Albus Potter found himself in the Headmistress, Professor Grubbly-Planks, office, and by the look of her expression, she was not pleased to see him sitting in front of her. Her gaze scowled at the youngest Potter male. In all of the years at Hogwarts, such a stunt was never pulled off by a thirteen year old boy. Professor Grubbly-Plank glared at him through her square spectacles, her hands folded on the desk. A quill was writing on a sheet of parchment right next to her, zooming back and forth all by itself. Albus was looking at the desk; the silence itself was murder for his brain. He bit his bottom lip as he waited to hear what the headmistress had to say.
"Mr. Potter, I don't think you realize the seriousness for what you have done," she said, her voice was firm as she looked at him. "You could have seriously injured those students and the teachers with your fireworks display. Don't even get me started about the damages done to the tables and floors."
Albus continued to look at the desk, not wanting to meet the Headmistresses eyes as she spoke. He knew very well he did wrong.
"Do you even care about what you did?" she asked, Albus didn't respond, he just sat there. "Your parents will receive a letter about your actions today. Two hundred point's will be deducted from Gryffindor house—" Albus looked up at her, his eyes wide.
"Two hundred?" he asked, his green eyes wide with shock.
"Yes Mr. Potter two hundred points will be deducted from your house," she said sternly, but she didn't yell or raise her voice. "Your behavior was uncalled for. You should be expelled…"
Albus looked up at her; he didn't want to be expelled from Hogwarts. He didn't want his wand snapped, besides, his family would never let him live it down, on the upside; he will be viewed by his parents more often. At her words, Albus could feel his heart beat rise, feeling his nerves bundle, making his palms sweaty.
"… But I am not going to expel you," she said, and huge wave of relief washed over him. "You will be receiving detention from here until the Holidays."
Albus's eyes widened, did she say from here until the Holidays? That was a month away! No way on earth could he do that much detention? It was unfair, it was simply unjust.
"But Professor—"
"No buts Potter," she said, talking over him. "You are lucky that you are not being expelled. Even with your record you should be—"
"But the holidays is a month away," he said, standing up in his chair. At thirteen, Albus was a scrawny boy, his hair was brown and short, with eyes that matched his father and grandmother. He didn't look very intimidating when you first looked at him, but with his temper he could pack a punch, not even the Slytherin seventh years would cross him. He considered himself as a tough guy.
"Exactly Potter," she said, looking at him. "It also means that your Hogsmead visits are also revoked."
Albus's jaw dropped, his spirits sunk lower at that comment. He had only visited the all-wizard village once, and Albus loved it, and now that was being taken away from his grip right before his eyes.
"You are also being placed on school probation," she said. "You are not allowed to leave the Common Room past curfew, you will not get into any fights with any other student, basically any rule breaking activities or you will face suspension from school. Do I make myself clear?"
Albus sunk back into the chair. How could the day get any worse? But he nodded his head none of the less.
"Yes ma'am," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. He couldn't believe this was happening to him. He thought he covered his tracks with the fireworks, he should have known not to trust that first year.
"You will report to your head of house Professor Longbottom at seven tonight, and for each Saturday morning at eleven in the morning. You are dismissed."
Albus stood up and he walked out of the office, using his full force of restraint not to slam the door as loud as possible. He had lost two hundred points for Gryffindor, being given detention from here until the winter holidays, his Hogsmead trips revoked, and to top it all off, he was put on probation. Oh what a day he was having.
Albus walked down the hall, not meeting anyone's eye as he walked past them, he was sure that the other Gryffindors would notice the large point deduction. In his mind, he had one place that he wanted to go to—and that was the court yard. His mind wondered as he walked, he now knew that he should have done things differently, like not use a first year to help. That was a big mistake and he knew it now, he reminded himself to make sure the kid never—
Albus paused; there was the first year boy. Walking down the hall by himself. Too bad the kid saw Albus first because the kid froze as Albus stood in front of him. Albus was a good two heads taller than the first year, making him look up at the third year boy. Albus glared at the kid, and in the back of his mind, a voice was telling him not to do anything stupid.
"Decided to rat me out did you?" he asked, the first year's face paled quickly as if he saw a ghost for the first time. The kid shook his head, Albus crouched down so he was eyelevel to the first year. "I don't believe you." The kid swallowed hard.
"N-n-no, I-I d-d-didn't say anything," the first year said, his brown eyes was full of fear.
"Oh really?" Albus said, his voice ran smoothly like venom.
"Y-yes," the first year responded. Albus could sense the fear radiating off the first year.
"I am going to believe you this once," Albus said, and he watched the first year look at him, a look of confusion was written on his face. "Now get out of my face before I change my—"
"Albus!" said the voice of James Potter. Albus stood up straight, not looking at the first year who was now running away from him. Albus looked at James, who was now standing a few feet away from him now. "What were you doing with that first year?" James looked at Albus with curiosity.
"Nothing," Albus said. "He was asking me something. Is that a crime?"
James looked at Albus, not buying what he was saying. Everyone at school knew Albus Potter and his reputation as being a tough guy, and it was a reputation that Albus kept in check. It was a reason that no one ever crossed him.
"Oh sure Al," James said, his voice was dripping with sarcasm. "I think the entire school knows how nice you are. How you help the first years out so willingly."
Albus rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Does it really matter James?" he asked. He didn't feel like explaining anything to James at the very moment. What he wanted to do was be by himself for a while.
"Of course it matters," James said. "Do you have anything to do with how Gryffindor lost over a hundred points? Or how about that firework display? I like fireworks just as much as the next guy, but that was just plain out of—"
"Oh please James, everyone knows how you and Fred like playing jokes," Albus said. "For what everyone knows, that could have been you're doing."
"My doing?" James said, feeling offended. "Fred and I have never set one off to where people can get hurt. No, that was you're doing, not mine."
Albus didn't feel like arguing at the very moment, he was already riled up from getting in trouble with Headmistress, and he had no desire to get into even more trouble.
"Look James, I don't bloody care at the moment," Albus said, doing his best not to yell. "If you don't mind, I would like to get some peace."
And with that said, Albus turned around and walked away from James. He wanted to be away from everyone—at least until it was time for his detention that night.
…
It was the next morning in the Great Hall, and Albus Potter was eating some bacon. Albus had served his first detention last night with Professor Longbottom and Albus had to admit that it could have gone a lot worse. As Albus sat there, he was wondering how his parents were going to handle this. Did they even notice that he got in touble? Would they just ignore the letter entirely from the school?
But Albus received the answer quickly when the family owl landed right in front of him. Albus looked up, and the owl held its leg out, its eyes were looking at him as if it knew what was coming. Tied to the owl's leg was a scarlet envelop with smoke seeping out of it.
"Woah! You got a howler," said James who was sitting nearby, who also recognized the owl and scarlet envelope.
Albus untied it; his nerves were surprisingly calm as he untied the letter from the owl's leg. Before he could do anything else, the letter itself split open, letting out a cloud of smoke.
"ALBUS SEVERUS POTTER!" shrieked the voice of Ginny Potter, the once loud Great Hall was now silent to Albus's ears. For Albus, only Ginny Potter was the one who frightened him the most. "YOU SET OFF FIRECRACKERS IN THE GREAT HALL! CAUSING DAMAGES TO THE TABLES! ALMOST SEVERELY INJURING STUDENTS AND TEACHERS BOTH! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING YOUNG MAN?" Albus looked at the howler, he felt heat rise to his cheeks, he was pretty sure that his cheeks were scarlet red now. This howler had to be one of the most embarrassing moments of his young life so far. "YOU JUST WAIT TILL YOU GET HOME MISTER! IF YOUR FATHER AND I RECEIVE ONE MORE LETTER ABOUT YOUR BEHAVIOR WE WILL SEND YOU STRAIGHT HOME!"
The letter then burst into flames, its ashes landed on the table, and disappeared just as they landed. Albus could feel his heart still beating rapidly against his chest. He could feel all the eyes of the Great Hall looking at him now. Albus looked at the spot on the table where the ashes of the howler have disappeared.
"You can't say that mum and dad didn't notice" James's voice echoed through his brain. Albus had no idea how much time past since the howler when he felt someone shake his shoulder. Albus looked over to see James was now sitting next to him. How long had James been sitting there? He thought to himself.
"Hey bro you ok?" James asked, and Albus was surprised to see a look of concern etched on his face. Albus looked away from James, quickly analyzing that everyone was still in the Great Hall. So Albus guessed that he had zoned out for a few seconds up to five minutes.
"I'm fine James," Albus said, he wasn't feeling hungry anymore, and the voice of his brother was quit irritating at that particular moment.
"No you're not" James said, Albus eyed his brother. "I know when your fine, besides, if you are ok then you would have pushed me off this bench and tell me to kiss a dragons ass by now."
"Don't give me ideas," Albus said with a smirk.
"Are you ok?" James repeated. Albus shrugged in response. Truth was, he had no clue what he was feeling right now.
"Damn howlers," Albus said with a small laugh. "I got noticed by them, so I guess that's a good thing."
James looked at Albus with a cocked brow. Albus caught the movement.
"Oh come on James, mum and dad never notice me unless I get written up here," Albus said.
"So you make other people's lives hell just to be recognized by mum and dad?" James asked. His brain wrapping around his younger brothers concept.
"No, that is just a bonus," Albus said, shrugging at the end of his sentence.
"Then why do it?" James asked.
"Why do you and Fred pull pranks?" Albus said, looking forward at the opposite wall. James didn't answer, leaving a few second pause. "I do it because I can. It takes my mind off things."
"Like what?" James asked, trying to sound interested in his brother's life.
"The divorce I guess," Albus said, looking down at the table again. Albus could still remember the very day that his parents divorced. He was only eight when his mum left and they officially divorced when he was ten. He felt vulnerable when it happened and he felt like no one understood him, It was at that moment that he told himself that he would never feel vulnerable again. "Why am I telling you this anyway?"
James knew that cue, he could hear it in Albus's voice, and he scooted over a foot, holding his hands up in surrender. "I just asked a question, you're the one giving out the information." Albus looked back down at the table. "I didn't like the divorce either bro… it just happened, it wasn't our fault. Dad said—"
Albus snorted. "Atleast dad talked to you," Albus said. "He didn't say anything to me about it about it. Just that he and mum were getting a divorce."
Albus could feel his eyes tear up; he shut his eyes and shook his head to stop himself from showing emotion.
AN: this is my first fanfic, please tell me what you think.