Last update for the weekend! 10 chapters in 3 days. I think that's pretty good. Not to brag, or anything. :P Probably won't update very frequently now, but don't worry! I plan to finish this; i hate abandoning things that I've started. Anyways, thank you soooooo much to those that have reviewed or followed me or my story. it really means a lot, that you're interested in the plot and want to see the ending. so do i. anyways, it's basically about halfway finished right now, since it will be around 20 chapters. some of you may find that this is a lot like the philosopher's stone, with suspecting their professor and hagrid's secret revealing. i promise it has its pronounced changes though, and the end will totally shock you. it ends in no way like that. maybe you haven't noticed, and it's just me, but whatever. just saying. :P hope you like it! and look forward to the coming chapters... :)

P.S. - the chapter title, November Rain is a reference to the song by Guns'N'Roses. I do not own the title.

Chapter 10: November Rain

After the break-in in Harry's office, chaos ensued. Students began to panic, as some were bright enough to connect this with the break-in at the ministry. Most, however, resorted to ridiculous rumours. Throughout the hallways, Albus often heard whispers of what they thought had happened, ranging from an escaped prisoner from Azkaban to a wild manticore entering the school grounds. It seemed only Albus, Rose, Sapphire, and Scorpius knew the truth, but listening to the deranged version of events was quite amusing.

Luckily, after they had regained their sight, Rose had enough sense to force them to run back to the Gryffindor common room. Not a moment too soon, actually. A few minutes after they had reached, hordes of students entered Gryffindor tower; same rules applying to the other houses. Apparently, an announcement had been made for all students to enter their common rooms. So far, they had no leads on who did it.

Albus knew that if he told his dad what he knew, it could possibly help him. But there were also consequences to that. A whole bunch of consequences. Resulting in him reaching eternal grounding. And even worse, scolding from his mother. If Albus told his father, he would no doubt keep an annoyingly close watch on him, even more so than usual; which was saying something. Also, he would probably get berated for suspecting "a trusted teacher" and "giving disregard for the rules". In truth, all of these would be bad, but nothing compared to the look of disappointment he knew he would see on his father's face. And so, for these reasons, he kept quiet, and convinced the others to do so as well. Rose was especially difficult to persuade, but Albus managed to keep her quiet by saying they had technically not captured Bulstrode, and the promise to confess should have only applied if the plan had worked.

Rose grudgingly agreed, and seemingly tried to forget this ever happened. This was proving to be hard, of course, the break-in being the main subject of the school. It was oddly similar to the Ministry's break-in; the thief looked for something that wasn't there. Harry had assured everyone that everything was fine, and now people were just wondering if this was someone's idea of a joke. Albus, however, knew better. He kept on the lookout for strange happenings, but nothing out of the ordinary seemed to occur recently. And it wasn't helping that the professors' idea to make everyone feel better was to assign more work.

"Who cares about the use of Mandrake root in a potion?" complained Sapphire, as they all met up in the library to finish their Potions essay.

"Apparently, Professor Bulstrode does," said Rose.

"Oh please, she only assigned it so the Gryffindors would suffer," claimed Scorpius. "You know she gives the Slytherins all O's and gives us D's without even reading through our work."

"She doesn't give Albus D's," said Sapphire.

"That's because Albus is great at Potions!" Rose explained.

"Well, you are too!" said Albus, trying to be modest.

Rose smiled. "Not as good as you; it comes naturally for you. There's a difference between memorizing a book and understanding it."

Albus tried to protest, but his friends had him cornered. He gave up, and stared out the window. He noticed Hagrid entering his hut from the Forbidden Forest, and an idea came to him.

"Hey, guys! Do you want to go down to Hagrid's?" Albus asked excitedly.

"Oh, you're just trying to get out of doing work," said Rose. "But then again, we haven't visited him since we got here...sure!" she replied enthusiastically.

Sapphire and Scorpius had to be convinced a little further.

"The gamekeeper?" Scorpius asked unenthusiastically.

"Not just the gamekeeper, he's a good friend of ours!" Albus argued.

"Are you sure?" asked Sapphire.

Eventually, Albus and Rose dragged them over to Hagrid's hut, where they introduced them to Hagrid.

"Hi, Hagrid!" greeted Albus as they knocked on the door to his house.

"Why, hello there Albus! And little Rosie! How've yeh been? I was wonderin' when yeh'd stop by. Come in, come in." Hagrid greeted happily.

Scorpius, who perked up immediately at the use of Rose's hated nickname, walked in joyfully. Sapphire was a little less exuberant, but walked in nonetheless. Soon, they found out that Hagrid was nothing to be afraid of, but rather a joy to be around.

Albus recounted all of his adventures (leaving out the secret ones of course) to Hagrid, who laughed merrily and offered them some of his famous fudge. Suddenly, a vicious-looking dog came in, and leaped at Sapphire. Sapphire screamed.

"Oi, Fang! Down, boy, down! Bloody rascal." Hagrid leaned over and tried to pry Fang away from Sapphire, but Fang had taken to licking Sapphire's face. Soon, her screams turned to laughs.

Hagrid smiled. "See? Yeh've got nothin' to be afraid of. Soft little pup, he is."

Scorpius chortled at his use of "little" and "pup". If they didn't know Hagrid's pets, they would've been running like the wind. This started a new topic on Hagrid's pets. The four friends had fun listening to Hagrid's adventures with magical creatures. "And then, yer dad got a lot of Thestrals ter come by, and he and his friends went runnin' off ter the Ministry!" Hagrid said, wiping a tear from his eye. It was interesting to hear about the messes that his dad had gotten into as a student. "Oh, I could spend all afternoon telling you about Harry and his mishaps with my animals!"

"That reminds me," Hagrid said suddenly. "I've got ter go check on me Nifflers. Someone's been tampering with them, I think. Found this ragged cloak caught on one of the trees in the Forest not long ago."

Albus nearly spit out his tea. This could be the first sign that the culprit was striking again. Looking at his friends, he saw that they had noticed too. Albus wasn't sure how to voice his concerns. If he worded it wrongly, Hagrid would realize he was prying and might inform his father. Luckily, Sapphire did it for him.

"Can you tell us about your Nifflers, Hagrid?" she asked politely and innocently.

Hagrid beamed. "Sure thing! Interesting creatures, they are. Can sense things of value buried in the ground. People use 'em fer treasure-hunting."

"Well, since you don't use them for treasure-hunting, what do you use them for?" Scorpius continued nonchalantly.

"Oh, just keep 'em here fer me classes," Hagrid said. "Part of the O.W.L. curriculum, actually." He chuckled. "Some students got excited by it, and tried to sneak some ter find some loot. O' course, they're trained to bite whoever tries ter use them. Except me, of course." Hagrid puffed out his chest proudly.

"But I thought you said you had to check on them. If they're trained to bite, then why worry?" Rose asked.

"Oh," Hagrid said, his voice turning sullen and worried. "I think someone must've been feeding them newt's eyes, that's their favourite treat. Can't imagine what they'd be looking for, of course, but I've alerted the Aurors anyways. Nothin' ter see in the Forbidden Forest, really. Just some bent up rumours about the Potest – " Hagrid stopped himself and turned to them. He laughed nervously, and tried to cover it up. "What I was saying, was that Nifflers often stick ter their environment. But they can get a place real messy while looking for somethin' shiny."

It was too late, though. They had all realized what Hagrid was going to say, and were obviously itching to discuss it.

"Hagrid, you were saying that the Potestum is in the Forbidden Forest?" Albus interrupted.

Hagrid tried to deny it weakly. "No, no, I was jus' talkin 'bout me Nifflers. Yeh know, they..." he trailed off when he noticed their expressions. He sighed. "Alrigh', it was jus' a mistake, mind yeh. I'm not supposed to tell yeh 'bout it."

"But Hagrid," Rose persisted. "What could we do about it? We're just first years, and a rumour wouldn't do anything to us!"

Hagrid sighed. "Alrigh'. There's been a rumour that only a hero of the purest soul can identify the Potestum and find its true location. It's been said ter be hidden somewhere on Hogwarts grounds, but it's jus' a story!"

"The Tale of the Three Brothers was just a story, but the Deathly Hallows turned out to be real," Scorpius pointed out oh-so-helpfully.

"Well, many have searched the Forbidden Forest, but most ended up dead. There are a lot of creatures in there, mind yeh. Even if it's true, don't worry a bit. A hero has to find it, so it can't fall inter the wrong hands." Hagrid shuddered at the thought. "Good thing, too. Just a light touch to the wrong person could result in the destruction of the world."

Albus glanced at his friends, then turned back to Hagrid eagerly. "Why? Is it a weapon? What does it do?"

Clearly, Albus wasn't as good as playing it cool like his friends. Hagrid's look quickly formed to one of worry, and he began to mutter to himself. "Shouldn't have told yeh that, really shouldn't have told yeh that..."

Sapphire, Rose, and Scorpius glared at Albus. He had just let slip their chances of finding out more.

Hagrid cleared his throat and looked at Albus. "Yeh know, Al. Yer a lot like yer father, yeh are. Great man, really, but always stuck his nose where it didn't belong." Hagrid checked his watch and exclaimed suddenly. "Would yeh look at the time? Better get in the castle!" With that, he ushered the four friends out of his hut, even though they protested that they still had an hour before curfew.

As they walked back to the castle, Sapphire, Scorpius, and Rose, and Albus began to discuss the revelations Hagrid had told them about. They had discovered a lot more about the Potestum, but not enough.

"A hero of the purest soul," Rose mused. "Isn't much to work off of. I mean, even if we found someone like that, we can't exactly clomp through the Forbidden Forest until we stumble upon it."

"Yeah, and are we even sure we should find it? Once we get it, it just becomes a whole lot easier to steal." Sapphire said.

Albus laughed. "You guys are talking like we're going to get in the forest and search. Plus you're overanalyzing."

"Well, someone is obviously going to try to steal it, if it really is a powerful weapon." Scorpius said. "Maybe we should notify...?"

"No," said Albus firmly. "And I've already told you why. We'll just work out the details on our own, and then we'll tell, like Rose's plan was. Clearly we're not going to find out anything unless we search for ourselves."

Rose replied slowly. "Okay...so, let's start at the top. Who do you think this hero is?"

Scorpius answered quickly. "I know who it is! I know who the noble hero with a pure soul is!"

"Really? Who?" asked Rose excitedly.

"Isn't it obvious? Hero? Pure soul? You're looking at him."

Rose scoffed. "You? You fit nowhere near the requirements! Look up arrogant in the dictionary and you'll see a picture of yourself."

"I take offense to that! Besides, is that any way to speak to your hero and role model? I'm the only one who can make the difference in the world."

"You're not the bloody hero! And role model? Who in their right mind would look up to you? But if it makes you feel any better, I know you'll make a difference in the world."

Scorpius, who was about to make a retort, stopped in surprise of her last comment. "Really?"

"Yes! A bad one!"

They bickered all the way back to the common room, insults ranging from "starstruck bookworm soon-to-be librarian" to "the next Dork Lord". Albus smirked, the insults making him surprisingly happy. He saw the same expression on Sapphire's face. Maybe in the midst of this whole mess, all they really needed was a couple of lighthearted moments with their friends.

Albus glanced out the window in the Gryffindor common room and noticed the rainy weather. There had been no sign of the culprit for about a month now. Most of the rumours and panicking had started to die down. But Albus knew that she was still out there, lying low. Waiting. Waiting for the perfect moment to strike. And he would be prepared.

Trying to ignore the pit of worry in his stomach that had formed at the end of September, he focused on other things. Schoolwork. Studies. Quidditch. Friends. But he found issues with that too. He had finished all his schoolwork (believe it or not), and was not having a particular difficulty with any subject. The first Quidditch game against Slytherin had already taken place, and his next match took place all the way in February. Friends. Things were going fine with his friends. Well, if you excluded Rose and Scorpius' constant bickering. But that was normal. The only thing he could really think about was the constant dreams, break-ins, and this Potestum thing that was badgering him since he got his first dream.

Albus sighed as the pit of worry formed into a whirlpool, churning his stomach inside out. In his dreams, the man would always show Albus his worst fears, memories, experiences and nightmares. And as he watched the dull, gloomy November rain, he couldn't help but feel like it was foreshadowing the events yet to come.