Albus Potter and the Lost Legacy

Chapter 31: The Winner

Albus had been hoping classes would be suspended the day of the election, but there was no such luck. Kendrick organized it so that the Great Hall would be the polling place and that voting would not affect the general student body. Hogwarts was the designated polling place for the district it was in, so there would be other people coming to the school to vote. Albus's cousins who were of age (Bradley, Fred, and Heather) all voted after breakfast, as soon as the polling station had been set up.

Albus and his friends spent most of Herbology watching people walking from Hogsmeade to Hogwarts in order to vote. It was very distracting and Neville didn't bother telling people to get back on task.

“When are we going to know who won?” John asked as they walked back to the castle for Defense.

“It'll be in the Prophet tomorrow morning,” Albus said. “That's the official notice, but I'm sure we'll find out earlier. Bradley and Cedric have to go to the end of the election party tonight. It starts at six and the polls close at eight. They're announcing the winner at the party at eight-thirty. Bradley and Cedric will be back after that and I give it about five minutes to spread around the castle.”

John laughed. “You don't have to go to the party?”

Albus shook his head. “My parents gave me the choice. I said no. James and Lily aren't going, either.”

“What about you two?” John asked Rose and Matt.

“No,” Rose said. Matt shook his head.

“Good,” John said. “We should have our own party here. A party to celebrate the end of this election. Maybe it'll mean Embry will let up on the essays. Anyone else writing their debate essay during Defense today?”

For the past few months most people had used Defense as a study hall. The worksheets Young assigned never took longer than fifteen minutes and he didn't seem to care what his students did with the rest of the class. Just as long as they weren't being loud. Albus didn't think anyone had used any Skiving Snackbox sweets in Defense this year, since there wasn't much point.

Albus, Matt, and Amanda all still needed to write their essays as well. Rose had written hers immediately following the debate, but the rest of them didn't see the need to do it right away.

“I can always finish it in History of Magic, too,” John said as they entered the castle.

“Let's go peek in the Great Hall,” Albus said as he led his friends over to the right.

Albus glanced inside and saw that there were four small cubicles curtained off where the staff table should've been. A short queue of people were off to one side and seemed to be waiting their turn for the cubicles. It didn't seem very exciting.

“Any comment on the election?”

Albus turned and saw a reporter lurking near the doorway. He didn't recognize this particular reporter.

“No, thanks,” Albus said as he steered the group away from the Great Hall, and thus away from the reporter.

“I don't think they're allowed inside,” Rose mentioned. “So they can't bother people who are voting.”

“That makes sense,” Amanda said. “Well, let's go get those essays done with. Then we'll never have to write essays on debates again.”

Albus nodded. No more debate essays. Now that would be a good thing.

The remainder of the day passed quickly. Albus, Matt, and Amanda managed to finish their essays during Defense, but John only got halfway done. Voting was suspended during lunch and then again at dinner. Albus overheard a few of the sixth and seventh years talking about voting and the election during dinner. A couple of Ravenclaws even got into an argument about it.

“Let's make a pact now not to get in any fights over the next election when we can all vote,” Rose said as they watched one of the arguing Ravenclaws storm out of the Great Hall.

The rest of the group heartily agreed. Albus couldn't imagine ruining a friendship over something as silly as an election.

“This party that Bradley and Cedric are going to,” John began, “it's for both your uncle and Laurentis?”

“Yeah,” Albus said.

“That's going to be awkward when they announce the winner,” John said with a laugh.

“It's supposed to promote good sportsmanship and that sort of thing,” Rose explained.

“Still...I can't imagine Laurentis being a good sport,” John said.

After dinner Albus and his friends returned to the common room, deciding that it might be interesting to spend the evening there rather than the Marauder's Den. They also wanted to hear firsthand from Bradley and Cedric who won.

The common room had the distinct feel that Gryffindor had just won a Quidditch match. James, Fred, Heather, Mark, and Ben had taken it upon themselves to have a party to celebrate the end of the election and thus the end of debates and essays on debates. There were cases of Butterbeer and trays of biscuits and nobody was working on any homework.

“Maybe now things can get back to normal,” Albus said as he opened a Butterbeer.

“If Uncle Percy wins things will never be normal again,” Rose pointed out.

Albus shrugged. “I don't know. Amanda seems fairly normal and her uncle's the Prime Minister.”

“That's because nobody here cares about the Prime Minister,” Amanda said. “At home everyone knows I'm the niece of the Prime Minister. My sister and brother certainly aren't anonymous at their schools. My sister's at university now and she says it's a bit better than it was in secondary school.”

“Albus, you're Harry Potter's son,” John said flatly. “No matter what happens, you're going to be well-known.”

Albus supposed that was true, but sometimes he wished it wasn't. Sometimes, he wished he could make his own way in the world and not have his dad's name tied to him.

“Did you ever get the map back from your dad?” Matt asked.

“Yeah, why?”

“Just curious,” Matt said.

Albus reached into his bag and pulled the map out. He'd taken to carrying it around with him all the time, but he wasn't sure why. After setting it down on the table he revealed it and focused on the part that showed Hogwarts.

“There's still a bunch of people voting,” Albus said, gesturing to the Great Hall. About a half dozen or so dots were milling about.

“Madam Rosmerta's there,” Amanda pointed out. “I wonder who she's voting for.”

“No idea,” Albus said. He glanced at his watch. “Half hour until the polls close.”

“How long do you think Bradley and Cedric will stay?” Kaden asked.

“Probably not long after the announcement is made,” Albus answered. “They don't really like going to those things.”

“Albus,” John said, pointing to the map. “Is it just me or is Malfoy going into Moaning Myrtle's toilet?”

Albus peered down at the map. Sure enough, a dot labeled 'Scorpius Malfoy' had just entered the second floor girl's lavatory. That didn't make any sense.

“What the hell is he doing in there?” Matt exclaimed. “Why would anyone go in there?”

“Myrtle's there,” John commented. “Look, she's floating over toward him.”

“But why?” Albus asked, still utterly confused. “Why would a bloke go in there?”

“Maybe the map made a mistake?” Kaden suggested.

“Dad says the map never lies,” Albus explained. “Well, there's only one way to find out. Let's follow him.”

“Sounds good to me,” Amanda said as she stood up. “This party is getting boring anyway.”

John and Kaden nodded their heads in agreement. Rose raised her eyebrows.

“No way,” Matt said, shaking his head vehemently. “There aren't enough Galleons in the world.”

“Oh, come on, it's just a girl's loo,” Amanda said. “Look, there aren't even any girls in there besides Myrtle. And she's a ghost!”

John laughed. “Myrtle's got a bit of a crush.”

“John, shut up!” Matt said, his cheeks turning red.

Amanda and Rose burst out in laughter. “Seriously?” Amanda said.

“Yeah, we had detention in there once,” John explained. “Myrtle spent the whole time flirting with Matt. It was hilarious.”

“I said, shut it!” Matt shouted.

“Oh, come on, she's just a ghost.”

“I'm not going. I refuse.”

“Fine,” John said. “Suit yourself. Rose?”

“I'll stay here, thanks,” Rose said. “You're wasting your time anyway. It's not like he'll tell you anything.”

Albus didn't care. He still liked the idea of going because it felt like he was doing something, making some sort of progress on figuring out why Malfoy had been acting so oddly the past few months.

They didn't bother bringing the Invisibility Cloak since there was still an hour left until curfew. On their way there, they spotted Peeves unscrewing chandeliers in honor of April Fool's Day, but ignored his cackles.

Albus watched the map as they went. Malfoy remained in the lavatory as they walked quickly down flights of stairs. But they got stuck on the stairs leading to the second floor corridor, after the stairs decided to lead them directly to the first floor rather than the second.

“He's leaving!” Albus exclaimed as they got back on the stairs after their slight detour.

“Maybe we can catch him on his way back to the dungeons,” Amanda suggested.

Albus nodded. “Let's wait here, then.”

Their current location gave them an excellent view of the Great Hall. A few Ministry officials were currently carrying pieces of the voting cubicles out of the room, polling clearly over. It would only be about a half hour until they had a new Minister of Magic.

John nudged Albus. “There he is.”

Albus turned away from the Great Hall and saw Malfoy walking down the staircase. He looked extremely determined.

“Malfoy,” Albus said.

“Potter,” Malfoy replied.

Albus suddenly had no idea how he was going to ask Malfoy about why he was in the girl's loo without revealing the map. If they caught him in there it would've been easy to say they saw him going in there, but now he was just walking down the stairs, perfectly innocently. He'd have to be really careful about it.

“So why were you in a girl's loo?” Amanda asked.

So much for being careful, Albus thought.

Malfoy paled. “Er, I wasn't.”

“Yes, you were,” Amanda said. “I was in there, too. Second floor, Moaning Myrtle's toilet? Ring any bells?”

“That loo was empty,” Malfoy said quickly. “I checked.”

“Next time check a bit harder,” Amanda said. “I was in the last stall and when I heard you come in I had to stay there because you're a bloke and it would just be weird to come out of a bathroom stall and come face to face with a bloke. I heard you talking to Myrtle, though.”

“I...er...that's not any of your...business,” Malfoy stammered.

“Then don't conduct your business in a girl's loo,” Amanda said with a laugh. “Let's go. We don't want to miss the news about the new minister. Clearly Malfoy's a bit unhinged.”

Amanda turned and set off up the stairs. Albus, John, and Kaden followed, leaving Malfoy frozen in their wake. Albus glanced back and saw that he was still as pale as Matt is right before a full moon.

“Amanda, what was that?” John exclaimed once they'd reached the second floor.

“That felt good,” Amanda said. “He just really irritates me, and this time we had something on him. I could tell Al didn't know how to ask him without telling him about the map. But I figured it'd be pretty easy to pretend I'd been in the loo with him.”

“That's brilliant,” John said.

Amanda grinned. “I have my moments.”

“Whatever it was, I don't think he'll be going in that loo anymore,” Albus said. “I just wish we'd figured out why he was in there in the first place.”

“Seriously,” John said. “The only way you'd catch me in a girl's loo is if you paid me a load of Galleons.”

“Or you got detention.” Amanda smirked.

“That doesn't count,” John said.

“Oh, shut it, both of you,” Albus said. “Let's hurry up and get back to the common room.”

When Albus, John, Kaden, and Amanda returned to the common room they were greeted by loud groans and sighing. Confused, Albus turned to his brother, who was nearest the portrait hole.

“We thought you lot were Bradley and Cedric,” James said.

“James, it's not even eight-thirty yet,” Albus pointed out. “They won't be back for at least a half hour.”

“Oh, right.”

Rose and Matt were in the middle of a game of chess. Matt was losing spectacularly.

“Did you find him?” Matt asked as Rose's bishop crushed his queen.

“Yeah, but not in the loo,” Albus said. “Caught him on his way back to his common room. He wouldn't tell us a thing.”

“Of course he didn't,” Matt said. “And he probably denied he was in the loo anyway.”

“He would've,” Albus said. “But Amanda told him she'd been in there and then told him off for being there. It was brilliant.”

“Wish I could've seen that. I've always wanted to tell off Malfoy.”

“You should've come,” John said. “We didn't even see Myrtle.”

“Still...not taking any chances,” Matt said. “King to D6.”

Rose instructed her knight to move closer to Matt's king. “Checkmate.

Matt sighed. “One day, I'll win.”

“Me next!” Kaden exclaimed. Everyone else laughed. “What? I've gotten better,” Kaden muttered.

Albus, John, Matt, and Amanda settled down to watch as Rose clobbered Kaden. Albus could've sworn he saw Kaden's chessmen quiver as they were set up on the board. Rose's queen was most definitely grinning maliciously. Over the next half hour Kaden's pieces were viciously slaughtered by Rose's, but not without putting up a fight. Kaden was in fact getting better.

“Exploding Snap?” Matt asked after Rose and Kaden repaired their chessmen.

“Yeah, all right,” Albus agreed. The others nodded.

Albus ran up to his dormitory to retrieve his Exploding Snap cards. As he returned, the portrait hole opened.

The entire common room froze and was silent. Not a single person moved. Not a single person said a word. Even the first years, who had been tossing a Quaffle around, were still. Albus stood on the bottom step to the dormitories and waited.

Bradley walked inside, followed by Cedric. Neither seemed overly excited, but that didn't mean that Percy hadn't won. After all, they, like Albus, didn't really want Percy to be Minister, but they didn't want Laurentis as Minister either.

“Well?” James asked.

“Dad lost,” Bradley said quietly. He whispered something to James and then he turned and left the common room, followed by Cedric.

Albus couldn't believe it. He hadn't realized it until now, but he truly had believed that Uncle Percy would win. He had the support of Harry Potter. Didn't that mean anything anymore?

Albus returned to his friends and set the box of cards down on the table. He sat down and didn't say a word.

“What does this mean?” Amanda asked quietly. “Will she do everything she said she was going to do?”

“That and probably worse, too,” Albus said.

James walked up to the table. “Al, Rose, we're all going to the Room of Requirement. Bradley and Cedric want to give us more details.” He glanced the rest of the group. “Sorry, family only.”

“We'll see you later,” Albus said as he and Rose stood up.

Albus, James, and Rose walked to the Room of Requirement in silence. When they arrived they saw that the door was already there. They walked inside.

The rest of their cousins had already arrived. Albus took a seat on the last remaining couch and James and Rose sat on either side of him. Nobody was speaking, so he glanced around and watched all of his cousins.

Bradley, Cedric, Heather, Mark, Ben, Fred, Hugo, Lily, James, Rose, and Angie. And himself. They were the middle group of cousins. Not the oldest, not the youngest, but the ones in the middle, who never did anything first and never did anything last. They weren't the first to go to Hogwarts and they wouldn't be the last to graduate. They stood by each other, through the good and through the bad.

Bradley and Cedric weren't seated. They were standing at the front of the room, near its door. The entire room was decorated like the den in the Burrow, with mismatched furniture and organized chaos everywhere. Albus liked it.

“Well, Dad lost,” Bradley finally said. “I already told you that...but yeah. It was close. He only lost by a couple hundred votes.

“How did he take it?” Heather asked.

“Graciously,” Bradley answered. “Thanked everyone for their support and shook Laurentis's hand, of course.”

Albus wasn't surprised. Uncle Percy had and always would be the epitome of a polite politician. But maybe that wasn't enough to get elected.

“Is it terrible that I'm happy he lost?” Cedric asked as he squeezed onto the couch between James and Albus. “Because I am, kind of.”

“Just a bit,” Heather said. “What is Uncle Percy going to do now? I doubt Laurentis will keep him on.”

“I hadn't even thought of that,” Bradley said.

Neither had Albus, but it made sense. Percy was still employed by the Ministry, but his job was one of those jobs selected by the minister.

“He's always worked for the Ministry,” Bradley continued. “I don't think he could do anything else.”

The room descended into silence. Nobody seemed to know what to say, Albus included. His feelings on his uncle becoming minister had been all over the place for the past seven months, but now that Percy had actually lost, all Albus felt was disappointment. It was strange. Just last week he had been kind of hoping Percy would lose, and now that he had, Albus felt the complete opposite.

It was already past curfew for Lily, Hugo, and Angie, but nobody was telling them to go back to the common room. Albus was vaguely curious about what was going on in the common room, but not curious enough to actually go back. Matt, John, Kaden, and Amanda would tell him later.

What Albus was really worried about, more than anything, was what Laurentis was going to do to both the Ministry and Hogwarts. Laurentis had made it clear that she was going to change the school, but Albus liked it the way it was. Then there were the changes to the Ministry, such as the dementors. How long would it take for Laurentis to bring them back? Surely she had to go through proper channels to do it.

James, Bradley, and Cedric were the first to return to the common room, claiming they had to make good on all the bets they'd taken. Albus had a feeling all three of them were now slightly in debt. Albus and Rose returned a few minutes later, leaving the rest of their cousins talking quietly in the Room of Requirement.

When they returned Matt, John, and Kaden were playing Exploding Snap. Amanda was writing a letter.

“Who are you writing to?” Rose asked.

“My uncle,” Amanda answered. “I've been keeping him updated on the election. He says he likes hearing it from me rather than waiting until the new minister arrives to meet him.”

“Your uncle meets the Minister of Magic?” John asked.

“Well, yes,” Amanda said. “The two worlds do have to coexist. Sometimes there are problems that affect both. Voldemort, for instance. And Hartwell personally told my uncle about the escaped Death Eaters.”

“That's so weird,” John said.

“I told you about it earlier in the year,” Amanda pointed out. “That's the only reason I got to go to Hogwarts. My parents changed their minds at the last minute and happened to mention it to my uncle, laughing about the fact that they'd actually said I could go. And then my uncle told them it was all true.”

“I wonder how often that happens,” Albus mused, “Muggleborns not being able to go to Hogwarts because their parents don't believe.”

Amanda shrugged. “I'm just lucky I wasn't one of them.”

“I think we all need a distraction,” Rose said and turned to Kaden, whose face was covered in ash. “Deal out the cards again. Let's play until we're too tired.”

Albus heartily agreed, and that was exactly what they did. Two hours later, all of their faces ashen, they were finally tired. But when Albus climbed into bed, his thoughts began racing and he found himself unable to sleep.

Chapter 32: The Future

The next day's edition of the Prophet was devoted entirely to election day and Laurentis's win. The winner did not surprise anyone in Hogwarts since Bradley and Cedric had spread that as soon as they returned. Albus still read the entire front page article at breakfast and he was glad he did, because the article still held surprises.

LAURENTIS WINS; BEGINS APPOINTING POSITIONS

In the closest race for Minister of Magic to
date, candidate Patricia Laurentis won the
position last night. Polls closed at eight,
with the official winner announced at a closed
party at the Minister's Mansion at eight-thirty.
Laurentis won by a mere 342 votes, which is the
closest race we have ever seen.

'I am of course very pleased with this turn of
events,' Laurentis said at the Minister's
Mansion after the announcement was made. 'I am
very excited to be sworn in as Minister of
Magic on May first. I feel I will be able to
give the public what they need, for they have
spoken and now it is my duty to give them what
I promised during my campaign. I of course
offer my condolences to Percy Weasley. He truly
was a pleasure to run against over the past
seven months.'

'I offer my congratulations to my opponent,' Percy
Weasley said to Daily Prophet reporters at the
Minister's Mansion. 'We both campaigned hard
and she won, fair and square. I am disappointed,
of course, but I still congratulate her.'

Over the next month Laurentis will decide who
she wishes to appoint to top Ministry positions,
before she is sworn in as Minister of Magic on
May first of this year. Laurentis is wasting no
time with this, as she was seen at the Ministry
earlier this morning. 'I already have people
picked out for most positions,' she said upon
questioning. 'I will be keeping a few of the
current officials, but I will be replacing quite
a few in order to better unite the Ministry.'

One person has already confirmed his intentions
to take Laurentis up on her offer of a position.
Ironically, he is set to take over Percy Weasley's
current position under Minister Hartwell. 'I am
very pleased to announce that Draco Malfoy is
going to take the position of Senior
Undersecretary for the Drafting and Editing
of Laws. Draco Malfoy has been a friend of mine
for many years as we have worked together in the
Azkaban Division for nearly a decade. I am very
excited to continue working with him.'

Laurentis plans to announce the names of her
officials as they confirm throughout the month.

“Malfoy's dad?” Albus exclaimed, in shock. “Since when is he chummy with Laurentis?”

“Malfoy never said a word,” Matt added, his eyes large.

“Of course he didn't,” Rose said. “We're not exactly his friends.”

“Wait, remember in Hogsmeade back in October?” Albus replied. “When he talked about how my family won't be running the wizarding world for long? Not that my family has ever ran the wizarding world... But he seemed to know something we didn't.”

“This must be it,” John said, staring at the paper. “That's a pretty top position, isn't it?”

“Second highest for drafting laws,” Rose said. “Given his relationship with Laurentis anything he drafts will most likely pass.”

“And who knows what his views are,” Albus said, craning his neck to see the Slytherin table. “Malfoy's over there. I can't quite see his face, though.”

“I'm sure he'll have something to say to you in Potions,” Amanda pointed out.

Albus had quite a few hours to wait to find out just what exactly Malfoy would have to say to them. History of Magic, his first class of the day, was as boring as ever. Professor Binns showed absolutely no recognition that the election had taken place the previous day. Professor Patil was the complete opposite, making no move to cover up her indignation at Laurentis's win, which led her to blow up the desk she was attempting to transfigure.

“Do you think Laurentis will actually have teachers sacked?” John asked as they walked to the Great Hall for lunch. “Because if she does, Patil won't stand a chance.”

Albus shook his head. “Only if they're really awful teachers. Umbridge sacked a few in my dad's fifth year and I think people will be outraged if Laurentis does the same thing. Honestly, I think Binns and Young are the only ones in danger.”

“Could you sack a ghost?” John asked. “I mean, where would he go?”

“He'd probably stick around and still try to teach,” Albus said. “I can't imagine it would go over well.”

“And Young can't get sacked,” John lamented. “That's where I do all my homework.”

Albus secretly agreed, but didn't say anything because Rose snorted in disgust.

Malfoy was waiting outside the potions dungeon when Albus and his friends arrived after lunch. Gone from his face was the unsettled and partially sad look, replaced by Malfoy's usual haughty smug. Clearly his dad getting a top Ministry position had changed something.

“Hey, Potter,” Malfoy greeted him. “Congratulations to your uncle on his loss. Can't thank him enough for that.”

“I'll be sure to tell him,” Albus replied. “He'll be thrilled that he made a Malfoy happy. Must be nice that your dad's got some actual power now.”

“And yours won't have any for long,” Malfoy said. “Just another month.”

“Nothing's set for sure about the Auror Department,” Albus countered.

Malfoy laughed. “I think I might know a bit more than you on that. Laurentis was over at my house for dinner last week.”

“And you were here,” Albus said. “You never mentioned that your dad's friends with Laurentis.”

“It never came up.”

“Well now that you're all happy again maybe you'll actually show up for this month's dueling tournament?”

That wiped the smirk off Malfoy's face. He turned stony and took a step closer to Albus. “Don't say a word about that. It's none of your business.”

“Touchy,” John commented.

“Stuff it, Brickston. This doesn't concern you. Your parents will have power in the Ministry the day Hagrid adopts a normal pet.”

“We'll see who's got the power the moment one of your family winds up at St. Mungo's,” John snapped.

Malfoy paled. “Just shut up. The point is, my dad's going to have a better position than yours.”

“Nobody cares what your dad does for a living,” Matt said.

“Nobody asked you. At least my dad doesn't bring his work home with him.” Malfoy laughed.

John whipped out his wand. “You always take it one too far, don't you, Malfoy?”

Malfoy took out his wand as well. “I could say the same about you, Brickston.”

“Wands away, boys.”

Albus turned and saw Professor Slughorn standing in the doorway. He breathed a sigh of relief. The last thing John needed was another detention.

“Get inside. Class is starting in one minute.”

Both John and Malfoy were lucky they didn't get detention, Albus thought. Neither of them had thrown any hexes, but a stricter teacher would've handed out detention just for having their wands drawn. Not Slughorn, though. Albus got the sense that Slughorn didn't like handing out detentions, probably because that meant having to supervise them.

***

The following few days passed without anymore position announcements from Laurentis. In fact, it was a relatively quiet few days, especially when compared with the past seven months. For the first time all year, there was little coverage of the election, that is until they had politics on Tuesday. At the end of the lesson, Embry reminded them of their research essays on their representatives, an assignment that had completely slipped Albus's mind. It was due in two days.

Apparently, it had slipped John and Matt's minds as well. Rose and Amanda had been diligently working on theirs all week, only needing to write their conclusions. Amanda had even asked her uncle for help, devoting part of her essay to the similarities and differences between the wizarding and Muggle governments.

“I guess we'll be spending the evening in the library,” Albus said as they headed to the Great Hall for dinner.”

“Dammit,” Matt muttered. “I'm going to have to write the entire thing tonight. The full moon's tomorrow.”

“Usually you're much better about remembering to do assignments before that,” Rose commented.

“I know, but with the election and everything, I forgot,” Matt said.

“But you'll be missing class on Thursday,” John pointed out. “So you can turn it in Tuesday and get four extra days.”

“I've never done that with long-term assignments,” Matt said. “I don't want to start now. Albus can turn it in, like usual.”

“Let's eat fast, then,” Albus said as they entered the Great Hall.

“Hey, Amanda, want to take a walk around the lake before we write our conclusions?” Rose asked. “The weather's so nice tonight we might as well take advantage.”

“Of course!” Amanda agreed. “Can't let that go to waste.”

“Oh, shut up,” Albus muttered.

Forty-five minutes later Albus, Matt, John, and Kaden had taken over one of the larger tables in the library. Kaden had joined them since he had a Transfiguration essay due the next day and divination predictions to do. Albus was considering hexing two first years at the table next to them who kept giggling, if Madam Pince didn't get to them first. He wished that one of his friends lived in his district; it would make this so much easier.

Albus did have a distinct advantage over both Matt and John, in that his representative was far more well-known than theirs. Oliver Prang, who had been serving the North London district, was on his fourth consecutive term, which amounted to over fifteen years. That was more than Albus's entire life. London in itself was a location that required far more attention than other areas of the country, which resulted in far more information being available on it. John was able to locate a fair amount of information on his representative, Nadine Abernathy, but Matt, since he lived in one of the most remote areas of England, had difficulty locating information on Marcus Whitby.

“Does this bloke even exist?” Matt asked as he looked through the very last archived copy of the Prophet that was published during Whitby's one term. “Oh, here we go. Lovely. Now I know he exists. Here's a sentence that mentions he won the election. And of course he won. He didn't have any opponents.” Matt groaned and banged his head repeatedly on the table. “This is hopeless.”

“You've still got all the minutes from Wizengamot meetings,” Albus said, pointing to the three large stacks of paper in the middle of the table. He really did feel bad for Matt, though. It was bad enough having to do a paper like this, but having to do it when the full moon was only two days away?

“I could probably just make stuff up,” Matt said as he took the top few pages. “I mean, honestly, could Embry possibly know anything about Marcus Whitby? It's the least densely populated district in all of England.”

“Embry probably knows everything about everyone,” John said. “There. I've got my intro. Look at it this way. Your bloke's only been in office for a year. So you've got far less stuff to look through. It won't take as long.”

“But if there isn't anything, then that doesn't help,” Matt muttered. “Have you even read anything?”

“A bit.” John shrugged. “Nadine Abernathy's on her second term, so there's not as much as Albus has got. But I read enough to write the intro. Now I'll read a bit more.”

“You have a weird way of doing research.”

Albus glanced up and saw that Rose and Amanda had returned, bags in hand. They sat down and pulled out their own essays, which looked very long.

Matt tossed the papers he'd been looking at onto his rejection pile, which was so disorderly that Madam Pince would probably have a heart attack if she saw it. He then let out a loud sigh and put his head in his hands.

“Could you please take pity on him?” Albus asked Rose.

Rose looked up from her essay. “I told you. You're all doing this yourselves.”

“His representative has only been in office for a year,” Albus explained. “And the only thing he's found is one sentence in a Prophet from a year ago saying he won the election, which was against nobody. And the full moon is tomorrow.”

“Please, Rose?” Matt asked, picking his head up to look at her. His face was flushed and he looked very frustrated.

“Your parents should've moved somewhere less remote,” Kaden commented.

“They wanted to be in the middle of nowhere,” Matt said flatly. “They didn't want neighbors.”

Rose sighed. “Fine. But only because you look so pathetic. And mine was pretty hard, too, because my district is also remote. Just let me finish my conclusion.”

“Lucky,” John muttered. “I don't suppose you'd help-”

“Absolutely not, John Brickston,” Rose said and lowered her voice. “As soon as you turn into a wolf once a month I'll help you with your procrastination.”

Albus turned back to his own essay and over the next four hours managed to get it half done. He didn't think it was very good, but it was progress. John was about halfway done as well, so the two of them decided to call it a night. John settled in to help Kaden with his fake divination predictions. Matt was still working on his, with much coaching from Rose.

“Did you find anything?” Albus asked.

“A bit,” Rose said. “It's not much. This bloke seriously hasn't done anything. He's hardly mentioned in any of these minutes.”

Matt yawned. “How long does this have to be again?”

“A foot,” Rose answered. “You've got another four inches to go.”

“It's nearly ten,” Albus mentioned. “The library is going to close and we've already missed curfew.”

The library was now only filled with fifth through seventh years. It was certainly quieter.

“We should probably finish in the common room, then,” Rose said.

“I don't think I can,” Matt said. “Too tired. I'll finish it tomorrow since I'll probably skip afternoon classes anyway.”

The group packed up their things and walked quickly back to the common room. By some stroke of luck they managed to avoid the prefects and didn't get any detention from being out after curfew.

“No mandatory curfew tomorrow,” Kaden commented as they entered the common room.

“With Greyback caught they don't need to do it anymore,” Albus pointed out.

“Thank God,” Matt replied. “He won't be lurking around tomorrow.”

“I just hope your dad was able to help those parents with the two kids,” Rose said.

“He'll probably go do the wards himself,” Matt said. “At least for this month. And I'm sure they've got Wolfsbane this month.”

Albus nodded. It was going to be a better full moon for everyone involved.

***

Albus, Matt, and John managed to get their essays done in time and turned in on Thursday. The full moon was relatively normal, as full moons go, without any reports of werewolf attacks. Matt wound up in the hospital wing for two full days, having resorted to chewing on himself since the wolf no longer had the distraction of Greyback outside. But Albus had a feeling Matt preferred it that way. Greyback's presence was just too creepy and too unknown.

A few days after the full moon James returned to the common room fuming. Albus raised his eyebrows at his brother as he straightened a pile of career pamphlets that had once again appeared on the common room tables.

James stomped over to Albus's table, pulled up a chair, and squeezed himself between Albus and Matt. “Career advice,” he muttered.

“Did you just have it?” Albus asked.

“Yeah, with Longbottom,” James said. “Neville always seemed so nice when we were little and even in class he's easily the best professor here. But for career advice? He's terrible!”

“Well, what did you talk about?”

“Careers.”

Rose snorted. “Obviously.”

“He wants me to pick something now. I don't know what I want to do with my life. I'm only sixteen for God's sake!”

“I think you have to pick something so you can pick your N.E.W.T. classes next year,” Rose explained. “Otherwise the teachers don't know what to put you in.”

“I know that,” James snapped. “But I don't want to do anything that's going to require loads of N.E.W.T.s. I want to play Quidditch.”

Rose laughed. “He didn't like that?”

“No,” James muttered. “So I told him about Georgia. And then he said that it's not very common to be drafted by a professional team and that even Georgia had a back-up plan. That's news to me. As far as I know she's wanted to play Quidditch her whole life.”

“She was going to design brooms,” Rose said. “Still might, after she's done with Quidditch. Why don't you do that?”

“Neville suggested it. But it requires Arithmancy most of the time and I haven't even done O.W.L. Arithmancy. I just want to take the bare minimum of N.E.W.T.s and get done with it.”

“And of course Neville didn't like that,” Rose said. “Honestly, James, just pick something.”

“But I can't!” James said as he picked up a stack of pamphlets. “Look at these. Goblin Liaison, Gringott's Counterfeit Coin Checker, Security Troll Trainer. They're all dead boring.”

“There's loads of jobs in the Ministry and St. Mungo's,” Rose said.

James snorted. “No one would want me as their Healer.”

Albus had to agree with that. James had about the same ability to concentrate as a troll. “Hey, you could train security trolls.”

“I said that's boring. And I don't want to work for the Ministry. Not now that Laurentis has won. Just you lot wait. You'll have to go through this next year.”

“I already know what I want to do,” Rose said. “I'm going to be a Healer, specializing in psychiatry.”

“Of course you do,” James muttered.

“If it makes you feel better, mate, I've no idea what I want to do,” John said.

“Me either,” Kaden agreed.

“You're a third year,” James said flatly. “It doesn't matter that you don't know what you want to do. What about you, Al?”

Albus shrugged. He hadn't thought much about careers since the previous year when Balladanis told him he could be a Presuler. The idea was very tempting, but he didn't want to tell anyone else about it.

“I suppose it doesn't matter. The N.E.W.T.s I take are going to depend on which O.W.L.s I actually pass.”

“If you'd quit complaining and start studying you'd pass more of them,” Rose pointed out.

“I suppose you're right,” James said as he stood up. “Guess I'll go to the library.”

“James, wait!” Rose shouted as James neared the portrait hole. “Forgetting anything?”

James glanced down. “Oh, right. Books.”

James ran up to his dormitory and returned with his bag a minute later. Grinning at Albus and the others, he left the common room.

“I swear, I'm not sure how we're related,” Rose muttered.

“You're telling me,” Albus replied. “You're still set on the Healer thing?”

“More than ever,” Rose said. “It is weird, knowing exactly what I want to do this early.”

“You're like my sister,” Matt pointed out. “You two really are alike. It's kind of weird.”

“I like your sister,” Rose said. “So I'll take that as a compliment. What about you? Do you know what you want to do?”

Matt laughed and picked up the Gringott's pamphlet. “Considering that werewolves aren't going to be changed from Beasts to Beings anytime soon, I don't think I'm going to have many choices to pick from.”

“You never know,” Rose said. “Who knows what will happen between now and when we graduate. Things could change.”

“Still, it's doubtful,” Matt said, turning to Amanda. “Amanda? You were awfully quiet when James was here.”

“It's hard not to be. He's rather loud himself. I'm not sure. I think I want to do something in the Ministry, though. I want to make a difference.”

“Excellent,” Matt said. “You can change everyone's minds about changing the werewolf classification.”

Amanda smiled. “You never know. It's crossed my mind a few times.”

“I just want to brew potions for a living,” Kaden announced as he leafed through the pamphlets.

“You're insane,” John said. “You seem so normal, otherwise. But seriously, nobody enjoys potions.”

“You can do that,” Matt said. “You can become a Brewer. My sister's doing that along with her Healing degree.”

Kaden's eyes grew large. “Wait, really? That's a real career?”

Matt nodded. “Not everyone can brew potions, so they need people to brew them for them. You can work at St. Mungo's and brew healing potions or you could work for a company and brew potions to sell.”

“Sort of like a chemist, I suppose,” Amanda replied.

“Exactly,” Rose said.

“Brilliant.” Kaden grinned. “James will hate me now. Third year and I know what I'm doing.”

Albus laughed. “You could change your mind.”

Kaden shrugged. “I suppose so.”

Albus didn't really want to think about what they would do after Hogwarts. It was three years away. He'd rather enjoy the present, but Rose had always been the person to look to the future. She fantasized about their Hogwarts days when they were only six and now, she was fantasizing about what they'd do after. Albus had never been the type to do that. There would be plenty of time for the future in the future.

Chapter 33: Change

April went by quickly, as it usually did. The weather turned from chilly and windy to warm and rainy, resulting in more than one muddy Quidditch practice. Albus didn't mind the mud as much as he minded the length of the practices. Both Fred and Heather seemed determined to win the Quidditch Cup now that it was their seventh year. They hadn't won it yet, in all their years at Hogwarts. Albus wanted to win, too, but not enough that he enjoyed practicing for five hours straight.

When he wasn't on the pitch, most of Albus's time was spent at dueling practice. The final match of the year was on the last Saturday in April and Albus's team was still in the running for a win of the entire tournament. They hadn't won a single match, but they were routinely in second place by only a few points. The teams that had gotten first place never did that well in other tournaments, resulting in their overall point total being quite low.

When the last Saturday in April arrived, far sooner than Albus would've liked, he found himself incredibly nervous. He wasn't nervous at all about his duels, but he was nervous for the team. This was it. It was his last tournament in the Junior Dueling Tournament. His last chance to prove himself as captain and earn a spot on Gryffindor's dueling team next year.

All four captains of the house dueling teams were present at this tournament because they would be hand selecting players for their teams next year. Unlike Quidditch, there were no try-outs for the dueling tournament.

“Last tournament being on Malfoy's team,” Amanda commented as Malfoy dueled a girl from Ravenclaw.

“Thank God,” Albus muttered. He couldn't wait until he no longer had Malfoy on his team. “At least he's acting normally today.”

“At least he showed up,” Amanda pointed out.

“Point to Malfoy!” Neville shouted. “Albus Potter and Matt Eckerton.”

Albus groaned inwardly. He always felt awful when he had to duel Matt because their skill levels were so drastically different. At the same time he didn't want to go easy on his friend because the Gryffindor team captain was watching.

Albus and Matt bowed to each other and raised their wands. Albus thought a silent apology as he shot a Stunner at his best friend. Matt dodged it and sent one back. Albus threw up a shield and then sent three consecutive Stunners. The third one made contact and Matt collapsed onto the floor, frozen.

“Point to Potter!” Neville declared. He waved his wand at Matt and the spell lifted.

“Sorry, mate,” Albus said as he helped Matt up.

“Don't be,” Matt replied. “You're definitely getting on the team next year.”

Albus won his second duel as well. His team continued to win most of their duels, with some of his teammates winning their first duels ever. Amanda had begun a tally of all the points on a spare bit of parchment and their team was winning, with only a few duels left to go.

Kaden wound up dueling one of the Ravenclaws from Albus's team during the last duel of the day. Kaden lost spectacularly, which Albus was both happy and upset about.

A few minutes later Neville stepped into the center of one of the dueling rings. “I am pleased to announce that we have a winner of both today's tournament and the year's tournament overall. Congratulations to Team Seven for winning both today and the tournament overall! Captain Albus Potter, please come forward to accept the trophy.”

Albus was momentarily stunned, until Amanda nudged him. The entire Great Hall was applauding as he stepped over to the dueling rings. They'd done it! After a year, they'd finally done it!

Albus shook Neville's hand while a Hufflepuff took their picture. The trophy was a bit smaller than the Quidditch Cup, but certainly not small by any means. After a few more pictures were taken, including one shot of the entire team, Albus joined Amanda and the two of them walked back to the common room.

“When will you find out if you got on Gryffindor's dueling team?” she asked as they walked.

“Not until the summer,” Albus said. “They send out letters.”

“You're pretty much guaranteed a spot, after that win,” Amanda said. “Malfoy, too, probably. And then you'll get to duel each other.”

“I'm looking forward to that,” Albus said. “Just a bit.”

“Me, too,” Amanda agreed.

Albus's friends were waiting in the common room when he and Amanda arrived. They offered congratulations and Butterbeer, which Albus drank quickly before heading outside for Quidditch practice.

Later that night, between his happiness about the win and exhaustion from Quidditch practice, Albus slept better than he had in months.

***

In April's last remaining days the Daily Prophet published at least one article a day on Laurentis and her upcoming swearing-in ceremony, as well as her picks for top officials. Albus hadn't recognized any names of the officials, or the names of their jobs. Mostly they were jobs such as the one his Uncle Percy held under Minister Hartwell. Laurenits, as it seemed, was waiting until she became Minister to reveal the big positions, such as Albus's dad's position.

The Gryffindor table was unusually quiet the morning of May first. Albus, along with all his cousins, weren't saying a word. Albus was thinking of his uncle Percy and how this should've been his day, not Laurentis's, and he was sure his cousins were thinking the same.

“I wish one of us could go to her ceremony,” Amanda said as she read the Prophet. “It's not going to be the same reading about it tomorrow.”

“I heard they're listening to it on the wireless in politics today,” John said. “Wish we had it today. That would be much better than having actual class.”

“I just want to know if my dad's out of a job,” Albus said.

“Will he be completely sacked?” Kaden asked.

“No. He just wouldn't be Head Auror anymore,” Albus answered. “It'd still be awful, though.”

“Same here,” Matt agreed. “Amy said that Dad's really nervous about it.”

“What time is it happening?” Rose asked.

“Ten-thirty,” Amanda said after consulting the paper.

“Right after History of Magic,” Rose mused. “So you lot will have Care of Magical Creatures and I'll have Arithmancy. Is anyone else thinking that we should break out Uncle George's best-selling product this morning?”

Albus thought he heard her wrong. Was his cousin actually suggesting they skip class?

“Wait, Rose,” John said. “Are you saying we should skive off class?”

Rose grinned. “I think this is going to be a bit more educational. I say we skive and meet in the Marauder's Den to listen on the wireless.”

“I'm in,” Albus said immediately. John, Matt, Amanda, and Kaden agreed.

“We've got to plan it carefully, though,” Rose said. “We can't all get ill at the same time or it'll look suspicious.”

“I've got a free period starting at ten-fifteen,” Kaden said. “So I'm all set.”

Rose nodded. “That leaves five of us. Matt, do you have an issue with skipping all of History of Magic?”

Matt laughed. “Of course not.”

“Good. I think you ought to just skive off without using a Skiving Snackbox. No one will suspect anything.”

“Aw, why can't I do that?” John asked.

“Because if someone finds out and asks it'll be easier for Matt go just say he felt ill, rather than you. I'll use a nosebleed nougat in Arithmancy since I'm the only one of us in that class. Al, John, Amanda, two of you can use something in History of Magic and then the other one can use something right at the beginning of Care of Magical Creatures. We meet in the Marauder's Den by ten-thirty.”

With the plan decided upon, they set off for their morning classes. John begged to be the one who used a puking pastille first in History of Magic and Albus and Amanda let him. He seemed strangely excited about it. Albus was just going to use the fever fudge.

Professor Binns began droning on about the Giant Wars, a topic he seemed to enjoy for some reason. He taught it each and every year without fail. Albus doodled aimlessly on his notes while taking surreptitious glances at John every so often.

“Um, Professor?” John announced ten minutes into the class.

Binns turned around, looking confused. It was rare that anyone ever interrupted him. “Yes, Mr. Broggs?”

“I don't feel well-” John was cut off by his own vomiting. His table was now covered with a pile of puke.

“Yes, yes, off to the infirmary,” Binns said as he returned his attention to the blackboard.

John hastily shoved the other end of the sweet into his mouth and vanished the vomit before grabbing his bag (which he never unpacked), and left the room.

Amanda was next. She, like Albus, went the safe route and had decided upon the fever fudge. Professor Binns hardly seemed to notice that she felt ill, despite her announcing it to the class. He just waved her out and continued his lecture. Albus could've probably used his own fever fudge right then and there, but he didn't think it was worth the small risk.

Albus decided to eat the fever fudge on his way to Care of Magical Creatures so he could leave immediately after arriving. The Marauder's Den was quite a walk from Hagrid's hut and he didn't want to miss any of the ceremony.

He felt the effects of the fudge before even reaching Hagrid's Hut. He hadn't had a fever in years and had forgotten just how awful they were.

“Hagrid?” Albus asked as soon as he arrived.

“Albus!” Hagrid exclaimed. “How are yeh?”

“Not good,” Albus answered. “I feel ill.”

Hagrid's face fell. “Yeh don' look so well. Better go see Madam Pomfrey.”

Albus nodded and turned around, walking quickly up the path. Once he was out of sight of Hagrid, he shoved the other half of the fever fudge into his mouth and felt immediately better. He'd done it!

By the time he arrived at the Marauder's Den it was nearly ten-thirty. The rest of his friends were already there, huddled around a very old looking wireless.

“Albus!” Rose exclaimed. “Nearly thought you wouldn't make it!”

“I practically ran here,” Albus said as he tossed his bag onto the floor and took a seat next to his cousin.

“Shhh!” Amanda said. “It's starting!”

“Good morning, listeners. We are broadcasting live from Courtroom Ten in the Ministry of Magic, where just minutes from now Patricia Laurentis will be sworn in as Minister of Magic for the United Kingdom. It is standing room only in the courtroom, with additional spectators in the corridor.”

Suddenly there was thunderous applause, drowning out the commentator's voice. It died down a few minutes later.

“Patricia Laurentis has entered the courtroom. She is making her way down the aisle, greeting people on her way.

“Minister Hartwell, along with members of the Wizengamot are seated on the dais. Three senior members of the Wizengamot will swear Laurentis in.”

More applause. Then a new voice. Albus recognized it as Minister Hartwell.

“Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. It has been my pleasure to serve you over the past ten years. I'd like to take a moment to thank my party, Merlinus, for their support over the past decade, as well as all of my top officials and the rest of the Ministry employees. I'll keep this short and just say that I am going to miss serving you, but I have to admit that both my wife and I are looking forward to taking a nice, long holiday.”

Laughter, followed by applause.

“Thank you, Minister Hartwell,” someone else said. Albus assumed it was one of the Wizengamot members. “Ms. Laurentis, if you would please step forward.” There was a pause. “Please repeat after me. I do hereby affirm to serve the United Kingdom-”

“I do hereby affirm to serve the United Kingdom-”

“-to the best of my ability-”

“-to the best of my ability-”

“-and keep to the ideals of the Paracelsus party-”

“-and keep to the ideals of the Paracelsus party-”

“I swear to listen to the people and do what is best for them-”

“I swear to listen to the people and do what is best for them-”

“-regardless of whether it is best for myself or the Ministry.”

“-regardless of whether it is best for myself or the Ministry.”

“I hereby declare Patricia Laurentis as the third Minister of Magic post-War as of the first of May, 2020, at eleven o'clock in the morning. Ms. Laurentis, congratulations. Please welcome your new Minister of Magic, Patricia Laurentis!”

There was a smattering of polite applause, much quieter than the previous applause for Hartwell. Albus supposed it was a serious occasion and no one wanted to seem too ecstatic.

“That was quick,” Albus said.

“She's going to make a speech now,” Rose said. “Shhh.”

“Thank you,” Laurentis said as the applause died down. “It is an honor to be standing before you as your Minister of Magic. I would like to begin by thanking the Paracelsus party for nominating me as candidate and supporting me throughout my successful campaign-”

“Does she really need to say it was a successful campaign?” John asked. “I mean, it's obvious that it was successful.”

“Shut up!” Rose said.

“-without your support I would never have made it this far. I hope I am able to live up to the high expectations set by you and Minister Hartwell. I am sure you are all anxious to hear who I am appointing to Head of Department positions in the Ministry, so I won't waste any time getting to that.”

Albus's heart sped up. He glanced up and met Matt's gaze. Matt looked just as nervous as Albus felt.

“First, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. I am pleased to announce that Tethys Balladanis will be taking over for former Head, Reena Barnes.”

“What?!” Albus exclaimed. “Did I hear her right?”

“Balladanis?” Rose shouted at the same time. “But he didn't even like the Ministry, did he?”

“He said it was too restrictive,” Albus said. “I guess he likes Laurentis.”

Matt groaned. “That means he's going to be around all the time. Not here, but this country.”

“I definitely didn't see that one coming,” John said.

“Laurentis, Balladanis, Malfoy's dad...” Amanda mused.

“Shh!” Albus said. “I heard her say Auror Department.”

“-Robert Johnson will be replacing Harry Potter as Head of the Auror Department-”

There was an audible gasp from the audience. Albus sat stunned, processing the information. Part of him had been expecting this, but now that it had actually happened, it was still a shock. It was very similar to the election results.

“I understand that this is a controversial choice, but I feel that the Ministry needs to be a united front. I assure you that Robert Johnson is an excellent Auror and will make a wonderful Head of Department.”

Albus tuned the wireless out once Laurentis went on to the Department of Magical Transportation. He could hear his heart pounding in his head and the rest of the world seemed so far away. It was almost surreal.

“Albus?” Rose asked. “Are you all right?”

“I don't know,” Albus said. “She's insane, right?”

“Honestly, Albus, I'm not surprised,” Rose said quietly. “And your dad still has a job.”

“But it's the statement she made by doing it,” Amanda pointed out. “She's implying that he's bad at his job.”

“Exactly,” Albus said, glad that Amanda was able to put into words what he felt. “First Uncle Percy lost and now this.”

“-Walter Eckerton will remain Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures-”

“Thank God!” Matt exclaimed.

“Good,” Albus said. “At least there's someone sane still in a Head position.”

Albus only paid vague attention to the rest of the announcements. He didn't recognize anyone, except for Malfoy's dad when Laurentis reiterated that appointment. One thing was clear by the end, and that was no one in Albus's family was in any of the Head positions.

Rose switched the wireless off at the end of Laurentis's speech. The wizard doing the broadcast was interviewing a few people, but they weren't anyone of great importance.

“Do you want to go to lunch?” Rose asked after a few minutes.

“Yeah, I suppose so,” Albus said as he stood up.

It was clear that word had spread when Albus and his friends reached the Great Hall. Whichever class had had politics during the speech must've shared the news with the entire castle, because everyone stared at Albus as he walked in. He didn't make eye contact with anyone and made a beeline for the Gryffindor table, where he sat down next to James.

“So you heard,” James said quietly.

“I skived off class to listen live,” Albus explained. “She wants a united ministry. What a load of dragon dung.”

“This is bad,” James said. “This is really bad.”

“She's replaced more officials than any minister, ever,” Rose commented. “She only kept three.”

“I still have no idea why she kept my dad,” Matt replied. “I mean, I'm glad she did, but it doesn't make any sense.”

“Nothing she's doing makes a bit of sense,” Albus muttered. “But I guess people must like her. She got elected.”

“But now that she's elected she can appoint who she wants,” Amanda said. “I don't think anyone actually thought she'd replace your dad. I've only been in the wizarding world for four years and even I know that everyone loves your dad.”

That's what Albus had always thought, too. He hated the fact that he was always in the spotlight because of it, but it was a constant. It was normal for him. Now, he didn't know what to think.

“Look,” Amanda said as she pointed to the staff table. “I don't think the teachers expected it, either.”

Albus glanced up. Every single professor was deep in conversation, some even ignoring their food. Neville in particular looked stunned and upset. None of them looked happy.

Albus's own plate was still empty and he had no desire to fill it. For as long as he could remember his dad had been Head of the Auror Department, a job that he loved. Being the man who defeated Voldemort had given him an aura of being the ultimate Auror, something that had stayed with him for over twenty years. Now, so many years later, it seemed to Albus that it was wearing off.

It was May first, 2020, almost exactly 23 years after his dad had defeated Voldemort. Albus thought it was slightly ironic that this had happened almost to the day, 23 years later.

Albus looked around at his fellow Gryffindors. He knew that more than a few of them had voted for Laurentis, and therefore most likely supported her decision to replace his dad as Head of the Auror Department. Not everyone was talking in whispers, with worried expressions. A few groups were laughing, like they didn't have a care in the world. Either they just didn't care about Laurentis's decision, or they supported it. The thought was very unsettling. Laurentis herself was unsettling to Albus, and the more he thought about it, the more he didn't like that she was now the Minister of Magic. He didn't like it at all.

Chapter 34: The Quidditch Cup

The following week brought a slew of articles stating and re-stating everything Laurentis said in that first speech. A list of the new Ministry officials was printed multiple times. Albus found the editorials more interesting than the actual articles, mostly because there were quite a few proclaiming how stupid it was of Laurentis to sack Harry Potter. However, it wasn't until nearly a week after Laurentis officiall became Minister that an article completely captured Albus's attention was published.

DEMENTORS TO RETURN TO AZKABAN;
HOGWARTS TO SEE CHANGES

Newly elected Minister of Magic
Patricia Laurentis officially signed
the law that will bring Azkaban back
under the control of the dementors
late last night. Laurentis hopes
to have the dementors back by late
next week. 'This has been a goal
of mine for years and I am very
happy that it is finally happening.
The wizarding world will be far
safer now that our criminals will
be guarded once more by dementors.'

Bringing the dementors back to Azkaban
is the first of many changes the new
minister will be enacting over the
next few weeks. Laurentis's next
plan is to enact changes at Hogwarts.
'Over the next few weeks I will be
sending representatives from the
Department of Magical Education to
observe each professor. Each
professor will be required to submit
their curricula to the representatives
as well.' Professors planning on
retiring at the end of this year
will be exempt from this requirement,
as no changes will take place before
the end of term.

“Well, she's done it,” Albus said as he set the article down. “A week from now Azkaban will have dementors.”

“Mad,” Amanda muttered. “She's mad!”

“And she's sending people to observe the teachers,” Albus said.

Amanda grabbed the article from Albus and scanned it quickly. “Are any of them retiring?”

“I didn't think so,” Albus said. “But a few of them are quite old.”

As if on cue, Professor Kendrick stood up. “May I have your attention? Thank you. Most of you, I am sure, have read the Prophet. Over the next few weeks every professor will be observed during one of his or her classes. I ask you all to ignore the representative and go about class as if they weren't there. That is how the Ministry will best get an understanding of how things work at Hogwarts. Now, Professor Slughorn has an announcement to make.”

Professor Slughorn stood, although he was so short that it hardly made a difference. He looked a bit nervous and Albus got the feeling that he rarely ever addressed the entire student body at once.

“Yes, thank you, Professor Kendrick,” Slughorn said. “I just wanted to tell you all at once that I am going to retire at the end of term. I've enjoyed my time at Hogwarts, but it's high time I retire for good.”

“Ten Galleons says he decided to retire after finding out he had to submit his curricula to the Ministry,” Rose whispered after Slughorn sat back down.

“I'm sure you're right,” Albus agreed. “Dad said he didn't even want to come back when our parents were in school.”

“What about Young?” Kaden asked. “He doesn’t even have a curriculum.”

Albus burst out laughing. “I hadn't even thought of that. Bet he gets sacked.”

“So that'll be two new professors next year,” John said.

Rose groaned. “And in our O.W.L. year, too.”

“Don't say that word!” James, who was sitting about five seats down from Rose, shouted.

Rose raised her eyebrows. “What word?”

“O.W.L,” James said with a shudder. “They're only a month away.”

“Guess you should've started studying earlier,” Rose said.

“Shut up,” James muttered.

James wasn't the only one to have forgotten about O.W.L.s amidst all the election news. There seemed to be more frantic studying than usual, and not just from the fifth and seventh years. The entire castle had neglected to study for their end-of-term exams. Later that night Albus, John, Rose, Amanda, and Kaden joined the throngs of people vying for tables in the library in order to cram in as much studying as possible. Matt couldn't join them, as it was the full moon.

However, Albus had a hard time concentrating. His every thought was focused on the dementors in Azkaban or his dad's job or the Ministry representatives at Hogwarts. Rose, Amanda, and even Kaden were focusing on their studying. John was playing with his quill. Suddenly, he stood up.

“Kaden?” he asked. “Think now would be a good time?”

Kaden grinned, setting down his book. “Yeah, I think so.”

“We'll see you lot later,” John said as Kaden got up. “Don't ask.”

“That was weird,” Rose said once the two boys left.

“It's probably their prank,” Albus pointed out.

Rose groaned. “They're right. I don't want to know.”

Albus had assumed that this would be a prank that would make itself known right away, as most of John and Kaden's pranks worked that way. But by the next morning things seemed perfectly fine at Hogwarts. The Slytherins' hair was still normal colors and everything seemed calm and quiet. John and Kaden kept grinning at each other, so Albus was sure they'd done something.

It took another full day for things to pick up. Albus first noticed it at breakfast, when some of the Slytherins seemed a bit unsettled. They were squirming in their seats and didn't seem able to sit still. But it was only a few of them.

Albus raised his eyebrows questioningly at John and Kaden.

“Should we tell him?” John asked.

“Oh, I suppose now we could,” Kaden said as he leaned over to Albus. “Itching powder in their laundry. The house-elves are very helpful with pranks.”

Albus started laughing. “Seriously?”

Kaden nodded. “Completely untraceable and the effects won't all come at once. It all depends on when they send their laundry out.”

“That's genius,” Albus said. John and Kaden's pranks were most definitely improving over the years.

“What's genius?”

Albus looked up from his breakfast to see Matt nudging a first year over so that he could sit down in next to John.

“Madam Pomfrey let you out?” Albus asked.

Matt nodded. “Yeah, I think she wanted me to stay longer, but I told her I needed to study. Why are these two geniuses?”

“We did our prank on the Slytherins,” John explained and then lowered his voice. “Itching powder in their laundry. The house-elves helped.”

“Okay, that is pretty awesome,” Matt said. “You won't get caught, either.”

“Nope, it's not likely,” John said. “So, what should we do today?”

“Study.”

Albus looked up once more and saw that this time Rose and Amanda had appeared, both heavily ladened down with books and stacks of parchment. They wore identical looks of determination.

“You're all studying. All day,” Rose continued. “Exams are in a month and none of us are prepared. The election happened, it sucked, but it's over. Nothing can be done. Albus, you've been moping about your dad's job for a week. John, Kaden, I'm determined that you do well this year. Matt, the full moon is over. All four of you are studying from now until exams.”

“Aw, Rose, c'mon-”

“No,” Rose said. “Studying. All of you. Amanda and I are going to get a table in the library and we expect all of you there in fifteen minutes.”

Rose and Amanda left in a flourish of parchment and books, leaving Albus and the other boys to stare at each other open-mouthed. Albus knew his cousin was very academic and placed a high value on her own education, but never before had she staged an intervention for his studying.

“She's lost her mind,” John said. “If she's like this now, what will happen next year for O.W.L.s?”

“Don't say that word!” James shouted from down the table.

“I suppose we haven't got a choice, do we?” Matt asked as he shoved his eggs into his mouth. “Damn, I only just got back.”

That was true, Albus thought. He and his friends quickly finished their breakfast and hurried up to the library, realizing once they arrived that they didn't have any of their books. They ran up to their dormitories to retrieve them and made it to the library five minutes later than Rose insisted they be there.

Rose and Amanda had shoved two tables together and had spread all their books out over them. Madam Pince was sitting behind the circulation desk, looking at them curiously, as if she could not remember a time someone had frequented the library that early. The rest of the tables were deserted.

“What's with the extra chair?” Albus asked as he dumped his books onto the table. “There's only six of us.”

“Oh, that's for Elsie,” Rose said as she set parchment down at each seat.

“As in Elsie Willinson?” Albus replied.

“Yes, that's the only Elsie we know,” Rose said. “She needs help studying and I'm her tutor.”

“But she's Felix Willinson's sister,” John pointed out.

“And she needs help, John,” Rose said with a sigh. “I've been tutoring her all year and I'm not going to stop now.”

Matt nudged John. “It's not a bad thing. Maybe she'll tell us what her brother and Malfoy have been up to all year.”

Albus hadn't thought of that. Of course, Rose hadn't had any luck getting Elsie to talk all year, so chances were slim that he and the other boys would have success.

“Honestly, you lot are far too focused on Malfoy,” Rose said. “You've hardly studied all year. Just sit down and start reviewing Transfiguration. I've made study guides for every subject. You should have them at your spots.”

Albus picked a seat and sat down. Rose was organized to the point of insanity. There were in fact study guides for every subject, organized chronologically, from September until May. Albus was suddenly very grateful for his cousin, despite her obvious insanity. This was going to make studying so much easier.

“Wow, thanks Rose,” Albus said. The rest of the group muttered their agreement.

Rose smiled. “See? It was a good idea. Now, we'll study until lunch and then have a break.”

Lunch was about two hours away. That wasn't too bad. Albus opened his Transfiguration book and settled in with that and the study guide. It took him about a half hour to work through distractions, but soon his mind was only focused on Transfiguration.

Around him, the library quickly filled up. Fifth and seventh years seemed the most frantic about finding tables and searching the stacks, but students from every year and every house were present. Madam Pince spent the morning weaving throughout the tables and looking over everyone's shoulders to make sure they were working on school work. With exams so near, the library was now closed to everyone who wasn't going to revise.

Elsie Willinson showed up a little after eleven. Albus watched as she tentatively made her way over to the table, clearly unsure of studying with so many people. Albus was struck again by how similar she looked to Felix. It always sort of amused Albus when siblings looked so alike, since he didn't really resemble either of his siblings. But Felix and Elsie Willinson were incredibly similar in looks.

Once Rose noticed Elsie, she immediately stood up and beckoned the first year over. Elsie seemed less nervous now that Rose knew she was there, but she still avoided eye contact as she sat down and pulled her books out of her bag. Rose whispered something in her ear and she began reading her charms book.

Albus sighed and returned to his own work. Getting Elsie Willinson to talk was going to be much more difficult than he thought.

***

Rose's revision sessions continued throughout the month of May. Albus didn't like to admit it out loud, but they were incredibly helpful and he wasn't sure he would pass his exams if it weren't for Rose. As the month progressed, the sessions grew both in length and the number of participants. By the end of the first week their study group had grown to include James, Ben, Cedric, and their friend Nathan, who all now feared failing their O.W.L.s.

Albus and James missed a few sessions for Quidditch practice, but as the Quidditch final drew closer, both of them agreed that Quidditch was just as important as studying. Bradley and Heather were becoming more and more anxious about the final, since it would determine whether Gryffindor won the Quidditch Cup. They were currently only a few points behind Ravenclaw and if they pulled off a win in the final, they would most likely win the cup as well.

The match took place a week before O.W.L.s were scheduled to begin and Albus awoke more nervous than he had been for a Quidditch match in ages. The match itself was going to be bittersweet since it would be the last time he played with Heather and Fred as the other Chasers on Gryffindor's team. Next year he'd have two new Chasers and that was going to be incredibly strange.

Albus headed down to breakfast before his friends and encountered a few particularly itchy Slytherins on his way. Giggling to himself and enjoying the fact that John and Kaden's prank was still going on, weeks later, he entered the Great Hall. On his way to the Gryffindor table, he was distracted by the sight of Malfoy, speaking with Felix Willinson, while carrying an overnight bag.

Deciding that breakfast could wait, Albus crept over to the Slytherin table and attempted to crouch down behind a few seventh years. Unfortunately the Great Hall was too loud for proper eavesdropping, and Albus made a vow to always have an Extendable Ear on his person from now on.

Malfoy stepped away from Felix Willinson and turned, allowing Albus to look at his face. He looked terrible. His eyes were red and it looked like he hadn't slept in days. Very strange, Albus thought, as he rose to follow Malfoy out of the room.

Once in the Entrance Hall, Malfoy immediately ran up the staircase, going far too fast for Albus to follow. Albus stood next to the door to the Great Hall thinking about what Malfoy's actions meant.

He was clearly upset about something, but what was it? The overnight bag implied that he was going to be leaving the castle, but why? Albus thought back to the dueling tournament that Malfoy missed. The two incidents must be connected, and it was quite possible that the letter Albus and Amanda saw Malfoy reading months ago was connected as well.

Albus didn't mention Malfoy to his friends when they came down to breakfast a few minutes later. As much as Albus wanted to discuss it with them, he knew that he needed to put it out of his mind for the duration of the match. If there was ever a match for Albus not to be distracted, this was it.

The nerves on the team were palpable as they stood waiting to walk onto the pitch. Fred didn't even give a speech, since everyone knew how important the match was, both to Fred and Heather.

Ravenclaw had a good Quidditch team. They were easily the best team in the school, although most Gryffindors would disagree. But the Gryffindor team was determined in this match, causing them to play fiercer than ever before.

Albus flew faster than he ever had before. He, Fred, and Heather had always worked very well together, but during this match it almost seemed like they were one entity, sharing one brain. Albus's entire mind was focused on Quidditch and Quidditch only. Gone were the thoughts of his dad's job, Laurentis, and Malfoy.

The match only lasted an hour. Albus hadn't even realized that James caught the Snitch until the whistle was blown. Gryffindor won 420-260, their best win yet that year.

“We did it!” Fred shouted as he landed. “We've won the Cup!”

Albus couldn't even hear the commentary over the thunderous applause of the spectators. Professor Longbottom was holding the Quidditch Cup high over his head and was making his way through the crowd to Fred. Fred took the Cup and held it out to Heather. Each held one side and raised it up. The Gryffindors were storming the pitch and Albus was sept up in the crowd, making it difficult to reach his team. Once he did, somebody snapped their picture.

Albus was the happiest he'd felt in weeks, ever since his team won the Dueling Tournament. It was his third year on the Quidditch team and they finally won the Cup. But he was even more happy for Fred and Heather than he was for himself since they'd both been on the team since their second year and had never won the Cup.

Heather had tears streaming down her face and Fred was grinning wider than Albus had ever seen him. While neither of them were pursuing a career in Quidditch, Quidditch had been their lives for the past six years. Winning the Cup in their seventh year seemed more poignant than it would have winning it any other year. Albus hoped that Gryffindor's team was still as good as it was now when he got to seventh year. Winning again in his last year would be the best feeling in the world.

***

“Malfoy really did leave the castle,” Amanda announced at breakfast the next day.

“How did you find that out?” Albus asked.

“Weirdly enough, Moaning Myrtle.”

“How would she know?”

“I've no idea,” Amanda said as she grabbed a few slices of toast. “I didn't ask.”

“Well, I just found out why he left,” Rose said as she set down the Prophet. “His grandfather passed away.”

“As in Lucius Malfoy?” Albus said, taking the paper. “The ex-Death Eater?”

“One in the same,” Rose said. “His obituary is in there.”

“Why were you reading the obituaries?” Matt asked.

“I wasn't trying to. I was flipping through and happened to see it. It says he's been ill for a while,” Rose explained.

“That explains why he's been acting so odd all year,” Amanda said.

“And that howler he got months ago,” Kaden added.

Albus glanced at the obituary but didn't read it. As much as he disliked Malfoy, he couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Albus couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose his grandfather, and despite Lucius Malfoy's obvious faults, he was still Scorpius's grandfather.

“I feel sort of bad for yelling at him about skipping that dueling tournament,” Albus muttered.

“You didn't know,” John said. “And it's not like he explained.”

“Isn't anyone else a bit preoccupied with the fact that Moaning Myrtle knew about him leaving the castle?” Matt asked. “She never leaves her loo. We saw Malfoy going into her loo a few weeks ago. Doesn't that seem a bit too coincidental?”

“You think he's gotten chummy with Moaning Myrtle?” Albus asked.

Matt shrugged. “It looks like he has. Why else would she know about it?”

“But why would he go into a girl's loo?” John asked, wrinkling his nose. “That's just bloody insane.”

“Sounds like we need to pay a visit to Myrtle,” Albus said.

Rose groaned. “Really, Al? He just lost his grandfather for God's sake.”

“We're not going to bother Malfoy,” Albus said. “We're just going to talk to Myrtle.”

“Count me out,” Rose said, shaking her head.

“But you're a girl,” Albus pointed out. “You could get in there so much easier. Amanda?”

“Sorry, Albus, but I've really got to study,” Amanda said.

“We'll go at night, then,” Albus decided. “John, Kaden, Matt? Which of you is going with me?”

“Not me,” Matt said immediately.

“I'll go,” John said.

“You're both mad,” Rose said quietly. “Mad.”

Albus may have been mad, but he couldn't let this mystery go. His gut was telling him that Malfoy was up to something, despite his grandfather's passing, and Albus was determined to find out what it was.

Chapter 35: The Chamber of Secrets

The plan to talk to Myrtle in the dead of night may have been a plan that belonged solely to Albus and John, but Rose still had somewhat of a say over when it happened. Exams were now only a week away and Rose was only giving them one night off, for rest and clearing stress from the mind. Neither Albus or John dared cross Rose and skip out on revision, which took place in the library until curfew and then in the common room until they all went to bed.

Their one night off occurred the night before their first exam. O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s had been going on for a full week, but none of the fifth or seventh years were taking any nights off, including James. Despite Rose's insistence that he take a night off, James insisted upon studying. It was quite a switch.

Albus and John spent the evening playing chess with Kaden. Matt had turned in early, still tired from the full moon, which had taken place two days earlier. Rose and Amanda had disappeared into their dormitory, clearly set upon having some time away from the boys.

The common room emptied as the night progressed, and eventually John and Albus were the only ones left. It hadn't taken long since most people went to bed early because of exams. It was probably fairly stupid of Albus and John to stay up so late, but neither of them cared.

They waited an additional fifteen minutes in case somebody decided to return to the common room, but no one did. Albus glanced at John and then pulled the Invisibility Cloak and the Marauder's Map out of his bag. He carefully unfolded the map and set it out on the table. The coast was clear.

Albus and John stumbled out of the portrait hole and once they righted themselves, Albus threw the Cloak over them, under the Fat Lady's stern gaze.

“Don't expect me to let you in when you return,” she said. “I'm quite exhausted.”

The Fat Lady was always threatening this but she never seemed to make good on any of her threats. Ignoring her, Albus and John set off along the corridor. John led the way while Albus kept his eyes glued to the Map, but the corridors remained empty. It seemed everyone, both students and professors, were getting a good night's rest before exams. Everyone that is, except for Albus and John.

Moaning Myrtle was the only occupant of the second floor girl's lavatory. John quietly pushed the door open and Albus followed him in. Once inside, Albus pulled the Cloak off and held it under is right arm.

“Myrtle?” John shouted as he stepped into the room.

A splashing sound came from the last stall and then Myrtle's ghostly form floated through the closed stall door. “Boys? Why don't you go use your own-” Myrtle cut herself off with a giggle. She floated toward Albus and John and rested on the sinks. “Oh, it's you. Albus Potter. And his friend John. Where's Matt? I rather fancy him....”

“He, er, wasn't feeling well,” Albus said, hoping that Matt's absence wouldn't put Myrtle off from talking to them.

On the contrary, Myrtle's face lit up. “Oh my! I've been feeling rather awful today myself. It's a side effect of dying, you know.”

Albus didn't think dying had any side effects other than dying and had always assumed being a ghost wouldn't be painful, but Myrtle was very odd.

“But why are you here?” Myrtle asked. “You never visit me unless you're in detention. It's rather disappointing. No one ever thinks to visit poor Myrtle. Oh, Myrtle's dead, they think, so she doesn't need any visitors. Myrtle doesn't need any friends! All because she's dead!”

“No, Myrtle, that isn't it at all,” Albus said quickly. “It's just, you live in a girl's loo. We can only visit you now, in the middle of the night.”

Myrtle let out a loud sigh. “I suppose. You aren't the only boys who talk to me, you know. Some of them even dare come during the day. I suppose they're a bit braver than you are, which is odd since they aren't Gryffindors.”

Albus glanced at John. Maybe this was going to be easier than he thought. Myrtle probably didn't have any loyalties to Scorpius Malfoy.

“Which boys?” Albus asked carefully, taking a step closer to Myrtle.

“I only know one of their names,” Myrtle said with a giggle. “I know his name because his father used to come and talk to me when he was in school. But his son isn't quite as talkative and he didn't seem to care at all about me or my death. He only wanted to know about the Chamber of Secrets-”

“The Chamber of Secrets?” Albus exclaimed. “Scorpius Malfoy wanted to know about the Chamber of Secrets?”

Myrtle brightened. “Oh, you know him, too! Yes, he did. He wanted to know exactly where the entrance was. He'd already done quite a bit of research on it in the library. Rather odd, I thought, for a Slytherin, spending so much time in the library, but not in a bad way. But yes, he came in and asked me about the Chamber and I told him about my death and he didn't quite understand the connection at first. So I showed him the entrance and told him that he had to speak like a snake to get in but he couldn't figure it out.”

“He tried to speak Parseltongue?” Albus asked.

Myrtle nodded. “Sounded awful. Your dad was much better at it. Even that freckled boy managed to figure it out during the Battle of Hogwarts, but Scorpius Malfoy was truly awful at it. That's when I met the other boy. Scorpius left and came back a few days later with this other boy. He showed him the entrance and then they started talking about this girl named Elsie and the other boy thought that she would be able to open the Chamber.”

“And when was this?” Albus asked. The other boy must have been Felix Willinson.

“Two weeks ago, maybe?” Myrtle said. “Do you know why he wanted to get into the Chamber of Secrets? He refused to tell me.”

“No,” Albus said, shaking his head. “We want to know, too.”

“Well,” Myrtle began as she floated up to the ceiling. “Please tell me when you find out. And next time, make sure that Matt comes to visit, too.”

“Er, sure,” Albus muttered. “Is there anything else you know about Malfoy?”

“No,” Myrtle said. “You're going to leave now, aren't you?”

“Yeah,” Albus said. “Exams tomorrow.”

Albus threw the Cloak back over himself and John and they left. On the way back Albus explained the Chamber of Secrets to John, who only knew the place by name. By the time they returned to the common room John was just as shocked as Albus was about why Malfoy seemed to want to get into the Chamber of Secrets.

“Do you think Elsie Willinson can speak Parseltongue?” John asked as they climbed through the portrait hole (the Fat Lady had not refused them entry).

“I don't know,” Albus said. “It's very rare. I think we're going to have to ask Rose.”

“Bet she'll love that, in the middle of exams,” John said with a laugh.

***

“Of course I have no idea if Elsie Willinson is a Parselmouth!” Rose exclaimed the next day during their lunch break in between exams. Albus had just finished explaining what Myrtle had told them last night, as well as explaining the Chamber of Secrets for Matt, Amanda, and Kaden's sake.

“Are you sure she hasn't mentioned anything?” Albus pressed.

“Positive! And honestly, Albus, you need to get this out of your mind. It's exam week. It's not the time to be focusing on Malfoy. Whatever he does, it really doesn't affect you.”

Albus knew that, but it didn't do a thing for his curiosity. The fact remained that Malfoy was acting oddly, and if Felix Willinson was involved, it couldn't be anything good.

“They're up to something, Rose,” Albus said. “I'm telling you.”

Rose groaned. “Albus, I don't care.”

“Oi, Albus!” James shouted as he jogged over to Albus's seat. “Did you see the Prophet this morning?”

“No,” Albus replied. He, Matt, and John had both slept too late to have breakfast before their first exam.

James slapped a copy down on the table in front of Albus. “That bloke, Robert Johnson? The one who took Dad's place? He's revamped the entire department, claiming that they're going to have a 99% capture rate.”

“99%?” Albus repeated as he looked at the paper. “That's crazy.”

JOHNSON REVAMPS AUROR DEPARTMENT

Newly appointed Head Auror, Robert
Johnson, has spent the past month
revamping and reorganizing the Auror
Department. Johnson has rewritten
rules and regulations for the department
as well as reorganized how Aurors
work together. All Aurors have
attended workshops over the past month
to familiarize themselves with the
new rules and policies.

'The hope is that we will be able to
capture criminals faster and easier,'
Johnson said. 'The department has
been disorganized for years and this
has resulted in many criminals going
free for far longer than they should.
Between the new Auror Department policies
and the reinstatement of the dementors
in Azkaban, we should be able to capture
more criminals and keep them where they
belong- behind bars.'

While Johnson did not go into specifics
of the policies and rules, stating that
these are sealed documents, he assured
the wizarding public that they have
helped to streamline the department.
'With these new policies I don't see why
we shouldn't have a 99% capture rate
within a year.'

“What does that even mean, 99% capture rate?” Albus asked after setting the paper down.

“No idea,” James said. “But I thought you'd want to see it. I've got to go. Transfiguration practical this afternoon and I need to practice.”

“I wish they'd say what the changes actually were,” Albus said as his brother left.

“They can't,” Rose said. “The paper is right about that.”

“It's not like the department was awful when Dad was in charge,” Albus continued. “He captured Greyback, didn't he?”

“I think Laurentis is crediting Matt's dad with that,” Rose commented. “As much as it was both of them.”

“That's not fair,” Matt said.

“No, it's not,” Rose said as she glanced at her watch. “We'd better get going. History of Magic exam.”

Albus found it incredibly difficult to focus on his History of Magic exam, and while he was fairly sure he passed it, he knew he hadn't done well. There was just too much to focus on. Between Malfoy and the Auror Department, the last things Albus wanted to think about were goblin rebellions and giant wars.

Later that night Rose held another study session in the library. Albus managed to sit next to Elsie Willinson, who ignored him completely. Albus spent more time staring at the Marauder's Map and figuring out the best way to bring up the topic of speaking Parseltongue with Elsie than any actual studying, but Rose didn't seem to notice.

The following two days were nearly identical to the first day of exams, with the exception of the subjects they were tested on. Exam in the morning, lunch, exam in the afternoon, studying, dinner, then more studying. The monotony was starting to get on Albus's nerves, but they were only halfway through exam week.

Elsie Willinson didn't show up to the study session Wednesday evening. Albus was disappointed since he was finally going to bring up the topic of speaking Parseltongue with her, no matter how effective it would be. Instead, he looked over his Potions notes while glancing at the Marauder's Map every so often.

“Albus, what exactly are you looking for?” Rose asked.

Albus didn't really want to say because he knew Rose would just roll her eyes, but he also knew she wouldn't let go of the subject until he explained. “Malfoy. He's going to go back to the girl's loo, and when he does, I want to follow him.”

“That would be stupid,” Rose said. “Look at the past three years. You've gotten yourself involved with something stupid at the end of every year. Following Malfoy would just be asking for trouble.”

Rose had a point, Albus knew, but he didn't care. “It's just Malfoy. He's not going to kidnap me.”

“Famous last words,” Rose muttered. “He's probably just in his common room.”

Albus checked the Map. Malfoy's dot was definitely not in the common room. Albus's heart sped up as he checked the rest of the Map. It took him a while, but then he spotted Malfoy's dot, making its way down the second floor corridor. He was accompanied by none other than Felix and Elsie Willinson.

“He's going,” Albus said. “And he's got Felix and Elsie with him. I'm following him and you can't stop me.”

Rose groaned. “Albus, don't-”

Albus ignored her and turned to the rest of his friends. “Are any of you coming with me?”

“I am.” Albus was shocked to see that the voice belonged to Amanda. Usually Amanda agreed with Rose.

“Amanda, really?” Rose asked.

Amanda shrugged. “I want a break from studying and I'm just as curious as Albus is.”

“Count me out,” Matt muttered, turning red. “I'm not going anywhere near Myrtle.”

“She asked about you last time,” John said with a grin.

Matt turned even redder. “I'd rather not know that.”

“We're in,” John said, speaking for himself and Kaden.

“You've got an hour,” Rose said. “If you're not back by then I'm sending Professor Longbottom after you.”

“We'll be back,” Albus said as he stood up. As if to further convince Rose of this, he left his books sitting on the table. John, Kaden, and Amanda did the same.

Albus didn't bother with the Invisibility Cloak since it wasn't past curfew. They'd just have to lurk near the loo until the coast was clear and sneak in when no one was looking. All they needed was the Map for that.

The corridors were unusually empty and Albus attributed it to the fact that most of his fellow students were doing some last minute revision before the next day's exams. It certainly made it easier to sneak into a girl's loo.

Albus watched the Map as they went and Malfoy and both Willinsons' dots entered Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. They remained there for only a few minutes, and then disappeared off the Map.

“They must've gotten into the Chamber of Secrets,” Albus explained. “I bet the Marauders didn't know about it so they couldn't have put it on the Map.”

It took another five minutes for Albus, John, Kaden, and Amanda to get to the loo. Once there Albus burst the door open and ran inside. He stopped short in front of the sinks.

One of the sinks was gone, having sunk into the floor. In its place was a large, pitch black hole. Myrtle was floating above it, her eyes bright.

“They did it,” Myrtle said excitedly. “Are you going to follow them?”

“I guess this answers the question of whether Elsie Willinson can speak snake,” John said.

“Is Matt ill again?” Myrtle asked.

“Er, yeah,” Albus said.

“He's ill an awful lot of the time,” Myrtle said. “Tell him to come see me when he's better.”

“Sure,” Albus said as he crept closer to the hole. “I'm going down there. You three are welcome to join me.” Albus was determined. He'd come this far and he wasn't going to stop now. He needed to figure out what was going on.

“Is it a far drop?” Amanda asked hesitantly.

“I think it's more of a slide,” Albus said. “That's what my dad said, anyway.”

“There isn't a basilisk in there, is there?” John asked.

“No,” Albus said. “It's dead.”

“Then I'm in,” John said.

“Me, too,” Amanda agreed.

“I'd go down there even if there was a basilisk in there,” Kaden said. “I'll go first, if you want.”

“Be my guest,” Albus said, gesturing to the hole.

“If you die, you can live here,” Myrtle said, giggling. “I told Scorpius that and he told me that was another reason why he can't die down there. I don't think he likes me.”

Albus ignored Myrtle and stepped aside so Kaden could jump into the hole. Kaden did so without a second glance.

“Are you okay?” Albus asked once he heard a thud.

“Yeah, I'm fine!” Kaden shouted back.

Neither John or Amanda seemed inclined to go next, so Albus stepped to the very edge of the hole and looked down. He couldn't see a thing. Deciding that it was better to just do it and not think too hard, he took a deep breath and jumped.

His dad had been right about it being more of a slide than a drop down. The hole was more of a sloping pipe and it wasn't a bad slide at all. Soon, Albus landed at the bottom and saw Kaden, who had lit his wand.

Albus lit his own wand and took a look around. The place was very wet and it smelled awful. The walls were dripping with murky water and the floor was covered in rock, mud, and what looked like old snake skin.

“I think we're near the lake,” Albus said, nodding to the dripping water.

There was a whooshing noise behind Albus and something crashed into him, knocking him over. Albus let out a scream and turned to see it was only John, who hadn't landed gracefully.

“Sorry,” John muttered as he lit his own wand. There was now enough wand light to see clearly. The place was creepy. That was the only word for it.

Amanda landed without knocking anyone over and lit her wand. Albus and Kaden waited for John and Amanda to take a look around.

“What do we do now?” Kaden asked.

“Does anyone hear anything?” Albus asked. It seemed dead silent to Albus.

John shook his head. “Matt should've come. We need his werewolf hearing.”

Albus nodded in agreement. “I guess we just follow the pipe. It looks like it only goes one way.”

The others agreed. Albus led the way, his wand pointed in front of him, and they set off. No one spoke. No one made any noise whatsoever. Albus had his ears poised to hear even the quietest noise, hoping to hear some clue as to where Malfoy and the others had gone.

Ihey walked for what felt like miles before they heard even the faintest of noise. Albus noticed numerous snake skins and the bones from decades-old animals. Then, just when Albus had a feeling they were reaching the end of the passage, he heard a voice, clearly, as if it was right next to him.

“Albus Potter. Well, well, isn't this a pleasant surprise.”

Albus recognized the voice. It was Jarrett Willinson.