Albus Potter and the Lost Legacy

Chapter 11: The Fate of the Pranksters

Albus was very relieved that he was not given the task of telling James that there would not be a rematch. Fred, being the captain, took that job for himself and the rest of the team merely went with him. James was understandably upset, but didn't take the news nearly as badly as Albus would have expected. Perhaps he was maturing, if even a small amount. On Sunday, James was released from the Hospital Wing and life at Hogwarts returned to normal if only for a few days.

After a double class of potions and single class of Transfiguration on Tuesday, Albus and his friends had politics and this was the day where they would find out who would get to sit in the Great Hall during the debate on Saturday. The Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs were understandably more talkative in the minutes before Professor Embry began class. Most of the students hoped that they would get to attend the debate, with the exception of John and a few of the Hufflepuffs. Albus and Matt would be attending it either way, so they doubted either of them would be picked. Rose had also found out that since she was Percy's niece, she would also get to attend no matter what.

“Settle down, settle down,” Embry said once the clock struck three. He smiled and then quickly took attendance. “I'm very happy to see how excited you are for Saturday's debate. It's very exciting to see young people so interested in politics. Since I know none of you will pay attention during class unless I announce who gets to attend before I begin, I will announce them now.”

The class immediately began whispering until Embry located a piece of parchment on his desk and cleared his throat. “Now, a few of you are able to attend the debate without being chosen. Matt Eckerton and Albus Potter, since both your fathers are heads of departments at the Ministry you will be able to attend. Rose Weasley, since you are related to one of the candidates, you may attend as well. And not to worry, everyone else, they will not take away spots from the regular student body.

“One boy and one girl were picked randomly from each year, for each house. So eight students from each year were chosen total. For Hufflepuff the lucky two are Olivia Price and Ronald Bones.”

“Yes!” Ronald shouted. He was a rather loud, blonde haired boy, who reminded Albus a lot of Kaden. Olivia just smiled. She was quiet, but as one of Hufflepuff's Beaters, was quite forceful.

“And for Gryffindor we have Ethan Kesse and Marina Jordan-Bell,” Embry continued.

Both let out ecstatic shouts and the rest of the class clapped before everyone settled down. All four winning students were still grinning when Embry began speaking once more.

“Congratulations to all four of you. This will not be the only debate to take place at Hogwarts and for the next one, different students will be chosen. Now, on Saturday, you are to report to the Great Hall at ten o'clock in the morning. The debate will begin at eleven. You will give your name to whichever professor is waiting by the doors and then a Prefect will show you to where you are supposed to sit. Same goes for you, Matt, Albus, and Rose.”

Embry set the parchment down on his desk and smiled as he walked closer to the tables of his students. “Now, what Professor Kendrick has not told you yet, because it has only just been finalized, is that both candidates will be hosting two joint question and answer sessions. These will be for students and Hogwarts staff only. The same students chosen to attend the debate will be able to attend the question and answer session. It will take place at three in the Great Hall. Please arrive at two-thirty.

“Everyone else will be listening to the debate on the wireless. Fourth year Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs will be in the Transfiguration classroom. Please report there by ten-thirty. Everyone, no matter whether they are attending the debate or listening on the wireless are expected to write a foot long essay on which candidate you thought was more successful in making their point. It will be due at the beginning of next week's class.”

The entire class groaned at the mention of the essay. Embry ignored this and began his lecture. They had finally made it into the twentieth century, but were still far from learning about how everything in the Ministry changed after Voldemort was defeated.

The rest of the week passed very slowly. The Hogwarts students were getting very excited at the prospect of the candidates arriving for their debate, with the exception of Bradley and Cedric. Even John and Kaden, neither of whom were going to attend the debate, were catching a little bit of excitement. Albus was rather shocked at how the majority of the students were getting involved with the election. Being someone who had grown up with politics and the Ministry of Magic, he was not quite as thrilled with the prospect, especially when reporters from the Daily Prophet showed up on Friday morning.

“Want to take bets on how quickly they find you?” John asked as they passed two reporters on their way to Care of Magical Creatures.

Albus glanced at the reporters. One was a very tall and lanky man, with messy brown hair and considerable stubble on his face. He was frantically writing down questions that the other reporter, an equally tall woman with huge red lips and black hair, was asking an uncomfortable looking first year.

“Walk faster,” Albus nudged John as they neared the oak doors.

Albus had absolutely no desire to appear in any issues of the Daily Prophet. Neither of his parents liked reporters and that was a trait they had passed down to Albus. He made a mental note to warn Bradley and Cedric about them the next time he saw his two cousins.

In an effort to avoid the reporters, Albus, Matt, and John spent their free period after charms in the Marauder's Den. With any luck when the Ministry officials arrived the reporters would give up trying to interview random Hogwarts students. Although Albus knew it was not random at all. At lunch, after Care of Magical Creatures, he found out that no less than four of his cousins, along with Lily, had been interviewed that morning.

The officials were arriving just as Albus and his friends were heading to the Great Hall for dinner. They paused on the grand staircase while the blue-robed witches and wizards entered the Great Hall, gracefully avoiding the reporters that were standing next to the entrance to the Great Hall. Albus recognized nearly all of them, including his dad, Uncle Percy, and Matt's dad.

The Staff table had been magically elongated enough to offer seats for all of the Ministry officials, who had at sat down and began speaking with the professors. Albus and his friends all found seats at the Gryffindor table, near all his cousins. Cedric was scowling while reading a letter. He then crumpled it up and then set fire to it with his wand.

“Dad still thinks we pulled that prank, James,” Cedric muttered. “Says he's going to make time to speak with me before he leaves.”

“We'll find out,” James said. “We still haven't talked to all the ghosts.”

“All except Moaning Myrtle.” Cedric shuddered. “I don't fancy talking to her.”

“She's our last hope,” James said. “We're going to find her. After all this debate stuff is over.”

Albus let out a sigh of relief. He had two more days. In all honesty, he'd nearly forgotten about Cedric and James's quest to find out who put the chickens in the Slytherin common room. But apparently his brother and cousin had not.

Kendrick rose from his seat once the Great Hall was full. “On behalf of myself, the rest of the Hogwarts staff, and the Hogwarts student body, I'd like to welcome our Ministry representatives to Hogwarts. Before we eat, I'd like to introduce everyone.

“First, our candidates,” Kendrick gestured to Percy and Laurentis, who were both sitting immediately to his left. “Percy Weasley and Patricia Laurentis.” Kendrick then gestured to the tall, rather portly man on his left. “Our current Minister, Langston Hartwell.”

The rest of the officials were interspersed amongst the professors. Kendrick gestured to a grey haired witch sitting in between Professors Patil and Cedonia. “Head of Magical Law Enforcement. Reena Barnes.” Next, Kendrick gestured to Matt's dad who was sitting next to Albus's dad and Professor Trelawney. “Head of the Department for the Control and Regulation of Magical Creatures. Walter Eckerton.”

Half the Gryffindor table turned and looked at Matt, who gave a smile and shrugged. Never one to talk about his family, most of Gryffindor was unaware of who Matt's dad was.

“I'm sure you all remember Harry Potter, head of the Auror Department,” Kendrick said as he gestured to Albus's dad. He received louder applause than anyone else had.

Kendrick then introduced three of Hartwell's other advisors, who had titles that were just as long and confusing as Percy's current job title. Then, finally, Kendrick waved his hands and food appeared on all the tables.

During dinner Fred announced that he had reluctantly canceled Quidditch practice for the next day since it was scheduled for the same time as the question and answer session. The rest of dinner was spent figuring out which Gryffindors, besides the large amount that were related to Percy, were going to attend the debate. Both John's little sister, Asthyn, and James's best friend, Nathan, were getting to attend.

After dessert had been served and consumed, Kendrick reminded everyone of the time of the next day's debate and suggested they all turn in early. Albus wondered whether the ministry officials would be staying in the castle or Apparating back to their own homes for the night. Cedric took off for the common room as soon as he had finished eating, in order to avoid his father.

Albus and his friends decided to stay in the common room that night since everyone was so lively and the excitement was catching. John brought a deck of Exploding Snap down from his trunk and the six friends sat around a table playing for at least an hour. Kaden had just had the cards explode in his face when the door to the common room opened and someone gasped.

Everyone glanced over and the common room went silent. Percy was standing in the doorway, looking very awkward and uncomfortable. His eyes landed on Cedric, who had been organizing his stock of Skiving Snackboxes with James and Nathan. Cedric went as pale as Moaning Myrtle.

“Cedric,” Percy said quietly. “I need to speak with you.”

“I didn't do it, Dad!” Cedric exclaimed. “I swear it!”

Albus shifted uncomfortably in his seat, glancing at his friends. Rose was giving him a disapproving look while Matt, John, and Kaden looked equally uncomfortable. Amanda had raised her eyebrows. This was ridiculous. Why couldn't Percy let it go or believe his son? Or at least deal with it privately? It was unfair of him to storm into the Gryffindor common room and call out his own son like that.

Percy shook his head. “Cedric, you've pulled pranks like this ever since you were little. This one has you written all over it. You, too, James.”

“But Dad-”

“No buts,” Percy said. “This is not acceptable. Now I'd like to speak with you privately.”

Cedric didn't budge. Albus swallowed hard and looked at Matt, John, and Kaden each in turn. Pranks were all in good fun, but not when innocent people were punished for them. And Albus had no doubt that Percy would punish Cedric whether he had proof or not. Cedric's past betrayed him and Percy was too focused on winning the election to give his son the benefit of the doubt. Albus did not like his cousin taking the fall for something he and his friends did. It just was not something he was comfortable with.

Matt gave a slight nod of his head. John and Kaden both shrugged and Albus took that to mean “do what you have to do”. Albus sighed and stood up. “Wait, Uncle Percy.”

“Albus, this is none of your concern,” Percy said. “Cedric has to face his consequences.”

“But he didn't do it!” Albus exclaimed. “It was me. I did it.”

James burst out laughing. “You, Al? That's nice and all of you to try and keep Cedric out of trouble, but really? You couldn't get into the Slytherin common room.”

“It wasn't only him,” John said, standing up. “Kaden and I did most of it. Al was just a look out.”

“I was, too,” Matt announced. “It was the four of us.”

Fred and a few of his friends suddenly jumped up from their seats and bowed in front of Albus, Matt, John, and Kaden. “Masters! You are the kings.”

The entire common room exploded in applause and whistles. Albus couldn't help but grin despite the fact that he knew he was going to be in trouble. James gave Albus an odd look before breaking out in a wry grin himself. A few first years ran up and high-fived them. Hugo was practically rolling on the floor laughing.

“Enough, enough!” Percy shouted. “Albus, you'd better come with me. You three as well.” He gestured to Matt, John, and Kaden.

Albus and his friends reluctantly followed Percy out of the common room to Kendrick's study. On the way there Albus couldn't help but notice that his uncle didn't really walk. He strutted, almost like he owned the place. Albus supposed he was remembering back to his Head Boy days. Head Boy was probably now well out of reach for Albus, as was becoming a Prefect. Not like he really wanted to become a Prefect anyway.

Upon entering Kendrick's study Albus was horrified to see that all of the Ministry officials were there, including his own father. Matt had paled considerably on seeing his father as well. This was bad.

Kendrick glanced at the boys and then looked questioningly up at Percy. “I think we need a moment of privacy,” Kendrick said to the officials, “except Harry and Walter.”

The rest of the officials left the room, whispering to themselves as they went. Kendrick then resumed his seat behind his desk and conjured enough chairs for the remaining people. Albus took a seat in between Matt and Kaden.

“What's going on, Percy?” Kendrick asked.

“I went to Gryffindor to have a chat with my son about that prank last week and as it turns out he was telling the truth.” Albus was pleased to see that Percy looked slightly ashamed. “As I was asking Cedric for a private talk, my nephew and his friends announced that they were the pranksters.”

“They what?” Harry exclaimed, looking at Albus. “Is this about the chickens in the Slytherin common room prank?”

“Yes,” Percy confirmed. “These four just confessed to it.”

Matt's dad let out a sigh and shook his head.

“Is this true, boys?” Kendrick asked.

“Yes, sir,” Albus replied.

“I'm very disappointed in you, Albus,” Harry said. “This is the sort of thing I expect from James, not from you.”

“As am I in you, Matthew,” Walter added. “You've never been one to pull pranks.”

“It was our idea,” John said, gesturing to himself and Kaden. “All they did was keep a look out while we were in their common room.”

“Nevertheless,” Kendrick said, folding his hands on his desk. “All four of you broke school rules and you will be punished. Fifty points from Gryffindor-”

Kaden gasped.

“-each,” Kendrick finished. “And detention. As much as I'd like to start your detention tomorrow we have other matters happening in this castle and none of the staff is free to supervise. You will start your detention on Monday evening and you will have it for a week.”

“But sir-” Albus and Matt said at once.

“No buts,” Kendrick said. “You blatantly broke multiple school rules.”

“But Quidditch and dueling! That's the week before the first tournament-”

“Your teams will have to hold practice without you, Mr. Potter,” Kendrick said shortly. “You should have thought about that before you participated in this mischief.”

“Sir?” Matt asked quietly.

Kendrick sighed. “Yes?”

“The, er, full moon is Tuesday,” Matt muttered.

“Right,” Kendrick replied. “Attend the detentions that you can and whichever ones you miss can be made up once you are better.

“Thank you,” Walter said, “for being understanding about that.”

“Not a problem. Matt's situation is vastly different from missed Quidditch practice.”

Albus felt his cheeks reddening. It had been a valid point for him. Fred would murder him in his sleep when he found out Albus would miss at least two practices for detention. He certainly wouldn't be applauding and bowing anymore.

“You'll report to Filch's office on Monday at seven. He'll give you further instructions on what your detention will entail. Now, get back to Gryffindor Tower,” Kendrick said.

Albus rose from his seat. Harry did the same. “Al, you realize I'm going to have to tell your mother about this.”

Albus nodded. “Yes.”

“She won't be pleased. But I do want to tell you that I'm proud of the way you owned up to this when you realized Cedric was wrongfully accused. As disappointed as I am that you pulled that prank, I am very happy to have such an honest son. I'll see you tomorrow. Have a good night and remember, I always love you,” Harry said and gave Albus a hug.

“Love you too,” Albus said quietly.

Matt was having what was surely a similar talk with his own father and once they were finished, the four boys left Kendrick's study and went immediately back to Gryffindor Tower.

“Seven detentions,” John muttered as they walked up a set of stairs. “Seven. This is worse than that time in second year when we were caught near the Whomping Willow.”

“Not to mention the points,” Albus replied.

“And detention with Filch no less,” Matt said. “I'll be doing at least two of them on my own, too.”

Kaden shrugged. “Still seems worth it.”

John grinned. “Most definitely worth it.”

Albus and Matt gave each other looks that clearly meant they disagreed. No, 200 points from Gryffindor, seven detentions with Filch, and no Quidditch practice for a week was not worth it.

***

In true Hogwarts fashion by the next morning at Breakfast the entire school knew that it had been three Gryffindor fourth years and one Gryffindor third year that had managed to sneak into the Slytherin common room and deposit two chickens and a rooster, as well as cover the entire place in bird seed. Hufflepuff was especially excited about this because Gryffindor's loss of 200 points put them in the lead for the House Cup. Gryffindor was now dead last and the other Gryffindors were torn between their awe of Albus and his friends and their horror that the prank had cost them so many points.

Rose and Amanda had burst out laughing when the boys told them their fate the previous night. They were angry about the loss of points, though. Rose was especially disgusted by John and Kaden's lack of remorse.

All the ministry officials were at the staff table, whereas the house tables were not nearly as full as the previous day. It seemed that some students had not heeded Kendrick's suggestion about going to bed early.

There was a whoosh of wings and Albus looked up to see that the post owls had arrived. His heart started beating faster and he swallowed hard upon seeing his mother's owl holding a red envelope in its mouth.

“Oh no,” Albus whispered as the owl grew closer. His friends glanced up and saw the howler just as the owl was preparing for landing. It landed in front of Albus's plate of eggs and he took the howler in his hand before quickly running out of the Great Hall for the nearest bathroom.

The envelope was already hot when he arrived in the thankfully empty loo. He reluctantly opened it and the room was soon full with Ginny's high pitched shouting.

“ALBUS SEVERUS POTTER, WHAT HAS GOTTEN INTO YOU? I AM ABSOLUTELY SHOCKED TO HEAR THAT YOU WERE IN THE SLYTHERIN COMMON ROOM AND PUTTING CHICKENS IN THERE NO LESS. I DO NOT CARE THAT YOU WERE ONLY THE LOOK OUT. YOU MAY AS WELL HAVE BEEN IN THERE YOURSELF. YOU WERE BLATANTLY BREAKING MULTIPLE SCHOOL RULES INCLUDING BEING OUT OF BED AFTER HOURS.

I AM VERY DISAPPOINTED. THIS IS THE SORT OF THING I EXPECT FROM JAMES, BUT EVEN JAMES KNOWS WHEN NOT TO CROSS THE LINE. AND YOU DIDN'T JUST CROSS THE LINE. YOU JUMPED WAY OVER IT. AND TO HAVE PERCY FIND OUT ABOUT THIS WHILE HE IS AT HOGWARTS FOR A DEBATE?! YOU KNOW WE HAVE TO KEEP UP APPEARANCES IN ORDER FOR HIM TO HAVE A CHANCE AT THIS ELECTION AND THIS DOES NOT HELP.

I HIGHLY APPROVE OF THE DETENTIONS AND LOSS OF POINTS. I CANNOT SAY I WOULD BE DISAPPOINTED IF YOUR ENTIRE HOUSE WERE ANGRY WITH YOU OVER THIS. I EXPECT YOU WILL NOT DO THIS AGAIN. IF YOU DO YOU WILL HAVE MORE THAN JUST PUNISHMENT AT SCHOOL.”

The letter exploded with a brief puff of smoke. Albus stood there staring at it for a few seconds. His mother had not even mentioned how his confession had saved Cedric. There was no mention of how she was proud about his honesty, like his dad had been.

Albus heard a short laugh from behind him. He turned around and saw none other than Scorpius Malfoy leaning on one of the sinks, smirking.

“I knew it was one of you Gryffindors,” Malfoy said. “Just didn't expect it to be you lot. Didn't think you'd be smart enough to figure out our password.”

“Just shut up, Malfoy,” Albus muttered as he pushed his way past the Slytherin on his way out of the loo.

“Loved the howler, by the way.” Malfoy gave another laugh.

Albus groaned inwardly. He hoped Malfoy hadn't heard much of it, but highly doubted it. Albus took a deep breath and walked back to the Great Hall. Perhaps with the debate coming in an hour, the rest of the students would forget about the prank and the loss of points and find something new to discuss.

Chapter 12: A Debate on Education

There was a long queue of students waiting to get into the Great Hall after everyone left once breakfast was over. The Great Hall had been completely emptied in order for the professors to prepare it for the debate. Albus craned his head in attempt to see it. As far as he could tell it looked the same except the long house tables had been replaced by rows of seating. He, along with Matt and Rose, were only a few students away from the front of the queue.

Once they made it to the front they gave their names to Professor Longbottom and then were lead inside by one of the Ravenclaw Prefects. Adults were milling about talking with each other and students were already seated. The first few rows were cordoned off with rope and the Ravenclaw Prefect lead Albus, Rose, and Matt to the third roped off row. He lifted the rope and told them to file all the way in, to the very end of the unoccupied row. Albus sat in between Rose and Matt. It appeared that the roped off rows were reserved for Ministry officials and their families. Albus noticed that his mum was sitting in the front row along with the rest of his aunts and uncles. Georgia was also in the front row and was handing out coloring books and crayons to Samantha and Lindy.

James, Ben, Lily, and Hugo filed in next to Rose a few minutes later. Albus saw that Cedric and Bradley, who had walked in with his siblings, were being lead to the front row. Fred, Angie, Heather, and Mark finished out their row five minutes later. Albus gazed around the room and spotted Victoire and Teddy sitting across the aisle. Stanley walked in with Gabriella and took seats next to Victoire and Teddy. Albus had to admit he was surprised to see them there. Last he heard she was in France and he was in Romania.

The room soon became packed with the students who had won seats as well as other witches and wizards who had chosen to come. Albus recognized a few who worked in shops in Hogsmeade including Madam Rosmerta. He turned to the front of the room and noticed that the staff table had also disappeared and had been replaced with two podiums and a small table, just like the set up in the courtroom at the Ministry.

At exactly eleven o'clock the doors to the Great Hall were shut and people began to sit down. Professor Kendrick entered the room from one of its antechambers, followed by the Minister, Albus's dad, Matt's dad, and the Head of Magical Law Enforcement, Reena Barnes. The other Ministry officials were seated in the front row.

Kendrick lead them to the small table near the podium. All five, with the exception of Kendrick, sat. Kendrick walked to the front of the podiums and the audience quieted.

“Welcome to the third debate. I welcome all of you to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Today's debate will be on education. I'd like to introduce today's moderator, the Head of the Department for the Control and Regulation of Magical Creatures, Walter Eckerton.”

The audience clapped and Albus whispered to Matt, asking him if he knew his dad was moderating. Matt shook his head no and the two looked back to the front.

Kendrick had taken his seat and Matt's dad had rose. “Now I'd like to welcome our two candidates. Percy Weasley and Patricia Laurentis.”

There was more clapping as Percy and Laurentis walked out of the antechamber and took their places behind the podiums. Once the clapping subsided, Matt's dad began to speak.

“Today's debate will run similarly to past debates, with five minute responses and two minute rebuttals. All questions and prompts will be about education. The debate will run for an hour and a half. After it is over, the room will be cleared and then lunch will be served. After lunch there will be a short break and then the student question and answer session will take place in this same room. Without further adieu, the first question. Mr. Weasley, you will answer first.

“How do you feel about the Hogwarts physical environment? Do you feel it is adequate and conducive to learning or do you feel changes should be made?”

Percy took a step forward and smiled at the audience. “I believe that the Hogwarts castle is very conducive to learning. Being in a secluded area provides little in the way of distraction to the students. Yet the proximity of the castle to Hogsmeade village gives students in third year and above a much needed break. The only changes I think need to be made are to update what needs to be updated and repair what needs to be repaired.”

“Thank you, Mr. Weasley,” Matt's dad said. He turned to Laurentis. “Ms. Laurentis.”

“I agree with Mr. Weasley. The Hogwarts castle is very conducive to learning and I see nothing wrong with it the way it is. All of Mr. Weasley's points are very valid.”

Albus turned to Matt and shrugged. That was odd. They actually agreed on something. Matt's dad seemed a little shocked by this as well, because he did not say anything for a few seconds after Laurentis quieted.

“All right. Since you two agree, I see no need for rebuttals. Moving on to the next question. Ms. Laurentis, this time you will go first. How do you feel about the current Hogwarts curriculum? Do you feel the classes adequately prepare today's young people for living in British wizarding society? What changes, if any, do you feel need to be made?”

“The Hogwarts curriculum has not been updated in decades. In fact, the only new class that has been introduced is this year's class on politics. Curricula is something that needs to change with the times and be re-evaluated at least every other year. The world is a constantly changing place and what students learn needs to change with it. New classes should be offered and outdated classes should be removed. Curricula for classes that are kept needs to change in order to keep up with today's research. Potions, for example, should not be taught the same way now as it was forty years ago, but unfortunately, that seems to be the case.”

“Thank you. Mr. Weasley.”

“The core curriculum of Hogwarts is similar to that of magical schools all over the world. The classes taught here offer basic and advanced instruction in topics that wizards need in order to function in society. We cannot stand here and advocate getting rid of Charms or Transfiguration in favor of some new subject that may or may not teach our students anything. Yes, the world is constantly changing, but the basic spells remain the same. Students forty years ago used 'Alohomora' to open doors and the spell remains the same today,” Percy argued.

“Your rebuttal, Ms. Laurentis.”

“I am in no way insinuating that we should get rid of Charms or Transfiguration.” She looked offended at Percy's accusation. “All I am saying is that we need to look at the electives that are offered. The basic core classes should obviously be kept, although they should be updated. Today's professors are using the same textbooks they used thirty years ago, which is ridiculous considering how much has changed in their fields-”

“Your time is up. Mr. Weasley.”

Percy seemed to puff out his chest a bit. “Those textbooks still teach the basics! How is a textbook written last year going to be any better at teaching a student how to stir a cauldron? Additionally, older textbooks have more used copies available making it more affordable for students from lower income families to purchase their books.”

It seemed to Albus that they had gotten slightly off topic from the proposed question, but neither candidate seemed to notice or care.

“Next question. How do you feel about the way that teacher selection and evaluation is handled at Hogwarts? Do you feel any changes are needed?” Mr. Eckerton asked. “You may go first, Mr. Weasley.”

“Traditionally, the Ministry has taken a very hands-off approach to teacher selection and I believe this has worked well. Ministry officials do not have the expertise to choose teachers and leaving this up to the Hogwarts staff has resulted in a very educated and well-rounded staff at Hogwarts. Following the reign of Voldemort, a small education department was founded in the Ministry to oversee things and while it is still very hands-off, I believe the small amount of regulation has served Hogwarts well,” Percy explained.

“Ms. Laurentis.”

Laurentis smirked and then began. “Teacher selection, along with curriculum changes, is the the aspect of Hogwarts that needs the most radical change, in my opinion. While Professor Kendrick is a fine headmaster, I think more guidance is needed when it comes to choosing professors. For the past four years, Hogwarts has been unable to secure a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor for more than two years. One only lasted a year. Other professors have been here for decades and yet others have remained even beyond their own death. There is nothing wrong, of course, with older teachers, but Hogwarts appears to have no way of evaluating these staff members. They remain here, teaching, year after year, whether or not they are actually successful in providing students with an education.”

“Your rebuttal, Mr. Weasley.”

Percy's face had gained some color that was not always there. “I hardly think it is appropriate to blame Professor Kendrick for the fate of previous Defense professors. Upon interviewing them he had no way of knowing what would happen in the end. As for the other professors, if you would look at the statistics of the O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. results of the past few years you'll see that the majority of students are passing. Might I add that those are regulated by the Ministry.”

“Ms. Laurentis.”

“I would agree that the Headmaster should not be held responsible for one or two professors who should not have been hired in the first place, but Hogwarts has seen more than its fair share of inadequate professors in the past few years. Clearly something is wrong. More people need to be involved with curriculum and teacher selection.”

“Next question,” Mr. Eckerton said. “Do you feel that the security at Hogwarts is adequate? If not, what should be changed? Ms. Laurentis, you may begin.”

If Albus was not mistaken, he could have sworn he saw Laurentis sigh and give a slight eye roll before beginning. “Let's just call it what it is, why don't we? Lack of security at Hogwarts! The security here, if you can call it that, is sorely lacking. Might I bring up the fact that for the past three years there had been a severe breach in security here? Three years ago, a group of first years dueled the Charms professor, a seventh year, and that seventh year's father on the grounds for a significant period of time before the professors stepped in. The following year, another first year was kidnapped by that same seventh year, who had then graduated. Last year, those same students were kidnapped and taken to Australia of all places! I think we could forgive one incident, but three-”

“Your time is up,” Matt's dad said. “Mr. Weasley.”

Percy was looking more and more disgruntled. His face now resembled his hair. “Might I remind my opponent that following the incident three years ago, Aurors were stationed at Hogwarts and none of the following incidents resulted in any lasting damage to any of the students. Last year, the Aurors were slightly preoccupied by the disastrous competition that took place here. Hogwarts is protected by many enchantments and all the professors are capable of protecting the students. Last year's incident was an extremely unfortunate accident-”

“One that nearly resulted in student deaths!” Laurentis shouted.

“Ms. Laurentis.”

Albus felt like the entire room was staring at himself and Matt. Glancing around, he saw that this was true.

Laurentis ignored Mr. Eckerton. “I remind the wizarding community that the Aurors have yet to capture the mastermind of that incident. Which by the way was not the only incident last year. Last year's Defense Against the Dark Arts professor kept a highly dangerous animal in the castle for months before anything was done. And by the time it was discovered, it took Walter Eckerton stepping in to have it removed! Then, the professor was allowed to stay, despite the fact that later on it was discovered that he had been terrorizing and humiliating students in his class all year, not to mention the fact that his curricula were not appropriate. Following that atrocious breech in security, regarding the animal, the same professor proceeded to divulge information that could compromise the life of another student-”

“That is enough, Ms. Laurentis!” Mr. Eckerton shouted. “You are speaking out of turn.”

Albus was unsure whether Matt's dad was cutting her off because her time was up or because she was getting dangerously close to talking about Matt. Come to think of it, how did she even know about that? She couldn't possibly know about Matt's condition, could she? Albus glanced at Matt, who was looking extremely pale.

“I believe we are out of time,” Mr. Eckerton continued. He looked quite flustered. “Please exit the room while lunch is set up. You may return in a half hour.”

Albus stood and waited for his turn to leave the room. The entire crowd was whispering amongst themselves and pointing at Albus and Matt every so often. He was tempted to skip lunch all together, except he was extremely hungry.

******

Albus managed to avoid speaking to any reporters before and during lunch, which proved difficult because they seemed to have multiplied during the debate. All seemed keen on interviewing him, Matt, John, and Kaden in particular due to their having been kidnapped the previous June. Albus was quite relieved when the food in front of them vanished and the majority of the people in the room left in order for the question and answer session to take place.

Both candidates seemed to have regained their composure during the meal because Percy's face was no longer beet red and Laurentis had fixed her hair and was wearing a smile. The reporters had been banned from the room for the duration of the session, much to their dismay. Matt's dad also looked better and was standing in the front of the room in front of the podiums, waiting for everyone to sit down.

The room was much emptier now, considering that only the students chosen to listen to the debate and the professors were allowed in the room. Albus and Matt managed to get a few seats in the front row. James and Lily joined them.

Once the doors had been shut and everyone had sat down, Mr. Eckerton stepped forward. “Welcome to the question and answer session. It will run for an hour and the candidates will answer as many questions as they can during that time. Please raise your hand if you have a question.” Nothing about the outbursts during the debate was mentioned.

Albus could not think of anything to ask. He had absolutely no desire to speak to Laurentis and anything that he would want to ask Percy he could just ask at Christmas or send him an owl. Not that he really had any questions for his uncle, either.

A tall Ravenclaw boy raised his hand and Mr. Eckerton pointed to him. “This question is for Ms. Laurentis,” the boy began. “How exactly do you propose to make Hogwarts more secure? I'm nearly positive that the most advanced spells are already used.”

“That is very true,” Laurentis answered. “I believe that we need to look outside the world of spells and give professors basic training in defense against intruders. I think a program, similar to very basic Auror training, would benefit all staff greatly.”

A Hufflepuff in pigtails had a question for both candidates next. “Would either of you change the O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. exams if you were elected?”

“Only to fit better with any possible curriculum changes,” Laurentis replied. “The changes would come later. Not for at least two years.”

“Most likely, no,” Percy said. “The statistics prove that they work well as they are.”

The question and answer session continued in the same way, proving itself very different from the debate. It was quite the opposite, actually. Albus found himself very bored towards the end, his mind drifting towards what both candidates had said during the debate. He was very curious about what the Prophet would say about it the next day.

“We have time for one more question,” Mr. Eckerton finally said.

Albus let out a sigh of relief. A glance at Matt told him that his best friend was feeling the same way, since he was leaning back in his chair, his eyes nearly closed.

Mr. Eckerton pointed to a girl sitting in the far back. Albus didn't recognize her, but she had Ravenclaw robes on.

“This is for both of you, if either of you know anything about it. Ms. Laurentis, you were talking about Professor Balladanis in the debate and you mentioned something about him giving students information that they could use to endanger another student. Is that really true? And what exactly happened?”

Albus prodded Matt in the side and whispered to him what the question had been. Given Matt's reaction, which was a look of utter panic, he almost wished he hadn't bothered to wake him up.

Mr. Eckerton stared at the student before turning to the candidates. “You may answer the first part of the question and that part only.”

“It is true,” Laurentis said just as Percy had been opening his mouth to respond. “Professor Balladanis was not cut out for teaching and did not understand the fact that there is a line between teaching to spread knowledge and teaching to endanger others.”

“Does it have to do with the Anamatek?” a Slytherin boy asked.

“Yes,” Percy said. “The situations were related.”

“This is why I believe teachers need to be evaluated so we can avoid this type of situation,” Laurentis explained.

“But what kind of information could endanger someone? Was it in the curriculum?” the Ravenclaw who had originally asked the question said. “Knowledge is power.”

“It was not,” Laurentis answered. “Which is exactly why it will be good for professors to have curricula that they stick to.”

“I just don't understand,” the Ravenclaw went on. “If people are kept in the dark they just blindly follow authority. I've always believed that people should be taught everything possible.”

Matt and his dad were both wearing similar expressions. Both looked extremely uncomfortable and his dad was fiddling with a clasp on his robes. Matt looked like he wanted his chair to swallow him up.

“We're all out of time,” Mr. Eckerton said. “Thank you all for coming. The professors have requested that you all return to your common rooms and that you are free to decline comment to the reporters that are waiting outside.”

There was a shuffling of chairs as people got up and exited the room. Matt grabbed Albus's arm without saying anything, leading him directly to his father, who was speaking to both the candidates.

“Dad,” Matt said quietly, not waiting for him to finish his conversation with Laurentis and Percy.

Mr. Eckerton turned around and his face became sympathetic. He turned back to Laurentis and Percy. “Excuse me. My son. I believe you can head up to Kendrick's study and I will be there shortly.”

Albus, Matt, and Mr. Eckerton left Laurentis and Percy, who had now begun to argue about something, in the Great Hall and entered one of its antechambers. The room was furnished with a few couches and chairs. Albus chose an armchair while Matt and his dad sat down on a couch.

“I'm really sorry, Matt,” Mr. Eckerton said quietly. “I did not expect last year to be brought up during this debate.”

“It's not your fault,” Matt replied as he picked at a loose thread on the couch. “It's just the way she, Laurentis, was talking, I thought that maybe she.... Does she know, Dad? She seemed to know an awful lot about what Balladanis did.”

“She doesn't know,” Mr. Eckerton said immediately. “The only people at the Ministry who know are in my department. However, she and the rest of the Ministry did have to know why I was filing a report on Balladanis last year. I had to give reasons as to why I wanted him investigated on that report.”

“Did you list exactly what he did, with the Anamatek and his werewolf lessons?” Matt asked.

“No.” Mr. Eckerton shook his head. “There are laws protecting minors in this sort of situation and I was not legally required to mention your name. All I had to say was that an anonymous student had felt threatened by a certain lesson that Balladanis taught. That was all that was needed to launch the investigation. That alone would not have gotten him sacked, but enough evidence was found through interviewing students about his teaching methods that nothing else was needed. It wasn't even mentioned that it was a third year class in my original report.”

“But she seemed to know so much,” Matt said.

“She doesn't. Politicians embellish what they know in order to get elected. You don't have to worry. I suppose if she really wanted to she could look at the curriculum for Defense for that time of year and research and figure it out, but it would take a lot of work. And trust me, she does not have the time for that. Nor does she really have any reason to care what lesson it was or why a student was threatened or who that student was.”

“But she said my life had been at risk,” Matt said.

“Again, that's her embellishment.” Mr. Eckerton half-smiled. “The only ones who are really curious are your fellow students and this will blow over. They have no way of finding out.”

“Good,” Matt replied, finally smiling a bit.

“I'd better get to the headmaster's study,” Mr. Eckerton said as he stood up.

Albus waited while Matt said goodbye to his dad and then the two boys headed back to Gryffindor tower. The reporters had either scattered or had found students willing to be interviewed, for the boys came across no one but Prefects and a few first years setting off dungbombs on their way back to the common room. Albus was very glad to hear that Laurentis did not know the specifics about what had happened with Balladanis the previous year, but he wished neither her or Percy would ever bring it up again in a debate. Somehow, though, Albus doubted that it wouldn't be.

Chapter 13: Censorship

The article in the Prophet on Sunday proved to be just as outrageous as the actual debate had been. It took up the entire front page and was ripe with quotes from both candidates and a few students, although none of Albus's cousins had been quoted. The Ravenclaw who had asked the question about Balladanis at the question and answer session had not only been interviewed, but she had received her own article located on the second page. Albus groaned when he opened the page and saw it, complete with a picture of the Ravenclaw in question. His friends quickly crowded around the paper to read it over his shoulder.

CENSORSHIP AT HOGWARTS?

Yesterday's newsworthy debate at Hogwarts
School of Witchcraft and Wizardry proved
not only to be a time to learn about the
candidates' true opinions on magical
education, but possibly uncovered an issue
of censorship that had been looked over
last year.

Following the debate a question and answer
session was held for those lucky few
Hogwarts students who had gotten to sit
in the Great Hall during the debate. The
last question was asked by sixth year
Ravenclaw Elizabeth York. During the debate
Patricia Laurentis brought up the topic
of the investigation of Professor Tethys
Balladanis, previous Defense Against
the Dark Arts professor (see article on
front page). York then questioned what
information had taught that according to
Laurentis “endangered a student's life.”

'I just wonder what information was being
taught because I'm a firm believer that
students should never be denied
information. If it was bad enough
to endanger someone's life, then sure,
it should not be taught, but no one is
saying what the information was.' York
said in an interview following the
session.

After the question was asked, debate
moderator and Head of the Department for
the Regulation and Control of Magical
Creatures Walter Eckerton told the
candidates that they could not say
what the information was, just confirm
that the incident had happened. Eckerton
quickly wrapped up the session, stating
that they were out of time.

It is interesting to note that Eckerton
is the wizard who filed the complaint
thus launching the investigation of
Balladanis. When asked for a comment,
Eckerton said 'I'm the Head of the
Department for the Regulation and Control
of Magical Creatures. He had an Anamatek.
I was informed of the situation and had
to take action.'

The situation provided more questions
than answers and it will be interesting
to find out whether this incident plays
a further role in April's election.

Albus set down the paper and pushed away his half-eaten breakfast. Why did the Prophet have to print that? It didn't seem relevant to the election. Balladanis had been sacked and was long gone. It was in the past.

“Your dad's right,” Amanda said to Matt later on when they were in the Marauder's Den. “She's just trying to make things into a bigger deal so she can win more votes. Politicians turn the simplest things into huge deals.”

“I know, but still,” Matt said as he picked through a pile of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. “It's like none of them realize that it's my life they're making a big deal of.”

“Honestly, I don't think it's actually the information that people want,” Rose said, looking up from her Potions textbook. “Think about it. If someone were to leak the information, and say that Balladanis was teaching so much about identifying werewolves that people could figure out you were one, they'd have nothing else to talk about-”

“Yeah, because they'd be talking about how there's a werewolf at Hogwarts,” Matt said.

“No, that's not what I meant,” Rose replied. “They're interested in the bigger issue. The fact that there might be censorship at Hogwarts. They don't care what the information is that's been censored. They just care that something's been censored. And I think that if they really knew what it was, they'd all agree that Balladanis had gone over the top.”

“I guess,” Matt said. “But that's the thing, no one's going to really know what it is.”

“It'll all blow over soon enough,” Albus said. “Next debate's on law enforcement. Aurors, Azkaban, that sort of thing, and Laurentis runs Azkaban.”

Albus spent much of Sunday afternoon on the Quidditch pitch, which was a welcomed relief from discussing the debate and the election and Percy and Laurentis. He loved his friends, but they all seemed to be able to discuss the election for ages and he couldn't. Fred would have had them on the pitch longer, but Hufflepuff had reserved it for the evening.

The discussion of the censorship article seemed to calm down the next day, if only because a good majority of the professors had all scheduled exams that day and everyone was busy with last minute studying. Albus had exams in both Herbology and Defense Against the Dark Arts, although the latter was really no different from the usual worksheets. Luckily there was no exam in Care of Magical Creatures and then Albus had a free period.

Matt slept the entire free period and up until dinner in hopes that he would be able to attend that night's detention. He had no desire to do detention on his own, so he was hoping that he'd be able to get away with just missing the next night's. He still looked absolutely exhausted even after the nap.

“If we're doing anything outside I'll have to leave,” Matt said as the four boys made their way to Filch's study. “Merlin I hope it's not outside.”

“Me, too,” John said. “Ground's horribly muddy after last night's storm.”

“Bet the team will love that.” Albus said They had practice that night and Albus was missing it.

The boys continued their way through the castle until they made it to Filch's study. Albus knocked three times and then stood back, waiting for the ancient caretaker to open the door.

Filch was holding his cat, Josie, in his arms when he appeared in the doorway. He was scowling, the wrinkles on his face showing more than ever, and looked thoroughly disgusted at having to supervise the boys' detention. He let the cat down on the ground and she took a swat at Kaden's robes before darting behind a nearby suit of armor.

“You lot again,” Filch muttered as he shut the door behind him, despite the fact that the four boys hadn't had a joint detention with Filch since second year. “You're scrubbing the 2nd floor girl's bathroom. With toothbrushes, of course.” Filch reached into his pocket and pulled out four grubby toothbrushes.

“That's Moaning Myrtle's bathroom,” Albus whispered to his friends as they distributed their cleaning implements and followed Filch down the corridor.

Filch shooed them into the bathroom and leaned against the door, his arms across his chest, and scowled at them as they began. Albus squatted down and began to scrub the floor, John and Kaden doing the same. The three had agreed to make the detention as easy as possible for Matt and thus left him the sinks.

Albus hadn't been scrubbing for more than two minutes when he heard a splashing behind him and a girlish giggle. He turned around and saw Myrtle, smiling and winking at him. She floated over until she was hovering over the section of floor that Albus was scrubbing.

“Albus Potter.” She giggled again. “You're back to my toilet. Oh, but this time you've been in trouble, haven't you?”

“Er, yes,” Albus muttered.

“This isn't for what you did to the Slytherin common room, is it?” Myrtle asked. “Your brother asked me about that. I told him that you'd been in here that night, hiding under your Invisibility Cloak.”

Albus flinched when she said the words “invisibility cloak” and hoped that Filch had had some hearing loss in his old age. The last thing Albus needed was for the caretaker to know he had an Invisibility Cloak.

“I didn't know you were pranking the Slytherins, though,” Myrtle continued. “I like boys who pull pranks, you know.” Myrtle giggled again and floated closer to Albus, so close that his hand was now inside her arm. He moved it away.

“You know, some years I hardly get any boys coming in here,” Myrtle said as she floated towards John. “And this year there's so many. I think you should come visit me more often. It gets lonely in here, you know.”

“Yeah, I imagine it's quite lonely, being dead,” Kaden said.

Myrtle let out an ear-piercing shriek and started wailing. She sped past Albus and into one of the stalls, where she plunged herself into the toilet.

“Sensitive type, isn't she?” Kaden said.

There was another loud splash and Myrtle was suddenly right in front of Kaden. “You would be too if you were dead!” she shouted.

“But couldn't you leave the loo?” John asked. “The other ghosts float about the castle all the time.”

“Leave the loo?” Myrtle repeated. “Leave the loo?” She said a bit louder. “But this is where I died! I find it's best to think about my death right here. Right where it happened.”

“Wouldn't it be less lonely with the other ghosts?” John asked as he began to scrub one of the stall doors.

“The other ghosts don't understand,” Myrtle lamented. “They're all satisfied being dead. Even the Grey Lady and she's always seemed slightly miserable. But no, none of them are as miserable as me.” Myrtle seemed proud about that.

“Weird,” John muttered under his breath.

“Quiet!” Filch shouted. “You're in detention. No talking.”

Myrtle resumed floating above the boys, letting out a loud wail every so often. Kaden and Matt continued to scrub the floor while John scrubbed the stalls. Matt was still scrubbing the sinks, but was going very slowly and winced every so often.

“You look miserable!” Myrtle exclaimed as Matt's hand slipped and he dropped his toothbrush. He bent down to pick it up and leaned on the sink, squeezing his eyes shut. Myrtle floated down to hover just above the sink next to him and smiled.

Matt said nothing and turned from Myrtle, to get started on the sink on the other side. Myrtle followed. “You know, I'm miserable here all the time. I just sit here and contemplate my death...” Myrtle continued.

Myrtle continued to follow Matt around the bathroom while he was clearly trying to ignore her and put as much distance between them as possible. He had no luck with this since he was exhausted and Myrtle was a ghost. Albus caught John's eye as Myrtle giggled for the twentieth time and the two shared a silent laugh.

After they'd been scrubbing for nearly two hours Filch finally told them they could stop. Albus's knees and hands were raw and he had a feeling he smelled strongly of cleaner. John and Kaden looked equally miserable and Matt looked as bad as he did the morning after a full moon, only without the cuts and bites. Myrtle looked delighted at their misery.

“Visit me again soon!” she shouted after them as they left. “Especially you,” she added to Matt with another giggle.

“Someone has a crush on you,” John said to Matt as soon as they were out of earshot of Filch.

“Shut up,” Matt muttered.

“Matt and Myrtle, what an adorable couple you'd make,” John continued. “You should go visit her. She seemed to be happier knowing that you were miserable.”

“I said shut up about it!” Matt shouted.

“Fine, was only making a joke,” John replied.

The boys walked in silence the rest of the way to Gryffindor Tower. They did not come across anyone else, which Albus was grateful for since he was uncertain as to whether it was past curfew or not. Once back in Gryffindor, Matt immediately went to the dormitory without saying another word to Albus, John, or Kaden.

“Hope it's not cleaning tomorrow,” John muttered as he sat down on the nearest chair and pulled up his pant leg. “Look at that. My knee's all red.”

“Matches my fingers,” Kaden added.

Albus would gladly suffer through another day of Muggle cleaning if it meant the rest of the detentions would be called off. He was missing two Quidditch practices and the last dueling practice before the first duel. Some captain he was, missing the last practice before their first tournament. Their final practice was Thursday evening and Albus would be off in detention, doing who knows what. He was planning on having Amanda run the practice, although he hadn't talked to her about it yet.

The door to the common room opened and the Gryffindor Quidditch team, minus Albus of course, trouped in. They all looked muddy, exhausted, and sweaty and Albus felt a pang of guilt as he watched them head up to the dormitories to shower.

“Missed you, Al,” Fred said as he passed. “You're missing on Wednesday, too, aren't you?”

“Yeah,” Albus muttered. “Sorry.”

Fred nodded. “Just don't do it right before a match.”

That was at least fortunate, Albus thought. They wouldn't be playing in another Quidditch match until after the holidays, seeing as the next match was Hufflepuff versus Ravenclaw. However, he couldn’t help but feel that missing dueling practice right before a tournament was worse than missing Quidditch practice right before a match.

***

Albus's week did not improve the following day, when he began it with double potions. Matt, feeling too ill to brew potions all morning, stayed in the dormitory to sleep, leaving Scorpius Malfoy without a partner to brew that day's Wart Removal Potion. Even worse, Albus's partner was also not in class. Slughorn saw this as the perfect opportunity to pair Albus with Malfoy.

Albus set up his cauldron while Malfoy stalked off to the potions cupboard to get the ingredients. He returned a short while later and began to chop a shrivelfig into perfectly sized pieces. Albus took the rat spleen, dumped it into the cauldron, and began to stir it.

“Word is you and your friends got a week's detention for that prank,” Malfoy said, not looking up from his shrivelfig.

“Yes. Not that it's any of your business,” Albus responded.

“Oh, but it is.” Malfoy smirked, finally looking up. “You didn't by chance get Thursday off from detention, did you?”

“No,” Albus muttered. He took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. He was stirring the cauldron far too quickly.

“That's dueling practice,” Malfoy said, as if it had slipped Albus's mind. “Our own captain, missing practice because of detention. I don't suppose you've found someone else to run practice, have you?”

“If you're angling for the job you're out of luck,” Albus said as he threw another rat spleen into the cauldron with more force than was necessary. “Amanda already said she'd do it.” That wasn't necessarily true, as Albus had slept too late that morning to see Amanda at breakfast before they'd had to go down to the dungeons.

“Tagger?” Malfoy scoffed. “I think the captain ought to have at least some skill at dueling.”

“Why does it matter so much?” Albus asked. “It's one practice! It's not like one practice would make you captain.”

“When the professors see what a better job of it I do-”

“One reason, Malfoy,” Albus interrupted. “Give me one reason why you should do it over Amanda.”

Malfoy's face broke out in a malicious grin. “One reason? The moon's going to be in an interesting phase tonight.”

Albus lowered his voice. “You wouldn't. You can't. Kendrick would expel you.”

“Only if he knew it was me who spilled the beans,” Malfoy pointed out.

Albus felt the blood drain from his face. Why had he never thought of that? Of course there were ways Malfoy could let it slip without anyone knowing it was him. “Fine,” Albus muttered. “Fine. You captain the team on Thursday. But just that day. I don't have detention on Saturday afternoon.”

“Fair enough,” Malfoy said, clearly satisfied at how things had turned out.

Albus took a parsnip and began to chop it with as much force as he could muster, imagining Malfoy's smirking face upon the vegetable's surface. Luckily, Malfoy did not say another word to Albus throughout the entire class, which gave Albus the restraint not to hex him into next century after they left Slughorn's room.

The day continued in a downward spiral when Patil had them work on transfiguring rats into teacups and Albus's teacup ran across his table and crashed onto the floor. Politics was no better because Professor Embry had the class discuss the past Saturday's debate, something Albus just wanted to put behind him. He couldn't help but feel as if the entire class was staring at him for the whole hour since Embry brought up the topic of his kidnapping and the sacking of Professor Balladanis.

Kendrick sent Albus, Matt, John, and Kaden an owl at dinner informing them that their detention would take place in Greenhouse Two, where Professor Longbottom needed help transferring his dragon dung fertilizer from a huge pile outside to various pots inside.

“Disgusting!” John exclaimed upon reading the note. “I get enough of that in Herbology.”

“At least we're with Longbottom and not Filch,” Albus pointed out. “Matt will be missing this one, obviously.”

John nodded. “Where is he, by the way? Haven't seen him all day.”

“Probably still in the dormitory. He was sound asleep when I went up there to grab my Transfiguration book at lunch,” Albus said.

Kaden glanced at his watch. “We're not even going to have time to go back there before detention. It's six-thirty.”

Albus set his fork down. He had been picking at his beef stew, but not really eating it. He still hadn't told his friends that Malfoy was going to be running his dueling practice later that week. Add that to the fact that now he wouldn't get to see Matt before the full moon and it was just turning out to be an awful evening.

Rose seemed to read Albus's mind. “We'll go check on him after dinner,” she said. Amanda nodded.

John and Kaden polished off the rest of their meals and then the three boys set off for the greenhouses. The sun was just beginning to set as they walked across the grounds and Albus knew that meant that Matt would be heading to the Hospital Wing soon. He hoped Rose and Amanda would manage to see him before he did.

Neville was waiting for them when they arrived, bearing four shovels and four sets of gloves.

“Matt can't come tonight,” Albus said once they reached Neville.

Neville glanced at the sky. “Oh, right. I'd forgotten.” He handed the boys the shovels and gloves. “All of this,” he gestured to a large pile of manure, “needs to be moved into the pots in Greenhouse Two. You can leave once you're finished.”

Albus groaned inwardly as he looked at the pile. It must have been at least six feet high and as big around as the broom shed near the Quidditch pitch. It would take them at least an hour. He sighed as he pulled on his gloves and began to shovel the manure.

With all three boys working steadily it took them an hour and a half to move all the manure. When they finally finished all Albus wanted to do was go up to Gryffindor Tower and take the world's longest shower. He felt worse than he did after a Quidditch practice in the pouring rain.

“Two down, five to go,” John said after Neville parted ways with them on the second floor. “I'd never thought I'd say this, but I'd really like some lines.”

“I just wish they'd cancel Thursday's,” Albus muttered.

“Oh, right, what are you doing about your dueling practice?” John asked.

Albus felt anger boiling up in him again just thinking about it. “Malfoy's taking over for the practice.”

“Wait, seriously?” John exclaimed. “But Amanda's on your team. She could have-”

“It's complicated,” Albus muttered. For some reason he didn't want to get into why Malfoy was going to be captain for the night. “And it's only for a night.”

John gave Albus a strange look. “I guess, but still... Malfoy? It's going to go to his head.”

“I know!” Albus exclaimed. “I know, all right? It's not like I wanted to have detention on Thursday and miss that practice. I'll remind you that this prank was yours and Kaden's idea. Not mine.”

“I know,” John said. “But Malfoy...” his voice trailed off.

Albus spent a good half hour in the shower once he returned to Gryffindor and then collapsed into bed, wishing that he could wake up and find out that the day had been an awful dream. Instead, he dreamed that Professor Kendrick decided to take away Albus's captaincy and give it to Malfoy.

Chapter 14: In the Forest

John got his wish the following evening when the boys spent an hour doing lines with Professor Young, which was slightly pointless since Young paid absolutely no attention to them. After they were released, Albus, John, and Kaden immediately went to the Hospital Wing, as they had been unable to visit Matt earlier in the day.

Madam Pomfrey was refilling potion bottles when they arrived a short while later. The curtains were drawn around Matt's usual bed while all the other beds remained empty.

“Hello, boys,” the nurse greeted them. “I'll let you visit for ten minutes, but curfew's very soon.”

Albus nodded and led John and Kaden to Matt's bed, where he pulled back the curtains and entered the small area. Matt was laying in bed with a bandage around his left arm and another on his forehead.

“How are you feeling?” Albus asked.

“Awful,” Matt replied. “But I don't want to talk about it. What's new with you lot?”

“Just did an hour of lines,” John said. “And last night we had to shovel manure for Longbottom. You're lucky you missed that one. I swear I still smell like dragon dung.”

“But now I have to do two detentions by myself. Possibly three,” Matt lamented.

“Three? You're not going to get out of here tomorrow?” Kaden asked. Usually Matt got out of the Hospital Wing two days after the full moon.

“I will, but it just depends on what the detention is. If it's lines then I can go but if it's cleaning again then I'll have to skip it. Madam Pomfrey wants me to rest tomorrow.”

“Can't think of what else they'd have us do,” John said. “Guess what else? Albus is having Malfoy run his dueling team's practice tomorrow since he'll be in detention.”

“You're what?!” Matt exclaimed. “That's mad, Albus.”

Albus sighed. “It's one day. One practice. It's not like I'm giving him my team.”

“Yeah, but there are other people on your team,” Matt pointed out. “One of them could have captained it.”

“As I told John and Kaden, it's complicated,” Albus said. “And it won't happen again.”

Matt shrugged, but he didn't seem convinced. The last thing Albus wanted to do was tell him the real reason why Malfoy was going to run the practice. Matt didn't need that on his plate.

“Time's up!” Madam Pomfrey announced as she brought a tray of potions to Matt. “Hurry back to Gryffindor. The last thing the three of you need is another detention.”

As it turned out, there were other things that the professors thought of for the boys' detentions. Thursday evening they cleaned cauldrons without magic in Professor Slughorn's classroom, something that Madam Pomfrey forbade Matt from doing, insisting that he turn in early instead. Albus spent the entire detention thinking about what Malfoy was doing with his dueling team and counting down the minutes until he would be able to ask Amanda about it.

“He was really nasty,” Amanda said once the boys were back in the common room after detention. Amanda had gotten out of dueling practice before they'd finished detention. “A few of the second years were cursing him afterward. I heard them. Not that I blame them since he all out yelled at them for not being able to perform a Jelly-Legs Jinx.”

“What does he expect?” Albus replied. “They're second years!”

“I tried to tell him that, but he didn't care,” Amanda said. “He even yelled at a Slytherin.”

“Seriously?” Albus said. “Wow.”

“I'm really glad Longbottom made you captain and not him,” Amanda continued. “I think I'd quit otherwise.”

“I would've quit if he was on my team, period,” John said.

“He wouldn't last as captain anyway,” Amanda pointed out. “Professor Cedonia was supervising and she had to tell him to tone it down about five times and then once one of the second years was close to tears, she called an end to the practice.”

Albus couldn't help but feel a bit of satisfaction that Malfoy made such a bad captain, despite the fact that he did feel bad for his teammates. He doubted Malfoy would stop insisting that he should have been made captain, but Albus doubted anything would stop that.

Saturday brought with it a loud thunderstorm that rendered it nearly impossible to hear what anyone was saying in the Great Hall at breakfast. Albus was quite happy that Fred had not scheduled a Quidditch practice for that day, but hoped that the storm would calm down by the time the tournament began since his team would need to be able to hear each other speak.

Malfoy was already seated at Team Seven's spot at the Hufflepuff table when Albus arrived later that afternoon. He was pleased to see that the rest of the team was giving him a wide berth, including a few of the younger Slytherins.

“Albus!” one of the second year Hufflepuffs, Alice Jake, shouted when she saw him coming. “So glad you're back.”

“Me, too.” Albus grinned as he sat down in between her and another Hufflepuff. “You lot ready?”

There was a chorus of “yes's” and a few nods of heads from Albus's team. The last few duelers ran into the room and snagged the last few seats, which were unfortunately next to Malfoy.

Albus glanced at his watch. Five minutes until the tournament began. He felt like he should make some sort of speech, like all of his Quidditch captains did before matches. But what was he supposed to say?

“Er, well, here we are. The first tournament,” Albus began. “You are all excellent duelers, each and every one of you. We've all been practicing hard and you've all made great improvements. We're going to do great, but remember, just have fun. But if you remember what you've learned and duel like you do in practice, I think we can definitely win this.”

The rest of his team (sans Malfoy) gave a hearty cheer and then turned to Professor Longbottom, who had just called for attention. Albus's team immediately quieted down.

“Welcome to the first dueling tournament!” Neville announced. “It will run as it has in the past, with two duels happening simultaneously. Professor Cedonia is coming around with the tournament schedule, which will be given to each captain. Please pay attention and know when you are to duel. Everyone will duel twice. Professor Cedonia and I will each preside over a dueling circle and will announce the winners. The first person to disarm their opponent will be given a point. Remember, you are only allowed to use spells you have learned in your classes. The first duels will start momentarily.”

Professor Cedonia handed Albus a piece of parchment and he set it down while his team crowded around him. “I think it'll be easier for me to let you know when you're to duel. I'll tell you two duels before you're scheduled. Alice and Tucker, you're first.”

Albus glanced down the list and noticed that he was the tenth duel in Neville's ring and the seventeenth in Cedonia's. That would give him plenty of time to get used to organizing his team. It was slightly overwhelming, having to constantly be paying attention to the list and figuring out when everyone should be dueling. After a few duels, he managed to get the hang of it.

“Malfoy,” Albus said. “You're up in two duels, in Cedonia's ring.”

Malfoy nodded, but didn't say anything. He had not said a word the entire tournament, which was very uncharacteristic, and the rest of the team seemed to be set on ignoring him.

Albus handed the list to Amanda and headed to Neville's dueling ring, where he was set to duel John. Two Hufflepuffs from other teams were currently battling it out and Albus was next. The shorter of the two Hufflepuffs finally managed to disarm his opponent.

“Point to Team Four!” Neville shouted as the two Hufflepuffs left. “Albus Potter versus John Brickston.”

Albus and John gave each other apologetic smiles before bowing and raising their wands, waiting for Neville's okay.

“Ready, duel!” Neville shouted.

Albus immediately sent a leg-locker curse at John, who easily deflected it. John sent the same at Albus who also avoided it. Albus continued sending spells at John, who kept avoiding them, until he finally got hit with a Jelly-legs Curse and nearly lost his footing. In the time it took him to perform the counter-curse, Albus was able to hit him with Petrificus Totalus.

“Expelliarmus!” Albus shouted as John fell over. He caught John's wand in his right hand and then turned to Neville, who was smiling.

“Point to Team Seven!”

Neville performed the counter-curse on John and the two boys left the ring. Albus headed back to his table, where Malfoy was just heading to Cedonia's dueling ring.

Malfoy dueled a second year and won within two minutes. He was smirking as he walked back to the Hufflepuff table, but he returned to mediocre applause. It seemed that the rest of the team was still bitter about Thursday's practice.

The rest of the tournament went well. Both Albus and Malfoy won their second duels, although Malfoy had a lot more difficulty since he dueled a fellow fourth year.

“Attention, I'd like to announce the winner!” Neville shouted a short while after the final duel. The entire room immediately quieted and looked up at Neville. “Thank you. In third place with 44 points is Team Four!”

Cheers erupted from the Ravenclaw table, where Team Four was currently seated. Once they quieted down, Neville spoke. “In second place with 52 points is Team Seven!”

The rest of Albus's team began to shout and cheer, but Albus was too stunned to do much of anything. He couldn't believe it! His first ever tournament as captain and his team had gotten second place! A few people slapped him on the back and he broke out into a grin.

“And in first place, with 55 points is Team Six!” Neville announced.

There were cheers from the other end of the Hufflepuff table, but Albus ignored them. He was still shocked that his own team had done so well.

“Great job, everyone!” he said once he regained his composure. “I knew we could do it!”

The table was filled with excitement and chatter and it continued even after they got up and began to leave the room. Albus was anxious to get back to Gryffindor tower where he could celebrate his near win with his friends.

“Nice going, Potter,” Malfoy spat as soon as they left the Great Hall. “I bet if I were the captain we would've won.”

“We got second,” Albus replied. “That's really good.”

“First would've been better,” Malfoy muttered. “I'm amazed we even got second considering how awful you are at practices.”

“Better than you,” Albus said. “No one liked your practice on Thursday. Did you notice how no one talked to you today? They hated it.”

“They're just too used to you coddling them,” Malfoy said, taking a step closer to Albus.

“Well it doesn't much matter because I'm the captain and you're not,” Albus said as he toyed with his wand, which he was still brandishing in his left hand.

“For now,” Malfoy replied, eyeing Albus's wand. “If you keep getting in trouble I bet they'll replace you.”

“C'mon, Albus.” Matt had appeared next to Albus. “Let's get back to the common room.”

“Better listen to him.” Malfoy gave a short laugh. “You'd think it'd the other way around, though. Him attacking me rather than you. But I suppose that would only be in a certain time of-” Malfoy glared knowingly at Matt.

“Shut up! And take that back,” Albus seethed, raising his wand.

“Seriously, Albus, let's go!” Matt grabbed the back of Albus's robes and pulled him towards the staircase.

“Evil git,” Albus muttered, looking back at the crowd in the Entrance Hall. Malfoy was already gone. “Why does he always have to bring it up like that?”

“It doesn't matter,” Matt said.

“Of course it matters!” Albus said indignantly. “It's insulting!”

“I'm used to it,” Matt said quietly.

“So what?” Albus exclaimed. “That doesn't mean you should have to spend the rest of Hogwarts having him bring it up every day.”

“And you hexing him would have solved everything?” Matt asked. “You just would've gotten another detention.”

“Would've been worth it,” Albus muttered.

“No, it wouldn't have,” Matt argued. “You've just got to ignore him. I ignore him.”

“I really hope that next year he's not on my dueling team,” Albus said.

“I don't think he will. Didn't they go back to House teams for dueling for fifth through seventh years this year?” Matt asked.

“Did they?” Albus asked.

“That's what one of the sixth years said,” Matt answered.

“Good,” Albus said. “Then I just have to suffer through this year.”

Albus and Matt were the last of their friends to get back to Gryffindor, where it appeared that no one was doing homework. James had set a few fireworks off out the window and everyone was watching them while eating platters upon platters of biscuits.

“What are you lot celebrating?” Albus asked James as he took a biscuit.

James shrugged. “Just the fact that we've got a Saturday with nothing to do. Well, Cedric, Ben, Nathan, and I that is.”

“Where have you two been?” Rose asked as she walked up to Albus and Matt. John and Kaden were behind her, a biscuit in each hand.

“Al nearly got into a duel with Malfoy in the Entrance Hall,” Matt explained.

“Albus!” Amanda exclaimed. “You can't get anymore detention!”

“I know, but he said something really vile,” Albus said and turned to John. “You would've hexed him.”

“What did he say?” Rose asked.

“He said that he was surprised I wasn't attacking him,” Matt said quietly.

“You're right,” John growled. “I would've hexed him.”

“See?” Albus said.

“And I told you that it wasn't worth detention over,” Matt repeated.

“But if it continues,” Rose said, “you've got to tell Kendrick.”

“I'm not telling Kendrick,” Matt insisted. “I think he's got enough to worry about with the possibility of the entire school getting changed if Laurentis wins this election.”

***

“Why in the name of Merlin are we doing detention in the forest?” Kaden asked at breakfast the following morning.

“Seriously,” John agreed. “That's not really detention, is it? The forest is cool. I've always wanted to go in there.”

“Are you two insane?” Amanda asked. “There's all sorts of creatures in there.”

“My sister did detention in the forest once,” Matt said. “She had to harvest these plants Slughorn needed and they could only be harvested the night of the full moon.”

“Well that's one detention you'll never have to do.” John laughed.

“Maybe we have to harvest some other kind of plant?” Matt suggested, ignoring John's comment.

“Dunno.” Albus shrugged. The letter they'd received had not gone into specifics. It just stated that they were to meet Hagrid near his hut at three that afternoon.

“At least you're not going at night,” Rose pointed out.

The few hours Albus and his friends had until detention went by rather quickly. They spent the hours in the common room alternating doing homework while participating in very large rounds of Exploding Snap with nearly all of Albus and Rose's cousins. Everyone was covered in ash by the time three o'clock rolled around and the boys had to run up to their dormitory to wash their faces before heading down to Hagrid's hut.

Albus liked Hagrid. He had known the half-giant since he was little and was slightly confused as to how detention with Hagrid could possibly be considered detention. Perhaps Professor Kendrick was unaware that Albus and his friends visited Hagrid every so often and enjoyed spending time with him.

Hagrid was already outside when Albus and the other three boys arrived, armed with his crossbow and Fang by his side. Albus swallowed hard upon seeing the crossbow. Did Hagrid really think they would need that?

“'Ello, boys!” Hagrid greeted them. “Fairly simple detention today. We'll be collectin' unicorn tail hairs.”

“Like getting them from unicorns?” Kaden asked. “I thought they didn't like boys.”

Hagrid gave a booming laugh. “No, no, Kaden. It'd be a crime to take 'em right from the unicorn, wouldn' it. No, we'll be gettin' 'em from bushes and trees. As the unicorns run past they get snagged. Let's get goin'.”

Fang let out a loud bark as they made their way to the forest. Collecting unicorn hair. That wasn't bad at all. But still, it was the forest and that was where Washburn and Willinson had spent a lot of their time the previous year. They wouldn't be back there, would they? Obviously Washburn and Quinton Willinson were in Azkaban, but what about Quinton's father? Where was he?

“What do we need unicorn hairs for?” John asked as they entered the forest. “No one here makes wands.”

“Used for a lot more'n wands, aren' they,” Hagrid answered. “Potions, mostly. Tha's what we need 'em for. Seventh years are brewing somethin' that needs unicorn hairs so Professor Kendrick volunteered you four to collect 'em. Slughorn's too old to do it himself.”

“That's for sure,” John muttered to Albus.

It was very dark in the forest, despite the fact that it was day. All four boys lit their wands and Hagrid's pink umbrella was providing more light than two wands combined. Hagrid had told them that they wouldn't find any hair until they were at least fifteen minutes into the forest since unicorns rarely ventured near the edge.

The forest was very dense and it was difficult for them to walk next to each other. Soon, they were forced to walk single file through a very small path that was riddled with tree branches and rocks. Albus stumbled every so often and Matt managed to fall over three times before anyone found any unicorn tail hair. Galloping hooves could be heard in the distance and Albus figured they were centaurs. His dad had told him that there was a herd of centaurs in the forest, although Albus had never seen one before.

“Here we are,” Hagrid said after what had been at least a twenty minute walk. He gestured to a nearby bush. “Jus' have a look around here and I'm sure we'll find plenty. This is a known area where unicorns live. Don' wander too far.”

Hagrid had provided them all with buckets in which to collect the hair. Albus set off for the nearest bush and found a few hairs snagged in the branches.

“Last detention,” John said as he worked alongside Albus. “Thank Merlin.”

“Speak for yourself,” Matt called out from a tree a few meters away.

“Do you know what you have to do for your next ones?” Albus asked.

“Lines, all three nights,” Matt said. “Easier, I suppose, than coming up with anything else when it's just me.”

“Better than cleaning bathrooms again. Or digging up dragon dung,” Kaden said. “Whoa, I just found a whole clump of hair.”

After they'd been working for a half hour Hagrid decided that they'd collected enough. They set off re-tracing their steps through the forest. Albus found it a little less scary on the walk back and he wasn't sure whether it was because he had gotten used to the noises or because he could see the sunlight at the edge. He was very relieved to find that he did not see Jarrett Willinson anywhere in the forest, although now that the detention was passed he realized that Willinson wouldn't go back there now that the Resurrection Stone was no longer there. No, Willinson was most likely still in Australia, where no one was looking for him. At least, Albus hoped he was.

Chapter 15: Gryffindor's Goat

The last few weeks of November provided the Hogwarts students and staff with a much needed period of calm. The next election debate would not take place until December and the the censorship at Hogwarts topic seemed to have died out, with the Daily Prophet no longer publishing articles on it. Both Quidditch and dueling tournaments were over for the term, leaving the students with a bit more time to devote to their studies. The next Hogsmeade visit was scheduled for the second Saturday in December, a week before term ended.

Albus enjoyed the monotony of those few weeks. His days were filled with homework, Quidditch practice, and dueling practice. Team Seven was very happy to have Albus back as their captain and most continued to ignore Malfoy during practice. Malfoy still reserved a special glare of hatred for Albus and his friends, but he did not attempt to start anymore duels in the corridor, like he had after the dueling tournament.

December arrived with a snow storm that caused the Ravenclaw Quidditch team to cancel two of their practices. This gave Fred the opportunity to book the pitch for two extra practices, something that earned him a healthy dose of U-No-Poo in his morning pumpkin juice courtesy of James and Bradley. Albus was happy to see that the job of school prankster had been rightfully returned to James and his friends. The week of detentions had certainly dissuaded Albus from planning anymore pranks. The same could not be said for John and Kaden, who were plotting something, although Albus did not know what.

Albus, Matt, and Amanda spent the first Saturday of December ignoring their homework in the Marauder's Den. The Slytherin team had the pitch for the entire day, which gave Albus a much needed break from Quidditch. John and Kaden's location would probably only be found with the Marauder's Map and Rose was tutoring in the library.

There was a loud squawk from outside the room, which was Rose's signal that she was outside and wished to be let in. Albus got up from his game of Gobstones and let her in. She dropped her bag unceremoniously on the floor and flopped down on the couch.

“I'm worried about Elsie,” Rose said.

“Elsie...” Albus prompted.

“Elsie Willinson!” she exclaimed. “The first year I've been tutoring all year.”

“Oh yeah, the one with the idiot for a brother and a cousin and uncle who want to bring back Voldemort. Yeah, I'd be worried, too,” Albus said as he returned to his game.

“No, I'm not worried about her stupid brother. I'm worried about her.”

“What, is she still failing all her subjects?” Matt asked.

“No, she's actually doing much better,” Rose said. “She's just very quiet. She never talks about anything other than homework-”

“Sounds like you.” Albus turned around and grinned at his cousin. “Although you're not quiet.”

“I'm serious, Albus,” Rose said flatly. “Her brother walks her to the library for our sessions and then picks her up when we're done. I never see her with anyone other than him and occasionally Malfoy. I've never seen her eat with anyone other than them, either.”

“That is kind of strange,” Amanda said.

“See?” Rose said. “Amanda thinks it's weird.”

“So she's shy.” Albus shrugged. “I just don't see what it's got to do with you.”

“It doesn't really,” Rose said quietly. “But if she's having issues. We all know about her family. If her brother's keeping an eye on her there must be a reason.”

Albus hadn't thought about it that way. What if Felix Willinson was trying to keep an eye on his sister? “If she's doing something her family doesn't like I bet she's going against something they want.”

“That's what I thought,” Rose agreed. “Which means she's trying to do something good. Or he's trying to make sure she doesn't spill family secrets.”

“You think they have more family secrets than just wanting Voldemort back?” Matt asked.

“Of course they do,” Rose said. “We only found out last year that they were related by marriage to Lubar. I mean, you never would've guessed that in first or second year.”

Matt shuddered. “Probably a good thing that I didn't. I probably would have refused to come to Hogwarts.”

“Most pure-blooded families like them have dark secrets,” Albus said as he fiddled with a Gobstone. It squirted him in the face and he rubbed the liquid on his robes. “The ones that want the blood to remain pure and stuff. Like the Malfoys.”

“And I'd bet my last Galleon that Elsie Willinson found out one of those secrets and wants to tell someone,” Rose stated.

“You think it's got to do with what they're trying to do?” Albus asked.

“I'm sure it does.”

“The only problem for them is that Jarrett's on his own now,” Amanda said. “With the other two in jail, what's he going to do?”

“You're forgetting about Lubar,” Matt said darkly.

Rose got up and started walking around the room. “To be honest, I don't know how much he's going to be involved, especially if this going to take place in Britain. Think about it, last year he had the excuse of the tournament to be here. He's got no excuse this year. He's a Ministry official. A horrid one, but still a Ministry official. It's not in his best interest to be trying to bring back Voldemort.”

“That didn't even work,” Albus cut in. “They can't bring him back, even a ghost of him, with the Resurrection Stone.”

“Jarret Willinson was a Ministry official,” Matt pointed out.

“He was a secretary for the Obliviator office. That's a little different from a Head position,” Rose explained. “Lubar has more to lose.”

“I say we try and figure out what Elsie's keeping secret and I bet it'll have something to do with what Willinson is planning now. Because I guarantee he's planning something,” Albus decided.

“How are we going to do that?” Amanda asked. “She's always with Felix.”

“Not when Rose is tutoring her.” Albus turned to Rose. “You think you could try and get her to open up?”

“Well she's not going to just come out and tell me. I can try, but it'll take a while,” Rose said.

***

Albus told John and Kaden about the conversation about Elsie later that night. John proclaimed that he knew something had been weird about that girl from the moment they had seen her at the beginning of the year. Both boys agreed that they needed to find out what it was she was keeping secret. Albus then asked them what prank they were planning, but John and Kaden mysteriously went quiet as soon as Albus brought the topic up.

Albus laid awake that night for a long time thinking about Elsie Willinson. He could not shake the image of her with Felix and Malfoy in the beginning of the year from his mind. She had looked so timid and innocent, far too innocent and young to be involved with anything like what her family was involved with. In fact, she reminded him a bit of Lily, although he wasn't sure why since Lily was anything but timid.

Morning arrived shortly after Albus had fallen asleep and despite the fact that he'd only gotten a few hours sleep, he got up around six and decided to get a bit of reading done in the common room. He knew he wouldn't be able to fall back asleep.

Upon arriving in the common room, Albus thought he was still dreaming. He rubbed his eyes and pinched himself to try and wake up, but it was no use. He was in fact awake. The image before his eyes was real, and it was painful to look at.

The Gryffindor common room was no longer red and gold. It was now decked out in green and silver. The comfy couches and chairs were gone and had been replaced instead with standard classroom chairs. Various banners were hung up in the room that depicted snakes. In fact, the Gryffindor common room now looked exactly as Albus imagined the Slytherin common room to look, except for it not being under the lake.

However, the sheer Slytherin-ness of the common room was not the weirdest change, by a long shot. The strangest new addition to the Gryffindor common room was a grey and white goat. It was standing in the middle of the room, its head down and buried in a book. The thing about goats, though, was that they did not enjoy books the way people did. Goats ate books. This goat was currently munching on The Standard Book of Spells: Grade Two. Albus's eyes drifted from the goat and around the room again, where he now noticed remnants of other books, quills, homework, and even a cloak.

The goat looked up and stared at Albus. It let out a bleat and then went back to the book. Albus crept a little closer and noticed that a sign was affixed to the goat. It said 'The Gryffindor Goat: Gryffindor's new mascot. Gifted by the Slytherins. Next time, think twice about putting chickens in our common room.'

Albus stood in the middle of the room, his stare alternating from the goat to the note and back again. A goat? That didn't even make any sense. Not only that, they were clearly trying to copy John and Kaden's prank. And changing the room into a Slytherin room? It was horrifying, absolutely horrifying.

Albus tore his eyes away from the goat and ran back up the spiral staircase until he got to his own dormitory. He flicked on the lights and Ethan, the lightest sleeper of the bunch, rolled over and groaned.

“Everyone get up!” Albus shouted. “Up, get up!”

“What?” Ethan asked shortly. “It's like six in the morning!”

“I know it's six in the morning!” Albus replied. “Get up and go down to the common room. Now.”

Ethan slowly got out of bed and went over to Bilius's bed to get him up. Albus woke John up and then the two of them woke Matt up while Bilius and Ethan went down to the common room. Their shouts of anger could be heard all the way in the dormitory.

“What is it?” John asked as he and Matt followed Albus back down the stairs.

“The Slytherins have had their revenge,” Albus said, handing John the note.

Albus took a detour to the third year's dormitory to get Kaden up. Kaden's roommates got up as well and soon there was a large crowd in the common room. By the time Albus entered the room again, the first, second, and sixth years were all there. The seventh and fifth years were right behind him.

The common room was in chaos. James, Cedric, and Nathan were inspecting the goat. The prefects were all congregated in one spot, clearly trying to figure out what to do. A quarter of the students were standing frozen, with looks of horror on their faces. Another quarter were laughing, despite the fact that the prank had happened in Gryffindor. Hugo was wrestling the goat for the copy of the Standard Book of Spells: Grade Two, which evidently was his.

The girls' dormitory door opened and all the Gryffindor girls flooded out of it. Rose and Amanda made their way over to Albus and the rest of the boys, who were receiving numerous stares and glares from their fellow students. Clearly a few of them were blaming Albus and his friends for the Slytherins' need for revenge.

“What in the name of Merlin happened?” Rose asked.

John handed her the note. “The Slytherins have had their revenge.”

“Malfoy?” Amanda asked.

“No way to know, is there?” Albus replied.

“It's got to be, though,” John said. “No one else hates us like he does.”

“I bet a lot of Slytherins wanted revenge,” Rose said.

“All right, quiet everyone!” Albus's cousin, Mark, shouted over the crowd. He was one of the sixth year Prefects. “You're all to get back up to your dormitories. I'm going to fetch Professor Longbottom. Who's the one who first saw this?”

“I did,” Albus announced.

Mark sighed, as if thinking he should have known. “Al, stay down here. The rest of you, back upstairs.

Rose handed Albus the note back and she and the rest of Albus's friends turned to go back to their dormitories. There was a general muttering and whispers as everyone left. Soon, the common room was empty except for Albus, the goat, and the six Prefects. Mark left in order to go get Professor Longbottom.

The Prefects whispered amongst themselves while Mark was gone. Albus stood off to the side, as he did not know the Prefects very well. He recognized a few as friends of his cousins.

Mark returned ten minutes later with Professor Longbottom in tow. The herbology professor froze in mid-step when he entered the room. His gaze shifted from the new furniture to the goat to the banners and back to the goat.

“Albus discovered it,” Mark said.

Longbottom turned to Albus. “And it looked like this when you found it?”

“Mostly,” Albus answered. “The goat had been chewing on one of Hugo's books so he took that. And someone's cloak had been here, but it was a Gryffindor cloak.”

Longbottom sighed. “All right, Albus, you can go back up to your dormitory.” He turned to the Prefects. “Let's go through all this and see if we can find any clues to figure out who it was.”

Albus reluctantly went back up to his dormitory, where he found not only all of his roommates but Kaden as well, discussing the prank. They all turned to Albus when he entered.

“Find anything out?” John asked.

“Nope,” Albus answered. “The Prefects are helping Professor Longbottom go through everything for clues.”

The boys whiled away the time until breakfast by trading Chocolate Frog cards, playing rounds of Exploding Snap, and discussing the Quidditch season. Matt fell back asleep after defending the Cannons to everyone else, but no one else was able to go back to bed.

Mark knocked on their door a few hours later and told them they were free to get up and go to breakfast. Albus woke Matt up and the boys went back down to the common room. It looked normal once more. All remnants of the Slytherins were gone and the goat was nowhere in sight. The classroom chairs had disappeared and the regular comfy couches were back. Albus was relieved to see their common room back to its usual state, although that did nothing to satisfy his curiosity about who had done it.

“Wonder what they did with the goat,” Kaden said as they walked down tot he Great Hall.

“Probably gave it to Aberforth,” Matt said.

“Aberforth?” Kaden asked.

“Dumbledore's brother. He owns the Hog's Head in Hogsmeade. Keeps goats in his pub. Weird bloke,” Matt answered.

“He keeps goats? In his pub?” Kaden repeated. “Do they just wander around?”

“Yeah,” Matt said.

The Great Hall was populated only by Gryffindor students, which did not surprise Albus in the slightest given the early hour and the fact that it was Sunday. The professors were all up having breakfast and were whispering amongst themselves. No doubt that Longbottom had told them about the prank. Slughorn in particular looked unnerved.

Rose convinced the rest of the group that it would be a good idea to head to the library after breakfast to take advantage of the fact that it would be empty. Albus had a few essays that he'd neglected and John and Kaden needed to make up some new predictions for Trelawney.

After a few hours of studying Albus felt his attention start to wander. The library had filled up since they had arrived and Madam Pince was watching over the place like a hawk. The doors opened and Albus was surprised to see Elsie Willinson walk in, followed by her brother and Scorpius. Scorpius's eyes met Albus's and he veered from his little group in order to waltz over to Albus.

“How's your common room?” he asked with a smirk.

“Is that a confession?” Albus replied as he stood up.

“Of course not. It's all over the school. Everyone knows that your common room looked like an extension of mine this morning. And that goat, I heard it ate a few books. Serves you right after what you lot did to ours,” Malfoy said.

“We know you did it, Malfoy,” John said. “Just waiting for the professors to prove it.”

“If I did do it, and I'm not saying I did, I wouldn't have left any evidence like you idiots obviously did.”

“We didn't,” John said flatly. “Albus confessed to save his cousin and brother who had been wrongly accused.”

“How noble.” Malfoy laughed.

“Just tell me one thing,” Albus said. “How did you get into the common room?” That was what had been bothering Albus the most. He and his friends had used the Invisibility Cloak to figure out the Slytherin password, but how had Malfoy done it? As far as he knew he did not have an Invisibility Cloak.

“I didn't,” Malfoy said. “And if I did I wouldn't tell you how I did it.” With one more glare at Albus, the Slytherin walked away towards the table that Felix and Elsie had found.

“How did he get into our common room?” Albus asked as he sat back down.

“No idea,” Matt said.

“I'm betting he threatened a first year into telling him what it was,” John said. “Wouldn't put it past him.”

“You don't know it was him,” Amanda pointed out.

“They're never going to find out who it was, either,” Rose said. “Not unless they confess like you did. Otherwise no one would've found out it was you.”

“Guess it doesn't really matter at this point.” Albus sighed. “They've had their revenge.”

“Which means it's time for ours,” Kaden said as he grinned at John.

Rose groaned. “Really? It's just going to turn into a huge prank war if you have revenge.”

“That's the point,” John replied.

If John and Kaden were trying to start a prank war Albus didn't want any part of it. He had had enough detentions for a lifetime and did not desire spending anymore of his Hogwarts career scrubbing bathrooms or doing lines. Albus sighed and returned to his reading. John and Kaden got up and left the library, presumably to work on their next prank.

Later that day at dinner Professor Kendrick gave a very stern lecture to the entire school about breaking rules, especially the rules about not entering common rooms that were not yours. It was very similar to the lecture he gave after the chicken prank, except this time Albus could tell that the headmaster was even more angry. Albus kept glancing at Malfoy during the speech but the Slytherin boy did not look guilty at all. In fact he seemed disinterested in Kendrick's speech.

The talk of Gryffindor's Goat (as the prank had now been dubbed) died down by the middle of the week. Most of the castle was excited about the upcoming Hogsmeade trip and then the winter holidays. Professor Longbottom sent around a sign-up sheet for those students who wished to stay home during the holiday, although none of Albus's friends signed it.

“I've always wondered what it would be like to stay,” John said as Professor Longbottom passed by.

“Me too,” Albus agreed. “But my parents already said I can't this year since there's some big Ministry Christmas party we've got to go to. For the election and all.”

“Same here,” Matt said. “We're not even going to Australia because of it.”

“Wow, that's the second year in a row,” Albus replied.

Matt nodded. “My grandparents are coming here and then we're visiting them over the summer.”

“I think we should all stay next year,” Kaden said. “Then I can go a whole school year without seeing my grandparents. Or Aunt Marge.”

Albus agreed that that was a good reason to stay at Hogwarts over the holiday. “Yeah, that would be fun. My dad says the castle's great at Christmas.”

“It would be interesting to see what Christmas is like,” Amanda said. Amanda's family was Jewish and celebrated Hanukkah.

“You're welcome to come to our grandparents' house for Christmas this year,” Rose suggested.

Amanda grinned. “I'll ask my parents. I'm sure they'll say yes since Hanukkah was early this year and I've already missed it anyway.”

“Rose, you've got post,” Albus said, gesturing to Rose's family's owl, which had just landed on the table.

“Oh, good!” Rose said as she ripped open the letter. She scanned it for a moment before smiling widely. “I won't be going to Hogsmeade with you.”

“You won't be?” Albus gave her a quizzical look.

“No. Mum and Dad are taking me to the debate that's that day. I owled them a few days ago to see if I could go and they said yes!”

“You want to go to another one?” John asked.

“I'd go to all of them if I could. They're just so fascinating.” She scanned the letter again. “I'm supposed to to to Kendrick's study at ten on Saturday to floo home.”

“What's this one on?” Albus asked.

“Law enforcement. The Auror Department. How it's run and and how trials are run. I think it's going to be the most interesting one since both Uncle Percy and Laurentis have already hinted at their views on that topic.”

That was for sure. This debate would probably be even more explosive than the one on education. “You'll have to let us know all the details,” Albus said.

“Oh I will,” Rose replied. “It's why I wanted to go. I'd rather not learn everything second hand from the Prophet.”

She had a point there, Albus thought. Although he was glad that Rose was the one going and not him. As much as he thought the election was interesting, he'd rather be in Hogsmeade with his friends than sitting in a courtroom listening to politicians all day.