Chapter Eleven

Albus returned to the common room on evening in the beginning of February looking quite disappointed He hadn't received a letter from Cantor for weeks now and he was feeling more and more isolated than he had ever felt before. Whenever he wanted to talk to Rose or Kris, the two of them had their heads together chatting and always got quiet when he entered the room. James never seemed to make time for him. The only person that ever was around was Scorpius.

Scorpius was good to talk to when he wanted to be. He and Albus hadn't started out close but they grew to be on good terms. When Kris was too busy talking with Rose, the two of them sat in the common room talking about classes and silly things they had seen around Hogwarts. The two of them were becoming closer and Scorpius was starting to take over the role of Al's best friend.

When Scorpius saw Albus enter the common room that evening, he pulled his bag off of the couch and patted the seat next to him signifying he wanted Albus to join him. Albus sat down next to Scorpius and explained that he had been expecting a letter but it hadn't come. Instead of asking him what the letter was about, Scorpius tried to assure Albus that it would come if he just kept waiting for it.

This was something Albus was starting to enjoy about Scorpius. Although he often was awkward, Scorpius wasn't annoying and constantly asking questions like Kris tended to do. He listened and let Albus tell him things on his own. If the subject was depressing, Scorpius would find a way to elevate the mood by either cracking a joke or changing the topic. Today, Scorpius decided to talk about the end of the school year approaching and his plans for the summer.

"My father wants to take me to a place in Ireland for the first two weeks of summer," Scorpius explained. "But other than that, I'm free if you want to come for a visit."

Albus almost told Scorpius about his invitation to America from Cantor but he stopped himself. Scorpius would judge him for telling all his feelings to a stranger half way across the world. Besides, he wasn't even sure that he would get the chance to go overseas and visit Cantor. He hadn't asked him parents and he hadn't heard from Cantor in a while.

"I currently don't have any finalized plans," Albus said. "Louis gets to spend his summer in France with his grandfather while I am probably spending a lot of time at home."

Scorpius did he best to try and comfort Albus about this fact but Albus felt no different so Scorpius decided to start talking about Kris and how he wished Kris was around more.

"Do you think he and Rose are secretly dating?" Scorpius asked looking up at the ceiling.

Albus laughed. "Aren't they a little young to date? Besides, I ran into Rose going to the Owlry. In fact, she was running away. When I got to the top, there was this older Ravenclaw boy up there and he wouldn't tell me what the two of them were up to."

Scorpius looked at Albus as if to ask whether or not he was being serious and Albus nodded. They started to come up with crazy theories as to what Rose and Kris were doing and what Rose was doing with that Ravenclaw. It put both of them in a good mood as they were laughing with each other and when Kris walked in, they tried to hold that laughter down.

"Are you guys okay?" Kris asked and Albus nodded as Scorpius hid his face into the sofa cushion.

"We're fine," He choked out. "Where have you been?"

Kris seemed to tense up a little. "I was with Rose in the library. We were talking about...Herbology."

Albus raised his brow and Scorpius excused himself from the room to the common room.

"Herbolobgy?" Albus asked. "Is that what they're calling it?"

Kris looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"You and Rose spend all this time together," Albus said. "One can't help but wonder what's going on."

Kris looked suddenly very guilty, as if he were hiding something. He shook his head and said that he couldn't talk about it before going off to their dorm room leaving Albus alone in the common room.

...

Kris and Rose were actually on to something. They had both spent the last few days trailing after Professor Ramirez trying to figure out what he was up to. They hadn't found out much besides that Ramirez was a very secretive person. He kept to himself and always seemed to leave dinner before all of the other professors.

Ramirez spent a lot of time pacing in one of the classrooms which Kris made sure he was also pacing the hallway outside, long strides across so Ramirez wouldn't seem to think he's up to something. He and Rose took shifts following Ramirez. They'd meet in the library to discuss what they learned which wasn't much in the first few days.

But Kris had been the one listening today outside the door remaining as quiet as possible. He could hear someone talking to Ramirez and he was talking back. He was having trouble hearing at first but then he heard Ramirez say:

"I didn't get that letter. Someone must have intercepted it."

"I intercepted some student's owl," The other said. "Maybe he got it first and warned whoever he's been in contact with."

Ramirez said something really quietly to the other man and Kris tried to strain his ears to listen better.

"Whose owl was it that you intercepted?" He eventually heard Ramirez ask.

He heard the other say. "The letter was not addressed to anyone nor was it signed but it mentioned a boy's name. Albus; does that name mean anything to you, Angel?"

There was a silence in the room and Kris held his breath waiting. It took a few minutes for Ramirez to say anything.

"What did that letter say?" Ramirez asked, a tone of irritation in his voice.

"I burned it," Was the response. "But I remember the words 'help' and 'Albus' and it mentioned that you were up to something at Hogwarts but it didn't say anything else that was helpful."

Kris could hear Ramirez curse and he muttered something that Kris could hardly make out as "So, it's happening here too." Kris wasn't sure what it was that Ramirez was talking about but he heard movement within the room and jumped away from the door quickly running toward an empty room narrowly getting caught by Ramirez peeking out to see who was spying on him.

He had barely caught his breath when the sound of a chair moving made him jump and turn. In the chair sat a Ravenclaw student who seemed to have been studying. He looked at Kris with curious eyes as he got to his feet.

"You seem to be running from something," He said. "What fear does the son of the Minister for Magic have?"

"Who are you?" Kris asked crossing his arms. "And what are you doing here?"

The Ravenclaw laughed. "I'm Orion and I'm studying. You're the only one who seems to be here doing anything suspicious. What are you running from?"

Kris looked over Orion. He had heard Rose describe him but Kris hadn't pictured Orion to be so young. He had dark hair and pale skin with eyes as dark as night. Despite being an entire year older than Kris, Orion looked no older than a first year.

"Who says I'm running from something?" Kris tried to play as if he were relaxed.

"You ran in here looking scared," Orion said smirking. "It's okay, though. You don't have to tell me."

He gathered his belonging and threw his bag over his shoulder. He winked at Kris and started out of the room without another word.

Slowly, Kris peeked out into the hallway. All he saw was Orion heading in the direction of the Ravenclaw common room. Ramirez was nowhere to be seen and Kris was able to walk away. He headed straight to the library where Rose was sitting with a text book in front of her.

Kris stepped toward the table and pulled out the seat across.

"Rose," He pulled the book away from her to grab her attention. "I have news."

He told her the entire conversation he had heard outside of the classroom. They tried to make out what it meant but they could only figure that it meant that Albus was in trouble and Ramirez was on to him.

"But what can Ramirez do?" Kris asked. "He's a professor."

"We have to make sure we have someone near Albus at all times," Rose said. "Ramirez could try to pull something and Albus would be vulnerable against a fully grown wizard."

They agreed and Kris went off to find Albus in the Slytherin common room.

...

Albus sat on the stairs up near the entrance to the Gryffindor tower. James had just left upstairs after having a long conversation about the upcoming Slytherin vs Gryffindor Quidditch match. James expected Albus to sit in the Gryffindor section to support him and for him to cheer on the Gryffindor team.

Albus had tried to explain how hard that would be for him since he fully supported Slytherin house but James wouldn't listen and talked about family pride before going off with one of his friends. Albus stayed seated conflicted.

Someone behind him cleared their throat and he slowly turned around. Behind him was Professor Ramirez and he didn't seem to be in a good mood. Albus quickly got to his feet and looked up at his professor.

"Sir," Albus said recalling the letter that Cantor had sent him. "What can I do for you?"

"Potter," Ramirez crosses his arms. "You certainly seem to be all over the castle lately. I know you were spying again."

"Spying?" Albus questioned.

Ramirez eyed Albus before giving him detention. Albus tried to argue but Ramirez wouldn't listen to him. He just told him to meet him in his office tomorrow evening. He didn't tell him what the detention would entail before he walked away leaving Albus on the stairs.

Albus sighed in frustration leaning against the banister. Eventually, he got to his feet and started down the steps. The halls were getting quiet now as he walked on his own. People were going down to dinner to socialize and eat but Albus had no intention of socializing with anyone and he didn't feel hunger. He felt, instead, like a stroll through the grounds.

He heard the sound of chatter and laughter coming from the Great Hall as he passed through the entrance hall and out onto the grounds. Outside, the air was frigid but the snow was almost completely melted. The sun was setting as Albus walked and he had made it half way across the grounds when he heard the noise of fluttering wings above him

At first, he thought it was a bat but when he looked up, he saw an owl above him. It was a bland barn owl like those that were used by the school but it wasn't familiar to him. It seemed to want to land and Albus could see that a letter was tied around its ankle. Slowly, he held out his arms and the owl landed on his wrist. He pecked Albus' shoulder but he wasn't sure what the owl wanted.

Then he noticed the letter and the handwriting on it. It was the handwriting of his Quillpal, Cantor White and it spelled out his name clearly: Albus Potter. Slowly, he reached for the letter and opened it. As soon as he did, the owl took to the sky. Albus watched as it disappeared before he started to read what was written:

Albus,

I know it's been a while since I last wrote to you. This have been very complicated here and there is talk that a dark wizard organization is rising in America. Letters are being intercepted even by students and my classmates have been saying that the dark wizards are trying to garner attention from us so we'll join them and start a new revolution. Security is getting tight at Ilvermorny and it's hard for anyone to send letters even to their homes. I don't even know how my mother is doing without me there to take care of her. I hope healers are helping her.

Unfortunately, with this new threat and the security here, I have to recant my invitation for your visit this summer. I'm sorry, Albus. I hope that this didn't interfere with anything but I do want to see you. I plan to come to London in July if I can get the right permission from the government. It's hard for students to get access to go abroad with the new security measures they have put in place but I'm hoping I have the chance. It might give you something to look forward to this summer.

I figure you want me to explain what's been going on and why I wrote you the last message about Angel Ramirez. Last year, Ramirez got in trouble with the government here in the United States. MACUSA representatives marched into one of our Divinations Classes and pulled Ramirez out. Classes, all classes, were canceled for the rest of the day and Ramirez was replaced with a professor named Cler Fornat, a professor from Beaubatons.

It's unclear what Ramirez's involvement is in all of this but many people suspect that he's the one heading this organization. It's quite possible he's come to Hogwarts to influence members of your school to join his cause. I would stay clear of him any chance you get. Some of the students who used to be regulars in his detentions have been arrested for ties to dark magic but they refuse to out the leader of this criminal cult.

Stay safe, Albus. If you need to contact me, don't use your owl and don't get caught by Ramirez sending owls. Burn this letter as soon as you can so it doesn't fall into Ramirez's hands.

Cantor

Albus folded up the letter and stuffed it into his cloak. He could hardly contain all the questions that were running through his head but he had no one to talk to about this. He had to get back to the Slytherin common room to write a response to Cantor. He had to know more.

He turned around and saw Kris coming toward him from the castle. He started toward him.

"You okay?" Albus asked trying to sound casual.

"I was just wondering where you were," Kris said with a smile. "I found out this awesome thing with Astrology and I wanted to share it with you. I figured you'd understand."

Albus couldn't argue with Kris and his friend pulled him back into the building. He'd have to write to Cantor another time.