Chapter 12 : Advice From A Mad Man
Both Albus and Scorpius made no mention of Rookwood's visit the next morning. For one thing, they were not entirely sure that his parents knew about it, and for another, Lucius Malfoy could be very intimidating.
Sitting themselves down for a good breakfast before they were to leave, they were met face to face with him. He did not have his usual newspaper in hand, but was merely staring at them, as though daring them to say something out loud.
"You boys all ready for your new term?" Mrs. Malfoy asked them, putting a large plate of pancakes down at the kitchen table.
Albus jumped in surprise. "What? Oh right...yeah I've got everything." He helped himself to pancakes, all the while not taking his eyes off of the old man sitting across from him.
"Scorpius you look tired" Mrs. Malfoy continued, pouring him a glass of orange juice. "You weren't up all night, were you?"
"Nope" he said, cheeks pale. "Wasn't up. Didn't see anything."
Mrs. Malfoy eyed them both suspiciously before giving a shrug. "You boys are acting weird today..."
The morning went by much smoother than it would have went had Albus been at his own home. As they had packed all of their things the previous night, there was no hurry to be anywhere especially fast. He spent most of the morning lounging around the Manor and thinking to himself. Finally, at quarter to nine, Mrs. Malfoy called for them to go out to the car.
Mr. Malfoy had left early that morning-to where, Albus did not know. Thus, it was only he, Scorpius, and Mrs. Malfoy in the car on the way to King's Cross. It was an hour and a half drive to the station, and it went by slower than Albus thought that it would. As much as he had enjoyed his break, he was eager to get back to Hogwarts.
They wheeled Scorpius' trunk out of the car with thirty minutes to spare and entered the busy station. Leaning casually up against the barrier, Albus and Scorpius slid through it simultaneously and were met with the familiar sight of the Hogwarts Express. Not a moment after he saw it did he hear his own name.
"Al!"
Albus turned and saw Morrison running towards them. He gave him and enormous clap on the back and did the same with Scorpius. "How was your break?" he grinned.
"Good" they both said in unison. "Yours?" Scorpius asked.
"Lame. Didn't do anything. Stayed with stupid family. Sister's getting married."
Albus gave him a shocked look. Morrison rarely mentioned his sister. "Get out! When?"
They continued the conversation as they began walking around the platform. "This summer. July I think. Her boyfriend's not a bad guy, he's just an idiot. Stupid bloke proposed to her and he doesn't even have his own place. He's moving in with us."
"Ouch" Scorpius cringed. "That's got to be awkward. At least you're never there."
"Hey, did you see my family?" Albus asked Morrison as they passed by a few familiar faces, including Eckley and Donovan Hornsbrook, both of whom pointed as they passed.
"Nah, but I only got here five minutes before you did" Morrison replied, ignoring them.
They waited a few more minutes, waving to people as they boarded the train. At around quarter to eleven they finally showed up. Albus watched as his Uncle Ron brought his trunk towards them.
"We'll catch up with you on the train" Scorpius said, and they both left.
"All right Al? Thought we weren't going to show, didn't you?" his uncle said when they were in speaking distance.
"I never lost faith" Albus grinned at him. "What took you guys so long?"
"We were about half way here when I realized I had forgotten your trunk" he said with an apologetic grin. "But I think we made good time".
"Where's my dad?" Albus asked as a whistle sounded around them. He had five minutes to get on the train with his things.
"Work. He's been really busy Al" Uncle Ron replied with a frown. "But that reminds me, he did want me to ask you how your stay went. All in one piece, I see."
"Barely...they almost fed me to the dragon" Albus smirked back.
"Har har" his uncle gave him a sarcastic look. "It's nothing to joke about, I was really worried..."
"Oh come off it" Albus said, grabbing his trunk. "It wasn't half as bad as either of you guys said it would be. I actually had fun. But I got to go, we're boarding."
He wheeled his trunk around and began walking towards the train. "Bye!" he called back to his uncle.
Uncle Ron gave him a lazy wave and yelled "Have a good term" before walking back to the barrier to King's Cross.
Albus boarded the train with seconds to go, a muscular seventh year bringing his trunk up for him. He looked around and saw that the hall was quite empty. He pushed his trunk through the train and peered into windows, finally finding his friends in a compartment near the back.
"Scoot over" he said when he entered. Mirra and Rose had joined them.
"We were just talking about our Christmas breaks. Me and Al took on a fully grown Blast Ended Skrewt, didn't we Al?" Scorpius said with a grin.
"Oh yeah" Albus nodded as he settled himself between Morrison and Scorpius. "Almost ate your wand too. Had to fight it off with our bare hands, remember?"
Mirra and Morrison laughed, but Rose merely made a soft "hmph" from behind the book she was reading. "You two are clearly lying" she said. "Blast Ended Skrewts have been outlawed in Britain since the late 1990's. The person who created them even almost got sent to Azkaban. I heard he got out of it through his ties to the Ministry. That's why his name was never revealed."
Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Well that's us caught isn't it Al? And here I though no one would see through our lie..."
Everyone except Rose laughed once more. Scorpius, who was apparently in a very chatty mood this train ride, now turned to Mirra. "What about you, Mirra? Fight off any Skrewts?"
Mirra chuckled. "No, no Skrewts for me. I just relaxed with my grandparents. We went out to dinner once or twice. Nothing special. Just a nice, quiet holiday."
She didn't sound in the least bit disappointed. Morrison took this opportunity to interrupt with his holiday story as well, most of which Albus had already heard.
"Did you see my brother by any chance?" he asked Scorpius quietly, just as Mirra was asking Morrison if they would be allowed at his sister's wedding.
"No, but we got on the train pretty quickly, I wouldn't have seen him. Why? Did you need to talk to him?"
"Kind of. He borrowed something from me, that's all."
He didn't want to go into specifics in front of Mirra and Rose-as far as he knew, they had no knowledge of his Invisibility Cloak. Scorpius merely nodded his head to show that he had caught on.
Though he had no reason to use it, Albus missed his Cloak badly. He figured that it was one of those things that you didn't really appreciate having until you went a while without using it. Now that James had hopefully gotten his fix of being invisible, Albus hoped he would get it back when they reached Hogwarts.
"So did you do anything over break?" Mirra asked him, forcing him to snap out of his thoughts. "Other than fighting ferocious creatures, of course."
Albus thought deeply. "Hmm...nope, nothing comes to mind. Unless you count me being right about everything!" he added with a grin.
"Right about what?" Morrison asked him.
"Ares" he said simply. This time Rose put down her book to let them all see that she was rolling her eyes.
"Now really. Are you still on about that? Scorpius told me about you thinking he had something to do with that wandmaker being murdered by the way. And guess what? They caught the guy not too long ago."
"Ha! Well we've got concrete proof against that, don't we Scorpius?" Albus exclaimed triumphantly.
Scorpius nodded his head reluctantly. "He's right. Something happened yesterday-"
"I don't want to hear it!" Rose snapped, snatching her book back up. "Honestly, everything's a conspiracy with you guys."
"You'll tell me later, right?" Mirra whispered once Rose starting arguing with Scorpius over something trivial.
"Of course" he whispered back with a smile. She returned it and Albus grinned to himself. He had almost forgotten their conversation before the holiday break. He could tell that not having to worry about things being awkward with her anymore was going to make the next part of term much easier.
The rest of the train ride went by uneventfully, unless one counted Rose accusing Scorpius of stealing her chocolate frog cards an event, and by the time that they had hopped in the carriages taking them back to the castle, Albus was more than ready for bed. One fantastic feast and a few hours later, he was pulling his bed hangings back and wishing his friends goodnight. As he lay in bed staring up at the ceiling, warmed by a magnificent fire and letting the emerald colored walls hypnotize him into sleep, he thought about how good it felt to be back at Hogwarts.
Thoughts of how wonderful Hogwarts was slowly disappeared over the span of the next week. As much as he missed the castle, he and his fellow classmates found themselves in the same predicament that they had been in after their winter break the previous year; homework was back.
Most teachers wasted no time in assigning grueling essays and classwork to match. Truth be told, Albus was keeping up with classes much better than he had the previous year, what with Scorpius holding his hand through most of the work, but Albus still didn't have half as much free time as he used. So little, in fact, that he didn't get his Invisibility Cloak back until the Thursday after they had returned to the castle.
"What took you so long?" Albus asked his brother as they met in a dark corridor well past midnight.
His brother pulled the Cloak out from his bag and grinned. "I wanted to explore a bit. The Map is good, but this thing is ingenious. I planted dungbombs all over the restricted section of the library right in front of Madam Pince! Granted, I think she's blind anyway, but this thing is still amazing!"
"Yeah it is" Albus said as he grabbed the Cloak from his brother. "And that's why I need it. I nearly got caught by Peeves on the way here. Later, James."
And he pulled the Cloak over his head and returned to his dormitory.
With both homework and classwork doubling in size, Albus felt like he was becoming more and more exhausted every day. He frequently skipped meals to finish last minute assignments and was up well past midnight at least three times a week. But even this was bearable in comparison to the workout that he was now getting almost every other day.
Atticus had booked the Quidditch field for practice so much that Albus doubted very much if the other teams would ever get a chance to use it. Within the second week back from school, Albus had blisters on his fingers from clinging to his broom in the chilly wind. Even without the snow, January was just as cold as December had been.
"Can we take a break?" he yelled to Atticus over the hollering of the wind.
Atticus looked up at him from thirty feet below. "Something broke?" he yelled.
"No, a break" he yelled back.
And five minutes later they were in the locker room, rubbing their arms underneath their robes, some, like Albus, nursing their blisters. Osmund Hall, their seventh year Beater, had even conjured up a small fire and placed it in a jar to warm his hands.
"Well, like I've said before, we'll be playing Hufflepuff in this weather" Atticus said as he paced back and forth in front of them, trying to hide that his hands were buried deep within his robes as well. "Our best bet is to hurry and adapt to it. As far as I know, Hufflepuff hasn't gotten a practice in since November. We can catch them off guard."
In between juggling Quidditch practices with his homework, Albus rarely got to speak to his cousin or Mirra. Indeed, he had almost forgotten that he was supposed to tell her what had happened over Christmas break, about his suspicions of Ares being correct. It wasn't until she reminded him during Potions that he got to explain it.
"So what was it you were telling me about?" she asked him as they dropped their own fingernail clippings into their potion. Darvy, rejuvenated from Christmas break and just as strange as ever, was now back to his thought-provoking lessons. Today's involved partners of two making a potion that was to have no less than four things from their body as ingredients.
As spit did nothing, the students were forced to get creative. Thankfully for Albus, he had read enough of his potions book to know that many ingredients found in things like skinned shrivelfig were equally as abundant in things like your own hair and nail clippings. Mirra had predictably partnered with Albus, as he was the best in the class, leaving Scorpius and Morrison and Rose and Eckley to be paired as well. Thankfully, they were in the back this lesson, so no one could here them.
"Telling you what?" he asked her.
"On the train" she said. She leaned closer. "About the Headmaster" she whispered.
"Oh right!" he said. "Remember when I found that wand in the middle of the Forest? And remember I told you about the guy who was in Ares' office trying to find it? He came over Scorpius' house during break."
She looked more than intrigued. "Well did you give him his wand back?" she asked, her voice heavy with sarcasm.
Albus grinned. "No, there wasn't really any time for that. He was in and out. But me and Scorpius heard him talking to his grandad."His voice dropped to a whisper, and Mirra had to lean close to him to hear. "Apparently he's been meeting with Ares."
"In the Forest?" she asked him, her voice just as low as his own.
"I guess that has to be where they meet" he answered her with a shrug. "Still no clue what they're doing though. But here's what got me thinking it's no good. The guy mentioned a wand."
"And a wandmaker was killed" she finished for him. She suddenly looked very nervous. "You think Ares did it? But didn't they catch the guy?"
"They say they did, but my dad always told me to read every other line in The Prophet. They really didn't have a lot of evidence against the guy, just that he had no alibi and that he was in Azkaban before. It definitely wasn't Ares though" he added when he saw the shocked look on her face.
"How do you know?" she asked.
"Because my uncle said that they ruled him out a while ago. He was here at the castle all summer, and that's when it happened. My guess is that it was someone in the Ministry."
She gave him a very uneasy look, and he felt his stomach flop. "Al," she started., "this is really serious. This isn't really a speculation game anymore. You should go to your dad."
He frowned at her. "I wanted to, but he's overworked. You should see him. He looks like he hasn't slept in weeks. And I know he's got more on his mind than this. I don't want him worrying about me too."
"Yeah, but this is probably what's on his mind! He would want to know."
"My uncle told me to stay out of it" Albus told her, which was completely true. "I'm not supposed to know any of this, and I'm sure my dad's figured this all out by now anyway. He's an Auror, isn't he?"
"Yeah..." she said. "I guess. But If Ares does have something to do with this all...I mean, you said it yourself. The guy mentioned that he had a wand. A wandmaker was killed. Did he say if it was a special kind of wand?"
Albus thought deeply. He knew that the wand had had a name. "I don't remember what it was called" he said in all honesty. "But it did have a name. But that doesn't mean we're like...in danger or anything" he said. He was starting to regret having this conversation at all; he did not think that it would upset her.
She bit her lip and stared hastily down at their potion. "Well...well okay. I guess nothing bad has happened so far."
"Right" he said, grinning. "We're still all in once piece, aren't we?"
She opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off. The bell had rang, and she closed her mouth abruptly as it did.
"Put a portion of your potion into your flask, and mark your names on them" Darvy called out lazily through the noise that had erupted from the students packing their things. "Also place the list of ingredients that you used on my desk as you're leaving, remember, there should be no less than four body parts-or fluids-on your list."
The class made disgusted noises, but waved good-bye to their professor as they were leaving. "See you later, Al" Mirra said, before hurrying ahead of the crowd to walk with Rose and Eckley.
"Toenails and hair!" Morrison said, a grotesque look on his face as they walked back to their common room. "He's got us making potions out of toenails and hair!"
"I heard Dante Haug used a bit of dead skin" Scorpius said. "Disgusting. What did you and Mirra put in Al? Al?"
But he wasn't listening, he was simply letting his feet follow the other members of his house. She had seemed really worried.
"What's eating you?" Morrison asked him, tapping him on the shoulder to snap him out of his thoughts.
"Huh?" he responded.
"You look like an Inferius" Scorpius said. "You okay?"
Albus didn't tell them what he had discussed with Mirra until they were back in their dormitory, safe from eavesdropping ears. The other two members of the boys dormitory, Bartleby and Dante, were not there, giving Albus room to speak freely. He briefly explained what had happened. Morrison answered back first.
"Oh come on, you've got to be kidding me? She's worried that we're in danger? Seriously? Didn't this girl try and kill us all last year?"
"That's not fair" Albus said. "That was all her parents. But yeah, she seemed really worried. I mean... now that I think on it, she has good reason to be. A murder, a stolen wand. This is bigger than I thought."
They traded their all too familiar knowing glance at each other before Morrison spoke once more. "But it's January. That happened last summer. So what if Ares is meeting his pals in the Forest? Nothing bad's went down. And I doubt they meet everyday. Hagrid would have noticed."
"I know" Albus said. "I don't think they meet everyday either. It probably doesn't even happen often. It's just...why? And with who? The guy, Rookwood, he made it sound like there was a bunch of them."
"Probably bluffing for dramatic effect" Morrison answered; he seemed intent on shooting down everything that Albus threw at him.
"You weren't there" Albus said. "You didn't hear him. He was dead serious when he was talking about people meeting. He even tried getting Scorpius' grandad to tag along!"
"He's right" Scorpius said, speaking up for the first time. He had been lazily levitating things with his wand the whole conversation. "He did. And it was no bluff."
Morrison frowned. "Well, if it really bothers you-and Mirra-you could always write to your dad" he suggested with a shrug.
Albus returned the frown and sat on his bed. He had already decided on that matter. "I can't do that" he said. "I'm not going to put anymore pressure on him. He's got a lot going on without having to worry about me."
"Well you could tell your Uncle Ron" Scorpius said. "He's an Auror too."
"No, it would just get back to my dad, you know that." He placed his hands behind his head and layed down fully. "I'll figure this all out later. Let's just keep it between us for now."
As Albus could have expected, it took less than a week for this plan to fail completely. He had no contact with Mirra at all over the weekend, and thus had no chance to tell her to keep things a secret. He had hoped that her belief in the severity of the situation would get her to keep things to herself, but he was quite mistaken.
The only class that they shared with Gryffindors on Monday was their last period, Defence Against the Dark Arts. Professor Handit was ending the class with a speech that many of Albus' teachers (with the exception of Professor Darvy) seemed intent on giving.; the one about exams.
"As we are now more than half way through term, we have to increase our workload" he told him all. "Second year exams are much more difficult than first year exams. You will be expected to not only have knowledge of what you've learned this year, but a bit of last year too, which is why it is imperative that we review more than ever."
"Sir, we did fine last year!" said a boy from Gryffindor with straw colored hair.
"Yeah, I got like ninety five percent on my exam in this class" Donovan Hornsbrook added smugly.
"Well that's very good for you, Mr. Hornsbrook, but not everyone in this class was so lucky as to do perfectly on the writing portions of their exams. Some barely scrapped by."
Albus saw Morrison grin sheepishly and sink a bit in his chair.
"These tests will not be taken as lightly this year. There's no charity now that you are second year students" Professor Handit continued. "I expect you all to study every night, and we will be having quite a few quizzes coming up..."
The bell rang, and Albus was one of the first to leave. He was not that worried about his exams. Not only were they months away, but he had done fine last year, and he had been quite worried then. He walked alongside Scorpius and Morrison, who were discussing the ridiculous amount of homework that Professor Bellinger had assigned them, but was stopped when he heard three words that always made the hair on his neck jump when said it succession.
"Albus Severus Potter!"
He spun around and looked at the crowd of students wildly, expecting to see his mother. He was sure that was her voice. And who else knew his middle name? But the sight of Rose approaching him told him all that he needed to know. She was moving her way through the crowd of students, a nervous looking Mirra behind her. She was biting her fingernails. Albus never noticed how much she did that.
"Albus Potter I cannot believe you!" Rose said when she reached him.
She was so loud that two or three students who were passing looked back. "Good thing she's not making a scene" Albus heard Morrison mutter to Scorpius, who chuckled.
"We could be in danger, and you're not going to tell anyone!" Rose continued, just as loud.
"Would you keep it down?" he said through gritted teeth, and he dragged her off to the end of the corridor. Their friends followed them. "I thought you didn't believe any of that huh? Ares is just having tea and crumpets with his pals, remember?" he said triumphantly. Mad though he was that she was being loud, he at least had the satisfaction of letting her know she was wrong.
"I don't believe any of it" she said, and Albus was thankful that her voice had returned to normal. "In fact, I'm one hundred percent sure that you're wrong."
"Well then I don't see what the big deal-"
"But if you were right," she cut him off, "then there is a murderer in our school!"
"I never said that!" he said, glancing up at Mirra, who was now tugging on Rose's robes.
"He never said that" she told her friend. "He said he thought it was someone else. And you said you weren't going to tell anyone I told you!"
Rose ignored her. "If what Mirra told me is true, you have evidence that someone who lives in this castle-our Headmaster no less-is responsible for the murder of a very famous wandmaker. And there's an innocent man in Azkaban because of it!"
Albus frowned. He had forgotten all about Arvin Macklehaster. Though he did not know him, he was almost positive that he was innocent, and he had the proof to get him out too. "Look, we don't know anything for sure" he told her. "Back me up guys" he muttered to his friends, but Scorpius was staring up at the ceiling whispering, while Morrison stared at the ground picking at his fingernails.
"We know that whoever you heard talking knows that Ares is up to something. Now I'm not sure what else he said, but if he made any mention of a wand-a wand that could have been stolen from a very famous wandmaker after his murder-then we need to report that. Especially if someone associated with said murder is four floors above us!" Rose said, pointing at the ceiling of the hallway. Her face was a deep scarlet, matching her hair.
Albus wiped sweat from his forehead. Mirra gave him a very apologetic look. He knew that it was not her fault; he had pried. He should have stayed out of it like his uncle suggested, but now that he was on to something, it was only natural that Rose, of all people, was going to make a big deal about it.
"This isn't some mystery for you to solve" Rose continued, taking advantage of his silence. "This is big. I'm going to write to your dad and tell him what you heard-"
"No!" he shouted, and he held out his hands as though to physically stop her. The hallway had long since cleared; it was only the five of them now at the end of it. "You can't. I can't have my dad worrying about this, he's so busy already."
"Well then I'm writing my dad" she said defiantly.
"No, you can't do that either. You know it will get back to my dad. I'll think of something."
"Well then I'm telling Neville" she said.
"No!" he shouted once more. Neville was close friends with his father. That would be just as worse as telling his uncle.
"Someone has to know Albus!" she said, and she placed her hands on her hips and blew her long red hair out of face, looking more like his mother than ever. "Neville's Head of Gryffindor House, he'll know what to do."
"Look I'll...I'll tell Darvy!" Albus spat out.
"Darvy?" Rose said, and Albus thought he heard Morrison ask the same thing.
"Darvy will know what to do" he continued. "He knows all about what's going on with Ares already. He follows him into the Forest!"
She narrowed her eyes at him, deep in thought. He stared back at her for a moment before continuing. "And Neville follows him too, so it's no different. Only Darvy will be more secretive. Look, I'll go to him after dinner and tell him what I know. He'll have plenty of answers, and if he thinks something's up, he'll do something about it."
She continued staring at him for a moment before finally saying "Fine. But you had better do it today."
"I will!" he said. "After dinner..."
What followed was easily one of the worst dinners that Albus had ever had at Hogwarts. The food was still delicious, he was simply too annoyed to eat it.
"Are you really going to go and tell Darvy?" Morrison asked him through a mouth full of hot beef stew.
Albus nodded. "I guess I have to. Otherwise she's going to tell Neville. And I know that'll just get back to my dad."
"But...you can't tell Darvy. He's a mad man! The guy is clinically insane!" Morrison said, after swallowing another spoon full.
"He's not a 'mad man'" Albus said. "He's smart enough to tail Ares isn't he? He caught onto this a while ago. I suppose I probably would've ended up going to him anyway. I really do want answers."
"You shouldn't have told Mirra" Scorpius said. "You knew she would blab to Rose, and you knew Rose would make a big deal about it."
Albus frowned. "I thought she didn't even believe in any of this. And now that she's as good as admitted that I was right, she's mad at me over it! What the heck is that?"
Scorpius merely shrugged. "Women" he said.
They finished their dinner (Albus having only managed to help himself to a single slice of buttered bread) before departing for the dungeons. "You guys going with me?" he asked his friends.
"I don't see why not" Morrison answered, and Scorpius nodded his head in approval.
They made a detour in the dungeons and worked their way to the potions classroom. "Think Darvy will even be back from dinner?" Morrison asked as they came to the door.
"I didn't even see him there" Albus said. He gave the door a loud knock. There was no answer. He frowned and knocked again. "But I guess he's not here either" he said.
"Something tells me Rose isn't going to be satisfied with that answer" Morrison said.
Albus heaved a heavy sigh. "You're right" he said. "He's probably back in his office and can't hear us." He opened the door and entered the dark classroom.
"Isn't this breaking and entering?" Scorpius asked, though he seemed unconcerned.
"I don't recall breaking anything" Albus replied as he walked through the classroom. It looked just as plain as it had the last time that he had entered it without permission; the time that he had found the wand in the Forest. With no cauldrons set up, it looked horribly boring. He walked to the door behind the professor's desk and knocked on it. Within seconds, it was answered.
Professor Darvy had opened the door so abruptly that Albus was knocked off of his feet. Darvy reached out and grabbed him before he hit the ground. "Are you okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine" Albus said. He saw Darvy close his office door behind him.
"What are you boys doing here?" he asked them all. "You're not in trouble, are you?"
They shook their heads.
"Certainly you don't need tutoring- well one of you might" he said, and Albus saw Morrison give another sheepish grin. "Did you need to see me about something?"
"Erm...yeah we did" Albus said, backing up to the tables where they normally worked, giving Darvy room to leave from behind his desk. He didn't, and instead he took a seat at it, looking very teacher-like as he did so. "We didn't bother you did we?" Albus asked him, suddenly feeling guilty.
"No, no, not at all, not at all" the professor said. His blonde hair was just as ruffled and disorderly as usual, and the mad glint in his blue eyes just as noticeable. Despite his psychotic appearance however, he look concerned. "Is everything all right?" he asked.
Albus sat down on the table behind him; Morrison and Scorpius remained standing, but moved closer. "I...erm... I actually wanted to ask you something. Well tell you something too" he said. He had decided that he was going to start small and work his way up. "I was- we were- a bit worried about the Headmaster" he finished.
Professor Darvy gave all three of them a look of surprise. "Headmaster Ares? Why are you worried about him?"
"Well we're not...we're not worried about him, we're just worried about like-" he broke off. He knew he would have to word it better.
"The Headmaster sneaks into the Forest a lot and we think he's up to no good" Morrison said.
"Thanks" Albus said, half sarcastically. "But yeah, he's right."
Albus watched as the potions professor surveyed them with interest. "What do you think he's up to?" he asked them after a moment.
Albus shrugged, he had not been expecting to be asked a question in return. "We don't know...we think he's meeting with people."
Darvy continued to survey them. After a moment, he closed his eyes, apparently in deep thought. Albus had the strange feeling that he had fallen asleep. But a few seconds later, his eyes were open. "Well I must say, I'm very impressed. You three kids figure this out all on your own?" he asked.
Albus nodded, trying not to show that he had enjoyed the compliment. Morrison and Scorpius nodded too.
"Well you're certainly on to something. The Headmaster is meeting people in the Forbidden Forest, though as to why, I cannot be exactly sure. Hence why I've been following him."
"You've been following him?" Albus asked, trying to sound convincing. "Did you get anything from it?"
"Only that he's meeting with a group of some shady people. But they never leave the Forest. I can only assume that the Headmaster has personal business to attend to, and being as he has to stay within the castle, is forced to conduct it here. Spy though I have, I have not gathered much; too many enchantments. But you are in no danger, I assure you."
Albus grinned-that was exactly what he needed to be able to tell Rose. Now that he had a satisfactory answer for her, he could press his Potions professor for more details. The curiosity that he had acquired over the past few months was now back. "Do you think that they're dark wizards?" he asked.
Scorpius looked over at him. Albus knew what he was thinking. They had their answer; they were in no danger. They should take it and leave. But Albus wasn't going to waste this opportunity, not when Darvy was so willing to give him answers.
"Dark wizards?" Darvy asked him with interest. "Well I don't think that anyone can be sure of that. I mean, how would you know? They certainly have not performed any dark magic, I would have seen it. I don't think you can really judge a wizard on that, regardless of how much you think you know about them. I mean, you could trust someone, befriend them, and never know that they are anything of the sort, even if they are. Their activities however, seem to be far from illicit. And like I said, you are in no danger."
Albus stared down at the ground for a few seconds. He had more questions to ask, but wasn't sure how. He figured that being blunt was already working, he might as well continue doing so. "My dad said that the Headmaster was in Azkaban? Do you think...do you think that maybe he's meeting in secret so that he doesn't go back? Maybe if they're not dark wizards, they're still up to no good?"
He stopped there to catch his breath. Professor Darvy continued to survey him with interest. "Yes" he said after a moment. "The Headmaster has been in Azkaban, and his secrecy may be due to not wanting to go back." He looked extremely nervous, as though he were trying to choose his next words carefully.
Albus looked over at Morrison and Scorpius, both of whom had slowly inched themselves closer.
"I see no point in lying to you, Albus" Darvy said. "You are very bright. You catch on very quickly. But I believe that you may have the wrong gist of things. I have not followed the Headmaster in every time he has went to the Forest, but during the times I have, I have noticed a very peculiar crowd. Some of them-at least three that I have seen-have been suspected of using dark magic in the past."
"So if Ares is meeting with them-" but Darvy held up a hand to stop him.
"Let me finish" he said. "Headmaster Ares used to be an Auror, if you did not know. He does not miss Azkaban. But sometimes, I get the strange feeling that he misses being an Auror. It would not surprise me in the least if he was still after dark wizards."
Albus frowned. "I don't understand" he said.
"What I'm trying to say" Darvy began, and he leaned forward a bit as he continued. "Is that the Headmaster may be attending these 'meetings' to do exactly what I am doing; spy."
Albus continued to think about it.
"You are bright, as you have already proven" Darvy said. "You can figure it out..."
But it was Scorpius who spoke up. "You think that the Headmaster is undercover? Meeting with these wizards to get information?"
"Precisely" Professor Darvy said with a grin. "It dawned on me quite some time ago that if he planned on doing anything bad, he would have already done it. The Headmaster-as you said Albus-was in Azkaban. He is in the perfect position to gain these wizard's trusts. Whether they are 'dark ' or not I am unsure, but by entering the castle grounds at night, they have already proven that they hold the law in little regard."
"Do you think that the Ministry put him up to it?" Albus asked quickly.
Professor Darvy merely shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. Either way, his intentions seem good. Of course, I could be completely wrong, and he's plotting to kill us all. "
He gave a short, loud cackle that sounded quite maniacal. Albus even saw Morrison move a few inches back.
Darvy continued. "But I think that I am right. It makes more sense; he would not risk another stint in Azkaban."
"Why was he in there in the first place?" Albus asked.
Darvy shrugged once more. "I cannot say. But boys I must make something quite clear to you. If I am right in assuming that the Headmaster has good intentions-and I believe that I am-it is imperative that you tell no one about this, especially not your father or anyone at the Ministry."
Albus gave him a shocked look. "Why not?"
"The Ministry does not seem to be focused on this, what with so much more going on. The Headmaster, if he is playing vigilante, has managed to gain these people's trust. They do not meet often, but when they do they seem comfortable, I have seen them. Getting the Ministry involved would blow his cover. Just take my advice on this one."
Albus nodded his head. He understood. "Okay" he said. "We won't tell."
"Good" Professor Darvy said. "But thank you for coming to me with this; I did not expect it, but I am glad all the same."
"Professor, do you think that this has anything to do with that wandmaker being murdered last summer?" Albus asked him. He had not forgotten that Rookwood, the man who had visited the Malfoy Manor, had mentioned a certain type of wand.
At this, Professor Darvy gave them a very stern glance. Once more he seemed deep in thought. "I can certainly see why you would make the connection, but no I don't. To be quite honest, I don't believe that the Ministry has the culprit. Whoever did murder that poor wandmaker got away, and whoever they are, if they were smart enough to avoid the Ministry, they are certainly smart enough to avoid secret meetings at a very well known school. No, I think that the Ministry simply lost track of a murderer. Unless, of course, you boys know something to the contrary?"
"Well, we heard someone mention-" Scorpius started, but Albus cut him off.
"Nope, we were just curious" he said. Professor Darvy continued staring at them intently, as though pressing them for information wordlessly. But Albus stayed silent. Darvy looked just as tired as his father. He seemed content with what he knew about Ares, and Albus was not going to take that away and give him stress, not when they were almost certain that it was unrelated. Whatever wand that Ares possessed, it had nothing to do with the famous wandmaker.
"I do have something else to ask you though, Professor" Albus said.
"Ask away" Darvy replied.
"You said that the Headmaster has no intention of going back to Azkaban...but he is meeting with dark wizards. Or at least, wizards who might being doing dark magic. How do you know he's not doing it too? How do you know he's not just doing it secretly to avoid Azkaban?"
He knew that he had already asked a similar question, but he had not received a straight answer, and his dislike for Ares made hearing one a top priority.
Professor Darvy pondered it for a second. "I do not know Headmaster Ares well" he said. "But I know that he hates dark magic."
"But just because he hates it doesn't mean anything" Albus said.
At this, Professor Darvy leaned in closer to him, so much that Morrison moved back to where he was to hear. "Doesn't it Albus?" he asked, his voice barely more than a whisper. The mad glint in his eye now more prominent than ever. "It is what we hate that shows what we truly are."
Albus barely had a moment to think about it before the Potions professor rose from behind his desk. "But you must really be getting back now" he said, running his hand through his disheveled blonde hair.
"Right, it's late" Albus said. "Thanks for...telling us all of this."
"You're not as worried, are you?" the professor asked.
All three of them shook their heads.
"Good" Darvy said, clapping his hands together. "Now you three be off. Just remember-tell no one what we spoke of, not even your father."
"I won't" Albus said. "None of us will."
They left the Potions classroom in silence, and didn't begin talking again until they were halfway back to their dormitory.
"Well that was interesting" Scorpius said. "He is a bit crazy. But I'm glad we have some solid answers to give Rose. We're in no danger."
"Yeah, and I guess Ares having no connection to the wandmaker is kind of a bummer. But it makes sense. Your uncle said it wasn't him" Morrison said to Albus.
"Yeah you're right. Flew off the handle there. I guess murder is kind of big. Whatever Ares is up to is smaller. Think he's really out to catch some dark wizards?" he asked both of them.
They both shrugged. "Probably. Makes more sense than if he's trying to help them. The way Rookwood made it sound, it didn't seem that way though" Scorpius said. "But I guess Ares is just good at acting. Darvy must be pretty smart to spy on them without getting caught though, even if he is a tad insane."
"Now what makes you guys say that?" Albus asked as they neared the stone wall that led to their dormitory. "I know he looks it, but he doesn't seem crazy or anything."
Morrison rolled his eyes. "Please, did you hear what he said? About hating things making you who you are? What kind of crap is that?"
"I kind of agree with it" Albus said. He had thought about it as they were walking back. He hated Eckley, a Gryffindor. And he was a Slytherin, wasn't he? "I think Darvy just has a weird way of looking at things, but when it comes down to it, he sees the same thing."
"Are you really not going to tell your dad any of this?" Scorpius asked just as they reached the wall.
"Not going to say a word" Albus said. He had always respected Darvy-especially since he found out that he was tailing Ares. The knowledge that he was willing to share his information with Albus upon request only increased his respect for him. He was being treated as an adult, someone who had valuable thoughts that could be shared. "I'm going to keep quiet. We owe it to him" he said.
Morrison shrugged. "It's up to you." He stared at the wall. "Parselmouth" he said, and the door slid open, revealing their comfortable common room.
Albus did not speak again until they reached their actual dormitory. "But I still want to know what's up with Ares' wand" he said with a grin.
Scorpius buried his head in his hands and layed on his bed. Morrison just gave a sigh.
"Of course" he said.