Chapter 7 : Secrets And Strategies
" Okay, so for the last time, just to make sure, you're definitely not getting the cloak back?"
" Dammit Morrison, if I have to say it one more time-"
" Just checking!"
It was Monday morning, and they were sitting in the Great Hall for breakfast. It had been something of a shock for the students of Slytherin house on Saturday night, when Albus had returned to the common room and immediately went to bed, despite no one having seen him leave. As Albus had spent the entirety of Sunday in his dormitory, so apoplectic with fury that he even missed meals, he had not had the chance to tell his best friends about James' betrayal up until now.
" I just can't believe it" Morrison added, a sad expression on his face. He mixed his porridge around with his spoon, but he seemed to have lost his appetite.
" Can't believe what?" Scorpius asked dryly, taking a bite of his bagel. " That James did his job?"
Albus stared at him. " You can't be serious? You're taking his side?"
Scorpius chewed slowly, then wiped his mouth with his napkin before speaking. " Look, I think it's a shame that you don't have the cloak anymore, but honestly, what did you expect? He's a prefect. Did you want special treatment because you're his brother?"
" I didn't say I wanted special treatment" Albus said darkly, a bit of the temper that he had yesterday returning. " But any other prefect would have let me off with a warning."
" Any other prefect wouldn't have seen you" Scorpius said. " Only James had the Map."
" That's beside the point-"
" Look it doesn't matter who was right and who was wrong and who should have gotten special treatment" Morrison butted in. " What matters is getting the cloak back. I'm sure if you just talked to your brother-"
Now it was Albus' turn to cut his friend off. He gave a shaky laugh before Morrison could finish his sentence. " I'm not apologizing for anything I said, and I'm not asking for the cloak back either. If he wants us to talk about something, I need him to come up to me, apologize for being a prat, return the cloak, and admit that he was wrong. Any order will do."
And despite both of his friends efforts to get him to reconsider, he refused to budge for the rest of breakfast. Only when the bell rang did the topic change.
" Any news on what Hagrid's got planned today?" Morrison asked.
Albus groaned. He had completely forgotten that they were going to be working with a new creature today. As much as he liked Hagrid, Albus had to admit that Care For Magical Creatures was quickly joining Defence Against the Dark Arts as one of the classes that he dreaded attending. They had managed to get through bowtruckles in two additional lessons, which had relieved him at the time. What followed next was a string of creatures that made Albus wish the bowtruckles would return. The crups ( ferocious creatures that looked like dogs,only with forked tails) had kept Albus at a distance for an entire period with some of the most intimidating barking that he had ever heard. He had endured several small burns from a firecrab a few lessons later ( Morrisons robes had even caught fire) and the last creature that they had studied, which looked like a cross between a pig and a demon, had smelled so bad that Albus nearly threw up twice.
What was more, though he didn't admit it to his friends, was that Care For Magical Creatures also seemed to be the class in which he was most likely to make a fool of himself in front of Mirra. Indeed, she had even jokingly offered to hold his hair back after seeing him come close to vomiting with the nogtails the previous lesson. Pushing the thought from his mind, he and his friends descended down the grassy slopes to the the edge of the Forest, where the Gryffindors had already gathered.
They arrived just as Hagrid was emerging from his cabin. He approached his students, grinning from ear to ear as he did so. The class began muttering, but their professor silenced them.
" Just sit tight" he said. " I gots a special surprise for yeh. These are rare, these are. Makes tha' other stuff look little baby kittens!"
And with that, he jogged into the dark and dense Forest, effectively terrifying every single one of his students. There were suddenly whispers throughout the crowd.
" What do you think it is?"
" Something illegal, I bet"
" Are chimaera eggs rare? He couldn't have one, right?"
The class continued muttering for several more moments, though Albus barely registered what they were saying. Standing in the back of the crowd, he was peering around people to surreptitiously glance at Mirra.
" What are you doing?" Scorpius asked him.
" Huh?"
He had not realized how obvious he had been, though he was thankfully saved from the awkward moment by Hagrid, who returned from the Forest holding two leashes - for two of the most dangerous looking creatures that Albus had ever seen.
They appeared to be a cross between boars, rams, and even a little bit of camel. They were massive in size- shorter, but much thicker than the students, though the humps on their backs made them appear close to equal height. They were a deep shade of purple, and they were snarling and sniffing at the ground with their snout like noses. Albus didn't se how they could stand, considering the massive amount of weight that they were putting on their four skinny legs, but they seemed to be coping. Most interesting of all was the two golden horns protruding from their heads however- so shiny they could blind you and so sharp looking that they might cut through steel.
" Graphorns!" Hagrid said excitingly, while the class recoiled in fear.
The graphorns, though very powerful, seemed to be unable to escape from Hagrid. He was holding on to each of the leashes with one of his hands, and didn't seem to have any problem holding them still. Only once did one of them suddenly lunge forward, causing Hagrid to give a small pull to bring it closer to him.
" Powerful beasts, but fascinatin' all the same. These are rare, these are. Found on'y up in the mountains. Small group of 'em lives in the Forest though, no clue how they got there."
The students didn't quite seem to register what he had said however. Fascinating though they may be, the graphorns massive size had seemingly made every student interested in only one thing - staying as far away from them as possible.
" What do they do?" someone from Gryffindor asked.
" Good question!" Hagrid said. " Can anybody tell me what the horns are for?"
" Killing?" Morrison spoke up, and a few people laughed.
Predictably, Rose raised her hand and offered a more serious answer. " The horns of the graphorn, though extremely hard to get, are the most prominent ingredient in most antidotes, including the immensely difficult to make antidote for doxy poison."
Hagrid beamed. " I was actually lookin' more fer Morrisons' answer" he said truthfully. " But yer both right. Take five points ter Gryffindor and Slytherin!"
Morrison looked bewildered; it may have been his first time ever earning points. Before Hagrid could resume speaking however, one of the graphorns made a powerful attempt to escape, and Hagrid was forced to give a tremendous pull as the students all leapt backwards.
" Sorry bout tha'" Hagrid said sheepishly. " Anyway, like Rose said, the horns are extremely hard to get. They've got powerful skin, more powerful than even dragon hide. It would take a powerful bit of magic to subdue 'em, and even then, it's got to be done quick, 'caue they get better fast."
" Wait, they take their horns when they're still alive?" Albus spoke up, a little shocked at the compassion that he was feeling for the creatures that were so dangerously close to impaling him. " And they just live without horns?"
" They grow back over time" Hagrid answered him. " But yeah, they take 'em while they're still alive. I don' think it hurts as bad as you think though Al, they got a high resistance to pain. It'd be summat like havin' a tooth pulled."
Just then, as though the graphorns understood what they were talking about, both of them lunged forward simultaneously, and despite Hagrids strength, he actually had to take several steps forward before he could pull them back. So forceful was his pull that the graphorns, still snarling, were forced to stand on their hind legs to not fall over.
The students screamed and moved back further, some of them even tripping over their robes in their hurry.
" Sorry!" Hagrid bellowed. " Los' control for a sec'."
A second had been all that was needed however, as the students flat out refused to go any nearer. Hagrid, sensing their fear, seemed to come to the conclusion that graphorns had been a bad idea.
" Okay, I'm gonna take these two back to the Fores'" he said, still struggling slightly to keep a hold of the two beasts. " You lot jus' stay put!"
And without further ado, he entered the forest once more. The sounds of the graphorns snarling eventually ceased, and soon enough the students were muttering anxiously about what would have happened had the graphorns broken their leashes.
After five more minutes however, it appeared as though Hagrid was having a hard time finding the beasts' home, as he had still not returned. Several students sat down on the grass and rested, while others chatted aimlessly. Albus was just thinking about if James had told Rose what had happened when he heard her yell behind him.
" Albus Severus Potter!"
It was the second time that she used his full name when yelling for him, and the first time had not been for a very good reason. He turned around on the spot and saw Rose fighting her way through a group of students. Mirra and Eckley were sitting down on the grass a few yards away.
" How dare you say those things to your brother!" Rose said the second that they were face to face.
Albus heaved a sigh. " Don't start Rosie..."
" No, I'm starting! You were caught out of bed, breaking the rules and you know it! What was he supposed to do!"
" Will you keep it down!?" he barked back. " What did James tell you?"
She explained, briefly, what James had told her. It was, for the most part, an entirely accurate account. Indeed, the only thing missing was the invisibility cloak. Albus could only assume that James had not told her about it so that she wouldn't take it to McGonagall personally. The entire argument however, was correct word for word.
" Just leave it be Rose" Scorpius said. " They're brothers, they'll sort it out themselves..."
She silenced him with a look, and immediately continued attacking Albus. " The next time that you see James, you need to go and apologize! Lily's distraught, she feels like she has to take sides!"
" No one has to take sides!" Albus said. " Except you apparently! This doesn't concern you Rose!"
She opened her mouth, ready to tell him exactly how much it concerned her, but she was cut off by Mirra. She had walked over and moved in between them; Albus saw that Eckley was now accompanied by Hornsbrook instead.
" He's right Rose" she said, and Albus immediately felt a rush of gratitude for her. " This is between them. James didn't ask you to do or say anything."
Rose stared at her coldly for a second before replying. " Fine!" she said, and with that she marched off back to the side of the class that was wearing gold and scarlet.
" Sorry about all that" Mirra muttered once her friend was out of earshot.
He was so focused on her defending him that he didn't immediately register what she had said. He finally got around to it, though.
" Whatever" he said, and he noticed that his voice, as it now tended to do, had slightly deepened.
"To be honest though, I think you should try and sort things out with James. You too get along so well usually" she said.
" It's all a ruse" he replied with a shrug. " We really don't. We fight all of the time at home, it's just that here we're usually separated."
This was entirely true. His relationship with his brother did change dramatically when they were at Hogwarts. James was slightly more protective of him, and strangely, Albus didn't mind it nearly as much as he would at home. He supposed that it had felt good knowing that his brother would stick up for him.
" Well, ruse or not, you're here for nine or so months a year" Mirra said. " So I'd try and work things out if I were you."
Albus frowned and shrugged once more. He didn't want to make any promises that he couldn't keep. Mirra seemed to notice that their conversation was going nowhere, as she quickly started a new one.
" Excited about Hogsmeade next Saturday?" she asked him.
" Yeah. It'll be nice to get out of the castle, at least. Already have your day all planned out?" he asked, glad of the change in topic.
" Not exactly" she said with a grin. " I was actually thinking we could all go together?"
Albus froze on the spot, he was sure that his heart had missed a beat. Had she said ' all go together' or simply 'go together'?
" What...me and you?" he asked hesitantly.
She gave a him a strange look. " Yes" she said slowly. " And Morrison and Rose and Scorpius..."
" Oh right!" he said quickly. " Yeah, that's what I meant. Me and you and everyone else...yeah."
" Well nothing's concrete yet" she said, glancing back over her shoulder. Rose had joined Eckley and Hornsbrook on the grass. " But if nothing else comes up..."
" Yeah, that sounds great!" he said. " Right guys?"
He turned to look at his friends and saw saw that they were not paying attention. They were also both sitting on the grass, Scorpius attempting to help Morrison with homework that, Albus reminded himself, he had never gotten around to doing either. He made to mention this to Mirra, but just then Hagrid emerged from the Forest, panting heavily.
" Okay!" he said, taking a large breath. " I think we'll just discuss graphorns fer the rest of the lesson!"
Albus had already been excited for the trip to Hogsmeade, but he found that the mere thought of it now carried him through the next couple of days. Though it wasn't even October yet, Albus found himself struggling with his workload, so much so that his lack of sleep even affected his first Quidditch practice of the year.
" C'mom Al!" Patrick Parcher bellowed at him as he saved him from a bludger that the other beater had hit. " You could have swerved that one on your own!"
" The sun was in my eyes!" Albus said quickly, but the truth was that his eyes had almost been closed. He had gotten an hour of sleep the previous night.
" You look like you're about to fall asleep!"
Atticus immediately flew in between them. " Nice job Pat" he said. " You okay Al? Your head hasn't been the game."
" I'm just tired" he admitted. " Not a lot of sleep. Doing homework all night."
Atticus heaved a sigh. " Who cares about grades! That's not more important than Quidditch! You need to buckle down and get serious. Get your rest. Gryffindor has two new beaters this year, one in your year, and one in his seventh! And believe me, you don't want a bludger to the face from that one!"
" Alright" Albus said. " I'll go to bed early tonight."
Albus knew at once that this plan wouldn't work however. Homework was a big reason behind his lack of sleep, but he at least had Scorpius helping him. No, a lot of the times he was kept up by something else.
It seemed as though James was simply not going to cave, and Albus was beginning to grow nervous. His cloak had been confiscated days ago, and yet James had made no effort to apologize, let alone talk to him. Twice he saw him in the hallways, and both times his brother marched past him without so much as sparing him a glance. What's worse, he had the feeling that Rose was not the only one taking sides. His younger cousins also no longer waved to him in the halls, and even Lily only did it half heartedly.
" Well, you should have expected this, to be honest" Morrison said, spreading marmalade on his fifth piece of toast at breakfast on Sunday morning.
" Expected what? My family to turn against me?" Albus asked bitterly.
" No, but them taking his side at least. They're all in Gryffindor, they all talk to him way more. They haven't even heard your side yet."
" Yes they did" Albus said. " James told them everything word for word except for the parts with the cloak. Whatever, I don't even care though" he added, though he knew that Morrison would see through his cold facade at once.
He returned to eating his bacon and eggs, though only to have something to do while his mind raced. He did not regret his attitude towards his brother- though admittedly, he felt that he may have crossed some sort of invisible line in claiming that they were no longer family. Just when he thought that nothing could possibly distract him from his predicament however, Scorpius spoke up for the first time during breakfast.
" Al, who was Fango Wilde?"
Albus choked on his bacon. " What?" he asked, sputtering and trying to clear his windpipe.
" Fango Wilde" Scorpius repeated, looking up from the Morning Prophet.
" He's the bloke that ended up being the leak in the Ministry remember? He was in the Forest with us last year, they caught him. Why?"
" Because your dad just released him from Azkaban."
Albus raised his eyebrows and and leaned over to take the newspaper from him, though Morrison batted his hand away.
" I don't think so!" he said with a scowl. " You're not knocking over my orange juice again! Scorpius can read it to you!"
" Okay fine!" Albus shot back, and he looked at Scorpius eagerly.
" There's not much to read" he said. " It just says that ' Fango Wilde, convicted of leaking information from the Ministry of Magic to outsiders, was released from Azkaban today by Head Auror Harry Potter for cooperating and revealing the names of several witches and wizards who are said to be aiding Reginald Ares and his accomplice, Sebastian Darvy'."
" No way!" Albus blurted out, and Morrison quickly grabbed his glass of orange juice and plate of toast, as though afraid that Albus would pick them up and toss them. " My dad wouldn't do that! They must mean it was just his office!"
" It says ' Harry Potter' mate."
Albus stared blankly. What was going on? Why would his father do something like that? Why would he release a dark wizard from Azkaban, no less one who had once attacked his son?
Scorpius resumed speaking, and it took all of the will power that Albus possessed to focus on his words.
" I've got to give your dad credit Al, that's probably the smartest decision that they could have made."
Albus turned to him, as did Morrison, who gave his friend a reprimand. " This isn't a time for sarcasm" he said. " Albus' dad really screwed up..."
Albus threw a furious glance at Morrison, but Scorpius held his hand up. " I'm not being sarcastic. Don't you see what he did?"
Albus and Morrison both shook their heads.
Scorpius sighed. " It's a strategy" he said. " For catching Ares and Darvy. Your dad knows that he can't find them on his own, they're too good at hiding. So he squeezed all of the information that he could out of someone - in this case, Wilde - and now he's using him as bait. Where's Wilde going to go? You think that they'll just let him back in the Ministry? No, he's got nothing to lose now, he's going back to Ares, and I'll bet a thousand galleons that they started tailing him the second they let him out of Azkaban."
Morrison grinned. " Genius!" he exclaimed. " They'll catch Ares for sure now! No more picket signs, right Al?"
Albus wasn't so sure however. Though everything that Scorpius said may have been true, there was still no getting around the fact that Wilde was dangerous. So what if he was being tailed? What's stopping him from murdering, torturing? He had nothing to lose right?
He recalled what his father had once told him when he was much younger. He had asked his father what an auror was, what he and Uncle Ron did for a living. We find the dangerous people, Albus. We find them and we lock them up, so that they can't be dangerous anymore.
But he wasn't just locking them up. He was letting them out too. Did the fact that Wilde could lead them to Ares make things different? If someone got hurt in the process, was it still worth it?
____________
Albus spent the next few days in solitude, keeping himself shut up in his dormitory as he tried to keep up with his work. As if dealing with the loss of communication with his brother wasn't enough, he was now having dreams about his father, horrible nightmares that all seemed to end up the same way - with his father admitting that the Ministry of Magic was corrupt, and that everything that he had told Albus about justice and security when he was younger had been a lie.
" I didn't know you were so vehement about stuff like this" Scorpius said to him during Charms on Thursday. " I mean, it's just one person, and like I said, it's a strategy for catching-"
" I know" Albus said through gritted teeth. " And I'm really not usually bothered by it, my family talks about how the Ministry screws up all the time. It's just that this was my dads decision. If Wilde hurts someone it's his fault."
" Boys, try and pay attention!" Flitwick squeaked from atop his pile of books, and Albus and Scorpius' conversation ended at once. " Now as I was saying, we're going to be focusing on a new kind of charm, one far more difficult than any other that you've attempted at Hogwarts thus far. Summoning is not normally taught until fourth year, but I think that so long as we understand the basics of it, come next year we will have a head start on its derivative, the slightly more complex Banishing Charm..."
Perhaps Albus was simply horrible at summoning things, but it seemed as though his constant thinking of his father and brother was now affecting classwork in addition to homework. For an hour and a half the students tried summoning quills and book into their hands, but he seemed unable to do so.
Thankfully, other people showed that they were struggling just as much, as only Scorpius had managed to summon something, and even then his quill had stopped and dropped halfway.
" Remember to concentrate entirely on the object! It needs to be your sole desire! And then, say the incantation!" Professor Flitwick squeaked out.
" Accio!" the entire class cried, but alas, nothing happened. The bell then rang, signaling the end of the unsuccessful lesson.
" Wow that's tricky" Scorpius said as they exited the classroom, though he looked smug nonetheless.
Morrison was quick to agree. " That's probably the hardest thing we've tried in Charms. Think so Al? Al?"
Albus was not listening, his brother had just walked passed them, his eyes not even focusing on his brother for a single second.
________
The Saturday of the Hogsmeade visit came faster than Albus could have possibly hoped, as the previous few days had ended up being quite terrible. Hoping that the visit to the village would at least partially distract him from his family problems, he lined up with the rest of the students who were third year or above and prepared to leave the castle grounds.
" Remember!" Neville called out to the massive crowd of students. " No permission form, no leaving!"
A few students groaned, though for the most part, everyone seemed to have their permission forms.
Neville continued droning on about rules and where they were and weren't allowed to go. He was just mentioning the Shrieking Shack when Albus turned to Scorpius and asked him something.
" Have you seen Mirra?" he asked. He tried to make it sound casual, so as not to let his friends realize how important going to Hogsmeade with her was, but Scorpius didn't seem to pay it any mind. He simply looked around and shrugged.
" Well can you find her?" Albus asked a little eagerly. " She's supposed to come with us."
Scorpius heaved a sigh. " Fine" he said, and he and Morrison both began moving through the crowd of students.
Ten minutes later however, they had not returned, and Albus was growing anxious. Neville had checked everyones permission slips and the crowd was slowly thinning. He finally saw Morrison and Scorpius walking towards him, both of them looking somewhat grim.
" Is she coming?" Albus asked.
They exchanged an all too familiar look - the look that they were both in on something that he wasn't. Then, they simultaneously shook their heads no.
" She's going to be busy" Morrison said.
" All day?" Albus asked, trying not to let how crestfallen he was show on his face. " Like, does she want to meet up with us later?"
They both shook their heads again. " All day" Scorpius said firmly.
" She said sorry" Morrison continued.
Albus frowned. " Well that's lame" he said. He didn't understand why she had waited until last minute to cancel. He had the strange suspicion that Rose was somehow involved, but hadn't Mirra stuck up for him against her?
" Well we'd better get going then" Albus said, disappointed.
His friends exchanged another glance. Irritated, Albus was right about ask them what they knew when Scorpius suddenly clutched his stomach.
" I don't know If I want to go mate" he said. " I'm not feeling well... I'd be better off catching up with some work."
" What?"
" Just not feeling well" Scorpius repeated. " If I get sick at Hogsmeade I can hardly enjoy it. Just better off relaxing here, really. Catching up on some work."
Albus looked at him in disbelief. " Okay, whatever" he said, shaking his head. " Morrison, you ready to go?"
" Ahh I don't know" Morrison said. " There'll be plenty of Hogsmeade trips. I don't want to leave Scorpius behind..."
Albus stared at both of them, utterly perplexed as to their attitudes. They had both been excited to go to Hogsmeade, as far as he knew. Indeed, up until they went to search for Mirra, they had both been discussing it...
They exchanged another glance, while Albus merely continued to watch as the last few students left, leaving them almost alone in the Hall. " You're serious?" he asked them both. " You guys really don't want to go?"
" Next time" Morrison said, and Scorpius nodded his head in agreement.
And so it was settled ; Albus spent the remainder of the day crammed in the common room, books spilled out across the tables as he and his friends did work. As nearly everyone else had went to Hogsmeade, they had the entire room to themselves. Albus noticed, however, that neither one of them seemed to be pleased with their decision to stay. They worked in silence, and Albus saw that Scorpius was writing half heartedly, whereas Morrsison had done little more than put his name and the date on a piece of parchment.
" Okay, what's the deal with you two!" Albus said furiously, slamming his quill down on the table, making both of them jump. " What's the real reason you didn't want to go to Hogsmeade?"
They exchanged, for the umpteenth time that day, a look of mutual understanding before turning to him.
" I told you, I'm not feeling well" Scorpius said earnestly.
Albus scoffed and made to say something else just as students came bustling through the common room, all of them muttering excitedly about their fantastic day.
" It's official" Bartleby said to Dante Haug, both of them beaming as they walked past the three of them. " Butterbeer is the greatest thing in the world."
" Did you get some fudge from Honeydukes?" one of the older students was saying excitedly.
" How about the Shrieking Shack, eh? I swear I heard someone screaming, next time I think I'll get a bit closer..."
Albus slammed his book shut and threw a contemptuous glare at both of his friends, then proceeded to march up to his dormitory.
What is going on today? he thought to himself as he collapsed on his bed and pulled the covers over himself. He knew that it was still early in the day, much too early to be going to bed, but it didn't matter- he wasn't tired. No, instead he found himself laying on his four poster bed in silence, thinking deeply. His brother was never going to talk to him again. Rose and his cousins seemed to be thinking along the same lines. His father was now doing things that went against everything that he had ever told him, and his friends were now keeping secrets from him!
He rolled over and buried his head under the pillows, a position that he was all too familiar with this year. He remembered something else that his father had told. This is going to be your most normal year at Hogwarts yet.
He groaned. Normal years at Hogwarts were nothing short of terrible.
