Chapter 4

Sub-sections were to start after the final lesson of the day, and for the first-year Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs, it was Defence Against the Dark Arts. As they streamed out of the classroom, the first year Gryffindors streamed up the staircase, eager to get to their first sub-secs. It had not been made clear what they were for and this tension grew as they neared the Fat Lady. Giving the password, Rose lead the way into the common room. For once, it was oddly silent despite the amount of people in the room. Gryffindor house was the second largest house in the school, after Hufflepuff and there were people sitting on the floor, drawing up chairs from thin air and perching on the window seats and various chairs and armchairs that were dotted around the room. Most of the house was already there and so the first years hurriedly found themselves corners and spaces on the floor to sit down. As the last of the students came into the common room, Victoire, who was standing by the fireplace with Winston Freeman and a girl who Rose presumed was Sandra Ely, started to speak.

"Welcome all, to the first sub-section meeting of the year and to the first years, of your Hogwarts career. The four sub-sections are here to assist any Gryffindor in their hour of need and offer advice and help with any schoolwork and personal issues. Each sub-section has a head of section that are chosen from the seventh year each year. As head girl and a member of Dumbledore, Professor Thomas has appointed myself as head of Dumbledore."

There was a murmur of agreement. Rose knew that Victoire was a popular girl amongst the Gryffindors and it had come to no surprise. "Head of McGonagall," Sandra took over, "is Simon Regan." There was a loud round of applause and a boy near Albus buried his head in his hands. It was clearly an honour to be chosen and he looked pleased. He was a good-looking boy with sharp blue eyes and a round face. "The head of Potter is Claudia Creevey!" there was a polite round of applause as a girl next to Rose with blonde hair and brown streaks smiled and went slightly red. Rose remembered the name Creevey as a name her father had spoken of as a boy in Aunt Ginny's year and two years below her. Perhaps she was related.

"Finally, the head of Weasley," Winston spoke, "is Orson Yates." Again there was a round of applause as a boy by the fireplace stood up and took a mock bow. There were wolf-whistles from around the common room and plenty of laughter and cheers as he sat down, grinning. He looked like he would be welcome any time at Uncle George's house, Albus thought. Or Weasley Wizard Wheezes, for that matter. By far, that was Albus' favourite shop in Diagon Alley beside Ollivanders wand shop. Although Mr Ollivander had died two months after the Battle of Hogwarts, due to the injuries sustained at Malfoy Manor, the man who ran it had been a great admirer of him and had kept the name as a memory. "The sub-sections meet in the four allocated rooms on the second floor, marked by the nameplates. If the new head of sub-secs would like to lead their groups to the rooms, then we will begin. They can last no longer than the time between now and dinner. Today will be introductory sessions only. Thank you ladies and gentlemen."

With that, the chatter rose and Albus hurriedly followed Victoire who was already heading up the staircase. He hadn't gone past the first floor and was intrigued as the stairs climbed steeper. Eventually they came to the second floor and Victoire turned left and opened the first door on the right that was marked: Dumbledore sub-section room. Albus went into the room and gasped. It was decorated highly with the Gryffindor colours and the room was a round room with stonewalls and lots of armchairs dotted around a fireplace. There was a mini-platform and Victoire headed towards there as everyone settled down. Albus spotted the other first year Gryffindors and went over to join them. He smiled kindly and they grimaced back. When the chatter had settled down, Victoire spoke again.

"Hey guys, glad to see you all again. First on the agenda, I would like to welcome the newest additions to Dumbledore!"

There was a smatter of applause and Albus saw the others and felt himself go red in the face.

"Would each of you like to say your name and a little about yourself?"

The other boy who Albus didn't recognise stood up nervously. There was a cheer as he fiddled nervously with the hem of his robes. "Hi, I'm Gregory James. I was born on 17th November 2005 and I have Muggle parents. I didn't know Hogwarts existed until Professor Longbottom came and visited me."

He sat down and there was another polite round of applause. One of the girls stood up, slightly more confidently. "I'm Elizabeth Finnegan. I think I'm the youngest in the year as my birthday is 31st August 2006. I was sent my letter in early July. My father is Seamus Finnegan who was most well known for being responsible along with Professor Longbottom, for the blowing up of the covered bridge at the Battle of Hogwarts in 1998." There was another round of applause. Albus made to get up but the other girl got there first.

"Hi, I'm Isabelle Osseo and I'm also a Muggle born. At least I think I am, because my mother died when I was just one and my father is a Muggle. He never told me much about her."

She sat down and Albus got up, almost eagerly to make it look like he hadn't chickened out until last. "Hi, I'm Albus Potter but everyone calls me Al. My full name is the name of two of Hogwarts headmasters, Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape. My parents are Harry Potter and Ginny Potter and Victoire is my eldest cousin."

Embarrassed by his amount of connections and introduction, he sat down. There was a general loud round of applause as Victoire stood up again. "Thank you, you four. It is great to have you with us. We are a fairly small group of 30 and the number of students in the sub-secs varies every year due to the amount of students sorted into the houses. Moving on to general points, as we have our new Gryffindor Quidditch captain in our group," there was a loud round of as Wood stood up and waved, "Wood will be able to tell us when the Quidditch practises will be taking place. We will try to meet at least once a week. For the past two years that these have been in place, we have tried and failed often to communicate between the members of the sub-sec as to the timing of the meetings and the days. I am glad to say that we have found a way."

There was a loud cheer. Victoire went red. "Thanks you guys but I didn't really think of it. I apologise for the mini history lesson. When Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger originally formed Dumbledore's Army in 1995, they experienced the same problem as we have. Hermione was responsible for coming up with the solution, which we will use. The so-called Death Eaters, or followers of Voldemort as they were known, used marks branded into their skin to communicate with each other. Hermione developed this and, through fake Galleon's and the Protean charm, learnt at NEWT level, created an effective way so that all the members of the DA could know when the next meeting would be held. Thanks to the assistance and guidance of Professor Thomas, each member of Gryffindor house, all four sub-secs will be receiving a fake item which will represent their sub-sec. for us members of Dumbledore, it is a miniature version of a phoenix, which was Professor Dumbledore's patronus and pet." Victoire turned to Albus. "Al, would you like to explain how they work?"

"Me?" Albus' eyes widened.

"You know how to work them just as well. We can't have me talking all the time. Come up here."

There was a polite round of applause and a few laughs as Albus shakily got up and went to the platform, where he sat down next to Victoire on the edge. "For you who don't know, the reason I know this is because we have an inter-family Protean charm which is similar to this. However we use the old DA coins that were in use 22 years ago. Believe it or not, they still work."

"Show us how to work the statues Al. it works the same way." Victoire chided as she handed him a small statue of an erect eagle on a base, the same size as his Galleon. Albus nodded.

"To send a message, you have to press your thumb to the base of the phoenix at any point on it and there should be a tiny screen that appears. This will be a keyboard which you can then type your message. When you have typed your message, you press done and it should come up with the names of all the members of Dumbledore." Albus showed the breathless group. He looked at Victoire uncertainly at his last statement who nodded. "You then choose, who you send it to, or you can press 'all'. There is a small button that says 'send' and when the appropriate contacts have been selected, you can send it. When you receive a message from someone, the statue will heat up slightly. This used to be a buzzing sound but the Professors cannot detect when a statue has heated up as it makes no sound at all."

"Thanks Albus, that is very informative." Victoire said as the group clapped and Albus returned to his seat. "This is all true. The messages are sent instantaneously and received within 10 seconds of the message being sent. I will be able to contact of you with perfect ease."

"Next thing on the agenda," Victoire changed the subject, "is how Dumbledore operates and what we can do for each other. As head of sub-sec, I am aiming to continue the work that Lupin started last year when he was head boy. There will always be someone to help in the older years with homework and personal issues. We are a tight knit community here and we like to ensure that each member feels comfortable in this surrounding." Victoire was predominantly speaking to the first years but she looked everyone in the eye. "I am continuing the zero tolerance on bullying the Slytherins or any other less fortunate students. I am using Scorpius Malfoy as an example here. Being placed into Gryffindor when he comes from a Slytherin family is hard enough as we cannot imagine his family's response. Let us not make examples of ourselves by disrespecting Dumbledore's name and reputation. We must not tease or bully him for his placing, as that would be questioning the unwavering authority of the Sorting Hat and therefore Godric Gryffindor, our house founder. Other students from other sub-secs are entitled to our help and any emergencies that you may be having, may be brought to emergency meetings that can take place all over the school. On other worldly matters, if any of you have been hearing of the recent string of murders, do not fear. Hogwarts and Gringotts are two of the safest places in the wizarding world and virtually nothing can get in here. Professor Scamander keeps Dougal and I fully up to date so that we can tell you all what we know. All that I can say is that we are safe and nothing will harm you this year."

Victoire checked her watch. "We have few precious minutes left." she turned to the girl on her left. "Parker, would you hand out the phoenix's?" the girl nodded, got up and went to a box beside the platform. Inside were the tiny statues and she handed them out to each student as Victoire continued. "Do make yourselves known to our new members. We are family here and we should know each other by name at the very least. Don't just rely on your friends and older years for help, younger years can be helpful and blunt when it comes to assistance." She said the last sentence with a twinkle in her eye and there were a few giggles from around the room. "Thank you all for your time." Albus saw Victoire catch Wood's eye and he nodded. "Ah yes, don't forget that Quidditch trials are in two weeks time. Give in your names to Professor Thomas, or our prefects. Thank you."

With that, the group disbanded and Albus, having received his phoenix, left behind Isabelle Osseo. The other groups hadn't come out yet and Albus stayed behind in the common room until Rose and Harry came down from their Potter sub-section meeting. He saw Scorpius before them and stopped him.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Scorpius nodded. "Much better thanks."

"How was the meeting?"

"Okay, nothing that special. Did you get the communicator thing?"

"Yeah." Albus produced his. "It's a phoenix as Dumbledore's patronus was a phoenix and he had a pet one."

Scorpius brought out his. It was a statue of a weasel on a base like Albus' phoenix. "Orson said that the reason it was a weasel because the patronus of Arthur Weasley, the dad, is a weasel and it is the animal that the surname of the family derives from."

"That's cool. Hey, do you want to wait with me for Rose and Harry before we go down to dinner?"

Scorpius nodded. "Yeah, thanks. I need to start on my homework as well. How much longer have we got until dinner?"

Albus checked his watch. "Ten minutes. Not enough time to even get started."

Before either of them could say anything else, Rose and Harry came down with the next sub-section. Waving madly to them, Albus and Scorpius showed them where they were. They made their way over and stood there grinning. Rose spotted the phoenix in Albus' hand.

"Hey, you got one too!"

She produced a statue of a cloak that Albus recognised had the markings of his father's invisibility cloak. "It's a model of your father's invisibility cloak."

Albus grinned. "I can see that. I would recognise it from a mile away. Shall we?"

He indicated the portrait hole and they climbed out and went down to dinner. Albus tucked the phoenix into the top pocket where his fake Galleon lay. As he went down the stairs he had an idea. If he could communicate amongst the family, why shouldn't he try and see if there was any other DA coins that could be still in use? On his way down, he felt his top pocket get hot. He took out his coin and it was a message from Victoire: thanks Al for the help. You're much better at explaining things than I will ever be. Dad says he'll send your presents with Tonks when you next send her home, V. smiling and wondering what Uncle Bill would send them next, Albus tucked it back into his pocket. Working for Gringotts allowed Bill to travel the world and he always brought back strange and interesting objects for his family.

As the meal finished, Albus excused himself to Scorpius. "Hey Scorpius, I gotta go. I need to send an owl to my dad. You can start on the homework, and I'll catch up later. I'll be ten to fifteen minutes and that's it. See you soon?"

Scorpius nodded. "Yeah sure."

Albus got up, taking a piece of cake from the platters of puddings available and left the Great Hall. Dashing up to the dormitory, he grabbed a piece of paper and started to write. When he was finished, he raced down the stairs. Looking around, he collected his bearings and tried to remember which way the owlery was. Unfortunately he was completely lost. Spying a Gryffindor in the corner of the Clock tower Courtyard, he raced over.

"Excuse me, could you tell me the way to the Owlery?"

The boy turned around. "Of course." He looked Albus up and down. "You're Albus Potter aren't you?" Albus nodded. "I'm Scott Yates, I'm in Dumbledore too."

Albus took his proffered hand. "Pleasure to meet you Scott. Where do I head from here?"

Yates pointed towards a small opening in the side of the courtyard. "You see there?" Albus nodded. "Go through there and follow the path. Go past the pig gargoyles and up the winding path and steps. At the top of the path is the owlery. You should be able to see it from the gargoyles. It's only a five or so minute walk from here."

Albus nodded. "Thanks Yates."

The tall third year nodded and turned back to his friends, who had just arrived. Repeating the instructions to himself underneath his breath, Albus went through the opening that Yates had showed him and started to climb down the steps. When he reached the owlery, a good ten minutes later and out of breath, Albus started to search for Tonks. She wasn't far away and he quickly attached the letter to her leg.

"Fly home Tonks, fly home."

Taking her over to the nearest window, he released her into the air and she flew off in the direction of home. With a small pang of homesickness, he turned his back on the window and started to make his way back to the castle.