Albus Potter and the Potions Master's Solution

6. Patrolling and Tutoring

“He’s completely insane,” John said as he flipped through his potions book.

“But he’s a genius!” Kaden exclaimed.

“Most geniuses tend to also be mad,” Matt commented from his spot on his bed.

The boys were currently in their dormitory, Albus, John, and Kaden having gone there immediately after dinner in order to see Matt before he left for the Shrieking Shack. To their surprise, Matt was awake. Ill, but awake. So, they took the opportunity to fill him in on the day’s lessons.

“I don’t know,” John said. “I think he might wreck the dungeons before the year is up, judging by all that smoke.”

“You just don’t like that he called you up to help with the experiment,” Albus pointed out.

“I guess,” he muttered. “He could’ve killed someone when he knocked that potion bottle out of my hand.”

“I hope he lets my class make chocolate,” Kaden said, ignoring John’s comment.

“I still can’t believe you made chocolate,” Matt replied, sighing. “He should’ve waited on that.”

“You can have some of mine,” Albus offered.

“Maybe tomorrow,” Matt said. “I don’t think chocolate would be a good idea right now. What about Defense and Herbology? Anything exciting happen?”

“Amanda, Janie, and a few of the Hufflepuffs passed out after Longbottom knocked a mandrake onto the ground and its pot broke,” Albus told him.

Matt groaned. “Glad I wasn’t there. I don’t miss mandrakes.”

“That’s too bad. Longbottom told us we’re learning about them again this year. We have to grow them from the start,” John explained.

“Are you kidding me?” Matt exclaimed as he pulled the covers over his head.

“Nope,” John said. “They take forever to mature, so we’re starting next class and it’s going to be an all-year project.”

“Bloody fantastic,” Matt muttered from under the blankets. “When do we next have Herbology?”

Albus dug his schedule out of his bag. “Monday morning.”

“Great. I’ll have the whole weekend to worry about it.”

“You don’t think it’ll be better this year?” Kaden asked.

“Not likely,” Matt said. “Second year we only repotted them for two lessons and both times I wound up in the hospital wing.”

“This time Longbottom just let everyone wake up on their own,” John said.

Matt sighed. “He’ll send me to the hospital wing. I’m sure of it.”

“It’ll be weekss before they’re ready for repotting,” Albus pointed out.

Matt threw the covers off and half sat up. “That’s true. I hadn’t thought of that.” He sat up the rest of the way and winced. “I should get going.”

“Want the cloak?” Albus asked as he got up and walked to his trunk. He opened it, dug around, and produced the Invisibility Cloak.

Matt smiled. “Thanks. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah, we’ll come visit during lunch,” Albus assured him.

Matt nodded, got out of bed, and threw the cloak over himself. He disappeared and soon his footsteps quieted to nothing and Albus, John, and Kaden were the only ones left in the dormitory.

“When do you have to patrol?” Kaden asked.

Albus checked his watch. “In an hour or so.”

“Exploding Snap?” Kaden suggested.

Albus and John agreed. John grabbed a deck of cards from his trunk and the three boys went to the common room in order to find a few more people to play with, including Rose and Amanda. They were also joined by a few of Albus’s cousins, and Janie Creevey. By the time Albus had to leave for patrol, he was completely covered in soot, as was everyone except Kaden.

At five minutes to eight Albus left the common room and headed to the Entrance Hall to meet Meg Johnson, the girl he was scheduled to patrol with. He couldn’t remember what she looked like, but when he arrived there was only one other person there, dressed in Ravenclaw robes, so he assumed she was Meg.

“Albus,” she said as he walked toward her. “I’m Meg.”

She was tall, only an inch or so shorter than Albus, and she had very long, sleek blonde hair. And she was very pretty.

“So, for the most part, this is really easy,” Meg said as they walked up to the second floor corridor. “All we have to do is wander around until 9:15 or so to make sure all the third and fourth years are in their common rooms. First and second years have to be in their common rooms by eight. Third and fourth years by nine. Fifth through seventh by ten, although you should know that. Two other prefects patrol from 9:15 until 10:15. They usually have the seventh years do that round.”

“Are you in sixth or seventh year?” Albus asked.

“Sixth,” Meg said. “Same as your brother.”

“You know James?”

“Sort of. We’ve had some classes together.”

Albus nodded. They walked in silence down the second floor corridor and Albus hoped the silence wasn’t nearly as awkward for Meg as it was for himself. He just couldn’t think of anything to talk about with her. The only thing he could think of was Quidditch and he had no idea if she liked Quidditch.

“So, if you find anyone out of bed,” Meg said suddenly, as if just remembering she was there to teach him how to patrol, “you just tell them to get back to their common room. Most of them will listen, but if they don’t you can dock points or tell them you’re handing their name in to their head of house for detention. Usually they just haven’t kept track of the time. But sometimes you’ll find people snogging and that’s always awkward. But, same drill.”

“Okay,” Albus said.

They turned a corner and came upon two boys who didn’t even look old enough to be in Hogwarts talking to one of the portraits. As Albus and Meg neared them, Albus noticed they were Hufflepuffs.

“Curfew was ten minutes ago,” Meg announced.

The two boys jumped and turned around. Their eyes grew large and they exchanged glances.

“Don’t worry,” Meg continued. “Just get back to your common room and remember, curfew is at eight every night.”

Both boys nodded and took off for the nearest staircase. Meg laughed as soon as they disappeared. “The first years are always so afraid when they get here.”

Albus didn’t remember being that scared when he was a first year, or that small for that matter. But he must’ve been. Matt certainly had been, especially considering now he was the height of a tall second year or average height third year.

“So, is James still dating Gabby Ellis?” Meg asked fifteen minutes later, as they wandered down the fourth floor corridor.

Albus, who had just been getting used to the silence, turned to look at Meg. She looked uncertain, as if she was regretting asking the question.

“Uh, yeah, he is,” Albus answered. “Why?”

“Oh,” Meg said, clearly disappointed. “Never mind.”

Albus shrugged and they continued walking. They hardly spoke for the rest of the patrol, only doing so when they encountered students out of bed. But the silence wasn’t awkward anymore, so Albus didn’t care. He was still confused as to why Meg cared whether James was dating Gabby Ellis, but Meg didn’t seem inclined to explain. At 9:15 they parted ways on the sixth floor corridor and Albus headed back to Gryffindor, while Meg headed back to Ravenclaw. While patrolling with her hadn’t been that bad, Albus hoped most of his future patrols would be with Rose.

***

“Are you really that dense, Albus?” Rose asked as they made their way to the hospital wing with John and Amanda before lunch the next day.

“What?” Albus replied. “Why should she care whether James is still going out with Gabby Ellis?” Albus had just told the group about his patrol with Meg Johnson the previous night.

Rose groaned and Amanda laughed. Albus exchanged a look with John, who shrugged.

“You really are,” Rose said, sighing. “Let me spell it out for you. For both of you,” she said, after glancing at John. “Meg Johnson has a crush on James.”

Now it was Albus’s turn to burst out laughing. He paused in front of a suit of armor and rested his right arm on it, still laughing. It really was a funny premise, Meg Johnson having a crush on James of all people. Albus had been surprised when he managed to get one girlfriend, but the thought of a second girl at Hogwarts wanting to go out with him was just too much.

“Really, Albus?” Rose said.

“What? Last year you thought it was gross that James went to Hogsmeade with Gabby Ellis.”

Rose groaned again and shook her head. “No, I thought it was gross that he was snogging her pressed up against Honeydukes. It’s really not that surprising that girls like him, Albus. He’s funny, a great Quidditch player, tall-”

“And very muscular,” Amanda added with a grin.

That put a stop to Albus’s laughter. He put his hands over his ears and started walking toward the hospital wing once more. “Nope, not hearing anymore of this. You cannot like James, Amanda.”

Amanda laughed. “He’s an attractive bloke, Albus.”

“Yeah, Albus, he’s an attractive bloke,” John imitated.

Albus glared at him. “Shut up, John.”

John grinned, but didn’t say a word more on the subject. For the first time ever Albus was jealous of John and the fact that he has three younger sisters instead of an older brother. But then he remembered just how annoying little sisters were and was once again grateful he only had one.

Amanda’s laughter had subsided by the time they reached the hospital wing, and it was a good thing, too, because otherwise Madam Pomfrey would’ve kicked them out. A queue of students were near her desk when Albus and his friends entered and the nurse herself looked ready to murder someone. She seemed somewhat relieved to see them, and Albus could only imagine that it was because none of them needed her services.

Three of the beds were occupied but Albus took a guess that Matt would be in his usual one and he was right. John pulled back the curtains and the group filed in to find Kaden was already there. Matt was awake, but looked tired.

“It’s a madhouse in here,” Rose commented once John had shut the curtains once more. She pulled out her wand and cast a quick Muffliato.

Matt nodded. “It’s because it’s the second day back. People are trying to get out of class.”

“On the second day?” Rose asked incredulously.

“Not everyone is as anxious to get back to school as you are,” Matt replied. “Mostly they just use skiving snackboxes and Madam Pomfrey can pick those out from a mile away. But there’s been a few homesick first years, and right now the issue is Kaden’s potions class.”

Albus turned to Kaden. “What did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything,” Kaden answered. “I’m good at potions.”

“It was Professor Burke, anyway,” Matt explained.

“Already?” Amanda asked. “He’s been here two days!”

“Apparently he’s quite clumsy,” Matt said. “I’ll let Kaden tell it. He was there.”

“He’s still a genius,” Kaden began. “Geniuses can be clumsy, too.”

“Why thank you,” Matt said with a grin.

“I wasn’t talking about you. You’re crap potions,” Kaden said. “Anyway, he was doing that demonstration with the purple light and after he finished he accidentally knocked a bottle of a solution of erumpant horn into the cauldron and, well, erumpant horns are highly explosive. Everyone at the front three tables got hit. I think there were ten of them. Only one got hit really badly, though. He’s in the bed on the end. But even he’s going to be okay.”

“Did you get hit?” Albus asked.

Kaden shook his head. “Burke had me take everyone up here. Worked out nicely since I was coming here after all.”

Albus had to admit that a clumsy potions master was pretty funny, especially now that he knew everyone would be all right. Still, it wasn’t an auspicious start for the new professor. Even if he was a genius as Kaden claimed, if he continually landed students in the hospital wing, he wouldn’t last long. Especially if Madam Pomfrey had anything to do with it.

“Oh, I got a reply from your sister,” Kaden said suddenly as he pulled a piece of parchment out of his robes. “She’s jealous Burke wasn’t here when she was in school and told me to take advantage of any extra lessons he wants to give. She’s met him a few times and says he likes to pick favorites.”

“Just like Slughorn,” Matt said. “She say anything else?”

Kaden handed Matt the letter. “Just wanted me to tell you she hopes you’re feeling better soon.”

Matt scanned the letter and gave it back to Kaden. “Thanks. Did the rest of you have an eventful morning?”

“Not really,” John said. “Charms and Transfiguration. More lectures on why we need to start studying for our O.W.L.s now, even though no one actually will, except Rose.”

“Well, you should,” Rose muttered.

“Oh, here’s your schedule,” Albus said. He dug into his bag until he found it, and handed the parchment to Matt.

“Thanks,” Matt said and glanced at it. “History of Magic after lunch. Tough break. Glad I’m missing that. And care of magical creatures. Guess I’ll miss that, too.”

“When do you get to leave?” Amanda asked.

“Yeah, it’s almost our first weekend back. We’ve got to plan a prank,” John added.

Albus and Rose exchanged glances. This was the part of being a prefect Albus was looking forward to the least. John and Kaden were quite the pranksters and the last thing he wanted to do was report them.

“Tonight or tomorrow morning,” Matt said. “I hope I’ll be back for dinner.”

John glanced at his watch. “Well, we should get going if we want lunch. Are you going to sleep all afternoon?”

Matt sighed. “Probably. But I’ll meet you for dinner if I can.”

Rose removed the Muffliato charm and they bade goodbye to Matt. The hospital wing had emptied out, with only Matt and the other two occupants of the beds remaining. Madam Pomfrey bustled toward them carrying a tray of soup and bread. She sighed when she reached Matt’s bed. “Potions explosion on the second day,” she muttered. “This is going to be a long year.”

“She must be retiring soon,” Kaden commented after they left the hospital wing. “Madam Pomfrey, I mean.”

“I dunno,” Albus said. “I know she was here when my grandparents were here.”

“She won’t retire until Matt’s done with school,” Rose said. “She promised him that in first or second year, I think.”

“Still, it’s got to be exhausting,” Kaden said.

“Yeah, and anyone who takes a fever fudge and then goes to the hospital wing is an idiot,” John said. “The point of those are to get you out of class, not get you into the hospital wing.”

“You’d know, wouldn’t you, John?” Amanda said, laughing.

John grinned. “I keep Albus’s uncle George in business.”

***

The remainder of the week went by fast, despite the multiple talks on O.W.L.s Albus and his friends had to sit through. Matt returned from the hospital wing in time for classes on Thursday, although he did fall asleep in History of Magic. To be fair, so did John, and Albus felt his eyelids droop more than once during that class. The only thing worse than a Binns lecture on history was a Binns lecture on why O.W.L.s are important. The only professor who didn’t give a talk on O.W.L.s was Hagrid, who spent the time introducing them to his three hippogriffs. It was much more desirable than a lecture. Friday was an easy day, with only Defense and Ancient Runes in the morning, and then the afternoon was free. Albus spent the free time walking around the lake with Matt, John, and Amanda. Kaden and Rose had class.

Rose and Amanda holed up in their dormitory after dinner on Friday night, leaving the boys to their own devices. They spent the time in the Marauder’s Den watching the Map, playing games, and planning pranks. Well, John and Kaden did the prank planning while Matt beat Albus at chess. Albus had informed John and Kaden that he wanted absolutely nothing to do with the pranking since he didn’t want to feel as if he had to turn them in. Like most of their pranks, it wasn’t completely planned that night and Albus imagined it would take them a few weeks to finish and execute it.

Saturday was Albus’s first day of tutoring, although he didn’t think anyone would show up. Half the castle probably hadn’t even had Defense yet, but Kendrick wanted the program to start early so that students could get in the habit of going early. So after lunch, Albus walked to the library and found it deserted except for the new librarian. This wasn’t at all surprising since it was a warm, sunny day and most of the population of Hogwarts was outside.

“Hello, Albus,” Miss Walsh said from behind the circulation desk.

Albus nearly jumped out of his skin at her greeting. He wasn’t used to being greeted when he entered the library, let alone greeted by name. Madam Pince reserved her voice for yelling at students, and only greeted them with a glare from behind her spectacles. Miss Walsh apparently not only said hello to students, but memorized their names before she even met them.

“Sorry,” she said, smiling. “Didn’t mean to startle you. You’re Albus Potter, right?”

“Er, yeah,” Albus said as he walked to the desk. She looked even younger up close and Albus wondered if she’d been a seventh year when he was a first year. He’d have to ask Victoire or Teddy whether the name was familiar.

She smiled again. “Nice to meet you. You’re tutoring Defense Against the Dark Arts, right?”

Albus nodded.

“The tutoring table is to my right,” Miss Walsh said, pointing to a large, rectangular table to Albus’s left. It had a big sign on it that read ‘Drop-In Tutoring’ and then gave a list of times for each subject. “The last prefect left early because no one showed up.”

“Thanks,” Albus said. He walked to the table, feeling very happy that he decided to bring some of his own Defense homework.

Albus settled down to finish the second round of Defense reading of the year, as well as the new worksheet Young had assigned for homework the previous day. He wasn’t kidding about stepping up the work for their O.W.L. year. But as the hour progressed, Albus realized just how much work he could get done in an empty library. He finished the Defense homework at the end of the first hour and then got to work on Transfiguration.

The door to the library opened when he was partway done with the chapter in his transfiguration book. He looked up and saw none other than Elsie Willinson, looking as small and timid as ever. She paused after shutting the door and gazed around the library.

“Hello!” Miss Walsh greeted her. “I’m Miss Walsh, the new librarian. What’s your name?”

Huh, Albus thought. Apparently she didn’t know everyone’s name. She probably only knew his because he was Harry Potter’s son.

Elsie walked slowly to the circulation desk, clutching her books tightly to her chest. “Elsie,” she whispered. “Elsie Willinson.”

“Nice to meet you, Elsie. Feel free to ask me if you have any questions about research or homework or just need to talk.”

Elsie nodded, but said nothing else. Instead, she turned to Albus. He met her gaze and then looked back to his Transfiguration book. But instead of going to another table, Elsie sat down across from him. Did she actually want tutoring?

“Um,” Albus began. “Do you need help with Defense?”

Elsie glanced at the sign and her eyes grew large, as if she hadn’t noticed it, despite its size. “Oh, no. I haven’t had Defense yet. Sorry.” She made to get up.

“Er, you can stay, if you’d like,” Albus said. “No one has showed up for tutoring.”

Elsie nodded and set her books down. She opened up the top one —Potions— and began to read.

Albus stared at his own book but didn’t read. Instead his mind raced with questions of why Elsie chose to sit by him in the library. He wasn’t sure what was weirder, that Elsie was sitting with him or that she wasn’t with Felix. He didn’t think he’d ever seen her without her brother, except for when Rose tutored her one-on-one. Where was Felix? And why did she choose Albus’s table out of all the tables in the library?

Albus’s Transfiguration book remained on the same page for the majority of his tutoring session. He couldn’t concentrate with Elsie sitting there across from him. More than anything, he wanted to ask her where Felix was, what he was up to, and whether he was still friends with Scorpius Malfoy. But Elsie was so shy and hadn’t looked up from her work since she arrived. Part of Albus thought she’d get up and leave if he bombarded her with questions, no matter how gently he did so.

In the end, Albus kept his mouth shut and when three o’clock arrived, he packed up his stuff and said a quick goodbye to Elsie and Miss Walsh before leaving. Elsie didn’t take much notice of his departure, but Miss Walsh gave him another smile and said she hoped to see him soon. Having a nice, helpful librarian was definitely going to take some getting used to, Albus thought as he left.

7. New Chasers

By the end of the following week (their first full week back), everyone was back into their usual Hogwarts routines. The first years had settled in and were no longer breaking curfew because of forgetting when it was, although quite a few broke it intentionally. Rose had thoroughly enjoyed her first patrol and was reveling in her new position of authority, which was more than Albus could say about himself. He tended to forget he was a prefect and found himself standing quietly while Rose scolded younger students for dueling in the corridors.

Professor Burke remained the talk of the castle, even when the second weekend in September arrived. By that time every potions student had had him at least twice and the explosion in Kaden’s class had been repeated, in a class of fourth year Hufflepuffs and Slytherins. James and his friends spent Friday evening in the common room, taking bets on when he’d be sacked.

Between tutoring, homework, Quidditch, and dueling, Albus’s second weekend back was busy. He awoke early on Saturday morning in order to get a quick breakfast before the very first dueling club meeting of the year. Despite his love of dueling, as well as his skill, he was nervous and only managed a few strips of bacon and a scone.

The meeting was held in an empty classroom on the fourth floor and when Albus arrived, there were two other Gryffindors he vaguely recognized sitting on adjacent desks.

“Albus!” the bloke said, a big grin on his face. He was burly, with a mass of light brown hair atop his head. “I’m Peter Aiken.”

“Blair Ellsworth,” the girl added. She was pale, with curly black hair.

“Nice to meet you,” Albus said as he climbed onto a desk.

“We’re the co-captains,” Peter explained. “Seventh years.”

The next to arrive was Marina Jordan-Bell. Just as Blair and Peter were introducing themselves, Mary George and Jansen Peck, the sixth year members walked in. Albus knew who they were since James had mentioned them before.

“All right,” Peter said as he hopped off his desk and walked to the front of the room. “Congratulations to Albus and Marina on winning the fifth year spots. I’ll explain a bit how the dueling club works. It’s very similar to the junior club, except the tournaments are much shorter-”

“Thank God for that,” Blair cut in. “There is seriously nothing worse than having to sit through those tournaments and watch all the kids who can’t do a simple expelliarmus.”

Mary and Jansen laughed. Albus exchanged a look with Marina, unsure of whether to laugh. A few of his friends were awful duelers, but he’d never complain about having to watch them duel.

“Anyway,” Peter went on. “Tournaments take place once a month except for December and June. So that’s seven tournaments. Every team participates in every tournament and we all duel. We’re each awarded a point for every duel we win and Professor Longbottom keeps track of the points all year, so whichever team has the most after May’s tournament wins overall. Pretty simple. Everyone duels twice in each tournament. The tournaments are usually on the last Saturday of the month, except when it conflicts with Hogsmeade, like it will in October. October’s will be the second to last Saturday.”

“Do they ever conflict with Quidditch?” Albus asked, noticing none of the other members were on the Quidditch team.

“Not with Quidditch matches,” Peter said. “But maybe with practice since none of us are the Quidditch captain.”

Albus nodded. It wouldn’t be a big deal to miss practice for a tournament. He’d missed practice for worse in previous years.

“We have practice once a week,” Peter said. “But it changes every week since Blair and Jansen are prefects. And now Albus, too. I’ll try to schedule practices so they don’t conflict with patrols, but it isn’t a big deal if you miss a practice or two.”

Albus really liked how laid back the dueling club seemed to be. It seemed the opposite of Quidditch, although he had yet to have a Quidditch practice with Bradley as captain. But the thought of having an easygoing Quidditch captain seemed unrealistic. The scary thing was, Albus was poised to be Quidditch captain in his seventh year, considering all the current players except Janie were older than him, and he’d been on the team longer than Janie. Albus pushed the thought from his head as it was still two years away.

The group spent the remainder of the practice dueling with each other. Albus was a bit rusty from the summer, as were Marina, Mary, and Jansen since the four of them were underage and therefore hadn’t been able to practice for the past three months. Albus thoroughly enjoyed the hour of dueling and couldn’t help but feel as if dueling was what he was meant to do. It was even better now that he was dueling others who shared his skill level or who were even better, as Blair and Peter were. Plus, it definitely helped that Scorpius was no longer on his team.

They walked down to the Great Hall for lunch together, but scattered once they reached the Gryffindor table in order to eat with their respective friends. Albus spotted Rose, Matt, and Amanda and joined them.

“Where are John and Kaden?” he asked.

“They disappeared after they woke up. John said something about prank planning and I didn’t question it,” Matt explained. “Haven’t seen them since.”

“Well, they can always go to the kitchens if they miss lunch,” Amanda suggested.

Albus nodded. He wasn’t worried. John and Kaden were plenty old enough to worry about their own meals. Nor did Albus want to know the details of whatever prank they were working on. He quickly forgot about pranking as he dug into lunch. Dueling had made him ravenous, especially since he hadn’t eaten much for breakfast.

John and Kaden never did show up. After they finished eating Albus headed to the library for his tutoring session while Rose, Matt, and Amanda decided to go outside and take advantage of the nice weather.

The library was only contained a few more people than it did the previous Saturday, meaning that this time one table was occupied by two students. Miss Walsh wasn’t in sight when Albus first arrived, but she wandered over to his table from the stacks a few minutes later. She greeted him with the same enthusiasm as last week and then left him alone, for which he was grateful. He liked Miss Walsh and one of the things he liked most about her was that she didn’t hover, unlike Madam Pince. As soon as she left, Albus settled down to do some of his own homework.

“Hi, Albus.”

Albus glanced up from his Herbology book to see none other than Elsie Willinson standing in front of him. She didn’t look as nervous as she had the previous week and sat down immediately, rather than wait for Albus to invite her to sit.

“Elsie,” Albus said, nodding. “Need help on anything?”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. She pulled out a roll of parchment, a quill, ink, The Standard Book of Spells Grade 2, and began to read and take notes.

Albus watched her for a few minutes, completely bewildered, but then returned to his own work. No one else showed up to the session and when three o’clock hit, Albus said goodbye to Elsie and left, just like he had the previous Saturday. He was more confused than last week as to why Elsie chose to spend her Saturday afternoons doing her homework with him. One time was weird enough, but twice?

Last week, Rose had suggested that perhaps she was lonely. After spending last year under Felix’s watchful gaze, Elsie hadn’t made friends the way most Hogwarts students did. But why would she choose Albus of all people?

“It’s because you have to be there anyway,” Rose explained a few minutes later after Albus found her, Matt, and Amanda sitting under the beech tree by the lake. “So by going to the library to study while you’re there, she gets to spend time with you without actually having to ask you. Plus, she knows you because of what happened last year. You, along with Amanda, John, and Kaden, were there in the chamber of secrets with her so she probably sees you as some sort of hero.”

Albus raised his eyebrows. “But I didn’t really do anything.”

“Sure you did,” Rose said. “You fought them off until the Aurors arrived.”

“But that didn’t take long,” Albus pointed out.

“She’s got a crush on you,” Matt said, grinning.

“She does not,” Albus said adamantly.

“Just getting you back for all the Moaning Myrtle stuff.”

“Well, Myrtle does have a crush on you,” Albus muttered.

“Anyway,” Rose continued. “I bet she continues to go to your sessions, at least until she makes friends. She comes to mine, too.”

“Do you talk to her?” Albus asked. “I’ve hardly said two words to her.”

Rose nodded. “But I know her better than you. I tutored her most of last year. I wouldn’t worry about it, Albus.”

“I’m not worrying about it,” he said incredulously.

Rose smirked. “I know you, Al. You’re worrying about it.”

Albus felt his cheeks redden. Maybe he was worrying about it, just a little bit. But only because it was weird! Elsie was Felix’s brother, so why would she be spending time with him, someone whom his brother hates? It didn’t make sense.

“He’s just worried she has a crush on him,” Matt said as he tossed a rock into the lake. A giant tentacle popped up right where it landed, disappearing shortly after.

“Matt, shut up.”

***

The only way Sunday’s weather could’ve been more different from Saturday’s is if it had been snowing instead of raining. Albus groaned as he looked out the window, saw the torrential downpour, and thought about doing Quidditch try-outs in the middle of what looked like a small hurricane. He’d been hoping the good weather would hold out for another day, because this year’s try-outs were mostly on his shoulders. Despite the fact that Bradley was the captain, the open positions were chasers and as the only chaser currently on the team, Albus would have a lot of say in who they picked. It was a lot of pressure and good weather would’ve helped.

Bradley had scheduled try-outs for ten in the morning since he wanted to squeeze a short practice in afterward and the Ravenclaws had already booked the pitch for the afternoon. Matt and John were still sound asleep when Albus went downstairs for breakfast, so he just let them sleep after briefly contemplating pouring buckets of cold water on top of both of them.

Albus ate breakfast with the rest of the team and then headed to the pitch, followed by everyone else at the Gryffindor table since anyone who wasn’t trying out was still asleep upstairs.

“The rain is a good thing,” Bradley said as they walked to the pitch.

“Really,” James said sarcastically. Albus agreed with his brother. He was already soaked to the skin and they’d only been outside for three minutes.

“Really,” Bradley replied. “It’ll keep the numbers low. You know all those kids who try out just for the sake of trying out or because their friends begged them to? They’ll take one look at this rain and change their minds. This way we’ll only have to meet with the really serious kids.”

Albus hadn’t thought of that. But sure enough, when they got to the pitch and watched the small group of students arriving to try out, he saw Bradley was right. In past years when they held try-outs, dozens of students tried out. This year, they only had around ten. When the group assembled in front of them, Bradley sent an ‘I told you so’ look worthy of his father to the rest of the team.

Bradley explained how try-outs would work, and since they would work exactly as they always had, Albus tuned him out and took a look at the group in front of him instead. They ranged from second to sixth year, although no fifth years were present. Albus wasn’t surprised about that since John was waiting for a beater position and none of their other classmates played Quidditch.

As usual, the try-out started with a few laps around the pitch. Usually this weeds out a third of the potential players, but this time everyone passed the initial test. Next, Bradley had all ten of them take turns taking shots on the goals, guarded by Janie. Bradley cut half of them afterward since five only made a small portion of the goals. He then sent the remaining five to the other end of the pitch and gestured for the team to huddle around him.

“I’m going to leave it up to you, Albus,” Bradley said. “I trust you and you need to have chasers you can work well with. I know it’ll be a weird adjustment since you’ve only ever played with Fred and Heather, but I think these five have potential.”

Albus nodded, feeling a bit nervous. “Okay.”

“I’m going to stage a fake match. Janie, you can get in the goal. Ryan and I will release the Bludgers and act like the opposing team’s beaters. James, you can pretend to be the other team’s chaser since I’m not bothering with the Snitch for this. Al, you work with one at a time until you’ve played with all of them.”

Everyone agreed and Bradley motioned for the five remaining hopefuls to return. Three were girls, a second year and two third years. The other two were blokes, one second year and one fourth year. Albus only knew the fourth year, as he was one of Kaden’s roommates. The two third years were Lily’s roommates, but he couldn’t recall her mentioning either of them before.

The rain had only increased in intensity in the time they’d been on the pitch and the wind had picked up as well. Albus shivered as he took flight, the first chaser hopeful right behind him. They kept the fake matches short, only about five minutes each, because that was really all Albus needed to decide whether they’d work for the team. As soon as he’d seen enough, he signaled to Bradley to pause and the chasers switched out. By the time they’d played with all five, everyone on the team was ready for a hot shower and lunch.

“Well?” Bradley asked as soon as they’d congregated away from the five potential chasers.

“Niamh Sheenan and Harrison Watts,” Albus answered, referring to a third year and a fourth year, respectively. Once they’d gotten into a match, there hadn’t been much of a question as to who would make the team. The other three were decent flyers, but probably would’ve made better beaters and keepers than chasers.

“Easy enough,” Bradley said as he beckoned the group of five back. “Sheenan and Watts, you’re on the team. Best of luck to the rest of you next year.”

The other three looked disappointed and left the pitch in silence. Niamh and Harrison looked up eagerly at the rest of the team.

“I was going to hold practice now, but I think we’ll just wait until Tuesday, when I’ve next reserved the pitch. This rain is relentless.”

“Wait, what?” James said. “Say that again.”

Bradley grinned. “I’m canceling practice due to the weather.”

Albus felt his mouth drop open and he stared in shock at his cousin. James, Ryan, and Janie wore shocked looks that matched Albus’s. They’d never had a captain who canceled practice on account of the weather.

“Georgia would’ve had us practicing all day in this,” Bradley said. “You’re lucky you missed that, Janie.”

“But Georgia’s playing for Kenmare now,” James pointed out. “She must’ve done something right. I’ve got to stay on my game if I want to get recruited by the end of the year.”

“If you want to stay out here and fly in this, be my guest,” Bradley said. “But I’m not. I refuse to be as crazy as my sister. Next practice will be Tuesday at four. Niamh and Harrison, come by around three forty-five so I can find uniforms for you.”

Niamh and Harrison just nodded. The two of them looked a bit overwhelmed, Albus thought, as if they couldn’t believe they’d gotten on the team. Niamh was one of Lily’s roommates, a tiny girl with hair red enough for her to qualify as a Weasley, and glasses. Harrison, whom Albus was happy didn’t go by Harry, was lanky, tall, and sported a buzz cut.

It felt weird walking back to the castle with the new Quidditch team. The only players left from when Albus first joined were James, Bradley, and Ryan, but weirder than that was the fact that Fred and Heather were gone. Albus had been playing chaser with the two of them ever since he first started flying. Even when their entire family played Quidditch together, Albus usually played with Fred and Heather. But now, not only would he not be with Fred and Heather, he’d be a chaser with kids who weren’t his cousins. It was bizarre, but with time, he hoped, the three of them would become as unstoppable as he was with Fred and Heather.

***

“Hello, Albus.”

Albus, who had been studying in the Marauder’s Den with Rose, Matt, and Amanda since lunch, having showered and warmed up from Quidditch try-outs, glanced up to see Kaden and John standing over the table, grinning. Albus groaned inwardly. The two of them smiling like that was never a good sign.

“When did you two get here?” Rose asked, looking up from her Arithmancy book.

“About fifteen minutes ago,” John answered. “Matt heard us come in.”

“But you looked up to no good so I didn’t bother saying anything,” Matt said, not looking up from his transfiguration essay.

“What did you do now?” Amanda asked, sighing.

“Who says we did anything?” Kaden replied, shrugging. “Can’t I just come say hi to my favorite cousin?”

“What do you want, Kaden?” Albus asked.

“All right, fine,” Kaden said as he sat down in between Albus and Matt. John took the empty seat next to Rose. “We’ve come up with a prank,” Kaden continued. “Possibly our best yet.”

“But it’s complicated and it’s going to take a lot of people,” John began.

“No way,” Albus interrupted, rolling his eyes at John.

“Let me finish,” John said. “We’re going to rearrange all the classrooms. Switch them around. Turn the transfiguration room into a greenhouse, turn the potions room into the defense room, that sort of thing.”

Albus’s mouth fell open. Rose burst out laughing. The rest of the group turned to stare at her. Rose never condoned the big pranks. She didn’t mind the little ones that didn’t involve too much mayhem, but always tried to convince John and Kaden to stay away from huge pranks.

“You’re kidding, right?” Rose asked. Her eyes now glistened with tears she was laughing so hard. “This is just a joke you’re pulling on us?”

“We’re serious,” Kaden said.

“Serious as a case of spattergroit,” John added. “It’s brilliant, isn’t it?”

“I’ll give you that-”

“Can I have that in writing?” John exclaimed. “Rose likes the prank!”

“Wait!” Rose shouted. “I said it was a brilliant idea. Not something that should be executed. First, you’ll get in more trouble than you’ve ever been in before-”

“Only if we’re caught,” Kaden chimed in.

“Oh, you will be,” Rose assured them. “Second, it’s incredibly complicated. The spells you’ll need alone… And when would you even do it?”

“At night,” John said.

“You’d never get that done in one night, even if there weren’t eyes all over the castle. Have you forgotten about the portraits and the ghosts?”

John and Kaden grinned at each other. “We’ve thought about the ghosts. We’ve enlisted Peeves to help,” John explained.

Now it was Albus’s turn to laugh. The thought of Peeves helping with a student prank was ridiculous. The poltergeist preferred to do his mayhem himself. “Peeves hasn’t listened to anyone besides the Bloody Baron since my uncles Fred and George were here.”

“Peeves likes us,” Kaden explained. “As for the rest, we’ve got time.”

“We wanted to do it on Mischief Night, like last year,” John added. “But Mischief Night is a Friday this year so we’re going to do it November first. That way if we do get caught Longbottom won’t ban us from Hogsmeade for the halloween trip.”

“They’ve announced Hogsmeade already?” Amanda asked.

“No, but halloween’s a Saturday so it’s got to be then,” John said.

Matt groaned and put his head down on the desk. He picked it up ten seconds later and stared sadly at the wall. “Dammit.”

“What?” Albus asked.

“There’s a full moon that day,” Matt muttered.

“Then I suppose you won’t be up to helping with the prank,” Kaden said.

“No, I won’t be bloody helping you with your prank,” Matt snapped. He picked up his quill and returned to his essay, his face redder than it had been a minute ago.

“Albus, Rose, Amanda?” Kaden asked hopefully.

All three shook their heads. Albus was fairly sure helping with this prank would get his prefect status revoked and while he couldn’t say he enjoyed being a prefect, he didn’t dislike it either, and he certainly didn’t want to be demoted.

“Fine,” John said as he stood up. “We’ll ask James, then. I’m sure he’ll help. Bet he can get his friends to as well.”

Kaden stood up as well. The two of them looked at Albus, waiting for a reaction, but Albus ignored them. It really wasn’t any of his business what trouble James got up to, and to be honest, he didn’t particularly care if his brother wound up in detention for the remainder of the year due to his own stupidity.

John and Kaden left the Marauder’s Den, presumably to find James, leaving the rest of the group to return to their homework. Albus stared at his book, but couldn’t concentrate. Suddenly, the question of just how much responsibility he had as a prefect entered his mind.

“Rose?” he asked. “Do we have to report them to Longbottom?”

“Report what?” Rose asked, furrowing her brow.

“The prank,” Albus said flatly. “You can’t have forgotten-”

“I didn’t hear a thing,” Rose replied, giving Albus a significant look. “And neither did you.”

8. Research Assistants

“Who can tell me why it is important to not only know, but truly understand, the properties of the ingredients we use?”

Professor Burke posed the question as he leaned on the front demonstration table. The usual silver cauldron sat simmering next to his left hand and it was emitting a copious amount of smoke, as it always did. Burke still hadn’t told anyone what the potion was, which Albus thought was very strange. It was now the third full week of term and while Albus doubted he and his classmates would ever consider their potions professor’s behavior normal, they were somewhat used to it by now. He hadn’t blown anything up in their class, specifically, and for that they were all grateful.

The good thing about Professor Burke’s oddities was that even the Slytherins seemed to have a healthy fear of him. With Slughorn, none of the Slytherins held back since they knew Slughorn would just turn the other way unless someone was in danger of hurting another. Burke treated everyone the same and that meant he had no tolerance for outbursts of any kind. Due to the fear, no one in class ever spoke out of turn. Albus had heard, from Gryffindor’s new chaser Harrison Watts of all people, that Kaden was rather outspoken in his potions class, but Professor Burke liked Kaden, so he never cared. Harrison said this only served to terrify the rest of the class even more.

“Anyone?” Burke barked as he threw his hands up in the air. He ran his right hand through is already crazy hair, making it stand up on end.

Rose tentatively put raised her hand. This was usually how class went. Burke would ask a question, no one would answer, he’d ask again, and then Rose would hesitate and answer. That’s how Albus knew this bloke was scary; even Rose was slightly afraid of him.

Burke smiled. “Yes, Miss Weasley.”

“He’s even creepy when he smiles,” John muttered.

“Because if you don’t know the underlying properties you might accidentally mix something together that could be dangerous.”

“Exactly!” Burke shouted. “You could kill someone! Or yourself!”

This was another one of Burke’s eccentricities. He was always warning them about the dangers of accidentally mixing ingredients and inadvertently causing explosions or noxious gasses to form. Albus thought this was rather rich coming from the man who landed half of Kaden’s class in the hospital wing in his first week.

“But more importantly than that, if you don’t understand the properties you will never move beyond simple brewing from a book,” Burke continued. “Any idiot can put ingredients together and brew a potion. Even Muggles can do it so long as it doesn’t involve a spell. But once you understand what’s happening, chemically, underneath, you can adapt your recipes and create an entirely new potion. You’ll save yourself a lot of time, energy, and limbs if you understand the basic chemical properties…”

“Did he just say ‘limbs’?” Matt whispered.

“Mr. Eckerton!” Burke shouted, causing Matt to jump and nearly fall off his chair. “What would happen if I mixed monkshood with aconite?”

“Erm, nothing, Professor,” Matt said. “They’re the same thing.”

Burke smiled, although it more closely resembled a smirk, and nodded, apparently satisfied. “Good. Clearly you know something about the underlying properties of monkshood or aconite, which also goes by wolfsbane.

“Mr. Malfoy! What would happen if I were to take the root of the aconite plant and mix it with syrup of arnica?”

“It would explode, sir?” Malfoy answered tentatively.

“Wrong!” Burke shouted. “Root of aconite mixed with syrup of arnica and heated over a flame will create a noxious gas once it reaches 200 degrees celsius, which is not that hot considering how hot flames normally get. The gas itself won’t kill you, but it will knock you out long enough for the entire potion to catch fire, and, well, if no one finds you you’ll probably burn.”

The bell rang and the entire class hurried to put their books away and scramble out of the room. No one liked being the last one in the dungeon with Professor Burke. Well, Kaden might.

“Read chapter four and write a six inch summary of it for homework! Due on Monday. Mr. Potter and Miss Weasley, I’d like to see you up front.”

“Did you forget to do an essay?” Matt asked.

“No,” Albus answered. He didn’t have the foggiest idea why Burke wanted to see him and Rose after class. “Guess I’ll meet you in the Den?”

“Yeah, sure,” Matt said. He shrugged and headed out the door with John and Amanda.

Albus joined Rose at the front table, where Burke was adding a vial of something to his smoking cauldron.

“Do you two know what this is?” he asked, holding out the vial.

“Powdered bezoar,” Rose answered.

“Right,” Burke said as he set it down. “It neutralizes the poison in this cauldron. Otherwise, one drop would kill both of you.”

Albus’s eyes grew large as he stared at the cauldron. “Poison?”

Burke let out a sharp laugh. “I’m only kidding. It is poisonous in large quantities, which is why I add the powdered bezoar every so often, but it would take a hell of a lot more than a drop to do you in. Plus, you’d have to swallow it.”

Albus glanced at his cousin. She looked terrified and Albus had a feeling his own face matched hers.

“I’m impressed by the two of you. Rose, you are an excellent brewer. And Albus, your brewing skills aren’t nearly on the level as Rose’s, but I like your determination. I’d like to invite you to a club of mine-”

“Oh, I don’t think so, sir, with all due respect,” Rose began.

“Oh, no,” Burke cut in, letting out another laugh. “This isn’t like the Slug Club.”

“You know about that?” Albus asked.

“Of course I do. Horace invited me to the Christmas parties.”

This was just getting weirder, Albus thought. He wasn’t sure he wanted to spend anymore time with Professor Burke, let alone in a club type atmosphere.

“This is a potions club. You’ll learn far more than you learn in class. I’ve selected a few others, mostly N.E.W.T. students, although I have one fourth year in mind to invite.”

Albus had a feeling he knew who that was. Kaden.

“Think about it,” Burke said. “First meeting is a week from Saturday, seven o’clock.”

“We’ll think about it,” Rose said. “Thank you, Professor.”

“I hope to see you both there.”

Albus and Rose hurried out of the room as fast as they could without arousing suspicion, although Albus had a feeling Burke wouldn’t have noticed anyway. Before they were even out the door, he was back to staring into his smokey cauldron.

***

Albus didn’t give much thought to Professor Burke’s potions club after hearing about it after class, as he soon became focused on the first dueling tournament of the year. Gryffindor’s team held practice on Friday night, the night before the tournament and then were instructed to go to bed early by Peter. Albus tried to take his advice, but found himself tossing and turning well into the early hours of the morning out of nerves.

Due to the tournament Albus canceled his tutoring hours, which was just as well since nobody had shown up to any of his Saturday defense sessions. Rose had had a few first and second years show up to her transfiguration sessions, but Albus wasn’t really jealous. The tournament was scheduled to take place in the Great Hall as soon as lunch finished, so after managing half a sandwich, Albus hung around to wait. Rose, Matt, John, Amanda, and Kaden waited with him, as they planned to watch.

After the last few younger students trickled out of the room, Professor Longbottom waved his wand and the house tables vanished. In their place stood a long dueling platform, much more official than the dueling circles used by the junior dueling club. Four smaller tables surrounded it, each one displaying a flag for the four houses. A small set of bleachers stood off to one side.

“Good luck, Albus,” Rose said, smiling. “We’ll be watching.”

Albus nodded. The rest of the group echoed Rose’s words and they headed over to the bleachers, where a small crowd of students and teachers had formed. Until now Albus hadn’t realized people would come just to watch since that never happened during the junior tournaments. He took a deep breath and told himself it was just like a Quidditch match as he walked over to the Gryffindor team’s table.

Peter and Blair had shown up while Albus talked to his friends and he saw Mary and Jansen walk in as he sat down.

“Ready, Albus?” Peter asked, grinning.

Albus nodded. “I suppose.”

“Aw,” Blair said. “Don’t be nervous.”

“Yeah, you’re the best dueler on the team,” Jansen said as he sat down.

Albus’s cheeks grew warm. “I’m not the best. Peter or Blair-”

“Come on, Albus,” Peter said. “You could best either one of us in a duel if you put your mind to it.”

Albus blushed even harder. He knew his teammates were only trying to make him feel better about the tournament, but it was having the opposite effect. What if he lost, when his entire team expected him to win both of his duels? Losing when you’re expected to be the best would be worse than regular losing. He didn’t have that problem with Quidditch since he was an average Quidditch player, and James always overshadowed him anyway. But dueling…he was the only dueler in his immediate family. And he was good. There was no denying that. But was he good enough to beat seventh years?

“Albus?”

Albus blinked and saw Marina standing next to him with a weird look on her face. He glanced around the table and saw the rest of the team was looking at him, too.

“Are you okay?” Marina asked as she sat down.

“Er, yeah,” he muttered.

“Welcome to the first dueling tournament of the year!” Professor Longbottom announced.

Albus turned his head to the dueling platform, where Longbottom now stood, addressing the crowd.

“I’d like to welcome all the new duelers and I wish all the teams luck. We’ll have twenty-four duels today, with each student dueling twice. The schedule is posted at each of your tables. First up are Mary George of Gryffindor and Janus Spears of Ravenclaw.”

Albus and the rest of his teammates wished Mary luck and she ascended to the dueling platform. Albus glanced at the schedule and saw he was in the tenth and eighteenth duels.

Mary won her duel against Janus Spears, earning Gryffindor the first point of the tournament. Albus settled back to watch the duels and noticed they were far more intense than in the junior club. In the junior club, individual duels rarely lasted more than three minutes, with most averaging a minute to a minute and a half. The duels in this tournament seemed to be averaging five minutes. The eighth duel of the day lasted ten, causing Albus to wonder what would happen if two people were so evenly matched that the duel went on for an hour.

“Next up are Albus Potter of Gryffindor and Andy Kaper of Hufflepuff,” Longbottom announced.

Albus swallowed hard and made his way to the platform, whispers of good luck from his teammates following him as he went. He climbed onto the platform and faced Andy, one of the Beaters from the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. Albus hadn’t known he was on the dueling team as well.

Albus and Andy bowed to each other and Longbottom gave the signal that they could begin. The first thing Albus did was throw up a shield, just like the shield he’d learned from Balladanis in third year. He rarely used shield charms when dueling in the junior club because it was easier to just deflect the spells sent by his opponents. But Andy was a seventh year and surely a much better dueler than the younger students he’d been dueling.

The duel began in earnest and Albus learned that Andy was in fact a fantastic dueler. Albus struggled to keep the shield up while throwing out hexes and jinxes, but he only dropped it twice, both times earning a stinging hex to the legs. As he held his shield, he sent continuous jinxes at Andy, hoping a few of them would stick. Quite a few did and soon, Albus saw his chance.

Andy turned to his right and pointed his wand at Albus’s feet, aiming at the weakest point of the shield, but he wasn’t focused on his left.

“Expelliarmus!” Albus shouted as he aimed his wand at Andy from his right, which was Andy’s left.

Andy’s wand went soaring into the air and Albus deftly caught it as he let down his shield charm. Andy stared at Albus, his mouth slightly agape, as he walked over to retrieve his wand.

“Point to Gryffindor!” Longbottom announced.

The small crowd applauded as Albus and Andy stepped down from the platform. Albus returned to his table just as Jansen was stepping up for his duel.

“Where the hell did you learn that shield charm?” Peter asked as soon as Albus sat down.

Albus glanced around the table and saw that his entire team was looking at him strangely, Marina included. Suddenly he felt very self-conscious. “Er, why? Can’t you lot do them?”

Peter shook his head in awe. “No. That’s not something that’s taught until MLE or Auror training. Or seventh year defense if you’ve got a particularly enthusiastic teacher, which we don’t. Blair and I can hold shields, but not for that long and not while sending out other spells.”

“Did your dad teach you?” Blair asked.

“No,” Albus answered.

“Then who taught you?” Peter repeated.

Albus felt his heart speed up. He should’ve just said it was his dad who taught him. That would’ve been believable. “Er, Balladanis taught me,” he muttered.

Four jaws hit the table. Peter and Blair exchanged glances while Mary and Marina simply stared at him.

“You mean Head of Magical Law Enforcement Balladanis?” Peter asked.

“Craziest Defense professor since the war Balladanis?” Blair added.

“Smuggled an illegal and dangerous creature into the castle Balladanis?” Mary asked.

“Got sacked for mysterious reasons involving Matt’s dad Balladanis?” Marina said, her eyes large.

Albus nodded. “Same bloke, yeah.”

Peter burst out laughing. “That is bloody impressive! Did he tutor you?”

“In a way, yeah,” Albus answered, figuring he might as well just tell them the whole thing. They’d weasel it out of him anyway. “He thought Scorpius Malfoy and I were especially good duelers so he taught us spells not normally taught to students, like that shield.”

“Malfoy knows how to do it?” Peter asked, glancing at the Slytherin table. Malfoy was just getting up for his first duel.

“Yeah,” Albus answered as Jansen returned.

“Albus here got private dueling lessons from Balladanis two years ago,” Peter told Jansen, whose jaw also dropped.

“Well, you’ve got to teach us,” Blair said. “We’d be unstoppable.”

Albus couldn’t help but smile. Here were two seventh years practically begging him to teach them how to do a spell they’d never done in their lives. As much as Balladanis terrified him, he was grateful for those lessons. “Okay. Next practice.”

Albus’s shield wasn’t as strong during his second duel and he wound up losing to a sixth year Slytherin, but he didn’t mind. He hadn’t gone into the tournament expecting to win any duels, so winning one was enough to make him happy.

“All right, I have the final scores here,” Longbottom announced after the final duel. “In fourth place is Ravenclaw with nine points. Third place is Slytherin with eleven. Second place is Gryffindor with thirteen. And, in first place, is Hufflepuff with fifteen! Congratulations, Hufflepuff. The next tournament will be on October 24th.”

The spectators began to disperse and Albus saw his friends walking toward the table. He congratulated his team, bade them goodbye, and then met his friends halfway.

“That shield was brilliant!” John exclaimed.

Albus grinned. “Thanks. The whole team wants me to teach them how to do it.”

“It was very impressive,” Rose said as they left the Great Hall.

“Balladanis may have been mental, but I’m really glad he taught me that shield,” Albus said.

“I can’t wait until you duel Malfoy,” Matt said.

Part of Albus was excited about that as well, but the other part of him dreaded the day he’d duel Malfoy. Malfoy, like Albus, had won one of his duels that day. He and Albus were very evenly matched, possibly because they’d both been tutored by Balladanis in third year.

“You better beat him,” John said, “or you’ll never live it down.”

Albus swallowed hard. John was right. If Scorpius beat him in their first duel against each other, the Slytherin would hold it over him for the remainder of their Hogwarts career.

***

“You think he’ll tell us what that potion on his desk is?” Kaden asked as he, Albus, and Rose made their way to the dungeons.

Albus had had no intentions of actually attending Burke’s version of the Slug Club. After suffering through a few Slug Club functions and getting private dueling lessons from Hogwarts’s craziest professor, Albus really had no desire to experience extra potions lessons. Especially since he didn’t even particularly like potions. But, like the Slug Club, Kaden had forced him to at least attend one meeting. Rose, never one to miss an opportunity to learn, was also attending.

“I hope so,” Rose said. “I don’t understand why he doesn’t keep it in his study. What’s the point in having it in the classroom if he isn’t going to use it to teach?”

“You should ask him,” Albus said with a grin.

Rose looked horrified at the very thought. “If anyone could get an answer out of him it’d be Kaden.”

Kaden shrugged. “I’d ask him. I sort of like the mystery, though.”

Albus raised his eyebrows. “You? Usually you want to know everything about anything.”

“I bet he’ll tell us eventually,” Kaden said. “He probably just uses it to make sure we’re paying attention. You wouldn’t want to miss the time he actually told us.”

The door to the potions dungeon was partially open when they arrived. All three of them paused, no one wanting to be the first to enter. Albus gave Kaden a little shove and a look. Kaden was the one who wanted to go so badly, so he ought to be the first one to enter.

Albus and Rose followed Kaden into the room as the younger boy pushed the door open. The dungeon was filled with smoke, just as it was during all their classes. Albus had a feeling the smoking potion never left its home on the front table. Burke was standing over it, staring into its depths with his eyes closed. They snapped open as the door creaked behind them.

“Mr. Potter, Mr. Dursley, Miss Weasley,” Burke said as he turned to look at them.

Albus glanced around the empty room. Hadn’t Burke said he’d invited others as well?

“Please have a seat,” Burke said, gesturing to the table in front of the demonstration table.

Albus sat. Kaden and Rose sat on either side of him. Kaden looked extremely excited and Rose looked as if she was torn between staying put and making a beeline for the door. If it weren’t for them, Albus wouldn’t have even gone in.

“It would appear that you three are the only ones choosing to attend tonight’s meeting,” Burke said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Albus wondered how Burke knew this, considering his clock was covered and there was no way of knowing just how much past seven it actually was.

“I want to reiterate that this is not a reincarnation of the Slug Club,” Burke went on. “Despite how it may look, I care little for your family backgrounds and famous parents. I do not wish to collect students in the hope of perks after they graduate. I picked the three of you because, from what I’ve seen so far, you have determination, drive, and skill in potions.”

Albus stole a glance at Rose, who no longer looked like she wanted to escape. Kaden appeared to be hanging on Burke’s every word.

Burke began to pace the front of the room. “As you know, I am not primarily a professor. When I saw this position open up, I applied for the sole reason of looking for the next generation of potion brewers. However, when I began in September I realized being at Hogwarts presented itself with another opportunity.

“I am a very busy man. At any given moment I have five or six different experimental potions going, all of which currently reside in my study or in this room. With teaching, I do not have as much time for the daily care of these potions, as well as menial research. This is where the three of you come in.

“I wish to give you the opportunity to be my research assistants. Originally, I wanted to employ seventh years, but as you can tell, none of them showed up tonight. The job would involve taking care of my experimental potions and doing research I assigned.”

“We’d actually get to work on your potions?” Kaden asked, in awe, “like that one?” He pointed to the smoking potion.

Burke glanced at the potion, turned back to Kaden, and narrowed his eyes. “No,” he said quietly. “You will not be working on that potion. I have other potions in my study you will care for. This particular potion is volatile and no one, no one except myself, is to touch it.”

That only piqued Albus’s interest. What could possibly be in that potion that would make Burke so intent to keep it secret? It couldn’t possibly be extremely dangerous if he was keeping in in the classroom. Of course, that never stopped Balladanis.

Kaden nodded. “When can we start?”

Burke gave his creepy smile. “Monday, if you desire to take the job.”

“I do!” Kaden exclaimed. “What sort of potions are you working on?”

“I’ll tell you on Monday. Seven o’clock. Mr. Potter, Miss Weasley, please feel free to take tomorrow to decide.”

Albus nodded. “Thank you, professor.”

“Yes, thank you!” Kaden said.

“I’ll see you on Monday, Mr. Dursley,” Burke said as he walked to the door. “Now get back to your common room. I know all three of you have essays for me due this week.”

Albus gave the mysterious potion one more glance before getting up to leave. If he chose to take Burke’s offer and become a research assistant, would he figure out what was in that cauldron? The last thing Albus needed was another activity, but his curiosity needed to know what that potion was for and becoming a research assistant might get him closer to the answer.

9. The Brewing Dungeon

“You’re mad, Albus, completely mad,” Matt said as they sat doing homework in the Marauder’s Den with John, Rose, Kaden, and Amanda after class on Monday. “Why would you want to spend extra time in potions?”

“So he can figure out what’s in Burke’s mystery cauldron,” Rose answered, not looking up from her arithmancy book. “That’s all he cares about.”

Albus wasn’t about to deny this, because it was spot on. Earlier that day Rose had given him a list of reasons as to why he should take the research assistant position including work experience, extra potions help, it would give him a leg up on studying for O.W.L.s, and it would look good on a CV one day, but none of those were the reasons why Albus chose to take the job.

“Good enough reason to me,” John said.

Kaden sighed loudly. “None of you understand how brilliant this really is. Okay, maybe Rose does, but the rest of you? Nope. Edmund Burke is a genius. A potions genius. No one in the world can even come close to him in terms of brilliance when it comes to potions. There are world class brewers out there who would kill for this type of position and here we are, still in Hogwarts, and we get to help with Burke’s research. I owled your sister, Matt, and she’s jealous.”

“You’re right. I don’t get it,” Matt said. “You and my sister are mad. I’m taking one of Burke’s potions every month and it’s done nothing. Maybe you can help him fix it.”

“Not every potion works the first time,” Kaden pointed out.

“I have yet to take a potion that works,” Matt muttered.

“Well, whatever the reason, it’s good Albus is taking the job,” Rose said. “We have to start thinking about what’s going to set us apart when we apply for jobs.”

John groaned. “Rose. For the love of everything holy, do not mention jobs until after O.W.L.s. I don’t think I’ll be able to take it.”

Rose shrugged. “Longbottom will give us career advice before O.W.L.s.”

“Seriously, Rose,” Matt added. “Don’t mention jobs or career advice or leaving Hogwarts. We still have three years.”

“I’m just thinking ahead,” Rose said. “We’d better get to dinner if we want to have time to eat before meeting Burke.”

Albus and the others abandoned their homework and left for the Great Hall. No one discussed O.W.L.s or career advice during dinner, although Albus could tell Rose wanted to. He knew she was right about why he was smart to take the research assistant position, but that didn’t change Albus’s mind about why he personally decided to take it. It might take all year, but he was determined to figure out what was in the mystery cauldron.

“What are you lot going to do now?” Albus asked after dinner, as he, Rose, and Kaden prepared to head to the dungeons.

“I’ve got some…planning to do,” John answered with a mischievous grin.

Matt groaned and turned to Amanda. “Want to go play chess or something?”

“Sure,” Amanda said.

“Are you going to be planning in the Den?” Matt asked.

John shook his head. “I have to go do some calculations.”

Albus raised his eyebrows. “Calculations?”

“Have to figure out how many people we’ll need to finish the prank in two or three hours,” John explained.

As if on cue, James, Nathan, Ben, and Cedric appeared behind them. “Ready?” James asked.

John grinned. “Yep. See you later,” John said.

Matt and Amanda left as well, leaving Albus, Rose, and Kaden to walk down to the dungeons.

“They got James involved,” Albus said as they walked across the Entrance Hall.

“Are you really that surprised?” Rose asked.

“No.” Albus sighed and turned to Kaden. “You’re going to get yourselves expelled.”

“We won’t,” Kaden insisted. “Now, come on, we’re wasting time.”

Kaden took off ahead of Albus and Rose and by the time they reached the potions classroom, Kaden was already inside and waiting. Professor Burke was there as well, staring into his smoking cauldron like usual. He looked up once all three Gryffindors were assembled in front of him.

“All right, then,” Burke said, giving no indication of surprise that all three of them showed up. “Let’s get started. I’ll begin by giving you a tour of my brewing room. Follow me.”

Burke walked out of the room, not looking back to see if they were following him. Kaden hurried to catch up while Albus and Rose followed at a distance.

Albus pondered where Burke’s brewing room could possibly be, and why he had it, as they walked. Slughorn hadn’t had a brewing room; when he wanted to brew something he just used the classroom or his study. But Albus didn’t have long to think on it since Burke stopped at the dungeon two doors down from the potions classroom. He removed his wand from his robes and pointed it at the door, while squeezing the knob with his hand. After muttering a spell, he pushed the door open, and gestured for them to walk in.

Burke waved his wand to illuminate the room and then shut the door behind them. It was smaller than the potions classroom, but still larger than the average professor’s study. It no longer resembled a classroom, and instead of small, round tables, it contained four large square tables, each containing two or three cauldrons. Most of the cauldrons were sitting on small, contained fires.

Albus let his gaze wander to the bookshelves lining the walls, which were identical to the bookshelves lining the walls of the potions classroom. They contained what must have been at least a hundred books, presumably all about brewing. None of them contained any ingredients, but a small door on the opposite wall appeared to lead to some sort of potions cupboard. Another, larger door, was open and led to a study.

“The door is locked with a spell that only recognizes myself,” Burke said as he walked into the middle of the room. “When I took this job I insisted the headmaster allow me to continue the projects I’d been working on, and he allowed me to brew in this classroom. However, I brew with ingredients far more dangerous than those allowed to even N.E.W.T. students. Therefore, the room is to be kept locked at all times, and even you three won’t be allowed in without me. You can pick when you want to work, but I’d prefer you put in at least five hours a week, otherwise I’ll have to find a few other students to pick up the slack. Come find me when you want to work and I’ll accompany you, so long as I am not teaching. If I’m teaching, you won’t be able to work.”

Five hours was manageable, Albus thought. He could work that in around everything else, at least until the spring when he had to start studying for O.W.L.s.

“So,” Burke said, gesturing wildly to the table to his right and knocking a bottle onto the floor in the process. He vanished it with a wave of his wand and acted like it never happened. “The potions. I have seven experimental potions I am currently brewing and dozens of others I am researching. Everything I tell you about the potions and the research is to remain confidential.”

“This one,” Burke said as he pointed to a small silver cauldron next to where the bottle he knocked over had previously been, “is an experimental antidote for ashwinder venom. The pewter cauldron next to it contains a salve for dragon burns.”

Burke moved to the next table, which contained a large copper cauldron and a tiny gold one. “The copper cauldron is similar to Polyjuice Potion, but instead of using it to transform into a specific person, it can be used to alter one’s appearance however one wishes. Very complicated. It involves spells as well as the potion, but the effects are longer lasting than spells alone.

“The gold cauldron is Veritaserum, but I am altering it so that it will have a longer shelf life. I am also hoping to alleviate the fuzzy feeling the taker gets after consuming it.”

The third table contained a medium sized silver cauldron and another standard pewter one. Burke paused as he looked into the silver one, then turned back to Albus, Rose, and Kaden, and gave them one of his creepy smiles. This one didn’t quite reach his eyes. “This cauldron…if I am not mistaken, you three already know a bit about its contents.”

Albus glanced at his friends, suddenly feeling uneasy. As far as Albus knew, he hadn’t taken any potions recently. Rose and Kaden looked equally as confused.

“This potion is supposed to help alleviate the symptoms of lycanthropy in the week prior to the full moon. I am ashamed to say it doesn’t do much of anything yet, but I am working on it.”

Albus’s eyes grew large and he stared at the smoking silver cauldron. He glanced up at Burke, expecting him to say more on the subject, and possibly bring up Matt, but he didn’t. Instead, he moved on to the next cauldron.

“This one is simply a cleaning solution,” Burke said with a bemused expression. “One of my cousins cleans houses for a living and accosted me at Christmas last year, demanding I create a better cleaning solution than Mrs. Skour’s. It’s nearly complete, and doesn’t require anymore research.”

Only one of the cauldrons on the fourth table contained a potion. It was perfectly clear, something Albus couldn’t recall seeing in a potion before.

“This one can retrieve lost or suppressed memories,” Burke said. “At least, that is the goal. So long as the memory has not physically been removed, the potion should be able to retrieve them.”

“What about if they were removed with a memory charm?” Rose asked.

Burke gave her a wry smile. “A memory charm is not a physical removal. In theory, the potion should be able to replace memories suppressed by memory charms.”

“But,” Rose began, furrowing her brow, “that means, if a Muggle were to take that potion, having previously had their memory erased because they saw magic, they could remember?”

Burke nodded. “That is why, if this potion ever works, its creation will be very highly regulated. Not that it will be easy to brew. It will be up there with Felix Felicis, Veritaserum, and Wolfsbane Potion in terms of difficulty.”

Rose nodded, but Albus could see the wheels turning in her head. Whether she approved or disapproved of the potion, Albus couldn’t tell.

“Each potion requires tending to every morning and evening,” Burke said. “For this reason I prefer you come in in the evening rather than the afternoon. I’ll write up daily instructions for each potion and leave them next to each cauldron. I’ll take care of the more complicated tasks.

“In terms of research, I have a number of topics I need information on. I’ll leave the list on the front table. You may use the books in this room, the potions classroom, and the library. That’s it for tonight, as it is getting late. Will any of you be able to come tomorrow night?”

“I have to patrol,” Rose said.

“Dueling practice,” Albus added, almost wishing he’d be able to come help.

“I can!” Kaden said excitedly. Albus wasn’t surprised; Kaden was far less busy than the rest of them.

Burke smiled. “Then I’ll see you tomorrow evening, Mr. Dursley.”

Albus, Rose, and Kaden left the room while Burke began the process of tending to all seven of his potions. Albus wondered what the one in the classroom required, but he doubted Burke would have them care for that one.

“What do you think of that memory potion?” Albus asked once they reached the Entrance Hall.

Rose bit her lip. “I’m not sure. To be honest I’m not entirely sure I agree with the concept of memory charms. They’re used so liberally, and I’m not sure that’s good. But that potion…it’ll be powerful. Between that and the ability to do a memory charm, people will have so much power.”

“But he said it would be regulated,” Kaden pointed out. “I think it’s cool. To think a potion could do all that.”

Albus agreed with Kaden, but he could see where Rose was coming from. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see if Burke gets it to work.”

Rose nodded. “Think about it, though. That’s a powerful and potentially dangerous potion, but he told us about it. Can you imagine what that one in the classroom must do, if he doesn’t even acknowledge it?”

Albus hadn’t thought of it that way, but Rose had a point, and it just made him all the more intrigued by the mysterious smoking potion.

***

“They look so innocent when they’re little,” John commented as he poured more soil into his and Janie’s potted mandrake in herbology on Wednesday.

“They won’t stay this way for long,” Matt muttered as he sat and watched Albus tending to their own mandrake.

“Yeah, just wait until we have to repot them in a month,” Rose added. She and Amanda had finished tending to their mandrake and were now reading the next chapter in their herbology books.

Matt groaned. “Don’t remind me. I think I’ll skip that day.”

“I’ll join you,” Janie said. “I don’t fancy passing out again.”

“You know what would be ironic?” John mused. “Using a Fainting Fancy to get out of repotting mandrakes.” He burst out laughing at his own joke.

“Everyone should be done with their mandrakes!” Longbottom announced. “Five minutes left until class is over, so everyone needs to get washed up.”

Albus, still smirking at John’s joke, pulled off his gloves and hurried over to the sink to wash all the dirt off his arms. Due to the fact that tomorrow was the full moon, Albus did all the work for his and Matt’s mandrake that day. Longbottom never seemed to care, or simply understood, so Albus had been doing all of the hands-on work in herbology on the day before and the day of the full moon ever since they were first years.

Longbottom released the class and Albus and his friends walked back to the castle for lunch. The Great Hall was already packed by the time they arrived, since Matt was going slower than usual. The group found Kaden, who had saved them seats, and sat down to eat before double potions.

“I’m starved,” John said, grabbing the nearest platter of sandwiches. “Taking care of mandrakes is tiring.”

“I’ll say,” Albus agreed as he took two sandwiches from the platter. “How was class, Kaden?”

“Good,” Kaden said as he moved food around his plate.

Albus frowned, wondering why Kaden wasn’t as boisterous as normal. It was then that he noticed the hushed whispering around him, and the fact that none of his fellow Gryffindors seemed to be eating with as much excitement as usual. John hadn’t seemed to notice and was simply stuffing food into his mouth. Rose and Amanda were quiet, and seemed to be listening to the conversation of the two seventh years sitting next to them. Matt didn’t seem to notice anything.

“What’s going on?” Albus asked Kaden. “What’s happened?”

Kaden’s face was pale white, nearly as pale as Matt’s right before the full moon. “Someone got murdered.”

“What?” Albus exclaimed. “Someone at Hogwarts?” Surely if someone at Hogwarts had been murdered, he, as a prefect, would’ve been alerted.

Kaden shook his head. “Somewhere in London. I don’t know. I haven’t heard much.”

Albus glanced down the table to see where his cousins were. He needed to find Bradley, who always seemed to know the most about everything, no matter how recent it had happened. “Oi, Bradley!” he shouted, once locating Bradley a few seats down. “What happened?”

Bradley got up and walked over to Albus and his friends, all of whom, even Matt, were now paying rapt attention.

“What happened?” Albus repeated.

“No one’s exactly sure,” Bradley said, his voice low. “Someone found a body in London, in Knockturn Alley. But he wasn’t murdered with Avada Kedavra-”

“Then what?” Albus asked. He’d never heard of anyone being murdered in recent history with anything else, at least not in the wizarding world.

Bradley drew a finger across his neck. “Knife to the throat. I’m guessing so that it can’t be traced back to anyone’s wand.”

“When?” Rose asked.

“Recently,” Bradley answered. “Sometime this morning. But this is all stuff I’ve heard from everyone else. Nothing’s conclusive and we probably won’t know anything for sure until the Prophet tomorrow morning.”

Albus nodded, but he didn’t want to wait until the morning to find out. The thought of someone slicing someone else’s throat and leaving them to die was somehow worse than the thought of someone killing another with Avada Kedavra. At least the killing curse was quick and painless, or so Albus had been told. But really, how could anyone know? The only person in the world who had ever survived it was Albus’s dad, and he’d been a baby and didn’t remember any of it.

Bradley returned to his seat and Albus and his friends ate their lunches in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. All Albus could think about was the fact that he and his friends had gone to Knockturn Alley assuming it was safe since it was broad daylight and the street was far less dangerous than it had been when their parents were kids. But now someone had been murdered there, also in broad daylight.

“Attention, students!”

Albus looked up from his plate to see Kendrick standing at the staff table. The Great Hall quieted, every face looking up at the headmaster.

“I wish to quell the rumors currently circulating,” he began. “Very little is known at this point, but I can confirm that a man was murdered in Knockturn Alley earlier today. As of right now, that is all that is known. At this time there is no threat to Hogwarts or any of its occupants, so I ask that you all proceed with classes this afternoon as usual.”

“Someone could get murdered on the grounds and we’d still have to go to class,” John muttered.

“Well, when that shopkeeper in Hogsmeade got murdered in third year classes didn’t get canceled,” Rose pointed out. “So why would he cancel them now?”

“Come on,” Albus said, standing up. “Let’s just go to potions.”

The group walked in silence to the dungeons, where they found the classroom to be even smokier than usual. Albus had to blink a few times to allow his eyes to adjust, but even then he could hardly see two feet in front of him. Matt started coughing immediately and Albus heard him sigh as they sat down at their table.

Burke appeared shortly after the bell rang and waved his wand to clear some of the smoke. This was the first time he’d ever even acknowledged its presence in the classroom.

Albus was now able to see a second cauldron on the front table. Burke pointed his wand at it and a small fire formed beneath it.

“Coagulation Potion,” Burke announced, jabbing his wand at the cauldron. “When used with Blood Replenishment Potion it can mean the difference between life or death. When brewed incorrectly, it can mean death itself.”

Albus began to wonder whether he should keep track of how many times Burke mentioned death in a each class. James had probably already begun to take bets on how quickly the potions professor could mention death in a class.

“Can someone tell me what coagulation means?” Burke asked. He pointed at Rose.

“It’s when blood clots,” Rose answered. “The potion is usually used when a person has a large wound that won’t respond to a simple healing charm.”

Burke smiled. “Correct. With normal cuts and wounds, a simple healing charm can be used to mend the wound and therefore there is no need for Coagulation Potion. However, wounds that result from curses or dangerous magical creatures do not respond to the most common of healing charms. When this happens, healers can use Coagulation Potion to buy time while they try other spells or use it in combination with spells. Werewolf bites, for example, require a strict regiment of Coagulation Potion and four different healing charms, used five times a day over the span of anywhere from three days to a week, in order to heal.”

Albus noticed that Burke’s gaze didn’t drift to Matt when he mentioned werewolf bites, which surprised him. Every other professor they’d had always glanced at Matt at the briefest mention of werewolves. It certainly made Albus like Burke more, despite his oddities.

“Yes, Miss Asterly,” Burke said, pointing to Elaine.

“Would this potion have saved that bloke who was murdered in Knockturn Alley?”

Burke closed his eyes briefly, then nodded. “Yes, if this had been administered, chances are it would’ve saved him. Unfortunately, the potion must be used in a timely fashion and, obviously, before a person is actually dead.” His eyes drifted to the mystery potion, but snapped back to the class in a second.

“Coagulation Potion is a three-step process,” Burke continued. “The second two steps are difficult, advanced N.E.W.T. level, but the first step is the perfect challenge for students getting ready to take their potions O.W.L. Today you will brew the first part, and then the seventh year N.E.W.T. students will continue the brewing with the second and third steps. Collaboration. Instructions are on the board. You have the rest of the double class.”

Albus glanced at the instructions and then got up to retrieve the ingredients, knowing full well that he’d be doing most of the work, as the smokey classroom wasn’t helping Matt’s pre-full moon symptoms. But his mind wasn’t on the potion. It was on the murder and how it had been done Muggle style, with a knife. Murder was bad enough, but why would anyone choose to do it in a gorier way?

10. Repotting Mandrakes

Despite Kendrick’s assurances, the next morning’s Prophet did not reveal any new information about the murder in Knockturn Alley. In fact, it revealed less information than the Hogwarts rumor mill had produced. Albus couldn’t be sure of the credibility of the information floating around Hogwarts, but the Prophet’s article paled in comparison. The only information it contained was that a murder had in fact taken place, the murder weapon was a knife, the victim was a witch or wizard, and there was no evidence of magic used in the crime.

This had somehow led most of Hogwarts to believe either the victim was famous or that the Ministry wanted to cover the whole thing up. The most outrageous rumor being that the victim was the new Minister of Magic, who had been murdered by an escaped Death Eater from Azkaban.

“I just overheard a first year telling another one about how the murder victim was half mermaid and that’s why they’re keeping everything quiet,” John said breathlessly as he joined Albus and Amanda in Care of Magical Creatures.

“That’s ridiculous,” Amanda said, not looking up from her sketch of the crup Hagrid had provided for the day’s lesson. “Where have you been, anyway?”

“Left my Care of Magical Creatures stuff in the dormitory,” John said as he pulled his sketchbook out of his bag. “Figured Hagrid wouldn’t care if I was late.”

“I don’t think he noticed,” Albus said, nodding to Hagrid, who was currently wrestling a potions book out of the crup’s mouth.

“Why haven’t they revealed anything else, though?” John asked. “When that bloke in Hogsmeade got murdered it was in the Prophet hours later.”

“They probably haven’t been able to contact his next of kin,” Albus explained. “The MLEs won’t reveal his name to anyone until they can locate his family.”

“Oh,” John said.

“Yeah, not nearly as complicated as the stories everyone is making up,” Albus commented.

“That’s so sad, though,” Amanda said quietly. “He was murdered over twenty-four hours ago and they can’t find anyone? That’s awful.”

Albus agreed. It was bad enough that the poor bloke got murdered, but to not have anyone close for the Ministry to contact upon his death?

Albus, John, and Amanda sketched in silence for the remainder of the class and Albus couldn’t help but notice the silence amongst his classmates as well. Usually everyone talked, often rather loudly, during Care of Magical Creatures since Hagrid never minded and the classes took place outside. But not today. There was a smattering of laughter every time the crup attempted to eat something else that wasn’t meant to be consumed by man or beast, but that was it.

“Want to go visit Matt?” Albus asked after class let out.

“Sure,” John said. Amanda nodded.

Albus kept his ears poised for any new rumors on the murder as they walked back to the castle and up to the hospital wing, but everything he heard were just different combinations and variations of what he’d heard all day. Everyone seemed sure that their story was correct, but Albus doubted that any of them were even close to the truth.

The hospital wing was quiet when they arrived, a sure sign that classes were over for the day. Without any classes for students to try to get out of (or potions to explode), nobody needed Madam Pomfrey. However, two beds were taken, with the curtains drawn. Madam Pomfrey looked up from her desk as they entered, but upon seeing who it was, turned her attention back to her charts.

Albus pulled the curtains back on Matt’s usual bed and the three crowded in before he shut the curtains once more. Matt opened his eyes and squinted at the light. He muttered something incomprehensible and half sat up.

“Sorry, did we wake you up?” Amanda asked.

Matt shook his head. “Nobody can ever wake me up. I just had my eyes closed. Helps with the headache.”

“Was it bad this time?” Albus asked.

Matt shrugged. “No worse than usual. There’s a blue moon on Halloween. That’s going to be bad.”

“Sucks you’re going to miss Hogsmeade,” John said.

Matt nodded and toyed with his sheet. “Can’t do anything about it, though. Have you heard anything about the murder yet?”

“Not yet,” Albus said. He gave Matt a quick run-through of all the rumors he’d heard, as well as his own theory on why the Prophet hadn’t revealed anything.

The door to the hospital wing opened and Albus heard Madam Pomfrey get up and walk toward whomever had just walked in. He turned back to Matt, John, and Amanda.

“Where’s Rose?” Matt asked.

“No idea,” Albus said. “Library is a good bet. She had Arithmancy this afternoon and we came right here from Care of Magical Creatures.”

“Oh, yes, he’s over here,” Madam Pomfrey said. “Right this way.”

Matt’s eyes grew large as Madam Pomfrey’s footsteps, accompanied by another set, became louder. Albus raised his eyebrows, curious as to who else would possibly be visiting Matt. The only other two would be Rose and Kaden, neither of whom would need Madam Pomfrey to show them the way.

The curtains opened and Madam Pomfrey stepped in. Albus had to practically step on John to give her enough room. She had a puzzled look on her face, as if she didn’t quite know what she was doing or why she was doing it.

“Matt, dear,” she said quietly. “Professor Burke is here to see you.”

Matt’s eyes somehow got even bigger, which Albus didn’t think possible. He exchanged a glance with Albus, who shrugged. As far as he knew, the only professors who had ever visited Matt in the hospital wing were Kendrick, Longbottom, and Albus’s dad.

“Why?” Matt asked.

“He’d like to speak with you about the potion,” Madam Pomfrey explained. “But just say the word and I’ll tell him you’re not feeling up to it.”

“No, it’s okay. You can let him in,” Matt replied.

Madam Pomfrey nodded and disappeared. Professor Burke returned in her place, looking vaguely awkward in the tight space between Matt’s bed and the curtain. He glanced at Albus, John, and Amanda, then to Matt, and back again. Albus crossed his arms over his chest, trying to convey the fact that he had no desire to leave and didn’t plan to. Professor Burke seemed to understand this because he nodded once at them and then cleared his throat.

“I realize you are taking my potion through Healer Sterling, but given the fact that we are both here, in the same castle, it would be a waste of data not to ask you a few questions about your experience with it. Anything you tell me will be confidential, at least between the two of us, Mr. Potter, Mr. Brickston, and Miss Tagger. Now, when did you start taking it?”

“July,” Matt answered. “So I’ve taken it before four full moons now.”

“And does it seem to help?” Burke asked.

“No,” Matt muttered, averting his gaze.

Burke sighed. “Have you noticed any effects from it? Positive? Negative? Effects that are neither?”

“I’ve been hungrier after I recover,” Matt said, shrugging. “I don’t know if it’s because of the potion, though.”

“Anything else?”

“Not really,” Matt said.

“All right,” Burke said. “If you notice anything different, anything at all, or remember something, please come see me. If anyone asks, tell them you need something in the homework explained.”

Matt nodded.

“And feel better soon,” he added as he turned to leave.

“Thanks,” Matt said.

Burke disappeared, forgetting to close the curtain behind him. Albus closed it as he stepped away from John, giving the two of them their own space again.

“That was weird,” John said.

“I’ll say,” Matt agreed.

“He does seem to really want to get the potion right,” Albus pointed out.

“Probably because he’s a genius and wants all of his potions to work,” Amanda said.

The curtains opened again and Albus turned, hoping Burke hadn’t come back and heard their last bit of conversation. But it wasn’t Burke. It was Kaden.

“What was Burke doing in here?” he asked immediately. “Madam Pomfrey wouldn’t let me come in until he left.”

“He was asking me questions about the potion I’m taking,” Matt explained.

Kaden looked impressed. “I got to help him with that one last night. It was brilliant.”

“It may be brilliant,” Matt said. “But it’s bloody useless as a potion.”

***

The Daily Prophet did not reveal the identity of the victim of the Knockturn Alley murder until Monday, a full five days after it took place. Albus spent the entire weekend listening to the various rumors his fellow classmates had come up with, each one more ridiculous than the last. Other than that his weekend had been quiet. Only Elsie Willinson showed up to his tutoring session, something that Albus had come to terms with a few weeks ago. Apparently the other prefects had had people attend their sessions, but Albus had a feeling Defense class with Young was so easy that no one needed help filling out his worksheets. Albus also went to two Quidditch practices, one dueling practice, and patrolled with Rose Sunday night.

At breakfast on Monday copies of the Prophet changed hands faster than Galleons at a Quidditch match, with every student wanting to read firsthand who got murdered in Knockturn Alley. Albus, Matt, and John sat down at the Gryffindor table next to Rose, who already had a copy. She set it in front of Albus without saying a word. Albus unfolded it and set it on his plate, so Matt and John could read over his shoulders.

FALCONS SEEKER MURDERED

Ministry Aurors are currently investigating a brutal
murder that took place on September 30th in Knockturn
Alley in London. Late last night Aurors identified the
victim to the public as 26-year-old Steven Cousins of
Falmouth. Cousins, starting Seeker for the Falmouth
Falcons, is survived by his wife, Elizabeth, and their
two children. For full obituary, see page six.

As previously reported, Cousins’s throat was found
sliced at the scene, and Ministry Healers have
announced cause of death as blood loss, a direct result
from the wound on Cousins’s throat. There are
currently no suspects. Anyone with information is
asked to contact the Auror department immediately.

“Steven Cousins?” John exclaimed, his eyes wide. “Why would anyone murder a Quidditch player?”

“Why would anyone murder anyone?” Amanda asked, shuddering.

“How do they not have any suspects?” Albus asked. “It’s been five days!”

“This whole thing makes no sense,” Matt added. “Surely there were witnesses.”

“If there were any witnesses they probably didn’t stick around,” Rose said. “It was in Knockturn Alley after all.”

“Did they announce his name?” Kaden asked, squeezing his way onto the bench in between Albus and Matt.

Albus nodded and handed the Prophet to Kaden. “They aren’t giving out much information, though.”

“The Falcons are screwed now,” John said. “Cousins was a brilliant Seeker. England wanted him, but he turned them down because he thought it would put strain on his family.”

“Do you think that’s why he got murdered?” Matt asked.

John shrugged. “Why was he even in Knockturn Alley? Famous Quidditch players don’t usually turn up there.”

“Young was there,” Kaden pointed out, setting down the paper. “Professors don’t usually go there either.”

“But Young is weird,” John said. “He’s been here over a year and no one knows anything about him except that he doesn’t like to actually teach.”

“Which means he won’t be around much longer,” Albus said as he pointed to the staff table. “Look who’s back.”

Margaret MacDougal, the educational liaison, was seated next to Kendrick as she shoved bite after bite of sausage into her mouth. She certainly had a healthy appetite, Albus thought. She was a large woman, both round and tall, and her greying brown hair was pulled into a tight bun.

“He won’t pass, that’s for sure,” Rose agreed. “Can’t say I’ll miss him.”

“Do you think anyone else is in danger?” Amanda asked.

“Maybe Binns,” Rose said with a shrug. “Just because he probably won’t want to update his curriculum. And maybe Trelawney, but she got sacked when our parents were in fifth year and it didn’t go well, so I think she’s just here because Dumbledore wanted her to stay. I don’t think anyone would contradict Dumbledore even now that he’s dead.”

Albus nodded in agreement. He didn’t have any issue with Trelawney because he didn’t take Divination. Nor did he particularly care whether Binns kept his job since History of Magic was dead boring and Albus had no plans to continue it after fifth year anyway. Plus, Binns was a ghost and could hang around the castle whether he was teaching or not.

“I hope she comes to Divination today,” John said as he stood up. “Might liven things up.”

Amanda laughed as she got up as well. The two of them set off for the North Tower, leaving the rest of the group with a few minutes to finish up their breakfasts. After they finished, Albus, Rose, and Matt bade Kaden goodbye and headed for the Ancient Runes classroom.

MacDougal wasn’t in the Ancient Runes classroom, not that her presence would’ve made much of a difference in that class. Albus enjoyed the class enough, but it was a mostly lecture driven class and another person in attendance would hardly be noticeable. But when Albus, Rose, and Matt made their way to the greenhouses after Ancient Runes, they found MacDougal talking with Longbottom and the clipboard in her hand made it clear she’d be observing him during class.

To Matt’s dismay, there was also a large pile of earmuffs on the front table. He groaned loudly as he, Albus, and Rose each took a pair and went to sit at their usual table. Amanda and John joined them a short while later.

“How can they need to be repotted already?” Matt asked, eyeing his and Albus’s mandrake with mutiny.

“They grow fast,” Rose explained. “They’ll probably need to be repotted at least once more before we harvest them.”

“Why can’t we just plant them in big pots?” Matt asked.

“Because they like the snug feeling of a smaller pot,” Rose said. “They grow better this way.”

“Quiet down, everyone!” Longbottom shouted. “Madam MacDougal is observing today, so please be on your best behavior. We’re repotting the mandrakes today, so if you haven’t already taken a pair of earmuffs, please take one now. When I give you the signal you may begin. After you’re finished read the chapter on mandrake use in potions until the class is over. Don’t remove your earmuffs until I give the signal for a second time.”

“Professor?” MacDougal asked.

“Yes?” Longbottom replied, his brow furrowed.

“Just a few questions before we all put on our earmuffs. Mandrake repotting is normally part of a second year curriculum. Can you explain why you’re having fifth years do it?”

Longbottom nodded. “They are not simply repotting the mandrakes. This class has grown these mandrakes from seed and will continue to care for them up until the point when they can be harvested for potions. They will do the harvesting themselves and then use the mandrakes in potions they will prepare with Professor Burke. They will also be writing a paper on mandrake use in potions, which they will research in the library with Miss Walsh.”

Albus exchanged a glance with his friends. Longbottom hadn’t explained the paper portion of the mandrake project yet and a few groans could be heard from the class. MacDougal smirked upon hearing them.

“It’s a collaborative project,” Longbottom added.

“Excellent.” MacDougal smiled as she scratched away at her clipboard. “Continue.”

“Earmuffs on,” Longbottom said as he put his own set of earmuffs on. He walked around the room to check to make sure everyone else had done so, and then gave them the okay signal to tell them to start repotting.

Matt looked thoroughly miserable as Albus slid the larger pot in front of them, so that it was directly next to their potted mandrake. The two boys grabbed handfuls of soil and filled the new pot halfway before turning to the mandrake.

Albus grabbed hold of the mandrake with his gloved hand and was about to yank it out of the soil when a sudden shrieking filled the air. A few other students had prepared their pots faster and beat Albus and Matt to the part where they pulled the mandrakes out.

The shrieking was awful, despite the earmuffs. Albus tried to tune it out as he tightened his grip on his own mandrake, but it made him feel slightly woozy, as if part of his mind was no longer in his body. Before pulling the mandrake out of its pot, he glanced at Matt, who was slumped over the table.

Albus let go of the mandrake and poked Matt to see if he was still conscious. He was, but only slightly so. He attempted to sit up, but slid off his stool and onto the floor. Albus wondered if he should perhaps get Longbottom, but there was no way to get his attention properly while everyone was wearing earmuffs and the air rang with the sound of screaming mandrakes. Plus, when they were second years, Longbottom just let anyone who passed out wake up on their own, as that’s what Professor Sprout did with him when he passed out from a mandrake cry in his own second year. Instead, Albus turned back to his mandrake.

It didn’t take long to get the mandrake into its new home. Albus quickly poured soil over its screaming head and patted it down tightly. He poured a growth potion and a cup of water into the soil and the whole process was finished. By this point most everyone had finished repotting their mandrakes and the din was lessening. Albus carried his mandrake back to where the class’s mandrakes were kept and joined the queue of students waiting to deposit their own pots. As he waited, he exchanged glances with Rose, Amanda, and John, all of whom seemed concerned about Matt.

When they returned to their table Longbottom gave the all clear signal and everyone removed their earmuffs. Half the class was already reading the assigned chapter, but Albus made no move to open his book. Instead, he crouched down on the floor and yanked Matt’s earmuffs off his head and attempted to wake him up. It took a few minutes, but he managed to wake him and get him back onto his stool.

At this point Longbottom had realized what had happened. Earlier in the year when the mandrake had been knocked off the desk and a few students had passed out, Longbottom hadn’t given it a second thought. He just let them wake up on their own and that was that. But when he saw Matt, he looked worried. Albus wasn’t sure whether it was because MacDougal was there, and it was frowned upon to cause students to pass out during class, or if it was because Matt was Matt.

“Take him to the hospital wing, Albus,” Longbottom said quietly.

Matt was very unsteady on his feet and leaned on Albus heavily as they walked slowly back up to the castle. It reminded him very much of second year when he did the same thing, except Matt seemed more upset about it now.

“Is it because of the lycanthropy?” Albus asked quietly as they entered the castle.

Matt shrugged. “Probably. I don’t know. My ears are ringing and my head is pounding. Did that happen to Amanda when she passed out in September?”

“I don’t think so,” Albus said.

Matt sighed, but didn’t say anything else. The two walked silently up to the hospital wing, where the found Madam Pomfrey in a sea of third years, including Lily. Madam Pomfrey didn’t even notice them enter, so Albus led Matt to the nearest empty bed and then walked over to his sister.

“Lily, what happened?” Albus asked, glancing around at the noisy third years and frazzled nurse.

Lily jumped in surprise and turned to Albus. “Oh, Al, I didn’t see you come in. Professor Burke dropped a potion and it exploded on impact. Half the class got splashed with it and nearly everyone who touches it with their bare skin has an allergic reaction.”

“Did you?” Albus asked, suddenly concerned about his sister.

“Oh, no, I’m fine,” Lily said. “Hugo did, though.” She gestured to Hugo, who was currently getting salve rubbed on his arms by Madam Pomfrey.

“All right!” Madam Pomfrey shouted, very exasperated. “You’re all going to be fine. Get back to class.”

Lily said goodbye to Albus and followed her salve-covered fellow students out of the room. As soon as the door slammed behind her the hospital wing got quiet and Madam Pomfrey threw her hands up in the air and groaned. Albus stifled a laugh.

The nurse turned around and jumped in surprise just as Lily had to see Albus standing next to one of the empty beds. Her gaze drifted to the bed where Matt was now sitting with his head in his hands, and she immediately bustled over.

“Matt!” she exclaimed. “What on earth happened? How long have you been here?”

“I don’t know,” Matt muttered.

“Not long,” Albus answered. “Five minutes or so.”

“What happened?” the nurse asked again as she sat down on the bed and put her arm around Matt.

Matt slowly lifted up his head and Albus could see his eyes were rimmed red, just like they had been when they snuck into the apothecary over the summer. “Mandrakes,” he said hoarsely. “I passed out again, just like in second year. Except this time it was worse, I think. I don’t know. I still hear the screaming and my head feels like it’s going to explode and-”

“Shhh,” Madam Pomfrey said. “It’s okay. Get into bed and I’ll get you a potion. I’m telling Longbottom that you can’t repot mandrakes anymore.”

“But-” Matt began.

“No buts,” she said as she stood up and hurried over to the potions cabinet. She returned with a goblet of potion and handed it to Matt. “You pass out because of your acute hearing. You hear a mandrake’s cry much louder than the average witch or wizard and I guarantee the issue is that the earmuffs Longbottom provides don’t muffle the sound enough for you. But enough is enough. Repotting mandrakes isn’t so important that it’s worth the risk, even if you did get a better pair of earmuffs.”

Matt nodded glumly, although Albus had a feeling he was relieved. This wouldn’t be their only time repotting mandrakes since their class was responsible for these specific plants and they’d be using them throughout the year.

“What classes do you have this afternoon?” she asked.

“History of Magic and Potions,” Matt answered after swallowing the potion. “Then Astronomy at midnight.”

Madam Pomfrey nodded. “Good. Stay here through lunch and History of Magic. If you’re feeling better in time for Potions, I’ll let you leave for that.” She turned to Albus. “Albus, get going to lunch. No point in going back to Herbology now.”

Albus nodded. “See you in Potions,” he said to Matt.

“Yeah,” Matt whispered. His eyes were already closed and he looked nearly asleep.

Albus hardly paid any attention on the journey to the Great Hall, as mind lost in thought. Matt, usually so quiet about his illness, seemed to be getting more and more fed up by its limitations. Either that or he was encountering more limitations as he grew older. Albus wasn’t sure which it was, but either way, he all of a sudden completely understood why Amy went into healing and brewing. While Albus hadn’t thought much about careers lately, healing was one he couldn’t rule out.