Revival of the DA
I do not, once again, own Harry Potter.
Chapter 3
New Enemy, New Friend?
Albus had finally made an enemy.
Well, actually, the 'enemy' started with him. You see, he was sleeping peacefully in his dormitory, dreaming the oh-so wondeful dream of riding his father's Firebolt. All of a sudden, someone makes this weird, loud sound that gets him jumping off his bed. "Agh!" shouted Albus. He looked up and saw Peeves. Yes, Peeves. A student's living nightmare. The poltergiest was blowing a raspberry.
That wasn't the worst part of the day of course. So he gets ready, cursing Peeves under his breath. He learned some very colorful swearwords from his dad, brother, and basically almost everyone else in the family. Albus had three other fellow Gryffindors who share the same room. Their names were Alexander Pensky, David Nason, and Eric Drews. He didn't really talk to them much. However, their questions to him were endless.
Out of this, he found an answer to his own question. That day when people were staring at the family on the platform, they were staring at Harry Potter. Albus's father! Albus knew his father was a great wizard and all, but he wasn't informed of him defeating the greatest dark wizard of all time. Maybe they didn't want the fame to get to his head. Makes sense. Unfortunately.
Joining Rose for breakfast, they both realized Hogwarts was a lot harder to navigate than they originally thought. After finding the Great Hall (it took 20 minutes before they had sense to ask a prefect), they finally sat down for breakfast. Albus's green eyes scanned the staff table. He realized he didn't pay much attention to the teachers last night. Then again, who would?
There was Hagrid, professor of the Care of Magical Creatures class. Which Albus cannot take till third year. A jolly man, Professor Slughorn maybe, was already joyful in the morning. His father told him to be careful...something about Slughorn's 'collecting' habit. McGonagall, Transfiguration teacher, was a stern woman with white hair in a tight bun. Her eyes were sharp, scanning the room for any possible trouble. Neville was talking animately to the Charms teacher, Professor Flitwick, according to Rose. None of the others were familiar to Albus in any possible way.
However, the man sitting in the Headmaster/mistress's chair caught his attention. He had slightly long black hair tied into a ponytail, dark eyes, and was pale. James had told him that back in Dad's days, the DADA post was jinxed. Rumor has it that the Headmaster's post was jinxed now. Last year, a stubby woman who enjoyed treating the students like 5 year-olds was removed when she set loose a Blasted-Ended Skrewt from Hagrid's patch. On purpose. "The scary thing was that she banned Quidditch, saying it was dangerous," complained James to this day.
This Headmaster however was far from being the type to...mother them all. He seemed like a no-nonsense type of person."Owl POST!" cheered someone, jerking Albus back to earth. He looked up, eagerly looking for Ariana, his owl. "There, Albus!" pointed out Rose. The small, fluffy grey owl landed on the table, dropping Albus's letter into his hand neatly. James had always said Ariana would never survive handling messages. Albus silt the letter open, Rose hovering over his shoulder to look as well.
Dear Al (Rose, Victoire, James),
We are very proud of you. Now, you may have noticed people taking quite an interest in you.(Albus: Gee, how did you know?) Sorry we didn't tell you. We even made James promise not to say anything.(R & A: A complete and utter miracle.) It was for the best. We didn't want your head to be inflated...though that didn't seem to do a difference to James.(Rose: How right you are.) Anyway, we all wish you luck today. Aunt Fleur (Albus: I know for a fact, Mum, you call her Phelgm behind her back.) send her regards to you all. Ted said hi to you all, including Victoire. (Rose: Hey! Victoire! Teddy says he loves you! Albus: Rose! That's not what the letter said!)
Try not to get into too much trouble, no matter what Uncle George encourages.
Lots of love,
Mum and Dad (and the rest of the family)
P.S.-Tell James not to send us another Hogwarts toilet seat!
It was a typical Weasley-Granger-Potter letter. They would write, adding comments from other members of the family. This didn't bother Albus. It made the letters more fun to read. After breakfast, Albus and Rose headed for their first class. Charms. As it turns out, Rose was correct in saying Professor Flitwick was the teacher. He was a funny, little man with some gray in his hair. When he reached the P in the rollcall, "Potter, Albus!", Flitwick gave a little teeter that must've been a bow.
Albus turned red. He didn't know what to think. Same thing for Rose. Apparently their parents were very well-known. After class, they headed for Transfiguration. Professor McGonagall was different. She didn't give little bows or signs of favoritism. That was probably why Albus liked the class so much. He even managed to transfigure his match into a needle before class ended.
History of Magic. One of the most torturous things Albus had been through. He actually got extra sleep. Not even Rose, who inherited her mother's brains, was listening. Professor Binns, already dead, droned on and on. He couldn't even get their names right. That was the only plus in the class.
Potions was the worst-besides above mentioned class. Professor Slughorn, as Albus correctly guessed, treated the duo like royalty. He was dramatic, flourishing his hands as he said, "Aa! Albus Potter and Rose Weasley! Had the pleasure of teaching your parents. Very bright. Well at least Harry Potter and Hermione Granger (Rose: Is he insulting my dad?) were. I hope you two, with such brilliant blood in you, will do well in my class."
He escourted them to the front of the class, smiling a grin that was so happy, it ought to be fined. Unfortunately, neither Albus nor Rose were talented at potions. Their Hiccuping Solution that they were suppose to work on together ended up smelling like rotting doxy eggs that exploded, setting the tables on fire. By the end of class, the witnesses were chortling, Slughorn was disappointed, and the duo was flustered.
"Well, this was an interesting day so far," said Rose sarcastically. Albus didn't say anything as they headed for lunch. "Oh! I forgot something. Be right back," said Rose suddenly. She left Albus, who paced a little. "Look out!" cackled a voice. Before Albus could react, something exploded. He was covered in green slime from head to toe. Passers-by were either laughing, disapproving, or giving Albus looks of pity.
Peeves swooped over him. He ducked, glaring at the living nightmare. "Potter, Potter, you pacing in the hall. Potter, Potter, now you're a slime-ball!" sang the loony poltergeist. The slime made moving almost impossible. Where was Rose when he needed her? His wand was unreachable, with the slime slowing his movements. "Scourgify," said a voice.
Albus was slime-free in a second. He turned and saw, to his surprise, Scorpius. "Thanks...?" said Albus uncertainly. Why would a Slytherin help him? Scorpius nodded and turned to Peeves, "Watch it, Peeves. The Bloody Baron will not allow this to go on." The poltergeist cursed and zoomed away, ready to reek more havoc no doubt. "Albus, what in the world just happened?" asked Rose, who appeared now out of all times.
Albus explained to Rose, "Peeves decided to slime me from head to toe. He, " Albus jerked his head to Scorpius, " got the slime off and got Peeves to bother some other poor soul." He disliked Peeves more and more. Rose raised an eyebrow and she addressed Scorpius. "Scorpius was it?" The two already knew his name thanks to Ron, but Scorpius didn't need to know that, now did he?
The young Malfoy nodded, saying, "The only person...or rather ghost, who could control Peeves is the Bloody Baron." Albus wished he knew why. Maybe he'll get back at Peeves. The three continued walking to the Great Hall, talking a bit on the way. "Isn't that spell you used advanced?" asked Rose, inquiring on the spell used on Albus. Scorpius gave a little shrug. "If you really work on it, the spell's not that hard to use." Albus tentatively voiced his question, "Why would you, not that I'm not grateful, help a Gryffindor? My brother, James, always told me Slytherins and Gryffindors don't usually see eye to eye."
Scorpius looked away, his expression thoughtful. "True, Slytherins and Gryffindors have always been on bitter terms. I'm looking forward to breaking tradition." Scorpius didn't know why the two didn't know their parents had saved his father life...more than once. He didn't want to bring the subject up however. Rose snorted. "Don't get killed by your housemates." Albus sent her a disapproving look. She can be just like Uncle Ron sometimes. No sense of tactfulness. The trio reached the Great Hall, Scorpius going to the Slytherin table. He waved to them. Albus wasn't sure, but maybe he made a new friend.
Sheldon Finnigan was telling a joke to James and Rowena when Albus reached them. "Oh! How was your first day?" asked Rowena as the two sat down. Rose muttered, "A complete pain in t- a complete fiasco." Albus didn't say anything again. James knew something was up. How? Well, Al was his little bro! "Okay, Al, what's bothering you?" asked James, aiming a pea at Sheldon, who ducked. Albus blinked innocently. "I have no idea what you are talking about, James."
"Suuure," chanted Sheldon and James. Rowena said matter-of-factly, "A Wrackspurt got him." Sheldon sighed. "Don't START, Rowena." Said girl stuck her tongue out at him. James shook his head, turning back to his brother. "Seriously, what's eating you?" Albus sighed now. No way was his brother going to let it go. "Everyone expects me to be great at everything our parents were at. Slughorn was teeming with disappointment. My roommates keep 'oohing' and 'aaahing' at my answers to their questions. It's annoying and pressuring."
James gave him a look. "That's it?" Albus's jaw dropped. He said, "What do you mean 'that's it?'!" The eldest Potter began laughing. "How do you think I felt! People were the same. I caused the Potions room to be submerged in some concoction, transfigured my own head into an orange (that was unpleasnt), and fell into the Black Lake infront of everyone." Rose added, "I'm going through the same thing, Al."
Albus nodded. James continued, "You just got to find what you're good in. You still have other classes. Give them a try. I found my calling in Quidditch. Speaking of which, tryouts are this Saturday." Sheldon told Albus, "Oh, and tell your dad that the broom he bought for James was excellent. I was quite surprised the thing could lift him off the ground with his huge head!" James threw a handful of peas at him. "Shut up, Sheldon!"
Albus and Rose began laughing as lunch period ended. DADA was next and the two was excitied. They were almost there when -CRASH- Albus fell down the stairs, his robes over his head. His shoelaces were tied together. "Al!" shouted Rose, racing towards him. When Al regained his vision, he saw Peeves crackling with laughter. "Potter can't tie a lace! Potter fell on his face!" Why did this EVIL, CRUEL, MAGGOT target him the most? People were laughing and Rose helped him up. "Uh, Al. Your eye's twitching...with anger?" Albus muttered under his breath darkly.
"I vow to get Peeves."
A/n: Third chapter up! Poor Albus, but there's a reason why Peeves target him so much. Thanks to those who reviewed! That brings me to say, please review! Happy New Year! Here's a little something from the next chapter coming up.
Chapter Four
The Happenings
"Hagrid, is something wrong?" asked Rose. The three noticed him looking outside a lot. This worried and intrigued Al at the same time. Hagrid turned to them. "Er, well ye see. Animals are dyin' in ter Forbidden Forest. I don't know what's killin' them, but it's bad." A killing spree in the forest? That's not good. "Can't you indentify what might've done it? The way they've been killed?" asked Scorpius. Hagrid looked solemn, his eyes filled with worry and confusion. "I don't know. Centaurs are generally good fighters. I found some with broken legs. Skin pale as unicorn hair. Yet I don't see why broken legs would kill them. Other creatures turn up like that. Only more mangled sometimes." Albus remembered the flash of red he saw and panic gripped his heart.
The thing would strike again tonight.
