7. =============================== TESTING ================================
============ HOGWARTS - SCOTLAND - UK - NOVEMBER 16TH 2020 A.D. =============
Albus walked up to the stone gargoyles that guarded the Headmasters office. He was still buzzing from the time he spent in the Room of Requirement.
"The Potters are always welcome here." Albus said quickly.
The gargoyles jumped aside without a word. Albus continued into the headmasters office. He knocked half heartily on the door as he entered. He was still a little too excited to be a polite as he usually was.
Alexander Tannis was standing just in front of Dumbledore's portrait. They had apparently been discussing something.
"Albus, still enjoying your first day back?" Tannis smiled.
"You have no idea." Albus laughed. "You remember the conversation we had at the end of last term. I told you what really brought the shrieking shack down?" Albus sat down in chair he always took.
Tannis nodded. "How could I forget."
"You said my ability didn't sound like telekinesis. I had no idea what it was until just now! It's gravity!" He blurted.
Tannis raised his eyebrows. "Gravity?"
"Yeah! I didn't tell anyone because I knew they would just think I was crazy but when I woke up in the hospital, I was…floating. And then when I just go back, I suddenly remember and so I went to the Room of Requirement to see if my powers still worked." Albus only stopped speaking to catch his breath.
"I take it they did."
"Not just worked! It's stronger and more focused than ever before!" Albus stood up and began pacing the room. He was way to wired to stay in the same place. "All I have to do is think it and it works! Watch!"
Before Tannis could respond, Albus held out his hand and aimed at a small waste paper bin. A weak distortion shot from his hand sending the bin rattling across the floor.
Tannis simply stared at the air where the distortion had been. "Hmm…can you pull it towards you?"
"Yep!" Albus said happily. He took a few steps forward and raised his hand again. The bin floated slowly off the ground and towards him until he reached out and grabbed it. "Took me a while to get the hang of that one. First time I smacked by a damn stool!"
"How long have you been practicing?"
"I went down to the Room right after I got back. Been there ever since…there's one more thing…" An enormous grin had appeared on Albus's face. "I can fly!"
This stunned Tannis. "Are you sure?"
"Well, I mean I've only tried it inside the Room of Requirement but I mean I can control Gravity! There no reason I shouldn't be able to, right?" Albus waited for Tannis to answer.
"Show me." He seemed to be deep in thought. Like he brain was processing dozens of equations at once.
Albus smiled and noticed that several of the portraits, including Professors Snape and Dumbledore, had become quite interested.
Albus stood on the spot for a second doing nothing. Okay, just nice and simply. Nothing flashy, just float.
The portraits gasped as Albus' feet left the firm foundations of the office floor. He simply floated in mid air for a few seconds, as if he was standing on an invisible raised platform. He touched back down and grinned.
"Fascinating." Tannis breathed.
"You certainly are full of surprises Mr. Potter." Professor Dumbledore's portrait smiled.
Something clicked inside Albus's head. He had heard that before but not from any of the teachers. His gaze moved up to the Sorting Hat that was sitting peacefully on it's small perch.
"Your not surprised though are you?" Albus said calmly.
"Seeing a human being fly without using magic or device. That, Mr. Potter would surprise anyone. However, I'll admit I knew there was something different about you." The sorting hat said casually.
Tannis stayed silent and listen to him converse with the Hat.
"You said there was power inside me. Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because you didn't want to be told. You were waiting for something Mr. Potter and now I think it has finally arrived." The hat said proudly.
Albus flashed back to what the hat had told him on the day of his sorting. He remembered something else.
"You said you hadn't seen someone like me in a very long time."
"Indeed."
"But you have seen someone like me before?" Albus asked with raised eyebrows.
"I'm afraid I am not permitted to speak about other students Mr. Potter. It would be an intrusion into their privacy." The hat informed.
Albus's heart began to beat faster. He knew he wasn't alone! He wasn't the only one!
"Huh." Albus thought for a second. "Can you tell me when you last saw it?"
The Hat was silent for a moment. "During the September sorting in the year 1093."
"And that's the only one you've ever seen?" Albus asked.
"You have my word Mr. Potter."
"Alright." Albus thought about this for a few moments. The last person like him to come to Hogwarts arrived almost a thousand years ago…
If there were other's like him in the world then they hadn't come through Hogwarts. If they are out there, what are their abilities? A cold dark thought entered his mind. A horrible acidic taste crept into the back of his mouth.
What if he was the only one? There was no record of anything like this happening before. Of course there wouldn't be, if the last time it happened was a thousand years ago.
"Albus, are you alright?" Tannis' voice broke his thoughts.
"Yeah, err, I'm fine…just thinking about something."
"I must say Albus, I never heard of anything like this before." Tannis admitted.
"Ahh. See I was hoping that you could explain something to me?"
"If I can, I will."
"The light. When I used my power in the shack, it was like a wave of energy. But when I use it now, you can barely see it. I was just wondering…not that I'm not happy those stupid little Pops are gone…I hated those!"
"Well, suddenly gravitational changes can cause distortions in space-time and can also effect light particles…"
Albus looked like he had just taken a bludger to the head. Tannis saw his confusion and smiled.
"Have you ever heard of a Black Hole Albus?" Tannis decided to take a simpler approach.
"Rings a bell."
"A Black Hole is a massive gravity distortion in space that's left over when a star, like our Sun, collapses. It's a gravity well with so much power it actually eats entire galaxies. The pull of gravity is so strong that it sucks everything into it include interstellar particles, light, some even say time it's self. So it's entire possible that the sudden changes to the gravitation fields around you may cause sudden loss or bursts of light." Tannis explained. "But, I'm afraid Physics really isn't my field. As I've already explained."
Albus nodded. He understood most of what had just been said but was still going to do some research.
"On a similar note Albus, I really don't think it's a good idea to tell anyone about your abilities. Especially the fact that you can fly."
"Why not?"
"Well the last person that achieved flight without a broomstick or a Thestral wasn't exactly well liked." Tannis cautioned.
Albus was stumped. He took a shot in the dark. "Iron man?"
"Voldemort."
"Oh, right!" Albus felt a little stupid for not getting that right away.
"Oh so you have remembered that there was a Dark Lord that almost conquered the entire wizarding world…" Snape mocked.
"Yeah I do remember…he was…err…potions teacher right?" Albus never backed down from Snape. He may have been a hero but that didn't stop him from being an arrogant prick.
Snape glared at him. "Of course, following in the Potter tradition of placing your self on the pedestal for all to see!"
"Actually I floated onto the pedestal because, oh yeah! I can fly!" Albus rubbed in.
For a few seconds Albus and Snape glared at each other.
"So we're agreed Mr. Potter. You will keep this ability of yours, under wraps?" Tannis questioned.
"Yeah, no worries. No one will know." Albus smiled and did a little bow.
Snape scoffed. "I'll believe when I see it."
"But you won't see it! You can't even see the wall that your stuck too!" Albus said sweetly. As he began heading to the door.
He turned around before leaving. "Oh Professor, you don't have a quick quotes quill I could borrow do you?"
"Certainly." Tannis pulled out his wand, gave it a little flick and a quill shot across the room and into Albus's hand.
"Thanks again." Albus said before leaving.
============ HOGWARTS - SCOTLAND - UK - NOVEMBER 17TH - 2020 A.D. ============
Albus had spent the rest of the day moving between his room and the Room of Requirement. He hadn't even seen any of his friends and because of his new found power, Aurora had only entered his mind on a few occasions. He hadn't even been down to dinner.
The sky was pitch black as Albus snuck his way out onto the grounds. Apart from the odd animal noise coming from the Forbidden Forrest, the entire area was silent. Albus picked up the very faint sound of Hagrid's monstrous snoring from his hut but that nothing else.
He walked out into the open just a few feet away from the black lake. He pulled out the quick quotes quill and a plain piece of parchment. The quill jumped to life and floated over to the parchment waiting for Albus to speak.
He pulled out a small stop watch that he had 'borrowed' from the potions supply cabinet. Albus looked around again to make sure that he was alone. He checked the skies for little white lights. The last thing he wanted to do was crash into a Muggle aeroplane.
"Okay…date November 17th 2020, time -" He checked his watch as the quill began scribbling notes "3.47 am. We'll call this Flight Mark One. I'm just going to start with something nice and simple to check that I can still maneuver outside as well as in." The quill finished writing and tip looked up waiting for Albus again.
Albus took a breath and then lifted off the ground. He did a simple 360 spin in the air, then floated left to right, then back flip and finally touched back down.
"Okay, there doesn't seem to be any difference in control. I was worried about wind resistance but there isn't any tonight so we'll have to cover that some other time." The quill again scribbled down his words.
Albus took a few breaths to steady him self. He hadn't actually been anywhere high up since his encounter inside his own nightmares. He had managed to face his other fears but he really wasn't sure when it came to heights.
You can do this! It's fine! There's nothing to be afraid of. You can fly so heights mean nothing anymore! Just relax, everything is going to be just fine!
Unfortunately he still wasn't convinced. He looked over to see the quill staring at him. Almost as if it was daring him.
"Look I'm gonna do it alright! Just give me a minute!" He growled at the little feathered stick. He took another breath and looked up.
"To infinity…and beyond." His voice shook.
He bent his legs, summoning the power inside of him. He focused on the gravity directly below him, then around his body. He took another breath and then pushed off.
Suddenly Albus blasted, at the speed of a bullet, off the ground and into the air. He cleared 100, then 200, then 300 feet up and continued to climb.
Don't look down! Don't look down! Don't look down!
He looked down.
"HOLY SHIT!" He was 500 feet above sea level!
He slowed to a halt and simply floated in mid air for a few seconds. His sudden panic began to fade. This was easy. He looked around. He could see for miles. In the far distance he spotted the thousands of blinking lights of a Muggle town.
He looked down again. The enormous castle looked like a garden shed from that height. He turned in mid air. To his left and now quite far below him was Hogsmead Village.
A smile crept up on his face. This isn't so bad.
This is just floating. He thought as he moved his body around in the air. Time to fly!
With a sudden burst of speed Albus took off into the distance. There was a thunderous clap as the Sonic Boom erupted around him. Albus just broke the sound barrier. He kept his arms at his sides, slightly spread out, so that he could use his palms to give off gravity bursts and maneuver.
He rocketed around then dipped lower bringing the ground closer to him until he was only 20 feet above the highest tree tops. He continued to jet his was around the Scottish terrain. He banked around heading back for the castle.
He spotted in the distance. Albus slowed slightly and came in over the Black Lake. As he passed, water caught in his wake sprayed everywhere.
He could see the spot in which he took off from. He flipped him self around to land feet first, only he underestimated just how fast he was going.
And dismount…
Albus's feet touched down be he didn't stop. Instead he ground his way through the earth, digging a long crater behind him.
Not good!
He still didn't stop and actually skidded straight into a tree with a loud Thud!
Albus lay on the ground for a second not moving. The quick quotes quill and parchment floated over to him, awaiting his notes.
"Ouch…"
The quill scribbled it down.
"Wait…" Albus suddenly sat up. "Not ouch!" He felt his head, his arms, his body. Nothing hurt. There were no cuts, bruises or broken bones.
His mind flashed back to the incident on the train. When Lithgo had tried to beat him to death with a metal pipe. He took more then 6 swings at him with that pipe and Albus blocked each one with his arm. (Except for the one that nailed his hand to the train) There was some kind of shield rapped around his arm when it happened.
Gravity Shield…sweet!
Albus stood up and began dusting the dirt off his clothes. "Err…Outdoors Flight Test One was successful!" He suddenly noticed the enormous crater that he left in the ground. "But landing could do with a little improvement…"
Albus managed to avoid detection and made his way back to his room. He thought it best to try and get some sleep unfortunately he simply wasn't tired. He laid in bed trying to fall asleep for over an hour but it simply didn't work. He didn't even want to sleep, but was so used to making him self get a good nights rest he just tried to continue to habit.
Eventually he got up and sat out on his balcony having a smoke. He looked down to see that he only had one more left in his pack. He would have to use the tunnel in the Room of Requirement to sneak into Hogsmead and -
What the hell is wrong with you! You bloody muppet you can fly!
He laughed at himself so being so idiotic. He was going to have to get used to this. There were so many rules and boundaries that no longer applied to him. There were hundreds of different ways of stopping students from leaving and/or stopping people from entering Hogwarts but not one single one of those ways were designed to stop a man that could fly.
Albus stubbed out his cigarette and positioned himself on the edge of the balcony. In the distance he could see the sun was starting to rise. He was going to have to be quick.
Not a problem…
He took a swan dive off the balcony and fell over 50 feet before taking flight and blasting off in the direction of the muggle village he spotted during his test flight.
He managed to locate an all-night garage just outside the village on the main road. He made sure to land on the other side of the road. Once again he had a little trouble stopping and caused a very large drag mark in the ground.
With his shoes and trousers capped with mud he entered the garage and brought several packs of cigarettes from the young and very board woman behind the counter. She didn't seem the slightest bit annoyed that he had just trudged dirt all through the garage. Then again she didn't seem bothered by anything. Naturally, Albus's new older look meant he didn't get his age questioned anywhere anymore.
With his pockets full of smokes he flew back to the castle. He didn't trust his flying abilities enough to attempt a landing on his balcony just yet and decided to land in the same spot as before. He didn't collide with the tree this time but did make the crater about a foot deeper.
He again snuck his way back to his room. Unfortunately the only clothes he had were a few of James old ones. His new uniform hadn't arrived yet, neither had the clothes that his parents promised to get him. Which meant he was left with two white T-shirts that were about two sizes to small for him and a pair of jeans that barely fit him.
He had managed to borrow a pair of black trainers from Ron which were so old that they seemed to only be held together by the laces.
By the time the clock had clicked 5:58am, Albus had again become agitated and unable to stay in the same place for too long. He snuck down to the Library and searched the shelves for any books on Physics.
The most he could find were a few of the books on transfiguration and charms that talked about magic in relation to the Muggle laws of physics. He grabbed them just in case they had any kind of useful information in them but expected that he would need to send away…or fly away to get anything solid on the subject.
He had read through 3 books in 2 hours but hadn't made much progress.
Gravity, although still pretty constant in the wizarding world, wasn't as firm a law as it was in the Muggle world. Flying charms that had been cast on brooms gave him some idea of how Altering or rather 'going around' gravity was possible. He found the same ideas from studying the 'Levicorpus' charms and other levitation spells but nothing he found said anything about being able to make a human fly so fast that he beat the sound barrier.
He hadn't been able to find much about Voldemort's ability to fly either. Most of the articles simply talked about him using extremely dark magic to defy gravity. Albus didn't even use a wand and he doubted very seriously that Voldemort could match his speed.
He wasn't even sure what kind of speeds he could fly at.
"Err note to self…" The quick quotes quill suddenly jumped to life and began writing. "Find a way to conduct a speed test." He remember something else. "And a shield test."
Albus heard footsteps coming up the stairs towards his room.
He grabbed the quill and parchment and hid them in a chest of draws just as there was a knock on the door.
Scorpius poked his head through the door.
"Hey."
"Morning."
"How ya settling in?" Scorpius asked.
"It's alright. I love the balcony."
Scorpius walked out and took a look at the view. "I'm gonna complain to someone, this isn't fair!" He laughed.
"Yeah, well I expect its only because Tannis was worried that the other students might get a little freaked out by sharing their dorm with a 20 year old bloke." Albus admitted.
"But your not 20, your 14. You just look 20."
"Yeah I know, but they don't. They'd probably -" Albus stopped in mid sentence and scrunched up his face.
"What?"
"I missed Aurora's birthday again, didn't I?"
"I'm sure she'll let you off, what with the whole coma thing." Scorpius laughed.
"Oh, no wait I forgot, she hates me." Albus said glumly.
"She doesn't hate you." Scorpius snapped back immediately.
"She broke my nose! I haven't spoken to her in what? 6 weeks?"
"Again because of the slight coma."
"Nah, maybe I'm better off just leaving her be. She does seem quite happy with Cody." Albus sighed and pulled out a cig.
"I'm sure what to suggest with you two. Either marriage or Divorce."
"Ah?" Albus asked whilst lighting his smoke.
"When did you start smoking?"
"Forget that, what did you mean, marriage or divorce?"
Scorpius thought for a second. It would be unfair for him to divulge anything she told him. It was for her to tell Albus, not him. "I just mean that when you two talk to each other you act like a bickering married couple and when you don't speak, you both look like you want nothing more than to ravish the other."
Albus was a little taken back. "When does she look like she wants to ravish me?"
Scorpius huffed. "Can we go get some breakfast please? I'm starving!"
"Err, I was gonna wait, you know until after everyone else had finished. Might be a little weird." Al admitted sheepishly.
Scorpius knew he was just nervous about seeing Aurora.
"Everyone knows that you look older now. Tannis made the announcement at breakfast just before you got back."
Albus sighed. He through the rest of his cigarette over the balcony. "Fine, lets go."
