Chapter 51
It was to be expected that as soon as the Daily Prophet arrived to announce Grindelwald's fate, absolute chaos had broken out within the Great Hall with whispers flying across the hall at frightening speeds. Furtive glances were cast in Dumbledore's direction every couple of seconds from the Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors. The Ravenclaws only looked mildly curious while the Slytherins were more composed, but still watched Dumbledore as if they would be able to deduce his reasoning though their stares. Somehow, Aidan got the feeling that they half-expected Dumbledore to announce that he had decided it would be a good idea to rehabilitate Grindelwald at Hogwarts.
"I still don't understand what Dumbledore was thinking!" Charlus growled as he finished what Aidan guessed was his fourth re-read of the front page article. "No one can tell whether Nurmengard is really as fool-proof as Grindelwald had made it seem. It's true that no one managed to escape it, but he could have had back-up plans to prepare for this very possibility. Doesn't he realise that this may mean the Aidan is still in danger?"
"I would think, at this point, that Aidan would be more in danger of failing his NEWTs than of any attack Grindelwald would make. The Dark Lord's forces are scattered, many in hiding, which would make it difficult to form any sort of plan. Besides, I doubt Dumbledore would risk Aidan like that. You've seen everything the man has done for Aidan," Theo said calmly.
"As if I'd let him," Tom snorted.
"Hey! Still here you know!" Aidan protested half-heartedly, knowing that if the two really wanted to continue on that topic, he wouldn't be able to stop them.
"There is only a month and a half left until NEWTs, you know, and with everything that's happened, you've got a lot of work to do if you want to be well prepared," Minerva said.
Dumbledore's parting well wishes for his studying the day before had brought Aidan to the startling realisation of just how close he was to the end of Hogwarts. In only a few months, he would be graduating from Hogwarts with his future ahead of him. Aidan vaguely noted that he hadn't thought this far. He hadn't expected to be in the past for as long as he had, and had completely neglected to plan what he would do if he remained here. Of course, Aidan had a vague idea of what he would do but it was nothing as elaborate or well thought-out as the rest of his year.
They had plans and dreams that they'd had for years, while Aidan only had the fears of messing up the future. The Court had thought that the fear had stemmed only from Grindelwald wanting him dead, and being in hiding for so long. Now, though, he had to make plans as if he would live the rest of his life in the past, as if he would only see Hermione and Ron again in fifty years with a large age gap. Nothing would be as it had been before. Merlin, he would even be older than Molly.
"What are you guys planning to do after Hogwarts?"
"I want to try and come back to Hogwarts to teach," Minerva said immediately. "I think it would be interesting to be on the other side of the desk for once, and know that all those students are going to be relying on your knowledge… I think I'd want to get my mastery in Transfiguration first though. I can imagine this little First Year asking me a question I don't know the answer to."
"So, Min. When a pig is transfigured into a table, does the table have the soul of a pig? And when it's the other way around, where does the table get a soul from?" Abraxas asked from across the table.
Minerva dropped her head into her hands, and the Court burst out laughing. "That's why I wanted to study further first. I know I'm going to get an annoying student like you that would ask me a question like that."
"I'm not annoying! A Malfoy cannot be annoying," Abraxas said crossly. His hands made a jerking movement as if he wanted to fold them, but managed to suppress the action.
"I second that. Brax is very annoying," Rachel said with a smirk. "I'm sure you know how he sounds in the mornings when he can't find something and blames everything in sight."
"Traitor."
"I'm going to follow my father in the Ministry. I think Abraxas is going to do the same, I mean can you imagine Abraxas becoming something like an Auror and getting blood on his robes? We'd need powerful silencing charms to block out his whining," Charlus said with a completely straight face. "I doubt the Auror department would be able to handle him on a good day. Now a bad day…"
Rachel high-fived Charlus as Abraxas glared at the two.
"I would have liked to be an Auror, but I don't think the Auror department would manage to handle Tom on a rampage if I got hurt." Aidan's eyes glinted in amusement. "Can you imagine what he would do if I were hurt so badly I ended up in St Mungo's? I think I'd return to find myself needing new partners every single time."
Tom didn't look apologetic. "I doubt I would go that far…"
"Oh, really?" Aidan asked.
Tom nodded.
"Okay. Weasley tried to curse Aidan in the corridor last week," Abraxas told Tom in a conspiratory whisper.
Tom's eyes immediately searched for the boy in question, narrowing once his eyes landed on him. The Court turned to watch as the Weasley in question shrank in his seat across the hall.
"Stop torturing Septimus. He did nothing," Aidan laughed.
"See? You overreact any time Aidan is mentioned to be in some sort of danger," Xeno said, laughing.
"It isn't even minor 'I'm going to beat them up' overreacting like every other person. It's the 'I'm going to kill them right now' overreacting," Theo added. "What would you like to do, Tom? I'd expect you could do anything you wanted."
"I would like to come back to teach at Hogwarts, but I don't know if I'd know enough for that just yet…"
Minerva snorted, a sentiment echoed by most of the Court. "If you don't think you're ready to teach at Hogwarts, I doubt I will ever be. I swear you know the entire curriculum backwards and forwards, and more. That's like saying Poppy only knows how to heal minor cuts!"
"I think I'd like to try working in the Ministry first though."
Aidan rolled his eyes. "Watch Tom become Minister or something, then decide he is qualified enough to teach."
"Not all of us need help looking useless, Tom. I think I'm doing that pretty well on my own," Charlus exclaimed in mock annoyance.
"Have you seen him looking through that bag of his?" Dorea added from a few seats away. "You'd think he's forgotten he's a wizard if you saw him. It's probably a good thing he only has a bag at Hogwarts, or his parents would die of embarrassment."
Charlus's face tinted pink as he glared at Dorea, "It's not my fault I can never tell where Minsy packs my things!"
"Don't blame the poor house elf! You're the one that's supposed to be giving her orders, it isn't the other way around."
"Imagine if it was the other way around?"
"I don't know about you, but I doubt he would be able to find anything even if he packed his bag himself," Minerva added shaking her head. "I don't know if you're familiar with the mess that is the Gryffindor Common Room and dormitories the morning before we leave back to London, but Charlus is always in the middle of it. I think last time, he was running around the common room searching for his underwear. Merlin knows how he could lose that!"
"Like you're much better."
"I'm always done packing the night before, with just enough space to pack the last of my belongings after I've gotten dressed," Minerva said primly.
"Barking mad, you are."
"The Slytherins aren't much better," Tom confided, "but I didn't tell you that."
"Looks like we've been compromised, Abraxas," Aidan sighed dramatically.
"Our Snake Prince has betrayed us. Whatever shall we do?"
Tom rolled his eyes.
AN: Eid Mubarak to those who celebrate it :)
