Year 1: More Than a Crush

Chapter 4: December 2017

As the month of December descended upon the first years, they excitedly began to prepare for their first school holiday. Not only would Albus get to see his parents and sister after four long months away from them, but he would finally be able to join James in telling stories of his adventures at Hogwarts, his classes, and the friends he had made.

Before they could return home though, there were just a couple more weeks to get through and some end-of-term assignments to complete. When they returned in January, it would be the beginning of their second term, and many of their teachers would be shifting the focus of their lessons to new topics.

In transfiguration, they were finishing their study of small inanimate to inanimate transfigurations and in the new term would be jumping into a new topic: animate to inanimate transfigurations. This would be much more complicated, as it would involve the transformation of actual living things with a consciousness rather than simple inanimate objects.

In astronomy, Professor Brunwell had announced that they would finally be using telescopes in the new year and in herbology, now that they'd gone over all the basics and safety precautions, they would be doing some units on specific plants and getting the opportunity to actually work with the plants hands-on. Specifically, Professor Longbottom had said that they would be beginning with the spiky bush, which Albus knew would require a lot of care if he and his classmates didn't want to get cut on the spikes.

And in history of magic, Professor Binns had indicated that his survey of dark wizards through history would soon be coming to a close and that in the new year they would be beginning a long unit about the history of wizarding laws concerning magical creatures. So far, they had only reached the beginning of the twentieth century in their study of dark wizards, but the first years were all very eager to get to the final unit on the second wizarding war. It was a topic they were all familiar with but were eager to study in full.

"I don't know how we're going to have enough time to cover everything," Albus said to Rose one afternoon as the two worked on their history of magic homework in the library. Specifically, they were each writing a two-foot essay on Gellert Grindelwald and the infamous duel between him and Albus Dumbledore in 1945. "We only have a few classes left and there's still quite a bit to cover about Grindelwald, which would be followed by the first and second wizarding wars. That's quite a bit of war to cover in a few days."

"Maybe the dark wizards' unit will end up leaking over into next term," Rose posited. "I'm sure we'll get to the wizarding wars eventually."

Rose was right. Albus was just anxious to get to his father's history. It was one thing being told stories by your family members, but quite another to learn about it in a history class. Albus was sure the academic perspective would be fascinating.

AaAaAaAaAaA

The school moved into the final week of the term before the holidays and still Professor Binns was teaching about Gellert Grindelwald. Now more than just Albus was getting antsy. In fact, all of Albus' Gryffindor classmates and many of his other classmates were getting restless as they waited anxiously for what would arguable be the most interesting part of the course.

They'd suffered through lectures on Emeric the Evil, Egbert the Egregious, and Elfric the Eager. They'd agonized over details, striven to remember all the similar sounding names and monikers, and memorized facts and dates down to the day of the week in some cases. For example, Albus didn't just know the year, month, and day that Egbert the Egregious had slaughtered Emeric the Evil, but he also knew that it had happened on a Wednesday.

They'd done their time learning about the boring history and now they wanted to learn about the interesting history, the recent history, the history that their parents talked about and told stories about and reminisced together about.

Their last history of magic class was on the Thursday before the end of term just before lunch. Wondering how they were going to fit so much history into a single hour, the first years filed into Professor Binns' classroom and sat down in their chairs, quills ready and poised over blank pieces of parchment with full inkwells on standby, ready to take notes for once.

Professor Binns sailed through the chalkboard as he always did, and without looking at his class, drifted over to the podium from where he delivered his lectures. "Don't forget to hand in your essays on Grindelwald's defeat by Albus Dumbledore before you leave today," he began in the monotone voice that his students had all become accustomed to. "Now that you've all adequately researched the subject, let's dive in to that final encounter."

Disappointedly, the first years sat and listened, many nodding off from sheer boredom, as their history of magic Professor outlined everything that they'd spent the past two weeks researching. He talked about the legendary showdown with Albus Dumbledore, detailed the spells that were used, talked about the final blow that had caused Grindelwald to fall, and the mercy that Dumbledore had shown in sparing him, calling in the authorities to handle him instead of killing him outright. This detail in particular was notable because the majority of dark wizards that they'd studied that term had been killed when they'd taken their final stand, but Grindelwald had been imprisoned, and according to Professor Binns it remained unknown whether he continued to languish in Nurmengard to this day.

As Professor Binns came to the end of his lecture, he looked up at his students and cast a cursory glance over them all. It wasn't clear whether he could actually see them, or whether he was simply going through the motions. Sometimes Albus got the impression that Professor Binns was hovering somewhere between the edges of this world and the next.

"And that's where our survey of dark wizards through history comes to an end," he announced with a sense of finality. "Next class we will pick up with our discussion of the history of magical creatures and the roles they've played in the wizarding world beginning with werewolves and the eventual creation of the werewolf code of conduct."

As Professor Binns turned and began to head in the direction of the chalkboard, a murmur went up amongst the first years in the room. This couldn't be right. They couldn't be skipping the man known as the greatest dark wizard of all time in their survey of dark wizards through history. Voldemort was arguably the darkest of dark wizards, worse than Grindelwald, Emeric, Egbert, Loxias, or any of the others they'd learned about over the past four months.

Before Professor Binns could leave, Albus shot his hand up in the air and called out, "Professor Binns?"

Slowly, their Professor paused and swiveled around, peering out into the sea of students. His eyes zeroed in on Albus, and though Albus had a bit of a feeling of being looked through rather than looked at, he also knew he had Professor Binns' attention.

"I think you've made a mistake," Albus said boldly. He could practically feel Rose shaking her head next to him for his choice of words. "You've skipped one of the most important dark wizards in recent history."

"I beg your pardon?" Professor Binns asked, looking highly offended. "I assure you I have not made any mistake of the sort. I have been teaching this subject for over fifty years and I have never been accused of such – "

"But Professor," Rose spoke up then with a frown. "You've been teaching for more than just over fifty years. You've been teaching for at least a hundred years, certainly more than that."

"A hundred years?" Professor Binns scoffed. "Even I couldn't hope to live to be that old."

Albus frowned, a thought suddenly hitting him. Did Professor Binns know that he was dead? Albus had always assumed that their history of magic teacher had woken up one day detached from his body and decided that he would prefer to continue teaching as a ghost rather than to live like the other Hogwarts ghosts and roam about the castle aimlessly. But what if Professor Binns wasn't even aware that he was dead?

"Professor?" he asked tentatively. "How long ago did Dumbledore defeat Grindelwald in their epic duel?"

Professor Binns frowned at Albus. "Well my boy, if you don't know that, then I assure you you're not going to get a very good grade on your assignment."

"But it was recent, right?" Albus asked, testing his theory.

"Well of course it was recent!" Professor Binns exclaimed. "Why do you think they call it recent history? Why, I'd even go so far as to say it should be called current events and not history at all, but alas, the Ministry forced me to add it to my curriculum and so I did, reluctantly."

Albus turned to Rose and she met him with a very concerned expression. Not only did Professor Binns not realize that he was dead, he still thought it was the late 1940s.

"Just one more question before we drop the topic of dark wizards," Albus requested.

Professor Binns sighed. "One more question, and then this lesson is over," he said. "I don't have all day, you know."

"Of course," Albus agreed. "What can you tell us about a dark wizard known as Voldemort?"

Professor Binns frowned a moment and then shook his head. "Don't try to trick me, boy," he said. "I've been teaching this subject long enough to know that there's no dark wizard that's ever gone by that name. I've had enough of this inquisition. Now leave your essays and I'll have them back to you in the new year."

With that, Professor Binns turned again and this time did glide through the chalkboard, disappearing into his office.

The entire class erupted into chaos around Albus as he continued to stand in place, shocked and confused. He turned to Rose.

"Do you think the other professors realize?" he inquired.

Rose shook her head. "We need to tell somebody," she insisted. "This could be serious."

It was lunchtime, but Albus and Rose agreed to skip lunch in favor of going straight to Headmaster Slinkhard's office. When they reached the entrance, they announced their presence and their request, and only had to wait a few moments before being granted entrance.

Albus had never been inside the Headmaster's office before, but he knew that his father had spent a great deal of time in this room with his Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore himself, Albus' namesake. Albus looked around curiously, but didn't see any of the whimsical silver instruments that his father had spoken of. He didn't see anything spinning or emitting smoke or hear anything whirring softly in the background.

Contrarily, the portraits of Hogwarts' former Headmasters and Headmistresses were there, exactly as his father had said, and Albus snuck a glance at the portrait of Albus Dumbledore himself, who smiled at him almost knowingly and inclined his head without saying a word.

Meanwhile, Headmaster Slinkhard was seated behind the large desk in the center of the room and Albus and Rose approached, taking seats opposite him. Glancing around, Albus took in the immensity of the room and also the vastness of the library that covered the walls surrounding them all. He wondered if this was the same library his father had spoken of from when Albus Dumbledore had resided here, of whether Headmaster Slinkhard had brought his own. Albus decided that most likely, it was a combination.

"How can I help you today?" Headmaster Slinkhard inquired. "I imagine it must be serious, coming to see me so close to the end of term. You should be packing and preparing for the journey home on Saturday."

"Yes," Rose nodded. "It's just – well this is a little awkward, but we wanted to talk to you about it because we just weren't sure whether you were fully aware – "

"We don't think Professor Binns realizes that he's dead," Albus said, cutting his cousin off as she attempted to beat around the bush. This wasn't the time for sugar-coating.

Headmaster Slinkhard was quiet for a moment as he leaned back in his chair and considered Albus and Rose. "What makes you say that?" he asked curiously.

"Well, we were just in his class, and he said some things…" Albus tried to find the best words to explain himself.

"He didn't know who Voldemort was," Rose stepped back in. "We asked, and he said no dark wizard had ever gone by that name. I don't think he's aware of anything that's happened since he died. I'm assuming he died shortly after the defeat of Gellert Grindelwald?"

"He did," Headmaster Slinkhard nodded.

"Right," Rose said. "He still thinks that was recent history. In our survey of dark wizards through the ages, he didn't touch on anything relating to Voldemort. He didn't talk about the first or second wizarding wars, and from the sounds of it he doesn't know that they happened."

Headmaster Slinkhard continued to nod. "Is there anything else?" he asked.

Rose shook her head, but Albus felt that more needed to be said.

"It's not that we want to accuse him of anything," Albus insisted. "But if he's living so far in the past, we're just worried that he might not be the best person to be teaching this subject anymore. What if our O.W.L. exams include things that he hasn't taught us because they happened after he lost touch with the world?"

"I appreciate your bringing this to my attention," Headmaster Slinkhard said, his voice hardening. "And I assure you, I will give the situation all the attention and investigation that it requires. But don't presume to know who may or may not be best suited to any teaching position in my school."

Albus realized that he'd crossed a line in suggesting that Professor Binns was no longer a fit teacher and he shut his mouth accordingly, not wanting to say anything else out of turn.

"We meant no offence," Rose said. "We just – "

"Thank you," Headmaster Slinkhard said, rising from his seat and gesturing to the door. "Now if that's all?"

"Of course, Headmaster," Rose said, motioning to Albus that it was time to go.

Albus had to agree. They'd said their piece, and now it was the Headmaster's decision how to move forward. It was none of his or Rose's business what he did with their information.

He followed Rose to the door as Headmaster Slinkhard walked over to the spiral staircase that led upstairs to his private chambers. When they reached the door, Albus glanced back over his shoulder once more at the portrait of Albus Dumbledore, and the wizened old man in the portrait gave him an encouraging smile and a nod.

Albus felt immediately better with the portrait's encouragement and his nerves steadied as he and Rose exited the office and headed back down to the main castle.

"We did the right thing, right?" Rose asked, looking unsure.

Albus nodded, his confidence boosted after his brief interaction with the portrait. "We had to say something," he said. "It would have been wrong not to. Now the burden's not on us anymore."

"It's not that I want them to remove Professor Binns from the school," Rose said hesitantly. "It's just – "

"Trust me, I understand," Albus assured his cousin. After all, he'd been the one to say it to the Headmaster. "Professor Slinkhard will do what's best."

Rose nodded and the two headed down to the Great Hall for a bite of lunch before their final charms class of the term.

AaAaAaAaAaA

The last day and a half of the term passed without any major incident, and before Albus knew it, he and Rose were on the Hogwarts Express heading back home for their two-week holiday. Somehow, it felt like they'd simultaneously been gone from home for years and also mere days. And though Albus was excited to see his family, he was also disappointed because he would have to spend the next two weeks without even the chance to catch a glimpse of Hayley Sullivan.

"Oh, you'll be fine," Rose rolled her eyes at her cousin. "Two weeks is nothing. It's not like you even talk. You just watch her from far away."

"I'd talk to her if Scorpius Malfoy would get out of the way for half a second," Albus insisted. Then he sighed. "It's going to be such a long two weeks."

The train arrived at the station and Rose slapped Albus across the face.

"Focus," she ordered him. "This holiday isn't about your ridiculous love affair. It's about Christmas and family. So be happy."

"You're right," Albus agreed. Besides, Hayley would be waiting for him when he returned in January, and once he did, he could start working on ways to actually get some one-on-one time with her so that they could become real friends.

"Look, your family's standing with mine," Rose pointed through the window at Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Hugo, and Lily all clustered near the front of the platform eagerly searching the windows for their children/siblings.

"Well let's go," Albus declared, grabbing his trunk and wheeling it out into the corridor, where he and Rose had to get in line with the rest of Hogwarts as they waited to get off the train. The holidays had begun, and Albus' end of holiday countdown had begun.