Albus Potter and the Curse of the Deceiver

What the Mel Are You Doing?

—CHAPTER 4— 

What the Mel are you doing?

Albus tightened a bolt in his stand, focusing Marauder’s Map in the spot he needed it to be. His arms ached...he had just had an intense Quidditch training session only to be followed by a Charms lesson which had involved using a levitating spell, then having a fitness workout, ordered by Ro who was this year’s Quidditch captain. Only to make it worse, he had a DA class straight afterwards in which they were focusing on sword fighting which made Albus’ arms even worse. Now, Albus found himself working on his invention and after this, we would have his first Defense Against the Dark Arts class. That he was looking forward to. He wanted to see Professor So-Called-Reiken and find out as much as he could about who was lying. Meanwhile, he had to focus on his project. He wanted to figure out what was wrong with Jessica who was being released from the hospital wing that afternoon. Suddenly, there was a bang and Albus found himself on his back, his face covered in soot. ‘Damn it,’ he muttered, wiping his face with his sweater. There was the groan of a door and Albus looked back. He saw Avery walk in. ‘Okay, Mel is weird,’ he announced. ‘I think she knows something. About something.’ 

‘Helpful,’ Albus said sarcastically. Avery scowled. ‘Shut up. I mean, we were walking to Ancient Runes when she saw Jessica through the window of the hospital wing. Her face completely went blank and the two just stared at each other for a while and then, Mel just sharply turned away and walked to the classroom. I asked her whether she knew Jessica and Mel said “Is that her name?” I nodded and asked whether she knew Jess. Mel just said “I thought I’d seen her before” but said nothing else. Then, after Ancient Runes we passed Professor So-Called-Reiken while we were on our way to the Great Hall and they kind of exchanged some kind of mysterious ‘look’ as if they were giving each other a message. They’re part of something. You’ve got Defense Against Dark Arts, next right? Good. You’re spying on So-Called-Reiken. I don’t trust him...or Mel for that matter.’ 

‘It doesn’t matter if you don’t trust her or not,’ Albus reminded, returning to his project. ‘You have to keep anything we do away from her and then, you have to keep up the “I’m hopelessly in love with you and please go out with me” act so that you can pick up on what she and So-Called-Reiken are hiding.’ 

Avery nodded. ‘Sure. ‘Course I will.’ He knelt down beside Albus. ‘How’s the project coming along? What exactly are you trying to do?’ 

Albus grimaced. ‘I actually don’t know. I’m just trying to see what I can do. I was going to put a camera on there but then I wondered how I would spy on Jess.’ 

Avery scratched his head. ‘How about, you make duplicates of the cameras, set them up around the school and put some kind of GPS thing like the muggles have to track Jess so you can see what she’s up to?’ 

Albus beamed. ‘Brill, man! Thanks! I just have to get to Hogsmade and find that muggle store so I can pick up a camera.’ He wrinkled his nose. ‘Unfortunately I have to do all my work in the Room of Requirement since you can’t use muggle objects anywhere else in Hogwarts.’ 

A shrill bell rang through the rooms of Hogwarts and Albus got to his feet, dusting the dirt of his trousers with his hands. ‘What do you have, now?’ he asked Avery. 

Avery drew his wand, muttering a quick spell and a timetable appeared in front of him. ‘Um... let’s see, oh, my extra subject. Art of an Anigmagus. When’s your first History of the Dark Arts class?’ 

‘Friday,’ Albus said. ‘I’ve been looking forward to it all week. Come on, we’ll be late.’ He also drew his wand, banishing his invention to his closet in the Room of Requirement. Then, he turned his back on it and walked out of the room into the corridor, rushing into a giant crowd of students.

*

Professor Reiken gazed at Jessica as she entered the room beside Albus and Avery. The two just seemed to stare at each other for a while and Albus felt an anxious feeling in his stomach. ‘Jess?’ he said quietly. ‘You coming?’ 

Jessica didn’t reply, then nodded. They all took their seats. ‘He will pay,’ Jessica said, her voice surrounded by anger. ‘I will get revenge on them.’ 

‘Them?’ Albus echoed. ‘Who’s them?’ 

Jessica suddenly seemed to remember herself and blinked. ‘What? What are you talking about, Al?’ 

Albus swallowed, glancing over at Avery who gave him a meaningful ‘what-now?’ look. Albus pulled his books out of his bag. ‘Jess,’ he said, keeping a careful eye on Reiken who seemed to be watching them very cautiously. ‘...Jess, do you know a girl named Mel?’ He watched her reaction but her face showed no change in emotion whatsoever. ‘No, why? Is she new?’ 

‘Yeah. Um...said she was,’ Albus nodded towards Reiken, ‘...his daughter. They call themselves ‘Reiken.’ Do you think it’s a cover name?’ 

Jessica looked stunned. ‘Well, yeah!’ She too nodded towards Reiken. ‘He is my father! What does Ro say about it?’ 

‘He remembers Mel,’ Albus said, wondering whether it was wise to tell this ‘not-much-like-herself’ Jessica everything that was going on. ‘Says that she’s you guys’ sister.’ 

Jessica clenched her hand into a fist. ‘None of this makes sense. I’ll have to talk to her on our own to recognise her.’  

‘Settle down, please, class,’ Professor Reiken called over the noise. ‘Today we will learn about Grindylows. Please turn to page 105.’ 

The doors banged open and Albus looked back curiously. 

‘You,’ Ro said, his voice soft and dangerous as he stormed into the room, pointing at Reiken. ‘You and I need to talk, now.’ 

‘Ro!’ a voice shouted and Teddy came running in, grabbing Ro by the arm. ‘What the hell do you think you’re doing? You’re interrupting a class!’ 

‘I’ll get it out of you, you abandoning piece of filth!’ Ro shouted. ‘Al, find me in the Room of Requirement after class!’ 

‘But I’ve got Quidditch Practice!’ Albus said. 

‘I’m captain this year and I say it’s canceled! Got it?’ 

Albus nodded, glumly returning to his book. Jessica raised her eyebrows at her brother who was being dragged out of the classroom. ‘What was that all about?’ she muttered over the murmur of eager discussion in the class. Reiken looked shaken but brushed dust of his robes and cleared his throat. ‘Class! Back to page 105, if you please. Mr. Irin, please read the first paragraph.’ 

As Avery read, Albus jumped slightly in his chair when he heard Ro yell out one more thing. Albus could’ve sworn, he would bet his life on it, that Ro had yelled ‘Lockwood.’