Albus Potter and the Secrets Within

[*Riley*]

Duckie, i was wondering when you are going to write the next chapter, ur leaving me in suspense !!

[DucksRMagical]

Here's the next chapter! Sorry for the wait, I've had this one written for a while, just kept forgetting to post. I'm about to start writing chapter 22, so I'm farther ahead in the writing than the posting. This one's a bit more descriptive, I know the last one was a lot of dialogue

Chapter 18: Close your mind

Albus and his friends spent the next few days trying to avoid Malfoy. It wasn't difficult since most of their spare time was spent in the common room doing homework. Matt was especially leery of Malfoy and made sure to hide behind John, who was a head taller than him, whenever they passed Malfoy in the halls. Despite this, Matt seemed to act like the confrontation with Malfoy had never happened, and did not appear to want to tell Albus or his other friends what his secret was. John did not seem surprised at this, but Albus had thought that maybe after what had happened with Malfoy, Matt might want to confide in someone. Amy also had started keeping a close eye on Matt after this event, which was odd because during fall term, she would often go a day or two without talking to Matt. Now it seemed that she was checking up on him at least once a day.

"Hi, guys," Amy greeted Albus and his friends on Saturday evening. Albus, John, Matt, Rose, and Amanda were all clustered around a table in the common room, working on various homework assignments. "What's everyone up to?"

"Homework," Matt groaned. He was working on a particularly difficult essay for Potions.

"Well, some of us are working on it," Rose chimed in, glaring at John.

"What?" John smiled innocently, "I've got all tomorrow to do it."

Rose sighed, "You'd do better to start it today."

"I know," John agreed, "But right now I'm enjoying watching you study, while I sit and do nothing." Rose groaned and went back to her reading.

"So," Amy started, as she sat down next to Matt, "How are you?"

"I'm fine," Matt replied, "But I'd be better if you'd do this essay for me."

"Not gonna happen," Amy grinned, "I'm glad you're doing good. Have you all been staying away from Willinson? He hasn't bothered any of you, has he? If he has, I'll get Victoire to put him in his place."

"No," Albus answered, "Haven't talked to him since the train. Strange, really."

"Well, good," Amy said, "Hopefully it'll stay that way. But don't go alone anywhere. He doesn't give up this quickly."

"We know, Amy," Matt snapped, "You're not our mum."

Albus looked up from his work at the sound of the impending argument. He could have sworn he saw Matt's eyes flash gold, but they were back to their usual blue within a second.

"Jeez, Matt. I'm just making sure he doesn't bother you. Mum said-"

"I know what Mum said!" Matt cut her off loudly.

"Could you please be a bit quieter?" Amanda asked in a frazzled tone.

"Sorry," Amy and Matt mumbled and continued arguing in softer voices.

Albus glanced over and saw that she was working on her astronomy charts. She had been having a tough time in astronomy all year. "Need any help?"

"Ugh," Amanda groaned, "It's astronomy. I'm rubbish at it. I've been doing this chart for the past hour. Anyone know when the next full moon is?"

Both Amy and Matt jerked their heads toward Amanda. "In two weeks from tonight. The 24th," Matt whispered quickly, then looked back at Amy. Amy glared at him and they resumed their arguement.

"Uh, thanks," Amanda looked cautiously at both Matt and Amy, and then started writing furiously on her chart.

Albus glanced across the table at Rose, who was already trying to catch his attention. The cousins looked at each other for a few seconds, and then quickly returned to their homework. Nobody said anything for a few minutes, with the exception of Amy and Matt, who were still arguing. However, they were doing so so quietly that Albus was unable to make out any of the words.

"Blimey!" James had walked over to the table and standing behind Rose. "Who died?"

"Huh?" Albus looked up from his work.

"You're so quiet!" James replied.

"Oh, uh," Albus glanced at Amy and Matt, "They were arguing about something."

"Ah, sibling love, it's a wonderful thing," James grinned, "So, you ready to get your mind read by Aunt Hermione?"

Albus looked up at the clock, it was quarter to eight, "Bloody hell, I forgot about that!"

"Good thing I remembered," James said.

"Yeah," Albus put his books into his bag and got up, "I'm ready."

Rose got up as well, "I'm going too. I want to see Mum."

"Ok," James turned around and started walking towards the entrance.

"Good luck," John waved as Albus followed his brother. Amanda waved, but didn't look up from her work. Matt and Amy were too busy arguing to notice Albus and Rose leave.

Albus, James, and Rose left the common room to find a deserted corridor. "Good, no one's out here," Rose whispered.

"Why?" James asked.

"Wanted to talk to you two alone about our, er, research," Rose answered. "Have either of you found anything?"

"Nope," Albus told her, "I've been reading bits of McGonagall's book before I go to bed every night. It's the only time I can do it in secret. I just pull the hangings closed, and everyone thinks I'm sleeping."

"I've been doing the same thing," Rose revealed, "But I haven't so much read the word 'Hallows'."

"Er, I haven't even found a book to read yet," James confessed.

"Well, find one soon!" Rose scolded, "We've got to find out what our parents are hiding from us!"

"I know, I know," James said.

"I've read a couple so far, and Madam Pince keeps eying me when I check them out," Rose told them, "But I've got a feeling we're not going to find anything in books."

"Really?" James grinned, "Are you doubting books?"

"Shut it, James," Rose warned, "I'm going to start looking at the old Prophet articles they have in the library."

"Sounds good," Albus said as they rounded the corner and walked towards the transfiguration room.

When they walked in, Hermione was standing near a stone basin that Albus recognized as the Pensive. Hermione was pulling thoughts out of her head with her wand and placing them into the basin. Albus wondered if maybe those thoughts had to do with what his parents were keeping from him. If only he could see the memories without Hermione knowing.

Hermione turned around when Albus shut the door behind them, "Hi, boys!" she greeted.

"Hi," James and Albus said back.

"Oh, and Rose, you're here too!" Hermione walked over to her daughter and gave her a hug.

"Hi, Mum!"

"How's term going?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, pretty good," Rose answered, "Loads of homework, but I'm getting it done. I'm afraid I lost a few points on the last Charms essay. I hope I didn't, though."

"I'm sure you did fine on it," Hermione reassured her. "How about you two? How are your classes going?"

"All right," James replied, "But I'm afraid I lost more than just a few points on my last Charms essay." James laughed.

"And I'm not so sure you did fine on it," Hermione responded, "And you, Albus?"

"Oh, it's going well, I suppose," Albus told his aunt, "And I'm afraid I completely failed the Charms essay."

"Don't worry, I'm sure you at least scraped a passing grade," Hermione said.

"I dunno, Washburn hates me."

"Professor Washburn, and I don't think that's true," Hermione told him, "But that's not why we're her tonight. Tonight, you will start learning Occlumency. Rose, are you staying?"

"Can I?" Rose asked, "I've read a bit about Occlumency and it sounds very interesting."

"Of course you can stay, I don't think I will have you do any practical work, but you're welcome to learn the theory," Hermione informed her.

"You mean, we're going to have reading to do?" James asked disgustedly.

"Of course," Hermione laughed, "What did you expect?"

"I dunno, Dad's Occlumency lessons were all practical," James reminded her.

"I know, but I feel it's better for you to learn the theory as well," Hermione informed them, "Now, could you all sit down?"

Albus, James, and Rose all sat at the table closest to the teacher's desk.

"Good, now I've got some books for you," Hermione picked up two books and placed them in front of Albus and James, "Rose, I didn't know you'd be studying this as well, so I don't have a book for you. You can look on with your cousins and if you decide to keep coming to our lessons then I'll get you a book, too."

Albus looked at his book. It was entitled, Legilimency and Occlumency: The Art of Reading Minds and Protecting Your Own Mind.

"Creative title," James whispered and they both laughed.

"Open the books to page five, please," Hermione told them, "Now, as you are both aware, Legilimency is what is used to see into another person's thoughts, or as some say, read their minds. When the spell, Legilimens, is used, a person can see into another's thoughts. This can be done if the person getting the spell performed on is awake or asleep. When the person is awake, they feel an odd sensation in their head, kind of like a headache, but not exactly. They often also see their own memories. If the person is asleep, then they often have strange dreams."

"Hey, Voldemort's in this book!" Rose exclaimed. Albus notice that she was leafing through the first chapter.

"Yes, he is," Hermione responded briskly, "Lord Voldemort, although he was a horrible, evil person, was one of the most skilled Legilimens and Occlumens the Wizarding World has ever seen. He is a perfect example of why Legilimency and Occlumency are both very dangerous if used in the wrong way. Lord Voldemort was able to tell exactly where his Death Eaters loyalties really lay, as well as keep others from knowing his innermost thoughts and secrets."

Hermione continued her lecturing for a half hour, giving a brief overview of the first chapter. This chapter explained what Legilimency and Occlumency were and went over the basics needed to try Occlumency. James and Albus were expected to read the first chapter and answer a few questions before the next class.

"Now, for the next half hour, I'd like to start the practical aspect of this lesson," Hermione stood up and picked up her wand. "Who wants to go first?"

James and Albus looked at each other. "You're older, you go first," Albus told his brother.

"All right," James stood up and pointed his wand at his aunt.

"Remember, there's no spell. You've got to close your mind. Take a few minutes to try to clear all thoughts from your head."

James lowered his wand and started to stare directly at the wall behind Hermione. After a few minutes, a blank look appeared on his face.

"Good," Hermione said, "Ready?"

James looked back at her with a nervous look on his face, "I suppose."

"Legilimens!" Hermione shouted.

James looked horrified as he stared at his aunt. He dropped his wand and pressed his hand to his forehead. Hermione continued to point her wand at him, but it was obvious that he wasn't succeeding at closing his mind. He had sunk down to the floor, with his hands on his head. Hermione lowered her wand and walked over to him.

"Are you all right, dear?" she asked, extending her hand for James to grab.

"Fine," James mumbled as he took Hermione's hand and stood up again, "It's just, that's exactly what it felt like when someone did that to me during detention."

"That's because that was what someone did to you during detention," Hermione explained.

"But I didn't hear anyone shouting 'Legilimens'," James told her.

"They were doing it non-verbally. We'll get to that point in our lessons eventually, but for now I will do it verbally so you know what's going on," Hermione said, "Now, that was a pretty good attempt for the first time. You see now how hard it is to close your mind."

"Yeah," James agreed as he sat back down.

"Your turn, Albus," Hermione announced.

Albus had momentarily forgotten that he, too, had to have his aunt read his mind. He got up, his heart beating fast. He had never had Legilimency performed on him while he was awake, and he did not know what to expect.

"Try to clear your mind," Hermione told him as she walked a few feet away and turned around to wait.

Albus tried to clear his mind, but it was hard. His thoughts were consumed with whether Matt was a werewolf or not. He was also constantly thinking about what 'Hallows' could possibly be. Not to mention the reason why he was having these lessons in the first place. It was difficult not to think about someone seeing his thoughts.

"Ready?" Hermione asked. Albus nodded with a nervous look on his face.

"Legilimens!" she shouted.

The classroom seemed to disappear as Albus was thrown into his own memories. He was four years old and James had stolen the toy broom he had received on his birthday. James was flying it around while Albus chased him. The scene changed and he saw the time he dropped a sharp knife onto his foot, but instead of slicing it open, the knife just bounced off it. He had been four then, as well, and that was the first magical thing he did. The scene changed yet again and Albus was seven and was playing with his cousins at the Burrow. Then he was at home, reading his Hogwarts letter. The scene changed for a final time, he and Rose were sitting in Rose's bedroom at the Burrow, researching about werewolves. Albus's heart beat faster. He couldn't let his aunt see that.

"No!" Albus exclaimed, and the classroom reappeared in front of him. He glanced around and was half surprised that he was still standing up, since James had collapsed during his attempt.

Hermione was looking at him and then she glanced at Rose, then back to Albus. She had obviously seen a bit of the last memory. "Well, you actually managed to stop me, although not by normal means of Occlumency. But that is very good for a first try. What was that last memory?"

"Nothing, nothing," Albus replied quickly, averting his gaze from his aunt.

"Very well, I think that is enough for tonight. Albus, James, keep practicing. Try to close your minds before you go to bed. I'll see you all on Tuesday. Good luck with all your classes. And try to behave yourselves during Charms," Hermione added.

"We do!" James insisted, "Professor Washburn just doesn't like us."

"Be that as it may, you do need to pass his class," Hermione reminded them, "Good night."

"Night," Albus, James, and Rose said as they left the classroom.

"So, what was that memory that you didn't want my mum to see?" Rose asked curiously once they were out of earshot of the classroom.

"Later," Albus whispered, glancing at James.

"Blimey, that's some strange stuff, Legilimency and Occlumency," James announced after a few moments of silence, "But you seem good at it, Albus."

"Maybe," Albus responded.

"Better than me. I couldn't do anything during it. Just kind of forgot everything except the memories I was seeing. Couldn't think of anything to do about it," James explained.

"You've just got to practice it," Albus told him, "Plus, this was just the first time. And anyway, I've got to think of something better to do than just shouting out random things. People will think I'm a nutter if I'm just shouting out 'no' all the time."

James laughed, "Well, I already know you're a nutter."

"Oh, shut it, James," Albus laughed and punched James in the arm. James punched him back and they continued that until they reached the Fat Lady. Rose followed behind and muttered something that sounded like 'boys'.

When they arrived back at the common room, James immediately went to his dormitory so he could tell his friends about the lesson.

"So, what was the memory?" Rose whispered to Albus.

"When we were researching about werewolves," Albus told her, "I didn't want Aunt Hermione to know about that."

"Why not?" Rose asked.

"I dunno, really. I mean, it's not like she had a problem with Teddy's dad. I guess she just came awfully close to seeing our other research," Albus explained.

"Good point," Rose agreed, "But you know, you've got to practice this. What if she does find out about that? She'll tell Uncle Harry."

"I know, I know, I'll practice," Albus assured her.

"Good," Rose seemed satisfied, "Now, we'd better get to bed. Good night."

"Night," Albus said as he walked to the door to the dormitory. As he lay in bed trying to get to sleep, listening to Bilius's snoring, he tried to close his mind. 'Think about nothing,' he kept repeating in his mind. But it didn't work, because Albus yet again had the same nightmare.

[*Riley*]

Alot Better ! Great Work, I think you have a real career ahead of you Duckie. Congratulations.

[DucksRMagical]

Thanks Riley! I don't currently have any ideas for stories that aren't fan fics, but if I ever get an idea, I'd write it and try to get it published.

I re-did chapters 1 and 2. Chapter 1 is a bit longer now, and chapter 2 is mostly the same, but I added a new character.

Chapter 19: The Lions Take on the Serpents

During the next two weeks, tensions ran high between the Gryffindors and Slytherins. As the impending Quidditch match grew nearer, there were more and more duels in the corridors. These usually resulted in various players having to go to the Hospital Wing. Luckily, no one had been severely injured yet. However, both Houses were starting to be very protective of their players. Samantha Meyers forbide anyone on the Gryffindor team from wandering the corridors alone. She was also getting more and more intense with her practice schedules. Samantha had started scheduling a practice for every night of the week. Every evening, the Gryffindor team came trooping back into the common room well after dark, looking tired and worn out. Slytherin was also practicing each day, but they got an earlier time in the evening.

Nightly Quidditch practices did not bode well for James's Occlumency lessons. He had asked Hermione if he could skip the lessons until after the match, but she would not allow it. James grudgingly skipped his Quidditch practice, much to Samantha's dismay. She was not happy about James missing practice. Hermione actually sent her a letter, which got her to stop badgering James about practice.

Albus thought he was making a bit of progress with his Occlumency. He had been reading the book and doing the homework, although he did not enjoy it. Occlumency was like having another class to take, so he wound up with more homework than the rest of his classmates. Albus had not yet succeeded in preventing Hermione from entering his mind, but he usually managed to force her out after a little while. He was relieved that he had so far prevented her from discovering his Hallows research. Despite this, he was still having strange nightmares a couple of nights a week. James was not making nearly as much progress as Albus. He had yet to stop Hermione's Legilimency at all, and was still collapsing on the floor occasionally. James was getting increasingly fed up with Occlumency and did not enjoy the lessons at all.

As the Quidditch match, and the full moon, grew closer, Albus started to watch Matt for signs of illness. The day before the match, Matt almost slept through breakfast. John had to wake him up before he left for the Great Hall. Albus watched him throughout DADA and noticed that he was much more tired than usual. He kept his head on the desk the entire class and didn't take any notes. Harry did not say anything about this, which Albus thought was strange because whenever anyone else fell asleep in other classes, the teacher woke them up. Albus couldn't remember a time when someone fell asleep in DADA, though, because usually that class was exciting.

"Are you ok?" Albus asked Matt as they were walking to Charms.

"Fine," Matt responded. He was walking a bit slower than usual, "Just tired."

"Ok," Albus said warily, "But if you want to go to the Hospital Wing during Charms, I'll volunteer to take you."

"I will too," John agreed, "Anything to get out of that class."

The boys immediately stopped talking once they entered the Charms classroom and went to their usual back table. Once he sat down, Matt put his head down on top of his book. Washburn stormed into the room a few seconds later and started taking attendance.

"I'm lecturing today, take out your notes," he barked at the class. Everyone silently found quills and parchment as Washburn pointed his wand at the board. Notes appeared on it and Albus started copying them down. Washburn started talking and droned on for about half the period without stopping, even when students raised their hands to ask questions. Albus did not glance up to look at him at all. Once he finished copying his notes, he looked over at Matt and noticed that he had fallen asleep. Unfortunately, Washburn had noticed, too.

"Eckerton!" Washburn shouted while he walked towards the back table, "This is not nap time!"

"I don't think he's feeling well, sir," John said tentatively.

"I didn't ask how he's feeling!" Washburn growled at John. "Now wake up and pay attention!" he shouted again.

Matt slowly picked up his head and stared at Washburn, "Huh?"

"I said this is not nap time!" Washburn screamed.

"Oh, sorry," Matt mumbled. He stared down at his book and rested his head on his hand.

Washburn grumbled something incoherent and got back to his lecture. Matt kept his head up the rest of the class, but didn't take any notes. Although he did go to Astronomy after lunch, Matt did not seem to pay much attention in that class either. After class was over, he went up to the dormitory and slept straight through dinner.

"What other explanation could there be?" Rose wondered aloud in the common room that night. She, Albus, John, and Amanda were sitting around a table after dinner. The pre-Quidditch match excitement kept the chaos and noise in the common room up, so no one was paying much attention to what they were talking about.

"I don't think there is another one," Albus told her, "He's got to be a werewolf. He gets sick every full moon and leaves overnight. When he comes back he's still sick and he's got injuries."

"I'm sure he is one," John agreed, "Just hope he tells us soon, or I'm just going to have to tell him I know. It's gonna be hard to hide that we know."

"Think how hard it is for Matt? Hiding that from everyone," Albus reminded him.

"True."

"So, who thinks we'll win the match tomorrow?" Albus asked, changing the subject.

"I do!" John shouted, "With your cousin's new broom, we'll be unbeatable."

"Definitely," Amanda agreed, "I can't wait to see it in action."

"You've really gotten into Quidditch, haven't you?" Rose giggled.

"Sure have, it's so much better than football," Amanda told her.

******

The match was to be held in the early afternoon, which was a bit later than the previous Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff match. Albus and his friends spent the earlier part of the day playing Wizard's Chess and Exploding Snap in the common room. Matt seemed too tired to play anything, so he lay on one of the couches and watched the games. Albus noticed the Gryffindor team huddled in one corner of the room, reviewing last minute tactics. James looked a bit nervous, which was understandable considering the last match ended with him in the Hospital Wing.

The morning dragged by, but eventually, everyone started to make their way down to the pitch after lunch.

"Should be a good game," Albus said to John as they were walking towards the pitch.

"Definitely. I've been looking forward to a Gryffindor vs. Slytherin game. I've heard they're the best ones," John told him.

"That's what I've heard, too. Dad says they were usually the most exciting ones in his days here," Albus informed John.

"Conditions couldn't be worse, though," John lamented. He was right. The weather was not cooperating for a game of Quidditch. Although the visibility seemed to be a bit better than Gryffindor's last match, the snow was falling at a steady rate and it was bitterly cold.

"Hopefully it won't last as long as last time," Rose pulled her cloak tighter, "I'm freezing."

"Me, too," Matt agreed. He was already shivering, and was a few paces behind everyone else.

Albus and the rest of the group slowed down to allow Matt to catch up with them. "Well, I just hope James doesn't get injured again," Albus said.

"Hope not," Amanda agreed.

The five first years made their way through the crowds and found their way to a few seats on Gryffindor's side of the stands. As they were walking slowly to match Matt's pace, they were some of the last people in the stands. They found their seats just before the commentary started.

"Welcome to the Gryffindor vs. Slytherin match!" Todd Smith shouted over the crowd, "This is a highly anticipated match that should prove to be as exciting as always. The weather's brutal, but that shouldn't stop a well trained team.

"And here come the teams! First onto the pitch is the Gryffindor team. Captain Samantha Meyers, followed by Georgia Weasley, Fred Weasley, Heather Weasley, Bradley Weasley, Ryan O'Malley, and James Potter!"

The team flew around the pitch once and then landed next to each other on the ground.

"Here are the Slytherins. Captain Talan Flint, followed by Lance Goyle, Jackson Naiser, Ferris Fielding, Peyton Haines, Hailey Odele, and Glenna Dabney."

The Slytherins flew once around the pitch and landed in front of the Gryffindors. The referee, Alan Oteski, had the captains shake hands, and the teams were off.

"Professor Oteski releases the Quaffle, Bludgers, and Snitch, and the players are up! Quaffle goes to Fielding and he's flying towards the Gryffindor goal posts. Oh, nice Bludger work by O'Malley! Quaffle goes to Meyers, she flies down the pitch, passing to the two Weasley chasers. And Heather Weasley scores the first goal!"

The Gryffindor team scored three goals within the first five minutes. Slytherin had not managed to get any goals past Georgia.

"Of course, the exciting part of this game is Georgia Weasley's new broom. It's a Firebolt 3000. The fastest broom yet! It seems to be proving itself in this game. What with Georgia's incredible skill, and that broom, I'd be surprised if Slytherin scores any goals at all!" Todd shouted excitedly.

"She's amazing!" John exclaimed, "I want one of those brooms!"

"Me, too," Albus agreed, "I flew it over holiday. It was amazing."

"Wow! Think she'd let me ride it?" John asked.

"Maybe. If you come to my place over the summer, I'll ask her," Albus told him.

"Awesome!" John grinned.

"Another goal scored for Gryffindor! Making the score 40-0 in favor of Gryffindor! Fred Wealsey has the Quaffle, he's storming up the pitch, headed to the Slytherin goal posts. Ouch! Hit in the back with a Bludger sent from Naiser. Odele has the Quaffle now and is headed towards Georgia Weasley. She passes to Fielding, who attempts to score a goal. And saved! Wow, I didn't think a broom could move that fast," Todd was jumping up and down at the commentator's podium now.

"Flint does not look happy," Albus commented.

"No, he doesn't. Looks like he's ready to hex someone," John agreed.

"Wouldn't put it past him," Rose chimed in, "These matches are known to get ugly."

The game continued for a while, with Gryffindor scoring a few more goals. Slytherin did manage to get one goal after Flint sent a Bludger at Georgia right when Odele was attempting to score.

"Think this match will last much longer?" Matt asked.

"Dunno. Doesn't look like James or Dabney have seen the Snitch yet," Albus peered out at the field. "They're just hovering above everyone else. Looks like they're trying to stay out of it. I can see why. The Bludger work is getting nasty."

And it was. All the Gryffindor chasers were sporting some kind of injury. Georgia had a nose bleed, but seemed to be ignoring it. Odele and Haines both had taken Bludgers to arm and it seemed to have affected their ability to catch the Quaffle.

Albus looked over at Matt. He was sitting down, shivering, with his head resting on his hand. "You ok?"

"I guess. I just hope the match is done soon," Matt winced.

"Want to go back inside?" Albus asked.

"No, I'll be fine," Matt insisted.

"Another goal for Gryffindor! Making the match 110-10 Gryffindor!" Todd bellowed, "And the match is getting ugly. Ouch! Fred Weasley takes a Bludger to the head, causing him to drop the Quaffle. But it's caught by Meyers! She passes to Heather, who scores another goal!

"Flint appears to have abandoned the Bludgers and is soaring up towards Potter and Dabney. What's he up to? Meanwhile, Bradley Weasley hits a well aimed Bludger towards Fielding, who drops the Quaffle. Back to Flint. It appears that he is getting into an argument with Dabney. I wonder what they're saying? Hope it's important. Looks like his neglect of beater duties has caused his uninjured Chaser to get hit."

Flint turned his head around and flew straight towards Georgia. Odele was flying towards the goal posts with the Quaffle. "What's he doing now? He's grabbed hold of Georgia's broom! Foul! Flint has grabbed Georgia's broom and appears to be preventing her from keeping! Foul!" Todd screamed angrily. Odele took advantage of the situation and scored a goal.

Oteski blew his whistle, "Penalty shot for Gryffindor! Unnecessary grabbing of opposing keeper's broomstick. Honestly, you should know better! Such an obvious foul! And that goal does not count!"

"Gryffindor captain, Meyers, easily scores the penalty shot, bringing the score up to 130-10 Gryffindor," Todd announced, "Slytherin chaser, Fielding, manages to get the Quaffle and is flying towards the Gryffindor goal posts. Bradley Weasley sends a Bludger towards him and, ouch! He's knocked off his broom. Lucky for him, he was low to the ground. But looks like he's out for the rest of the game, probably broke his arm or something."

"This is amazing!" John exclaimed, "I've never seen Quidditch like this. I wonder if Slytherin's ever lost by this much before."

"I dunno," Albus responded, "But I don't think their Seeker's very good. All she's doing is following James around. And Flint was yelling at her for something."

"Probably telling her just to catch the Snitch so they can end the misery," John laughed.

"James better catch the Snitch soon," Matt groaned, "I don't think I can take much more of this." He was huddled on his seat, holding his stomach in pain.

"Sure you don't want to go in?" Albus asked.

"I dunno," Matt moaned, "Maybe."

"Looks like Potter's seen the Snitch!" Todd shouted. James had started speeding towards the Gryffindor goal posts, with Dabney following closely behind. "The Slytherin beaters seem to be trying to hit Potter with the Bludgers. But, hang on, the Gryffindor chasers and beaters seem to have surrounded Potter, protecting him from Naiser and Flint. Blimey! I've never seen anything like it! And it worked! Potter caught the Snitch!"

The crowd erupted into applause, Gryffindors storming the ground, lifting James up into the air. They started walking back to the castle. The Slytherin team was looking murderous and Flint was screaming at Dabney.

"Let's go," Rose said, looking at Matt.

"Oh, good," Matt moaned as he slowly stood up.

"You want to go to the Hospital Wing?" Albus asked.

"No, I don't think so," Matt said, leaning on John for support.

The five friends slowly made their way up to the castle. By the time they got there, everyone else had already made it back. It took them a while to climb the stairs to Gryffindor Tower, but eventually, they made it.

When they entered the common room, a party was already in full swing. Matt made a beeline for the dormitory and didn't look back.

"Albus!" James came running up to him, butterbeer in hand, "We did it! Beat Slytherin! They are pathetic. And here I was, thinking they actually had a good team. No way they're in the running for the Cup now. Blimey, losing 10 to 300..."

"You did great!" Albus grinned at him, "Dad would be very proud."

"Proud of what?" a voice came from behind them.

Albus turned around, "Dad?!"

"What are you doing here?" James asked.

"Came for the party. Blimey, things haven't changed a bit. The parties after we beat Slytherin were always best. Anyway, congratulations, James!"

"Thanks!"

"We're not being too loud, are we, Professor Potter?" Samantha Meyers had come over to see what was going on.

"No, 'course not!" Harry grinned, "Can't expect you to be quiet after that win. Just quiet down by midnight."

"Sure, no problem! It was amazing, wasn't it?" Samantha said excitedly.

"Oh, it was brilliant," Harry agreed. Harry and Samantha quickly settled down to rehashing every bit of the match, and were soon joined by Georgia.

"Never grow out of Quidditch, right?" James laughed.

"Right," Albus agreed, "Honestly, I thought it'd be a bit strange having him as our teacher, but it hasn't been weird at all."

"Yeah, it's been pretty neat."

[DucksRMagical]

Here's the next chapter! I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm not changing the Weasley-Potter family to reflect Jo's family tree. If I wasn't so far into the story, I would have. The characters I invented already have roles in this story, so it would require a good bit of work to change it, especially the Christmas chapters. And the Quidditch parts. Plus I'm rather fond of them now.

Chapter 20: Discoveries

The party in the Gryffindor common room lasted well into the evening. Most of the Gryffindors did not even go down for dinner. Albus's cousins had managed to bring a good bit of food up to the common room, so there was really no need to go to the Great Hall. Harry left shortly before dinner, though, so he could join the rest of the staff for the meal.

"Honestly, I'll never get any work done with this noise," Rose sighed. She, Albus, John, and Amanda were sitting around one of the tables in the common room eating sweets. Rose was the only one trying to get any work done.

"Why bother? You've still got tomorrow," John commented, "Hey, I got your dad, Albus." John held up a Chocolate Frog card.

"I don't see why everybody's got to party so late into the evening," Rose said, "It wasn't that spectacular a win. Slytherin was dreadful."

"That's the point," John told her, "Slytherin's usually got a pretty good team. It's the principle of the thing. Gryffindor and Slytherin are huge rivals, and when we beat them, it's a reason to celebrate. Even if they're rubbish."

"Whatever," Rose put her fingers in her ears and continued to read.

"And their new Seeker's horrible," Albus said, "I bet she couldn't see the Snitch if it was right in front of her face."

"Yeah, she's no match for James," John agreed, "I've heard from some of the older students that he's as good as Ted Lupin was."

"Well, he should be," Albus laughed, "Teddy's been training him ever since James could get on a broom. I think they started when James was about five."

"But he's got it in his blood, too," Amanda chimed in, "I mean, Albus, your dad was the best Seeker Gryffindor's ever seen. And your Uncle Charlie was a great Seeker, too."

"Yup," Albus grinned, "Quidditch is a high priority in my family."

"Guess Rose just didn't get any of those Quidditch genes," John poked Rose and she jumped.

"Shut it, John," Rose told him, "Where's Matt?"

"Still sleeping," Albus said, glancing at the door to the dormitories, "Been there ever since the end of the match."

"Well, why don't you go check on him?" Rose suggested.

"All right," Albus got up from his chair and walked to the dormitory. When he got there, he saw that Matt was sound asleep in his bed.

"Matt!" Albus whispered, "Hey, Matt! Get up!" Albus lifted Matt's arm up and it fell limply back onto the mattress when he let go. "Wake up!" Albus shouted a little louder.

"Huh? Wha'?" Matt groggily lifted his head and grimaced.

"You all right?" Albus asked with a look of concern on his face.

"Ugh," Matt groaned and sat up. "What time is it?"

"Almost five," Albus told him.

"Ohh," Matt slowly got up off the bed and swayed, "I've got to go to the Hospital Wing."

"Well, I'll take you," Albus grabbed Matt's arm so he wouldn't fall.

"No, I'll be fine," Matt said.

"No, I'm taking you," Albus insisted. Matt did not protest any further and leaned on Albus for support. They made their way down into the common room, where the party was still in full swing. Albus led Matt straight out of portrait hole and into the corridor towards the Hospital Wing.

"C'mon, we're almost there," Albus said as they walked down a flight of stairs.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Matt groaned and clutched his stomach.

"It's ok, we'll be there soon," Albus winced under Matt's weight. Matt was leaning on Albus more and more by the minute, "Madam Pomfrey will fix it."

"No she won't. She can't," Matt's voice wavered as he talked.

"Here we are," Albus opened the door to the Hospital Wing and led Matt inside. Madam Pomfrey was waiting and rushed over to Albus and Matt.

"It's ok, dear, come on," she pulled Matt away from Albus and let him lean on her, "I'll take it from here, Albus. You'd best go back to your common room."

Albus turned to leave, but not before seeing Madam Pomfrey soothing Matt, who had started to cry. Albus shut the door, wishing he could do something to help. Matt seemed to be doing worse this month than he had the past months. He hadn't seemed any different during the past few days, but maybe he was just good at hiding his emotions. Albus had forgotten to focus on figuring out what Matt was feeling in the days leading up to the full moon due to being preoccupied with homework and Occlumency lessons. Why did this month seem worse? What was going on?

Albus pondered these thoughts as he walked slowly back to the common room. How could he convince Matt that it would be safe to tell Albus his secret? Would he ever tell? And more importantly, was there anything anyone could do to help?

"Something troubling you, Potty?" a cold voice said. Albus looked up and saw Quinton Willinson, flanked by two other Slytherns, standing at the top of the stairs that Albus was climbing. "Fancy a stroll by yourself?"

"Go away, Willinson," Albus growled as he reached the top of the stairs.

"It's a free castle. Not curfew yet. I'm free to wander the corridors just as you are, Potty," Willinson sneered at Albus.

"Just leave me alone," Albus tried to walk past him, but the other two Slytherins blocked his path.

"No, don't think I will. I still haven't forgotten that Exploding Eclair," Willinson said, drawing his wand and pointing it at Albus, "I know it was you."

"How?" Albus asked nervously as he drew his own wand and pointed it at Willinson.

"I just do," Willinson snapped his fingers and his cronies pulled out their wands and pointed them at Albus, "And now you'll pay."

"Expelliarmus!" Albus shouted, and Willinson's wand flew out of his hand and landed on the floor. A split second later, two jets of light came from the other two Slytherins's wands and hit Albus in the chest. Before he knew what was happening, he stumbled backwards and fell down the stairs. He blacked out halfway down, and the last thing he saw was Willinson and his two friends running in the opposite direction.

*****

"You have no idea who did it, then?" Albus heard his dad ask.

"No, when Neville found him, there was no sign that anybody else had been there," Madam Pomfrey whispered.

"Well, when I find out who did it, there'll be trouble," Albus heard a bang and he figured his dad had just slammed his fist onto something hard.

"Harry, please be a bit quieter. I'm sure whoever it is will be punished."

"I'll be sure of that."

Albus opened his eyes and looked around, he was in the Hospital Wing. Judging by the darkness outside, it must have been the middle of the night. He had no idea how many hours had passed, but he guessed it must have been quite a few. Albus tried to sit up, but was immediately hit by a searing pain in his head and had to lay back down.

Harry rushed over upon seeing that he was awake, "Albus! What on earth happened?"

"How'd I get here?" Albus groaned.

Harry bent over and hugged Albus tight. "Ouch!" Albus winced.

"Really, Harry, I've only just healed those bones!" Madam Pomfrey pulled Harry away.

"Neville found you a couple hours ago. You were laying unconscious at the bottom of one of the staircases. It was obvious you'd fallen down, but it looked like someone had stunned you as well. You've got a cracked skull, a few broken ribs, and a broken arm." Harry answered, once he sat down in the chair next to the bed. "But who did it?"

"Quinton Willinson, and two other Slytherins I don't know," Albus told him.

"What year are they in?"

"Willinson's a seventh year, I dunno about the others," Albus answered.

Harry slammed his hand onto the bedside table and stood up, "Seventh year?! Bloody hell! What in the name of Merlin's saggy left-"

"Harry, calm down!" Madam Pomfrey rushed over to pick up the water jug that had fallen off the table.

"Sorry," Harry resumed his seat, "But honestly, what seventh year gangs up on a first year?"

"Victoire and Amy Eckerton warned me. They said he picks a first year every year to torment. And they told me not to go anywhere alone, because he never picks a fight unless you're alone. Apparently he's not a very good dueler. But I totally forgot about that when I took Matt here," Albus looked around at the empty beds around him, "By the way, where is he?"

"Nothing to worry about now," Madam Pomfrey said shortly.

"Well, Willinson will be getting detention, and loads of it. And those two other Slytherins as well. I'll be talking to Slughorn," Harry muttered.

"Oh, Dad, I disarmed Willinson!" Albus said excitedly, "I'd forgotten about that. Right after I disarmed him, the other two stunned me and I fell down the stairs."

Harry grinned, "Brilliant. You're great at disarming. And if the other two weren't there, you'd have been fine. But, it's hard to disarm three wizards at once."

"It's getting late, I think you'd better give Albus a chance to sleep, Harry," Madam Pomfrey came over holding a goblet of potion.

"All right," Harry stood up and gave Albus a gentle hug, "I'll be back in the morning. G'night, Al, I love you."

"Love you, too," Albus awkwardly hugged his dad back, "Good night."

"I've got a potion to help you sleep," Madam Pomfrey handed him the potion, "Drink up."

Albus took the goblet and downed it in one gulp.

"Knew it was only a matter of time before you showed up here," Madam Pomfrey muttered, "Potters seem to be unable to keep themselves out of this place..."

*****

"What happened, Poppy?" Albus heard someone ask.

"Bad transformation, really bad," Madam Pomfrey replied grimly.

"What can you do?" the voice asked, Albus recognized it now as Neville.

"I'm really not sure," Madam Pomfrey sighed, "I'll administer the usual potions and heal the bones, but other than that... I've got to contact St. Mungo's."

"I'll do it," Neville announced, "Is Albus ok?"

"He'll be fine," Madam Pomfrey assured him, "I'll keep him here until tomorrow morning."

Albus heard Neville leave and Madam Pomfrey tug the curtains shut around one of the beds. She moved quickly around the room whispering to herself and loudly grabbing bottles off of shelves. Albus opened his eyes briefly and saw that the bed at the end of the row had the curtains shut. That's where Matt was. And Albus had been right. He was a werewolf. Any doubt that Albus had was gone. He felt sick with dread at the thought of Matt going through that transformation every month. Stuck with a curse that prevented him from living a normal life. Albus knew what life was like for a werewolf. He heard about Teddy's dad's life. After Hogwarts, what would Matt do? Would he be able to get a job?

"Are you awake?" Madam Pomfrey came bustling over with a breakfast tray, "Good, eat up."

"Is Matt going to be ok?" Albus asked nervously.

"Never you mind," Madam Pomfrey answered as she walked back to Matt's bed and disappeared behind the curtains. She spent much of the next hour bustling back and forth between Matt's bed and her office, where Albus could see her consulting books and mixing potions. Albus watched her and noticed she looked much more worried than usual. What was going on?

Neville returned about an hour later, followed by a tall, balding man in lime green robes. Albus recognized them as Healer robes. Madam Pomfrey came out from behind the curtains when she heard the door open and walked quickly over to the two men.

"I'd better go find Amy, Poppy," Neville announced.

"Yes, I suppose you should," Madam Pomfrey answered, "Poor dear will be worried sick when she sees him."

"I know," Neville sighed and left the room.

Madam Pomfrey turned to the other man, "Oh, good, they've sent you, Healer Sterling," she welcomed the Healer with a sigh of relief, "I was afraid they'd send one of the new Healers."

"No, no, I insisted that they send me," Healer Sterling assured her, "I'm the one in charge of the study-"

Madam Pomfrey cut him off and gestured to Albus's bed, "Shush! We'll discuss it shortly. Albus, why don't you finish your breakfast?"

"I'm not hungry," Albus mumbled.

Madam Pomfrey's face softened, "Albus, Matt will be ok. You mustn't worry."

"But what's going on?" Albus asked, "I've already figured it out. I know he's a werewolf."

"Be that as it may, I cannot inform you about the situation," Madam Pomfrey said as she and Healer Sterling walked towards Matt's bed, "Now, it's best for you to get some rest."

Madam Pomfrey drew her wand, muttered a spell, and she and the two men disappeared behind the curtains. Albus knew she had casted the Muffliato charm on him. He had witnessed his parents using that spell before. He sighed and picked at his eggs, but he really couldn't eat anything. He knew that Madam Pomfrey really was not sure whether Matt would be ok. Albus sat pondering about what could be wrong, when a loud bang jolted him out of his thoughts.

Albus turned around in his bed and noticed that the banging was coming from the door. Madam Pomfrey ran out from behind the curtains and headed towards the door. "Who's there?" she shouted.

"Rose Weasley," Albus heard his cousin's voice, "Why are the doors locked? Can't we come in and see Albus?"

"I'd rather you didn't. I've got another student in here who needs quiet," Madam Pomfrey said through the closed door.

"Is it Matt?" Rose asked, "Because he's still not back yet."

Madam Pomfrey sighed, "Yes."

"We'll be quiet," Rose answered, "I promise."

"Oh, all right," Madam Pomfrey opened the door, "But only for a little while."

Rose walked through the door, followed by John, Amanda, and James. "Oh, Albus, are you all right?" she whispered as they neared Albus's bed.

"I'll be fine," Albus told them.

"What on earth happened? Never saw you after you took Matt here last night," John asked. He, James, Amanda, and Rose sat down on the bed next to Albus's.

"Met up with Willinson," Albus groaned, "Him and two other Slytherins."

"He's trouble, I tell ya," James shook his head, "Drove me mad until Victoire talked to him last year."

"Yeah, well, he doesn't seem to be listening to Victoire this year, does he?" Albus responded, "Anyway, I disarmed him, but his two friends stunned me at the same time and I fell down the stairs. Got knocked out halfway down and woke up here."

"Whoa, are you ok?" Amanda asked.

"I'm fine. Got a few broken bones, but they're healed now. My head still hurts, though," Albus rubbed his forehead.

"We were so worried when you were still gone this morning," Rose told him, "Went straight to Uncle Harry's office and he told us you were here. By the way, he said he'd be visiting later this morning."

"Dad was here last night, too," Albus said, "He's really angry about it. He's going to give Willinson loads of detention."

John grinned, "Excellent. He'll finally be getting what he deserves."

"Well, I've got to get going. Quidditch practice," James announced as he got up from the bed.

"But you just had a match yesterday," Rose shook her head.

"Doesn't matter. Sunday's one of our usual practice days," James reminded her. "Glad you're better, Albus." James waved and left the room. As he left, Neville, Victoire, and Amy came rushing through. Amy ran straight to Matt's bed with tears in her eyes and Neville following quickly behind. Victoire stared at her questioningly, but turned to Albus's bed.

"I told you not to go anywhere alone!" she sighed.

"I know!" Albus replied, "Sorry. I was just taking Matt here. He was pretty sick last night, and it didn't occur to me that I'd be walking back to the common room alone."

"Oh, I understand that," Victoire answered, "But just be careful from now on."

"I will," Albus assured her. Sometimes, it felt like his older cousins were just extra parents.

"Well, Uncle Harry's furious, so I don't think you'll have to worry much anymore," Victoire told him, "I heard him talking to Slughorn earlier. Apparently, Harry and Professor Longbottom are going to take turns overseeing his detentions and let's just say he's not going to have much free time in the coming weeks."

"Good," Albus responded.

"I'd better be off," Victoire said, "I'm due to tutor Mark in Transfiguration in a few minutes. I was just with Amy, she started getting hysterical when Neville came and found her in the common room. But she wouldn't tell me what's going on. I don't suppose you know?"

"Nope," Albus said.

"Well, I'll see you later," Victoire started to head towards the door, "Whatever it is, I hope Matt's ok."

"Ok, now that she's gone, I've got to tell you about Matt," Albus whispered, "Come closer, I don't want Madam Pomfrey to hear."

Rose, John, and Amanda climbed onto Albus's bed. "What about him?" John asked.

"He's a werewolf," Albus muttered.

"What?" John exclaimed a bit too loudly, "How do you know for sure?"

"Shush!" Albus whispered, "He wasn't here last night when I woke up. And this morning, Professor Longbottom and Madam Pomfrey brought him here, but he was unconscious."

"I knew it," Rose whispered.

"Anyway, Madam Pomfrey said he'd had a really bad transformation," Albus told them, "He's still unconscious. And there's a Healer from St. Mungo's here. They're all behind the curtains on Matt's bed. They won't tell me anything. They casted Muffliato, so I can't hear anything."

"Figures," Rose groaned, "Adults never let us know anything."

"Yeah," Albus agreed, "But what are we going to do about Matt?"

"Well, we've got to figure out how to tell him we know," John answered.

"I don't know about that," Albus responded, "There's a reason he's not telling us. I think we should let him tell us."

"How do we hide that we don't know, Albus?" John asked.

"We just do," Albus said adamantly, "Anyway, it's got to be harder for Matt to keep this secret than us hiding the fact that we know. He's got to tell us sooner or later."

"I think Albus is right, John," Rose agreed, "He'll tell us soon. This has got to be something he tells us. He has to be ready."

"Fine," John sighed. The four friends sat in silence for a moment, succumbing to their own thoughts about Matt's lycanthropy.

Madam Pomfrey and Healer Sterling came rushing out behind the curtains, and once they did, the Muffliato charm broke.

"I think I can treat him here, Poppy," Sterling said to Madam Pomfrey, "I don't think there's any need to move him to St. Mungo's, unless he gets worse."

"Oh, good," Madam Pomfrey sighed with relief, "That must mean it's not as bad as I thought."

"No, it's not quite that bad. It will take a while to treat, but he will recover perfectly fine," Sterling assured her, "Right now I've got to take these notes back to St. Mungo's and consult with some other Healers. I'll also contact his parents. I should be back sometime in the afternoon. Just keep administering the potions every hour until then."

"I'll see you later, then," Madam Pomfrey bade him goodbye as he left the room.

"I think it's time for you three to leave," she announced, "Mr. Potter needs his rest and he's got to take a few more potions."

"See you, Albus," John got up and started towards the door.

"Bye," Amanda followed behind John.

"Glad you're ok," Rose got up, "When do you get to leave?"

"Tomorrow morning," Madam Pomfrey answered.

"Can we see Matt?" Rose asked.

"Absolutely not," Madam Pomfrey said sternly, "He's in no condition for visitors."

"Ok, ok," Rose responded, "Bye, Albus."

"Bye."

[DucksRMagical]

This is the last chapter I'll be posting before classes start again. I'll try to keep up with the once weekly chapters, but I can't guarantee anything.

Chapter 21: Worry and Fear

Throughout the rest of the day, Healer Sterling popped in and out of the Hospital Wing, bringing with him various potions from St. Mungo's. Shortly after lunch, Matt's parents showed up and they stayed until the evening. Everyone kept using the Muffliato charm against Albus, so he was unable to listen in on any conversations. Eventually he gave up on trying to find out any information about Matt's condition and fell asleep. Madam Pomfrey let Albus leave the Hospital Wing early Monday morning, while breakfast was still going on in the Great Hall. Albus was quite bored with the Hospital Wing and once Madam Pomfrey had deemed him well, he ran straight to the Great Hall. John, Amanda, and Rose were all sitting together, whispering.

"Albus!" John shouted once Albus had sat down next to him, "All better then?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Albus assured him, "Bit hungry, though." Albus piled his plate with eggs and toast.

"We were just talking about Matt," Rose informed him, "How is he doing?"

"I'm really not sure," Albus said through a mouthful of toast, "I couldn't hear a word anyone was saying. They're being very secretive."

"Is he awake yet?" Amanda asked.

"No, he's not," Albus sighed, "At least I don't think so. The bits of conversation that I have been able to hear are mostly about figuring out how to wake him up."

"No chance of visiting him, then?" John wondered aloud.

"Don't think so," Albus told him, "I mean, Madam Pomfrey's still keeping the door locked. You have to say who you are and what you want in order to get in. The only ones who've been allowed to visit are his parents and Amy."

"Oh," John sounded disappointed, "I hope she lets us in soon."

"Scorpius Malfoy tried to get in," Albus lowered his voice, "Last night."

"What the hell did he want?" John growled, "Slimy git."

"Wanted to find out what's wrong with Matt," Albus answered, "He's way too nosy. Anyway, he banged on the door and told Madam Pomfrey he had a nose bleed. But he'd only taken a Nose Bleed Nougat, because once he got in, I saw him eat the other half and the blood stopped immediately. While Madam Pomfrey was shutting the door after him and locking it, he ran over to Matt's bed."

"He didn't see him, did he?" Rose asked anxiously.

"No, the curtains were up. Amy noticed him and she was looking murderous. She yelled at him to go away and mind his own business. Then Madam Pomfrey came back over and noticed he wasn't bleeding anymore and made him leave. Said she was going to tell Slughorn about it. I hope he gets detention."

"Wow, he doesn't give up, does he?" John responded.

"No, he doesn't," Albus agreed, "We're gonna have to be careful about him."

"Post is here," Amanda looked up and commented on the owls swooping into the room.

"Albus, look," Rose pointed to a copy of the Daily Prophet that had been delivered to the girl sitting across from them.

Albus glanced at the paper and immediately noticed what Rose was showing him. The front page headline was 'Mysterious Deaths Mystify Ministry Aurors' with a rather large picture of Harry below it. Albus turned to Rose, "What's that about?"

"I don't know, but I don't like the sound of it," Rose answered. "Can I borrow that?" she asked the girl.

The girl looked at them, and then the article, "Sure, but I'd like it back when you're done." She gave them one last look and then turned to her friend and the two of them started whispering.

Rose took the paper and put it in between her and Albus.

Mysterious Deaths Mystify Ministry Aurors

It started with the murder of Hogwart DADA teacher, Eric Torro, in the beginning of September. Supposedly, the Aurors looked into the death immediately, but there have been no leads. Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, the Chosen One, Head Auror, and Hogwarts DADA teacher, has been leading the investigation. But are his teaching duties getting in the way of his Auror duties? There have also been no leads in the death of Jasmine Lamski, which occurred a month ago. We asked if these deaths are connected, but the Auror office responded with 'no comment'. Do they know more than they're telling us? It is these kinds of murders that remind many of us of Lord Voldemort's time of terror. Could there still be Dark Wizards among us? Is the Auror Office doing enough to stop them? And more importantly, should Harry Potter be teaching kids when his efforts are obviously needed in the Auror Office? Despite this, Harry Potter assures the Wizarding World that things 'are under control and there is no need to worry.' People are being murdered and the murderers are not being caught. It might indeed be time to worry.

"That's rubbish!" Albus shouted when he finished the article.

"What?" John asked, trying to read upside down.

"Read this," Albus grumbled as he handed John and Amanda the paper. "Who wrote it?" he asked Rose.

"Rita Skeeter," Rose told him.

"Figures!" Albus shouted, "She's always twisting the truth."

"Doesn't look like the teachers are too happy about it," Rose pointed to the staff table, where all the teachers were whispering amongst themselves. Most of them wore looks of worry and anger. The only one who wasn't whispering was Washburn, who was glaring at the students, just like he usually did. Harry was noticeably absent from the table.

"Blimey," John let out a low whistle, "That's the way to scare everybody."

"There aren't really still Dark Wizards are there?" Amanda asked quietly, she was pale as a ghost.

"'Course there are," Albus told her, "There's always evil in the world. But it's not like Voldemort's coming back or anything. If my dad says there's nothing to worry about, then there isn't."

"Ok, but it's still scary," Amanda responded.

"That's what Rita Skeeter wants," Albus informed her, "That's what she does. She's rarely ever written anything that's she hasn't stretched the truth."

"But what about those dreams and Legilimency?" Rose asked, "Even your dad admits there's something going on with that?"

"I know, but he's taking care of it," Albus assured her, "I mean sure, it's scary, but I don't think it required an article that strikes worry and fear into everyone. No one besides you lot and my family know anything about those dreams. So to them, it's just like someone just started randomly killing a few people."

"That's true," John agreed, "Where's your dad?"

"I dunno," Albus told him, "I saw him last night in the Hospital Wing. He's probably at the Ministry, trying to smooth everything over with this article. If people start complaining that the Aurors aren't doing enough, then he could lose his job here."

"Bloody hell," John exclaimed, "That wouldn't be right. I'm sure the Aurors are doing a good job."

"Quiet!" Professor Kendrick had stood up. The room fell silent as he did so. "Thank you. Now, I'm sure most of you have read today's front page article in the Prophet. I want to assure you all that we are perfectly safe and there is no need to worry. Certain journalists often have the habit of stretching the truth in order to scare people, and that is what is going on here. The Aurors are doing everything in their power to catch whoever murdered Professor Torro and Jasmine Lamski. I also need to inform you that DADA lessons will not take place today, because Professor Potter is spending the day at the Auror Office and the Ministry, trying to calm everyone down. If you have DADA today, please use the time to study for your upcoming exams. That is all." Professor Kendrick sat back down and resumed his conversation with Neville.

Once Kendrick had finished his speech, whispering resumed amongst the students. Anyone who had not seen the article before, was now scrambling to find a copy of the Prophet.

"Well, what're we going to do with our free period, then?" John asked. The Gryffindor first years had DADA first that day.

"I've got homework to finish," Amanda groaned, "Essay for Herbology."

"Ugh, don't remind me," John groaned as well, "I haven't finished it either."

"Well, then you do need reminding!" Rose exclaimed, "I finished that over the weekend."

"Me, too," Albus commented.

"Why don't we go finish it, then, John?" Amanda suggested, "The common room will be pretty quiet with everyone off in class."

"Fine," John reluctantly agreed. He stood up and headed off with Amanda to finish the essay.

"That couldn't have worked out better," Rose whispered to Albus, "Now we can go to the library and resume our research."

"Good thinking," Albus told her, "I've finished that other book. Returned it a few days ago. I'd better get another."

"I've looked through three, but there's loads others," Rose informed him. She started walking out of the Great Hall, with Albus following, "But I haven't found anything useful."

"Me, neither."

Albus and Rose were pleased to find that the library was rather empty. There were a few older students who had a free period, but all of them seemed too busy studying to notice the two first years. They headed straight to the book shelf that held the books they had previously looked at.

"Are we really going to have to look through all of these?" Albus wondered aloud.

"Hopefully not," Rose said as she pulled out a rather large book, "Once we find something about Hallows, we can stop."

"I'm beginning to doubt if that's going to happen," Albus responded.

"I sure hope we find something soon," Rose opened her book and glanced quickly at the table of contents, "Exams will be in a few months, so we're going to have to start studying more, which means less time for this."

"Yeah, maybe we'll get lucky today," Albus hoped, "Want to go find a table?" He had picked out two books to look at.

"Sure," Rose followed Albus into a secluded part of the library, away from Madam Pince and the other students. They read silently for fifteen minutes.

"Well, this book's absolute rubbish," Albus closed his first book, "Says Dad and Voldemort dueled for half a day before Voldemort finally died."

Rose broke out laughing, "Really?! Wow, amazing that got published."

Albus set aside that book and opened the other one, "This looks a bit better."

"Well, look who it is?" someone said from behind Rose.

Albus glanced up. "And what do you want, Malfoy?"

"Just seeing what you're up to on your free time," Malfoy smiled smugly, "I'm assuming you read the article."

"Yeah, I did," Albus said coldly, "But it's not true. Just someone trying to stir up trouble."

"Never can tell, though, can you?" Malfoy sat down at their table, "The Ministry's often hushing things up."

"What do you know about that?" Rose asked.

"Nothing, nothing, just stuff I've overheard my father saying," Malfoy looked over at the book Rose was reading.

"A History of Lord Voldemort," Malfoy read the title, "Interesting reading. Why are you reading it?"

"Just a bit of background reading, never can learn too much."

"Hmm," Malfoy looked at Albus, "So, I hear you got into a bit of a duel the other day."

Albus turned red, "Uh, yeah."

Malfoy smirked, "Can't really take on three seventh years."

"He disarmed Willinson," Rose said angrily, "And is it really your business?"

"No, not really, but I still want to know."

"I could've taken on Willinson," Albus added, "He's horrible at dueling. But his two mates got me."

"That's true, Willinson's dueling skills leave a lot to be desired," Malfoy agreed, "But he's smart enough not to duel without others on his side."

"Good for him," Albus mumbled.

"Well, we'd better be off to Charms," Rose slammed her book shut and got up.

"Yeah, bye," Albus muttered and followed Rose. They checked out their books, which got them more inquiring glares from Madam Pince, and headed off to Charms.

Charms was surprisingly uneventful. Professor Washburn did inquire where Matt was, but he seemed satisfied with 'in the Hospital Wing' as an answer. Double Herbology went as usual, although Neville seemed kind of tense and distracted during the class. Albus had assumed this was because of Rita Skeeter's article. Both John and Amanda had managed to finish their essays, although John's wasn't long enough.

"We should see if we can visit Matt tomorrow evening," Rose announced at dinner.

"Definitely," John agreed, "If Madam Pomfrey lets us."

"I can't," Albus said, "I've got Occlumency tomorrow."

"Oh, that's right!" Rose responded, "I'd completely forgotten. I'll just skip that lesson, then."

Albus laughed, "Well, you don't even have to do it anyway."

"I know, but it's really interesting stuff."

"I hope Matt's ok," Albus said in a worried tone, "Madam Pomfrey seemed so worried."

"I wonder how long he'll be stuck in there," John asked.

"I dunno," Albus answered, "I just hope he's conscious now."

"We should probably bring his homework," Rose suggested.

"That'll cheer him up," John said sarcastically.

"He needs to do it if he's going to keep up with classes!"

"True," John agreed, "Speaking of homework, has anyone finished that essay for Slughorn that's due tomorrow?"

"I did," Rose said, "But let me guess, you haven't?"

"Nope," John grinned, "Want to lend me your notes?"

"Not really," Rose shook her head.

"I finished it," Amanda added, she had been rather quiet throughout the whole conversation. Albus could tell that the idea of Matt being a werewolf freaked her out a little bit. He could understand, considering up until a few months ago, she hadn't even known werewolves were real. But he did hope Amanda wouldn't start treating Matt differently.

"Good, I'll use your notes!"

"I'm not quite finished with it either," Albus informed them, "I've just got to write three more inches, then it'll be done."

The four friends finished up their pudding and headed back to the common room. John worked on his essay with Amanda's help, while Albus finished his. Rose did other homework, and eventually she decided to help John as well.

[DucksRMagical]

Chapter 22: A New Nightmare

Shortly before seven the next evening, James and Albus headed to Occlumency, while John, Rose, and Amanda went to the Hospital Wing. As it turned out, the teachers told Rose that they had already sent Matt's homework to the Hospital Wing and there was no need for her to collect it.

"People talking about that article in your classes?" Albus asked his brother on the way to the Transfiguration classroom.

"Yeah," James responded, "They always stop right when the teacher comes in, though."

"Everyone in my classes have been whispering about it. They try to talk quietly so I can't hear them, but I can," Albus informed him.

"That's what it's like for me, too," James said, "But you know Peyton Haines, the Slytherin Chaser? Well, he keeps loudly discussing how the Auror Department unable to do anything and everyone's in severe danger. Always within earshot of me, too."

"Git," Albus growled.

"I heard he scared the hell out of the Hufflepuffs in Charms today. Said he heard all the Death Eaters had broken out of Azkaban and no one had caught them yet. Load of rubbish. Got away with it, too, because Washburn wasn't in the room yet."

"Probably wouldn't have mattered if he was in the room," Albus muttered, "Slytherins can do no wrong in his eyes."

James opened the door to the Transfiguration room and walked inside, Albus followed. Hermione was already there.

"Hi, boys!" she smiled and gave them each a hug.

"Hi, Aunt Hermione," Albus and James greeted her.

"When's Dad coming back?" Albus asked.

"Yeah, good question," James chimed in, "And what's with that article?"

Hermione's smile faded and she gestured for the boys to sit down. "He'll be back later tonight, so don't worry about that. And as for the article... Well, you both know that most everything Rita Skeeter writes is rubbish."

James and Albus nodded.

"That article was written for the sole purpose of scaring people. All the article did was raise questions. The article itself was just a load of questions. The murders do remind people of Voldemort's reign, so it was quite easy to just write this article and send people into a panic. The fact that the Aurors have no leads in either murder just fueled the fire. But I can assure you that whatever is going on, your father and the other Aurors are taking care of it. And he is perfectly capable of teaching here and heading the Auror department," Hermione told them.

"So there is something going on?" Albus asked.

"Yes, of course something's going on. There have been two mysterious murders, and someone is trying to see your thoughts," Hermione explained, "But it is nothing the Ministry can't handle."

"So, do you know what's going on?" James asked.

"Your dad has a few inklings and he has expressed them to me, but I can't tell you them," Hermione answered, "Now we've got to start the lesson. Open your books to page 50."

Albus and James opened their books and Hermione lectured them for a half hour. Albus found this part of the lessons extremely boring, but every lesson started this way. Albus didn't expect any different from his Aunt Hermione, who was always trying to get him to read a lot of books. Eventually, the lecture part of the lesson was over and the practical part began.

Albus had been getting better at Occlumency. He had yet to prevent Hermione from entering his mind, but usually managed to force her out after a few minutes.

"Albus, you first."

Albus got up from his chair and stood in front of his aunt. "Remember to close your mind. Legilemens!" she shouted.

Albus stood there, being flooded with his own memories, for a few minutes. He saw James levitating Albus's glass of pumpkin juice at last summer's family reunion, the time he got lost in a Muggle grocery store when he was five, and the first time he ever rode a broom. Albus concentrated hard on blocking out all thoughts, and he was able to force Hermione out of his mind.

"Good job, Al!" Hermione congratulated him, "It took you less time than last lesson."

Albus tried two more times, both times producing the same results as the first, and then he sat down to watch James.

James had been having a much more difficult time than Albus. He had only been successful once, and it had taken him nearly ten minutes. This time proved to be no different, and after fifteen minutes, James had not been able to force Hermione out of his mind. The last try, he had even wound up laying on the floor. Hermione had thought that was enough, and James and Albus went back to the common room.

"How'd it go?" Rose asked, when Albus sat down next to her. Rose, John, and Amanda were all sitting at one of the tables, doing homework.

"Pretty good," Albus answered, "It's taking me less time to get your mum out of my mind. But James can't get her out at all."

"He'll get there eventually," Rose responded.

"Did you get to see Matt?" Albus asked as he pulled out his Potions homework.

"No," John said sadly, "He's still unconscious. And Madam Pomfrey still has the doors locked. She's got a really short temper, too."

"Yeah, Scorpius Malfoy was skulking around!" Rose exclaimed, "We went up there and he was trying to listen in through the door."

"Little git," Albus muttered, "So what happened?"

"We told him to go away, but he wouldn't," John explained, "He whipped out his wand and tried to hex Amanda, but missed her. Madam Pomfrey came out when she heard the commotion and told him to get back to his common room or she'd get Slughorn. Then she told us Matt was still unconscious and we wouldn't be able to see him."

"Malfoy's really got to stop investigating this," Albus responded, "He can't find out. He's got to mind his own business."

"We can't let anyone find out," Rose agreed.

"But he's still not up?" Albus sighed, "Whatever is going on, it sounds really bad."

"I know," Rose shook her head.

"Well, his birthday is next week," John reminded them.

"Oh, yeah, on the sixth, Wednesday," Albus remembered.

"I think we should do something for it," John stated, "Even if he's still in the Hospital Wing."

"I bet he will be," Rose said, "But we can still do something if we're allowed in."

"Let's plan it, then," John announced, "Our first Hogwarts birthday party. Because you guys didn't do anything for mine," he added.

"Your birthday was over break!" Rose lightly smacked him with her DADA book.

"I know," John grinned, "Anyway, we could bring some food into the Hospital Wing and have the party there."

"Great idea!" Albus grinned.

"But none of us know where the kitchens are," Amanda reminded them.

"No problem," Albus glanced around the common room, "Oi! Bradley, Mark!" he waved his two cousins over.

"Whatcha need, Albus?" Bradley asked as he sat down in an empty chair at the table.

"We're going to have a little birthday party for our friend, Matt," Albus told them, "But none of us know where the kitchens are. So, since there's a Hogsmeade visit on Saturday, could you get us some stuff?"

"Sure, no problem," Mark said, "Butterbeers and some stuff from Honeyduke's sound good?"

"Yeah, that'd be great."

"What should we get him for a present?" Rose asked.

"Hmm, I dunno..." John stopped to think, "Stuff from Weasley's is always good."

"How about a Chudley Cannons jersey?" Albus suggested.

"Sounds good!" John agreed. Rose and Amanda nodded their heads.

"Anywhere in Hogsmeade that you could get one of those?" Albus asked his cousins.

"The Quaffle Shop should have it. I've only been there once. It just opened up this past summer," Bradley told them, "I can get you one."

"Thanks!" Albus grinned.

"But you'll have to give us money for everything," Mark told them.

Albus, John, Rose, and Amanda each forked over a couple sickles and handed them to Mark.

"Ok, we'll get the stuff and give it to you when we get back," Bradley said, and he and Mark rejoined their friends on the other side of the common room.

"It's really rotten luck that he's going to be in the Hospital Wing on his birthday," John commented.

"Yeah, but we'll try to cheer him up," Albus reasoned.

"What if Madam Pomfrey doesn't let us in?" Amanda wondered.

"She better," Rose stated, "But she's got to, it'll be his birthday. If anything, we can always get Amy to let us in."

"True, she'd be able to convince Madam Pomfrey. She's got some temper," John laughed.

"Just as long as we don't ask her too many questions," Rose said, "Amy obviously doesn't want anyone knowing about Matt's, er, problem."

"We won't," Albus told her, "Hopefully Madam Pomfrey will just let us in and we won't need Amy to do any convincing."

Rose glanced at her watch, "Well, it's getting kind of late. I'm going to bed," she started packing up her books, "Did you all finish your homework?"

"Yep," they all answered.

"Good night, then," Rose got up and walked over to the girl's dormitories.

"I guess I'll go to bed, too," Albus put his books away and got up.

"Me, too," John and Amanda put their stuff away. Amanda caught up with Rose and followed her up the stairs.

John headed up to the boy's dormitories with Albus. As Albus got ready for bed, he thought about Matt's birthday party. He hoped that Matt would be up for it, and that Madam Pomfrey would let them in. Hopefully, they would be able to have the party and that it would cheer Matt up. He also wondered how much longer Matt would be able to keep his secret from his friends. Albus only hoped that someday, Matt would trust them enough to tell them. He got into bed and his thoughts drifted to Scorpius Malfoy and how suspicious he was about Matt. Would they be able to keep him from finding out? And what would happen if he did find out one day? The thought of Scorpius finding out worried Albus right until he fell asleep.

******

"His ideals will be realized," a cold voice surrounded Albus.

"Whose ideals?" Albus asked.

"The one you fear the most," the voice answered. It was coming from a cloaked figure that was circling Albus. They were in a dark, small room. Albus was sitting in a hard chair in the middle.

"Voldemort?" Albus responded nervously, "But he's dead."

"It doesn't matter!" the voice screamed, "There are others to carry out his plans!"

"They're all in Azkaban." Albus tried to make out who the cloaked figure was, but it was too dark.

"Not all of them. There are some who roam free," the figure whispered in Albus's ear, "Now, perhaps you can help me."

"Sorry, I can't," Albus glared at him, feeling braver than he had a second ago.

"Oh, I think you can," the figure pulled out his wand and pointed it at Albus. He muttered a spell and Albus's hands and feet became bound by magical rope. "Now, maybe you can tell me where the Hallows are?"

Albus's eyes widened and he stared at the man, "What do you know about Hallows?"

"Not nearly as much as you do," the man answered, "Now tell me where they are!"

"I don't know!" Albus shouted, feeling the ropes constrict his hands. He winced in pain.

"I'm sure you do!"

"NO! I don't!" The ropes dug into his wrists even more as he felt the circulation to his hands being cut off.

"Tell me!" The man forcefully shook Albus's chair. "You don't want to know what I'll do if you don't!"

"But I don't even know what Hallows are!" Albus screamed in pain, "What are they?!"

"You know perfectly well what they are! Now tell me where they are!"

"NO!"

"Tell!" the man shook the chair so hard it fell over, taking Albus with it. He screamed as his head hit the cold, hard floor.

A/N: Nice cliffhanger, right? I think that's the first big cliffhanger of the fic.

[DucksRMagical]

Next chapter! One of my favorite minor characters from PoA comes back in this chapter.

Chapter 23: Planning and Quests

"Albus!" an anxious voice whispered, "Wake up!"

"No, no, no, I don't know what they are..." Albus moaned in his sleep.

"It's just a dream, wake up," a warm hand shook him gently, and Albus wrenched his eyes open. He saw John looking down at him with a scared look on his face. Bilius and Ethan were behind him, glancing around nervously.

Albus rubbed his eyes and noticed he was not on his bed anymore. He was laying on the floor, in a tangle of blankets. He was sweating profusely and his heart was beating fast.

"Should I get Madam Pomfrey?" Bilius asked tentatively.

"Maybe we should get Professor Potter," John responded.

"Is he back yet?" Ethan questioned.

Albus started to de-tangle himself from the bedclothes. He knew what the dream had been. And he knew he needed to see his dad as soon as possible. "I'm fine, I've just got to go talk to my dad."

"D'you want me to go with you?" John asked.

"No, I'll be fine," Albus got up and rummaged in his trunk for his dressing robe.

"Are you sure? You don't look too good."

Albus pulled on his robe and stepped into his shoes, "I told you, I'll be fine." He left the dormitory and went down to the deserted common room. A glance at the clock told him it was just past four a.m. He was about to exit through the portrait hole, when he remembered what his dad had told him over Christmas. No more wandering the corridors. He looked around the room to try and find a portrait that was awake. He spotted one in a picture of a herd of cattle, it was a short knight riding atop a fat pony.

"Excuse me," Albus asked tentatively as he walked over to the picture, "I was wondering if you could do something for me? If it's not too much trouble. I need you to go get someone for me."

The knight puffed out his chest and turned his pony towards Albus, "A quest?"

"Er, well, I suppose you could consider it a quest. Who are you?"

"I, am Sir Cadogan, at your service!" the knight saluted Albus and bowed his head low.

"Um, ok, and I'm Albus Potter. I was wondering if you could go get my dad. Harry Potter."

"Harry Potter! Quite the nice young lad, I remember him well. I helped him on a quest once! And you are his son. Well, I shall help you on your quest. I shall not let scoundrel nor beast stop me! I will find your dad or I shall perish trying!"

"Thanks, then," Albus responded, thinking that this was the strangest portrait he'd ever met. And that he'd have to ask his dad about the 'quest' Sir Cadogan had helped him with. "Just tell him to come to Gryffindor Tower, and that it's very important."

"I will do just that!" the strange knight replied, "Off I go then! Nothing shall stop me. Sir Cadogan lets nothing get in the way of his quests. A quest to find the great Harry Potter! On with ye, then!" he shouted at his pony. Sir Cadogan traveled through a few portraits in the common room, waking up the occupants and earning nasty looks from them as he went. Eventually, the noise died down and Sir Cadogan exited the room.

Albus looked around the common room as he waited for his dad. It was very different in the dead of night. He was the sole occupant and had his choice of places to sit. As a first year, Albus rarely got the good arm chairs near the fire. He walked over and sat down in one, but as the fire had died away hours ago, it was just as cold as the rest of the room. Albus sighed as he stared into the empty fireplace. What had that dream meant? Who was the hooded figure and why did they think that Albus knew where the 'Hallows' were? As Albus thought about this, he realized that as horrible as the dream had been, it did give him more information on the 'Hallows'. He now knew that they were objects. Objects that someone was trying to locate and probably steal. He would have to tell Rose when she got up. But what were the 'Hallows'? And why did this person want them? It must have something to do with Voldemort's 'ideals', of course. Whoever was creating these dreams in Albus's mind must want to try to carry out Voldemort's plans. The very thought of another Voldemort sent shivers up Albus's spine. He jumped as he heard a noise behind him. When he turned around, he noticed that Sir Cadogan was back in the picture of the cows. Albus got up and walked over to it.

Sir Cadogan placed his sword into its holster and saluted Albus, "I have had success with the quest! The Great Harry Potter has been found and shall be entering the room shortly!"

Albus looked at the knight and grinned nervously, "Thanks, Sir Cadogan."

"Anytime! Anytime!" the knight said excitedly, "I must be off now, for I spotted someone on the way back and I've got to see what they are up to! No scoundrel gets past Sir Cadogan!"

"Right," Albus responded.

"Well, then, I'll be off!" Sir Cadogan drew his sword again, "But if you are ever in need of knightly service again, be sure to call on Sir Cadogan!" The strange knight and his pony sped out of the portrait, yet again waking the occupants of the portraits he passed through, and left the room.

The portrait hole opened and a very tired looking Harry crawled through. He looked at his son and grinned, "Ah, the amount of times I snuck back through here in the dead of night..."

Albus ran towards his dad and hugged him tight. Harry hugged him back and led him over to the large arm chairs near the fire. Harry sat down in one and pulled Albus onto his lap. "What's going on? I was just getting to sleep when that mad knight came in and told me you needed to talk to me. Wouldn't give me any details, just said it was urgent. I thought he was going to wake half the castle, the way he was shouting through the corridors," Harry laughed.

Albus looked at his dad and laughed nervously, "He was the only one awake. Seemed very eager to go on a quest. And he said he'd taken you on a quest once. I'd like to know all about that."

Harry grinned, thinking back to the time in his third year when Sir Cadogan had led him, Ron, and Hermione to the Divination classroom. "Of course. How could I forget that? I was in third year and your Uncle Ron, Aunt Hermione, and I were trying to find the Divination room. Sir Cadogan helped us find it. We did get there, but he is a bit insane. Later on that year he was recruited to guard the Gryffindor common room entrance after Sirius slashed the Fat Lady's portrait. Of course, everyone thought he was a mass murderer and when Sir Cadogan let him into the common room later on, his days as the guard of the room were over."

Albus stared at him, "Wow. Well, he's got to be the most insane portrait I've ever met."

"Me, too, Al," Harry agreed, "Now, what was so urgent?"

"I had another dream," Albus whispered, "Only this one was different."

Harry's smile faded away and was replaced by a more serious look, "What happened in this one?"

Albus quickly rehashed the dream to his dad, and by the end he was shaking again and almost in tears. Harry wrapped his arms around Albus and held him close.

"It's ok, Al," Harry reassured him, "But thanks for letting me know. I hate to say it, but that dream does help confirm what I thought this was leading to."

"And what would that be?" Albus asked, blinking back his tears.

"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you. You will find out, though, once it's all sorted out."

"But what are Hallows?"

"That's another thing I can't tell you. I will tell you sometime down the road, though," Harry responded, "Anyway, Hermione tells me your Occlumency lessons are going well."

"Apparently not well enough," Albus groaned, "After tonight's nightmare."

"It takes a while, Al, and it's harder when you're sleeping."

"I know, and I am trying."

"I know you are."

"So," Albus said, changing the subject, "Did everything go ok at the Ministry?"

"Oh, that went fine," Harry told him, "Everything's smoothed over. Rita Skeeter's received a warning and so has the editor of the Prophet."

"Everyone here's been pretty worried. Rita Skeeter succeeded in scaring everyone," Albus responded.

"Yeah, but it'll die down. Once the next Quidditch match comes around it'll all be forgotten," Harry grinned, "Nothing like Quidditch to take your mind off everything."

"Definitely," Albus agreed, "Next match is in three weeks. Hufflepuff vs. Ravenclaw. I bet Ravenclaw will win."

"You're probably right. I'm betting it'll be between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw for the cup."

"Yeah, and I hope we win it!" Albus said excitedly.

"Me, too, Al," Harry smiled and lifted Albus off his lap, "Now, I've got to get a few hours sleep and you probably should, too."

"Ok," Albus yawned.

"I'll see you in class later on, Al," Harry stood up and gave his son one last hug, "I love you."

"Love you too," Albus watched as his dad left the common room. He smiled as he walked up the circular staircase to the dormitory. He felt a whole lot better after talking to his dad.

"Albus," John whispered from his four poster bed, "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," Albus whispered back as he climbed into bed, "Are Ethan and Bilius sleeping?"

"I think so, one of them started snoring a few minutes ago," John told him.

"Good. I had another one of those dreams where someone's using Legilimency on me."

"I figured. Was it the same one?"

"No, this one was different. My dad says it confirms some of his suspicions, which isn't really good. He'll take care of it, though."

"Good. So he's back, then?"

"Yup, everything's fine with the Ministry and the Prophet, now. Well, Rita Skeeter and the editor of the Prophet got into a bit of trouble," Albus laughed.

"That's great! I'm glad your dad's back. Now things can get back to normal. Well, as normal as they ever are around here."

"Yeah," Albus said softly, "Well, good night."

"'Night."

******

Albus didn't get much sleep that night. Thoughts of his new nightmare kept him up the rest of the night. He gave up trying to sleep by 7am and got up. By the time John woke up, he was ready to go to breakfast. The two boys met Rose and Amanda at the Gryffindor table and had breakfast. Albus noticed that there was a lot of whispering going on and he suspected it was due to the fact that Harry was back from the Ministry. Albus continued thinking about his nightmare during breakfast and was very quiet. John and Amanda did not notice this because they were in the middle of arguing about whether the Potions essay had to be a foot of parchment or just six inches. Albus suspected Amanda was right and the essay had to be a foot. Rose, however, kept looking at Albus while she ate her food.

"Is something wrong?" she asked him.

Albus glanced around to check if anyone was paying attention to them, luckily, no one was. "Yeah, I had another weird dream last night. This one was different."

"Really?" Rose stared at him with wide eyes. "What was it about?"

"Can't tell you here. I'll tell you at lunch. I've got to tell James, too. The common room should be empty when everyone's at lunch," Albus whispered.

Morning classes seemed to drag on forever. Albus kept looking at the clock throughout both DADA and charms, waiting for lunch. He really wanted Rose's opinion of the dream and couldn't wait to tell her about the Hallows aspect of it. Harry started DADA by telling the class that everything was straightened out with the Ministry and they had nothing to worry about. Albus suspected he was going to tell every class that. Charms was just as horrible as usual, and it ended with Washburn rescheduling the detention that Albus couldn't attend earlier due to Occlumency. He would be doing lines at noon on Saturday.

Once Charms was over, Albus and Rose went to find James. Rose had told John and Amanda that the Potions essay did have to be a foot, so John was spending his lunch in the library trying to come up with another half foot of essay. Amanda had gone along to help him. Albus and Rose found James in the Great Hall and after the three of them ate a rushed lunch, they headed up to the common room. It was, as suspected, deserted.

"Ok, so what's so important that I had to practically skip lunch for?" James asked once they were in the room.

"I had another funny dream last night," Albus told him, "This one was different." Albus explained the dream in detail, including the parts about the Hallows.

James and Rose stared at Albus for a few moments before Rose spoke, "Well, this is is kind of good. Now we know that the Hallows are objects. I was almost thinking that they were a series of spells or something."

"But we still don't know what they are," James sighed.

"Or why I should know where they are," Albus stated, "This would be a whole lot easier if Dad would just tell us."

"But he won't," James replied angrily.

"And I hate to say it, but I don't think we're going to find any answers in the library. We've looked in practically all the books that have to do with the war and I've looked through all the Prophets from that year, too," Rose told them.

The three of them stood in silence for a few minutes, trying to think of some answers. James had started pacing. Albus sat down in a chair and tried to think of some other way they could find out what the Hallows were.

"Well, let's go over the clues again," Rose announced, "The Hallows are something secretive, and our parents won't tell us what they are because they don't want us to tell anyone. None of our aunts or uncles or cousins know about them either. So, maybe it's just our parents who know about them? If that's true, then no wonder we couldn't find the answer in a book. None of our parents have ever written a book."

"Yeah," James agreed, "It's got to be something just our parents know about."

"Well, they were the ones who destroyed most of the Horcruxes. Maybe it's got something to do with that?" Albus suggested.

"That could be," James agreed, "If only there was someone else we could ask about it."

The room fell silent again, as they sank into their thoughts again. Suddenly Rose jumped up from her chair. "I've got it!"

"What?" James and Albus asked at the same time.

"Who we can ask about the Hallows! I can't believe I didn't think of it before!"

"Well, who is it?" Albus asked.

"Dumbledore!"

"What?!" James shouted, "But he's dead!"

"I know that," Rose said, "But there's a portrait of him in Kendrick's office!"

"Oh, yeah."

"Anyway," Rose began, "Dumbledore's the one who told Uncle Harry about the Horcruxes, so he might know something about the Hallows, too!"

"That's genius, Rose!" Albus grinned at her.

"Thanks. We just have to figure out how to get into Kendrick's office."

"That could be tricky," Albus said, "Either of you know where his office is?"

Rose and James shook their heads. "Neither do I," Albus sighed.

A mischievous grin spread across Rose's face, "But I know how we can get in."

The boys looked at her skeptically. "How?" James asked.

"Well, if you get in enough trouble, you get taken to Kendrick's office."

"But what if we get expelled?" Albus asked warily.

"Don't worry, you won't."

"You've got a plan, then?" James inquired.

"Sort of," Rose told them, "I've got a vague idea. It'll be me and Albus who are doing it. I'm going to cause some kind of mayhem in Washubrn's class-"

"Washburn?! Are you crazy?" Albus shouted.

"Just let me explain. Washburn doesn't hate me nearly as much as he hates you. So he's going to assume the chaos was caused by you since we sit at the same table. He'll start screaming, which will probably cause another teacher to come running. Washburn will tell that teacher what you supposedly did and you'll get taken to Kendrick's office. You'll talk to Dumbledore's portrait about the Hallows. Simple as that."

James and Albus looked at her with shocked expressions on their faces. "But I'll get in huge trouble," Albus said flatly.

"No, you won't," Rose assured him, "I might, but you won't. After Washburn dismisses the class, I'll run to Uncle Harry and tell him it was really me who caused the distraction."

"But I don't want you to get in trouble, either," Albus told her.

"It's ok. I have hardly been in trouble at all this year. Anyway, all we need is the distraction."

"I've got it," James announced, "One of Uncle George's fireworks. I've got a whole supply up in my dormitory."

"Excellent!" Rose said excitedly, "And I'll just tell Uncle Harry that it went off accidentally. I'll probably just end up with lines or something for having a banned object in my possession."

"Perfect," Albus smiled, finally satisfied that no one would get in huge trouble.

"I think we ought to wait a few weeks to do it, since you just got a detention from Washburn, Albus," Rose told them.

"Ok, just let us know when you think we ought to do it," James responded.

"I will," Rose assured him, "We'd better be off to class. See you later."

"Bye," Albus said to James as he followed Rose to Potions. He was excited and nervous at the same time at the prospect of talking with Dumbledore about the Hallows. Would he finally learn what was being kept from him? Only time would tell.

[DucksRMagical]

Chapter 24: Birthday Stories and Suspicious Jobs

The rest of the week flew by in a flurry of classes and homework. Albus and his friends found that they had no time to do anything other than homework during their spare time. They had not even found time to visit Matt, but they didn't even know if he was awake yet. Rose was already freaking out over the end of term exams, which were still over four months away, and was using every waking moment to study. Albus was not yet worried about exams and was more concerned about just completing all the assigned homework.

Quinton Willinson had not bothered Albus or any of his friends since Albus had left the Hospital Wing. Albus was not sure whether this was due to Willinson's upcoming N.E.W.T. exams, the large amount of detentions he received, or fear of what Harry would do if he continued tormenting Albus. Albus did not care which one it was, he was just glad Willinson had given up for the time being. However, the same could not be said about Scorpius Malfoy. Malfoy continued to pester Albus, Rose, John, and Amanda about what was wrong with Matt whenever they were in class together. Albus found this more annoying than anything else, because Malfoy rarely ever brought out his wand during these confrontations. Malfoy kind of reminded Albus of his Great Aunt Petunia because she was also very nosy. Malfoy stood no chance of ever finding out about Matt from Albus or the others, but Albus did worry about what would happen if Malfoy found out on his own.

Albus slept late on Saturday morning and woke up with just enough time to grab a bite to eat in the Great Hall before rushing off to his detention with Washburn. As much as Albus hated these detentions, he had become kind of immune to them. Albus had been upset about the first few, but lately he had started to take them in stride. As long as it was just lines, Albus didn't worry about them too much.

When Albus arrived in the Charms classroom at noon, Professor Washburn was sitting at his desk with the usual scowl on his face. "Sit down, Potter," he barked.

"Yes, sir," Albus responded quietly while taking a seat at the front table.

"Get out your parchment and ink. Write 'I will not misbehave in Charms' until I tell you to stop."

"Yes, sir," Albus repeated as he took out a roll of parchment and a quill. He started to write. Washburn never told Albus how many times he would have to write the line. He supposed Washburn liked to keep Albus there until he looked sufficiently tired and uncomfortable. Washburn had no way of knowing how many lines that would take. However, he never kept Albus in detention for less than an hour. Albus kept repeating the line on his parchment while trying hard not to look at the clock. He found that looking at the clock just made the time go by slower. Eventually, Albus stole a glance at the clock and found that it had only been 45 minutes. He sighed.

"You say something?" Washburn growled.

"No, sir," Albus said without looking up from his paper. He wrote a few more lines and was startled when he heard footsteps come into the room. He glanced up to see that a tall man he didn't recognize walking towards Washburn. The man was wearing a black cloak and had short brown hair. It reminded Albus of the kind of haircut Muggles in the army had. Washburn got up from his seat when the man approached.

Washburn turned to Albus, "Don't go anywhere. If you do, I'll have you in detention for the rest of term."

Albus nodded, but didn't say a word. The strange man followed Washburn into his office and shut the door behind them. There was silence for a moment and then Albus was able to hear raised voices coming from the office. They had forgotten to cast Muffliato before they started talking. It sounded like they were arguing about something, but Albus couldn't make out what it was. He wished they'd argue a bit louder. Albus put down his quill and strained to hear what they were saying. The two men stayed in the office for about fifteen minutes before Washburn stormed out of it, looking quite angry, followed by the other man who seemed rather calm. Albus quickly picked up his quill and continued his lines.

Washburn returned to his desk while the strange man walked over to the door. He turned around to look at Washburn and said icily, "Remember, this is your job, no one else's. And I expect you to complete it soon." Then the man left, shutting the door behind him.

Washburn stared at the back of the door for a few minutes, before turning and glaring at Albus. "You're done. Get back to your common room," he seethed.

Albus did not hesitate. He got up quickly and ran out of the room. Today's detention had been much shorter than others. Albus suspected that this was due to whatever Washburn and the other wizard were talking about. Washburn was definitely up to something. Apparently he had a job to do. But what could it be? Albus couldn't help but wonder if the Charms professor was involved with something evil. He ran all the way to the common room to tell his friends what he had overheard.

When Albus rushed through the portrait hole, he immediately spotted his friends at one of the tables. He grabbed a chair and sat down next to Rose.

"That was short," Rose commented.

"I know, I lucked out today," Albus responded, "But I've got to tell you about Washburn."

"What about him?" John asked, looking up from his book.

"In the middle of my detention, some strange wizard came barging into the room," Albus told them.

"Who was he?" Rose asked.

"I dunno, that's the thing. I'd never seen him before."

"What did he look like?" Amanda asked. Albus described the man, but none of his friends recognized the description either.

"Maybe he was a parent of one of the students," Rose suggested.

"Who knows?" Albus said, "But he got into a huge argument with Washburn."

"Well, that's not difficult," John laughed, "Anything will set him off."

"What did they argue about?" Rose asked.

"I'm not sure. They were in Washburn's office. I couldn't make out what they were saying, but they were definitely arguing about something. And then, right before the guy left, he said 'remember, this is your job to do and I want it done soon' to Washburn. Or something like that."

Rose, John, and Amanda stared at Albus for a moment before Rose replied, "That's so strange. So Washburn's doing something for this wizard?"

"Yeah, I think so. He's definitely up to something. And I don't think it's anything good," Albus informed them.

"You think they're doing something evil?" John asked skeptically.

"Maybe, but I don't really know."

"I dunno," John said warily, "I mean, Washburn's horrible to you and James, and all the Gryffindors, really. But I don't know if he's really into the Dark Arts or anything."

"Yeah," Rose agreed, "That 'job' could be anything. It doesn't have to be something bad."

"But Washburn seemed so mad about it. Just seems weird to me."

"It's definitely fishy, but I don't think we should jump to conclusions," Rose replied, "I mean, look at Snape. Uncle Harry thought he was evil, but he wasn't."

"I suppose," Albus sighed.

"Anyone want to go see if we can visit Matt?" John asked a few minutes later.

"Good idea," Albus agreed, "I hope Madam Pomfrey lets us."

"I hope he's awake," Rose closed her books and put them away in her bag.

"We can at least try to convince Madam Pomfrey to let us visit him on his birthday if she doesn't let us today," John reasoned.

The four friends packed up their books and put them away in their dormitories. A few minutes later, they found themselves walking to the Hospital Wing. They walked in silence the whole way there, each one knowing what the other was thinking about. All four of them were hoping Matt was awake and worrying about him. Albus had been worrying ever since the morning he found out Matt was a werewolf. But at the same time, Albus felt a bit angry that Matt wouldn't trust him with his secret. Albus's rational side knew why Matt wasn't very trusting, but couldn't help wishing that Matt would confide in him. Albus supposed that part of this was due to his dad not trusting him with knowing what the 'Hallows' were. He wished more people would trust him.

When they reached the Hospital Wing, they noticed that the doors were still shut, and when John tried to open them, they found out that they were still locked as well.

"This isn't a good sign," John sighed.

Rose banged on the doors and shouted, "Madam Pomfrey!"

A minute later, Madam Pomfrey opened the door a crack and stuck her head out. "What do you need?"

"Is Matt awake?" Rose whispered.

"Yes, he woke up last night."

"Well, can we see him?" Rose asked hopefully.

"No, I'm sorry, but he really can't have visitors right now," Madam Pomfrey sighed.

"Is he all right?" John interrupted.

"He'll be fine in a couple of weeks or so."

"Can we come visit him on his birthday? It's next Wednesday. Please?" Albus pleaded.

Madam Pomfrey's expression softened, "I think that would be all right. Not before Wednesday, though. I'll see you then."

"Great! Thanks, Madam Pomfrey," Albus smiled as she closed the door to the ward.

"I'm glad he's awake now," Rose said as they walked back to the common room, "And we get to see him on his birthday."

"Yeah, and we didn't even need Amy to convince her!" John grinned.

"Can't wait until Wednesday," Albus said.

"Definitely," Amanda agreed.

"Boo!" a voice said from behind them. Amanda shrieked and they all turned around. Bradley and Mark were laughing.

"Gotcha!" Bradley shouted.

"We got your stuff from Hogsmeade," Mark told them. He handed them two bags filled with butterbeer and sweets.

"Awesome," Albus took the bags.

"And here's the Chudley Canons jersey. Although, what he sees in them..." Bradley shook his head as he handed John the jersey.

"Thanks, guys," Albus said to his cousins.

"No problem," Bradley said, "I remember the days of not being able to go to Hogsmeade. We always got Stanley and Heather to get our stuff for us. Glad those days are over now."

"I can't wait to go to Hogsmeade," John announced, "Think of all the pranking stuff we'll be able to buy. There's only so much you can fit in your trunk and bring from home."

"Endless possibilities, Mate," Mark told John, "Well, we'd better be off. We've put off the homework long enough. Play first, work later. That's our motto."

"Bad motto, if you ask me," Rose whispered as her cousins took off for the common room.

"They'll survive," Albus assured her, "Haven't failed a class yet, have they?"

"No, they haven't," Rose agreed, "We'd better go, too."

"Yeah, I've still got to write that whole essay for Potions," Amanda sighed.

Albus groaned, "I'd forgotten about that. Haven't even started."

Albus, Rose, John, and Amanda continued walking to the common room. Once they were there, they spent the remainder of the afternoon writing essays about the properties of moonstone.

******

During the next few days, Albus and his friends debated about whether they should ask Matt how he wound up in the Hospital Wing when they went to see him on his birthday. Albus thought they should avoid the topic altogether, still believing that Matt would tell them when he was ready. However, Rose thought it would seem suspicious if they didn't ask what happened, because if your friend gets injured, you would want to know what happened. As it stood right now, the only people in the castle who knew what really happened were the teachers, Amy, Albus, Rose, John, and Amanda. Of course, no one knew that Albus and his friends knew what happened. Despite this, many people asked them what happened. Albus just told them he had no idea and after a few days, they gave up asking. Albus had heard quite a few ridiculous rumors about it. He overheard a few second year Hufflepuffs telling a couple Ravenclaws that Matt had been attacked by a thestral. This same story had been repeated throughout the castle, only with a different creature being substituted each time, including a Hippogriff and a centaur. The centaur story was especially ridiculous and Albus was sure the centaurs would not be happy if that story reached their ears.

In the end, Albus and his friends decided that they would ask Matt what happened, but they would not dwell on the subject. Albus was sure that Matt, or maybe even Amy, had come up with some kind of story to cover up what happened. Despite this, Amy was not telling anyone the story. She just ignored anyone who brought it up. Her friends, including Victoire, stayed close by her at all times and wouldn't let anyone push the matter. Albus suspected that Victoire had already been fed the fake story, but he didn't ask her about it.

After dinner on February sixth, Albus, Rose, John, and Amanda found themselves walking to the Hospital Wing armed with party supplies and a wrapped present.

Rose was the first to reach the door and when she went to knock, everyone was surprised to find that the door pushed open. "It's unlocked!" Rose gasped.

"That must mean Matt's doing better!" Albus said excitedly.

"Let's go, then!" John pushed past Albus and Rose and walked into the room. Amanda followed him and then Albus and Rose walked in. Albus spotted Matt's bed, but the curtains were pulled around it. He didn't see Madam Pomfrey anywhere.

"Madam Pomfrey!" Rose shouted, "Are you here?"

Madam Pomfrey peeked her head out from behind the curtains and smiled at them. "Rose! You can visit as soon as I'm done giving him his evening potions."
"Ok, thanks, Madam Pomfrey," Rose responded.

A few minutes later, Madam Pomfrey came back out and walked over to where Albus and his friends were standing. "What do you have in those bags?" she eyed their packages suspiciously.

"Oh, just some Honeydukes stuff, Butterbeer, and a present," Albus told her.

"But none of it's Weasley products, is it?"

"No."

Madam Pomfrey relaxed, "Ok, good. The last thing I need is to have this place destroyed while you have your party! You can go see him now."

Albus ran to the bed, followed by his friends, and pulled back the curtain. Amy was sitting in a chair next to the bed and whispering to Matt. She stopped abruptly when the curtain opened.

"Hey, Matt!" Albus grinned and sat down at the end of the bed. "How are you?"

"I'm all right," Matt replied hoarsely, "But I've been better."

"Glad to see you're awake, mate," John sat down next to Albus and set the bag of party stuff on the floor.

Rose and Amy smiled and sat in chairs that Amy had conjured after they came in. Rose pulled the curtains closed and handed Matt his present. "Happy Birthday!" everyone shouted.

"Thanks, guys!" Matt grinned and tore open the wrapping. "Wow! A Chudley Canons jersey! This is brilliant!"

"I'm glad you like it," Albus said, "My cousins picked it up in Hogsmeade for us. They also got us Butterbeers and sweets."

"Excellent!" Matt replied excitedly.

John picked up the bag and passed out butterbeer and jelly slugs. "So," he began once everyone started eating, "What exactly happened to you? We've heard the craziest rumors. You didn't really get attacked by a herd of thestrals, did you?"

Matt started choking on his butterbeer and Amy slapped him on the back. He gave her a worried look and then looked back at John. "Really?" he sputtered.

It a bit hard to believe that Matt had been attacked by thestrals, when Hagrid had the school thestrals very well trained. But on the other hand, Matt did look like he'd been attacked by a large creature. He had partially healed cuts, bites, and scratches all over all his body. His arms and legs were covered in bandages and just about all of his body was bruised. Albus could see how someone would suspect he was attacked by a thestral.

"Well, that's what the Hufflepuffs are saying," John told him.

"The Ravenclaws think it was a Hippogriff," Amanda chimed in.

Matt sighed and glanced at Amy, who gave him a look. "It wasn't either," Matt began, "I got a bit too close to the Whomping Willow."

"What?!" John exclaimed, "Really?

"Er, yeah," Matt said.

Albus was debating about whether to ask Matt to elaborate or not when Matt continued.

"I spent the night here when Albus took me that one night. Then I left in the morning and went for a walk on the grounds. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and the tree gave me quite a beating."

"Wow," Albus responded, "I'm glad you're ok."

"Yeah," John said, "But when do you get to leave here?"

"I'm not really sure," Matt told them, "Not for at least another week. Madam Pomfrey wants the cuts healed and the bruises faded before I leave. And I can't really walk that well."

"A whole week?" Rose exclaimed.

"At least," Matt responded, "I hope it's not more. I'm getting so bored. What's been going on in the rest of the castle?"

"Well, did you see that article Rita Skeeter wrote last week?" Albus asked.

"Yeah, I read it yesterday. But Amy told me there wasn't anything to worry about."

"She's right. But the whole castle's talking about it. Dad thinks it'll blow over when the next Quidditch match arrives."

"He's probably right," Rose agreed.

"I hope I get to leave here before the next match. I don't want to miss it," Matt said.

"I hope so too," John took a sip of butterbeer, "Nothing worse than missing Quidditch."

"I can think of no less than ten things," Rose muttered.

"I think we might have a chance of winning the cup," Albus said excitedly.

"That would be so cool!" Amanda shouted, "I love Quidditch. I was never into Muggle sports, but Quidditch is awesome."

"Definitely," John agreed, "I never saw the point of Muggle sports, but I guess if you can't play Quidditch..."

They spent the next hour talking about Quidditch and everything else that was going on in the castle. Albus told Matt about how Xavier Goyle had melted his cauldron in potions the other day. The potion had spread across the floor and burned through Scorpius Malfoy and his friend, Jackson Limbert's, shoes. The Gryffindors had thought this was very funny, especially when they found out that the potion had turned both boys feet pink. Other than that, nothing too exciting had happened in class during Matt's absence. Washburn had continued being horrible to Albus and the other Gryffindors. In Transfiguration, they had started transfiguring Muggle pencils into quills. Rose, John, and a couple of the Ravenclaws were the only ones who had managed to do it.

After they had exhausted the topic of lessons, the conversation turned back to Quidditch. Professional Quidditch this time. No one seemed to think the Chudley Canons had any hope of ever making it to the Cup. Even Matt seemed to agree. No one had any idea who would be playing in the Cup this year, but it didn't matter much because it had already been decided that the Cup would take place in Russia and none of them would get to go anyway.

Amy spent the entire visit sitting next to Matt, so Albus was unable to share the contents of his newest dream or what had happened in detention the previous Saturday. Albus found out that Amy spent most of her spare time visiting Matt. He had never seen such a devoted sister before. Albus had thought his older cousins were protective, but they were nothing compared to Amy.

Eventually, Madam Pomfrey came back to tell them that they had stayed long enough and it was time for them to leave.

"Well, I hope you can leave soon," Albus said as he stood up.

"'Night, Matt," John cleaned up the leftover food and put it back in the bag.

"See you soon," Rose told him.

"Bye," Amanda stood up and followed everyone out from behind the curtains.

"Bye, guys," Matt yawned as they left.

"He doesn't look good," Albus whispered once they had left the room.

"No, he doesn't," Rose agreed, "But at least he's awake."

"Good point, but I can see why Madam Pomfrey won't let him leave yet. Everyone would bombard him with questions about what happened," John pointed out.

"I don't think he knows you were in the Hospital Wing that night, Albus," Amanda said, "He says he spent the night in the Hospital Wing, but you know he didn't."

"Yeah," Albus agreed, "And they brought him back there so early, there wouldn't have been any time for him to wander the grounds."

"Don't point it out, though," Rose warned him.

"I won't," Albus assured her, "We agreed that we wouldn't say anything about what happened now that we've heard the story."

"He'll have to tell us eventually," John reasoned.

"I know. I hope it's soon," Albus said.

"I bet it will be soon," Rose told them, "How many stories can he come up with about what happens every full moon?"

"Yeah," Albus said, "I just hope it's not worse next month."

No one said anything else the rest of the way to the common room. Albus knew that everyone else was thinking what he was thinking. That it was very much a possibility that next month would be worse.

[DucksRMagical]

Chapter 25: Dumbledore's Insight

As February progressed, the castle grounds were blanketed in even more snow. The students found themselves going outside for snowball fights during much of their free time. These games started out as informal fun, but soon groups of people formed large teams that eventually led to each house having their own team. On occasion, half the school would be outside participating. The games usually resulted in a few students going to the hospital wing. The students also tracked quite a bit of snow and mud into the castle and Filch was not happy about it. He spent his time lurking near the front doors, waiting to yell at anyone who came inside with muddy shoes. Albus and his friends participated in a few snowball fights, but soon found that the older students were able to bewitch snowballs and it was hard for them to keep up. It was fun nonetheless, and even Rose took breaks from studying to join the fun.

They also made sure to visit Matt every night. They told him the latest news of the castle and helped him with his homework. No one mentioned his injuries beyond a simple 'how are you?' and Albus could tell that Matt wanted to avoid the subject. Eventually, after a full three weeks in the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey finally let him leave. His bruises had faded, cuts had healed, and was looking almost normal. By now, the entire castle had heard the Whomping Willow story, and Albus hoped that no one would ask any questions about it.

"I am so glad to be out of there," Matt said as he set his books down on a table in the common room the night he left the hospital wing.

"I'm glad you are, too," Albus sat down and took out his transfiguration book.

"We all are," Rose grinned, but didn't sit down. She walked over to Albus and whispered in his ear, "I've got to talk to you, alone. James, too. We'll go up to your dormitory. Bilius and Ethan are down here, so it'll be empty."

"We'll be right back," Albus told Matt, John, and Amanda as he got up. He went up to his dormitory and sat on the bed, waiting for his brother and cousin.

A few minutes later, Rose came into the room followed by a bewildered looking James. "What is it?" James asked.

"I think it's time for our plan, you know, about getting Albus to talk to Dumbledore," Rose told them.

"Now?" Albus asked in a shocked tone. The more he had thought about that plan, the more nervous he became. It could go wrong in so many ways.

"Yes, I think so," Rose replied adamantly, "I've given up the library research."

"Really?!" James laughed, "I'd better call the Prophet!"

"Shut it, James," Rose said. "Tomorrow, during Charms, I'll set off the fireworks and you'll get sent to Kendrick's office. And then maybe we'll finally get some answers."

"All right," Albus sighed. His curiosity trumped his desire to not cause anymore trouble in Washburn's class.

"We'll let you know how it goes, James," Rose told her cousin.

James grinned, "Somehow, I think I'm going to hear about it before I see you. This is brilliant, setting off fireworks in Washburn's class..."

"I'm not talking about that!" Rose sighed, "I'm talking about the stuff with Dumbledore."

"I know, but still. Blimey, I wish I'd be there to see the look on Washburn's face..."

"No, you don't," Albus replied, "He's going to be livid."

"Yeah, but that's what we're hoping for," Rose said, "It's the only way to get into Kendrick's office."

"I know, I just wish there was a better way," Albus sighed.

"Me, too," Rose said softly.

******

Albus hardly slept at all that night. He tossed and turned while worrying about the next day's charms class. He finally gave up sleeping around 6am and got up. Once John and Matt were up, the three of them headed down to breakfast.

Albus sat next to Rose, who was already there, and served himself some toast. However, Albus was too nervous to eat it. He just kept glancing up at the staff table, where Washburn was doing his usual morning glare at the students.

"Are you ok, Albus?" Matt asked, "You don't look too good."

"I'm just tired, I guess," Albus said quietly while glancing at Rose. She gave him a sympathetic look, but didn't say anything. Amanda, John, and Matt had no idea what would be happening in Charms, of course, so they just thought Albus was sick.

"Maybe you should go to the Hospital Wing," Matt suggested while stuffing eggs in his mouth.

"No, I'll be fine," Albus assured him.

Albus couldn't pay attention during DADA. Harry lectured during the whole class, but Albus spent the whole time worrying about Charms. The class seemed to go by twice as fast as normal and before Albus knew it, it was over.

Albus walked to Charms with Rose, who told him that everything was set. The Weasley fireworks were in her bag, and ready to be set off. She didn't tell him when it would be happening, but Albus assumed it would be during the practical part of the class.

Washburn stormed into the room in his usual burst of fury. He went to his desk and took attendance. When he got to Matt's name, a strange grin appeared on his face.

"Nice of you to finally join us in class, Eckerton," he sneered, "What's it been? 3 weeks? I certainly hope you've been studying Charms while you skipped class."

Albus glanced over at Matt, who was turning red and slouching down in his seat.

Washburn continued the attendance and when he was done, he started lecturing. Albus's heart was pounding loudly now and he couldn't make out a word Washburn was saying. All he noticed was that Washburn was calling on Matt to answer every single question he asked. Matt had no idea what any of the answers were and was looking more miserable each minute. Eventually, Washburn announced that they would be charming paper birds to fly. He said that this charm was much like levitation, and if one was capable of levitating a paper bird, they'd be capable of making one fly.

Albus groaned as he pulled out his wand. Levitation never ended well in this class, and he knew for a fact it wouldn't end well today. He glanced down at Rose's bag, which was sitting in between them on the floor. Once Washburn settled down to grade homework at his desk, Albus noticed Rose turn her wand from her paper bird and towards her bag, which had been emptied of everything except the fireworks earlier. She gave Albus a nervous look and muttered an incantation.

A loud explosion erupted from the bag and a large hippogriff made of fire floated towards the ceiling. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at it. A few people screamed. Albus put on a mortified face while Rose tried her best to look surprised.

"Potter!" Washburn ran out from behind his desk and was in front of Albus within five seconds. Albus had never heard him scream so loud. "What on earth are you doing?! Must you always disrupt my class like this?! Never have I seen such an blatant disruption!" He was shouting so loud now that Albus was sure everyone in the castle had heard him.

"I'll have you expelled from this castle!" Washburn continued, "I'll make sure you-"

"What is going on in here?" Professor Patil came charging into the room and interrupted Washburn's tirade. She saw the firework and pointed her wand at it. It disappeared immediately.

"Potter has disrupted my class yet again! He set off a firework while I was trying to teach!" Washburn informed her, "And I will make sure there is some punishment! He has gotten away with far too much."

"Well, I think this is a matter that is better taken up with the Headmaster," Professor Patil replied, "Come along, Potter."

Albus nodded and got up from the table. So far, so good. The plan was going as well as it could be. He was going to make it to the Headmaster's office. He followed Patil out into the hallway. Washburn glared at him as he left, his mouth opening and closing, but no words were coming out.

Professor Patil did not say a word the whole way to the Headmaster's office. She led him up a few flights of stairs and stopped in front of a stone gargoyle.

"I'm in the middle of teaching a class, so I'll leave you here to see the Headmaster," she informed him. "Rubber duck," she said to the gargoyle.

The gargoyle opened to reveal a circular staircase. Albus stepped inside and climbed up. His heart was pounding as he stepped off the last stair and came into a circular room. It was adorned with the portraits of past headmasters. There were all sorts of silver instruments on every surface, along with bookcases overflowing with books. In the back was a desk with a comfy looking chair behind it. Behind the chair was Professor Dumbledore's portrait. Albus glanced around and noticed that he was alone in the room. Luckily, Professor Kendrick was not there. Albus breathed a sigh of relief. That was the one thing that could have gone wrong with the plan. If Kendrick was there, then Albus would not have a chance to talk to Dumbledore.

Albus ran to Dumbledore's portrait, eager to get this over with, and Kendrick could return any minute. As he approached the portrait, he passed the only other portrait that was currently awake. It was a portrait of a greasy haired, hooked nose man. "Getting into trouble, Potter? Just like your father," the man said. It was Professor Snape.

Albus chose to ignore him as he reached Dumbledore. "Um, excuse me, Sir," he started.

"Hello, Albus," Dumbledore smiled, "I wondered when I'd be seeing you. But I must ask, what kind of trouble did you cause to be sent here?"

"I, um, er, well, it wasn't me, exactly. It was Rose. But we assumed, hoped rather, that I'd get blamed for it," Albus stammered.

"Ah, you've been wanting to talk to me?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes, sir," Albus replied.

"I will be glad to help you, but first I really must know what you and Rose did," Dumbledore insisted, "I am rather curious."

"Well, Rose set off a Weasley firework in Professor Washburn's class," Albus confessed.

"Interesting. I seem to remember her mother doing the same in my class once, although I never could prove it," Snape commented.

"That's certainly a creative way of getting to talk to me," Dumbledore replied, "But I must tell you that a better way would be to send word with another portrait and I'd be able to meet you in the common room."

Albus slapped his head, "I can't believe I didn't think of that! Too late now. Anyway, what I want to talk about is private."

"Oh, I understand. Ask away."

"Um, well, over Christmas, Rose, James, and I, and a few other of our cousins overheard our parents talking," Albus paused, waiting for the reprimand for listening in on a conversation.

"Perfectly understandable. I do believe that if adults don't want children hearing their conversations, they ought to use the proper charms against eavesdropping."

Albus grinned, "That's what I thought, but Grammy was pretty mad. She took away all of James's Extendable Ears."

"What a shame. I always thought those were ingenious. I wish they had been invented when I was your age."

"Anyway, we overheard that they are keeping something from us. A secret, I guess. We always thought they told us everything about Voldemort, the horcruxes, and the Battle at Hogwarts. But now we're not so sure. They were talking about figuring out when to tell us something. Something they don't want us to spread around," Albus informed him.

"I see," Dumbledore replied with a thoughtful look on his face, "Go on."

"Well, Professor, we think we sort of know what it is. Well, I heard them say one word and the same word was mentioned in these weird dreams I've been having. I've been having dreams due to someone doing Legilimency on me. I'm learning Occlumency, though."

"That's good," Dumbledore said, "I hope it's going well."

"Mine is, but James isn't doing so well with his."

"Who's teaching you?" Snape interrupted, "It's not your father, is it?" Snape laughed at the very thought.

"No," Albus replied coldly, "But he could if he wanted to."

"No, he couldn't," Snape replied, "I tried to teach him, and he is incapable of the task."

"He's doing better now," Albus said defensively.

"Who is teaching you, then?" Snape pressed.

"My Aunt Hermione."

"Well, as much of a know it all she was, she's probably a competent teacher," Snape approved.

"Thank you, Severus," Dumbledore said, "Now, continue, Albus."

"Um, right. Anyway, I guess I was wondering if you could tell me anything about the Hallows," Albus held his breath, waiting for Dumbledore's reaction.

Dumbledore sighed, "I was afraid that's what you were going to ask. What do you know about them?"

"Not much. My parents haven't told me anything, but I'm pretty sure that's what they're keeping from us. Rose, James, and I have been researching in the library about them, but we haven't found anything. All I know is that they are objects and I learned that from my dreams."

"Be careful not to believe everything those dreams tell you," Snape warned, "That was one of your father's problems."

"Severus," Dumbledore said warningly and turned back to Albus. "You will not find any information about the Hallows in the history books about Voldemort. And this is because there are few who know about their importance in the final battle. Many of those who do, do not believe it."

"So, they do have to do with the battle?" Albus asked.

"Yes, they do," Dumbledore confirmed.

"Will you tell me what they are?"

Dumbledore sighed again, "I am afraid that it is not my place to tell you. That responsibility remains with your father. I will tell you that they played an important role in defeating Voldemort, but beyond that, you'll have to wait until your father is ready to tell you."

Albus groaned, "But why? Why won't he tell me?"

"Adults have a habit of keeping things from children because they think they are protecting them. This is not always the case, as I have learned on many occasion. I made the same mistake numerous times, most of them involving Harry and the information about his past."

"Oh," Albus responded, "Do you know when he'll tell me?"

"No, although I do think it will be soon. Perhaps within the next few months," Dumbledore revealed.

"Months?!" Albus shouted, "I can't wait that long!"

"Patience is a mighty virtue, Albus," Dumbledore said, "I know it's hard to wait that long. Which is why I will give you a little hint."

"A hint? Like where we can find out about the Hallows without asking my dad?" Albus asked hopefully.

"Not exactly. But before I get to that, I sense there is something else troubling you."

Albus thought for a moment before responding. "Well, I guess there is one thing..." he paused, wondering if he should tell Dumbledore about Matt.

Dumbledore smiled, but didn't say anything.

Albus sighed. "Ok, it's my friend Matt. He gets sick a lot, once a month to be exact. And I just found out he's a werewolf. Not that that matters or anything. I still want to be friends with him," Albus said quickly.

"Ah, yes, Matthew Eckerton," Dumbledore replied.

"You know him?"

"Yes, he voiced a few concerns to me before the school year started. He and his parents had a meeting with Professor Kendrick."

"That was quick, Potter. I must say that I am pleasantly surprised that you found out so quickly. Your father never was able to put the clues together to figure out that Lupin was a werewolf. Miss Granger told him," Snape interjected.

Albus averted his eyes from Snape and mumbled, "Er, Rose is the one who really found out. I just confirmed it when I was in the Hospital Wing the same time as Matt."

"Of course," Snape said flatly.

"Severus," Dumbledore warned, "Continue, Albus."

"It's just, Matt hasn't told us yet. He's still trying to hide it from us. I just wish he'd trust me. It just kind of feels like no one trusts me. Matt won't tell me he's a werewolf and my dad won't tell me about the Hallows. Why won't anyone trust me?" Albus told Dumbledore.

"I understand," Dumbledore responded, "But I do think it's more complicated than you not being trustworthy. You, I believe, are very trustworthy. As far as Matt trusting you, I will tell you that he had a very rough childhood. He's been through horrors you can't even imagine. I do think he trusts you, but I don't think he tells many people about his lycanthropy. I know that he is very afraid about what will happen if people find out-"

"But it doesn't matter to me! Or John or Rose or Amanda!" Albus interrupted.

"I know. But past experiences have caused Matt to be reluctant to tell anyone. Although I do think he will confide in you eventually."

"So you agree that I shouldn't tell him that I know?" Albus asked.

"As long as he doesn't know that you know, I think that would be a wise choice."

"No, I don't think he has any idea that I know," Albus said.

"Good," Dumbledore continued, "Now, I believe trust is a two-way street. You want Matt to confide in you, but can you think of anything that you are keeping from him, and John and Amanda as well?"

Albus wracked his brain, "Well, just the Hallows, but I don't even know what they are."

"The Hallows, that's exactly what I suspected you were keeping secret. But why?"

"Um, I guess I'm not sure. It just seems like something that I should keep to myself. Since my parents haven't even told anyone," Albus reasoned.

"Ah, but you wish your parents would tell you about them?"

"Yes, but-"

"It might be wise to tell your friends, Albus. Just because your parents haven't told anyone, doesn't mean you have to keep it to yourself."

"Really?" Albus asked.

"Yes, and that is my hint to you. Tell your friends what you know about the Hallows. They just might be able to help you," Dumbledore told him.

"You think they would know more than we could get from books?" Albus asked skeptically.

"There's only one way to find out," Dumbledore winked.

"All right, if you're sure," Albus responded.

"Good luck with that, Potter," Snape smirked.

Albus heard a door open behind him and he jumped. He had momentarily forgotten what he had done to get to Kendrick's office. As he remembered the chaos in Washburn's class, dread consumed him once more. What was going to happen? Albus turned around and saw Professor Kendrick standing in the doorway.

"Sit down, Albus," Kendrick said as he walked towards his desk.

Albus sat down in the chair in front of the desk while Kendrick sat down in his chair.

"Professor Patil told me what happened. Before we start discussing, I'm going to ask Professor Washburn to come in. Along with your dad. Hopefully we'll be able to get to the bottom of this," Kendrick got up from the desk and went over to the fireplace. He threw a handful of floo powder in and thrust his head into the emerald flames.

[DucksRMagical]

Chapter 26: Mischief Managed

"Now, don't expect to create much more than a wisp of silvery fog on your first attempt," Harry told his class of eager seventh years, "Patronuses are difficult for even the best wizards to conjure."

"But my mum and dad said you managed it in your third year," Christina Davies interrupted.

"Well, yes, I did," Harry told his class, "But I had wonderful teacher and the motivation I needed to manage it at such a young age. Now, everyone think of a happy memory, just as we discussed-"

"Excuse me, Harry?" The flames in the classroom fireplace turned a bright emerald green and the headmaster's face appeared in it. The whole class turned to look towards the fireplace and were shocked to see Professor Kendrick's head.

"Yes, Professor?" Harry answered in a confused tone. Fireplaces had been installed in all the classrooms during the rebuilding of Hogwarts after the Battle in order for the teachers to communicate faster in the event of an emergency. Harry had never used his fireplace before and was a bit worried when he saw Kendrick in it.

"Your son caused a disruption in Charms just now-"

"What did James do this time?" Harry sighed.

"No, not James. It was Albus," Kendrick told Harry.

"What?!" Harry was baffled. He never imagined Albus would cause enough trouble to be sent to the Headmaster's office. Even James had avoided that so far.

"Yes, it was Albus. He's in my office right now and I'd like to discuss it with you and Professor Washburn," Kendrick said

"All right. I'll meet you in your office in a few minutes."

"I'll see you then," Kendrick's head disappeared and the flames returned to their usual orange.

The seventh years all turned their heads back to Harry, with looks of shock on their faces.

"What did Albus do?" Victoire asked, "I can't imagine him getting in trouble."

"I really don't know what happened, Victoire," Harry answered.

"Were his friends in on this, too?" Amy asked anxiously. Harry could tell she was worried about her brother getting in trouble.

"I'm not sure. I just heard about this now," Harry responded, "I've got to go. I'm dismissing class now. I trust you'll all use this time responsibly," Harry grinned, knowing they'd all use the time to goof off. "We'll continue with Patronuses next class."

Harry left the classroom as his students were packing up. He made it to Kendrick's office in record time, gave the password, and entered the room. Kendrick was sitting behind his desk, with Albus and Washburn sitting in front of it. There was an empty chair between them. Nobody was saying a word. Both Dumbledore and Snape's portraits seemed to be paying close attention. Harry walked over to the empty chair and he noticed that Albus was shaking and he looked extremely scared.

"Hi, Al," Harry whispered and gave his son a quick hug before taking the middle seat. Albus remained quiet and he was staring straight at Dumbledore's portrait.

"Daddy won't be able to save you this time, Potter," Washburn sneered.

"That's enough, Jamson," Kendrick said calmly, "Now that Harry is here, could you please explain to both of us what happened?"

"I was trying to teach and all of a sudden, there was an explosion and a firework emerged from the table he was sitting at," Washburn spat, "He set it off to cause a disruption. He's been doing it ever since the beginning of the year."

"Is this true, Albus?" Kendrick asked. All three adults turned to look at Albus, who was sinking lower in his seat. He did not say a word.

"Of course it's true!" Washburn growled after a few moments of silence.

A loud banging disrupted their discussion. Harry turned away from Albus and looked at the office door. "Do you want me to get that?"

"Yes, I suppose," Kendrick replied.

Harry got up and went over to the door. He opened it and Rose came bursting in. She was out of breath and looked flushed. "Don't. Expel. Him." she panted.

"What?!" Kendrick said, "I wasn't planning on expelling Albus."

"You should!" Washburn stood up and glared at Kendrick.

"Sit down," Kendrick responded, "You have to respect my decisions. I will not expel Albus, but there will be a punishment."

"No!" Rose shouted. She walked towards Kendrick's desk and stood in front of it. Harry followed and stood behind Albus's chair. "It wasn't him!" she announced.

"What do you mean?!" Washburn exclaimed, "Of course it was him! I saw him!"

"No, you didn't. You saw it came from our table, there was no way you could tell who actually did it. John, Matt, and I were also sitting at that table," Rose explained.

"What are you getting at, Rose?" Harry asked. Now he was thoroughly confused about the whole event.

"It was me," Rose said simply, "It was my firework."

"You set off a firework during a class?" Harry was mystified. If there was anyone who was less likely than Albus to cause trouble during class, it was Rose. Rose did love causing trouble, but she never did it during classes.

"Well, not really," Rose glanced shiftily at Washburn and then returned her gaze to Harry. "Not intentionally, that is. It was one of those new fireworks that Uncle George is working on. They're still in the testing stage. The ones that are supposed to actually disappear if you vanish them, but then reappear an hour or so later. Only right now they permanently disappear."

"That's good," Harry breathed a sigh of relief. There were much worse experimental products that could have accidentally gotten set off.

"Anyway, they're very unstable right now and they go off if there's a lot of magic around, and we were practicing charming paper birds," Rose told him.

"Why did you have it?" Harry asked.

"I, um, took it during Christmas break," Rose mumbled while looking at her feet.

"What?!" Harry exclaimed.

"I found it at the Burrow and didn't realize it was one of the experimental ones. I just realized that the other day."

"And why was it in your bag?"

"I was meaning to give it to you during DADA, but I forgot," Rose confessed.

Harry sighed, "All right. I guess that mystery is solved."

"What about punishment! They need to be punished!" Washburn shouted while glaring at Rose.

"Rose will get lines, but seeing as Albus wasn't actually involved, I can't punish him," Kendrick explained.

"But, but," Washburn sputtered.

"And that is final, Jamson," Kendrick said firmly, "Now, Albus and Rose, you should get going to your next class. Rose, you can do your lines with Professor Washburn tomorrow night at seven."

Albus and Rose nodded. Albus got up and gave Harry a hug before he followed Rose out of the room. He still didn't say anything, but he looked a bit less scared than he had earlier and he had stopped shaking.

Kendrick stood up, "I'm glad we got this all straightened out. I shall see both of you later."

Washburn glared at Harry and stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Harry turned to leave as well, but stopped when he heard a familiar voice. "Harry, I would like to discuss something with you, if you have time."

Harry turned around and saw the familiar face of Albus Dumbledore looking at him. "Yeah, I've got time."

"I'll leave you to your conversation, then," Kendrick said as he left his office.

Harry walked over to Dumbledore's portrait, "What is it, Professor?"

"I had an interesting conversation with Albus earlier."

"Really?" Harry was very curious as to what the two of them would have talked about.

"Oh, yes," Dumbledore continued, "He has been wondering about the Hallows."

"The, the, Hallows?" Harry stammered. He didn't think his kids had ever even heard of the Hallows.

"The Hallows. He overheard you talking about them over Christmas holiday. He, James, and Rose have been attempting to research them in the library ever since."

"They have?"

"That's what Albus told me. Naturally, they did not find any answers," Dumbledore went on, "So, Albus asked me what I knew about them."

"And did you tell him?" Harry asked anxiously.

"I told him I do know about them, but that I could not give him the answers he wanted. I believe that is your duty, Harry," Dumbledore responded.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank you."

"Why haven't you told them, Harry?"

Harry stopped to think. Dumbledore gazed at him while waiting patiently. "Well, I guess because I don't want a whole lot of people knowing about them. The last thing we need is to have someone seeking them out."

"But you fear that is what's happening."

"Yes, I do. I'm afraid that's what the dreams mean," Harry told him.

"Are you afraid the kids will tell the whole school?"

"I guess I am," Harry confessed, "Especially James. He's always so eager to tell everyone he meets stories about me."

"He is proud of being your son," Dumbledore said, "And I think if you expressed your concern about others knowing about the Hallows, they would keep the secret."

"You're probably right," Harry sighed, "But I'm also afraid about whoever's doing the Legilimency finding out about them. If I tell the kids, then whoever wants the Hallows will be able to find out where they are."

"Perhaps. It is a tough call. But I'm sure you'll always make the right decision in the end," Dumbledore replied, "Were you ever planning on telling them?"

"Yes, I was."

"When?"

"I'm not sure, I guess," Harry responded, "When they were a bit older, I suppose. But I was waiting for the right moment."

"And that moment might be approaching earlier then you thought," Dumbledore replied, "Albus thinks you don't trust him."

"He does?" Harry sighed. This was getting more complicated by the moment.

"Yes, he told me. He is a bit upset about it. But it is aided by the fact that you aren't the only one keeping a big secret from him."

Harry paused to think. Who else was keeping secrets from his son? "Oh, his friend, Matt, right? He hasn't told Albus yet, has he?"

"No, he hasn't. But Albus and Rose have figured it out on their own. I don't think he fully understands why Matt hasn't told him. He just sees it as the people he loves aren't trusting him ."

"Oh, no, it's so much more complicated than that," Harry responded.

"That's what I told him. But that is an issue that's between him and Matt and there isn't much you can do about it. What you can do is reconsider when you are going to tell your children about the Hallows."

"Yeah, I guess I will. I just don't want to rush into it. Maybe at the end of term would be good. That way they can process the idea over the summer at home where they won't be tempted to tell others about it."

"That would be wise," Dumbledore smiled.

"Thanks for telling me, Professor. I should probably get going," Harry said.

"I shall see you soon, Harry."

"Bye," Harry turned around and left the office. He thought about what Dumbledore said on his way to the Great Hall for lunch. What Dumbledore said made sense, but he was still reluctant about telling his kids about the Hallows.

******

"That was an impressive lie the Weasley girl told," Snape said curtly to Dumbledore after Harry left.

"Yes, it was," Dumbledore agreed.

"But you didn't tell Potter about it."

"No, I did not feel it was necessary. I don't think anymore punishment would have accomplished anything. I can't imagine Albus or Rose will do anything like that again in the near future," Dumbledore explained.

"They did lie, though. They lied to the Headmaster. That deserves punishment," Snape responded.

"Perhaps, perhaps," Dumbledore said calmly, "But, Severus, you did not tell Harry either."

******

"That was crazy," Albus shouted after he left the headmaster's office with Rose. As soon as the gargoyle closed behind them, James appeared in front of them.

"Well, are you in huge trouble, Albus?" he asked anxiously.

"Luckily, no," Albus told his brother.

"What happened, then?" James pushed, "Are you going to tell us about your talk with Dumbledore?"

"Of course!" Albus said, "Just not here. What if someone heard us?"

"There's still an hour until our next class, why don't we go up to the common room? It might be empty now," Rose suggested.

"Good idea," Albus agreed. He started walking towards Gryffindor Tower. James and Rose followed, neither of them saying a word.

The common room was empty. Albus, James, and Rose hurried inside and snagged the good armchairs near the fire. James and Rose looked at Albus expectantly, waiting for him to begin.

Albus launched into a lengthy explanation about his conversation with Dumbledore. James and Rose sat quietly and didn't interrupt him. Albus told them every bit of the conversation, except for the parts about Matt. Albus would tell Rose about that later, after James left.

"So, Dumbledore knows?" James said after Albus finished.

"Yes, he does, but he won't tell me much," Albus explained, "Just told me to ask my friends."

"That's so strange," Rose furrowed her brow, "Why would they know anything about the Hallows if we don't?"

"Dunno," James commented, "He was a bit mad, though."

"Yeah, but he was brilliant. He hasn't been wrong about much," Albus reminded them.

"So, you think we should tell our friends?" Rose asked.

"I'm not really sure," Albus confided, "I'd be willing to try anything right now to figure out what the Hallows are, but what if Dad's mad that we told people?"

"He can't be mad if we don't even know what they are," James reasoned, "As far as he knows, we've never even heard the word 'Hallows'."

"That's true," Rose said.

"Well, Dumbledore seems to think that Dad's going to tell us soon, possibly this year," Albus reminded them.

"Maybe we should give it another month or so?" Rose suggested, "Maybe something will turn up in the library."

"Dumbledore said we won't find anything in the library. The Hallows do have to do with Voldemort's downfall. He told me that much. And hardly anyone knows about that part, of course."

"I guess we could give it a little while longer, to see if he tells us about them," James sighed.

"Ok, then, we'll wait a bit longer," Albus agreed, "Anyway, if Dad won't tell us, he certainly won't want our friends to know."

"Yeah," James said, "Oh, what punishment did you wind up with?"

"I got detention tomorrow night," Rose told him.

"I got nothing," Albus grinned.

"What?!" James shouted, "Nothing?"

"Nope, nothing."

"I convinced them it was me. Well, I convinced them the firework went off accidentally," Rose explained the story she told about the experimental firework.

"That's amazing," James grinned, "You must be an excellent liar."

Rose blushed and suppressed a smile.

"Speaking of amazing," Albus started, "How did you find out where Kendrick's office is?"

"That would be all me," James continued grinning, "All my brilliance."

"What did you do?" Albus asked suspiciously.

"Well, I expected to find Uncle Harry in his office after class, but he wasn't there. I was so worried you'd get expelled before I was able to explain. So I went to find James so we could figure out what to do-"

"Let me tell him, Rose," James interrupted, "We ran back to Dad's office and that's when I thought of how we could find the office. Mind you, I wish I'd thought of it earlier and then you wouldn't have had to do the whole firework thing."

"Well, what was it?" Albus asked impatiently.

James reached into his robes and pulled a rather old looking piece of parchment out. "The Marauder's Map."

Albus stared at it and smacked his forehead. "Of course! Why didn't we think of it before?"

"I dunno, but the thought just popped into my head. I'm so glad Dad told us how it worked. We were able to find Kendrick's office, but of course the door was closed and we didn't know the password. But then we looked at the map and the little dot labeled 'Rose Weasley' had a speech bubble that said 'Rubber duck'. So Rose said that and she was in. Easy as that."

Albus continued to stare in awe at the map. "So now you've got the map? You're going to be in huge trouble. What if Dad's using it?"

"I don't think he is. It wasn't sitting out or anything. We weren't even sure it was there, thought he might have left it at home. I summoned it. It came flying out of the bottom of a trunk that was shoved in the back of the storage cupboard," James explained.

"Are you going to keep it?" Albus asked.

"For now," James told him, "At least until I hear anything about Dad wondering where it is."

"I hope you don't get in trouble, James," Rose warned, "Be careful."

"I will, don't worry. I'd just like to get some mischief in," James grinned.

"Be careful about who sees it, too," Rose insisted.

"I'm just letting Nathan see it. And Cedric and Ben, of course. He knows all about it. Keeps asking when I'd manage to nick it."

Rose sighed, "Fine. Well, we'd best get going to class." She stood up and walked towards the portrait hole.

Albus got up and followed Rose, "See ya later, James."

"Bye," James waved.

[DucksRMagical]

Chapter 27: Full Moon Woes

As the week progressed, Albus fell back into his usual Hogwarts routine. His homework drove most of the thoughts about the Hallows out of his head. He occasionally thought about telling John, Matt, and Amanda about them, but he decided not to. James, who was even more busy than Albus, did not seem to be lingering on thoughts of the Hallows either. Between homework, Quidditch practice, and Occlumency lessons, he hardly had any leisure time at all. Albus had yet to hear about any amazing pranks that James had been able to pull off with the help of the Marauder's Map.

Towards the end of the week, Albus and his friends had something else to worry about that succeeded in Albus momentarily forgetting about the Hallows all together. The full moon. It fell on a Monday this month. The Sunday before it, Albus and his friends were enjoying a snowball fight on the grounds.

SMACK! John had sent a snowball at the back of Albus's head and the force caused Albus to fall face first into the deep snow. "I'll get you!" Albus shouted as he stood back up and formed a large snowball. He sent it flying across the nearly empty Quidditch Pitch towards John. But John was too quick. He jumped aside and the snowball hit Matt instead.

"Ha, ha!" John shouted gleefully. They were having a team snow ball fight. It was John and Rose versus Albus, Matt, and Amanda. John seemed delighted that Albus had hit one of his own teammates instead. John rolled another snow ball and threw it at Amanda. It hit her square in the back. She in turn quickly made a snowball and threw it at Rose. Rose jumped aside and the snowball sailed into the ground behind her. Despite the fact that Albus's team had three people and John and Rose were only two, John and Rose seemed to be doing much better. John had a good arm and very good aim and was great at dodging snowballs.

Albus quickly made another snowball and was about to throw it, but he noticed that Matt still hadn't gotten up. He dropped his snowball and ran over to Matt and was hit in the head by a snowball sent by John.

"Stop the game!" Albus shouted and pointed to Matt. John, Rose, and Amanda glanced over and immediately dropped their snowballs.

"Matt, are you all right?" Albus poked Matt's arm, but he didn't respond.

"Matt?" John rolled him over onto his back. Matt groaned. John pulled him up into a sitting position. "We should probably go inside," John said to Albus.

"Yeah," Albus agreed. He grabbed Matt's other arm and he and John pulled Matt to his feet. "I'm sorry, I didn't think I threw it that hard."

"I didn't think you did either," John agreed. They walked back towards the castle, supporting Matt between them.

"Maybe we should go to the Hospital Wing," Rose suggested.

"No, no Hospital Wing," Matt whispered, "I'm fine. I've just got to lie down."

"Are you sure?" Amanda asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Let's just go back to Gryffindor," Matt said.

They walked slowly back to Gryffindor Tower. By the time they were at the common room, Matt was able to walk unsupported, although he still didn't look good. Once they were in the room, Matt made a beeline for the dormitory. Albus and John went with him so they could dump their wet cloaks and scarves.

"Are you going to stay up here?" Albus asked Matt.

"I think so," Matt said as he climbed into his bed.

"Ok, well I hope you're feeling better," Albus replied.

"Me, too," John said. But by the time the two boys left the room, Matt had already fallen asleep.

Albus and John headed back down the circular staircase and back into the common room. The room was packed and very noisy. Rose and Amanda had already settled themselves to doing homework at a small secluded table in a corner of the room. Albus and John sat down across from the girls and took out their books.

"So," Albus whispered, "Is the full moon sometime soon?"

"Yep," Rose told him without looking up from her homework, "It's tomorrow."

"D'you think it'll be as bad as last time?" Amanda asked.

"I dunno," Rose answered, "I really don't know why his transformations are so bad."

"I think he's part of that study Uncle Bill was talking about," Albus told them, "When I was in the Hospital Wing last month, the Healer mentioned a study, but Madam Pomfrey shushed him before he elaborated."

"Then that might explain it. But why would he be in the study if it's just making things worse?" John asked.

"Who knows what it was like before it, though?" Rose commented.

"Good point," John responded. The four friends sank into their thoughts and continued working on their homework in silence for a half hour. The noise in the common room made it difficult to carry on a conversation. Albus managed to finish his Charms homework, but it took him longer than usual since he was distracted by worrying about Matt.

Albus closed his Charms book and put it back into his bag. When he looked up, he was surprised to see Matt coming over towards them. Albus sat back up and poked John, who was still working diligently on his Herbology essay that was due the next day. John looked up as Matt sat down next to Rose.

"What are you guys talking about?" Matt asked.

"Not much, really, we're just doing homework," John told him, "I guess I'll have to finish this after dinner." He closed his Herbology book and stuffed it in his bag.

"You coming to dinner?" Albus asked Matt, "We weren't sure if you'd be up."

A look of panic flashed across Matt's face, "Why would you think that?" he asked quickly.

Albus glanced shiftily at John, "Er, just because you didn't look too good after getting hit by that snowball."

Matt visibly relaxed, "Oh, um, I'm feeling better now."

"That's good," Albus answered. Matt did look a bit better, although he was still much paler than usual. "Let's go eat, then. I'm starved."

Rose and Amanda packed up their work and the group headed down to the Great Hall. Even though Matt went to dinner, Albus noticed that he didn't eat much. After dinner, they headed back up to the common room to finish their homework.

"I'm still three inches short," John announced after he worked for another twenty minutes on his Herbology essay.

"Let me see it," Rose reached over and took John's essay. She read it silently for a few minutes. "You can elaborate on the uses of Devil's Snare in Potions."

"Devil's Snare has uses in Potions?" John asked.

"Yes, in more advanced Potions. It's in the book," Rose told him. John flipped through his book and began working on his essay again.

Albus had finished his Herbology essay the previous day and was currently working on a DADA essay that was also due the next day. "Have you guys all finished the DADA essay?" he asked.

"Yes," Rose responded without glancing up from her book.

"Yeah," Amanda answered while working furiously on her star chart.

"Huh?" Matt picked his head up from his book. He had fallen asleep in his DADA book.

"Have you finished the DADA essay?" Albus repeated.

"Oh, no, but I'll get it done," Matt said tiredly and put his head back down on his book.

Albus glanced at Rose, who gave him a worried look. Albus had a feeling that Matt would not be getting the essay done. They both went back to their work without saying a word. A few minutes later, someone tapped Albus on the shoulder.

"Hey," someone said from behind him.

Albus turned around and saw Victoire standing behind his chair. "Oh, hi, Victoire. What's up?"

"Not much," Victoire sat down in the chair next to Albus. "Amy and I just have to tell you something." Amy had sat down next to Matt and was trying to wake him up.

"What is it?" Albus asked. John, Rose, and Amanda had all looked up from their work and were waiting for Victoire to get on with it.

"Quinton Willinson has finished his detentions," Victoire told him.

"Oh, great," Albus groaned.

"I just thought you should know," Victoire said.

"Do you think he's going to bother me anymore?" Albus asked.

"He might. Detention certainly deterred him for a month, but who knows what could happen now that he's done with detention? I'd just watch out, if I were you. All of you."

They all nodded, except for Matt, who was sleepily paying attention to something Amy was whispering in his ear.

"Well, I've got studying to do," Victoire stood up, "You coming, Amy? I still haven't finished that Arithmancy stuff."

Amy stopped whispering to Matt and looked at Victoire. "Uh, yeah, I haven't finished it either." She said something else to Matt and then stood up and left with Victoire, while glancing once more at her brother.

"Well, this could be bad," Rose said once they left.

"I know. He's going to be livid after having detention for a month," Albus replied.

"You've got to be careful. He's going to want revenge again," John said.

"Yeah, he will," Albus agreed.

"Has Slughorn mentioned anymore parties?" John asked.

"No, surprisingly not. But I'm not going to any even if he does."

"I think that's a good idea. I won't either. We should try and avoid Willinson," Rose responded.

They worked on their homework for another hour before going to bed. Matt had fallen asleep again shortly after Amy and Victoire left, and Albus had to poke him rather hard to wake him up. Once they got up to the dormitory, Matt collapsed onto his bed and was asleep within minutes.

Albus lay awake for a while before he managed to fall asleep. He was worried about Matt and about what Willinson was going to do now that he was free from detention. Albus tried to clear his mind, but there were so many things worrying him that he found it impossible. His sleep was filled with strange dreams, involving Willinson, along with the usual nightmare about the Hallows.

Albus went down to breakfast the next morning with John and Matt. They were running late because it had taken John and Albus a while to wake Matt up. By the time they made it to the Great Hall, Rose and Amanda had already finished breakfast and were getting ready to go to DADA.

"There you are!" Rose said when Albus sat down next to her, "You'd better eat fast. We've got to go to class in five minutes."

"I know, it took us forever to get him up," Albus gestured to Matt, who was leaning his head on his arm and not eating anything. Rose nodded and glanced at Matt sympathetically.

Albus and John shoved a few slices of toast into their mouths and then the group was off to DADA. They managed to run into the room before the bell rang, but they were the last ones there. There was only one table available, the one in front, which happened to be right in front of the table Scorpius Malfoy and his friends sat at. Albus groaned silently and sat down at the table, hoping Malfoy wouldn't mention Matt's fatigue.

"I'll collect your essays now," Harry announced once he'd finished taking attendance. He got up and went around the room to collect the essays.

Albus handed his dad his essay and Harry moved on to Matt. Matt was laying his head on his book and seemed to be asleep. Harry lightly tapped him on the shoulder. "Huh?" Matt glanced up.

Malfoy snorted loudly behind them and Albus turned around and glared at him.

"Do you have the essay done?" Harry asked quietly.

"Oh, no. I'm sorry, Professor," Matt whispered, "I tried to get it done last night, but I just..." his voice trailed off.

"It's all right," Harry replied, "Try to have it done by next week. I know I didn't give you much time, since I just assigned it Friday."

Matt nodded and put his head back down on the table. Harry went back to his desk and started the day's lecture. "Today we are going to continue-"

"Sir," Malfoy interrupted, "Sir, why does he get extra time for his essay?" Malfoy pointed at Matt.

Harry sighed, "I do not think that is any of your concern, Mr. Malfoy."

"But it's not very fair, is it? Why can't I have extra time?"

"You handed in your essay today, didn't you?" Harry asked.

"Yes, why?"

"Well, then, you obviously are in no need of extra time. If you ever think you need extra time for an assignment, just tell me why and I may grant it to you."

"But-"

"That's the end of this discussion, Mr. Malfoy," Harry cut him off, "Now, back to the lesson..."

Harry lectured for the entire class. Throughout the first half of class, Malfoy repeatedly poked Matt with his wand to try and wake him up. Albus turned around and glared at him numerous times but Malfoy kept doing it. Eventually, Harry noticed and threatened Malfoy with detention if it continued. Albus was relieved when class was over, but they still had to make it through Charms with the Slytherins. Although Albus knew even Malfoy wouldn't poke anyone with his wand in Washburn's class.

"So, first you get special treatment from Madam Pomfrey and now from Professor Potter, too?" Malfoy glared icily at Matt after they left the DADA room.

"Just leave him alone," Albus growled.

"I will find out why, you can count on it," Malfoy stared at Matt, who had gone as pale as a ghost when Malfoy said this.

"Is there a problem?" Harry had just left the classroom and was standing behind Malfoy.

Malfoy jumped as he heard Harry's voice, "No, Professor." He gave Matt one more glare before taking off for the Charms classroom.

"I'll see you later, Al," Harry gave Albus a hug before going back into the classroom.

"Bye, Dad," Albus hugged him back. Albus and Matt started to walk to Charms. John, Rose, and Amanda had gone on ahead, but Albus was staying behind to walk with Matt, who was walking considerably slower.

"Late again, Potter, Eckerton," Washburn growled as they walked into the room. They headed for their usual back table and passed Malfoy on the way. He was smiling smugly at them, noticeably happy that they were late. The class went by in its usual agony. Washburn seemed to have increased his hatred for Albus since the firework incident, if that was possible. He called on Albus for every question, even though Albus never raised his hand. The only times he didn't do this was when he chose to call on Matt, which was every time he fell asleep.

Much to Albus's surprise, Matt made it through double Herbology without going to the Hospital Wing. Albus was sure that Neville would have made him go after he tripped over a pot and banged his arm on the bench. But Neville just asked if he was all right and continued teaching.

After dinner, Albus and his friends found themselves taking a much needed break from studying. They had all finished the homework that was due the next day and were relaxing at their usual table. Albus was losing horribly at Wizard's Chess to Rose, whose knight was currently beating up Albus's queen. John and Amanda were playing a rather loud game of Exploding Snap.

"You wanna play, Matt?" John asked as he was dealing cards for the next round.

"No," Matt groaned. He was curled up in an armchair near the table and was wincing every few minutes.

"All right," John gave him a worried look, "Do you want me to go with you to the Hospital Wing?"

"Not right now," Matt whispered and closed his eyes again.

Albus glanced up and looked at his friends. They all had worried looks on their faces. Albus watched Matt fall back asleep, which only took two minutes.

"Queen to D4," Rose announced, "And check mate." Rose's queen moved to the square, beat up Albus's remaining bishop, and won the game. "Good game."

"Yeah," Albus agreed, "Have you ever lost?"

"I've lost to my dad quite a few times," Rose said as she put her chessmen away.

Albus put his chessmen back in their case and folded up the board. He looked up once he was done and saw Amy coming over. She walked over to Matt and started gently shaking him awake.

"Hi, Amy," Albus said.

Amy looked over at Albus, "Oh, hi, Albus," she said quietly and went back to waking Matt up. Matt opened his eyes and groaned.

"C'mon, it's time to go," Albus heard Amy whisper. Albus looked at Rose, John, and Amanda. They were all watching Amy, too.

"Ugh, no," Matt whispered. But he sat up and winced.

"It's ok, come on," Amy grabbed Matt's arm and pulled him gently out of the chair. Matt got up and let Amy lead him out of the common room.

"Has she ever taken him to the Hospital Wing before?" Albus asked once they left.

"No, I don't think so," Rose said.

"She must think it's going to be bad this time," John said glumly.

"Guess so," Albus responded quietly.

[DucksRMagical]

This chapter's kind of short, but I wanted that cliffhanger at the end, so it's short. The next couple are a bit longer.

Chapter 28: Secrets Emerge

The four friends were very subdued the rest of the evening. They all joined in a game of Exploding Snap, but none of them were very into it. Although they didn't talk about Matt the rest of the evening, Albus knew they were all thinking about him. Eventually, they just decided to go to bed.

Albus climbed into his four-poster bed and tried to fall asleep. He tossed and turned for hours, but sleep wouldn't come to him. He was too worried about Matt.

"Are you awake, John?" Albus asked once he was sure Bilius and Ethan were asleep.

Albus heard the bed to his right creak as John turned over. "Yeah, can't sleep."

"Me neither."

"Maybe this month won't be as bad," John suggested.

"Hope so," Albus said, "But even if it isn't as bad, he won't be in class tomorrow."

"Which means that Malfoy's going to say something," John groaned.

"Yeah, we've got to do something about that," Albus decided.

"We could hex him," John suggested.

"That'd be good, but I don't mean like that. I mean something that'll throw him off the trail. We can't let him find out," Albus explained.

"Oh, right," John thought for a moment, "How about, since Matt won't lie about where he is, we'll do it for him."

"That's what I was thinking, too," Albus said, "I know, if someone asks, we'll just tell them Matt's visiting his sick gran."

"Good idea," John agreed.

Albus yawned, "Well, I suppose we should try and get some sleep."

"Probably. Good night, then."

"'Night." After another hour of laying awake, Albus finally fell asleep.

Albus woke up feeling very tired, after only a few hours sleep. He went down to breakfast with John and met Rose and Amanda there, who were looking worried and not eating much.

"Have you heard anything yet?" Rose asked once Albus sat down.

"No, have you?"

"No. I haven't seen Amy at all and haven't had time to go to the Hospital Wing."

"We could try and go during lunch," John suggested.

Everyone agreed to that plan and managed to eat a bit of breakfast before heading off to Potions. By the time they got there, Slughorn was ready to start class, which meant Malfoy didn't have any time to ask where Matt was. Since it was just a single period, Slughorn lectured during the entire class and Albus had a hard time staying awake. He managed to take a few notes, but by the time the class was over, he felt in need of a nap.

"Hey, there, Potter," Malfoy ran up beside Albus just outside the door of the Potions classroom.

"Malfoy," Albus mumbled and kept walking.

"Couldn't help but notice that Eckerton wasn't in class today. You gonna tell me where he is?"

"Visiting his gran. She's not doing too well," Albus lied.

"Really? That's interesting," Malfoy raised his eyebrows, "After seeing him yesterday, I'd have guessed he was the one who's ill."

"Maybe he's just worried about his gran," John said shortly, before turning down the corridor towards the Transfiguration room, "Now we've got to go to class."

"See you, then," Albus said to Malfoy as he followed John to Transfiguration. Malfoy turned around and left without saying a word. "I hope that worked."

"Me, too," John agreed.

After Transfiguration, Albus and his friends ate a hurried lunch and went to the Hospital Wing. When they got there, Albus noticed that the doors were open. "Well, that's a good sign."

"Definitely," Rose agreed and walked inside. Albus, John, and Amanda followed her. The bed at the far end of the ward had the curtains drawn and all the other beds were empty. "He must be in there," Rose pointed to the curtained bed.

"Where's Madam Pomfrey?" Albus whispered. The nurse didn't appear to be in the room.

John pointed to the curtains, which started to rustle, "She must be back there."

A gap appeared in the curtains and Madam Pomfrey came out from behind them. She was carrying an empty glass and a clipboard. When she noticed the group of Gryffindor first years, she came rushing over to them. "I thought I'd be seeing you lot here."

"Is Matt all right?" Rose whispered anxiously.

"Yes, he should be fine in a couple days," Madam Pomfrey smiled.

"So, it's not nearly as bad as last time?" Albus asked.

"Oh, no, he's much better this month," Madam Pomfrey set the empty glass down on a table and started writing on the clipboard.

"Well, can we see him?" John asked tentatively.

"Sorry, but no. He's sleeping right now. And I don't think he wants visitors. He hasn't told you yet, has he?"

"No," John answered.

Madam Pomfrey sighed, "Of course. Well, I do hope he tells you soon. I have a feeling this whole thing would be easier on him if he wasn't keeping it to himself."

"I guess we'll just see him when he leaves, then," Albus said.

"I think that would be best. He should be ready to leave on Thursday or Friday. You'd best be off to class," Madam Pomfrey picked up the empty glass and strode into her office.

As Albus walked to the common room to collect his books, he thought about what Matt was going to do when he found out that they knew about his secret. Matt seemed so keen on keeping it from everyone. He didn't even want his friends to visit him in the Hospital Wing. Yet, he hadn't done a very good job at hiding it. Or had they found out so easily just because Rose knew so much about werewolves? Albus wasn't sure he would have figured it out without her. But even so, if Albus had found out so quickly, how long would it be until Malfoy found out?

******

"Hey, Potty," a cold voice from behind Albus said. It was Friday night and Albus, Rose, John, and Amanda were eating dinner while wondering when Matt would come back. Albus turned around at the voice and choked on his pumpkin juice when he saw who it was.

"Willinson," Albus coughed.

"What do you want?" John said shortly as he slapped Albus on the back.

"Oh, not much," Willinson replied, "Haven't seen you much since our little duel last month, Potty."

"Yeah, I hear you've been quite occupied with detention," Albus laughed.

"Laugh now, but the detention is over. I'll have plenty of time on my hands now."

"And what are you going to do? You couldn't even hex me. Your friends did it."

"Doesn't matter. I'm not the one who wound up in the Hospital Wing, am I?" Willinson snorted.

"And I suppose you're proud that a first year could disarm you?" Albus grinned, "Because if I were you, I'd be a bit embarrassed."

"Shut it, Potty, I planned that."

"No, you didn't. Quite the look of shock on your face after I did it," Albus responded. Willinson glared at him.

"What's going on here?" someone from behind Albus asked.

"N-nothing, Professor," Willinson said quickly.

"Then I'd suggest returning to the Slytherin table, Mr. Willinson," Neville replied. Willinson turned on the spot and headed to the Slytherin table without saying another word.

"He wasn't bothering you, was he?" Neville asked once Willinson left.

"Not really," Albus told Neville.

"Good. If he's causing trouble, just let me know. I think the detentions may have set him straight, though. He's not nearly as smug when he's in the forest," Neville responded and left for the staff table.

Albus laughed, "I guess he's not as brave as we thought he was."

"Course he's not!" John exclaimed, "He's a Slytherin, not a Gryffindor."

"Yeah, we're the brave ones!" Albus agreed.

After dinner, Albus and his friends went to the common room to spend the evening. The room was quite a bit emptier than usual. There was a big dueling club meeting and most of the Gryffindors were attending it. First years were not allowed to join the dueling club, so all of them were in the common room, along with some older students who weren't part of the club. Since it was so empty, Albus and his friends were able to snag a few of the good armchairs in front of the fire. They were all putting off homework, except for Rose who was reading a book, since it was the weekend.

"You going to join the dueling club next year?" Albus asked, while sorting through his Chocolate Frog cards. "I can't wait to join. James says it's awesome."

"Of course!" John shouted, "Hey, have you got any Snape cards?"

"Yeah, I've got quite a few," Albus shifted his deck of cards and pulled out five Snapes, "Want one?"

"Yeah, I still haven't gotten any," John told him. Albus handed him one of his cards.

"Is it normal to get injured badly in the dueling club?" Amanda asked.

"It's possible, but it doesn't usually happen," Albus told her. "The teachers make sure nothing bad happens."

"Then I might join. How about you, Rose?" Amanda said.

"Sure, probably," Rose responded absentmindedly.

"Are you ok? You're awfully quiet," Amanda commented.

"I'm all right," Rose answered, "I'm just thinking about Matt. Madam Pomfrey said he was supposed to be back today."

"I've been thinking about that, too," Albus told her, "I hope he's ok."

"Well, even if he doesn't come back until tomorrow, it's still better than last month," John whispered, "But I wonder when he's going to tell us."

"Why don't we go up to the dormitory and talk about it," Albus suggested, "It's too quiet in here, someone's going to hear us. And Bilius and Ethan are down here anyway." Albus pointed to a table to their left, where the other two Gryffindor first year boys were sitting playing gobstones.

"Good idea," Rose agreed and closed her book. The group got up from their chairs and followed Albus to the boys' dormitory.

When they got up to the dormitory, Albus sat down on his bed. Rose and Amanda looked around a bit before sitting down next to him.

"I can't take it anymore, we've got to tell him!" John shouted and started pacing around the room, "I'm not sure he's ever going to tell us!"

"He will, we've just got to give him some more time!" Albus insisted.

"I'm not so sure, Albus. He hasn't told us yet, what makes you so sure he'll ever do it?" John questioned.

"I don't know, I just think he will."

"Well, I don't. And I'm not so sure I can keep pretending I have no clue why he leaves every month. I mean, how long has it been since we've known? And we've known him since September. Isn't that enough time for him to trust us?" John stormed over to his bed and threw himself on it.

"Honestly, John, that's really not a long time. September wasn't even six months ago," Rose reasoned.

"So you're on Albus's side, then? You think we should just pretend we're clueless about his disappearances?" John asked.

"Yes, I do. I think he will tell us, once he realizes he can trust us," Rose told him.

"Well, what more do we have to do?" John huffed.

"It's not that simple!" Albus shouted, remembering his conversation with Dumbledore. "Do you know how hard it must be for him? He's probably had people abandoning him because of this his whole life!"

"And I suppose you know more about it than I do? Last I checked, you weren't a werewolf," John shouted.

"Yeah, I do know more than you!" Albus shouted back, getting up from the bed and walking towards John.

"Really, and how would that be?" John got up and stood in front of Albus, staring at him.

"Because Teddy's dad was a werewolf! I've told you that! And my dad's told me all about what he went through! You know he wasn't even going to be allowed to come to Hogwarts, but then Dumbledore became headmaster and let him! And then he couldn't even keep a job because no one wanted to hire a werewolf! So, yeah, I do know a bit more than you do!"

"Fine, so you know more about it than me, but how do you know that Matt will tell us?"

"I just do, ok?" Albus insisted, thinking of what Dumbledore had said.

"Well, I think that it might be easier if we just told him we know. Then he could just talk to us about it and we could stop keeping secrets!" John shouted.

"Albus," Rose said from behind Albus and started tugging on his robes.

"Not now, Rose," Albus pushed her hand away, "It probably would be easier, but it's his secret, so let's just let him tell us!"

"But what if he doesn't!" John threw his hands up in the air. "Are we just going to go our whole seven years at Hogwarts pretending we don't know?"

Rose poked Albus more persistently and Albus pushed her hand away again. "Of course not, because he'll tell us soon!"

"Albus!" Rose shouted louder and pointed to the doorway.

Albus turned his head away from John and glanced at the doorway. Matt was standing there, looking tired and run down, with a shocked look on his face. He stared at Albus for a few seconds before turning and running back down the stairs.

[DucksRMagical]

As of tonight, I've finished writing this fic! I just finished the last chapter. There's still editing to do, but I'll probably be editing the whole thing over the next few weeks. Updates will probably come more often now. I do have an idea for a sequel, but there's another non-related fic that I want to write, too. So I don't know when I'll start the sequel.

Well, onto the next chapter. I hope you like it! It was pretty long, so I split it into two parts.

Chapter 29: Explanations: Part I

Albus turned back to John and they stared at each other. "How long had he been standing there?" Albus asked quietly.

Rose sighed, "Since right after you finished talking about Teddy's dad."

"So he definitely knows we know," Albus responded.

"I'd say so," Rose agreed.

Albus and John looked at each other again, and with their argument forgotten they both turned and ran out of the dormitory to follow Matt. Albus didn't look back, but the sound of footsteps told him that Rose and Amanda weren't far behind. Albus didn't know what he was going to say to Matt when they found him, he just knew he had to do something. This was not how Albus imagined Matt telling them about his lycanthropy. And he was sure that it was not what Dumbledore had in mind. But what's done is done, and Albus could only hope that Matt wasn't too mad at them.

When they reached the common room, it was packed. Albus realized that dueling club practice must have just let out. He glanced quickly around the room, thinking they'd never find Matt amongst all the other Gryffindors. John elbowed Albus in the side and pointed towards the Fat Lady's portrait. It was opening, and then it closed again, but they didn't see anyone enter or leave. Someone short must have left. Albus knew it was Matt. He motioned for his friends to follow. They pushed their way through the throngs of older students and eventually made it to the portrait. The group scrambled through the hole and landed in the seventh floor corridor.

"Where is he?" Amanda asked.

"I dunno," Albus said, glancing around. Matt was no where in sight. "I wish we had the Marauder's Map."

"The what?" John asked.

"The Marauder's Map. It's that map of Hogwarts my grandpa and his friends made. Remember? I told you about it."

"Oh, yeah."

"Well, we don't have it. But we'd better get going if we have any hopes of finding him," Rose started running down the corridor.

Albus, John, and Amanda followed Rose down the corridor. After a minute or so, Albus spotted Matt. "There he is!" he whispered to his friends. They continued running and it didn't take long to catch up to Matt. Since it was right after a full moon, Matt was going slower than usual.

Albus and his friends stopped a few meters in front of him. "Matt?" Albus asked tentatively.

Matt turned around and walked slowly towards his friends, past a tapestry of
Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach trolls to dance ballet, and stopped a few feet in front of Albus. "So, you know?" he asked in a voice so soft, Albus could hardly hear it. He stared at the ground.

"Er, yeah," Albus answered in an equally quiet voice.

Matt didn't look up and turned around and paced slowly down the hallway. He seemed to be thinking hard. When he got just past the tapestry, he stopped and walked back towards Albus. Albus knew he was trying to think of something to say. Albus glanced at his friends and all of them looked very uncomfortable. They stood completely still, not saying a word, while Matt continued pacing up and down the hallway.

On his third or fourth time returning to Albus, Albus wasn't sure as he had lost count, Matt finally looked up at Albus with a scared expression on his face. Matt opened his mouth and was about to say something when he stopped. He turned and looked at the wall facing the tapestry.

Albus turned to see what Matt was staring at. When his gaze reached the wall, his mouth fell open. A door was sitting upon the wall, where there hadn't been a door before. Albus turned around and looked at Rose. Albus had a feeling he knew where the door came from, and Rose's knowing look of awe confirmed it. John was staring at it as if he had been stupefied. Amanda was blinking and rubbing her eyes, as if the door was just a figment of her imagination.

Matt glanced at Albus and then he walked towards the door. When he reached it, he grasped the handle and opened it. He walked slowly inside, leaving the door open behind him. Once Matt was inside, Albus nodded to his friends and walked inside. John, Rose, and Amanda followed.

When Albus got into the room, he gazed around in awe. The entire room was decorated in Gryffindor scarlet and gold. The high ceiling was painted gold and the walls were covered in scarlet drapery. The floor was covered in scarlet and gold patterned carpet. In the back of the room was a large fireplace complete with a crackling fire. In front of the fire, were three large comfy looking scarlet armchairs and a big gold couch.

"What is this place?" Amanda asked as she walked around the room.

"I think it's the Room of Requirement," Albus told her, "It's also called the Come and Go Room. It only appears when you're in need of it. And it changes according to your needs."

"Dad's told me about this before, but he wouldn't tell me where it was or how to find it," John told them.

"Same with me," Rose said.

"Me, too," Albus replied.

"It's incredible!" Amanda grinned, "Looks just like the Gryffindor common room."

"Only better," John responded, "We can sit near the fire."

"It looks like it was made for us," Albus commented.

"It does," Rose agreed, "Matt, did you...request this?"

"Yeah," Matt sighed.

"So, you knew about the Room?" John asked.

"Yes," Matt answered, "Amy told me about it before I came to Hogwarts. She thought, it well, might be useful, for me." He sighed, "Sometimes I come here after I get out of the Hospital Wing, if I want to just be alone and sleep."

"And does it look like this then?" Amanda asked.

"No, usually it's got a four-poster bed and the fireplace, and that's it."

"So, it'll give you whatever you ask for?" Amanda responded.

"Er, I think so, within reason," Matt told her, "Like, if you wanted a room full of Galleons, I don't think it would be able to do it. And it can't give you food. Something about the laws of Transfiguration or something."

"Is this where you've been all day?" John asked as he wandered around the room. "Because we went to see you on Tuesday and Madam Pomfrey said you'd get to leave Thursday or today."

Matt sighed and slowly walked towards one of the armchairs and sat down in it. Albus followed and sat down on the couch. Rose sat down next to him while John and Amanda took the remaining chairs. "Yeah, I was here," Matt said quietly after a few moments of silence. "I was just so tired and I couldn't face going to Charms and dealing with Washburn and Malfoy."

Albus could understand that. Looking back on the previous months, he realized that Washburn did tend to call on Matt more right after he got back from the Hospital Wing.

"You were still tired? Even after spending three days in the Hospital Wing? Why?" John asked while he pulled a Chocolate Frog out of his pocket and opened it. "Oh, look, Albus. Now I've got Snape!"

"I dunno. That's just how it is," Matt mumbled.

The group sat in silence for a few moments. John pulled out a few more frogs and offered them around. Albus, Rose, and Amanda each took one and ate them. Albus got Minerva McGonagall, which he gave to Amanda since he already had about seven of her.

"You guys have to promise me something," Matt broke the silence, "Don't tell anyone."

Albus stared at him. "Of course we won't," he said solemnly. John, Rose, and Amanda nodded their heads in agreement.

"Thanks," Matt whispered, and got up from his chair.

"Where are you going?" Albus asked.

"I dunno. I just figured you wouldn't want to hang out with me anymore," Matt looked nervously at Albus.

"What?!" Albus shouted, "Of course we still want to hang out with you!"

"Really?" Matt asked, while a smile slowly crept up on his face.

"Definitely!" John assured him.

"Of course," Amanda smiled.

"We won't abandon you," Rose said adamantly.

Matt visibly relaxed and sat back down in his chair. "I guess I just thought that you wouldn't. Since, well, everyone I've ever been friends with stopped talking to me once they found out."

"That won't happen with us," Albus assured him.

"But doesn't it scare you, just a bit?" Matt asked tentatively.

"Nope," Albus replied, "You couldn't have found better friends, if I do say so myself," he grinned and looked at Rose, who grinned back.

"What do you mean?" Matt looked from Albus to Rose, "What are you two getting at?"

"Did Professor Kendrick tell you that you aren't the first werewolf to attend Hogwarts?" Albus asked.

"Yeah..." Matt responded warily, "He said there was one other, a couple decades ago."

"And I'm guessing he never told you who that was?" Rose replied.

"Er, no, he didn't," Matt answered, "Why?"

"We know exactly who it was," Albus grinned.

"You do? You know him?"

"Well, not exactly. He died in the Battle at Hogwarts," Albus told him, "So did his wife. But they had a son, who was only a couple months old at the time."

"Oh," Matt replied, "Well, who's his son, then? Do I know him?"

"I dunno if you know him or not."

"Who is he, then?" Matt looked at Albus.

"Teddy Lupin," Albus grinned.

"Teddy Lupin? Victoire's boyfriend?"

"Yup, and my dad's godson!" Albus reminded him.

"Oh, yeah, that's right! But I've never met him before. So, who was his dad?"

"Remus Lupin," Rose said. "I'll let Albus tell you the rest."

"You mean, there's more?" Matt stared in awe at Albus.

"Yup, you want to know why my dad's Teddy's godfather, don't you?"

"Of course!"

"Well, here it goes. My grandpa, the one who was killed by Voldemort, went to Hogwarts the same time Remus Lupin did. Along with Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. They all became pretty good friends. Remus Lupin tried to keep the fact that he was a werewolf secret, but eventually, my grandpa, Sirius, and Peter found out. And they didn't abandon him. In fact, they all became illegal animagi and spent the full moons with him."

"Really?" Matt glanced around at his friends.

"Really," Albus continued, "They stayed friends right up until Pettigrew betrayed my grandparents. And you know that story. Then, Remus met Nymphadora Tonks, who was somehow related to Sirius, I think she was his cousin's daughter. Anyway, they got married and had a son, Teddy, right in the height of Voldemort's reign. They both were killed in the Battle. But Remus had made my dad Teddy's godfather, so he's kind of like a brother. So, you can see that no way would I abandon you."

"Wow," Matt grinned at Albus, "But what about the rest of you?"

"Nope, you don't have to worry about me," Rose answered, "Teddy's like my cousin."

"I'm not related to any werewolves, heck, you're the first one I've met. But don't worry. You're my friend and nothing can change that," John replied.

"Honestly, it scared me a bit when I first found out," Amanda admitted, "But I'm Muggle-born, so the only idea of werewolves I'd had were in Muggle fairy tales."

Matt looked at her and the smile on his face disappeared. He glanced nervously at Albus.

"But I'm fine with it now. Rose taught me a lot. I know now that real werewolves aren't anything like the ones in fairy tales. And besides, just because you get furry once a month doesn't mean you're a different person the rest of the month. I was friends with you before I knew and I'll stay friends with you now," Amanda assured him.

Matt relaxed, "Thanks, guys. I've never had better friends. But how long have you known?"

"Well, Rose figured it out in November, but we weren't positive until I wound up in the Hospital Wing at the same time as you last month."

"What?!" Matt's mouth fell open, "How did that happen?"

Albus explained the duel with Quinton Willinson and how he had overheard Madam Pomfrey and the Healer talking early the next morning.

"Why didn't you tell me you knew?" Matt asked quietly.

"I thought it would be better for you to tell us when you're ready, but I guess that didn't happen," Albus answered.

"Guess not, but thanks anyway, for the thought," Matt replied. Everyone sat quietly for a few moments, before Albus broke the silence.

"Could we, er, ask you questions about it?" Albus asked tentatively.

Matt sighed, "Sure, I guess."

"If you don't want to-" Albus started.

"No, it's fine, it's just I've never actually told anyone about it. It's always been my parents or Amy. But yeah, ask whatever you want," Matt told them.

"All right, if you're sure," Albus paused, "Well, when did it happen?"

Matt took a deep breath. "When I was six. We were Muggle camping at the time. My mum's Muggle-born, and she had gone camping when she was a kid, and she wanted me and Amy to get the experience. You guys do know what Muggles do when they camp, right?"

"That's when they live in those cramped, tiny tents that are just big enough to sleep in, right? And they don't use electricity or any of that stuff they use instead of magic?"John asked.

Amanda stifled a giggle at his description of camping. "Well, that's the general idea, I suppose, but it's usually a lot funner than you describe it."

"Right," Matt said, "Well, that's what my mum wanted to do. So Dad agreed because he thought it sounded crazy enough to be fun. And it was, at first. We didn't use any magic. I don't remember a whole lot, but I do remember Dad playing with matches trying to get the campfire lit. It took him a half hour. Amy says that after that first campfire, Mum lit all the rest of them.

"We were going to camp for three nights, I think. The second night was a full moon. It was a blue moon. You know, when there are two moons in a month, they call the second one a blue moon. They don't happen often. Only every 2 or 3 years. It was the end of July. We were all in one tent, and in the middle of the night I had to go to the bathroom. There was a long walk to the bathroom, through the woods. I was halfway there when I heard this deep growl. The last thing I remember is a huge animal pouncing on me and a searing pain in my back, and then I blacked out."

Albus listened but didn't say anything. He heard Amanda gasped. Albus sort of felt sick to his stomach. Ever since he found out that Matt was a werewolf, he knew he must have been bit, but he never really thought about the details. Now, hearing about it, he felt awful that his friend had been through it.

"And then what happened?" John whispered.

"Well, my parents told me what happened a while after I woke up. Amy is a really light sleeper and she heard the growls and my screaming. She woke up my parents and my dad went noticed that I was gone and he ran out of the tent with his wand. He saw what was happening and started shooting off all sorts of spells that somehow had great effect on the werewolf. Then my mum came running after him once and she started trying to stun the werewolf, too. After a few spells, the werewolf was stunned. By that time, a bunch of Muggles who were camping had woken up and were freaking out."

"Muggles saw it?" Rose asked.

"Yeah," Matt continued, "My mum sent word to the Ministry and they sent Obliviators and representatives from the Magical Creature Control Office. None of the Muggles remember anything from it of course, but it was in the paper, so all the wizards and witches found out about it. But they didn't know it was me who got attacked. The law prevents the names of underage werewolves from being released."

"Wow," Albus said, "I guess that's good that no one knew it was you."

"It didn't really help, though," Matt replied bitterly. "But there's more before I get to that. After the Ministry people showed up, my dad apparated with me to Eastworth, that's one of the hospitals in Australia. I spent nearly a month there. Right up until the next full moon. I woke up two weeks after it happened. Spent the next two weeks waiting for all the injuries to heal, but they didn't heal all the way. That took a couple months. Anyway, the first full moon was awful. I hardly remember any of it. Just the pain and illness in the few days before it and the two weeks it took to heal after it."

"But what about the Wolfsbane Potion?" Rose asked tentatively.

Matt sighed, "The thing is, that doesn't work for me. The Healers haven't been able to figure out why yet. I took it during the first few full moons and it had no effect on me at all, so my parents stopped giving it to me. It's really expensive."

Albus couldn't think of what to say. He now knew the story. Matt had told them the whole thing. It seemed like once he started, he just didn't stop. Maybe it felt good to finally tell someone about it? Albus figured that was it. He couldn't imagine carrying around a secret like that for twelve years. Then Albus remembered something Matt had told him on the train. "Um, Matt? Why did your family move to here?" Albus had the feeling that had something to do with his being a werewolf. Matt hadn't mentioned much about moving to England, and when he talked about it on the train, he changed the subject quickly.

[DucksRMagical]

Chapter 30: Explanations: Part II

"Um, well, because of me," Matt replied glumly, "I never told you before, but my parents were really well-known in Australia. Not really famous like your family is, Albus, but just kind of upper class types. Both of them were. My dad comes from a long line of pure bloods. But not the kinds who despise Muggles and Muggle-borns. They were just always involved in the Ministry and had a load of gold, that kind of thing.

"And my mum, her family is really rich. They were always involved in all sorts of celebrity type stuff. They knew all sorts of famous people and hosted fancy parties and things like that. Then my mum got her letter telling her she was a witch. My grandparents were horrified and excited at the same time. They obviously couldn't tell any of their friends about it, and they had a hard time keeping it a secret. But they thought it was cool, too.

"My parents met in school and got married shortly after. Put together, they were the ideal magical couple. My dad got a job at the Ministry in the Office for the Control of Magical Creatures. Eventually, shortly after I was born, he worked his way up to Head of the Office. Kind of ironic, isn't it?"

"That's how he knew how to stun the werewolf," Rose commented.

"Yeah, and it's a good thing he did," Matt said, "Anyway, my family was involved in all sorts of fancy events and committees, both magical and Muggle. My parents were living the perfect life. Then, I got bit."

"And it all had to stop, didn't it?" Albus said softly.

"Yes, and slowly it did. First, they stopped doing the Muggle things. Muggles don't know werewolves are real, so they couldn't do much Muggle stuff anymore. The Muggles would ask what was wrong with me and my parents couldn't tell them. If they lied and said it was some sort of Muggle disease, it would have been all over their news. So, my parents just told everyone that they were going to relax and raise their family away from all the fame.

"The magic stuff was a little more complicated. Everyone who worked in my dad's office knew that I had been bit and they kept it a secret for a long time. For over a year, no one knew it happened. Then, there were a few more werewolf attacks down there, all on adults. So people started drafting anti-werewolf legislation. My dad immediately rejected all of it. People got suspicious, and one of his colleagues got pretty fired up about it. He was all for more restriction. So, he leaked that I was a werewolf to other parts of the Ministry. Dad got fired on account of him being biased about werewolves."

John let out a low whistle, "Matt, I'm so sorry, did you think it was your fault?"

"Yeah, I did, actually," Matt said darkly, "Mum and Dad kept telling me it wasn't and not to think that way, but I couldn't help it. Dad wasn't totally out of a job, though. They moved him to the Muggle Liaison Office. Big cut in pay, though. Which didn't help with all the Healer bills. They'd already spent much of their savings on the earlier bills. Although we had plenty to get by.

"But it was just all downhill from there. Word slowly leaked out and I lost the few friends that I had. Their parents just wouldn't let them play with me anymore. I was almost eight by then, and my parents were starting to think about school. They sent a letter to Amy's school, the Australian Institute of Magical Learning, to see if I could still attend. They wouldn't let me."

"They wouldn't?!" John shouted, "But why?"

"Said it was too dangerous. I was really depressed after that. The transformations got worse. I always held out hope that I'd be able to go to school. Amy would come home with stories and I looked forward to when I'd get to go. So, just to seek out the options, my parents sent letters to a few other schools. Illinois Institute of Sorcery in Illinois, Hogwarts, and the Adirondack Academy of Magic in New York State. And a couple others that I don't remember the names. Hogwarts and Adirondack both said I could still attend. Adirondack had never had any werewolves attend, but they said they would work it out.

"By then, my parents were definitely willing to move so I could go to school. They were debating which school I should go to when they heard about a study St. Mungo's was doing. It was a small study that would try to figure out why Wolfsbane wouldn't work for some people. That was the deciding factor. They decided on Hogwarts and signed me up for the study. We moved that summer, right after Amy was done with school for the year."

Albus sat and thought. He now knew what Dumbledore had meant by 'true horrors in his past'. It wasn't just being bit by a werewolf and becoming one himself. It was the fact that Matt's family's whole life was drastically changed because of what had happened. They moved halfway across the world because of it. "What about Amy? She had already been at school in Australia for a few years," Albus commented.

"Yeah, she had. She was 14 when we moved, going into her fourth year. And she wasn't too happy about it. I know you guys just see her as a protective older sister, but she wasn't always," Matt paused, "She was really upset when my parents told her that we had to move. She didn't want to leave her friends. She blamed me."

"But she's always looking out for you!" Rose replied, "I can't imagine her being mad at you."

"I know," Matt said, "But it's true. You see, my parents didn't let her be anywhere near me when I transformed. She stayed with my grandparents every full moon that she wasn't in school. She stayed with them for a week after the full moon, too. By the time she got back, I was mostly better."

"Oh," Rose said, "But what happened?"

"Well, once we moved, she couldn't go stay with my grandparents every full moon anymore. We moved in August, right after the full moon, so she was in school by the time the next one came around. She was still mad at me when she left for school and it made me feel horrible. But after a few weeks, she settled into Hogwarts and made new friends, including Victoire. There wasn't a full moon over the Christmas holiday that year and we went to visit my grandparents. She kind of forgave me then, but it wasn't the same as it was before we moved.

"Then the summer came and my parents had to face that she would be there during full moons. By then I'd been a werewolf for three years and she still hadn't been there. She was 15, then, so my parents figured she was old enough anyway. Anyway, the night came and I, er, went to the place where I transform when I'm home. In the morning, my parents always came and got me really early, so they could take me to my bed and give me my potions and stuff. Well, apparently that night Amy hadn't slept at all. She told me later that she couldn't once she heard my screaming and howling. She stayed awake all night, waiting for the moon to set, and once it did, she went and got me even before my parents did.

"Well, once she saw me, she realized what I was going through. She honestly had no idea, since my parents didn't really talk much about the details around her. That morning, she saw me unconscious, with broken bones, and covered in blood and cuts. It made her realize how bad it really is. She told me later that once she saw me, she started crying and she started trying to heal my cuts. Then my parents came and found her. They started crying with her and let her help them do everything they do after a transformation. When I woke up, we had a long talk, all four of us. Amy completely forgave me for moving here and she's been very protective ever since, especially when it comes to someone being rude about my condition."

"Oh, Matt," Rose whispered, "I'm so glad that Amy isn't mad at you anymore. I just can't believe you have to go through all this."

"It's all right, I'll survive," Matt assured her.

"I know, it just doesn't seem fair," Rose said.

"Yeah," Albus agreed, "Do you know what happened to the werewolf that bit you?"

"My dad told me," Matt answered, "He got in a load of trouble, because of what did happen and what could have happened. He could have attacked some of the Muggles that were there, instead of me. It was only by chance that it happened to be me, a wizard, he bit. We were probably the only wizards anywhere near that campsite, but there were loads of Muggles around. Anyway, he got sentenced to ten years in prison."

"So he's still there?" John asked.

"Yup," Matt replied. He paused for a few moments, watching his friends. "So, now you know the whole story."

"Were you really planning on keeping it a secret the whole time you were at Hogwarts?" Albus asked.

"Er, I'm not sure. I guess so. That's what my parents told me to do anyway. They told me not to tell anyone, and I didn't want to tell anyone either. I didn't really think anyone would find out."

"Rose is pretty smart, though," Albus said, "I wouldn't have figured it out without her, well, until I wound up in the Hospital Wing with you last month."

"I guess I wouldn't have been able to go all through school without anyone finding out."

"So who does know?" Albus asked.

"Hardly anyone. The teachers, of course. Most of them have been really nice about it, especially your dad, Albus," Matt answered.

Albus grinned, "Yeah, like that essay that was due the other day."

"Oh, yeah, I'd forgotten about that," Matt groaned, "I'll have to do it this weekend. Washburn's been pretty rude, but he's rude to every Gryffindor. Amy had warned me about that. And Filch knows, but he's hardly been sympathetic."

"Filch," John spat, "I can't stand him! Remember that detention we did in January? The one where he had you scrubbing the floor?"

"Oh, yeah, how could I forget that?" Matt sighed, "That was awful."

Albus thought back to the morning where Matt had came to breakfast absolutely aching due to cleaning the floor of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Much to everyone's surprise, Madam Pomfrey had actually healed his aches and pains. "Um, about that. Over Christmas holiday, did you really fall out of a tree, or was that just another cover-up story?"

Matt blushed, "Er, yeah, it was. There was a full moon over the holiday. The second one of December to be exact. It was a blue moon. Only the second one since the one when I got bit. The first one was when I was 9 and it was awful. Much worse than the regular full moons. And the one in December was just as awful. Plus, I had to transform at my grandparents house. In their attic, which my dad sound proofed and strengthened the walls with magic. So, yeah, those injuries were from the full moon, not falling out of a tree."

"I had a feeling about that," Albus commented, "So, no other students know?"

"Nope," Matt answered, "You're the only ones, besides Amy. She's not allowed to tell her friends. She hasn't even told Victoire."

"Thanks for telling us the whole story," Rose said.

"You know, it feels good to finally tell someone. Kind of like I can relax now. I was always afraid you'd find out and tell someone and I'd have to leave."

"We'd never do that," Albus assured him.

"Thanks," Matt smiled.

Just then the door to the room burst open and Amy came running in, out of breath. "There you are!" she shouted and ran towards Matt.

"How'd you get in here?" John asked. "We're already using the Room."

"I made all the requests for it and I always request that Amy be able to find me, but to keep everyone else out," Matt answered.

"And it's a good thing, too! It's half past midnight! I was worried sick! Madam Pomfrey said you left ages ago, but I haven't seen you all day," Amy gave him a hug.

"Ouch!" Matt winced.

"Oh, sorry!" Amy released her grip, "Have you been here all day?"

"Pretty much."

"You skipped class? Are you sure you're better?" Amy asked in a worried tone.

"I'm just tired and I didn't want to face Washburn today. He always calls on me when I'm tired, he does it on purpose," Matt yawned.

"Oh, he's such a git," Amy replied, "But are you sure you're ok? I could take you back to the Hospital Wing."

"I'm fine, honestly," Matt said adamantly.

"How did they know how to get in here?" Amy glanced around at Albus, John, Rose, and Amanda, and then leaned over and whispered something in Matt's ear.

"It's all right, Amy," Matt sighed, "They know. I told them. I told them everything."

"What?!" Amy opened her eyes wide and stared at Matt. "Mum and Dad told you not to!"

"I know, but it's all right. They figured it out months ago and were just waiting until I was ready to tell them."

"They'd better not tell," Amy glanced around at Albus and the others.

"Don't worry, they won't," Matt assured her, "Did you know that Teddy's dad was a werewolf?"

"Really? Victoire's boyfriend's dad?"

"Yeah, he was the one they built the Shrieking Shack and planted the Whomping Willow for."

"Wow."

"So, they definitely won't tell. Albus's grandpa was really good friends with Teddy's dad."

"I knew that part. And Professor Potter is Teddy's godfather."

"Yup, and you know, I'm really glad I told them everything. I can relax a little bit."

"Just be sure no one else finds out," Amy warned.

"I know, I'll be careful," Matt said, "But you know, you could tell Victoire, if you want. I don't think she'd tell anyone, do you, Albus?"

"No, she wouldn't tell anyone," Albus assured them.

"Yeah, I know she wouldn't. I've been tempted to tell her ever since she told me that her dad was attacked by Fenrir Greyback," Amy revealed, "But Mum and Dad don't want me to tell anyone."

"I know, they didn't want me to tell anyone either, but that didn't work out," Matt replied, "I just wanted you to know that I wouldn't mind if you told Victoire."

"Ok, I'll think about it. But thanks for telling me that. It's hard keeping it a secret. Sometimes I just want to talk about it."

"Me, too. That's why I'm kinda relieved they know now," Matt gestured to his friends.

"I guess you should let Mum and Dad know that you told them."

"I will, I'll send them a letter this weekend," Matt yawned.

"You really ought to go to bed," Amy suggested.

"That'd probably be a good idea," Albus agreed, "Quidditch is tomorrow."

"Oh, yeah, I'd forgotten!" Matt said excitedly.

"Should be a good game," John commented.

"Ravenclaw will probably win," Amanda predicted.

Albus and his friends walked back to Gryffindor Tower with Amy, and the common room was practically deserted by the time they got back. Victoire was there, along with Samantha Meyers, and a couple other seventh years who Albus vaguely recognized. Amy bid them goodnight and went to sit with her friends. When Albus, John, and Matt went up to their dormitory, Bilius and Ethan were already asleep. Albus climbed into his bed feeling very content. He was happy that Matt had finally opened up to them, but still felt a bit worried about what Matt was going through. Albus was also quite thrilled with the idea of having the Room of Requirement available to them. He didn't think he'd manage to find that until he was much older, but now he would be able to use it during all his years at Hogwarts. With that and the Marauder's Map, if James let him borrow it, Albus and his friends would certainly be able to have some fun. If only he had the Invisibility Cloak. And with thoughts of his dad actually giving him the Cloak, Albus fell into a surprisingly restful sleep.