Albus Potter and the Curse of the Deceiver

Buckinghamshire

—CHAPTER 8—

Buckinghamshire

Albus met Ciel at ten past eight and she handed him the piece of paper. ‘That’s not completely in Latin,’ she said. ‘Sorry but, I can’t help you. I could translate a few words like, Kill and Flaws but some of it is in an ancient language called Teranion. Nobody knows it anymore. If you wanted to translate it, I recommend getting the person who wrote it to do it. But seeing as that person’s probably dead, I guess not. So...see you.’
She disappeared almost as quickly as she had come. Albus blinked at her sudden disappearance and angrily stuffed the piece of paper into his pocket.
‘Albus?’ Teddy’s voice came in surprise. Albus jumped in shock as his godbrother hurried up to him. Albus shook his head. ‘I’m surprised you aren’t making out with Vic.’
Teddy lightly smacked Albus’s head. ‘I was going to look for James but you’re the next best thing. I’m thinking of organising a field trip to Buckinghamshire. There’s an old forest there which has some old herbs which Professor Irin wants for Potions studies. I also think it’s a good opportunity for the DA to check out the village of Walters Ash. It’s got a few wizards who used to be legends and I want you guys to meet them.’
Albus raised one eyebrow and then suddenly, an idea lit in his head. ‘Would these legends be very old?’
‘Reasonably, old.’ Teddy nodded. ‘Yeah, why?’
Albus didn’t reply. ‘No reason. Uh...why were you telling me anyway?’
‘Pass the news around, mate,’ Teddy said, clapping Albus on the back. As he left, Albus heard and felt the paper crinkle in his pocket and he stomped his foot angrily. Now what?

*

‘Hm,’ Rose said, leaning back on the couch. ‘Well, I’m not surprised. Teranion was a dead language when Ignotus was around so....’
‘Lockwood must be the only one who knows it,’ Albus interrupted, leaning forward to examine the piece of paper again. ‘Except he can’t be fluent. Ciel could translate some words because they were in Latin.’
‘So he’d written some words in Latin because he wasn’t fluent in Teranion?’ Scorpius guessed. ‘But then people could translate it.’
‘Not without being able to translate Teranion,’ Dimitri reminded. ‘Hey, where’s Avery? Usually he would’ve snuck in here by now.’
‘Full moon, dude,’ James supplied as he passed Dimitri before turning back and walking the same way he’d come.
‘James, why are you pacing?’ Albus asked slowly. James kicked the couch angrily. ‘Where the hell is she?’
‘Who?’ Rose, Albus, Scorpius and Dimitri asked in unison.
‘Alanna,’ James sighed. ‘She said she’d meet me here. She knows the password.’
‘Why do you care?’ Dimitri muttered. ‘She’s a bi....’ He fell silent and James’s sizzling glare.
‘Oh, guys!’ Albus remembered. ‘Teddy wants to take us on a DA field trip to a village called Walters Ash. Apparently it has some really old, legendary wizards there so we could ask them if they know Teranion.’
‘Doubt it,’ Rose said negatively but Albus ignored her, grabbing the paper and stuffing it in his bag as Jessica entered the common room. ‘Hey guys!’ she said cheerily. She blinked twice and then went slightly stiff. ‘I...I have a lot of homework. I will see you all at dinner.’
Her exit was just as strange as her manner and hurried, anxious whispers ensued after her disappearance.
‘Okay, we’ve got to do something,’ Albus declared, banging his fist on the table. ‘This curse is obviously what’s placed on Jessica. The sooner we translate Teranion, the sooner Jessica is herself again, got it?’
A reluctant mumble from Rose got everyone else agreeing. Albus exhaled shakily. ‘Good. Now the first thing we should to is check Walters Ash for any wizards who know Teranion. We’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain.’

Stepping off the bus, Albus grimaced as thick drops of rain plummeted onto his head, starting to soak his mufti. Scorpius grabbed his arm, dragging him under the shelter of an old cottage. Meanwhile, with umbrellas and rain jackets, other DA members were racing around the village, checking out the magical spots that Teddy had advised to keep an eye out for. Albus gazed around the area. ‘Which house looks the oldest?’ he wondered to himself. ‘The oldest house equals oldest person, oldest person equals person with more chance of knowing Teranion. Hm...’ Albus turned to the shop his godbrother was looking at. ‘Teddy! Who’s the oldest resident here?’
Teddy frowned. ‘Hm...I’d say probably Old Man Carton. He lives up that hill. People say he’s mad so noone goes to visit him except his family.’
‘He is mad,’ Alanna muttered. ‘Brings shame to our family name.’
‘Wait...our family name?’ Rose echoed. ‘You’re related to him?’
Alanna nodded. ‘Great, great, great grandfather or something. When he was younger he knew Nick Flamel, took some elixir of life and only now is he starting to grow old. He’s always been insane, though. You want to talk to him?’
Albus nodded. ‘Urgently.’
Alanna started trudging up the hill and nodded towards the cottage. ‘Come on then. He’s got a protective magical border around his house so don’t bother using any magic or trickery to get into his house. You’ve got to do it the muggle way.’
Once finally up at the top, Alanna did the talking with the house keeper, getting the group into the house. It smelt...of mustard. Albus raised his eyebrows as he scanned the house curiously. There were many paintings and photographs up on the wall, along with certificates and framed articles from the Daily Prophet.
‘Alanna, Alanna,’ an old man said, smiling, staggering towards Alanna who shook her head, chuckling. ‘Good to see you again pops.’
‘Are these your friends from school?’ the old man asked.
‘No,’ Alanna said, glancing at James momentarily. ‘They...they’re here on a field trip, they wanted to see how some of the locals lived around here.’
‘Oh, well feel free to wander around...’ the old man said with a shaky, toothless grin. ‘These old objects never get attended to so it would be good for you to have a look at them. I’m getting old so if there’s anything that catches yer fancy, bring it to me and you might as well have it!’
Albus took that as an invitation, crouching down to look at a photograph that was on the mantlepiece above the fire. He caught his breath. He could see a ten year old Alanna, standing in between a man and a woman, the old man beside the woman. Albus sighed and left the photo, prying around more things. He saw a piece of paper, folded and kept under a paperweight. Apprehensively, he lifted the paperweight and unfolded the letter. His heart stopped. The letter was written in a familiar script...
Albus snatched the page from the journal from out of his pocket and held the two up to each other. They were written in the same language!
‘Sir,’ Albus called out to the old man, approaching him. ‘What language is this written in?’
‘Ah...lad that’s in Teranion. It’s a French language...ancient wizards used it. Very few still know it.’
‘Do you?’ Scorpius asked, excitement tingling in his voice. The old man nodded. ‘Aye...I remember the translation.’
Albus held up his own page. ‘We identified this language as Teranion. Could you translate this page for us?’
The old man nodded. ‘Yes, yes, of course! It would put my brain to good use!’ He laughed loudly and got to his feet. ‘I’ll just get my glasses, boy.’ As soon as he left, Rose threw her arms around Albus. ‘Yes! We’re nearly there! We just need to translate this page, find out the fundamentals of the curse, break it and Jessica is herself again!’
But their happiness was short lived and replaced by worry when a loud crash came from the kitchen...followed by bright flash of green light. Albus froze. Green light...
He pushed past Alanna into the kitchen and came to a sudden halt...nearly tripping overthe old man’s body that was lying on the floor...his eyes lifeless and fearful...staring up at the ceiling.
‘Pops!’ Alanna screamed, staggering backwards, James caught her as she almost fell to the ground but Albus couldn’t have cared less about Alanna, or the dead man. ‘The page!’ he shouted in alarm, falling to all fours, desperately searching around the floor and on the man to find it but failed. The page had been taken by the same person who had killed the old man.

*

‘What’s going on?’
Jessica’s voice startled Albus out of his sorrows. He looked up at her and saw her anxious blue eyes bright against her unusually pale skin. It suddenly clicked.
‘Jess, where have you been?’ Albus asked, getting to his feet. Jessica sighed. ‘Honestly, I don’t know. Last thing I remember, I was at the souvenir store. Now, I end up in front of this house. Jeez, things are so confusing these days.’
Albus swallowed the urge to scream for help. Jessica had done it. Lockwood...possessing Jessica...had made her kill the old man. But that meant Jessica had the piece of paper!
Albus, thinking quickly, pulled Jessica into a hug, reaching into her cloak pocket as he did so and pulling out a crumbled piece of paper. ‘Well...thank God you’re okay because someone’s been killed,’ he said, pulling away, cheeks burning. Jessica’s eyes widened in horror. ‘Killed? Oh my God, who?’
‘A relative of Alanna’s,’ Albus said, relieved he had his page back.
‘Who?’ Jessica asked with a frown.
‘Alanna,’ Albus reminded. ‘You know, James’s girlfriend!’
‘No...I don’t know,’ Jessica said, looking genuinely confused. ‘I’ve never heard of her!’
Albus felt his stomach twist. Lockwood had so much power of Jessica...she hadn’t even been aware of Alanna becoming part of the DA. They had to break this curse and fast!