I just wanted to thank JK for her world, and her continued generosity with it! These are her toys! I own any OC's that appear, they're MINE ALL MINE! BWahahahaaah! Sorry little touch of megalomania there. So enjoy my take on the continuing saga of the epilogue to DH.
Chapter Notes: Here lately I have been dipping in another fandom, Sherlock Holmes. I have so far written two stories in a series over there which I am very proud of and I plan three more five chapter installments in the series. This is a group of writers that are simply humbling to be around and being a part of that community has really raised my game. This chapter I believe has been helped by my activities over there. However, splitting time has not helped my speed any so I apologize for the delay. I have been working with yet another beta, and they have had this chapter since Friday with no word so I decided to go ahead and post it utilizing my own limited grammar skill. So for those of you who get distracted by such things I apologize up front.
This is Albus' first day of his second year, the first day the year before was pretty traumatic, I think this one might actually leave scars LOL!
CAUTION: For those who are sensitive there is an occurrence at the end of this chapter that might be considered graphic by some.
Please Read and Review...I'm lonely.
Thanks!
Bart
Albus Potter and the Black Badger Society
Chapter7: First Day Blues
The windblown Quidditch Stadium was full but the crowd was strangely silent.
Albus saw a lone figure flying up above chasing a Snitch frantically. Albus could not make out whom the Seeker was. Suddenly he swooped down after the little elusive golden ball and Albus could see it was Scorpius.
Scorpius' hair was blowing in the wind back from his face, but the usual look of joy the boy found in flying was missing, replaced by tension and pressure of trying to capture his rapid little target.
Albus was about to call out to Scorpius when he glanced at the grandstands. He suddenly realized that they were filled with copies of the same man, a glowering, clearly not impressed...
Draco Malfoy.
-
Albus fell out of his bed pushed by an unseen hand. He hit the floor tangled in his bed coverings. He heard a familiar voice chuckle.
"Is wee baby Potty sleeping sound? Peeves hopes he has not woke the little chap up."
Albus disentangled himself angrily. The little man with wicked dark eyes and a wide mouth wearing an outlandish outfit floated in the air giggling at his own prank.
Albus felt an unpleasant smile as he saw the other sleepers in his room awaken. There was no need to stay silent now. "Mister Filch! He's in Hufflepuff Second Year boys bunk room!" he bellowed with a wicked grin to match Peeves.
Peeves good mood faded instantly. "Drat! I never have any fun!"
Sure enough, through the wall came a ghost holding a lantern and using a cane, but floating along at a good clip nonetheless. "There you are, Peeves, you'll not escape me this time!" he growled. Dour looking, with large jowls, the apparition carried a ghostly cat under his arm staring at Albus with disdainful lamp-lit eyes. Peeves took off through the wall blowing raspberries as Filch gave chase.
Albus picked himself up off the floor,. "Welcome back to Hogwarts," He murmured as he yawned.
He wondered at his dream, the environment seemed so real like the one with Uncle Charlie the year before, and the one where he visited Cormac's mum, but why was Draco Malfoy in it?
He glanced up at Scorpius and saw his friend holding his head looking even paler than usual. "Albus you would not believe the nightmare I just had. I might owe Peeves thanks for waking me up!"
Maybe it wasn't my dream after all, Albus thought grimly.
A quick check of his watch on the nightstand let Albus know that it was nearly time for breakfast anyway, so they all started their day.
-
The Great Hall was back to being what it really was, an exceptionally large and elaborate dining room. The spelled ceiling was showing a cloudy morning but there was enough blue to promise sun later. The older Students milled about finding acquaintances from the year before while the first years huddled in nervous little clusters, wide-eyed and nearly overwhelmed by their first day of Hogwarts schooling.
Albus was only mildly surprised to see that Rose was already at breakfast, but was sitting with her cousins at the Gryffindor table being beastly to all who dared come near.
Scorpius saw her and his forehead wrinkled in confusion, but since Albus was not making a note, he let it pass as well. They took a seat and began to dig in,; Scorpius had some scramble and mash, Albus felt like some potato cakes, which he was slathering with ketchup.
The owls arrived with packages from home. Albus heard Celestina's loud screech in the swirling melee of feathers. Scorpius received a huge care package, one that the new, fit owl was able to carry effortlessly. The year before his mail arrived frequently by an elderly owl that had to be nursed back to health after every trip. This one was large and muscular with brown feathers and a white breast; he nibbled his toast corner with dignity and swooped off. Scorpius opened the package and found a brand new quill set, and several packages of sweets with foreign language labels, and a long ramble of encouragement from home. "Sure beats Howlers," Scorpius quipped.
Albus did not see Nox's broad wingspan, or Roarke's arrogant white plumage, so he turned back to breakfast finding his appetite was still curbed by last night's culinary crimes.
"Albus, Scorpius, there you are," said." Said Diane Delaney as she spied them and strolled up. "Are you two ready for Quidditch?" she demanded, showing her priorities had not changed with the prefect badge.
"My Dad acquired me a SkyBolt," Scorpius said proudly. Diana grinned so wide Albus was sure she sprained a jaw muscle. "Splendid! It's a good thing, since every starting Seeker will have one this year."
Scorpius looked crestfallen,. "Oh, I guess it won't be as much the advantage as I thought."
Diana scoffed,. "You are still Scorpius'"Mad Man" Malfoy, that's all the advantage we'll need."
Scorpius tried to look cool about it, but Albus saw him crack a little smile when Diana focused on him.
"How about you, Albus, is the cannon arm ready to fire?" In way of response, Albus flexed his muscle. She snorted, "It must be in the ligaments." Scorpius sprayed juice as he laughed, Summer Sutherland across the table glared, but she had learned from her dousing with sprayed drink twice the year before. She had an indelible charm on her robes this year. Albus idly wondered why she insisted on sitting across from them, as he gave Diana the glower she deserved.
Diana suddenly glanced around, and sat down leaning in,. "There are some disturbing developments that you should be aware of this year. Firstly, the worst thing possible has happened, Slytherin got wise and stopped being all pure-blood centric, be sure to thank your cousin Vicky for me won't you?"
Albus recalled Victoire and her tirade against the Slytherin establishment the year before in defence of Paige Hawkins. Their behaviour towards that girl, the best player on their team who happened to be a half-blood, was deplorable. "How is this, the worst thing possible?" Albus inquired.
Diana rolled her eyes,. "I did not mean the worst thing for them as a House, I mean the worst thing for us as a Quidditch team!"
Scorpius looked as confused as Albus felt. "I'm not following."
Diana looked positively grave. "Paige Hawkins was made the Quidditch team captain; she is choosing the best team Slytherin can field, not based on blood status."
Albus was beginning to get an inkling of what was so dire. "Do they have good talent to pull from?"
Diana nodded. "We've always said if you want to beat Slytherin make sure you keep their starters on the field. If it had not been for the Sisters going Belarusian on the starting Chasers two years ago, Paige would have never seen playing time last year. Now those reserves that should have played but got passed over by McNasty because they were not purebloods -or female, which he was biased against as well- are getting their chance. Now that Paige has all three Chasers female, they are calling themselves the Furies, along with the typical thug Slytherin Beater line, and the fact whomever they get for Seeker will be the best at hand, all means that we are deep trouble."
Scorpius leaned in getting into the subterfuge. "You said disturbing developments plural? I've only counted one so far."
She glanced around, her eyes going grave as she eyed someone in the direction of the Slytherin table. They turned to look. Standing in a group of typical Slytherin evolutionary throwbacks was a small but muscular boy with spiky hair and a perpetual sneer; it was Leon Sloan, the starting Slytherin Seeker from the year before and notorious illegal robe grabber.
He was sporting the badge of the Head Boy.
Scorpius went pale. "You don't think he holds a grudge for that little stunt I pulled last year do you?
Albus remembered how Scorpius had used Sloan's illegal hand in his robes to pull the other boy off his broom as he made a daring mid-air Snitch grab and slide down a ring pole the first game they played the year before. Sloan seemed to feel the eyes on him and he looked right at Scorpius, his smile exceedingly unpleasant.
"I think that's a yes," Albus remarked.
He turned to Diana. "Surely the Head Girl will have something to say about his bias and favouritism."
Diana shook her head,. "She's going to be too busy with her own agenda." She pointed to the Ravenclaws. Albus and Scorpius groaned when they saw the Head Girl badge on the chest of a serious brunette with her hair pulled brutally back into a bun, she had gray drill bit eyes that dissected the room. "Elanor Ferraro?" Albus remarked, "But she's obsessed with Ravenclaw winning the Quidditch cup at all costs! There's no way she'll be impartial."
Scorpius sighed,. "I seem to recall she wanted to run up the score on Hufflepuff last year."
Diana glared. "Yeah, she and I are not friends."
Albus studied his suddenly unappetizing potato cakes. "Not good."
-
The first class of the day was Herbology. Albus did not know anyone who disliked the class, if they were truthful. Uncle Neville was one of the most gifted and passionate teachers Albus knew at Hogwarts, and that translated to a loose and fascinating atmosphere in which to learn.
He and Scorpius arrived at the interior entrance to the Arboretum, same time as the Slytherins, who did the usual sneering and grumbling as they pulled on the required gloves and protective goggles.
With a hiss of pressurized air, they all entered the Arboretum. Even, even though they had seen it all the year before, they still stopped and stared. The sheer mass of the place was not the only thing that was stunning; the variety of plant life was jaw dropping.
Four stories of walkways and open air greeted their eyes. The green, charmed, outer glass did not tint or take away from the colours within, but somehow enhanced them.
They viewed different eco systems just from their vantage point on the first level. Over to the left were a group of tropical plants being rained on by small contained storm clouds, while just across the path there was some desert flowers and exotic plants growing out of sun blasted rock and sand, a small globe of light hovering over head, obviously giving off heat, but the temperature within the arboretum remained comfortable.
On the way to a glass enclosure on the first floor, which contained a classroom with tables complete with their own sinks, they walked past winter landscapes and tundra with crystalline glass looking plants. When, they passed what appeared to be a rocky mountainside with plants growing out of the side, there was a gentle wind blowing throughout the place. It had a white brick path that wound all through the vistas, and older students meandered taking care of the plants while dictating their results to Quick Quotes Quills.
They walked in and took their usual seats from the year before, all except Rose, who suddenly decided to sit with Olivia Abbot, a little pink-faced, dark-haired girl with blue eyes and pigtails; the very image of Neville's wife, Hannah, except Hannah was blonde. Olivia was the daughter of Hannah Longbottom's first cousin and was a sweet girl who tended to be agreeable to everything Rose said, which normally annoyed Rose to no end. Albus shot her a look; she nodded toward Scorpius, and then crossed her arms. The message was clear.
Scorpius or me, make a choice.
Albus turned back to the front and sighed thinking to himself, This is going to be such a long year. His stomach let him know his potato cakes were not settling very well.
His dilemma, solved by Uncle Neville coming through the door. Professor Longbottom had a bandage on his hand and a patch on his cheek. "Sorry I'm late, ladies and gentlemen, oh, and Slytherins." The Slytherins nodded appreciating the distinction. "I got into a tangle with this little lady a few stories up, she was in a feisty mood this morning, and I need to get some students for detention so I can get her pruned, unless there are volunteers for extra credit?"
Albus knew he was referring to the scariest bit of plant life ever created, in his opinion, the treacherous Umbridge Weed, which Uncle Neville created for Azkaban security purposes. Albus glanced around the room to see who knew to what Professor Longbottom was referring to. He saw some faces go pale, Kian and his two henchmen did not look interested in a reprise of the detention they had endured with Rose, Scorpius, and he just before Christmas. There were at least four more that shifted uncomfortably at the thought.
"Oh well, no matter. Today we are studying how to prune Abyssinian shrivelfigs. Who can tell me the dangers?"
Rose's hand shot up, so did Cormac, who proved to be the best Herbology student the year before. "Besides my two favourite students, that is," Neville said with a chuckle. He checked his role for a minute.
"Someone I have not heard from, let me see, let's go Slytherin, Maya Goyle?" The girl in question was tall and large boned, dark haired and looked older than eleven, her face had a slack look to it with no expression. Scorpius leaned over, "Don't let her looks fool you." His tone had a note of warning.
As if to confirm his statement as fact, she spoke, "An Abyssinian shrivelfig is used in shrinking potions, and has a reverse aging component, so obviously you'd have to guard against the juice affecting your clothing, and it is not wise to get it on your skin," she remarked in a cultured, bored voice. The look she shot Professor Longbottom was not a friendly one.
"Five points to Slytherin for a great synopsis, Maya,"." Professor Longbottom called happily. She just smirked and turned to Natasha Skoll, the little blond girl with the wicked smile and quick giggle to which she often appeared joined at the hip.
"So if you know what is good for you, do not get juice on your clothing. We had a student drop it on his pants last year, and suddenly we had a new soprano for the Hogwarts Singing Warlocks Octet." All of the boys shifted uncomfortably while Uncle Neville chuckled at his joke,. "So with no further quibbling, let's go."
He swept out into the Arboretum. The students collected their pruning shears and followed.
The next hour they spent on the second level east wing bent down with magnifiers trying to clip tiny little trees. Uncle Neville informed them that as soon as all of the figs were picked or fell off, the plants returned to normal size until next time they bore fruit. The fruit itself grew to a normal size as soon as it was not longer on the tree, but that did not help the aching back and tired eyes.
"Well that's all the fun we have for the day, be sure to read the next chapter on Dragon Lava Root maintenance, and be sure to cover up with your dragon hide aprons for next class. Oh, don't worry about eyebrows, they do eventually grow back," he called cheerfully, ignoring all of the looks of terror he was receiving from the vainer students.
As they filed by, Uncle Neville touched Albus' arm, indicating for him to stay behind. "I know you have Potions next, and you don't want to be late to one of Professor Flint's classes, trust me, but what is going on with Rose and Scorpius?"
Albus watched as Scorpius trudged out with Cormac and Gaspar, Rose was chatting loudly with Olivia Abbot and Gertrude Statham as they departed, the other two girls glancing at each other wondering why the sudden interest.
Albus shrugged, but his stomach gave a lurch, . "They're both being mental at the moment."
Uncle Neville chuckled. "I wouldn't let worry eat a hole in your stomach, Albus, you guys have a gravity, anyone can see it, they might pull away for a bit, but they will find their way back. I've seen this three-way chemistry once before, and that worked out alright." He winked and nudged Albus down the ramp to the airlock door.
Scorpius was waiting as he cleared the enclosure,. "What did Professor Longbottom want?"
Albus shrugged and remarked, "Just to meddle a little bit, nothing worth sharing."
Scorpius nodded, not pressing him to elaborate; they headed down the stairway toward the dungeons.
They arrived at the Potions classroom a little late but Flint had not swept in just yet. With no windows, it was not as dark and dank as Albus had first anticipated the year before; however it was very creepy with dead specimens and potion ingredients contained in bright lit jars stored in shelved alcoves in the walls. They were both surprised to see Rose seated in her normal spot. "Don't get used to it," she grumbled. Scorpius sat down disinterested, "I hadn't planned on it." "Good," she remarked to get in the last word. "Fine," he shot back slyly with a smile, to her glaring disdain.
The trio had their own chemistry when it came to potions, with Albus being the potion cook, Rose calling out the directions, and Scorpius finding and handing the ingredients, they had made it through the first year with top marks. Mac and Gas had their share of disasters the year before, their partner was a Ravenclaw with spelled blue hair to match her eyes named Azure Gorman, who had marked all of their failures down to her pairing with boys. She sat with them once again, looking disgruntled. There in the back, like a perpetual wraith, was Liam Donovan. He seemed bored and apathetic, but his eyes were always quick to glance at a noise.
With his usual precision, Professor Flint swept through the door, locking it with his wand ominously, as if to prevent escape, and sat his satchel down. He did his normal scan of the class, his dark eyes dissecting and cold.
"Learning is a delicate alchemy," he stated ominously, "you absorb information from a state of discomfort. Comfortable individuals do not learn, they do not strive or reach. To be in a place of your choosing, doing only and exactly what you desire, is to be complacent and lazy. Therefore, I am going to stir the cauldron this year. You will be assigned your new partners."
There was a buzz of dissent, immediately cut off when Flint came around the front of his desk and loomed over them. His obsidian eyes glittering, his shaven skull gleaming in the overhead glow globes, he suddenly seemed much bigger and threatening. "This is my potions classroom. I am the only professor teaching this subject at Hogwarts, to graduate; I am the only door through which to pass. Am I making myself clear?" There was a chorus of nods.
Albus glanced over, Rose was shredding a big piece of parchment nervously, her face flushed and Scorpius was in cold aristocratic shut down mode, which he only did when he was uncertain.
Professor Flint glanced over the assemblage, "With all that being said, let's get your reassignments so we can get on with the curriculum."
"Not Liam, not Liam, please dear Merlin not Liam..." Albus began chanting under his breath.
"Albus Potter, Azure Gorman, and..."
"Not Liam, please not Liam..."
"Liam Donovan."
"Arghhhh!"
Next thing Albus knew, he was at the table with a glowering blue-haired boy hater, and the creepiest kid in class.
Rose wound up with Gaspar and Rachel Vane, who was already flipping her long black hair and batting her eyes at Gaspar guaranteeing that the little round boy would probably be doing most of her work as well as his own. Rose glowered showing this was not tolerable.
Scorpius was over with two Ravenclaws, one was a thick-glasses wearing arrogant jerk by the name of Rhys Grego, and the other was one of the two French girls in class. Her name was Margo Duval, she had dark red hair that had undulating different shade highlights resembling flame, with full pouting lips and eyes that looked violet but might be a glamour spell. (Honestly, who has violet eyes?) She showed that she already had her eye on Scorpius, which he was doing nothing to discourage her attention. Rose was glowering at that as well.
Potions...not going to be a happy class this year!
"Now that we are settled, turn in your books to chapter eleven, memory potions. We will begin with the Lethe Draught,and the Mnemosyne Extract antidote."
Albus turned in his Practical Potions book to the chapter mentioned. He resignedly wondered if he could brew himself some Lethe to forget this awful class.
Liam behaved himself for the duration of the class but Azure glared at Albus anytime he offered to help or point something out, showing in Albus' opinion why her partnership with Mac and Gas had not been successful. In the end, when the phials were taken to the front, his group botched the assignment, somehow turning a concoction that was supposed to end up light blue, into a sick yellow bubbling mass. Flint took one look at the result and failed them.
Albus was furious.
The class began their escape, reacquainting themselves with their friends as soon as they cleared the door, but Albus hung back.
Flint was erasing the board but when he turned and saw Albus standing there, he did not seem surprised.
"You want me to fail, don't you?" Albus demanded. He was so angry he was trembling, he did not care that he was looking at detention.
Flint however had the nerve to smile,. "There were only two students in the entire class that could take you out of your comfort zone, Albus, only two that can push you to become all you have the potential to be, that is why I placed you with them. If you desire to remain successful in this class, I suggest you find a way to collaborate. I will give you the grade that is deserved, dependant on the completion of the assignments." He began to unpack a different book from his satchel. "You need to leave and allow me to prepare for the next class, unless you actually want to sort Flobber Worms for me this Friday night in detention."
Albus stomped off without another word.
"He's pure evil," He hissed as he caught up to Rose and Scorpius who had forgotten their enmity in light of the new development.
"I am in total agreement," Rose declared.
"I don't know, Margo's alright, Rhys needs a personality transplant though," Scorpius remarked.
"Oh I bet you like Margo's die job, and eye colour spells alright,"." Rose needled, twiddling the locks of her hair and batting her eyes sweetly.
Scorpius was about to rise to the bait but Albus exploded. "Will you two stop fighting for five Merlin forsaken minutes?!" He roared. He shot them both a glare and trudged away in the silence that followed.
"What's up with him?" Rose inquired before Albus got entirely out of earshot. "He's gone mental, I suppose," replied Scorpius.
Albus resisted the impulse to head down to The Cellar and call it a day, but only just. The next class was Defence Against the Dark Arts and he had been looking forward to this for a long time.
The year before, Albus arrived at Hogwarts wanting to learn some defensive spells, and maybe some offensive, to defend himself against his brother and cousins. What he received was dry theory, no practical application and flawed technique at the hands of what turned out to be a dark wizard who was deliberately being a bad teacher. Now the instructor was someone who Albus already respected, and he was eager to see what was in store. No amount of Rose/Scorpius drama, or Professor Flint unreasonable behaviour was going to ruin that.
He arrived at the new Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom ahead of Rose and Scorpius, both of whom came in and gingerly sat beside Albus, watching him for any potential outbursts. They should not have been concerned. Albus was so excited and distracted, they could have been tap dancing on the back of a flouncy pink taffeta clad centaur, shooting swirly bright spells into the air from their nostrils and Albus would not have noticed at that point.
The class moved to was now in one of the lower turrets in the castle.
The room was circular, with a second story in a circular ring of platforms;, there was a staircase leading up. The windows were many, promising drafts during the winter but a spectacular view. There was a space for desks where they were seated, which were situated in a semi-circle around a mobile chalk board, but also a large open area which had rings big enough to fit two persons to stand five paces apart. Albus felt a thrill. "Oh yes, there will be practical application this year!" he murmured to himself.
Orion made his way down the stairs; his cane was in his heavy leather gloved hand. He was dressed in robes, but even with the same attire as the other professors; he did not look like a teacher.
It may have been the way he walked, or the set of his shoulders, or the way his eyes paused on each student sizing them up. There was no way to predict what was about to occur.
He quickly called the roll. "Since I was not here last year, I don't know any faces," he remarked.
Albus noticed that he did not even look at Albus, Gas, or Rose; or acknowledge any prior relationship. He wondered why that was. Scorpius leaned over, "What language is that? It almost sounds like English, but he's slurring it all over the place." Albus grinned.
Orion pulled a stool out from behind the chalkboard, and sat down. "We have time for three questions, fire away, and make them good."
Slytherins normally did not participate, acting as if it was beneath them but, surprisingly, one of them raised their hand. It was a dark skinned boy seated in the back. He was actually tall, but he normally slumped so much he seemed normal height. He had slightly bushy black hair combed back into a flame shape and a slender face with thick eyebrows and quick dark eyes, furtive and unsettling.
"Brian Zabini," Orion stated, not even rechecking the role.
Brian cleared his throat. "I was wondering where your wand is? Is the cane a fashion statement or functional?"
Orion smiled, but it was not entirely friendly. "The perfect question to ask, if you are assessing a threat Mister Zabini," he said in a clipped tone. Brian looked nonplussed that his question was interpreted that way. Orion laughed. "Relax kid, I'm here to train you, not sort you out."
He raised his cane with its crystalline head into the light. "This, class, is a staff. It is a magical implement much as a wand, but it is one you have to earn, not purchase.". He touched the wood. "Wood from the lands of your father, from whose roots you sprang," he intonated, as if repeating ceremonial words. He touched the crystalline stone head of the cane, "A mineral from a vein in the heart of your mother's lands, for it is she that carried you." He got a distant look to his eye, "We learned this magic from the people of the earth, wind, and sky, it is as old as any European tradition, and who knows it could be older still. Next question?"
Scorpius' hand rose quickly. "Scorpius Malfoy, ask your question," Orion commented eyes glittering unsettlingly.
"What do you mean, you have to earn it?"
Orion smiled. "Oh yes, you are concerned with personal achievement, rather than what is given you." Scorpius shifted in his seat uncomfortably.
"There is a ceremony, oh not every student chooses this route, there is traditional European magic in America, a lot of Yanks do carry wands, but there are some that tread a different path. At For those that choose it, at age eleven, there is a quest involved. You are sent out into a tribal lands to find the components of your staff. You are given just the clothes on your back and the magic within. If you return having located and retrieved the components, then you've earned a staff. Next question?"
"Iris Ivy," he called out. There was some murmuring over that, no one could ever recall Iris ever participating in any class out right, but there she was, her hand held halfway up her face red as a gurdy root. "I noticed that you have a falconer's glove, and there is a perch up near the top of the turret that looks like the ones in the owlery," she said with a squeak.
"Animal lover, right?" Orion asked, his voice warm and friendly. Her cheeks got even redder but she nodded.
Orion closed his eyes; he seemed to be concentrating as Albus had seen him do during that ride in the Hogwarts Express. He opened those bright light blue eyes and held his gloved hand aloft.
Through an open window further up came one of the largest birds Albus had ever seen. It swooped down and alighted on his hand with intimidating long talons. It had sleek russet plumage with white tail feathers and its head was snowy as well. It gave the class an imperious dismissive glance with its bright yellow eyes. "Class, I'd like you to meet my friend, Gwaihir, the Wind Lord," Cody remarked. There was something so majestic about the bird, that no one in the class dare say anything. Cody smiled. He, he spoke to the bird in low tones and, it took off. With with a few flaps of its long wings, it caught an updraft and soared back up into the aviary above.
"I don't suggest anyone attempt to pet him, he's here at my request, he's not a pet," Cody explained as he moved the stool back behind the chalkboard.
He brought out a covered cage on a pedestal. It was shaking and making all sorts of evil growling noises. "Now let's get to the evaluation portion of our class. Can anyone tell me, what are the most basic impulses common to any sentient form of life? Kian Kerry?"
Kian glanced at his two cronies, "No idea professor, please enlighten us, preferably in English this time."
Cameron and Conner sniggered dutifully.
Orion laughed as well. "Very well, it's fight or flight. This cage has a sticking charm on it that has the duration of twenty seconds, starting now, good luck."
With that said, he removed the cloth that covered the cage, and walked out the door of the classroom, closing and locking it behind him with a portentous click.
In the cage, pale green, slavering fangs with long fragile looking fingers ending in claws, its bright yellow eyes eager in anticipation, was what looked like a little demon complete with sharp little horns.
"It's a Grindylow!" Rose yelped.
The students panicked. Albus immediately felt like throwing up. Rose and Scorpius were both looking at him with wands out, as were Gas and Mac, waiting for him to save the day as he had the year before.
His mind was a blank.
They forgot, the year before he dosed on calming draught right before rogue Bludgers attacked them during their flying lesson.
He certainly did not feel calm now.
"What do we do, Albus?" Rose pleaded, "Grindylows are aggressive, and it's going to attack as soon as it can."
To prove her point the little demon rattled the door to the cage ferociously.
They all looked at him with accusing eyes at least that was what it felt like to Albus. "Why does it have to be me?" Albus snarled.
Suddenly he heard the cage door open.
Albus did not even remember drawing his wand, but he spun and shouted, "Reducto!"
There were cries of surprise and shock and outright terror, and then there was a rain of Grindylow pieces;, and sounds of retching.
Orion reappeared beside the door, on the inside instead of the out. "I would have reasserted the sticking charm, or even better jammed the door physically, but there is no debating your effectiveness," he remarked with a clinical detachment.
Albus fell to his knees staring at the scorched spot were the Grindylow had been, ignoring the pieces that fell on his robes.
"What have I done?"
Thought of the Day: Harry Potter's reflexive spell was a disarming spell, Albus' reflexive impulsive spell is an explosive curse. Hmmmmm...
Feel free to discuss.