Chapter Nine: Mischief Managed

Albus Potter


Al and Scorpius spent all afternoon looking for Tyler.

The first place they checked was the Slytherin Common Room to no avail. Next, they checked his dormitory, which only granted them an earful about first-years needing to learn manners from his dorm-mates and a door slammed in their faces.

With the help of Rhett, who had relocated to sitting and staring at nothing in the Common Room as opposed to the Library, they learned that Ancient Runes was the only fourth-year elective offered at this time. When they asked what room it was in, Rhett only mumbled, "Hell if I know. I ain't never gave my afternoon for no ancient squiggles."

By this time Albus was ready to give up, but Scorpius remembered that their welcome packets had come with a full list of teachers, and they could find the room by the professor's name.

"It's not like Tyler would even take Ancient Runes," Albus complained.

Scorpius ran his fingers through his hair. Al could tell he felt just as hopeless, but finally he said, "Yeah, well, he's not here, so we have to try," and Al knew he was right.

The boys entered their room to find Evander reading alone on his bed. He immediately cringed at the sound of the door, but recognizing Al and Scorpius, he turned back to his book without another word.

Albus knew Scorpius was upset by his friend's silence, but Al had higher priorities than a moody roommate. He tore through his trunk, which he had yet to unpack, and found the welcome packet that he had thrown in there days earlier.

"Ancient Runes is taught by..."

Scorpius tore the papers out of his hands. "Lyman Gilleon. His room is 6A."

Albus groaned. "Really, the sixth floor? How do we even get there?"

But Scorpius was already halfway out the door. "Dunno. We'll find it somehow."

Al slammed his trunk shut and followed as Scorpius called over his shoulder, "See, Ev? We'll fix it!"

"We'll see. And up the main staircase, past the portrait of a unicorn, and it'll be the first room on your right in the East Wing," Evander replied without missing a beat.

The boys ran out of the dungeons and were completely winded by the time they reached the unicorn painting. "Right," Al said in between breaths, "so if this is the painting, then 6A has to be that door over-Scorpius, what are you doing?"

Before Albus could stop him, Scorpius had swung the door open. He couldn't make out exactly what was being said, but he heard gasps and laughter, followed by a lot of yelling.

Albus stood agape as Scorpius came back and sunk down on the floor beside him.

"What the bloody hell did you do that for?" he demanded.

Scorpius just dropped his head into his hands.

"Seriously, Scorp! You can't just go barging into classrooms!"

"I know!" he yelled. Al just stared back. This was too much; he couldn't take Scorpius being mad at him on top of everything else. It was only his first week at Hogwarts, and he's managed already managed to fall in with the wrong crowd and make a mistake worthy of expulsion. Al found himself wishing he was back home with his parents. James could be the only one to go to Hogwarts for all he cared. The last place he wanted to be was here in the hallway close to crying in front of Scorpius Malfoy.

"Look," Scorpius sighed. "I'm scared, too. Like really, really scared. We messed up big and we have to fix it. We seriously have to or my parents will never forgive me. They'll like, send me away to some muggle family so they don't have to see the mistake they raised."

Al shook his head and sat down next to Scorpius, who looked like he was going to cry, too. "That's exaggerating a bit, don't you think? I mean, living with muggles? What kind of punishment is that?"

Scorpius managed a weak grin. "You never know."

"Look, Scorp, my dad will be mad, too, but parents love you. It's like their job. One time when was little I took a bunch of ingredients from our potions cabinet and tried to make a potion because my little sister was sick and I thought it would make her better. All I did was blow up the kitchen. Mum was furious. She made me clean the kitchen by hand and wouldn't let me see friends for a month, but she let me out of the house eventually. Then again, I've never been-" Albus caught himself before he said 'expelled;' he couldn't manage to say the word out loud. Instead he tried, "Look, we aren't even in trouble yet. It's almost dinner so maybe Tyler will-"

"Dinner! Of course! He has to be there!" Scorpius was on his feet like he hadn't been curled up in a ball moments earlier. "C'mon!"

Albus wasn't as optimistic about this, especially not if it meant running into Rose, but he let his friend drag him downstairs anyway.


The Great Hall was already bustling with activity by the time they got downstairs. First and Second Years had no afternoon classes, and upper level students were just beginning to trickle out of their classes. Albus immediately noticed Rose's red hair at the far end of the Ravenclaw table, and he pulled Scorpius out of the doorway before she could notice them.

They waited at the Slytherin table for ten minutes, neither boy so much as touching the food. The Great Hall was completely full now; it seemed like every class was out.

"Scorpius, do you know who the fourth years are?" Albus asked.

"I know a couple. Why-no, I'm not asking them!" Scorpius said as he put two and two together.

"Really? They might know where he is! We have to find him soon. We have Astronomy with Ravenclaws tonight and-"

"How about you just call off your snob of a cousin, huh?" Scorpius yelled. The blond boy looked like he was at the end of his line. His hair, usually slicked back, was disheveled and falling into his face, and his robes and tie were crooked.

Albus laughed nervously to try to diffuse the tension. "We're really a wreck. Can't believe we let Rose get under our skin like this."

Scorpius didn't laugh, but he didn't yell this time. "Yeah, you're right. About finding Tyler, too. Let's go ask Cassian, he's down there." He pointed to a dark-skinned boy surrounded by a large group of other students who all appeared to be laughing at his joke.

"Who's that, and who named him king of Hogwarts?" Albus muttered.

"Zabini. Cassian Zabini." Albus immediately understood. He'd had the displeasure of knowing another Zabini, their roommate Sebestian, and he was-well, he was a lot of words that Albus' mother forbade him from saying.

"There's two of them?" Albus grumbled. "Wasn't one bad enough?"

Scorpius snorted. "Two? There's five. Adrian and Vivian still go here and Aurelian already graduated. Now come on, talking about how horrid they are isn't going to make this any easier."

To Albus' horror, Scorpius approached the group the same way he had a classroom: by diving in headfirst. The moment they walked up, a hush fell over the group and every eye turned to them.

"Cassian," Scorpius said flatly.

The older boy pursed his lips and held Scorpius' gaze unnaturally long. Albus recognized this look, it was the kind his mother gave a bug that had to be squashed.

"What do you want Malfoy?" Cassian replied, voice full of venom.

"Have you seen Tyler Jordan?"

Cassian gave his posse a look like this was the funniest thing he had heard all day. They all laughed as if on cue. "I don't keep tabs on blood traitors, Malfoy."

Scoprius turned around and left without another word, leaving Albus panicked and alone. He gaped and felt like a fish out of water as the Zabini posse turned to eye him. "What the hell do you want, Potter?"

"Nothing!" Albus' voice came out like a squeak. Perfect, he thought, and scampered away like a terrified mouse.

"What was that?" Albus demanded when he sat back down.

"That's how you communicate with the upper class," Scorpius said with a roll of his eyes. "Stand your ground, show no emotion, and say only what you must. That's what my dad always says anyway."

"Yeah, that sounds about right." Albus jumped at the new voice and looked up to see Sylvia and Eliana sitting down across from them.

"I thought you two went to the kitchens," Scorpius said.

"Yeah, we did," said Sylvia.

"And they were amazing!" said Eliana excitedly. "The House Elfs are precious. I mean, not precious, that's rude. But they were so nice and they do so much work."

"If you went, then why are you here?" Albus asked without thinking; it had come out far ruder than he'd meant it to.

"Everything they were cooking looked delicious," Eliana answered, "and I can never get enough food!"

Sylvia winked at the boys and giggled. It was no secret that a girl as big as Eliana liked food. "So why were you talking to the Snob Squad," she asked.

Scorpius looked like he was thinking up a lie, but Albus shrugged and told them the truth. "We're looking for Tyler Jordan."

"Oh, the loud guy with the funny hair? We saw him in the kitchens," Sylvia said.

"What?" Albus and Scorpius yelled at the same time.

Sylvia and Eliana looked to each other in confusion. "Um, yeah, we saw him there with a Gryffindor and Ravenclaw boy about an hour ago."

What had seemed like good news was now terrible, Albus thought. If he was there an hour ago, but he wasn't in the dormitories or the Great Hall, then they had absolutely no idea where he was.

Which meant that Albus had to use his last resort.

"Hey Scorpius, hang on a sec," he said, standing up.

"What are you doing. We kind of have a situation here," his friend replied.

"Yeah, and I'm trying to fix it. Just give me a minute." Scorpius looked skeptical, but nodded and turned back to the girls.

There was a knot in Albus' stomach as he made his way across the room. Talking to Cassian had been scary, but not as scary as approaching the Gryffindor table. Albus still couldn't help feeling like this was the house he was meant to be in, and he had been too ashamed to approach any Gryffindors, especially his family, since the sorting.

"Well look who finally decided to slither over," Roxanne greeted when Albus approached.

James looked surprise, too, but he recovered in a second and smiled. "What's up, little bro? Wanna sit with us?"

"Erm, no," Albus mumbled. Was he even allowed to do that? "I actually need a favor."

Albus knew James wasn't going to like what he was going to ask. But to his surprise, James smiled and nodded knowingly. "I knew you'd come to me."

"Really?" said Al.

"It's a girl, isn't? And James Potter is the master of getting girls."

Albus' face went white. "No, no, it's not that!"

"Lucky for you, cause James doesn't know shit about girls," said Roxanne.

"Charming, isn't she?" James said, nodding toward their cousin. "Give us a sec, Rox, brother on brother."

Albus followed James to an empty section of the table and sat down. Now that they were away from Roxanne, James' face was full of concern. "What's up, Al? Are you okay? You know, I didn't mean those things I said about Slytherin. I don't care what house you're in. Are you okay? You haven't talked to me in days," his words tumbled out all at once.

Albus felt a wave of relief rush over him. He had been avoiding his brother because he had been terrified of all these things. But as much as he loved hearing this apology, guilt was pricking at him and time was running out. He had to bring the subject back to why he was here. "Thanks James, really. But I don't have time to talk about that right now. I need your help finding someone."

"Oh," James' face fell. "How did you find out?"

"Extendable Ears. Really, James, you think I wasn't listening in when Dad pulled you into his office? I don't care that he gave it to you or whatever. I just need your help."

James sighed. "Who is it?"

"Tyler Jordan."

James quirked an eyebrow. "I'm not going to ask. Okay, never mind, I am. I love the bloke, but are you getting mixed up with him?"

Now Albus was getting annoyed. He didn't want to be cross-examined, he just wanted James to use the Marauder's Map and solve their problems. "Yes. No. Maybe. Kind of. I'm trying to get out of trouble, not into it. Just please help me!"

"All right, Merlin! Just...follow me." James grabbed Albus by the arm and pulled them out of the Great Hall, then turned into the first nook they found.

James pulled the map out of his pocket-it was always on him, of course. "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good."

Albus' watched in wonder as the ground of Hogwarts swept across the formerly blank page. He had heard his father explain how the Map worked, but it was a whole other thing to watch it working. After a few moments, he snapped back to reality and started looking for Tyler.

"Here!" said James first. "Tyler, Fred, and Louis are in an empty classroom in the dungeons. It's past the Slytherin Common Room, to your left and-actually, just take the map. But I swear I'll hex you if it's not back to me by tomorrow."

Albus smiled. This was perfect. He knew where Tyler was and things seemed to be fixed between his brother. "I promise!" He grabbed the map from his brother. "Mischief managed."


Now that they knew where Tyler was, Scorpius and Al were in much better spirits. They made their way through the dungeons as they watched their own footsteps move through the same hallway on the map.

"But how does this work," Scorpius asked for the fifth time.

"I don't know, my grandpa and his friends made it. It's some seriously complicated magic," Al said. After he'd heard his father explain it to James, he'd tried searching every book he could find for information about how the Map was made, but to Al's eternal frustration, he didn't even have the slightest clue. Now that James knew Al had overhead, he'd make him ask their dad.

"I think it's this one." Al squinted at the map and, sure enough, their footprints were outside the room with the prints of Louis Weasley, Fred Weasley, and Tyler Jordan.

Al and Scorpius were so engrossed in the map that they didn't notice the net drop from overhead until it was too late. Moments later, they were swooped toward the ceiling in a tangle of ropes and clothing.

"What the hell! Let us out!" Al shouted as Scorpius shot a few weak spells at the ceiling.

The classroom door cracked and a moment later, Fred appeared from beneath the invisibility cloak. "Albus. Scorpius. How nice to see you. Our apologies for the rude welcome. Diffindo!"

The boys started to plummet to the ground, but Fred caught them with a levitation spell and brought them gently to the floor. Al barely kept his balance as he landed, he was so dizzy from being captured and hung upside-down.

"Follow me, gentlemen." With his head still spinning, Al followed his cousin into the classroom.

What he saw inside looked like Weasley's Wizard Wheezes had exploded. There were hundreds of gadgets littering the room, some of them operational and moving around, others dissected or spewing parts. Beneath the windows, a few cauldrons were brewing, and in the center of the room, Louis and Tyler were bent over something that looked like a pot-sized Whomping Willow.

When Fred closed the door behind them, Tyler looked up. "Hey! Look who found our workshop, boys!"

Al gave up on trying to understand everything in the room and sighed. "So this is where you hide out. We've been looking for you all day."

"What for? Lonely? Bored? Need some merchandise? Ow!" While Tyler was talking, the willow had hit him in the arm.

"Watch it," Louis said as he prodded the tree with his wand.

"No, it's about Monday night," Scorpius said. "Rose told us that McGonagall is questioning every Ravenclaw to find out who did it."

Tyler tilted his head to one side. "Yeah. And?"

Albus couldn't believe how calm he was after all the commotion he'd caused. "She's reading broomsticks to find out!"

"I have already told him, naturally," Louis said without taking his eyes off the tree.

"Then how are you all so calm!" Albus demanded.

Tyler smiled and stood up. "Don't worry boys, I planned everything."

"A right genius, he is," Fred added.

Tyler made to put his arms around Al and Scorpius, but both of them dodged. "Tyler, you have to tell us whose broom you stole!" Scorpius said.

"That's the real beauty of it, boys." Tyler was beaming.

"Enoch Maurier," Fred said as if he had told they boys they'd won the lottery.

Albus and Scorpius looked from Fred, to Tyler, to each other. "Is that supposed to mean something to us?" Al asked.

Tyler shook his shoulders. "Enoch Maurier! Big fat bloke! The biggest git in the school! Well, one of 'em anyway."

Albus shoved Tyler's hands off. "Wait, that's what this is about? You framed this guy because you don't like him? Tyler, you're going to get him expelled!"

Tyler burst out laughing. "Expelled? That's rich. Did you hear, Fred?"

"Ah yes, remember First Year when we thought everything we did would get us expelled?"

"Everything you two did should have gotten you expelled," called Louis.

"Tyler, if you'll let me explain," said Fred to Albus' relief. If Tyler said another word, Al thought he might punch him. "Enoch Maurier, while a Ravenclaw, is a pureblood and is as crazy about blood purity as any Slytherin you'll ever meet-no offense, Tyler."

"None taken."

"Maurier has called Tyler a blood traitor more times than I can count, and he gives Lucy a hard time about Aunt Audrey being a muggle every time he sees her. We can deal with all that, of course, all talk and no action."

"He hexed a first-year," Tyler said, unable to contain himself.

"He what?" Al sputtered.

Fred nodded gravely. "Last year, and it wasn't a simple hex either. Harvey Shaw is a muggleborn Hufflepuff who started Hogwarts last year. We were walking to class one day when we heard screaming and it wasn't anything we had done. So we went to see what the commotion was and saw the kid hanging from his feet with his underwear out there for the world to see."

"Dirty trick, even I wouldn't pull that," said Tyler bitterly.

Fred went on, "Maurier fled the scene and Shaw was too scared to admit who did it. McGonagall drove herself up a wall questioning him but to no avail. We heard through the grapevine that Maurier was behind it-"

"And trust me, we have our ways of being sure," said Tyler. "And don't you ask how, just know that we're dead positive.

Albus sat down on a nearby chair to process all this. He had come here dead-set on making Tyler confess, or at least erase the history of the broom he'd used somehow, but everything he had heard was making perfect sense. If Maurier had done everything they'd said, he deserved all this and worse.

"And that's why Tyler is complete genius," Fred said after giving Albus a minute. "He set all of this up on his own-for which I thank him. If I had known, even I would have broken under McGonagall's questioning."

Scorpius, too, seemed to be processing. "Why did you wait this long to get him if this happened last year?"

Tyler smiled. "Lesson one, boys: it's always best to wait until no one can possibly suspect you. Revenge is a dish best served lukewarm and laced with hemlock."

Scorpius finally sank into the chair beside Albus and laughed. "Fred's right, mate. You're bloody brilliant."


A/N: Longest chapter yet! Good length? Too long? Anything I should cut out? Let me know what you think!

I'm almost to my Camp NaNoWriMo goal for this story, which is 20K words. Thank you all for the support of this story so far! This is my first time attempting a NaNo event and your feedback keeps me going :)