Where had Albus heard that name before?
"Crabbe?" Alexander's eyes bulged out of his head.
"That's what I said," Vladimir repeated quietly.
"But-but-but-" Alexander opened and closed his mouth several times before he found his voice. "But-"
"What?" Albus asked, thoroughly alarmed.
"Who's your father?"
Vladimir frowned. "Vincent Crabbe."
"But it can't be!"
Suddenly Albus realized who this boy was. Vincent Crabbe? The best friend of Scorpius's father?
"Vincent Crabbe died nineteen years ago!" Alexander burst out.
"And yet here I stand," Vladimir returned darkly. He went over to his bed and began to glance over the day's schedule.
The boys got ready for the day and left the dormitory, meeting up with friends in the common room. Xenobia was talking to a tall girl in front of the portrait hole.
"...oh, really? Yes, my favorite subject is Care of Magical Creatures," the girl was saying. "It's very fascinating."
"Have you heard of the Crumple-Horned Snorkack?" Xenobia asked the girl. Before she could answer, Albus and the others had approached them.
"Oh, hello, Albus," Xenobia greeted him. "Who're your friends?"
Everyone was introduced. The new girl, a first year, was named Julia.
"I'm a Muggle-born," she told them. "My powers came out when I was at a picnic for my cousin's birthday. Some of the older boys thought it would be fun to push me off the dock. Well," she said rather sheepishly, "when I was finished with them, their noses were inside out."
Alexander and Albus laughed; Warburton and Vladimir merely nodded, as if this was a perfectly normal occurrence.
"Want to sit with us at breakfast?" Xenobia asked.
The boys agreed.
At the Gryffindor Table, Scorpius spotted Victoria on his way into the Great Hall and ran to sit by her.
Meredith was sitting on Victoria's other side as Scorpius hit the bench running. "Do you mind?"
Scorpius ignored her. "What's your first class?" he asked Victoria. "Mine's Herbology."
Victoria raised her eyebrows at him. "Aren't you supposed to be at the Ravenclaw table?"
"Uh...well, it's a bit cold over there." Scorpius's face turned red as everyone at the Gryffindor table laughed. Albus grinned at the others. Scorpius wasn't so bad as he had heard...
"Herbology first," Warburton told them all. "then Care of Magical Creatures."
"Oh, wonderful!" Julia cried out. "I do hope Professor Hagrid talks about unicorns today. They're my favorite of all the magical creatures."
Xenobia smiled. "I was thinking about asking him to teach us something on the Feedleyack Plimpie species. Mum says they've been breeding like mad this year..."
Fredericka had come over from the Ravenclaw table to say good morning to her twin. "I have Care of Magical Creatures first. Wasn't there something you wanted me to ask Professor Hagrid about?"
Xenobia thought for a moment. "Oh, yes. Ask him if it's true that Snaggle-toothed Hornswallows exist only in South America."
Albus leaned towards Warburton. "I wonder if they exist at all," he whispered. Warburton smiled, then returned to his porridge.
Scorpius, who had lost interest in talking to Victoria after she had poured maple syrup on his lap, made his way down the table and sat opposite Albus. "Hey Albus, I hear they're organizing the school Quidditch teams next weekend. Are you gonna try out?"
"First years aren't allowed," Albus pointed out.
"Oh, that's right. I guess you won't be following in your father's footsteps after all." He sniggered loudly.
"On the other hand," Vladimir suddenly spoke up, "It looks as if you are following exactly in your father's footsteps."
Scorpius smirked at Albus, and, leaning down so that he thought only Vladimir could hear, he said, "I have something for you to do. Your father would consider it an honor for you to help the son of his best school friend. Meet me outside your dormitory in fifteen minutes."
As quick as a lightning bolt, Vladimir swiped half the dishes off his end of the table. "I am nothing like my father. I will not be associated with my father, and I certainly will not help you with anything that has to do with my father." He left the Great Hall in a storm of fury.
Albus blinked. He wasn't sure what to think of what had just happened.
Scorpius slid back to the Ravenclaw table, where he grabbed a piece of toast before heading to his first class. Albus followed him without meaning to; it was as if his subconscious brain wanted to know what Scorpius was up to.
Nothing significant happened all day...or all week, for that matter. The weekend held a very exciting event: Quidditch tryouts. Even though Albus knew he was too young to play on the Gryffindor team, he wanted to watch the tryouts.
Margaret Johnson was the Captain of the Gryffindor team. "James, fly higher! You're never going to spot anything if you're hovering six feet from the ground!" she shouted at him.
Albus smiled to himself. He was alone in the stands, and he got to watch everyone else being yelled at.
Albus watched his brother carefully. As James looked around for the golden Snitch, his eyes kept traveling to a girl studying under a tree on the lawn. This was Clara Patil, the daughter of his mother's school friend Parvati.
The Snitch traveled right under James' nose. "Watch it, Potter!" screeched Margaret in exasperation. "If you want to make the team you need to have more focus than that!"
A few minutes later Clara went inside, but that didn't help James' concentration. Although he missed the Snitch at least a dozen times, he was better than the six other contestants who never saw the Snitch at all.
By the time tryouts were over, Albus felt that they might actually have a chance against the other house teams. They had three excellent Chasers: Denova MacMillan, Eleanor Rosinthian, and Emilia Patil, Clara's cousin. The Beaters were Courtlin Spinnet and Jackson Bell, and Margaret was the Keeper. James made it on the team as Seeker, a position that he had coveted the previous year.
Albus started to get up to walk off the pitch, internally celebrating his brother's success, when he spotted a figure standing just outside the school boundaries. He wore Muggle clothes and looked as if he were about 30 years old. What is a Muggle doing here? They're not even supposed to be able to see Hogwarts, Albus thought to himself.
The man began to approach the castle. This had to be a Muggle, because the man had a look of shock on his face, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"Margaret," Albus called quietly. The team was approaching the changing rooms, but Margaret had stayed behind to collect the balls. "Is that a Muggle?"
Margaret looked up. Her eyes widened. "But Muggles aren't supposed to see the castle, or anything else around here," she said nervously.
"That's what I thought," Albus told her.
Another came running up behind the first man, just as shocked as he was.
Margaret gasped and began running towards the castle. Albus's mind reeled. Was there something wrong with the protective charms around the grounds? Was the Muggle world about to discover the secrets that witches and wizards had kept from them for so long?
Albus didn't move. Three more Muggles had appeared from the edge of the grounds, and Albus was alone in the stands.
The Muggles approached the Quidditch pitch, looking around incredulously. Albus noticed with a pang in his chest that one of the Hufflepuff Quidditch players was testing out her new broom over the castle's highest towers. The Muggles were sure to see her!
Suddenly Kingsley Shacklebolt and Margaret came running out of the castle's front doors. Kingsley shouted something as he waved his wand at the Muggles, and they turned around to go back the other way.
Albus tore through the stands to where Kingsley stood with Margaret. "What happened?"
"The security's been breached," Kingsley said quietly. "Something's wrong."
He began circling the grounds, muttering incantations in the air as he did so. Margaret returned to the castle, while Albus watched Kingsley work. He didn't remember ever hearing about a security breach at Hogwarts before.
Albus told Vladimir, Warburton, and Alexander what had happened that evening at the Gryffindor table. Vladimir was the only one who looked remotely concerned.
"I'm sure Kingsley took care of 'em," Alexander told them through a mouthful of steak-and-kidney pie.
"I think it's happened before. It's nothing to worry about," Waburton said confidently.
But Vladimir stared at his plate and said nothing.
Scorpius bounced onto the bench beside them. "Oh, are you guys talking about what happened in the Quidditch field today?" he asked suddenly.
"How did you know about that?" Albus asked roughly.
"No need to be defensive," Scorpius said in a boring drawl. "Everyone knows about that. Sara Limegg saw everything from her broom at the top of the Astronomy Tower. She's told the whole school!!"
Vladimir grunted, apparently unconsciously, for he jumped when Scorpius asked,
"Would you like to share something with the class, Vladimir?"
"It hasn't happened before," Vladimir said quietly. "I was warned by my mother that if strange things started happening, I need to warn someone. There's dark magic happening at Hogwarts."
"That's crazy!" Alexander wiped his mouth.
"Well why haven't you told anyone?"
Vladimir laughed darkly. "Because I'll just get made fun of. I know things that no one else does." He got up and left the Great Hall, leaving his half-finished food on the table.
"He's got issues," Alexander announced.
"He's seen things that none of us have ever imagined," Albus reminded them. "And I have the feeling that he does know things that he's not telling us."
A/N: Please review or PM me, I love to hear feedback!! In Chapter 3, Albus has a dream about a young girl who blames him for something he doesn't remember doing. Secrets, blackmail, and mystery await in the following chapters of Albus Severus Potter!!
