A/N: Hey all. Sorry for not getting this to you last night, I didn't get back til late. Anyway, this chapter is entirely from Albus's POV, in a more Rowling-esque narrative, but it's an eventful one. Enjoy! And, Happy Halloween ;)
Disclaimer: Same as always.
Chapter 10: Tricks and Treats
September ended and October flew by. Both of the Potter boys were stuck in detentions, which sapped up a great deal of their free time. James was stuck working in the kitchens, helping the house-elves, the punishment that Professor Markan had designed. Albus found himself working in the Transfiguration room with the strict Professor Cambian.
The Professor taught Albus a simple spell for reverting transfigured objects to their original forms. He was constantly experimenting with new transfigurations, and once he tired of a particular variation he would give the object to Albus to return to its original form and put back in place. Albus had to admit that he was impressed by some of the transfigurations, and found some of the objects that Cambian created to be quite fantastic, but nevertheless he would much rather have been doing something else with his free time.
Rose had softened her attitude towards him. She was now proceeding with polite indifference, still spending all her time with Allison and the other Gryffindor girls. Albus had been more careful about showing off, keeping a low profile, which disappointed some of Harry Potter's admirers. When Sean Anderson had approached him, followed by a group of Ravenclaws, and asked about doing a joint demonstration of spells they knew, Albus had politely refused, seeing Rose glaring at him from farther down the corridor.
"It will be fun to duel with you some time," said Sean.
Albus raised his eyebrows. "Duel? Yeah, maybe."
"Not as enemies, I mean, obviously," added Sean. "I mean we're not trying to kill each other."
"Right," said Albus, still looking at Rose, who had turned away from him and was talking to Allison.
"Alright, see you around," said Sean, departing with the other Ravenclaws in tow.
"Bye."
Albus wasn't sure he was ready to duel anyone, even another first-year. Nevertheless he liked the idea of having a rival. He and Sean were clearly starting out atop their year in DADA, and it would be fun to compete with him.
In other classes, however, Albus was not having quite as much luck. He was able to do well in Transfiguration, imitating what he saw Professor Cambian do in detention, but Herbology was a bit of a nightmare. Albus simply didn't have a head for the stuff, and he found the plants that Neville was so fascinated with to be quite mundane.
Potions was also not much fun, although in that class at least Albus could acknowledge that it was much worse for someone else than for him. Alexander Zarin suffered ceaselessly in here, under the very-very-very-watchful eye of his uncle. The Head of Slytherin seemed to have no qualms about taking points from his own house whenever his nephew took the slightest step out of line. Though Alexander was always the most successful student in the potions class, the professor rarely acknowledged his success, and continuously burdened him with the most work. Albus found himself feeling bad for the Slytherin, despite how obnoxious he was outside of the classroom.
The morning of Halloween found Albus sitting with the other Gryffindors in Charms class, glaring at the back of Rose's head. He had woken up in a foul mood this morning, with a horrendous smell emanating from the third-year boys' dorm and filling the entire boys' half of the tower. Almost all the boys in Gryffindor had quickly fled into the common room, where the words 'Jamie needs some clean underwear,' were written in bright blue on the ceiling. Albus had looked around for his brother, but he was nowhere to be seen.
In Charms class things got worse. Flitwick gave them each a large sign saying 'Happy Halloween,' and their objective was to get the sign to flash bright orange. Albus's first attempt set his sign on fire, drawing chuckles from the surrounding students. While he looked sheepishly at his sign, Rose achieved the goal on her own first attempt. She then went on to help others who were having trouble, happily showing them how to do it. Flitwick praised her. Albus glared at her.
"So you think I have a problem with showing off?"
Rose looked up at him. He was glaring down at her from across the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, having come here for lunch after class.
She looked at him only for a moment, then looked down. "You're right," she said softly.
Albus immediately softened, surprised.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I shouldn't have been so hard on you. Everyone shows off sometimes."
He sat down across from her. "It's okay." He reached out his hand towards his cousin. She smiled at him and shook it.
"Albus?" said a quiet voice. Albus turned and was shocked to see that the voice belonged to his brother. "Can I sit here?"
"Sure," said Albus, wondering if the sky was falling. What in the world had possessed James to want to sit next to him?
James sat down quickly, glancing to his left and right. Albus noted that up and down the table people were casting glances at him, as though he were something ugly.
"James, mate," said Shane, sitting down next to Rose, "she's got you bad this time. It will take a while for the other Gryffindors to forget about this."
"I'm going to kill her," said James, his voice a low growl that he used at home to frighten Albus and Lily.
Shane chuckled. "Not a bad idea, mate, though perhaps a little extreme."
"Nonsense," said James. "She's got Filch running at me at every turn. I'm never going to get out of the kitchens. And now this?" He gestured up and down the Gryffindor table.
A small shadow fell over the table. Albus and James looked up to see Alexander Zarin standing behind Rose and Shane. The Slytherin looked bizarrely out of place standing at the Gryffindor table.
"I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Halloween," said the Slytherin, sounding not quite kind. "May we all receive some pleasant treats..." He looked at James and winked. "...in response to our tricks."
He reached down and picked up the four Gryffindors' goblets, filling them each with pumpkin juice, then handed them back. With a wave of his wand he conjured a goblet for himself, and the Gryffindors were shocked by the level of magic that the first-year could perform.
"A toast!" he declared. "To trickery and terror on this scariest of nights."
James and Shane shared a look. "Here, here!" they chanted enthusiastically. Then as Alexander, Albus and Rose all drank, James and Shane swung their goblets towards the Slytherin, covering him in pumpkin juice.
Alexander froze, the pumpkin juice trickling down his face and robes. Then all of a sudden his uncle was behind him. "Alexander," said the professor, his tone frostier than ice. "Follow me."
Alexander frowned, but nevertheless followed his uncle out of the Great Hall, holding his head high despite the looks he was getting from the surrounding students as the pumpkin juice dripped from him.
"Why did you do that?" asked Albus, still feeling bad for Alexander for what occurred each potions class.
James shrugged. "On a toast to trickery? How could we not?" Shane laughed.
Professor Markan swept by, and winked at James in passing. James smiled back, then muttered under his breath after the professor had passed. "Bloody house-elf-loving old git."
"So what are you going to do about her?" Shane asked.
James thought for a moment, then smiled wickedly. He turned to Albus. "Meet me at the entrance to Gryffindor Tower midway through the feast tonight." And with that he got up and left the Great Hall, casting a quick glance towards the Ravenclaw table as he did so. Shane got up and followed him. Albus and Rose glanced at each other, at a complete loss for what that was about.
After lunch they rushed off to History of Magic. The lesson had barely begun before Albus was wishing with all his being that he hadn't come. For it just so happened that Halloween night thirty-six years ago was the night that Voldemort attacked Godric's Hollow and killed his grandparents, and the night that Harry Potter had performed his first great miracle, causing the Dark Lord's power to break, and it was exactly this topic that Professor Binns had chosen to discuss today. All around the room, all through the lesson, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff students were shooting glances at him. Rose flinched when the ghost described the deaths of James and Lily Potter, and Albus shut his eyes tightly against the imagery. When the students started asking questions about Harry Potter, Albus tried to drown out their voices. It was inarguably the worst class he had endured all year.
Muggle Studies brought some reprieve. Professor Markan talked about the Muggle customs for the night of Halloween, such as dressing up as magical beings and trying to scare each other, and going out in search of treats. He compared several Muggle images of vampires with an image of an actual vampire, which looked very similar to a human, but for the unnaturally pale skin and the elongated teeth.
For the second half of class, however, Markan had something very different planned. Several house-elves appeared in the classroom, with food in various states of preparation. Harry Dursley stared with wide eyes at the house-elves, having never seen one before. Markan began explaining about how the house-elves each year had to prepare the Hogwarts Halloween feast.
"That is their role," said Franky. "That's what they do."
Markan frowned. "Perhaps, but that does not mean they should not be helped, and thus be relieved of some of their burden. A little toil every now and then is good for everyone's soul. Now then, help out and earn points for your houses, or else sit back and watch the house-elves toil and lose points."
The first-years hesitantly set to work. Albus and Rose made their way over to a young house-elf who was plucking the feathers from some kind of giant bird. They began helping him.
"Thank you, Little Masters," said the house-elf graciously.
Once their little episode of community service was over the first-years left the classroom in a huff.
"Now I think I understand my mother a little better," said Rose. "She was right to try to help the house-elves' situation. That's such difficult work that they're forced to do."
"Someone has to do it," Albus muttered.
"But Professor Markan is right," Rose protested. "If everyone chipped in just a little bit for the common good, we could get everything done without having to enslave the house-elves."
"When did he say that?" asked Albus. "All he said was that a little work was good for the soul. Besides, what would the house-elves do then?"
"Work for themselves," Rose replied, as though it were completely obvious, which it kind of was.
They made their way back to Gryffindor Tower. The common room was now decorated with unnatural shadows and jack-o-lanterns. Albus and Rose spotted their cousin Molly on the couch, her nose buried in a book, and made their way over.
"Hi, Molly."
Molly lowered the book, and Albus and Rose screamed simultaneously. Her eyes were gone, the dark, empty sockets blinking at them. There was something black and gooey coming out of her mouth.
"Stay away." Her voice was a terribly strained whisper.
Albus and Rose couldn't move, staring at her in shock. Suddenly there was a horrible shriek, and an icy-cold hand grabbed each of them from behind. Albus and Rose screamed again and spun around.
"Dominique!"
Dominique laughed delightedly. Molly laughed as well, undoing the charms on her face so that it returned to normal.
Rose reached out and slapped her arm. "That wasn't funny!"
"Oh yes it was," said Dominique, still laughing.
"Well, at least now we know you guys care about me," said Molly.
Rose rounded on her. "How could we not? You're our cousin!"
"Of course, of course," said Molly, finally starting to overcome her laughter. Dominique was still practically in stitches.
Rose gave a huff and stormed to the opposite side of the common room, where she sat down at one of the study tables with her arms crossed. Albus followed her.
"Rose, everything alright?" It was Allison, approaching Rose with a look of concern.
"Everything's fine," Albus answered curtly for her.
Rose waved her wand, producing a spark which singed Albus's hand. "Yes, I'm alright, Allison. Thank you."
Allison hesitated for a moment, watching Albus, who was now rubbing his hand angrily.
"Sit with us," said Rose, gesturing towards the seat on the opposite side of her from Albus.
Albus glared at his cousin.
They spent the time leading up to the feast sitting like that, Rose chatting with both her cousin and her friend, Albus responding pleasantly to her but curtly to Allison, and Allison responding pleasantly to both regardless of Albus's sourness. Albus found her persistent pleasantness to be quite maddening. Finally, after it had become quite clear that Rose was paying more attention to Allison than to him, he could take no more, and got up and went down to the Great Hall early.
A cluster of Slytherin first-years stood outside the entrance. Once again Albus noted that Scorpius was not among them. He caught Alexander shooting him a glare, and once more felt bad for him.
A group of Gryffindor fourth-year boys were already sitting at the table, along with one boy who Albus recognized as being in James' year. The third-year boy saw him and waved at him, and Albus waved back, guessing that the third-year recognized him as James' brother.
Albus sat a little ways away. The third-year came over to him. "Have you seen your brother?"
Albus shook his head. "Not since lunch, no."
"Oh," said the third-year with some disappointment. "Well, I suppose he'll be showing up soon for the feast."
Albus wasn't so sure about this. James wanted Albus to meet him midway through the feast, which probably meant that he would be spending the first half of the feast preparing whatever he had planned.
He wasn't sure he should be telling the third-year this, but he didn't want him to be disappointed when James didn't show up. "I don't think so."
The third-year perked up a little. "Why?"
"I'm supposed to meet him at the entrance to Gryffindor Tower midway through the feast."
"I see," said the third-year. Albus noted that he seemed to have an American accent. "Well, alright. Thanks." With that he got up and left the table. But he didn't seem to be heading for the exit, rather he seemed to be heading towards the Ravenclaw table.
Albus found this a little strange, but forgot about it as soon as he saw Robert, Franky and Jonathan enter the Great Hall. He waved to them and they came over.
"Alright, mate," said Robert, sitting down beside him. Franky and Jonathan sat on the other side of the table.
The feast commenced. It was a spectacular sight. Bats flew into the Great Hall and flitted about, while orang streamers levitated up from the ground and zoomed to and fro. Pumpkins appeared around the candles near the magical roof. More pumpkins appeared on the tables, filled with candy treats. Parts of the meal appeared to be laced with dragon dust, which was not something the Hogwarts house-elves usually used when cooking, and to Albus many of the foods present tasted like treacle tarts.
He enjoyed the feast so much that he nearly forgot to go meet James. But when the feast was half-over he remembered, and left the Great Hall despite the questioning looks from his friends.
"You're late, as usual," said his brother when Albus located him near the Grand Staircase.
"Sorry," muttered Albus. "The feast was good."
James nodded. "Yeah, it always is." He seemed preoccupied with whatever was about to occur. "Come on."
But as soon as James and Albus stepped onto the first staircase, everything was plunged into darkness. James immediately drew his wand, looking around. Albus drew his wand as well, but couldn't see anything except his brother and the stairs beneath their feet.
They felt the staircase begin to move, unable to see where it was going. James was peering in every direction warily.
"Does this usually happen here on Halloween?" Albus asked.
"No," James muttered.
Just then a flash of purple light shot at James. He ducked, moving up several stairs as a streak of white lightning struck the step he had just been standing on. Albus quickly moved up to stand beside his brother.
Two more jets of purple shot at them, and James pushed Albus away from him before dodging both bolts. "Run!" he shouted to Albus.
Albus started running up the stairs. But just then they started moving again, and Albus had no idea where he was going. He heard James shout from below, "Protego!"
Something was wrong. He should have reached a landing by now. But the stairs just kept going. He heard footsteps, and turned to see James running up after him. More jets of light shot at them from all directions, and at one point Albus threw himself to the stairs to avoid being hit. The spells weren't just purple anymore. Bolts of blue and red had joined them, along with an occasional jet of gold light. Albus had never heard of a spell that produced gold light, but he definitely did not want to find out what spell it was.
The Potter boys ran and ran, but the stairs kept going. They were by this point hopelessly lost within the tower in a place neither of them had ever been before, unable to see anything.
Finally James stopped. "Protego!" he shouted again as three spells fired at him. Rather than bouncing off the shield, the spells simply disappeared when they contacted it, but that was just as well. "Lumos Maxima!"
A blinding flash forced both boys to cover their eyes, as the light from James wand appeared to be reflecting back at them from mirrors very close to them on all sides. James quickly put out the light, and the boys could see once more, though only each other.
James tried another spell. "Lumos Solem!" A beam of sunlight shot from his wand, passing about four feet in front of him and then suddenly deflecting back right into his eyes. He let out a yell and dropped his wand. The beam disappeared as the wand fell down a few steps into the darkness.
Another jet of purple light was shooting at James. "Protego!" Albus shouted. A weak, silvery shield appeared, but it was still enough to absorb the spell, though it disappeared immediately after. Albus ducked as a jet of blue light flew over his head.
James descended several steps until he located his wand. Albus ran down to him. Suddenly there was a boom from behind them, and the boys turned to see a bright green light appear.
Then it was over. The darkness vanished and they were back near the entrance to the tower, exactly where they had been standing when the darkness first appeared. It was as though nothing at all had happened.
The Potter boys looked down. A black band lay across the step they were standing on, with three golden Ws shining brightly on it.
There was laughter. At the top of the staircase stood a girl with dark hair and dark eyes. There was a look of endless amusement on her face.
"That was fun, Jamie," she said, still laughing. Albus felt goosebumps rise on his skin, and sensed his brother tense beside him.
"Petrificus Totalus!" James roared. The girl stopped laughing and dodged the spell. Her wand suddenly appeared out of nowhere in her hand.
"Expelliarmus!" she shouted. The jet of red light struck James's hand, and his wand flew up in the air. The girl caught it expertly.
James grabbed Albus's wand from him and pointed it at the girl. "Expelliarmus!" he shouted. The red light struck the girl, but she retained her grip on both her own wand and James's. Albus recognized a pair of Shield Gloves on her hands, a serious product of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes that had been designed to protect the aurors during the war against Voldemort.
"Expelliarmus!" she shouted again, and Albus's wand flew from James to her as well.
Now clutching both of the Potter boys' wands as well as her own, the girl took aim at James. She laughed, a cold laugh that made Albus shudder. "Oh Jamie, you really are hopeless, aren't you?"
James glared at her, bracing himself. "Petrificus Totalus," said the girl. "Your idea." James's limbs snapped together and he started to fall backwards down the stairs. Albus quickly stepped behind his brother and held him up.
The girl slowly stepped down the stairs towards them. "How cute," she said, giving Albus a smile that looked almost genuine. "You have such a nice little brother, Jamie." She turned to Albus. "I highly doubt he would do the same for you."
She stopped two steps above the boys. "If you try to attack me again, Jamie, I'll kill you." Albus couldn't tell if she was joking or not. "But in the mean time..." She raised her wand, pointing it at James.
"Expelliarmus!" Professor Markan appeared out of nowhere, flinging off an invisibility cloak. The red light from his wand struck the girl, knocking all three wands away from her towards the professor.
"What is going on here?" the professor bellowed furiously. It seemed so uncanny, considering how old Markan looked, that his voice could sound so loud and full.
The girl glared at the professor defiantly. "Just a bit of fun, sir."
The Professor waved his wand at James, who regained control of his limbs. "So I see."
"I wasn't going to do any permanent damage," said the girl, sounding bizarrely innocent as she said this.
Markan raised an eyebrow, his voice returning to its normal, though still quite powerful, tone. "You threaten to kill him and then tell me you weren't going to do any permanent damage. Albeit I recognize that death isn't necessarily permanent, but that's not a sort of magic that we teach at this school."
The girl rolled her eyes. "That was a joke, sir." Albus was stunned by the cavalier attitude that she was taking with the professor.
"I'm sure it was, but then it could also have been a joke that you weren't going to do any permanent damage."
"Well," said the girl, making a show of thinking for a moment. "Perhaps to his ego, but nothing else."
For a moment the shadow of a smile flitted across Markan's face, but then the anger returned. "That's quite enough, Miss Black." He turned to James. "Mr. Potter, how long is your current detention sentence in the kitchens?"
James frowned. "Er... four more weeks, I think."
"Well, seeing as you did initiate the fight with Miss Black, I'm extending that sentence another month." James glared at the professor. The girl laughed.
"As for you, Miss Black..." The girl stopped laughing, but a smile remained on her face. "I'm proceeding with the notion that you did not in fact mean to cause Mr. Potter any serious or permanent harm and that this was all a bad practical joke. You will be joining Mr. Potter for the remainder of his detention in the kitchens."
The girl raised her eyebrows, and her mouth fell open a little. "Are you serious?"
"Would you rather I asked the Headmistress to expel you, Miss Black?"
"No."
"Then yes, I am serious. You two will spend every evening for the next eight weeks working together in the kitchens. I believe that will take us right up to the Christmas break. You two will not be permitted to do magic, and the house-elves will be keeping a close eye on you both. You will always be performing tasks together, never separately. And if either of you so much as lifts a finger to do the other harm, you'll learn just how powerful Elven magic is."
James and the girl both stared at the professor in shock. Albus felt uneasy in the midst of all the tension.
"Now, I advise all three of you to return to the Great Hall for the conclusion of the feast." With that, Professor Markan lay the three wands on the step at his feet, then swirled his invisibility cloak back around himself and disappeared. They heard footsteps progress down the stairs and out of the tower.
"Well, Jamie, see you in the kitchens," said the girl, stepping down to her wand and picking it up. It vanished not long after entering her hand. "By the way," she said, turning back and stepping up to Albus. "I'm Michaela." She held out her hand.
James immediately grabbed Albus's arm, preventing him from shaking Michaela's hand, not that Albus was inclined to. "I'm Albus," he simply said.
Michaela smirked at James and withdrew her hand. Then she stepped delicately down the stairs and out of sight.