A/N- It has been far too long from me: quite poor to be honest. Exams snowed me in initially and then more commitments made it very hard for me to get back into things. I'm afraid I was far too close to literally abandoning the story outright, but likely I realised this was useless and there was absolutely no reason to. Nevertheless, things accumulated and by the time I knew it, six months had passed since my last update!
I am very sorry for any readers who now have to refresh themselves on the story, but I will try to return to some semblance of regularity now. I read it again before starting this chapter, and I have come to peace with a lot of its components. Sure, it's flawed in many places, it's incoherent in a small few and sometimes it can be repetitive or slow: but I am proud of what I have done and therefore now eager to finish it. Thank you also to those readers who reviewed- or even followed or favorited. I understand completely that reviewing is not something very convenient to do, but the reviewers have really given me extra drive to continue with this story in my deciding to return; even a favorite or follow is just recognition, which is so important to writers like me with relatively little light of day due to the smaller size of the Next-gen fandom. So if you can't review, maybe fav or follow? I hope it's not unreasonable for me to emphasise that it makes such a huge difference!
Anyway, that's my apology done. It's a long chapter, so hopefully you will enjoy the return of AVK and Albus Potter and the Return of Salazar!
The next few days in hospital beds passed far faster than his school days had done while he was still out of them. His mother- with whom he was exchanging letters practically daily now- told him that one of his namesakes, Albus Dumbledore, had once said something along the lines of: "What happened, is a complete secret. So, naturally, the whole school knows."
Which really wasn't as nonsensical as it sounded.
The attention following the events down in the Slytherin Dungeons was certainly a double-edged sword. There was really no such thing as solely positive publicity, Albus was coming to realise quickly.
On one hand, it seemed to affirm for some people (according to his outside sources at least) that the Slytherins were crazy and evil enough to attack a First Year. Despite the fact that the two attackers, Horatius Selwyn and Esmond Mulciber, had been expelled, the attack was held by the Gryffindors mainly as proof that some very twisted Slytherins had been lurking in the shadows all along. Cassie recounted on one of her frequent visits that the First Years from other Houses were veritably terrified of the older Slytherins. -Albus tried to argue that Marcellus Zabini always looked intimidating anyway, but Cassie said that it extended far beyond just him.
On the other hand, the Slytherin First Year, and especially Albus' tight band of four, gained even more fame than just for winning a lot of House Points. And it wasn't negative fame necessarily, either. The whole school heard of how four newbies no more than a week-old in formal magical tutoring had comprehensively hoodwinked Fifth Years in a magical duel to the extent where they had to use cursed objects to cheat. Sevorian had visited them under the guise of keeping them on track with the work they had missed in the week they were incapacitated, but the three of them (and Luca, who was summoned there) all saw how their Head of House's eyes twinkled whilst he talked about their (rather gracelessly named) Wand Clumping Spell and how fast they had learned it and used it. His dialogue was restrained and calm, as always- but it was likely the equivalent of a normal person gushing.
Lang had also visited- even more surprisingly- to hear them repeat the story of the Clumping Spell, which was his invention as much as Sevorian's. He had also heard that Albus managed to shoot a ray of energy from his hand ("That means you might not have to spend as much time training basics as I thought.") and told them that the superiority he was now fully committed to helping them achieve in Wandless Magic would make the Clumping Spell unbelievably powerful in duels. Albus and Scorpius almost salivated when they imagined how easy it would be to win if they could always nullify the opponent's wand and just easily overpower them wandlessly. They were furthermore glad when Lang told them he would push their first wandless magic practice meeting to the following week, since they were not feeling in great condition but did very much want their first practice to go well.
All in all, they'd had nearly every teacher in the school come to visit them to congratulate them on their defense of their yearmates. Flitwick, for example, nearly fainted with happiness when Luca recounted how he had (rather ingeniously, in the opinion of his three best friends) used Wingardium Leviosa on his Slytherin robes to float them ahead of himself and reach the Great Hall first, drawing Sevorian's attention due to the emerald colours, and forcing him to follow the robe down to where Luca was waiting to take him to the Dungeons. Those seconds were vital, really, considering how close the whole affair was.
And then there were the students, Albus reminded himself as he prepared to enter the tightly packed Great Hall for the first time since his injury. Scorpius, Ken and Luca were all slightly fidgety next to him- though Luca appeared more accustomed to whatever was about to happen when they opened the doors.
In the end, they had to eat breakfast, so they did open the doors.
-And there was immediate silence. Hundreds of eyes swivelling to stare at them. Albus sighed and strode briskly with a blank expression to the Slytherin table, accompanied by his friends and staring right ahead. Every gaze followed them, as if the whole of the Hogwarts student body had received some unfortunate Eye-Sticking charms from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.
"Al! Scorpius! Ken! Are you returning to lessons after this weekend?" asked Eva Vaillancourt brightly. Albus had come to quite like the girl, even though she seemed to be slightly bipolar in a way which made him unwittingly nervous.
Ken nodded. "Yep. I'm gonna spend this weekend trying to catch up with everything we've missed."
"Why? You were let off all the work, didn't you?" asked Garrett bemusedly, as if doing homework which you had been excused from was the craziest idea in the world.
"Yeah, Scorpius and Albus don't need to do their work. Me, though… I will positively die if I don't practise what we've done this week at least to a certain extent." Ken shrugged.
The hubbub of them entering the Great Hall again receded after a while, especially since Albus and his friends had many an opportunity to speak to their First Year counterparts while they were stuck in the Hospital Wing. They looked up as Marcellus Zabini came over.
"First of all, I would like to thank you for getting rid of those disgusting Trads Selwyn and Mulciber. Two less headaches in my year are much appreciated, especially if it's those madmen." he acknowledged, nodding his head slightly- Albus and his three friends nodded back.
"As Slytherin prefect, it is my duty to inform your whole year about a few things regarding the attack. Please, all of you, pay attention now." he continued. The whole of their First Year was now listening in attentively.
"I wanted to clarify a few things about these recent events. The first and most important, is that Selwyn and Mulciber were pretty much the craziest of the bunch. It was unexpected even for them to pull such a brainless stunt, so don't expect it to happen again for other Trads, especially not spontaneously. Sure, there are other sadistic Trads, and nor do I rate their intelligence as a whole, but the others won't be stupid enough to attack you in broad daylight with little chance of lasting damage done: and those of you excepting the four at the centre of the conflict are highly unlikely to ever be targeted again. Plans there may well be- Potter, Malfoy, Handa and Miniati- but the Progressives will help you there as we will be much better prepared. We were absolutely caught out by the abruptness of this attack as we thought none of them would risk expulsion so brazenly and so early, but we will be more careful in the future and the Trads will know it."
Many of Albus' yearmates breathed a sigh of relief. It did sound good to know that it was a one-off. Immediately, Marcellus seemed to relax too, and he started barking orders so quickly that some of them jumped in their seats.
"Right! The First Year Gryffindors have been practising their Quidditch, so I hear! I don't spy, but I have heard by word that they are quite good for their age. We're a week behind! After breakfast I will meet you all on the Quidditch Pitch. Those of you who are not interested in playing, I hope you will join your teammates and support them while they practise after this unfortunate setback. You can read your textbooks, but being there will be a huge boost to your House and what you should do as Slytherins."
Corman Reddick and Benjamin Bruegel nodded fervently to show Marcellus that they would be there, even if they were far from athletic.
"Be aware, also that there may be spies watching. There's nothing we can do except try to shoo spectators off, but I'm afraid this might have to act as an extra exercise for those of you with stage fright."
Scorpius groaned incoherently.
"Get back to your dorms now, and get changed! I will see ALL of you at the pitch in fifteen minutes!"
"Fifteen?!"
"I haven't even finished my cereal!"
Albus twirled around in the air with Scorpius hot on his heels, waiting for Marcellus to explain the rules of Quidditch to the muggleborns Luca and Ken, as well as some previously uninterested purebloods and halfbloods, like Eva. He didn't know whether he should feel happy that there was already enough solidarity amongst themselves that people who had never paid attention to Quidditch before were suddenly playing it for their scrimmage- or apprehensive about the fact that he and Scorpius were the only real capable flyers on their team.
A sharp whistle tone caught their attention as Marcellus beckoned them down.
"Right. Now that we have got the rules out of the way, we must move swiftly onto picking positions. The other Gryffindor team is apparently full of decent flyers, which I am afraid to say we are not, but reports also tell me they are too dominated to function as a collective because of the presence of… certain egotistical individuals."
Albus snorted loudly. He'd wager his future house that it was Garland back at it again.
"That means we will drill together as a team more often than not. Read up on the Muggle term: comparative advantage- we will waste too much time trying to catch up one on one, so it is better to pool our resources together to win through a collective effort. Feel free to practise your own skills on your own, but you are not Quidditch team members so there is no imperative to do so."
Garrett raised his hand. "Can I play beater?" he asked straightforwardly.
Marcellus blinked at the long-haired boy's lack of subtlety, but he nodded. "I don't see why not. Now, everyone, raise your wand if you want to be a beater."
No one did, but Marcellus hardly looked surprised.
"Chaser?"
Luca, Cassie and Eva raised their wands. They all seemed to be thinking along the same lines- they were too short and skinny to play a position like Keeper or Beater, and not good enough flyers to be Seekers. Ken had his wand up too, but didn't really look like he cared which position he would be put in.
"Keeper?"
Only Scorpius put his hand up. Albus was a bit surprised, given that Scorpius was a good enough flyer to contest him as Seeker, but for their age he wasn't too wiry and it was a good thing, he supposed, that they wouldn't end up awkwardly jostling for the same position.
"And Seeker?"
Albus raised his wand. It was his natural position, and everyone said that he had received his father's Quidditch genes while James, the star chaser of Hogwarts, had gotten his mother's.
"Quite good… quite good." Marcellus mused. "Alright. Handa, do you mind going beater? You have definitely got the frame to do it even beyond First Year level."
Ken grinned. "Do I just smack it as hard and accurate as possible?"
"I will have to remind yourself and Garrett of the foul play rules…" Ken's grin faltered. "-But yes, essentially."
Albus was pleased too. Ken definitely looked like he would be a quite good Beater, and that meant that the team was decided.
"Right! Let's get into practise then. Potter, I want you to try something. It's an unconventional tactic I've been mulling over in my mind."
-And the first practice, unsurprisingly, was a bit calamitous. Cassie and Eva had collided into each other (at low height, thankfully) at least four times, and Luca dropped the Quaffle straight onto Marcellus' head at some point, for the Prefect was very close to the ground waiting to catch anyone in case they fell, and the Quaffle had slipped from his hands as he went one on one against Scorpius.
Out of pity, Albus asked for another Quaffle to practise with Scorpius on separate pair of practise hoops while the three Chasers practised on some unguarded ones for accuracy foundations. There was the added challenge that Albus had to zoom over and back to fetch the Quaffle wherever it was launched by the Three Aimless Musketeers, before it hit the ground. It was a bit of a challenge when the Quaffle went completely awry and he had to dive at a weird angle, rather than the expected one, but he managed to get each of them, which pleased his friends and Marcellus.
Finally, the whole Slytherin team (or rather, their backsides mainly) were absolutely dismayed to find that Ken was a deadshot with the bludger. He kept nearly falling off his broom after his vigorous smacks, however, and also almost got decapitated by Garrett swinging blindly at the other bludger in one very nerve-wracking incident. It was a good thing that they were using Baby Bludgers, or Albus would surely have been sore at the number of times he had been hit by Ken, who rightly assumed that it was better to smack bludgers at the experienced flyers rather than at the ones who could even take each other out when left to their own devices.
At one point Albus had seen James and some Gryffindors dying of laughter in the stands. He had flown over to give them a hand gesture his mother would not have approved of, before Marcellus gave them a quite forceful sendoff with the help of Madam Hooch, who had finally been convinced by Albus' outburst that perhaps it was not a good idea to let the rival Gryffindors 'watch for fun'.
The Slytherin First Years left the pitch with most of their spirit nevertheless intact: but their physical wellbeing somewhat less so.
It was going to be a long haul to the Quidditch match.
For Albus' first weekend day without lessons, he would later look back on it as both quite eventful but also intermittently quite relaxing. Since he had no appetite to either look for any of his family members or spend time in the main common room (where the bad memories were still fresh), he spent the rest of the morning lazing around in the tiny but cosy First Year shared common room with the rest of his yearmates.
Eva and Cassie were drawing in the corner, so Albus looked over.
"Wow! Is that a Hungarian Horntail?" he asked Cassie, trying to rein in his excitement. He really should have gotten over his childish obsession with his dad's 'Dragon Story' by now, but he never had.
"Yep! I bet you know all about them?"
Albus laughed. "Of course!"
"...Come on guys, let's do some homework…" moaned Ken, who was still depressed about having missed a week of school. Scorpius hummed with his quill in his mouth: he had already started working on their Charms reading homework while lying on his belly on the camelback sofa.
"NO! I don't want to hear that word! Do your work somewhere else if you need to!" cried Garrett drolly, covering his ears in an exaggerated way. Ken duly ignored him, as he normally did (poor Garrett never got a break, really, with the rest of his overambitious year).
"What did you do with Professor Lang?" asked Albus, who decided it wouldn't do to be lazy when the rest of his friends were catching up.
"Not much. Quite boring stuff really: Lang made us do a lot of reading and breathing exercises, but no magic yet." answered Corman Reddick.
"-Garland finally realised he should stop running his mouth at least." Benjamin Bruegel added smugly.
Albus nodded. He presumed they didn't need to do too much work in class considering they had private sessions lined up, where Lang no doubt would move at a more punishing pace.
Just then, the bell clock struck 1pm and the Slytherin First Years rose to go to lunch.
"What objects do we need to know how to apply Avifors too?"
"Just quills for now. Pallidus Nestor managed to turn his Snow Swan Feather quill into a Snow Swan chick- it was so cute!"
"-I've told you already, Eva: Snow Swan chicks aren't that special or cute!"
"Just because your family works in magical creature conservation it doesn't mean you have to be so snobby about which animals other people find cute, Cassie!"
Girls, Albus thought. He had been lectured about gender generalisations by his Aunt Hermione before- but he still decided that he was not yet at the mental age to understand their erratic conversations properly.
"Potter, Malfoy." they turned to see Marcellus beckoning them over. He indicated that Luca and Ken should follow them too with a long index finger. They went as asked, and he addressed them in a low tone.
"Meeting tomorrow at 8pm. Arrive on time- meet near the Whomping Willow, and don't draw too much attention to yourselves. It shouldn't take too long, but there will be a lot of introductions needing to be made."
Albus blinked.
"Progressive Council." Scorpius whispered, elbowing him subtly. Albus remembered what his mother had said, and nodded to show his acknowledgement. Marcellus waved them off.
"What did Marcellus want?" asked Cassie when they returned.
"Oh uhh- he just wanted to discuss some uhh... protective measures after the attack."
Silence.
"He's a very good Prefect. Much more responsible and efficient than I had imagined a Prefect would be." Benjamin Bruegel noted, trailing off.
Albus and his yearmates quickly sounded their affirmative. They could certainly agree on that.
The rest of Saturday had passed languidly, and Albus woke up the next day feeling well-rested. He would have a meeting with Sevorian, so he brushed his teeth quickly and hurried himself along the Dungeons after letting his friends know where he was disappearing off too.
When he arrived, he knocked on the door and found it half-open. Nobody seemed to be there yet.
"-Just let yourself in, I am currently in the library analysing some manuscripts, but I will arrive in ten minutes."
Albus jumped at the sound of Sevorian's booming voice. He spun around and saw a silvery tiger, which he supposed must have been Sevorian's patronus. It disintegrated as soon as he entered the office.
Professor Sevorians's office was, in one word, organised: almost excessively so. Albus noted that there were no potion ingredients anywhere (suggesting that Sevorian indeed was not too interested in Potions in his own time), but there were what seemed like hundreds and hundreds of files organised carefully with labels. Albus saw that some of them had very worn and dog-eared appearances, while others seemed in pristine conditions. He also noticed a few letters swimming around which he did not even recognise and were clearly from different languages.
Suddenly, a white gleam caught his eye. He saw that on the main desk, previously obscured by a large photoframe, there were fragments of a pearly opalline stone next to a fresh sheet of parchment. With a jolt, he recognised the jagged script on the parchment from Professor Lang's blackboard when he had first introduced them to wandless magic, and realised that it must have been a collaboration project of some sorts between his two favourite professors so far. Even more curiously, it looked like Professor Sevorian had been dissecting two wands next to the gemstone. He could see crudely severed joints of different shade woods, with some sort of string poking out of one and unicorn hair pointing out the other.
MOONSTONE- CHECK W.N PROPERTIES. THEY SEEM TO BE THE STRONGEST OBSERVED SO FAR.
Albus was about to keep reading on when he was interrupted by a quite scornful voice.
"-Another Potter who can't keep his nose out of other people's business, then? Just like your reckless father." Albus turned around, seeing a portrait of a man with greasy black hair and a hooked nose sneering at him disdainfully.
"Who are you?" he asked, as politely as he could muster.
"That much is irrelevant, clearly. You have not even introduced yourself yet, but you expect me to do so. Is that how you talk to all your professors?"
Albus scowled slightly. "Fine then, sir. I am Albus Severus Potter."
-And suddenly, to his great surprise, the portrait's sneer dropped immediately.
"...Albus WHAT Potter?"
"-Severus. After Severus Snape-" Albus paused a second, realising something. "Oh! Are you Severus Snape?"
"...Yes, evidently... Why on earth did your boneheaded father name you that, however?"
Albus smiled in spite of himself. He had never met his namesake before and felt much more motivated to actually talk to the portrait properly now.
"First of all, he said you were the bravest man he ever knew. I am not quite sure yet why- something to do with spying, right? He told me he would tell me the details in time because the story is too complicated for a child to understand. Second of all, please stop insulting my father. I know he was not the best student to you but I would appreciate it if you were rude to his face rather than to mine too: I find it a bit unkind and I don't like it when people talk badly about my father."
Snape blinked as if thrown by Albus' forwardness, and then sneered once more.
"Tell me then Albus Severus, what would you get if you added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"
Albus was surprised, but knew the answer easily.
"Draught of the living dead, sir."
"And where would you look if you wanted to find a bezoar?"
"The stomach of a goat, sir. But sawfish cartilage is probably more useful for that function these days since it can be swallowed much easier."
"-And that is very well done, Albus; I'm surprised you've clearly read the fairly new article on sawfish cartilage in the International Potions Review. But Severus, there is no need to grill my new student so fiercely is there?" Professor Sevorian strode in briskly, laying down some old parchments and an ornate teacup on top of the moonstone and wand fragments.
"You didn't tell me his name." Snape's tone dripped with accusation.
"You didn't ask." Sevorian responded, a hint of a smile on his lips. Snape rolled his eyes and then nodded, as if yielding to Sevorian's point.
"Well, he seems more intelligent than his father was, and there's no doubt that he is more intelligent than his brother- not that either would be much of an achievement. I'm glad Potter chose this one to bear my name at least."
Sevorian had a twinkle in his eye again. "Albus, that there is a veiled compliment from Severus Snape. Believe me, he does not give them easily."
Albus nodded at Snape in an awkward show of gratitude, and received a silent inclination of the latter's head in return. Sevorian continued in his gruff voice.
"Now, Albus, I am aware that your mother and sister have seen you earlier this week, so I will not be giving you any talks on how you should deal with your family. I am certain your father and mother will not care, and any of your siblings who do will be best dealt with by you in time. I was intending to remind you that your parents were definitely no longer prejudiced against your House, but the remit of my job ends when it comes to inter-sibling relationships so I will not interfere there."
"Thank you sir." Albus gulped. "I am definitely not worried anymore about my parents, at least..."
"Very well then. First of all, I wanted to congratulate you on the start of your life as a Slytherin. You have stood head and shoulders above your peers so far, save for your three equally talented friends." He paused, taking a sip from his tea.
"I want you to keep up your zeal and commitment. Your life certainly won't be easy by any conventional means, so you will have to deal with this by adapting to your circumstances. The best way is to maintain a high level of achievement, because it will earn you your respect the most."
Albus' throat tightened inexplicably, but he managed to reply with a firm "I will".
"Good. Subtlety and cunning can also be a good tool: do not reproach your House's values just because they can be associated with immoral deeds. You and your friends work as if you have a lot to prove, but you will need to focus on managing your workloads in a rational way, and remember to never be controlled by anything other than yourself. On the flip side, times are changing, young Albus. Your ambition and drive to succeed will equip you well because not all those changes will be positive."
Albus nodded (he seemed to be doing a lot of that recently), and shivered.
"Finally, I hear Professor Lang will be giving you wandless magic lessons?"
"Yes, sir. He will."
Professor Sevorian paused for a second, before he raised his dark-tinted spectacles to stare directly into Albus' eyes.
"Do not waste this opportunity. Professor Lang will not do this for just any student- and he has trained many. You will find that, despite the fact that you may consider us two similar, there are still marked differences in the way he teaches as opposed to how I would be able to teach. He will be exceptionally demanding at all times, so all of you must be prepared for this. Furthermore, always remember that in the future wandless magic will be more important than just a way to distinguish yourself from other people. Don't ever let it be that the teacher is the one who is forced to try and push you the extra mile when it should be you yourself pushing for this."
"I won't, sir. All four of us intend to work very hard on our wandless training, regardless of what other people say."
"-As you should, especially with those affinities of yours. Well then, Albus, do you have any questions?"
Albus did, actually. "When will we start learning duelling, sir?"
Sevorian nodded as if he had been expecting it. "Keep your patience about you, young Albus. You must not let a desire to be stronger get in the way of your process of getting stronger- take things with patience so you can reach your maximum potential, and this applies especially to the incredibly meticulous art of wandless magic. With that said: I have been talking to Professor Lang and we have been prepared for the possibility that you would ask this question since the incident last week. We still both think it is best for you to focus on your wandless training, since it is definitely the area which will be the most time-consuming and duelling is certainly not necessary for a first year: but should you like I myself will give you all some lessons from time to time for wand duelling since it will be best for you to develop strategies in both disciplines especially with recent threats to your wellbeing."
Albus' mouth fell open in amazement.
"Thank you so much for your time, sir! We'll try not to let you down!"
"-Don't thank me, Albus. You have earnt this opportunity through your seriousness and application towards the Wand Clumping spell and the rest of your magic education in general. Just ensure you stay working hard. Any more questions for me?"
Albus just then remembered what he had seen on the label. He pondered for a second, and came to the conclusion that it was highly unlikely Sevorian would truly believe he hadn't looked at it anyway, so honesty was probably the best policy.
"What does W.N stand for, sir?"
Sevorian just laughed, walking over to open the door and beckoning to Albus that he was free to leave. Albus, confused, followed the gesture and went to leave, before his Professor's hand stopped him.
"W.N stands for wand-nullifying."
He was then very gently nudged again, and after expressing his thanks to his Professor and to Snape, he left the office to return to the Common Room.
Benjamin and Corman were still at lunch talking to some Ravenclaws, so Albus finally had a chance to out the thought that had been troubling him since his meeting with Sevorian earlier in the morning.
"Psst. Guys!"
Scorpius looked up from the letter he was writing to his father, and Luca from his novella. Ken paused in the middle of the bizarre exercises he was doing on the floor ('They're called pushups!" Ken had said).
"What, Albus Severus?"
"Scorp, stop calling me that! But you know how I was in Sevorian's office this morning?"
"Yeah, and? What did you talk about?"
"-A lot, actually."
At this point Ken looked pointedly at Luca, who promptly huffed in exasperation. "We thought it might have been sensitive, so we weren't going to ask unless you talked first."
Albus blinked. "...Oh… you thought I was talking about my family."
Ken nodded slowly, as if unsure how to be sensitive about it. Albus appreciated that from an objective viewpoint, except of course that they were wrong about the contents of the meeting.
"Thanks, guys. I really appreciate it. But we didn't talk about my family much at all. Basically, we don't have much time since I don't want the other two to hear, but Sevorian had some really strange rocks on his table, along with a few broken wands-"
"-Rocks? And broken wands?" Scorpius interrupted, clearly bewildered.
"Yeah. I think the rock was moonstone, and there were just clumps of it there with broken wands. There was also a note, from Professor Lang."
"-So he and Professor Lang must indeed still collaborate a lot on research, just like Professor Sevorian said in Potions." noted Luca thoughtfully. Albus nodded.
"Anyway, the note said: 'Moonstone, W.N properties stronger than ever observed before', or something along those lines."
"W.N?"
"-Yeah, here's what I thought was strange too. In the end I had a feeling he knew I peeked at the note before he came into the office, so I asked him about what W.N. Stood for."
He could now see the gleam of curiosity in his friends' eyes very clearly. Albus swallowed.
"Apparently it stands for wand-nullifying."
Ken and Luca were slower on the uptake, but Scorpius' eyes widened immediately.
"Wand-nullifying? So it can cancel out wands?"
"-I think so, right? I don't think there are any other meanings to the word nullify."
Luca frowned, and dug out a strange looking book titled The Oxford English Dictionary from his beside drawer, flipping a few pages. "I think it does mean that. The only definition listed here is 'to make something lose its effect or power'."
Then there was a moment of realisation which sunk in for Albus' three friends- one he had already had earlier.
"Remember what Lang said!" exclaimed Ken. Luca and Scorpius seemed like they had been about to say the exact same thing. There were indeed frightening parallels to what Lang had mentioned in his first class.
"What would happen to British wizarding society if people found a way to stop wands from working?"
"But- but that's impossible! There has never been anyone or anything able to stop another wizard's magic before! There's no way you can do that!" Scorpius said.
"-And why would moonstone stop wands from working?" added Luca.
"I don't know. But Professor Sevorian kept mentioning things, almost like he was hinting at a reality where wands weren't so powerful anymore. He kept saying weird stuff like: 'Remember that wandless magic in the future will not just be for show' and 'Wandless magic will be your most time-consuming area of study this year'. Do you reckon this could actually happen?"
Scorpius fell silent, clearly shocked by the idea that someone could stop wands from working. Albus had been equally shocked, being also from a family with deep magical roots, when he had heard what Professor Sevorian had said.
"Did he tell you anything else?" asked Ken. Albus shook his head.
"He really wasn't very clear about anything-"
"-We should research ourselves. I don't know about you guys, but I really can't believe a simple stone can cancel out a wand. Professor Sevorian clearly isn't going to give us that much information if he is giving so subtle hints, so we'll have to find out ourselves through experimenting then." Scorpius suddenly said.
"Experimenting?"
"Yeah. We should try and get some moonstone and then some wands, and see how the moonstone affects the caster of a spell."
"-Wait a second. Sorry if I am being dumb, but where in the world are we even supposed to find those things?" Ken butted in.
"Well… we can get moonstone from potion supply cupboards?" suggested Albus, who knew it was a prominent ingredient in the Draught of Peace for example.
"-I don't think we should steal from Sevorian's supplies though…" said Luca. "Wait! I can tell my uncle to post some in!"
Albus, Scorpius and Ken's attention all shot up immediately. Luca had not mentioned his family at all since their first train ride together, and they did not know anything about the mystery uncle Luca supposedly lived with.
"Isn't your uncle... a muggle?" asked Scorpius slowly.
"It doesn't matter. Muggles have discovered moonstone too, ages ago." said Ken. Luca nodded.
"My uncle has access to a lot of precious gemstones, so he should be able to send us some quite quickly." he said, clearly already lost in thought about his idea. There was a sense, however, that they wouldn't get any more information about Luca's uncle other than he seemed to be a rich and somewhat powerful muggle, so they didn't try.
"Then- wands. How do we get hold of wands?" continued Albus.
"...Maybe we should just deal with that when the time comes. Hogwarts has got to have spare wands lying around somewhere, right? And maybe we won't even end up having to cut up the wands in the first place, so we won't be breaking any."
-At that moment, Benjamin and Corman walked in, and, through a silent glance, the friends had to agree to leave the conversation there and to ponder on the multiple contemplations which had sprung up as a result.
"Guys. Guys!" Ken suddenly exclaimed in a moment of relative peace later that evening.
"What?"
"I just remembered: we have the Progressive meeting thingy in ten minutes!"
Albus dropped his book immediately. Luca and Scorpius likewise leapt up from where they had been playing Wizard's Chess.
"I can't believe we almost forgot!"
"-Marcellus would have killed us!"
Albus rummaged through his wardrobe, as he was in clothes which were far too casual to make a good impression.
"What do we wear?"
"I don't know! School uniform?"
"-I guess so?"
The four friends dressed in record time, and immediately started running out the hallway.
"Whomping Willow right?!"
"Yeah. Why though?"
"I don't know. I guess we'll see when we get there."
"-No, it's this way: that's the corridor to the Owlery!"
-And soon they arrived, skidding to a halt harshly as an unexpectedly long branch nearly swept Scorpius off his feet.
"Where are they-"
But as Ken spoke, a beam of light struck the base of the tree and the branches stopped thrashing violently. Marcellus (wearing his Hogwarts robes as well, luckily) stepped out from the hollow opening which had suddenly been uncovered.
"Come on in. I'd almost thought you'd forgotten."
The four friends laughed nervously at that, but that was quickly forgotten as they entered the doorway which Marcellus had led them through.
"Woahh!"
The inside of the Whomping Willow was not a tree at all. It was a very large room, adorned with emerald and rose-gold decorations and nearly full with a very substantial number of people. Mounted on the ceilings were opaque crystalline chandeliers, and there were multiple circular tables spread out around the room. In another corner lay a basket of gleaming oranges, and some drinks which were pouring themselves as people went to pick them up. In the front of the room, positioned in the centre, was a semicircular arrangement of chairs: seven in total.
"Welcome, you four, to the Progressive Council. This is a group of Hogwarts' most active Progressive families, where we meet to discuss ways to counter perceived threats from the Trads and in general ways to protect non-purebloods who would otherwise be targeted by bigotry. I will let you intermingle now as I have some coordinating to do with leaders from other Houses first, but we will start the short meeting not too long from now." With that, Marcellus pushed them fully into the room and headed back for the entrance, presumably to meet some more people.
The initial hubbub resided as soon as Albus and his friends entered the room, as all the heads silently turned to look at them. Albus recognised Lillian Chorister and Pharell Davison from Fifth Year.
"Oh look, it's the Firstie Four!" called out a voice from the back. This seemed to break the moment of peace as chatter broke fresh and filled the room.
"Well done on winning the points!" hollered a Slytherin boy who seemed to be one of the oldest there.
"Thank Merlin they aren't as stupid as the new Trads always seem to be." Albus was surprised to see this one was a Ravenclaw, and a Hufflepuff answered:
"Of course they're not- it's not like they have brainless parents like the Trad families!"
"-Sevorian is harsh on us now, saying that even First Years could handle Erumpent Fluid without instructions. You guys must have had the precise Dragon Stoves though right?"
Albus felt his face heat up, and saw he wasn't the only one, with his friends standing there equally as awkwardly. To his immense relief, Lillian Chorister, Pharell Davison and another girl from Slytherin came to their aid, and the former stared intensely back at anyone who stared at them any longer to the point that attention was dispersed to smaller groups of friends once more.
"Welcome. It's very good to have you. I am Penelope Abraste, heiress to the House of Abraste, Hogwarts Seventh Year. It is nice to meet you." said the unknown girl, sticking out a hand which they each shook in turn.
"Lillian Chorister here, and Pharell Davison there. Hopefully you have not forgotten us?" Luca shook his head quickly.
"Perhaps a little introduction to the Council will be in order." said Penelope. "Do you have any questions for me, as it's probably easier to lead the conversation that way?"
Scorpius nodded. "Is this a Pureblood-only council normally?"
"Generally it is overwhelmingly so, for the following reasons: the Council does not consist of all the Hogwarts students who want to protect equal rights regardless of bloodline- and it doesn't even really function to facilitate the most prominent of those students. Rather, its function is as an almost-political entity designed to deal with the Trad vs Progressive struggle alone: a struggle which only exists within the Pureblood families who are the only ones who have the power to avoid intermingling in the first place. The Council tends to work more with individual non-Pureblood students externally, since they would just feel out of place in this Pureblood-dominated area. However, it is far from rare for non-Purebloods to be in the Council meetings, in cases where they have personal stakes either to protect themselves or because they have been especially wronged in the past by Trads."
"-Or based on usefulness." added Pharell Davison. "I'm only a half-blood but I initially got involved when Marcellus asked me to on account of my fair aptitudes for espionage and subterfuge."
Scorpius slowly nodded, and Ken and Luca seemed relieved.
"Do we ever work with adults?" asked Luca, and this time it was Lillian Chorister who answered.
"Rarely do we work with any non-students, and teachers especially like to keep their 'blind-eye' attitude and pretend they don't notice any Progressive vs Trad fighting. People like Sevorian and McGonagall definitely know we exist, though, and we can call on them if we ever desperately need them. Teachers just prefer to stay neutral most of the time: which in my opinion is correct since it means this way there can be no accusations of institutional bias towards one side- which would only complicate things."
"-There are also Progressive Pureblood parents who occasionally get involved. A large part of the lure of the Council is as a networking opportunity for Purebloods, since unfortunately a lot of them care very little about Muggle rights and just are Progressive because their family have had feuds with Trad families. This means that the chance to meet other Pureblood heirs and their parents is what keeps a lot of the members here, and we can't exactly evict them if they are heirs to important players in Progressive politics." added Penelope.
"So it isn't a muggle-rights organisation?"
"-Yes and no. Our initiatives nearly all focus on that aspect of Hogwarts' student life, so it would be wrong to say that the Council doesn't care, or that the Council is a social club. It would be a lot more accurate to say the Council's members aren't all interested in the justice side of things, though. Many of them retain Pureblood intermarriage and etiquette traditions; only with a small change to how they treat Muggles. Others are here, however, solely on account of their hatred of Trad bigotry. It's a mixed bag of students but you can generally trust the leadership and that any non-supporters won't try to interfere and sway things socially." At some point, an older Ravenclaw had joined them, holding hands with a blond girl from Gryffindor, and he was the one who had answered them. "My name is Antonin Crouch, heir to the admittedly mostly-defunct Crouch family, great-nephew of Bartemius Crouch I. This is my girlfriend, Margaret Macmillan, heiress to the House of Macmillan."
"Any more questions?" asked Penelope kindly.
Albus did have a few last questions, so he went ahead and asked them.
"Are all Four Houses in the Council then? And why are there seven seats up at the front end of the room?"
"Yes- all Four Houses are here, albeit in different numbers. Slytherin is still overwhelmingly where the most powerful Progressive Purebloods tend to land, so they dominate the council. Gryffindors, on the other hand, rarely get involved with us because they are so used to championing Muggle Rights anyway, but you might see one or two of us as well here. The Progressive Council strongly avoids inter-House division, though, preferring to focus on a united front against Trads." said Macmilan. "And as for the seven seats, these are for the seven leaders of our Council. Normally it's four Slytherins, and one from each of the rest of the Houses, but this year there are two Ravenclaws and only three Slytherins. Marcellus Zabini is the general leader, and the rest are Penelope Abraste and Daniel Fawley from Slytherin, myself from Gryffindor, Antonin Crouch and Vicentius Gabor from Ravenclaw, and Clane Burke from Hufflepuff."
Albus was shocked. "Marcellus is general leader? Isn't he quite young for that?
"Marcellus is efficient and driven, as well as from one of the most pivotal Progressive families in the Zabini clan. It's not too surprising to be honest."
And as if he had heard them, Marcellus stood up, raising his glass to signal silence, which was achieved far quicker than Albus would have thought.
"Please take your respective tables, by House, or by Year in the case of the Slytherins."
Albus and his friends were gestured to the First Year table, where they sat alone but with a good view in general of the seven seats. The leaders took their places in their chairs.
"Now, I want to keep this meeting brief as it is a Sunday evening and I am sure we all have places to be. We'll start with a broad report on Trad activity, and then discuss the most important issue facing us at least to start this year."
At that moment, Marcellus caught eye contact with Albus and his friends and they resigned themselves to become the centre of discussion once that happened. In the meantime, nevertheless, an unknown Ravenclaw with very thick eyebrows- whose name Albus remembered was Vincentius Gabor- stood up with a sheet in his right hand, which he proceeded to read from.
"Trad activity has continued its worrying uptrend recently. Trads of all countries have apparently been in greater diplomatic contact with each other, and they certainly do not show signs of slowing down or being converted anytime soon."
There were a few murmurs at this, but nothing too drastic.
"Unfortunately, in Britain the Trads also seem to be active with secret plans. It is not confirmed or certain, but it appears the Trads are pushing through a new plan, and are preparing to do so. For this reason, we would urge all members to be as weary of neo-Death Eater propaganda as of anything else, for it is unfortunately possible they will still switch to this idea considering how important Voldemort was to their circle."
More murmuring this time; Albus also thought it sounded quite altogether frightening. Marcellus then stood up himself.
"Now for the more pressing part. As you know, very recently there was an attack of unprecedented boldness in Slytherin house by the Trads, who were targeting the very unconventional Slytherin first year collective." All the heads swivelled round to look at them again.
"It is very unreasonable to expect First Years to defend themselves against older Trads, so I want to just request the following from each and every member to avoid too much danger befalling these four especially."
"-Can't we just set up alternating patrols and escorts? It makes our lives a lot easier." asked one council member. Marcellus shook his head, however.
"The effect will not be too high as it is likely the First Years, as all students do, might be unaccounted for at times, where they will still be in danger. It is also just not a very pleasant experience for all parties involved and therefore something we are eager to avoid. I just wanted to say the following thing: members from all Year groups and Houses, keep an eye and ear out. Listen to see if there are plots being made or if people are especially spiteful towards these four. And for Merlin's sake, interfere if you see it happening. Preemptivity is the key here. Any questions?"
There were none, and everybody seemed to agree with the protocol proposed.
"Then we are done. Remember, the Trads grow ever stronger. We too must match their pace, and we cannot and must not underestimate their violence and unpredictability. In the name of the Progressives, we must stand steadfast!"
There was a series of cheers and final speeches, and surprisingly, that was that. The council adjourned the meeting and after a sendoff by Marcellus they all returned to their dorm rooms.
"Thank goodness we escaped escorts." Breathed Ken, still slightly nervous from the attention.
"Couldn't agree more."
"-Time to sleep I guess. It's been a very long day."
A long day it had been indeed, and a thoughtful night ensued for Albus and his four friends as they slid into the warm invitation of their bedsheets after bedtime.
In his office with a completely dark sky outside his window, Seth Sevorian tapped his glasses with his wand to clear them of the specks of dust which had accrued on their surfaces. His work was done for today, so he filed away the tomes he had been translating and studying. He also closed his eyes and sent out his Patronus to deliver a message to Lang, telling him what phenomena he had observed, and suggesting possible explanations for them.
Behind him, though, he heard a throat being cleared.
"Severus, I see you're back."
"I am indeed."
"Did you want anything from me in particular?"
"Want... no. But warn- yes."
Sevorian raised his eyes to look into the eyes of Severus Snape, an efficient practitioner who he had brought into his office on the recommendation of Harry Potter to augment his various research projects.
"Very well, what do you have to say?" he asked. He of course understood what was likely going on- and also that Snape probably also knew he knew. But it was polite of course to let Snape press forwards with his interrogation without needing to be unnecessarily preemptive.
"When I was a professor, much like you are right now, I too was Potions master and Housemaster of Slytherin. I saw many things in my time, as you are aware."
"Indeed I am."
"I shan't be a verbose fool, then. One thing I saw first hand was the complex machinations of Albus Dumbledore, which won our war but cost many people their lives. In fact, even Minerva does not know as much as I do to this day in regards to what was planned back then, for my position and secrecy were unique to myself. But regardless, I remember the old Headmaster manipulating a certain boy, turning him into a soldier before he knew it, and very nearly killing him in the process. Only dumb luck stopped the boy from becoming a sacrifice with an expiry date."
"You speak of Harry Potter, of course."
"-I will not witness another boy be victim to the machinations of their teacher again. You might think you are providing benefit to Albus Severus and his three friends, whoever they may be, by manipulating them with this faux peace offering of magical power, but I wanted to make it very clear that my eye is on you. No first years should be pushed so far as you and Lang Heijian are planning to push them now; I personally do not approve of the subtle but overwhelming pressure you are applying on these students, who likely are the future of our House."
Sevorian nodded. He had been expecting it, having contemplated this himself before.
"I am not surprised by your concern. It is a concern I have shared before, but which I no longer share with you. I hope you'll allow me the liberty of explaining why?"
Snape nodded very minimally, a gesture that he should continue.
"In many ways, we are raising Albus, Scorpius, Luca and Kenichi to become wizards far stronger than they ought to be. And no doubt the journey will be different and difficult for them. But how I feel today is different to how I felt a week ago, before the attack of those repugnant Trads Selwyn and Mulciber." Sevorian had discussed the attack at the time with Snape, without having been asked or mentioning names.
"They have the drive to prove themselves and certainly the potential to do so. Should I try to put a stopper on the momentum of those four now, there are only two outcomes I currently see: the first, that their determination- which undoubtedly exists in far greater amounts than one would ever normally be able to anticipate in any student- pushes them nevertheless. Herein lie two scenarios: the best case, that they reach the same level they would have reached anyway under our guidance: but with much harder work and much less safety; the worst case- that they are attracted to the wrong forms of magic and harm either themselves or other people in the future. The second possible outcome would be that they waste the absolutely monumental potential they have right now, and that would arguably be equally bad: not just for themselves and their quest for more recognition and respect, but also for Slytherin House- and even, might I venture, the whole of Wizarding society. It is early to say, but factors are not lining up well right now and the darkness is growing stronger but more importantly more varied and difficult to defend against in conventional ways. These four may well be pivotal in the future with their magical talent. Our goals are aligned, so that is why we are taking them so far. They are already, from their first few weeks, nothing like any other student I have seen and even perhaps nothing like any other student you, Severus, have ever seen. So do not judge them in the same light, is what I urge."
Snape stared at Sevorian for a very long time before responding.
"Then so be it. I have respected both your skill and mettle for a long time, and I can see whence you derive your judgement so I shall not challenge it for now. But just be aware that under no circumstances are Albus Severus Potter and his friends going to become pigs for slaughter under my watch ever. Or I shall use my very non-alive presence and ensure that you are stopped, whether by Harry Potter himself or by Minerva- and that is a scenario nobody wants here."
Sevorian had no intention of going against that, and had every intention of making sure Albus and his friends achieved their maximum potential at a rate they could handle. Lang had agreed with his concerns of pacing, and said the same thing when they had last discussed the four boys together.
"I understand. I will protect Albus and his friends and try to guide them to their goals in a way which is right for them, and this has always been my intention."
"...Very well then."
A/N- I hope you've enjoyed. I will try to move onto the next chapter and have it out by Wednesday next week latest. Again, reviews/follows/favourites are so much appreciated! Thanks for your patience and I will try not to let readers down so much in the future.
Best wishes, AVK.