Prologue
Harry Potter sighed as he finished reading the front page article from the Daily Prophet on November the twenty-second:
Ninth Newborn to Magic Couple Stolen
The newborn daughter to new Hogwarts Herbology professor Neville Longbottom and new Hogwarts Transfiguration professor Luna Lovegood, Longbottom's wife, was stolen at 7:45 P.M. last night from St. Mungo's Hospital. According to Longbottom; the baby, named Cecilia Alice Longbottom, has a little bit of dishwater blonde hair like her mother, a round face like her father, and blue-green eyes. This kidnapping marks the ninth newborn of magic stolen; the others being Mathieu Finnigan, Rachel Keystone, Bryce Dracora, Brittany Eggson, Trystin Flynn, Rebecca Poer, Veronica Greenwick, and Nichole Crown. All of the babies were stolen the night after their birth. Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley, two Aurors from the Ministry of Magic's Auror Office, are on the case. Potter's son, Albus Severus Potter, is two months old and Weasley's wife, Hermonie Weasley, is expecting a child soon. The Ministry's Auror office is working hard to find the perpetrator(s) who is responsible for the kidnappings. Reported by Rita Skeeter
Harry ran his hand through his messy black hair. His green eyes scanned down the front page of the paper for any other big news that would concern him, but didn't find anything. Harry looked sadly at the moving picture of his friend Neville with his arm around his wife as they looked at an empty cradle. Ginny, Harry's red-haired wife, walked into the room, holding a baby in one arm and the other being tugged on by a two-year-old boy. "Poor Neville, poor Luna," Ginny said, glancing at the article, "I still can't believe they let that woman become a reporter again."
"I can't either, but oh well, at least she isn't telling lies. I heard Neville tell that exact description to Skeeter while I was at the crime scene with Ron," Harry said, hugging his wife and two-month-old son. His two-year-old son, James Sirius Potter, was still pulling on Ginny's arm. Harry picked James up, much to the protest of his son. Teddy, Harry and Ginny's adopted, half-werewolf, eight year old, and the son of Nymphadora Tonks and Remus Lupin, was playing with a toy snitch in the living room. Picking up his son, Harry glanced at his watch, a navy blue faced watch with two hands that look like two wands, and saw that the time was ten to eight A.M. "Oh, I need to go, or I'll be late. Good luck on getting an interview with…who was it this week?" Harry said, looking at Ginny.
"The newly made the captain of the Appleby Arrows, Oliver Wood," Ginny said, looking happier with every word she said.
"That's great! Can you tell him hi for me?" Harry said, grinning. Ginny smiled.
"I was planning on writing it into the letter I was going to send Wood, asking him about an interview," Ginny said, "You better Apparate to work now."
"Almost forgot, thanks Ginny," Harry said. He kissed Ginny quickly on the cheek, then Apparated to his office in the Ministry of Magic, thinking about Neville and Luna.
Chapter 1
"Bye, Albus! Have fun at Hogwarts!" Albus's mother yelled, waving at him. Albus closed the window to the almost empty compartment he was in with his cousin, Rose, with wavy red Weasley hair and blue eyes. Albus had black hair and was the only one of his siblings who inherited his grandmother's green eyes. Albus and his cousin each sat down onto the green benches on each side of the small compartment.
"So, Al, which house do you want to go into?" Rose asked, grabbing her owl, Pigwidgeon Jr.'s, cage, the tiny tawny flapping around the cage excitedly.
"Isn't it obvious? Gryffindor!" Albus replied, excitement in his voice.
"Are you sure? My mom says that all the houses are great, not just Gryffindor," Rose said, sweeping a stray strand of red hair out of her face, while also throwing a sweatshirt over Pigwidegon Jr.'s cage. "Will you shut up, Pig!" Rose yelled at her owl. Rose rolled her eyes at her owl, which changed quickly into a glare toward Albus who was grinning at the scene.
"Well, if you don't go into Gryffindor, what do you think is the next best thing?" Albus asked Rose.
"I thought Ravenclaw wouldn't be that bad, my mum was almost put into Ravenclaw," Rose said, sitting a little straighter, "How about you, Albus?"
Albus leaned back on the back of his bench. Albus hadn't given it much thought; he did have nightmares about being put into one of the houses, Slytherin. Slytherin produced more dark wizards than the other houses combined, including the worst one, Voldermort. Albus shuddered; his father was the one who finally killed Voldemort in the final battle at Hogwarts. Albus heard a bell tinkling; the snack cart must have been making its rounds.
"Oh, I hear the snack cart! Albus, are you going to get something?" Rose said.
"Probably," Albus replied, at once knowing where the conversation was going.
"Could you get me a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, please? I'll pay you back however much it costs," Rose asked.
"Sure, could you watch Amber?" Albus replied, starting to dig around in his pair of Muggle jeans right front pocket for his money bag of five galleons and looking at his female barn owl.
"I'd be happy to!" Rose said, a smile starting to stretch across her face. Albus found his money bag and stood up and open the glass compartment door into a long hallway that went from each end of the train car. Albus looked to the left and right and heard a bell tinkling to his left as saw the snack cart and snack cart lady about two meters away. Albus started walking toward the cart when he bumped into a white-blonde haired boy with his black Hogwarts robes already on. "Hey!" The boy said, "Watch where you're…"
The boy was in mid-sentence when he saw who he was talking to and froze as if he had been hit with the spell Immobulus. The blonde boy then quickly squeezed past Albus then ran down the aisle into a compartment near the end of the train car. Albus shook off the weird moment and continued to the snack car, which was now only four feet (about 1.2 meters) away. One the way, he looked into a random compartment and saw that it was full to the brim with seven first-year students, talking is hushed voices. When he got to the snack cart, Albus bought five Cauldron Cakes and two boxes of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. When Albus arrived back at his compartment, Rose was talking animatedly, with her Hogwarts robes on, with a boy with spikey brown hair, blue-gray eyes, a few freckles, and was wearing blank Hogwarts robes, indicating that he was another first year. "Albus, you're back. When you were gone, I invited Garrett here into our compartment. He's really nice, and funny. He loves Uncle George's joke shop, too," Rose said when Albus opened up the compartment door. The boy, apparently named Garrett, stood up and stuck out his hand to Albus. Albus and Garrett shook hands while Garrett said excitedly, "I'm Garrett, like Rose told you. You must be Albus; Rose was saying that she was sitting with you. Gosh, I feel like such a pile of flobberworms, I'm sorry!"
Albus smiled, he liked Garrett already. "You're fine, Garrett. I get your reaction a lot," Albus said calmly, "Sit back down, I bought some Cauldron Cakes, a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans for Rose, and one for myself that I would be happy to share with you, Garrett."
The rest of the train ride to Hogwarts was mainly talking and joking with Garrett. Albus had a feeling that this year was heading in a good direction. Albus put on his Hogwarts robes and saw that they were at Hogwarts, an extremely large castle with lots of towers and a good number of dungeons, where some of them were converted into classrooms. The castle itself was tan and the roof was emerald. When Albus, Rose, and Garrett got off the train, they heard a booming, and familiar, voice say, "Firs' 'ears, this 'ay."
Albus looked up to see a big family friend, literally. Hagrid was half-giant and was at least three as tall as Albus. Hagrid had dark twinkling eyes, gray, black, and white, as well as bushy, hair, a beard that trailed down to the top Hagrid's large chest that matched his hair, and was wearing a mole-skin overcoat. Albus and Rose smiled when they saw Hagrid, but Garrett did just about the opposite. When Garrett saw Hagrid, he dropped his tawny owl in its cage and hid behind Albus and Rose, which made Albus, Rose, and Hagrid burst out laughing. Albus knew that Hagrid would never hurt a fly, but would cherish it and help it raise a family. Albus and Rose walked up to Hagrid and hugged Hagrid slightly since he was almost family. "So, hewer's yer new fren, Albus?" Hagrid asked Albus, while pointing at the Garrett who was now shaking like a leaf.
"This is Garrett, Hagrid," Albus replied while holding Garrett to try to stop his shaking.
"Well, Gerrut, you look nice enough," Hagrid said, squeezing Garrett's right shoulder softly. Garrett at least stopped shaking from Hagrid's gesture, but still shot Hagrid odd looks as Albus, Garrett, Rose, and the other first years made their way to the Black Lake to go to Hogwarts. Albus, Garrett, and Rose all got into one boat and started floating across the dark lake. Albus looked at the castle; since it was late, all of the windows were glowing with yellow lights. Albus was now awed by how large the castle was. Albus, Rose, and the other wizards and witches of Britain came every year to Hogwarts to hear the Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shaklebolt, give a speech by Albus Dumbledore's tomb about those who lost their lives during the first and second wars against Voldemort and his Death Eaters, all who received the Dementor's Kiss-except for Draco Malfoy. They declared Draco Malfoy was threatened to do things to protect his father, Lucius.
Apparently when Albus was two and his younger sister, Lily, was a newborn; James and Fred freaked out because that two of the dead listed were James' grandfather and namesake, James Potter, and Fred's namesake, Fred Weasley. Nowadays, Albus and his family often laughed at the incident. Albus, Rose, and Garrett, and the other first years had finally reached the shore to the castle. The first years all got out of the boats and started walking toward the entrance of the castle. When Albus entered the castle, Rose and Garrett to his left and Hagrid to his right, he immediately saw the Great Hall, which had five long tables, one for each of the houses and one for the professors and headmaster. Near the entrance of the Great Hall, was a small, dark haired, and brown eyed man wearing dark gray robes.
"I'll take the first years now, Hagrid, if you please," the small man squeaked.
"O' corse, Professor Layman, I'll see you in the Great Hall," Hagrid said, walking past Professor Layman into the Great Hall at the same time.
"Welcome to Hogwarts! When you pass through these doors, you shall be sorted into your house. The houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin," Professor Layman squeaked. The first years followed Professor Layman, Albus looked at the Gryffindor table and saw James and his cousin Fred Weasley, a tall and thin red haired boy with brown eyes, waved to Albus and Rose, Rose ignored them. Albus saw at the long table in the front of the room his godfather Neville, the Herbology professor, Neville's wife Luna, the Transfigurations teacher, and a snide looking woman with dark hair; Hagrid at the end of the left side of the table; and a few other male and female professors that either had black, brown, or blonde hair. In the middle of the seven professors; was an older woman with square-shaped spectacles, emerald green robes and witch hat, and gray and white hair. She was Professor McGonagall-the Headmistress of Hogwarts.
In front of the wooden table was a small stool with a worn and leather hat. It was sitting on the stool when one of the worn crevices opened up like a mouth and said in an old voice, "I am the Sorting Hat that sorts first years into the Houses. The Houses are Slytherin-the house of the ambitious, Gryffindor-house of the brave and knightly, Hufflepuff- where everyone cares about everyone else, and Ravenclaw-where the intelligent thrive. Now, step up and be sorted, let us test you!"
Chapter 2
Albus looked away from the Sorting Hat at Professor Layman to see that he had a scroll in his hands. Professor Layman started reading from the scroll and called a name, "Annabel Short."
A brown hair girl walked out of the crowd of the first years and sat on the stool. A few seconds later, the Hat yelled, "Ravenclaw!"
One of the tables cheered and Annabel started walking toward the cheering table. A few more names were called, one of them went to Ravenclaw, three to Hufflepuff, and one went to Slytherin. Then, a name that Albus thought he recognized was called, "Tabitha Dursley,"
A pudgy, blonde haired girl walked out of the crowd, nervously, and sat onto the stool. "Hufflepuff!" The Hat cried and a table cheered.
The girl walked over to the cheering table and Professor Layman called another name, "Mathieu Finnigan."
A thin boy with dark brown hair and black-ish eyes from a large group of seven first-years walked up to the stool and sat down. "Gryffindor!" The Hat yelled and the Gryffindor table cheered.
Mathieu walked over to the cheering table and sat down in an almost vacant part of the table. The Hat sorted six more first-years, half of them went to Hufflepuff and half of them went to Ravenclaw. Professor Layman then called another name, "Rachel Keystone."
A girl with straight black hair and an icy glare walked up to the stool and sat down with the Hat hovering above her head when the Hat yelled, "Slytherin!"
A table cheered and Rachel walked over to the table, glaring at the Gryffindor all the way over to the Slytherin table.
"Rose Weasley," Professor Layman squeaked.
Rose froze and Albus could see that she gulped. Albus nudged Rose on the shoulder and Rose "came back to life." She walked to the stool and sat down with the Sorting Hat on her head. After a few minutes, Albus sighed as the Hat cried, "Gryffindor!"
Rose, as Albus saw, also relaxed and walked over and sat down at the Gryffindor table across from Fred and James.
"Rebecca Poer," Professor Layman coughed.
A brown haired girl with blonde highlights and brown eyes walked forward and sat onto the stool with the Sorting Hat. "Gryffindor!" The Sorting Hat yelled, which was followed by the Gryffindor table applauding and Rebecca walking over and sitting by Mathieu.
"Brittany Eggson," Professor Layman said, scanning the crowd of first-years.
A wavy-and-honey-colored-haired girl with glasses, very pale skin, and hazel eyes walked up to the stool and the Sorting Hat was placed onto her head by Professor Layman. The Hat then yelled, "Gryffindor!"
The Gryffindor table cheered and Brittany sat down with Rebecca and Mathieu.
"Trystin Flynn," Professor Layman squeaked while adjusting his glasses.
Albus saw a sharp, dark-haired, dark green eyed, and glasses-wearing girl strutted up to the stool and jabbed the Sorting Hat onto her head. Right as Trystin crossed her arms the Hat yelled sharply, "Slytherin!"
The Slytherin table cheered and Trystin strutted to the Slytherin table. She sat down next to Rachel and the two new Slytherins high-fived each other. Four more first years were called up; two went to Slytherin, one went to Ravenclaw, and one went to Hufflepuff.
"Garrett Smiles," Professor Layman squeaked.
Albus heard/saw Garrett gulp and walk forward to the stool. Garrett then sat down and had the Sorting Hat placed onto his head by Professor Layman. Not even a minute later, the Hat yelled, "Gryffindor!"
The Gryffindor table cheered and Garrett relaxed. He walked over to the Gryffindor table and sat down next to Rose, who slapped Garrett lightly on the shoulder.
"Scorpius Malfoy," Professor Layman squeaked.
Albus saw the boy who ran away from him on the Hogwarts Express walk to stool cautiously and sit down with the Sorting Hat on his head. A minute or so later, the Hat yelled, "Gryffindor!"
Albus saw Scorpius look immediately shocked and frightened at the same time. He nervously gave the Hat back to Professor Layman the Hat back and walked, while shaking, to the Gryffindor table and sit down between some older students.
"Bryce Dracora!" Professor Layman squeaked, as a medium-sized first-year standing very close next to a white-blonde haired girl stiffened, apparently not wanting to go up.
The boy, named Bryce, had curly-ish brown hair, a face full of freckles, brown eyes, and pale-ish skin. The girl Bryce was standing next to whispered something into Bryce's ear. Albus, being some-what far away from them didn't know what she said, but it must have made Bryce change his mind because Bryce was up at the stool a few seconds later with the Hat on his head. "Gryffindor!" The Hat yelled and the Gryffindor table cheered.
Bryce walked stiffly over to the Gryffindor table and sat down with Brittany, Rebecca, and Mathieu. Albus then heard six more names called, two went to Slytherin and the rest of the names went to Ravenclaw. Then, Professor Layman called off another name, which for an odd reason-Albus started paying attention back to Professor Layman and not making weird hand gestures which only he and Rose knew the code to.
"Leonard Sheppard," Professor Layman said.
A boy with shoulder-length blonde hair and blue eyes walked casually like as if he had done this before and had the Sorting Hat placed onto his head by the short professor. "Gryffindor!" The Sorting Hat yelled a few seconds later. Leonard, with the same swagger as earlier, walked to the Gryffindor table and sat down near the end of the table, Albus rolled his eyes at the swelled-headed behavior.
"Veronica Greenwick," Professor Layman said while running one of his hands through his hair.
A small, mousy girl with raven wavy hair, glasses, and silvery eyes (who was standing by the girl with white blonde hair) walked smartly up to the stool and had the Sorting Hat placed onto her head by Professor Layman. A few minutes later, the Hat yelled, "Ravenclaw!"
The Ravenclaw table cheered as Veronica walked intelligently to the Ravenclaw table and sat down with Albus's Ravenclaw cousin, Victoire. Victoire was the female Ravenclaw prefect and she had blonde hair and light blue eyes. Albus saw that the two other girls that Veronica was standing by looked astonished and confused, which is why he didn't pay attention as two more names were called, one went to Hufflepuff and one went to Ravenclaw. Albus then noticed after the second name that only the white-blonde haired girl, another girl with honey-colored hair and blue eyes, and he himself were the only first years left.
"Nichole Crown," Professor Layman yawned.
The other girl with honey-colored hair walked up normally to the stool and had the Sorting Hat placed onto her head. "Gryffindor!" The Sorting Hat called a few minutes later and the Gryffindor table cheered as another first-year was added to their ranks of students. Nichole walked normally to the Gryffindor table and sat down with Rebecca, Brittany, Mathieu, and Bryce. "Albus Potter," Professor Layman called and Albus froze with fear.
Albus looked at the long table of teachers to see that Professor McGonagall's eyes were following Albus as he was walking to the stool with great interest. Albus gulped and sat down nervously onto the stool with the old Sorting Hat on his head.
"Ah, another Potter, and I see that this one doesn't like Slytherin like the three before him" Albus heard the old and rusty voice in his head.
"Are you reading my thoughts?" Albus thought startled, James and his dad hadn't told him anything about this.
"I see lots of ambition; you would be perfect for Slytherin. Not all of Slytherins are bad, just some of them are. But; I see a desire to be in Gryffindor with you friends and family. Thinking of the two, you are more of Gryffindor," Albus heard in his head the Hat choose, and take his opinion and choice into account.
"Gryffindor!" Albus heard the Hat yell from the top of his head, and Albus relaxed.
As Albus looked around, ALL of the Gryffindor table was cheering, as well as all of the teachers. Albus even saw Neville do the gesture for yes since Neville was the Head of Gryffindor. Albus ran excitedly to Rose and Garrett at the table. Professor McGonagall rose a hand in the air to silence everyone, which everyone obeyed reluctantly. "Carry on, Professor," Professor McGonagall said sweetly.
"Of course, Headmistress. The last first year is…." Professor Layman stopped dead in his tracks when he read the last name, which made Albus very confused.
"Well, who is it?" Professor McGonagall said, a smile curling on the edges of her lips.
"Cecilia Longbottom," Professor Layman said, his hands shaking the list of first years.
All of the teachers at the long table at the front of the Great Hall froze and Albus saw Neville casting glances from Cecilia to his wife, Luna (who was quite mesmerized by the floating candles and wasn't noticing a thing). Cecilia skipped to the stool and sat down proudly. Professor Layman sat the Sorting Hat down on Cecilia nervously. "Gryffindor!" The Hat yelled into the eerie silence in the room a few seconds later.
None of the other students or teachers made any sort of cheering as Cecilia skipped and sat down right next to Bryce. Professor McGonagall made a short speech that no one really listened to. Right after the speech, food filled all of the golden platters in front of the students. Right in the middle of the feast while Albus was taking a last bite out of his chicken leg and Garrett was finishing his tenth burrito, Rose leaned over to the boys and asked them in a hushed voice, "Why did everyone get all quiet when Cecilia was called. Also, why did my dad, mom, Aunt Ginny, and Uncle Harry never mention Luna and Neville having a daughter, that was even our age?"
"Beats me. We never saw Neville and Luna anyway, they were either too busy at Hogwarts or were just too busy," Albus replied while Garrett reached for his eleventh burrito, "Hey, Garrett, what do you want to do first? Get a detention or sneak into the Forbidden Forest?"
"I don't know, which sounds more exciting?" Garrett said with a mouthful of burrito.
"Probably going into the Forbidden Forest," a dreamy and female voice said right behind them. Albus and Garrett turned around, expecting to see Professor Lovegood; but to see a girl that looked just like Professor Lovegood, Cecilia. Now that Cecilia was a lot closer to Albus and not surrounded by six other first-years; Albus could see that Cecilia had faint freckles over her nose and upper cheeks, over-large front teeth, a round face like Professor Longbottom's, and beautiful blue-green eyes.
"The fact that it's forbidden doesn't affect your spirits." Rose said in a serious tone while glaring at Cecilia.
Cecilia, Albus, and Garrett laughed. "No, Rose. We do know that the Forbidden Forest is forbidden…that's what makes the idea of going there fun!" Albus said right after a few seconds of laughing.
Albus saw Cecilia look at the golden platters with the food disappearing. "I better sit back down; it looks like the feast is almost over. Good bye; Albus, Garrett, Rose," Cecilia said in her dreamy voice.
And without another word; Cecilia turned around on her heel and skipped back to her seat next to her friends. Albus looked around to see that all of the other students were standing up. "Gryffindor first-years, please follow us," Albus heard a female voice say.
Albus followed the call and Garrett and Rose followed him. Albus found the source of the call; a brown-haired, pale, dark blue-eyed and glasses-wearing Gryffindor prefect girl was in the middle of a small circle of Gryffindor first-years. Standing next to her was the other Gryffindor prefect; a boy who Albus guessed was another fifth-year with shaggy black hair and dark eyes. "We're taking you to the Gryffindor common room, follow us," the boy said while he was walking out of the Great Hall with Albus and the other first-years following.
"I'm Trevor Stilmeyer and this is Brianne Whiteflower. We are this year's Gryffindor prefects, so if you have any questions on homework, just ask us. When we arrive at the Gryffindor Common Room, Brianne and I are going to introduce all of you to the Gryffindor Quidditch Team Captain."
After a couple minutes of following the Gryffindor prefects, Albus looked to his left and saw Scorpius. "Hi, I'm Albus Potter and would like to apologize if I scared you," Albus said to Scorpius while sticking out his hand in what he hoped was a friendly gesture. What Albus received in return was a weird look from Scorpius and Scorpius running away to a different part of the cluster.
Eventually, Trevor stopped in front of the picture of a fat lady (a plump woman in a toga and wearing golden olive leaves in her brown curly hair) with the other Gryffindor students standing in front of it (since they didn't know the password) and said, "Here we are. This is the Fat Lady and the door to the Gryffindor Common Room. To open her secret door, you need to say the password; this year, it's Patronus."
At the word "Patronus," the Fat Lady's picture opened like a door and all of the students walked into the Common Room. The Common Room was large with red and gold wallpaper and furniture. There was a fireplace with some chairs and sofa in front of it. The Common Room filled up quickly with Gryffindors who either sat down on the chairs or went up one of the stone staircases. "This way," Brianne said, leading the first-years toward a boy with hazel eyes and brown hair.
"Bryan, these are the first-years. First-years, this is the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team," Trevor said while gesturing toward Bryan then to the first-years.
"This year, Professor McGonagall has allowed that first-years can also try-out for positions on the Quidditch team. Practice will be exactly two weeks from today. I hope to see some of you there," Bryan explained quickly, then turned back to a Gryffindor girl that he was talking to before Albus and the other first-years showed up.
"All right, it's almost time for bed. Girls' chambers are up the right staircase; boys' chambers are the left. Good night and have a good weekend discovering the castle before Monday," Trevor sighed sleepily. Trevor and Brianne then left the first-years in the Common Room.
"So, I think we should go to bed; we can explore tomorrow," Rose said while yawning and walking toward the right staircase. She climbed up and out of sight. Albus looked toward Garrett.
"We might as well hit the hay, too," Albus said while Garrett followed him up the left staircase. They opened a door to reveal a room with seven other doors. The seven doors each had a Roman numeral so Albus pushed open the door with I to find a room with six red and gold beds. Albus also saw the other first-year boys unpacking their things by the beds and his own things by the base of the bed near Garrett's and Scorpius's. Albus widened his eyes; he was going to sleep by the boy who feared him for some odd reason.
"Well," Albus thought to himself as he drifted to sleep; "at least this year won't get any worse."
Chapter 3
The next morning, Albus woke up and happily remembered it was Saturday. This meant that he didn't have any classes. Albus then frowned because he didn't know what he was going to do that day. Looking over at Garrett's bed he found Garrett snoring, so Albus slipped on a pair of Muggle jeans and a loose blue t-shirt. Albus walked down to the Gryffindor Common Room to see that Rose and Cecilia were talking about something animatedly, both were wearing Muggle clothing, jeans and a t-shirt.
"Albus, what a pleasant surprise. I never knew that you and Rose practically live with each other's family," Cecilia said, standing up.
As Albus was walking to sit down by the girls, he noticed that Cecilia had a horrible gash on her right hand. Cecilia had apparently saw Albus looking at her injury because she hid her hand in the right pocket of her jeans. Albus tried not to worry about it because Rose started snapping her fingers in his face.
"Hello, I was talking to you, you know," Rose said.
Albus shook his head. Albus opened his mouth to say something but stopped when he heard a groggy voice whine, "Albus, why did you wake up at seven in the morning?"
Albus turned around to see a zombie-looking Garrett stumbling down the staircase leading from the boys' bedrooms. Albus smiled and heard Rose and Cecilia giggling.
"Well," Rose said while covering her mouth with her right hand, "We do have to wake up by six thirty in the morning. Not even including getting dressed and cleansed."
Garret groaned and quiet laughter filled the room.
"I'm going to go and see if their serving breakfast yet," Cecilia said, skipping out of the common room.
Garrett dropped himself into a red velveteen chair and started to nod back to sleep as Albus and Rose discussed their plans for the day.
About fifteen minutes later, Cecilia skipped back in and said, "They just started to serve breakfast. Wanna go?"
Albus and Rose still hadn't decided what to do other than finding out where their classes were.
Albus looked up as Cecilia asked her questioned and replied, "Uh…sure, Cecilia."
Cecilia excitedly clapped her hands (which woke Garrett up from his nap) and jumped up and down.
"Great! I'll see if Bryce and Mathieu are up!" Cecilia said excitedly.
Albus watched Cecilia scamper the stairs up to the boys' dormitories, praying that Cecilia wouldn't wake up Leonard or Scorpius. Albus looked over to his abruptly woken friend. Garrett looked met Albus's gaze and asked, almost whining, "Why are we friends with that girl?"
Albus and Rose glanced at each other and laughed quietly. A few seconds later, Cecilia was dragging Mathieu and Bryce by each of their hands, both boys having the look of just-got-woken-up-by-a-crazy-tween-girl. "Alright," Cecilia said exuberantly while Mathieu and Bryce sank into the velveteen sofa Rose was sitting on, "let's go and have breakfast!"
Albus watched as Garrett gave Mathieu and Bryce looks of empathy. Albus chuckled and stood up. Albus stretched his limbs and followed Cecilia to the door while Garrett slowly stood up, yawning. Mathieu, Bryce, and Rose quickly followed Albus to the door while Garrett shuffled slowly. When everyone arrived at the door, Cecilia gently opened it then skipped out the door. Albus and the others walked out of the door and all of them formed into little groups. Albus walked next to Garrett at the end of the large group, Mathieu and Bryce in the middle, and Rose and Cecilia quietly giggled at the front of the procession.
When the group of acquaintances arrived in the Great Hall, the hall was almost completely empty other than a few students at each table. At closer inspection, Albus noticed that Cecilia's other three friends from Gryffindor were already at the table, each of them eating scrambled eggs and toast. Cecilia sat down next to her other friends and Rose sat down next to Cecilia. Albus sat down between Garrett and Cecilia, who was across from Bryce and Mathieu. Albus has a small breakfast of a flapjack, a glass of orange juice, and a piece of toast. Garrett and Cecilia, on the other hand, had very large breakfasts. Cecilia had two omelets, a glass of apple juice, and fourteen strips of bacon. Garrett had two flapjacks, two pieces of toast, a glass of orange juice, three sausage patties, and the last strip of Cecilia's original fifteen strips. Rose had a small breakfast of a bowl of oatmeal with some brown sugar sprinkled on top and a glass of apple juice. Mathieu, Bryce, Rebecca, Brittany, and Nichole had mirroring breakfasts of a slice of toast, a glass of orange juice, and plain oatmeal. After breakfast, Albus looked at Cecilia, a smile across her face when she met Albus's eyes. "Are you ready to go look for our professors?" Cecilia asked while reaching her hand over towards Albus.
"Sure," Albus replied happily while grabbing Cecilia's hand in his. They both stood up, looked down at their entwined hands, both blushed, and let go of each other's hands. Albus's and Cecilia's friends were, of course, completely oblivious of the scene because they had been talking to each other. Cecilia looked at the group of friends and acquaintances and said sarcastically, "Ok, I guess we won't be leaving now to look for our classes and meet our teachers."
This shook Rose, who looked at Cecilia and stood up while saying, "Ok, guys! Let's go and look for our classes!"
About three long hours of looking for their teachers and classes, Albus and the others were now sitting on a bench in the middle of a corridor looking out towards the plot of grass in the middle of the castle. Other students, most of them older than Albus, milled around them. "So," Albus said to Cecilia who was sitting next to him, looking at the ceiling, trying to break into the silence, "how are you…"
Albus trailed off as he heard a girl's shrill scream and more shrill screams following. Albus watched as older students moved out of the middle of the corridor, boy holding back frightened girls. Albus then scooted back against the wall a little more as he saw what everyone was frightened of. A large King Cobra was slithering in the middle of the corridor. Albus looked towards Cecilia, who somehow stayed oblivious to the scene, and tugged on her right arm's sleeve like a small child. Cecilia looked at Albus and then past Albus with her dreamy gaze. The King Cobra then stopped in front of Cecilia. It looked at Cecilia and Albus watched with a confused look as the cobra wagged the tip of its tail, almost like a dog. Cecilia then looked at the cobra and her face became annoyed. "Severus Snake! I thought I told you to stay in the dormitory!" Cecilia snapped, while losing her dreamy voice that was replaced with a normal voice, at the cobra which recoiled like a beaten dog.
Albus watched as Cecilia kneeled by the snake and say, this time back in her regular dreamy voice, "People are easily frightened by you. Please try to stay in the room."
Albus, this time in amazement, watched as Cecilia held out her arm and the cobra started to coil around the length of her arm. Albus shook his head to shake out his surprise. Albus met Cecilia's gaze as Cecilia said, "Please excuse me, I need to take Severus back to the dormitory. I'll see you soon."
And with that, Cecilia spun around and skipped down the corridor in the direction of the Gryffindor Common Room, receiving weird or annoyed looks all the way down the hallway. Albus looked toward his friends to see that Rose and Garrett had shocked looks still on their faces and Cecilia's friends had apparently been able to be oblivious of what had happened. "Or," a little thought echoed through Albus's mind, "maybe they are used to Cecilia having a snake, and a poisonous one at that,"
Albus shook his head, but decided that Cecilia must have been allowed to have a pet snake at Hogwarts, it might be trained not to bite or it might not have any poison.
An hour later of not doing anything other than talking to Rose, Garrett, and Cecilia's friends who apparently didn't like talking, Albus was now sitting at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. He, Rose, and Garrett were eating a slice of turkey breast, a baked potato, and a glass of water. Just then, Cecilia sat down next to Albus out of almost thin air. "Sorry I was gone so long, Albus," Cecilia said while putting two slices of turkey breast and a scoop of mashed potatoes on a plate, "Severus did NOT want to go back into his terrarium. I had to explain to him that people would be scared of him. The only thing that did was me having to stuff Severus in, very much to his protest!"
Rose cocked her head. "Explain to him?" Rose asked questioningly.
Cecilia gave Rose a look, that looked like a "really" look to Albus. "Yeah, explain to Severus. He's a really big ham, so I had to do my best not to make him even more obnoxious than he usually is. Ugh, it's so annoying!" Cecilia said to Rose.
"I thought when snakes," Garrett started to say with his mouth full of turkey.
"King Cobras, and, please, talk with your mouth closed," Rose interrupted, sounding very disgusted.
"Whatever, started to get annoying is when you get a new snake!" Garrett joked.
Albus and Rose laughed at Garrett's joke, but Cecilia gave Garrett a look of pure horror. "Replace…Severus," Cecilia said to Garrett, anger rising in her dreamy voice that caught the attention of Albus and Rose, "Severus is one of my best friends! How dare you, Garrett Smiles, say that I can just replace one of my best friends if they do something annoying! I'll have you know that I don't unfriend friends like on Facebook!"
Cecilia was glaring daggers at Garrett and Garrett, Albus, and Rose were taken aback. Albus thought that Cecilia looked so angry, her eyes flashed from regular human eyes to green dragon-like eyes. "Wait," Albus thought as Cecilia stormed away, "Did her eyes just flash for a second that looked like green dragon eyes?"
Albus shook the thought from his head before it could accumulate any more. Albus looked at Rose and Garrett before Albus stood up and went after Cecilia.
Chapter 4
The next afternoon, Albus was hanging out with Rose and Garrett. While Rose and Garrett argued about something random, Albus was recalling the previous night:
Albus had finally caught up with Cecilia in her dormitory while petting Severus's head that had been in her lap. Albus had sat by Cecilia and had said, "You do know that Garrett was joking right?"
Cecilia had looked up at Albus, tears in her eyes. She had replied, "Yeah, but it still hurt me and shocked me. Some things really get my goat, if you know what I mean."
Albus had chuckled and said, "Yeah, I know what you mean. I have a younger sister that is so jealous that I'm in Hogwarts before she is."
Cecilia's gaze had fallen back down on Severus, who was now slithering over Cecilia's lap toward Albus. Albus had recoiled, but was eased when Cecilia had said, "It's ok. I trained him not to bite people."
Albus had watched as Severus had started to look all over Albus. "Or," Cecilia had said, "at least not most people."
Albus's and Cecilia's gazes had started to follow Severus as the cobra had started to slither up Albus's right arm. When Severus had reached the top of Albus's arm, Severus had nuzzled Albus's right cheek. Cecilia had chuckled and said, "Cool! It looks like Severus trusts you!"
Albus had laughed and then asked Cecilia seriously, "Um, before when you had been yelling at Garrett, I think I had seen your eyes look like green dragon-like eyes for a second. Am I going mad or did it actually do that?"
All of the happiness of Severus's trust in Albus had disappeared from Cecilia's face and she had sighed. "Well," Cecilia had started, "if Severus can trust you, so can I. Please don't think I'm a freak."
Albus had been confused. "Why would I think that you're a freak?" Albus had asked.
"Well, the truth is…" Cecilia had started.
Cecilia hadn't been able to finish because both Cecilia and Albus had heard Nichole, Bryce, and Brittany calling for Cecilia. "I'm sorry," Cecilia had said, "I need to go."
Cecilia had quickly removed Severus from Albus's arm, much to Severus's protest. Afterward, which had surprised Albus, Cecilia had kissed Albus on the cheek and then ran out of the room. Cecilia had left Albus confused and, somehow, tired. After Cecilia had left, Albus had slowly stood up and shambled off to his bed. He had immediately fallen asleep when he had finished putting on his sleepwear and had gotten into his bed.
Now, Albus was feeling spacey and felt like he kept hearing things. Albus didn't have a clue what was wrong with him. He had already gone to the nurse and she had said that he was fine and that it was probably "first-year gitters," as the nurse had called them. Albus had a feeling that nervousness wasn't to blame, but didn't know what could be wrong with him. Albus hadn't seen Cecilia or her friends all day and was curious about where they were. Albus looked at Garrett and Rose and smiled. Albus had finally realized that Garrett and Rose were arguing over where Cecilia and Cecilia's friends were. This was most likely because Albus had been gloomy that morning when he didn't see Cecilia talking to Rose when he had woken up. "Guys," Albus said, while obtaining Rose's and Garrett's attention, "you don't have to argue over where Cecilia and her friends are. They are probably talking to our teachers."
Albus looked away from Garrett's and Rose's odd expressions and saw that it was five o'clock already. "It's time for dinner, so I'm going to go to the Great Hall. I'll meet you guys there," Albus said while standing up from the bench. Albus then walked off to the Great Hall.
About a half hour later, Albus was sitting at the Gryffindor Table alone and picking at his food. He wasn't hungry, he was more interested where Cecilia was. Albus looked up to see that Garrett and Rose had joined him and were watching him for an odd reason with strong interest. "Hi, Albus," Albus heard a nervous female voice say.
Albus turned toward the voice to see that Cecilia's friend, Nichole, was standing behind him. Nichole handed Albus a small envelope and said, "Cecilia asked me to give you this."
Albus was about to ask where Cecilia was, but Nichole had walked away. Albus opened the envelope to find a small piece of paper with writing on it. Albus read the writing that said this:
Dear Albus,
I apologize if I have worried you. I'll be in class tomorrow and I request that you don't ask me any questions about where I've been. I have just been letting off so steam. I also request that you pick up my mail for me. My bird will come to "Fawkes" and just call his name when the owls start to show. When you have my mail, please have Rose place my mail on my bed. Thank you and have a good night.
Warm Regards,
Cecilia
P.S.-
Fawkes likes meat and when you pet his head with the back of your head.
Albus read the letter twice to make sure that he had the information correct. "So," Albus thought to himself, "I can't ask Cecilia tomorrow where she was, but I can ask her why she kissed my cheek yesterday."
"Hey look," Albus heard someone (most likely a first-year) say, "The owls are here."
Albus looked up at the ceiling to see a sea of owls flying to the middle of the Great Hall, the dropping down to fly to their student. Albus watched as Amber and Pigwidegon Jr. flying toward Albus, Garrett and Rose. Pig Jr., because he was horrible at flying, flew into Amber and sent Amber into the middle of the table. Albus quickly went for Amber and on quick inspection, had a broken wing. "Oh no!" Albus said sadly towards Rose and Garrett, "Her wing is broken."
Albus watched as Rose softly spanked her owl, take her mail of a white envelope, and sent Pig Jr. off. "Stupid owl," Rose said.
Albus watched as Garrett's owl, the tawny from before, flew gracefully onto Garrett's prepared arm. Garrett, after his owl perched on his arm, grabbed his letter from the owl's mouth and said, "Thank you, Joker."
Albus chuckled then focused back on Amber. Her right wing was broken. Albus grabbed his mail of a white envelope and a red envelope and put them off to the side. Albus was about to go and ask his brother James if Albus could borrow James's owl when he heard a shrill bird cry and looked up. Up in one of the banisters was a glorious red bird. Its body was maybe half a meter tall and was beautiful. Albus watched as the bird's head looked around the room. Then, for the oddest of reasons, decided to call the name Fawkes then. The red bird perked when it heard the name Fawkes, and Albus said the name again. The red bird, after the second call for Fawkes, flew down gracefully over to Albus and landed to the empty right side to where Albus was sitting. Albus looked at Rose right as she gasped. "Don't you know what that is, Albus?" Rose said, amazed at the red bird.
"No, sorry," Albus replied truthfully.
"That's a phoenix!" Rose said, still amazed at the apparent phoenix.
"Well, his name is Fawkes and he apparently belongs to Cecilia," Garrett said while holding Albus's letter from Cecilia.
Albus took the red letter, white letter, and newspaper that were in Fawkes's claws and placed them to the side. Albus then remembered about Amber and carefully grabbed her. Fawkes ate all of the steak that Albus had cut up before while Albus was grabbing Amber. Fawkes looked at the small bird's wing and leaned his head over her broken wing. Albus then watched as Fawkes shed a few tears over the broken wing and let his mouth hang open as the wing started to heal instantly. After about five tears, the wing had been completely healed and looked at Garrett's and Rose's equally shocked faces. "Phoenixes have healing powers through their tears, I forgot about that until now," Rose said shocked.
Albus grabbed his mail from Amber and the barn owl flew off the way she had come. Albus pet Fawkes's head with the back of his hand and said to the phoenix quietly, "Thank you for helping Amber…it means a lot to me."
Albus watched as Fawkes looked up at Albus and, for the oddest of reasons, scratched a small but beautiful cut into Albus's skin on his left arm. "Maybe," Albus thought, "this cut is a mark that Fawkes likes me, I'll show it to Cecilia tomorrow."
Albus thought about his odd dinner for the rest of the night.