After the misadventure in the greenhouse, Scorpius joined Albus on the Quidditch pitch where he found his friend practicing with bat and bludger.
"I thought you were going out for the seeker position," Scorpius called to him. Albus turned about on his broomstick and smiled at his friend's arrival.
"How were the plants?" he asked with a smirk.
"Utterly fascinating," Scorpius replied sarcastically, "Let's play!"
It was a good day for practicing. The air had a slight chill, but the sun was warm. The leaves were multi-colored and stood out magnificently against the bright, blue sky and it's equally blue reflection on the lake in the distance. They had the pitch to themselves for quite some time, but shortly after lunchtime, they were restricted to one side as a group of Hufflepuff first years were practicing their flying on the other side edge. The boys were enjoying themselves immensely. The cool autumn breeze was sweet on their faces as the raced and lunged after the snitch on their broomsticks. They were feeling so good they'd almost forgotten the tryouts were looming ahead of them the following day.
Suddenly, a commotion broke out amongst the Hufflepuffs on the other side of the pitch and Albus and Scorpius stayed their broomsticks to watch them curiously. It was hard to hear from across the pitch but it looked as though the first years were urging Sarah Vineyard to mount her broomstick. Sarah had her hands over her ears and was crying hysterically while a boy tried to get her to take the broomstick from him. He pried her hand open and stuck the handle inside. Sarah shrieked in fear and threw the broomstick to the ground. Then she tore across the field and disappeared behind the stands. Albus and Scoprius could hear one of the Hufflepuff girls calling after her across the pitch.
"What a mental case!" Scorpius exclaimed.
"Why are they after her like that, anyway?" Albus asked, "What's it to them if she won't ride a broom?"
"They're losing house points, is why," explained a voice from below them. They looked down to find Freddy's freckled face staring back up at them, a worn-looking school broom slung over his shoulder.
"How do you know?" Scoprius asked him. Freddy rolled his eyes.
"Because, we have flying lessons with Hufflepuff. That Sarah Vineyard won't as much as touch a broomstick, no matter what Madam Hooch says. She's fed up with her and she says that Sarah is insubordinate. So until she makes an attempt to ride, Hufflepuff loses ten points a day!"
Scorpius whistled in disbelief. "Ten points! That's awfully harsh! I mean any fool could see that girl is pretty loose in the head! She probably can't even help it!" Albus had to agree with Scorpius. Madam Hooch's punishment seemed incredibly unfair, especially to the other Hufflepuffs. On the other hand, their harassing Sarah didn't seem to be getting the job done either.
"Say, what are you doing out here?" Freddy asked them.
"We're practicing for Quidditch, obviously," Albus informed his cousin, "Our tryouts are tomorrow."
"Well, you're going to have the clear off," said Freddy, "Gryffindor has the pitch reserved now." He gestured towards the stands where the Gryffindor players and fans were assembling, including James and Freddy's brothers.
"You are not going out for your team?" Scorpius asked incredulously as he and Albus landed beside Freddy, "You know they never pick first years!"
"Uncle Harry played his first year," Freddy protested, but then he sighed and added, "But I can't very well tryout on this disaster of a broom!" He indicated the dilapidated school broomstick.
"I'm just here to watch the team," he explained disappointedly.
"Well, since we can't practice here," Albus suggested cheerfully, "Why don't we go over by Hagrid's? I'll let you ride my broomstick." Freddy nodded eagerly.
"You come too?" Albus invited Scorpius, but he shook his head. He'd promised Rose that he'd tell the headmistress about the altercation in the greenhouse before dinner, but he didn't want to do it when Albus was with him, just in case the matter of his major slip of the tongue came up.
"Thanks, but I've got something to do," he begged off. Albus looked curious but waved good-bye as he and his younger cousin headed off toward the gamekeeper's hut.
Scorpius strolled over to the base of one of the stands, where the Quidditch equipment was still laying out. He sat on the second step and began untying his safety pads when he was distracted by a soft whimpering sound beneath him. He bent over and peered into the dark nook beneath the stairs and beheld Sarah Vineyard, curled up in a ball and crying pitifully.
"What's wrong with you, Sarah Vineyard?" Scorpius asked her.
"I don't want to fly!" she moaned between sniffles.
"Why not? Flying is great!" Sarah shook her head vigorously and buried her face in her knees.
"Are you scared?" he asked. She nodded pitifully and sniffed again.
"And my housemates are being so mean to me!" Scorpius tried to reason with her.
"Well, everyone has to try things that scare them every now and then." Sarah wailed loudly and Scorpius quickly switched tactics.
"Have you ever flown before you came to school?" She shook her head.
"Didn't your parents ever take you for a ride on their broomsticks before?" She shook her head again.
"Well, for pity's sake! That's why you're so scared!" he declared in a disapproving tone, as if this lack in Sarah's upbringing constituted woeful parental neglect. Sarah sniffed again.
"Say, Vineyard. I've been riding a broomstick since I was six years old. And those Weasleys…" He pointed to the rampageous band of red-heads that had taken over the Quidditch pitch, "Why, they were all practically born on a broomstick. So, it isn't your fault if you aren't the best flyer in your class, if you've never had a chance to try it before." Sarah widened her brown, watery eyes. She seemed to be warming up to Scorpius. He continued.
"Most witches and wizards start off riding on a broomstick with their parents or with someone else. Then they get to see how easy it is and they aren't scared, you see?" Sarah nodded.
"How would it be if I rode you on my broomstick, just around the grass over there?" Sarah's face became panic stricken.
"I promise I would only fly really low to the ground," he assured her quickly, "Then even if you did fall off…and you wouldn't…but even if you did, it wouldn't hurt at all." Sarah seemed to be considering the offer. Finally, with a scuttling sound, she climbed out from under the steps, a warm smile on her dirt-smudged face.
"Okay!" she agreed. Scorpius led her to a grassy area right behind the stands and helped her onto his broomstick. Sarah shook with fear and clung tightly to his arm, her eyes squeezed shut. Scorpius kicked off gently and flew at a dawdling pace around the grassy area, never rising more than a few feet off the ground.
"You see, Sarah Vineyard!" he encouraged her, "It's not so bad!" Sarah opened her eyes cautiously and smiled at Scorpius.
"It's not so bad!" she repeated. After a few minutes, Scorpius touched down and set Sarah gently on the grass.
"Do you want to try it by yourself now?" he asked her. Sarah abruptly took a step back and shook her head. "Well, maybe we'll try it again some other time," he said disappointedly. Sarah smiled at him adoringly as he stuffed his pads into his satchel and followed him around the pitch toward the path that led to the castle.
All of a sudden, a figure burst out from behind the stands and Scorpius received a sock to the stomach that knocked the wind out of him and forced him to the ground. Jeremy Wright then punched him again in the back. Sarah shrieked in shock and horror.
"Where's my wand!" Wright demanded and he jumped on top of Scorpius and began punching him repeatedly.
"Get off me, you ape!" Scorpius cried in fury.
"Where is it?" Wright demanded again, in between punches. Sarah cried out again and yanked out her wand, hitting Wright with a strange spell that created a sort of black fog around him. Wright quit hitting Scorpius momentarily as he began batting at the cloud, trying to swish it away. The strange spell lingered over him, covering him in a fine, black glittering powder, almost like ground up pencil lead. Scorpius attempted to scramble out from under him, but Wright grabbed him by the neck. Sarah began to wail for help. Just as Scorpius was at the point of passing out, help arrived in the form of James Potter and the Weasley twins, who'd heard Sarah's shrieking from the field and flown over to help. One of them knocked Wright off Scorpius' back with a powerful hex and the other grabbed Scorpius' hand and pulled him to his feet.
"Now what exactly do you think you are doing to our little Slytherin friend here?" demanded one twin, brandishing his wand at Wright.
"I think we need to teach this one some manners!" threatened the other.
"He stole my wand!" Wright accused.
"I didn't steal it, you half-wit!" Scorpius countered, "You left it behind after you attacked us in the greenhouse, and I don't have it." Wright suddenly found himself lifted off his own feet by the two, much larger, much older Weasley twins, who suspended him in mid-air.
"We have some bad news and some good news for you," one twin told Wright who glared at them in hatred as he struggled in vain to escape.
"The bad news is that we don't like it when people bully our friends," said the other twin.
"The good news is that our little brother has been just itching for an opportunity to practice some of the extra-curricular spells he's heard about his first week."
"You know, the ones that aren't in the syllabus?" interjected the other twin with a wicked grin.
"And here we've found him a willing volunteer!" cheered the first, "Let's go see if we can find him!" They lifted Wright by both arms and proceeded to drag him away.
"I think he's with Albus, by the gamekeeper's hut," Scorpius called after them gleefully.
"Thank you, Malfoy. Come along Jamie!" one of the twins called back to him. James Potter looked at Scorpius suspiciously.
"Now we're baby-sitting Malfoys?" he groaned, shaking his head in disbelief, "What did you do with that kid's wand?"
"You cousin Rose has it," he told him truthfully, "That is, if she hasn't already taken it to McGonagall." James turned his gaze to Sarah Vineyard who had scooped Scorpius' bag out of the dirt and was holding it out to him lovingly.
"This your new girl friend, Malfoy?" James asked.
"Yes," Scorpius responded sarcastically, "We're madly in love." Sarah giggled hysterically.
"I truly can't stand you," James told him.
"Well, you're going to have to get used to me. I'm not going anywhere." James grunted in annoyance.
"That's what my dad said."
"Well, you really should listen to him," Scorpius advised, "He is the great Harry Potter."
When Scorpius made his way into the courtyard, he encountered Rose Weasley waiting for him on a stone bench.
"Where have you been?" she demanded.
"I was practicing Quidditch," he explained, "Our tryouts are tomorrow." Rose rolled her eyes and examined Scorpius' bruising and the tears in his clothes.
"What happened?" she asked, "Did you fall off your broomstick?"
"Wright jumped me just outside the pitch. He wanted his wand back."
"You're kidding!" she exclaimed, "He attacked you again?" He nodded.
"Your cousins had to pull him off me. Then they drug him down by Hagrid's hut." Rose's eyes narrowed disapprovingly.
"What are they doing with him?" Scorpius shrugged his shoulders and then chuckled mischievously.
"I suppose they're doing what Mauraders do best!"
"Well, the teachers simply have to do something about this!" Scorpius shrugged.
"All our head of house has done so far is take off house points and give him a scolding," he told her.
"Come on," Rose commanded, "Let's go tell the headmistress. She'll put a stop to it!"
Minutes later, they were hurrying through the corridor to the headmistress' office, when to their surprise they found Professor Longbottom cheerfully conversing with Harry Potter just outside the portal.
"Well, speak of the devil!" laughed Professor Longbottom when he caught sight of them. Scorpius' eyes narrowed.
"I'm not a devil!" he complained.
"It's just a figure of speech, Scorpius," Rose informed him exasperatedly, "It means they were talking about you." Professor Longbottom smiled at his old friend.
"I'll go and fetch Albus," he said.
"What's going on?" Rose asked her uncle.
"Nothing to get wound up about, Rosie," he assured her and to Scorpius he said, "You have a guest waiting up there." Scorpius looked up in surprise.
"I do? Who?"
"Your father." Scorpius smiled broadly.
"Can I go up?" he asked eagerly. Mr. Potter gestured toward the open portal and Scorpius bounded up the stairs to where his father and his headmistress were apparently having a heated conversation.
"Dad!" he cried happily.
"I didn't think I'd be seeing you this soon, Scor," said Draco Malfoy affectionately as he embraced his son.
"What's going on?" Scorpius asked him.
"That's what we're here to find out," came Mr. Potter's voice as he entered the office behind them, followed by Rose and a flustered Professor Schlegel.
"Where's Wright?" the headmistress asked their head of house and he shook his head in disbelief.
"Mr. Wright is in the hospital wing, having several curses removed." The headmistress' expression was one of exasperation.
"What curses?" she demanded.
"Jelly-leg jinx…slug-vomiting curse…tickling charm…the Weasley works. If you want, I can drag him in here, but I highly doubt he'll be willing to cooperate or account for his actions. He won't even tell the nurse who cursed him."
"Thank you, Professor. That won't be necessary," she told him and to Scorpius she said, "I don't suppose you would know anything about a jelly-leg curse?"
"I can cast one," Scorpius assured her.
"Did you cast one on Wright?" his father demanded. He answered to the negative and was relieved when Albus stuck his head timidly around the door frame and no one asked any more questions about Wright's various afflictions.
"Dad?" Albus asked confusedly, "What's going on?"
"Mr. Malfoy and I are here to express our concerns about your roommate issues," he explained. Albus looked somewhat relieved and took a seat on a padded stool next to his father.
"Now let's hear the whole story," Harry suggested and Scorpius took a deep breath.
"Well, it started yesterday when Wright tried to hurt Horton," Scorpius began.
"Horton?" the headmistress asked.
"My owl, ma'am," he clarified, "I guess Wright was scared of him or something. He got out his wand and just started waving it like mad. Then he hit Horton with a really weak curse. Then he jumped me and Albus used a body-bind curse to stop him." Harry looked at Albus and asked, "Is that what happened?" Albus nodded his head in agreement.
"We told Professor Schlegel and when Wright didn't come back to the dorms all night, we figured he was expelled. Then at breakfast, he was back again, glaring at us like a lunatic from down the table."
"Is that all?" the headmistress asked and Albus nodded while Scorpius and Rose said 'no ma'am.' Albus looked to his friend and cousin curiously. Scorpius hadn't told him anything about what had happened in the greenhouse.
"Wright attacked Scorpius again this morning when we were in the restricted greenhouse, working for Professor Longbottom," Rose accounted.
"What do you mean, Rose?" Harry asked her.
"We were just minding our own business when he barged in, trying to pick a fight with Scorpius. I told him he wasn't even supposed to be in there. Then he and Scorpius had some words and the next thing we knew he had jumped on top of Scorpius and knocked me right into the Devil's Snare!"
"Exactly what 'words' were said, Miss Weasley?" asked Professor McGonagall. Rose looked at Scorpius solemnly and he cringed slightly.
"I don't remember exactly what words, Headmistress," Rose fibbed, "But they were just words. It was Wright who started the fight."
"And Dursley who finished it," Scorpius added, "With a wicked disarmament charm!" The adults exchanged concerned glances.
"Is that how you got all these bruises, son?" Draco Malfoy asked, lightly touching a purple blotch on the side of his face where Wright had landed a good punch.
"No. That's from just a little while ago," Scorpius explained sheepishly, "Wright came back and found me on the Quidditch pitch. He wanted his want back."
"His wand back?" the headmistress asked, "Where is his wand?"
"I have it here," Rose answered as she fished it from her robes and handed it over to the headmistress, "He left it on the greenhouse floor when he ran out."
"Headmistress, I really have to say, this boy should not be allowed to continue here," Scorpius father began, "It seems he's done nothing but fist fight since he arrived! Imagine the damage he'll do once he actually learns a few spells!"
"Mr. Malfoy, you ought to be the last person on earth to judge whether a student should or should not be allowed to attend here!" McGonagall chastised him sternly and Draco's pale face became quite pink.
"Professor, with all due respect," Harry interrupted, "Draco's child is standing here after one week of class, with a torn robe and covered with bruises. I personally find his concern to be both reasonable and justified." McGonagall raised her eyebrows in surprise.
"Would you have me follow his suggestion and fling an eleven-year-old muggle-born boy with no family whatsoever out into the street after only one week of school?" she asked Harry incredulously.
"You know me better than that," was Harry's response, sounding somewhat hurt and somewhat accusatory, "I am merely interested in what is going to be done to keep our boys safe." McGonagall took a deep breath and nodded.
"Very well," she said, "Professor Schlegel is the head of Slytherin house. What do you intend to do about Wright?" Schlegel looked to be near his wit's end on the subject of Wright.
"He's simply going to have to sleep in the seclusion room until we've seen him exercise some semblance of self-control and judgment. I'll have one of the prefects escort him to and from his classes until the fighting stops. If he can learn to control himself, he can return to his dormitory."
"May I ask why he is even in the same room as my son in the first place?" Draco demanded in a voice tinged with anger, "They aren't in the same year!" Professor Schlegel explained how the prefects were trying to keep the room numbers as even as possible.
"Professor, if you insist on allowing this boy to continue his reign of terror, that's your decision, but I must ask you to consider my son's safety and separate them permanently." Schlegel seemed troubled by the request.
"We never allow students to switch rooms once they're assigned," he told Draco, "If we did, we'd have students switching constantly."
"Nonetheless, it needs to be done." Schlegel looked as though he wanted to argue, but Harry spoke first.
"Albus, do you think it's a good idea for Wright to be moved in with the first years?" Albus examined his father's face. He had a strong feeling that his father's question was some sort of test. His personal opinion was that Wright ought to be moved to another continent, but he highly doubted that was the answer his father was looking for.
"Well, I don't think it would be good news for the first years…but I don't really want him for a roommate myself either." Harry fell silent for several moments. He seemed somewhat unsatisfied with his son's response. When he spoke again, his voice was quiet.
"I ask the same as Mr. Malfoy, Professor. I'd like them to be in separate rooms permanently."
"Very well," Professor Schlegel conceded, clearly frustrated beyond his will to argue, "If Wright manages to get himself under control, we'll cram him into one of the first years' rooms." Albus and Scorpius exchanged relieved smiles.
"May we consider the situation resolved?" the headmistress asked them and Draco nodded, relief and vindication clearly visible in his expression.
"Then I shall take my leave," she told them, "Professor, let's go down and have a little talk with our friend in the hospital wing." She took Wright's wand from her desk and Professor Schlegel followed her from the room.
"Thank you!" Scorpius exclaimed once they'd departed.
"Yeah, Dad," Albus agreed, "You're the best!"
"I'm not so sure," responded Harry, who looked genuinely conflicted.
"Dad?" Harry sighed.
"Albus, in the six days you've been roommates with Wright, how much have you learned about him?" Albus didn't like the direction the conversation was heading.
"Nothing," he admitted, "Wright never said a word to me."
"And most of what he's said to me has been death threats," Scorpius added. Harry stood up, turning his back on them as he perused the dozens of portraits of former Hogwart's heads that had always adorned the walls of the head's office. Albus followed his father's gaze to the frames that were labeled Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape, the two men he'd been named for. Both frames were empty.
"Albus?" Harry asked quietly.
"Yes, dad?"
"I have to ask you to do something that is going to seem very strange and very difficult."
"What's that?" Albus asked with reservation.
"I need you to give Jeremy Wright another shot at being your friend." Albus' eyes widened and his jaw dropped.
"What? Why? Did you hear what he's been doing?"
"I heard. And I also heard worse than that from his muggle social worker after we arrested him. Wright was abandoned at birth. He's never known any family or lasting friendships. He's been in orphanages and children's psychiatric wards for most of his life. One can't expect him to become fully socialized in just one week after eleven years of chaos. And none of his past is his fault." Albus crossed his arms impudently, still completely opposed to his father's crazy plan.
"His past isn't my fault either," he pointed out, "How do I come to deserve the honor of rehabilitating him?" Harry nodded at his son's logic.
"You are right. You didn't cause this problem. What I'm asking of you is much more than I would have done when I was your age. But it's terribly important." Albus sighed.
"Dad, I don't like this at all…But I reckon with all he's been through…well, I suppose I can give him one more chance. I don't think it'll come to any good though."
"In all honestly, Son, it's probably going to have to be more than one chance." Albus narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
"Exactly how many chances are we talking?" Harry shrugged his shoulders.
"As many as it takes. Probably a lot more than you'll want to give." Albus groaned.
"Dad, is this really that important?" he whined.
"Immensely," confirmed Harry. Scorpius snorted incredulously.
"Do I have to do this too?" he demanded of his father.
"No," Draco responded resolutely.
"Yes, you do!" Albus countered, "If I have to be nice to Wright, you have to do it with me!"
"My foot, I do!" responded Scorpius irritably, "I don't want anything to do with Wright!" Albus shot him an accusatory glare.
"Some friend you are!" Scorpius rolled his eyes and sighed in exasperation.
"Fine, then. If Wright stops trying to kill me, I might help a little."
"Alright," Albus agreed, "I reckon that's going to have to be good enough." Harry beamed at them.
"I'm pretty proud of you boys," he told them, "I firmly believe you can rid the world of a lot more evil with a few minutes of compassion a day then any hero has ever done in battle."
"How charming!," Draco drawled sarcastically as he rose from his chair, "We can have that etched on their gravestones when this little delinquent kills them both!"
"Nonsense, Draco," Harry said with a chuckle, "I have absolute faith in them. They'll be able to straighten him out." They said their good-byes and Scorpius, Albus, and Rose headed eagerly to dinner.
"Well, at least he's out of our room now!" Scorpius commented cheerfully.
"Yeah," Albus answered uncertainly. He wasn't at all confident in the mission with which his father had charged him. His confidence wasn't improved at all when they entered the great hall and he noticed Jeremy Wright had been reassigned to eat at a tiny table in the corner. His food lay on his plate, untouched, as he stared directly into the stone wall that was two feet in front of his nose. Albus wondered if his father wasn't just as crazy as Wright was.