Chapter 6: Obliviostratus

Albus basked in the victory of his duel with James for at least two weeks, giving his brother annoying little waves every time James passed him in the hallway. James and his gang usually just scowled and trudged away. Albus was still upset that his brother wasn't talking to him, but he supposed that this was better than heckling and making fun of Albus.

Classes continued on at their normal pace, with McGonagall giving two more tests in just a three week period. Only Rose was able to complete the tasks McGonagall had them do, although Albus and Scorpius got close. Charms was fun and enjoyable, with Scorpius instructing Albus and Rose so that they quickly mastered the charms Professor Patil had them perform. Albus continued to be the best in his year at Potions, with Slughorn even commenting that Albus was "one of the brightest first years I've ever met," and inviting him to another dinner at the end of September.

History of Magic was, as always, exceptionally boring, and Defense against the Dark Arts was, as always, exceptionally annoying. Professor Corby continued heckling Slytherin house and taking points away for no particular reason. He seemed to be increasingly vindictive towards Albus after the duel with James, and always seemed to be wracking his brain for possible ways Albus could have gotten back to the Slytherin Common Room that night unnoticed. Herbology was one of the more fun classes, with Neville assigning little to no homework and always having fun or interesting plants to prune or examine.

Rose continued to help Albus master elemental magic. Scorpius began learning elemental magic as well, and was delighted to discover that his element was lightning. The three of them practiced many afternoons and evenings in the Room of Requirement. Through these practice sessions, Albus quickly became better than Rose at elemental magic. He was able to summon ice with his wand almost instantaneously and began attempting to manipulate it by making swishing motions with his wand. He was delighted to find ice shards, snow, and cold air zooming around the room under his control. He borrowed A Beginner's Guide to Cryomancy from the Hogwarts library and read on to find that the true sign you are an ice mage, or cryomancer, is when the symbol for the element of ice, an icy blue snowflake, appears on the palm of your right hand. The next practice session, Albus attempted to summon ice without his wand. He was disappointed to see that nothing happened but noticed the icy blue snowflake appear faintly on the palm of his right hand, something that hadn't happened to Rose or Scorpius yet. Albus was delighted to find that, although he couldn't summon ice without his wand, he could manipulate it using only his hands and his inner magic power.

Rose continued developing aeromancy, but at a slower pace than Albus. She could summon wind with her wand and control it slightly, but not to the extent that Albus could with his element. It frustrated her to no end that Albus was better than her at something, and Albus often joked around about it.

"It's not funny! I am not jealous!" said Rose, whose voice was usually drowned out by the laughter of Albus and Scorpius.

Scorpius had a lot of power in his element, and struggled control it. Many a practice session did arc lightning streak across the room and damage something or fry Albus and Rose.

"Don't be discouraged, Scorpius, I've read A Beginner's Guide to Electromancy and found that lightning is the most difficult element to manipulate. It is extremely volatile and too fast for many to process. The best way to handle it is to keep trying to improve your reaction speed," said Rose one day.

"Yeah, I guess, but, well, I don't think anyone can react that fast," said Scorpius," I mean, watch. Fulmine!" A streak of lightning flashed in half a millisecond and shattered a piece of the opposite wall.

"You'll get it mate, don't worry," said Albus. Scorpius smiled before trying once more but to no avail.

"Ah, well, better luck next time. Let's go, it's getting late, and we need to see Hagrid." said Scorpius.

With the advent of autumn, the trees around Hogwarts became yellow, orange, and gold. The air became cool, clean, and crisp and the fallen leaves crunched beneath your feet as you walked the grounds. Albus, Rose, and Scorpius had continued to visit Hagrid and enjoyed listening to stories of Hogwarts in their parents' years, laughing and carrying on the whole time. This week was the story of when Mad-Eye Moody turned Scorpius' dad into a ferret. Scorpius broke into peals of laughter trying to imagine his prim and proper dad as a ferret.

It after this particular visit, occurring on a Thursday in late October, that Albus noticed something strange. While walking back to the castle, he saw a figure leaning against a tree near the castle with The Daily Prophet in his hands. He had a large, black hood that obscured the entirety of his face. The cover story, as Albus noticed, still was about Anton Gaunt. Scorpius, however, ignored the presence of this man, and commented on the newspaper article instead.

"So, they still haven't caught Gaunt?" asked Scorpius. The hooded man shifted slightly so that you could see his mouth was curved into a slight smile.

"Well, it isn't like I make it easy for them," said the man. Albus froze. What concerned him was that this man had used the word I when referring to Gaunt. As if on cue, the wind blew back the man's hood, so that his entire face was visible. Albus' eyes widened in shock as he noticed the man's face was identical to the picture on the front cover of The Prophet. His dark-brown hair blew around in the wind, as did his cloak, and as his piercing brown-eyed gaze locked on to Albus, Albus felt a throbbing pain in his head. He saw memories of his father discussing the auror department rush through his head. Albus thought it odd that those memories were resurfacing now. He heard Scorpius yell,

"Stupefy!" and saw Gaunt divert his gaze from Albus. The pain and the odd memories promptly stopped as Gaunt smacked the curse away with his bare hand, not even bothering to draw his wand.

"Quite a feisty little one, aren't you? Your father certainly wouldn't have risked his life to protect his friends…," said Gaunt.

"What did you say about my father!" yelled Scorpius indignantly.

"Ah, must we argue? The past is over with, and everyone has moved on, well, at least everyone except the auror department," said Gaunt in a cool, calm voice. It seemed Gaunt was intentionally trying to infuriate them.

"What's that supposed to mean!" shouted Rose.

"Nothing, just a reference to the fact that the auror department refuses to let me live my own life, relegating me to this miserable life of constantly dodging authorities." said Gaunt.

"Maybe you shouldn't have joined with Voldemort if you wanted to live a normal life!" said Albus. At the mention of Voldemort's name, Guant flinched in fear. That's odd, thought Albus, how can he be afraid of his old master? Gaunt shook it off.

"Details, details…anyway, it was lovely to have had this little chat with you, but I must be going—"

"You're not going anywhere!" said Albus, acting a little braver than he felt.

"And what, pray tell, can you do to stop me?" asked Gaunt dubiously. Albus held up his right hand and channeled as much power as he could. He saw the crystalline blue snowflake insignia emerge on his right hand, but it flickered and promptly vanished.

"I'm very surprised you were able to manage that for a first year, but I believe you need a little more practice with your cryomancy. You see, elemental magic should look something like this…," said Gaunt. He promptly raised his right hand and Albus saw the distinct outline of a teal-blue wave emerge. He felt the ground shake violently, and looked behind Gaunt to see the water of the lake rising up and making a beeline straight towards them. The water slammed into Albus with the force of a charging centaur and Albus was blown back a few feet. He looked beside him to see Rose and Scorpius dripping wet but otherwise unharmed. Albus stood up and pointed his wand at Gaunt.

"I'm very impressed you were able to stand up so quickly. Then again, I didn't put much force into that…," taunted Gaunt.

"You're going to be arrested by the aurors, and that's that!" said Albus.

"I'm sorry, but I really don't have time for them right now. Well, I must be going, see you again sometime," said Gaunt. He also added, "Ciao!" before drawing his wand and pointing it at the ground. He muttered, "Obliviostratus!" and a white ball of fog erupted from his wand. As it struck the ground, it exploded and covered the entire area in a thick blanket of fog. Albus, Rose, and Scorpius huddled together to keep from getting lost. Rose tried using aeromancy to dissipate the fog, but to no avail. They wandered through the fog for what seemed like ages before they heard someone yell, "Finite incantantem!" The fog vanished and they were standing there, with no one around them except for a concerned-looking Neville.

"Are you three all right?" he asked. The three of them nodded, though shivering as they were still dripping wet. Neville muttered an incantation and Albus, Rose, and Scorpius were now completely dry.

"Thanks, Neville," said Rose.

"No problem at all, now why don't you come to my office and explain to me what happened? All I felt was a violent tremor coming from the lake, and saw a blanket of dense fog, Imperma-Fog, as a matter of fact." he said.

"What's Imperma-Fog?" asked Albus.

"It's fog that cannot be removed by normal means. I'm a moron for not realizing that," said Rose.

"Well, it isn't your fault, you three are safe now, come on," said Neville, motioning for them to follow him. Neville led the trio to the end of a hallway on the second floor, and opened a door labeled Neville Longbottom, Professor of Herbology and Head of Gryffindor House. He ushered them inside and Albus was greeted by a rather large Mimbulus Mimbletonia that sat to the left of the doorway in an ornate gold flower pot. Scarlet drapes with gold trimmings outlined large windows which overlooked the greenhouses on the floor below. Neville sat behind his desk, which had a curious assortment of seed packets mixed with important-looking papers and a sleeping Trevor. He motioned with his wand and three chairs appeared behind Albus, Rose, and Scorpius.

"Please, sit down," said Neville. The three of them promptly did so. "Now, tell me what happened."

"Well, we were walking back from Hagrid's hut, when we noticed a hooded man reading The Daily Prophet," said Albus, "Scorpius noticed that the cover story was on Anton Gaunt, and said something about it. The hooded man revealed himself as Anton Gaunt, and stared at me funny. I felt a pain in my head, and Scorpius tried to stun him. He blocked the curse without even drawing his wand. I attempted to curse him but he made the water rise out of the lake and slam into us. I scrambled back to my feet and told him the aurors will get him. So he smirked and cast that fog charm before disappearing."

Neville looked troubled. He walked over to the fireplace and used the floo powder to contact someone. In a flash of emerald green flames, a sooty and coughing Harry Potter emerged.

"Hey, Dad!" said Albus, running over to give his father a hug. Harry greeted his son, making sure he was ok, before casting a wary eye at Scorpius sitting next to Rose. Albus looked at his father as if to say oopsie? Harry shrugged and said,

"I trust your judgment, Albus. But you better not let Uncle Ron know. Now tell me, what happened during your encounter with Gaunt?"

Albus began telling the story over again. His father stopped him when Albus mentioned the pain in his head when Gaunt's eyes locked on to him.

"Did you feel a rush of strange memories?" his father asked.

"Well, actually, yes, I did. I saw all of these weird memories of you talking about the Auror Department." said Albus. Harry frowned.

"I hate to tell you Albus, but Gaunt just sifted through your mind to try and find information on me." said Harry.

"What? How!" asked Albus incredulously.

"It's a branch of magic called Legilimency. It focuses on attacking to mind to search for information without the victim's approval." said Harry.

"But isn't there any way to stop it?" asked Albus, not wanting his mind to be attacked again.

"Yes, there is a branch of magic that protects the mind and counters Legilimency called Occlumency. Occlumency, however, is an extremely advanced skill, something virtually impossible for a first year to learn, as is Legilimency." said Harry," Continue with your story." Albus made a mental note of Occlumency and Legilimency before continuing.

"Well, then Scorpius tried to stun him, but Gaunt just deflected the curse with his bare hand, not even bothering to draw his wand."

"That doesn't surprise me, Gaunt is notorious for his prestigious magical skill. Very few people in the world have the ability to use magic wordlessly and wandlessly, and Gaunt is one of them." said Harry.

"Can you do that, Dad?" asked Albus. Harry smiled.

"Yes, I can, but that's beside the point. Please continue with the story." said Harry.

"Well, you've heard of elemental magic, right?" asked Albus.

"Yes, I have." said Harry, raising his right hand. A yellow lightning-bolt symbol appeared. "To think Aunt Hermione would let a new branch of magic develop without forcing us to learn it." Scorpius' eyes widened in amazement and he spoke for the first time since Albus' dad showed up.

"Mr. Potter, if you don't mind me asking, how can you control electricity? It moves really fast…"

"It's simple really; you must begin exerting power to control it as soon as you summon it. It takes a lot of practice. Why do you ask?" said Harry. Scorpius blushed before replying.

"No reason, just read it in a book somewhere." squeaked Scorpius. Harry raised his eyebrow at the three of them but said nothing. He turned back to Albus and motioned for him to continue.

"Well, Gaunt's element is water, just so you know…"

"Interesting…continue," said Harry.

"Rather than summoning water, however, he just manipulated the water in the Lake and sent it charging towards us. It slammed into us and we were all knocked to the ground."

"Are you three sure you're all right?" asked Harry with a look of concern.

"We're fine, it just stung a little bit. Gaunt said he didn't really apply much force into it," said Albus. "After that, I told him that the aurors will get him, but he said he didn't have time for it today, and cast that fog charm before disappearing."

Harry's brow furrowed in concern. He seemed to sit there thinking a long time before speaking again.

"As you know, my top priority as Head Auror is the safety of the people. I am particularly concerned for the students at Hogwarts, especially since Gaunt's first appearance since the summer occurred on the grounds of the school. I think I shall post aurors to guard the school, with Kingsley's permission of course." Harry's statement was mostly directed at Neville, who nodded in agreement.

"I'll go with you to let him know now, if you wish." said Neville.

"Go on ahead, I'll be right there, I need to speak with my son for a minute." Neville nodded before exiting the room. Harry turned to Albus with a slight smile on his face.

"Well, I've officially failed as a parent…" he said.

"What? What would make you say that!" asked Albus. Harry chuckled.

"My goal as a father was to protect my children from the dangers of the world, and make sure they stay out of trouble unlike myself. I wanted to make sure my children didn't develop the famous Potter I-need-to-save-the-day complex. And unfortunately, the first person at Hogwarts to encounter Gaunt is you." His dad smiled. Albus began laughing slightly.

"But, jokes aside, I need you and James to be careful. Gaunt obviously knew you would be walking by that part of the grounds, probably because he saw you going to Hagrid's Hut. He has begun following you for some reason, and it worries me what that reason is." said Harry.

"I'll be careful, Dad, don't worry. What do you think he's following me for?" asked Albus.

"He may be trying to capture you to get to me. And, once again, I'm placing those I love in danger." said Harry somberly.

"But Dad, don't you think it's odd Gaunt never went after James?" said Albus.

"Now that you mention it, that does seem odd. Perhaps Gaunt feels he has somewhat of a greater connection with you because you're in Slytherin." Albus frowned.

"Just great, another person treating me differently because I'm in Slytherin." Harry lifted his son's chin up.

"Just because you're in a different house doesn't make you a different person, no matter what anyone says. You should strive to do your best in everything you do, so you can make your house proud. The rest of the family will come around sooner or later, your mother has already gotten Grandma and Grandpa Weasley and Aunt Hermione on your side." said Harry. Albus smiled. His dad always knew how to cheer him up.

"If it means that much to you, Al, I can stop being your friend so your family will treat you fairly again." said Scorpius. Albus shook his head violently.

"They'll just have to learn to deal with it." Harry extended his hand and shook Scorpius', much to the latter's surprise.

"One more thing. Scorpius, I trust you're a nice lad since my son and my niece have befriended you. I hope that the problems I had with your father won't influence your outlook on me. But for your sake, if you would like to maintain coherence and your current limbs, I wouldn't be within fifty feet of Rose when my brother-in-law Ron is around." All four of them laughed. "And Rose, I won't say a word to your father about it until you're ready to tell him." Rose nodded in thanks before Harry gave Albus a hug and left the room.

"Wow, you're dad is cool!" said Scorpius. Rose rolled her eyes.

"Thanks," said Albus, chuckling. After dinner, the three of them were walking through the hallways, all of them holding their heads high because of what Harry had said. Rose parted with them to go to her common room, and Scorpius and Albus, exhausted by today's ordeal and noticing that it was already pretty late, went back to their dormitories and promptly fell asleep.

That night, Albus had a dream about something he hadn't given much thought about before. He was down on the Quidditch Pitch, dressed in emerald green quidditch robes, a broom slung over his shoulder, and he had a golden snitch clasped in his right hand. He noticed his brother dressed in scarlet red quidditch robes scowling at him as a loud voice proclaimed,

"Albus Potter catches the Snitch! Slytherin has defeated Gryffindor to win the Quidditch Cup!"

Albus woke up the next day with one thought in mind. He had never thought to try out for the Quidditch team, since he knew he could never be better than his brother. The next Quidditch match was Hufflepuff vs. Slytherin next month. There was no way any Quidditch captain would deny a Potter a place on the team. He needed to find Coluber. And fast.