A New Age
Chapter 4: A monster in question
"Well, I think Harley is our main suspect" Teddy said. They were eating lunch talking about what Al had heard. Al looked at Rosie who wished to take no part in their conversation.
"Why's that?" Al asked, although he already knew the answer"
"He looks really hairy"
"So, since when has been hair a measure of how monstrous someone is, you're part werewolf and-" Teddy clamped a hand over Al's mouth and looked around. Rosie looked up from her lunch,
"You should really be more careful Al, you never know who might hear" Teddy deemed it safe to remove his hand from Al's mouth and glared at him.
"Ok, I'll forget you said that" Teddy said and continued as if nothing happened, "The other suspects are-"
"Suspects for what?" it was a the pale boy who had been on the boat with Al, he was sitting several feet down the table.
"None of your business" Teddy said, Al decided to be friendly.
"Come on Teddy, the more eyes there are the more likely we'll find out who it is" Al turned to the boy, try as he might he couldn't remember his name,
"Whats your name again?" Al asked him.
"Ruben" the boy said, Al told Ruben what he had heard and watched as the boy's eyes grew wide and if possible, even paler.
"See, we want to know who this monster is?" Al said.
"And finish him off before he hurts anyone of us" Teddy added. Al didn't think to mention his own selfish reason. He wanted people to recognize him. In a way, he was looking for fame, but fame not from his dad, but fame he had earned himself. After lunch, Al, Teddy and Ruben headed down to the dungeons for potions. Rosie was talking to some other girls so they decided to leave her be. They opened the dungeon door to find fumes rising up from a cauldron at the front of the classroom. They saw Professor Finnigan behind the cauldron. The rest of the class came soon afterwards.
"Potions are a subtle art" Professor Finnigan began, "they can cure large wounds in seconds, such as the essence of dittany, and they can kill in the same amount of time." The class was silent. "In this class we will be learning how to make simple potions such as the boil cure potion and the forgetfulness potion and maybe if we have time, my speciality, pyrotechnics"
Soon Al was looking down at a steaming cauldron with a potion, if you could call it that, it smelled like sour milk only ten times worse. It resembled puke, obviously potions wasn't one of his strong subjects. Teddy wasn't faring much better. He had somehow changed his potion to wet cement and gotten his fingers stuck. Teddy was yanking on his fingers.
"So, do you think the monster is in this room right now?" Teddy asked.
"Yes" Al answered.
"Why's that?" Ruben asked.
"Well, Professor Patil is head of Gryffindor house so the monster will most likely be Gryffindor. Also, he's probably new, like us, since Professor Patil seemed so flustered by it" Al answered.
"You guys are smart" Ruben said. He made a fist and held it up to Al. Al blinked,
"What?" Al thought Ruben might want to fight. Ruben lowered his hand,
"Never mind" he said, "It's called a fist bump, its ok" Al had never heard of this "fist bump" and shook his head. Ruben turned to his cauldron and put in Salamander Scales. The potion promptly blew up in his face.
"Ruben!" Al and Teddy yelled.
"I'm ok" Ruben said and got up. The front of his shirt was singed.
"Reminds me of myself when I was younger. I was always blowing things up" Al turned and saw Professor Finnigan standing behind him. Al gulped, they were in trouble for sure. Professor Finnigan smirked and said,
"Carry on."
Al glanced at Teddy who said,
"Wicked" a word he had picked up from Uncle Ron. At that point, Teddy gave his finger one last jerk and the whole cauldron flipped over pressing the wet cement against his face, which in turn got stuck to the cement. Suddenly, there was a bang and the cauldron flew off Teddy's face. Al looked behind him and saw Professor Finnigan with his wand outstreached.
"Thanks, Professor" Teddy said.
"Clean up, boys" Professor Finnigan said, "Class will be over soon."
At the end of the period, Professor Finnigan told them,
"That was the most exciting class I've ever had." Al packed his stuff and walked out of the dungeons with Ruben and Teddy.
"That's got to be the best professor yet" Teddy said and Ruben and Al nodded in agreement. They walked and Teddy turned to a door.
"This looks like a shortcut" Teddy said and opened the door to reveal a long passageway.
"C'mon" Teddy said and ran in. Al and Ruben followed uneasily. The door slammed shut.
"Why'd you close the door?" Teddy asked.
"I didn't" Al said. They both looked at Ruben who shook his head slowly. Al tried the door, it was locked.
"Well, I guess the only way is forward" Al said.
"Do you think the monster locked us in?" Teddy asked. Al frowned,
"Don't be silly" Al said.
"What if he found out and wanted us in here to rot?" Teddy's voice was an octave higher than usual. Al started to get uneasy. The long corridor seemed longer than ever and Al was now to afraid to go down it. Thats when the lights turned off. This wasn't a usual flick of a switch, it was all the brackets with fire in them, snuffed out. They huddled together and prayed for the best. Al felt Ruben's breath and felt Ruben's muscles tense like he was restraining something.
"The monster. It's here. It's going to get us" Teddy whispered. Al shivered, and looked up. His eyes adjusted and he saw the silhouette of a man. Teddy gave a yelp and the lights flicked back on. Al saw the man. It was Professor Finnigan.