Albus Potter and the Potions Master's Solution

21. Mr. Grayson

Returning to Number 12 Grimmauld Place after Christmas at the Burrow was always a bit of a let down, but this year it was especially boring. After Teddy and Victoire got engaged, the excitement in the Burrow only increased, something Albus hadn’t thought possible. Everyone played Quidditch with even more gusto than normal, and even Rose participated (although she wasn’t very good). Teddy’s team won, but Albus had been on James’s team. It still surprised Albus that Teddy never got recruited by one of the League teams, but he supposed they hadn’t needed any Seekers the year Teddy graduated. Now he was too absorbed in the Auror department to play Quidditch professionally.

Georgia, on the other hand, was still as passionate about playing for the Kenmare Kestrals as ever. She invited the entire family to a match that took place on the 30th and everyone who went got to watch in the top box. Georgia didn’t play, but she did keep up a running commentary about everyone on the team and how brilliant it would be when she was a starting player the following season.

Albus, James, and Lily spent most of New Year’s Eve setting up for the party, having been recruited by their parents to prepare snacks, clean the house, and put up decorations. Their parents hadn’t hosted a party in years, but Albus was very happy that this year the New Year’s party he was attending would be at his own house.

“Remember, Harry, I don’t want this turning into a work party,” Ginny said as she supervised a group of knives chopping carrots and celery. Harry was slicing rolls.

“I know, I know,” Harry said.

Albus’s mum had spent the past week reminding his dad that she didn’t want the party turning into a work party, since they’d gone to parties at the Minister’s Mansion the past two years for New Year’s. Part of Albus hoped it would turn into a work party just so he could find out more information on the murders, but it would also be nice just to forget about that for the night.

“I mean it, Harry,” Ginny continued. “How many people from the Ministry did you invite?”

“Not counting family members?” Harry asked, grinning.

“Yes, not counting family members,” Ginny huffed, sounding an awful lot like Nana Molly.

“Just Walter Eckerton, then,” Harry answered.

“You invited Matt’s parents?” Albus cut in.

“It was last minute,” Harry explained. “I should’ve invited them earlier, but it slipped my mind. And I didn’t want word spreading around the Ministry that I was having a party and not inviting mostly everyone.”

“You make it sound like a school,” Ginny said as she released the knives and started arranging the vegetables on platters. “Would anyone really be that upset if they found out about it?”

“Not the entire Ministry. Obviously Draco Malfoy wouldn’t be itching to come over to our place, but a few of the other Aurors might be put out. Not that they’d show it.”

“Who did you lot invite?” Ginny asked, turning to Albus, James, and Lily.

“Just Ashtyn,” Lily answered. “She’s coming with John.”

“Matt, of course,” Albus began. “And John, Amanda, and Kaden if Kaden can convince Uncle Dudley not to make him go visit his aunt Marge.”

Harry shuddered. “I hope for his sake he gets to come here.”

“Harry,” Ginny scolded.

“What? She’s a bloody awful woman. You know it, too.”

Ginny said nothing, but turned her attention to James. “What about you? I need to make sure I’ve got enough food.”

“Just Nathan,” James said. “And…well….”

“Well what?” Ginny asked.

Albus turned to James, who had stopped dusting the mantelpiece.

“I, er…I invited Meg Johnson,” James muttered. “She’s, er, my girlfriend.”

Ginny closed her eyes for a few seconds, before looking back to James. “And what happened to Gabby?”

“We broke up a while ago.”

“James has been dating Meg for a while now,” Lily piped up.

“Is this why you were asking me about Johnson’s kids?” Harry asked Albus.

Albus nodded, not wanting to be a part of this conversation.

“Bloody hell,” Harry said quietly, shaking his head.

“What?” James asked.

“Your father doesn’t see eye-to-eye with Johnson about how the department is being run,” Ginny explained, turning to Harry. “You’re not going to invite him now, are you?”

“Of course not.” He turned to James. “But James, you cannot repeat anything I say about work to her. Do you understand? I’m not going to tell you who you can and can’t date, but this is very, very important.”

James nodded. “I know.”

“They don’t really talk much, anyway,” Lily said.

“Lily, shut up!” James said.

Albus stifled a laugh. Despite the fact that this party wasn’t going to be a work party, it might be interesting yet.

Uncle Ron, Aunt Hermione, Rose, and Hugo were the first to arrive. Once they did, Albus, James, and Lily were released from their tasks and the adults took over the rest of the preparation. The rest of the family (sans Uncle Charlie, Aunt Katherine, and their kids, as well as Georgia and Gabriella, who had a Gryffindor class reunion type party to go to at the Three Broomsticks), arrived before anyone else. The rest of the party goers trickled in afterward and by the time the clock struck eight, a dull roar could be heard throughout the crowded house.

Albus and his friends stationed themselves in the drawing room, strategically next to the dessert table, of which Albus had already taken full advantage. Rose, John, and Amanda had arrived and all four of them were comparing their Christmases while waiting for Matt, and possibly Kaden, to get there.

“And then my cousin Madison decided it would be a good idea to give Isabelle’s cat a bath,” John continued, describing Christmas morning at his cousins’ house. “Right while we were all opening our presents.”

“That sounds eventful,” Rose said, laughing.

“It would’ve been more so if Ashtyn hadn’t walked in on Madison and the cat in the bathroom and let the cat out of the tub. We would’ve wound up at St. Mungo’s. As is Madison was covered in scratches. My dad fixed her up.”

“I went to my uncle’s house for Christmas this year,” Amanda said as she grabbed another biscuit off the table.

“I thought you didn’t celebrate Christmas,” John said.

“I don’t. But my uncle, the Prime Minister, does. So does his family. His wife, my aunt Megan, isn’t Jewish. So sometimes we go to their house for Christmas. It wasn’t nearly as exciting as yours sounded, John.”

“But he’s the Prime Minister,” John said.

“What do you think Albus’s uncle would’ve done for Christmas if he’d won the election?”

“Same as he’s always done,” Albus answered.

“Exactly.” Amanda laughed. “Oh, look, Matt’s here!”

Albus looked up and saw Matt squeeze in between Aunt Alicia and Angie, who were queued up for food. He snagged a couple biscuits as he did so and sat down in the empty chair in between Albus and Rose. Albus noticed he looked very exhausted and walked with an obvious limp.

“Sorry I’m late,” he said in between bites. “Took me all day to convince my parents to let me come in the first place.”

“What happened?” Rose asked, eyeing his leg suspiciously.

Matt eyed the queue at the desert table. “Can we go up to your room, Albus?”

“Sure,” Albus said.

It took the group quite a while to get to the stairs and go up to Albus’s room. On the way, Albus was stopped by no fewer than three of his family members who seemed to already have partaken in quite a few alcoholic beverages, all of whom insisted on asking him various questions about school. Even Auntie Muriel was there. Albus had to admit that she scared him a bit, especially when she peered at him over the top of her bejeweled glasses and asked him what he planned to do with the rest of his life.

“I swear she’s going to live longer than Dumbledore,” Albus muttered when they finally reached the stairs. “She’s well over a hundred.”

“I think she’s out to prove that death is for the weak,” Rose added with a wicked grin.

They reached Albus’s bedroom and Albus shut the door behind them. Matt flopped onto the bed and Albus sat next to him, while Rose, John, and Amanda sprawled out on the floor. Amanda picked up stray chocolate frog card and grinned.

“I freaked my cousin out with one of these on Christmas,” she said.

“Which card?” Rose asked.

“Your dad,” Amanda answered.

“You know he’s got the first card of himself ever made framed in our house,” Rose said. “It’s his proudest achievement.”

Amanda laughed. “From the few times I’ve met him, I’m not surprised.”

“Mum says he was unbearable the day he got his photograph done. Wouldn’t shut up about it for a month after. Uncle Harry just looks really awkward whenever you bring up the fact that he’s on one.”

“Does he have it framed somewhere?”

Albus laughed. “Definitely not.” He turned to Matt, who was laying down and staring at Albus’s poster of the current Puddlemere team. “So, what happened last night?”

“According to Healer Sterling I aggravated an old injury. When I had to transform in that Ministry center all those ago I hurt my leg really badly. It got better, but apparently it’s possible to re-injure it.”

“How did you do that in a padded room?” Rose asked.

Matt shrugged. “Must’ve happened when I was transforming.”

“You had to go to St. Mungo’s?” Albus asked.

“Yeah. Earlier. Only got home a few hours ago, and my parents weren’t going to let me come here. The only reason they did was because they came too.”

Rose looked skeptical. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I wanted to come. I’m sick of missing out on stuff because of this.”

“Will your leg be better by the time term starts?” John asked.

“I don’t know, to be honest. Last time it took weeks, but it’s different than last time. Healer Sterling said it’ll just heal on its own.”

“You’re not still taking that potion, are you?” Amanda asked hesitantly.

Matt sat up suddenly. “Of course not. I’m not stupid.”

“Sorry,” Amanda muttered. “But you seemed pretty insistent on it before.”

“Because it meant I had a chance. Burke’s tweaking it and once he’s done, I’ll take it again. He said it should be ready for January.”

Amanda muttered something under her breath, but Albus couldn’t hear it, and if Matt heard it, he didn’t respond. Instead, he lay back down and closed his eyes like he did when he had a headache. But if he had a headache, he made no mention of it.

“So,” Matt said. “Where’s Kaden?”

“He wasn’t sure he’d be able to come. His aunt Marge is visiting, and he lives an hour away. I don’t think my parents would be willing to Apparate and get him with Marge around, either,” Albus explained. “She’s awful.”

There was a knock on the door. “Come in!” Albus said.

The door opened and Harry stuck his head in. “Oh, there you are. Matt, your dad was wondering where you went.”

Matt groaned. “Tell him I’m fine.”

Harry smiled. “Parents worry. You’ll see when you have kids. Albus, Kaden can’t come. Dudley just rang. Something about Marge wanting to spend time with all of them.” Harry disappeared and shut the door.

Albus sighed and leaned back against the wall. “I’m not surprised. Do you want to go back downstairs?”

“Can we just stay here?” Matt asked. “It’s a bit crowded down there.”

“Sure,” Albus said, glancing at Rose, who looked worried.

“Actually,” Amanda said, a grin splayed across her face. “I had a bit of an idea last night.”

John brightened. “What sort of idea? You don’t mean a prank, do you?”

Amanda laughed. “Of course not. Albus, your mum writes for the Prophet, doesn’t she?”

“Yeah,” Albus said, unsure of where this was going. “She’s the senior Quidditch editor.”

Amanda grinned. “That’s what I thought. I can’t believe I didn’t think of it before, and Rose, I’m shocked you haven’t thought of it.”

Rose looked confused. “Thought of what?”

“We should ask her if anyone’s been asked to cover things up, in terms of those murders,” Amanda explained. “Has there been any new information about Michael Sheldon recently?”

“No,” Albus answered. “If there have been any updates, they haven’t been published.”

“See?” Amanda said.

“Mum does Quidditch, not front page stuff,” Albus said. “You’d have to ask the other writers.”

“Who’s in charge?” Amanda asked.

Albus wracked his brain. He knew he’d heard his mum mention the names of some of the other senior editors before. “I think someone called Natalie? I can’t remember her last name. And a bloke…Jason or Mason or something.”

“Any chance they’re here tonight?”

“Actually…” Albus began, “actually one of them might be. Mum said this wasn’t a work party. She told Dad that repeatedly, but I think she did invite a few people from the Prophet.”

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go find one of them!”

“How do we do that?” John asked. “We don’t know what they look like.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Rose said as she stood up. “All we have to do is wander around slowly enough to listen in on people’s conversations. We’ll hear something that gives it away. Plus, everyone’s had at least a few drinks by now. That’ll make it easy.”

“Now you’re getting it,” Amanda said as she stood up as well.

Albus got off the bed, eager to start. He hadn’t even thought of finding out information through his mum’s colleagues, but they’d probably be easier to get information out of than the other Aurors.

“What about Matt?” John asked.

Albus glanced at Matt, who had fallen asleep. “Let him sleep. We can wake him up if we find out anything.”

John nodded in agreement and the four left the room. Albus quietly shut the door behind them.

***

Nearly two hours later Albus still hadn’t found any of the editors, or found out any information regarding either murder. What he had done was walk in on Teddy and Victoire snogging in the loo, and learned that when Hannah Longbottom was at Hogwarts, she often snuck into the kitchens and did her homework there because she could concentrate better there than in the library. Nobody he encountered was discussing the murders, nor had he seen anyone he didn’t at least vaguely recognize. There were a few witches and wizards that he couldn’t quite place, but none of them seemed like editors from the Prophet. Amanda’s idea had been good, but so far it wasn’t helping them much.

The clock struck eleven and Albus wandered back into the drawing room to get another piece of treacle tart. He was surprised to find his parents next to the table, talking to Matt’s parents. Other than the four of them, the room was empty. None of them turned around when Albus wandered in, so he lurked near the doorway in order to listen to their conversation. If anything, the past two hours had taught him that people were far less likely to notice you spying on them after they’d had a few drinks.

“I’ve never met him,” Harry said. “None of the kids have said anything particularly scathing about him, but rumor has it he’s barking mad. Dumbledore level madness. Genius type of madness.”

“That’s what I heard,” Mr. Eckerton replied. “I honestly thought this could help, and it does. But at what cost? The side effects are brutal. I’ve never had much faith in anything else we’ve tried, but when I heard he was working on something, I got my hopes up. I shouldn’t have, obviously. But if the world’s best Potions Master can’t help, then who can?”

“Maybe it’ll be someone who isn’t an official brewer yet,” Harry mused. “Kaden Durlsey is particularly good.”

Mr. Eckerton laughed. “So I’ve heard. Still, it’s not very encouraging, when a potion created by the century’s most celebrated brewer has such awful side effects.”

“His goal wasn’t to fix Wolfsbane,” Mrs. Eckerton said. “Remember that. This was something completely different.”

Burke, Albus thought. They were discussing Burke and his failure of a potion that only made the past few full moons even worse for Matt. But why were they talking about side effects? If the goal of the potion was to ease the symptoms before the full moon, and the potion made those worse, wouldn’t that be more than just side effects?

“Wish Belby would come out of retirement,” Mr. Eckerton muttered. “Who creates a life changing potion and then goes into hiding, never to be heard from again? Talk about mad.”

“I heard he couldn’t take the pressure,” Ginny said. “Oh, Albus! I didn’t see you there.”

Albus walked over to the table, pretending as if he’d just walked into the room. “Yeah, just came in for some food.”

“Where’s Matt?” Mrs. Eckerton asked, a look of concern on her face.

Albus thought about lying and saying Matt was in another room with the rest of their friends, but figured his parents would follow him to go check on their son. “He’s up in my room…asleep.”

Mrs. Eckerton sighed. “I knew this was a bad idea.”

“There’s not much difference in sleeping here or sleeping at home, Jule,” Mr. Eckerton said quietly. “At least this way he can feel like he isn’t missing out on anything.”

Albus had a feeling Matt would feel differently once he woke up and realized Albus and the others went off to investigate the Prophet without him, but clearly he needed the sleep.

“Should we take him home?” Mrs. Eckerton asked, glancing from Albus’s parents to her husband and back.

“Don’t worry about it,” Harry said. “We understand. It’s perfectly fine for him to sleep here.”

“He’s fine, Julie,” Mr. Eckerton said. “Let’s go get another of those Golden Snitch drinks. They’re fantastic.”

Albus watched the four adults leave the room before serving himself a huge slice of treacle tart. He took a few bites and then set off to find the rest of his friends.

After wandering around the first floor and only finding various relatives in differing stages of inebriation (including Auntie Muriel, who was berating Heather for the state of her messy hair), Albus walked downstairs to the dining room. This particular room was even more crowded, but Albus soon located Rose and Amanda talking to an old, stooped man wearing a monocle in his left eye.

“Oh, yes, I hear from Rita Skeeter at least once a month!” the man exclaimed, his drink slopping over its brim and onto the floor. “Just last month she wanted me to print an article she’d written on your uncle. Claimed what happened in the Chamber of Secrets last year rattled him into insanity. Barking mad, that one!”

Rose laughed, but it was an uneasy laugh. She noticed Albus and visibly relaxed. “Albus! Might I introduce you? This is Mr. Grayson, the head editor of the Prophet. Mr. Grayson? This is Albus Potter.”

Albus managed to prevent his jaw from dropping as he shook the old man’s hand. Rose and Amanda had done it. They’d managed to find the head editor of the Prophet, despite Albus’s not remembering his name correctly.

“Albus Potter! Very pleased to meet you,” Mr. Grayson said as he dropped Albus’s hand. “I’ve met you before, but you were about half your size. You broke my desk lamp. Or maybe that was your brother….”

Albus laughed. “I’m sure it was James. He’s around here somewhere. Are you enjoying the party?”

“Very much!” Grayson said, raising his drink. “That Ted Lupin is an excellent bartender. Too bad he decided to become an Auror.”

Mr. Grayson seemed to have enjoyed more than an average number of Teddy’s drinks.

“I was just telling young Rose and Amanda about what it’s like to work for the Prophet.”

“He’s been very helpful, especially since I want to go into journalism,” Amanda said, giving Albus a significant look.

Albus had to stifle a laugh, although Grayson probably wouldn’t have even noticed. Amanda certainly was clever.

“I suppose what I’d like to know next is if you’ve ever had to cover anything up because the Ministry wanted you to?”

Grayson closed his eyes and sighed. “Ah, yes, well, you wouldn’t know much about it, would you? Being Muggle-born. During the height of You-Know-Who’s power, we published all sorts of propaganda. I’m deeply ashamed.” He shook his head. “I don’t like to speak of it. Very dark time in my life. In all of our lives, I suppose.”

“So you wouldn’t do it again?” Amanda prodded. “I couldn’t help but notice the paper has skirted around the cause of death in both of the recent murders.”

Grayson gave a wry smile. “You’ll make an excellent journalist. But I’ve had years of experience, Amanda.” He raised his glass. “Even seven or eight of these won’t knock me off my toes.”

“Then you are covering something up?”

Grayson laughed. “It’s a lot more complicated than that, my dear. A lot more complicated. Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I need some more refreshment.” Grayson tipped his glass back into his mouth and downed the remaining amber liquid, before hobbling out of the room without another glance at Albus, Rose, and Amanda.

“That was weird,” Albus said, shaking his head.

“Weird, yet informative,” Amanda replied. “Come on, let’s go find John.”

“But he didn’t say anything one way or the other,” Albus pointed out as he followed Amanda and Rose out of the room.

“Exactly,” Amanda said, turning around to smile at Albus. “By not giving us a straight answer, he gave us exactly what we needed.”

Albus sighed. Sometimes, when he spent a lot of time with Rose and Amanda, he felt really stupid.

22. Elsie’s Evidence

“How is it that even when I’m here I miss everything?” Matt said, shaking his head.

After locating John, the group returned to Albus’s room to discuss what they’d learned from Mr. Grayson. Matt, after being woken up, was just as peeved about missing out on the search as Albus had suspected.

“I missed it, too,” John said. “I was discussing magical creatures that may or may not exist with Luna while attempting to keep her kids from climbing the bookcases.”

“Kaden will be jealous,” Matt said. “He seems to have a fondness for made-up magical creatures.”

“Can we get back to Grayson?” Amanda asked, glaring at Matt and John. “This is important.”

Both boys shut up immediately and waited for Amanda to begin.

“Thank you,” Amanda said. “Anyway, Grayson was really drunk, so I fed him a story about wanting to go into journalism. That got him going on his own life story about how he wound up at the Prophet. I pretended to be interested in that for ten minutes or so, and then Rose showed up. Rose asked him about Rita Skeeter and he remembers her. Apparently she still tries to send him articles for publication, but he always turns them down.

“Then Albus showed up and I managed to steer the conversation to when the Prophet covered things up during the war. He readily admitted to it, but when I asked about the recent murders, he got really vague and wouldn’t confirm anything. So the way I see it he is covering something up, because if he wasn’t, he’d have no reason to be vague about it.”

That’s what Amanda had meant when she’d said Grayson gave them exactly what they needed, Albus thought. It made sense, even though it wasn’t concrete proof.

“So what are they covering up?” Matt asked, stifling a yawn.

“I don’t know. He wouldn’t tell us. He went off for another drink.”

“I wish there was some way for us to find out what they’re covering up,” Albus said, staring at the ceiling. “But short of breaking into the Ministry….”

“Albus, you are not going to solve these murders,” Rose said flatly. “This is different than past years, when things were happening at Hogwarts. This is much bigger than that.”

“I never said I wanted to solve the murders,” Albus muttered, although he couldn’t deny that the thought had crossed his mind. What if he could solve them?

“That’s what you’re thinking, Al. I know you.”

“Are you sure your dad wouldn’t let something slip?” John asked.

“Positive. He’s even more uptight about talking about work now that he’s found out James is dating Meg Johnson. Meg’s dad replaced him as Head Auror. Apparently they don’t get on well.”

“And your mum?”

Albus opened his mouth to reply, but Amanda cut him off. “I don’t think there’s even a chance she knows what the Prophet is covering up. Grayson seemed very nervous when I brought it up, and he kept saying the whole thing is very complicated. I suspect he’s keeping this from his colleagues.”

“But they must suspect something,” Rose said. “What I wouldn’t give to spend a day listening in on conversations at their headquarters.”

“Or the Ministry,” Albus added.

“We could…with Polyjuice,” Amanda pointed out.

“Absolutely not,” Rose said immediately. “We’d be expelled. If we’re going to do anything, it has to be simple.”

“We’ve got to do something,” Amanda said. “Otherwise we won’t have much for that article for Luna’s magazine.”

The group fell silent. Albus continued to stare at the ceiling as he thought. Whatever they did, it had to be done at Hogwarts, but their only source of outside news at the school was the Prophet. How were they to investigate the newspaper if that was their source of information? Unless they skipped the paper…and went straight to the source.

Albus sat up suddenly, his heart thumping louder than normal. What if they investigated the actual murders instead? What if instead of trying to find out what information and evidence had been collected, they collected their own? One of the murder scenes was in Hogsmeade, only a short walk from Hogwarts. Going to Hogsmeade would only break a couple school rules, none if they went during a Hogsmeade visit.

“Albus?” Rose asked. “You look like you’ve just had a ghost walk through you.”

“Do you think the Shrieking Shack is still blocked off as a crime scene?” Albus mused, ignoring Rose.

“I don’t know. Probably,” Rose said, giving him a strange look. “Why?”

“I think we ought to forget about the Prophet. Someone got murdered in Hogsmeade. We could go have a poke around, see what sort of evidence we can find. My first tutoring session back I’ll talk to Elsie, see if she’ll tell me what she saw-“

“Albus, that sounds an awful lot like solving a murder,” Rose warned. “Not to mention poking around a crime scene as you called it is probably a felony.”

“That’s why we wait until it isn’t a crime scene anymore,” Albus pointed out. “They can’t keep it like that any longer than the next full moon.” He glanced at Matt, who had fallen asleep again.

Amanda grinned. “That just might work. During the next Hogsmeade trip?”

Albus shook his head. “I thought of that, but the next one won’t be until around Valentine’s Day. I say we do it as soon as they take down the caution tape. The only rule we’ll be breaking is sneaking out of the castle, and even if we get caught it’ll only be a few detentions. But I doubt we will. If we sneak in through the Whomping Willow passage at night, no one will see us.”

“Brilliant,” John said.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Rose said.

“We don’t all have to go. In fact, we probably all shouldn’t. Only two of us can fit comfortably under the Invisibility Cloak. And someone would have to let us back in.”

“You and Matt, then,” Amanda said. “It has to be. He’s the only one who can get past the tree, and the whole thing was your idea.”

Albus glanced at Matt, who had drifted off again.

“I don’t think he’ll be too pleased with your idea, Albus,” Rose said.

“What idea?” Matt mumbled.

Albus and Rose exchanged glances. “Er, an idea I’ve had about investigating the Hogsmeade murder,” Albus said tentatively. “It involves the Shrieking Shack….”

Albus explained the entire idea, watching Matt carefully for signs of dislike as he did so. But to Albus’s surprise, Matt’s face broke into a wide grin after he finished.

“You like it?” Rose exclaimed, looking disgusted at the loss of her only possible ally against the idea.

“Like it? It’s completely mental, but it’s brilliant. And we won’t get in trouble,” Matt said.

“How can you be so sure?” Rose asked.

Matt smiled knowingly. “Because if we get caught, all I have to do is tell them I was worried about what the Shack looked like after the investigation and wanted to check it out before my next transformation. So as long as we do it before the end of January, we’re set.”

“That is genius,” John said in awe. “Pure genius.”

***

Once back at Hogwarts, Albus was forced to put thoughts of investigating the Hogsmeade murder in the back of his mind. With O.W.L.s only five months away, every single teacher not only assigned homework for new parts of the curriculum, but also assigned review readings and essays to help them prepare for their exams. Rose considered this helpful, but the rest of the students found it irritating. John in particular ranted about not having enough time, until Rose told him if he used the time he spent planning and executing pranks for homework he’d have enough time.

Albus, participating in far more extracurricular activities than John, actually did have trouble finding enough time in the day to complete the additional work. Bradley, despite his reputation as the most laid-back Quidditch captain Gryffindor had ever had, added an extra practice per week. Dueling practice remained informal, but Albus hated having to skip it to write additional essays. In the end, what got dropped from Albus’s schedule was assisting Professor Burke with his brewing. Whereas before the holiday Albus had managed to go at least once a week, he didn’t go at all the first week back and had a feeling he’d only manage a visit every other week from then on. Burke didn’t seem to care and Kaden gladly picked up Albus’s slack, but Albus could feel his ability to figure out what was in the mystery cauldron slipping away by the day.

Luckily Elsie remained the only one in attendance during Albus’s tutoring sessions and he was able to keep using them to catch up on his own homework. Unfortunately, he didn’t have a chance to ask her about what she saw during the murder the first Saturday back since Professor Cedonia had assigned a review essay that had a two rolls of parchment length requirement. Elsie also seemed very absorbed in her homework that day, and Albus doubted she would’ve said much.

“You’ve got to talk to her this Saturday,” Amanda said as they sat around the table in the Marauders’ Den working on homework Thursday evening.

“I know,” Albus said, not looking up from his star chart. “That’s why I’m trying to get this done now.”

“You’ve mixed up Lynx and Cygnus,” Matt said as he glanced at Albus’s chart. “They’re opposites, see?” He showed Albus his own chart.

Albus jabbed his wand at the parchment and vanished the two names, before rewriting them. “Thanks. I can’t wait until I can drop this. Are you going to stick with Astronomy next year?”

“Probably,” Matt said as he opened his Potions book. “It’s my best subject.”

“You’re not?” Rose asked Albus.

Albus shook his head. “Not if I can help it. It’s so tedious.”

“When are you two exploring the Shrieking Shack?” Amanda asked. “We’ve been back nearly two weeks.”

“Dunno.” Matt shrugged. “It’s got to be within the next ten days because past that I’ll be too exhausted to do it.”

Albus pulled his schedule out of his bag. “I’ve got Quidditch practice Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Dueling practice next week is Tuesday and Wednesday. I patrol on Monday and Saturday.”

“You ought to do it while I patrol,” Rose said, not looking up from her Charms essay. “That way you won’t run into any prefects on your way back.”

“It’s going to take more than an hour,” Matt pointed out. “It’s nearly a half hour walk.”

“We’ll have the map,” Albus said. “But maybe we can leave while you’re on patrol.”

Rose nodded. “I patrol Tuesday and Thursday.”

“Thursday it is, then,” Albus said. “After Quidditch practice. I should be done by eight.”

“Sounds good,” Matt agreed. “If we can get out of the castle by eight-thirty, we can make it back by ten, so we’ll only be out a little past curfew, at most.”

“And we’ll have the Cloak,” Albus added.

“Are you sure it’s not a crime scene anymore?” John asked. “I don’t want you two thrown in Azkaban.”

“We can ask Professor Longbottom,” Rose said. “He lives in Hogsmeade.”

Albus nodded and agreed to ask him the following Monday, when they were next in Herbology.

The door opened and Kaden walked in, slamming it behind him. He hurried over to the table and sat down, an excited grin on his face.

“You look like Christmas has come again,” John said. “What happened?”

“I was just with Burke,” he said. “And I saw him add something to his mystery cauldron!”

Albus’s head snapped up, his star chart officially abandoned. “What was it?”

“Stewed mandrakes!” Kaden said excitedly. “I’ve never seen him do anything except stir that cauldron before, but this time he definitely added a cup of stewed mandrakes.”

“Mandrake,” Rose mused. “That’s only used in restorative potions.”

“It’s used in Wolfsbane,” Matt said quietly. “One of the active ingredients, since it’s supposed to restore someone to their natural state. You’re sure that’s what he was adding to his mystery cauldron?”

“Positive,” Kaden said. “So it’s definitely some kind of restorative potion.”

“You don’t think he’s working on Wolfsbane and not telling anyone, do you?” Rose asked, looking tentatively at Matt.

Matt shook his head. “It can’t be. If it was Wolfsbane, I wouldn’t be able to set foot in his classroom without having a reaction.”

“But how can Wolfsbane not cause a reaction when werewolves take it?” John asked. “If you’re all allergic to aconite.”

“It’s fine when it’s diluted and stewed down in a potion, but I can’t be around it until the potion is finished.”

“He’s got aconite in his brewing room,” Kaden pointed out. “I’ve seen it. Maybe he only adds it when he knows there will be enough time before he next has you in class.”

“Wolfsbane doesn’t make sense,” Rose said. “He wouldn’t be that protective of it. He isn’t that protective of his other potions, and some of them are really powerful and dangerous. No, I’m guessing the mystery potion is something that will benefit him, once it’s complete.”

“What kind of potion takes that long to brew, anyway?” John asked.

“Maybe it’s something he’s got to take continuously, like Polyjuice,” Albus suggested. “But it can’t be Polyjuice because he’s got that in his brewing room.”

“And mandrake would render Polyjuice useless. They have the opposite effect,” Rose said.

“That’s it!” Kaden shouted. “Maybe he’s trying to counteract the effects of Polyjuice!”

Rose shook her head. “There are already potions and spells that will do that. Plus, there wouldn’t be much point in a potion that just did that. Polyjuice wears off after an hour, twenty-four if it’s the long lasting kind.”

“Still, this is a clue,” Albus said, toying with his quill. “And a good one at that. We’ve just got to keep searching.”

The rest of the group slipped back into their homework, but Albus stared at his star chart, not bothering to label anymore stars. What could the potion possibly be? He thought once again of Burke’s habit of brewing Polyjuice, and possibly sketchy way of distributing it. Were the two connected? He had a feeling the only way he’d find out is if he somehow found room in his busy schedule to visit Burke more than just once every other week.

***

The library was packed on Saturday, the only available table being Albus’s tutoring table, which remained empty save for himself and Elsie. According to Rose, the prefects in charge of the other subjects were finding their tutoring sessions almost too busy to handle. Albus, however, breathed a sigh of relief when his session only had twenty minutes to go and still no one else had shown up.

For the past hour, Albus had been watching Elsie work on a Transfiguration essay, neglecting his own Ancient Runes assignment in the process. Elsie, on the other hand, hadn’t seemed to pay Albus any attention at all. Albus knew he had to ask her about what she saw the day of the murder soon, or else time would run out and Amanda would kill him for not asking.

“Elsie,” Albus said, “how is the essay?”

“Fine,” Elsie said without looking up.

“And how was your holiday?”

“Fine,” she said.

Didn’t most girls enjoy talking? That had been Albus’s experience with his cousins and sister. Lily, for one, wouldn’t shut up unless you left the room.

“Elsie, I was wondering,” Albus paused to take a breath. “If you could…possibly…tell me what you saw that day in Hogsmeade?”

Elsie dropped her quill and it dribbled ink all over her essay, but she didn’t seem to notice. She stared at Albus, her brown eyes wide open. “Wh-what do you mean?” she stammered.

Albus glanced around to make sure no one was watching, but Miss Walsh was busy helping a group of Hufflepuffs across the room. “You know…the day that bloke was murdered. You said you saw something. And then you went to the Ministry-“

“Albus, stop,” she whispered, her voice shaking. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“I didn’t mean to upset you,” Albus said hurriedly. Maybe it would’ve been a better idea to have Rose talk to her. Surely someone would start to notice them if Elsie started crying.

Elsie shook her head. “No. I can’t. I can’t say anything!” She grabbed her essay and bag and ran out of the library, leaving her quill and ink behind.

Albus glanced at his watch. Ten minutes early wouldn’t matter, would it? He shoved Elsie’s ink, quill, and his own supplies into his bag and took off after her.

The corridor was deserted. Albus swore under his breath. He didn’t have the slightest idea where she would go and the chances of finding her in the castle were slim to none, and hopeless if she’d gone to the Slytherin common room. Albus sighed and ran back up to Gryffindor, in the hopes of finding Rose and explaining to her what had happened.

Rose was there, working on a Potions essay, and after berating Albus for nearly ten minutes about his tactlessness in asking Elsie about the murder, she set off with him to find her.

“And then you can ask her?” Albus said as they walked down the stairs to the sixth floor. “About the murder? Maybe she’ll talk to you?”

Rose looked incredulous. “No, Albus! I want to make sure she’s all right! I suppose it was a stupid idea to have you talk to her anyway-“

“Hey! I’m not an idiot. Matt talks to me all the time.”

“Because he’s your friend and he trusts you! Elsie is probably traumatized. That was her first time in Hogsmeade, and she wasn’t allowed to be there anyway. Who knows how she got in-“

“There are secret passages all over,” Albus pointed out. “Probably the one-eyed witch.”

“What I meant,” Rose began, ignoring Albus’s comment, “was that it was stupid for any of us to try. If she really did see a murder take place, of course she’s not going to want to talk about it.”

“Oh, right,” Albus muttered. “Do you know where she is, then?”

“I have a hunch,” Rose said.

Neither of them said another word. Albus had no idea where Rose was leading him, but was surprised when she stopped short in front of Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom. He raised his eyebrows at Rose, who rolled her eyes in response.

“Elsie?” Rose called as they entered. “Elsie, are you in here?”

Muffled sobbing was coming from the only closed stall, but Albus couldn’t tell if it was Myrtle or Elsie. Myrtle suddenly appeared, having floated through the shut door.

“Oh, it’s you,” she said, throwing Albus a nasty look. “She doesn’t want to see you.”

“Albus has come to apologize,” Rose said. “Haven’t you, Albus?”

“Er, yes?” Albus responded. “I’m really sorry, Elsie.”

The sobbing continued, but Myrtle began to smile wistfully. “Where’s Matt? I haven’t seen him in ages and ages…”

“He doesn’t want to see you, Myrtle,” Albus said shortly.

Myrtle screwed up her face and let out a loud wail, flying back into the stall.

“Nice, Albus,” Rose muttered. “Very nice.” She knocked on the stall door. “Elsie? It’s Rose.”

The sobbing stopped and the door opened a crack. “Albus?” Elsie said. “I’m not mad at you. And hi, Rose.”

Now Albus was thoroughly confused and felt a bit more sympathy for James and his near constant issues with girls.

“And I want you to know that I didn’t see much of anything,” Elsie continued. “Just someone running away from the Shrieking Shack right before everyone saw the…the…you know….”

“And who was it?” Albus asked anxiously. Rose shot him a dirty look.

“Well that’s what I mean. I didn’t see anything, because it was Professor Young.”

Albus’s jaw fell open, and he was very glad Elsie hadn’t opened the door wide enough to see.

“Are you all right?” Rose asked.

“Fine,” Elsie said. “You can go, you know.”

“Oh, okay,” Rose said. “Bye.”

Elsie shut the door. Rose grabbed Albus’s arm and led him out of the toilet.

“That was weird,” Albus said once they were a safe distance away. “Why was she crying like that and then fine two seconds later?”

Rose sighed. “You’re more like James than you’d like to think.”

“Professor Young, though,” Albus said, ignoring her. “That’s so strange because-“

“Because Cedric had detention with him at that exact moment,” Rose finished. “But Albus? Elsie told the Ministry. If they had any reason to suspect him, he wouldn’t still be here.”

Albus nodded, but felt very unsettled. Why hadn’t the Ministry arrested him? Because no one could be in two places at once, and Cedric was his alibi. Cedric.

“We need to talk to Cedric,” Albus said.

23. In the Shrieking Shack

Between Albus’s schedule and the amount of homework the teachers had given the fifth years, no opportunities to talk to Cedric presented themselves over the next week. Albus and Rose had returned to the common room after leaving Elsie in Moaning Myrtle’s lavatory and immediately told Matt, John, Amanda, and Kaden what Elsie had told them. All four of them thought it very strange that Young seemed to be in two places at once, but only John seemed to believe this meant he was somehow connected to the murder.

This new information about Professor Young only served to make Albus all the more eager to investigate the Shrieking Shack with Matt. When Thursday arrived Albus had a hard time concentrating in class and wound up accidentally transfiguring Matt’s History of Magic textbook into a pin cushion instead of the porcupine he was supposed to be practicing on. Rather than do homework in the Marauder’s Den after supper like the rest of his friends, Albus instead studied the Marauder’s Map, watching all the various dots both in the castle and in Hogsmeade.

At five minutes to eight, Rose packed away her books and stowed her wand in her robes. “I’m off to patrol. Remember, Al, I’ll be coming to let you back into the castle at ten. If anyone sees me I’ll tell them I left a book in the Great Hall and need to retrieve it. But I can only hang around for five minutes or so, at the most. So if you’re late, you’re stuck.”

“We won’t be,” Matt said adamantly. “I am not spending another night in the Shack when I don’t have to.”

Rose nodded and left the room. Albus closed his Transfiguration book (which he hadn’t looked at since he opened it an hour before), and pulled the Invisibility Cloak out of his bag.

“Ready?” he asked Matt.

Matt nodded as he closed his bottle of ink and got up from the table.

“Don’t do anything stupid,” Amanda said, not looking up from her essay.

“Nothing’s going to happen,” Albus assured her. “Matt has an excuse ready.”

“I’m not talking about getting in trouble,” Amanda said, sighing. “You’re going to a possible murder scene, Albus. That in itself is stupid.”

Albus, who hadn’t looked at it from that point of view, said nothing. Instead, he simply threw the Invisibility Cloak over himself and Matt and checked to see if their feet were showing. Albus had to crouch down low to fully hide his, which made for an awkward way of walking.

“See you back in the common room,” Albus said as he and Matt shuffled out into the corridor.

It was a slow journey to the Entrance Hall. Albus kept the Map out and scanned it every so often, but this resulted in him tripping over his own feet or unevenness in the floor. They passed Rose and the Hufflepuff she was patrolling with once, as well as Filch and his cat, but they weren’t noticed by either couple. In the Entrance Hall, they had to wait for a few Slytherins to make their way through the door to the dungeons before opening the front door and escaping into the dark night.

“That was more difficult than it used to be,” Albus said as he pulled the cloak off after shutting the door.

“Because you’ve grown about a foot since last year,” Matt said. “You’ll wind up as tall as John if you aren’t careful.”

“I don’t reckon that’s possible. He’s already taller than half the seventh years.” Albus laughed.

It was a quiet night, the only sound a few owls hooting in the distance. Even the branches on the trees were still, as there was no wind to move them, and the sky cloudless enough to allow quite a few stars to show. The moon, a week away from full, shined down upon them. Matt gave an involuntary shudder when he glanced up at it, but said nothing to Albus.

As they neared the Whomping Willow Matt withdrew his wand and stepped in front of Albus, who waited well out of the tree’s range. Matt walked a few paces to his right and shot a few well-aimed hexes at the knot at the tree’s base. Albus couldn’t hear the spells Matt had used, and doubted his friend would ever tell him. The branches froze immediately and Albus hurried forward. Matt crawled into the passageway and Albus followed.

“Come on,” Matt said after lighting his wand. “It’s nearly eight-thirty. We’ve got to hurry.”

Albus had a bit more difficulty with hurrying than Matt did, as he had to crouch down considerably more. Still, he lit his wand and set off after Matt, who seemed to know the tunnel, its twists and turns, as well as he knew Hogwarts.

The walk seemed longer than Albus remembered it and he wasn’t sure if that was due to the fact that it was more uncomfortable now that he was taller or because of the time crunch. Either way, Albus was happy when they finally emerged at the door to the Shrieking Shack twenty minutes later. Here, Matt whispered another spell to unlock the door and led the way inside.

Albus and Matt stood in the entryway for two full minutes, shining their wands in every direction. Albus’s heart was pounding, suddenly understanding what Amanda had meant by not wanting them to do anything stupid.

“What do we do now?” Matt asked.

“Look for clues,” Albus said. “Anything that isn’t right.” Albus looked around the room as he said this. Nothing about the Shrieking Shack looked “right.” Every piece of furniture was broken, the windows were boarded up, and every surface bore a thick layer of dirt and grime. “The Aurors will have already been through everything, so I don’t expect to find any physical clues. Hairs or torn bits of robes or anything. But, the Aurors have no idea what this place is supposed to look like.”

“Neither do I, to be honest,” Matt said as they walked slowly around the small living room. “I’m either unconscious or about to transform when I’m in here. And the rest of the time….”

“And do you…roam around the whole Shack?”

Matt nodded. “I always go upstairs first, but I’ve woken up in every room at some time or another.”

Albus pointed his wand at the fireplace, which showed no evidence of any fires having been lit recently. He then moved on to a torn sofa, a table with only three legs, and a couple splintered chairs that looked to have matched the table. But nothing stood out. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary for a building that was only used to house a werewolf once a month. Even the blood stains on the floor looked like they’d been there for months or even years. There was no way of knowing whose they were.

The tiny kitchen bore no clues either. The ancient icebox’s door was falling off, but after a questioning gaze from Albus, Matt explained that he’d done that in first year. The small bathroom, easily the most put-together room in the place, was normal as well.

Albus sighed. “All right. So say that bloke was murdered in here. How did the murderer get him outside?”

“Besides the door leading into the passageway, there’s only one door,” Matt said as he walked back into the living room and clambered over the broken table. He pointed to a boarded up door. “Here.”

The door was boarded up with the same weathered wood as the windows and the boards were held in place by rusty nails. “He would’ve had to get the boards off-“

“And undo the enchantments.”

“Right. And he wouldn’t have had time to go back in and replace them. He would’ve had to go in through the Whomping Willow and someone would’ve seen him.”

“Exactly,” Matt said as he ran his wand over the door. “The enchantments are still there, too. D’you think the Aurors would’ve fixed everything?”

Albus shook his head. “My dad would’ve told your dad if things needed fixing. Has he said anything to you?”

“No.”

“Then maybe he was murdered outside,” Albus said, stepping back from the door.

“We still need to check upstairs,” Matt said. “Just to be safe.”

Albus didn’t see much point in checking the upstairs bedroom if nothing downstairs was out of place, but they had time and he had a feeling it would make Matt feel better about the whole thing. Matt led the way up the creaky stairs and down the short hallway to the only bedroom. Albus followed, his lit wand out steady in front of him.

Matt reached the room first and Albus heard a loud gasp. Albus ran the rest of the way and stopped short in the doorway, nearly plowing into Matt, who hadn’t moved into the room.

“What? What is it?” Albus asked as he glanced around the room. There didn’t appear to be anything wrong with it. It contained a neatly made four-poster bed (which Albus knew to have been charmed to be indestructible) and a wardrobe which was leaning precariously to the left side. Other than that, the room was empty.

“Th-the bed,” Matt said, pointing his wand at the bed. “I-it’s…made. It’s neat. It’s got pillows and new sheets and-“

“It’s not usually made?” Albus asked.

“No,” Matt said, turning around and running back down the stairs.

Albus followed and found Matt standing in the living room, looking extremely upset.

“No one ever makes the bed. Usually it’s got a few rumpled up blankets on it, but Madam Pomfrey never makes it when she comes to get me in the morning. There isn’t any time. She wants to get me back to the castle as soon as possible. I destroyed the pillows on the first full moon and there haven’t been any since. But now…there’s sheets. Blue sheets. The usual blankets are gone. Albus, someone’s been in here.”

“Maybe Madam Pomfrey put them on over the holiday?” Albus suggested, wanting to find any other logical explanation as to why the bed would be made.

“She goes away for Christmas,” Matt said, his eyes darting around the room. “Always does. Every year. She has a sister in Wales that she visits.”

“Your parents-“

“Would’ve told me,” Matt finished for him. “The wolf…doesn’t like changes. My parents wouldn’t have done this.” His eyes rested on the kitchen and he hurried over to it.

Albus followed once more and found Matt opening and closing the cupboards. “What are you looking for?”

“Something…anything…oh, no….” Matt reached into one of the cupboards and pulled out a loaf of bread. He held it in his shaking hand.

Albus’s jaw fell open. “You don’t think-“

“Someone’s living here,” Matt whispered. The loaf of bread fell out of his hand and onto the floor. “We have to go. Now.”

Albus didn’t question him. The two boys hurried back into the tunnel and Matt sealed the door behind them. Matt set off at a run down the tunnel and Albus tried his hardest to keep up.

“This doesn’t make any sense,” Albus said as they ran. “The Aurors. They investigated! Wouldn’t they have-“

“It’s like you said, Albus,” Matt interrupted. “They don’t know what it’s supposed to look like. They probably thought the bed was always made-“

“And the food?”

“Maybe there wasn’t any food when they investigated. I don’t know. But there’s food now and there hasn’t been any food there before.”

“But the investigation went on for nearly a month!” Albus pointed out. “How could someone live there during an investigation?”

“Maybe they’ve only been sleeping there. I don’t know.”

“Who do you think it is? Do you think it’s tied to the murder? Do you think it’s the murderer?” Albus asked. “But why would a murderer stick around somewhere where he’s murdered someone? Maybe it’s just someone random who-“

Matt stopped short and turned around to face Albus, who skidded to a halt to avoid running into him. Matt looked terrified, possibly even more terrified than when Lubar kidnapped them all in third year. His fear suddenly made Albus’s stomach drop. Did Matt know something he didn’t?

“Albus. Shut up!” Matt shouted. “Don’t you get it? I don’t care about the murder or the murderer anymore! Do you realize what could’ve happened, what would’ve happened, if we hadn’t gone down here tonight?”

“Er,” Albus began.

Matt closed his eyes and took a deep breath before responding. “Think about it, Albus. The full moon is in a week. I would’ve come down here and whoever has been living in the Shrieking Shack, if they’d been there when I transformed-“ He cut himself off.

Albus’s eyes widened. How had he not thought of that? “Sorry. I hadn’t…hadn’t thought-“

“I know,” Matt snapped. “Now come on. I have to tell Kendrick or Longbottom or my dad or someone.”

Albus remained silent for the rest of the journey through the tunnel, which went by much faster since they were running this time.

“We’re back early,” Albus said as he glanced at his watch once they were a safe distance away from the Whomping Willow.

“Good,” Matt said, running ahead of Albus.

“What are you going to do?”

Matt stopped and waited for Albus to catch up. “I don’t know,” he said quietly. “Go to Kendrick, I suppose.”

Albus nodded. They reached the doors, which were still unlocked as it wasn’t ten o’clock yet. Matt pushed them open and ran inside. Not bothering with the Cloak, the two boys hurried up the stairs to Professor Kendrick’s office.

***

Albus stopped short when they reached the stone gargoyle. It was as solid and unmoving as ever, reminding Albus that he hadn’t been in Kendrick’s study since first year and had no idea what the password was.

“Is this the entrance?” Matt asked, looking skeptically at the gargoyle.

“Yeah, but I don’t know what the password is. It was ‘rubber duck’ in first year,” Albus explained.

“Dammit!” Matt said as his eyes darted around the corridor. “Now what am I supposed to do? What about Longbottom? Where does he live?”

“Hogsmeade,” Albus answered. “He’s got a study, but he doesn’t spend nights here. What about the other professors?”

Matt shook his head. “No. I don’t know any of them well enough-“

“Madam Pomfrey!” Albus exclaimed.

Matt let out a long breath. “Right. Madam Pomfrey! Why didn’t I think of her?” He took off down the corridor.

Albus chased after him, surprised at just how fast he was. Albus supposed it was the adrenaline.

Since it was past curfew for all years, the corridors were deserted. Otherwise, Albus and Matt would’ve gotten a lot of strange looks as they rushed upstairs to the hospital wing. Matt burst through the doors when they arrived, letting them practically slam in Albus’s face. Albus caught them and shut them quietly.

The hospital wing was just as deserted as the corridors. Not a single bed was occupied and Madam Pomfrey was nowhere in sight. Albus thought the place was eery when unoccupied. Matt didn’t seem to take much notice of this and instead ran straight to the door leading to Madam Pomfrey’s office (and Albus assumed her living quarters as well).

“Madam Pomfrey!” Matt shouted as he knocked rapidly on the door. “C’mon, Madam Pomfrey! Please open up!”

Albus stood awkwardly behind Matt, very happy the hospital wing was empty. Surely the racket would’ve woken up even the sickest of patients. A portrait of a stern witch with her hair in curlers opened one eye and frowned at them, before disappearing from her frame.

The door opened suddenly and Matt jumped back. Madam Pomfrey appeared in the doorway, wearing a dressing robe and slippers, her hair done in a bun on the top of her head. “What on earth is going on out here? Why-“ Her eyes rested upon Matt and she cut herself off. “Matt, dear, what’s happened?” she asked quietly, hurrying him over to the nearest bed.

Albus followed and sat down on a nearby chair, unsure of whether Madam Pomfrey had noticed his presence as well. Of course, she probably thought Matt was deathly ill, for having come to the hospital wing at ten o’clock at night.

“Matt,” Madam Pomfrey said again. “What’s wrong?”

“S-someone’s living in the Shrieking Shack,” Matt said. His face was pale and pasty again, as it had been when he first saw the bed with its new sheets.

“What?” the nurse exclaimed. “Who’s told you that? If you’re having nightmares-“

“It wasn’t a nightmare!” Matt said, raising his voice. “Albus and I saw it, just now! There are sheets on the bed and food in the kitchen! Someone’s living there!”

Madam Pomfrey turned to Albus, who nodded his head. “Boys, were you in the Shrieking Shack?”

Matt nodded. “I-I had to check it, after what happened the day of the Hogsmeade trip. I wanted…to be sure no one was murdered there.”

Madam Pomfrey put her hand to her chest. “Oh dear God,” she muttered. “The horrors you have to deal with…I should’ve checked it myself. I would’ve checked it myself. Why didn’t you come to me first?”

“Didn’t think of it,” Matt muttered. “I’m sorry-“

“No, don’t be sorry. I’m the one that’s sorry.” She shook her head slowly. “You’re sure, though? How could anyone get past the wards?”

“I don’t know,” Matt said, “but we saw it. Both of us.”

“We tried to tell Kendrick,” Albus cut in. “But I don’t know the password to his study.”

“No matter,” Madam Pomfrey said as she stood up.

Albus got up and moved to sit next to Matt while Madam Pomfrey strolled to the fireplace. She tossed a handful of Floo powder into it and stuck her head in. Albus couldn’t hear what she was saying, but assumed she was summoning Professor Kendrick. A few minutes later Kendrick stepped out of the fire, still dressed in his usual robes. Albus wondered if he ever put on pajamas or if he simply slept in robes in case any sort of emergency happened at night.

“Matt, Albus,” Kendrick said as he took a seat in the chair Albus had just abandoned. Madam Pomfrey sat on the other side of Matt. Kendrick clasped his hands in his lap and looked at each boy in turn. “Madam Pomfrey tells me you’ve been in the Shrieking Shack tonight.”

Albus and Matt exchanged glances. They wouldn’t still get in trouble, would they? Not after what they had discovered. But the look Kendrick gave them made Albus second guess that.

“Er, yes, sir,” Albus said.

“I can’t ignore the rule breaking, despite what you discovered,” Kendrick said quietly. “I will take ten points from Gryffindor, but I will not assign detention. Now, onto the more pressing matter. I wish to hear exactly what you saw in the Shrieking Shack.”

Albus let Matt explain it. As he spoke Kendrick’s face remained unchanged, while Madam Pomfrey shook her head and looked very troubled. She muttered something under her breath at one point, but Albus couldn’t hear what it was. When Matt finished, Madam Pomfrey rose and scurried to her potions cabinet. Kendrick unclasped his hands and sighed, but didn’t say anything for a few minutes.

“I will take care of this,” Kendrick said quietly as Madam Pomfrey returned with a steaming goblet. She handed it to Matt, who drank it in one gulp.

“Professor,” Albus said tentatively. “Do you…do you think someone living in the Shrieking Shack is connected to the murder in Hogsmeade?”

“I would be very surprised if the two weren’t connected,” Kendrick said as he got up. “I will conduct a search of the Shack myself and contact the Ministry to inform them that their Aurors missed something blatantly obvious.”

“Sir-“ Matt began.

“I will send an owl to your father,” Kendrick said. “I am sure he will want to redo the wards himself. I will keep you updated.”

“The full moon is in a week, Headmaster,” Madam Pomfrey said as she took the goblet back from Matt.

“I am aware, Poppy,” Kendrick said. “I will work quickly. Matt, I will summon you to my office once I have an update. For now, I suggest both of you return to Gryffindor. If you could escort them, Poppy. I have to alert the Ministry.”

“Of course,” Madam Pomfrey said. “Let’s go, boys.”

Albus and Matt followed Kendrick and Madam Pomfrey out into the corridor. Kendrick turned left while the rest turned right, to head back to Gryffindor. They were silent the entire way, even Madam Pomfrey, who looked like she wanted to rant about this, but was clearly keeping it in so as not to worry Matt any more than necessary.

They stopped once they reached the Fat Lady. Madam Pomfrey turned to Matt and looked at him softly. “Don’t worry about this,” she said quietly. “I know you will, but don’t.” She gave him a quick hug. “Good night. And no more wandering around at night, both of you. No matter how legitimate the reason.”

The nurse waited while Albus and Matt clambered into the portrait hole. Albus felt exhausted, the long walk to and from the Shrieking Shack just now hitting him. With his mind on his bed, he climbed into the common room, only to be hit by what appeared to be a bright red hurricane.

“Where in the name of Merlin’s saggy left-“ Rose shouted. She shook her head. “My God, Albus, Matt! Where have you been?”

“She’s been pacing ever since she got back,” John said.

The common room was empty save for Rose, John, Amanda, and Kaden. All except Rose were sitting in the good armchairs in front of the dying fire.

“You weren’t there at ten!” Rose shouted. “I waited for ten minutes! Then I figured you must’ve gotten back early and I’d missed you, but I came back here and no one had seen you-“

“Rose,” Albus cut her off. “We were back early. We were talking to Kendrick and Madam Pomfrey.”

Rose paled and she returned to the armchairs. Albus and Matt followed. “What happened?” Rose asked. “Why were you talking to Kendrick?”

Albus glanced at Matt, who looked exhausted and anxious at the same time. Albus had thought the potion Madam Pomfrey gave him was dreamless sleep, but he looked too on edge to fall asleep. Maybe it had been something different.

“Did you find something?” Kaden asked, his eyes excited.

“You did, didn’t you,” Amanda said quietly. Her eyes held none of Kaden’s excitement.

“We did,” Albus said, and proceeded to tell them the whole story, while Matt stared at the coals in the fire, not saying a word.

24. Another Potion

Matt didn’t bring up the topic of someone living in the Shrieking Shack the next morning, so Albus didn’t either. The rest of their friends, even Kaden, seemed to sense that Matt didn’t wish to discuss it and didn’t mention it either. Still, Albus cast surreptitious glances at Matt during both Defense and Ancient Runes. He looked much as he had last night, only more exhausted; Albus assumed he hadn’t slept much.

Rose and Kaden being the only two with classes on Friday afternoons, the rest of the group went to the Marauder’s Den to catch up on homework. Albus and John spent an hour attempting to vanish the large blocks of wood they’d been given by Professor Patil for Transfiguration homework. Matt, having already vanished his blocks of wood (he had something of a talent for vanishing things), worked furiously on a Charms essay. Amanda worked on her dream journal for Divination.

“Do you think Trelawney would buy that I dreamt of chocolate cake every night this week?” Amanda pondered.

“If you predict it means your death by chocolate,” John said, laughing at his own joke.

Amanda sighed. “I never should’ve taken this subject.”

“Why did you?” Albus asked.

“Because I thought it would be cool to predict the future. I didn’t realize that you couldn’t actually learn to be a Seer. Arithmancy would’ve been so much more useful.”

“For what?” John asked. “Isn’t it like maths? What are you planning on doing after Hogwarts?”

Amanda closed her dream journal. “Actually, I’ve been thinking a lot about that lately.”

John looked at her like she had three heads. “Why? It’s still over two years away.”

“Because that’s a lot sooner than you’d think,” Amanda explained. “I want to get involved in the Ministry.”

“You’re mad,” John muttered, shaking his head. “Have you seen what Laurentis is doing to the Ministry?”

“Yes, and I don’t like it. Everyone says the Ministry is so much better than it was before Voldemort’s downfall, but it must’ve been horrible because there’s so much wrong with it now. Even before Laurentis took over as Minister.”

“It was,” Albus said darkly. “My parents don’t like talking about it.”

“That may well be, but there’s a lot more that can be done. Werewolves are still classified as Beasts. That isn’t right.”

Amanda, Albus, and John all looked at Matt, who turned red. “You can’t singlehandedly change that,” Matt said, not looking up from his essay.

Amanda sighed. “I know that. I’m not trying to. But if no one tries, no one else will ever step up. I’ve been reading up on it, and I want to become an ambassador.”

“A what?” Albus asked.

“An ambassador,” she repeated. “It’s not a common job, but I knew wizards must have them, and they do. Most countries have at least two. Our Ministry of Magic has three.”

“What would you do?” John asked.

“Travel to other countries and act as a liaison. It’ll put me in an excellent position to try and garner support for classifying werewolves as Beings. I’ll need to learn a few more languages, though. Right now I only know English, French, and a bit of Italian. But I’ll be able to be an ambassador to the Muggle Ministries as well.”

Albus stared at her, impressed. He hadn’t realized how passionate Amanda was about politics, but he supposed growing up she heard a lot about it, her uncle being the Muggle Minister.

“But there are only three,” John pointed out. “That’s worse chances than getting drafted for a Quidditch team.”

“I wouldn’t start out as an ambassador. I’d have to work my way up, from other Ministry jobs. I’ll need to get top O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s.”

“Longbottom’s going to love you,” John said. “I just hope I have career advice before you. Otherwise his expectations will be too high. What about you, Albus?”

Albus shrugged. “I dunno. I’m good at dueling, but I can’t do that for a career.”

“You could be a hit wizard,” John pointed out.

“No thanks,” Albus said. “I’ve still got time to think.”

Truthfully, Albus had been thinking about his future career. A lot. He just hadn’t chosen to share his thoughts with his friends yet, because he wasn’t sure what they’d think. What he wanted to do was investigate crimes, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to become an Auror since he wasn’t a fan of the Ministry as it was ran by Laurentis. What kept popping into his head was what Balladanis told him in third year. That he’d make a good Presuler, like Balladanis himself. But that was a very time consuming career that left little time for anything but work.

“Well, you’ll need to have somewhat of an idea when you pick your classes for next year,” Amanda said. “What about you, Matt?”

Matt’s cheeks reddened again and he buried his head in his Charms book. Amanda opened her mouth to ask him again, but the door opened and Rose hurried inside, cutting her off.

“Albus, Cedric’s in the common room. Alone. Let’s go talk to him.”

Leaving his unvanished blocks of wood where they were, Albus hurried after Rose and out of the room. They dashed up to Gryffindor, where Cedric was sitting in one of the squashy armchairs reading a book.

“Cedric,” Albus said as he reached his cousin. “We need to talk to you.”

Cedric closed his book and looked from Albus to Rose and back again. “Sure…something wrong?”

“No, maybe,” Albus said, glancing around the common room. It wasn’t crowded, but he didn’t want to discuss this in front of anyone. “Let’s go up to my dormitory.”

Looking thoroughly confused, Cedric followed Albus and Rose up the circular staircase until they reached the fifth year boys’ dormitory. Luckily, Bilius and Ethan weren’t there. Albus walked over to his bed, but didn’t sit down.

“Yours is much cleaner than mine,” Cedric commented as he looked around the room. “So, what’s going on?”

Albus began to pace back and forth, shutting the door as he passed it. “It’s about the day Michael Sheldon was murdered in Hogsmeade.”

“Are you still hung up on that?” Cedric asked. “You don’t think you’re going to solve it, do you?”

“The Aurors have missed things,” Albus muttered.

“The Aurors? Your dad’s a bloody Auror!” Cedric exclaimed. “Look, I certainly don’t like Laurentis or what she’s done with the Ministry, but you’re a kid, Albus. You can’t solve these murders.”

“I’m not trying to solve them!” Albus shouted. He was sick of everyone thinking that. Couldn’t he satisfy his curiosity without everyone thinking he was trying to play Auror?

“He’s not, Cedric,” Rose said quietly from Matt’s bed, where she had sat down. “We just have some questions.”

“What makes you think I’ll know the answers? I wasn’t even in Hogsmeade that day.”

“That’s the point,” Albus said. “You were in detention. With Young.” He exchanged glances with Rose. They hadn’t discussed whether to tell Cedric what Elsie had told them, but Albus didn’t see how they could get any answers from Cedric unless they explained.

“I know I was,” Cedric said flatly.

Albus sighed and stopped pacing. “There was a witness. Not to the murder, but someone saw somebody fleeing from the scene. My dad took her into the Ministry for questioning.”

“What’s that got to do with me?”

“I’m getting to that,” Albus said hurriedly. “I asked her about it, the girl who went in for questioning. The person she saw was Professor Young.”

“But he was in detention, with me,” Cedric said, furrowing his brow. “He was there the entire time, reading a book at his desk, staring at me every so often.”

“That’s what doesn’t make sense,” Albus said. “I saw him in Hogsmeade, too, with Cedonia.”

“He was late for detention,” Cedric said. “Ten minutes late. He was supposed to be there at one.”

“We saw him around noon,” Rose said.

“You told me that at Christmas,” Cedric reminded them. “But it isn’t possible that he was the one who murdered that bloke. He didn’t let me out of detention until everyone rushed back to the castle. That’s why I was able to leave. He heard the commotion and went to see what it was.”

“It doesn’t make sense,” Albus muttered. “You swear he was there the whole time?”

“The whole time. I’d swear it in front of the Ministry. I don’t like Young, but he’s no murderer. The witness was probably so freaked out she was seeing things.” Cedric checked his watch. “I’ve got to go. But Al? You’ve got to drop this.”

Cedric left the room without another word, shutting the door behind him. Rose got off Matt’s bed and walked over to Albus, who was leaning against his own bed.

“Maybe Cedric’s right,” Albus said quietly.

“What, that you should drop this?”

“No, that Elsie didn’t remember right. She’s shy as it is, and she’d snuck into Hogsmeade for who knows why. Then she saw a dead body and someone fleeing from the scene. Is she really that reliable?”

“The Ministry must not think so since they haven’t arrested Young…” Rose said.

“But….”

“But there’s something weird about Elsie.”

Albus raised his eyebrows and looked at Rose. She looked scared, which in turn made Albus afraid. He rarely saw Rose afraid. “You never call anyone weird.”

Rose sighed. “I know. But there’s something strange about her. You have to admit that. It’s probably mostly from her family, but still. I can’t explain it, but I believe her.”

“You think Young killed Sheldon?”

“I never said that. I think Elsie saw Young at the scene of the crime. And I think he was at Cedric’s detention. Whatever happened, I don’t think we, or the Aurors, have a chance of figuring it out until we figure out why and how Young was in two places at once.”

“Time-turner?”

“They were destroyed, remember? When our parents snuck into the Ministry.”

“How else can a person be in two places at once?” Albus asked.

“I don’t know,” Rose said quietly. “I don’t know.”

***

Albus didn’t have much time to think about how Young could’ve been in two places at once over the weekend, between homework and various practices. The Ravenclaw-Hufflepuff Quidditch match took place on Saturday and it lasted nearly five hours. Rose spent the entire match performing heating charms so they wouldn’t freeze while watching, but even Rose’s charms weren’t enough to keep the cold at bay. It had been such a miserably cold match that Bradley even canceled Gryffindor Quidditch practice, which was supposed to have taken place later that afternoon. Instead, he doubled practice time on Sunday, but Albus didn’t mind because Sunday was ten degrees warmer.

When Monday arrived Albus didn’t feel like he’d had much of a weekend. He finished the last of his homework on Sunday night, leaving no time for anything fun. He was tempted to use a Fever Fudge to get out of History of Magic later that afternoon, but they had an exam that he couldn’t miss.

“If that’s what the History of Magic O.W.L. is going to be like I’m going to fail it,” John said as they left Binns’s room later that afternoon.

“You and me both,” Matt said. “I can’t keep all the dates straight.”

“I don’t think anyone ever continues on with History of Magic anyway,” Albus commented. “If Binns were still alive he’d probably drop dead of shock if someone did.”

“Maybe that’s why he died in the first place,” John said.

“I was considering it,” Rose injected.

“Of course you were,” John muttered. “But Rose, you’ve got to drop something.”

“I know, John. I just haven’t decided yet.”

The Potions dungeon was just as smokey as ever when they walked in a few minutes later. Albus always hated Monday Potions because since it was only a single period, Burke never let them brew. He always lectured, and while his lectures were far more interesting than Binns’s lectures, they were still lectures.

“The Draught of Peace,” Burke said as he tapped the board with his wand. A long list theory about the Draught of Peace appeared on it. “You will be brewing it on Wednesday. It is a difficult potion. Very volatile, very picky. But if you understand its ingredients, you will brew it successfully. One of the most important-”

Matt’s hand slipped and knocked his ink onto the floor. It landed with a loud crash, stopping Burke mid-sentence. He hurried to pick it up, vanishing the ink with his wand. Albus glanced over at him and thought he looked far too anxious for only having spilt his ink.

“As I was saying, one of the most important things to remember about this potion is the order in which you put the ingredients into the cauldron…”

Albus scratched down what Burke had written on the board as best he could, but it was difficult to see through all the smoke billowing from his mystery cauldron. Matt was making even less of an effort than Albus was, despite Albus having offered to share his ink. Albus yawned and his mind wandered to the Shrieking Shack. He wondered if Kendrick or the Aurors had found anything yet. As far as he knew, Kendrick hadn’t owled Matt to update him on the situation, but the full moon was only a few days away.

“…Moonstone, one of the active ingredients in the Draught of Peace…”

“Professor!” Rose shouted suddenly.

“Yes, Miss Weasley?” Burke asked.

“Professor, you’ve caught fire!”

Albus’s head snapped up from his half-finished notes and saw that the left sleeve of Burke’s robes was on fire. He must’ve dragged it across the flame underneath his mystery cauldron without noticing.

“Yes, thank you, Miss Weasley,” Burke said as he picked up his wand and shot a stream of water at his sleeve. “As I was saying, moonstone has many properties that causes it to be an active ingredient in the Draught of Peace…”

Albus raised his eyebrows at John, who was trying to stifle laughter. How could Burke, who was so uptight about Potions safety, be so nonchalant about setting himself on fire? Perhaps it happened often, given how much he brewed, but Albus could never imagine remaining so calm if it was himself on fire.

“For homework,” Burke said a minute before the bell rang, “please pick an active ingredient from the Draught of Peace and write a foot long essay on its properties. Due on Wednesday.”

“A foot of parchment in two days?” John exclaimed as the bell rang. “He’s mad.”

“Mr. Eckerton, can I see you for a moment?” Burke shouted over the din.

“He wouldn’t give you detention for spilling your ink, would he?” John asked.

Matt shrugged, but said nothing as he grabbed his bag and hurried to the front of the room. Albus and John left, but waited for Matt outside the door while Rose and Amanda went back to Gryffindor Tower.

They waited nearly ten minutes for Matt, who finally emerged from the dungeon looking pale. “Oh, you didn’t have to wait,” he said.

“What did Burke want?” Albus asked. “He didn’t give you detention, did he?”

Matt averted his gaze. “No. It wasn’t about the ink. It was about the…potion.”

“Does he have one ready?” Albus asked.

Matt nodded. “I’m taking it on Wednesday. Don’t tell Amanda. I don’t want to hear about how stupid I am for taking it.”

“Hopefully this one works,” John muttered. “Amanda might be right.”

Matt didn’t say a word and the three boys continued their journey back to the common room in silence. Albus wasn’t sure if he was reading too much into it, but Matt didn’t seem to want to discuss the potion with anyone, even his friends.

***

“Could he have picked a more finicky potion?” John asked as he stirred his cauldron furiously in double Potions on Wednesday. His cauldron was emitting more smoke than Burke’s mystery potion, and that was quite the accomplishment.

“At least your stirs,” Janie Creevey muttered as she poked her nearly solid potion with her wand. The potion ignited and Janie yelped, jumping back a few feet and nearly colliding with the table behind her.

“You added too much moonstone,” Rose said as she doused Janie’s cauldron with her wand. “But you’re going to have to start over now.”

Janie groaned and stormed off to the store cupboard to retrieve more ingredients. Albus continued stirring his own cauldron and glanced up at Burke, who hadn’t even noticed Janie’s cauldron catch fire. Usually when something like that happened he was there in two seconds to douse it and then lecture for a full ten minutes on the importance of paying attention while brewing. But instead, Burke was focused on Matt, who was pulverizing his porcupine quills.

“Is he still staring at me?” Matt whispered.

Albus nodded. “It’s kind of creepy. I don’t think he’s ever missed a cauldron fire, either.”

“I wish he’d stop,” Matt muttered as he dumped his powdered porcupine quills into his cauldron.

“Is it because of the-“

“Probably,” Matt interrupted.

“Ten minutes left,” Burke announced, not taking his eyes off Matt. “Put a sample in a phial and bring it up to me for grading.”

Albus sighed and looked at his potion. It was emitting thick black smoke instead of the thin, silver vapor it was supposed to emit. But he’d still get better marks than Janie, who hadn’t had enough time to finish after she’d started over. Rose seemed to be the only one whose potion achieved the desired look and consistency, although Amanda’s looked nearly as good. That was probably only because she refused to talk to anyone while brewing it.

“I seriously hope that’s not what we have to brew for our O.W.L,” John said as they left the dungeon ten minutes later.

“If it’s not that one it’ll be one just as difficult,” Rose pointed out. “Anyone want to go to the library before dinner and work on that Transfiguration essay?”

“Yeah, we probably ought to,” Albus agreed.

“I’ll meet you there. Have to stop by the hospital wing,” Matt said quietly.

“Are you all right?” Albus asked. The full moon was the next day.

“I’ve got a headache, but it’s not awful yet. I’ll do the essay with you. But I have to go take the, er, potion.”

Amanda sighed. “You’re not seriously taking that again, are you?”

“Yeah, I am,” Matt snapped. “I have to. You don’t understand.”

Matt sped up and took off across the Entrance Hall, getting lost amongst the Ravenclaws on their way inside from Herbology.

“Does anyone else get the feeling he’s hiding something again?” Amanda asked.

“I think so, too,” Rose agreed.

“He’ll tell us when he’s ready,” John said confidently as he nearly plowed into a first year who had stopped to tie her shoe. “Bloody hell, really? Right in the middle of everything?”

The first year blushed furiously and took off up the stairs, her shoelaces still untied.

“Sure he will,” Amanda muttered. “Just like he did with the other big secret.”

“Let’s just go to the library,” Albus said, eager to avoid an argument. Although, if he was honest with himself, he would have to agree with Amanda.

Matt joined them in the library half an hour later and said nothing about the potion or anything related to his lycanthropy. However, as they worked, Albus could tell Matt’s headache was growing worse since he began staring at the same page in his Transfiguration book and stopped working on his essay.

The next day Matt skipped Charms and stayed in bed with a headache, which in itself wasn’t that unusual. But Albus thought Burke’s new potion was supposed to be helping. What was the point in taking it if it didn’t help? Whatever Burke changed in it since the fall hadn’t done anything at all.

“Did he take it again this morning?” Amanda asked after Charms.

Albus nodded. “Yeah, he went to the hospital wing instead of Charms, so I think so.”

“I just don’t understand,” Amanda muttered.

“Well, it’s not like he’s just taking it randomly,” Rose pointed out. “His healer is the one who’s having him take it. So it can’t be harmful.”

“It’s an experimental potion, Rose. Of course it could be harmful.”

“That’s not what I meant. I meant a healer is supervising it, so if anything bad does start to happen, they’ll stop giving it to him.”

“I don’t think any of us can truly understand,” Albus said. “We can try, but we can’t.”

“Albus is right,” John said. “I think we should drop it.”

“Come on,” Albus said. “Maybe he’ll be in Transfiguration.”

All four were quiet as they walked into Transfiguration a few minutes later. Matt was there, sitting at their usual table, but looking exhausted. Albus exchanged looks with Rose, who gave a slight shake of her head. More than anything, Albus wanted to know what was going on with Matt, because it was becoming more and more obvious that this was about more than just a new potion.

25. Panic Attack

“Did you ever hear from Kendrick?” Albus asked Matt as they wasted time in between Care of Magical Creatures and dinner. Albus was polishing his broomstick and Matt was laying on the couch, quiet, but not asleep. John was sorting through his collection of pranking supplies. Rose, Amanda, and Kaden had gone to the library.

“Yeah, that’s where I was earlier,” Matt said as he sat up.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” John asked.

“I didn’t get the owl until you’d already left for breakfast. And when was I supposed to tell you? During History of Magic?”

“Never mind that. What did he say?” Albus asked, glaring at John.

Matt sighed and stared at the table, as if the ink stains on it were suddenly very interesting. Albus watched him, but didn’t say a word.

“What did he say?” John pressed.

“They haven’t found him,” Matt said, “the bloke who was living there. In the Shack. They haven’t found him. The Aurors collected all his stuff as evidence. They found some hairs in the bed, so if he’s ever been arrested, they’ll be able to find out who he is. But if not…then they won’t.”

“What does all of that mean for tonight?” Albus asked quietly.

“It means that nobody has any idea where this bloke is and he could come storming into the Shrieking Shack while I’m there,” Matt said anxiously. “And if that happens, well, you know what would happen. So it can’t happen and-“

“Matt,” Albus interrupted. “Kendrick won’t let that happen. What did he say?”

“My dad’s coming,” Matt said as he laid back down. “He’s going to redo the wards and patrol outside all night.”

“Well that’s good, isn’t it?” John asked.

“What about next month? And the month after? He can’t be there every time.” Matt shut his eyes. “You should probably get to dinner.”

Albus nodded, taking the hint that Matt wanted to be alone. “Do you want us to bring you anything?”

“No. I feel like I’m going to be sick.”

“We’ll come back here after,” John said as they left.

Dinner was uneventful. Albus and John met the others at the Gryffindor table and had a lively discussion about the most recent Tornados match. They played the Harpies and lost spectacularly. They played so badly that John speculated the Cannons might beat them in their upcoming match. Rose, Amanda, and Kaden didn’t have much to contribute to this conversation and Albus heard them talking about careers, which made him feel slightly ill. He’d much rather ignore the fact that the end of the year was drawing closer and focus on Quidditch instead.

After the last few morsels of pudding were eaten, Albus, John, and Kaden wandered upstairs to the Marauders Den while the girls went back to the library. Rose had another book to check out, but the two of them planned to meet the boys in the Den in order to work on homework.

Matt was fast asleep when the boys walked into the Den. John immediately returned to his pranking supplies, Kaden joining him. Albus sat down in one of the armchairs with his Ancient Runes book. He had to read chapter 10 by tomorrow and hadn’t started.

“I think you need more Dungbombs next Hogsmeade visit,” Kaden said.

“When is the next visit?” John asked.

“February,” Albus answered. “They always do one around Valentine’s Day. I bet they’ll announce it soon.”

“How much longer does he have?” Kaden asked, nodding to Matt.

Albus checked his watch. “About an hour. I’ll have to go patrol right after he leaves.”

“Who are you with?” John asked.

“Meg Johnson.”

“You think she’d tell you anything about the investigation?” John said. “Since her dad’s basically in charge of it.”

“I doubt she knows anything. My dad never told me much when he was Head Auror.”

Albus returned to his reading. He was unsure whether he would continue with Ancient Runes next year. The class was fairly enjoyable, but it always provided a lot of homework and depending on what other courses he took, it might push him over the edge. But it would depend on what he chose as his career goal, and he wasn’t ready to pick any one thing just yet. He didn’t even know what courses he’d need to stick with in order to become an Auror or a Presuler.

Chapter ten really was quite dull. Albus sighed and looked up. John and Kaden were hunched over a pile of Skiving Snackbox sweets and Albus wasn’t quite sure he wanted to know what they were plotting. His eyes drifted to Matt, who was tossing and turning on the couch, his forehead drenched in sweat.

“Matt?” Albus asked, setting down his book and walking over to the couch.

“What is it?” John asked, looking away from his pile of sweets. Kaden glanced over, frowning.

“Matt,” Albus repeated as he shook his arm. “Matt, wake up.”

“Must be a nightmare,” John commented.

Matt sat up so suddenly that Albus jumped back, colliding with the table as he did so. Matt was breathing hard, his eyes darting all over the room and his hands shaking.

“Matt?” Albus said. “What’s wrong?”

“I-I can’t do it. I can’t do it,” he muttered, his chest heaving.

“Can’t do what?” Albus asked. He glanced at John, who looked just as worried as Albus felt.

“The Shack,” Matt said. “I can’t transform there. I just can’t. What if- what if that bloke comes back? What if he comes inside while I’m transformed and I- I-.”

“He won’t be able to get in,” Albus assured him. Albus moved to the couch and sat down next to Matt.

Albus wasn’t sure he’d ever seen Matt this anxious, and that included the time Scorpius Malfoy found out about his lycanthropy. But Matt was shaking so hard he looked unable to get up and his face was glistening with sweat. He was still breathing incredibly hard.

“Matt, calm down,” Albus said quietly. “It’s okay. No one will be able-“

“They can!” Matt exclaimed, his voice cracking. “They’ve gotten in before so they can do it again! My dad can’t be everywhere at once. What if they sneak in while he’s on the other side of the building? What if there’s a hole somewhere that we missed?”

“Matt, no one’s going to want to get in if you’re in there. They’ll be able to hear you,” John pointed out.

“That’s not a guarantee!” Matt said. “I just can’t.” His face was now nearly as pale as Moaning Myrtle’s. “Albus, I can’t- I can’t-“

“You can,” Albus said, glancing at his watch. “And you’re going to have to go to the hospital wing soon.”

Matt turned to Albus, fear evident in his eyes, which were now more gold than blue. “I can’t…Albus….I can’t…breathe.”

“What do you mean you can’t-“

“I can’t….breathe!” Matt exclaimed, his voice rattling. “Wh-what’s happening?”

“Madam Pomfrey!” John shouted. “We need Madam Pomfrey!”

John tripped over his own chair in his haste to get up. He yanked the door open and collided head on with Rose, who was on her way in.

“Rose!” Albus shouted. “Rose, what do we do?”

“What’s going on?” Rose asked as she rushed in.

“I don’t know. He can’t breathe,” Albus said.

Rose rushed over and knelt in front of Matt. “Matt,” she said quietly, “what’s going on?”

“I c-can’t…breathe,” he said. “I don’t want…to go to the Shack. I…can’t.”

Rose closed her eyes and nodded. “Matt. Breathe. You’re hyperventilating.” She pulled out her wand and conjured a paper bag. “Here breathe into this.”

“Did you just…conjure that?” John exclaimed, his mouth agape. “But we haven’t even learned-“

“Is this really the time?” Rose demanded, glaring at John.

“No,” John muttered. “Sorry.”

Rose turned back to Matt. “Breathe. In and out. In and out.”

Matt nodded and breathed into the bag. Albus watched as he stopped shaking and a bit of color returned to his face. Impressed, Albus turned to Rose, his eyebrows raised.

Rose sighed and sat down on the other side of Matt. She took away the bag and began to rub his back. “You’re okay. I think you had a panic attack. A really bad one. You’ve had them before, haven’t you?”

Matt nodded. “Not this bad, this close to the full moon.”

“You have to go to the hospital wing,” Rose said quietly. “Come on. I’ll walk you.”

“I can’t-“

“You can,” Rose said, her voice a little louder. “And you will. You know you have to. Now let’s go.”

Matt, even minutes after having a panic attack, knew there was no point in arguing with Rose. She took his hand and led him out of the room as Albus, John, and Kaden wished him luck.

***

“I’m going to fail my Defense O.W.L,” John muttered as he filled out Young’s worksheet on the Imperius Curse. “We all are.”

“I’m not,” Rose said confidently, setting down her book. “I’ve been studying outside of class. The book he assigned is actually quite useful.” She nodded to Young, who was in the middle of a novel that had a vampire on the cover.

John sighed. “I don’t have time to read another book. I need him to teach me.”

“Read during class,” Rose suggested. “The worksheets never take more than ten minutes.”

“And I use the rest of the time to do homework for other classes,” John pointed out.

Albus set down his quill and turned to Rose. “Are you ever going to tell us what happened last night?”

Rose picked up her book once more and buried her head in it, refusing to meet Albus’s gaze. Albus sighed and looked at John, who shrugged.

After Albus returned from his prefect patrol the previous night, he found John and Kaden plotting together in the Marauders’ Den while Rose and Amanda giggled about something across the room. Both girls refused to tell any of the boys what they had been discussing, but that wasn’t what bothered Albus. He couldn’t care less what Rose and Amanda had been laughing about. They were probably talking about who had crushes on whom, something Albus had little interest in. But when Albus questioned Rose about how Matt had been during the journey to the hospital wing and what had happened before he went down to the Shrieking Shack, she remained just as tight-lipped as she had been about the giggling. John, Kaden, and Amanda hadn’t been able to get a word out of her either.

“Come on, Rose. I’m his best friend,” Albus begged.

Rose set down her book again. “No, Albus. He made me promise not to tell anyone and I’m not going to betray that.”

“But he couldn’t have meant me,” Albus said.

“Well, he did. I’m not going to tell you, Albus, so stop asking me. It’s getting obnoxious.”

“Did he take that potion again?” Amanda asked.

Rose groaned. “Stop. All of you. He trusted me with something and I am not going to disregard that. And lay off him about the potion. Seriously. Don’t mention it anymore.”

“What could it possibly be?” John asked. “We already know he’s…you know. He knows we’re trustworthy.”

Rose sighed. “It’s not as simple as that. Just, trust me. He’ll tell you when he’s ready. If he’s ready.”

“So you know something about the potion?” Amanda asked. “Did it work this time?”

“Amanda, let it go,” Rose said shortly. “Enough already.”

Amanda raised her eyebrows and grabbed her quill with more force than was necessary. Turning away from Rose, she continued with her worksheet. Albus stared at his cousin for a full minute. She may lose her temper with John and Kaden all the time, and even with Albus on occasion, but she never, ever lost her temper with Amanda. What was going on?

“Well, I’m going to visit him after lunch,” Albus muttered. “He’ll tell me then.”

“Don’t count on it,” Rose said under her breath.

Albus ignored Rose during Ancient Runes, which wasn’t difficult to do since they weren’t assigned any practical work that day. Still, he tried to make it obvious that he wouldn’t have spoken to her even if they were doing practical work by not looking at her. Albus just couldn’t understand why she refused to talk to him about Matt. She was his cousin; they told each other everything, but more than that, he was Matt’s best friend.

Albus could understand her not telling John, Kaden, and Amanda. While all six of them were friends and trusted each other, Albus and Matt were practically brothers, just like John and Kaden were. Hell, Albus understood Matt better than he understood James, and they certainly spent more time together. Whatever it was, Albus could handle it, and Matt could trust him with it.

“It would be like if Amanda told me something and I refused to tell you,” Albus said to Rose as they walked to the Great Hall after Ancient Runes.

“Oh, are you going to talk to me?” Rose asked, her eyebrows raised.

“Only about this. But seriously, Rose, what would you think if I refused to tell you something about Amanda?”

“If she told you something in confidence I’d hope you wouldn’t tell me,” Rose answered.

“Really, Rose?”

“Yes, really, Albus. I’m mature enough to understand that. I’ve never told Matt you were afraid of being put in Slytherin.”

Albus felt his cheeks redden. “How did you know about that?”

“It was obvious. Every time James joked about it you looked bloody terrified. And you looked ready to be sick when you went up to get Sorted.”

“This is different,” Albus muttered.

“How, Al? How is it different?”

“Come on, Rose!”

Rose stopped walking, causing a second year to run into her. She whirled around and glared at Albus as the second year scurried off. “Albus Severus Potter! Stop talking about this! Just shut up! What makes you think that by bugging me about this constantly is going to make me want to tell you? Because it’s not. Do you think I like secrets? Do you?”

Albus wasn’t sure if this was a rhetorical question, but Rose glared at him and didn’t continue, so he figured he’d better answer. “Erm, I don’t know?”

“Well, I don’t, Albus. I don’t. I hate secrets. I hate that he doesn’t want me to tell you, but that doesn’t change the fact that he doesn’t want me to tell you. I can’t betray him. I can’t. He might be your best friend, but he’s my friend, too. You know him, Albus. You know him better than the rest of us. So how do you think he’d feel if he knew you were badgering me about this constantly?”

Albus’s cheeks burned. He hadn’t thought of that. “I guess he wouldn’t like it.”

“You’re right. He wouldn’t. He’d hate it. You know he hates being the center of attention. And you’ve been obsessing over this since last night instead of focusing on your classes. I know you have this insatiable curiosity and insist upon knowing everything about everybody, but for once in your life, just let it go.”

“I don’t-“

“You do, Al. I’ve known you since I was born, so don’t even try to convince me you don’t.”

She had a point. Albus did want to know what was going on with Matt because he was curious, but it was more than that. He wanted to know because he was worried. Matt had had a hard enough life already; Albus didn’t want anything else bad to happen to him.

“And Albus, trust me when I tell you, that this is not simple. It’s not easy. It’s not cut and dry.” She glanced around at the corridor, which was now deserted. “It’s not like his lycanthropy, which is something he has and just is. It’s more complicated-“

“What could be more complicated than lycanthropy?” Albus interrupted.

Rose sighed. “Okay, that was the wrong way of putting it. It’s complicated in a different way. But Albus, if you just look, if you just pay a bit more attention to what’s going on here, Matt specifically, rather than what’s going on with the Ministry and these murders, you’ll probably be able to figure it out on your own. And then, then you can be there for him.”

Albus stared at her. She looked sad and a bit worried. “But if I can figure it out, why can’t you tell me?”

“Because he doesn’t want me to,” Rose said quietly. “He doesn’t want anyone to know.”

“Then why should I figure it out?”

“Because he needs you, Al. He needs all of us. Now come on, let’s go to lunch.”

Albus was quiet during lunch. John and Kaden discussed whether it would be better to put Dungbombs in all of the bathrooms in the castle or just the girls’ bathrooms, but neither asked Rose about Matt. Rose and Amanda discussed their future careers, something the two of them had been researching in the library quite a bit lately. No one seemed to notice that Albus was lost in his own thoughts.

After he finished his sandwich Albus went to the hospital wing with John and Amanda while Rose and Kaden went to class. For the first time since first year, Albus was nervous about visiting Matt after a full moon, although it had nothing to do with his lycanthropy. Albus was afraid of doing or saying the wrong thing, but at the same time, he wanted Matt to tell him what was going on.

“Well, at least we know no one got into the Shrieking Shack,” John said as they neared the ward. “That would’ve been front page of the Prophet.”

“Unless the Ministry wanted it covered up,” Amanda pointed out. “But I think you’re right.”

Albus pushed the doors to the hospital wing open and led John and Amanda inside. The room was quiet and bright, sunlight streaming in through the gaps in the curtains. Madam Pomfrey was at her desk talking with a seventh year Ravenclaw. The nurse nodded at Albus and returned to her conversation.

The only occupied bed had its curtains pulled around it. Albus pushed them back slowly and shuffled inside, happy to see that Matt was awake and sitting up. That was always a good sign. But his head was bandaged. That was not a good sign.

“Hey,” Albus said as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

“Hey,” Matt replied. “Did I miss anything good this morning?”

“No,” John answered, sitting down next to Albus. “Worksheet on the Imperius Curse.”

“And you don’t take Divination, so you missed nothing there. Trelawney ranted for twenty minutes about Potions professors who don’t know their place. I don’t think she likes Burke.”

“Burke apparently accused her of lurking around his brewing room. She claims the smoke from his mystery cauldron is obscuring her Inner Eye.”

Matt burst out laughing, then winced and rubbed his head. “Wish I could’ve seen that.”

“Me, too,” Albus agreed. “How are you? Everything went okay?”

Matt nodded, not meeting Albus’s gaze. “My dad was there the whole night and didn’t see anyone. The Aurors think whoever it was is long gone. But they’re going to check before next month. Well, your dad is going to check. Johnson apparently doesn’t want anyone focusing on it because he doesn’t think it’s linked to the murders. He thinks it’s a simple case of squatting, which Aurors don’t deal with. That’s regular MLEs.”

“How can they not be connected?” Albus asked, shocked. “Someone was murdered on the property!”

“Someone was dumped on the property,” Matt corrected him. “They don’t know whether he was killed there. Johnson thinks the Shrieking Shack attracts too much criminal activity and advised Kendrick to demolish it. Kendrick is going to petition the Historical Society to have it made an official historical site to keep it there.”

“But it’s Hogwarts property. Does the Ministry have the right to order it demolished?” Albus asked.

Matt shrugged. He looked worried. “I don’t know.”

“What historical event happened there?” John asked.

“It was where Wormtail came back and escaped,” Albus said quietly. “So, technically, it signifies Voldemort returning to power, years ago. That’s probably what angle Kendrick will use.”

Matt nodded. “Yeah, that’s what my dad said.”

Albus heard the door open and close and assumed the seventh year talking to Madam Pomfrey had left. He turned back to Matt. “Are you okay, though? After…last night?”

Matt sighed. “I really don’t want to talk about it.”

“Okay,” Albus said. He took a deep breath, feeling very awkward. “But you can, you know, talk about it. If you want.”

“But I don’t.”

“Okay.”

The door opened again and this time Albus heard Madam Pomfrey’s swift footsteps and muffled ‘hellos.’ He glanced at Matt as two sets of footsteps grew louder.

The curtains around Matt’s bed were pulled open, revealing Madam Pomfrey and a short, chubby man in green healer robes. He had very little hair on his head, but more than made up for it in beard. A pair of spectacles sat on his nose and he held a clipboard in his hands.

He wasn’t Healer Sterling, Matt’s usual healer. But why was he even there? Was Matt’s head injury worse than he’d let on?

“Albus, John, Amanda,” Madam Pomfrey said. “You three will need to leave. You can come back later tonight.”

“But-“ Albus began, looking from Matt to the nurse, and back again. Matt looked nervous.

“No arguing, Mr. Potter,” Madam Pomfrey said, glaring at him.

Albus sighed and got up off the bed. John and Amanda followed him out of the ward.

“Who was that?” Amanda asked as they walked back to Gryffindor.

“A healer, obviously,” Albus said. “But not Matt’s usual healer. He didn’t seem any worse than usual, though.”

“Maybe he just doesn’t want to tell us,” Amanda said.

“I know him. The healer,” John said quietly. “I mean, my dad knows him, but I know who he is.”

“Well?” Albus prompted.

John sighed. “His name is Healer Norlam, and he’s a psychiatrist.”

“A psychiatrist?” Albus repeated. “But that means-“

“I don’t think last night was an isolated incident,” Amanda interrupted.

“I knew that,” Albus said. “He’s told me what happened in Australia. But I thought he was better now. It’s been years.”

“Well, clearly something else happened,” Amanda said.

“But what?” John asked.

“Whatever it is, Rose knows,” Albus said quietly.

That was it. That was what Matt told Rose last night. He told her what must’ve happened for him to need to see Healer Norlam again. But he’d been at Hogwarts all year, except for Christmas. What had happened?