Albus Potter and the Potions Master's Solution

26. Valentine’s Day

The beginning of February provided many distractions from Matt’s possible issues. As soon as he returned from the hospital wing, Albus was forced to think of other things, and since Matt appeared fine on the outside, Albus found it easy to push Healer Norlam’s visit to the back of his mind. With four months until their O.W.L.s, every professor had stepped up the workload, something Albus hadn’t thought possible. Quidditch practices became increasingly long, despite the cold and snow. Bradley was determined to win their match against Hufflepuff at the end of the month, and Hufflepuff’s team was really good this year. Dueling, assisting Burke, and prefect patrolling continued at their steady rate, but still ate up quite a bit of Albus’s time. But the biggest distraction of all was the announcement of February’s Hogsmeade visit.

February’s visit was scheduled for the 13th, the day before Valentine’s Day. The winter Hogsmeade visit was always scheduled for the Saturday closest to Valentine’s Day, but before this year, that hadn’t affected Albus at all. Valentine’s Day was just an average day. This year, it somehow turned all the girls in Albus’s year, all of whom had seemed normal until this point, into giggling, blushing…aliens. Even Rose and Amanda, possibly the most rational girls in fifth year, blushed every time certain boys walked by.

The insanity really began a week before the Hogsmeade visit. Albus returned from Quidditch practice muddy, cold, and generally in a bad mood, only to discover Karina Jordan-Bell had been asked to go to Hogsmeade by Maverick Penfield, one of Hufflepuff’s Chasers and a fellow fifth year. Karina was sitting at a table in the common room with Marina, Rose, and Amanda and the only term that could possibly be used to describe the noise coming from them was squeeing.

Albus sighed to himself and ran upstairs to shower before returning to the common room. Matt, John, and Kaden were sitting a safe distance away from the girls, staring at them with confused looks on their faces.

“What’s going on?” Albus asked.

“Did you hear about Karina?” John replied.

Albus nodded. “Janie mentioned it during practice.”

“Maverick is apparently ‘very fit,’” Matt said, unable to hide his smirk. “Personally, I think he resembles a hairy boulder.”

“You’re just jealous,” John said. “Because if Penfield resembles a boulder you’re merely a pebble.”

“Shut up,” Matt said. “I don’t see you asking anyone to Hogsmeade.”

“I never said I wanted to. But, Albus, you might want to know that Lily has a date tomorrow as well.”

Albus’s eyes bulged. “What? Lily? As in my sister? As in my 13-year-old sister? Who is it?”

John nodded. “Ashtyn told me. Caleb Francis, that Beater from the Ravenclaw Quidditch team.”

Albus sat frozen, unsure of what to do with this information. He knew that as Lily’s older brother, he ought to feel protective. But he also knew that Lily could take care of herself, and if she needed a brother for protection, James was the better choice. But she was so young. Thirteen!

“And what about Ashtyn?” Albus asked.

“Ashtyn plans on waiting at the Three Broomsticks with Hugo until the date is over so that she and Lily can discuss it. At which point I assume Hugo will leave. If he’s sane, that is.”

“When did the girls get so crazy?” Albus asked. “I mean, look at them.”

All four boys turned to look at the girls. They were still giggling uncontrollably. Karina turned and met Albus’s gaze, waving as she did so. Albus quickly turned back around.

“She’s coming over here!” John seethed. “What did you do, Albus?”

“Nothing!” Albus exclaimed. “She saw me and waved. Can’t imagine what she wants. She’s already got the hairy boulder.”

“Hello, Albus!” Karina said as she squeezed in between Albus and Matt. “John, Matt…erm…I don’t know your name.”

“Kaden Durlsey,” Kaden said, sticking out his hand. “Pleased to meet you.”

Karina giggled and shook Kaden’s hand. “You, too.” She turned to John. “So, John.”

John’s cheeks reddened. “Er, yes?”

”Hogsmeade. Next weekend. Are you going with anyone?” she asked.

Albus’s mouth fell open. He stared at Karina. She was quite pretty. Her skin was light brown, only a shade or two lighter than John’s, and smooth. It was possibly the nicest skin he’d ever seen. And her hair was incredibly curly and crazy. It just sort of seemed to do what it wanted to do. But Karina was already going to Hogsmeade with Maverick Penfield, wasn’t she? Was she planning on going on two dates on the same day?

“N-no,” John stammered. “But what about Penfield?”

Karina groaned. “I’m not asking for me, you dolt. I’m asking for Janie.”

“Janie?” John said. “As in Janie Creevey?”

Albus turned back to the girls’ table to look at Janie. She was facing away, talking to Rose. Janie was tiny, the only fifth year in Gryffindor shorter than Matt, which was what made her such a great Keeper. She was fast, no matter what broom she was on. John, however, was the tallest fifth year at Hogwarts and had bulked out over the summer, which would make him a great Beater after Gryffindor’s current Beaters graduated. John and Janie together would make for a funny couple.

“Yes, Janie Creevey,” Karina said. “She’s too shy to ask you herself. So will you go with her?”

“To- to Hogsmeade?”

Karina sighed. “Yes, to Hogsmeade.”

“Um, sure? I guess?”

“You guess?” Karina said flatly.

“Yes, I’ll go with her,” John said.

Karina smiled. “Good. And Albus, will you go with Marina?”

“Marina? As in your sister?”

“God, you two are so thick. Yes, as in my sister. She’s liked you for ages.”

Albus blushed. Rose and Amanda had told him that, but he hadn’t believed them. At least John couldn’t make fun of him, because he’d be going with Janie. They’d be in the same boat.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll go with Marina,” Albus answered, smiling slightly. The last thing he expected was to have a date for Hogsmeade.

“What about Matt?” John asked.

Matt’s eyes grew large. “John.”

“Well, if we’ve got dates, he needs one, too.”

“I don’t,” Matt muttered, his face growing red.

“I suppose he could go with Rose,” Karina began.

“No,” Matt said flatly. “I am not going with Rose. Or anybody.”

“Okay, then,” Karina said as she got up. “We’ll meet you in the Entrance Hall at eleven next Saturday.” She disappeared back to the girls’ table without a glance back.

“Girls are weird,” John said, shaking his head.

“But you have dates,” Kaden said, clearly awed. “Actual girls, who want to go out with you. They might even let you kiss them.”

Albus hadn’t even thought of that. He didn’t know how to kiss anybody. What if he did it wrong?

“John, don’t ever do that again,” Matt said. “Don’t try to get me a date.”

“Is it a werewolf thing?” John asked, lowering his voice.

“Yeah,” Matt muttered.

***

Albus spent the next week alternating between elation at the thought of going to Hogsmeade with Marina and paralyzing terror at the thought of going to Hogsmeade with Marina. He really wanted to go. Marina was pretty (she looked just like Karina, after all), incredibly smart (not as smart as Rose, but then nobody was), and the only fifth year other than Scorpius Malfoy who could hold themselves in a duel against Albus. But she was a girl, and that alone was scary. Girls were a mystery, one that seemed more difficult to solve than the two murders.

John seemed to share none of Albus’s insecurities. He walked around the castle that week with a stupid grin on his face, one that grew even larger when he partnered with Janie during Herbology and Potions. Albus decided not to mention how nervous he was to John, since he had a feeling John wouldn’t understand.

Dueling practice became slightly more awkward since Albus now knew that Marina liked him and Marina was much shyer than her twin and didn’t seem to want to discuss any of this with Albus. This suited him just fine, since he was perfectly happy not to say anything about their date until it actually happened. The only thing they discussed during practice was dueling.

“Albus!”

Albus, who had been walking back to the common room from dueling practice with the rest of his team, turned around and saw James. He motioned for the team to continue on without him and waited for his brother.

“What’s up?” Albus asked. James rarely ever sought Albus out while they were at Hogwarts.

“Lily,” James answered. “I just found out that she has a date for Hogsmeade.”

“So?” Albus said as they walked. “I do, too. And I assume you’re going with Meg.”

“I am. Wait, you have a date?”

Albus nodded. Might as well get this over with. “Marina Jordan-Bell.”

James grinned and messed with Albus’s hair. “Aww, ickle Al is growing up!”

“Shut up,” Albus muttered.

“I’m your big brother. It’s my job to do this. But it’s also my job, our job, to talk to Lily. She’s thirteen, Al. She’s just a kid. We need to have a talk with her.”

“We can’t stop her,” Albus pointed out.

James sighed. “I know that, Al, but we should still let her know we’re there if she needs us. That if this bloke hurts her, we’ll hex him into next week. Who is he, anyway?”

“One of the Ravenclaw Beaters. Caleb Francis.”

James laughed. “That kid? He looks like you could snap him in half. I was surprised he made Beater. But that doesn’t matter. We’re still talking to her.”

“Fine,” Albus muttered. At least this was distracting James from Albus’s date with Marina.

They reached the Fat Lady. “Hocus pocus,” James said and the portrait swung open. “Come on. Let’s find her now.”

Albus sighed and followed James into the common room. Lily was sitting in one of the comfy armchairs, laughing about something with Hugo and Ashtyn, her bright red hair shining by the firelight. He hung back and let James take the lead, not really wanting to initiate, or even have, the conversation.

“Lily,” James said when they reached their sister. “Al and I need to talk to you.”

Lily frowned. “What’s going on?”

“It’s nothing bad,” James assured her. “We just need to talk. Come on. We’ll go up to my dormitory.”

Lily looked confused, but got up without further questions and followed her brothers through the crowd and over to the staircase leading to the boys’ dormitories. Albus had never seen James’s dormitory, but was unsurprised to find it much messier than his own. James’s bed was easily spotted, as it was surrounded by multiple posters of Puddlemere United and his broomstick lay sitting on the rumpled sheets. His trunk sat open at the foot and looked as if it had exploded, for there were more robes and socks sitting next to it than inside of it.

“Mum would be disgusted,” Lily said, grimacing as they walked over to James’s bed. “Nana Molly would send you a Howler if she knew.”

“Which is why I haven’t told her,” James said as he pushed a pile of books and parchment off, making room for them to sit.

Lily sat cross-legged at the foot of the bed and stared at Albus and James, her eyebrows raised in such a way that made her look uncannily like Rose. James moved his broomstick and sat on the edge. Albus sat next to him and waited for him to begin.

“Well?” Lily prompted. “What’s this about? I really need to get back downstairs. Ashtyn dared Hugo to eat a Nosebleed Nougat and a Puking Pastille at the same time.”

“That’s stupid,” Albus commented.

Lily shrugged. “He’s going to do it. I might as well watch.”

“It’s about Saturday,” James said as he ran a hand through his hair, which was getting a bit long.

Lily smirked. “What about Saturday?”

Albus had a feeling Lily knew exactly what James wanted to discuss, but seemed to enjoy making him squirm. Albus couldn’t blame her.

“Well, er…” James stammered, clearly unsure of how to broach the topic.

“I’ll save you the trouble,” Lily said. “I’m going to Hogsmeade with Caleb. He’s very nice. I won’t do anything stupid.”

“How did you know-“

Lily laughed. “James, I’ve been waiting for you to do this ever since I agreed to go with Caleb.”

“Maybe it was Albus’s idea,” James muttered. “You don’t know it was my idea-“

“I do, James.”

“Why?”

Lily raised her eyebrows again. “Seriously? He’s Albus.”

James groaned. “Fine. Fair point.”

“Hey!” Albus exclaimed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means you hate confrontation,” James said.

“I do not!” Albus felt his cheeks redden. He did hate confrontation, but he didn’t think it was that obvious.

“You do. Unless it has to do with solving some mystery you’ve discovered. Rose does all your confronting for you. But hey, I don’t have any problems with that,” James said. “Back to you, Lily. You’re too young-“

“I am not!” Lily shouted. “Don’t play the protective older brother card now, James. You hardly ever talk to me here. All we’re doing is going to the Three Broomsticks. It’s not like we’re getting married.”

“You’re not going to Madam Puddifoot’s?” James asked.

Lily screwed up her face. “God, no. That place is horrific. Now, are you done? Is there anything else?”

“Er, I guess not,” James muttered.

“Good,” Lily said as she got up off the bed. “And don’t think I haven’t heard about your date with Marina, Albus. Don’t do anything stupid.”

Albus blushed even harder as Lily flounced out of the room. He waited until her footsteps had disappeared before turning to James. “That went well.”

“I sort of feel bad for Caleb Francis,” James said. “This isn’t going to end well.”

“Not a chance,” Albus agreed.

“And I somehow doubt Lily will be the one getting hurt,” James added. “Remind me again why we wanted to talk to her?”

“I didn’t. You did.”

***

Albus awoke on Saturday morning feeling partially nervous and partially excited. Halfway through dressing he was struck with the paralyzing thought of what would he talk to Marina about. He’d known her for four and a half years, but had never had a long discussion about anything that was unrelated to school or dueling. What if they just sat there, staring at each other, until one of them decided to give up and leave? And in that case, how long should he even wait before giving up?

At breakfast, Albus stared at his bacon and eggs for a full ten minutes before Rose asked him what was wrong. He muttered something under his breath and she sighed.

“Come on, Albus. What’s going on?”

“What do I talk to her about?” Albus finally asked. “Marina.”

Rose giggled. “Same things you talk to us about.”

“So, murders, Burke’s possible illegal activities, and Quidditch?”

Rose groaned. “No. None of those things. Except Quidditch. You can talk to her about Quidditch.”

“Marina likes Quidditch?”

“Of course she does. Most people do. And her mum was on the Gryffindor team with your parents when they were in school.”

“Right,” Albus muttered. He could do this. He’d just talk about Quidditch whenever the conversation lagged. He could talk about Quidditch for hours.

“Ready?” John asked.

Albus nodded.

Marina and Janie were already waiting in the Entrance Hall, talking quietly to each other a few feet away from Filch, who was checking everyone’s names off a list as they left for the village. Marina had her hair up in some sort of ponytail, which made it look like she had even more hair than normal. Albus’s heart started beating faster.

“Hi, Albus,” Marina said shyly, smiling as he and John reached her and Janie. “It’s a lovely day out.”

“Hi,” Albus replied. “Yeah, sunnier than usual. It should be warmer. You know, because of the sun.”

Marina giggled and John snorted. Albus averted his eyes. Why had he said that? It was probably the stupidest thing he’d ever said in his life.

“Where’s Karina?” John asked. “Should we wait for her?”

“She went ahead with Maverick,” Marina said. “They wanted to go alone.”

Albus was relieved, partly because he didn’t want to have to look impressive compared to Maverick and partly because he couldn’t tell Marina and Karina apart.

“Shall we go?” Janie asked.

“Yeah,” Marina said. “Come on.”

They set off for Hogsmeade, falling into an easy pace after getting their names checked by Filch. John and Janie walked ahead of Albus and Marina. It crossed Albus’s mind that he’d be expected to hold Marina’s hand, but since John had his own hands shoved into his pockets and wasn’t making any attempt to hold Janie’s hand, Albus figured he didn’t have to.

“So, erm, where are we going?” Albus asked, realizing he had no idea what the plan was.

“Madam Puddifoot’s,” Marina said, smiling. “Janie and I picked it. I hope that’s okay.”

“Sure,” Albus said. He’d rather go to the Shrieking Shack or the Hog’s Head than Madam Puddifoot’s, but he wanted Marina to enjoy the date, so he didn’t argue.

Albus never realized just how many couples were at Hogwarts, but now that he was on an official date with Marina, he saw them all over the village. Holding hands outside of Honeyduke’s. Snogging on the bench in front of the Three Broomsticks. It seemed like more people were paired off than were single. He wondered what Matt, Kaden, Rose, and Amanda were doing.

Madam Puddifoot’s was packed. Albus’s stomach flip-flopped when he noticed there were only tables for two and the only available tables were across the room from each other. He and Marina were going to have to sit separately from John and Janie. Marina and Janie seemed delighted about this, but John’s face looked like how Albus felt.

Everything in the entire place was pink, right down to the pot of sugar on their table. Even the sugar itself was pink. Albus swallowed hard as he pulled Marina’s chair out for her, and then sat down across the table. A waitress swooped down a few seconds later; Albus and Marina both ordered tea, along with a plate of biscuits.

Was it too early to bring up Quidditch?

“So what was it like?” Marina began. “Growing up with Harry Potter as your dad.”

Albus hadn’t been expecting that. Maybe he wouldn’t need to bring up Quidditch. “Okay? I guess? I mean, he’s my dad. That’s all.”

“But he defeated You-Know-Who,” Marina said in awe. “That’s so…insane.”

“He doesn’t really talk about it,” Albus said. “Ever.”

“Oh,” Marina said, clearly disappointed. “But what about you, though? You went to the Chamber of Secrets to save Amanda last year. That was very heroic.”

“That wasn’t me. My dad, and the other Aurors, they’re the ones who really saved everyone,” Albus replied. Perhaps he should change the conversation to Quidditch.

“Yeah, but you helped, and you were there until the Aurors arrived.” She smiled wistfully. “You’re so brave.”

Albus blushed and then wished he hadn’t, which only made him blush even harder. “Rose tells me you like Quidditch-“

“Oh, yes! The Harpies are my team. When I was little it was my dream to play for them, but I’m a terrible flyer. But your mum was a Harpy, wasn’t she?”

Albus nodded. Why was it that he and Marina could have a perfectly normal conversation during dueling practice, but now she was acting so strangely? It was like someone had switched her with someone else.

The waitress came back and set two cups of tea and a plate of peanut butter biscuits on the table. Albus was grateful for the distraction and spent more time adding milk and sugar to his tea than was strictly necessary. As he took a sip, he chanced a glance at John and Janie. Janie was currently laughing at something John had said. Albus wished he was funny, but he couldn’t think of a single funny thing to say.

“These are good,” Albus said after he finished one of the biscuits. Marina hadn’t touched them. “You should try one.”

“I can’t,” Marina said. “I’m allergic to peanuts.”

Albus’s eyes grew large. Why hadn’t she said anything when he ordered them? “Sorry,” Albus muttered as he grabbed the plate and set it on the empty table behind him. “I didn’t know.”

Marina giggled. “It’s okay, Albus. I’m fine with just the tea.”

The couple at the table next to them began to snog across their pot of sugar. Albus recognized the girl as one of the older Hufflepuff prefects, but he didn’t recognize the bloke. He quickly looked away, not wanting to stare.

“So, erm, do you have any other siblings? Besides Karina?” Albus asked, wanting to distract Marina from the snogging couple.

Marina turned back to Albus. “No. It’s just the two of us. You have James and Lily, right? How’d they wind up with the normal names and you got stuck with Albus?”

Albus let out an awkward laugh. “Well, James was already used and they couldn’t name me Lily. That would’ve been worse than Albus. James and Lily were named after my grandparents, my dad’s parents. I’m named after Dumbledore.”

“As in Albus Dumbledore?” Marina asked, impressed. “The Albus Dumbledore?”

Albus nodded, deciding not to inform her of his middle name. “The one and only.”

“That’s so cool. I wish I was named after someone that awesome.”

“Who are you named after?”

“No one,” Marina said as she stirred her tea. “My parents are of the camp that twins should have ‘twin names.’ Names that rhyme or start with the same letter or whatever. So they picked Marina and Karina because they rhymed. We can’t even shorten them to anything that doesn’t rhyme. Unless one of us shortened and the other one didn’t.”

“My twin cousins are called Samantha and Lindy,” Albus said.

“See? Those aren’t twin names. Oh, well. Nothing you can do about your name. Are Samantha and Lindy identical?”

“Yeah,” Albus answered. “My uncle Percy and aunt Corrine can tell them apart, but I can’t.”

“Can you tell me and Karina apart?” she asked, grinning.

“Er…not really. Sorry,” Albus muttered.

Marina laughed and stirred another spoonful of sugar into her tea. “Oh, this could be fun.”

Albus smiled nervously. Maybe this whole dating thing wouldn’t be so bad after all. Maybe she would even let him kiss her.

27. Gryffindor Versus Hufflepuff

“Tell me you didn’t actually order peanut butter biscuits,” Rose said as Albus described his date with Marina in the Marauder’s Den that night.

Albus felt his cheeks redden. “How was I supposed to know she was allergic?!”

John burst out laughing. “It’ll make for a good story.”

“It’s not funny!” Rose said. “She could’ve gotten really ill!” She glanced around the table in search of support, but Kaden was laughing as hard as John and even Matt and Amanda were giggling. Her eyes rested on Matt. “Really? Even you?”

Matt shrugged. “What?”

“You’ve got a whole list of things you’re allergic to. I thought you’d understand how serious it could’ve been.”

“So I know more than anyone that people can’t figure out what someone’s allergic to just by looking at them,” Matt explained. “All that matters is that she didn’t wind up in the hospital wing.”

“And the date turned around shortly after,” Albus pointed out. “I didn’t make too much of an idiot of myself.”

Rose sighed. “Are you going to see her again?”

That was probably something Albus should’ve asked before they parted ways outside of Honeydukes. But instead Marina simply gave Albus a peck on the cheek and walked down High Street without a glance back, presumably to find Karina and Janie.

“I have no idea,” Albus said finally. “She didn’t even kiss me. Not really, anyway. Just on the cheek.”

“Well, that’s because you ate all those biscuits,” Rose explained. “You’d have had to brush your teeth first.”

Albus groaned and turned to John. “Tell me yours was more successful?”

“We’re going to Hogsmeade again next visit,” John said, grinning. “Janie’s brilliant. We talked about Quidditch the whole time.”

This did nothing to make Albus feel better. Why hadn’t he asked Marina to go to Hogsmeade again before she left? Why hadn’t that crossed his mind? Now he had no idea where they stood. He certainly enjoyed himself once they got past the initial awkwardness, but had Marina? And even more important, how was he supposed to react to her in classes and dueling? Were they dating because they went on one date? Or were they still friends?

“Let’s talk about something else,” Albus muttered. He was feeling slightly ill at the thought of figuring out what was going on with Marina. “What are two doing?” He gestured to the stack of parchment and books Rose and Amanda had piled between them.

“The article for the Quibbler,” Rose explained. “Luna said there’s room in the March issue if we get it done within the week.”

Albus had forgotten about that amidst his worry for Matt and then his date with Marina. “What exactly are you writing about? Are you going to mention Young?”

“No,” Amanda answered. “We’re just raising questions about how the Ministry is handling everything, and how the Prophet is clearly covering something up.”

“Can I read what you’ve got so far?” Albus asked, reaching across the table.

Rose pulled the parchment out of his reach. “No. No one reads it until we’re done.”

“Oh, come on!” Albus said, groaning. “Please?”

Rose glared at him, using the same look she used when she insisted he stop badgering her about what was going on with Matt.

“Fine,” Albus muttered. “Anyone fancy a game of chess?”

“You should do that History of Magic essay. It’s due on-“ Rose began.

“I don’t see you working on yours,” Albus interrupted. “And I can do it tomorrow.”

“I’ll play chess,” John said, getting up.

Rose shook her head disapprovingly, but Albus ignored her. He wanted a night off from studying and doubted he could concentrate on History of Magic anyway, given the way his mind was racing over Marina.

However, Albus should’ve done his History of Magic essay that night as Rose suggested. The following day Bradley called for an all-day Quidditch practice in preparation for the following Saturday’s match against Hufflepuff. They practiced all day, breaking only once for lunch, and then ending just before dinner. The last thing Albus felt like doing after spending a full half hour in the shower and eating twice as much as usual for dinner was bury himself in notes on goblin rebellions, but considering the essay was due the following day, he had no choice.

John and Matt had also saved their essays for Sunday night, so at least Albus had company. But in addition to the essays, he and John had to complete constellation charts for Astronomy. Their table in the common room was covered in books and notes. Kaden had claimed a small corner of the table for himself and his Charms essay, although Albus harbored no sympathy for his cousin, whose homework load was considerably smaller. Rose and Amanda sat at an adjacent table, their heads bent down low over what must’ve been their article for the Quibbler.

“Still four inches short!” John exclaimed after measuring his essay for the third time. “I’m not getting any sleep tonight.”

“Me either,” Albus muttered. He hadn’t even bothered to measure his essay yet, knowing it wasn’t even close. His entire body ached from playing Quidditch all day in freezing temperatures, and it was hindering his essay writing ability.

The common room had been steadily emptying over the past hour. Only fifth and seventh years (plus Kaden) remained, all working furiously on their homework.

“Can I copy your constellation chart?” John asked Matt, who was muttering to himself as he read A History of Magic.

“Only if I can copy your mandrake diagram that’s due tomorrow,” Matt said. “I can’t remember what they look like outside of the pots.”

“Of course,” John said as he rummaged in his bag. He pulled out a slightly wrinkled piece of parchment with a truly awful labeled drawing of a mandrake upon it. “It’s not the greatest.”

“It’s better than nothing,” Matt said, taking it. He handed John the constellation chart.

“What are you going to do if mandrake repotting is on the Herbology O.W.L.?” John asked, taking the chart.

Matt’s face paled. “I hadn’t thought about that. Dammit, I don’t know. If they are, I’ll fail for sure. We’re all in the same room for the Herbology practical. Amy told me. So even if I don’t repot one, I’ll pass out from everyone else doing it.”

“Sorry, shouldn’t have mentioned it,” John mumbled.

Matt groaned. “It’s not your fault. I should’ve thought of it. Nothing I can do, though. Nobody knows what’s on the exam ahead of time except the examiners.”

“Talk to Madam Pomfrey,” Kaden suggested. “She’d do anything for you.”

“But she can’t do anything about exams,” Matt said, sighing. “The exams are given by the Ministry, not Hogwarts.”

“Exams are still months away,” Albus said. “Can we just concentrate on tonight’s homework?” The last thing Matt needed was yet another thing to worry about.

Matt and John returned to their copying, but Albus noticed Matt’s face didn’t regain any color and he seemed distracted even after he finished copying John’s work and went back to his essay.

The boys finally finished their essays around midnight and headed up to their dormitory, a full hour and a half after Rose, Amanda, and Kaden turned in. Albus fell asleep within minutes, but when he woke up the next morning he didn’t feel rested at all.

***

The rest of the week didn’t turn out to be any more restful than Sunday had been. Albus was busy every evening, whether with Quidditch practice, dueling practice, or prefect patrolling. Wednesday he had to go to Quidditch practice and then patrol for an hour, leaving very little time to do his homework and he stayed up until one in the morning writing a Transfiguration essay. This left no time for assisting Professor Burke, who, according to Kaden, was becoming even more manic over his mystery potion, spending hours at a time breathing in its smoke. When Friday arrived, Albus was finally able to breathe. He was very much looking forward to spending his free afternoon lounging around the Marauders Den doing absolutely nothing at all.

“What did your sister do to that Ravenclaw kid?” John asked as they ate lunch on Friday. He gestured to the Ravenclaw table with his sandwich, where Caleb Francis sat completely still, looking depressed.

Albus smirked. “I imagine he said something stupid and she dumped him.”

“I pity the next bloke who dates her,” John said, shaking his head.

Albus nodded in agreement, not wanting to discuss Lily’s love life. It only reminded him of Marina, who hadn’t spoken to Albus outside of class and dueling practice since their trip to Madam Puddifoot’s. Perhaps it hadn’t gone as well as Albus had thought.

“Let’s take the afternoon off,” John said after polishing off the last bit of his sandwich. “My brain is going to explode if I study any more.”

“Exactly what I was thinking,” Albus agreed. “Let’s just go to the Den and relax. Matt?”

“I’ll meet you there later. I have to go do…something…first,” he answered, not meeting Albus’s eye.

“What do you have to do? You have the same homework I do,” Albus replied, confused.

“It’s not homework,” Matt muttered. “It’s just something. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“All right then….”

Matt got up from the table. “I’ll see you later.”

“That was weird,” John said after he’d left.

Rose sighed and absentmindedly shredded what was left of her roll.

“This has to do with what he told you, doesn’t it,” Albus said.

Rose didn’t say a word, but that was all the answer Albus needed.

Albus succeeded in not doing any homework that afternoon, or later that night. After a grueling Quidditch practice before dinner, Albus had no desire to write essays or practice spells. The cheery environment of the common room that evening helped his procrastination and he spent an enjoyable two hours playing Exploding Snap with John and Kaden, who also neglected their homework. Rose cast him furtive glances over her shoulder as she worked on Arithmancy, but Albus ignored her. His annoyance at her for not telling him what was going on with Matt returned in full force after Matt returned from his mysterious afternoon as tight-lipped as he had been before. In addition, Matt had spent the entire evening shut in their dormitory, claiming to need quiet while he studied. Rose had forbidden both Albus and John from interrupting him.

At half-past nine Albus decided an early night would do him good before the Quidditch match and bid his friends good night. Rose opened her mouth as if to tell Albus he still wasn’t allowed in his own dormitory, but closed it again without saying a word and returned to her essay.

Albus knocked lightly on the door before entering, but found the curtains pulled shut around Matt’s bed. Despite Rose’s voice in the back of his head telling him not to, he walked over to Matt’s bed and pulled the curtains back a few inches.

“Matt?” Albus said.

Matt was fast asleep amidst a pile of textbooks including Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, and Ancient Runes. A half-finished Ancient Runes essay was on top, with a bottle of ink steadily spilling on top of it. Albus quickly picked up the bottle and siphoned the ink off the essay. Setting both the now-capped bottle of ink and the essay on Matt’s bedside table, Albus pulled the curtains shut and turned out the light.

Albus climbed into bed thinking it would take him forever to fall asleep, but he must’ve been more exhausted than he thought because he was asleep within minutes and never woke up when John, Bilius, and Ethan went to bed hours later.

***

The following day boasted a storm greater than any storm Albus had ever played Quidditch in. The wind was so fiercely loud it could be heard easily inside the castle, even in the Great Hall over the chattering of the entire student population. Bradley spent all of breakfast using various condiments and utensils to come up with last minute strategies, but it did nothing to mask his anxiety. Harrison glanced at the ceiling every so often in between bites of eggs as if wondering what he got himself into. Janie looked vaguely ill and Albus had no idea if it was due to the weather or her actually being ill. The only members of the team who didn’t look nervous were James, Ryan, and Niamh. Albus himself was only worried about how Harrison and Niamh would play given the piles of snow currently falling from the sky.

Hufflepuff’s team looked determined and only their newest Chaser, Maverick Penfield’s little sister, Taryn, looked nervous. Even their new Keeper, a tiny girl named Amy Smith who looked like the wind would easily blow her off-course, didn’t appear nervous. Albus watched them troupe through the Entrance Hall on their way down to the pitch while waiting for the rest of his team to finish their breakfasts.

“Tell James to catch the Snitch fast,” Rose said as she passed Albus in the Hall. She was bundled up in three Gryffindor scarves and two knobbly hats, not to mention her thickest cloak. “If you weren’t playing I’d stay in the castle.”

John, on the other hand, looked excited. “I’ll be amazed if anyone catches the Snitch at all.”

A few short minutes later Albus left the castle with his team, only to be hit by the strongest wind he had ever felt in his life. He immediately regretted not putting on another layer underneath his robes. Each snowflake that hit his face felt like a tiny piece of ice determined on embedding itself in his skin.

The team had a brief break from the cold while in the changing rooms, but it wasn’t long enough. Bradley was soon leading them out onto the snow-covered pitch, the only sound audible over the wind being Janie’s persistent cough. Even the noise of the crowd was masked, although Albus wasn’t sure if that was due to the wind or the fact that there was a much smaller audience than usual. It seemed at least a quarter of the castle didn’t think Quidditch was worth freezing their fingers off.

Albus didn’t even see the Snitch released. It was hard enough to see the Quaffle and Bludgers. He seriously hoped James had remembered to put an anti-fogging charm on his glasses before they left the castle. Otherwise, Gryffindor wouldn’t stand a chance.

It soon became apparent that the Hufflepuff Chasers were considerably better at playing in foul weather than the Gryffindor Chasers. Harrison and Niamh needed more practice at playing in storms and while Albus had no desire to train them in such conditions, he knew Bradley would be bringing them outside during every upcoming storm. The two of them kept dropping the Quaffle and Albus was only there to catch it a small portion of the time. The rest of the time it was caught by Maverick or Taryn, the two of whom seemed to work as well together as Albus had with Fred and Heather. They’d probably grown up playing together, much as Albus had with his cousins.

“Hufflepuff scores!” Nathan shouted over the wind. It sounded more like a whisper.

Albus sped up and reached the Gryffindor end of the pitch in time to catch a poorly thrown Quaffle from Janie, who nearly fell off her broom in the process.

That was Gryffindor’s other problem. Janie was actually ill. If Madam Pomfrey knew she was playing she’d probably throttle Bradley and Professor Oteski. But Gryffindor had no reserve Keeper and Janie had made no move to call a time-out. If Harrison and Niamh had been on their best game, it wouldn’t have been an issue. The two of them and Albus would’ve been able to keep the Quaffle away from the goalposts easily.

A Bludger came seemingly out of nowhere and hit Albus hard on the arm, sending shooting pain up into his shoulder and causing him to drop the Quaffle. Maverick caught it immediately and made a beeline back for Gryffindor’s goalposts.

“Dammit!” Albus shouted, clutching his injured arm in his non-injured one and closing his eyes against the pain. Now they were really in trouble. A one-armed Chaser was no help to a team.

Groaning, Albus forced his arm to grab hold of his broom, leaving his non-injured arm available to catch the Quaffle.

“Another goal for Hufflepuff!” Nathan said. “60-10 Hufflepuff, with no sign of the Snitch.”

If James caught the Snitch now, they might still stand a chance at the cup.

Bradley flew past Albus, his Beater’s bat raised high in the air. It collided with a Bludger, which Albus hadn’t seen, sending it straight at Maverick, who had taken hold of the Quaffle yet again. He dropped the Quaffle as the Bludger hit the end of his broom and Albus managed to grab it with his one good hand.

He spun around, looking for Harrison and Niamh, but seeing neither of them, gained altitude and flew toward Hufflepuff’s end of the pitch. Niamh was hovering just outside the goal scoring area and Albus threw the Quaffle as best he could toward her.

She dropped it and Taryn got it. Albus groaned loudly.

Hufflepuff scored four more times before Gryffindor gained possession of the Quaffle again. The pain in Albus’s arm was no so bad he was having trouble concentrating on anything else, and it was doing such a poor job of keeping hold of his broom that a strong gust of wind would probably send him plummeting to the ground. Gryffindor hadn’t played this poor of a match in years.

Albus barely dodged another Bludger and attempted to catch the Quaffle, which Harrison had tossed him. It slipped past his fingers and tumbled toward the ground, only to be caught by Shawn Ames, Hufflepuff’s captain. Albus swore loudly and turned quickly, which caused his arm to slip off his broom. Swearing once more, he grabbed hold of the broom with his good arm and tailed Shawn on his way to the Gryffindor goal posts. Where were Harrison and Niamh?

Shawn scored, but Albus didn’t want to hear Nathan announce how much of a lead Hufflepuff had on Gryffindor. He couldn’t even tell how long the match had gone on, but if someone didn’t catch the Snitch soon, he had a feeling he was going to pass out. He shared a glance with Janie, whose eyes grew wide when she noticed Albus’s arm. Albus looked at it and his stomach churned when he noticed it was hanging at a very odd angle. Now, he didn’t care who caught the Snitch, just so long as it was caught soon.

Albus flew across the pitch and practically collided with James, who was hovering above the rest of the players.

“Albus!” James shouted. “Watch where you’re- Al, what happened to your arm?”

“Bludger,” Albus managed to utter. “Have you seen the Snitch?”

“No. And now we’re too far behind.”

“Just. Catch it,” Albus said. “Please. I can’t catch the Quaffle and Harrison and Niamh have serious issues playing in storms. We’ve got no chance.”

James nodded and flew off without another word.

Professor Oteski blew the whistle signaling the end of the match fifteen minutes later and Albus soared toward the ground, not even caring who caught the Snitch. All he wanted was to go to the hospital wing. James rushed over to him just as he landed and Albus noticed the struggling Snitch in his left hand.

“How badly?” Albus asked as James took his broom.

“190-80,” James answered. “Not as bad as it could’ve been. We’re not out of the running. Now come on, you need the hospital wing.”

Albus didn’t object. He let James be the big brother and escort him off the pitch, where Bradley was waiting with Janie, who looked even worse off than Albus. The four of them avoided the mass exodus of students from the stands and hurried back to the castle.

Madam Pomfrey was livid when they entered the hospital wing, completely soaked to the skin and shivering, ten minutes later. Albus could practically see steam emitting from her ears.

“Madness!” she shouted as she performed drying and heating charms on each of them. “Quidditch in these conditions! This match would’ve been canceled if the Headmaster had been here!”

“Wait, Professor Kendrick isn’t here?” Albus asked as Madam Pomfrey shooed him over to a bed. “Where is he?”

“None of your business,” the nurse said shortly. “I thought Professor Longbottom or Professor Patil would’ve had the sense to cancel the match, but apparently not!”

“But-“

“Bed! Now!” She yanked the covers up over Albus as soon as he got in bed. Pointing her wand at his arm, she muttered a spell and Albus’s arm felt better immediately. “Now sit tight. I’ll bring you a potion after I take care of Miss Creevey. You’ll spend the night here.”

Albus knew better than to argue. Instead, he watched as the nurse got Janie into bed and brought her a cocktail of potions. She was curled up and asleep within minutes. Madam Pomfrey shooed Bradley and James out of the ward and returned with a pain potion for Albus.

The doors opened as Albus handed back the goblet and the nurse groaned loudly. “What now? I suppose half of Hufflepuff’s team are injured as well-“

She cut herself off upon seeing Matt walk into the hospital wing, looking uneasy. He glanced around the room for a second before hurrying over to Madam Pomfrey.

“Don’t tell me, you were outside for the whole match?” Madam Pomfrey asked as she performed a drying and heating charm on him as well.

Albus glanced at the clock, realizing he still didn’t know how long the match had been. It was nearly three now, so he figured it must’ve lasted at least three hours. No wonder Janie wound up so ill.

“Yeah,” Matt muttered. “But I’m not ill.”

Madam Pomfrey looked at him skeptically and put her hand on his forehead. “No fever.”

“I’m not ill,” Matt repeated. He lowered his voice, so that Albus couldn’t hear what he said next. But Madam Pomfrey immediately strode over to the potions cupboard and returned with a goblet of something. She handed it to Matt, muttering something under her breath.

Matt took the potion, downed it in one gulp, and handed the goblet back to the nurse. He told her goodbye and left the ward, without saying a word to Albus. Weird, Albus thought. Had Matt even realized he was there, or was this part of what he was hiding? Albus figured it was the latter.

Madam Pomfrey returned to Albus’s bed with another potion. “Here, take this. And take a nap.”

Albus took the potion, which must’ve been a sleeping potion because within seconds he found himself drifting off, thoughts of Matt’s new secret and the whereabouts of Professor Kendrick far from his mind.

28. Questioning the Ministry

Rose didn’t find it at all strange that Professor Kendrick left the school the day of the Quidditch match when Albus mentioned it to her after returning from the hospital wing on Sunday. In fact, Albus was the only one who found it odd.

“He can’t stay here all the time,” Rose explained as they sat in front of the fire Sunday night. “Maybe he had family to visit. Staying here all the time means he would work all the time, which is unrealistic. The other professors leave on occasion. Professor Longbottom goes home in the evenings and on weekends.”

Albus hadn’t thought of that. “That makes sense. But-“

“Albus, don’t obsess over this,” Rose interrupted.

“I wasn’t-“

“Yes, you were. Just forget about it. We have O.W.L.s to concentrate on. It’s almost March. We need to get on a study every night schedule.”

“We already do study every night,” John said, gesturing to the textbook propped open in his lap.

“That’s just normal homework. We need to study the past four years, too.”

Albus groaned. He hadn’t looked at his notes from previous years at all, and the thought of doing so was very daunting. But he knew Rose was right.

“Can we not talk about O.W.L.s?” Matt asked. He looked slightly sick.

“All right,” Rose said, her eyebrows raised. “But we can’t put it off forever.”

While they couldn’t put it off forever, Albus was perfectly happy to put it off until at least March. The last week of February was just as busy as the rest of the month, leaving Albus with only one free night that week, which he used to help Professor Burke with preparing potion ingredients. Burke seemed more unstable than usual and Kaden confided that he’d been acting weirder than normal, even weird by Burke standards.

On Saturday, Albus would’ve liked to have a lie-in, but instead he had to go to February’s dueling tournament, which had been scheduled for the morning rather than the afternoon due to Professor Longbottom having to spend the rest of the day with his in-laws. The tournament went well, although Gryffindor didn’t win. Ravenclaw won. Albus himself won both his duels and his teammates continued to be very impressed, so he walked away from the tournament feeling very pleased.

“You were really good,” Marina said as they left the Great Hall together.

“Thanks,” Albus replied. “So were you.”

“Not as good as you,” she said. Marina had won one of her duels.

“So, how have you been?” Albus asked, wanting to change the subject.

“Good. Studying a lot. You?”

“Good. Same.”

“Are you going back to the common room?” They had reached the second floor.

“No,” Albus answered. He had been planning on going to the Marauder’s Den, where he knew he’d find his friends, as there was still an hour until lunch. They hadn’t gone to the tournament since it had been early.

“Oh. Okay. I’ll see you soon.”

“Yeah, see you,” Albus said as Marina set off down the corridor, leaving Albus standing near the stairs, still confused about their relationship.

Albus found Rose, John, Amanda, and Kaden in the Marauder’s Den a few minutes later. All four of them were crowded over something on the table. None of them looked up when he entered.

“What are you doing?” Albus asked. “Where’s Matt?”

Rose jumped and looked up. “Albus, you scared me. Come here. Look what’s out. And Matt’s still in bed. Full moon’s tonight.”

Albus hurried over to the table and saw that his friends were reading March’s edition of the Quibbler. His heart sped up as he sat down in between Rose and John. “Is that your article?”

Rose nodded, grinning. “Luna sent it this morning. It went on sale today.”

“Well come on, let me see it,” Albus said as he twisted the magazine around in order to see it face up.

“I wasn’t done yet!” Kaden exclaimed.

“Oh, enough,” Rose said, grabbing the magazine from Albus. “I’ll just read it.”

Albus settled into his chair as Rose cleared her throat and began to read.

“What Is The Ministry Hiding? An Editorial By Amanda Tagger and Rose Weasley

Last year newly elected Minister of Magic Patricia Laurentis made headlines by completely revamping the Auror Department and reinstating the dementors to Azkaban prison. Mere weeks after doing so, Head Auror Robert Johnson, accompanied by others from his department, captured four escaped Azkaban convicts and one man who has eluded capture for years. The wizarding community applauded Laurentis and her new Auror Department for the swift capture. Minister Laurentis, it seemed, was doing something right.

Yet, today, nearly a year later, the wizarding community is left wondering where Johnson’s Auror Department is and what they are doing in light of a new string of murders mystifying the nation. On September 30th, the Seeker for the Falmouth Falcons was murdered in Diagon Alley. Steven Cousins’s throat was sliced by an unknown assailant. Less than two months later, another man was murdered in Hogsmeade. Michael Sheldon’s throat was also sliced, in the same manner as Cousins’s.

It is now March, and the investigation seems to be at a standstill. Both murder scenes are no longer blocked off by caution tape, clueing the public into the fact that the Auror Department has concluded their investigations of the scenes. While they may be working behind-the-scenes at the Ministry, there have been no updates published in the Daily Prophet. Whether this is because there are in fact no updates, or because the Ministry wishes the public to believe the cases have gone cold, it is not clear. Neither situation is ideal. No one wishes to believe Johnson’s supposedly efficient and thorough Auror Department is stumped on a string of clearly-linked murders, yet believing the Ministry is hiding something is no better.

Upon questioning, Daily Prophet editor Peter Grayson gave vague answers about a possible Ministry cover-up. He did not deny the Ministry urging the Prophet to remain quiet about the Cousins and Sheldon murders, but did not confirm it either. The Prophet itself originally reported the murder weapon in the Cousins weapon as a knife, but in a future article failed to mention cause of death or the murder weapon. No weapon was mentioned in the article about the Sheldon murder, either, but eyewitness accounts of numerous Hogwarts students who discovered the body confirmed his neck was sliced.

It remains unclear as to whether the lack of progress in either murder case is due to incompetence in the Auror Department or whether it is simply a Ministry cover-up of something more sinister. Until the matter is cleared up, readers are urged to question what they have heard and will hear in the future.”

Rose set the magazine down on the table and Albus glanced at it. A poorly taken picture of Rose and Amanda accompanied the article and the photograph version of Rose was grinning madly, while the photographic Amanda looked slightly uncomfortable. A short biography followed the article.

“You didn’t read the bio,” Albus said, grabbing the magazine. “Amanda Tagger and Rose Weasley, both 15, are currently in their fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Upon leaving school after seventh year, Miss Tagger wishes to join the Ministry and Miss Weasley wishes to further her education by attending St. Mungo’s School of Healing, specializing in psychiatry.”

Rose blushed. “You didn’t have to read that part.”

“So what do you think?” Amanda asked.

“Brilliant,” Albus said, grinning. John and Kaden nodded in agreement.

“We didn’t have very much new information,” Amanda said. “But we wanted to put it all in one place and make people question what’s going on.”

“I think you’ve done that,” Albus said. “I’d question it, if I wasn’t already questioning it.”

Rose laughed. “You question everything, Albus.”

Albus shrugged. “I’ve got to.”

“I just hope people read it,” Rose said. “I don’t know how popular the Quibbler is anymore. I asked Luna and she was rather vague about it.”

“All we need is a few people,” Amanda pointed out. “Then they’ll tell their friends and word will get around.”

“I hope we didn’t slam the Auror Department too much. Dad and Uncle Harry are still Aurors. I don’t want them to get in trouble or anything,” Rose said, her face uncertain.

“You didn’t mention their names. Only Johnson. And after what the two of them, along with Aunt Hermione, did in school during the war, I think they’ll be proud,” Albus assured her.

Rose nodded. “I hope so. I didn’t tell them.”

“They read the Quibbler, because of Luna. They’ll see it soon.”

“Well, I’m starving. What say we get lunch?” John suggested as he stood up. “Then I’ve got to do that Potions essay.”

Rose laughed. “You, volunteering to do homework on a Saturday?”

John sighed. “I’ve come to accept it.”

“Good. I’m thinking we can devote each day of the week to a different subject, doing two subjects on Saturdays and possibly Sundays to fit them all in. I’ve drawn up schedules and I give you each one when we go back to the common room after lunch, and then we can…”

Albus laughed to himself as they walked to the Great Hall, Rose describing every detail of the complicated revision schedule as they went. But he was grateful for her insanity; it would ensure he’d pass his O.W.L.s.

***

“I don’t even know where to start,” John said as he stared at his pile of four and a half years worth of Potions notes. He looked slightly ill.

Albus understood the feeling. His own stack of notes was even higher, since John lost a few months’ worth of second year’s notes, but didn’t have a clue as to where to begin. Would it be better to start with first year and go up from there? Or start with this year and work backward?

“You should start by organizing,” Rose said, gesturing to her own color-coded by year notes. “I bet there’s a lot of stuff in there you can just chuck in the bin.”

Excited by the prospect of possibly getting rid of some of his massive pile, John took his notes to the floor and spread them out in a far corner of the Marauder’s Den. Rose seemed pleased by this and spread her own notes out over the space John just vacated.

Albus pushed his own notes aside in favor of working on the Potions essay due on Monday. Studying his past notes might be necessary for passing his O.W.L.s, but the essay was due on Monday and therefore took priority. Amanda seemed to share his philosophy, since she was curled up in one of the armchairs working on her own essay. Kaden, who had just spent all of lunch gloating about the fact that he didn’t have to take O.W.L.s this year was brewing with Professor Burke. Matt, who had emerged from the dormitory after lunch, was curled up on the couch, asleep again.

They spent the afternoon working in silence, during which time Albus and Amanda finished their essays and John organized his notes. Albus wasn’t sure what Rose had been working on, but didn’t want to ask for fear of having to endure a ten minute talk of more details of her revision habits.

When John’s stomach’s rumbling became too loud for any of them to concentrate, they took a short break for dinner. Matt declined to go with them, wanting to spend his last hour and a half before going to the Shrieking Shack sleeping. Kaden met up with the group in the Great Hall and then returned with them to the Marauder’s Den afterward, set on having a game of chess with John, who claimed organizing his notes had sapped all the energy out of him. However, this didn’t stop him from loudly egging on his queen as it pulverized five of Kaden’s pawns.

Much to Albus’s surprise, Matt was awake when they returned to the Den after dinner. He didn’t show any sign of noticing their return, but he was awake and sitting up, which was most unusual for the hour before the full moon.

“Everything okay?” Albus asked as he sat down next to Matt on the couch.

Matt nodded slowly, but didn’t say anything. Albus noticed he was shaking, much the way he had before last month’s full moon. Albus glanced over at Rose, who had picked up her Arithmancy book. She set it down again, walked over to the couch, and sat on Albus’s other side. John and Kaden had begun their chess game, but Amanda looked worried as she began shuffling through her Potions notes.

“Is your dad going to patrol around the Shack again this month?” Albus asked quietly.

“No,” Matt answered, his voice cracking. “He doesn’t- he doesn’t think anyone’s going to break in again.”

“Has someone checked it?” Rose asked.

Matt nodded. “My dad. He checked this morning.”

“Then it should be fine,” Rose said quietly.

“I know,” Matt said, breathing heavily. “I know. But still- No one should’ve been able to get in before, either.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Albus replied, looking skeptical. Matt looked very similar to how he had before the last full moon, when he had a panic attack.

He shook his head and winced. “I don’t- I don’t know.”

“Breathe,” Rose whispered, leaning behind Albus to put her hand on Matt’s shoulder. “Just breathe.”

“I’m…trying,” Matt muttered. Sweat glistened on his forehead.

“I think you should go to the hospital wing,” Rose said as she stood up. “Come on.”

Matt nodded, still shaking as he stood up. Albus made to stand up as well, but Rose frowned and gave him a slight shake of her head. Clearly this was related to whatever happened last month. He sighed and watched as Rose led Matt out of the room without another look back.

“He’s not going to tell us,” John said after the door closed, without looking up from his chess match.

Albus silently agreed. He grabbed his stack of Potions notes and returned to the couch to organize them, knowing he was too distracted to do any actual homework.

Rose returned a half hour later and returned to her Arithmancy book without speaking. Albus attempted to catch her eye, but she seemed determined not to meet his gaze. He opened his mouth to speak, but Amanda beat him to it.

“Is he okay?” she asked.

“No,” Rose answered quietly. “But that’s all I can say.”

“I know you said not to ask about the potion, but do you know if he took it? Because it seems like all of this started when he started this potion.”

Rose sighed. “Enough with the potion. That’s not it, but that’s all I can say. None of you know the details about what’s going on.”

“So tell us,” John said as he picked up his chessmen. He had beaten Kaden.

“I can’t,” Rose snapped, glaring at John. “And if any of you say another word about it I’ll go study in the library.”

“Can’t you ask him to tell us?” Kaden asked as he repaired his chessmen.

Rose slammed her book shut and stood up. She gathered her notes and shoved them unceremoniously into her bag. Without a word, she stormed out of the room, letting the door slam behind her.

“You really shouldn’t test her,” Albus said, not looking up from his book. “Trust me. I know from experience.”

***

Surprisingly, Rose seemed to have forgotten about being angry with the rest of them by the next morning. Albus had never seen her get over anything that fast, but he did wonder if it was partially due to the small flock of owls that greeted her at breakfast, which provided quite the distraction.

“Who are all of these from?” Rose asked, her eyes wide.

“This one’s from my parents,” Albus said, making a grab for the letter clasped in the beak of his family owl. He looked at it and frowned. “But it’s addressed to you and Amanda.”

Rose’s face brightened. “Oh! I bet it’s about the Quibbler.”

Albus handed Rose the envelope, but read the letter over her shoulder after she opened it.

Dear Rosie and Amanda,

We were very surprised to see your editorial in
the Quibbler this month. Neither of us knew you
were planning on writing it. But it was a very well-
written article and you brought up some very
important points. We’re very proud of you for
writing it.

However, we wish to warn you about how it might
be received. While the Quibbler’s readership has
historically been very…eccentric, for lack of a better
word, you may find a large amount of people disagree
with it, or who are even angry with you for writing it.
Laurentis does have very loyal supporters, many of whom
are not at all phased by the lack of progress in both
murders (no, we cannot elaborate on that). Do not
be surprised if you receive nasty letters about this.

Hope you are both doing well. Say hello to Albus for
us.

Love,
Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny

“They liked it!” Rose exclaimed, handing the letter to Amanda.

“Can I help you open these?” Albus asked.

“Of course,” Rose said, grabbing the nearest letter. She opened it and her face fell. “This witch claims I don’t know what I’m talking about.”

“This bloke agrees with you!” Albus said. “Thinks Laurentis is barking mad.”

“This one thinks you should stay out of Ministry business,” John said, as he shredded the offending letter. “Used a few choice words, too.”

“This doesn’t mention our article at all,” Amanda said, frowning as she scanned a letter. “She just talks about how the Quibbler is rubbish. What’s the point in sending us that? She ought to send it to Luna.”

“Uh-oh,” John said.

Albus glanced up, assuming John had found a really nasty letter. But he wasn’t reading anything. His gaze was fixated on the Slytherin table, which Scorpius Malfoy was currently walking away from, his gaze set upon Albus and his friends. When he got closer, Albus saw he had a copy of the Quibbler in his left hand.

“Oh, what does he want?” Rose asked, groaning.

“Malfoy,” Albus said, standing up as Malfoy reached the table.

“Potter,” Malfoy replied. He turned to Rose. “Weasley. What is the meaning of this?”

“It’s the Quibbler,” Rose answered, smiling as she stood up. “Something you need, Malfoy?”

“I know it’s the bloody Quibbler!” Malfoy shouted. “I meant your stupid article. You haven’t got a clue as to what you’re talking about, calling the Ministry incompetent.”

“We never said the Ministry was incompetent,” Amanda said, crossing her arms. “We’re simply questioning their reasoning and motives, which you should always do with governing bodies.”

“And I suppose you’re more qualified to analyze the Ministry?” Rose asked. “Last I knew we were in the same year.”

Malfoy puffed up his chest. “My father is one of Minister Laurentis’s top officials. I think I know a little more than you on the subject, Weasley.”

“Well, Amanda’s uncle is the Muggle Minister,” Kaden pointed out.

“The Muggle Minister. Not the Minister who really matters,” Malfoy said haughtily.

“They have more to do with each other than you’d think, Malfoy,” Amanda said. “But I wouldn’t expect you to know anything about that.”

“The article had nothing to do with your father, Malfoy,” Rose added. “I only mentioned the Minister and Head Auror Robert Johnson. Neither of whom is your father, last I checked.”

“She’s got a point,” Albus added. “I don’t see why you should be upset by this. Unless you’re afraid your dad will lose his power in the Ministry if people take issue with Laurentis and how she’s running things.”

Malfoy’s mouth fell open. He shut it quickly and glared at Albus. “It’s your dad who ought to be worried. The Aurors are supposed to be investigating, and they’ve turned up nothing.”

“As you have reminded me so many times, my dad is no longer Head Auror,” Albus pointed out. “This is all on Robert Johnson and Laurentis. And from how you’re acting, it’s on your dad, too.”

Malfoy’s face was turning steadily more purple, reminding Albus scarily of his Uncle Vernon. He slammed the magazine down on the table in front of Kaden, spilling a goblet of pumpkin juice in the process. “Keep your stupid magazine.” With another glare at Rose and Amanda, he stalked back to the Slytherin table.

“That was weird,” Rose said as she sat back down. “That article had nothing to do with his father.”

“Do you think he was serious when he said the Aurors have turned up nothing?” Albus asked. “Maybe his dad told him.”

“He knows nothing, Albus,” Rose said, shaking her head. “He’s just as clueless as we are. He just likes to put on that almighty attitude and make us think he knows more than he does.”

Albus hoped so, because while it had been fairly easy to get Elsie to spill the information she had on Professor Young, he had a feeling getting Malfoy to talk would be significantly more difficult. Not to mention horribly unpleasant.

29. Testimony

February dissolved quietly into March, and March brought less snow, more rain, and more wind than Albus thought possible. Walks to the Herbology greenhouses and Hagrid’s garden for Care of Magical Creatures became slightly dangerous, and students could be seen in the Great Hall bundling themselves in more jumpers, scarves, and hats than were normally necessary. Fever Fudge soon became more widely used for these two classes, although none by the fifth years, who would sooner risk being blown into the Forbidden Forest than miss a class this close to their O.W.L.s. Even John seemed to have started paying more attention during class and frequently spent his evenings pouring over notes.

The sixth years, James more so than the others, enjoyed scaring the fifth years by greatly exaggerating stories of their own O.W.L.s. Albus didn’t believe any of them, and felt James destroyed his credibility by informing Janie Creevey that for Care of Magical Creatures they would have to tame a dragon. Janie burst out laughing upon hearing this and told James he’d have more luck telling that story to a first year.

Every professor had increased the amount of homework given, and the consequences if said homework wasn’t completed on time. Ronald Bones of Hufflepuff was set lines for four consecutive nights after he failed to complete a Transfiguration essay for Professor Patil. Even Professor Young had stepped up his game. He now taught at least one lesson a week and assigned homework on a regular basis.

Personally, Albus thought this change was more due to the fact that MacDougal was now supervising half his lessons per week than upcoming exams. MacDougal had returned to Hogwarts on the first of March, bearing the news that Young was now on probation, his position on the line until the end of the year, when she and a small group of Ministry officials, the Board of Governors, and Professor Kendrick would decide on his fate. Students weren’t supposed to know about Young’s probation, but the information circulated around the school in half a day.

The fifth and seventh years were regularly the last students in the common room every evening. Rose often took the prize of being the last student to go to bed, and strangely she was often accompanied by John. Albus somehow doubted John’s sudden bout of studiousness would make up for nearly five years worth of carelessness in his schoolwork, but had no desire to bring it up.

“Which uses of dragon’s blood did Dumbledore come up with again?” John asked as he worked furiously on a Potions essay.

“They’re in the book,” Rose answered without looking up. “Page 310.”

John seized his Potions book and flipped the pages. He, Rose, Albus, Matt, and Amanda were huddled around the table closest to the dwindling fire, yet again the last group remaining in the common room.

“Found them,” John muttered to himself as he continued his essay. “Rose, could you quiz me on these tomorrow? I’m sure they’ll be on the exam.”

“Sure,” Rose answered.

“Are you okay, John?” Matt asked.

“Yeah, why?”

“I think you’re cracking up a bit,” Matt said tentatively, giving John a weird look.

John put his quill down and turned to look at Matt. He looked exhausted. “You’re one to talk.”

Matt’s cheeks reddened. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“John, shut up,” Rose seethed. She turned to Matt. “He didn’t mean that. But John, Matt’s right. Why the sudden obsession with studying?”

“O.W.L.s are coming up, Rose,” he said flatly. “You’ve only been reminding us for the past year.”

“I mean, why do you suddenly care how well you do?” Rose asked.

John sighed. “My parents want me to do well. They need me to do well. Both of them got something like 12 O.W.L.s apiece and then my dad went on to become a healer. Mum went into research, but then quit once I was born. They’re both insanely smart. And I’m, well, not.”

“You are, too,” Amanda said. “You just need to-“

“Apply myself?” John finished. “Yeah, Mum and Dad have been telling me that for years.”

“You can’t compare yourself to your parents,” Rose said.

“Easy for you to say. You’re going to get at least as many O.W.L.s as your mum,” John muttered.

“I don’t even know how many my parents got,” Albus pointed out. “And I don’t really care. You shouldn’t either. You’re not planning on becoming a healer, are you?”

John laughed. “Of course not. I want to do something with Quidditch. I don’t know if I’ll get drafted since I’ll only be playing on a House team for two years at the most, but there are other things I could do.”

“Then stop worrying,” Albus said. “And I don’t think your parents are going to say anything even if you don’t get as many O.W.L.s as them.”

“Well, they won’t say anything,” John explained. “But they’ll give me looks.”

“They’ve got three other kids to get all the O.W.L.s,” Matt pointed out. “That’s why I’m glad Amy got 10. My parents know she’s freakishly smart and I’m not, so they won’t be disappointed.”

It hadn’t even crossed Albus’s mind to be worried about what his parents thought about how many O.W.L.s he would get. He did remember his mother’s deep sighs and the disappointed look on his dad’s face when James’s results arrived over the summer, but Albus knew he’d get significantly more O.W.L.s than James. James had only gotten six, and even of those he was only able to continue on in four classes.

“Is it a bad thing that I’m studying?” John asked.

“No,” Rose said hurriedly. “I just don’t want you to be disappointed with your results.”

“Are you saying I’m going to fail them all?”

“No! That wasn’t what I meant.”

John opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by someone coming in through the portrait hole. Who would be returning to the common room at midnight?

It was Cedric.

“Why are you coming back at midnight?” Rose asked suspiciously. “I could report you, you know.”

“You’re not going to report me, Rosie,” Cedric said as he flopped down in one of the armchairs.

“Don’t call me Rosie,” Rose muttered. “And I could report you-“

“It’d be pointless,” Cedric interrupted. “I spent the evening at the Ministry.”

Albus’s mouth fell open. He stared at his cousin, who looked exhausted and slightly nervous, which was strange because Cedric was never anything but confident.

“Why?” Rose asked.

“Had to give testimony,” Cedric answered, not turning away from the no-longer burning fire. “About Young.”

“What?” Albus exclaimed. “And you didn’t tell me?”

Cedric laughed. “Didn’t have much notice, did I? And you’re not the one who’s actually doing the investigation, Al.”

“Wait, so Young is on trial?” Amanda asked, furrowing her brow.

Cedric shook his head. “No. I just had to confirm his alibi with the Wizengamot. I don’t think they believed me, though. You know that witness from the Cousins case? He went in to identify Young in a line-up over the weekend, and he cracked up. Couldn’t do it. Ran out of the room shaking.”

“You’re kidding,” Albus said. “He didn’t have an alibi for that day?”

“I suppose not.”

“But that was a Wednesday,” Amanda pointed out. “He would’ve been here, teaching class.”

“The murder took place after classes ended,” Cedric explained. “I’m not supposed to know about the line-up, though. I overheard my dad talking about it with one of the members of the Wizengamot. Dad went with me, and he still knows all of the Ministry. So none of you can say anything about this to anyone.”

“We won’t,” Albus assured him.

Cedric turned to Rose. “And you can’t put it in any editorials you write.”

“Of course not,” Rose said. “I just can’t understand this. Young? Is he going to have to leave?”

“Only if they convict him,” Cedric said. “They’re keeping it quiet, and it won’t go to trial for a while. Young’s solicitors are counting on my testimony, and even if that witness eventually does identify Young, eyewitness accounts are notoriously untrustworthy. But the Wizengamot…Dad says not all of them think I’m a reliable source, based on my record at Hogwarts.”

“That’s ridiculous! Harmless pranks are one thing, but this is serious. You’d never make that up.”

“No! Never. And at least I wasn’t breaking rules by being in Hogsmeade like Elsie Willinson was. I’d bet my life on Young not having committed the Hogsmeade murder. I don’t know about the Knockturn Alley one, but if they convict him of the Hogsmeade one…”

“This is insane,” Amanda whispered, shaking her head. “And they haven’t found any murder weapons?”

“Nope. But whoever did it would’ve Vanished the weapons. They’ll never find them.”

“You know, Young was in Knockturn Alley when we snuck in there over the summer,” Matt said quietly. “That’s fishy.”

“Being in Knockturn Alley doesn’t make someone a criminal,” Rose said. “You were there. And none of us has a clue as to what he was doing there.”

“He was in Borgin and Burkes!” John said. “And everyone knows that place only deals with Dark objects.”

“But he wasn’t in Hogsmeade during that murder!” Cedric said. He sighed and stood up. “I’m going to bed. Good night.”

“Night,” Albus said as Cedric departed for his dormitory.

“I’m going to bed, too,” Rose said as she closed her book. “I just don’t know what to think of this. I believe Elsie, but I believe Cedric, too.”

Amanda left with Rose, and Albus and Matt went up to bed a short while later, leaving John to complete his Potions essay. Neither Albus or Matt spoke as they changed into their pajamas and got into bed. Albus didn’t know what to think, but he still didn’t understand why Rose was so adamant about believing Elsie. He just saw a timid second year who didn’t have many friends and happened to be an extraordinary Chaser. But Rose saw something else. Albus believed Cedric and knew there was no possible way Professor Young had committed either murder.

***

March brought more changes than just a change in John’s studying habits. For the first time all year, students attended Albus’s tutoring sessions. On the third Saturday in March, Albus had a record number, with ten students asking for help throughout the couple hours Albus sat in the library. At the beginning of the year, when Albus was first made a tutor, he doubted his abilities to actually teach his fellow students, especially those in his year and older. But now that he’d had a few sessions where he had to tutor, he found it much easier than he anticipated. He was surprised to find just how many of his fellow students had trouble with the simplest spells, such as disarming.

It was after he was asked about disarming for the fifth time that Albus realized the issue with tutoring Defense Against the Dark Arts. By tutoring in the library, he could only help with theory. While Miss Walsh was much less strict than Madam Pince, even she disapproved of practicing spell work in the library. Therefore Albus was only left with the option of instructing students on how to do the spell, and then sending them off to their common rooms to practice it.

Since Albus now actually had to tutor on Saturdays, he was left with less time on weekends for homework. Friday afternoons were no longer the times of leisure they once were, not only for Albus but for all the fifth years. Albus and his friends holed up in the Marauder’s Den every Friday afternoon and attempted to catch up on all the work they’d fallen behind on during the week.

Matt continued to disappear every Friday after lunch, not telling anyone even the smallest detail of where he was going or why. He never once gave any sort of explanation, choosing instead to mumble about having to do a “thing” and wandering off without another word. When he returned, he didn’t speak for nearly an hour. Albus had long since given up on finding out where he went, not that he was any less curious.

“Does Elsie still show up to your tutoring sessions?” Rose asked as they sat down in Defense.

“Yeah,” Albus answered. “But she gets all nervous when a lot of people show up. She never says anything to anyone and still hasn’t asked for help on anything. I’m not even sure she’s ever worked on Defense while there.”

“I wish she’d talk to me,” Rose said. “I can’t shake the feeling she’s hiding something.”

“Her whole family’s over their heads in the Dark Arts,” Albus pointed out. “Of course she’s hiding something. She’s probably hiding lots of things.”

“Everyone sit down and stop talking!” Young shouted as he stormed into the room.

Albus raised his eyebrows at Rose. He didn’t think he’d ever heard Young raise his voice. The professor never seemed to care enough to do so.

“What’s up with him?” John muttered as he sat down.

“Quiet, Brickston!” Young added as he picked up a stack of parchment. “Eckerton! Come pass these out.”

Matt nearly knocked over his chair in his haste to do as the professor asked before he had the chance to yell at him as well. Albus turned around and saw that MacDougal’s usual chair in the back of the room was empty. Young only taught when MacDougal was there.

No one dared speak during class. Usually, everyone used Defense as a chance to talk while working on other homework. Today, the class was subdued, every student afraid that so much as a whisper would set Young off again. Albus finished his worksheet in ten minutes and used the rest of class to work on his Herbology research paper, of which the due date was at the end of the month.

When the bell finally rang everyone hurried to leave the room as soon as possible, Amanda nearly running into Professor Kendrick, who was entering, in the process. Albus slowed his packing when he saw the headmaster and deliberately knocked his bottle of ink onto the floor. The rest of the class left while Albus, hidden under the table, slowly siphoned up his ink as he strained his ears to listen to what Kendrick had to say to Young.

“Did you get my owl?” Kendrick asked.

“Yes, I got your owl,” Young snapped.

“I was expecting an immediate reply. I cannot afford to wait on this, you understand.”

“What I don’t understand is why this is such an issue, Headmaster. I have not been convicted of anything.”

“That may be, but the accusations remain, and you can’t argue there is no evidence. I disagree with the Ministry on many things, but they do have evidence. I have had letters from concerned parents.”

“How? The Ministry is hushing this whole matter up, most likely because their new Auror department is incompetent-“

“You know as well as I do that the Prophet is not the only way for people to acquire news.”

“Are you talking about Weasley and Tagger’s editorial? That did nothing but raise suspicions about the Ministry and their Aurors.”

Kendrick chuckled. “No I am not, but while we’re on the subject, I was quite impressed with the editorial. What did you think of it?”

“The article is neither here nor there! I do not care about the article.”

“Then back to the matter at hand. Many students’ parents work for the Ministry. Word gets around. If I am going to keep you in this post you are going to need to update me. I need to know what happened when you went to the Ministry last week.”

“Fine,” Young muttered. “I will come to your study tonight at eight. Potter is still here, eavesdropping under the front table.”

Albus banged his head on the table as he scurried out from under it. Wincing, he stood up and shoved his books and parchment into his bag. He hurried out of the room, but couldn’t help but notice the slight smile Kendrick gave him as he did so.

More than anything in the world, Albus wanted to eavesdrop on Professor Young’s conversation with the headmaster later that evening. He spent the walk to Herbology coming up with convoluted and impossible plans to do so, and by the time he arrived at the greenhouses (ten minutes late), he had nothing feasible. Of all the places in Hogwarts, Kendrick’s study was the place where eavesdropping was the hardest. That, Albus thought, was probably why Young wished to speak with Kendrick there, rather than in his classroom.

“You’re late, Albus,” Longbottom said as Albus ran into the greenhouse and hurried to the bench he shared with Matt, Rose, and Amanda.

“Sorry, Professor,” Albus said. “Spilled my ink in Defense. Had to clean it up.”

John snorted, but Longbottom didn’t seem to notice. Instead, he went back to instructing them on the proper care of puffapods. Albus took his seat next to Matt and fixed his gaze on the bulging, pink pods that sat in a pot in front of him. He assumed they were puffapods.

Once Longbottom finished explaining how to extract juice from the pods (pierce them with a needle, then collect the juice in a flask), and they set to work, Albus explained what he had overheard.

“I don’t think the board of governors are even going to have to worry about whether to fire him,” Matt said as he stuck one of the pods with a needle. It exploded, showering all four of them in seeds.

“Careful,” Rose said as she stuck one of her own pods with a needle and collected the purple juice that oozed out of it. “You have to be more gentle. But I agree. It doesn’t matter if he’s guilty or not. Once news spreads that he’s a suspect, people will want him out of here.”

“And I doubt all the stress will do much for his teaching abilities,” Amanda added, putting a stopper in the flask of juice Rose just collected.

“Maybe if we all fail our O.W.L.s they’ll have to sack him,” Matt said.

“Don’t even joke about that,” Rose said, her face paling. “But they might sack him before exams if this turns into a big, public trial, which it will if they decide they’ve got enough evidence to convict him.”

“What they’ll do is put both Cedric and Elsie on the stand and the Wizengamot will have to decide who’s the most convincing,” Amanda said.

“But he’s not a killer!” Albus pointed out, stabbing his puffapod too forcefully and showering them all in seeds once more. “He might be an awful teacher, but he’s not a killer. And we shouldn’t wish he gets sacked, even if it means we’ll get a decent teacher before our exams.”

“Albus is right,” Rose said, sighing. “But how do we know he’s not a killer?”

“I know, because I believe Cedric,” Albus said adamantly. “He wouldn’t lie about this.”

“I don’t think he’s lying,” Rose said quietly. “But I still believe Elsie. There’s another piece to this puzzle. A big piece. And we’re missing it.”

“Which is why we need to figure out what Young has to tell Kendrick,” Albus said. “I just wish there was some way we could.”

Rose laughed. “Sorry, Al. I don’t think there is.”

“I know,” Albus muttered.

“We’ll find out eventually,” Amanda said as she filled another flask with juice. “The Ministry won’t be able to hush this up for much longer. It’s getting big. And if they’re reasonably sure Young is responsible, they won’t want to hush it up. They’ll want the whole wizarding world to know they caught a crazy serial killer, even if it was months later.”

“Let’s just keep tabs on Young,” Albus said. “I’ll check the map for him, see where he’s going, what it looks like he’s up to. And we can watch him in class and see how nervous he seems. We’ll also have to read the Prophet every day.”

“Good plan,” Rose agreed. “You’ll have to tell Kaden, and John.”

Albus nodded and looked up to see John, who was at the table in front of them, working with Janie, Marina, and Karina. John’s robes were dripping with juice and Janie was giggling. Marina and Karina both had seeds stuck in their hair, but Albus thought they matched quite nicely.

“Albus?”

“What?” Albus asked, snapping out of his trance.

Rose raised her eyebrows, smirking. “You were staring at Marina. How are things with the two of you?”

“No idea,” Albus muttered. “We haven’t talked about it. She’s acting like nothing happened in Hogsmeade.”

“You could talk to her, you know,” Rose pointed out.

Albus stared at her, eyes wide. He couldn’t possibly talk to Marina. Not about anything more serious than dueling or Quidditch, that is. Just the thought of talking about what was going on between them or another Hogsmeade trip made his heart quicken and his palms sweat. No, he would just have to wait for Marina to bring it up. That was safer.

Rose sighed, muttering something that sounded a lot like “boys.”

30. Search and Seizure

The Easter holidays were early that year, comprising the first ten days of April. Neither Albus or any of his friends went home, choosing instead to stay in the castle and catch up on homework and make a dent in their O.W.L. studying. The exams were now only two months away, which felt like hardly any time at all. The weather had taken a dramatic turn for the better, enabling students to study outside by the lake.

Albus and his friends spent hours sitting in front of the large beech tree by the lake, pouring over their notes from previous years and rewriting those that were too faded or illegible to be much use. Kaden took pleasure in lording over the fact that he did not have to take his O.W.L.s until the following year and spent half the time skipping stones in the lake rather than studying. The fifth years endured this only because they knew they would get their revenge next year.

“The squid keeps wrecking my skips,” Kaden said as they sat by the lake on the second to last day of the holidays. “I can’t break my record.”

“You’re not going to get any sympathy from us,” Albus replied without looking away from his Herbology notes from third year. Why had he written them so messily?

“Do you want to come with me to brew with Burke tonight?” Kaden asked, ignoring Albus’s comment. “And you, Rose? He told me yesterday to ask you, because he’s got a lot of chopping that needs doing.”

“I suppose,” Albus said. He could use a break from studying anyway.

Rose nodded, but didn’t stop muttering her notes to herself under her breath. She had developed that habit halfway through March; Albus found it very irritating.

“Burke’s getting stranger,” John commented. “Did anyone else notice how much his hands shook last Potions class? And then he knocked over that entire cauldron of Strengthening Solution?”

“He knocked over a vat of armadillo bile in my class last week. Right on top of someone’s chopped lionfish. Made a small explosion and two people had to go to the hospital wing.”

“He’s injured half the school,” Amanda said, shaking her head. “I’m amazed he hasn’t been sacked.”

“He’s a good teacher,” Kaden said. “That education liaison’s got enough to worry about with Young. At least Burke hasn’t been accused of murder.”

“No, he just sells potions illegally,” Amanda muttered under her breath.

Kaden opened his mouth to respond, but thought better of it and returned to skipping stones without saying another word.

Albus would never say it in front of Kaden, but he agreed with Amanda. Burke might be a genius, but he was a liability as a teacher. What if someone wound up seriously injured?

Albus and his friend remained outside studying (or not studying in Kaden’s case) until dinner, then returned to Gryffindor tower to drop off their books before walking to the Great Hall. Professor Burke was missing from the staff table.

“Are you sure he wants us to brew tonight?” Albus asked as they ate dessert. “He’s not even here.”

“He’s probably skipping dinner,” Kaden said. “He made a breakthrough on his mystery potion.”

“He told you that?” Amanda asked skeptically.

Kaden reddened. “No. But I assumed. He kept muttering to himself as he worked on it last night.”

“Come on,” Rose said as she stood up. “Let’s go. I want to have time to study before bed.”

Kaden got up immediately, knocking his fork onto the floor in the process. He hastily picked it up and followed Rose, who was already halfway to the door. Albus looked longingly back at his half-finished slice of chocolate cake and got up to follow.

Professor Burke’s brewing room was smokier than ever when Albus, Kaden, and Rose entered a few minutes later. Albus could hardly see anything, and he coughed as Kaden shut the door behind them. A figure emerged from the smoke, revealing himself to be Burke once he drew closer. He waved his wand and some of the smoke dissipated, enabling them to see where they were going.

Burke clutched a goblet of something, which Albus assumed to be a potion ingredient until Burke drank it, wincing as he did so. His hand shook and he dropped the goblet on the floor, where it landed with a loud crash. He bent to pick it up, but Kaden beat him to it.

“Let me, Professor,” Kaden said, picking up the goblet and handing it to Burke.

“Just put it there,” Burke muttered, gesturing to the nearest table. “You can continue what you started last night. I haven’t moved anything. I’ll leave you to explain it to Potter and Weasley.” Without looking at either Albus or Rose, he shuffled to the table which contained his mystery potion.

Albus noticed Burke was walking with much more difficulty than normal. He usually flitted around the room quickly, as if walking slowly would waste time, time that could be spent on brewing.

“Er, Professor?” Kaden asked. “Are you all right?”

“Fine, fine,” Burke replied without turning around. “Just chop those ingredients. Do the starthistle first.”

Kaden shrugged and led Albus and Rose over to the table in the back, which contained heaps of dried plants. “This is the starthistle,” he said, gesturing to a large pile of pointy, greenish leaves.

Albus, Rose, and Kaden each picked up a knife and began to chop. Albus glanced at Burke every so often, watching as he poured various phials into his mystery cauldron, pausing only to stir it every few minutes. Yet Burke worked much more slowly than usual, his hands shaking as he poured and stirred.

“What do you think’s wrong with him?” Albus whispered.

“I don’t know,” Rose said. “But he’s acting very strangely.”

“He’s just on a breakthrough,” Kaden insisted. “He’s working more carefully because the slightest mistake could blow the whole thing up.”

“Or so you assume,” Rose said. “He’s told you nothing, Kaden. He doesn’t seem the type to confess anything to any of us. He’s kept that potion a secret all year. I still say it could be dangerous.”

“If it was dangerous Kendrick wouldn’t let him have it in the castle,” Kaden pointed out.

“He probably doesn’t know. Balladanis kept that anamatek here for months,” Rose countered.

“This is different! It’s research. Important research that could change-“

Kaden was cut off by a resounding crash, followed by an ominous sizzling noise. Albus dropped his knife, whipped his head around, and saw Professor Burke lying on the floor, his mystery cauldron on its side next to him, frothing, boiling potion pooling next to his feet. He was twitching violently, his limbs thrashing around, spreading the potion as they did.

“Professor!” Rose shouted as she, Albus, and Kaden jumped up to their seats and hurried across the room. “Professor!”

“Professor Burke?” Kaden asked tentatively, bending down next to Burke’s head. “Rose, what’s happening?”

Albus bent down to retrieve the cauldron.

“Don’t touch the potion!” Rose shouted.

Albus stopped, realizing how stupid it was to touch an unknown potion. He stood frozen as Rose bent down over Burke and held his head steady, so that it was the only part of his body that wasn’t moving.

“He’s having a seizure,” Rose said, her voice surprisingly calm. “I need to keep his head steady.”

“How do you know that?” Albus asked, his heart beating fast.

“Books,” Rose answered. “Al, vanish the potion. Now.”

“But it’s his most important one!” Kaden exclaimed, hurrying over to one of the book shelves. “I’ve got to save it!”

“Kaden, right now, we’ve got to save his life,” Rose said. “Go get Madam Pomfrey. Now.”

“After I save the potion,” Kaden insisted, returning with a flask and a pair of dragon hide gloves. He put on the gloves, grabbed his wand, and siphoned as much of the potion up as he could, depositing it in the flask. He set the flask on the nearest table and hurried out of the room.

“Albus, vanish the potion,” Rose said through gritted teeth. Burke was still thrashing violently around.

Albus snapped out of his trance and pointed his wand at the remaining potion. It took four tries, but he managed to vanish what was left. Stowing his wand back in his robes, he watched as Rose held Burke’s head.

It was the scariest thing Albus had ever seen in his life, even scarier than seeing the dead body in Hogsmeade. Burke didn’t seem at all aware of what was happening, but his entire body was writhing and seizing, as if he had been subjected to the Cruciatus Curse. Yet he didn’t seem to be feeling any pain. After what felt like hours, the writhing slowed, until Burke was still. Rose carefully released his head and backed away, standing up as she did so. She glanced at Albus, her eyes wide.

“What now?” Albus whispered.

“We wait for Madam Pomfrey,” Rose answered.

“Is he….”

“He’s alive, but he’s not conscious,” Rose said.

The door burst open, revealing Madam Pomfrey and Kaden, who was breathing heavily. The nurse took one look at Burke and immediately knelt down next to him.

“How long was it?” she asked, not bothering to ask exactly what had happened.

“I don’t know,” Rose said. “Five minutes, maybe?”

Madam Pomfrey sighed and waved her wand over Burke, muttering to herself as she did so.

“I held his head steady,” Rose said quietly.

“Good,” Madam Pomfrey replied. She stood up, conjured a stretcher, and waved her wand to move Burke onto it. Then she turned back to Albus, Rose, and Kaden. “It’s a good thing you three were here.”

“Is he going to be okay?” Kaden asked, his voice small.

“I believe so, but I am going to have to transport him to St. Mungo’s immediately,” Madam Pomfrey answered. “There isn’t time to waste. You three ought to return to Gryffindor.”

Madam Pomfrey raised her wand and directed the stretcher out of the room. Albus turned to Rose and Kaden, both of whom were pale.

“We ought to clean up,” Rose muttered as she pointed her wand at the cauldron. She summoned it, caught it, and placed it back on its table. With another wave of her wand, she cleaned up the remaining puddles of potion.

All three were quiet on their walk back to the seventh floor. They didn’t bother going to Gryffindor tower, choosing instead to go straight to the Marauder’s Den, where they knew they would find Matt, John, and Amanda, furiously studying.

Albus opened the door, Rose and Kaden following, and saw the other three huddled around the table, their heads bent low over books. Matt looked up as they entered.

“What happened to you three?” he asked, furrowing his brow, as Kaden collapsed onto the couch.

Albus sat down in the nearest chair. “P-professor Burke. He…he had a seizure.”

Matt’s jaw fell open. “While you were brewing?”

Rose nodded, taking a seat next to Albus. “He just collapsed. He spilled his mystery cauldron all over himself, and then he just started seizing. It went on for at least five minutes.”

“Five minutes?” Matt repeated. “That’s bad. That’s really bad. What did you do?”

Rose told the whole story, from the moment they heard the crash to the moment Madam Pomfrey left with Burke on a stretcher. Matt, John, and Amanda looked as shocked as Albus felt.

“Do you think he’ll be back for class on Monday?” Kaden asked.

“Not a chance,” Matt said quietly. “He’ll be at St. Mungo’s for a while. They’ll need to do tests.”

“Madam Pomfrey seemed to already know what had happened,” Kaden said.

“Maybe he’s had them before,” Matt suggested. “But if he hasn’t, they’ll have to figure out why he had one now. He’ll probably be there for at least a week.”

“How do you know all of that?” Kaden asked.

Matt shrugged. “I had a few after I was bitten, and then after I had to transform in that Ministry center in Australia.”

“Well, you’re okay now. So Burke should be okay, right?” Kaden said anxiously.

“I doubt Burke’s seizures are due to lycanthropy,” Matt pointed out. “I don’t know.”

“I’m going to bed,” Kaden said abruptly, standing up. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” He hurried to the door and left without a look back.

Rose sighed. “I do hope Burke comes back, if only for Kaden’s sake. Burke’s something of a hero to him.”

“Amy’s going to be upset, too,” Matt said quietly. “Strange, isn’t it? I’ve never thought about teachers being seriously ill.”

Albus hadn’t either. But Burke was old. Not as old as Slughorn, but he was up there. Albus only hoped that whatever Burke had, it was treatable, because despite the fact that he might be dealing potions illegally and possibly endangering the lives of his students, he was a good teacher. But more than that, Kaden idolized him, and Albus could only imagine how devastated his cousin would be if Professor Burke died.

***

Despite the fact that Albus and Rose remained in the Marauder’s Den for the remainder of the evening and spoke to no one when they passed through the common room on their way to their dormitories, the whole school knew that Burke had been taken to St. Mungo’s by the following day. Albus suspected people saw Madam Pomfrey guiding him through the castle on the way to the fireplace in the hospital wing and made the correct assumption. Yet, most of the gossip had nothing to do with whether Burke was going to be okay or not, but who would be teaching Potions for the remainder of term.

There was too much time left in the year for Potions to be canceled, so there was much speculation on who would replace Burke. The biggest rumor going around was that Slughorn would come back to either finish up the year or conduct classes until Burke was able to return. Albus didn’t believe this, seeing as the last time Slughorn returned it was only for his own protection from Death Eaters.

“Who else would they get besides Slughorn?” John asked at dinner. “They’ve got to get someone who actually knows enough about potions to teach, like how Albus’s dad always comes back to teach DADA whenever they need someone temporary.”

“Lately all the Defense professors have been temporary,” Matt muttered. “I’m surprised Young has stuck around this long.”

“Well, he might not be around much longer,” Rose said. “Did any of you read today’s Prophet?”

Albus shook his head. “No. They aren’t publishing anything new.”

“But they are. Today there was a really small article about the progress they’ve made on the two murders. It said they have a suspect, one that both witnesses have positively identified.”

“Elsie identified Young?” Albus asked, his stomach turning unpleasantly. “And that other bloke…he must’ve managed to identify Young.”

“They must’ve,” Rose whispered. “If this goes to trial before the end of term, the governors will suspend him.”

“They can do that, even if he hasn’t been convicted yet?”

Rose nodded. “They’ve suspended people for less.”

“But your mum is on the board!”

“It doesn’t matter if he’s guilty or not. This will affect his teaching, Albus.”

“What teaching?” John whispered under his breath. “Great. We’re going to be down two professors two months before O.W.L.s.”

“Nothing’s happened to Young yet,” Rose reminded him. “It might not go to trial until after term ends.”

“Never mind Young,” Amanda said. “What about Potions? We can’t afford not to have class.”

“Maybe Kaden can teach us,” Matt suggested. “He’s better than I am, anyway. Where is he?”

“Last I knew he was trying to convince Madam Pomfrey to let him Floo to St. Mungo’s to visit Burke,” Albus said. “But that was hours ago.”

Kaden had been taking Burke’s sudden illness very hard. Since disappearing into his dormitory the previous night, Albus had only seen him once, when he emerged from it an hour after lunch, looking like he’d only slept an hour at most. Muttering something about going to the hospital wing to see about visiting Burke, he ran out of the common room and Albus hadn’t seen him since.

“You don’t think she actually let him go, do you?” John asked.

“No way,” Matt said.

“I know where he is,” Albus said suddenly, dropping his fork onto his plate. “Come on.”

Albus got up and left the Great Hall, without looking back to see if his friends were following. Halfway through the Entrance Hall John caught up to him. The sound of footsteps behind them told him Matt, Rose, and Amanda weren’t far behind, but Albus didn’t stop to look. He picked up his pace and descended the stairs into the dungeons, heading straight for Burke’s brewing room.

Albus pushed the door open and saw Kaden, just where he expected to, standing over the small cauldron that had held Burke’s mystery potion, a small amount of smoke emanating from it. He didn’t look up. Rose, John, and Amanda hurried into the room, but stopped once they saw the mystery cauldron. Matt hovered in the doorway, muttering something about there being aconite in the room.

“Kaden,” Albus said as he walked over to his cousin.

Kaden startled. “Albus. What are you doing here?”

“What are you doing here?” Albus asked. “Have you been here all day?”

“Since Madam Pomfrey didn’t let me go to St. Mungo’s,” Kaden muttered as he stirred the cauldron. “Someone’s got to look after the potions.”

“But it shouldn’t be you,” Albus said quietly. “You’ve got homework, other classes to worry-“

“It is me, Albus,” Kaden interrupted. “Why do you think Burke wanted research assistants? Isn’t it a bit obvious?”

Albus stared at him, unable to tell whether his face was wet with sweat from the smoke or tears. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know which it was.

“Burke is ill,” Kaden said flatly. “He’s been ill all year. He’s always knocking things over-“

“He’s clumsy,” Albus said. “Matt’s clumsy, too. But he isn’t ill.”

“Well-“ Matt began, from the doorway.

“I mean besides the lycanthropy,” Albus said hurriedly. “But that wasn’t the point.”

“People don’t just randomly have seizures,” Kaden said, adjusting the flame with his wand. “And I overheard Madam Pomfrey talking to Kendrick when I went to the hospital wing this afternoon. She said something about ‘this one being worse than the last one.’ So it wasn’t a one-time thing.”

Albus didn’t know what to say to reassure Kaden, because he thought the same thing. Burke probably was ill. “But that doesn’t mean you’re the one who’s supposed to take care of his potions.”

Kaden sighed. “Why do you think he wanted seventh years? He knew he was ill and he wanted to make sure someone would take care of his potions if he ever had to go to St. Mungo’s. You and Rose are busy all the time and to be honest, I’m a better brewer than you, Al. It’s me. I’ve got to take care of them.”

Albus couldn’t argue with that. He turned to Rose, who had a pained look on her face, but she didn’t say a word. It may have been selfish of Burke, but it appeared that he had meant for Kaden to take over his brewing.

“Did you restart his mystery potion?” John asked, stepping closer to the cauldron.

Kaden nodded. “I managed to save some of it last night, so I put it back on the flames. He didn’t leave any instructions for it, so the best I can do is keep it stewing. I’ve already taken care of the rest.”

“Kaden,” Rose said tentatively. “This is going to be a lot of work. Maybe when the Potions substitute arrives they can-“

“No one else is a world-class brewer like Burke,” Kaden said. “They won’t know the potions.”

“No offense, but neither are you,” Rose said. “You’re a fourth year. You’re the best fourth year, but you’re still a fourth year.”

“I’ve brewed N.E.W.T. level potions before. Burke had me do one at the beginning of the year. And didn’t you tell me your mum brewed Polyjuice in second year? So don’t tell me it isn’t possible for me to be that good.”

“I never said-“

“Just let me do it. I can handle it.”

“I wasn’t going to stop you,” Rose said. “I just think it might be a good idea to ask the new Potions professor for help.”

“If they’re familiar with his work,” Kaden muttered, staring at the mystery cauldron. “But I’ve got to find out what he wants me to do with this one. I searched his entire study and couldn’t find anything about it.”

“You searched his study?” Albus asked, suddenly remembering Burke’s illegal dealings in Polyjuice. “Did you find any evidence he’s been selling his Polyjuice?”

“Really, Albus?” Kaden asked. “He’s lying in St. Mungo’s and you’re still focused on that? But for the record, no.”

“It must be so secretive that he never wrote anything down,” Rose said. “And he never told you anything about it?”

“No. Nothing. But I can’t imagine he’d want me to just leave it. It could be ruined, and it’s obviously important.”

“Then send him an owl,” Rose suggested. “If he’s conscious, they’ll give him his post.”

Kaden nodded, getting up. “Yeah, I’ll do that.”

“Meet us in the Marauder’s Den when you’re done,” Albus said. “You’ve got to get some homework done.”

“Sure,” Kaden said. “I’ll see you in a bit.”

“I can’t believe him!” Rose exclaimed as soon as Kaden’s footsteps had disappeared.

“Who, Kaden?” Albus asked. “He’s just trying to help.”

“No, not Kaden,” Rose said, glaring at the mystery cauldron. “Professor Burke! How thick can he get, expecting a fourth year to take over all of his potions. Stupid. I hope whoever Kendrick gets to replace him knows his research. Kaden can’t do this for the rest of the year.”

“You think Burke will be out for the rest of the year?” John asked.

“I have no idea, but there’s a chance. Let’s go back to the Den. I’m already behind on today’s studying.”

“What about the potion he’s been making for you?” Amanda asked Matt as they left the room. “Kaden can’t make that, can he?”

Matt’s face paled. “I-I don’t know. I guess not.”

Matt didn’t elaborate on the subject, but Albus thought he looked much more nervous than necessary at the prospect of not taking a potion that supposedly wasn’t helping.