Chapter 21: Answers

Albus turned on his side and closed his eyes tightly; immersed in a peaceful sleep. However, it was only to be broken by the sounds of many familiar voices.

"I think he's waking up!"

"He turned on his side with his eyes shut really tightly. Yeah, that totally says 'waking up'."

"Well, it's the first movement from him in hours!"

"Yeah, and it's a sign of deep sleep! Plus I don't know if you've noticed, but people sleep at night, so we are often not awake for many hours."

"Shut up, both of you! Your argument about him waking up could wake him up!"

Someone sniggered. "Oh, the irony."

"Why is he even asleep this long?"

"I thought he fainted from the oh-so-dramatic fright of the duel!"

"Be quiet, James! He did wonderfully; even if he did gain the Potter stupidity!"

"Hey!"

"No offence, or anything, but we all know that it exists."

"True, true. The exhaust must have strained him."

"Yes, but it was extremely powerful magic, so I'm not surprised."

"So you can talk, but we can't? How would this not wake him up?"

"Because we're whispering!"

"No you're not!"

"Well, does it matter? He's not awake, is he?"

"I am now." Albus said, smiling as he sat up in his bed. "Thanks a lot, by the way. All of you woke me up." He smiled at the faces of his friends, cousins, parents, and other relatives. Even Headmistress McGonagall and a few of the professors were in here.

"ALBUS!" they all shouted happily. Every single one of them tried hugging him at the same time, which just ended up with a huge dog pile with Albus at the bottom.

"Can't...breathe..." Albus said dramatically, although he secretly enjoyed the attention. They smiled and patted him on the back, congratulating him on his 'victory' as they put it. From what he heard, James was considered a hero too. It seemed the story had been retold countless times by James, but very overdramatically.

"There was never a Chimaera, James!" Albus said, laughing at the absurdity. "And if there was, I highly doubt you could incapacitate it with your bare hands."

James shook his head. "You were probably unconscious. There was definitely a Chimaera!" He leaned in a little closer towards Albus and said, "C'mon, Al! We're heroes! Just talk yourselves up and we'll be in everyone's good books!"

Albus laughed again, and smacked James on the shoulder.

"Careful there," warned James. "I was hit with a curse."

Albus frowned. "Was this when you were on the ground? What happened to it?"

James waved it off. "Ahh, nothing. Just a little stiff and bruised. No blood or anything; nothing compared to Ro-" James quickly cut himself off, and looked around at everyone who had suddenly gone silent. They all looked grim, especially Albus' Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione, who looked devastated. Scorpius, who was in the middle of recounting the story to Lily and Hugo, stiffened, while Sapphire looked away sadly.

"What happened to Rose?" Albus asked, suddenly frightened. She couldn't be gone...she was the most powerful witch Albus knew. Forget that, she was his best friend for eleven years, and probably would be for much longer!

Harry spoke up uncomfortably. "She's not...gone, Al." Albus breathed a huge sigh of relief, although no one else looked nearly as relieved.

"Then why does everyone look so sad?" he asked; turning to see the grim expressions remaining on everyone's faces.

Ginny took a deep breath. "She's not...awake, either, though." After seeing Albus' expression, she quickly added more to it. "They've given her Blood Replenishing Potions and everything! They closed the wound and managed to let the blood circulate! It's just...she might need some time for her body to realize that! Our bodies are made differently; she was cut off from blood flow for quite a while. We just have to wait."

If this was his mother's way of sounding reassuring, she wasn't doing a very good job. It sounded like Rose had little to no chance of surviving at this point. Now he understood the grim expressions; not knowing whether she was going to make it or not was probably even worse. It was like being given false hope.

Albus, like the others, remained silent for quite some time; unable to process that Rose might not come back. After a few attempts at breaking the awkward silence, one of Uncle George's jokes finally worked and the ice seemed to break. But not for Albus. He joined in half-heartedly, as he could not get the image of his dying cousin out of his brain.

"Well, we should be off now, Al!" said Uncle George merrily in the evening. "Feel better!"

Albus nodded. "I already do! I was just tired. I can leave the Hospital Wing now."

He winked at Albus. "Good, because Madam Pomfrey would have our heads if she knew that around 20 people were in here 'disturbing a patient'. Best be off then!"

Slowly, most of his cousins and their parents left; leaving behind only his parents, Scorpius, Sapphire, and James. Even Lily left, although she did so begrudgingly, since Ginny insisted she needed her sleep.

Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron had left for the special ward Madam Pomfrey opened up in the back of the Hospital Wing to see Rose, along with Hugo. Albus was pretty sure they would stay there the entire night.

"So, Albus, are you feeling tired?" asked his father. "Because we could leave if you are..."

"No, no, no," Albus said indignantly. "I'm fine; just needed my rest."

"Alright, so are you well enough to leave?" asked Ginny.

"Umm...yeah...but I think I'll stay the night," Albus said while glancing over to the bed covered by the curtain.

"She'll be fine, Al," his father said softly. "She's a strong one." At this point, Albus thought Scorpius could use more cheering up than him. Albus took to comforting him as well.

"It's not your fault," Albus said to Scorpius while his father nodded. "She chose to push you out of the way, and it's not like you could control the spell Lyra did." As soon as he said the name, his face had disgust etched in every corner. If he ever found her again, he had sworn he was going to kill her.

"Speaking of which, what happened after I collapsed?" Albus asked, only directing his question towards his father.

Harry shrugged. "Not much. Most of the action was caused by you, actually, so nothing too exciting. Basically, we just rounded everyone up, and-" Harry cut himself off, but sighed and continued, since it would be obvious later. "Al, Professor Laxford...he didn't make it." Harry said, looking away. "There will be a funeral later, and he is to be awarded the Order of Merlin, First Class for his bravery."

Albus tried not to show how upset he really was. Professor Laxford had died...and Albus had even suspected him for a moment. Harry sighed and put an arm around him, trying to comfort him. Albus remained silent, and tried to revel in his success rather than these sad failures.

"What about everything else?" Albus asked suddenly.

Harry was taken aback for a moment. "What?" he asked.

"What was with those vials of liquid...they were different colours...and you both woke up when I poured them in your mouths?" Albus asked.

Harry sighed and rubbed his temples. "Albus, I..." he faltered as he looked around to everyone else sitting there. Sensing that they wanted a private moment, Ginny ushered everyone out of the Hospital Wing, although James complained that he was older and deserved to know.

"Know that I can't tell you too much, but you deserve to know much of what has happened here. James will be told the same things later." Harry said, looking at Albus seriously. Albus nodded, and Harry continued. "Alright, well, I know a lot of things probably confused you about that night." Harry looked at Albus expectantly.

"Yes," Albus said, thinking about the vials of liquid and the golden ropes, and most importantly, his tendency to glow silver.

"I hope you know that even I can't explain some of it; especially your extraordinary feats of magic." Harry continued, "But I will tell you what I know and what I suspect."

"What you have seen here tonight is pure Coronitealogy." Harry said. Albus opened his mouth to ask what in the name of Merlin that meant, but Harry held up a hand to silence him. "Coronitealogy is a term the Aurors made up after what happened yesterday night. What you saw was pure auric energy. Now, I don't know what exactly happened, considering I was...drained during most of it," Albus shuddered at this point, since his father had been downright scary. "But I managed to get James to tell what I hope isn't a mangled version of the story."

"I could retell it if you want," Albus offered, but Harry waved it off.

"Nah, it's alright. I got the gist of it. Now, about those vials. We assume that those contained our auras. Do you know what an aura is, Albus?"

Albus shook his head. He had an idea about what it meant, but he wanted to be completely sure.

Harry continued, unfazed. "An aura is often thought of as the energy-filled glow that surrounds all objects or people. In this case, it was people. That mist surrounding me? It was an aura; but not my own."

Albus frowned. "What do you mean, 'not your own'?"

"Well, what colour was it when you first saw that man Antares take it out?"

"It was red," Albus answered. "Like the Stunning spells you shoot."

Harry laughed and said, "Of course." When Albus looked at him confusedly, he explained. "No, it's just whenever Voldemort and I faced off; his spell would be green and mine red. Just wondering if it's a coincidence, or if his aura was green as well."

Albus nodded, and waited for his father to continue.

"Well, anyways, it was red, right? Did Antares do something to it to make it change colour?"

Albus thought hard; trying to remember exactly what he did. "Yes," Albus said after a moment. "He muttered a few incantations, but I couldn't hear them. Then it turned black."

Harry looked thoughtful for a moment. "Black...interesting. Anyways, Antares drained me of my aura as he did to Sapphire. He kept it in these vials. As an adult, I was able to stay stronger and so I was simply emotionless rather than in a coma-like state like your friend. Although I would have gladly welcomed the latter for what I did..." Harry sighed, and Albus patted him on the back awkwardly. "So with these incantations and probably a few extra ingredients, he diffused his aura into mine. Then, when it wrapped around me, I did what his aura wanted me to. In a sense, he possessed me."

Albus shuddered at these words. If someone could do that to "the Boy Who Lived", then he wondered what could happen now with the Potestum. The Dark Guardians could make people willingly give up their auras for them to be possessed.

"It's a scary thought, isn't it?" his father said thoughtfully. "Especially now with the Potestum..." he trailed off for a moment, visibly wondering what might occur. It wasn't until Albus cleared his throat that he jumped and continued. "Yes, well, as for the other odd occurrences, we think they are also a part of Coronitealogy. The golden ropes you described...well ,it seems as though someone managed to pour their aura into an object, creating strong binding magic that would usually only stop by the creator." His father said while looking at Albus curiously.

Albus turned red, and mumbled something. "I don't know, I just touched them and it glowed silver and disintegrated into gold dust."

His father nodded. "It's nothing to be embarrassed about, Al. Sometimes it's good to be different. I think that when you managed to disintegrate it, it meant you had an extremely powerful aura. It would also explain your little...tiff at the end." Albus resisted the urge to roll his eyes. What he did was way more than a 'tiff'. It was scary.

Ignoring this, he waited for his father to continue once more. "I think your aura is probably the most powerful we have come across."

Albus looked up for a second, interested. "You've come across other auras?" he asked.

Harry smiled. "Yes, they're more common than you may think. Know what the Trace is? Well, it's based off a child's aura. We can tell when they're doing magic because every aura is different, even if some sport the same colour. However, as they begin to age, the vibrancy sort of fades and it usually becomes more comparable to everyone else's, which is why you are considered 'of age' when you are 17." Albus nodded, absorbing this new knowledge like a sponge. "And when you fed me that last bit of my aura? Notice that I wasn't as powerful? Normally, I could take on more people," Harry said. "Not that I'm bragging." He added quickly. "But since I had so little auric energy left, I needed to wait for it to build up again."

Albus nodded in comprehension; finally understanding where his father was going with this. "Now, as for what happened to you...you seemed to have a very unusually strong and powerful aura. When the weight of the situation finally settled on you, your anger flared up and made it even stronger. I think this caused you to go into 'overdrive', and set your wrath upon every Dark Guardian member there." Albus sighed in relief, feeling better. So it was a normal thing after all.

"Oh, no, it's not normal," his father added quickly. Upon seeing the look on his face, he tried to explain further. "Well, it's never happened before. This is just my theorizing. But the fact is, your aura is unusually powerful. I've never seen anything like it, except maybe Dumbledore's. Silver is also an unusual colour for it to take...as is gold, like the ropes. These colours are considered the 'most powerful', if you will. Although I do not work in the Department of Education or Underage Magic, I have seen enough auras in my lifetime to know this. You are different, Albus, but not in a bad way. You're like Dumbledore; a lot more powerful than you give yourself credit for." He finished.

Albus nodded, feeling slightly less relieved and happy at knowing he was different. However, after hearing his father's take on it, he felt a lot better about it and they settled into a comfortable silence.

Harry continued quietly after a while. "Albus, I know many of the problems this year were caused because I didn't tell you enough. I kept you in the dark. It reminds me of another time, with another Albus, whom I also disagreed with. Now, I truly understand his side of the situation. But I admit we were both in the wrong, so...I'm sorry."

Albus looked up at his father in surprise. He was expecting to be told a lot of things, but an apology was not one of them. "What? No, Dad, I'm sorry. I could've told you everything I knew all year and you might've caught them. Rose wouldn't even be in this situation!" he said as Harry winced at that last part. "I just felt like you weren't treating me with respect. James is the Quidditch star prankster, and Lily is the adorable one with lots of knowledge. I didn't feel special, like them, since they had at least one quality like you. I just wanted to be the next Harry Potter to make you proud."

Harry contemplated these words, and then laughed. "Al, I would prefer it much more if you were the first Albus Severus. What's the point of being the same as someone else? Be your own person; do what you want. That's what you've been doing your whole life, and I couldn't be prouder."

Albus smiled and he hugged his father. Things were patched up between them again. His father turned to get up and leave, but Albus stopped him with a few words.

"Wait, Dad!" Albus called.

"Yes, Al?" Harry asked questioningly.

"When I was...glowing..." he started awkwardly. "I was holding the Sword of Gryffindor that Sapphire pulled from the hat. But when I held it...something didn't feel right. I didn't feel powerful, and it just...wasn't comfortable. What does that mean?"

Harry stopped and looked Albus in the eyes. "Well, Albus..." he started hesitantly, knowing this could possibly crush his son. "I've only ever heard of one situation where that might happen..."

"And what's that?" asked Albus curiously.

"Well..." he clearly didn't want to word it rudely, and finally Harry seemed to find a way to do so. "Remember when I said a true Gryffindor could pull it out of the hat? Well...someone who belonged to another house wouldn't be able to..." Harry trailed off, still feeling his choice of words was bad, and looked at his son's expression carefully.

Albus contemplated on what he said. Did that mean he wasn't a Gryffindor? Surprisingly, he didn't seem to mind. He had been focused on being like his father, but now he saw the truth to his father's words. Being yourself was far more important than pretending to be someone you're not. "So, do I belong to another house then?" Albus asked. "Which one? Can I switch?"

Harry looked extremely surprised at his reaction, but was glad that Albus had taken his words to heart. He smiled, " 'Course you can; I can pull some strings if we explain it right." Albus smiled back, and his father walked out of the Hospital Wing, leaving Albus to dream in peace.

The next day, Albus spent the time explaining to his friends everything his father had told him. They looked completely shocked at the thought of capturing one's aura, and impressed when they were told about Coronitealogy. After all, the study of magical energy and auras could be bended in a number of ways after what they had seen. Albus had also told them about the Sword of Gryffindor.

Scorpius was excited, because that's what he felt when he picked it up. He dropped it because it didn't feel right, and after talking to Harry, he and Albus were discussing what houses they would be put in.

Sapphire attempted to comfort him about it, but Albus just waved her off. "I'm fine," he insisted. "I know I really wanted to be in Gryffindor at the beginning of the year, but after talking to my dad, I've realized something...it's good to be different. It just shows you have more individuality." He said, smiling.

Sapphire just shook her head and smiled back. "Well, someone's going all philosophical on us." She said teasingly.

"Hey, Todesworth, good to see you!" said a Ravenclaw first year boy. Sapphire smiled back in greeting and thanked him.

"Good to be back!" she said cheerily. Albus smiled at her.

"Someone's been getting a lot of attention," he teased. It was true. When Sapphire came back and it was heard that the threat had been driven off the grounds, everyone began to cheer for Albus' dad. Harry quickly made it known that he was not the one they should be thanking, but Albus was. Albus turned red at this, as his father explained what had happened, but not going into the specifics of Coronitealogy. He also neglected to mention Albus' power surge at the end of the fight. Albus was extremely happy for this; he didn't need everyone thinking that he was a freak. However, this also made Albus a target for those who wanted to know what happened.

"Is it true that you had them on their knees begging for mercy?"

"Is it true that you had to fight off all the creatures in the Forbidden Forest?"

"Is it true that you went head-to-head with a Chimaera?"

Albus had to laugh at that last one; clearly James had gotten to them as well. James, Scorpius, Sapphire, and Rose had gotten recognition as well. Rose. His heart gave a small pang when he heard her name. They went to visit the Hospital Wing every single day, but Madam Pomfrey ushered them out, insisting that she "needed her rest".

Albus sighed, still trying to convince himself she would be alright. In the meantime, he and Scorpius were heading to the Headmistress' office to do their second sorting. This time, Albus found that there was no pressure at all. This was just a formality; and his dad wouldn't care about which house he'd gotten into. They reached the gargoyles by the office, and Sapphire gave the password since she'd been here earlier to convince her parents and the professors that she was alright. "Cauldron Cake" she said, and the entrance opened up to reveal a staircase which they took up to the office.

Sapphire was invited as well, just so she could watch her friends get sorted. After what she had been through, the professors and Aurors felt it was their fault and usually gave in straight away to her requests.

As they walked into her office, Albus saw his parents standing in the corner and smiling at him encouragingly. James was here as well, probably to annoy him since he was whispering "Slytherin" over to Albus. Scorpius' parents were here as well, although they looked nowhere near as welcoming. Well, Astoria was smiling at him receptively like Albus' own parents, but Draco simply nodded and mustered a small smile.

"Good evening, Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy, and Miss Todesworth." Headmistress McGonagall said in a professional tone. "Please take a seat, and the Sorting Hat will do its job." Albus watched as she lifted the dusty old hat from an old bookshelf and placed it in front of them.

"Now, as per tradition, I suppose Mr. Malfoy will go first because of his name." She said. Scorpius took the Sorting Hat and placed it on his head. Although Albus couldn't hear them conversing, he knew that Scorpius was asking why he had been placed in Gryffindor. As the Sorting Hat answered, Scorpius nodded slowly as if in understanding. Finally, after a long time, it shouted "Slytherin!"

Astoria ran over and hugged her son, assuring him that they would have been proud of him in any house but they were extremely happy he was in Slytherin like his father. Draco smiled genuinely, and simply stated "that he knew Gryffindor was a mistake" and that "his son would be at his greatest there".

Scorpius looked happier than he had ever been at his father's comments, though they weren't exactly compliments. Next, it was time for Albus' sorting. He put the hat on his head, and asked the question he had been burning to ask ever since he found out he belonged to another house.

Why did you put me in Gryffindor?

The hat chuckled. "Always one to get to the point, aren't we?"

Well, the point of the sorting is kind of to put you where you belong.

"True, true, but I always have my reasons."

Mind telling me those reasons?

"Of course! The little boy I was sorting that day was scared and afraid of living up to his parents' expectations. However, I could tell these would be exceeded in the near future."

I'm still not following this.

"You've gained the Potter stupidity, haven't you?"

I'm not stupid! Just tell me the reason!

"Rude as well..."

Hey!

"Alright, alright." The hat sighed. "You were scared...I wanted you to learn to be brave. To accept that one day it didn't matter what your parents did, or what your siblings did, or what your relatives did. What you did is what it will come down to in the end. That is true bravery; that is nobility."

So...you put me in Gryffindor even though I didn't belong there to teach me how to be a Gryffindor?

The hat sighed. "I did not teach you how to be a Gryffindor; I taught you to be courageous by accepting yourself as whom you are!"

I don't understand.

"Big surprise."

Just explain!

"Being courageous does not mean you are a Gryffindor. You can be courageous in any of the other houses as well; it just doesn't overpower your main quality."

And what is my 'main quality'?

"You tell me."

I don't know. Hey, is this what you told Scorpius?

"The Malfoy boy is different. Everyone has a different reason for being sorted, even if it is done wrongly. I will not go into the specifics, as each person's mind is private. But I will tell you it helped him choose the right crowd. What if I sorted him in Slytherin from the start? Would he have joined the Goyle boy?"

Maybe, I suppose. He was pretty rude to Rose at the beginning, even when he wasn't in Slytherin.

"But he proved himself, didn't he? He learned not to be afraid of what others think; perhaps the greatest fear we all must overcome."

Ahh, so that's why you sorted him there!

"T'is one of the many reasons. Anyways, we are not here because of him; we are here because of you."

I agree. So where do I belong?

"Isn't it obvious?"

Well, I suppose I could be in Hufflepuff, but definitely not Ravenclaw...

"Definitely not."

Hey! I suppose I was pretty loyal to help my friends, but all this 'realizing who I am' nonsense...it created ambition. I know who I am, or who I want to be, at least. I know that it's okay to be different.

"Well said; perhaps you could join Ravenclaw!"

Don't confuse me again! Now, that's just what I think. But I want you to decide what's right this time...

"No problem there. You seem to have come to the same conclusion I have. SLYTHERIN!" the hat shouted.

It took all of two seconds for the room to burst out in different reactions.

"HA! I knew you were a Slytherin!" James said gleefully.

"Wow, you're in Slytherin," Sapphire said appreciatively. "You conquered what used to be your biggest fear. You must feel great!"

"That's wonderful, Al!" his father said, beaming at him. "You really are on your way to becoming your own person, aren't you?"

"Nice job, mate!" Scorpius said appreciatively. "I won't be stuck with Goyle alone now!"

"A Potter in Slytherin?" said Draco, bemusedly. "Never thought I'd see the day..."

Astoria beamed. "That's wonderful, Albus! At least you have each other now!"

Soon his mother started as well. "Oh, Al!" she gushed. "Don't worry, we love you no matter where you go, and we're extremely proud of you. Some of the bravest people we knew were in Slytherin!"

His father smiled at this. "That's right, Al! In fact, I think it's time for you to meet the person you were named after."

Albus had always known that he was named after two headmasters who Harry always called incredibly brave and intelligent. Albus was excited to meet them; since anyone whom his father spoke highly of was almost always impressive. He was especially excited to meet Albus Dumbledore, who many regarded as the most powerful wizard since Merlin.

"Al, this is Albus Dumbledore." Harry said proudly.

Albus turned his head towards an aged wizard with a long, snow-white beard and moon-shaped spectacles. Although he was extremely old, there was something about him that emitted power; showing that his father was right. Suddenly, the name Albus found annoying and old-fashioned seemed a lot better.

Dumbledore smiled at Albus. "Nice to meet you, Albus." He said as he chuckled shortly afterwards. "It is quite strange to speak with someone with the same name as you. Although I must say, it was extremely kind of you to do so, Harry."

Harry beamed at him. "It was the least I could do after everything that happened. And I think it suits him perfectly; he's an extremely powerful wizard, just as yourself."

Dumbledore chuckled and turned back to Albus. "So, I take it you've just had an adventure? News travels quickly when dealing with portraits."

Albus smiled sheepishly. "Yes...Scorpius, Rose, and I went into the Forest to save Sapphire...and my dad too, I guess. But obviously we didn't know that at the time."

Dumbledore surveyed Scorpius and Sapphire as well. "I must say, it is extremely mature of you to forget family feuds." He stated, glancing at Draco and Harry, who both looked away. "I can tell you will do great things."

Albus beamed; this compliment meant a lot coming from him. Just as he was about to respond, a voice with a slight sneer to it came from the portrait next to him.

"Don't inflate his ego any further or he might start acting like his family. Then again, running off into the Forest? Sounds like the Potter stupidity to me." Snape sneered from the next portrait.

Harry, however, completely disregarded the insult and beamed brightly at him.

"Good evening, Professor Severus Snape. I'd like you to meet my son, Albus Severus Potter."

"You named your son after me!?" came Snape's shocked voice, at the precise moment when Albus had yelled "You named me after him!?" Dumbledore merely glanced between the three after lowering his moon-shaped spectacles, seemingly trying to suppress a laugh.

"Yes," answered Harry simply.

"Well, why?" they both asked again, glancing at the other with annoyance as they did so.

"For the same reason I told Albus months ago on the platform. He was named after the two bravest people I knew, and one of them was a Slytherin." Harry answered with a simple smile.

Snape seemed at a loss for words at a compliment, while Albus just stared, flabbergasted as to how he could have been a war hero. Dumbledore laughed this time, clearly not being able to hold it in. "I believe the words you are looking for, Severus, are 'thank you'." Snape just stared at Dumbledore's portrait before quickly and quietly mumbling the words, though barely audible.

"And anyways, Severus," Dumbledore continued. "I think you'll take a liking to this one. In Slytherin, named for you, and what's that? Take a look into his eyes."

Snape looked at him for a moment before gazing into Albus' eyes briefly. "Lily's eyes," he muttered. Albus frowned, confused. But then he remembered that he inherited his eyes from his grandmother. That must have been the Lily he was talking about.

"Well, we must say, it's been wonderful to meet you, Albus!" Dumbledore said cheerfully, as if no insulting had occurred. "Isn't that right, Severus?"

Snape muttered a quick "yes", before looking away and pretending this conversation had never happened.

Dumbledore chuckled and looked at Albus yet again. "I think we'll be seeing each other again soon, being a Potter and all. I wish you luck for the times ahead!"

And with those cheery words, Albus exited the office, followed by his friends and parents; still slightly confused over what had happened.