Disclaimer: This story is based on the worlds created by and belonging to J.K. Rowling

A/N: Apologies for the late update but I had a hectic weekend and didn't have time to finish this off and post if for you. Hope you enjoy this chapter and I hope you have enjoyed and continued to enjoy this story and indeed the entire stories. Finally, I'd like to thank all of my readers for sticking with me

7: Potter Prevails

Albus was the last to get to the dressing rooms for the first football match of the year. Albus' team would be playing a team captained by Hufflepuff's Robert Monk. As Albus found out, the opposing team were to be wearing the sky blue colours of Manchester United's rival, Manchester City. The team quickly put on their kit and, for the first time, Albus pulled on his number seven jersey. Jason Powell stood up and held a sheet of parchment in front of him. "I'm sure you all know the team and what you all have to do but I'll go through the team one last time. Jordan Leonard in goal, Mary Faldo, myself, John Lewis and Mason Cooke across the back. Albus Potter, Joe Chamberlain, Michelle Mansell and Paul Henley across the middle and Joanne Johnson and Rory Davis up top. Let's go" he said quickly and the team rose and followed their captain onto the pitch.

Ninety minutes later, the game was over and the team in red was celebrating. They won by five goals to two and Albus had scored two from his position on the right side of midfield and being left footed made it easy for him to curl it to the far post.

As the two days of well attended football matches came to an end, all the attention particularly that of the third years, turned towards the upcoming Hogsmeade visit on Halloween. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday passed by agonisingly slowly. Classes seemed to last twice as long and the double periods seemed to be even more prolonged. By time Thursday and Halloween morning came, the clock seemed to come to a stand still at breakfast.

Seeing the younger students look enviously at them as they left the castle brought about the conversation which carried them nearly all the way to the village. Their respective Head of Houses took their permission slips from them as left the castle.

The weather outside was cold but the rain had so far stayed away but Albus had to admit that the sky didn't look very promising as large grey clouds loomed overhead. "I remember always wanting to go" Albus said "and now that we get the chance, I can't decide what I want to do first!

"Yeah" Luke agreed. "I think we should go to Honeydukes first"

"Of course you do" Scorpius sighed. The three boys continued their conversation the entire walk down to the village. Just as they reached the main street of Hogsmeade, the rain began to fall in heavy droves. The three boys quickly ran for cover in the nearest shop which happened to be Honeydukes. Luke was delighted and Albus and Scorpius were quite happy too when they saw everything they had to choose from.

They spent about half an hour buying various sweets and left with considerably less coins jangling in their pockets. The rain had stopped and they next went to Weasley Wizard Wheezes, better known as WWW. Albus was greeted by the familiar face of his uncle George. "Thought I'd be seeing you today. James has just been in."

"Hey. Why are you working her today?" Albus asked. George usually worked in the Diagon Alley shop but did sometimes visit their other branches.

"Hogsmeade day for you guys. It's always hectic so I come down and help. Not to mention that there's a few new things that you can always sell to students and their parents will be none the wiser. Albus was given a few of the test products, Scorpius didn't buy anything and Luke left the shop with a bag of items.

"I think we'll go for a Butterbeer now." Scorpius suggested and his friends were quick to agree. The Three Broomsticks was full of Hogwarts students and Albus quickly rushed to the one free table he could see. It was in the corner yet they could see the entire pub from where they were. Scorpius bought the Butterbeers and they were soon joined by the strangest group Albus had seen. Emily and Ashley were with Rose and Alison Noone. The quartet were laughing about something and they sat around the three boys.

They spent the rest of the day wandering around Hogsmeade, poking their heads into shops to see if there was anything interesting but didn't buy anything for the rest of the day. Only when they were on their way back up to the castle did Albus, Luke and Scorpius were being accompanied to the castle by Emily and Rose. Ashley had gone to see her father who had been stationed in Hogsmeade for that day while Alison Noone went to see some of her other friends. The five realised that they had never gone to the Shrieking Shack and still had half an hour to get back to the castle so decided to take a detour to the abandoned house. The stayed and looked for about five minutes. "It's said to be the most haunted building in Britain but really, its' not" Rose said. When Remus Lupin was at Hogwarts they sent him there to transform. He was a werewolf. The cries and shrieks and all the noises they heard was just him as a werewolf." Rose stated matter-of-factly. This seemed to take the edge off it. It wasn't scary now because they knew that it wasn't at all haunted.

"What did people used to think haunted it?" Albus asked. No one answered as the group pondered a very good question that none of them knew the answer to.

Returning to the trail to take them back to the castle, the five were met with a downpour of rain. The were dripping water as they returned to the castle absolutely soaked. Rose and the others parted ways at the Entrance Hall as she made her way to the Gryffindor common room while the others made their way to the dungeons. They left a trail of water as they got back to the common room and finally got to change out of their wet clothes.


Ashley returned later that evening and sat in the common room without saying a word. Albus, Luke and Scorpius didn't even realise she was back until Emily called them over.

"I..." Ashley stuttered in a whisper. "I saw him"

"Who?" Albus asked

"The guy..." she said. "I don't know his name. We went to his sentencing" she continued to stutter in a whisper. Albus' face dropped. So did Luke's and Scorpius'. Emily wasn't sure what they were talking about for a moment but when it hit her, she was just as low as the others. They sat in silence, the noise in the common room clearly evident as they sat saying nothing.

"Where did you see him?" Albus asked, finally breaking the silence.

"Near the Shrieking Shack. I was with my dad. I told him and he went and searched the area but there was no one there. I'm full sure it was him" Ashley said. Albus quickly ran up to the dormitory and returned almost instantly holding a roll of parchment, a quill and a bottle of ink and began to quickly trace his left hand across the parchment.

Dad,
Ashley just told me that she saw the guy... I can't remember his name. He was in the forest with Parker and we went to his sentencing. Her dad searched the area but found no one. Can you please tell us if he's still in Azkaban or has be got out? We need to know. Surely we have the right to know if he's out there after what he did
-Al

Albus was ready to make his way to the owlery when he was reminded that curfew was in fifteen minutes. "I'll risk it" Albus said as he exited. And risk it he did. He returned after the curfew but managed to negotiate the return journey safely and wasn't caught by any of the teachers or Prefects. All he could do was wait for a reply from his father.


The wait wasn't long as his father's response came the following morning at breakfast. Albus' snowy white owl was easily distinguishable and Albus hastily removed the letter from the owl's leg who then began to peck at Albus' forgotten breakfast. Scorpius and Emily who were either side of him leaned in and read the letter as Albus did.

Al,
The Head of Security at Azkaban prison has reassured me that there has been no breach of security. He does weekly checks of the cell and the other officers do daily checks. He is definitely still in the prison and won't be out anytime soon. Hope this reassures you
-HJP

Albus wasn't fully reassured by this. He remembered his father telling him that trusting unknown people was a risky business and the Head of Security at Azkaban was some unknown to Albus even if he was known to his father.

Albus' attention turned back to his classes but by the following Tuesday tension had once again began to build for the first match of the Quidditch season. In what was a repeat of the previous year's final, champions Slytherin were to take on Gryffindor who kept their new keeper under wraps very well. No one outside Gryffindor house knew who would be filling the void left by Dominique Weasley.

Classes passed by and Albus was sure to keep up to date on his homework which he did rather well but the last period on Friday was a heart breaker for Albus. It was Defence Against the Dark Arts with Professor Fulton and she had decided to have them duel telling them to only use the spells they had learned in class. Many of the students knew only the shield charm to protect themselves and knew a few offensive jinxes as well as how to disarm.

When Conor Kavanagh demanded that Albus duel him, the Slytherin had no problem accepting. The duel didn't last very long as Albus was much quicker than his opponent. Albus quickly disarmed him and then dropped the Gryffindor's boy's wand. He was quick to lurch forward, pick up his wand and attempt to jinx Albus from behind bwhtut once again Albus used his reactions to favour him and turned quickly, firing a stunning spell at Conor Kavanagh. He dropped in a heap onto the ground and the angry professor sent Albus to the Headmistress' office and told him that she would be there as soon as she got Kavanagh to the Hospital Wing.

Albus waited outside the stone gargoyle and Professor Fulton was there about twenty minutes later. She said the password and ordered Albus to follow her up to Professor McGonagall's office. Albus wondered why she was upset and Albus was confused when she ordered him to sit and tell the Headmistress what he did.

"Professor, I'm not really sure what I did wrong" Albus said. Professor Fulton cut across.

"He stunned a student in my class" she said angrily.

"Is this true Potter?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"Yeah but-" Albus started.

"But nothing. That is not ACCEPTABLE" she roared loudly, emphasizing 'acceptable'.

"Potter, tell me your side of the story" Professor McGonagall said.

"Well, we were told to duel. I beat Conor Kavanagh and then dropped his wand on the ground. He picked it up and tried to jinx me from behind. I turned and reacted. I stunned him"

"This sounds like self defence to me" Professor McGonagall told them.

"I want him to serve detention tomorrow morning." Professor Fulton told them, much calmer than she was the last time she spoke.

"He will be playing a Quidditch match in the morning. If you are so keen for him to be detained you can do it this evening or any time after the Quidditch game tomorrow."

"Sunday will do" she said. "Five o'clock, my office" she said leaving Professor McGonagall's office.

"Thanks professor" Albus said.

"It was no problem. I will be looking forward to the match tomorrow. It wouldn't be as entertaining if you weren't playing. I love that brother versus brother rivalry that yourself and James show when it comes to Quidditch. Not to mention the family rivalry with the rest of the team. Good luck, Albus" she said. Albus took this as his dismissal and left the office with a glance at the portraits of Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape.


The Slytherin Quidditch team was assembled in the dressing room below their grandstand. The noise of the Slytherin crowd above them was very audible as they got ready. Everyone finished pulling on their robes and pads and Albus looked around. They looked focused and ready to go. The question Albus asked himself was 'are the new guys up for it?'. He knew that it would be a different experience watching a game and playing in it. He got to his feet and paced over and back.

"Are you up for it?" he asked them. The team was met with a unanimous response of 'yes'. "Are you really all up for it?" The team roared 'yes' at him again. "This is what we've worked hard for. There's one set of fans shouting for us. There's three hoping we lose. The rest of the school is against us. We have to use that to our advantage. We need to go out there and play on the front foot. We need to win the first ball. We need to win our individual battles, all the fifty fifty balls. We have a job to do out there, let's go and do it" Albus said to his team. They all got purposefully off the bench and made their way towards the pitch.

"Here comes the champions! They... are... Slytherin!" the commentator roared. Albus recognised the voice as that of fifth year Slytherin Rory Davis. "They are lead by captain and Seeker, Slytherin hero Albus Potter!" Each sentence was met with a loud cheer from the Slytherin fans. "Scorpius Malfoy and Ashley Wilson are the only other remaining players from last year's championship winning team. They are joined by new boys Vince McMahon and Tim Clarke at Beater. Amy Barry and Liam Bowen join Wilson as the other Chasers!" The crowd continued to cheer as each line from Rory Davis praised the Slytherin team. "Albus Potter has never lost a game at Hogwarts be it for Hogwarts or Slytherin."

"And today's opponents, last years's losing finalists, Gryffindor" he announced. "Led by Beater Fred Weasley, they have six of the team that lost last year. Jordan Leonard replaces Dominique Weasley. So that team in full is Leonard, Fred Weasley and Louis Weasley are the Beaters. The chasing trio is unchanged from last year. That's Molly and Lucy Weasley as well as Roxanne Weasley. And the brother of our brilliant Seeker is the opposing Seeker today. That's James Potter" James' name was met with huge cheers from not only the Gryffindor supporters but the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs too.

Albus and Fred shook hands giving each other deadly stares as they did so. "You wouldn't think these two are cousins because right now they look like bitter enemies." Rory said. The game was soon underway and the Slytherins showed the intent and hunger Albus wanted to see from his team. Ashley won the first Quaffle from the throw in and they immediately scored on that play. They were soon forty nil ahead playing at a blistering pace and Gryffindor couldn't live with them The Chasers linked up brilliantly and the Beaters were aggressive and both played outstanding early on meaning in the first fifteen minutes of the game, Scorpius only touched the Quaffle once. "Slytherin have blitzed the Gryffindor side in the first fifteen minutes, something very similar to what happened in this fixture last year. Gryffindor were completely on top but couldn't find a way past Malfoy but today Slytherin have been clinical and lead by one hundred points to nil.

The pace the Slytherins were playing at soon took its toll and Gryffindor finally got a foot hold in the match. They began to keep the Quaffle out of Slytherin hands and managed to beat Scorpius on three consecutive occasions. The game was back and forth with neither side being able to hold onto the Quaffle and get a shot and the Beaters were clearly on top. Albus and James had so far been no more than privileged spectators as there had been no sign of the Snitch. The golden ball had so far evaded the brothers and the crowd was getting agitated about the lack of action. An hour of play gave Slytherin a two hundred to one hundred and forty lead. A sudden cheer brought Albus' attention immediately towards James but his brother was still hovering in the similar position he had been for the entire match. Albus saw it. Scorpius had been struck by a Bludger and was now lying in the sand at the bottom of the hoops. Slytherin were now without a keeper but Ashley was quick to assume that position. Albus remembered her saying that her dad had her play every position. Another sudden roar and this time James was on the move. Albus scanned the pitch and saw the Snitch. It was actually closer to Albus and he immediately accelerated towards it. The pair raced towards it and Albus had the advantage but only just. He felt the wind whip through his hair and into his face as he raced James. The pair neared the Snitch and the Snitch dove downwards. Both Potters followed it into a dive before the Snitch moved back upwards. Albus' reactions were a tad bit quicker he was out of his dive and racing back towards the Snitch. Albus reached the Snitch and closed his left hand around the Snitch. James was unable to move from his course and collided with his brother. Both were knocked from their brooms but their teammates were quick to fly under them and break their fall. Upon being returned to the ground, Albus shook hands with his brother as well as the rest of the Gryffindor team who, despite not showing any happiness in Albus' victory, congratulated him on his win.

"And Albus Potter does it again" Rory Davis shouted. "Still unbeaten! Still the superior Potter! The final score is three hundred and ninety to one hundred and ninety for the reigning champions, Slytherin!" The Slytherin crowd cheered and sang as their team celebrated on the pitch while all the other students filed quietly out. Scorpius had already been brought to the Hospital Wing and that was to be his, and probably the team's, first destination once they left the changing rooms.

They slowly cleared the pitch and returned to the changing rooms. "Well done, everyone" Albus said to his team. "That was brilliant. We showed the hunger and desire to win and that's why we won" he continued. "Absolutely brilliant. I'm going to see Scorpius, I hope you come along" he finished.