Author's Note:
Hello, readers. Before reading this chapter, I have a few small things to say. It came to my attention after the last chapter that there are a large amount of errors in the published work, despite the fact that these erros are absent from the actual document. Words missing, or being placed together likethis, are much more common than I'd previously realized, and as a result, I am now doing an extra revision-post-update-to ensure that these errors are minimal. Obviously, I won't catch everything, but it should be drastically reduced.
I don't ask for reviews often-though I do certainly enjoy reading them-but for this one chapter, I would like to ask that those of you have the time to review, to do so, if only to comment on whether or not this extra editing helped, because if so, then I'll know that this extra revision is a necessity. So please, if you notice either an improvement in the editing, or are still noticing blatant, glaring errors (outside of one or so occurrence, or incorrect spelling) please let me know.
And as always, enjoy!
-Kev
Chapter 12: Allies And Apparition
The bulk of October was spent catching up on work and trying to keep grades stable, with Albus slowly losing touch with his best friends in an attempt to obtain his desired marks. Apart from Potions, which he excelled at effortlessly, his classes were all intensifying in difficulty. Part of him suspected that the state of the outside world was responsible for this acceleration, but then again, he supposed that he should have expected this. As Scorpius was always pointing out, they were given free periods for a reason.
Not that Albus was using them as intended. He instead squeezed all of his homework into regular afternoon hours, with his free periods dedicated to keeping a close eye on the Marauder's Map, Hugo's little dot in particular.
There wasn't much else that he could do. Keen on keeping Aunt Hermione's promise that he would watch over him, he was also forced to admit almost at once that the majority of things were out of his control. Hugo was always surrounded by friends in the Gryffindor Common Room, or in class. There had still not been any announcement on the next Protector's Club meeting either, so he could hardly watch his younger cousin in an actual Renegade setting. Not that he was complaining, of course; the less of those meetings, the better.
The only other thing that he was looking out for didn't happen either.
"Nothing mate" Scorpius said at lunch one Wednesday, folding up the issue of WAR Weekly placidly.
"At all?" Albus asked.
"Well there were obviously articles, but none of the magnitude that your aunt suggested."
"And nothing here either" said Morrison, crumbling up a borrowed copy of the Prophet.
"Hey!" said the giver from a few seats down, a second year that Albus recognized from having attended the first Quidditch tryout.
"Oh sorry" Morrison said, unapologetically. He tossed the paper ball over nonchalantly and returned his attention to the conversation at hand.
"Then again, the lack of news could be just as bad" Scorpius commented, returning to his breakfast.
"How's that?" Albus asked tensely.
"Maybe it's all being hushed up?" he said, raising his hand to take a bite out of a muffin.
"Or maybe," Morrison started, reaching across the table and snatching the muffin from his hand, "the lack of news really does mean that nothing's happened. Honestly, you guys are so pessimistic."
Melonie nodded from next to him, unable to speak due to a full mouth. The bell rang at this very moment anyway though, and they pushed their plates away to get prepared for the second half of the day.
"Have fun in Herbology mate" Morrison said to Albus.
"I'll try" he replied. Herbology had been one of the classes in which he'd been really slacking recently, but he knew that he'd have to step his game up soon, and for more than just grades; as magical herbs were the primary components to many potions, his proficiency in the subject was a bit more necessary than in most others.
"Well I'll see you guys after class" Scorpius said, and the three of them split.
Albus was still rather uncomfortable in the greenhouses, mostly due to the fact that it was still the place in which he had the least support. Few people spoke to him, and ultimately, this meant that his best friend in the class was the professor, a truly embarrassing thing to admit. This friendship seemed close to shattering, however, when his Herbology professor foolishly assigned them groups, rather than letting them pick for themselves.
"We hit something of a snag last lesson" Neville said with a rueful smile, and Albus cringed. The plants that they were studying- carnivorous clumps of leaves know as Guttles-had ended up doing a bit of feasting on all of their fingers, somehow able to pierce their protective gloves. They were supposed to be heavily sedated, however, which meant that their volatile behavior could mostly be blamed on the negligence of the students.
"And I realized," Neville continued, "that the reason for our poor performance is that those of you who need a bit more help, sadly, aren't getting it. Those of you who are more- erm- naturally adept-are banding together somewhat, and as there's nothing wrong with making new friends, I was thinking that I could partner you all up today!"
In other words, Albus discerned at once, the stragglers-like himself-were going to end up being put into groups with the best in the class. He instinctively glanced down his row, settling his eyes on the two Ravenclaw Prefects, Milton and Winona. Even though no one in the class spoke to him, these two seemed to avoid it more so out of fear than general dislike, unlike everyone else. He privately hoped to be partnered with one of them, but, of course, this was squashed immediately.
"Okay, let's get Lionel, Elton, and Albus over here" Neville called out, and he beckoned the three of them over to a table where a ferocious looking Guttle was awaiting them.
Albus groaned; Elton Connor was the Hufflepuff boy who'd damaged his arm a month ago, and Lionel-whose name Albus had just learned now-was one of Hornsbrook's friends, who frequented the Protector's Club. What's more, he'd also been one of those who had bullied around Roxanne in the library that day.
Neither of them looked too pleased to have him at their table either, but thankfully, they said nothing as the rest of the groups were created. After a demonstration from Neville at how to sedate the Guttles (so that they could extract their fangs gently) the groups were instructed to follow suit.
Sedating the creatures-which looked like rotten potatoes with bunches of leaves surrounding them, along with well hidden fangs-was a two man job. One person had to pinch a certain part of the Guttle, while the other rubbed a spot just near the teeth. The third person-the one removing the teeth-then had to reach their hands in, yank, and pray that their two accomplices kept up their end of the bargain as well.
Predictably, the sedation went to Lionel and Elton, the dangerous tooth pulling portion unspeakably falling on Albus.
For the most part, he thought that he was doing rather well. His quick reflexes allowed him to pull away from the sharp, triangular teeth without even getting so much as his thick gloves skimmed, but the conversation between his two partners proved to be rather distracting. Not only was he constantly afraid that they would slack off from their duties (resulting in bleeding fingers) but the nature of the conversation itself was somewhat disturbing. They were taking turns laughing at people who Albus either didn't know or had only heard of, people from their own respective houses who apparently annoyed them. Only when the conversation turned to adolescent boasting about the opposite gender did Albus' ears perk up.
"...And Kyle, that Prefect in your year?" Lionel was saying, "I heard he snogged that seventh year, Rhonda, or whatever her name is-"
"I reckon that one's true" Elton said calmly, his fingers relaxing somewhat on the nerve of the Guttle, making it come dangerously close to snatching. "But it's not that surprising, I snogged her last year. Now speaking of Prefects-that girl from your year? She's something to look at, isn't she?"
Albus momentarily stopped paying attention to what he was doing. Mirra had just been mentioned.
Elton continued seamlessly. "And I reckon she looks a bit easy too, think I might have a go-"
"Hey!" Albus snapped, withdrawing his hand from the Guttle just in time. The noise from other groups masked it, however.
"What?" they both said, half innocently, the other half with something that resembled intimidation.
Rip...them...apart. I will give you the strength.
Albus felt his heartbeat quicken as he ignored the words that had entered his head.
"Watch what you're saying!" he barked out, not caring that there was two of them. "That's my girlfriend you're talking about!"
Elton shifted his mouth as though he was on the verge of smiling, and Lionel was right about to speak when Neville approached them from the side.
"Everything okay over here?" he asked, apparently clueless. "I heard some yelling."
Albus kept his mouth shut, still angry but unwilling to bring a teacher into his business.
"Sorry professor" Elton said quickly, a slight, fabricated quiver in his voice. "Albus almost got his finger bit and I panicked."
"Well then you'll want to be a bit more careful then" Neville said, turning to Albus, who knew that he couldn't hide how red his face was. His professor must have simply taken it as adrenaline, however, as he continued with the same voice, "in fact, why don't we switch a bit? Al, Elton, trade places."
They did as they were told, and as soon as Neville had moved along, a suspenseful silence took over. Albus simply stood still, stroking the Guttle automatically, seething. He wasn't sure whether or not that little charade had been planned or not-most of the school knew he was dating Mirra, after all-but that didn't make him any less angry. He even contemplated "accidentally" stopping his part in the sedation, and letting Elton Connor get his fingers chomped on, but ultimately decided against it. It really wasn't even worth it.
So he instead kept quiet, all the while, a new conversation emerging between his two partners. This one had nothing to do with girls, however, and seemed more of a second part to one from a while ago.
"So you thinking of finally coming tonight?" Lionel asked his Hufflepuff friend.
Elton waited until he'd pried a tooth free before answering. "I dunno" he responded. "I do have a lot of homework..."
"You gave the same excuse last time!" Lionel whined. "It's only about an hour long."
Albus froze on the spot. Were they discussing the Protector's Club? Remembering that he had a job to do just in time, he began stroking sloppily at the Guttle, still deeply interested in the conversation at hand.
"We'll see" Elton replied. And then, as an afterthought it seemed, he added, "Do you really think it makes that much of a difference?"
"Loads" Lionel replied, nodding his head. "Last week we even learned the Fracture Curse!"
Albus felt a swooping sensation in his stomach. They were definitely talking about the Protector's Club. And had Lionel just mentioned 'last week'? Club meetings were occurring without any bulletins being posted. Or, at least, with no bulletins being posted in the Slytherin Common Room.
The rest of class went by with Albus straining his ears for every detail, but the topic wasn't elaborated on much more after its initial introduction. He sped away from the greenhouse he was in without looking back, eager to share this newly acquired information-and indeed, the entirety of the eventful class period-with his best friends. Skidding into the Common Room, he saw a peculiar sight. Scorpius and Morrison were sitting near the fire together, studying and talking low. Since when was Morrison so into getting work done?
"What's going on?" Albus asked, and they both jumped, then relaxed when they saw him.
"Thought you were Melonie" Morrison mumbled. "Sit down..."
Morrison, as it turned out, wasn't studying at all, but was rather sitting near Scorpius' entire stack of work. Albus sat down, not allowing the story in his head to escape, but shelving it temporarily due to curiosity. "So, what's up?"
"Discussing Christmas presents" Scorpius said.
Albus raised his eyebrows. "Christmas isn't for months" he said.
"Yeah, but the Hogsmeade visit is in a few weeks, and we don't know how many we'll get" Morrison said. "So we're trying to make it count. We've all got girlfriends now, it's time we started acting like it. I blew off Christmas last year because I wasn't official with Mel at the time, but now, I've got a whole load of saved up gold to spend on useless, pretty things."
"Morrison reckons jewelry" Scorpius said, rolling his eyes slightly. "One of the new shops in Hogsmeade sells all kinds of it; place called 'Iridescence', apparently."
"Sounds like a good idea to me" Albus quipped. Now that he thought about it, there was the chance that he'd actually be spending Christmas day with Mirra at her home. He did want to be able to give her something special...
"But jewelry is so tacky!" Scorpius hissed. "I don't want to get Anastasia something that she's going to wear once and get sick of. And they don't need it anyway, they've already got boyfriends! Who are they showing off for?"
"They don't wear it to show off for guys, you git" Morrison argued. "They wear it to show off to other girls, it's how they make their friends feel bad about their looks-"
"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard-"
"Okay stop" Albus said, holding out his hands to end the argument. "We'll deal with it as we get closer to the Hogsmeade visit; for all we know it'll get canceled anyway. I've got something to tell you guys-"
Wanting to describe his Herbology period in chronological order, he recounted the portion about Elton Connor's comments toward Mirra first. Both Scorpius and Morrison gave identical looks of disgust at it.
"Isn't he from Hufflepuff?" Morrison asked. "Like he has a shot with anyone-"
"Please tell me you didn't do anything stupid" Scorpius said, his voice serious.
Albus knew what he meant at once; stupid meant starting a fight.
"I didn't" he admitted. "Told them off, but that was it."
"Good. You did the right thing."
Morrison made a huffing noise, causing Albus to turn to him. "What would you have done?" he asked, generally curious.
"Me? I'd of punched them both in the face. But Scorpius is right, you did do the best thing. I guess..."
Albus frowned somewhat at this. At the time, it had seemed like the responsible thing to do, letting it die off. But looking back now...those two prats had said something about someone that he cared about. And they had walked away from it with no consequences...
Unwilling to sort his confusion on the matter out now, he quickly jumped into the next part of his story. When he was done explaining all that he'd heard, both of his friends wore looks of interest.
"Well, there haven't been any announcements that I've heard" Scorpius said after a moment. "So you're right on that-either Slytherin is being neglected on invitations, or they're done taking new members, and only the current ones are receiving updates on what's going on."
"I bet it's the first one" Morrison said, looking as though he really had been racking his brain. "They reckon all Slytherins end up as dark wizards, right? Joining Darvy's lot? They don't want any of us coming to meetings because they think that once we leave the school, we'll march ourselves over to paint the nails on 'Death's Right Hand'. They can't say that, of course, but it's what they're all thinking."
Albus nodded, understanding it all too well. Still, however, he felt somewhat disappointed with himself. There had been at least one meeting that he'd missed, and that meant that he hadn't been able to look out for Hugo. If he'd only kept his eyes on the Map at all times, then he would have been able to see the gathering in the Great Hall. Well he wasn't going to miss tonight's meeting...
"I'm checking it out tonight" Albus said. "Either of you up for it?" he asked, though he knew it was hopeless.
"Too tall mate, went over this before" Morrison said blandly.
"Too much work" Scorpius said, frowning and jerking his head towards the array of textbooks and parchment. Albus glanced at it all with astonishment, but then something caught his eye.
"Is that Astronomy work mate?" he asked, snatching at the piece of parchment and holding up a star chart drawn so accurately it could have only been made by Scorpius. "Since when do you take Astronomy?"
Scorpius snatched it back and blushed. "It's Anastasia's" he said stiffly. "We- sometimes- sometimes we get over stacked with classwork, and we help each other out a bit, that's all."
"How often does she do your work?" Morrison asked, a small, twisted smile appearing on his lips. Scorpius didn't give him an answer.
Albus backed away from the conversation, not wanting to interfere in something that had to with Scorpius' relationship with Anastasia. It had been one thing when they'd been talking about Christmas presents, but this was more the thing that involved how someone's relationship operated; and he'd already decided not to get involved.
He had made the decision not to tell Scorpius anything that he learned from Mirra, and had done so weeks ago, when he'd first heard it. Rose's bad behavior seen in the halls was written off as simple stress by Scorpius, who didn't seem to care, and Albus didn't have the strength to tell him that it was actually created by his relationship with Anastasia. He refrained from divulging this partly because he didn't know how to explain it, and partly because he was unsure of how his friend would react. He knew this was hypocritical, of course; hadn't he complained to Scorpius about having had secrets kept from him? But either way, this feeling of guilt didn't inspire him to reveal anything.
He had, however, told Morrison about it all, and the smirk on his friends lips told him that he was privately enjoying some sort of joke on his own-possibly bursting to tell Scorpius that he was doing homework for the wrong girl, and that his true love needed him now. Not wanting to take part in it, Albus retreated to his dormitory to make sure that his Cloak was ready for the night's excursion. He then met his friends in the Great Hall for a fast dinner, returned once more to the Common Room, and waited for the clock to strike eight.
"How do you even know it's going to be at the same time?" Melonie asked him, as the four of them sat huddled around together, Melonie and Scorpius both with books in front of them.
"There'd be no reason to change it, would there?" he replied, but then he felt a sinking feeling. They had certainly changed the way that word reached the members. Was it such a far off idea that they'd have altered the time of the club meetings to just after dinner?
"You know what, I'm actually going to head out now" Albus said quickly, and he stormed upstairs to retrieve his Cloak. Fastened around him securely, it was Morrison who opened the blank stretch of concrete for him.
He hurried along through the twisted underground corridors, legs hurting as he jumped up the stairs two at a time. When he finally skidded to a halt outside of the entrance to the Great Hall, he let a feeling of relief wash over him. There were definitely people present, but the meeting obviously hadn't started yet. No WAR members were visible, anyway, and the entirety of the Hall-which did already have the tables placed against the walls-was divided into a few groups of people chatting amiably. He could see Hugo in a group with his own friends, and not far from them was Hornsbrook's group, which included Albus' Herbology enemies; Elton Connor and Lionel.
Resisting the temptation to go attack them from under the safety of the Cloak, he instead meandered throughout the Hall, he too waiting patiently for the meeting to begin. He'd been paranoid, it seemed. For all of the negativity that he associated with the Protector's Club, they were still just a group of people, not exactly a secret organization that required tactical times to meet.
Walking around the Hall, he sifted in and out of other people's conversations. One conversation between a group of seventh year Ravenclaws caught his attention at once though.
"Bit strange isn't it?" said a pretty girl with her dark hair up. "I think I saw someone from Slytherin here in that first week, but since then it's just been three houses worth."
"Well what did you expect?" chimed in someone who Albus recognized; it was Leonard, the boy who was beaten by Larson in that same week. "They don't want to be here listening to how their friends and family will end up being taken down."
Albus felt his eyes narrow as the third person in the conversation, someone who Albus knew from the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, contributed.
"I'd have no problem letting Slytherins in, so long as it was only the ones who had already picked the right side. They can't all be bad in there."
Albus left the conversation hanging here, not wanting to deal with all of the incorrect stigmatization of Slytherin house that would soon emerge. Something had intrigued him slightly though. From the way that they were talking, it seemed as if the Protector's Club was not as exclusive as he'd thought; Slytherins most certainly were welcomed in. Why then, was no one in his house hearing about it? Had someone taken the bulletins down, immediately after they'd been put up?
The closing of the giant doors snapped him out of his thoughts, and looking around wildly, he saw that more people had arrived, including the usual members of WAR. The meeting was ready to commence.
Albus took to his normal position, standing back in the corner of the Hall and watching as everyone else immediately lined up as though reporting for duty. The Renegades who inhabited the space now all joined themselves together in a sloppy shape, with Larson branching off to walk back and forth in front of the students with a plain face, everything from his gait to his ponytail somehow appearing aggressive.
"We learned some powerful magic last time" he said at once. "Now it's time that we learn to apply it. You're all here because you're interested in more than just watching over your own back; you're here because you have others on your mind. When I point at you, step forward."
Albus watched as he pointed to ten different people silently, who all stepped forward with expressionless faces. Albus grimaced in fear that Hugo would be selected, but he wasn't. He did know three among them though; Leonard from Ravenclaw, the girl he'd been talking to, and Donovan Hornsbrook.
"Divide yourselves up evenly now" Larson ordered, and after some uncoordinated side-switching, two separate groups of five stood alongside one another. Hornsbrook was in one group, the two Ravenclaws in the other. Larson began circling them slowly as he spoke.
"We have here two different teams. Teamwork is a necessity when stopping a legitimate threat. You must depend on your partners as well as yourself. Now, whichever of you feels like you're the most skilled from your respective team, step forward."
Hornsbrook stepped forward from his group cockily at once, and after some feet shuffling, a Huffelpuff seventh year that Albus didn't know stepped forward for her group.
"Hand over your wands" Larson said softly, and they both exchanged a glance of surprise. The straight line of students looked rattled with consternation as well.
"Now!" he said, louder.
They both did so at once. Larson tucked them away in his robes before continuing, his voice returned to normal.
"You two are to do nothing but dodge. It will be the effort of your respective teams that keeps you from harm. Teams," he said, turning to the eight remaining, "you have one goal and one goal only. Successfully jinx the target from the opposite team. Plow through their guardians if you must. Go take sides now."
Hornsbrook went over to his group looking disheartened; the four individuals on his side formed a square around him. The Hufflepuff girl went to her side as well, where her four partners simply created a wall that blocked her from view entirely.
"Go!" Larson barked, as though unsure as to why he needed to even give a signal.
The other students all backed themselves up cautiously as a battle erupted in front of their eyes. Albus remained where he stood however, trying to follow the flashes of different color that he saw being traded back and forth. Hornsbrook's group looked sharper in terms of team play; two of them had taken it upon themselves to always be near him, creating shields with their wands, while the other two aimed for the Hufflepuff target.
On the other side though, things were more unorganized. All four of the Hufflepuff girl's protectors were on the offensive, teeth gritted as they tried to break through the defences only so many feet away. The target herself was spending a considerable amount of time ducking and dodging, until-
A blue spell hit her in the face, causing her to go right down with a shriek. Albus cringed as Larson called for a halt.
"Take her to the Hospital Wing" he said dismissively to two of his WAR companions, and they seized her and slowly walked her out of the hall; Albus thought that he saw a little bit of blood on her palms, from having clutched at her face. "Back in line, the rest of you."
The other nine stepped into the usual formation, and Larson surveyed them all as though he was going to give them a very important speech.
"Notice the mindset of the winning team. Interested in both sides of the field, defending and keeping pressure on the opponent. Their coordination was created quickly; largely improvised. This spontaneity is sometimes the difference is any group contest. Well done, winning team.
"Far more important than any wand or spell is the presence of an ally. You need to stick together to always be vigilant, and to always have help. But what is in ally? Is it someone on the same side?"
No one answered, but Albus thought that he had a very good idea where this was going...
"An ally isn't just your neighbor, or someone who doesn't mind supporting you behind close doors. In the heat of battle, true colors show. Your allies are the ones who welcome an attack, for the chance to defend you. But how do you distinguish an ally from a regular friend? Any guesses?"
Again, no answer. Larson barely gave them any time to anyway though, he was already tapping at the insignia on his robes.
"Your allies don't just see you on the same side when no one is looking. They're proud to be there for you, to protect you, because they know that you feel the same for them. These people here," he said, his voice growing steadily more firm as he indicated the other WAR members to his right, "I would die for these people, just as they would for me. And we know it, and we're proud of it, and that's why we wear this symbol. Allies aren't afraid to show their unity."
Albus felt his body tremble. Larson was only giving them an example here, but it was actually a cleverly veiled way to hype up Wands and Redemption. These students wanted allies, and now, a sword-wand symbol would forever be etched into their memories. He knew that this entire lesson had catered to WAR as well. The way that one person from each group had been stranded without the ability to attack, dependent entirely on who was in front of them...had Albus kept his eyes out of focus, he would have only seen the blurry outline of two Warren Waddlesworth's, each with their personal guard in front of them. It was exactly as Aunt Hermione had said.
"I'll pick ten more, and we'll go again" Larson said suddenly.
Albus again shifted uncomfortably at the thought of Hugo being selected, but he wasn't this time either. This time, he didn't really recognize anyone picked outside of having seen them in the halls or at previous meetings. They were mostly in fifth year.
This battle took a bit longer, mostly because both sides were now using the correct form of attacking and defending. After about five minutes however, it was a fifth year boy from Gryffindor who ended up being carted off to the Hospital Wing-where the strategically placed Lester would fix him up-and then they were all dismissed.
Albus hauled himself out of there as soon as possible, glad that Hugo hadn't been involved but still shaking somewhat at what he'd seen. He caught sight of his cousin again on the way out the door, but couldn't hear anything that he was saying to one of his friends. He then proceeded down the lonely path of the dungeons, being the only Slytherin to return from the Great Hall. Scorpius had already started an early patrol (and most likely a clandestine date with Anastasia) and as Morrison and Melonie were cuddled up near the fire, he found himself heading straight to his dormitory.
Collapsing on his bed, he allowed his fatigue to sweep over him. He thought again of Larson's speech about allies, and with the scene fresh in his head, realized that not a single person had given a questionable look to it. Weeks ago, perhaps, there would have been some curiosity or general suspicion as to why WAR was brought up as a quintessential scenario of unity in the world, but now, with WAR's teaching firmly hammered into the heads of everyone in attendance, it was common place. That Wands and Redemption was synonymous with unity was, to the students who took part in the club meetings, nothing short of obvious...
And this probably wasn't the first time either. It was too well carried through to be a first attempt. Albus tried doing the numbers in his head, attempting to pinpoint how long ago exactly the Renegade movement had come to power, and how many people had probably been taught the same thing. Was this how Fairhart had been recruited by WAR? He was in an early bunch, certainly, but someone had to have introduced him to what it was to be a Renegade; to be part of a group. And in the memory that he'd seen of Fairhart and Blackwood, hadn't she said something along those very lines? That Fairhart had found her, and introduced her to WAR? He'd probably showed her exactly how important it was to separate mere friends from allies...
He skimmed through more memories for validation of his thoughts, sure that someone had mentioned before the repetitive nature of people and their misdeeds. The words flew into his head with powerful clarity, but it was not Fairhart, or Waddlesworth, or even his father who had said something along these lines. It was Ares.
What defines us, as people? Is it our actions or our words? Our triumphs or our failures? Is it our flaws, or our mistakes, or our vices, or our feelings? No. It is our habits. Society has truly failed when it repeats itself precisely and expects things to change. Destroy, rebuild, destroy, rebuild. An endless cycle.
Chills went up Albus' spine as he rolled over onto his side, letting the truism in these words resonate. Ares had said these things to him two years ago, at the end of the Hogsmeade Massacre. It had been within an hour of these words that he'd died. For all the wrong that Ares had done that day, he'd been spectacularly right in at least some of what he had said.
His entire body clenched up at the thought. He had no intention of sleeping tonight; he was sure that the nightmares would terrify him.
Albus didn't mention the club meeting over the next few days, as Scorpius was almost never around and it felt weird speaking about his qualms with WAR to Morrison with Melonie in earshot. Even in Friday's Potions lesson he had kept quiet to Mirra, and it wasn't until the weekend that he had both of his friends alone at the breakfast table. Predictably, however, no one was paying him much mind.
"We've already established that the Protector's Club is bad news" Scorpius said dryly.
"But they are teaching teamwork" Morrison commented from across the table, scooping up corn kernels off his plate. "Brainwashed or not, these kids are still leaving with something."
"It's not just kids, people older than us are involved too" Albus said. "But you should have seen how rapt they were when Larson mentioned how Wands and Redemption were 'allies'. Had they had a sheet of parchment there, people would have been signing up."
"Well they didn't, and they weren't" Scorpius said shortly. "Anyway, let's hurry this up before Melonie gets back from the bathroom. I'm thinking that jewels aren't too bad so long as we add a personal touch-"
Albus rolled his eyes. Eager though he was to spend Christmas with his girlfriend, he couldn't bring himself to brainstorm about a present with so much else on his mind. Besides, he wasn't sure that Mirra was all about fancy accessories anyway. What she'd probably want most is something that showed that they were together...
"Hey" Albus cut into the conversation, rounding on Morrison. "There were photographers at your sister's wedding last year, right?"
Morrison thought about it. "Yeah, muggle ones though, I think. Why?"
"Any chance you could write home and ask if there's any pictures of me and Mirra? Maybe when we were dancing or something?"
"Sure" Morrison said, shrugging, but at that moment they were interrupted by Scorpius.
"Heads up guys" he said, and they both turned, expecting to see Melonie. It was someone far shorter however, with the dark red hair throwing them off even further. Lily was walking toward them.
Albus gave an incredulous stare, this having been among the more unexpected things to happen recently. He only ever really saw Lily in hallways, and even then, it was scarce. Though her appearances weren't as infrequent as some other family members, like Fred or the twins, Molly and Lucy, her approaching the Slytherin table made it something truly worth a double take.
A chorus of booing erupted from his housemates at once, making him grow red with anger; how immature. Lily too wore an embarrassed look at it this, her face turning a bright pink, but it wasn't until a fourth year boy from down the table yelled something that things got a bit of a hand.
"Get out of here, murderer!" he hissed. He was reprimanded almost immediately by Scorpius.
"Detention!" he barked down the table, and when the boy began to mouth his indignation, he was cut off.
"Yeah yeah, I know, whine whine whine...take it up with McGonagall, she made me your superior."
"You know, I'll probably end up Prefect next year myself!" the hard-faced boy retorted arrogantly.
"Oh yeah?" Morrison spoke up. "Well Scorpius will probably be Head Boy, so you'll still be taking orders from him! Now shut it!"
The boy folded his arms but went quiet, and things died down at the table immediately. Morrison and Albus then both scooted over in opposite directions, allowing Lily to sit.
"Sorry" she mumbled, not seeming at all like her usual, firm self.
"Don't worry about it" the three of them told her. "What's up?" Albus added.
She tensed up a bit, her body language suggesting that she was extremely uncomfortable with what she was about to say. Her voice was low when she answered him.
"I wanted to talk to you about something."
"Okay" he said, scratching the back of his head in curiosity. Only a second before she started to speak again did he realize what it might be about.
"It's about Hugo and that- that club that he goes to."
"Ah" he said, frowning, and he knew that Morrison and Scorpius had done the same. "I already know about that. It worries me too-"
"He keeps begging me to go" she said sternly.
"What?" Albus asked, appalled. "Why? Since when!"
"Just recently. He keeps telling me that I need how to learn to defend myself and his friends are getting pretty bad with it to and I- I really don't want to go, I spoke to Mirra about it and all and she agrees-but if going once will shut them up-"
"No" Albus said, shaking his head as though he was denying her permission. "Don't do that. If Hugo wants to go off and join WAR and get himself killed-"
Lily gasped, looking horrified.
"I didn't mean that!" Albus said quickly, and it was true. "I just mean- look- I-"
But he faltered there, unable to lie to her. The sad thing was, he could grant her no assurances that he'd be of help. What else was there to do? He wasn't going to be able to change Hugo's mind if his own mother couldn't, and the bigger ordeal here-the mere existence of the Protector's Club-was an even more difficult obstacle to overcome. Interestingly enough, however, he wasn't even sure as to why his sister had come to him. What was she expecting?
"Hey," he started, lowering his face, "just out of curiosity, why are you coming to me with this? Why not one of the Prefects in your house, like Charles Eckley?"
It was not meant to be a go at Eckley; it was a legitimate question. Albus didn't have nearly as much control over the school, nor was he as popular.
"Well..." she squirmed a bit. "I would have, but- you know Donny right?" she changed her sentence in the middle.
"We've met" Albus said plainly.
"Well he and Donny having kind of been having rows about it all year, I don't even think they've been talking like that, and I didn't want to bring it up. Normally I would go to James...but he's not here anymore."
Albus nodded, acknowledging the importance of this last statement. With James gone, the burden of being the older brother fell squarely on his shoulders. And it was a burden that he had no problems accepting, regardless of the fact that he had no real answer to give his younger sister.
"Look, I'll figure something out" he told her, making sure that his determination sounded in his voice. "Just- just don't go. Hold out a bit longer, and give me a few days while I work out a way to stop this nonsense with Hugo. Can you do that for me?"
She nodded.
"Good. And do me a favor" he added. "Whenever the next meeting is announced, fill me in okay? Or pass it along through Mirra or someone..."
She nodded again, and left with a mumbled thanks. He knew that he'd done a very poor job of convincing her though, and Scorpius' comment once she was out of ear-shot didn't help matters.
"You shouldn't have humored her" he said sharply. "Me and you both know you have no options. Even McGonagall told you that the best you could do is ignore it."
"Thanks for the help mate" he said sarcastically.
"You never know" Morrison spoke up. "Maybe Al just isn't thinking of all the possibilities."
Albus gave him a weak smile, but it was hard to even voice agreement with it himself. He was not James; not as physically imposing or as revered. He couldn't just go up to Hugo's friends and bark in their faces, or shake his cousin powerfully and tell him to snap himself out of it.
And he couldn't exactly campaign against the club either. Though he hated admitting it, Scorpius and McGonagall were right. He didn't have enough pull with the students, and if the headmistress spoke out, it would just get the school as a whole in trouble. If only he could get a teacher to do something-their opinions normally affected the students, and as it was just an individual speaking, it wouldn't carry nearly as many repercussions. Who could he ask...
Hagrid was on good terms with many students, but wouldn't be taken seriously. Neville would cater to the Gryffindor crowd, but he wasn't nearly aggressive enough. No, he needed someone that the students respected, and someone who had no problem standing up to WAR. Maybe even someone that the students fancied...
His lips curled into a smile as the answer smacked him in the face. He glanced up at the high table, where the teachers were all clearing out; lunch was over. Albus pushed his own plate away and stood up quickly, scaring Melonie, who was just now returning from the lavatory.
"Is lunch over already-"
But he'd already wordlessly whisked by her, and in an instant he was down in the dungeons, faster than any other student, waiting by the door of the Potions classroom. Only a few moments later, an inquisitive looking Professor Malfoy had arrived.
"Albus" he said, nodding his head. "Can I help you?"
"Can we go into your office?" he asked tensely.
Scorpius' father gave him a bemused look, but tapped his wand to the door and opened it, then extended his arm as if to welcome him in. Albus accepted the invitation, taking his usual seat at his desk while his professor did the same.
"What can I help you with?" he asked immediately.
"It's a long story" Albus breathed, and suddenly, he felt somewhat nervous; could WAR be listening at the door? "But basically it involves the Protector's Club" he continued, realizing that he didn't really care at this point anyway.
"I see" Professor Malfoy said, leaning forward and giving him a steely gaze. "Is this about the conspicuously absent notifications in the Slytherin Common Room?"
"No, but- wait. What?"
"I've been removing them almost as soon as they're put up" his professor said dryly. "It's typically overnight, so no harm done."
"Why have you been doing that?" Albus asked, distracted.
"I thought that much would be obvious" Scorpius' father replied, his oily tone reminiscent of his son's. "Because it's trash" he finished with a shrug.
"You didn't want people going?"
"I don't want the students in my house to be any closer to Wands and Redemption than they have to be, which, due to the tightened security here, is already too much. Sadly, I can do little for other students."
"Have you seen what they do there?" Albus asked, shaking somewhat; finally, someone who he could speak to openly about it.
"No" he replied curtly. "But I can guess. But if you're not asking about the bulletins, then what is this meeting about?"
"I was hoping maybe you could get rid of the club entirely" Albus said dramatically. A tremendous sigh told him that the rest of the conversation was not going to be so optimistic.
"Albus you are marching into a field of politics, and believe me, you want to turn around at once. The Protector's Club is here to stay. If the school speaks out about it-"
"But I'm not talking about the school!" Albus blurted out. "I'm just talking about you. If you spoke out- from your own opinion-"
"I have nothing, not even an eyewitness account. My comments will be disregarded at once."
Now it was Albus' turn to heave a sigh. He knew going in, of course, that he would be headed for another road block, but his desire to make good on his word to Lily pressed him forward.
"So what if I could get a student to say what awful stuff goes on in there?"
"Then maybe there would be something that I could do-"
"But I've seen it!" Albus said, ecstatic. "I can-"
"Can people verify your appearance there?" he asked, and it was such a strange question that he wondered whether or not Professor Malfoy, of all people, was aware of his Invisibility Cloak.
"Well- no, but me being seen there wouldn't be such a good idea-"
"Albus I need you listen to me" he was cut off, but he knew that it wasn't due to disrespect. "People are terrified all throughout the wizarding world now. The build up to this war is nearly as ominous as it was in the days of the Dark Lord, and in some ways even more so. Unlike in those days, the main threat here is not accepting new recruits. If you weren't in with 'Death's Right Hand's' crowd when he started it up, then you are officially in danger now. And things will only get worse...and very soon, too."
For the second time now, Albus was left in wonder as to whether or not there was more to Professor Malfoy's words than he was letting on. Anyone could say that it was bad in the outside world, but he had specifically mentioned something happening soon...just as his Aunt Hermione had. Scorpius' grandfather, Lucius Malfoy, had been a spy two years ago. Just how in contact was Draco Malfoy with the same people?
"What I'm trying to tell you," his professor continued, "is that in these times it will be extremely difficult to convince anyone that WAR is doing something wrong. I would definitely need some sort of proof that their actions were negative on the club members.
"So- so if I could get you someone who could say all the bad stuff that goes on in there, and people saw him there, you could maybe do something about it?"
Albus watched as his professor made a movement of hesitation.
"Professor please," he started desperately, "my cousin is running with that crowd and he's trying to get my sister into it too!"
Scorpius' father nodded. "Get me a witness who can claim to be there...and I will do whatever I can. Though I can't make any promises of the end result."
Albus nodded, smiling. It wasn't much, but it was something to work toward-and something that he could give Lily, at that. Excusing himself pleasantly, he hurried out the door and through the labyrinth again, eventually entering the Slytherin Common Room looking winded.
"Where were you mate?" Morrison asked, stopping mid-move from a game of chess with Melonie, Scorpius half paying attention as he jotted down homework.
"I need a favor from you" he asked at once, and all three of them looked at him expectantly. "I need you to go to a Protector's Club meeting."
"Mate we talked about this-" Morrison started, giving a shifty look over to his girlfriend, who was unaware of the Cloak's existence.
"No, you're not getting it" he cut him off breathlessly. "I don't want you to go with me, I want you to go as a legitimate member."
As he'd hoped, word did reach Albus of the next Protector's Club meeting through Mirra, who had apparently been unaware that he was unable to get the information himself. It was scheduled for the very next Thursday, which, oddly, meant that the school would be quite busy. Those old enough and who had signed up would be able to take their first Apparition lesson on that day.
"I got to admit...I'm pretty excited for it" Morrion said as they all sat around in the Common Room, occupied with various things. "Though I wonder how they'll do it. You can't apparate in or out of the castle, right?"
"They'll take the enchantments off for a short bit" Scorpius commented, his nose in a book.
"That's a bit dangerous isn't it?" Melonie commented from behind her own book. "Anyone can just apparate in..."
Albus silently agreed, but also knew that he was probably missing out on some deeper level of magic involved. And even if there wasn't, they could at least be sure that the randomness of the time prevented any threat from being aware that the castle defences were down. No, he was much more concerned with something else...
"So you remember the plan right?" Albus said to Morrison. "Just go in there, don't bring attention to yourself-"
"But talk to people, as proof I was there" Morrison finished irritably. "I get it."
It had actually not taken much convincing to get Morrison's permission to use him as bait at first, but as they drew closer to the day, he was starting to seem a bit anxious. On the surface, Albus was sure that there was technically nothing to worry about. But Morrison would be the only visible Slytherin in there, and he was known as one of Albus' best friends. Would this draw too much unwanted attention?
"You don't have to do it if you don't want to" Melonie told her boyfriend plainly, and Albus shot her a look. "What?" she threw his way, somewhat confrontationally. "He doesn't."
"It's fine I'll do it" Morrison snapped to nobody in particular, sounding very much as though he'd been accused of cowardice. "I was just commenting that I can't wait to Apparate...damn."
Thursday carried an air of excitement to it not unlike what would be experienced the morning of a Quidditch match. This was only for the sixth years, of course, but it was still easily noticed throughout the castle. Albus' classes seemed to drag on doubly long, with the prospects of both the Apparition lesson and the subsequent Protector's Club meeting weighing on his mind. Defence Against the Dark Arts in particular seemed to go on for longer than usual. It was one of those rare days when Professor Handit had them going over the theory of a new hex-in this case Occuscura, a spell designed to blind the opponent-and the work written down had been both laborious and mentally draining.
The lesson was scheduled for before dinner, meaning that the students didn't have to wait long after their classes to meet in the Great Hall for the lesson. Upon entering with his friends, Albus noticed that tables had been pushed alongside the walls as they usually were for club meetings, though in this particular case, there were also innumerable hoops strewn across the floor in an organized fashion, each one of them roughly five feet away from all of its neighbors in every direction.
"We have to Apparate into those" Scorpius said knowingly as they all surveyed the room. "My dad told me that's what they did in his day anyway."
As if on cue, Albus caught notice of some of the teachers in the Hall. There were only four of them here though, the heads of the four houses. They were all standing against one of the walls, as though to allow space for the students. Professor Flitwick and Neville were chatting with smiles on their faces, Professor Handit was speaking to a student, and Professor Malfoy was standing more to himself, face expressionless.
"You guys excited?" came a voice from next to them, and Albus saw that it was Mirra who had approached him. She gave him a quick kiss before turning to Scorpius, who was answering.
"Not really" he said. "I've side-along Apparated before, it's a pretty uncomfortable feeling. Convenient though..."
"I'm ready for it" Morrison said enthusiastically, slapping his hands together.
"You know the odds of any of us doing it successfully today are slim to none, right?" Melonie piped up from next to him. "It takes a lot of practice."
"Meh" was all that Morrison could muster.
Albus was hoping that this wouldn't be the case with him either. James' constant Apparating was rather annoying, and despite what else was on his mind, he was eager to be able to do it as well. All of the chatter in the hall was stopped abruptly by a loud, unfamiliar voice though.
"Students!" cried a man from the front of the room. He was short and balding, with a wrinkly face and prominent front teeth. His official-looking robes alerted everyone at once that he was from the Ministry. "If I could just have your attention please, all eyes on me-"
The heads of houses went to work at once, sweeping through the large group and organizing them by house. Mirra was whisked away with a small wave by Neville, while Scorpius' father, without comment, directed them on how to stand; each roughly five feet in front of their hoops.
"Yes, yes, very good" the Ministry man said quickly, his hands flying all over the place as he spoke. "My name is Alfred Snapp, and I work at the Ministry of Magic. To be more approximate, I work in the office that involves administering Apparition licenses!" he squealed out. "Now you're all here today because you will soon be old enough to take your Apparition test, and it's never too early to start practicing! But of course, Apparating on your own to start is never safe, hence why the Ministry of Magic is pleased to have provided you with a guide to proper, safe travel by Apparating!"
The class stared at him blankly, but Albus allowed his eyes to wander the Hall. The teachers had returned to their spot by the wall, eyes scanning it as though they were watching for misbehavior. His stomach dropped however, when he saw WAR members on the opposite side of the wall, none of which Albus recognized from the club meetings, but all of which he'd seen around the castle...
"Now I see that most of you are in your appropriate place, standing at a good open space away from each hoop. The rest of you follow suit along now-you there, yes, very good, in front of the hoop-now, a few quick things of note. First and foremost, you all need to understand that Apparition will only be possible within this room, and only for the time being. Do your best to focus on nowhere else...Anti-Apparition enchantments can be tricky business for those who already aren't very adept at it. Next, if you leave here today without having made any progress, do not be deterred! It takes a very large amount of practice to get right; Apparition involves letting loose of the laws you've created for your own body and experiencing something entirely new, after all."
The array of sixth years nodded automatically, but Albus could tell that most, if not all of them, would not accept such a circumstance. Apparition was usually one of the things that young wizards and witches looked forward to most. He knew that no one here today would be content with leaving the Hall no better at it than they'd been the day before.
"And the third thing to understand," Snapp said loudly, "is that there is a definite method to follow, of which will be taught to you now. The number one thing that must be learned before you are ready to Apparate, is the three D's."
Albus again didn't have to decipher what anyone was thinking this time either. Many students had exchanged quizzical glances, though a few seemed more informed. Scorpius, for instance, was already repeatedly muttering something under this breath.
"That's right, the three D's" Snapp said, smiling widely. "Destination, Determination, and Deliberation. You may laugh now...but this mnemonic device is a staple of tutelage when it comes to Apparition! Now, let's try and apply them correctly. Step one is Destination. Where do you want to go? Why, inside the hoop in front of you of course! Focus on that space now, as hard as you can. Let is be the first place in your mind."
Albus did as he was told, allocating all of his focus towards the dusty circle in front of him. It was difficult, however, because if the hoop hadn't been there to identify it, there wasn't much special about that particular part of the floor.
"Step two, Determination. Let occupying this particular space be a necessity for you. Early on, you'll find that Apparition is easier when you have such a strong desire to go somewhere. Over time, you will learn to harness this concentration to help you go anywhere. But for now, you must be determined. Stay focused on your spot. How badly do you want to go there? Be prepared to channel it!"
Albus continued to stare at his spot, concentrating powerfully on it. From the corner of his eyes he saw Scorpius doing the same thing. Morrison had a somewhat relaxed look on his face though, and didn't even appear to be listening all that much; he just seemed like he was eager to actually try it out.
"And last, but certainly not least," Snapp shouted loudly, "is Deliberation! When I give the say-so, turn on the spot, moving with great deliberation into nothingness, your mind still focused on your burning passion to enter your selected destination! One...two...three!"
Albus closed his eyes as he spun on the spot.
Crack!
He opened them, astounded, before realizing that he had felt nothing. The sound had come from somewhere close to him...
He turned to look at Scorpius, sure it had been him, but it wasn't.
"Ha!" shouted Morrison, who was standing in the center of his hoop, shaking slightly. "Did you- did you guys see that!"
"You jumped!" Scorpius said angrily, but Mr. Snapp's comment seemed to indicate otherwise.
"Well done young man!" he said, beaming and pointing. "See here, the rest of you? Do you see what the three D's can accomplish!"
"What the hell are the 'three D's'?" Morrison asked aloud, looking around with a look of genuine confusion on his face.
The teachers all hissed, except for Scorpius' father, whose murderous look made Morrison go quiet at once.
"Let's try again now" Mr. Snapp said. "And remember, don't be deterred if nothing goes your way at first! Just remember to focus on destination, determination, and deliberation...
After a few more tries, Albus knew for sure that being deterred was the only "D" he could properly execute. He wasn't alone though. No one else apart from Morrison had done anything worthy of note, and he could tell that the congregation as a whole was becoming seriously irritated, particularly because Morrison's successful attempt had not exactly been luck. Though he couldn't always do it, at least three more times he was able to Apparate into the hoop.
"Today's lesson is at an end I'm afraid" Mr. Snapp said. "I will see you all again soon enough! Remember, though you will be unable to Apparate, you will always be able to practice in your heads! Don't be afraid to dwell on it a bit, and exercise your minds..."
The entire group of students filed out of the Hall looking disappointed. Albus couldn't help but wonder how this would factor into his plans for later; many people were throwing Morrison looks of resentment as they left, but this at least meant that he'd have a conversation starter in the Protector's Club meeting later. People would definitely be able to vouch for him and say that he was there.
"That's a strange feeling" Morrison said, shaking his head as they all exited the Great Hall. "Apparating. It's like being squeezed into a tube, you know? Well maybe you don't, not yet, but you'll-"
"Yes yes, we get it, you're a prodigy" Melonie said flatly. Scorpius wasn't speaking period. Albus looked behind him to see where his girlfriend was, and saw that she was laughing at something with Eckley. Strangely, this didn't bother him at all. A few clusters of people behind them were Hornsbrook and his pals, including Rose. It was a weird sight, seeing the once tight Gryffindor group split into halves...
The return to the Slytherin Common Room was made agonizing by Morrison's subtle gloating, but he settled down once Melonie forced him to study alongside her. The most recent surge of intensified homework meant that the all but obsolete Apparition lesson had cost them some spare time, forcing all four of them to skip dinner as they did homework, Scorpius' pile suspiciously higher than everyone elses. At a little before eight o' clock, however, Albus closed his books abruptly.
"Ready to do this mate?" he asked Morrison.
His friend cracked his knuckles. "I guess" he said, closing his own book. Melonie gave him a cautious look, but he batted it aside. "I'll be fine Mel, I'm not going to actually participate in anything. I'm just going so I can tell people what's really going on..."
Albus left for his dormitory as they spoke, covering himself once more with his Invisibility Cloak, which he realized now was getting more work than it had in years. He returned to the Common Room and gave Morrison a light tap on the shoulder to indicate that he was ready to go, and then the two of them departed, leaving a very puzzled Melonie behind.
"Aren't you going to wait for Albus?" she asked cluelessly.
"He already left, you didn't see him?" Morrison called back lightly as they left. "Do you reckon we can tell her about the Cloak?" he added in an undertone as the stone wall slid shut behind them.
Albus shrugged, though of course, his friend couldn't see it. "Up to you" he said, though he made his displeasure in the request noticeable in his voice. "But I mean...do you really have to? I thought it was just between us?"
"Doesn't Mirra know?"
"Yeah but she found out..."
They walked a bit slower through the labyrinth, the company of one another hindering what would normally have been a fast pace. When Morrison next spoke, there was a small quiver in his voice.
"So this is just like a meet-and-greet right? Just pop in, say hello to some people, and shut up for the rest of it?"
"That's the plan" Albus admitted, though his stomach sank at the prospect of the alternative scenario.
"The plan where I don't get picked to randomly duel some bloke who I've seen like twice?"
"Basically" Albus admitted shamefully. "I mean...I'm hoping you don't attract too much attention, Larson tends to pick the same people sometimes. But your Apparition stint earlier might have given you some unwanted attention...how did you do that anyway?"
"Just second nature" Morrison blurted out, and he sounded sincere. "You know me, I tend to space out a lot. It was a bit like that, only with less breathing. But anyway, back to this club meeting. If I do get picked...?"
"Then you duel" Albus said, frowning, though once again, this sentiment didn't carry any weight, as his friend couldn't see it. "Which reminds me, they have some special rules there that I think I mentioned before. They don't do countdowns, so always be ready. And try and move a lot, because most people know to go for the legs by now-"
"I can duel mate!" Morrison responded irritably as they headed up the stairs.
Albus went silent. Though it was true that Morrison was not particularly bad with a wand, he wasn't as well fleshed out as someone like Scorpius. With a sinking feeling, he realized the awful risk that he was putting his friend through here. The end certainly justified the means-they'd be a step closer to closing this wretched club if they succeeded-but Albus had seen an abnormally large amount of students whisked away to the Hospital Wing in recent weeks...
He stopped walking abruptly, then made a grab for Morrison's arm, as he hadn't noticed.
"What's up?" he asked.
"You really don't have to do this if you don't want to" Albus said guiltily.
"I'm fine" Morrison said, pulling his arm away nonchalantly. "Seriously, I'm not scared or anything, I'm just kind of preparing...it'll be fine anyway..."
Albus didn't object to his stubbornness, and together they marched through the open doors. The WAR members were already there, including Larson, but they were standing idly and waiting for more arrivals.
"I'll be in the corner" Albus muttered to him from underneath the Cloak. "You go socialize."
"On it" Morrison replied dramatically, and he immediately whisked himself toward a group of fifth year Ravenclaw girls.
Albus stood back and watched from a distance as Morrison paraded himself around the room, though he kept one eye on WAR the entire time as well. Once or twice he thought he saw one of them thron a look Morrison's way, but his nerves calmed when the moment ended without further incident.
Finally, the giant doors closed, and the students who comprised of the Protector's Club assembled themselves in line. Clear among them was Hugo, standing with his friends and looking dignified, and Hornsbrook, looking identical with his own friends further down in the line. Morrison was standing awkwardly in between two Hufflepuff boys, looking extremely out of place.
Larson walked back and forth in front of them as he usually did, his loud footsteps bouncing around the Hall. He spoke in his soft, yet authoritative voice quicker than he usually did.
"Last lesson you learned to function as a team. You learned to cooperate to attain a collective goal, in this particular case, defending someone important. Today we're going to-"
Larson stopped talking abruptly, ending his pace right in front of the spot where Morrison stood. Albus felt his heartbeat quicken. All at once, his body froze up. This was not going to end well. He'd been foolish to put his friend up to this.
"What's your name?" Larson asked Morrison coolly, and at first, Albus couldn't quite see how he'd been spotted so easily. Only now did he realize that the silver and emerald linings on his robes made him stand out, as well as the fact that other people in the line had been throwing him small, distracted looks. It seemed as though those from Slytherin house were not as welcome in the club as others would have liked to claim.
"Uh- M- Morrison Vincent" Morrison stammered out, scratching at the back of his neck loosely and looking intimidated.
"I see" Larson said, his low voice cascading the words out of his mouth loosely. "And tell me Mr. Vincent, have you ever been to one of these club meetings before?"
"Yes!" Morrison lied directly, head turned downwards. "Yes I have" he added pathetically.
"I don't recall seeing you here" Larson said, his voice louder. Everyone else in the line had their heads turned now. Hugo was looking stoic; Hornsbrook was grinning slightly. The WAR members at the other side of the room all had entertained looks on their faces as well.
"I- I usually- I usually stand in the back?" Morrison half said, half asked. Albus cringed from his corner. Morrison either didn't know or had forgotten from Albus' retellings that the students had been lining up since day one; it would have been impossible for someone to be in the back during any of the meetings, unless they had an Invisibility Cloak of course.
"I see" Larson repeated, though Albus knew that everything from here on out was just a predator toying with its food. "And were you here last lesson, Mr. Vincent? Do you recall what we discussed in that one?"
"I missed that one, I was sick" Morrison said at once, still looking down. Only in Morrison' embarrassment did Albus appreciate how good of a liar Scorpius was. Scorpius could lie directly to your face, eye contact and all. Morrison did not possess this innate gift.
"And what about the lesson before that?" Larson asked.
" I missed that one too, on the count of my friend being sick" Morrison said, smiling weakly at his own terrible lie. "I was with him in the Hospital Wing. That- that's how I got sick in the first place. Being near him."
"Mhm" Larson grunted. He then turned his attention to the rest of the line, who all forced their eyes back towards him as well. "It seems to me as though Mr. Vincent is a little behind. I don't think he understands that when someone is in the Protector's Club, they need to be able to demonstrate their abilities. Step forward Mr. Vincent."
Albus started to panic. He knew that he'd have to interfere soon...
"Harrison, get out of line" Larson said, and, surprisingly, a fourth year Ravenclaw emerged. Morrison stepped forward as well, letting loose something that resembled a laugh.
"Okay!" he said excitedly, sizing Harrison up; he was quite tiny, and even looked a little frail.
"Hornsbrook" Larson announced suddenly, and Donovan Hornsbrook stepped out of the line. "You'll be my partner."
Albus gasped. Hornsbrook joined Larson, while the Ravenclaw boy stepped toward Morrison, legs shaking. Morrison began to protest at once.
"Uh- uh exc-excuse me- M- M- Mr. uh- ponytail sir- I think there's been some sort of a- a mistake-"
"Let's give Mr. Vincent the benefit of a countdown, as he's missed so much" Larson said sarcastically, withdrawing his wand.
Albus stepped forward, knowing that the plan was ruined, and that he to do something. From underneath his Cloak he withdrew his wand.
"Three!" Larson said loudly, and Morrison began fumbling around for his own wand. Albus was preparing himself to take off the Cloak to provide a distraction-
"Two!"
A streak of red light flew through somewhere in the room, hitting Larson in the stomach. His wand practically jumped from the tips of his fingers, snatched out of mid-air by a surprised Hornsbrook. Albus, like everyone else, looked around frantically for the source of the spell. His eyes fell upon Professor Malfoy.
"I think I've seen enough here" he said smoothly, and Albus saw that the giant doors had been quietly opened.
Hornsbrook handed Larson back his wand as he got to his feet. The WAR members-who Albus would have expected to have attacked, or made some sort of noise at the least-were watching curiously from a distance.
"Excuse me!" Larson spat, his hair falling out of the sleek, short ponytail. The students were all murmuring now. Morrison rejoined the line looking relieved.
"I said I've seen enough here" Scorpius' father repeated icily. "What was the purpose of that demonstration? You teamed a newcomer up with a fellow student, and then prepared for you yourself-a trained adult-to do combat with him?"
"In the real world you don't get to pick your attackers-" Larson started, but he was cut off.
"In the real world," Professor Malfoy started, walking forward, "these students are here, in this castle, learning defensive magic that has nothing to do with what you're teaching. Only in your own little world should these students be vigilant of an impending attack, despite the safety of the castle. Safety that you apparently provide" he added.
"The Protector's Club is designed to help students for when they leave the school! To face the terrors that await outside these walls!"
Larson looked back at his fellow Renegades after this statement, and they all nodded their heads approvingly, as if this was the proper answer to give.
"Really?" Professor Malfoy asked loudly, his voice sagging with sarcasm. He then pointed to a random fourth year student. "Because that boy there is in his fourth year. He won't be leaving Hogwarts for three more years. Why prepare him? I thought that Warren Waddlesworth was going to end this war quickly, should he be elected? And yet, students are being trained for a battle to take place three years down the road? Does Waddlesworth plan on this confrontation going on for so long?"
"He- no- I don't-"
"Because if he only plans on keeping this war going for years to come," Professor Malfoy said loudly, "then I can only wonder why these student's parents should even bother voting for him!"
Larson looked as though he'd been slapped in the face, and a clatter of vocalization went through the line of students at this point. Albus could see the turmoil on their faces. A professor that they admired was arguing with the man who thus far had taught them all that they knew. If they had equal respect in them both, then the deciding factor would be whose argument made more sense.
Albus smirked at this. Everything that his professor was saying, as well as the way that he said it, was perfect. Larson had no chance arguing against a man who had an entire lineage of sneaky, cunning Slytherins to boast about.
"Th- these students- it isn't just about the war outside!" Larson spat, a vein bulging in his head. Albus had never seen him anywhere close to where he was now. "These students need to be taught proper defence! You would deny them that?"
The line of students murmured once more; it was though they were watching a political debate. And, of course, Professor Malfoy's rebuttal was flawless.
"You speak as though they don't have a proper Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. I, for one, think that Hugh Handit is a wonderful teacher. Do you agree students?" he asked, turning to them all and directing his question, strategically, towards Hufflepuffs. The entire line murmured in approval.
Professor Malfoy turned back to a furious Larson. "They seem to like Professor Handit. Why don't you?"
"I- I- I never said-"
"Why do you think that Professor Handit is such a bad instructor?"
Larson was breathing heavily now, and Albus could only laugh silently, still under the Cloak, at how his words were being twisted and thrown in his face.
"I didn't say that!" he blurted out, and then he turned to the students looking ravenous, his teeth bared. "New lesson!" he spat. "Last week we learned how to identify allies! Now, we learn to identify enemies!"
He lunged at Professor Malfoy, causing several of the students to yell and back away. Albus knew at once what Larson was desperately trying to do; he was trying to rip at Scorpius' father's sleeve, trying to reveal to the students the withered Dark Mark that would reveal just whose side their professor was on-
"No!" Albus yelled, once again going to discard the Cloak. But no one heard him amidst the other yells, and a quick flash of blue light revealed Larson to be on the floor, Professor Malfoy untouched.
The other WAR members all ran up to the scene, some of them reaching down to check on their ally. Albus wondered why they weren't attacking, but then realized that they too could do little now. They could hardly just attack a well-liked professor, after all.
Larson was sputtering on the ground when Scorpius' father turned to the entire group of students, who were no longer in an orderly fashion.
"Let that be a lesson" he said. "To respect other people's personal space. And you lot," he added, turning briefly to the other WAR members, "what kind of cooperation was that? Standing back and watching, looking like helpless oafs. If you were any slower you'd all be going backwards."
They all threw him a malicious stare, but it was ignored when Professor Malfoy turned back to the students, all of whom were looking astonished at what had just transpired.
"You're all welcome to continue taking part in this club. But I'll be checking in regularly. As for today's meeting...I think you all have learned enough. Dismissed."
They all filed out in groups, talking in powerful whispers and moving right by Larson and the other WAR members without a second glance. Knowing that he'd have to thank his professor in private later, Albus nudged a smiling Morrison sneakily as they left the Hall. He took a final look behind him at the scene, and saw a few familiar faces marching by just a few feet away. Hornsbrook was looking irate. Hugo's mouth was hanging wide open, as though he had a lot of thinking to do.