The Medieval Relics
Chapter 11: The Unexpected Jinx
A/N: Response to Cal's review. Those are quite the questions. Ok, here goes. First, clarification to more than one reviewer, Albus and Alexis did not break up, but they're getting there. They're just fighting right now. Now for a response, Alpha does like Alexis but he's a boy who has a crush on multiple girls. In fact, there's one other crush he has that will be dealt with this book. Hugo does not have a girlfriend. He is good friends with both Fora (that is her name) and Alice. He thinks he has a chance with both, he has romantic interests, but Hugo is not interested in dating right now. He has bigger fish to fry on his plate before he starts considering girls. IF Seth is planning anything, I'm not likely to specify it, am I? Alexander has jealousy issues and he relies on Alexis a great deal. One cannot simply take her out of his equation, he'll collapse. So, he leans on her. The Scepter is a Relic but Scorpius did say that the terminology, Ancient Artifact and Medieval Relic is debated. In the Scepter's case, it's originally Ancient but they still call it Medieval for reasons I cannot say right now. Spoilers. This will be detailed later. As for Mark… he is being dead serious. He wants to kill Soto. With what and how, I can't say but his intentions are the same. He intends to off Soto himself. Why? Spoilers.
Albus was not sure how to take Seth's way of looking at things. Got them into another war indeed. Even if he did, Albus was not sure what anyone could do about it. As long as they were in the dark and no one outside of their group knew about them, the Guard could get away with anything. Even the most suspicious of them, Rojer could not do anything to prove it. Albus had to hand it to them, since Hogsmeade, everyone had a sense of duty to the Guard. They all promised, even Seth, to do what they could to research the Relics and discover where they might be. Lysander himself seemed very confident in himself and Lorcan, if anything, a little surprised that his twin actually turned out to be right. They did leave the room arguing in tense voices about familiars though.
Of course, Albus did not expect immediate results. James insisted he had everything under his eyes so he would call a meeting when he thought enough people had enough information. This did not mean it would happen anytime soon, though.
"The Relics are known to be possessors of really powerful magic," Seth was explaining to Simon casually once most of the Guard had left, though Albus was well within earshot and Neil was muttering quietly to James.
"What sort of magic?" Albus asked.
"I only know the magic of one Relic," Seth shrugged. "The Serpentine Staff has the power to communicate with snakes, unleash snakes, their bites tend to be venomous and impossible to heal, the spells it uses are more enhanced in nature, particularly when it's Dark Spells."
"Serpentine Staff? Slytherin, obviously?" Simon asked interestedly.
"You know that Ancient Magic is actually more powerful," Sierra explained to them. "One of the biggest bases of Pure-blood creed was that some pieces of magic would be lost over time if we married into Muggle families. It's what our ancestor tried preaching."
"So, it does make a difference being Muggle-born?" Simon asked lowly.
Albus answered "no" just as Sierra shrugged, "You did lose something. Fact is, somewhere in your pedigree, there's a magical ancestor and he was most probably more powerful than any of us. So, yeah, it does make a difference. At least Pure-bloods have records of curses passed in their generations instead of being stuck with the basics."
Simon actually looked very miserable and Sophie folded her arms while Seth turned to Simon, "Don't listen to her. Just because something is lost doesn't mean it can't be found or awakened. I'm hoping the Serpentine Staff might unlock some secrets. Besides, look at Albus' dorm mate Riley or Nate. They're both half-blood vampires and they can probably take on Pure-blooded Alpha any day."
"Alpha's younger than them though," Sierra said pointedly.
"Well, according to blood supremacists, it doesn't matter," Seth said back. "Just… let Simon train himself if he wants. The Hogwarts Library is full of more spells that any Pure-blood has so he has as much access as anyone else."
Simon did look a bit happier and Seth went back to trying to figure out where the Relic would be. Neil on the other hand looked fearfully at them, "Th-there are vampires in Slytherin house?"
"Half," Simon shrugged. "They're actually pretty cool though."
"And- and the Head of Slytherin is a vampire?" Neil asked, trying but failing to keep his face impassive.
"She's not Head anymore but yeah, she's a vampire," Simon shrugged. "And she's brilliant. Huh, come to think of it, I never saw you in Potions class."
Neil looked flustered. It was the first time Neil engaged in conversation with someone around Albus, "I- I'm allergic to Potion steam." He walked out. Sophie stared in shock but Sierra actually looked interested for an unknown reason. She stared after him thoughtfully. "What sort of allergy is that?" Sophie asked incredulously.
"One that disallows him from seeking medical help if he ever gets hurt," Sierra offered. "I've never heard of a Potion steam allergy."
"That's cause it doesn't exist," Seth said, snapping himself out of his thought process, whatever it was. "He was lying. Merlin, and you call yourself a witch."
Sierra playfully nudged him, which Seth did not respond to. Mark and Aries had just walked past them and Seth stared at Mark's slender back. Mark's eating was decreasing it seemed. His depression had finally destroyed his eating habits. His shoulder had slumped and Aries and Alex were supporting him like he couldn't walk straight either. That was not Seth's reason for staring though. He seemed thoughtful, "I've been thinking."
"About Wallader?" Sierra asked casually.
"Yeah, funnily enough," Seth said quietly. "Ironically, I think we have an interest in saving him."
"You think?" Sierra asked him incredulously.
"Why else?"
"Because he's skilled and a healthy Mark means a healthy Wizard, and a healthy Wizard with high power levels would be a great asset?" she suggested. "Not to mention it's the right thing to do."
"The Prophecy says Relics, not Mark," Seth shrugged. "But that doesn't mean he has nothing to do with it."
"He doesn't," Albus told him. "We thought he was Merlin's Heir once and he claimed the Amulet was his but he was just covering for Aries. He's just a regular guy."
"Ok, then why does he come from a Dark family?" Seth asked calmly, eyes betraying no emotion though he launched into explanation, "Mr. Wallader was a Death Eater, wasn't he? Only reason he turned was because he was caught by Barbara Wallaby and Dumbledore. He redeemed himself conditionally and brought about the end of Voldemort's reign." Something stirred inside Albus. Seth went on, "A dark family who kept an Amulet for the Kimbles for so long makes no sense, so it suggests they were always on the Kimble's side. Two possibilities: Either the Kimble family were secretly Death Eaters or the Walladers were never really Death Eaters to begin with. If it's the latter, then it begs the question why the Death Eaters trusted him to begin with. Add that with the original belief that Wallader has major ancestry. I say he does have major ancestry. Something he's kept from us for a long time, now."
"Something your father passed on to you?" Albus guessed, remembering Soto implied much the same thing before the year started.
"Nope, something I passed on to my father who likes claiming the credit because he's a liar," Seth shrugged. "And here's another interesting point. If my father and I are right and Wallader has major ancestry, then we lump him in with the other Heirs and suddenly, he's the oddball. They all have siblings except him; two Kimbles, two Ackerlys, two Vulneromans, two Redgrows and two Leans. Each plays some sort of role so it stands to reason that somewhere… Wallader has a sibling too. He's just not talking. We need him to talk."
"You realize you took a leap of faith, right?" Simon laughed.
"You'll see," Seth smirked.
For the next three days, it seemed that was all Seth was thinking about. He and Sierra was frequently talking in the corner of the Common room. Samantha herself was throwing Seth weird looks. She did not contribute anything to this where Albus thought she would seeing as how it would help bring Walter's killers to justice. Her eyes seemed very out of focus though, as if slowly losing their once-homey and welcoming look. They looked almost empty. Emptier even than Seth's.
On the Friday before the first Quidditch match, which Albus was training his team mercilessly for, Alice and Frank crowded them excitedly with Hugo, so eager and proud of themselves now they had a letter back. Alice seemed very proud of herself in particular, "Alpha helped me write the letter and Frank got it back. It's so discreet. Just a list of books."
Albus looked at it interestedly. The letter was double-sided, the original that was sent on one side and the response on the other.
Dear mum,
Remember what the Death Eaters wanted grandma for? The Dark Lord was interested in something briefly before going after the Elder Wand. What books could we find them in again? I remember great grandmother talked about them once too so maybe dad would know. We're trying to do research for a school project.
-Frank Longbottom
And Albus turned the letter over and saw a small list of books.
Hogwarts: A History
Magical Artifacts
Magick Medieval- Restricted Section
Merlin: The Birth of a Legend
Mysteries of Magic
"Ok," Albus said, interested in the books himself. "Hmm, tell Rosie to check Hogwarts: A History. Tell Scorpius to check Magick Medieval since it's probably a Restricted book on Dark Magic, tell Aries to check the Merlin book, tell Fauna to check Magical Artifacts since she's been some help last year, and tell Lysander to check Mysteries of Magic again since he remembers the book anyway."
"Where can we find them?" Frank asked. "I can never find any of them."
"Lysander is always in the hut by the forest," Albus told him. "Aries is probably with Mark in the library during their free time, Scorpius is always on the Quidditch pitch, and Fauna and Rosie… dunno. They share the same dorm but Scorpius will know where Rosie always is."
Frank nodded happily and trotted off. Alice stayed behind though, noticing Hugo waiting for her, "Al, thanks so much for letting us help. Our family is full of heroes. I've always wanted to do something big."
Albus scoffed, "I can relate. Just… don't get yourself killed. We're a network first, not fighters. Hugo's waiting for you," he added.
He watched her skip off with Hugo, clasping her hand around his. The day ended with a pile of homework which Alexis practically lost herself over. Her eyes slid out o focus and Albus took pity on her. Albus actually had to shake her awake since the homework she fell asleep on was due the coming Monday. "Just… finish it off and I'll do the appendix for you. Ok?"
Alexis nodded sleepily and put her quill to the paper before her head fell again. Albus had to catch it to stop it from smudging her parchment that still had wet ink on it. There was no waking her after that. Albus sighed and resigned himself to writing the last of her essay and her appendix before pushing it over to her sleeping form and leaving it for her. Hopefully she would see his work and resign herself to the fact she could no longer do this alone.
What was worst? When the Quidditch match arrived, she skipped watching it in favor of rest. Now November came, the Quidditch season had finally begun and Albus was training his team up through wind and rain to beat Gryffindor and their star Chaser Hugo Weasley. Albus would be facing the Gryffindor Quidditch team and that also meant facing Mark across the pitch… unless he quit? With Mark shut up in his dormitory, Albus started thinking he grew out of Quidditch. The day of the match, Albus as usual faced his triumphant team in the changing rooms, preparing for his pre-match talk.
"Alright, team," Albus sighed. "No word yet on whether Mark is playing or not but we play as if we're playing him and Gryffindor still have Hugo who has the power to make a snitch meaningless. We've done our best to train and we've emerged triumphant last year. No pressure, but Gryffindor is going down for the second-year running and this time"- he smiled, "It'll be from the beginning. No more uphill battles. We stick to our strategies, old and new. Four eyes on the snitch, eight hands on the Quaffle, and two bats on the Bludgers."
Scorpius and Lucy nodded silently, and exchanged cooperative glances. Albus hoped that idea would work. Mark was a better seeker than Scorpius and had sharper eyesight. Albus walked out to the whoops and cheers of the crowd. As usual, they supported Gryffindor.
Alex's enthusiastic voice filled the stadium with cheers and whoops as the Slytherin team appeared. "Welcome all! The first Quididtch game of the season! Slytherin vs. Gryffindor! The Slytherin team walks out of their rooms with heads held high." Albus looked around. Mark was there, he saw. Despite his depression, Mark was standing with everyone else… but not at the head. "It seems the only change to the team is Nathan Blackberry, a new find of the Captain's to replace his… old Beater. Gryffindor managed to find themselves a new Captain after Mark Wallader resigned. Here now, is our first test for young find of their old Captain Jerry Wood's… Hugo Weasley!" Albus widened his eyes as Hugo, grinning under his red hair stepped to the front. "Master Cantharis looking cold and unrelenting as usual comes between the Captains. Cantharis ordered the captains to shake hands and he stepped aside for Albus to see the Captain.
Hugo and Albus shook hands warmly, Hugo grinning broadly, happier than Albus usually saw him, the sort of happiness only a Quidditch game could bring. "Cantharis releases the Quaffle, bludgers, snitch… the game begins!"
Albus flew at the head, Lorcan and Lucy on either side behind him as they swooped in all at once against Hugo. Seth remained by the hoops as Albus narrowly dodged James only to land in Hugo's grasp.
"What a play!" Alex yelled as Albus and Lucy sprung into action. "Old enemies of the Gryffindor team do battle once again as Weasley takes possession of the Quaffle. Lorcan Scamander attempts a thievery and… yes, he stole it. Weasley and Restcamp after him, he dodges one after the other, narrow dodge from Potter, ascends from- Weasley intercepts it! Hugo Weasley with the Quaffle, he owns the pitch now, guys, he dodges Scamander and passes it to James Potter. James shoots, he scores! Ten-zero to Gryffindor."
Tulip Restcamp stole possession from Lucy Weasley, but Lorcan intercepted as it made its way to James. Albus tailed Hugo and intercepted the Quaffle as James tackled Lorcan for the red ball. He did not have it for five seconds before Hugo jumped off his broom, using his feet to propel it forward as he leapt through the air to steal the Quaffle. The broom moved to where he landed and he zoomed off. As Hugo passed, he charmed a paper at Albus for him to catch. As Hugo scored, Albus read the note, grinning guiltily as he stuffed it in his robe pocket.
England for the cup
"Weasley scores again! 20-0 to Gryffindor!"
Albus flew through the field, keeping tail of James. He kept the commentary going on in his head, hearing Alex call a foul for Gryffindor. The lead was solidified as Tulip scored a goal giving Gryffindor a strong lead. Albus edged his broom forward and did a big jump over James' head to land back on his still-moving broom just to stand in the way of an oncoming Quaffle. Albus caught it and zoomed off, grinning at the amazed voice of Alex Wallaby.
"WHOO!" Albus whooped as he threw the Quaffle with great aim straight into the left hoop.
"Albus Potter makes an incredible shot and scores, surprising Gryffindor keeper Fauna Redgrow. 30-10 to Gryffindor. "The triumphant Potter stays on his brother's tail as- what the bloody hell is he doing?"
Albus felt a violent lurch and he barely managed to hang on to his broom. No, not again. Still. Nothing else happened. Did he imagine it? He looked around as Hugo scored another goal. Gryffindor strengthened their lead when, in the next ten minutes, they made five more goals. Slytherin only managed one because Seth flew in from the goalposts, kicked James' broom off and pulled Hugo's broom away with his bare hands to make a shot. This, of course gave Gryffindor a penalty and Seth was reprimanded (Cantharis assuming he even cared.) Despite the penalty, Seth saved it and Slytherin was still down, 80-20."
"Scorpius!" Lucy called wildly as Tulip scored another goal.
Scorpius took his broom and flew off to where Lucy was calling from. Albus barely managed to avoid James and Tulip but his eyes were on Scorpius as Hugo made another shot. "Weasley feints, fooling the Slytherin keeper! 100-20 to Gryffindor."
Mark gave chase but he was way too far behind Scorpius. The plan, it seemed had worked and not a moment too soon. His broom jerked so suddenly, Albus yelped as he was forced to the very edge. He half expected it to stop again but it did not. No, no, no. I got rid of it. It's not supposed to happen anymore. But it did. If Soto thought the essence of the Dark Lord had caused the Jinx to happen the first time, this time was unexplained. His stomach did a back flip as the broom flipped up, over, around and upside-down. It twirled violently through the air, threatening to throw Albus off.
"Is this another Jinxed broom?" Alex asked concernedly.
As if on Alex's question, Seth's eyes swiveled over to Albus' spot and the broom stopped. He felt it shuddering, as if something inside was fighting to get out. Phoenix stood up once again but Albus stayed, staring. His heart was beating wildly. It lurched suddenly but stopped. Without realizing it, another goal went through an occupied Seth's hoop just as Scorpius clasped his hands around the snitch.
"Slytherin catches but… what's…"
Albus could not fly his broom. Phoenix's magic was being combined to whoever was stopping the Jinx. "Al, drop over here!" a familiar and welcome voice called. Albus barely managed to catch a glimpse of Hugo offering his broom before his own broom forced him higher, successfully unseating him before Albus managed to reach out his arms and cling to it. Out of desperation, the Jinx was avoiding letting Albus off the hook. Albus glanced over at Seth briefly. His eyes were fixed on Albus' broom, not leaving it, even as Albus stood up and took a leap.
Whether Seth was Jinxing or saving, Albus did not know… except that Seth rarely ever did saving. The victory Slytherin claimed was hampered as Albus landed on Hugo's broom by the hands. Hugo tried lowering them but ten feet in the air, Albus' broom zoomed wildly and stabbed Hugo violently in the chest, forcing a recoil just as it hit him off the broom. Albus fell too and his world went black as he hit the ground. He barely came round, barely aware of people around him and Phoenix's loud voice.
"Do it, Soot!"
"Very well," a sigh said.
"Apparently, I'm no good at counter-curses yet," an indifferent voice said.
Albus flickered his eyes open and saw Soot working over Albus. Scampering feet went off as Seth started muttering the best counter-curse quietly, trying to cover his mouth so no one would notice him and eyes fixed intently on Albus' broom still swinging wildly in the air. Was Seth seriously still Jinxing the broom? Was it really him? Through misty eyes, Albus could see Simon Far was gazing worryingly at the Jinxed broom, leaving Alpha and Proxima in the stands.
Then, Albus fell into darkness again. For a split second, he found himself in his inner mind again, with the thrones and a single black wispy form started fading. The darkness returned with a high, cold laugh. When he awoke again, it was to a babble of voices sounding in the darkness in which Albus found himself in after the crash. He slowly brought himself back into the world of the living, but kept his eyes shut. He preferred listening to the visitors.
He seemed to have a few of them and it did not seem like it was long after. Lily sighed in relief and ran off to a bed beside his, the bed Albus could guess held Hugo, and Scorpius and Rose smiled while Seth nodded in acknowledgment and turned away.
"Might've been the same person who threatened the school," Mark's voice suggested.
"I'll write to father," Aries assured him. "Tell him of what transpired. He might know something."
"All I'm saying is that the Dark Arts can't be completely banned," Simon said innocently from the other side, apparently ignorant of Albus waking up and in intense conversation with someone else.
"Because Seth said so?" Proxima smirked testily.
"Well, he did something pretty good, you must admit," Simon shrugged.
"That was a stupid risk, he's this close to being suspended as it is," Proxima said angrily. "Openly using Dark Magic like that, and after the school is threatened. You're friend is the devil. Do you ever acknowledge that or are you too blind to it? You don't understand Wizardry as well as I do, Far! You're Muggle-born."
"Oh, prejudiced now, are we?"
"Yes, when it comes to who has more experience with the magical arts, yes," Proxima smirked pompously.
Albus looked over tiredly and sat himself up, unsmilingly and a little pained as Rose wrapped her arms around him followed quickly by Alexis. Albus was almost thankful for the unfortunate accident just to feel Alexis over him again. He missed that. "I'm ok, don't worry," he said quietly in her ear. Alexis did not seem able to say anything.
She just sighed and stepped back, "You… scared me."
"Put quite a show on for your brother, though," Albus muttered, still in a bad mood with her.
"That was so cool!" Alexander said excitedly from behind Alexis, jumping up and down. "The way you dived and then- wow- and the red ball. You have to teach me how to play!"
"Now, you like me?" Albus asked painfully earning himself a reproachful look from Alexis.
"Like you, I love you!" Alexander whooped. "That was brilliant! And the way the broom went 'whoosh' and then…"
"What happened?" Albus asked groggily, ignoring the kid. Seriously, it took Albus and Alexis breaking up for Alexander to like him? "Where's Hugo?"
"-and the way the black ball smacked"-
"Jinxed," Seth shrugged as if it hardly mattered and snapping Simon out of his heated argument with Proxima. "He's fine, though. He came out of it just after Scorps caught the snitch."
-"oh, yeah, and that golden ball was so"-
"He caught it?"
"Yup!" Scorpius smirked. "Where is Mark, by the way?"
-"and the way the broom went"-
"Hey, Ackerly, adults are talking," Scorpius snapped as Alexis nudged Scorpius and left the room with her brother in hand.
The room was quiet. Mark, upon Albus waking up, had left but James walked in. There was once a time where Mark would have visited Albus, stuck with him as Albus had done for him. The fact he was not there said a lot. Passing over Mark, Albus fell into thought again. For some reason, his broom had gone violent, probably Jinxed once again. Who the murderer was he had no clue. Was someone in the school placed there to try killing him? If so, there were very few suspects available. The only person he definitely annoyed and thwarted was Rojer and Incommodo. Did they plant someone there? Was it possible?
"What happened?" Albus asked quietly.
"Jinxed broom," Lily said worriedly from beside Hugo's bed.
"It seemed someone, most probably a student judging by the weakness of the curse tried Jinxing your broom," Rose analyzed. "He almost succeeded on knocking you off when someone, can't think who managed to stop him or tell a teacher. A counter-curse was performed so the… the one who did it…"
"Hit us when I tried saving you," Hugo said from the bed next to Albus'. "Crashed into us. He was probably trying to kill both of us. Not sure who it is, though. Most likely an idiot."
"He was weak," Seth shrugged, choosing to keep his role in the Jinxing private. "Al's alive thanks to me. I placed an additional Jinx on the broom."
The room was silent again as the occupiers stared at him. Seth? Third-year Seth? Thirteen years old and placed a Jinx on a broom? James seemed furious and ignorant to Neil's quiet questions. Albus could feel the anger towards him. "And… how does that save Al, exactly?" Hugo asked innocently.
Seth looked around at them and for a wonder, Simon seemed surprised too. "Common mathematical formula," Simon smirked. "The square root of a squared number cancels the other out. Two equally powered Jinxes cancel each other out. Bet you didn't think of that, did you Proxy?"
"What?" Proxima stared.
Rose widened her eyes in realization, "Muggle-born Curse theorist, Herman Giggle, had the idea that based on Muggle mathematics, two equally powered Jinxes would cancel each other out. That was the basis for most counter-curses. But… it's never been proven…" she stared at Seth in shock.
"Well, now it has," Seth shrugged.
"By using Al as bait?" Rose glared.
"Sounds about right," Seth yawned. "How else do I prove it?"
"Out, this boy needs rest!" Madam Pomfrey yelled firmly. "Everyone out! Shoo! Go!"
"We're just talking"-
"All the more reason to get out," Madam Pomfrey countered. "Go! Out! OUT!"
The crowd walked out silently, Albus was half sad to see them go but nonetheless laying back against the pillow. Pomfrey fed him a small phial of a potion. "This should calm your nerves. Relax your senses."
"My nerves are fine," Albus muttered.
"You're senses are not in tune to be taken seriously as of now," Madam Pomfrey said as she walked away and disappeared. "Rest up. I'm shutting your curtains." And Madam Pomfrey shut the curtains. Albus sighed and turned over to try to sleep. A sixth sense alerted him to a presence behind him. "Is that you, Seth?"
A scoff and Albus turned around to see him. He sat himself up again as Seth cast Muffliato and took a chair to face him. "Great, we've got privacy."
"How come, every time something bad happens, you're involved?" Albus asked.
"I could ask the same about you," Seth said pointedly. "But since I don't, I'll ask you to just mind your own business. Trust me, you're happy not knowing."
"So, you used me as bait to test a theory?"
"Muggles do it all the time in scientific theories," Seth said pointedly.
"Well, then, Muggles suck," Albus sighed.
"See, now that's funny," Seth told him. "Because you advised me to take Muggle studies last year and here you are, ignorant to the very basics of Muggle advancement. Besides, even if it failed, nothing else would've happened. You were off your broom most of the time thanks to your cousin so no harm done. Worst that could've happened is your broom blowing up."
"Where is my broom then?" Albus asked.
"Back in your trunk," Seth said simply. "Almost blew up, though."
Albus stared. Was Seth doing this on purpose? "Seth…"
"Don't look at me," Seth shrugged. "I didn't do it, father did."
Ok, now that made Albus mad. How mad was he supposed to get this year, let alone at the same people? Was Soto trying to be a villain? And he thought he disowned Seth. How did Seth even know these things? "Soto blew up my broom?" he asked through gritted teeth.
"Professor Soto," Seth corrected. "And to stay politically correct, Professor Soot. The Jinxes were permanent and it almost blew up."
"I suppose he cast the Jinx?" Albus asked.
"Nah, my father's, father's cousin did that," Seth said. "Little hint, right there. Got it, yet?"
"Seth, I was hit on the back of the head with a broom," Albus told him frankly. "I'm still piecing things together. For once in your life, speak English."
Seth sighed and shook his head, "He's back, Al. The Dark Lord's essence. He's back."
It took Albus a while to process that. The Dark Lord… his essence… and then it hit him. The essence he was forced to kill to get rid of was back? "Wait- what? Voldemort?"
"He's inside you again," Seth told him. "And when he comes back inside you, he tends to Jinx your broom. He came pretty close this time, though. Quite the Phoenix, isn't he?"
"I thought I got rid of it!" Albus yelled.
"Sorry."
"Do you know how scarred that made me?"
"Yup!"
"And now… it's back? After all that, it's back?"
Seth smirked like the whole thing was rather amusing, "It's like meeting an old friend, isn't it?"
"You bloody… you told me I had to kill! I did it!"
"Actually, you would've killed Ridge with or without the Dark Lord's essence," Seth said pointedly. "And I didn't say anything, father did. So, don't shoot the messenger, please."
"How is it back?" Albus demanded. "It's not even supposed to be here anymore."
"Well, it might've been more powerful than we thought," Seth suggested. "Or weaker. Splitting the soul means splitting the actual soul, not an essence which is more infused with your original. You might want that essence to grow up a bit before killing again. Then it might work. It might've been something- a Curse, that's my real theory. Since you, Mark and Lily get ill at the same time, I'm guessing it's intentional and somebody cursed you all."
"Is it- is it that guy who threatened us all?" Albus asked, trying to stay calm. If it was him, they might be able to stop off of this.
"No," Seth shook his head. "I thought it might be one of the rejected kids but Sophie's been with Alexander in Charms class and they know one of them in Ackerly's dorm. Jerry Guill, first year Ravenclaw. Muggle-born. Barely knows a thing."
"It's not gonna be a first year," Albus disagreed.
"The voice threatened before the first years entered, so it would explain why Phoenix did not find the guilty wand," Seth said pointedly. "But yes, the idea of a first year being the mastermind is rather laughable. And then there's the fact that the Reservation- so far as I know- has no presence in this school. At least… I don't think so."
"Have you- ever been wrong?" Albus asked quietly.
Seth looked down as he remembered the previous year, "Yeah. I've been wrong enough to think twice. I've been so wrong, I can actually feel uncomfortable. If the Reservation is in Hogwarts, we're all in danger. Not just Simon. And that's why I need a bodyguard and a detective. Find who threatened me and threatened my friend. Because I do not feel comfortable right now."
"Don't worry, you can trust me," Albus assured him.
"Now, Jerry Guill might be an actor but wow, that size- maybe the hat rejected him because he's too young… that would explain his name not being written," Seth suggested.
"He is looking rather young," Albus agreed. "But did you see how underfed they were? They might be better now but would anyone really destroy their own bodies just to get into Hogwarts? Like, really?"
"Especially when a simple portrait will do?" Seth muttered. "Yeah, it isn't them. They're just victims from the Hogsnout massacre. And they wouldn't be responsible for the little Curse in you unless they had direct training from whoever Cursed you first, because this happened two years ago."
"Then, it can't be your father," Albus counted off. "He wasn't at Hogwarts. Funny how it all started when you came."
"Not me," Seth shrugged. "I only learned how to Jinx brooms recently. I was actually testing my limits when placing an additional one on yours. Glad to see it stopped it for a time."
"Then how do I get rid of it?" Albus demanded.
"Well, think about it," Seth challenged. "This year, you, Wallader and your dear little sister seem to be getting ill and these illnesses are curses and picked a fine coincidental time to act simultaneously. You know what I think, Al? I think you're hiding something, whether intentionally or because you forgot something so important, I could accuse you of amnesia. So, you do some thinking and let me know what all three of you faced in common, what hit all three of you. Without that pivotal piece, I can't do anything. And you ask me why I don't want to help… because half of it is most probably your fault."
