Parts (53-55)

III

Chapter 14

The Final Search

Part 1: Chasing Hope

"We definitely need to get cracking on finding the Shadow professor, its nearly the end of the school year so they're running out of time if they want to attack before the summer," Scorpius told Michael the next morning at breakfast, they and Maurice were the only ones of their friends up already or at least the only Gryffindors as Orous and Vern were always up early too, "Did you still want to help, Maurice?"

"Yes," Maurice said slowly.

"Well since you apologized to Orous, you can. When do you have Florian next before lunch?"

"Today but I have it again on Thursday, how about we do it then?"

"Why not today?" Michael asked.

"You can't just spring it on me in the morning that in a few hours we'll be finding out if Florian is a Shadow, are you even prepared?"

"Alright," Scorpius agreed, he did need to make sure they were ready and Michael didn't have a free period like he did as he had Arithmancy, "Thursday's better anyway. We have Potions before lunch but Defense Against the Dark Arts before lunch on Thursday, that's closer."

History of Magic was not the best way to start off after Easter, although he thought it did Charms - which his Second Year friends had first - at least. After that he had the free time then Potions, where Vipera lectured them about the importance of Third Year exams and got them revising. After lunch they had Florian, he was more casual about the exams but then he would be and had them revising spells as a competition to who could remember - and pull - off the most got a piece of candy. It made more sense even, now that he knew a bit more about Florian from Varanian. As a private tutor who never went to Hogwarts, exams wouldn't have been a major issue and his apparently younger than forties age accounted for his more fun lessons. After that was Defense Against the Dark Arts where Professor Ashain started them on a very interesting subject.

"Today we are going to starting on werewolves again in more detail," Professor Ashain announced, his mood did seem to have improved since Christmas much to Scorpius' relief.

"Why does it have to be werewolves?" Michael groaned and buried his face in his arms as the professor continued his lecture.

Mostly he was talking about things Scorpius had already learned from Varanian, such as werewolves not being effected by most spells such as the Body-Bind Curse or stunners, or even spells to confuse them. Or that they'd covered before, such as how the only way to stop someone bitten from turning to a werewolf would be to cut off the bitten area before it could spread, they also needed their bite cured once reverting back to a human. They turned as soon as the infection spread enough, which was a few minutes at most but needed the bite treated once day came or it would kill them. Which was why most bitten muggles died, although muggle bites were rare as they favored wizard blood. Michael didn't take take notes, just looked anxious.

The next Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson was the Patronus one - Scorpius still could cast neither a talking Patronus nor multiple Patronuses, much to his frustration - but the one after continued the werewolf learning curve. It was Thursday before lunch ironically, he and Michael were all set to dash down to meet Maurice as he stayed behind to talk to Florian. Scorpius hadn't meant to be as caught up in the lesson as he was though, Professor Ashain was teaching them techniques to defend against a werewolf.

"They may be immune to most spells but they still could be effected by things," Professor Ashain explained, "Explosive spells can effect them but that's a little advanced for you, the Cruciatus and Killing Curse both do but obviously we're not practicing that, the Shield Charm we spend ages on will also protect you from them. It will throw them back but destroys the shield so you still need something to get away. I'm only going to spend one lesson on this because its not really part of the curriculum but it is Defense Against the Dark Arts and with all the werewolf attacks this year, I want to spend some time on defense and we'll sacrifice the Patronus lesson next week to keep up as you have very important exams. I know everyone goes on about this but really, in two months time you'll have taken them already.

"I'm focusing on two spells today, one of which you already know and one you don't. Levitation is the first one, it may seem an odd choice but using it to move an object in front of you can work as a longer lasting shield and a moving one to get away. Or alternatively, you could hurt the werewolf like a levitated knife to the eye may scare them off if they're blind or a large rock to knock them out, when we look at the anatomy of werewolves next lesson, I'll point out the best place to hit. The second is a new spell that conjures a loud, high-pitched sound until you extinguish it much like Nox with Lumos. This is painful for us but a lot worse to werewolves, their hearing - and other senses - in their werewolf form is better than as human. It is difficult to listen to, which is why we'll be using earmuffs this lesson but its worse for the werewolves. At least, it'll disorient them to give you a chance to get away or at most, it'll scare them off. The incantation is Praea and the wand movement is like this."

The lesson was spent working on the two spells, Praea wasn't too difficult to master - for the rest of the class too - but painful on his ears even with earmuffs. Scorpius dreaded to think what it was like without. And practicing levitation, doing it faster, more controlled - hitting targets, as well as lifting heavier things. Scorpius thought it was good lesson, he hoped they'd stop the attack before it happened but the more knowledge he had to fight them the better still. After that, they slipped away from the others by citing a need for the toilet and to meet them in the Great Hall in a few minutes.

Michael had the cloak ready in his book bag and potions in readiness, Scorpius felt his hear his heart beating with anticipation rather than fear, excited at the prospect of finally finding the Shadow professor and ending it all as they hurried to get to the Transfiguration classroom. They could hear Maurice talking about fears over the exams to Florian as they got there, Michael threw the cloak over himself and Scorpius waited for his cue. The plan was for Maurice to distract Florian with his worries, Michael slipped in under the cloak to poison Florian's drink and tapped Scorpius when he got back out so Scorpius could go get Maurice to leave. Then they just waited for Florian to pass out, Scorpius tested his wand then Maurice gave him the antidote and they left.

"Okay, go time," Michael's voice whispered out of thin air after a minute and Scorpius sprang into action, approaching the door open and knocking politely as he went in.

"Hi," Scorpius greeted the pair, Maurice and Florian were alone with Florian leaning against his desk talking to Maurice standing in front of him, Florian was idly stirring a cup of tea with a free hand behind to the side, "Sorry, professor, I was just wondering if Maurice is ready to come to lunch yet?"

"If he's done here," Florian confirmed with a smile, "You'll do fine, Maurice, really. Practically and theoretically, you're well on your way to passing your Transfiguration exams. With flying colors I'd bet. And you too, Scorpius."

"Thanks," Maurice commented with a nod, "I feel a lot better now."

"I'm glad. Enjoy your lunch."

They said goodbye and started to leave, Scorpius noticed the professor going to sip his tea while they were turning and he heard Florian hit the ground before they'd reached the door. Michael threw the cloak off himself and joined them as they approached the now unconscious Florian, Scorpius picked up the wand and laid it on the desk. Both hoping desperately for and against Florian's innocence, for because they'd finally know the traitor and against because he did quite like Florian. He cast the spell and... Florian's wand didn't glow. Scorpius tried again a few times to make sure, like he had with Grant and Rivers. Like with Grant and Rivers, it still didn't work. Florian's wand was not corrupted. Not a Shadow. Or at least not until they ruled out the others and had to think of something else since the Shadow didn't have a corrupted wand, which was a concern of his. For now though, one down.

It was one of the best days of his life. Calderon did revive Bob - who was still stunned - so he could watch Flynn while they went to London to find Diagon Alley. They actually went by car, although Calderon gave them money for gas money as he explained he'd arrived by teleporting - apparation, he called it - but admitted he wasn't very good so didn't want to risk them as it would ruin his birthday. He gave directions though and told them all about Hogwarts, magic and the Wizarding World. It all sounded so unbelievable but at the same time Michael couldn't help but hang off every word, as did Crystal. Maybe they were just desperate.

Calderon took them to a pub called 'The Leaky Cauldron', the name amused the wizard for some reason and he had to point it out to Crystal before she could notice it, apparently muggles couldn't see it unless it was pointed out to them by someone magical. It seemed an ordinary looking pub, quaint and maybe a bit old-fashioned but normal except for the patrons, who were all dressed in odd robes. Calderon took them out the back to tap the bricks though, there was a particular pattern to remember and you were supposed to use a wand - although Calderon didn't, he pointed out he wasn't 'usual' - or ask the Landlady if they forgot, her husband was apparently one of the Hogwarts professors as well.

Diagon Alley itself was amazing, there was so much to look at that Michael wished he had several extra eyes or heads to see it all at once. It was incredible, an entire world hidden in plain sight and he'd just never noticed it before. They went to the wizard bank to exchange muggle money for wizard money, he saw Goblins for the first time and was slightly horrified to learn that werewolves were also amongst the supernatural that was real but there was too much else for it to dampen his mood. Calderon helped them get everything and even carried everything - or hovered it in there air with his lights of magic - although Michael was starting to feel a little guilty for Crystal spending so much on him. He didn't get a pet since it was optional and extra money, he still had fun admiring the beautiful owls up close as he'd never seen one up close before.

His wand was the last thing to get, Michael had almost forgotten he'd needed one as Calderon seemed able to do everything with a gesture of his hands - although he was quick to point out he wasn't 'usual' - which Michael thought was fair. Calderon was certainly eccentric, even by wizard standards apparently, but Michael still thought he was pretty likable and cool. The wands were apparently bought at Ollivander's, which wasn't bustling like the rest of the street and empty except for a middle-aged man with silvery eyes that shone in the gloom. Calderon stood well back at the door with his arms folded and gestured for them to approach the man who introduced himself as Mr Ollivander, asked him to hold out his wand arm - the dominant arm apparently, which was his left - and got out a measuring tape that started randomly measuring Michael, explaining about the three major wand cores used in Ollivander wands and the importance of wands.

"Not going to come over and see this?" Crystal asked of Calderon who laughed his odd shrill laugh nervously.

"No, I'm good back here. Wands tend to explode if I touch them," Calderon explained as the measuring tape stopped and Michael felt a tad anxious, which Calderon seemed to notice as he hastily added, "That's not usual though, it won't happen to you."

"Yeah, he's just... yeah," Mr Ollivander agreed with a nod as he retrieved a box from one of the shelves, they were rather like shoe boxes stacked in stores only much smaller, "So let's try a oak, unicorn tail hair core, ten and three quarter inches. Try this one, just give it a wave."

He opened the lid and held out the box to Michael, nestled in the velvet was a wand. A few hours ago he would have thought it was just an oddly decorative stick but this was something special, magical. He picked it up and went to give it a wave but it was plucked out of his and almost immediately.

"No. Absolutely no," Mr Ollivander said firmly as he put it down and went to retrieve another, "The wand chooses the wizard, you see so it can take a couple of tries. This might do, Dragon heartstring, holly, ten inches."

Michael went to wave that one too but it was snatched away again. And again. And again. And again. Over and over, he picked up a wand only to have it taken away. Apparently he was as unpopular with wands as he was in school and he wasn't even joking, there'd been there a few hours. Not that Michael was really sure what was supposed to happen when a wand did like you. Crystal had sat down on the chair tiredly and Calderon leaned against the wall lazily, his dark eyes dancing with curiosity though.

Michael was feeling extremely anxious that Calderon had made a mistake, maybe he wasn't a wizard and he could see Mr Ollivander was getting frustrated as well despite reassurances that it was alright. Mr Ollivander didn't bother putting away the wands and boxes after trying them either, the graveyard of wands and their boxes was rather large and disconcerting. There was a whoosh sound after awhile and they were joined by an elderly man from a side room, even his wrinkles had wrinkles and his hair was the definition of wispy, he had the same silvery eyes as Mr Ollivander.

"Grandfather, what are you doing here?" Mr Ollivander questioned in surprise at the old man's presence.

"Well, Giles, you were supposed to have lunch with me and you're three hours late so I came to see what was keeping you," Mr Ollivander's grandfather stated before his eyes darted between then and the wands, he smiled, "Ah, a tricky customer. I love those."

"Well have at it," Giles - Michael was going to think of him as such so he could think of the grandfather as Mr Ollivander without confusion - sighed and gestured for the old man to go ahead, the silver eyes lit up as if it was Christmas.

"So what have we tried so far," Mr Ollivander mused as he looked at the discarded ones then back to Michael, he took out a wand that he also snatched away from Michael. And again. And again. Michael was really starting to feel embarrassed, Calderon had definitely made a mistake and brought him here when he wasn't a wizard, "Hmm... I have a feeling about you, my boy. I'm going to do something an Ollivander hasn't done in a few generations, crack open the old vault of wands left over from our ancestors, unusual combinations and odd qualities that never found a home. Not a literal vault mind."

"Are... Are you sure that I'm just not magic?" Michael wondered worriedly and the old man gave him a kind smile.

"No, I'm quite certain. These ones are the oldest we have, they belonged to my ancestor from the middle ages, Geraint Ollivander. He either crafted them himself or had them left over from generations further back, you'll most likely own the oldest wand in Hogwarts which is an achievement in itself."

Mr Ollivander then shuffled back from where he'd came, returning with a box much larger than the wand boxes and placing it carefully on the table. Michael wasn't expecting anything to happen, he thought he'd try more wands and have them snatched away. As soon as Mr Ollivander opened the lid though, a wand far longer than the others he'd tried flew from the box and into his left hand, glowing immediately. Michael felt a surge of warmth, of energy, of something that could only be described of power as there was a blinding flash of white light but at the same time it didn't harm his eyes or make him so much as flinch away.

The light faded away, as did the glow from the wand, he heard Calderon whoop with delight. Michael managed a small smile as he studied the wand, such a pale wood it was almost white, both the wand and handle, it seemed less... polished than the others. Rougher. Michael was short for a ten year old so the long wand probably looked out of place but it certainly didn't feel out of place in his hand.

"Perfect," Mr Ollivander breathed as he looked over the wand in his hand, "The wand does choose the wizard. Fifteen inches, Dittany Stalk core and Cypress wood which is an unusual combination."

"How so?" Michael wondered curiously as he studied his new wand.

"Dittany Stalk used to be commonly used by Healers or those with a strong affinity for healing magic, dittany is a fairly rare plant though so use of it as a core died off in favor of using it for healing potions moreso. Geraint claimed he was always honored to sell a wand of cypress wood because he was meeting a great witch or wizard who would die a heroic death. While noble in their goals, healers are not often fighters so its an odd combination. Cypress wood is for those of great valor, those who are brave, those who aren't afraid to confront the shadows in others as well as themselves, those are self-sacrificing. You have a good heart, my boy."

The first week ended and May began. Scorpius had been wanting to get a plan down to test Dunbrooke but it turned out to be more difficult than he'd thought, May was the last month before the month of exams so the teachers were really piling on the pressure. And piling on the homework. Lots and lots of homework, studying, revision, Third Year exams were apparently a lot more important than the Second Year, which in turn had supposedly been a lot more important than the First Year. He and Michael also still had Quidditch practice on top of that as the last two matches of the year were in May, Hufflepuff versus Slytherin in a fortnight and their match against Ravenclaw the fortnight after that, the final Hogsmeade trip was a week after that and exams a fortnight after that. It wasn't a lot of weeks if you thought about it.

Scorpius just did the best he could to juggle schoolwork, Quidditch and Shadow worrying since Michael seemed to have lost all interest. Michael was acting rather odd in fact, he did seem more withdrawn as if something was bothering him and was spending more time than ever studying with Mirra. How Mirra had time for Michael was beyond him, he knew Molly was exceedingly stressed from prefect duty, exams, career advice and Quidditch captaining them. Practices were intense but they'd have to be, by all accounts, Ravenclaw were very good. Despite the downsides, Scorpius liked being busy. It kept his mind of his soon-to-be-dead unborn baby sister, or brother, but he thought it'd be a girl. Like Lyra. And die. Like Lyra. He tried keep it off his mind and keep the picture of her well buried inside his trunk.

On Sunday though, he finally had the chance to get his plan and his friends together to get to Dunbrooke, who was now the most likely candidate for being a Shadow. Abby and Corin were spending some time alone together as a couple, Molly was on prefect duty, Rose was with her boyfriend, Vern and Orous were at the Hufflepuff Quidditch practice, Albus had opted to nap instead of studying so they were in a secluded corner of the Library alone to discuss their plans.

Maurice would go to talk to him about extra lessons to improve his broomstick flying ability, he'd make it into a long chat if Dunbrooke didn't have a drink to get him thirsty. Scorpius caused a distraction, giving Michael a chance to slip the potion into his drink while under the invisibility cloak. Then it was just waiting for Dunbrooke to drop, they check his wand and leave Maurice to give him the antidote. With any luck they'd finally have the culprit. If not, there was Oring, Kresmir and Koray to go through. Professor Koray was the Astronomy professor so it was easy to stay after his class to test him, Kresmir had two last of the day lessons they could stay for and Scorpius had the perfect idea to get to Oring. Ask him about the policy on muggles - specifically muggle parents... or step-parents - abusing wizard children, which he was genuinely curious about. They were going to do it next Sunday, a week later since the Quidditch match was on Saturday.

"Hey," Calderon approached them, he looked frail enough that a gust of wind could fell him if it tried. Exhaustion was engraved into his face and his skin looked tinged unhealthily gray.

"Maybe you should rest?" Scorpius pointed out worriedly, jumping up to stupidly offer Calderon his chair. The assistant's smile was so weak and so fleeting that Scorpius barely recognized or saw it. He hated seeing Calderon so ill.

"Doesn't help but if it makes you feel better I will when this is over with. I actually came here to see you, Michael. The Headmistress needs to talk to you."

"Am I in trouble?" Michael asked worriedly.

"No. Just come on."

"No," Michael said looking panicked, "This is what happened to Vern, is my mother okay? My family?"

"McGonagall will-"

"I don't want her to explain! Tell me. Tell me they're not dead!" Michael interrupted with a look of terror, tears shook beneath his eyes and Calderon held up his hands desperately.

"No, no, they're not dead," Calderon explained and sighed as he ran his hand through his hair, "Last night was a full moon though... they were attacked. No one was bitten but there's injures and just please come on."

"Alright."

Part 2: Fears For All

The rest of summer couldn't go by fast enough, Michael couldn't wait to go to Hogwarts and couldn't believe he was actually looking forward to starting school. He poured over his new magical books every day, everything was so fascinating and he was desperate to start learning it all. And maybe... maybe he could even make some friends and finally fit in somewhere. Crystal and his sisters were almost as excited as he was, Bob was still freaked out but agreed to let him go on the condition he wasn't allowed contact with them all year. That was the only downside, it was the only way Bob would allow it though and Crystal was desperate for him to go. Micheal was too, although he was starting to feel guilty for leaving her alone with Bob even if she did point out she worked three jobs so didn't see that much of him anyway.

He hadn't been so excited for his birthday in awhile and certainly not because the day after was September 1st, he turned eleven and Crystal twenty-seven, not that he saw her until the night. Bob decided to beat him eleven times to celebrate and encourage him to not go to Hogwarts, Michael was more sore but more determined to get away after every time. A year free from pain was something he was looking forward to, he just needed to hold on. He couldn't sleep that night, he unpacked everything just to pack it again to make sure he had everything to kill the time and made sure none of his bruises were visible. Bob wasn't up but that wasn't unusual, sometimes he didn't get up until the afternoon because he was too hungover. Ruth came over to watch the little ones so he and Crystal could pack up the car and head off.

It was an odd bittersweet journey. They were nervous about the platform but trusted Calderon to not lead them wrong, sure enough the crossed and were rewarded by the sight of the scarlet Hogwarts Express. Crystal helped him get his stuff onto the train before leaving, she had to get back for work. She hugged him so tight and whispered for him to stay safe, then she was gone. The last time he'd see her until the end of June the following year, Michael was on his own. The search for a compartment began, the first one he tried only had two boys in it and they were maybe just a bit older than him, one was... plump and the other skinny with untidy black hair and freckles.

"Can... Can I sit here?" Michael asked nervously as the skinny boy studied him.

"Sorry, pretty boy, we don't let firsties sit with us," the skinny boy explained with a grin to his friend, "Right, Carve?"

"Yeah, this is the cool compartment and you'd kill the awesomeness, shorty," the fat one agreed and bumped fists with the skinny one, "Plus we're waiting on our other friends and you could make the evil house."

Michael left them to it, searching the train instead for empty compartments or ones with only one person. This proved to be difficult, most people seemed to be clumped in groups already, even those who looked his own age. Finally he found one with only one person, a boy who looked a bit older than him, twelve or thirteen maybe. It was hard to tell as his skin was completely covered in scars of nasty looking pockmarks on both his face and hands, his hair jet black was almost shoulder length but very greasy and matted with dirt. He was wearing old ripped jeans with holes, sneakers that were falling apart with different laces, odd socks, a stained white t-shirt beneath an open plaid shirt that was too big for the boy. All his clothes looked dirty. He was sitting by the window with one leg stretched out to the opposite seat and the other bent to give him a surface to rest his sketchbook on, he was drawing something and didn't look up when Michael entered.

"Um... Hey, can I sit here?" Michael asked politely, the boy flicked his eyes to him briefly before shrugging.

"If you really want to," the boy agreed as he went back to his drawing and Michael sat down on the seat opposite as close to the window as he could with the boy's foot on the seat, "What are you, by the way?"

"What am I?"

"Muggle or magical family or a combo."

"Does it matter?"

"To some people but not to me. Just trying to gauge how new this is to you, from a muggle family where everything is new and exciting or a magical family where everything is still exciting but not as surprising."

"Muggle family," Michael admitted and the boy nodded, still focusing on his drawing.

"Thought so. The novelty will wear off soon enough, kids are still kids, teachers are still teachers, just with magic. Welcome to the Wizarding World."

"What are you?"

"Half-blood. Worst of both worlds," the boy explained with a derisive snort as the train started moving, he still didn't look up from his drawing but he seemed to notice the train leaving, "And now only a gazillion hours to go. Hope you like long boring train trips."

Scorpius waited but Michael didn't come back, he wasn't at lunch either but Headmistress McGonagall was which Scorpius took to mean that they were done talking to Michael and he was just upset. Maurice told the others about what had happened with Calderon in the Library when they asked about Michael.

"Do you think Crystal's okay?!" Albus gasped in shock, somehow managing to nearly choke on his fork.

"No idea," Maurice shrugged.

"Wait, do you think she's going to be all scarred now or still so beautiful I think she must be an angel?"

"Did I not just say I had no idea like a second ago? You've been with me the entire second so how will I have come across any new information?" Maurice wondered with heavy sarcasm, "And also, I'm so glad your alleged love is skin deep."

"I didn't say it would change how I feel about her," Albus protested, "I just asked if she was. And how bad? Like her face, body, did she lose any limbs?"

"You're weird," Abby offered dismissively.

"I am not! Have you not met Crystal?! She is the love of my life and the most beautiful woman on this Earth-"

"How can you know that if you haven't met every woman on this Earth?" Maurice interrupted.

"Quiet you!" Albus snapped before going back to his dreamy voice, "Crystal is so perfect, her skin looks so flawless and soft, I bet when she touches you its softer than silk and gentler than a summer breeze. Her eyes are so dazzling like sunlight dancing off... something that's hazel, her hair is as fine as freshly cut grass... I bet her lips taste like heaven."

"Your poetry sucks," Rose snorted with repressed laughter, "And also, you're the only one of us here who hasn't had their first kiss yet so you shouldn't be talking about it."

"Michael hasn't."

"Michael's not here."

"Maurice hasn't."

"Maurice is in the year below us so he doesn't count."

"And I'm never having a first kiss, it looks disgusting. You realize spit comes from your mouths right?" Maurice spoke up, "Spit is disgusting. And the entire concept of lip to lip contact is just strange and gross."

"You're strange and gross," Rose complained with a roll of her eyes.

"That's your counter argument? That's pretty weak, lazy and makes absolutely no sense."

"It makes perfect sense, maybe if you were as intelligent as me then you would understand."

"No, maybe if I was as stupid as you then I'd understand. After all, I'm top of all my classes and hmm... what class are you best at, again?"

"Quiet you! There's nothing wrong with being second best," Rose huffed and Maurice gave her a cold smirk as if he enjoyed the argument.

"Yes there is, you see because one is higher ranking number than two."

"I know that bloody numbers are!"

"I'm proud of you, Rose," Maurice told her in a patronizing tone as Rose grunted in frustration, Abby and Corin had started their own conversation and were giggling to themselves.

"I was up late last night studying so forgive me for being off my game and all your arguments and protest is invalid anyway, as soon as you hit puberty then you'll sing a different tune."

"Was that a jab at my deafness? You know I've never heard singing or sang."

"It's an expression!"

"Look, I'm going to go check on Michael," Scorpius announced, not wanting to sit there listening to their bickering or to Abby and Corin giggling when Michael could be upset, "I'll catch up with you guys later."

Scorpius left the Great Hall to head back upstairs, quite sure that Michael was probably either in the Room That Doesn't Exist or back in the dormitory. He tried the Room That Doesn't Exist first since it was closer but Michael wasn't there, he headed back to Gryffindor Tower instead. Just as he'd thought, Michael was indeed in the dormitory. Lying on his front with his head buried into his pillow as he cried.

"Hey," Scorpius greeted him unsurely and Michael wiped his eyes as he jerked his arm towards the door for Scorpius to go, "Come on, you know I can't just leave you while you're upset."

"Y-You have my p-permission, please g-g-go!" Michael snapped through his sobs but Scorpius didn't leave, he sighed.

"How did it go? Did anyone...?"

"N-No one's d-dead. Yet. Cr-Crystal was hurt the w-worst be-because s-she tried to pro-protect ev-everyone else b-but she has a b-bad heart so sh-she really shouldn't!" Michael cried as he sat up, "A-All the l-little ones w-were hurt, ev-even b-baby Bertie an-and Bob but he was hurt the l-least because he j-just h-hid and cowered p-pathetically. F-Fucking b-bastard d-d-didn't even try to protect his f-family."

"It'll be okay," Scorpius offered, trying to sound comforting as Michael buried his eyes in his hands, "I'm sure they'll pull through despite Bob's best efforts. Was it a Shadow werewolf attack or just a random one?"

"Th-They don't know, there was n-no Shadow symbol. It's all m-my fault."

"How is it your fault?" Scorpius questioned in confusion as he sat down beside Michael who moved his hands away and wiped his streaming eyes again, looking momentarily puzzled.

"I d-don't know because I'm the wi-wizard," Michael pointed out and his puzzlement faded, "Bob's going to fr-freak anyway, h-he'll bl-blame me. M-Maybe break my wr-wrist again."

"Not if we tell someone about him so they can protect you," Scorpius told him again, he'd already suspected it but he still felt a flare of anger to hear it admitted. He hoped Bob died from unexpected complications with whatever injuries he had and he hope that he was in pain, Bob deserved to be in pain.

"I told you, no!"

"Stop protecting him, Michael! Bob's a bad person, a horrifically sick and bad per - he doesn't even deserve to be called a person!"

"F-Fine, Scorpius!" Michael announced as he stood, his voice cracking from his tears, "Y-You win! Y-You c-can t-tell anyone you want ab-about B-Bob af-after my f-family is al-already d-dead b-because th-then it r-really won't matter!"

"Michael," Scorpius protested as his friend headed for the exit and Scorpius had to race after him, stepping in front of him to stop him, "Look, I'm sorry. I just came here to make sure you were okay and I didn't mean to start a fight, I'm sorry. Bob's heart of pure evil is not the topic at hand here but for another day definitely. They'll be alright, Michael, really. If the werewolf had wanted to kill them then they'd be dead, they're alive so they have a really good chance of recovering. Correct me if I'm wrong but they're in St Mungo's, they're getting proper treatment for the werewolf wounds and are in a protected magical place which is the best place for them. You know this. Just stay positive and don't let this stuff get to you."

"I'm scared, Scorpius," Michael whispered, "I've never been this scared before in my life. Scared for my family, scared for my friends, scared for the school, scared for you, scared for myself... It's not a good thing to feel. Why does it have to be freakin' werewolves?"

"I don't know but it'll be okay. I promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep. Jack always promised to be there but he lied. Crystal always promised to leave Bob but she lied. Bob always promised he'd never hit me again but he lied. So don't promise if you don't mean it."

"I do mean it, I promise it'll be okay."

After that there was a long period of silently watching the landscape go by, a few people came by early on and seemed to be looking for somewhere to sit. They left after a look at the boy though, one girl even saying aloud she'd rather stand in the corridor than sit beside a hideous freak. The boy's face betrayed nothing but his pencil tip snapped off as she said it, Michael got the impression he'd heard.

So... What's Hogwarts like?" Michael asked eventually, he was nervous about initiating conversation with the boy who seemed focused on his drawing and Michael didn't really want to bother him. He was bored though and he did want to make friends for once, the boy flicked his reddish-brown eyes to Michael at being addressed before going back to his drawing, "I mean, do you like it?"

"No," the boy stated bluntly, "Not even slightly."

"Okay," Michael said slowly when the boy didn't elaborate, "So which house is the evil one? Someone mentioned it."

"It depends on who said that to you, there's still a lot of bad blood between Slytherins and Gryffindors. Probably because everyone in them two are the biggest dicks in the school, if you're lucky you'll not be in either one. Ravenclaws are stuck up too but they're not so in our face about it, Hufflepuffs are more passive aggressive."

"Which one are you?"

"Gryffindor," the boy stated neutrally and Michael blinked in surprise as he'd just insulted that house.

Another long period of silence followed. An elderly woman also came around with a trolley of sweets, Michael hadn't thought to bring wizard money - or any money with him for that matter - with him, it wasn't like he had any anyway. The boy withdrew some coins but didn't have enough for the Chocolate Frog he'd wanted so he ushered the woman away, Michael would have given him the extra if he'd had it.

"So do you like to draw?" Michael asked after finally managing to work up the courage to speak again, it was dark by now, the boy spared him another glance but continued with his artwork.

"I guess," the boy shrugged.

"I like art. What are you drawing?"

"An open fire with dismembered rotting corpses as the fuel for the flames with a small child trapped in the cauldron above it, the cauldron is melting and so is the boy, melting and burning because no one gives a shit."

"Very... interesting," Michael offered cautiously before the train came to a stop, the boy looked up properly for the first time with a look of surprise as he peered out the window, "Are we here? I don't see a station."

"No, its too soon. We shouldn't be stopping now, something must be wrong."

"Like what?"

"I don't know, this is new to me too," the boy admitted before they saw a strange burst of red light, the crimson shifting into a disturbing skeletal snake that coiled around itself with its head in the center, opening the fanged mouth and sticking out the forked tongue, "What the fuck?"

It only got more disturbing though as the image started to fade, instead letters started to form. As if the sky had been cut open and blood oozed out, dripping into a sentence: Beware the coming of the son. Michael bit his tongue to ask the boy for an explanation but the boy seemed as shocked as he was, he was tempted to go out and see what was going on but he didn't know if there was anyone to ask. After a few minutes the train started up again, the boy still seemed concerned and packed away his sketchbook and pencil to sit the rest of the journey in quiet contemplation. They took it in turns to change when the boy said they were getting close, Michael was glad when they did finally get there and started filing out the train.

"Just go towards that guy, Hagrid," the boy told him as the stepped out onto the platform in the cold night, jerking his head in the direction of a giant of a man who was talking to a man with extremely dark auburn hair, "He'll start calling for First Years in a minute anyway. He'll take you from there, kid."

"Thanks," Michael offered genuinely as the older boy turned to leave, "And my name's Michael by the way. Michael Sanford. I didn't catch yours."

"Tobias Latimer," the boy said hesitantly before continuing away, "Good luck."

Scorpius' plan to check Dunbrooke was put on hold by the attack on Michael's family, he channelled most of his energy into worrying about Michael instead of the Shadows. Michael was naturally more withdrawn although gradually seemed to improve as his family's wellbeing improved, Michael never said a word about being worried but Scorpius knew it was on his mind.

That weekend was the Hufflepuff versus Slytherin Quidditch match, they gathered in the stands to watch Vern play and the results were surprising. Kyle replacing Nick as Keeper was the dumbest thing he'd ever done - in Quidditch anyway - and Hufflepuff were raking in the points, the Slytherin Chasers were doing a fair job but Vern was doing an even better job of keeping them away. Predictably, Kyle caught the Snitch as he was admittedly much more talented than the Hufflepuff Seeker but the final score was a tie. Hufflepuff had managed to score 150 points without the Snitch and Slytherin only had the 150 points from catching the Snitch, a tie. Scorpius was pleased, he'd much rather Hufflepuff had won but it was better than a loss. Which was much more likely than a win considering how bad the Hufflepuff Seeker was, it also reminded him of something.

"Hey Orous," Scorpius said as they started making their way back to Hogwarts, a rare smile on the albino's face, "I've been meaning to ask you something, what position for Quidditch are you playing next year?"

"Oh," Orous muttered nervously, losing his smile as he bit his lip, "Please don't be mad.

"Why would I be mad?"

"Because my... my position is Seeker."

Scorpius was surprised by this revelation for some reason but certainly not mad, it would certainly make for a very interesting match with Hufflepuff next year. He found himself looking forward to it which made him feel really fired up for the final match against Ravenclaw in a fortnight, that was another match he was looking forward to. Still nervous about wanting to win for his girlfriend - he loved being able to think that word and Molly's name in the same sentence - but looking forward to it.

The next two weeks passed quickly, it was hard for time not to fly when so much of it was sapped by studying for the exams. Rose was hounding them all to try hard as well - possibly because of Maurice's jibes at her - which didn't help, it was stressing Abby, Corin and even Vern out. Albus was just annoyed, Orous completely indifferent, Scorpius and Michael both had other things on their mind - plus he thought they were on top of it - and Maurice... well Maurice just didn't need to worry about it.

It was Monday morning when Scorpius and Michael were walking to breakfast - Albus was dragging his heels again - when they ran into a still severely ill looking Calderon, leaning against a wall to support his body from the torturous cough that seemed to threaten to tear his body in half. Scorpius' heart twisted painfully to see him so weak, he was gaunt to the point of skeletal now, his skin tinged gray and the shadows were pitch beneath his eyes. It had been too long since he'd seem Calderon walking cheerfully down the corridor in a flurry of lights and music, it was too much.

"You can't go on like this," Scorpius protested when the coughing fit was over, Calderon glanced at him weakly and remained leaning against the wall as his body trembled, "Go to Marigold."

"He's doing everything he can," Calderon rasped, his voice gone from the coughing as he turned over to lean back against the wall, his legs still shaking as if threatening to give way, "Nothing helps though. He doesn't know why."

"Let's get you back to your room. I'll catch up with you later, Michael."

Michael left with a concerned expression and Scorpius supported Calderon back to his room. The assistant kicked off his shoes and practically collapsed onto the couch, curling onto his side as he shivered. Abruptly he snapped his fingers, a bucket appeared and Calderon leaned over to throw up. or tried to anyway, he mustn't have had a lot in his stomach because there wasn't much coming back out. Scorpius went over to him anyway and rubbed his shoulder like his mother or father had used to comfort him when he was ill, saying soothing things as he did so. He must have borrowed too heavily though because after a minute, Calderon tried to laugh.

"Did... Did you just call me Scorpius?" Calderon asked him, trying to sound amused but his body refused to let him, he managed a weak smile though.

"Sorry," Scorpius admitted as he blushed with embarrassment, Calderon's vomiting fit seemed to have passed although his cousin still clutched at his stomach as he shivered, "Are you alright?"

"Think I'm going to bed. I swear, I was having a good day before trying to eat breakfast."

"Go back to Marigold and tell him that," Scorpius insisted as Calderon stood on shaky legs to go clean himself up in the bathroom, he had to wait for the assistant to return before getting a reply.

"It wouldn't make a difference. He knows and he can't do anything," Calderon explained as he crawled into his bed, still fully clothed and Scorpius walked over to him, the assistant's eyes had already closed, "Thanks for helping me, you really didn't need to do that, you have better things to do. You can go now."

"Calderon, this isn't right. And did you just get into bed fully clothed? It's almost summer, its hot."

"Well I completely disagree, I'm freezing. It's so cold."

"Go to St Mungo's, I'm sure Marigold would think it a good idea."

"He does," Calderon admitted, "He and Minerva are banging on at me to go."

"Then why don't you?!" Scorpius snapped more forcefully than he intended as Calderon's eyes flicked open, "Do you just like being ill?!"

"No. I hate it. I can't go to St Mungo's because of the brand that Rabastan gave me last year of the Shadows symbol, they'd find out and everyone would think I'm a Shadow."

"I'm sure if you explained it was against your will, you have people to back it up-"

"No, Scor, no," Calderon breathed as he closed his eyes again tightly, "I don't want to go to Azkaban with the Dementors. I hate Dementors. Not Dementors. Please not Dementors."

"Calderon, Azkaban doesn't use Dementors anymore. And Azkaban was destroyed anyway so it certainly doesn't matter what they used to defend it anyway."

"I know but... I don't want to go back to Azkaban. Not with the Dementors. Please don't make me, I'll be good. Don't let the Dementors get me."

"Calderon, this is serious. You shouldn't be ill like this," Scorpius told him gently, "Cald- Marius, please get help. Before its too late. Please, for me."

"I..." Calderon started to say as he flicked open his eyes once more, looking guilty as he sighed, "How about this, if I'm not improving by my birthday then... then I'll see them. If you still really want to. How about that? Is that fair?"

"Alright," Scorpius sighed with a nod as Calderon closed his eyes once more, "I hope you get better."

"I hope so too."

Despite his fearsome appearance, Michael thought Hagrid was nice enough although no explanation was given for the reason the train had stopped or the symbol or message. Hagrid led them away from the older students, down a steep path to the edge of a great lake where they climbed into boats on a late, Michael had never been on a boat before so it was quite exciting for him. He ended up in a boat with an enthusiastic boy named Kenelm Knight and two girls who seemed to know each other as they spoke amongst themselves, not interested in him of Kenelm who talked excessively and happily. Michael took in the scene, the magnificent castle that he would call home for the rest of the year overlooking them and reflected in the black mirror they crossed.

He looked away to study the others in boats, the people who'd be his classmates and housemates. Just regular looking kids really, except they were all magical. He hoped at least one of them would be his friend. A beautiful redheaded girl caught his eye, on the boat with Hagrid and some others. His attention was drawn next to a boy with unusual white-blonde hair, in time to see the others slam themselves violently into the side of boat which made it rock so much it caught the boy off-guard and he fell into the water. Michael's first instinct was to help him when the boy didn't resurface, everyone was gasping and looking now. Michael was about to jump in but Kenelm pulled him back.

"Are you mad?!" one of the girls demanded.

"It's alrigh' everyone! Don' panic, the squid will help him back up," Hagrid called to them, "Any second now..."

A few more minutes passed and Michael was really starting to be concerned for the boy's life, were they really just going to do nothing but sit and wait as someone drowned?! Finally, Hagrid pointed to a far shore where a giant squid had emerged to lay down a figure that might've been the boy. Hagrid promised to come back for him and they continued on. Michael really didn't like that, it didn't sit well with him to leave someone behind. The poor boy must be terrified. He was still bothered by it as they reached the castle, too anxious to really pay attention to the castle or where they were going or what was being said. Something about houses and they were led into a large hall, with four tables full of students and one at the end, horizontally with adults seated at it. What if something happened to the boy while he was out there all alone in the night? What if he was suffering from hypothermia? Cold shock? Oxygen deprivation? Water inhalation? They should not have just left him out there. Michael felt the guilt gnawing at him painfully, he also thought he heard singing.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" a voice boomed and Michael jolted in shock, seeing it was a hat who'd spoken from atop a girl's head, she was sitting on a stool now in front of them and rushed off to a table that was applauding.

"What's happening?" Michael asked to no one in particular as the elderly woman called a name from a list in her hand

"Weren't you listening?" a boy near him complained.

"No."

"When she calls you name, you go sit on the stool with the hat on your head and it will call your house and you go join that table. Try pay more attention, you imbecile."

Michael couldn't help but feel oddly bothered by the insult, so much for not being a loser. He was worse than that though, he'd just done nothing while they'd left a boy to potentially die. He was a horrible person. He did try pay more attention as the names as it would be pretty humiliating to not notice his name being called, although they seemed to be going alphabetically. The boy who'd called him an imbecile turned out to be called 'Copper, Devin' and was put in Ravenclaw quite quickly. The next person he recognized wasn't until they got to Kenelm Knight, the boy from the boat, who got put in Slytherin after a minute and both of the girls from the boat got Hufflepuff almost immediately.

He didn't know her but after 'Longbottom, Abigaia' was put in Gryffindor, one of the men at the staff table whooped with delight as he jumped up and clapped fiercely. The grumpy looking man in the ornate chair snapped at him to shut up and sit down, he had red curly hair and cold eyes. The happy man obeyed but didn't lose his smile as he clapped for the girl. When 'Malfoy, Scorpius' was called, no one came up and the man he'd seen talking to Hagrid at the platform looked very concerned, this was apparently the boy who'd been thrown into the lake. Who was potentially dead. 'Nott, Maximus' turned out to be the name of the boy who'd knocked him on purpose, he got Slytherin too. Michael also didn't know him but 'Potter, Albus' got a tremendous amount of applause when he was sorted into Gryffindor and the boy with untidy black hair and freckles actually stood to clap so hard. Both he, his fat friend and Tobias Latimer were all in Gryffindor actually. There was more people who Michael didn't know, getting closer to 'S' and still no sign of 'Malfoy, Scorpius'.

"Sanford, Michael!" the elderly woman finally called and Michael anxious approached the stool, not sure what he was expecting from a talking hat as it was plopped onto his head.

"A nice easy one," a voice cooed in his mind, "Can I just say, you're the kind of person that Godric would've been honored to have in his house. Heart of lion, you have."

"Doubt it," Michael muttered miserably as the guilt over the drowning boy continued to gnaw at him.

"No, don't doubt it, my boy. You're heart is very pure, decent, good... actually you wouldn't have made a bad Hufflepuff. Believe in yourself, don't let your past and that monster's abuse take that away from you. You can be great."

"You... You know about Bob?!" Michal whispered in panic, the hat chuckled... the talking hat could also chuckle?

"Of course I know, I am the Hogwarts Sorting Hat! Don't worry though, your secret is unfortunately safe with me. For now though, I have to say: GRYFFINDOR!"

Part 3: The Hunt for the Shadow

Michael was worried about Calderon after seeing how bad he was in the corridor, Scorpius describing what had happened after only made him worry more. It was only a month and a half until the end of the school year, the Shadows had to make their move on the school before then. If the Shadows wanted Calderon weak then they definitely wanted the opposite, on top of generally not wanting Calderon to be poisoned. Michael had to do a bad thing. Steal.

He felt horrible about it, especially as Vipera had been so good to him and allowed him to make specific potions in their extra sessions if he requested it. The problem was, he couldn't. He'd researched potions that caused the effects on Calderon and thought he had found the antidote, however when he'd tried to request to make it the previous Sunday, his mind had blanked. Apparently the Shadow professor had also thought to cover that, the spell was torturous. He really needed to stop the Shadows though, Greyback's capture or demise was the only way he could protect anyone he cared about.

It was surprisingly easy really, Albus let him borrow the cloak whenever he wanted to get back from his Room That Doesn't Exist as he had to study extra for his extra subjects. Not that he'd actually been doing that recently, half the times he lied about meeting Mirra and instead met with Nick to practice the counter spell. It was a difficult spell. Vipera was definitely dating Florian, he knew it was kind of creepy to spy on them with the map but he needed to know when Vipera was away from her office. Every other night she stayed there alone but on the nights in between, she was with him either in her office or his. Hers seemed to be more popular but the first night had been in his, however he hadn't been planning it then and hadn't gotten the cloak off Albus yet. It was Friday before they went to Florian's office, leaving hers empty.

He waited until everyone else was asleep, he couldn't tell Scorpius because of the stupid spell or even Nick as it was too specific so he had to go alone. He threw the cloak over himself and left to avoid the Common Room stragglers, one of whom was Molly, pouring over text books and gnawing at her fingernails. Michael left them to it as he continued away, down into the dungeons invisible to the ghosts and portraits he passed.

"Alohomora," Michael whispered at the potions door. Nothing happened, "C'mon it works for Scorpius, Alohomora."

It took a few more attempts but the door did finally unlock, he crossed the empty room and unlocked the store cupboard with much more ease. He only took the exact amount he'd need, cursing himself inside and hating how much he was reminded of being a thief's son. He put everything back in place that he didn't take, locking both doors behind him before leaving with his cache. He went straight for the Room That Doesn't Exist to work on it, it was more complicated a potion than he'd worked on before and he was up all night on it. In the morning he was tired - he was usually tired these days - but had a successful antidote. Or at least he thought he did. Now he just had to give it to Calderon, maybe put in a drink to give to him to get well... what had he been thinking about?

"Son of a bitch!" Michael snapped at the room and buried his head in his hands. Well he did have an antidote, he just couldn't give it to Calderon. Whoever invented that memory spell was pure evil.

Michael continued to worry about the missing boy even after his sorting, which he wasn't sure he'd been put in the right house as he didn't the hat hadn't described him very well. The pretty redhead 'Weasley, Rose' also got Gryffindor and was one of the last few sorted. The man in the center chair stood up and addressed them, Michael was shocked to see his curly red hair was suddenly long and gray, he also had a beard. He introduced himself as Headmaster Varanian and explained the strange incident was just a prank and technical issues, Michael didn't quite believe this for some reason but he had more pressing things on his mind.

He couldn't dig into the delicious food out of anxiety about the boy they'd possibly left to die, he was flooded with relief. The boy 'Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy' also joined in Gryffindor, he wasn't eating anything though which concerned Michael. He should probably eat something after his ordeal, it also felt wrong to eat when Malfoy wasn't as he knew what it was like to watch other people - Bob mostly - eat while he was allowed nothing. He tried to be friendly to the poor boy and was happy when Malfoy actually ate, not just because he was starving himself. Helping out Malfoy was the least he could do after not doing anything while he drowned, he doubted Malfoy would ever want to be friends with him after that but he still wanted to help.

Hogwarts continued to amaze him and magic was incredible, even though he sucked at it and wished he could do better but he did discover that Latimer wasn't completely wrong. Magic still had bullies, Maximus Nott and his friends then James Potter - who he realized was the first boy he'd met on the train, him and Carver - and his friends for defending Scorpius. And he would keep defending him, it was stupid to pick on him just because his family had done bad things, he wasn't his family and it was unfair. He'd also been wrong about a year without pain, instead of beatings he had a strange symbol being engraved into his chest magically by their maniac headmaster. He was devastated at first but he got over it, it was foolish to have thought he could have a year without suffering. Life was like that, there was always a price to pay for good times. For the first time in his life, he had friends and that was something worthwhile, he wanted his friends to be respected.

His lessons were fascinating even if he struggled, Quidditch was awesome and he loved flying but he found it hard to go slow or stop. He was reminded of the time he'd been to the carnival with Annie and wished he could fly, he wondered what she'd think of everything. He hoped she'd think it was good because he thought she was a witch. He did miss his family but luckily he had so much on his mind that he couldn't worry so much. He did discover some magical things that hurt though, coughing up fire was agony but it wasn't until later that year he felt the Cruciatus Curse for the first time. And then later, after he was put in detentions by Varanian for making him face his fear with the boggart. Varanian used the curse on him every single time for the entire session, Varanian told him he was mudblood who deserved it. He didn't tell Scorpius about that though. He didn't tell anyone in fact. He didn't want to talk about it.

Michael thought it was a rough year but then, what year wasn't? Life was just one thing after another that they had to fight through, only now he had to friends on with too. And magic. Crystal was less pleased, she nearly cried when she insisted on seeing the scarred rune on his chest. Michael in turn discovered he had a new baby brother, Crystal had got pregnant in September after he left who'd been born in the May. On the bright side, it meant that Bob hadn't laid a hand on her but on the downside... it showed how long he'd been gone, how little contact he'd had to not have been there for the entire pregnancy. Bob wasn't happy. It was like a year of being unable to have a target had made him determined to brutalize Michael as much as possible.

"You're not going back to that school!" Bob raged in July, "Stop wasting your time on a crappy friendship bracelet, no one wants to be friends with you because you're a fucking freak, Sanford! You hear me?!"

"I'm going back to Hogwarts," Michael insisted as he finished tying it together, it wasn't like he had money to spend on something better and at the very least it'd give his beloved owl, Soara, some exercise to deliver it, "I already got you that beer you wanted so just leave me alone."

"That's it, huh? You think you're better than us now because you're a wizard."

"No."

"Yes you do! Fuckin' ungrateful brat, I allow you to live under my roof when I should have thrown you out into the night and this is the thanks I get?!"

"That doesn't even make any sense," Michael pointed out as he pocketed the bracelet, baby Bertie started crying from upstairs as he'd apparently woken from his afternoon nap, "I'll go get him fed."

"Bring me my hammer first, Sanford!"

"Why?"

"Don't fucking question me!"

Michael sighed and hurriedly went out to get it from the cupboard beneath the stairs, he crossed the room to hand it to Bob before starting to go to the stairs to get to Bertie's room. Agnes and Ivy now shared so Flynn and Bertie could share, there wasn't enough rooms for them to have one each. The toddlers were all out with Ruth so it was just him, Bob and baby Bertie since Crystal was in work. He was surprised though when Bob followed him, he turned to ask why and Bob struck him so hard he was knocked over onto the stairs.

"Need your wrist to cast spells, don't you?" Bob sneered as he climbed on top of him.

Michael felt his heart smash into his chest fearfully as Bob raised the hammer, he brought his knee up desperately to clobber Bob's family jewels and tried to crawl away which was awkward when they were on the stairs. Bob howled in angry pain and slammed his fist down into Michael's face unforgivingly, shifting his position to pin Michael's right arm down with his knee and pin his left hand down with hand. His other knee was digging heavily on Michael's already bruised chest to pin him, making it hurt to breath from the weight of Bob's body, Michael struggled vainly as Bob raised the hammer. Tears seeped from Michael's eyes.

"Please don't, please don't, not my wrist," Michael begged but Bob remained red-faced with fury as he brought the hammer down, Michael squeezed shut his eyes to not see, "No!" Michael screamed.

Scorpius still worried about Calderon during the week, he tried to visit the assistant again. Calderon was too weak for chess usually though, he seemed to just want to sleep as he was tired. He continued to look exhausted though, what kind of illness caused that anyway? He was tempted to go ask Marigold himself. He was already going to be a brother to another sister who'd die, he didn't want to lose his cousin too.

"What do you think?" Scorpius asked of Michael that Saturday, "That could be wrong with Calderon, you're good with medical stuff."

"No idea," Michael stated bluntly and sighed as he rubbed his eyes, Michael looked tired too, "We really need to get the Shadow professor."

"I know. I'm just worried about Calderon."

"We should think of an excuse to see Oring today, we have Koray on Monday for Astronomy, Kresmir on Wednesday for Runes, we should get them out of the way, get Maurice to help us do Dunbrooke next Sunday then see where we stand."

"How does that help Calderon?"

"We're running out of time," Michael hissed desperately, "We have just over a month until the year ends, the Shadows have to make a move before then. Don't you think the best way to help Calderon is to focus on something else?"

"No, I think that's like the opposite of the best way to help him. What is with you?"

"Nothing. Everything. Who knows?" Michael sighed as he stirred his cereal aimlessly round.

"Fine. We'll do that," Scorpius agreed, he didn't want to not find the Shadow. He just didn't like Michael changing the subject so forcefully when he was trying to worry, "I have an excuse to see Oring, we'll do it as soon as he has something to drink."

And they did. They waited under the cloak in the Muggle Studies classroom, watching as Oring marked papers and hummed happily to himself. After what felt like forever, he made himself a cup of tea and the pair left under the cloak to make their move. Scorpius came out, leaving it on Michael so he could poison the cup as he went back in with his excuse to speak to Oring.

"Hello, Professor Oring?" Scorpius greeted the balding man politely, Oring looked up in surprise, "I was wondering if I could talk to you about something?"

"Err... sure, I'm always happy to help," Oring told him and gestured for him to take a seat on the other side of his desk, "What can I do for you then, young Mr... Mr... erm... I'm sorry, I don't recall your name, you're not in my class or my house."

"Scorpius Malfoy," Scorpius explained as he sat.

"So what can I do you for then, Mr Malfoy?" Oring asked him pleasantly as he sipped his cup of tea before slumping unconscious, knocking the poisoned tea over the floor.

"Knock yourself out," Michael's voice came from nowhere and Scorpius quickly searched the man for his wand before testing it, again getting no reaction. He tried a few more times just to make sure but he still got nothing, he replaced the wand carefully.

"His wand's clean," Scorpius pointed out but Michael said nothing or maybe he had just left already unhelpfully. Scorpius took out the vial of antidote and poured a small amount down the man's throat uncertainly, he didn't usually do the antidote. Oring coughed as he came to, Scorpius pocketed the vial quickly, "Professor, are you alright? You just... passed out? I was about to get Marigold."

"Hmm? I... I think I'm alright. That was... odd," Oring wondered in surprise as he sat up and rubbed his eyes, cleaning up the mess, "I think I might I see Marigold actually. When we're done here of course, what was it that you wanted, Mr Malfoy?"

"I wanted to ask you something about muggles since you're the expert. About muggles who commit crimes against magical people."

"Didn't you ask something like this at the Taster last year? I think I remember."

"This is a different question or more specific," Scorpius explained hastily and nervously, "What happens if a muggle is abusing a wizard child? Would the Ministry help with something like that or is that something that's more trouble than its worth?"

"As I think I said, they'd be arrested and tried in a magical court to be sent to a prison specifically for muggles who commit crimes against witches or wizards. That sort of thing is taken very seriously, steps would definitely be taken to protect the parent. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious," Scorpius shrugged as he stood, "Thank you, I hope you feel better."

Jack knew he really had to stop getting put in jail, it gave him time to reflect and in doing so made him realize that he'd spent more time in jail than he had out since Michael was born. And that was kind of sad. He was rotting away in a tiny cell with a six foot eight man who smelled of fish instead of being free and being with his son, was he really that much better a father than his own? When he got out, he was going to try again. Really, really try and not get upset over things and slip back again. Michael was the only worthwhile thing in his life and it scared him to think Michael would nearly be in high school by the time he got out. Or actually in high school, he was really terrible with dates.

He didn't stop drinking though, he'd take it one thing at a time. First thing though was Michael. He needed to wait until he could get his motorcycle back out of storage in August but then he rode to see him, hoping the sensation of speeding through the world would wipe away his hangover. How he'd missed that feeling. He reached dumbass Bob's house that morning, unfortunately early and knocked on the door. Michael opened the door, looking shocked to see him although Jack thought that Michael hadn't aged a bit. The only obvious change was his wrist was in a cast and he looked like he'd been in a fight.

"Hi Jack," Michael greeted him and Jack fought the twinge of hurt he still felt, would it really kill Michael to call him 'dad'? Just once.

"What happened to you?" Jack wondered.

"Fell down the stairs," Michael admitted and jerked his head at the steep steps, kids toys were littered around, "Slipped on a stupid toy, as you can see the little ones need to learn put things away."

"Who is it?" Crystal's voice asked and she appeared a moment later behind their son, "Hi Jack."

"What's new?" Jack questioned brightly with a smile, she was looking as beautiful as he remembered. Not that he loved her anymore. He was over her. Completely. He was.

"A lot... You should actually hear this. Come inside."

"You're going to tell him?" Michael wondered in surprise.

"Calderon said it was okay to tell family."

"Tell me what?" Jack questioned curiously.

And she told him everything about Michael being a wizard and magic, showing him Michael's Hogwarts things, the letters and his wand. Jack thought it was the strangest thing he'd ever heard but it was an elaborate trick otherwise, Crystal and Michael were not the kind of people who'd do that. Jack also thought it was the coolest thing he'd ever heard, he lapped up the story about Diagon Alley and volunteered to take Michael there for his Hogwarts things. He really needed more money but who cared? Magic was real, it was worth whatever little he had to see it although Michael wasn't half as enthusiastic but then Michael could be a real stick in the mud sometimes. Jack wished he was a wizard. He was proud of Michael for being one though. So proud.

They stuck to their plans, got Maurice to agree to help with Dunbrooke the next Sunday - Saturday was the last Quidditch match - and stocked back up on potion that Michael made in his Sunday session with Vipera the following day. Scorpius pretended to forget his quill so they had an excuse to go back, Michael going back to help him much to the disinterest of thier friends.

Michael threw the cloak over himself as they went back, Professor Koray was actually drinking wine when he returned. Scorpius did the same thing as Michael, pretending to be concerned about the exams before the professor nodded off. His wand was also things clean. They had Professor Kresmir last thing on the Wednesday so they did the same again, same story to get away from Rose and same line of questioning. His wand was also clean. Scorpius was starting to wonder if the wand testing wouldn't pay off after all.

Rose decided to badger him with questions about the quality of his memory recently and lecture him about things that effected your memory, Scorpius made a mental note to not pretend to forget things around her ever again. The week was also marked by vigorous training from Molly, they were out on the pitch every day leading up to the match. Michael's nerves hadn't improved and he lost his dinner the night before the match again, also refusing to eat on the morning of.

"Good luck, friends of Rose," Rose's boyfriend offered as they headed out of the Great Hall to get to the pitch.

"Great. Now I have the urge to throw up again," Michael muttered under his breath as they headed out.

It was a scorching hot day, Scorpius actually felt overdressed in his Quidditch robes. He gave Molly a good luck kiss and before he knew it, they were up in the air. He had strict instructions to not catch the Snitch until they were a hundred points up ideally or fifty if that was proving to be too difficult. Despite his concerns, Michael was back to his full strength - in fact, you couldn't even tell his arm was scarred in the Quidditch uniform with gloves - and the Gryffindor Chasers were on fire. The intense training had paid off, they were wiping the floor with the Ravenclaw Keeper and he was actually quite adequate. Michael was a blur and the Quaffle bounced between him, Latimer and Caitlin like a pinball before slamming straight through the hoops, time after time after time.

After an hour, Scorpius even thought he saw a hint of a smile on Latimer's usually intensely focused pockmarked face after he scored for the third time, Caitlin had scored twice and Michael seven. The Gryffindor crowd were going wild, Ravenclaw had managed to score twice only by using a tactic - after Pentakel called for them to do it - of throwing wide between the two furtherest hoops to make it impossible for Molly to cross the distance fast enough. He could see her frustration but he thought they were doing brilliantly and he'd actually never seen James so driven, he'd been tasked with stopping Pentakel getting the Snitch and he seemed to love every second of it. He frequently actually hit a Bludger at Pentakel just for glancing in a different direction as the Snitch was being particularly elusive on such a nice day, finally he even hit Pentakel when the Ravenclaw was already swerving to dodge the other Bludger, catching Pentakel's elbow in a way that looked painful. James laughed.

"Is this your first time using a big boy broom?!" James taunted at him as he flew past, "Learn to fly, loser!"

"I really have no idea what I ever did to him," Pentakel sighed as he rubbed his newly misshapen elbow, Scorpius couldn't help but notice the trickle of darkness appearing at the Ravenclaw's elbow through the fabric, "Since Second Year, its like he's made it his mission in life to destroy me."

"I think he does that," Scorpius admitted but Pentakel still seemed concerned by it, that or his elbow as the trickle was quickly becoming a dark stain.

He opened his mouth to say he shouldn't let James get to him when he noticed the Snitch, hovering at the center of pitch just above the ground. Pentakel saw it too and they dived in such perfect unison that you'd have thought it was practiced, pushing their brooms faster and faster, the wind whipping them at the speed. Scorpius stretched out his arm and Pentakel went to the same before crying out at the pain it apparently caused, Scorpius snatched the Snitch out of the air unchallenged. Actually feeling bad that Pentakel hadn't really had a fair chance, he was nursing his injured elbow to his chest as they landed.

"Good game," Pentakel offered with a weak smile as the others started landing too.

"I think your elbow might be broken," Michael pointed out before being drowned out by the cheers.

It took a moment for Scorpius to grasp why, they'd just won. Won by enough points to put them as the victors, Gryffindor retained possession of the Quidditch Cup. He grinned at his victory for Molly as he caught his eye, sharing his smile as Headmistress McGonagall came over to present the cup. Ravenclaw trudging off in defeat and Pentakel to get his elbow treated, Scorpius tried not to scowl. He'd much rather have preferred to win on his merit, rather than because James had injured the competition. He was glad to win but it didn't feel as much of a victory as it had last year.

Scorpius didn't attend the party in the Common Room as usual, his thoughts already onto the following day's task of checking Dunbrooke's wand while Michael just collapsed into bed. The three of them headed off between lunch and breakfast to see Dunbrooke, the girls with their boyfriends, Albus having another lie in and they'd simply not spoken to the two Hufflepuffs yet. He and Michael had the cloak over themselves, peering in to see Dunbrooke drinking from a flash already. Scorpius came out from under the cloak to gesture for Maurice to go, waiting outside until it was done.

"Excuse me, Sir, I was wondering if I could talk to you?" Maurice's voice stated as he entered Dunbrooke's office and left Scorpius' sight.

"Sure, what can I do for you?" Dunbrooke's voice asked.

"I'm concerned about my flying ability, it was my worst subject last year and I worry that I'm not very good at it. Can you help me? I wanted to try out for the team next year."

"Absolutely!" Dunbrooke exclaimed sounding delighted, "I'm very happy you came to me, always a delight when a student puts so much thought into this subject and I'm happy to help anyone who is willing to learn. Come to the First Year's Flying lesson after your classes on Wednesday, I can set you up with some things then to do to improve in the class. I always think Flying should last more than one year of Hogwarts. How does that sound to you?"

"Great," Maurice commented and there was a thud.

"Okay, Scorpius," Michael called and Scorpius entered to see Dunbrooke had passed out and spilled an open flask, "He never closes the lid."

"I can't believe I'm going to have to keep taking Flying lessons now," Maurice grumbled as Scorpius searched for Dunbrooke's wand, finding it and laying it on the table in readiness.

"Well at least you agreed to it at the end of the year rather than the start of the year," Michael pointed out as Scorpius cast the spell.

"Fair point," Maurice admitted while Scorpius gasped.

Dunbrooke's wand was glowing. It was corrupted. He was the Shadow.