Chapter 11: Red War

The days following Slytherins' loss were some of the most frustrating that Albus could remember having. When he had lost his house points, he could get them back. But there was no changing history. No going back and winning.

He stayed in a slump for the end of November and most of December, the thought of how he had let his team down creeping into his thoughts every few moments or so. There was simply no getting around the fact that had he been paying attention, the result of the game could have been radically different. His team tried to feign optimism for him, ensuring him that it was but one game on their record, but they wore the same facade as the rest of his house. Atticus in particular was a heartbreaking case. Albus went through a guilt trip every time that his captain smiled at him. The season may not have been over, but few teams came back to win the cup after losing a season opener by a full one hundred and fifty points.

The guilty looks that he automatically gave his teammates, coupled with the scowls he got from the rest of the house, had taken a toll on him emotionally. Despite the jolliness of the season, he found himself more and more eager to stay inside and do his work, and he had even turned Mirra down when she had asked him to meet her in the library to study with her and her Gryffindor pals. Of all the things that could make him feel worse, being in close proximity to Eckley was probably the most prominent.

All in all, he was more anxious than most for the winter holidays, were he could go home and ignore his housemates, ignore the Quidditch practices, and remember the ephemeral jubilation that had occurred from his detention with Fairhart all the way to the day of the game. Only one thing about going home frightened him.

" So what's going to happen with James?" Morrison asked him in Herbolody the week before break. Neville had assigned them a plant to take care of in groups of three ( the ampliditus narcissitus, otherwise known as honking daffodils), and the resulting noise gave them the ability to talk to each other uninterrupted by their teacher.

" What do you mean what's going to happen with him?" Albus asked him dryly, pouring water onto the large daffodil, which gave a loud honk of approval.

" Well aren't your parents going to wonder why you're not talking?"

" Haven't thought about it" he lied. The sad truth was that his anger at having lost to his brother in Quidditch had destroyed any ideas of reaching out to him, and thus Christmas would certainly be awkward. Indeed, this was another reason why he didn't want to hang out with Mirra and Rose. He was afraid that they would continue to pressure him into doing something that he most definitely did not want to do.

" It's important!" Neville called out over all the honking. " To distinguish between the noises that denote both pleasure and aggravation. A more high pitched, shrill sound could mean that the narcissitus is in pain from too much."

" I think we're killing it" Morrison said morosely as Scorpius dumped an entire jug of water onto the daffodil, which gave a loud and eerie shriek.

" Who cares, it's a plant" Scorpius shouted over the sound.

" I do! This is one of the few classes I might be passing!"

Albus ignored his friends bickering and continued to think intently about his situation with James. Seconds later Neville came to reprimand them all for nearly drowning their plant however, and the thoughts were pushed from his head.

The last class before break was Defence Against the Dark Arts, which Albus was happy for. Few things cheered him up these days more than a good lesson Fairhart, and their last one was no different. In a rather unorthodox improvisation session, students were to throw a ball around the room, with whoever catching it having to add on to a story that Fairhart had simply started with " The wizard entered the hall and heard someone behind him".

So many people had different things to add on and different ideas to use that Milton Parish ended up concluding it with the two wizards ( who were actually revealed to be twin vampires fighting over who got to drink the blood of their veela mother) agreeing to stop drinking blood altogether and opening a barbershop.

Fairhart called for silence after the students had had a hearty laugh and beamed at them. Still sitting on his desk, he addressed his students enthusiastically.

" Well done!" he said. " Your imaginations are flourishing fantastically! Always remember, in any given situation involving combat, preparation is your best defence. But improvisation is your most offensive tool! And as we've made so much progress thus far, I think that it's time that we took your education in to much broader grounds."

The students grinned and exchanged excited looks. Though Albus was now sitting in the front row, he could hear people all the way in the back muttering.

Fairhart continued in his enthusiastic tone." What we now have inside of us is potential- knowledge that can be turned into power. A sort of uncontrollable fire, that, with practice, can be controlled!

" Following your winter break I think that we're going to begin learning actual defensive magic. You now have a significant understanding of the theory that goes behind defending yourself. Your emotions and your mind are every bit as dangerous the magical abilities that you possess! We will soon learn to use all three together!"

The bell rang just as he wished them all a happy holiday, and the students filed out of the classroom merrily, wishing their professor the same as they went.

The train ride back to Kings Cross station was a silent one. Albus, in an attempt to not have to see Mirra and Eckley enjoy their last few moments before the winter break together, had managed to convince his friends to sit in the very back of the train. He also hoped that this would mean very little conversation with Rose, and thus she would not be able to babble to him about how important reaching out to James was. This proved effective, though he still found himself dreading the car ride back to his home. Uncle Ron was going to be driving he, James, and Lily in addition to his own children.

" Just stay away from him all break" Morrison said about halfway through the trip. Their compartment had been quiet for hours.

" He lives down the hall from me" Albus said with a frown. Feeling as though he could put more effort into the conversation however, he decided to change the topic.

" What are you guys doing for Christmas?"

Morrison made to answer but Scorpius predictably interrupted him. " Pretty much the same as last year, minus you. I think my uncle - the one who works with dragons that is- may be visiting."

" Cool" Albus said, uninterested.

" Yeah, that is pretty stud" Morrison said in an uncanny impression of Eckley's voice. Albus found himself laughing for the first time all trip. It was amazing how easily his friends could cheer him up, even in his darkest of hours. He clung to this thought all throughout the rest of the train ride, and by the time that they got off and began scouring the platform, he found himself wishing that all three of them could simply get back on the train.

" Well I'm out" Morrison said suddenly as they walked past a couple from Gryffindor who acted as though they would never see each other again. He pointed at his mother, who was waving to the three of them kindly. She was much shorter than her son, and when he waved at her she gave him an incredulous look. She then then pointed at her upper lip, tilting her head to the side slightly.

" Why is she doing that?" Albus asked him.

" No reason" Morrison said quickly, his face slightly red. He began pushing his trunk unusually fast to meet up with her. " Have a good holiday!" he called back to his friends.

They both wished him the same before continuing to walk around the station. A few minutes later they saw Scorpius' father waiting for him in the center of a crowd of girls who were chattering loudly. He was looking disgusted at where he was and what he was hearing, but he nevertheless smiled when he saw the two of them. Scorpius slapped his hand and wished him a happy holiday, then went to meet his father. Albus was pleased to see that Mr. Malfoy waved to him before they turned to leave. He returned the wave happily.

No sooner had he dropped his hand then he heard his Uncle Ron bellow his name.

" OY! Al, over here!"

Albus spun around and saw his uncle beckoning for him. James, Lily, Rose, and Hugo were already with him. He joined the group and stayed silent as they walked back to the black ministry car that his uncle was using. Uncle Ron ushered them in and Albus was displeased to see that he had to sit next to James, who didn't even bother to acknowledge him.

His uncle adjusted a mirror and started the car, then finally began speaking. " Your Uncle Bill picked up the other kids" he said. " So It's just going to be us for this little trip!"

No one said anything at first, but Rose ( who sitting in the passengers seat) began boasting once they were on the road.

" I got an O on my last arithmancy test daddy" she said. " My professor called it the best in the class."

Her father beamed at her. " Tough subject" he said. " Keep it up Rosie. Hugo, how are you doing? You're not falling behind in any classes are you?"

Hugo and Lily both began telling him about their classes and the things that they were doing, some of which Albus recognized from his own first year. He was shocked to learn that his sister had been the first in the class to transfigure her match into a needle, and even more stunned when he learned that she had levitated her feather first try. Indeed- he couldn't help but feel slightly left out. He was the only person in the car who was not from Gryffindor, and as such, couldn't commentate on the going on's of the house. Strangely, James seemed just as quiet, something so unusual that Uncle Ron was quick to notice it.

" You okay James?" he asked, looking into the mirror to see him. " You've been quiet. Prefect code of silence?"

" No, just tired" James said.

" How's prefect going? It's great to be feared isn't it?" Uncle Ron said with a cheeky grin.

James was in the middle of replying when his uncle cut him off.

" Hold on a second" he said irritably, and he rolled down the window. " LEARN HOW TO DRIVE PAL!" he bellowed at the person in front of him. " Sometimes I wonder how they let these muggles driv- YEAH I'M TALKIN' TO YOU! IT'S CALLED A TURN SIGNAL BUDDY! Oh now he turns it on..."

They all stared at him, though he didn't seem to notice. He rolled the window back down and resumed speaking in his normal calm voice.

" You were saying, James?"

The rest of the trip continued like this, with Uncle Ron stopping the pleasant conversation every few minutes to shout expletives at other drivers. On one occasion Albus was even forced to cover his little sisters ears so that she wouldn't hear the verbal beating he gave someone who stopped abruptly in front of him. Albus was somewhat glad for this however - it kept him entertained and made the trip go by faster.

They arrived at the Potter Mansion around midday, and Albus was relieved to see his parents smiling at him when he first entered the kitchen. They were sitting next to eachother reading the paper, his father looking tired. He stifled a yawn before speaking.

" How's year three going?" he asked.

" Fine" Albus lied. He couldn't say much more before James and Lily entered the kitchen as well, and he soon found himself sitting at the kitchen table with both of his siblings as they were bombarded with questions from their parents. All three of them said nothing regarding the fact that two of them were not speaking to each other- Albus wondered if James had purposefully told their sister not to mention it.

Uncle Ron entered the kitchen just as Lily was telling them about the first time that she was caught in the vanishing step. He tossed the keys to his brother in law, who caught them with excellent reflexes.

" What took you so long?" his father asked, bemused.

" Took forever to park that thing right" Uncle Ron said. " By the way Al, Rose is upstairs, she wants to talk to you about help with some assignment?"

Albus gave his uncle a quizzical look, unsure of if he was joking or not. When his uncle shrugged he left the kitchen and walked upstairs upstairs, where he saw Rose sitting on her bed in the guest room that she stayed in so much it had might as well have been hers.

" You need help with something?" he asked her, closing the door behind him.

" Don't be silly, I only said that to get you on your own" she said snobbishly. He frowned but waited for her to continue. " You still haven't talked to James."

Albus made to speak but she cut him off.

" Don't say anything, I know you haven't. He would have told me if you had even tried. You guys haven't talked in months, and it's going to ruin Christmas!"

" Yeah that's right Rosie!" he spat sarcastically. " Me not talking to my brother is going cancel Christmas for millions of kids all around the world..."

" You know what I mean!"

He stared at her for a few moments. " Look, now that we're both back and everything, I'm sure it'll work itself out. We don't have to have some big discussion okay?"

" So are you going to try and talk to him? At least make an attempt to clear things up?"

Albus gave her a contemptuous glare. As much as he loved his cousin, she was much too bossy, and interfering for that matter. " I'm going to try and clear things up okay? Just stop harping me about it..."

No sooner had he said it than the uncomfortable feeling of having told a lie rose in his chest. And indeed, over the next few days, Albus made no attempt to talk his brother, nor his brother to him. They ate breakfast in silence, did not take part in the same conversations as everyone else, and didn't bother to wish each other goodnight. Strangely, Albus wished that more people were staying for Christmas. Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur had taken their children to France to see their grandparents, and Grandad and Grandmom Weasley had went with them. The rest of the family seemed to take this as a cue that Christmas was to be celebrated privately this year, and as a result only Rose's family was staying with them. He normally wouldn't have minded the lack of extra people, but having fewer relatives staying meant more opportunities for he and his brother to be alone in their silence.

He had hoped that perhaps things would change on Christmas day, but alas, they did not. Even as they opened their presents, with their parents smiling politely at them, they didn't bother to even so much as wish each other a " Happy Christmas." Thankfully, Hugo received a broomstick as one of his gifts, meaning that not as much focus went into the fact that he and his brother, though in the same house, were celebrating Christmas separately.

The night was helped considerably by his mother and Aunt Hermione creating a fantastic feast that easily compared to those that he would have at Hogwarts. After dinner the adults all went into the kitchen to discuss " adult matters" leaving all but Uncle Ron ( who considered said matters as unimportant) in the living room to entertain the children.

Albus sat in the corner mostly, only half listening to his uncles various anecdotes. The other children ( all but James, who had joined the adults in the kitchen) sat around him, listening intently as he recounted stories in between sips of firewhiskey.

" So there we were!" Uncle Ron said dramatically, slightly tipsy, but able to articulate fine regardless. " Standing on a giant chess set, with gargantuan marble chess figures blocking our way! I knew at once we'd have to play them to cross. Knew at once that the only way we were going to save the world was if I used my expert strategic abilities to outsmart a chess set that had been put their to stop us from doing exactly what we aimed to do- by your current headmistress no less!"

Albus tuned his uncle out and began to think about his dilemma's, something that he had been doing quite frequently this year. He and his brother's relationship was broken. Not even the holiday spirit could save it. How long would this go on? Until next Christmas? Until James graduated and was forced to give him back the cloak? Forever?

He was just wondering if Eckley had gotten Mirra a Christmas present when his Uncle said something of interest.

" He was a wanted murderer, you see. They had to put the entire school on lockdown to try and find him."

" Someone tried to kill you?" Rose asked her father, horrified. " A murderer broke into Hogwarts to kill you?"

" Well no, not exactly, at the time he was supposed to be trying to kill your Uncle Harry..."

Lily gave a shriek next, and Uncle Ron panicked. " But he wasn't! It's hard to explain. He wasn't trying to kill anyone! Well he was, my pet rat- well my pet human- well not really my pet then. Look, long story short, he ended up being a pretty awesome guy..."

" They put the entire school on lockdown to find someone?" Albus asked from his corner. He got up and joined the circle on the ground. " Like they did this year, with Ares?"

Uncle Ron scratched his head. " Not exactly like it. See, we had Azkaban guards looking for this guy, and it was inside the castle, not in Hogsmeade. But it turned out he was innocent anyway. Just a big misunderstanding..."

" So then Ares could be innocent too?" Hugo asked. " It could be another misunderstanding?"

" No!" his father said, perhaps a bit more sharply then he meant to. " I mean- it's different. Ares definitely isn't innocent. I don't want you kids to go off thinking-"

" Why is everyone so scared of him?" Rose asked, and her father turned pink.

" Who? Ares? What are you talking about?"

But it was Albus who answered. " Everyone is terrified of Ares. When people heard that he was in Hogsmeade, everyone panicked. All the students had to stick close and go back to the castle, and they're even talking about canceling the trips..."

"And that's not all" Lily continued. " A lot of people are mad at my dad for not catching him. People with signs and-"

" I see you heard about that" Uncle Ron said, and he now looked truly uncomfortable. He looked to the entrance to the dining room, as if hoping that someone from the kitchen would hear and save him, but no one did. He turned back to the children uneasily.

" What is it you want to know exactly?" he asked.

" Why everyone is so scared of him" Albus said. " Why there's eight hundred galleons on his head. We have a right to know..."

Uncle Ron heaved a sigh. He was looking twice as anxious now.

Rose spoke up. " Daddy please."

Albus watched as his uncle sighed once more and took another large sip of his drink. Uncle Ron may cave in to his precious Rosie frequently, but Albus felt that they had some extra assistance. The large glass in his hand was more than half empty. He had had a considerable amount to drink.

" Okay I'll tell you" he said. " Bits of it anyway..."

All four of them moved in closer to him. Of all his stories, this was bound to be the most interesting. Albus in particular needed to have this information. His father had released a potentially dangerous man from Azkaban in the hopes of finding Ares- he needed to know what was so bad that this drastic step needed to be taken.

" I guess it all starts" Uncle Ron began, but then he trailed off. " Well I suppose it really all starts with the renegades. You kids don't even know what a renegade is do you?"

All four of them shook their heads, though Albus knew that at least one apart from himself was lying. Lily and Hugo may have been too young to receive the same lesson from Fairhart that he did, but Rose, despite being in a different house, was in the same year and had most definitely heard it. Still, they didn't want to miss anything in the story.

" Well basically, a renegade is someone who fights bad people. Dark wizards. But, they don't really have the authority to do it. They're not aurors like me. And after Voldemort fell, there were a lot of people- renegades- running around fighting. And it caused a big problem for the ministry."

" But why?" Hugo asked. " They were fighting the bad people too..."

" True, they were" Uncle Ron said, nodding his head. " But sometimes there wasn't any proof that these people were bad. It's the Ministry of Magic's job to decide that. So by taking the law into their own hands, they were breaking the law, see? What they were doing was just as illegal as what the bad people were doing.

" Now another thing that you have to know is that all aurors are part of a " task force". A task force is three aurors who are all given the same thing to work on. For instance, your dad and me", he said, nodding his head to Albus," were in the same task force. Now everyone's job is different. One task force may have to focus on one activity were dark wizards have been meeting. Others may deal with the selling of prohibited products. But at this time, right after the war with Voldemort, nearly every task force was assigned to capturing both dark wizards- and renegades.

" Now the problem is, a lot of people had a problem with that. The " Renegade Movement" got a lot of strong publicity behind it, and the Ministry was taking a lot of heat. Around the same time, the Ministry needed more aurors, because so many had died during the war.

" So desperate for wizards who were willing to put their lives on the line, the Ministry started recruiting people right out of school, sometimes not even. Anyone who was of legal age and wanted to fight could join. You see, with aurors, we're each given a protege. An up and coming rookie who kind of shadows you and sometimes accompanies you on your missions. So essentially, there's six people in a task force. Three fully accomplished aurors, and their three apprentices. Guess who became an apprentice?"

" Ares" all four of them chorused.

" That's right. I got stuck with some idiot named Motley who retired after a year- couldn't hack it. But Ares was fortunate enough to get Harry " The Boy Who Lived" Potter. And they made a great team too. Ares was just naturally gifted, there's no getting around it. Add in the fact that he was learning from the best, and you could say that he was on the fast track to becoming a fully fledged auror himself."

" But where did Ares come from?" Albus asked. " Where was he during the war?"

" Probably hiding" his uncle answered him with a shrug. " That's what a lot of people did back in those days. Hid. Half the people who joined the Ministry only did it once Voldemort was dead. I guess they felt like they had been cowards, and wanted to give back a bit. Rectify themselves and serve a good cause by rounding up the dark wizards that were on the loose. The ministry didn't care. So what if Ares had never attending school? So what if he had no family to speak of? He wanted to fight dark wizards. They gave him the test, he passed with flying colors, and they assigned him an auror to fight alongside!"

" So he was a good auror?" Rose asked.

" Well....maybe not good" her father admitted. " But effective."

He leaned in closer, and quite suddenly, Albus felt as though he was hearing something that his father did not want him to hear. His uncle continued quietly.

" As powerful as Ares was, people liked him for his methods. He was vicious. He never killed as far I know, but he definitely tortured. In a lot of ways, he was like a renegade. He did what he thought was necessary. Ministry regulations say that you're never supposed to leave the country unless you have the expressed consent of the Minister of Magic from that country, but he didn't care. He'd track a dark wizard half way around the world. Find them. Bring them back and make sure that they were locked up. The public loved him. The media dubbed him ' Red War'. Some pun about Greek Mythology or something. He was getting a lot of attention.

" And you can imagine why, really. Here was a guy- an auror- who fought like a renegade. Someone who did a lot of things that the renegades did, but had the authority to do it. Someone who just toed the line, not enough to be considered a renegade, but enough to be as efficient as one. He was probably one of the most successful aurors of all time to be honest. They say that half of the cells in Azkaban were filled up because of old Mad- Eye Moody, a great auror and a good friend of mine. Well the other half probably have Ares to thank. He at least took the one's that had broken out and put them back anyway.

" And he got a lot of attention for his partnership too. You should have seen the headlines. ' Red War and the Boy Who Lived arrest twenty'. ' Ares locks up five, Potter saves ten lives in process.' They were a popular duo, that's for sure."

Albus felt his heart sink. " So...they were friends? My dad was friends with Ares?"

His uncle shifted his weight a bit and tried to word his next words carefully. " Not really, no. I don't think so anyway. I mean, me and your dad are friends. Family now. It's not like your dad and Ares ever went bowling or anything. It was strictly professional. They were around the same age, and they were learning from each other. They made a good team. The way the public saw it- they were the revolution. The " Renegade Movement" didn't really die down until after the two of them had locked up so many people. But still, Ares has a bad reputation now. The people know how dangerous he is. How the tables have turned eh? The same people holding picket signs to have Ares arrested now are the same one's who supported him decades ago. They're scared of him because they know that he's capable of being just as vicious as any renegade was back then. Add in the fact that he's associated with dark wizards now...and it's easy to see why people are so frightened."

But Albus was not done yet. Rose and Lily and Hugo may have gotten their answer, but there was something else that he needed to know.

" Are they also scared of him because he was in Azkaban? I mean, what did he do to get himself locked up anyway?"

His uncle gave him a stoney expression. At this question, he seemed more uneasy than he had at any other point of the night. Once more he turned his tipsy head to the door, though this time it seemed as though he were doing it, not because he seeked help, but because he was hoping that he wasn't overheard.

" I'm really not supposed to say Al. Your dad wouldn't want me to."

All four of them groaned. Rose spoke up once more. " Daddy please".

" No" he said, and he sounded more strict than Albus had ever heard him. He wasn't going to give up though, not now.

" But if you don't tell us I won't know what to think!" he pleaded. " Ares could have killed someone...my dad could have helped if they were partners!" he added, mortified.

" No, no! Nothing like that..."

" Then what?"

Uncle Ron slouched a bit and stared at the four children. He clearly regretted ever telling them a thing. " I don't- I don't want you to think it's like that. Your dad had nothing to do with. Ares was just caught stealing, that's all."

" Stealing from who?" Lily asked.

" Stealing from the Ministry."

" You can go to Azkaban for stealing?" Hugo asked, the shock in his voice palpable.

" You can for stealing from the Department of Mysteries."

" The Department of Mysteries" Albus breathed, and he thought that he had never been more curious in his life. " What was he trying to steal?"

" It's not important" his uncle said firmly. " What's important is that he was caught before he could take it."

" Who caught him?" Lily and Rose asked at the same time.

" I did."

Rose clapped her hands to her mouth, while Albus merely raised his eyebrows in surprise. " You?" he asked.

Uncle Ron nodded, and for the first time during the entire conversation, he looked pleased, even somewhat proud. " I was working late that night when I heard a disturbance. Turns out that Ares and two other aurors tried breaking in to the Department of Mysteries. They got hostile with me, and I managed to hold them off long enough for help to arrive. It took a fair bit of people mind you...Ares is no slacker when it comes to dueling. But by the end of the night he was in Azkaban. Defining moment of my career" he added in something of a slur.

" But how did he get out?" Albus asked. " If stealing from the Department of Mysteries is so bad, why did he get out after only six months?"

His uncle frowned at him while all four of the children waited with bated breath. " I'm really not supposed to say Al."

" Why not?" Albus pouted. " Why can't you-"

" I think you kids have heard enough" came a voice from the other side of the room. His father was leaning against the door frame looking grim. James stood next to him, looking somewhat gloomy as well.

" But dad-" Lily started.

" No" her father said firmly.

Uncle Ron looked away, apparently embarrassed at having been caught divulging secrets. Things only turned worse for him when his wife also appeared in the door frame, looking stern.

" I agree, you kids should go to bed" she said.

It was Rose's turn to complain next. " But we're wide awake!"

" If you stay up late you're going to get on an irregular sleep schedule!" her mother said. " And that includes you too, Ronald! Bed!"

" Yes dear" Uncle Ron said, defeated.

Albus and the rest of the children, as well as Uncle Ron, filed past the adults and up the stairs. On his way up he heard his father and aunt talk, though their conversation was hushed.

He crawled into his bed and stared at the ceiling, knowing full well that sleep was not going to come to him anytime soon. He had forgotten all about his brother and Mirra, indeed, all thoughts had been replaced by what he had just heard.

What had Ares been trying to steal all those years ago? Could it have been the Dragonfang Wand? But no, that couldn't be it...the wand had been entrusted to someone at the time. Whatever Ares was trying to steal, it must have been well protected in the Department of Mysteries...and it must have been dangerous too.

At this another thought simultaneously crossed his mind. Where was this object now? Was it still in the same hiding place? Could Ares still be after it? And if he was...how could he get it this time?

And then there was his release from Azkaban. If what he had done was so bad...if what he had been trying to steal was so dangerous...what possible reason was there for being released from Azkaban? Had he lied his way out? Had he given up names, like Fango Wilde? And who could have been stupid enough to let him out? Whoever he was...he was certainly regretting it now...

Despite believing that sleep was out of his reach, the flood of information that he had received had made him more tired then he had thought. Whether or not he actually ever drifted off he did not know, but he was positive that he had at least had a dream - a dream in which his brother had crept into his room quietly and wished him a " Merry Christmas."