Nothing made Albus feel more like he was back at Hogwarts than the sound of Shaun McLaren getting up at the crack of dawn. Unlike the year before though, none of his fellow Gryffindors got up with him, they'd learned over time that Shaun getting up meant they still had at least an hour before they needed to do anything. Normally, these times would be filled with everyone trying to make each other laugh from their beds, this usually meant someone making a silly noise, and then the rest doing their best to hold in their giggles.
As the clock struck seven, Leon suddenly jumped out of bed and raced down into the Common Room.
"What's he up to?" asked Matt, rubbing his eyes and finally sitting up himself.
Albus and Bertie both climbed out of bed and changed into their robes for the day ahead, though both felt thoroughly unprepared for their lessons to start. Albus threw various quills and rolls of parchment into his bag and threw it over his shoulder, waiting for the others to finish getting ready to go down to breakfast. As he was waiting, Leon came bounding up the stairs and into the dormitory, he was clutching a flier in his hand.
"Quidditch try-outs!" he declared, waving the flier in the air, "They're opening up the whole team! That means your brother will have to try out again, Al"
Albus had known about this since the summer, as it was one of only two things that James had talked about, alongside the World Cup of course. James had spent almost every hour practising his flying in the back garden and had even recruited Teddy to shoot bewitched rocks at him so he could practice dodging Bludgers.
"He'll be fine," said Albus
Leon nodded, "I'm sure he will be, I'd be surprised if anyone else tried out for Seeker anyway"
"What are you trying out for?" asked Bertie, who was tying his tie.
"Chaser," said Leon, "It's impossible to practice at home though, I'm surrounded by Muggles where I live! I might ask Caprice Flynn if I can go down early to get some practice in beforehand…" he pondered whilst stepping over to his bed. "I know that second-years hardly ever get on the team, but I just have to try"
Bertie pulled his robe on, "You're the best flyer in our year! You've definitely got a chance"
Leon grinned as he quickly got dressed, "Thanks, Bertie"
They met up with the girls in the Common Room before they walked down to breakfast together. Albus gave Rose a small smile, but she just raised her nose and defiantly looked away from him. Fortunately, the others weren't ignoring him. Bertie, Sophie King, and Hope Okoye were catching up on all things 'muggle-born', whilst Jess and Leon were teasing Matt about his bedhead. This left Amy Barnes and Albus talking to each other.
"Just so you know, I do agree with Rose that you were an idiot to get involved in that duel, but at the same time those Slytherins had it coming to them," she said, trying to flatten her messy hair.
"Thanks?" said Albus, slightly puzzled.
Amy finally wrestled a clip into place that kept most of her fringe out of her eyes, "Rose will cheer up, don't worry" she said, almost reading Albus' mind. "But if you are going to get into another duel, please make sure you hit Caedus"
Albus allowed himself to laugh, he'd missed Amy's slightly brutal honesty. She started to rub a mud stain from her robes, something that must have been there from last year. Amy always seemed to have the look of someone who had walked through a hedge to get wherever she was going, but she managed to carry it off.
"Stupid thing," she said, rubbing harder, "That potion my Mum made didn't work at all!"
"Ask Bertie to have a look, he'll be able to clean it with a charm," said Albus, pointing at the back of Bertie's head.
"Good shout," she said, leaving the stain alone at last
The Great Hall was surprisingly busy with people filling up before the start of the day. Albus had missed the smell of the dozens of plates of bacon and eggs in the hall, and he sat down at the Gryffindor table to stuff his plate high with just about everything in sight, he still had his appetite from the night before.
Timetables were soon passed down the table and distributed to the second-years. Albus could only glance at his one whilst eating his bacon and eggs, but could clearly see that their first lesson of the term would be Defence Against the Dark Arts.
"Brilliant!" exclaimed Leon, "Constantine first up!"
"We're still with the Slytherins though," said Sophie, mournfully.
Albus frowned then picked up his timetable to see what else his day had in store. After Defence, he would have Transfiguration, Herbology, History of Magic, and Charms.
"Not too bad, we could do without History of Magic being there though," he said, "Then Double Potions first thing tomorrow morning, that's going to be rough…"
Especially, thought Albus, as it meant he would probably end up seeing Professor Marlowe for the first time this year. He looked up at the staff table to see if Marlowe was anywhere to be seen, but only Professor Mutati, the Transfiguration teacher, and Professor Sinistra, who taught Astronomy, were up there at the moment. Albus turned back to his breakfast and finished the last of his bacon. Maybe Marlowe was still unwell, thought Albus.
All of a sudden the air was filled with the sound of flapping wings. Albus looked up to see a flock of owls descending from the rafters and down towards the long tables, each one carrying letters, parcels, and rolled-up newspapers and magazines. A tawny owl dropped a copy of the Daily Prophet in front of Bertie, who dropped a bronze Knut into a leather pouch worn by the owl.
Albus was about to pick up a piece of toast when a large grey owl dropped a sealed envelope onto his plate. He looked up at the owl as it flew away, it wasn't one he recognised. He turned it over and read the address:
Albus Potter
The Great Hall
Hogwarts
He recognised the writing immediately, and he tentatively opened it up and started to read.
Albus,
We've just received a letter from Professor Selbit concerning an incident that took place on the Hogwarts Express on the way to school.
What were you thinking!? Duelling with students will always be a terrible idea, and you fully deserve your punishment for doing so. There is no excuse for this, and both your mother and I are incredibly disappointed in your actions.
I'm sure it's been made clear to you that any further transgressions this year will see you expelled immediately. We fully agree with Professor Selbit about this.
Please, Albus, stay out of trouble and just focus on your studies, that's what you're at school for. We'll keep in touch and help you as much as we can.
Dad
Albus read the letter a couple of times, folded it up and put it inside his robes, then leant on his hand glumly. He glanced down the table and met Rose's eyes, she had an 'I told you so' expression on her face before she pointed her nose up and turned away from him.
"Can you believe him?!" fumed Matt.
Albus looked at him and saw that he too was holding a letter in his hands. Clearly, his parents had written to him as well. Matt scrunched the paper up and stuffed it in his pocket, before folding his arms and looking at Albus.
"Did you get one too?" Matt asked
Albus nodded slightly, silently begging him to not go on about it in the middle of the Great Hall, they were attracting enough attention anyway.
"My Dad spent half the letter talking about his 'reputation being on the line' because of me. Reputation? Pah!" he spat
Rose got up from her seat and walked towards them both, "Did he address it to 'Matthias?" she smirked, before carrying on out of the hall.
Matt glared after her, "What is her problem, seriously?!" he growled, "Well fine then if she wants to be like that…" he slammed the table, rattling the goblets and startling some terrified looking first-years, and thumped his way out of the hall, though Albus suspected he wasn't going after Rose.
"Someone has to sort those two out," said Leon, shaking his head.
Jessie Sears giggled, "It's his fault really"
"How?" asked Leon, puzzled, "She's the one who-"
The bell rang out, signalling that they only had a few minutes to get to their first lesson. At once, the hall stood up in a clatter of cutlery as they rushed to get out and to lessons. The Gryffindors all followed and made their way up the stairs to the third floor. Taking the first right and up another short flight of stairs they found themselves outside the familiar wooden door of the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, and they were delighted to see that the Slytherins hadn't arrived yet.
"Huh, wonder where Rose is?" asked Bertie, "Or Matt?"
The door opened as Bertie said this, and there stood the tall, bald, scar-faced Professor Constantine. His warm smile was present as he greeted them.
"Rose?" he said in his deep voice, "She's in here already"
He stepped aside to allow them in, and sure enough, Rose was already sitting on the front desk of the classroom, her books laid out neatly in front of her. She didn't acknowledge the others as they entered, though she did give Amy a small smile when she sat down next to her. Albus and Bertie grabbed a desk together and unpacked their things, watching the door to see when the Slytherins, and Matt, would turn up.
As some chatter grew outside the classroom, they knew that the Slytherins were arriving. The door burst open and Caedus strutted into the classroom with a smug look on his face. Albus faced the front of the classroom and ignored him and the rest of the Slytherins, he wasn't prepared to let them wind him up today.
"Settle down, please," said Constantine, "We have lots to get through today"
"Sir," said Leon, pointing behind him, "Is that a Romania scarf?"
Constantine turned around and looked at a red and yellow scarf that was laying on the desk. He gave Leon a small smile, "A present from a student, they'd apparently heard that I have family roots in that part of the world. I'm afraid I'm not a particularly big fan of Quidditch, Mr Newland" he finished, clearly noting that Leon was about to give him a run-down of everything that didn't work for Romania tactically.
Albus heard one of the chairs on the desk behind being pulled out, he turned around to see Scorpius there, he'd clearly snuck in after the rest of his housemates had already arrived.
"Morning you two," he said, quickly unpacking, "Good, I'm not late"
At the front of the classroom, Constantine was counting up the students and making a mental note of the register. He furrowed his brow, "Who's missing?" he asked.
"Bingham, sir" answered Rose, straight away, "Don't know where he is"
Constantine looked puzzled, "I see, well he's got another minute before the lesson starts, so we can-"
The door opened once more, and a panting Matt was standing in the doorway.
"Sorry sir" he started, "I'm on time"
Constantine shook his head and let out a small chuckle, "Just about, Mr Bingham. Take a seat quickly, please. There's a spare space next to Mr Malfoy"
Matt hesitated and blinked at Scorpius for a moment, before sitting down. Scorpius gave him a short nod but didn't look all that thrilled at having to sit next to him.
"Excellent, now we're all here…" Constantine tapped the chalkboard, making words appear upon it "We can get stuck right in. You will remember last year that we began our tuition in defensive charms and jinxes, and this year we shall be starting to look at some slightly more advanced spells and techniques" he paced up and down the room, almost hypnotically. "Normally we would take a look at how to defend yourself in a duelling situation, however, due to recent events", Albus felt twenty eyes turn towards him, "the headmaster has requested that we postpone that particular part of the curriculum until later in the year"
Caedus' hand shot into the air, "Sir, when will be doing that?"
"Please wait for me to point to you before asking me a question, Mr Fleet," said Constantine, wearily, "We will get to that section when we get to it, that's all you need to know for now"
"But Sir, I just want to know how long I've got before I know to defend myself from Bingham," said Caedus, feigning fear.
The Slytherins descended into quiet titters. From behind Albus was the sound of a chair squeaking on the floor as it moved back ever so slightly. He didn't dare turn round, but he could tell that Matt was on the brink of making a catastrophic mistake. It didn't come though. Matt stopped moving.
Constantine sighed, "Mr Fleet, one more word and it will be a second week of detentions"
Caedus' hand fell down and he looked away from Constantine with a glum expression. Albus now felt safe to look back, and he could see that Matt had his head bowed and was physically shaking, but he wasn't moving anywhere for now. Then Albus saw why. Scorpius had a handful of Matt's robes, preventing him from getting up.
"As I was saying" continued Constantine, "We will be building on the knowledge and skills we gained last year. This does mean that you will need to be working twice as hard, but your excellent exam results last year show me that you are more than capable of doing this" he smiled at them warmly. "Now, wands out, let's see how much you've retained from last year" he swung his wand in the air and conjured a pillow onto each table. "Take it in turns to show me your Knockback Jinx"
The tables moved to one side once everyone had got up, and the room was soon filled with blue flashes and flying pillows. Albus quickly learned that Bertie's aim had improved, as their pillow hit him in the side of his head whilst he was sharing a joke with Scorpius and not paying attention.
"Careful!" laughed Albus, "My turn" Albus placed the pillow down and stepped back, aiming his wand at it. He was about to fire his spell when he heard a cry of pain from next to him.
His head snapped around to see Matt writing on the floor, clutching his foot. Professor Constantine rushed over to him and helped him up, and he was quickly joined by Caedus, who was clutching his wand.
"Sorry Bingham, my wand slipped," he said insincerely.
Matt glowered at him, "You absolute…"
"Matt," said Constantine, placing a firm hand on his shoulder, then turned to the rest of the class. "Please take a seat". He waved his wand, away went the cushions, and the desks reappeared.
The class silently took their seats, though Matt made a point of sitting down as loudly as he could, glaring at Caedus all the while. Constantine walked between the desks on his way to the front of the classroom, erasing the chalkboard with a flick of his wand.
"In my classes, I expect you all to retain control of yourselves," he said seriously, but calmly, "You are responsible for each other's well-being, and I will be firm with anyone who puts that in jeopardy" he eyes flashed towards Caedus, then back to the rest of the class, "When you enter this classroom, you are leaving any grievances you have with each other aside. You are here to learn, not settle grudges. Do I make myself clear?" The class responded as one, and Constantine blinked slowly with a sigh. "That will be all for today, class dismissed"
In complete silence, the class packed their things away and made their way to the door, but Constantine stopped them before they could leave. "Actually, could Mr Potter, Mr Bingham, and Mr Malfoy stay behind?"
Matt groaned, "What have we done now?"
Albus looked at Bertie, "See you in Transfiguration, I guess"
They trudged to the front of the classroom and stood in front of Constantine; their heads focussed on the floor.
"Don't look so upset" said Constantine, "You're not in any trouble"
"Makes a change" scoffed Matt
"Quite, Mr Bingham" chuckled Constantine, then his face fell, "I just wanted to apologise"
The three boys all looked at each other, they hadn't been expecting that.
"For what, Sir?" asked Albus
Constantine looked them all straight in the eye, "For not doing more to help you last night" he said forlornly, "I don't know exactly what happened on the train, of course, but I'm not naïve enough to believe that Mr Fleet was being completely truthful about the events that happened"
"You can say that again" scoffed Matt, "He's a liar through and through sir!"
Constantine held a hand up to tell him to calm down, "Matt, please. I understand your frustration"
"It's not just Caedus though!" continued Matt, ignoring Constantine's pleas, "Selbit was the one who lapped all of that up!"
"Professor Selbit, please," said Constantine, "And I also understand your frustration there. But please don't let your anger sabotage you. You're walking on eggshells at the moment, and I don't want to see you crack them" he checked his watch, "You'd better get going to your next lessons"
Matt carried on, "But Caedus…"
"Mr Fleet will be dealt with appropriately. He himself is working on a short leash as it is" Constantine rubbed his head, "Now, away with you. Apart from you, Albus" he said.
Scorpius and Matt both looked at him with surprise, but they left the classroom without another word. Albus stood in silence for a moment, Constantine was looking towards the door, perhaps to make sure that the other two had definitely left.
Satisfied, Constantine turned towards Albus, "I just wanted to catch up with you, Albus" he said.
"Oh, ok…" stuttered Albus, "What about?"
"How was your summer?" he asked, his eyes digging into Albus'.
Albus stammered, "Oh, um, fine? We went to the World Cup and…"
"We?"
"Ye-yeah. Me, my family, Rose's family, Teddy, and Bertie"
Constantine lifted his chin ever so slightly, then closed his eyes and nodded, "I see". He opened his eyes again, they seemed to penetrate Albus' head much harder this time.
Albus had no idea what to make of this questioning, "Um, Sir, what's all this about?"
"Keep yourself out of trouble, Albus", Constantine said simply, before he waved him towards the door. There was little sense that he had listened to Albus' question.
Stuttering, Albus tried to find more words, but they didn't come. He picked up his bag and made a hasty exit from the classroom, not looking back. He raced downstairs to Transfiguration, praying that he'd make it in time.
"Eh? What do you think he meant?" Scorpius looked at Albus with a raised eyebrow whilst they were sitting in the library, making a concerted effort to get ahead with their Transfiguration essays at lunchtime.
Albus shook his head, "I've got no idea". His quill scratched away on the parchment as he finished off his introduction, "It's strange though, he asked me something similar before the holidays"
"Where's all this interest in what you're doing come from all of a sudden?" said Scorpius, firmly crossing out a line of writing.
Bertie looked at him, "You said last year that you thought Constantine might want to take the book for himself, you don't think he was looking for information or something, do you?"
Scorpius tapped his quill on the table a couple of times, "I don't know, but it does seem odd"
"You don't still believe that, do you?" asked Albus, "I hoped you would've dropped it by now!"
"Hey, I didn't accuse him of anything!" Scorpius protested, holding his hands up, "I just think we should keep an open mind about it, that's all. All I think is that there's something a bit suspicious about Constantine asking a question like that"
Bertie was in deep thought, "Do you think Constantine knows we have the book?"
Albus shook his head, "Why would he assume that? I'm sure he knows that Marlowe doesn't have it, but why would he think we do?"
"It's not a massive leap," said Scorpius, "If anything it's the most logical theory for him!"
"Why's that?"
Placing his quill down, Scorpius rubbed his chin, "Think about it, I'm sure he could've made a link between Caedus and me fighting on the day we took the book, and the sudden change in Marlowe's demeanour after we had" he pressed his lips together in thought, "Come to think of it, that's probably how Marlowe worked out it was us who took it as well"
Albus kept his eyes on him, then looked down at the table, "I'll admit that it does make some sense, Constantine is pretty sharp…". He absentmindedly rolled the corner of his parchment up slightly, then shook his head and cleared it away. "I'm hungry, want to grab something to eat from the Great Hall quickly?"
Bertie nodded and put his own essay away, whilst Scorpius continued to stare at Albus.
"Doesn't it bother you?" he asked
"What?"
Scorpius lowered his voice, "That there are two teachers who know you have this book, and neither of them has made a single attempt to get it yet"
"The book's safe, Scorpius" insisted Albus, "It's locked away in my dormitory, they won't be able to get in"
"Shh!" hissed Scorpius, "Don't say that out loud!" He gave Albus a dirty look, but packed his things away and stood up to leave, "Let's just get some food then"
They left the library, avoiding the gaze of the prowling Madam Pince when they walked past her desk. The corridors were littered with students making the most of what remained of their lunch break, and Albus had to weave between a group of lost-looking first-years to get through to the Great Hall. They sat at the end of the Gryffindor table, and Scorpius warily joined in, looking around nervously.
"You're only eating," said Albus, with a grin. He grabbed a couple of sandwiches and put them on his plate, he didn't have long before his Herbology lesson started.
Scorpius relaxed slightly but still had to endure the accusing stares of some of the older Gryffindors as they walked by. "Easy for you to say" he mumbled, grabbing a pork pie. "Just out of interest, when are we planning on looking at the book again? If we've got Marlowe and Constantine breathing down our necks it might be a good idea to get started right away"
Albus shrugged, "Sure, as long as we don't have-"
"Albus, there you are, been looking all over for you" Matt appeared at the table, holding out a small piece of parchment to him, "Detention," he said simply.
"Tonight?" said Albus, reading the parchment wide-eyed
Matt nodded, "Yep, then tomorrow, Thursday, and Friday"
Bertie grimaced, "At least you get Wednesday off," he said, optimistically.
"That's Astronomy night" Matt reminded him
"Oh…" said Bertie, his face falling, "How long are these detentions for?"
Matt sighed, "An hour". He looked around, then spotted Scorpius, "Oh, hello"
"Hi" replied Scorpius, looking blank, "Don't suppose you've got one of those notes for me, have you?"
Matt glanced at Albus, then nodded at Scorpius, "Sure, here" he handed him the remaining note. There was a brief moment of silence where Matt and Scorpius looked straight at each other.
"Thanks," said Scorpius, finally, as he scanned the note that confirmed the time of their punishment. "Just after dinner, so at least we'll get to eat"
Matt ignored him and addressed Albus, "Do you know when Mutati's essay is due? I want to get it started as soon as I can"
Albus was about to answer when Scorpius interjected, "Aren't you going to thank me?" he was talking to Matt.
He slowly turned his head towards him and blinked a couple of times, "Thanks for what?" he asked, slowly and deliberately.
"For stopping you from knocking seven bells out of Caedus earlier"
Matt shrugged, "I didn't need you to stop me" he looked back at Albus and Bertie, "See you in Herbology", waving and walking out of the Great Hall.
"Nice guy" muttered Scorpius as he watched Matt walking away.
Albus pushed his plate away and stood up, "Don't even start" he pleaded, "You're going to be spending months with him, and I can't face any arguments". Pulling his bag over his head he went to leave the Great Hall, followed by Bertie.
"Seriously? It wasn't that long ago that you hated each other!" said Scorpius
Albus scoffed, "We didn't hate each other, we just…didn't get along"
Scorpius gave a single, loud, laugh and shook his head, "Whatever you say. But fine, I promise not to wind Matt up, too much"
Giving a final groan and overdramatic eye roll, Albus left the Great Hall. The next week was going to crawl by, he just knew it.