Albus Potter and the Curse of the Deceiver

The Week That Followed

—CHAPTER 14—

The Week That Followed

The week that followed was not an easy one. In fact, the very morning after the eventful night, the Minister of Magic, Warwick Tuft himself, came storming through the hallways of Hogwarts and up to Hermione’s office, where the D.A. were reexplaining everything so that the Order could absorb the information with fresher minds.

‘What in the name of hell happened?’ Minister Tuft roared. He pointed a quivering finger at Albus and Jessica and with bloodshot eyes growled ‘Why aren’t they in Azkaban?’

‘Because there is no need,’ Harry said calmly. ‘The curse is broken. Albus took care of it himself.’

‘How did you escape?’ Minister Tuft demanded, rounding on Albus and Jessica. Jessica held back a smile. ‘Minister...all I have to say is...Sirius Black’s escape? That I accept. He was clever, I’ll give him that. But two thirteen year olds? I think the Daily Prophet’s going to have kittens over this one.’

‘Insolence!’ Minister Tuft shouted. ‘How dare you speak to the Minister of Magic like that...’

‘I think she has a right to!’ Teddy spoke up defensively. ‘Especially after you locked her up for no good reason in a prison that has taken lives and souls! So Minister...how dare you, treat two innocent thirteen year olds, with more courage than you’ll ever have, like criminals. You’re lucky they were together and figured out how to break the curse otherwise you’d have them and Lockwood scheming themselves out of there.’

The Minister’s lips tightened. There was a pulsing vein on his forehead and Albus thought he resembled Harry’s uncle Vernon.

‘So,’ Minister Tuft said finally. ‘Where is Lockwood?’

‘Dead,’ Avery said, leaning against Hermione’s desk. ‘Ted did it. Looks like those cells are going to stay empty a while, huh?’

The Minister made a noise that sounded like a throaty growl mixed with a roar and and he turned on his heels, marching out of the office.

‘Why is he the minister?’ Scorpius whined. Everyone laughed. Harry thumped Scorpius on the back. ‘Don’t worry. I doubt he’ll be minister for much longer. Ginny’s been next in line for a while now and after this whole Azkaban, curse of the deceiver, Lockwood catastrophe, I think Tuft will be out of the job by the end of the week.’

There was an outbreak of cheers.

‘But...’ Harry said, his eyes falling onto Albus and Jessica. ‘You two are going for counseling.’

‘What?’ Albus yelped. ‘We’re not mentally insane or anything...’

‘I know that,’ Harry said in assurance. ‘But after everything you’ve been through, I think you’d better see a therapist of the rest of the year. And maybe a little bit of next year too but after that you can stop. I promise.’

Albus made a face but Jessica rolled her eyes at his antics and nodded.

‘What I’m curious to know,’ Neville said, ‘is how you managed to hide from Lockwood’s followers without them seeing who you were.’

There was a short silence and Albus glanced at Alanna who gave him a stern look that clearly meant if you tell, I kill you.

‘We skinned up a few trees,’ Albus invented. ‘One of the perks of being small, I guess.’

‘Savour it,’ Harry grinned. He ran his fingers through his jet black hair. ‘You guys can go but uh...look out. There are some Daily Prophet reporters around and they’ll ambush you at the first chance they get. My advice? Go up to your house towers...reporters are banned from there. We’ll get the house elves to bring you some food.’

Albus nodded. ‘Kay. Come on, you guys.’ 

The group headed out of the office, only to be greeted by the flash of cameras and questions being thrown at them from all ends. Albus reached into his bag and pulled out his invisibility cloak, throwing it over the group. It barely covered them all but they managed to slip away from the reporters and into the Gryffindor Tower. Everyone took a seat by the fire. Albus sat on the floor, leaning against the couch, watching the flames spit and dance over the logs. 

‘I can’t believe we did it,’ Rose said, a huge beam on her face. Jessica grinned. ‘I know. And we swore not to get into trouble this year!’ 

Everybody laughed. 

‘Avery, you really need to stop sneaking in here,’ Dimitri said with a sigh. ‘You’re going to get caught.’ 

‘And when I do, you’ll get to say I told you so,’ Avery said, smiling as he put his feet up. Albus didn’t say anything, continuing to stare into the fire. He couldn’t get it out of his head. Jessica. The bright, explosion of green and her limp, lifeless body, toppling to the ground. He could do nothing... 

‘Hey,’ Jessica said, kicking him in the back softly. ‘Stop dwelling on it. I’m alive.’ 

Albus smiled. ‘Yeah. Yeah you are.’ 

‘Hey, kids,’ James said, charging into the common room. ‘You’ll never believe it.’ 

‘After what’s been happening this year, I think I’ll believe anything,’ admitted Scorpius with a grin. 

‘Oh yeah?’ James challenged. ‘How about this. Teddy’s resigning as head of DA. He’s waltzing off to America with Victoire.’ 

‘What?’ 

‘What? Are you serious?’ 

‘No way! That’s crazy, he can’t do that!’ 

‘Ted? America! No!’ 

‘What? He can’t!’ 

‘This is the worst!’ 

‘I know,’ James said, flopping onto a chair. ‘Without Ted, we might get a teacher assigned to the DA.’ 

Everyone immediately groaned. 

‘Not likely,’ said a voice from the girls’ dormitory stairway. Alanna appeared from the darkness, dressed in a Gryffindor uniform. ‘The teachers asked me to take Teddy’s place.’ 

Albus blinked. ‘Ex...excuse me?’ 

‘My parents were extremely powerful wizards,’ Alanna said, glaring at him. ‘They taught me and my brothers a lot and Hermione knows this. That’s why she asked me.’ 

‘Brilliant!’ James said, putting on what he called his ‘Potter-charm-that-Albus-didn’t-inherit.’ Alanna gave him, to everyone’s surprise, a soft smile in return. ‘Thanks,’ she said. 

James quickly recovered from his shock and scrambled to his feet. ‘Want to go to the Hogsmade dance?’ 

‘Don’t push your luck,’ Alanna said, tapping his shoulder as she brushed past him. James looked smitten as he fell back onto the couch. Albus snorted in amusement. 

*

The DA had been given an extra three weeks delay on their exams due to the fact that with everything that had been going on, they hadn’t really had an opportunity to study. Albus was glad that they had that time....he and Jessica seemed to have been avoiding paths and exams kept his mind off things...Lockwood’s followers for one. They had gotten away and Alanna had said that they were potentially dangerous. Meanwhile, Harry and the other teachers were still incredibly suspicious on how Albus and the others had managed to stay in the forest without being seen by the followers. But the thing that Albus couldn’t stop thinking about, was how Jessica came back to life. Rose had explained the deceiver probably acted like a horcrux would in a person. If the person is killed, it is only the possessor that is killed, not its host. Albus agreed with it, and didn’t have much time to dwell on any other possibilities. He was glad of one thing. It was finally, all over.