This chapter was fun to write, hopefully you enjoy reading it too. Please review if you do so that I know someone somewhere is reading! Thank you for the reviews last week, much appreciated. Now, without further ado, it's Hogsmeade time, for some people at least...

Chapter 12

Restriction

"Good morning." Yawned Lily as she approached the Gryffindor table the next morning.

Albus looked up from his bacon and sausages and peered at his sister.

"Is it? You look exhausted." He commented with concern.

Lily shrugged and took a seat between her brothers and opposite Sapphire and Evie.

"I heard Buchanan talking to Professor Iratus, giving out about this, that and the other." Evie was saying, "He's so whiny. I don't understand why he's even judging the Triwizard Tournament, he's such a stuffed shirt."

"He is Head of the Department of International Magical Co-Operation, I guess it's just part of his job." Rose sighed.

"Yeah, well I think he's unqualified. That other Ministry judge is a Triwizard victor!" Evie enthused, "Much more impressive and Valko Lockshire - now that guy is badass."

"How do you know, he hasn't said or done anything." Laughed Lily.

"He's struggled against lycanthropy to become Headmaster at one of Europe's most famous schools." Blue countered.

"Meanwhile Buchanan will say anything to make lycanthropes and other 'half breeds' look bad." Rose sighed.

"Lycanthropes?" Sapphire muttered with confusion, "What on earth is that?"

"It means werewolves." Blue stated, "Buchanan's trying to close national borders for werewolves etc. I think he'd fix all of them with a tracker and keep them under house arrest if he could."

"What?" Cried Sapphire, "Werewolves? Werewolves can't be real!"

"Why not? You're a witch." Alex grinned, causing Evie to laugh.

"B-but…" Sapphire's voice lowered, "Then Buchanan is totally right! They should all be locked up!"

"Whoa, calm down." Blue interjected, "It's not like in the horror stories, most werewolves don't want to hurt anyone."

"Lycanthropy is like a curse, people don't choose to become werewolves," Rose added, "They're victims! And afterwards it's nearly impossible for them to get jobs or find somewhere to live, they're completely ostracized from society."

"Not a life anyone would choose, is it?" Philip added darkly.

Sapphire still looked terrified.

"Buchanan is just fear mongering," Evie joined in once again, "Trust me, I've been to enough of his fancy dinner parties to know that he's just a paranoid snob - it's like, causing fear and panic makes him feel important or something." She continued, pulling a face.

"Hang on, hasn't your Dad sponsored his campaigns in the past?" Blue pointed out.

"His reasons were purely financial." Dismissed Evie with a wave of her hand.

"Listen Sapphire," Lily said calmly, leaning across and taking Sapphire's hand, "One of my best friends is a werewolf and he's perfectly harmless. Don't worry about it."

Albus looked at his brother and was just quick enough to catch the roll of his eyes. He smirked. Tag as harmless? Not the first adjective that would jump to his mind.

James looked at Sapphire with a degree of sympathy. The panic was gone from her face but the fear remained.

"People treat werewolves really badly but they have no choice about being werewolves."

Alex frowned, "But James, the boggart in the attic-"

James gave him a sharp nudge.

"Ouch!" Exclaimed Alex rubbing his arm.

"But Lockshire's a werewolf and he's just roaming around the castle, isn't that dangerous?" Sapphire squeaked.

"Lockshire is an honest and well-respected wizard, he's not dangerous." James assured her.

Albus turned his attention back to Lily, she really didn't look very well, she was far too pale and there were dark circles under her big brown eyes.

"Lily, are you sure you're okay?" He asked her quietly as the others resumed the debate on what qualifies a Triwizard judge.

Lily glanced at him nervously, unable to lie to his face.

"I haven't been sleeping much." She admitted, red hair falling into her face, "I had a nightmare a few nights ago – nothing happened," She rushed, "But since then I keep trying to stay awake, if I fall asleep it could happen again."

"You can't stay awake forever." Albus pointed out.

"I know that." Lily muttered.

By now, everyone had finished eating. Rose headed off to the library while Philip and Amanda were preparing for their first Hogsmeade trip but Albus was on restriction after running away from school last year.

"I'll walk you out to the Entrance Hall." He told them, getting to his feet.

There was always great excitement on Hogsmeade weekends as there were only a couple every year. They passed Ellen on the way out of the Great Hall.

"Settling in okay?" Albus asked.

"Love it already." She beamed, "Where's James?"

"Over there," Albus replied nodding in his brother's direction.

She thanked him and hurried off. Philip and Amanda promised to bring him back sweets from the village. Albus was disappointed not to be going, it would be boring all day without them, but he refused Philip's offer to stay and waved them off from the front steps of the school.

As Albus returned to the Entrance Hall, Professor Ebullio bustled past,

"Excuse me, Pottinger… Nicholas!" Called the eccentric old potions master as Professor Nicholas Liberius exited the Great Hall, "I was wondering if I could ask you a favour." He enquired.

"By all means," Liberius replied politely and bowed a little.

Albus couldn't help but feel amused at the exchange between the short old potions master and the tall comparatively young Defense teacher. Ebullio barely reached Liberius's chest.

"You see I've got a bit of a situation with a boggart in the potions classroom, it really is terribly impractical." Bumbled the potions master, "Seeing their worst fears burst out in the middle of class really can be such a distraction for students, you see. Do you think perhaps you could get rid of it for me? I'm not particularly eager to approach the task myself and as it's your profession so to speak…"

"Not a problem." Liberius assured him, "I'll sort it out this evening. In the meantime, I'm heading to the village, care to join me for a quick drink at the Three Broomsticks."

"Oh, what a good idea." Ebullio chortled.

Seemed like everyone was enjoying the day off, Albus on the other hand hadn't decided what he was going to do yet –

He paused, half way up the stairs by this point, he was suddenly struck by an idea. He glanced around quickly and then took off to the Gryffindor tower to gather his things.

Once Alex and Blue had left for Hogsmeade, James was ready to give Ellen the tour.

"What do you want to see first?" He grinned, "It's a big castle."

"Well, what are the best bits?" Ellen smiled.

"You already saw my favourite spot yesterday. Then there's the Astronomy Tower, the Owlery, the Quidditch pitch – of course – the lake…"

"Any more secret passages?" Ellen interjected.

James grinned, "You've come to the right guy."

They roamed the castle and James showed his cousin every little secret hiding place, every crevice he knew. The secret stairway with the trick step, the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets (though there was no way he was going down there again), he even considered showing her the room of requirement but before that he found himself at the One Eyed Witch Passage,

"This is pretty much the only passage left which leads all the way out of the school." He informed her, "It brings you straight to Honeydukes cellar."

"In Hogsmeade?" Ellen quizzed, "But then why don't you use it?"

James considered this. On one hand, he was on his last leg at Hogwarts – but on the other hand, it was rather stupid to be banned from leaving the grounds. It wasn't like he would run away again. He hadn't wanted to leave the school last year. It had just been necessary at the time.

"Alright then." He pondered but gave his cousin a warning look, "But we can't get caught."

Ellen grinned.

"Dissendium." James muttered and the entrance to the tunnel was revealed.

Down in the dungeon, Albus sidled up to the potions room door.

"Alohomora." He whispered and the door swung open with a high pitch creak.

Inside, he put down his cauldron, opened up his bag and spread the supplies he needed on the table in front of him. He flicked through the pages of his Potions textbook until he came to the page he was looking for.

"Sleeping Draught."

Albus glanced over his shoulder at the door. The castle was more or less abandoned on days like today and he knew that Ebullio would be at the Three Broomsticks for a good few hours. Quickly he began preparing his ingredients. Albus worked swiftly, Potions was one of his favourite classes and he knew what he was doing.

The time passed slowly but Albus, absorbed in his task barely noticed. As the potion brewed, he stirred it slowly, almost finished. The dungeon was peacefully silent and the fumes from the cauldron began to make him drowsy. Then he heard a small bang in the distance and snapped out of his trance.

"Peeves." He thought immediately.

Then he heard footsteps approaching quickly.

"That's not Peeves…"

He looked around frantically. Who could be it be? And where were they going? Surely they wouldn't come in here…

He spotted the large closet where Ebullio stored ingredients and old books. The footsteps were getting closer and he dashed across the room, climbing inside just as the door to the classroom swung open.

Inside the cupboard, he crouched down and tried to peer through the cracks between the wooden doors. Then a low hissing noise turned his head. His heart stopped. In the sliver of light coming in from the classroom, Albus could see the most frightful creature. A python, curled up but clearly over six foot long, it's head raised to eye level by an endless neck.

"The boggart." Thought Albus.

He had forgotten about the boggart Ebullio had mentioned was living in the classroom. Albus didn't know a lot about boggarts, they had yet to cover them in Defense Against the Dark Arts class.

"Just remember," He told himself, "It's not real, it can't hurt you, it's not real…"

His fingers tightened around a dusty old potions book.

The snake hissed and eyed Albus with round glassy eyes. Outside the cupboard someone was moving around. Heart pounding Albus raised the book in defensive, ready to strike when the snake did. The snake hissed, it's narrow tongue darting in and out. As a shadow passed the door the giant snake darted forward,

"AHHHHHHHHH!"

"Is that a python?" Yelled Rangi standing over Albus and the stunned snake.

"Boggart!" Albus cried.

"Aw crap…"

With that the snake vanished and Rangi burst into flames.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" Albus screamed again.

"Riddikulus!" Screamed Rangi, pointing his wand at himself.

The bright orange flames suddenly turned to long silky hairs.

"Laugh damnit, I look like an orangutan!" Said Rangi flatly.

Albus's heart began to slow as he stared at Rangi. He did look pretty funny. Albus smiled at Rangi's grumpy expression and then burst out laughing.

Poof!

The hair fell to the floor.

"What on earth are you doing in the cupboard?" Asked Rangi, brushing off the last of the hair and offering Albus a hand.

Albus took it and the Captain swung him to his feet. The long orange hair on the ground slithered back into the cupboard.

"You're scared of fire?" Albus asked

"Spontaneous combustion. I think your Sleeping Draught is about to boil over by the way." The Captain added.

Albus rushed over and put out the flame under his cauldron as Rangi took a book from the cupboard. Albus looked at him curiously,

"Spontaneous combustion?"

"It happens!" Blurted Rangi, "I saw it happen once!"

Albus stared at him.

"That's why I always carry a flask of Phoenix blood with me wherever I go." Rangi announced proudly, producing a tiny metal vial from beneath his robes. "Cures just about anything. Lucky I didn't drink it when that was just a boggart," He chuckled, "You wouldn't believe how hard it is to get your hands on this stuff."

Albus immagined he probably would.

"Ah, here it is – Veritaserum!" Rangi plonked the potions book onto the table and got to work.

"What's that?" Albus frowned.

"Never you mind." Rangi insisted, "Better you don't know."

Albus took his word for it.

Meanwhile, James and Ellen scrambled out of the secret passage and into the basement of Honeydukes.

"Finally." Heaved Ellen.

"Shhh…"

James grinned mischievously and glanced all around, the basement was still and empty but above them the bustle of the shop floor could be heard through the floorboards. If they picked their moment right, they could easily slip into the throng of Hogwarts students. Creeping up the stairs James peaked out into the shop –

"Quick, now!" He told his cousin.

The two students scurried out as the shopkeepers served the sugar-starved kids.

Out on the shop floor, Ellen stared around impressed at the range of goods on display. James's tummy rumbled and his mouth watered.

"Keep an eye out for any teachers," He reminded Ellen, "Come on."

They quickly filled their pockets with purchases from the sweetshop before heading out into the village.

"This place is adorable…" Ellen stated, gazing at the cute little thatch cottages.

James agreed through a mouthful of treacle fudge. His eyes were still darting around, on the lookout for Hogwarts teachers.

"I wonder where Blue and Alex are." James mused, "Blue will have a heart attack if he sees me here." He laughed, "We should try creep up on them, give them a fright!"

"Ooh! Speaking of frights," Ellen jumped in, "Where's this infamous Shrieking Shack?"

"Good question."

James had some idea of where things were in Hogsmeade but he'd never had a proper chance to explore it properly before. As for the Shrieking Shack, he had been inside the building before, but got there via secret passage rather than via village.

"I'm pretty sure it's this way." He announced, heading in the direction of the train station.

James didn't believe any of the stories about the Shrieking Shack being haunted but if Ellen wanted to see the most haunted building in Britain, that's where they would go. November seemed to have hit hard with icy wind tossing up the dead brown leaves of October, and swirling them around in the chilly air. James pulled his cloak tighter around his neck wishing he'd brought a scarf. They came to the Three Broomsticks and he imagined the hot chocolate and butter beer being served inside but knew that the place would be crawling with teachers. As they passed by, the front door opened and Professor Liberius stepped out.

James grabbed his cousin's arm and pulled her around the side of the building. They watched with bated breath as Liberius strode toward the road. Just then, a carriage pulled by two handsome Granian horses came sweeping up the road and halted directly in front of Liberius, blocking his path.

The carriage was unlike the ones which Hogwarts students took from the train station to the school – as were the horses, certainly not Hogwarts-owned - the carriage was slate gray with shimmering satin cushioned seating, upon which sat a tall elegant lady with a short blond bob, clad in grey fur.

"Now there's a sight for sore eyes." She beamed, looking at Liberius.

"M'lady-"

"Oh do call me Tullia, won't you?" Said the woman, "We were almost family once after all."

The fur clad lady stepped down from the carriage, Liberius politely taking her hand. It was then that James noticed Edward Buchanan also sitting in the carriage looking sour and a little bit bored.

"What brings you to Hogwarts?" Liberius asked a curt nod.

James noticed undertone of a French accent as she replied, "Why - the Triwizard Tournament, of course!"

Liberius gave a small smile and the woman looked around, breathing in the fresh country air, "Oh this does bring back memories. Nothing's changed – except for you! I hear you are a Professor now."

James wished she would hurry up and leave so that Liberius would get a move on. It was cold and he was starting to get a cramp standing so still and straight.

"Yes." Nodded Liberius curt as always.

"Well perhaps I will see you again soon up at the castle. Edward invited me to come and visit him," She gestured to Buchanan who looked as bored as ever, "And I couldn't resist the chance to see Hogwarts again!"

Liberius and Buchanan exchanged cold nods.

"Tell me," The young lady said, taking Liberius's arm and stepping away from the carriage, back in the direction of the pub, "How is dear sweet Kitty?"

James and Ellen quickly shuffled further back from the front of the building.

"I'm afraid I wouldn't know." Replied the Professor, "It's been a long time…"

"Oh, excuse me," The French woman gasped, "I'm so sorry."

"Nothing to apologise for. You couldn't have known."

James could just about see Liberius from his hiding spot, gently remove the woman's hand from his arm. He hoped this signalled the Professor's departure. At the side of the road, Buchanan was looking at his watch impatiently.

"You should go," Liberius told her, "Buchanan is looking very impatient."

"Can we give you a lift up to the castle?"

"I'd rather walk."

Liberius had his back to them now and James felt himself relax a little.

The lady kissed Liberius on each cheek, "I will see you again over the course of the Tournament, I'm sure."

"I expect so." Replied the Professor.

"Goodbye, Colin."

With this the French lady returned to her carriage, which sped off at lightning speed. Liberius, on foot took longer to leave earshot. Once he had, Ellen gave a huge sigh of relief.

"I thought they were never going to leave!"

James, on the other hand, was still recovering.

"Ellen – we have to go – now."

"What about the Shrieking Shack?"

"Forget the shack, come on!"

An awful point to leave things, I know. But more soon!