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Albus Potter and the Deathly Hallows | ||||||
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Category: Post-Hogwarts Characters:Harry/Ginny, Other Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama, Humor, Romance Warnings: Death, Intimate Sexual Situations, Violence, Violence/Physical Abuse Story is Complete Rating: R Reviews: 77 Summary: Albus has his challenges during his first year. Cleopatra is obviously his soulmate, and has brilliant insights into magic, except she cannot do it like anyone else. Albus has to help her while keeping peace between the two brightest and most competitive students at Hogwarts, Scorpius and Rose. It doesn’t help that people are out to get Albus. Harry is not sure he can keep everyone safe. Then you have Ginny and Cleopatra. Hitcount: Story Total: 79306; Chapter Total: 2709 Awards: View Trophy Room Author's Notes: I want to thank Arnel and FriendofMolly for editing, and everyone who is reading and reviewing. Any review is appreciated. |
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The first classes were Monday, the fourth of September. Before they left their dorm room Cleo told Rose “I’m going to sit next to Albus.” It wasn’t so much a point of information as instructions, saying in effect, “Whatever the seating, I’m going to sit next to Albus, and whatever you do, don’t mess with it.” Monday morning the students ate at their house tables. About 8:30 Albus and Scorpius walked towards the Gryffindor table, at the same time Rose and Cleo walked towards the Slytherin table. Al and Cleo almost automatically held hands, as they let Rose and Scorpius lead the way. “Muggle Studies, in the office building,” both Rose and Scorpius said. When they were finished they looked suspiciously at each other. “This way, through a shortcut,” Rose said. “Shortcuts are common in Switzerland, but rare in Britain,” Scorpius said. “MY MOTHER worked on getting this one installed,” Rose said. Albus looked at Cleo and whispered, “A little competitive?” Cleo loudly whispered back, “Oh, I’d say they are a LOT competitive.” The shortcut started at a corridor on the second floor, and after a passageway about twice as long as it was wide it took a sharp ninety degree turn. It continued on until they could not see out of either end, and then took another ninety degree turn. When they emerged they were in a modest sized modern office building on the closest Muggle road to Hogwarts, about fifteen miles from the castle. They could see a slight green tint as they crossed over into the middle passage. Al knew the greenish tint did the same thing as Floo Powder did in making it possible to cover long distances. As they passed through into the greenish tinted area Cleo was startled, and she said, “Wooo OH! We’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto.” Scorpius, who had seen many of Cleo’s collection of movies on CD, said, “Wizard of Oz.” Scorpius had no idea how radical a goblin invention the magical CD player was, or that it only worked because CD’s had nothing magnetic in them, just tiny totally mechanical pits. “What wizard?” asked Rose?. “I’ve never heard of the Wizard of Oz.” “There is a famous wizard you know nothing about?” Scorpius asked. Rose asked, “How famous is he?” “He IS famous,” Scorpius said. “You don’t know everything after all, Weasley.” Meanwhile Cleo had been walking back and forth between the boundary of the passage way and the non-green part of the corridor. Finally she said, “The corridor is not in this world. You can see it. It is, you know there is infrared beyond red and ultraviolet beyond violet. It is almost like there is ‘other green,’ not the normal green but green sort of up and down and squiggly away from the normal green. It smells and feels different too, like the gravity is odd.” When Cleo mentioned it, Albus could almost feel the difference too. He wished he could see what she was seeing and feel what she was feeling. He did go into her mind, and she willingly let him in. Al could see and feel some of what Cleo was feeling, but he had a feeling that he was missing a lot. Albus was afraid they were going to be late for class, so he took Cleo’s hand again, and they went to the Muggle Studies classroom. Scorpius and Rose sat in the front row, leaving two seats between them for Albus and Cleopatra, who promptly sat down. Albus looked at Cleo and smiled. He read enough of her mind to realize that she was determined to be next to him. For some reason Al did not have a problem with this. Even in the three days since they had met Albus could see that Cleo was an extraordinary magician. The Professor stood up and introduced herself. “My name is Peggy Todd, and I will be your Muggle Studies teacher for the next two years. After that there should be enough Muggle Technology in some of your classes that you will gradually become more comfortable in the Muggle world. It is critical to us maintaining secrecy that all of us can pass for Muggles when we are talking to them, or in an area where the Muggle cameras are observing us. “I was born ninety years ago to Muggle parents, and my late husband was a Muggle. Magi typically live much longer than Muggles, and if you marry a Muggle the odds are great that you will live many years after they die. My children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren are all Magi.” When the class material started even Scorpius and Cleopatra found it easy. Their exposure to Muggle movies caused them to be very familiar with most things Muggle, even if they had not always personally experienced it. They were deep in discussion when the class bell rang. As they were leaving the lesson Rose spotted a computer. “May I do a quick Google search, please,” she asked Mrs. Todd. “Go ahead,” Mrs. Todd said. Rose typed in “Oz” and the results appeared in the screen; Ozzy Sorbonne Oz to cups Ozone Oz to ml Oz to lbs. “We have to go or we will be late for class,” Scorpius said. “Al and Cleo have already left. Unless you want to be late.” Rose pulled herself away from the computer. “Who or what is Ozzy Sorbonne?” she asked Mrs. Todd as she was leaving the classroom. Mrs. Todd laughed. “I’m not sure anyone knows the answer to that one,” she said. Scorpius was pulling Rose along, trying to catch up with Cleo and Al. After Muggle Studies they had Charms. The teacher, a Professor Urban Umbridge, was a short man with short arms and small hands. He had each student say their name. Again the front row consisted of Rose Weasley, Cleopatra Smith, Albus Potter, and Scorpius Malfoy, and each said their name. Professor Umbridge just talked about spells, and assigned four inches of homework. They all ate lunch at the Slytherin table, the larger group of Slytherin students and the four Gryffindors. Defense Against the Dark Arts was mostly history, although Professor Sanford made it interesting by asking a lot of questions. He also assigned four inches of parchment on one of four, your choice, early evil Magi. Henry Slughorn was the grandson of the old Potion’s Professor Horace Slughorn. He was, surprisingly, a very good History teacher. He announced the first day that there would be few written assignments, but there would be a quick quiz every class to see if everyone had read the assigned material, and one large essay they would have to make progress on every week. He spent the first class talking about the sweep of history, and how Magi and Muggle sometimes knew about each other and co-operated, and then went to war with each other. He mentioned the wars between goblins and Magi, and admitted, “Teaching the Goblin Wars to a goblin wearing the Sword of Gryffindor is going to be a challenge.” “Albus stay a moment,” Henry said after class was dismissed. Rose and Scorpius stumbled over their words as they talked over each other, arguing their way out of the classroom. Albus said, “Library?” They nodded and left. Cleo stayed by Albus. “Cleopatra?” Professor Slughorn asked. “Yes, sir,” Cleo said. “Did I ask you to stay?” “Not exactly, but I was with Albus,” Cleo said. Albus said, “I would rather you let Cleo stay, but she will wait for me outside the classroom if she cannot stay with me. If there is a good reason she should not be here she will go.” “Sit down, both of you,” Henry said, not wanting to rise to the implied challenge, or start out on the wrong foot with potentially his most prominent recruit. “My grandfather has had a private gathering of what he considered the most promising students, the Slug Club, during both of his tenure here as teacher. He is getting ready to retire, and has asked me to take over the Slug Club. I’ve been a member, of course, and as long as he lives my grandfather will be invited to attend meetings. “Are you interested in joining, Al?” “I’m not sure how busy we are going to be this year, but if we have the time we would be delighted to join,” Al said. He remembered what Professor McGonagall said about currying favor with the Slughorns. “I’m part of a group of Magi that has learned Elvish, all related to some of the most powerful Magi in the world. I think many of them may be here next year, and you could not have a more prominent or well-connected group of students anywhere.” “You will always be welcome to come to the Slug Club events,” Henry said. “WE will try to attend,” Albus said, and he led Cleo out of the room. That night after dinner Henry asked Minerva McGonagall about Albus and Cleopatra. When he had explained the conversation Minerva said, “I think Albus and Cleopatra may very well be the most prominent students you or your grandfather have ever had in your Slug Club, and you might as well think of them as Al and Cleo. They will do some different things, but socially I expect that you will always see them paired.” Henry filed that little tidbit away in his mental file of important people, and shared it with his grandfather as well. Monday night after dinner the four students met to do their homework. Both Albus and Rose had tablets with all their textbooks, plus the fifty most common reference books. Finding information on the tablet was easy, and the four students found and copied information rather easily. Albus worked with Cleo, and Rose worked with Scorpius, but everybody reviewed everybody else’s work. That night Hermione received an owl from Rose saying, “I cannot find anything in our reference library or the Hogwarts Library about The Wizard of Oz, or Ozzy Sorbonne.” Hermione purchased a copy of The Wizard of Oz and sent it to Rose, saying it was totally Muggle fiction. She was rather at a loss trying to figure out how to explain Ozzy Sorbonne and the French band he had been part of. Ozzy was strange even for the world of the Magi. Tuesday started out the same as Monday, except the lesson after lunch, instead of History, was free. The students took advantage of it to finish their homework. The final lesson of the day was their first Transfiguration class. The teacher was Tom Appleleaf, and he took command of the class like the experienced teacher he had become. The classic first lesson had been for years turning a match into a needle. Professor Appleleaf asked if anyone could tell him why they started with this spell. Immediately two hands shot up. Tom said, “All right,” to both Rose and Scorpius. Rose started, “Changing a match into a needle is one of the easiest transformations,” but before she could take a breath Scorpius butted in with, “It is also a transformation that is hard to mess up and do something dangerous, like turn a person into something,” and immediately Rose said, “You can make something dangerous,” and Scorpius added, “But it won’t be big and dangerous.” “Stop!” said Professor Appleleaf. “Rose, calm down! I know you are smart. Who are you competing with?” Tom looked at his seating chart. “Scorpius Malfoy. Are you trying to keep up with Rose Weasley?” Scorpius looked at the teacher, then right at Rose, and said “YES!” Scorpius and Rose glared at each other, so Scorpius added, “It’s not that I want Rose to fail. I guess it’s all right if we’re just the smartest boy and girl in the school.” “Well, that’s kind of you, Mr. Malfoy,” Rose snidely remarked. There were a number of snickers at this little put down. Professor Appleleaf started right into the lesson. He had the students read how to do the spell, and then showed everybody the wand movements. When he told the students to start, all the students except Al seemed to be intently waving their wand at the match stick. Al seemed to be explaining something to Scorpius, and Professor Appleleaf said, “Potter, are you such a hot-shot magician that you’ve already transfigured your matchstick.” Al said in a quiet voice, “Yes, sir,” and held up a sewing needle. Professor Appleleaf went over and said, “Turn it back into a matchstick.” Al turned the needle back into a matchstick, then turned it into a knitting needle, a pin, and then back into a sewing needle. He then said in a very quiet voice, “What do you want me to do now, Professor Appleleaf.” “Five points for Slytherin for being the first one to succeed,” Professor Appleleaf said. He whispered to Al, “How many times have you done that?” “Lots,” whispered Al. “How long have you been practicing with a wand, Al?” asked Tom. “Am I in trouble?” asked Al. Professor Appleleaf looked at Al very carefully, shook his head, and pondered the situation. “Go ahead and help other students,” he told Albus quietly. Scorpius had been listening to the exchange. ‘I’ll tell you more later,” said Al. Then he went back to helping Scorpius, who succeeded in turning his matchstick into a needle, and back, just before Rose did the transformation on her own. Cleo had been riding on Al’s mind watching him do the transformation. She was getting a headache. This was a very different kind of magic, and she couldn’t make sense of it. After Rose had transfigured her matchstick Cleo transfigured hers, but it was hard magic. Al then continued to change the matchstick into different kind of needles, and finally Cleo whispered, “Al, stop.” “What is the matter, Cleo?” asked Al. Al watched as Cleo did the transfiguration. Her colors were difficult, apparently attempting to resolve a well-differentiated spectrum that had nothing to do with the colors in our world. There were lots of lines of association, groupings that could have been gangs of meanings or references of references of references of the history of references, on and on; Al was getting a little sick to his stomach just trying to see what Cleo was seeing. “Let it rest, Cleo,” Al said. “There is a logic to it. We just don’t have the logic yet.” Having done the transfiguration, Cleo sat out the rest of the class, her eyes closed. Her head hurt. When class was finished about half of the class had made some progress. As class was dismissed Professor Appleleaf came over and asked Cleo, “What is the matter, Miss Smith? You were successful in doing the transformations.” Cleo said, “Transformations seem to, well, there are references to meanings that are there because we name things, and without language and naming we couldn’t do it, but it’s all a jumble, and I cannot begin to figure it out. Plus the colors and music CLASH and I cannot resolve it, and my head hurts.” Professor Appleleaf said, “There is a deep relationship between Transfiguration and language. The subject is way beyond the level taught at Hogwarts, even in the graduate level classes.” Cleo said, “But I SEE the magic, I SEE the things that happen, except in Transfiguration seeing it hurts, and I can NOT make any sense of it.” Tom said, “You cannot just SEE the magic behind transformations.” Cleo said, “But I CAN, I have to see it to do it, so I can SEE it, but I cannot make any sense of what I see.” Professor Appleleaf said, “I will ask my wife, and a few of the other Professors, about this. I don’t have any answers.” When they left Al and Cleo talked more about Transfiguration, but neither learned any more. Al knew the magic, which was good, because it was beginning to look like teaching Cleo the magic was going to involve Cleo reading his mind as he was doing it more than her reading about it. The students finished their homework promptly. Al tried to see if he could find a few people to practice Quidditch, and Rose and Scorpius went to the library for more research. Cleo went to lie down. Her head was still hurting from Transfiguration. At dinner Rose and Cleo joined Al and Scorpius at the Slytherin table. “How long have you been practicing with a wand?” asked Scorpius. Al said, “We have a potions room under our house, and right next door there is a big room that Rose’s dad and our uncle George use for experiments, and they are both really shielded so no one can tell what is going on down there. By the time I was five I found out that I could practice magic down there, and no one could catch me, no one could tell if I was using a wand or doing something else I should not have been doing.” Rose said, “We used that wand for potion making when we were working with mum. Did you do more with it?” “I started to help Dad make magical maps when I was five,” said Al, “and learned how to magically unlock the drawer where the wand was stored. I’ve been practicing with it ever since, but only in the basement when no one else was there. Even Rose had no idea.” “Now I see why you were always better than me when we were using the wand making potions,” said Rose. “What does your dad know?” Al said, “I think Dad can’t afford to know anything, so as long as no one else knows he has made it sure not to know. Please don’t tell anyone else! I hate to have people looking at me like I was something strange or special. I don’t want to get in trouble for this.” “How come you are so good, Cleo?” asked Scorpius. “Cooking,” said Cleo. “I used a wand in the kitchen. You’ve even seen me a few times.” “That’s right,” said Scorpius. “I never made the connection.” That evening as dinner was finishing James went over to Al and said, “What are you doing, winning points for Slytherin?” “It’s my house,” Albus said. “You are a traitor to Gryffindor and to the family,” James said. “You cheated by learning magic before you were old enough. You are cheating!” “I’m not cheating, James,” Albus said. “I’m just a much better wizard than you are.” “You are a cheating, low down, Voldemort,” James said. “You’re a sneaky little git in a sneaky little house.” Several of the older Slytherin students had risen up and were getting ready to attack James. A number of the Gryffindor students had come over to back up James. Professor Appleleaf left his seat at the head table and came over to where the two Potter brothers were confronting each other. “The two of you follow me,” he said as he led them to a room just off the Great Hall. “Sit. Now tell me why the confrontation.” Al said, “James is upset at me for winning points for Slytherin.” The Professor looked at James, who simmered some under the gaze of both Professor Appleleaf, who he had known since he was a baby, and his little brother. Finally James said, “I guess you are just going to be fighting Gryffindor and all your cousins from now on. Traitor.” “I’m just in a different house, James,” Albus said. “Five points from Gryffindor for making a professor get involved, James,” Professor Appleleaf said. “If I find out you are causing your brother more grief, you will lose even more points for Gryffindor. If it gets bad enough to tell your mother and grandmother I’m confident the whole school will hear the Howlers.” Albus went back to the Slytherin table, and convinced the Quidditch team to practice for an hour while they had enough light. He and Scorpius then helped teach the rest of the first year Slytherin students the spells they were having trouble with. Back in their room at Gryffindor, Cleo listened to the other witches talk about clothes. Rose had put up a wardrobe at the end of her bed. In it she had four dresses of various styles and colors, eight blouses, four skirts and four pairs of trousers, ranging from stylish to rugged outdoor types. Rose had eight pairs of shoes with her, as well, ranging in style from rugged boots to stylish slippers. She had a couple of hats, several scarves, and four different coats. “I cannot wait until we learn how to change colors, so I can mix and match my outfits,” Rose said. “I hate to buy several silk blouses when I can just buy one. What I would really like to do is to be able to change patterns as well.” “Basic color changing should be easy,” Patty Finnigan said. “I’ve seen my mother change clothing colors a lot.” Rose said, “You don’t want to change the soles of your shoes red or green. If you have glitter on a blouse you do not want it to change to all one dull color.” A couple of Rose’s outfits had a lot of detailing on them. “You have a lot more clothes with you than I have,” Hanna McGonagall said. “What do you have with you?” Rose asked. The girls spent the next almost two hours going over everyone’s clothes, talking about style. Rose seemed very knowledgeable about the latest Muggle and Magi fashions for young girls. She even had the latest issues of Young Witches Monthly, and a couple of issues of an American magazine, Seventeen, and what looked like two years of the British magazine Shout. At one point Chloe said, “My mum said I needed at least one pretty dress.” Most of Chloe’s clothes were pretty basic, rather utilitarian blouses, trousers, and shoes. Rose approved the dress, going on how the colors worked well with her black hair and her complexion. Patty said, “I’m glad for you that your mother goes clothes shopping with you. My mother just wants to get it over with.” Rose said, “My mum cannot bear to go clothes shopping with me. I always go with Aunt Ginny and my younger cousin Lily. Lily and I like looking at lots of different Magi and Muggle fashions.” Although Cleo was generally quieter when she was with just the girls, she was totally silent during the discussion about clothes, although she did listen. Finally she was asked, “Do you have anything but Hogwarts uniforms?” “I’ve grown out of almost everything, and the clothes I have are ugly,” Cleo said. She brought out one big, shapeless dress, and a pair of trousers and a blouse that were obviously designed for someone with a much bigger tummy than she had. Patty Finnigan said, “You are right, Cleo. That’s one of the ugliest dresses I’ve seen in ages.” Olivia Wood said, “Some of the female Quidditch players develop big hips and thighs, and they have flattering dresses. I know the Middy family and other seamstresses can do a better job.” Rose said, “We will have to have you clothes shopping with us over Christmas.” Cleo thought that ANYTHING had to be better than to go back to Fanny’s Fat Fashions with Mrs. Malfoy. Molly and Narcissa met that Monday for lunch. As they were sitting there Narcissa said, “Do you have a good book to explain female sexuality to an eleven-year-old girl? Cleo had her first period the week before we put the children on the Hogwarts Express, and I was not prepared. I don’t think my mother did a very good job with me and my sisters, and I really thought I would have a little more time.” “Eleven is a little early,” Molly said. “We made sure all the children knew as much as they could as early as they could. I know that by the time Ginny had her first period she was anxious for it, but she was a little late. “I do have a book, and will send it by owl this afternoon.” “Do you know what houses the children were sorted into?” Narcissa said. “I think Draco knows something, and it is making him mad, but he will not tell me.” “Scorpius and Albus were both sorted into Slytherin, and from what I understand they are becoming friends,” Molly said. “Albus was sorted into Slytherin?” Narcissa asked. “That is a surprise.” “Yes, it is. Albus has always been a very good boy, but he can be very secretive and even sneaky,” Molly said. “Both Rose and Cleo were sorted into Gryffindor.” “So Cleo is not in the same house as Scorpius,” Narcissa said. “Maybe that is why Draco is so mad, or worried.” “I really do not know much more,” Molly said, and the ladies moved on to other topics. Mike and Mary Hogan were reasonably young Aurors, having joined the department four years ago, after spending an eighth year at Hogwarts. They had just been married a year, and were the couple that were shadowing the Potter family as they drove to King’s Cross Station. Harry met with them Monday afternoon. Mike handed Harry a report, and said, “There were at least ten Muggle women who were looking for Magi families, quietly taking photographs with their Mobiles, and then forwarding them to other phones. They were all over the station, and sometime after the Hogwarts Express left they all filtered into a train. I followed them. They all crowded into one compartment in the train, and shut the door. I used an Extendable Ear and a recorder to record their conversation.” “What do they know?” asked Harry. “They know that a lot of students come to King’s Cross every September first, and take an invisible train, or something, to school. They know the students come back for Christmas, and then go back to school. They know that the students do not come back the first of June, but in the middle of June,” Mike said. Mary said, “They think we are either Aliens, or Magical.” “Have they told anyone else?” Harry asked. “That is what is so scary,” Mike said. “They send the information to someone who is collecting all sorts of evidence for us, and he seems to have two or three levels between the people doing the observing and himself. He is paranoid about memory modification, and it appears that he has several levels of redundant documentation in case anything is magically modified or erased.” “I’m glad Albus had the experience of going through Platform Nine and Three Quarters,” Harry said. “We are going to have to have everyone get to the station through Portkeys or the Floo Network or Magical Closets, from many distant locations. Boggarts!” Harry forwarded all the information that the Hogan’s had collected to Kingsley and Hermione, and also to Switzerland. The Department of Paranoia in Switzerland was going to be all over them over this breach of secrecy. Harry was not looking forward to the next few months. |
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