First of all, I would like to thank everyone for all your support and encouragement.
And now:
CHAPTER 3
Albus woke up the next morning dazed. The previous day's events had still not registered properly in his brain and for a split second he thought he was back in 12 Grimmauld Place. The four-poster bed he was on right now also matched the soft one he had back home. Albus was home-sick for that moment before he reminded himself with happiness that he was finally there- Hogwarts, Gryffindor. But all that took a back seat as he reminded himself of the prediction. The incident had brought about fear in him for the first and last time that day amidst all the fascination and excitement. Everyone had taken Mrs. Hunchback for a joke as far as Albus knew, but Albus wondered whether she had actually made a real prediction. She had made him scared, and no one could take away that fear from him now unless substantial proof was found that what Professor Hunchback had said was false.
Albus shook his head, stretched his arms and legs and got up. He was lazy and he was certain of it. Even in his house he was the last person to get ready …. "Ow!" Albus shouted as he fell down his bed and clutched his sore toe. Someone extended a hand towards Albus and Albus took it. He was pulled up by the muscular hand of Finn Parker.
"Tumbled down in your sleep, eh lazybones?"
"Not exactly" Albus said and yawning almost hit his head to his bed.
Finn laughed characteristically and brought Albus steady. "I've been waiting for you to wake up for ages."
Albus could see that Finn was completely active and was already dressed. He looked around the dormitory to find that everyone had left. Albus followed routine as quickly as he could and he and Finn descended the staircase.
"Oh and about last night, the prediction-"
"I don't want to talk about it"
Finn looked at Albus curiously, though there was nothing to be curious about except Finn's particular detective nature. Finn asked, "You don't want to talk about the prediction or last night?"
Albus shrugged, "Both"
Finn did not reply.
They met Rose down the spiral staircase. Albus introduced Finn and Rose with, "Rose, Finn; Finn, Rose" They shook hands and went on their way. As they stepped out of the Gryffindor common room Albus asked Rose, "Did you make any friends?"
Rose nodded, "Yeah. They'll be coming. We're early you know"
Albus glared at Finn. Finn said in self-defence, "What! Boys are supposed to wake up earlier than girls!"
They followed the crowd towards the Great Hall where the trio took places together at the Gryffindor Table. James was just next to Albus. "A friend you've made I see, Padawan Albus" in a cryptic voice trying his best to imitate Yoda only to be received by a snort from Finn. Albus introduced Finn to his brother and his brother to Finn. James didn't respond with a 'Hi' as Finn expected but instead with a question that Albus was expecting, "Are you pure-blood?"
"Oh…er…yes. Why?"
"Just forget him" Albus whispered to Finn.
Finn whispered back, "Your family seems unique so far."
"What do you mean?"
"Well Rose studies a lot, James asks strange questions, Fred plays pranks on others..."
James was puzzled by the confidential whispering between Finn and Albus but ignoring that and said, "I've got to rush Al, that's why I came really early. Bye and beware of Daisy flower."
"What-" Finn started before he turned around in surprise on seeing Professor Longbottom distributing timetables.
"Here are your timetables. Eat quickly; you've got your first class in 20 minutes"
Albus looked at the timetable Professor Longbottom had just given him. They had Charms first for the day. From what Albus remembered, Charms was taught by a very fat man named Williams (he knew this through Fred's jokes: Williams is so fat that when he moves the earth shakes) but he had no idea what 'Charms' was exactly. Then he had double potions, and if it was as much of a bore as James said it was he would sure be disappointed. He had that with Ravenclaw. Then after lunch he had Herbology. But he was not looking forward to any of these classes more than Defence against the Dark Arts class which was next in the day's timetable and was taught by the school's very own headmistress McGonagall.
The plate in front of him was soon empty, but it had suffered enough after several scrapes from a pointy fork that Albus had been licking. This was met by a 'that's disgusting' from Rose and another classical snort from Finn.
The Charms classroom was quite big and had shelves on all sides. Each shelf was packed with books and amongst the hundreds and thousands of those there were odd objects like pillows, feathers and what not that would usually be found in a muggle house.
The door of the classroom opened and a very fat wizard in dark yellow robes with a matching pointed hat entered. Albus almost laughed. Professor Williams' appearance had far surpassed what he had been expecting after Fred's rants. The teachers were turning out to be funny and funnier. First Hunchback, now Williams, who next? Thought Albus as Williams gave an introductory speech.
"I'm Professor Williams and I'm going to be teaching you one of the most important subjects of magic, Charms. In my class this year, you will learn some simple and common-place charms and hexes. Today will only be introductory. I'll be calling the roll now."
He started calling names but the moment he reached Albus Potter, he stopped, put his quill down and looked at Albus as if to say something but stopped, and continued roll calling.
Soon enough the bell rang and Albus descended into the dungeons where Potions was held. The class was taught by a grey haired witch in a black robe.
"Welcome students. I am Andromeda Tonks, that's Professor Tonks for all of you, and in my class I will teach the important techniques and processes involved in potion making.
"We will be doing the simplest potions this year, and as the years go by so will the simplicity decrease." And with that, she started on about various potions and their uses which bored Albus so much that he ended up doodling Professor Tonks in his textbook. Next to him he saw that Rose was taking down notes of everything the teacher was saying.
"I thought you read all the textbooks!" Albus said
"So?" answered Rose.
Finn and Albus stared at Rose with disbelief and shook their heads simultaneously.
Fortunately for Albus he did not need to bear with Professor Tonks for long when she dismissed the class early. Lunch followed and then Herbology in Greenhouse-1.
Professor Longbottom was already there and he too called the roll first like Professor Williams. Compared to all the classes that day, Albus felt that this class was the most interesting one. They carried out manual labor, uprooted plants and had to identify them. Though interesting the class was, it was also tiresome and Albus was still sweating and panting when they left the Greenhouse.
The trio of Albus, Rose and Finn sat down together in the common room and started doing their essays on potion-making. The potions essay was really boring but Albus's mood lightened up a bit with Finn joking around and cursing around.
"What kind of teacher is this? Giving us a potions essay as homework on the first day?"
"Damn! One more mistake!"
"Beep Bop Boo. I am R. Daneel Olivaw and I am a robot"
Albus was in the middle of his essay when James came and said, "Al, check this" pointing towards a crowd forming around the notice board. He made his way through and could see a notice by standing on his tiptoes.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
QUIDDITCH TRIALS
First years who wish to learn Quidditch and play for their respective house Quidditch teams in the coming years are requested to go to the Quidditch stadium at 16:30 where Madam Hooch, the Quidditch teacher and the respective house team captains will be present.
Minerva
McGonagall
Headmistress
Albus just finished reading the notice when James called out from behind him, "I've already given your name to Madam Hooch. You've got to be down at the field in half an hour."
"You really gave my name?!"
"Yeah, for beater"
Albus' astonished face morphed into a 'seriously?' one. Almost choking he said, "Beater?"
"Yes! There were two positions open this year, for beater and seeker. I was already selected for the seeker last year. I know how well you play Quidditch and you'll be great as Beater. Well, if you don't want to be Beater I can withdraw your name you know?" he added suddenly looking at the distraught face of Albus.
Albus replied with a grin, "Obviously I'd want to play and congratulations on becoming Seeker."
"Thanks"
In half an hour, Albus was standing on the Quidditch ground amidst students from all houses and all years.
The first years that had come were separated from the rest. There were around twenty first years. Most of them could not remain airborne for longer than 30 seconds and finally when Albus' turn came he did surprisingly well, and he along with two others were allowed to compete for vacant Quidditch positions in their respective houses.
Albus, the only first year Gryffindor selected, walked by himself towards a group of Gryffindor seniors.
The Ravenclaw house had finished their selections and Grffindor was next. The order of selections was allotted based on the previous year's Quidditch positions. The selections were to be held in the Quiddith stadium. The stadium was not empty, and an audience had gathered to cheer for their friends during the selections. Seven students, including Albus were competing for the vacant Beater position. Albus was last to be tested. One boy and one girl had done well and Albus doubted whether he was capable of breaking such a high barrier to emerge the best. When Albus was called, he lifted a beater's bat, climbed onto a mere Nimbus 2001, and lifted off the ground. The whole Gryffindor Quidditch team was in the air and Albus could recognize Fred and James.
"Now come here" shouted a burly boy with curly brown hair against the wind. Albus darted towards the boy, with as much speed as his broom would let him, and listened carefully as the boy said, "I see you're in the first year and so you won't know me. But I know you, you're James' brother. I'm expecting a good performance from you. Anyways, I'm Thomas Wood the Gryffindor captain. The chasers will. be throwing quaffles towards you, as it's unsafe to use a bludger now. Your objective is to hit the quaffle into any of the three goal posts. At the same time, our beater, Fred Weasley will be targeting you with quaffles and you've got to dodge them at the same time. Okay? Ready?"
Albus nodded.
Despite his earlier pessimism, Albus did extremely well. He was hit only once. He had hit ten quaffles into the hoops out of thirteen. Wood was discussing with Fred (as he was the only beater they had) who to select. After a long conversation, Wood walked towards all the hopefuls and said, "The selection went surprisingly well. Some of you did really well.
We've narrowed the group of hopefuls to three- Andrew Lynch, Katie Evert and Albus Potter."
Albus felt excitement surge in him. He was in the top three….
"Based on movement, aim, build and speed, we have decided on Albus Potter. You all did amazing, but in the end, only one will be selected. I'm not going to talk about all that 'participation is all that matters' bullshit but on the bright side, all of you are welcome to participate in the selections for Chaser next year as one of our Chasers, Julia, is currently in her seventh year and so this will be her last year in Hogwarts"
With that they all left. Albus still couldn't believe it. Somewhere inside of him, chills of excitement passed to and forth. I'm Gryffindor Beater. I'm in the Quidditch team. He repeated the same statements over and over again in his head until he was sure that it was true.
Albus' excitement was interrupted when James asked, "Are you coming or what?" James saw the huge grin that was smacked on Albus' face and James retreated from it. He continued, "Don't be so happy, you would still be in the common room doing your potions homework. By the way, how is Potions?"
"It's a bore"
"I told you so"
"Hey Finn, you know what? I'm Gryffindor Beater." said Albus as soon as he entered the common room. Finn had finished his Potions essay leaving Albus the only one out of the trio who still had it due.
"What? You- a beater?" Finn replied
"Yeah you should have come"
"Well I would have certainly have come if only Rose had allowed me. She went on and on about not keeping my homework long due. Not only that, she kept my expectations really low about you being selected."
Rose who had entered the common room just after Albus had heard the whole conversation. She blushed with embarrassment and put her head down, "Sorry" she muttered. Albus turned towards her as fast as the Millennium Falcon and said, "Its okay"
Turning her head up, Rose smiled and said, "You're the beater. Well done. Congratulations" and with that she buried her head in a book that she had just borrowed from the library.
The news that Albus Potter of the first year was the new Gryffindor beater spread like wildfire. Albus had become the first student in 50 years (after the very talented Rob Mallow) to become a beater in the first year at Hogwarts. 26 years ago, another first year of the Gryffindor house had performed a similar feat and that student was none other than Albus' father. Albus was feeling uncomfortable after making it into the Hogwarts' 'trending' list. One could say he was always there courtesy of his father's fame but Quiddith was different. Just like how magic evolved, so had Quidditch, and as the years went on, more and more wizards and witches showed aptitude to play Quidditch. However, Albus was submerged in his own thoughts and he was anxious as he needed a new broom. Riding an old Nimbus 2001 would sure do him no good in the first game. A horrible image formed in his mind of the burly Wood kicking Albus saying 'Get out of my team you filthy dragon slayer! No one rides a Nimbus 2001!' "Now where did dragon slayer come from?" Albus muttered to himself, "Probably from watching Eragon ten too many times."
"Congratulations Albus on making it to the Gryffindor team" said a voice behind him who Albus found to be none other than Ruth Lestrange, "We'll meet today in History of Magic. It's the first period today" She left before Albus could reply.
"What the heck are you doing with a Slytherin?!" shouted Finn after Ruth had left.
"Oh she's fine. We met on the train. If you want any expert judgment about her please contact Ms. Rose Weasley"
Finn chuckled and said, "Nah I'm good"
"Why don't we combine two benches? Then we can all sit together" Albus said at the beginning of the History of Magic implying Ruth, Rose, Finn and himself. They all agreed and they sat together with Ruth and Rose at the corners-Albus next to Finn and Ruth, Finn next to Albus and Rose.
History of Magic was the most boring class. It was taught by a Professor Binns, the only ghost teacher. It was rumored that he used to teach when he was alive, and that he was so determined to do his job, that he continued to teach even after he died as a ghost. The only time in the whole period that Albus was astonished was when Professor Binns entered the classroom through the blackboard.
Nobody seemed to like History of Magic. But Binns didn't seem to notice that and taught non-stop. Albus looked around to find many drowsy and bored faces. The only person who was paying attention and taking down notes was Rose (no surprise), or so Albus thought until, to his complete shock, he saw Finn listening carefully to what Professor Binns was saying and taking down notes. Albus rubbed his eyes with disbelief to no avail. Finn didn't pay attention like this in any other class, thought Albus, what's special about History of Magic? Well at least Ruth isn't interested in History of Magic, and with that he concluded his thoughts and laid his head on the table.
"…..in the next class, we will be discussing the Battle of Hogwarts" said Binns at the end of the class.
He had an hour of freedom after that. He had made up his mind to first go to the common room and write a letter to his father to ask for a new broomstick. He was on his way there along with Rose and Finn.
"I'm really looking forward to the next History of Magic class" said Finn to Rose.
Rose replied, "Yeah, Professor Binns is going to be speaking about the Battle of Hogwarts"
"Wait, what is this Battle of Hogwarts?" asked Albus. Not only was he curious to learn what the Battle of Hogwarts was, but also eager to enter the conversation that was shadowing him.
"From what I know" started Finn, "The Battle of Hogwarts was a bloody war fought between students of Hogwarts and an infamous dark wizard who was called You Know Who, now don't laugh, that's not his real name. Nobody calls him by his real name including me. He's also called He Who Must Not be Named, the Dark Lord and so on."
"Wait- how do you know all this and why are you so interested in History of Magic?" Albus said a bit rudely
Finn smiled, "Everyone has a favorite subject. Mine is History of Magic. I found out about Voldemort through my interest. What's wrong with that?"
Albus was abashed. He didn't have a favorite subject so far. Everything had only been mildly interesting to him or not at all. Was he just a stupid, lousy boy after all? All he was good at was Quidditch. James was also good at Quidditch! But James excelled in Transfiguration…he knew that. Was he a good for nothing? He had made up his liking for Defence against the Dark Arts, he was sure of that. Just so that he could be like his father. His father…why had his father shown him so much love? Why had he pampered him so much? Was it because his father knew that he, Albus Potter was the weakest of his sons? The one who would end up the lowest in a scale of brilliance? Albus screamed out loud, "NO! This is not me, this is not me, this is not me…"
Ruth and Finn looked at Albus queerly and Finn said "Uh Albus, you've been standing at the same spot for like a minute, started sweating and now you're talking to yourself. No offence, but are you mad?"
Albus was ashamed of himself for being so pessimistic. He loved Defence against the Dark Arts and he was sure of that. And nothing else could be true. Outside he grinned and turning to a more positive note he said, "By the way, your explanation wasn't to the fullest. Do you have anything to add?"
"Nope" said Finn pushing aside his theory of Albus' madness that he had hypothesized.
"You Rose?"
Now Rose, who had been overshadowed for sometime now after Finn's speech and Albus' sudden statue like behavior said, "No. In fact, I didn't know anything about it until Finn just now told you. That's why I'm so excited. It's not even there in the textbook"
'Blubbering Humdinger' she added as they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.
As the door swung open, Albus said, "Hey….maybe James knows more about this"
Author's note: So that's this chapter so far. It's not over yet! But the next update that I post will surely finish the chapter. Special thanks to all of you who've favorited, followed and commented on Albus Potter and the Window of Peril. Really encouraging! Plot ideas, new characters, new character sketches of old characters, jokes, all are welcome in the review column. Peace out.
Rob Mallow (a guest reviewer of the story): Sorry you didn't like the jokes I added. I try to keep the mood light. Your suggestions are welcome.
"Hey James" Albus shouted to James who was across the common room with his friends, "Do you know anything about this Battle of Hogwarts?"
"Don't tell me that you don't know" said one of James' friends.
"Al you got to be kidding me! I asked Dad about this when I was six! But I'm not going to waste my time giving you a lecture about the Battle of Hogwarts. You'll find out in History of Magic, it's Binns' favorite topic" James said.
"You know the hero of the battle was-" started the same friend of James' who had commented earlier before he was cut short by a devious life threatening glare from James. Albus never knew that his brother was capable of passing around such glares. For since forever James had been branded in Albus' head as the boy who took things easy, as the boy who was not capable of frowns and moreover, the boy who was not capable of killing. And then as Albus left James to his friends he wondered why and how killing had entered his thoughts. It didn't matter, but no one there was capable of killing. Albus had a bad feeling about that. It was almost as if something was going to happen that year, evil would strike. For Albus was never so pessimistic and yet he was then. He never asked himself whether a person was capable of killing or not, yet it had come up in his mind then.
Albus shook all of that off with:
Ah for Dumbledore's sake! What is wrong with me today. Thinking that I'm unworthy, thinking that something evil is going to happen. To hell with all that.
"I've got an idea" Albus said out loud.
"About what?" Finn asked
"You'll see"
The trio sat together on a bright green couch that was conspicuous and neither did it blend with the rest of the room nor was the color one would feel would do good in Gryfindor. Green for Slytherin made sense, just like orange for Gryffindor and yellow for Hufflepuff. Albus took a piece of paper and a pen and started writing a letter to his father.
Dear Dad,
The first day here in Hogwarts has been wonderful. The lessons are all right(except Potions of course) and I've taken a liking to the Defence against the Dark Arts. I've seen Professor Longbottom and Professor Hagrid (Albus' father was strict when it came to courtesy. Oh no no, just because he is my friend you shouldn't call him by his first name...it's Professor Longbottom). But what's most exciting is that I've been selected in the Gryffindor quidditch team! I never knew I could fly so well. Even James has been selected. He's seeker and I'm beater. I also need a broom doesn't need to be one of those new over hyped brooms. A slightly old one like James' 'Speed-light 91' would be good. I also wanted to ask you what the Battle of Hogwarts is. James told me that he asked you when he was six. Please reply as soon as possible.
Your loving son,
Albus
"There. Now my father will reply about the Battle of Hogwarts and I won't need to wait for the next History of Magic class to clarify my doubt" he told Finn and Rose.
"Brilliant" Finn replied
He re-read what he had written twice and went to the owlery to send the letter. His mind would be clear again, ALbus thought to himself with delight. He opened the door to the owlery only to find hundreds of owls in cages. He approached his own owl Winterhest and said, "Here you go 'Hest, deliver this to my father" and with that he tied the letter he had written to his owl's leg, watched as it ate the owl food which Albus had brought from the dormitory and set his owl with a 'Now off you go 'Hest'
He had Transfiguration for the first time. There was already a lot going on in Albus' head and he didn't need Professor Daisy to add to that. But like usual, talking and chatting the Albus, Finn and Rose entered the class. Half the strength was already there and it was a mix of Hufflepuff and Gryffindors. The trio sat together as more students filed in followed by the teacher herself.
"Good afternoon class. I am Professor Daisy and I will be teaching you Transfiguration. I'd like to make it clear now itself that nonsense will not be tolerate. You will abide by the decorum or your house will lose points. In more acute cases, detention will be given." By now, the class was full. Just then, a dark boy with curly hair from Gryffindor come to the door. To Albus' utmost surprise, he had never seen the boy before though sharing the same house and dormitory. Perhaps he ha caught glances of him but they hadn't registered properly in Albus' mind. Then again, the boy was not one who made a lasting impression in anyone's mind (at this point, Fred would probably say, "Completely unlike me. I make a lasting impression on whoever I see." And his sister Roxanne would reply, "Except that pretty girl in Hogsmeade" "What was I supposed to do? She was more into cleaning windows than noticing people").
"May I come in ma'am" the boy asked in an accent whose origin Albus tried to guess. South-east Asia for sure...India?
"No you may not. You are two minutes and sixteen seconds late and punctuality is something that I expect everyone in my class to follow."
Um...my leg...I got hurt...sorry-"
"Sorry, sorry, no sorry. You are late and you cannot help it even if your rabbit leg happened to get hurt. I am very sorry but I'm afraid I will just have to minus 10 points from Gryffindor" she didn't seem sorry to do that and a cunning smile was smacked on her face.
The boy could only show his dismay for a split second before Professor Daisy, who according to Fred was AngryDaisy45, said, "Now get in!"
Albus' hatred towards the teacher just increased. He tried to avoid staring at her with his eyes boiling with anger and rage but failed hopelessly. Finn tried shaking Albus out of his stare but that only vexed Albus. Proffesor Daisy quickly noticed Albus' outward rage. She turned towards the board and said, "Do you wish to say anything Mr. Potter?"
"NO" the whole class turned towards Albus
"Then would you let me start teaching or should I wait patiently until my class is NOT distracted by your horrible stare?" she stressed on a few words to make it seem as if she did not value Albus as a student in her class.
"I suppose so" Albus said. 'You hag' he mouthed.
"Good. Now today I'll be teaching you the fundamental law of Transfiguration..."
Herbology was next. The period started as a disappointment, for Albus was assigned with Riley Campbell for the Herbology period. He asked Professor Longbottom whether he could be assigned to Rose or Finn but the Professor replied, "Sorry Albus. But rules are rules. Even when it's my friend's son."
Riley turned out to be a talkative boy but that hardly mattered for Albus, as he was immersed, as was the rest of the class, in picking legumes out of the soil and identifying them. The period left Albus with sweaty hands and a tired face. And when Professor Longbottom said, "I want all of you to write an essay on legumes and their uses by next class" everyone groaned. Herbology was turning out to be very tiresome.
The next morning Albus woke up very tired. He had stayed up till midnight completing his Herbology homework. He hadn't done it right away as he should have, distracted by a game of Exploding Snap James and Fred were playing. But he would have stayed up longer, for he had not done his Potions essay either. But Rose was Albus' savior and offered to do his homework that was met by a 'Thank you so much' from Albus. Albus wondered how Rose could stay up so late and still wake up so energetically. Still, he was tired. He listened halfheartedly to the dark boy from Transfiguration who everyone wanted to know about after he had received the wrath of Professor Daisy.
"Well you see, my father's a wizard from India and my mom's a Muggle from England. So my brother went to the Magic school in India and I came here."
Albus looked up and saw Winterhest soaring towards him. He knew that Winterhest was coming with a reply from his father.
