Chapter Six – The First Week
It was Monday. Albus woke up to the soft swish and greenish hue of the lake's waters. He had found the gentle sound and light of the water soothing both to get up and fall asleep to. The Slytherin Dungeon was located behind a bare stretch of stone wall at the far end of one of the deep dungeons of Hogwarts, which meant that it was completely beneath the lake's surface. The windows in the dormitories, bathrooms, and common room were all looking out into the vast, deep, and seemingly endless lake. Fish, Grindylows, and even the Giant Squid occasionally, passed by to the amazement of the various first-year students and the indifference of all the rest. Greenish lamps and chairs decorated the common room all the way to the elaborately carved mantelpiece under which burned a green warm flame.
Albus got up and rubbed his eyes. This was his first day of class. He spent his weekend as his father had advised him, exploring the castle and its grounds with Scorpius. This was no easy task by any means, as Hogwarts was an ever-changing and ever-challenging place to move around in. There were stairwells that lead to different places on different days and some that lead nowhere. Some doors only opened if you tickled them a certain way and some were just walls pretending to be doors. Peeves seemed to be always around singing rude songs and flinging a variety of objects at first-years. He seemed to have decided that Albus was 'Potty's Wee Boy' and Scorpius 'Scrapy Little Scorpie' and they were his favourite targets for ridicule. Of course, Peeves' mockery was nothing compared to the whispers and stares that seemed to intensify after Albus got sorted into Slytherin. When the Sorting Hat had called him to be put in Slytherin, the loudest silence Albus had ever experienced ensued. It was only broken by the sound of Hagrid's goblet dropping to the floor with a loud crash. Everyone was shocked – as he knew would happen – by the fact that Harry Potter's son was now a Slytherin. He saw Rose give him another one of her weird looks and his brother looking bewildered and slightly amused as he walked over to the Slytherin table in the Great Hall. Scorpius, however, was beside himself with joy. He and Albus had become fast friends over the last couple of days which made Albus feel better about his experience at Hogwarts so far.
Then, however, came the rumours about the Lost Child. The gruesome murder of Laura Madley and the subsequent panic about the heir to the Dark Lord, who could be at Hogwarts, took over everyone's conversations like wildfire. Albus and Scorpius had discussed it themselves too. They figured it had to be one of the older students, since the child would need to have been born in the late nineties. Still, they had no clue who it could be.
'But if they are one of the older students, why didn't they do anything up until now? Why wait?' queried Scorpius on Sunday evening.
'Well, they didn't really "do" anything even now did they? I mean someone was just looking for them. Maybe they're hiding from someone who wants them to be the "heir to the Dark Lord", but they don't want to?' said Albus wisely.
They had to give the subject a rest today though. Now it was time to focus on their first day of classes. Albus put on his robes and went to the bathroom to get ready for breakfast. He met Scorpius at the entrance to the common room.
'Breakfast?' he asked.
'Yup, let's go,' replied Albus.
They climbed the stairs to the Entrance Hall and from there proceeded to the Great Hall in which breakfast was served every day from 7:00 to 10:30. They sat down at the Slytherin table and began loading their bowls with breakfast cereals. They ate in silence as the Hall filled with students.
'Which class is our first remind me?' asked Albus.
'Double Potions at nine to ten-thirty with Professor McGarth,' replied Scorpius. 'Then a break, then History of Magic with Professor Binns, then a long free period until we have Charms with Professor Flitwick at two forty-five, and then later Astronomy.'
'Professor McGarth is our Head of House, right? I wonder what she's like…' said Albus.
'I hope she's nice. I'm very excited for Charms personally,' replied Scorpius. 'This is where we learn all the cool stuff, you know, all of the really useful magic. And Professor Flitwick seems alright.'
'We better get going soon,' said Albus.
They left their empty bowls behind as they went back down to the dungeons. The potions classroom was in one of the bigger dungeons a little further up than their own. They joined the queue outside of the classroom and Albus spotted Rose and Connor standing at the front of it. They waved at each other politely as they passed. At 9 o'clock the doors to the dungeon opened of their own accord. They entered the room one by one, and Albus and Scorpius took their seats at a middle row of the class. Professor McGrath, the beautiful witch with the silky black hair Albus had seen on the night of the Sorting, sat at her desk at the front of the class and observed the incoming students. As they all settled in, she got up from her seat and began to pace around the room and talk.
'Potion; are at the very core of wizarding culture. It is one of the most important subjects you will learn here at Hogwarts, and it is also one of the most dangerous ones. Here you will learn how to brew cures for almost every illness, and how to make poisons which could slay even the toughest mountain troll without leaving a trace. Many wizards believe that wand-waving is the ultimate solution for any trouble that may occur. They forget, however, that nothing can stand in the way of a well-brewed, and well placed, concoction. Therefore, any potion you wish to produce must be brewed with extreme care. For should you get even one small detail wrong, the results could prove disastrous.'
She finished her speech and pointed her wand to the board behind her. Writing appeared on it at an instant.
'We will begin today with a simple Cure for Boils. This potion, as you may have guessed, removes boils, such as those produced by the Pimple Jinx. If everyone could please grab the ingredients that are written on the board and get back to their seats with their cauldrons placed in front of them. I will ask that you follow my example carefully as we brew today's potion. Should you get it right, there will be pink smoke rising from your cauldron.'
Albus and Scorpius got up as the rest of the class scrambled for ingredients. They collected everything they needed from the list – Albus was particularly careful with the snake fangs and porcupine quills. They'd spent the next hour or so sweating over their cauldrons as Professor McGarth's instructions were repeated through the room while she demonstrated when and how to add each ingredient and what form of wand movement is required. Albus found potion brewing difficult but satisfying. At the end of class, only Rose had managed to produce that pink smoke which awarded her 10 points for Gryffindor. Albus' potion had deep purple smoke rising from of it. He thought he did alright for his first class, at least his potion wasn't as bad as Connor's – going off constantly in what looked like green and yellow fireworks with an awful stench. They packed up their possessions as Professor McGarth vanished their potions with a wave of her wand.
Albus and Scorpius decided to pass their short break in one of the castle's many sunny courtyards. The weather was still quite warm, and they wanted to take advantage of the last few sunny days of the year before it became dreary again.
At 10:40 they hurried off to their first History of Magic class on the first floor. They again took their seats in a middle row of the classroom and began to pull out their notebooks. To Albus' surprise, one of the Ravenclaw students walked over to the front of the class and began to speak loudly.
'Hello everyone! Good morning! My name is Michael Poults, and I am a fellow student here at Hogwarts. I just wanted to introduce myself and wish you all a very BLESSED day! I am looking forward to getting to know and befriend EACH and EVERY ONE of you.'
He then got back to his seat – the closest one to the board – and began talking to – or rather intensely questioning – the girl who sat closest to him. Several people giggled and stared at him in amazement. Who was this kid?
'What in Merlin's beard…?' began Scorpius.
Before he could finish, however, Professor Binns – the only ghost-professor at Hogwarts – floated out of the board and into the classroom. This bizarre sight had silenced all the other students as well. Professor Binns immediately began to talk and give his lecture in a dry, reedy voice that droned on and on monotonously. The most boring 45 minutes of Albus' life ensued. He could not believe that somebody could make characters like Uric the Oddball and Emeric the Evil so tedious and unentertaining. The only one that seemed immune to the supernatural powers of boredom that Professor Binns had appeared to possess was Michael Poults. He had not only sat upright and appeared to be fascinated by everything the old ghost had said, he even, to Professor Binns' noticeable surprise, had raised his hand and stopped the lecture to ask several long, complicated questions that did not make much sense.
Albus did not know much about all the other classes at Hogwarts, but he had hoped that none of them was going to be as bad an experience as this one was. They now had a little over 2 hours to relax and enjoy their time before their next class. They decided to go back to their dormitory first. Albus wanted to hang his favourite poster of Gonçalo Flores, the Brazilian Quidditch Chaser he had admired. Scorpius sat on his four-poster bed – which was right next to Albus' – and watched him as he tried to perform a simple sticking charm they had read about. They shared their dormitory with 4 other male first-year students. On Albus' other side was Daniel Slughorn's bed. He was a pompous yet nice and clever boy who was the grandnephew of Horace Slughorn, the famous Potions Master whose portrait hung in the Slytherin common room. Across the room from them were the beds of Janus Flint – a chubby boy with buck teeth – Henry Burke, and Gregory Avery. Both Burke and Avery seemed to embody the reputation that Slytherin House had tried to distance itself from in recent years. They seemed cruel and unfriendly. The boys didn't really talk or acknowledge Albus and Scorpius (which they figured was a good thing). They mostly stuck together telling rude jokes and thinking of cruel ways to trick students from the other houses. Daniel and Janus seemed to be friendly enough, however. They liked playing Wizard's Chess and Exploding Snap together in their free time.
Once Albus was done hanging his poster, they went upstairs again for lunch. They spent the rest of their time afterwards sitting under the warm sun at the lake's shore. They had Transfiguration class with the Hufflepuffs next. Professor Montgomery, the handsome and smartly dressed wizard with jet black hair Albus had seen at the Sorting, was a strict yet effective teacher who wasted no time during class to over-explain the subject.
'Transfiguration,' he said, 'is one of the most complex and dangerous subjects you will learn here at Hogwarts – '
'Where have we heard that before…?' whispered Scorpius as Albus tried to suppress a snigger.
However, Transfiguration soon proved to be exactly what Professor Montgomery had said it would be. He quickly wrote various intricate formulas on the board and had started explaining the various methodologies in the subject of Transfiguration alphabet before handing them all boxes of matches and requesting they transform them into needles. He then proceeded to give them their very first batch of homework of the week (a short essay, 10 inches on the importance of the Transfiguration substantial formula by next week).
Charms class proved to be far more entertaining than History of Magic and far less difficult than Transfiguration to Albus' relief. Professor Flitwick was a kind and understanding teacher who was always ready to help students with performing the charms assigned. They learned about the hard-to-pronounce Levitation Charm, Wingardium Leviosa, and had tried to perform it in class on a series of fluffy feathers to varying degrees of success. Albus was reminded of a funny story Aunt Hermione had told him about Uncle Ron's failed attempts at performing the charm in their first year. Albus had also overheard a couple of Hufflepuffs talking about this 'strange new kid called Michael Poults,' and how he 'introduced himself to everyone as if he were the teacher,' in their Defence Against the Dark Arts class. He smiled to himself, at least classes with him would not be boring.
They had ended their first day at Hogwarts with an uplifted mood. Yes, there were still some whispers and giggles almost everywhere they went within the castle grounds, and some classes seemed to be either very difficult or very boring, but it was nevertheless a good start for their time at Hogwarts. Albus had decided that, so far, Charms had been his favourite class. He was wondering, however, if that was about to change. They had Defence Against the Dark Arts tomorrow, and out of all the subjects he was to learn at the school this one intrigued Albus the most. He wanted to learn all about the different dark creatures and jinxes and curses that existed in the world. He liked to imagine himself a hero, conqueror of all things evil, the champion of the Wizarding World. Maybe then his father would stop being so gentle around him. Maybe then, everyone would see that he was not simply the heir to Harry Potter's famous legacy but his own, unique, and better person than his father was.
Albus and Scorpius woke to Albus' self-ringing bell alarm the next morning. They had double Transfiguration first that day which was just as confusing and as hard to master as in the previous day. They again had to memorise formulas and try to transfigure matches into needles (this time Albus' match had turned light silver). Albus left this class exhausted and was ready for the more interesting lesson which came after the break. Defence Against the Dark Arts would be the first class they had with the Gryffindors since yesterday. He hadn't really spoken to Rose ever since they left the train and – Albus had decided – he should try and talk to her then. As they were climbing the stairs to the third floor Scorpius grabbed his bag with a frightened look on his face.
'I forgot my book!' he said as he ran back downstairs. 'I'll meet you in class, save me a seat!' he called back at Albus.
Albus continued climbing upstairs. He finally reached the Defence Against the Dark Arts class and saw the door was wide open. He entered the classroom and chose a seat in the second row from the front of the class.
'Hi Rose,' he said to his cousin who sat in front of him and next to Connor.
'Hey Al, how are you doing so far?' said Rose.
'Not too bad, I think I liked Charms the best up until now. How about you?'
'I'm alright. I like Transfiguration the most. It's really very useful you know. I'm just sorry we have to take it with the Ravenclaws, that Michael Poults kid is really annoying…'
'Oh, you ran into him huh? What's his deal, right?' Albus chuckled. He was glad that Rose was still speaking to him. He had been afraid that she would not like him as much now that they were in separate houses.
'He's the most obnoxious kid I've ever met! And he keeps asking all those stupid questions that take up half the time we have in class! Just…' she let out an exasperated sigh. 'Speaking of weird kids though,' she said with a meaningful look at Connor, 'that Scorpius Malfoy you keep hanging around with – '
'What about him?' Albus cut her suddenly.
'Well… we think his intentions might not be – '
'He's that bloody Lost Child of You Know Who that's what about him!' interrupted Connor.
'What in the name of Merlin's soggy underpants are you talking about?' asked Albus. 'He's too young to be You Know Who's kid you halfwit!'
'You're the halfwit you pompous little sh – '
'Stop it!' said Rose. 'Look, Al, we just think he might be trying to befriend you to gain something. It just doesn't sit right that a Malfoy would be so friendly with you, he must have some other motive.'
'You two have lost your marbles!' retorted Albus. 'Scorpius has been a good friend to me. He was lonely, and it's not like you've been awfully kind to him! He just needed a friend and I think he's alright. "You Know Who's kid," don't make me laugh.'
'Well, maybe he's pretending to be eleven years old? He could be using a De-Ageing Potion, I read about it in Magical Drafts and Potions. What do you really know about him Al? Can you really trust this kid?'
'Whatever Rose…' said Albus as he noticed his friend arriving in class.
'Just be careful that's all,' she whispered and turned back around.
Professor Selwyn – the shaggy man with buck teeth and slightly misaligned eyes who spoke to Professor Montgomery the night of the Sorting – stepped into the room. Albus noticed he had a slight limp as he walked over to the front and faced the class.
'Defence Against the Dark Arts, while not the most practical of subjects, is still one of the more important subjects you'll take here at Hogwarts. Over the course of at least five years, you will learn all about creatures such as Dementors, Werewolves, Banshees, and Boggarts, along with spells such as the Unforgivable curses, various defensive spells, and various offensive ones. These, most likely and hopefully, will not be useful for the majority of you in your day-to-day lives. Nevertheless, should the need arise, it is extremely beneficial to know about the various dangers that life outside of Hogwarts may hold, and how one would do to defend against them. It is my wish that this year you'll acquire a basic foundation for the expertise which will serve you in your later years.'
Albus felt excitement flare through him. He was ready. He wanted to learn all about Werewolves, Dementors, and the Unforgivable Curses. He wasn't ready, however, for what came next.
'One of the most basic spells you will need in any encounter with a dark creature, wizard or witch who wishes to do you harm, is the Vermillious Charm. It is a simple charm that, when performed correctly, shoots red sparks out of the end of your wand. This charm is very useful in alerting any wizard or witch in the vicinity that you are in trouble and require assistance.'
Albus felt a little disappointed by the end of class. He felt that the reputation of the Defence Against the Dark Arts class had misled him a little. Were they going to spend the entire year learning about how to call others for help?
'Well, that was a bit boring, wasn't it? I suppose we've got to start somewhere though. Still, I would've liked it better if we focused on dark creatures first…' said Scorpius as they descended the stairs to History of Magic. 'What's wrong?' he looked at Albus suddenly as he noticed his grim expression and silence.
'Nothing, I was just thinking,' lied Albus.
History of Magic was yet again another boring and tedious ordeal. By the end of class, Professor Binns had not bothered hiding his frustration and annoyance with Michael Poults as he had, again, bombarded him with tedious questions. This was an impressive feat on its own, as Professor Binns had seemed to scarcely notice any other student in his class. Poults had a habit of what seemed to Albus as raising his hand to ask a question but then only beginning to formulate it once he had been called to ask it. Albus didn't think he could take another year of this. He felt relieved that Tuesday was a short day in comparison to the others.
They spent the rest of the day in their common room, only surfacing again for dinner at 19:00. Albus, despite Scorpius' constant questioning, had decided not to share what Rose had said to him earlier. Her words still rang in his ears, however. Could he really trust Scorpius? When you think about it, I really haven't known him for that long, thought Albus, as he lay in bed that night. Could Scorpius be lying about who he was? He wanted to confide in someone he could trust. Maybe Hagrid will know something about this. He could ask him when Albus, Rose, and James all come over for tea on Friday.
The only new class Albus had the following day was Herbology. Professor Neville Longbottom, who taught the class, also happened to be a close family friend and Albus' godfather. Though he expected no special treatment from him, Albus had thought it would not be too bad a class if the kind, friendly, and caring Uncle Neville was their teacher. He wasn't wrong. Professor Longbottom proved to be a very enthusiastic and engaging instructor for the subject he was teaching. He had truly seemed in his element as he taught them all about Wormwood and Dittany and their various uses in Potions. He'd also made them all laugh when he told them that, ironically, he had failed at Potions miserably as a student. The only downside was that they had Herbology with the Ravenclaws, which meant another lesson where Albus had to endure Michael Poults' incessant questions and unamusing, interrupting quips. Professor Longbottom seemed to hide his frustration very well as he repeated obvious facts for Poults repeatedly for the benefit of nobody else. He caught Albus at the end of class as he was leaving Greenhouse one.
'Hey Albus, I never really had the chance to say hi to you yet. Is everything going alright at school so far?'
'Yeah, everything's fine. Some classes are more interesting than others but that's nothing to worry about, right?' replied Albus.
Professor Longbottom chuckled. 'Yeah, it will get much better eventually, once you go over the basics. That's great though, nice to see that you're getting settled. Listen, if there's anything you need, anything at all, any questions or concerns – Lord knows I had a lot of those in my first year here – you know you can come to me, right?'
'Of course. Professor Longbottom.'
'You can call me Neville when it's just the two of us Albus. I'm still your godfather,' he winked.
'Right, see you, Neville.' As he turned to leave, however, a sudden realisation had struck Albus. 'Hey, er – Neville?' he turned back to his godfather.
'Yes, Albus?'
'Are there any news about the Lost Child? Do they know who it might be?' asked Albus.
'Oh,' Neville's face became darker and more serious. 'We're all looking into it, Albus, there's nothing you need to worry about right now. Just focus on your studies and make sure not to wander the castle past hours. Have a good rest of your day, I'll see you again tomorrow.'
There was a certain finality in his godfather's tone. Albus had not dared question him any further. What is he up to? And what did he mean by "We're looking into it"? thought Albus as he joined Scorpius on his way back to the common room. They had most of the rest of the day off until Astronomy that evening (another class they had with Ravenclaw to Albus' dismay).
As they sat in a corner of the common room playing Wizard's Chess, Albus looked out the window into the depths of the lake outside. He was thinking about what Neville could possibly be hiding from him, and how he could make sure his friend Scorpius wasn't the Lost Child in disguise.
'Al? what's going on? Is everything alright?' said Scorpius suddenly, as his knight dragged yet another of Albus's pawns off the board.
'Yeah, sorry I was just daydreaming,' jumped Albus.
'You've been this way for a day now, is something bothering you?'
Albus was thinking. Maybe it is worth a shot telling his friend about Rose's suspicions? At the very least to see how he reacts…
'Well… it's silly, to be honest…' Albus chuckled nervously, 'Rose thinks that you might be… well that you might be – er – the – er – the Lost Child.'
Scorpius went pale immediately as those words had left Albus' mouth.
'I heard some kids whisper that when I passed them the other day too… But… I can't be… I'm too young. You don't believe that do you?' he said with a hint of panic in his voice.
'Of course not!' replied Albus almost too quickly. He didn't wish to tell Scorpius what Rose had said about the De-Ageing Potion. He was already sorry he'd said anything. As they went to bed that night, Albus remembered something he forgotten he'd been dreading in light of the whole Lost Child debacle; they had Flying Lessons tomorrow. Albus twisted and turned in his bed as he thought about what his first time riding a broom would be like. He knew both his parents had been expert flyers, but he had no experience whatsoever on a broom. He was always a little clumsy and never really liked heights. But then again, he did like Quidditch a lot. I guess we'll see tomorrow, he thought as he drifted off to an uneasy sleep.
The next day after lunch they all gathered at the designated area on the castle grounds. Some of the Gryffindors kept shooting weird looks at Scorpius as they stood in silence. It appeared that the rumour about him being the Lost Child had spread among the Gryffindors. Their flying instructor came over a few minutes later. She was a thin, young woman with short red hair and narrow eyes.
'Good afternoon everyone!' said the young witch cheerfully. 'My name is Madam Grimelda Taranis, and I will be your Flying and Physical Education instructor for your time at Hogwarts. Some of your parents, and therefore some of you, may have not been aware, that the school had decided to introduce Physical Education into the curriculum in the last few years. This is part of the Ministry's new efforts to encourage healthy habits and maintain the wellbeing of all students at the school. I hope you're all ready to get going today. I will be teaching you the very basics of flying and then we will try to get you off the ground as soon as possible. I find that the best way to develop self-confidence in flying is to start it right off the bat. If, and only if, all of you will prove to me that you are capable of controlling your broom responsibly, we will all fly over for a little airborne tour of the grounds. Sounds good? Alright, if everyone could please grab a broom from the rack over there' she pointed to her left, 'and stand here in a row in front of me.'
They all scrambled to choose the best out of the notoriously bad selection of school brooms. Moments later, they were all lined up in front of Madam Taranis. Albus trembled with nerves. This was it. He was going to fly for real now. He had to make a good impression. He wanted to be selected for his House Quidditch Team and for that, he had to fly expertly on his first try. Just like my famous dad, he thought with a jolt of nausea.
'Now lay your broom on the side of your dominant arm,' said Madam Taranis as she demonstrated with her own broom, 'like so. And when you feel like you are ready, concentrate on your broom and say, with emotion, Up!' As she said the word, the broom jumped straight to her right hand.
Soon there were shouts of 'Up!' from all around Albus. Some brooms jumped up to their owners' hands, others just jiggled a little, and some did not move at all. Scorpius, who had already flown before, called 'Up!' and his broom immediately jumped to his hand. He looked at Albus with a smile and said, 'Common Al, you try it!'
Albus focused on the broom to his right and concentrated with all his might on it. He thought hard about having his broom in his hand and called 'Up!' Nothing happened. The broom didn't even move slightly. Albus tried again, 'Up!' but he could not get the broom to move. He stood there for what seemed like an eternity and tried again and again with increasing desperation to yell at his broom to jump into his open hand, but nothing had happened.
'Up! Come on you useless twig, up! UP!' yelled Albus. By that point, he had noticed that everyone's eyes were on him. He was the only one there who hadn't made his broom move yet. Some of the Gryffindors began to giggle.
'Maybe he's a fake Potter just like his friend is a fake Malfoy!' called a tall, auburn-haired Gryffindor.
'Shut up Drake!' yelled Rose angrily at the boy.
'Protecting your fake cousin Weasley? Do you like having girls protect you Phoney Potty?' said a large, wire-haired boy, a friend of Drake's.
'I said shut up McLaggen!' said Rose as she reached for her wand.
'Hey that's enough over there!' called Madam Taranis. 'It's alright Potter, some people can have a bit of trouble on their first go. Try again, breathe slowly and concentrate on your broom, feel it hopping into your hand.'
Albus was drenched in nervous sweat by that point. He wanted to bury himself deep in the ground. No, I have to shut this out, I can't let them make fun of me like this, he thought. He tried concentrating again on his broom with every bit of will he had and, finally, it jumped into his hand.
Drake made a rude noise as the broom rose into Albus' hand.
'Stop it you troll!' called Scorpius.
'Oooh be careful Johnny, Blonde-mort is getting angry at you!' called McLaggen.
'Why don't you go – ' began Albus.
'Enough of this!' called Madam Taranis. 'Now, I want you to mount your brooms like this,' she demonstrated by swinging her leg carefully over her broom, 'and rise up in the air a little by kicking off and pulling your broom upwards slightly. Then come back down to the ground slowly by leaning forward.'
They all performed the simple move with their brooms. Albus felt a little better when he managed to rise up in the air a couple of feet. He then tried leaning forward gently to get back down and –
*CRASH*
Albus fell face-first onto the ground. Drake, McLaggen, and their third crony laughed their heads off as Madam Taranis helped Albus up and made sure he was okay. His nose was bleeding, she fixed it with a flick of her wand and told Scorpius to take him over to the Hospital Wing to make sure he was okay. '…and no flying around the grounds today! You should be ashamed of yourselves!' she told the laughing boys.
'Thanks a lot, Phoney Potty!' McLaggen called after them as they walked back towards the castle.
'Phoney Potter and the Secret Blondemort!' called Drake as his mates roared with laughter.
Albus was on the verge of tears when they reached the Hospital Wing. Madam Hannah Longbottom, the matron and Neville's wife, ran over to them as they stepped into the ward.
'What's wrong Albus?' she asked with a concerned look.
'Fell off his broom,' said Scorpius.
'I'm fine,' said Albus, 'she fixed me up.'
'Let me have a look,' said Madam Longbottom. 'Hmm yes you seem okay, go wash this off in one of the bathrooms, you should be fine.'
As Albus was washing his face in a sink at the nearest bathroom, he noticed that Scorpius seemed just as upset as he felt.
'Why does it have to be me? As if I didn't have anything else that's pulling me down here, being a Malfoy and all. Why did they have to decide I was the Lost Child?'
'Don't know, they don't seem to like me very much either,' said Albus.
'You know, my dad said that they considered sending me to Durmstrang. Maybe they should have done that.'
'No! You'll be alright, trust me it'll pass. They'll figure out you can't be the Child eventually.'
Scorpius seemed unconvinced. In fact, his mood seemed to get worse as the day progressed, which wasn't helping much since Albus himself was in a terrible mood as well. Scorpius avoided Albus' eyes for the most part and was rather withdrawn. Albus had finally had enough as they were getting ready for bed that night.
'Look I really don't think you can be the Lost Child okay? I'm sorry I even brought that up at all yesterday… If you want… we can – I dunno – look for who it actually is and prove that you're innocent,' said Albus as he was putting on his pyjamas.
'We could…' said Scorpius slowly. He seemed a little relieved at this offer, as though it confirmed that Albus was on his side. 'But how would we even go about doing that?'
'I'll have to think about it. Maybe we can start by looking into Voldemort's history? There's this book about him, I forgot what it's called but we can look in the library.'
Friday was the freest day of their week. They'd spent most of it searching the library for books about the life of Voldemort. The problem was that most books that mentioned him, or even dark wizards in general, were kept at the restricted section. Madam Pince, the intimidating librarian, seemed to be everywhere and nowhere in the library at once. They couldn't possibly make their way into the Restricted Section without her noticing, and could not think of a good excuse as to why two first-years would need to search for books over there. They resorted to scanning the pages of books about recent wizarding history.
'Look at this,' said Scorpius as he was holding a copy of Modern Magical Events by Mandy Brocklehurst, '"The full account of the life, defeat, rebirth, and death of the Dark Lord can be read about in The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts: 2nd Edition,"' said Scorpius.
'And I bet you it's only available over there,' said Albus as he pointed at the Restricted Section.
'Not necessarily if it's just a book about the history of the Dark Arts. It's worth a shot to look.'
They eventually found the book at the Historical Section of the library; however, it didn't prove very useful after-all.
'There's nothing here about any wives or girlfriends that he had and nothing at all about any children. He didn't seem to even want any children!' said Scorpius with frustration. 'Why do they think that Lost Child is even real? Maybe that woman they found was just lying or delusional?'
'It's possible, but we'll have to make sure right? We can't take it for granted. For all we know, he could've kept his kid hidden or even abroad' Albus looked at his watch as he said that. 'I have to go now, tea with Hagrid. Look, you keep looking into as many books as Madam Pince will let you, I'll try and ask Hagrid if he knows anything. My dad always said Hagrid is bad at keeping secrets. Maybe he'll let something he knows slip.'
As Albus made his way through the castle to Hagrid's Hut he ran into his brother James.
'What's up Al?' asked his brother. 'How's life at Slytherin? Are you a dark wizard yet?'
'Shut up,' said Albus.
James laughed. 'Sorry, sorry, but why are you so tense Al? It's that Drake kid and his gang, right? Listen if those trolls screw with you anymore you let me know. I'll make sure they wake up with pigtails for noses, or maybe something else, I don't know depends on what I'm in the mood for… Come on Al don't be all sour like that we're all having a laugh, nothing's serious.'
'It's not very funny, words can hurt you know,' replied Albus.
James snorted. 'Look, I told you if those gargoyles are picking on you again, I'll make them stop. What else do you want?'
'They keep saying that Scorpius is the Lost Child.'
'Well, they might be right on this one, how much do you really know about this Malfoy kid Al?' asked James.
'Don't you start now too! This is the stupidest rumour I've ever heard!'
'I'm just saying why is he so friendly with you specifically?'
'Hey Al, James, what's up?' said Rose as they reached Hagrid's Hut. She was waiting outside for them. 'What's wrong?' she asked when she noticed Albus' angry face.
'Nothing,' he replied unconvincingly.
'Those idiots Drake, McLaggen, and Gordon, I told them I'll hex them next time they get near you,' said Rose.
'It's not that!' called Albus, 'It's the fact that everyone seems to think that my only friend here is some sort of a new Voldemort!'
'We're your friends too Al…' said Rose.
'Oy! What's all this shoutin' abou' eh?' said Hagrid's familiar voice from inside the hut. The door opened.
'Hi Hagrid, how have you been?'
'I'm alrigh' Rosie, come in, come in,' said Hagrid as he spotted her.
They sat down around the oversized table inside of Hagrid's Hut as he served them tea in bucket-sized mugs and a batch of his infamous rock cakes.
'You three doin' okay?' he looked at them fondly. 'Ah, I swear it seems like it was las' week tha' yer parents were sat at this very table wi' me all tiny like yerselves,' he said with a smile.
They spent the next hour or so talking to Hagrid about their first week at school and their lives as a whole. When it was Albus' turn to speak he had struggled to talk about his flying lessons the day before.
'Those jerks really had no right to pick on you!' said Rose defensively.
'But it's okay if they pick on Scorpius? Or if you do?' said Albus resentfully.
'Well, Al – I – ' she started.
'What's all this abou'?' said Hagrid.
'Rose and James, and probably half the school at this point, think that my friend Scorpius Malfoy is Voldemort's Lost Child!' called Albus.
'Rubbish!' said Hagrid waving it off. 'He's too young for tha' anyhow.'
'But Hagrid, don't you think it's a bit weird that – ' started Rose.
'Look Rosie, I don' know this Scorpius boy, but I knew his father. And though he was a righ' little –somethin' – he wouldn't go abou' adoptin' and hidin' no child o' You Know Who. He truly hated him by the end of it. There's a reason why the Malfoys are not in Azkaban righ' now, eh?'
'But what if – '
'If yer Uncle Harry had any reason ter suspect Scorpius, Rosie, believe me, he would let you know.'
That claim finally seemed to satisfy Rose and James enough for them to leave the topic alone.
'I think you owe someone an apology,' said Albus.
'Right, I'm sorry Al.'
'Not me you dolt! Scorpius!'
'Oh, but do I have to? Oh, okay fine I'll talk to him on Monday,' said Rose when she caught Albus' look.
'He really isn't bad you know…'
'There yeh go, everythin' better now, eh?' said Hagrid as he bit one of the rock cakes which made an alarming crackling noise.
'Hagrid,' said Albus, 'do you know if they're any closer to finding who the Child is though?'
''fraid not Al. Yer father probably knows best bu' I wouldn' trust him ter tell ya. Besides, you don' need any more on yer plate than school righ' now. Jus' take yer time, focus on yer studies, and don' go looking fer trouble yeh hear me? Tha' applies ter you two as well!' he pointed at James and Rose. They all looked at him in silence. 'I wan' yeh ter promise me! Say "we promise we won' get in trouble Hagrid."'
'We promise we won't get in trouble Hagrid,' they chanted.
'Good' said the gamekeeper, 'I know yer probably gon' break this promise the momen' yeh walk out this door James, but you two I hope will keep it. Now I think it's abou' time you return ter the castle. It's gettin' late, and I need ter go check on Grawpy. Please come by an' visit anytime s'long as it's no' too late!'
As they walked back to the castle Albus' gaze wandered over to the Forbidden Forest. He saw Hagrid's distant figure walk into it and disappear. He remembered all the stories his father had told him about his many visits to this forest. If only there was a way to get his father to tell him who he thinks the Lost Child might be… He was sure his father wouldn't agree to tell Albus what he knows. There was no use to even try. But if there was some way to find out regardless… some way to –
Albus' had a spark of brilliance. He had an idea. If they succeeded, and that was a big "if", they would not just learn what his father's suspicions were, but potentially the Child's full identity. They would have to break a lot of rules for this, thought Albus, but it was worth a shot.
