Four
A New Enemy
"I can't believe that he gave you detention!" Scorpius said. "It's not logical!" They were sitting in the Great Hall eating lunch. A.J. was sitting next to Scorpius, writing a response to her mother's letter. She'd gotten it this morning, and was eagerly telling her Mum everything that she had done.
"Well," Albus said spreading his arms. "I don't think Kirke is in any way logical." Scorpius took a bite of his chicken, and glared up at the staff table. Kirke was sitting there, chatting with Professor Lovegood. She was biting her lip, like she really didn't want to be talking to Kirke in any way.
"It's all my fault. I should have just read the book and kept my big mouth shut." A.J. said, brushing some of her hair out of her face. After the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, her hair had turned its natural red again. Albus wondered how much her emotions had to do with it.
"No, it's not. I should have kept my mouth shut too. You obviously had it covered." Albus said.
"No way. Friends help each other out." A.J. exclaimed, setting her quill down on the table and scanning up and down it. She finally settled on eating some salad.
"And you gained us points." Scorpius pointed out. "Because of that we're currently in the lead!" Albus grinned.
"It's only the first day Scorp. And besides, it was A.J. who gained the points. I was the one who lost them. There's a ham sandwich over here if you want it, A.J." Albus said, motioning to a plate filled with ham sandwiches. A.J. shook her head.
"I'm gluten intolerant." A.J. said. "But thanks for asking."
"Interesting." Scorpius said.
"It's from my Mum. I found out maybe two years ago. I can't eat gluten without feeling really sick and getting really grumpy." A.J. said, grinning.
"That is interesting. You can eat it; it just makes you feel sick?" Albus said.
"Pretty much. I won't die or anything." A.J. said. "Uh-Oh." A.J. was looking past Albus's head. Albus turned around and saw Rose trotting over towards them. She'd just entered the Great Hall, and she was grinning widely.
"I've been looking for you to talk to you, Al." Rose said, giggling slightly. She waved to A.J. "Hi Amelia-Jane."
"Hi." A.J. said.
"Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about getting into Ravenclaw!" Rose said. Oh no. Albus thought. Here it comes.
"And what about it?" Albus asked. Rose crossed her arms and sat down.
"You don't have to be touché about not getting into Gryffindor. At least you're not in Slytherin!" Rose said. "Dad would probably disown you if when he found out."
"Well, that's okay," Albus said. "He's only my Uncle." Rose swatted at Albus's arm. Then she caught sight of Scorpius and blushed a little bit.
"Hi, Scorpius." She said. "Sorry, I didn't see you there."
"Uh… it's okay." Scorpius said. A.J. and Albus exchanged glances, but A.J. kept her mouth firmly shut. Albus wanted to say something, but didn't.
"Hi, Rose." Scorpius said after a long awkward silence. He shot Albus a: Help me! Look. Albus shrugged.
"How's Hufflepuff?" Albus finally forced out after another long pause of silence. Rose grinned, and her sense of arrogance returned.
"Oh, it's treating me very well! I love it there. So nice. Everyone's so sweet. You know, the Sorting Hat put me there because I am loyal and hardworking. I always have to work for something, considering I can't use magic outside of school." Rose said.
"And?" A.J. prompted. Then she clapped her hand over her mouth, realizing she'd been rude. Rose narrowed her eyes at A.J.
"There was no other reason. It actually said that I would fit well in all the houses. Ravenclaw for my brains…" Rose's ears turned a little red. Albus watched her ears. They always turned red when she was lying. Had the Sorting Hat even mentioned Ravenclaw to her? "And of course Slytherin because I'm ambitious. Then there's Gryffindor because… I'm spirited."
"You got that right." Albus mumbled under his breath. Rose heard him and blushed.
"Thanks Al. That's so sweet." Rose said. "I have to go my new friends are probably wondering where I am. Take care, I'll talk to you three later!" and with that she got up and hurried off.
"She's always like this." Albus said as A.J. ad Scorpius opened their mouth to ask if she was always like that. Of course, they both already knew the answer to that question.
Twenty minutes later, Albus finished his food, right about the same time that A.J. and Scorpius did. They were all ready to go to their next lesson. A.J. checked her schedule.
"It's free period next." She said.
"Cool." Scorpius said, and they exited the Great Hall. They went outside into the small courtyard before the grounds. There was an unoccupied bench, and the three of them sat down and settled in.
"This is really amazing, Hogwarts." Albus said. "By the way… A.J., where all of those creatures in the book? The Defense Against the Dark Arts book, that is?" A.J. grinned broadly at him.
"Of course not. They were from my Dad's old text books. That's why Kirke got so frustrated. He didn't expect me to have the answers. Then he could dock points." A.J. said. Scorpius said.
"That's genius, A.J." he said.
"Hey, I didn't even try. I'm naturally infuriating." A.J. said. Albus studied her.
"I can believe that." He said. A.J. looked offended, and swatted at both boys, annoyed.
"Well, excuse me!" She said.
"You're excused!" Scorpius chanted. "But if you don't mind me asking, what'd you do?" A.J. buried her face her hands and shook her head.
"Boys. They never cease to amaze me." She said.
"I have that tendency to do that – amaze people, that is." Albus said, continuing along with the act. Scorpius suddenly burst out laughing. A.J. sighed, and rolled her eyes.
"Like I said – boys. One minute, they'll be laughing, the next they'll be serious. So strange." A.J. said, tucking her hair behind her ear.
"You have no right to say that! Girls are so complicated." Scorpius said. "At least, that's what Father tells me!" A.J. crossed her arms.
"You can't exactly trust everything a father says. At least, not mine. He's a jokester." A.J. said.
"Well, so is Uncle Ron. And Uncle George. And… yeah that's it. Those are the only pranksters… Oh and Uncle Lee!" Albus said. Uncle Lee wasn't actually his real uncle. It was just a name that he had given to his Uncle George's old friend Lee Jordan. "I have to watch in my family too!"
"I don't. My family doesn't approve of pranksters." Scorpius said.
"You would not like James." Albus said.
"Huh?" Scorpius asked.
"Take my word for it." Albus said.
"Fair enough." Scorpius said. They looked at A.J., expecting her to say something, but she didn't. She was watching straight ahead. Someone was coming towards them. It was a first year boy with dark hair and pale skin. He was glaring at them. He arrived at the bench.
"Move." He commanded. Albus cleared his throat.
"Excuse me?" he asked. A.J would have brought through the reference of "If you don't me asking, what'd you do?" through, but now didn't seem like the time.
"Move." The boy grunted.
"Who are you?" Scorpius asked, frowning.
"Balthazar Belagmos." The boy snapped. "Now, move."
"Why?" A.J. asked. Albus watched her hands curl into fists. She looked like she wanted to sock this guy in the eye. He had barely even provoked her. Balthazar turned to A.J.
"Ah, the metamorphmagus. I want you to move. I want to sit there." Balthazar said clearly, putting emphasis on every word. Just then, a tall seventh year girl with identical dark hair pretty much materialized next to Balthazar.
"Balth." She scolded. "There are other benches."
"But I want to sit there." Balthazar said.
"Balth, there were here first. You should leave and find a different bench." The girl said.
"But Bathsheba!" Balthazar whined. "I want to sit here. I want to sit here! Now!" Bathsheba, who must've been Balthazar's older sister, looked at Albus, A.J. and Scorpius.
"Can you please move? Balth is a little spoiled." She said, looking at them sympathetically.
"Yeah, sure." Albus said, standing up. He helped A.J. to her feet. She bent over and grabbed her bag off the ground. Balthazar sat down, and grinned happily.
"You should have moved when I first asked you!" Balthazar complained at them. "I won't forget that you didn't." Bathsheba sighed.
"Yes you with, Balth." She said. Albus noted that she used Balthazar's nickname in every single sense that she spoke to him in. It was fascinating. Maybe the sound of his name calmed Balthazar.
"Well, you made two new friends and a new enemy all in the course of forty-eight hours, Al." Scorpius said. "Excellent going."