Al.”

“None taken. I’m wondering the same thing.”

“Never mind that. It doesn’t matter,” Ginny said as she set a cup of pumpkin juice in front of James. “Point is, Albus, you’re a prefect now. Do try and behave yourself this year.”

“Bet Rose is the other prefect,” James said. “I’d bet my entire life’s savings on that.”

“Me, too,” Albus agreed. Rose was a shoe-in for the other prefect spot.

James opened his own envelope and pulled out a lone piece of parchment containing a very short book list. “Not much for me this year. Can’t wait for all the free time.”

Harry laughed. “The reason you do fewer N.E.W.T.s than O.W.L.s is that they require more studying. You won’t have as much free time as you’re expecting.”

“What N.E.W.T.s are you doing again?” Lily asked.

“Charms, Defense, Transfiguration, and Herbology,” James answered.

As far as Albus knew, James still didn’t know what he wanted to do after Hogwarts, so he had chosen what he thought would be the easiest N.E.W.T.s.

“Albus and Lily, do you think you’ll go to Diagon Alley while you’re staying at the Brickstons’?” Ginny asked.

Albus shrugged. “Dunno.”

“I’ll give you each money in case you do,” she said as she dug a handful of Galleons out of her purse. She dropped a few in Albus’s and Lily’s hands.

Albus pocketed the Galleons, grabbed his envelope of letters, and ran upstairs to finish packing. He’d been waiting all summer to visit his friend John Brickston and the beginning of August had been the first week they’d all had free. Matt and Kaden would be visiting as well and it would be the first time since the end of the previous school year that he’d see Matt and John. Lily was going with him since John’s little sister, Ashtyn, was her best friend. Albus hoped they’d stay out of the boys’ way, though. Usually one of the reasons he liked visiting his friends was to get away from James and Lily.

Once he returned to his bedroom he sat down on the floor and stared at the envelope from Hogwarts once more. He reached inside and pulled out the stack of parchment, setting the first two down on the floor and holding the third one in his hands. The envelope had not only contained a book list and a prefect letter, but he hadn’t wanted to look at the third letter in front of his entire family, just in case it did not contain the news he expected it to contain.

All summer Albus had been awaiting this particular letter, but no one had told him when to expect it. He unfolded the parchment with shaky hands and read its contents.

Dear Albus S. Potter,

It is my pleasure to offer you a place on Gryffindor’s
Dueling Team for the 2020-2021 school year. Please
send your answer via return owl immediately, and we
hope to see you at the first Dueling Team meeting on
Saturday, September 5th.

Sincerely,
Peter Aiken
Captain
Gryffindor Dueling Team

Albus grinned to himself. This was the letter he’d been waiting for all summer, and it excited him far more than the one informing him of his prefect status. Joining the Dueling Team was something he’d been anticipating since second year, when Hogwarts reinstated the Junior Dueling Club, and now it had finally happened. The Dueling Teams didn’t work like the Quidditch teams, in that there were no official try-outs. Instead, the captains and professors watched the younger students duel in the Junior Dueling Club and picked one boy and one girl from each house to join their house teams in their fifth year. The letter didn’t tell him which girl he’d be joining the team with, but he had a feeling it wasn’t Rose or Amanda. Neither of them were the greatest duelers. It would probably be one of the Jordan-Bell sisters, since he didn’t remember Janie Creevey being the best dueler, either.

Albus carefully slid all the letters back into the envelope and slipped it into the bag he was taking to John’s house before running back downstairs to tell his parents, James, and Lily about his place on the Dueling Team. For him, this was a far greater achievement than becoming a prefect.

***
John lived in a neighborhood very similar to Kaden’s. The houses were nearly identical, the bushes trimmed perfectly, and the lawns mowed. A play park containing a variety of young children and their parents and nannies was situated just down the street from John’s house. Harry, Albus, and Lily had Apparated to the nearest deserted alleyway, but it required a short walk afterward.

As they walked Albus wondered why John’s parents had chosen to move into a Muggle neighborhood where the houses were so close to each other. Most pureblooded wizards chose to live far away from others or in mostly magical towns. Either that or they hide their dwellings from Muggles using charms, such as Number 12 Grimmauld Place, where the Potters currently resided. But John’s house wasn’t hidden at all. In fact, as they walked up to the door, Albus noticed a few boys, around age eight or so, hiding in their front bushes, clearly in the midst of a game of hide and seek.

Albus ignored the kids and knocked on John’s door. It flew open ten seconds later, revealing Ashtyn with a large, white, fluffy cat in her arms.

“Lily!” she exclaimed.

“Oh my God, you got a cat! Bye, Dad!” she shouted as she and Ashtyn disappeared into the house.

John appeared as soon as Lily and Ashtyn left. “Hey, mate.”

Albus grinned. “Hey. Am I the first here?”

John nodded. “Matt and Kaden aren’t getting here until tonight.”

“I’ll see you in a week, Al,” Harry said.

“See you then, Dad,” Albus replied.

Albus followed John into the house, carefully stepping over the toys strewn all over the floor. They went into the living room, which was decorated with a hodgepodge of furniture in varying degrees of wear. It reminded Albus of the Burrow. The entire floor was covered by an elaborate set up of My Little Hippogriffs and a pile of stuffed dragons of varying breeds.

“Gemma and Amelia,” John said, gesturing to the mess. “Gemma is ten and Amelia is nine. They’re outside playing with the other kids in the neighborhood, but they set this up earlier and will probably leave it here for days. Usually it’s worse since my mum watches my little cousins during the week. There are four of them. All younger than Amelia.”

Albus laughed. “That’s nothing. My nana and grandpa used to watch a bunch of us when we were little. Do you just have the four cousins? Those three and Isabelle?”

Now it was John’s turn to laugh. “No, I’ve got ten. The rest just don’t need watching during the day since some of their parents are home. In a few years Hogwarts is going to be filled with more of us than Weasleys.”

“That would be weird,” Albus commented. “Are your parents home?”

“Nope. Dad’s at work and Mum’s shopping. C’mon, I’ll show you my room. It’s in the basement.”

Albus followed John through the kitchen and down a set of stairs leading to a finished basement containing three rooms and a large storage area. John opened the second door on their right, revealing a fairly large bedroom decorated in more Quidditch memorabilia than Albus had ever seen. Every single wall was covered in team posters of Puddlemere United and England’s team, quite a few of them autographed. In between the posters were two small windows, a wardrobe, a bookcase, and a bed.

“Wow,” Albus said as he dropped his bag on the floor. “You’ve got more Quidditch stuff than Georgia.”

“Georgia’s so lucky, getting to play professionally,” John said as he sat down on the bed. “Bradley and Ryan are in seventh year now, right?”

Albus nodded. Bradley Weasley and Ryan O’Malley were Gryffindor’s Beaters, and had been since Albus’s first year.

“One more year,” John said, sighing. “Then I’ll try out.”

“Bradley got captain,” Albus said. “He’s thrilled.”

“I’m not surprised. Who do you think got prefect besides Rose?”

Albus felt his cheeks redden. John, of course, wouldn’t have expected Albus to be made prefect. “Er, I know who got it.”

“Who? Matt? But even he’s gotten into a fair bit of trouble. It must’ve been Bilius or Ethan.”

“I did,” Albus muttered, not meeting his friend’s eyes. “It’s me and Rose.” Rose had Flooed shortly after breakfast and confirmed the fact that she’d gotten prefect. She’d been just as shocked as everyone else that Albus also was made a prefect.

John burst out laughing. “No way.”

Albus nodded. “Got the letter this morning. I also made the Dueling Team.”

“Well, that’s no surprise. Congratulations. But, prefect? I wonder why. Bilius and Ethan get into much less trouble.”

“I don’t know. It’s weird, though, isn’t it?”

“Very,” John agreed. “Especially since you and Rose are cousins. I bet some people will think it’s unfair.”

“Well, I’d be perfectly willing to give it to someone else.”

John laughed. “Come on. I told my mum I’d stay outside and watch Gemma and Amelia. If she comes back and I’m in here she’ll be livid.”

“Is Gemma going to Hogwarts this year?” Albus asked as they walked back upstairs.

“No, she just turned ten a few months ago,” John explained. “She’ll start next year, and Amelia the year after that.”

“So you’ll have one year with all of them at Hogwarts.”

John groaned. “Don’t remind me. At least when it’s just Ashtyn I can go a day or two without seeing her.”

“Maybe one of them will be in Hufflepuff like Isabelle,” Albus suggested as they left the house.

“I’d be surprised,” John said. He pointed to the next yard over, where a little girl had tackled a boy twice her size to the ground while another laughed and pointed. “Case in point. The one beating up that bloke? That’s Amelia. The one watching is Gemma.”

Albus laughed while John ran next door and shouted at Amelia to let him go. The boy ran away as soon as Amelia got up, but she and Gemma chased after him. John returned a few moments later.

“This is why Mum makes me watch them,” John explained. “Not because she fears for their safety, but because she fears for the safety of the other neighborhood kids.”

“Do you think it’s their magic?” Albus asked. “I mean, does anyone ever get suspicious?”

“Because we live near so many Muggles? No, nothing weird enough to warrant attention has ever happened. My parents wanted us to grow up with lots of other kids around. I always liked it because I don’t have any brothers, but as soon as I went to Hogwarts I stopped hanging out with them. Most of the kids here go to the local secondary school, so hardly anyone goes away, except us.”

Albus nodded. “It’s not weird, hiding it?”

“No weirder than hiding it from other Muggles,” John said. “But enough about that. Have you heard anything about what’s going to happen at Hogwarts this year? I keep reading the Prophet to try and find out, but nothing yet.”

Albus took a deep breath. He’d been using Extendable Ears all summer to listen in on his parents’, aunts’, and uncles’ conversations about the Ministry and Hogwarts. “Yeah, I’ve heard stuff, but I want to wait until Matt and Kaden get here to tell you. No point in explaining twice.”

John groaned. “I’ve been waiting all summer.”

“So you can wait a few more hours. Now tell me how you got so many autographed Quidditch posters. Even I don’t have that many and my mum was on the Holyhead Harpies.”

***

By the time dinner time arrived, John’s house was twice as crowded. With the addition of his parents, Matt, and Kaden there were ten people inside, all vying to grab a few slices of pizza from the boxes set out on the kitchen table. It reminded Albus of dinner at the Burrow, only with fewer people and less home-cooked food.

“Come on,” John said after all the boys had plates stacked high with pizza. “Let’s go eat in my room.”

Lily and Ashtyn had already done the same in order to get away from Gemma and Amelia, who had been following them around ever since they came inside from hide and seek. The younger girls didn’t have any desire to follow Albus and the other boys to John’s room, but it was still nice to escape the chaos of the rest of the house.

John shut the door after they were all inside and sat down on the floor to eat. Albus, Matt, and Kaden followed suit. “So, how have everyone’s summers been?” John asked in between bites.

“Boring,” Matt replied. “Amy is taking a bunch of courses this summer so I hardly ever see her. It’s basically just my parents and me. We went to Australia last month, but spending two weeks with my grandparents isn’t exactly exciting. Had a few Healer appointments. Other than that, not much.”

“Healer appointments?” Albus asked.

“They’re putting me on a new potion,” Matt explained before shoving half a slice of pizza into his mouth. He chewed and then swallowed. “Started last month.”

“I’m assuming it doesn’t work?” Kaden replied.

Matt shook his head. “All it does is make me hungry. It’s not supposed to work like Wolfsbane, but it’s supposed to lessen the transformation pain. It doesn’t.”

“That sucks,” Kaden said. Albus and John nodded.

Matt shrugged. “Yeah, but I wasn’t expecting it to do much. What about you three? Have your summers been as boring as mine?”

“Al’s hasn’t,” John said immediately.

Albus felt his cheeks redden. “I, er, Longbottom made me a prefect.”

“What?” Kaden exclaimed before he started laughing.

“No!” Matt said.

Albus nodded. “Still haven’t figured out why. I thought he would’ve picked you, Matt. Or Bilius or Ethan.”

“Not me.” Matt shook his head. “I wouldn’t want it. Too much responsibility.”

“You’ll be able to tell off Malfoy,” John said in awe. “I just realized that.”

“Unless he’s a prefect,” Kaden pointed out.

“No way would Malfoy be made a prefect. I get in trouble, but Malfoy housed escaped convicts in the Chamber of Secrets. He might’ve escaped punishment, but he’ll be a prefect the day Gryffindor gets a Quidditch captain who isn’t fanatical,” Albus explained. “It doesn’t matter that his dad pressured him to do it.”

“Maybe there are new prefect qualifications,” Matt mused. “Who knows what other changes are going to happen this year.”

Albus hadn’t thought of that, but it made sense. “But what do I have that none of you lot have?”

“Besides the fact that you don’t wind up in detention once a week?” John prompted.

“Neither does Matt,” Albus pointed out. “There’s got to be something, though. When my grandfather, my dad’s dad, was at Hogwarts, Dumbledore made him Head Boy for the sole reason that he was very outspoken about being against the Dark Arts. He got into all sorts of trouble, but still got made Head Boy.”

“Maybe Kendrick wants to send a message to Laurentis,” Matt suggested. “Even if she won and is going to try and change Hogwarts, Hogwarts is still influenced by Potters and Weasleys.”

“The Heads of House pick the prefects,” Albus said. “But I could see Longbottom doing that, I suppose.”

It made sense. It made a lot of sense. But were Neville and Kendrick really that worried about the changes Laurentis was planning on doing? So much that they’d purposely pick a Potter and a Weasley to be Gryffindor’s fifth year prefects as a way to send the Minister some sort of message? Albus had to admit that he was no longer as worried about the changes to Hogwarts; now that he’d had a summer to process the definite possibility of them, they didn’t seem as scary. He was far more worried about the changes to the Ministry. The dementors in Azkaban had already had repercussions and the prison had only been back in their command for a few months.

The door to John’s room opened, jolting Albus out of his thoughts. He turned and saw Gemma and Amelia in the doorway. Gemma was scowling and had her arms crossed over her chest. Amelia seemed to be trying to stifle a laugh.

“What do you two want?” John asked, annoyed.

“Ashtyn locked us out of her room. With magic,” Gemma said incredulously.

“So? It’s not my problem.”

“Come unlock her door!” Gemma whined.

“No,” John said. “Ask Mum.”

“She said no.” Amelia giggled, no longer able to stifle her laugh.

Gemma groaned. “It’s not funny, Amelia. And Mum said there’s pudding, if you lot want.”

“Pudding!” Kaden shouted, standing up. “Yes, please!”

Gemma and Amelia disappeared as Albus and the other boys stood up. Kaden ran out the door, not looking back to see if the others were following. Albus laughed.

“When are you going to tell us what you overheard?” John asked quietly.

“Tell us what?” Matt said, furrowing his brow at Albus.

“Some stuff about the Ministry and what’s happening at Hogwarts,” Albus whispered. “After everyone else goes to bed. I don’t want your sisters walking in and hearing something.”

John nodded. “Okay. Might as well get pudding, then.”

“Unless Kaden’s eaten it all,” Matt said with a laugh.

Albus followed John and Matt out of the room and back up to the kitchen. As he ate his pudding he tried to figure out how to work the snippets of conversation he’d been overhearing all summer into some sort of story, but they remained just snippets. He’d been thinking them over all summer and had yet to make much sense of them. Hopefully John, Matt, and Kaden would have insights that he hadn’t yet figured out.

2.

Gemma and Amelia did not have a set bedtime during the summer, just so long as they were in their rooms doing something quietly by ten. Lily and Ashtyn spent the majority of the evening in Ashtyn’s room, doing who knows what. But regardless of what the four girls were doing, the boys were undisturbed in John’s room around ten-fifteen, which meant Albus could finally explain everything he’d overheard over the summer.

John locked the door with magic just in case, and then met the other three boys on the floor. Matt and Kaden were already looking expectantly at Albus.

“What do you want to hear about first? Hogwarts or the Ministry?” Albus asked.

“Hogwarts,” John said immediately. “That’s what’s going to affect us the most.”

Albus wasn’t sure about that, but it didn’t matter to him which one he told first. “All right. So, you guys know Hogwarts has a board of governors, right?”

Matt nodded. John and Kaden shook their heads. “What do they do?” John asked.

“They run the school,” Albus explained. “Every school has a board of governors, even Muggle schools-”

“I thought Kendrick ran the school,” Kaden interrupted.

“He does. Sort of. He runs the everyday stuff, but any huge decisions have to be run by the governors. Like professors he wants to hire or changes to the classes or renovations. They also keep the money organized and set the budget.”

“They must be mad, approving some of the professors we’ve had,” John muttered.

“I think that’s part of the problem,” Albus said. “They’ve approved stuff they shouldn’t.”

“Who’s on it?” Matt asked. “Do you know?”

Albus shook his head. “All I know is that Lucius Malfoy sat on the board until he died-”

“But he was a Death Eater!” John said, outraged.

“He got pardoned,” Albus explained. “Never went to Azkaban and everyone just sort of let him stay on the board. But it doesn’t much matter now because he’s dead.”

“Who’s going to replace him?” Matt asked.

“My aunt Hermione. She won the election for that a week ago. It wasn’t really publicized, but they did put a small article in the Prophet after.”

“Brilliant,” Matt said, grinning. “Maybe Hogwarts won’t be so bad this year.”

“I don’t think it will be bad,” Albus agreed. “But it will be different. For one, Madam Pince retired.”

“Yes!” John shouted. “Does that have anything to do with the governors?”

“No. She’s just really old. But they haven’t sacked anyone yet.”

“Not even Young?” Kaden asked.

“Nope. They’re doing everything very slowly because of what happened with Umbridge when my parents were at Hogwarts. They don’t want to give any one person too much power, so everything is going to have to go through committees and the governors and stuff. At least, that’s what I think. I heard my parents, Uncle Ron, and Aunt Hermione talking about an education liaison who’s going to work with the governors, professors, and the Ministry to make sure nothing too drastic or awful happens.”

“Education liaison?” Matt repeated. “That sounds a lot like what you’ve told us about Umbridge.”

“I don’t think she’s going to be in charge or anything. Dad said she’s going to do a report on how Hogwarts runs and supervise the teachers who’ve been put on probation-”

“There are teachers on probation?” John asked. “You should’ve started with that. Which ones?”

“I don’t know. It’s all very confusing. I don’t think we’ll know until we get there, and even then we might not find out.”

“What about Slughorn? Who’s replacing him?” Kaden asked. “It better be someone good. I liked Slughorn.”

John laughed. “That’s because he liked you, because you’re a good brewer.”

“So?” Kaden shrugged.

“So, any potions professor will like you. You’re a potions genius.”

“Okay, so what about the Ministry?” Matt asked.

Albus sighed. He was even less clear about the Ministry than he was about Hogwarts. His parents spoke less and less about the Ministry as the summer wore on and Albus wasn’t sure whether it was because they knew he, James, and Lily were spying on them or whether it was simply because his dad wasn’t privy to as much now that he was no longer Head Auror.

“They’re cutting the smaller departments,” Albus said. “Just like what happened right before Voldemort took over. They’re doing it quietly, with no articles in the Prophet giving any specifics. They just keep saying they’re streamlining everything and saving money. It’s scary, but people don’t seem to get it. It’s almost as if no one remembers what happened during Voldemort’s reign. They cut my grandpa’s department, the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, and that one got cut during Voldemort’s reign, too. He got a promotion back then, but after the war he went back to his old department.”

“What’s he going to do now?” Matt asked.

“He retired. He’s much happier tinkering around with old Muggle stuff than working at the Ministry. I don’t think my nana’s too happy about it, though. She says it’s exhausting having him underfoot all the time.”

John laughed. “My mum always tells my dad he can’t ever retire, for that very reason.”

“But even when they’re cutting departments and cutting people from others, they’re hiring more Aurors and more MLEs. It’s like they’re expecting they’ll need them, like they’re expecting more crime-”

“Or a war,” Matt said quietly. “But why? Why would Laurentis think we need more Aurors?”

“That’s what I don’t understand,” Albus said. “I swear I heard my dad right when he said that. They shouldn’t need more Aurors if the dementors are keeping Azkaban more secure, though.”

“They’re having problems with the dementors,” Matt confided. “My dad’s been out there three times in the past month. He hates it. He won’t talk to anyone for the whole evening after he comes home and he never talks about what he sees when he’s around them. I guess some of the dementors are demanding more prisoners and they’re having to negotiate all the time.”

“That’s why they shouldn’t have been brought back in the first place,” Albus muttered. “If they turn, the entire prison will escape.”

“Is there really that much work for all those extra Aurors?” John asked.

“Balladanis is making everyone go through more training,” Albus explained. “Not just the newly hired ones, but everyone.”

Matt let out a low whistle. “Knowing Balladanis, that must be some intense training.”

“Does any of this make any sense to you?” Albus asked Matt. “I don’t know what your dad’s said.”

“Not much. I think he tries not to talk about work in front of me. But it seems like Laurentis is leaving his department alone, which I think is a good thing. People would probably be very receptive to anti-werewolf legislation after Greyback earlier in the year.”

“It doesn’t seem like she’s focused on magical creatures,” John said.

“Thank God,” Matt muttered. He stretched and yawned. “I’m exhausted. I think I’m going to bed.”

Albus nodded. “I don’t have much else to tell you. I wish my parents weren’t so in tune with the Extendables. I think they search the house for them when James, Lily, and I are gone.”

Kaden laughed. “I’m glad my parents don’t know about them. I overheard them planning a visit to my aunt Marge in two weeks. I plan on becoming conveniently ill and now I’ll have time to come up with a really believable illness.”

Albus and Matt laughed as they got into their sleeping bags. John climbed into his bed and turned to look at Kaden. “Use a magical illness. Your aunt Marge won’t want to be anywhere near you.”

“That’s brilliant!” Kaden exclaimed.

Albus smiled to himself as he rolled over got comfortable. He lay awake listening to the whispers of John and Kaden coming up with a believable magical illness and Matt’s soft snores. Sometimes he wished it was as easy for him to switch between serious things such as the changes at the Ministry to something so simple as faking an illness to get out of seeing your awful aunt. But while that came easily to Kaden, it didn’t for Albus. So while he laughed at Kaden’s plotting, thoughts of Balladanis building up an army of Aurors plagued his thoughts.

***

The following morning Albus awoke to the dulcet tones of Gemma and Amelia arguing about the Kenmare Kestrals’ chances of winning the League Cup this year. Matt, John, and Kaden were still asleep, so Albus decided to venture upstairs in order to tell Gemma and Amelia that Georgia was the Kestrals’ reserve Keeper. When he emerged into the kitchen he saw the two girls glaring at each other from opposite sides of the breakfast table while Mr. and Mrs. Brickston watched with amused looks.

“Morning, Albus,” Mr. Brickston said, raising his mug of coffee to him.

“Morning,” Albus replied as he sat down.

“Can I get you some oatmeal?” Mrs. Brickston asked. “I made a double batch, assuming you, Matt, and Kaden eat as much as John.”

“Nearly,” Albus said, grinning. He accepted the bowl Mrs. Brickston set down in front of him and poured himself a glass of orange juice from the pitcher on the table.

“Their Beaters just aren’t as good as they used to be!” Gemma argued. “And their Keeper wasn’t the best last year. I don’t see him getting much better.”

“Are you kidding?” Amelia shouted. “Ryan is amazing! Did you see that save he made against Puddlemere last game? Brilliant! And his uncle played for Ireland, you know. It’s in his genes.”

Ryan must be the one who’s retiring, Albus thought. Next season Georgia will be Kenmare’s permanent Keeper. “My cousin plays for Kenmare,” he said casually, in between bites of oatmeal.

Gemma and Amelia both turned to look at him. Gemma’s mouth fell open and Amelia let out a squeal Albus often heard come out of Lily’s pygmy puff.

“She’s their reserve Keeper,” Albus explained. “She’s going to be their permanent Keeper next season.”

“Well,” Gemma began. “Then next year Kenmare will have a chance at winning.”

“Georgia, my, says that their current Keeper is brilliant.”

“Ha!” Amelia exclaimed. “I win!”

Gemma groaned and threw up her arms. “His cousin can’t actually say Ryan sucks! You can’t talk crap about your fellow players.”

Albus laughed. “I think he’s good, and I’m not on the team.”

“Can we meet her?” Amelia asked, her face glowing.

Albus smiled. “Sure. After she’s a permanent player, she could probably get you tickets to a match.”

Amelia let out another pygmy puff shriek. “That would be so cool!”

Gemma and Amelia continued to argue while Albus ate his oatmeal in silence. Like John’s parents, Albus realized it was best to stay out of the arguments. Just as he was finishing, Lily and Ashtyn entered the room, followed shortly by the rest of Albus’s friends.

“Oh, good, everyone’s up,” Mrs. Brickston said as she began passing out bowls. “I’m taking the lot of you to Diagon Alley today since there’s no bloody way I’m doing it later in the week while I have the Three Little Piggies with me.”

“The Three Little Piggies?” Kaden whispered.

“That’s what we call my little cousins she watches during the week. It’s easier than listing their names which are Audrianna, Jillian, and Caroline. Jillian and Caroline are sisters. All three will be here tomorrow,” John explained.

“Are all your cousins girls?” Albus asked, thinking of John’s other cousin, Isabelle, who was a year behind them at Hogwarts.

John shook his head. “Two are boys, but they’re four and two, so we don’t have much in common.”

“Let’s go, everyone!” Mrs. Brickston shouted over the din. “Hurry up and eat and get dressed. It’s already ten and I don’t want to be in London all day.”

An hour later Albus, Matt, Kaden, Lily, and the entire Brickston family stood in front of the fireplace, waiting to Floo to Diagon Alley. Mrs. Brickston stood at the front of the group, holding a small pot of Floo Powder.

Matt sighed. “I hate Flooing.”

“So does Amelia,” John said. “Last time she insisted she could Floo by herself and she wound up at the Ministry.”

Mr. Brickston went first, with Amelia, and was followed by the rest of the girls. Kaden went next, and Albus followed him. He tossed the powder, stepped into the fire, and shouted ‘Diagon Alley’ before spinning away. When he came to a stop he stepped out of the fire in the Leaky Cauldron.

“Bet you a Sickle Matt falls over again,” Kaden said.

Albus shook his head. “I’m not betting on whether he falls over. That’s awful.”

“You’re only saying that because you know he’ll fall over.”

“Am not,” Albus said, trying to hide his red cheeks. Kaden was spot on.

Matt arrived a few seconds later and if Albus had taken the bet, he would’ve been out a Sickle. Matt stood up and brushed the ash off himself, his cheeks red. “I bloody hate the Floo Network,” he muttered.

“You’ll manage to not fall over eventually,” Albus said. Matt nodded, but said nothing further on the subject.

John and Mrs. Brickston appeared a short while later. She reached into her bag and pulled out a sack of coins, which she handed to John. “I’m letting you boys go off on your own. Don’t make me regret it. Be back here in three hours. And John, I expect you to buy everything you need for school and nothing more. We don’t need anymore Weasley products in the house.”

“Aw, Mum, why do you have such little faith?”

Mrs. Brickston gave him a withering look. “Don’t even get me started on the list of reasons I have little faith. We’d be here all day and night.”

John sighed and grinned at his mother and then led the boys out of the pub and into Diagon Alley. The small street was bustling, mostly with Hogwarts students of all ages. There were excited first years and seventh years who wore the air of knowing everything, and all the years in between. The queue at Ollivander’s was out the door, but the largest crowd of all belonged to Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes. The store always had a dip in sales during the summer, when Hogwarts students were no longer in need of Skiving Snackboxes and Daydream Charms, but they more than made up for it in August as students stocked up for the upcoming school year.

“Weasleys’?” John asked, a mischievous grin on his face.

“Of course,” Kaden agreed.

“We should at least wait until your mum isn’t looking,” Matt said, pointing back to the Leaky Cauldron, where Mrs. Brickston stood, her arms crossed.

John sighed. “All right. Flourish and Blott’s first.”

The bookstore was just as crowded as the street, jam packed with adults and students alike. A large display of the Standard Book of Spells, all grade levels stood just inside the door. Albus snagged a copy of Grade Five and noticed it was a revised edition.

“These look fancier than normal,” Kaden said, flipping through a copy of Grade Four.

“They’re revised,” Albus said after checking the copyright date. “They just came out this year.”

“All the books are new,” a girl behind Albus said as she grabbed Grade Seven. “Remember how Laurentis said she was going to revolutionize Hogwarts? This is part of that. New, updated books. I think it’s about time.”

The girl sauntered off, leaving Albus and the other boys staring at their new books.

“I suppose this is a good thing,” John said, shrugging. “Updated books are better, right?”

“Only if something significant actually changed in them,” Albus pointed out. “It’s not good for people who can’t afford new books. My mum and dad usually give me James’s old books, at least the ones he only uses for a year. They told me to get a new one of these just because James left his in the common room last year and never found it again.”

“And I’ve got half your old books,” Kaden said. “I guess I’ll buy all new ones this year, though.”

“You think Young’s still there?” Matt asked, glancing at his book list. “There aren’t any new Defense books on this list.”

“Then he probably is. We didn’t use books at all in that class last year,” Albus said, thinking back to the hundreds of worksheets.

It took the boys a half hour to get through Flourish and Blott’s due to the crowd. Along with the new Standard Book of Spells, Albus also got a new potions book and a new ancient runes book.

The boys decided to err on the side of caution and went to the Apothecary, Madam Malkin’s (both Kaden and Matt needed new robes), and Quality Quidditch Supplies before heading to Weasleys’.

“Won’t your mum murder you?” Matt asked as they walked inside.

“She said she didn’t want anymore Weasleys’ products in the house,” John pointed out. “She said nothing about me bringing them to Hogwarts. So, I need one of you lot to store them for me until September. Kaden?”

“I can’t,” Kaden said. “Bethany accidentally ate a Nosebleed Nougat over the summer and my mum banned them from the house. She doesn’t care whether I have them at Hogwarts, but she doesn’t want them at home.”

“I’ll take them,” Matt said. “My parents won’t care.”

“You get away with everything,” John lamented.

Matt grinned. “It’s only because I don’t have any younger siblings. Amy never got away with anything.”

“Lily could get away with murder,” Albus muttered as they entered the shop.

It was nearly impossible to move inside and Albus quickly lost his friends amidst the crowd. He grabbed a Skiving Snackbox, a few Daydream Charms, and a couple trick wands before heading to the back to see if his uncle George was there.

The back room was much quieter than the store part of the shop. It was filled with boxes of merchandise and a small office, where Uncle George did the books. Beyond the office was another room where he created new products. Today, the entire space was empty, so Albus returned to the chaos of the store, where he spotted George behind one of the tills, along with a pretty girl Albus vaguely recognized from school.

Albus got in line and waited about ten minutes for his turn. “Hi, Uncle George.”

“Albus!” George exclaimed. “Didn’t even notice you come in. Do you know Leah? She graduated last year and she’s going to work here part-time while she writes articles for the Prophet.”

“Nice to meet you,” Albus said, suddenly warm all over. Leah’s eyes were hazel and extremely pretty. Albus forced himself to look away.

“You, too,” Leah replied.

Albus made a point not to meet Leah’s gaze while George rang up his purchases. None of the girls in his year were quite that pretty, although Albus knew that Leah was at least seventeen or eighteen. Yet he couldn’t help but feel her staring at him until George handed him his bag.

“I’ll see you at the Burrow in a few weeks, Al,” George said.

“See you then,” Albus muttered.

“Bye, Albus,” Leah said.

Albus looked up. Leah was smiling at him, her dark hair falling over her eyes as she did. “Er, b-bye,” Albus stammered.

Albus hurried to the door to wait for his friends, blushing harder as he went. He left the shop so Leah couldn’t see him anymore and took a few deep breaths to calm down. It was weird. Albus hadn’t paid much attention to girls before. Sure, he’d noticed pretty girls and wondered what would happen if he asked them out, but never had he been at such a loss for words around one before. The worst had been Linda, but every bloke at Hogwarts had been attracted to her due the fact that she was a vampire. Now that Albus actually knew her he couldn’t imagine dating her. But Leah…

Albus shook his head and attempted to push all thoughts of Leah aside. He needed a distraction. He glanced back to the shop and saw that his friends were leaving. Good, he thought.

John and Kaden both held bags considerably larger than Albus’s. Matt’s bag was smaller, because he never bought Skiving Snackboxes. “What next? We’ve still got a half hour.” John asked, oblivious to Albus’s discomfort over Leah. Albus was relieved it wasn’t noticeable.

Matt shrugged. “Ice cream?”

“What’s in Knockturn Alley?” Kaden asked, eyeing the entrance to the next street over.

“Evil stuff,” Matt said. “It’s where all the Dark wizards go.”

John suddenly grinned. “Want to go have a look?”

“At Knockturn Alley?” Matt asked, his eyes wide. “Seriously?”

“Why not?” John said. “If it’s too shady we can come back.”

“Let’s go!” Kaden exclaimed. “It sounds exciting.”

“Albus?” Matt asked tentatively.

“Let’s do it,” Albus said immediately. Going to Knockturn Alley would be the perfect distraction from Leah, despite its obvious dangers.

3. Knockturn Alley

Knockturn Alley was much quieter than Diagon Alley. Nobody seemed to notice Albus and the other boys as they wandered slowly down the street, all too caught up in their own business to pay attention to four wide-eyed teenagers. They passed a few store fronts and Albus immediately knew why his parents never allowed him to set foot there. Borgin and Burkes looked especially awful, sporting a severed foot and a collection of dried snakes.

John nudged Albus and pointed toward the alley between Borgin and Burkes and a seemingly unnamed bookstore. Albus glanced at it and saw a rather short man showing a rotund witch a variety of what looked like homemade potions in mason jars. Albus and the others turned away quickly, not wanting either party to notice them.

A majority of the storefronts were abandoned, which didn’t surprise Albus at all. He knew that while there was still a market for Dark objects and Dark magic, and Dark wizards still existed, there was a whole lot less of a need for the darker aspects of Knockturn Alley after the war. Many Dark wizards took their business underground, feeling that even Knockturn Alley was too out in the open.

“There’s hardly anyone here,” Kaden said, clearly disappointed. “I don’t see what the big deal is.”

“It was worse when our parents went to Hogwarts,” Albus explained.

“I’ve heard it’s worse at night,” John said.

“Borgin and Burkes looks fairly awful,” Matt pointed out.

“Should we go inside?” Kaden asked.

“Are you kidding?” Albus replied. “It’s one thing to come to Knockturn Alley, but to go in one of the shops? We’d get kicked out.”

“Well, we’d better go somewhere,” John said, pointing down the street. “Professor Young is lurking up ahead.”

“What?” Albus exclaimed, peering in the direction John pointed. Sure enough, Professor Young stood in front of a shop a few meters away, staring into the display.

“Quick!” John shouted as he grabbed Kaden’s arm and the back of Matt’s shirt and dragged them into the nearest shop. Albus followed.

There was no bell on the door to alert the owner to their entrance, and the place was dark. It smelled like someone left a cauldron full of rotting potion over a fire for two months, and as soon as Albus’s eyes adjusted to the darkness, he saw why. They were in an apothecary and every shelf near them sagged from the weight of bottled potions. An open cauldron full of what looked like purple slugs stood to Albus’s right. The ceiling was abnormally low and looked as if it had sunken, rather than having just been built that way.

Matt coughed. “This place smells awful. And there’s aconite in here. I’ve got to leave.”

“And run into Professor Young?” John whispered. “Are you mad? Let’s just find somewhere to hide before the bloke who owns this place notices us.”

Albus agreed with John. Surely as long as Matt didn’t come into contact with the aconite he’d be fine, and certainly better off than running into Young. John led them through a dizzying array of aisles containing various ingredients and finished potions until they reached a curtain separating the main room from some other room. John yanked it open and shoved them into what turned out to be a storage closet filled with boxes.

“Better?” John asked.

“Not really,” Matt whispered. He covered his mouth as he coughed again.

The closet was roomier than the one they’d hid in in the Minister’s Mansion the previous year, but wasn’t exactly comfortable. Albus was shoved up against a stack of boxes in the very back, his friends all in front of him.

They stood perfectly still for five minutes. Matt’s coughs were the only noise.

“You think-” John began.

“Shhh!” Matt seethed. “Someone’s coming. I heard footsteps.”

A minute later Albus heard them. There were two different people walking around the shop. The first person had a very loud walk while the second was very light on his or her feet.

“I need more,” one of them said.

“This is all I’ve got now,” the other one replied. “Come back later. It doesn’t stay for longer than a month.”

“Fine. How much for this?”

“Fifty Galleons.”

“Fifty? Are you mad?”

“It’s fifty. Feel free to leave if you don’t want to pay, but you’ll be hard pressed to find someone else to brew this for you. They don’t exactly sell it at St. Mungo’s Apothecary.” He chuckled.

“Fine. Here.” There was a jingle of money exchanging hands.

“Don’t forget you need to add hair-”

“I know how it works,” he interrupted. “Brew more of it. I’ll be back in a month.”

The light-footed man walked away and Albus heard the door open and close a few seconds later. The first man muttered to himself as he stomped away in the opposite direction and opened the door to what must’ve been the back room. The door slammed behind him.

Matt slid open the curtain and ran to the front of the store. Albus and the others followed. When they reached the street, they found Matt retching into a nearby garbage bin. He stood up when he noticed the others.

“You look terrible,” Kaden said.

He did. Matt’s eyes were bloodshot and his face glistened with sweat. “You think?” he snapped. “I’m allergic to aconite.”

“But you didn’t eat any of it-”

“It doesn’t matter. Just breathing it in is enough. If I ate it I’d wind up in St. Mungo’s. Aconite is the active ingredient in Wolfsbane.”

“But it doesn’t work on you,” Kaden said.

“I know. That’s the great mystery.”

Albus glanced at his watch. “We need to get back to the Leaky Cauldron.”

“What do you think that bloke was buying?” John asked as they hurried back to the entrance between the two streets.

“Polyjuice potion,” Matt said. “The shopkeeper was muttering about Polyjuice potion not being worth stocking after that bloke left.”

“I wonder what he needs it for,” Albus mused. “no one ever uses it for anything good. So whatever that bloke is up to, it’s nothing good.”

“Forget about him,” John said as they passed Borgin and Burkes, “what about Professor Young? What was he doing here?”

“He’s in there!” Kaden shouted, pointing at the window.

Albus stopped walking and peered into Borgin and Burkes. The window was dingy, as if it hadn’t been cleaned since before Voldemort’s defeat, but Albus was able to make out two figures. One stood behind the counter and the other in front of it, and the latter looked vaguely like Professor Young.

“Well, now we definitely need to leave,” Matt said as he stepped back from the window. His face was still blotchy and his eyes swollen.

“How long will it take for your face to look normal again?” John asked nervously. “My parents are going to notice that.”

“An hour or so,” Matt said. “You should’ve thought of that before you dragged us into that apothecary.”

“I had no choice! Professor Young would’ve seen us!”

“He’s going to see us now,” Albus said, jumping back. “He’s on his way out.”

The boys scurried away from the door just before Professor Young strode outside. At first, the older man didn’t notice his students, instead focusing on stowing something in his robes, but then he looked up and his eyes rested upon Albus and the others. His face glistened with sweat and his eyes darted around nervously.

“Boys,” he said, nodding. “Having a good summer?”

Albus glanced nervously at his friends, but none of them said a word. Then, John shoved Albus forward. “Er, yes, Professor,” Albus said.

Professor Young nodded again. “Good. I’ll see you in September.” He strode off in the opposite direction of Diagon Alley without another word.

Albus let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. “That’s a relief. He didn’t even ask us why we were here.”

“Well, now we’re ten minutes late to meet my parents, so we need to go. Now,” John said.

The boys broke out into a run and headed back to Diagon Alley, but Albus’s mind wasn’t on meeting John’s parents at the Leaky Cauldron. Instead it was on Professor Young, and why he’d been in Borgin and Burkes in the first place. As far as Albus knew, people only went in there to sell or buy Dark artifacts. Why would a Hogwarts professor need Dark artifacts? If it had been any other Defense professor Albus supposed they could’ve just been buying something for class, but Young never actually taught. Instead he assigned reading and worksheets.

They reached the Leaky Cauldron and John wrenched the door open, revealing Mr. and Mrs. Brickston, both wearing annoyed looks. Lily, Ashtyn, Gemma, and Amelia sat at a table behind them, drinking Butterbeer. Lily and Ashtyn smirked as the boys walked in.

“You four are in trouble,” Lily said.

“Where have the four of you been?” Mrs. Brickston demanded. “You’re fifteen minutes late!”

Mr. Brickston stepped closer to Matt, a curious look on his face. “And where have you been? Your face-”

“Just the apothecary, getting our potions ingredients,” John said, holding up a bag from the apothecary in Diagon Alley. “There was a really long line-”

“Don’t even try that, John Malcolm,” Mrs. Brickston said, giving him a withering stare. “We were just in the apothecary and not only were you four not there, there wasn’t a line at all.”

Mr. Brickston tilted his head and frowned. “It almost looks like a reaction to-”

“It’s nothing!” Matt interrupted, glancing around nervously at the other people in the crowded pub. “I’m fine. I promise. It’ll go away in an hour.”

Mr. Brickston’s eyes grew large and then he nodded, placing his hand on Matt’s shoulder. “Very well. Just have a seat. I’ll get all four of you some Butterbeers and sandwiches for all of us.”

“Jeff!” Mrs. Brickston said, throwing her hands up. “You’re just going to drop it and buy them Butterbeer? They were fifteen minutes late.”

“They’re here, Jan. They’re safe. Just let it go.”

“That was weird,” John said as they sat down and his parents went to the bar. “I was expecting a half-hour lecture.”

“Maybe it’s because we’re here,” Kaden said, shrugging.

“It’s because I’m here,” Matt whispered. “Did you see that look your dad gave me? He knows why my face is red.”

“No he doesn’t,” John replied. “He doesn’t know what you had a reaction to.”

Matt sighed. “Yes, he does. It’s a very specific reaction and all Healers learn about it in school. Look at my eyes.”

Albus stared at Matt’s eyes and noticed they were completely gold, with no blue at all. Usually Matt’s eyes could be described as mostly blue with gold flecks, but not now. There was no blue to be seen. “But, they weren’t like that when we left the Apothecary.”

“It’s a very specific reaction,” Matt repeated. “First a headache, then swollen eyes and coughing and sneezing and other normal allergic reactions, then vomiting, then eyes turning completely gold. Everything subsides in the same order it comes, as soon as the person isn’t near aconite anymore.”

“Oh,” John said. “So all it took was that?”

Matt nodded. “But he’s a Healer, so it doesn’t matter. What department does he work in?”

“Spell damage,” John answered.

“What are you four whispering about?” Ashtyn asked

“You,” John said immediately. “And how annoying you are.”

Amelia laughed.

Ashtyn groaned. “Seriously, John. What’s so secretive?”

“Nothing,” John snapped. “It’s none of your business.”

“Lunch!” Mr. Brickston said, a bit too enthusiastically, as he set a tray down on the table. He gave Matt another glance as he returned to his seat.

“Eat fast,” Mrs. Brickston said, as she gave John another withering glare. “I’ve had enough of London for one day.”

***

“He definitely shoved something into his robes as he left,” Matt mused as the boys sat around John’s bedroom after they returned from Diagon Alley.

Lily and Ashtyn disappeared as soon as they got home in a vain attempt to escape Gemma and Amelia, who wanted to hang out with the older girls. Mrs. Brickston immediately put a kettle on for some tea and announced she’d be in her bedroom, reading, and no one was to disturb her unless the house caught fire or someone broke a limb. Mr. Brickston laughed at this and headed to his study. Albus and his friends went to John’s bedroom, the only place in the house they’d be alone.

“So he either bought something or tried to sell something but the bloke at the shop wouldn’t buy it or didn’t offer him enough money,” John said. “Wish we knew which it was.”

“Did it look like he was arguing with the shopkeeper?” Matt asked. “I didn’t get a good enough look.”

“I couldn’t tell,” Kaden said. “The window was too dirty.”

“He was nervous,” Matt pointed out. “And he didn’t even seem to care that we were there.”

“Which is weird,” John said. “If it had been any other professor-”

“No other professor would be in Knockturn Alley,” Albus pointed out.

“But still, if it had been,” John continued, “they would’ve demanded to know what we were doing.”

A knock on the door caused all four boys to jump. “Go away, Gemma!” John shouted.

“It’s not Gemma,” a voice said. It was John’s dad. “Can I come in?”

“Uh, sure,” John replied.

The door opened and Mr. Brickston entered. He shut the door behind him and then sat down on the bed, next to Matt.

“Is Mum still mad?” John asked.

Mr. Brickston nodded. “Yes. Look, boys, all she knows is that you didn’t return on time. That’s it. She knows you lied about being at the apothecary, but other than that, she just thinks you were fooling around at Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes or something. But I know you weren’t at Weasleys’.”

Albus felt his cheeks grow warm. Going to Knockturn Alley may not have been his idea, but he’d been the one to agree with John, and that had sealed the deal for them.

“Matt, I know you had an allergic reaction to aconite earlier,” Mr. Brickston continued, “and I need to make sure you’re okay. How do you feel?”

“Er, fine,” Matt muttered.

“I need to see your eyes,” Mr. Brickston said quietly.

Matt turned toward him. “I’m fine. I swear. It’s happened before-”

“I’m sure it has,” he replied. “Open your mouth and say ‘ahh.’”

Matt did as he was told, as Albus, John, and Kaden sat silently and waited.

“You weren’t at the apothecary in Diagon Alley,” he went on. “They keep their aconite in sealed jars, as is the proper way to store it. It wouldn’t have given you the full reaction. The faint smell of it may have given you a headache, but nothing more. You went to Knockturn Alley, didn’t you?”

Albus exchanged a glance with John, who looked nervous.

Mr. Brickston turned away from Matt and met his son’s gaze. “Look, I understand the curiosity, but it was very stupid. Don’t do it again. I won’t tell your mother because she doesn’t need the stress, but promise me you won’t ever go there again.”

“I promise,” John said quietly.

John’s dad turned back to Matt. “And Matt, you’re fine now. But if you ever go in an apothecary or store that has aconite stored in an open container, just leave. I’m sure you know this already, but after today I feel I have to tell you. I’m not sure how long you’ve been dealing with this-”

“Almost ten years,” Matt whispered.

Mr. Brickston sighed and shook his head.

“I’m sorry. I know I should’ve left. It was just…it was stupid.”

“Yes, yes it was,” Mr. Brickston agreed.

It was almost as if all four boys agreed silently not to explain why they went to the apothecary. Albus wasn’t sure why since they had no reason to keep Young’s secret of being in Knockturn Alley and going to Borgin and Burkes. For all Albus knew Mr. Brickston would be able to figure out why Young had been there in the first place. But since John didn’t volunteer the information, Albus didn’t either.

John’s dad said nothing for a few minutes, but he didn’t leave, either, so the room remained silent. He kept looking at Matt, as if trying to decide whether to question him further about his lycanthropy.

“I met your sister last year,” he said, finally. “The third year healer students had a rotation in spell damage. I always love having students do rotations with me. They all love spell damage, because, to be honest, it’s probably the most entertaining ward in the hospital. Most of them join the program wanting to become spell damage healers, but your sister didn’t. She was determined to become a Creature-Induced Injury healer and, more specifically, work in the Dai Llewellyn ward. She had no interest in spell damage. I asked her why she was so sure, but she said she couldn’t tell me.”

“I’m why,” Matt said quietly.

“She’s going to make a great healer one day,” John’s dad mused. He stood up. “I’ll leave you boys alone. Matt, if you ever need anything, just send an owl.”

Matt nodded. “Thanks.”

“Good night,” Mr. Brickston said. “I love you, John.”

“Love you, too, Dad,” John said, his cheeks reddening.

Mr. Brickston left, shutting the door as he did so.

“Well, now you know how to find out if someone’s a werewolf,” Matt said. “Just pull out some aconite.”

“I had no idea it would be that bad,” John said quietly. “I’m sorry. We should’ve gone into a different shop.”

“It’s too late now. And I’m fine,” Matt replied. “Your dad even said so.”

“But still,” John continued. “You said you shouldn’t go in and I made you. I’m an idiot.”

“Forget about it. And it’s my fault your dad figured out where we went. It was a stupid thing to do, but it’s over now.”

“At least he didn’t tell Mum,” John muttered.

“You don’t think he’ll tell our parents, do you?” Matt asked nervously.

John shook his head. “Not if he isn’t even going to tell my mum.”

“We’re forgetting what’s really important here,” Kaden interrupted.

“What’s that?” Albus asked.

“Professor Young,” Kaden said. “What the hell was he doing in Borgin and Burkes and how are we going to figure it out?”

“I don’t think we can,” Albus, pulling at a loose string on John’s carpet. “We can’t exactly walk into Borgin and Burkes and ask or go up to Young on September first and demand that he tell us.”

Kaden groaned. “Well, obviously not, but we can be more sneaky about it. Look around his classroom or his study and see if we can find anything suspicious. That sort of thing. We haven’t solved a mystery since Linda. Unless you count Malfoy going into the girls’ toilet last year.”

“I don’t know,” Matt said hesitantly. “Sneaking around a professor’s study? A professor we know very little about except he goes to Knockturn Alley? That’s just asking for trouble.”

“Not if we use Al’s cloak!” Kaden exclaimed. “Or we could have a ghost do it. I bet Myrtle would do it if you asked, Matt.”

Now it was Matt’s turn to groan. “Can’t we just forget about that? I have no plans on even seeing Myrtle this year. She’s crazy.”

“You would be too, if you died on the toilet,” John pointed out.

“Not crazy enough to haunt that same toilet,” Matt said, yawning. “Of all the things you can do as a ghost, she chose to haunt a girls’ toilet at Hogwarts. It’s weird.”

“I heard she haunted the bloke who made fun of her until he went to the Ministry and complained,” Albus added.

“You can do that?” Kaden asked.

Matt nodded. “That’s what the Spirit Division deals with in my dad’s department. Not that they get many complaints. Most ghosts are pretty harmless.”

“Come on, just ask her,” Kaden said. “She’s harmless, like you just said.”

“I never said Myrtle was harmless. Someone complained about her, after all. And I am not going to tell her to search Young’s study for us.”

“Well I can’t imagine Nearly Headless Nick doing it,” Kaden muttered.

“Not if you call him that,” Albus said. “It’s Sir Nicholas DeMimsy-”

“Peeves,” John interrupted. “We can get Peeves to do it. We’ll tell him he can mess up the place while he’s at it.”

Albus groaned and lay down on his sleeping bag. “I want no part of this. None of it.”

“We’ll turn it into a prank,” Kaden decided. “I think I’d rather be a poltergeist than a ghost if I died. What about you lot?”

“Can you even do that?” John asked. “Turn into a poltergeist?”

“I don’t know. But say if you could.”

“Yeah. I’d be a poltergeist. What about you, Al?”

“Ghost,” Albus answered. “So I could haunt people, at least until they went to the Spirit Division about me.”

John laughed. “What about you, Matt?”

Albus, John, and Kaden turned to Matt, who now lay curled up on John’s bed, fast asleep. John poked him, but he didn’t move.

“It’s early,” John said. “It’s not even five. We haven’t had dinner yet.”

“He did have an allergic reaction earlier,” Albus pointed out. “It’s probably that.”

John nodded and slid onto the floor, leaving his entire bed available for Matt to nap on. “All right then, Albus, who would you haunt?”

Albus laughed. “Well, to start with, you lot.”

John and Kaden burst out laughing. Albus grinned. Despite its morbidity, the thought of haunting John and Kaden was incredibly hilarious.

4. The DADA Tutor

Albus absentmindedly toyed with the prefect’s badge pinned to his robes as he walked nervously down the corridor of the Hogwarts Express. It felt like everyone on the train was staring at him, their eyes resting upon the badge, their questioning gazes boring into him, wondering why he got made a prefect. The whole concept was very unsettling and all Albus wanted to do was locate his friends’ compartment. The train was nearly out of London and Albus still hadn’t found them.

The Potters had been late meeting the Hogwarts Express, like usual, although this time James wasn’t to blame. James actually packed his trunk the night before due to his anticipation to get back to school, and therefore to his girlfriend, Gabby Ellis, a sixth year Hufflepuff. No, this time it was Lily’s fault they were late for the train. She had a minor freak-out over her robes being too short (something she should’ve realized when they still had time to go to Diagon Alley and get new ones), and they had to wait while their mum Flooed to the Burrow and got Nana Molly to do an extension charm on them.

When they finally did arrive at Platform 9 ¾, the platform only contained parents and siblings, as all the students were on the train, the whistle blowing. Albus, James, and Lily had to practically jump onto the train and Albus certainly hadn’t been able to find his friends before boarding.

Albus side-stepped two second years trying out hexes on each other and hurried down the corridor. After he passed five or six compartments he realized he probably could’ve told the second years to cut it out, given his new prefect status, but he still felt very strange about telling people off. Or doing anything prefectly, for that matter.

When he finally located his friends’ compartment, he nearly collided with Rose, who was exiting.

“Albus!” Rose exclaimed. “There you are. I thought you missed the train.”

“I nearly did, thanks to Lily,” Albus muttered.

“It’s good you’re here. There’s a meeting in the prefects’ compartment.” Rose’s prefect badge somehow looked shinier than Albus’s and she looked far more authoritative than Albus could ever hope to be.

Albus nodded. “Just let me stow my trunk.”

Rose stepped aside, allowing Albus to drag his trunk into the compartment. He deposited it next to Matt’s, said a quick hello to the rest of his friends, and rejoined Rose.

“Where is the prefects’ compartment?” Albus asked.

“Front of the train.”

Albus groaned. He’d probably passed it on his way. “I still think it’s odd they made me a prefect.”

Rose sighed. “It’s not weird. Look at your competition.”

“What? Ethan and Bilius don’t make that much trouble. And Matt’s no worse than I am.”

“Bilius is practically failing potions and Ethan snuck into the Forbidden Forest six times last year.”

“Really?” Albus asked. “How do you know that?”

“Marina told me. They get their fair share of detentions. And can you really see Matt being a prefect? Even if Kendrick offered it to him, I bet he’d turn it down.”

That was true. Albus couldn’t see Matt being a prefect. He preferred keeping a low profile and being a prefect certainly wouldn’t help that. “Okay, but still. I’m not sure I like it.”

“Oh, you’ll do fine,” Rose said, stopping. “You two! Quit hexing each other or I’ll recommend a detention when we get to Hogwarts.”

They’d reached the second years, who were still hexing each other. Both of them immediately stowed their wands and hurried into a nearby compartment.

“See?” Rose said as they continued walking. “Easy.”

“For you,” Albus muttered.

The two cousins continued down the corridor until they reached one of the compartments near the front of the train. Albus had in fact passed it earlier. Rose slid the door open and Albus followed her inside.

Everyone else seemed to already be there. Albus glanced around and saw Garth Octavius and Celeste Yeardley, who must’ve gotten picked for fifth year Slytherin prefects. Parker Wayland and Elaine Asterly were there from Hufflepuff, as well as Emily Rhodes and Justin Brink from Ravenclaw. The rest of the group were sixth and seventh grade prefects, as well as the head boy and girl.

“Good, we’re all here now,” Shawn Ames, a Chaser from the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, said as he stood up. He’s a tall, burly bloke with a mop of black curls. Albus noticed he had a head boy badge on his robes.

Albus and Rose sat next to Parker Wayland, who had slid over to make room.

“I’m head boy this year,” Shawn continued. “Melissa Lowman is head girl.”

Melissa gave a wave. Her head girl badge on her Slytherin robes was barely visible through her long blonde curls.

“Here are the schedules for September patrolling,” Shawn said as he handed a stack of parchment to Albus’s cousin Ben, who took one and passed them on. “Everyone’s doing one or two patrols a week. If you need to switch try finding someone to switch with before talking to Melissa or I. I really don’t care who does each patrol, as long as it gets done. I’ve paired all the fifth years up with an older prefect at least for their first patrol.”

Albus took a schedule from the stack Rose handed him and glanced at the first week. His first patrol was the following night, with Meg Johnson, a sixth year Ravenclaw.

“There’s another schedule on the back and I need everyone to pay attention because this is new information for all of you,” Shawn went on.

The sixth and seventh years who had been whispering amongst each other immediately quieted.

“Kendrick and the other professors want to try drop-in tutoring in the library this year-”

“But there’s already a tutoring program at Hogwarts,” Rose interrupted.

“Yes, but for that every tutor gets paired up with a student who needs help,” Shawn explained. “With this new program, you sit in the library for an hour or two and help whoever comes in with a question. You’ve each been assigned a subject based on your marks and your designated time to sit in the library is on the back of that schedule.”

Tutoring? Albus thought as he flipped his schedule over. That would be something different. He wasn’t quite sure how he felt about it. His eyes darted across the page as he looked for his name. There it was- Albus Potter — Defense Against the Dark Arts — 1-3pm Saturdays.

“All you have to do is help whoever shows up as best you can, and keep a sign-in sheet so the professors can see who’s come in for help,” Shawn explained. “New prefects, part of the reason you were picked is your marks in certain subjects.”

“That would explain why I’m a prefect,” Albus whispered to Rose.

“Did you get Defense?” Rose asked, glancing at her parchment. “Oh, I see it now. I got Transfiguration.”

“I wonder who got History of Magic,” Albus said. “I feel bad for whoever did.”

“I did,” Parker Wayland whispered. “And don’t feel bad. No one’s going to show up, so I’ll just get to do my own homework.”

Albus laughed.

“And I’m scheduled at nine-thirty on Saturday mornings,” Parker went on. “No one would show up that early for anything, unless it was near exam time.”

Albus nodded in agreement. He’d probably have people show up to his sessions near exam time since Professor Young didn’t teach much. Hopefully it wouldn’t interfere with Quidditch practice because Albus would much rather play Quidditch than tutor people in Defense.

“After your sessions turn in the sign-in sheet to the professor of whatever subject you’re tutoring,” Shawn said. “I think that’s it. Anything to add, Mel?”

Melissa shook her head. “Nope.”

“All right, everyone’s free to go. There’s a schedule on the front for the train, so make sure you patrol when you’re scheduled.”

Albus looked at the schedule once more and was happy to see that he and Rose didn’t have to patrol the train for another hour. He shoved the schedule into his pocket and followed Rose out of the compartment and back to their compartment near the back of the train.

When they arrived John and Kaden were in the middle of a game of chess, Amanda was reading a book, and Matt was dozing against the window. He jerked awake when Rose slammed the compartment door behind them.

“Sorry!” Rose said as she sat down next to Amanda.

“It’s okay,” Matt mumbled.

“Full moon is tomorrow,” John explained.

Albus nodded and sat down next to Matt. “That’s rotten luck.”

“Mum wanted me to stay home until after,” Matt said. “She wasn’t happy that I insisted on coming today. But I didn’t want to be the kid who came to school four days late. If the full moon is ever on August 31st or September 1st, I’ll have to come late, but this year I had a choice.”

“But you’ll probably miss the first day of classes,” Rose pointed out.

Matt shrugged. “Still, it would be weird not coming on the train. Although, to be honest, I’m not sure I’ll go to the feast. I’ve already got a headache.”

“Sleep now and maybe you’ll feel better later,” Kaden suggested.

“I probably won’t, but it’s worth a shot,” Matt said as he leaned his head against the window once more.

“So Albus is going to be a tutor this year,” Rose announced.

“What?” John exclaimed.

Kaden burst out laughing.

“Seriously?” Matt asked.

“Like the same tutoring Rose does?” Amanda asked.

Rose quickly explained the drop-in tutoring program Shawn had just told them about. “So we’re both doing it. I’m doing Transfiguration and Al is doing Defense.”

“I have a feeling I’m going to need a lot of help in Defense this year,” John said, smirking.

Albus groaned. “Is me tutoring really such a weird thing?”

“No,” Matt said. “Your marks are good. I just never would’ve guessed you’d do it.”

“Well, it explains why Bilius and Ethan weren’t chosen as prefects,” Rose pointed out. “Not that I was really that surprised you were picked, Albus.”

“And the rest of us girls didn’t stand a chance competing with you,” Amanda joked. “Not that I’d want to be a prefect. I want to go back to being invisible like I was before last year. I’m hoping everyone’s forgotten I’m the Prime Minister’s niece.”

“They probably already have,” John said. “I’d nearly forgotten.”

“Well,” Rose began, “I’ve got a bit of news and I’ve been waiting until we were all together again to tell it.”

Albus raised his eyebrows. Rose hadn’t mentioned any sort of news at the Weasley family dinner the previous night. Either she was really good at keeping quiet or it was really new news. Knowing Rose, it was the former.

“I’ve been owling with Linda a lot this summer,” Rose went on, “and she’s moving to France.”

“What?” Albus exclaimed.

“When?” John asked. He turned to Amanda. “Did you know?”

Amanda nodded. “Yeah, she owled me about it a few days ago.”

“Why?” Kaden asked. “I mean, I like Linda, but why would she move to France? What’s wrong with Canada?”

“Change of scenery,” Rose explained. “She and her mum move every couple of years.”

“Where in France?” Albus asked.

“Near Paris, I think,” Rose said. “Not in the actual city, but outside of it.

Albus and his friends had had their issues with Linda when she’d been at Hogwarts, but that was all in the past and he was really happy she was getting to move somewhere she liked. He glanced at Matt, who had fallen asleep once more. Matt had had the most issues with Linda, and while they did come to an agreement. Albus would have to tell him later, possibly after the full moon.

“What’s she going to do?” John asked. “Assuming she doesn’t want to go back to school for the hundredth time?”

Rose laughed. “No, she’s not going to Beauxbatons. I don’t know what she’s going to do.”

“Anything from the trolley?” a voice came from outside the compartment.

Albus and his friends stopped their conversation long enough to load up on enough sugary snacks to last well beyond the train ride. As they settled into eating, the conversation turned toward everyone’s summers and predictions about the new professors. A half hour later Albus and Rose had to leave for their patrol.

The patrol was uneventful, and Albus let Rose do all the talking when it was necessary. After they finished they returned to their compartment to find Matt still sound asleep, Amanda returned to her book, and John and Kaden eating weird combinations of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans. Rose pulled out a book of her own while Albus leaned back in his seat and dozed off a few minutes later.

***

“I swear, they’re smaller every year,” John commented as he nearly plowed into a first year on their way to an empty carriage.

“You’re just a giant,” Matt said. “If you get any taller you’re going to have to move in with Hagrid.”

“Only if you go live with the goblins.”

Matt shuddered. “Definitely not. They’re a bit creepy.”

“Come on,” Rose said, hurrying ahead. “I’m already soaked.”

Albus trudged through the mud after his cousin, who secured an empty carriage. Matt, John, Kaden, and Amanda followed them inside and Albus pulled the door shut. The carriage immediately set off for the castle.

“I think I’m going to pass on the feast,” Matt mumbled with his eyes closed as they traveled up toward Hogwarts. They hit a particularly large bump and he winced. “This isn’t really helping.”

“Want us to bring you any food?” Kaden asked.

Matt shook his head. “I think I might be sick, actually.” His face was very pale and had a greenish tinge to it.

“Maybe you should just go see Madam Pomfrey,” Rose suggested.

“No, I’ll just go up to Gryffindor.”

“Albus, you go with him,” Rose said.

“I’ll be fine-”

“No,” Rose insisted. “Al will go with you. You look awful.”

“Thanks, Rose.”

“Do you have the password?” Albus asked.

“No. Actually, I have no idea who gives the prefects the passwords every year.”

“I guess I’ll find Longbottom after we get there,” Albus said.

The group was quiet for the remainder of the journey, having used up all their topics of discussion on the train. A short while later the carriage lurched to a stop and Kaden wrenched the door open. Matt exited with more speed than Albus would’ve expected right before the full moon and promptly threw up on the ground outside.

Albus and the others hurried out and stood around him in a vain attempt to hide him from the view of their fellow students. Albus noticed Scorpius Malfoy staring at them, but when he noticed Albus meeting his gaze, he turned away and joined the queue of students entering the castle.

“Okay,” Matt said as he wiped his mouth. “Maybe my parents were right.”

“Come on,” Albus said quietly, “let’s just go inside.”

Albus and Matt lost the rest of their friends in the sea of students as they entered the Entrance Hall. The place was packed and it soon became clear to Albus that the crowd was not helping Matt’s pre-full moon jitters. He tripped over someone’s robes and as Albus caught him, he noticed Matt’s face was flushed and covered in sweat.

“I should’ve stayed home,” he said anxiously. “Is it always this crowded?”

“Yeah. Just go upstairs to the nearest loo and stay there until I get there. I have to go find Longbottom,” Albus said as he led Matt to the stairs.

Albus waited until Matt disappeared down the second floor corridor before turning around and squeezing his way into the Great Hall. He scanned the staff table and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Neville was already there, talking to Professor Cedonia. Dodging a few third years, Albus ran to the staff table.

“Professor Longbottom,” Albus announced. “Sorry to interrupt.” He glanced at Cedonia. “But I need the password to Gryffindor.”

Neville smiled. “Albus, congratulations on making prefect. Shawn and Melissa were supposed to give everyone their passwords. They didn’t?”

“No,” Albus said. “Sorry, it’s a bit of an emergency.”

Neville frowned. “What’s going on?”

“It’s Matt,” Albus whispered.

“Ohh,” Neville said, realization dawning on his face. “I thought he would’ve stayed home until after.”

“He wanted to come today, but he’s skipping the feast. I need the password.”

“Right.” Neville reached into his robes. “I should have it here somewhere. I never remember them.” He extricated a crumpled piece of parchment and looked at it. “Mandrake. Should he go see Madam Pomfrey instead?”

“No, I think he just needs to sleep,” Albus said. “Thanks.”

Albus hurried up to the deserted second floor corridor and entered the nearest boys’ loo.

“Albus?” a voice came from the stalls.

“Yeah, it’s me.”

The only closed stall door opened and Matt exited, his face pale and his eyes rimmed with red.

“Are you okay?” Albus asked as they left the loo.

“Not really,” Matt answered, sighing deeply. “I was stupid to think I could come back today. I thought maybe, if I slept enough on the train, it would be okay. And the train was okay, because it was just you lot and it was quiet. I didn’t think about the feast and how crazy it is in the Entrance Hall when everyone arrives. And everything’s heightened right before the moon…it was just stupid.”

“It wasn’t stupid to try,” Albus said.

“Yeah, it was. My mum would agree with me.”

“Well, now you know.”

“It’s just…when everything goes so well, like it has at Hogwarts for the past four years, I kind of forget. I think I can do whatever I want, if I just believe I can. But I can’t, Albus.”

“You can if-”

“No, Albus,” he said quietly. “I can’t, but it’s okay. I’m okay with missing the feast. I just want to go to bed.”

The boys were silent throughout the rest of the walk to Gryffindor tower. By the time they arrived Matt looked better, although still exhausted. The Fat Lady, along with her friend Violet who was visiting her, looked surprised to see Albus and Matt, but let them in after Albus gave the password. Albus followed Matt up to their familiar dormitory, which now bore a sign which said ‘fifth years’ and stood by the door while his friend got into bed.

“Need anything ?” Albus asked.

“No,” Matt said. “But if I’m still asleep when you get back, could you get my schedule when Longbottom hands them out tomorrow? I probably won’t go to class and I know I won’t make it to breakfast.”

Albus nodded. “Sure. Feel better.”

“Thanks.”

Albus turned and left, shutting the door as quietly as possible after him. As he walked through the empty corridors on his way back down to the Great Hall, he couldn’t help but smile. Grimmauld Place was home and he loved being there for the summer, but Hogwarts was his home, too, and he couldn’t be more ecstatic to be back.

5. Professor Burke

When Albus returned to the Great Hall Professor Patil was removing the Sorting Hat and stool, and excited, newly sorted first years were scattered throughout all four tables. It dawned on him that this was the first year since before Victoire started Hogwarts that none of his cousins got sorted. Even his second year, when no new Weasleys began, Kaden had started school. It was strange to think about, especially since by the time it happened again Albus would be out of Hogwarts.

Rose had saved him a spot at the Gryffindor table and Albus took it gratefully, happier than ever that Kendrick never made speeches before the feast appeared. He hadn’t realized it until he walked back to the Great Hall, but he was starving.

“And now, in the words of my eloquent predecessor, tuck in,” Kendrick announced.

The usual huge spread appeared in front of Albus and he immediately grabbed the tureen closest to him and piled beef stew onto his plate, topping it off with clumps of rice.

“We should all eat extra,” John said as he put a third roll onto his plate. “To make up for Matt skipping. Wouldn’t want the house elves to feel insulted.”

“You’re ridiculous,” Rose said.

“It makes sense to me.” Albus shrugged.

“Albus,” Rose said flatly, “you haven’t even looked at the new professors.”

Albus paused, his fork halfway to his mouth. He turned to the staff table, having momentarily forgotten there were any new professors, his hunger taking over. The usual suspects were there, of course, such as Longbottom, Polo, Patil, and the rest of the professors who’d been there since before Albus and his friends began Hogwarts. But there were three new faces as well. Two witches, who looked fairly young, sat on either side of Professor Cedonia. An older wizard, with white hair so wild it looked like he stuck is finger in an electrical outlet, sat to the left of Longbottom.

“Three?” Albus asked.

“Thank you,” Rose replied, sighing. “Three, yet only two people retired at the end of last year. And everyone else is there, except for Trelawney, but she never comes to feasts.”

“Who’s the third one for, then?”

“She’s obviously the educational liaison,” Rose explained. “Or he. Kendrick hasn’t introduced which one is which yet.”

“The bloke looks like Einstein,” Amanda commented as she slathered marmalade onto a piece of bread.

“He does a bit,” Albus agreed. “Except with even more hair.”

“I don’t care who he looks like. He’ll be good at teaching potions,” Kaden said. “I do miss Slughorn, though.”

“You’re about the only one,” John said. “Just as long as we’re not with the Slytherins again I don’t care who we have for potions.”

“I bet we will,” Amanda replied. “We’re always with the Slytherins.”

“Slughorn liked doing it that way because he liked Gryffindors and Slytherins best,” Albus pointed out. “Maybe whoever is the potions professor might not care. How do you know the bloke is the potions professor, anyway?”

“Are you kidding?” Kaden asked, his eyes growing large. “That’s Edmund Burke. You know, the famous potions master?”

Albus shrugged. He’d never heard of a Edmund Burke. Even Rose looked confused.

“As in Borgin and Burkes?” John asked.

Kaden groaned. “I’m the Muggleborn, yet none of you know who Edmund Burke is? He’s created dozens of potions and tweaked hundreds of others. He’s the one who created the 24 hour Polyjuice Potion. And Obliviserum, the potion that makes you forget things just like the Obliviate charm. That one’s controversial because it’s odorless and tasteless, so someone can sneak it into someone else’s drink. It’s very regulated.”

“How do you know all of this?” Rose asked, clearly impressed.

“I subscribe to Potion Master’s Monthly,” Kaden said. “Last year, when I said I wanted to be a brewer, I was serious.”

“So now he’s going to teach potions? Here?” John asked.

“Well, he’s not taking over for Madam Pince,” Kaden said. “And I can’t imagine he’s the education liaison. They say he’s completely mad, though. I can’t imagine why he wants to teach, when he refuses to be interviewed for PMM, claiming that it would take too much time away from brewing.”

“Is he related to the Burkes of Borgin and Burkes?” Albus asked.

Kaden shrugged. “No idea.”

“He probably is,” Rose said. “Half the people here at Hogwarts are related if you go back far enough.”

Discussion of Edmund Burke petered out as Albus and his friends became more involved in their dinners. By the time the puddings appeared, Albus was already stuffed, but managed to squeeze in a slice of rhubarb pie and biscuit with a scoop of ice cream on top.

Professor Kendrick rose just as Albus ate his last bite of ice cream. “Welcome back to Hogwarts,” Kendrick announced. The room quieted down, so that the only noise was the chink of silverware against gold plates. “I think we can all agree that the house elves outdid themselves this year.”

That was for sure, Albus thought. He hoped Kendrick’s speech would be long so he could digest before showing the first years to the common room.

“I have three people to introduce before the start of term announcements,” Kendrick continued. He gestured to Edmund Burke. “The first is Professor Edmund Burke, who is taking over the position of potions master.”

There was a smattering of applause, the loudest of which stemmed from Kaden, which gave Albus the impression that his cousin was the only one who knew who Edmund Burke actually was. Burke stood, nearly knocking over his chair in the process, and leaned forward.

“It’s lovely to be here.” His voice didn’t sound as if he actually believed what he said. “I look forward to teaching all of you the beauty of potions.”

“I’ve never heard anyone describe potions as beautiful,” John whispered to Albus, who chortled.

Burke resumed his seat, knocking his goblet onto Longbottom and drenching him in pumpkin juice. Kendrick ignored this, and continued the introductions. “Next is Miss Marissa Walsh, our new librarian.”

The younger of the two witches gave a wave. Her hair was long, flowing with deep brown curls, and the wide smile on her face gave her the look of being Madam Pince’s complete opposite.

“I hope she’s nicer than Madam Pince,” John said as they gave another half-hearted applause.

“Won’t take much,” Albus pointed out.

“And finally, Madam Margaret MacDougel,” Kendrick said, gesturing to the other witch. “She is our Education Liaison from the Ministry’s Education Department and will be observing professors throughout the year and making reports back to the Ministry about how Hogwarts runs.”

“And he says that as if it’s no big deal,” Rose whispers.

“That being said, she will not be running the school. Madam MacDougel will observe and report. Depending on the reports, action may be taken, but it will take time and input from the professors, students, governors, and the Education Department. No large changes will be taken lightly. There is nothing to fear.”

“Obligatory disclaimer that she’s not another Umbridge,” Rose said.

“Now,” Kendrick continued, “I need to remind you not to do magic in the corridors, not to go into the Forbidden Forest, or get too close to the Whomping Willow. Any of those offenses will result in detention. I won’t list off the hundreds of items banned from the school because we’d be here all night, but if anyone needs a bit of late-night reading, they may obtain a list from Mr. Filch in his office.”

“I bet Filch wishes that was required reading,” John said.

“Finally, we are implementing a new tutoring program this year,” Kendrick announced. “All prefects have been assigned a subject to tutor, which they will do in the library on Saturdays and Sundays. It is drop-in tutoring, so there is no need to sign up, and you are not required to go to a certain number of sessions, or stay for an entire session. The tutors will answer questions and help with homework. Schedules detailing the times each prefect will be available have been pinned to all house notice boards. I hope everyone takes advantage of this opportunity. First years, follow your prefects to your common rooms. Everyone, have a good night.”

“Albus, what’s the password?” John asked as they got up.

“Mandrake,” Albus said.

“Thanks. See you up there,” John said as he, Kaden, and Amanda disappeared into the crowd.

“First years!” Rose shouted. “This way!”

Albus and Rose led the group of wide-eyed younger students out of the Great Hall and up to the seventh floor. Albus smiled as he listened to their gleeful exclamations about the portraits, staircases, and the castle in general. Rose kept up a running commentary of Hogwarts history as they went and Albus had a feeling she was the first Gryffindor prefect to ever do that.

“Mandrake,” Rose said once they reached the Fat Lady. Her portrait swung open and Albus crawled inside, followed by Rose and the first years.

“Girls to the left, boys to the right,” Rose said as she gestured to the dormitory doors. “If you need anything, feel free to ask Albus or I.”

The first years dispersed and Albus looked around the room for John and Kaden. He didn’t see them, so he headed up to the dormitory, where he found Kaden helping John unpack his trunk. Bilius and Ethan weren’t there yet.

“Got a new Puddlemere picture,” John said as he unpacked a framed picture of Puddlemere United’s 2020 team. “This will go in its usual place of honor.”

“Right next to Matt’s picture of the Cannons?” Albus asked, smirking.

“Oh, hey, Albus,” John said. “And yeah, of course. Once Matt puts his up.”

“Think he’s asleep?” Kaden asked as he walked over to Matt’s bed.

“Probably,” Albus said.

Kaden pulled the hangings back a foot. “Yeah, he is. I want to tell him about Burke, though. Burke’s done a bit of work on the Wolfsbane Potion. I bet Amy knows who he is.”

“You should probably just let him sleep,” Albus said, knowing full well Kaden wouldn’t listen.

“Aw, I just want to ask him one question.” Kaden prodded Matt’s arm. “Matt, hey, Matt!”

Matt rolled over and cracked his eyes open. He muttered something indistinguishable and picked his head up. “What?”

“I just wanted to tell you who the new potions professor is.”

“Why?” Matt muttered, closing his eyes. “I’ll see him in class eventually.”

Kaden ignored Matt’s comment. “He’s Edmund Burke, the famous potions master. Have you heard of him?”

Matt’s eyes snapped open. “Say that again?”

“Edmund Burke,” Kaden repeated. “You have to owl Amy and tell her.”

“He’s the one who made the potion I’m on right now, the one that’s supposed to ease the symptoms of the full moon.”

“Clearly he’s got a bit of work to do on it,” Kaden said, eyeing Matt skeptically, as if he couldn’t believe Edmund Burke could possibly create a potion that didn’t work. “So, have you met him?”

“No,” Matt said shortly. “I just take his potion. Healer Sterling organized it.”

“So you don’t know why he’s teaching here?” Kaden prodded.

“No,” Matt snapped. “His potion sucks, so I really don’t care. I just want to sleep. You can owl Amy, if you like.” He yanked the hangings shut.

“Told you,” Albus said.

“I think I will owl Amy,” Kaden said excitedly. Matt’s anger with him seemed to roll off his back like water off a duck. He grinned at Albus and John and left the room.

“Want a quick game of chess before bed?” John asked.

“Sure,” Albus said. “Let’s go to the common room.”

“Yeah,” John agreed. “Maybe there will be first or second years in the good armchairs and we can make them get up. We’re fifth years now, so we can use that to our advantage.”

“I’m a prefect, John,” Albus said as they went back downstairs. “I can’t do that.”

“What’s the point of being a prefect if you can’t use it to your advantage?” John asked, sighing. “I’m glad I’m not one.”

Albus laughed, still unsure of whether he really wanted to be one himself.

***

“Aw, you lot get to have Professor Burke for a double class today,” Kaden said as he peered at Albus’s schedule the following morning at breakfast. “That’s not fair.”

“When do you have potions?” Albus asked.

“Not until tomorrow,” Kaden muttered as he stabbed half-heartedly at his eggs.

“I’ll gladly switch with you,” John suggested. “He’s a new professor, so he won’t know. You can bring up my potions mark, too.”

“But then you’d bring mine down,” Kaden pointed out. “No thanks.”

“The education liaison isn’t here,” Amanda said, gesturing to the staff table.

“I bet she’ll give everyone a few weeks to get settled in,” Rose said. “We’d better get to defense, though.”

“Maybe we’ll get another clue as to what Young was doing at Borgin and Burkes,” Albus said as he got up.

Rose sighed. “I still say you’re reading too much into that. It probably meant nothing.”

“People don’t go into Borgin and Burkes for nothing, Rose.”

Albus had told Rose about their excursion to Knockturn Alley as soon as he’d returned home from John’s house, but she refused to entertain the idea that Professor Young could be doing anything illegal.

“Is Matt coming to class?” Rose asked after they said goodbye to Kaden.

Albus shook his head. “I doubt it. He was sound asleep when we got up and I think yesterday exhausted him.”

“He won’t miss much, anyway,” John pointed out. “All the professors are just going to lecture us on O.W.L.s.”

John was right. Even Professor Young, the King of Worksheets, spent the first fifteen minutes of class urging them to study more this year than all their other years combined, and ensuring them they would pass if they completed all the work on time and studied defense during all their free time. He then passed out five worksheets, assigned three chapters of reading from their new (and up to date) textbook, sat down at his desk, and disappeared behind a novel. He gave absolutely no recognition of having encountered Albus and John in Knockturn Alley, and only spoke with the boys long enough to ask where Matt was. Albus managed to get one of the chapters read and two of the worksheets completed before the class ended and resigned himself to having an inordinate amount of homework for the remainder of the year.

Professor Longbottom took a similar route, stressing the importance of preparing throughout the year for not only their herbology O.W.L., but all the others as well. His lecture wasn’t as long as Young’s and was cut short by Janie Creevey accidentally knocking a potted mandrake to the ground, resulting in five students passing out, including Janie herself. Professor Longbottom himself looked fairly unsteady as he repotted the mandrake after having quieted it with a silencing charm. After Janie, Amanda, and three of the Hufflepuffs regained consciousness, Longbottom moved on to the actual lesson, which happened to be on the care and keeping of mandrakes.

“I suppose it’s a good thing Matt didn’t go to herbology,” John said as they walked back to the castle. “Remember when we repotted mandrakes in second year? I think he passed out every lesson.”

“I hope he’s over that now,” Rose said. “This year we’re growing them, not just repotting them.”

“Weird that they grow from seeds, isn’t it?” Amanda commented.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go to the hospital wing?” Rose asked. “You still look a little off.”

“I’m fine. I swear. And if I go to the hospital wing I’ll miss potions and I don’t want to miss the first lesson with Burke. He looks crazy.”

“Kaden said he is crazy,” Albus reminded her.

Albus, Rose, John, and Amanda returned to the castle and ate a quick lunch with Kaden before journeying to the dungeons for their inaugural lesson with Professor Burke. Kaden stared at them mutinously as they left, before reluctantly traipsing to divination.

John let out a loud groan as they reached the dungeon and saw who was assembled by the locked door. Scorpius Malfoy and the other Slytherins gave equally loud groans when they saw Albus and the other Gryffindors arrive.

“This has got to be some sort of record,” John muttered. “An evil record.”

The door to the dungeon opened, revealing Professor Burke and a very large amount of smoke. He stepped aside and gestured for them to enter. Albus raised his eyebrows and looked at John, who shrugged.

Albus entered the classroom to find it completely transformed from when Slughorn occupied it. When Slughorn was the potions master, the room looked like what it was- a dungeon. Now, it looked like some sort of evil laboratory, with jars and jars of ingredients housed on bookshelves which lined every wall. Before, all ingredients had been stored in the store cupboard, which remained locked at all times. The bookshelves also held all sorts of glass contraptions Albus had certainly never seen before, but presumed were used to create more advanced potions.

The smoke seemed to emanate from one the smaller of the two silver cauldrons on Burke’s desk. While the potion no longer seemed to be simmering over a fire, it still smoked more than any potion Albus had ever seen before. The smoke was so thick it made Albus cough multiple times as he found his way to his seat. John and Janie joined Albus at the table, leaving the fourth seat free for Matt once he returned.

John poked Albus and pointed to the clock, just barely visible through the smoke. It was covered by parchment, but Albus couldn’t quite make out what was written on it. “Can you read that?” he asked.

Janie, who was sitting closest to it, squinted. “Time passes. Will you?” She started laughing. “Oh, I like that.”

“Potions!” Burke shouted, startling everyone in the class in the process. “How many of you like potions?”

Albus turned to look at his classmates. About half of them slowly raised their hands. The other half looked slightly terrified. Albus kept his own hand firmly on the table.

“By the end of this year, my goal is that all of you will raise your hands when I ask that question,” Burke barked. He leaned forward and peered at the class. “I love potions. You probably know that. Maybe you’ve read my book, or maybe you haven’t. I don’t care. I haven’t even read my book in its entirety.”

Albus stifled a laugh. John did not stifle his laugh.

“You!” Burke exclaimed, pointing at John. “What’s your name?” Burke hadn’t bothered to take attendance at the beginning of class.

“Er, John. John Brickston.”

“John Brickston,” he said. “Is your father Jeff Brickston?”

“Yes, sir,” John answered.

Burke grinned. “He is an excellent healer. I’ve worked with him on a few occasions. Well, John Brickston, bring me that purple vile on the second shelf of the first bookcase.”

John tentatively stood up and walked over to the bookcase. He touched the first purple vile on the second shelf.

“No, not that one!” Burke shouted. “The other one! Hurry up now. We don’t have all day and I could drop dead at any moment. I’m fairly old.”

Albus glanced at Janie, who looked like she wanted to run out of the room.

“Oh, come on, that was a joke,” Burke said. “Let’s go, Mr. Brickston.”

John brought the vile to the front, handed it to Burke, and made to return to his seat.

“Not so fast, Mr. Brickston. I am about to show your classmates how exciting potions are and I want you to help. See this cauldron right here?” He pointed to the larger cauldron. “No, the one without the smoke. It’s an infusion of wormwood with a half-strength solution of bulbadox juice. What I want you to do is pour the contents of that purple vial into the cauldron.”

John glanced at Albus and then back to Burke. “Right now?”

“Yes, right now.”

John carefully poured the liquid from the vile into the cauldron and purple sparks shot up out of it, bathing the entire front of the classroom in pale light. There was a chorus of ‘ohhs!’ and ‘wows!’ from the rest of the class. Albus’s eyes grew large as he watched the purple light dance around the room.

“See!” Burke exclaimed, throwing his arms up in excitement. His right hand collided with John’s left and sent the vile flying across the room. It crashed near Scorpius Malfoy’s table, shattering into a million pieces. “Just leave it. I’ll clean it up later. Mr. Brickston, you can return to your seat.”

John couldn’t get away from Burke fast enough. He slid into his seat and turned to Albus. “Kaden was right,” he whispered.

“As you can see, potions is fun!” Burke exclaimed. “Look what you can do! This year I will teach you not only how to brew potions, but also why the different interactions work the way they do. We’ll dig deeper than just the surface, and by the end of the year you will be more than prepared for your O.W.L.s. If you choose to continue with potions next year, which I hope you do, I may allow you to become involved with researching new potions and help with the work I am currently doing.

“Now, in order to convince you even more that potions can be fun, today you’ll be making chocolate.”

There was a ripple of excitement throughout the classroom. Albus had a feeling Matt was going to regret missing class that day.

Burke pointed his wand at the board and instructions appeared. “The ingredients are on the back table, along with special cauldrons. Do not use your regular cauldrons. These ones in the back have been treated to prepare food. I don’t want anyone accidentally poisoned.”

By the time the double period ended, Albus felt much better about potions than he had before class, which was probably Burke’s goal. He was still unsure about Burke himself, since he did seem thoroughly mad, but any professor that taught him how to make chocolate was good in Albus’s book.

“Best potions class ever,” John said as they left. Albus, Rose, and Amanda nodded in agreement.

“Kaden is going to love him,” Albus said.

“I love him,” John said as he poured his vile of chocolate into his mouth.

“Burke said it won’t harden until tomorrow,” Rose told him.

“I know. But I’m impatient. Plus, it’s delicious.”

“He never told us what was in the other cauldron,” Amanda commented. “The smoking one.”

“Maybe he’s saving it for next lesson,” John suggested. “Weird, though.”