Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (how it should have been)
Hello, gentle Viewers. Please excuse the short hiatus between this chapter and last. Today I will be posting answers to a few questions/complaints I have received about this fanfic so far (yes, i do read your reviews, and i do respond to them), and also (of course), chapter 7, which is a bit long compared to the others, and includes some usual first year magic, and a few minor to moderate plot points (yay, lets make the fanfic sound dull so that less people will read it! Wheeeee!)
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QUESTIONS:
I have received a lot of shipping questions. The short answer to those is that I will dabble.
Another concern was about how Rose knew nothing about her family's heroic past (something that I go into in this and the next chapter). At the end of HPATDH, Albus asks why everyone is staring at the group on the platform at Kings Cross, and Ron gives a sarcastic response. This gave me the idea for if one of the kids did not know the family history, and how magical (no pun intended) it would be to dig up the clues to find it out (also oooh! the angst!). It also gives me a way to throw in some fanboy fan theories.
And one last one was someone asking me "how can you just create characters?" Well, there isn't exactly a rule saying I can't, and it's nice to have a few people in there that I can shape however I want without 'cannon' getting in the way! (Also, there aren't that many people to choose from for certain plot points, so it helps to just make my own)
Now enough about me! Lets go to the story!
Chapter 7
ALBUS AND ALI LEFT THE CHARMS ROOM, laughing
"Did you see the looks on their faces when you got it to float?" Ali asked.
"Amazing!" Albus agreed. "Anyway, it's off to Herbology. A family friend teaches it!"
Ali grinned, "ah, but how do we find the large, obvious greenhouses outside?"
Cracking up, the two ran down the staircase (which had moved back to its original position), and dashed into the entrance hall, up to the open double doors that led outside, and through them into the sunlight.
It was a sight to behold. The massive castle was situated between several grand peaks, which were rocky and green now, but Albus could imagine how they would look when snowcapped.
The green lawn of the grounds stretched off in one direction for a long way until it reached the mirror surface of the lake. In the other direction, it reached out until it touched the trees at the start of the Forbidden Forest. Albus noticed Hagrid outside his hut with a large group of students. He and Ali waved, but it was too far to tell if Hagrid saw them or waved back.
The two wandered around to the side of the school where the greenhouses were located. They found a small number of students already there. As Albus and his friend drew level with them, they saw a man with a round, smiling face sitting on the ground outside greenhouse one. The other students were crowded around him.
"Ah! Albus! Good to see you." The man called when he spotted the two boys.
"Hello Nev- erm, I mean, hey professor Longbottom." Albus replied.
"How are you holding up, then?" Neville asked with a light, masking chuckle, but Albus knew that he was talking about the sorting.
"I'm alright," Albus said defiantly, although he wasn't sure himself whether or not that was the truth.
"I was just about to show these other first years my Dumbledore's Army coin" professor Longbottom told Albus. Ali, being muggleborn, frowned at the sentence. He had never heard of "Dumbledore's Army".
Albus nodded. He had seen the coin before on several occasions when Neville came round to the Potters house for dinner.
The teacher pulled a coin identical to an old golden Galleon from his pocket, and handed it carefully to one of the first years, whose eyes grew wide with awe and admiration. The coin was passed around, each person staring at it in amazement.
"What's it for?" Ali whispered in Albus's ear. "Why's it special?"
"Tell you later" Albus hissed back. The coin had just been passed to him. Having seen it before, Albus turned it over to Ali.
"Ah, here come the others," said Neville, standing up. Albus turned and saw a group of other first years walking over to the greenhouses.
"Ouch!" Cried Ali, and there came the sound of clinking metal as he dropped the coin.
"What's up?" Asked Neville, turning back to him looking concerned.
"The coin, it got all hot all of a sudden," Ali said. Neville's eyes widened, and he stopped down quickly, picking the coin up.
"It hasn't done that in years" he muttered, scowling as he turned the coin to examine the edge. His eyebrows pushed together, and he thrust the coin into his pocket as the other first years arrived.
"Ahem. Uh, welcome to Herbology. I'm professor Longbottom. Uh, follow me inside." He ushered them into greenhouse one, looking concerned and distracted.
The lesson was very uneventful. Neville rushed through telling them what they would cover that year, the whole time seeming supremely disconcerted. When the lunch bell rang, he was the first out the door, rushing up to the castle.
"What was that all about?" Ali asked as the two boys packed up their bags.
"I know some of it" Albus responded, and quickly told him about the DA and the enchanted coins they used to communicate.
"Huh, well then! I guess I'd have been freaked too if I had a coin like that, and it turned on all of a sudden for the first time in years" Ali said as the two began walking up to the school.
When they walked into the Great Hall for lunch, Albus noticed that a lot of the staff members were missing, including McGonagall, Neville, Hagrid, and Flitwick.
Albus turned to go sit down, but was stopped as someone tapped him on the shoulder.
Turning, Albus saw his cousin, Rose, wide eyed and stiff.
"Al, can I talk to you?" She asked.
"Sure" Albus replied. He told Ali to wait for him at the table, let Scorpius know what had happened in Herbology, and why Albus wasn't there. Albus then walked with Rose back out into the entrance hall.
"Al, what's going on? I feel like I'm going mad. People keep staring at me like I'm famous, and keep saying things, and then they look at me like I'm supposed to understand what they're saying! They seem to involve our parents! And then there was that book that the kid on the train had! Oh, Al, am I going crazy?"
This was exactly the subject that Albus did not want to talk about with Rose. It was complicated, and it was uninviting, but Albus knew from experience that trying to hide things from her never turned out good. It was best to point her in the right direction, and try to avoid what fury he could when she discovered what it was.
"Rose, you're not crazy. I can't explain everything, not now, but our parents and their friends, well, they're famous. You've grown up in the wizarding world, and you must've picked up on some of it. It involves Voldemort. It'd take to long to explain. Please trust me on this" Albus said, worry and plea in his voice. Rose nodded slowly, drinking in his words. Albus plunged on before she got over her initial shock and exploded.
"Your parents have left you in the dark for a reason. It was their choice, which is why James and I never said anything" Rose frowned at this, and Albus kept trying to hurry her along.
"Tell you what. That book that you saw the boy on the train with, well go to the library, and ask for the first one. There are seven. They'll tell you what you need to know. Oh, don't look at me that way, Rose! What was I supposed to do? And you're a fast reader. You'll know everything in no time." Albus cringed at the look she gave him. She stalked off, looking furious, for once not asking follow up questions.
"Secrets are kept for a reason," said a voice in his head.
"Oh, shut up, me. This'll all be over soon." Albus muttered to himself.
He returned to the great hall, sitting down between Ali and Scorpius, who seemed to have been discussing what had happened in their various houses.
"What was that all about?" Ali asked as Albus took up a knife and fork.
"Rose is catching on to our families history" Albus replied, although he aimed the answer at Scorpius.
Scorpius went red. "I, uh, I might have had something to do with that. I've been talking around her as though she knew everything. She asked me what I was talking about, but I stopped talking about that stuff after she did. I thought she knew, you know?"
Albus picked up his fork and speared a carrot slice. Rose was small and clever, but she could be fierce. Albus dreaded facing her fury when she found out everything.
"So, double Transfiguration later. Can you believe this? It's our first day!" Ali said, clearly trying to break the ice.
Scorpius grimaced. It was all he could do to keep himself from replying with a fact about how Hogwarts and scheduling worked. Albus could see it in his face (he had grown up around Rose, who was the same way). He started grinning.
"What? What's so funny?" Scorpius demanded as Albus's grin widened. "Oh, you know, it's the first day at Hogwarts, and we're worried about Rose finding out what she should already have known, and the fact that we have a double period. Just think about what our parents would have been worried about in their time?"
"Voldemort and Quidditch!" Scorpius said, laughing. "Yeah, I see what you mean. And speaking of, they've lifted the ban on first years flying. Think you might try out for your house team? I am."
Albus hadn't thought about that. He was a decent player, but he did not have a position he was best at. He could play any of them pretty well. Must be his genes, having a Potter and a Weasley for his parents.
"Yeah, I suppose I might," Albus answered, "just to be a pain in your ass!" The three boys laughed.
"D'you have a broom?" Ali asked Albus, who was surprised that the boy knew what Quidditch was.
"I do at home. I'll have to borrow James's owl or something to write to mum and dad and see if I can have it sent."
Scorpius's face darkened at the mention of James. "Your brother really doesn't like me" he said.
Albus sighed. He had expected that James wouldn't take well to Scorpius. He wasn't the type to forgive and forget, even if he hadn't been alive for what he was supposed to be forgiving. He had grown up hearing stories about Draco and his father, and for some reason it had gotten to him more than any of the others.
"I'll talk to James. He's just mad about your father. I don't know why. My dad seems to have forgiven him, but James . . .? Anyway, I'll explain about you. Rose will too, I bet. She seemed to like you" Albus said, turning to pick up his glass of pumpkin juice.
Disregarding it, Albus returned to his lunch. He noticed that the teachers were still missing from the staff table. They were probably just planning for their lessons. Probably.
The three friends talked and laughed. Albus's worries began to melt away.
Soon enough, the bell rang, and the trio of new friends stood up to join the queue leaving the Great Hall. It was time for potions. The problem was, they had no clue where it was. There wasn't a ghost in sight, and all of the other teachers seemed to have vanished.
"I think it's in the dungeons. Father mentions it every now and then" Scorpius said. He turned to walk to the staircase that led down to the Slytherin common room, but walked right into Rose, who was glaring at all three of them.
"So! You lot just thought you wouldn't tell me about all this, did you?" She growled and held up a large set of books that Albus recognized to be the wizard editions of the so-called 'Harry potter books'.
How she had found the library when the other three couldn't find their way to the right bathroom was a mystery. It was just like Rose, too.
"We are going to talk later," she snarled, all of her childlike wonder and fear gone.
"Rose, we all need to get to class!" Scorpius said in an attempt to calm her. It did seem to work slightly. Her expression softened as she looked at him, but it didn't last long. The angry look reappeared on her face again as fast as it had dissaparated. "It's the first day of school, I can afford to be late!" She said, just as the bell rang out to tell her that she was indeed.
She glared at them a second longer, then turned and stormed away. "See you in potions!" She shouted as she descended the stairs and out of sight.
The three stared at each other in wonder, and then horror as it dawned on them that they were alone with only a hint at where their class was.
"Umm, you said dungeon, yeah?" Albus said.
Scorpius grinned. "The safe word is 'pineapple' "he and Ali burst into laughter at the ice breaking joke.
"Shut up!" Albus said, although he was laughing along with them. He looked back at the two others, and froze. There was a cat staring at him from the doors to the Great Hall. It gazed at the three with lamp like eyes, then vanished with a swish of its tail.
"Guys, lets go!" Albus cried. Scorpius, who had been raised with his fathers school stories, also seemed to understand.
"That can't be her! She should be dead by now! HE should be dead by now!"
"Can we not wait to find out? Lets just go!" Albus said, tugging on Scorpius and Ali's wrists. They ran down the stairs into the dungeons.
"What's so bad about a cat?" Ali gasped, running to catch up with the two other boys.
"We need to sit you down soon and explain Hogwarts to you" Scorpius replied. "Wait, I think potions might be down this way!"
They turned down a corridor, which ended with an old wooded door. The boys stopped outside it, panting. Albus reached out and turned the handle. The door swung open to a classroom of first years taking notes. Up at the head of the class was professor Adama.
"I told you to be on time," he said, although his voice sounded bored, like he didn't care.
"Sorry, big castle!" Scorpius panted. Professor Adama smiled slightly at this, then gestured for the three to take their seats at an empty table near the back if the dim, torchlit chamber.
They hastened to obey, scooting past shelves with pickled things in dusty jars that almost glinted in the torchlight. They fell into the old chairs, at a table next to Rose, who was glaring determinately in away from them.
"Now, as I was saying. In this class, I will be teaching you to brew things that you could only dream of before. You will create your own fame, you will mix revenge, and you will boil life. I never was one for bragging or big pretty examples of magic. I just like to get the job done. However, for you, here and now, there will be an exception."
He paused, eyeing the slack jawed students now hanging onto his every word.
"I have with me a couple of small samples of the sorts of things that you will learn to brew. Allow me to demonstrate their Effects." The class as a whole leaned forwards, squinting through the dimness of the room to try and better see what the old professor was doing.
Adama shuffled over to his desk, on which sat a jar of frogs and 6 tiny vials, each filled with a different color of liquid.
The potions master reached in the jar and withdrew one of the frogs, then lifted the first vial from the table.
"The first of three. Let us watch." Only Scorpius seemed to get what the man was talking about with 'three'. There were clearly six bottles, Albus thought, then was pulled back to reality as Adama began to speak again.
"In first year you will make very simple and easy potions, such as a cure for boils, but you will be in my class for 6-7 years . . . unless you or I die. Therefore, I will present different levels of potion making to you, so that you may see the wonders of this class through time and practice."
With that, he popped the cork off the vial, and tipped the green liquid inside onto the frog. For a second, nothing happened. The students were looking slightly confused.
Adama smiled at them. "Just give it a second to seep in. Ah, there we go!"
The frog began to grow and change. It wasn't a major change, but it was still enough to get gasps from the first years.
The frog grew to twice its original size, and it took on a weathered look. It let out a low croak, causing a few kids to chuckle.
"Well, you must be real, living' first years if something like that excites you" Adama said. "Now, who knows what potion that was?"
Scorpius's hand just barely beat that of Rose, who looked at him as though unsure of wether to smile or glare. Adama nodded at Scorpius from the front of the room.
"Yes? Malfoy, is it?"
"Y-yes sir. Ah, that was an aging potion, I think" Scorpius responded shyly.
"And why do you say that, eh?" Asked professor Adama.
"Well, the green color, and the effect time, and the fact that the frog aged" Scorpius replied.
"Well done, son. Take five points to Gryffindor."
Adama turned back to the table, set down the now empty vial, and picked up a second one, which he poured on the frog.
"Counter-draughts," Scorpius whispered, "there are three potions and three reversal solutions, which is why there are six vials, but he only acknowledges three potions."
"Alright, now, the next two are much more advanced than an aging potion" Adama said, grasping the attention of the class.
He held up the frog, which was now back to normal, and snatched the second potion, which was clear, but moved like drying cement.
The contents of the small glass container were poured onto the frog, and almost immediately the potion started to work.
The frog inflated to the size of a party balloon, and an orange light shone through its skin. It began to smoke at the mouth, and loud cracks and bangs rang out through the classroom. Several of the boys let out small shrieks, although albus noticed several of the girls lean forwards to get a better look.
After a minuet, Adama picked up the solution that would revert the frog back to normal, applied it to the exploding frog, which slowly deflated.
"That potion there is really fun. You can slip a couple of drops into a friend's food to prank them. It's also a goid way to clear out the stomach if you swallow something you shouldn't have, although there are several better and more practical ways to do that. But this one is completely harmless. No pain at all!" he smiled at them, and then turned to the blackboard.
"Now, it's gonna be a long time before any of you are ready to make anything as difficult as that, and I need to explain the rules before you even so much as look at a cauldron" the professor said as he plopped the frog back in its jar.
It was lost on no one that the old man had left the last bottle untouched. Whether he had done it on purpose, or simply forgotten, they did not know, and it seemed they wouldn't find out, for Adama had gone blind to their eager, raised hands.
The rest of the lesson passed without any more extraordinary happenings, much to the disappointment of the first years. They took down notes about rules and what they were to learn until the bell rang.
"Farewell, my pupils. I shall see you on Tuesday. Try not to be late" Adama called as the chattering first years returned their parchment and quills to their bags.
"That was something," Ali said as the three left to head to Transfiguration. Rose rushed past them, clearly still determined not to talk to them . . . For now, at least.
"He's kinda odd, wouldn't you say?" Albus responded, speaking of Adama, and acting as though he hadn't noticed rose.
"Well, yeah, that's his thing. He's insane" came a voice from behind the three. Albus turned, smiling, to see Fred Weasley the second, a second year relative whom Albus had been hoping to find sooner or later. His darker skin and lack of red hair and freckles set him apart from most of the Weasley family, but no one really cared. He was alike in spirit and humor.
"Hi, Al. I see you've made some friends," he said, nodding at Ali and Scorpius. It was clear that he did not care that Scorpius was there, or that Albus and Ali were in Slytherin, a thing for which Albus was grateful.
"What d'you mean 'that's his thing'?" Scorpius asked, caught up in Fred's words about Adama.
"I have Defense Against the Dark Arts. It's on the way to Transfiguration . . .ish. That's where you three are going, right? Anyway, walk with me. Im Fred, by the way. nice to meet you too, Scorpius" the older boy responded, causing Albus's pale friend to go slightly red. Fred ignored this and answered Scorpius 's question.
"So Adama is great, but he's also crazy. I can't wait for my first lesson with him! Anyway, he's wacky, but in a good way. Says lots of redundancies, likes messing with people when they first meet him. He's also a genius! Brilliant with magic. He came to this school with high praise from Luna Scamander, which should tell you all you need to know about him. He doesn't believe in insane stuff like Luna, but he is quacked like her."
"Hang on! You haven't had him yet this year, and Adama's a new teacher. How do you know all that about him?" Scorpius asked, clearly interested in the subject.
"Well, he's a friend of the Scamander's, and so are my family. Plus, Adama was here a lot last year. He was a Sub for Slughorn, who was really old and always sick" Fred explained.
By that point they had reached an area of the castle that Albus, Ali, and Scorpius hadn't yet entered. Taking the lead, Fred took them up several staircases (they had to jump one step, as it wasn't really there and was meant to trap people), through a few trick doors, and down a corridor and a half. They at last stopped, panting, at a large door.
"Well get in! That's McGonagall's class!" Fred said, rolling his eyes before turning and dashing back down the corridor.
The three exchanged looks, then pushed into the room.
"Nearly late, Potter, Leonid, Malfoy" came the strict voice of Minerva McGonagall just as the bell rang.
The three trooped over to a desk in the middle of the room. Albus could feel McGonagall's piercing gaze follow him to his seat.
Launching straight onto her subject, McGonagall began speaking. "Ahem. I am your Transfigurations teacher, pro-" she paused. The door had opened and two first year boys ran in, panting. They saw McGonagall, gulped, and sloped off to a pair of empty seats.
"Next time, ask for directions. Maybe then you'll be on time. And five points from Gryffindor," McGonagall's nostrils flared as she spoke. To Albus, it seemed like she was too upset over something so little. He knew she was strict, but this seemed an overreaction.
"Now, I am professor McGonagall, your Transfiguration teacher" the which with the tight, white bun of hair began once more. "In this class, you will learn about the art and magic of transformation," she shook her head slightly, as though she thought the class a waste of time, which made what she said next have less of an impact than it would have otherwise.
"Transfiguration is magic so complex and dangerous that it goes above anything else you learn at this school. That's not to say that your other classes are not important, but it does say that anyone I find not taking this class seriously or who is messing about will be kicked out before they can say 'animagus'". Albus and Scorpius exchanged a glance, eyebrows raised, then turned back to the lecture.
"As you no doubt know from similar speeches in your earlier classes, it will be a long time before you get to the level of Transfiguration that your imaginations no doubt want to start at," she flinched her wand, turning her desk into a large, hairy pig and back, eliciting 'oooohhhs' of awe. And several claps from the class.
"Now, as we have a double period, we have time to go over class notices as well as begin our first true lesson," McGonagall said. Everyone sat up, eyeing her with curiosity. They were all eager to do, or attempt to do, more magic, no matter how small.
And so it was that they sat through the first half of the double period listening to McGonagall explain rules and safety, holding out for the practical part of the lesson to begin.
Finally, after what felt like hours of waiting, it was time. McGonagall took out her wand, erased the blackboard, and wrote upon it what looked to Albus like a formula.
"This is the base for most Transfiguration work. It is a formula, or equation, to balance weight, viciousness, wand power, concentration, and an unknown variable." Albus grinned slightly at guessing correctly, then frowned. Why did magic have math formulas? But he felt like he could do whatever it was, and the uncertainty sank away deep into his mind.
McGonagall took them through how to use the formula, which Albus and Scorpius found easy, and Ali found only slightly difficult. When they had that figured out, McGonagall produced a box of matches that they were to change into needles.
"I don't expect any of you to have any hint of success at this today," McGonagall told them as she passed the matches out, "this is your first lesson on your first day, and most of you have never done more than pick up a wand before. But it's still best to start and to try."
Albus accepted his match from her thin, wrinkled fingers. He looked up, and saw that she looked back at him with the same look of concern she had worn at the sorting, only this time it seemed to be mixed with frustration and confusion.
McGonagall broke eye contact and swept away to the next table, leaving Albus feeling concerned, confused, and frustrated himself. He began to think about why he had been put in Slytherin again, but was interrupted by Ali, who snapped his fingers in front of Albus's face.
"Hey, Al, magic, remember?"
Albus shook himself slightly. The negative feelings were once more fading away. Albus smiled at his two friends, then pulled out his wand.
"So, should we all try, or take turns, or . . .?" Began Albus, but Scorpius grinned at him and answers his question.
"We've all got wands, and we each have a match, so have at!"
Grinning, the trio started trying to turn the small sticks before them into sharp metal.
Albus was thoroughly enjoying himself. He could imagine himself flicking his wand and being the first to succeed. Of course, he did not expect that to happen soon, if ever, but it was still a nice thought.
"Focus!", came the voice in his head. Smiling slightly, Albus took his own advice, and began concentrating on the match. He flicked his wand.
Nothing happened. He tried it again, but got the same result. Ten tries later, still nothing. What was he missing besides experience?
"I'm such an idiot! I forgot the formula!" Albus groaned out loud when the realization struck him.
"You and me" Scorpius responded, smiling and patting Albus on the back.
Albus returned the smile, then turned back to his work. He thought the formula through, then concentrated, and flicked his wand.
"Al! Blimey! Look, you did it!"
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Hey guys! Thanks for reading. This chapter was a bit long, and I'm sorry about how not much and too much happens in it. I did drop a lot(ish) of plot, but all in all this was just a filler chapter.
I'm sure some of you are wondering why McGonagall seemed so odd in this chapter. I swear that its not bad writting (at least, not on purpose. Im sure there is a lot of that anyway, though), and there is a reason for it.
Chapter 8 will be out very soon, and more stuff should happen then. I am trying to make my chapters longer due to popular(ish) request and the fact that I need to have more plot in them. After chapter 8/9 the plot, action, and the story should start to pick up and move faster and smoother.
Please share and review. If you have any questions/comments/concerns/criticisms, just ask. I do read them (in the reviews or through PM's), and I do respond to them.