-1Chapter 2: Plot, Begin
Dear Dad,
Hoping this letter finds you all right, and that my owl survives the journey. Everyone already knows his name, and I'm about ready to kill James and Uncle Ron. I mean, honestly, a Snowy Owl named Pidgey! And I'll bet you all my money it was him that told everyone the name, too.
Anyway, my first week was pretty good. The classes are insanely hard to find, but today Rosie and I actually made it to the Great Hall on time without any help, and I think I'm learning all right. Hagrid says hello and Neville sends love back. I haven't been sent to Neville, I mean Professor Longbottom's office yet but James has gone twice! I just learned it was his fault Gryffindor didn't win House Cup last year, but no one really cared because he's funny and he's turning out an amazing Chaser. Do you think I can get on Quidditch team next year?
I made some pretty good friends already, I guess. The Gryffindors in my year are all right. There's only three boys, can you believe it? But there's nine girls and we have the biggest house of all four. Rose spends most of her time with either me or Victoire, and I have some friends in the other houses. Don't tell Uncle Ronnie, but Scorpius Malfoy is actually awesome! He's a troublemaker, but he's way smarter than James about it, we already managed to lock Mrs. Norris in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom and none the wiser for it. And there's Helen Dursley and Nikki Ashford in Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, I met them on the train.
Anyway, there was something I meant to write about. Everyone keeps staring at me when I go through the halls, and they keep dropping hints it's to do with you and because I look like you, but no one will tell me why. Did you do something big while you were at school? And why didn't you tell me or James when we started?
Hope all's well at home. Give mum my love and please don't Confund Robin next door again, he really does believe I went off to Muggle boarding school.
Love,
Al
P.S. Do you know a place my friends from the other houses and me could meet? Everyone looks at me weird in the Great Hall and apart from meals I don't see Nikki at all, she's a second-year.
Leaning back, Albus studied his letter with satisfaction. It was early Saturday morning, he had the best chair by the fire, and James had both detention tonight and two more letters from home than him. He'd promised to meet Scorpius, Helen and Nikki in the Great Hall early, and they were going to spend their first free day together—possibly with Rose or James, if either wanted to come.
Yawning and stretching, Al looked out the window. The sun was just past the horizon, and the sky was gold; James had said he was insane to want to get up early, but there were days it was worth it just for the sunrise. Today promised to be the perfect day—a little windy, but pretty warm for September.
Nikki and maybe Scorpius would already be down in the Great Hall, but Al wasn't really hungry and they weren't expecting him yet anyway; better to visit the Owlery first, provided he could find where it was. Neatly folding the letter into thirds, he scrawled "Dad: Harry Potter" on the front and set off.
Unfortunately, it took him about all of five minutes to get lost again.
"Let's see…" he found himself muttering twelve dozen corridors and at least four floors later. "It's on the west side of the castle somewhere, right? Um…"
"Lost, are you?" said a gargoyle nearby snidely. Al ignored it: as the first-years were quickly learning, the inanimate parts of the castle were generally keen to make trouble. With a little "hmph" it set its glare firmly on him, and he started off down another corridor just to get out of its sight.
There we go—there was a door at the end of this corridor, and it had a strong resemblance to his third floor Charms classroom. That meant—if the staircase was at the same place it was after Charms—it was back that way and to the…
Nope. As Albus dashed down around the corner, he spotted a window at the end of the corridor, counted staircases, and realized he was several floors too high up to be on the third floor. Making an exasperated noise, he turned to go…
A sudden flash of light caught the corner of his eye. Frowning, Al looked over to his left, and with surprise spotted a door he hadn't seen before. Perhaps doors appeared and disappeared, as well as hiding and faking themselves and whatever-else-Hogwarts-doors-did…
Lightly, uncertain what he'd see, Al put a hand on the door and pushed. It swung open silently, revealing another corridor, this one full of doors of every shape and size. In fact, Albus noted with amazement, it went on as long as he could see, and every door was marked with a floor number and some sort of symbol. There were maps plastered in free spots, and for the first time Albus had absolute, concrete guarantee that nothing stayed put in the castle; even as he stopped to study a seventh-floor map, a suit of armor and a staircase moved.
Well, as long as he was here…
Al began walking down along the corridor, studying with fascination the different rooms he took classes in or hadn't known existed: under the heading 1st, he saw crossed wands and a roll of parchment for Defense Against the Dark Arts and History of Magic, respectively; 3rd, a trophy for the Trophy Room and a winged key for - he guessed - Charms; 4th, a book for the library; 7th, a gold-tinged lion for the Gryffindor common room (he didn't see any other house rooms and wondered if they were just off in the other direction); and then, finally, under the letter "T" he saw a small owl.
Relieved, Albus pushed the door open and saw a rather shorter staircase than he had expected. He must have been up on a higher floor. He climbed up it, then gave a start—through an open doorway at the end of the stairs, he had seen a flash of bright light.
Bemused, Al raced up the rest of the way. A breeze hit his face the instant he reached the top, and he saw that where your normal tower wall might be was instead several large, open windows; clearly, the owls were free to come and go at will. Ducking his head as an owl on the rafters aimed, Al looked straight across the room, and noticed the last person he would have expected to see in the Owlery at approximately eight a.m. on a Saturday morning.
"Nikki?"
The second-year gave a little start; she had been muttering to herself and shooting mist out of her wand, and hadn't seen him coming. He supposed the mist was what had attracted his attention halfway up the stairs. "Oh, hello, Albus."
"Al," he corrected her—she seemed to have trouble remembering his nickname. "Just Al."
"Of course. What are you doing up here?"
Scanning the heights for his owl, Al absently waved the letter in her direction. With surprising strength, Nikki snatched at his wrist and confiscated the missive; Albus opened his mouth to protest, shook his head, and continued his search.
At length, he managed to locate Pidgey and set to calling her down. With an owl treat and a bit of persuasion, the Snowy consented to landing on his arm, and he turned back to Nikki. She was holding his letter out to him with the impatient air of someone who's been waiting for ages, despite the fact that she'd only taken it moments before. Taking it, Albus began tying it to his owl's leg.
"You're asking your father, then?" the Ravenclaw girl inquired airily.
"Of course I'm asking him! What d'you take me for, a troll?"
"No," Nikki responded, "your brother's relative. I heard he has detention."
Albus grinned. "Yep. Flung frog brains across the room during Potions. Hit Professor Smith in the back of the head." Nikki made a disgusted noise and shook her head, and Al went on, "Anyway, what're you doing up here? I thought you didn't like owls."
"Owls are well and good in their own way, thank you, I just prefer cats. And, for your information, this was the only place I could find to practice my Patronus without being constantly disturbed."
Al had his doubts as to whether the rest of the school was precisely crowded this early in the morning, but kept them to himself. "What's a Patronus?"
Nikki flashed him a don't-you-know-anything look and turned back to her wand. "Repels dementors and their ilk. A shield of happiness, you might say. Each one has their own distinct form—"
"What's yours?"
"What do you take me for," retorted the second-year, "some ancient warlock? I'm only a second-year, I can barely even form the mist yet. Which is why I need to practice…" She was scowling as more mist shot out of her wand between mutters.
"Why practice? It's not as if—"
"Extra credit on my O.W.L.S. when we get to them, and anyway I'm curious to see what mine looks like. Will you stop asking questions?"
Albus opened his mouth, closed it, and turned to leave. Unfortunately, his exit had either moved or disappeared, and he had to locate another one across the room. He glanced back at Nikki, one hand on the door.
"Shall I tell the others you'll be down sometime before lunch?"
"What?" asked Nikki sharply, distracted. "It's breakfast time already? No, no, I'm coming with you! I need some fresh air—"
Holding the door open for her so that he wouldn't have to get them lost, Al decided against asking whether Nikki had spent the entire night up there.
Scorpius was waiting for them when they'd wended their way down to the ground floor (Albus's mysterious quick route having, regretfully, disappeared). Al and Nikki separated for breakfast; Al found Rose, and the two of them headed over to the Hufflepuff table to collect a sleepy Helen. The group then met back up with their Slytherin and Ravenclaw counterparts, and the five of them made their way out onto the grounds.
It was a sunny morning; the sky was a calm, cloudless blue. The air was surprisingly warm for September, but there was a slight breeze. Scorpius stretched his arms back lazily as they walked down past the greenhouses, and, reaching the lake first, lay back on the grass. Al followed suit, lying down on his stomach and propping his head up on his hands; Helen and Rose sat down nearby, and Nikki took out her book under a tree.
"James couldn't come, then?" Scorpius asked idly, watching a bird flutter some hundred feet up.
"Quidditch tryouts," Al replied, "then detention this afternoon. Wouldn't have wanted to anyway, though, his friends are doing something."
"We ought to plan our next prank soon," reflected Scorpius, clearly mulling over something. "It's war now, I mean, a frog brain fight in Potions…"
"You really shouldn't," Rose said reproachfully. "There's really enough trouble around the castle without some kind of full-fledged war for worst prankster." Al choked down a laugh at the idea, and Nikki looked up from her book at the strangled noise.
Scorpius had closed his eyes to take in the warm sun. He now opened them slowly. "You," he said disdainfully to Rose, "are a goody two-shoes. It doesn't suit you. You should be helping us."
Helen giggled, and, encouraged, the Slytherin boy went on, "I mean, honestly. There's only five of us here; we have you, your halfwit cousin—"
"Hey!" protested Albus.
"—myself, a blundering Hufflepuff, and a Ravenclaw girl who lives only for books. In all honesty, I think you're the only girl worth having on the team."
Rose had blushed—it was hard to tell whether she was pleased, embarrassed or angry—but Helen was scowling.
"Blundering Hufflepuff?" she demanded. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Exactly what I said," Scorpius answered, "you're a klutz with no brains behind it. What do you say, Rose?"
"Hang on!" Helen was turning red. "Did you just call me stupid?"
There was a pause. Scorpius raised an eyebrow.
"No, I called you a brainless klutz."
Nikki was now watching from over the top of her book. Helen had stood up. "That's it! I'm in!"
Al watched openmouthed as Scorpius smiled. "You really think you're good enough to do what I've got in mind?"
"I can do anything! I'll prove it to you! I'll show you brainless klutz—"
"Right, then," Nikki cut across, coming over to the rest of them, "you'll need some real brains if you're planning anything big, blondie. Count me in."
"Think you can leave your book for a few hours, do you, Miss Patronus?" But now, as he watched closer, Al realized his friend had been planning this all along. Scorpius had a sly, plotting grin on his face.
"Don't take that tone with me, Malfoy. I think I owe James a little something, he ruined my favorite book last Charms class. Now, what about our Miss Goody Two-Shoes?"
Everyone was looking at Rose. She glared back for a long moment, then slowly bowed under the pressure.
"Fine, then," Hermione's daughter grumbled. "But don't expect me to save your skins if we hit trouble."
Scorpius leapt up, grinning. "Right, then! I won't tell now, I need to work out the details with you, Ashford—"
"Nikki, thank you—"
"—whatever. All we need is some way to communicate, it'll be harder with all four Houses involved…"
"Maylin," Nikki answered immediately, to blank stares. "My cat."
"You can understand cats?" asked Helen blankly.
"No," Nikki replied primly, "she understands humans. Part Kneazle, I think. I'll have her keep an eye out around all the common rooms—don't look at me like that, Malfoy, she can't tell me where they are—and if you need to send a message write it out, stick it under her collar and tell her where to go. Come to think of it, I should have mentioned it earlier. Everyone keeps staring when we go to each other's table at breakfast."
"Not because there's a Potter doing it, surely?" Albus asked waspishly. Nikki shook her head, but it was Helen who volunteered,
"Even when I go to say hi to Scorpius or Nikki, and the teachers watch too. You'd think we were helping each other win the House Cup or something."
"So," said Scorpius impatiently, "that's settled, then. Ashford—"
"Nikki—"
"—stop calling me Malfoy then—we need to chat sometime, just you and me about it, any night is good, I don't know if you ever sleep anyway."
"Owlery at eight-thirty tonight?" Nikki suggested, as all five started walking back toward the castle. "Late enough we won't be spotted, but not so late we'll be strangled if we're spotted out of the common room."
"And if we're caught?" Scorpius asked keenly, studying her.
"We have detention, which will serve as more time to discuss if we're together," shrugged Nikki. Scorpius's grin broadened.
"Words after my own heart. Oi, look—they just let out the Quidditch players."
"What?" Al squinted in the direction of the Quidditch pitch, shading his eyes from the sun, and saw that people were streaming out toward the castle, broomsticks over several shoulders. "Great! C'mon, let's go see if James made the team—and I want to listen in on his detention a bit—"
"There's an idea, maybe we can fix it for him and get him in more trouble—"
The pair raced off to find Al's brother, leaving three exasperated girls in their wake.