Chapter 9: The Nightly Wandering Of Headmaster Ares
Apart from telling Morrison the second that they had gotten back, Albus and Scorpius had told no one else about their unexpected run in with Ares. This had both its upsides and downsides. On one hand, it would be impossible for Ares to find out who it was he had bumped into. But on the other, Scorpius was now not nearly as popular as he had been when he had first dueled Eckley.
It turned out that the vast majority of both Slytherin and Gryffindor house had heard word that Scorpius was to meet Eckley for an epic rematch. Unfortunately, as Scorpius never went, the word quickly spread that he had chickened out. The older Slytherins were now paying him no mind, believing that he had disgraced their house, and the Gryffindors were now all claiming Eckley a hero; someone who sent Slytherins running with their tails between their legs.
"Well, I don't know what you want from me, he never showed" Albus heard Eckley brag during a Herbology lesson. Their work was extremely noisy-they were planting Screaming South Korean Shrubs-and he had to speak up to get every Gryffindor nearest him to pay attention. "I must have waited half an hour" he went on. "I even thought of going down to their Common Room and forcing him to duel, but that's not noble."
Scorpius furiously covered his shrub in dirt, drowning out most of the sound. "Stupid git" he muttered. "As if he could see if I was there anyway! Bandages over his eyes and all."
It certainly was true that even for days after their encounter in the hallway, Eckley was still forced to wear the bandages that hid the hideous marks of Scorpius' well placed Furnunculus jinx. Still, it was a small consolation when everyone in the school thought you were a coward; something that Slytherins hated being called most.
"Why don't you just challenge him to another one?" Morrison asked, as he too threw dirt over his shrub. "Tell him why you couldn't make it the first time."
"Can't" Scorpius said. "Me and Al would get in trouble for sure, he'd blab. And with my luck I wouldn't make the reschedule anyway. It's fine though...he'll get his. Eventually."
"Ouch!" Eckley said suddenly, and most of the Gryffindors turned to him in surprise. He touched his hand to his face. "Damn bandages. Keep sliding off my cheeks, pressing into the scars."
"Here, I'll help you" Mirra said, leaning forward and grabbing his face, carefully moving the bandages around. "Better?" she asked.
"Yeah" he said, giving her a wide smile.
Albus felt the tiniest pang of annoyance. They were just boil scars. Honestly, it wasn't like he had a damn lightning bolt on his forehead.
While Scorpius was getting evil stares from most of their housemates, Albus had actually found some sort of inspiration from the event. Second year Slytherins now had a bad name; a name that would have to fixed. And he, Albus, was the one to do it. The first Quidditch match of the season was little more than a week away, and if he could win it for them, all badmouthing towards Scorpius would be drowned out by celebration.
And the inspiration was paying off. Albus was flying at least twice as better than he was over the summer, when James had been teaching him. His swerving and speed were fine, aided by his excellent broom. What he had needed to work on were certain tricks that all Seekers should have up their sleeve, like steep diving and letting go of the broom to swipe at the Snitch. Albus had learned both, and felt more prepared than ever.
"I agree" Atticus said after one memorable Quidditch practice, in which Al had dived from more than one hundred feet, dodged a Bludger while doing so, and caught the Snitch as it skimmed the grass. Albus had voiced his opinion to him. "You really have gotten better. When I first put you on the team, I thought you might end up playing reserve, you were good but not great. Now though, we've got more than a fighting chance."
Albus beamed as the Slytherins around him muttered in approval. Connie Orik, the fifth year Beater with a very prominent chin and sandy blonde hair, patted him on the shoulder. "I've got the feeling you might just steal the show from your brother" she said.
Albus felt his heart sank. Playing his brother, now that was going to be the real test.
Though he had improved in Quidditch exponentially, his studies had taken a turn for the worse. Perhaps it was the constant theorizing on Ares-or maybe the late night practices-or even a combination of both. But Albus felt as though he was now doing the bare minimum in class. He was almost as behind in his homework as Morrison, so much to the point were nearly all of it was copied from Scorpius the period before it was due, and his spellwork had become shoddy at best.
"You were doing fine a week ago!" Professor Handit explained when Albus failed to fire off a disarming spell capable of doing little more than loosen Morrison's grip on his wand.
Their lesson for the day was a practical one, based primarily on dodging and deflecting. Professor Handit had told them that though creating a shield spell is effective in most cases, some spells-like the Killing Curse-made it useless. Thus, their lessons were getting more and more focused on athleticism. The point today was to aim your spells well enough to deflect your opponents, or at the very least, duck and cover.
"Al, I'm not trying to single you out, but I know you can perform this spell" Professor Handit said with a small frown. He had been examining the pairs from afar. Thankfully, Albus wasn't very embarrassed, as everyone else was too busy to hear.
"I know I can" he practically moaned. "I'm just tired I think...I don't know what's up with me."
"Maybe you just need to concentrate a bit more. Take a break and clear your head if you need to."
Now clearing his head, that may very well have been problem. He always had things on his mind, though, he felt as though his other excuse had been more accurate; he was extremely tired. Exhausted though he was from Quidditch practice, he was still unable to sleep well at night, either from worry of the pile of homework he hadn't finished or falling off of his broom in the middle of the game. If he had to hazard a guess, he'd say that he was getting less than five hours of sleep a night.
"Not enough coffee this morning?" said a voice clearly in his ear. Albus picked up his head from the table and saw Professor Darvy staring at him. It was the Friday before the game, and Double Potions was their last class. "Awake sleepy head?"
Albus frowned. He hadn't been sleeping. He had just been burying his head in his arms, resting his eyes. People were talking all around him; they must be having group work. He saw Morrison and Scorpius stirring a cauldron giving off blue smoke next to him. "Sorry sir" he said.
Professor Darvy frowned at him. Albus noticed that he too looked tired. In fact, he would go as far as to say that Darvy was getting less sleep than even he was. His eyes were still a very light, almost electric blue, but the mad glint in them was gone. They were now sunken, with large bags under them. "We all need our sleep Al" he told him. "But you're the star of this class. Try and stay up please? You'll have the weekend to sleep."
Albus nodded his head as Darvy walked away. At least he had avoided any form of punishment. "Where's Mirra?" he asked Morrison and Scorpius, who were now cleaning up the blue potion that had spilled. It was the first time all year she hadn't partnered with him on their group potions work.
"She came over here to partner with us, but you were sleepin', so she just sat over there" Scorpius said, jerking his head behind him.
Albus looked and saw her sitting with Rose, Eckley, and Hornsbrook. He groaned. "I'm going back to bed" he said, burying his head in his hands and hoping that Darvy would let him sleep this time.
Albus woke up much earlier than he had expected the morning of the match. It was hard to tell the exact time, as they were down in the dungeons, but no one was awake in the Common Room, and the fire looked as though it had just been put out; some of the older students had just gotten to bed.
Dressing quietly and leaving a note for Scorpius and Morrison, he left for the Great Hall, and was greeted with the sight of the emptiest it had ever been. There was a single Ravenclaw student eating breakfast, and none of the teachers had come down to eat yet.
He waited at the Slytherin table, tossing sausages on his plate, praying that he would eat and not throw up. His first Quidditch game. He was going to embarrass himself in front of the entire school. He would go from being Harry Potter's son to James Potter's less talented brother in just a few hours.
"Not hungry?" came a voice in his ear.
Albus jumped and almost whipped out his wand. "How do you do that?" he asked.
"Do what?" his brother said, taking a seat next to him. As no one else was at breakfast yet, he was not met with a shower of booing.
"That!" he replied. "Knowing where I am whenever. You did it last year too...before the Quidditch Final."
His brother smirked. "Tis' a secret. But I'll tell you what, you beat me today, and the secret is yours."
Albus grinned at him. It was weird, knowing that in a few hours time he would be playing against the person next to him, but Albus enjoyed talking to him all the same.
"So why didn't Scorpius show?" his brother asked him. "I doubt he really chickened out."
"Tis' a secret" Albus told him. "Let me win today and I'll tell you."
His brother laughed. "I don't think I'll have to let you do anything. You play good. And between you and me, some of the kids on my team are a little nervous. Rumor has it Atticus trained you up pretty good."
"Yeah...I suppose."
Their conversation strayed to random things just like it had last time. They speculated what the two ministry wizards had been doing at Hogwarts (though Albus was careful not to voice his actual suspicions) and laughed about how Eckley was still wearing his bandages. It wasn't until his brother was called over to his own table by the Gryffindor team that their conversation stopped. They wished each other good luck, and James left with his team to get changed.
Albus waited for about another half of an hour as more and more students finally poured in. He was starting to feel slightly uncomfortable. Where was the rest of the team?
"Al what are you doing here!" Scorpius said as he sat down across from him and starting buttering his toast.
"Eating breakfast!" he replied, though that was a bit of an exaggeration. He had taken a single bite from a sausage link in more than an hour of sitting there.
"Why aren't you in the changing rooms with everyone else?"
"Huh?"
Morrison took a seat next to Scorpius. "The team met in the Common Room this morning and went right to the changing room!"
Albus nearly slammed his head into the table. "I got to go!" he said, and he stormed off out of the Hall and made his way to the Pitch. He entered the Slytherin changing rooms panting, trying to catch his breath.
"Where were you?" Atticus asked him.
"I was-"
"It doesn't matter now, hurry up and get changed" he said. The other players were already dressed and prepared. They were sitting in metal chairs, no doubt preparing for a pre-game pep talk. Albus got changed as fast as he could, accidently putting on his Quidditch robes backwards at first.
Atticus began walking up and down in a straight line, head to the floor. He did this for several seconds while his teammates watched. Once or twice, he opened his mouth as if to say something, before promptly shutting it. Finally, when the noise out on the pitch could be heard, he spoke.
"We're the underdogs" he said. "And, though I hate to admit it, with good reason. The closest that we've come to beating Gryffindor in the last few years-since I've been here in fact-is the final match last year. And that...well that didn't get the ending I had hoped for."
Albus watched as he teammates traded anxious glances with one another. He too was now feeling more nervous than he had all morning.
Atticus continued as if his team hadn't had a sudden moment of doubt. "But we're a different team this year. New players, new strategies. Granted, Gryffindor has switched it up too, but they have no way of knowing how we intend on playing."
"They're scared of us!" yelled Osmund Hall, the seventh year Beater with curly black hair. "Because of Albus!"
"And they should be!" piped up Patrick Parcher, the other Beater. And quite suddenly, all of the players were clapping. Albus buried his head in his hands.
"That's right, they should!" Atticus yelled, raising his fist in the air. More clapping and whooping. Albus was now close to fainting. "It's game time!" Atticus went on. "Chasers, don't always go for scoring, play with the Quaffle, make it go on long enough for Al to get a good look. Beaters, surround our new Seeker; we're counting on him."
They clapped more and muttered in agreement, and then a whistle was blown, signaling it was time for the Slytherin team to join the field. Albus started sweating, and breathing much faster. Still, he followed his team out onto the field.
Not a moment after they had begun walking down the pitch did Albus get his first taste of school wide hatred. It had been different hearing the vehement booing from the stands, where he had the clapping of his own house to help drown it out. Now however, three quarters of the stands were so loud that Albus actually had to glance at the Slytherin portion just to check to make sure that they were clapping. They were, but by the time he had looked to the Gryffindors to find Mirra and Rose, the crowd had erupted. The Gryffindor team was now entering the field.
Albus took his position on the field and watched as Mr. Wood had Atticus and Cooper Lanely, the Gryffindor Captain, shake hands. Albus smiled in spite of himself. His fondest memory of Lanely by far was knocking him into a suit of armor.
He heard the whistle, and in a heart beat, he was off. Soaring through the sky, he heard an annoying voice as commentary. He groaned. He had almost forgotten that Dimitrius Parks, a Hufflepuff seventh year, was commentating, and he was very biased.
"First game of the year!" his voice rang out through the stadium. "Gryffindors kept the same line up almost entirely, other than shifting around a few players, but Sanders has put together an almost entirely new team! Let's see if it pays off!"
Albus swerved a Bludger just in time to come face to face with another. He closed his eyes and prepared for impact, but the Beaters were doing as Atticus had said. A mighty swipe came from next to him, and Osmund Hall and knocked it away.
"Albus Potter- new Slytherin Seeker, brother of James Potter from Gryffindor- narrowly avoided a catastrophe there. Finnigan has the Quaffle - passes it to Rodners - who gets hit by a nasty Bludger there - Slytherin in possession and... Sanders scores!"
There was an onslaught of groans from three quarters of the field. Albus didn't have time to see Atticus do his victory lap. He was still keeping his eyes peeled for the snitch.
"Ten to nil Slytherin - awfully strong burst of speed there - didn't see that one coming. But Gryffindor is in possession, Finnigan has the Quaffle again - nice behind the back pass to Hale - and its stolen by Sanders! Sanders going for in a shot...and it's good! Right through the middle hoop!"
Albus pumped his fist in the air, but still kept his eyes open. He had yet to see his brother, but knew that when he did, a chase would commence.
And yet, after ten minutes, he had only seen his brother idly floating near the Gryffindor side, keeping his eyes peeled as well, but to no avail. Slytherin was up fifty to thirty, some truly astounding defensive moves being made.
"And Gryffindor is suffering without their star Chaser" Parks voice rang out. "Maybe they should have kept him as Chaser. Slytherin Beaters are doing their job, Parcher bats a Bludger away from their Seeker and towards Finnigan - and POTTER HAS GONE INTO A SPECTACULAR DIVE!"
Albus looked around; the commentator most certainly wasn't talking about him. Off in the distance, he saw his brother diving. Fast.
He accelerated. His broom was faster, but his brother was so close already. Just as he was gaining speed however, a glimmer of gold whizzed past him. He stopped abruptly and watched as the Snitch sank low to the grass. His brother was faking, trying to get him to give chase. He ignored the thundering crowd that was following his brother and dove for the Snitch. He was getting closer...
WHAM! He felt a sickening pain in his back and was almost tossed off of his broom.
"And a well aimed Bludger hits the Slytherin Seeker square in his back!" Parks voice echoed. "Potter was faking apparently... but the Snitch is gone."
Albus staggered, trying to maintain a grip on his broom. His back was killing him, but he could still fly. The Snitch couldn't have went far.
"All right Al?" came a voice from just above him. Albus looked up and saw his brother floating casually.
"You almost had me going there" he told his brother. "If I hadn't seen the Snitch I'd be tailing you."
His brother ducked a Bludger just as Gryffindor scored. "Well looks like you'll have to tail me this time!" he said, and he dove once more.
This time Albus saw that he wasn't faking. A glimmer of gold had indeed appeared in the grass, zooming around near the goal post on the Slytherin side. Albus dove after him. The commentator had begun shouting again, but the wind in his ears was making it impossible to tell what he was saying.
His faster broom made him level with his brother, they were side by side; neck and neck. Albus swiped for it but missed. His brother swiped too-
They collided in mid-air, both of them trying to grab the Snitch that was inches from their fingers. Thankfully, they hadn't been very far up, but they had both rolled off of their brooms and onto the ground. Albus was on his back next to his brother, who was on his stomach groaning. Struggling to keep his eyes open, he saw the Snitch hover right above his face. He raised his arm-it felt like lead-and in one quick swipe, grabbed the Snitch.
"Slytherin wins!" the commentator announced, sounding very disappointed indeed. "Two hundred to forty."
Groaning erupted from three fourths of the crowd, but Albus could hear the tumultuous cheers from the Slytherins as well. Still clutching the Snitch, he rolled over to look at his brother as his team swarmed around him. In between the legs of his teammates he saw his brother lift his head up from the dirt and mouth "I got you next time."
There was a party in the Slytherin Common Room that night. One of the older students had somehow brought food from the kitchens, and people that Albus had never so much as looked at were clapping him on the back. The pressure had been taken off of Scorpius, who was now welcomed as the Quidditch hero's friend.
"Good playing Al-"
"Knew Atticus was in the right state of mind-"
"Thanks" he was saying everywhere he turned. The noise from the Common Room was starting to give him a headache, but he brushed it outside as people tried giving him plates of food. After what felt like hours, there was finally silence. Atticus had banged his wand against a glass to call for quiet and order.
"Where's Al?" he said, and Albus felt himself being pushed through the crowd. In less than a second he was standing beside Atticus in the middle of the room. "Ahh there he is. Everyone on the team played well" he said, and there were claps for the entire team. "But if there was one person who pulled us out of this rut-one person who ended our losing streak against Gryffindor-it was this kid, this guy right here!"
It sounded like an explosion went off. Everyone in Slytherin house was now cheering. Albus could see Scorpius and Morrison in the back, trying to look over the shoulders of the older students. Both of them had wide grins on their faces.
"A toast to Albus!" Atticus yelled, and everyone with a cup in their hand raised it, with everyone in the room murmuring "To Albus."
Albus felt his face burn red. He was twelve years old-and a celebrity amongst his house. He hated being put in situations like this. The spotlight was his brother's place. Had I known it were this big of a deal, he thought to himself, I would have lost on purpose.
After another hour or so, Albus was let go of, though the party showed no signs of slowing down. He settled into a corner with Morrison and Scorpius, desperately trying to block out the sound around him.
"So did your brother say anything to you" Scorpius practically shouted. "About beating him?"
"He just told me he 'has me next time'" he said, shrugging.
"Well next time you'll have him too eh?" Morrison said. "I mean, it's not like today was luck."
"I know" Albus said, just as a loud explosion came from the middle of the room. A group of people had evidently started up a game of Exploding Snap. "Do you guys want to go up to our dormitory?" he asked his friend with his fingers practically in his ears.
"Actually, I was going to go and eat" Morrison said, indicating a table of food that had been brought out. Scorpius nodded his head, implying that he was doing the same.
"Okay well...I'm going to get some fresh air" he told them, and within minutes he was under his Invisibility Cloak, walking down the corridors of the dungeon, getting as far away from the noise as possible.
The castle was different at night, haunting but soothing. He had never wandered it for the sake of simply knowing more about it. The only times he had ever used the Invisibility Cloak he had been focusing on where he was going; or in Scorpius' case, whom he was tailing.
He walked up the stairs that led to the Great Hall, thinking that he might just go a few floors up and visit the Room of Requirement. He passed the bloodstained ghost of the Bloody Baron, walked past a portrait of a mad knight that usually shouted insults, and slumped himself against a wall in a random hallway. He had a pounding headache from the noise of the Common Room. He was quite happy to be all alone...under his Cloak.
"Dad gave you his cloak!" came an excited voice.
Albus stood up and spun around so fast that the Cloak actually slipped off of him. His brother was staring at him, jaw dropped.
"How do you do that?" Albus said, heart still pounding. "And how'd you see me!"
"I didn't" his brother said, pulling out a large sheet of paper that was folded over several times. "I used this."
Albus eyed the paper warily. He knew all too well that James owned at least one of every joke shop item that his uncle had ever created. Whatever that paper may be, it was probably not in his best interest to take it. "How'd a paper help you find me?" Albus asked him.
His brother gave him a wide grin. He pulled out his wand and tapped the paper, saying "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good."
Albus watched as he unfolded the paper, which had rapidly begun drawing on itself. Squiggly lines were appearing all over it, connecting into rooms. On closer inspection, he saw tiny circles on the paper, all of them filled with names. He watched as James pointed to a hallway where, sure enough, two bubbles had their names inscribed inside of them.
"No way" Albus said, his jaw dropping. "This is...this is..."
"Hogwarts" his brother finished for him. "A map of Hogwarts actually. And better, it's got everyone in it. Even people wearing Invisibility Cloaks" he added with a smirk.
"Where did you get this?"
"Snuck it out of dad's drawer back in my first year. It was blank then. I don't know if he ever even used it or not. But I know it wasn't just paper. Words appeared on it when I first touched it. These four blokes," he said, pointing to the top of the map, where four names were listed, "helped me find it. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs."
"Who were they?" Albus asked, sidetracked from the tiny bubbles momentarily.
His brother merely shrugged. "No clue. But whoever they were, they knew more about this school than anyone else. And there's some powerful magic behind it too...to know who's in here and what they're doing."
"So that's how you've been catching up with me!" Albus exclaimed. "I knew that you weren't just popping up randomly!"
"Told you I'd tell you if you beat me" his brother said.
Albus took the Map from him. "How does it work?" he asked.
"Just tap it with your wand and say 'I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good'. Everything will appear, showing every part of the castle and everyone in it. Then to wipe it, just say 'Mischief managed'."
Albus looked down at the map in awe. A sudden idea popped in to his head. "Everyone in it?"
"Everyone" his brother told him, grinning widely.
"Could I borrow this?" Albus asked him.
His brother considered it. "Okay, but you've got to let me borrow the Cloak."
Albus frowned. That ruined his plan almost entirely. "How about," he started, trying to word his next few sentences carefully, "I keep both. Just for a bit. But then I give you both for a while. And then we split it back up?"
His brother eyed the Cloak in his hands with longing. Albus could tell that he waited a very long time to have the power of invisibility aid his many wrong doings at Hogwarts. "Okay, deal" he said. "But I have to hurry back-no map to tell if I got teachers around me."
Albus nodded as his brother turned and left, waving over his shoulder as he did so. He threw the Cloak back over himself and stared down at the map in his hands, grinning. He was going to put this map to very good use.
Albus was not able to tell Scorpius and Morrison about the Map that night-they stayed partying along with their housemates well after Albus had went to bed. The next morning found Albus at Quidditch practice ("There's no point in slacking off now!" Atticus had said) and the remainder of the day was left to studying in the library with Mirra and Rose, a rarity as they both seemed to be hanging out with Eckley and his gang more. Thus, Albus had to keep his secret until Monday morning's Charms.
"So what are you grinning about?" Scorpius asked him as he made the apple on his desk grow at least three times its average size. Today they were practicing the Engorgement Charm.
Albus looked around to make sure that no one was watching. He needn't have done so however, everyone was too busy trying to shrink the objects that they had been given back down to regular size. "I'm grinning about this" he said, pulling out the map, which was blank.
"It's...just paper" Morrison said from behind his enormous grapefruit.
But Scorpius had already snatched it from out of Albus' hands. "It's not just any paper!" he said with mock excitement. "It's withered, unusable paper! Al, where did you get this?"
Morrison chuckled as Albus grabbed the paper back. "This unusable paper has more uses than you think" he said. He tapped the paper with his wand and said what his brother had told him to say. Within seconds, the map of Hogwarts was at their disposal.
Both Scorpius and Morrison gave loud yelps of excitement. Albus turned frantically to make sure that no one was listening, and found that the loud yelps had not attracted any attention. He turned back to them. "It's got the entire castle on it" he said smugly. "And even better; everyone in it, and where they are."
"The Marauder's Map" Morrison read aloud. "Who were the Marauders?"
"Some kids who went to Hogwarts apparently" Scorpius said, still looking at the map in wonder. "Blimey they must've been smart to make this thing though. It has rooms on here I didn't even think were here! That one there looks like it leads into Hogsmeade!"
"Where did you get this?" Morrison asked him.
"Not important" Albus told him. "But I don't have it for long, and I want to put it to good use."
"Al...are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Scorpius said with a smirk. "We could definitely corner Eckley when he's alone! Give him some payback!"
"Don't be stupid!" Morrison said. "First thing he's going to do is find the kitchens."
"You guys have some serious issues" Albus told them both, rolling up the Map. "This map has everyone on it. So next time Ares goes out for a little late night stroll...I'm going to follow him."
Morrison and Scorpius both exchanged a look of skepticism. "My idea's better" they both said at the same time.
Though he was certainly determined in his endeavor to catch Ares in the act, Albus found that he had next to no opportunities to do so. He would stay up well into the night-sometimes even up until two in the morning-and got nothing from it. The Map was fascinating, showing all the passageways throughout the school, doors that he had always thought were merely solid walls, and even when the staircases moved. But the tiny bubble with Reginald Ares in it stayed put in the Head's office. Sometimes the bubble would pace around, as if he were merely stretching his legs or trying to keep himself awake, but he never once left the room.
"Give it a rest!" Scorpius said to him irritably as they sat in the Common Room more than a week later. Both Scorpius and Morrison were doing homework; the homework that Albus was currently neglecting to do in favor of eyeing the map.
"I don't see why it bothers you" he said coolly, not even looking up from the floor.
"It bothers me because you're going to end up falling asleep, and I'll be stuck doing your work for you! If you spent half as much time looking up the Thestral Protection Convention of 1512, you wouldn't have gotten a "P" on your last paper!"
Morrison looked at both of them before nonchalantly returning to his work, keen to avoid joining in on the argument. Albus wanted to retaliate but knew that it was no good. Scorpius was right; he was spending too much time on things that shouldn't concern him.
Nevertheless, both of his friends went up to bed at midnight, leaving Albus to watch the Map carefully. The Map was so large that he had to be careful not to lose sight of Ares' office. If he did leave and Albus lost track of him, it would all be a waste. But once more, it seemed as though there was no point to it anyway. Ares was quite still in his office. Albus let a sigh of annoyance escape him as he began scanning the rest of the map. His eyes were just inexplicably wandering towards the Gryffindor common room when fast movement caught his eye. Ares was no longer in his office.
He felt excitement rush through him. He ran upstairs and grabbed the Invisibility Cloak from his trunk, still with one eye on the map. Ares was certainly in a hurry, but the Map made things fair. According to the Map, there was a passageway between two walls that would lead him straight to a fourth floor hallway; he would be able to cut Ares off and follow him.
He ran through the halls and up the stairs, still watching the Map intently and not bothering to keep the noise to a minimum. He found the wall that was supposed to be a passageway at once. He looked at the Map uncertainly. It looked very much like a wall. As if the map sensed his confusion, the tiny bubble with his name in it bumped into the wall. Albus pushed his hands against the wall, and to his very pleasant surprise, watched as it slid open.
"Thank you Marauders" he whispered to himself as he entered the passageway. There were stone steps, almost completely hidden in darkness. The wall closed behind him as he began climbing the steps. A second later, he had pushed another wall open and was now in the middle of a fourth floor corridor. A trip that would have taken ten minutes had been reduced to two.
"Mischief managed" he said confidently, tapping the Map with his wand.
He waited a few more seconds and finally saw Ares turn a corner. He walked right past Albus, which was lucky, because this particular corridor was so thin that he had to press himself up against the wall to avoid being bumped into. He began following the Headmaster, but didn't get very far. As soon as Ares had reached the end of the corridor he spun around and, staring directly at Albus, said "Why are you following me?"
Albus froze on the spot, right in the middle of the corridor. The Invisibility Cloak was still on him. Had he made too much noise? Could Ares see through invisibility cloaks? He opened his mouth to frantically give an excuse, but before he could speak another voice had echoed through the hall.
"I'm not following you."
Albus spun around and saw Neville at the other end of the corridor. Ares had been speaking to him.
"I am not a fool" Ares said. "I know when someone is tailing me. You follow me quite frequently."
"As a professor at this school, I feel obliged to make sure that my students are safe. I am patrolling the halls" Neville responded coolly. Albus noticed that his normally wide grin had ben replaced with a very strict stare.
"You needn't patrol tonight" Ares responded with equal confidence. "I have seen to it that no student is out of bed. You may return to your office."
Had it not been for the fact that Albus was very close to losing his house an astronomically large amount of points, he would have laughed. Ares and Neville were now at opposite sides of the corridor, completely unaware that Albus was literally in the middle of their conversation. Neville took a step forward...causing Albus to take a step back.
"I don't know what you're up to" he said. "But I know that you're leaving the castle again. And I know that whatever it is you're up to, it's not for the benefit of these students! So you can stop that charade right now!"
Ares lips curled into an unpleasant smile. "It is my castle, and I am at perfect liberty to leave it and return to it as I wish. I strongly suggest you get to bed. Don't you have a lesson you need to plan for tomorrow? Plants to tend to?"
Neville turned a very bright red. "I've planned all of my lessons for the remainder of the month, thank you. I'm twice the teacher you ever were, I don't need to rush."
Ares didn't seem to be bothered by the insult at all. He merely gave a bark of laughter. "Return to your office Longbottom" he said. His normally bored voice now had a very taunting ring to it. "I'm sure your precious Mumbling Pimpletons need to be watered."
"Mimbulus Mimbletonia" Neville corrected him icily. "And if you had attended school when you were younger you would know I don't need to. Those particular plants can suck the moisture from the air, giving it plenty of water. What it really needs is a large amount of sunlight-"
"Absolutely fascinating" Ares cut him off. "You can tell that to the reduced paycheck I'll be giving you for this semester. You have kept me here much too long" he added, and he turned to leave.
"I know you belong back in Azkaban!" Neville said loudly, and at this, Ares turned around once more to face him. "And I'll be the one to put you back there!"
Ares took a step forward, making Albus return to Neville's side of the corridor. "Is that a challenge?" Ares said menacingly.
Neville did not back off, but rather straightened up a little, as if preparing to exert himself. Albus got ready to duck. The silence in the corridor carried on what for what felt like several long minutes.
Ares seemed to think that he had lost his temper after a while however, as he took a step back. "You are the only teacher at this school that cares about what I do on my time. Why is that?"
"It's the students time that you're wasting. This school's time! And you're wrong! I'm not the only teacher tailing you."
Ares raised his eyebrows at this piece of information. "Oh really?" he said. "Who else is playing detective?"
Neville narrowed his eyes, but smiled at knowing something that Ares didn't. "The Potions professor that you were so willing to hire is just as suspicious of you as I am" he said. "He follows you sometimes, and he must be good too, because he has yet to be caught. Not so smart now, are you?"
Ares' expression was blank; completely unreadable. He turned once more and this time walked out of sight. Albus heard him say "If you follow me, I will remove you from your post."
"Is that a threat!" Neville called out.
"A promise" Ares called back.
Neville stood still on the spot for an entire minute before turning around and leaving the other way. There was no point infollowing Ares now; he would be on the look out. Instead, Albus stood in the center of the corridor, completely invisible, and very confused indeed.