Albus Potter and the Healing Springs

Albus awoke that morning sweating slightly. He had had a peculiar dream in which the monster he had noticed not too long ago had somehow found its way into the castle and was tracking him down. On and on Albus ran for dear life, panting, but never taking a pause, for if he stopped for even a fragment of a second, he was afraid Death’s arms would wrap around him before he had even a chance to say goodbye.

“Oi!” said Alex. Punctual and early as always, Alex was already wearing his robes while he shouted at Albus to wake up. Of course, Alex didn’t pay much attention and missed the drops of sweat scattered on Albus’ forehead. “Breakfast is almost ready, Albus. I already called Ronnie and she’s waiting for us downstairs.”

Albus got up and dressed promptly and quickly; no need to get Alex mad at him, too. Ronnie and Alex were waiting at the foot of the dormitory, the latter with five books in hand.

“Sorry,” muttered Albus. No, he thought, there’s no way that was real, I mean who could have been in the castle? Headmistress McGonagall would surely heed off any threat to any student. Yet, something in Albus told him that this was no ordinary dream. Still, he felt the need to look over his shoulder once or twice to make sure something wasn’t following him.

All the while, Alex and Ronnie were chatting animatedly, oblivious to Albus’ peculiar silence. “Let’s see… . Today we have Transfiguration with the Slytherins and Herbology with the Hufflepuffs. Hopefully, we can live through Transfiguration and make it to Herbology.” Alex joked with a louder-than-necessary, shaky guffaw; he still had no idea how he was going to distract Albus and Ronnie at the same time.

“Yeah, we all need to pay close attention to Transfiguration, right Albus?” asked Alex pointedly.

“What? Oh, yeah… ” Albus had been daydreaming ever since Alex had mentioned Transfiguration. Finally, he had the opportunity to talk to Bella again; and even better, he had Alex’s word that Ronnie would be as little involved as possible. Albus internally giggled, content that he had Alex on his side instead of Ronnie.

The trio entered the Great Hall, all cheery for different reasons. Albus did his usual rake for Bella, but found her absence instead; that wasn’t enough to dim his spirits, however. Unfortunately, something else did: the Headmistress was gone. To most others, this would be meaningless. Obviously she was talking to another professor, or in her office, or perhaps even taking an early morning stroll. But to Albus, who was still terrified from the dream, this created an ominous feeling, a feeling that only seemed to affect him; the other students were oblivious.

Breakfast was the usual and soon the trio was headed to Transfiguration. The classroom was vast and had desks built for two students at a time. Albus tried to seize the opportunity and sit with Bella, but she had not arrived yet. Instead, he glumly sat next to Ronnie, since the seat Alex was sparing for Albus had been occupied by a Slytherin girl, who radiated unpleasantness.

Albus and Alex exchanged looks of pity for each other, but even Albus had to admit that Alex got the shorter end of the stick. Even when things were rocky with Ronnie, Albus would have preferred her over that Slytherin girl any day.

Bella and her two friends walked into the classroom, almost gliding. They made their ways to the front of the class and Bella sat with Patricia Knight. Behind them came Scorpius frowning as usual and sat with Isabella. The professor noticed them, but only smiled. He didn’t seem like the type to scold a student for being late. He was a short, wiry man. He had a small brown beard that had subtle hints of gray, and his body was a little rounded. Professor Churchill started, “Good morning, students. I am Professor Churchill, your Transfiguration professor. In this class, you will learn to go from this,” he paused and, with the wave of his wand, turned his desk into a white, majestic horse, “to this.” This time, he turned the horse back into a desk. No matter what he said, now every student wanted to learn Transfiguration as quickly as possible.

After a few more minutes of lecturing, all the students were disappointed to find out their first task: turn a match into a needle. It was bland and most of all boring. Everyone wanted to make horses, not needles. Nonetheless, they each took their matches and began immediately.

As soon as Professor Churchill was distracted, Alex ran to Ronnie’s and Albus’ desk. “Strange, isn’t it, how in just a few short years, we’ll be able to turn desks into horses!” exclaimed Alex. Albus, looking down, turned slightly away from the pair, as Ronnie heard a faint crack; her eyes glowered at him.

“Wow, these matches are brittle. I think I’ll go get another one from the Professor,” smiled Albus, anxious to go to the front of the classroom, since Bella was seated not too far from the Professor’s desk. Before Ronnie or Alex could even mutter a protest, Albus was halfway across the classroom.

Ronnie rounded on Alex. “I thought you were supposed to distract him!” she fumed.

“Sorry, Ronnie, his match just broke, what can I do about it?” Alex explained. He had a point; Albus would need another match to do something for the rest of the lesson.

“Well, I don’t care. He’s still angry at me and if I try anything, he’ll know I’m trying to keep him away from her. He already knows I don’t take too well to her. Alex, you promised me, you would do this!” she whispered frantically, as she witnessed Churchill give Albus another match and Albus make his way up to Bella’s desk.

“Fine, Ronnie!” Alex steamed. He was partially angry at Ronnie’s incomprehension, but had to admit he was angrier at himself for signing a pact with both of them to do the impossible. Alex jumped up, breaking his match, too, so as to have an excuse for going up to the professor. With a radiating smile, Albus had already reached Bella’s desk, as she took a few seconds to process who had approached her.

“My, my, students! No need to break the match in order to turn it into a needle,” Churchill said as he handed Alex a spare.

Albus, not having noticed Alex’s actions, was still smiling at Bella. “Hello, Bella. How are you today?” Albus queried with the most captivating smile he could manage. When he was with her, nothing else mattered; it was just him and Bella, oh so beautiful Bella.

“Lovely. This is just what I needed. Yet another reason to hate this class,” sneered Bella.

“You hate this class?” exclaimed Albus, too infatuated to notice her malicious implication.

“Why, yes, yes I do. Shall I explain?” Bella asked rhetorically. Never in her wildest nightmares would she have expected the following answer.

“Please do!” Albus nearly jumped for joy when Bella openly invited him into a conversation. Bella was just about to open her mouth when all of a sudden, Alex, bumped into Albus.

“Albus, will you please help me figure something out? Please!” Alex pleaded. Albus could not believe what Alex was doing. He was foiling his one chance to talk to Bella! Wasn’t he supposed to be distracting Ronnie so he could talk to Bella?! What is he doing?! Albus put those thoughts aside, however, as he realized that whatever he may need must be of upmost importance. Albus gave Bella a saddened look and followed Alex to the back of the classroom.

“Alex, you better have a good reason for interrupting me!” demanded Albus.

“Yeah, erm… I was wondering what I should get Ronnie for Christmas,” said Alex weakly, improvising anything that came to mind.

Albus could not believe what he was hearing. “You WHAT?! This is what you pulled me away from Bella for?! Alex, are you mental? I was supposed to be having a great conversation with a beautiful girl right now, and you want to know what you should get Ronnie for Christmas! The bloody holiday is weeks away!” Albus was fuming. How dare Alex tear him away from Bella to ask such a casual question! Did he not know how important that shot was for him?

“Alex, I warn you now, you promised me you would distract Ronnie and so you did. I do not need you to distract me, as well. Got it?” Albus did not really give Alex much wiggle room.

“Got it,” resigned Alex, feeling like a lousy friend.

Albus seemed content with this answer and turned to Bella to check if she may, by some miraculous reason, want to resume that conversation. However, she was animatedly talking to her friends Isabella, Patricia, and Scorpius, although Scorpius did not seem to be interested in anything Bella had to say. Albus turned on his heel and followed Alex back to Ronnie, resigning all hope of ever having such a perfect opportunity again. Despite his glumness, Albus still vowed to attempt to speak to Bella again, at least once, during this class.

Albus and Alex arrived to Ronnie and it was evident that she felt awfully smug.

“Look, guys! I managed to turn the match silver!” she exclaimed excitedly, momentarily forgetting the ongoing row between she and Albus and trying to engage the two boys into a lively conversation.

Albus scrutinized the pseudo-silver match and said, “It barely changed, Ronnie.”

“Well, it’s further than you’ve gotten. Now, if you don’t mind, I’ll be going to the girls’ bathroom,” she said with an edge, at which point she walked out of the classroom and left.

Albus, quickly conjuring a plan, seized the opportunity and, without a second thought or even acknowledgment of Alex’s protests, rose and walked over to Bella’s desk. Isabella and Patricia were speaking amongst themselves, which left Bella silently alone. Perfect, Albus thought.

“Hello, again, Bella,” exclaimed Albus for the second time today; he hoped he would not need to repeat it thrice.

“Oh, wasn’t your friend warning you about me when he suddenly decided to pull you away?” accused Bella.

“Of course not! He just wanted some advice on … how to talk to girls!” Albus improvised, with the fakest smile Bella had ever seen; she knew he was lying through his teeth.

“Oh, and you’re supposed to be some kind of expert?” laughed Bella.

“Well, I’m not so bad, once you get to know me,” cheered Albus. He was unconscious of the heavy sarcasm that permeated through Bella’s tone.

“I’m sure you— Oi!” bellowed Bella. Someone had hurdled a book across the room and hit Bella’s delicate head. Both Bella and Albus turned to look at the source of the heavy volume and noticed that only Alex was there, staring surprised at them. Ronnie was in the back of the classroom, all of a sudden talking excitedly with Jake Webster.

Albus was furious. No, he was ready to erupt with fury! All the anxiety that had built with Ronnie over the past few weeks was nothing compared to what he felt for Alex right now. How dare he throw a book at her?! Was he really this stupid?! None of that mattered right now.. All Albus knew was that as soon as class was over, Alex was as good as dead.

“Mr. Greenfield and Mr. Potter! Up to my desk right now! As for you, Miss Hunt, please take Miss Lestrange up to the Hospital Wing! Off you go, the both of you,” shouted Professor Churchill. His face was flushing with anger. It was noticeable that he wasn’t one to usually yell by how unintimidating he sounded. “How dare you throw that book, Mr. Greenfield? You could have seriously injured Miss Lestrange!

“But, but, but, I didn’t ——” started Alex.

“And as for you Mr. Potter, how dare you consent to such a plan, knowing the dangers that could occur? No, no explanations. Detention, both of you, this Saturday at six o’clock. And twenty points will be taken from Gryffindor for your actions.”Both boys were ready to protest when Professor Churchill added, “each.” Then he raised his voice, “class dismissed!” Alex and Albus turned around and walked out of the classroom, Alex too upset that he not only had detention for something he didn’t do, but had also lost points for Gryffindor. Albus was more preoccupied with the fact that Bella would probably never speak to him again. Oh, what a great day, thought Albus bitterly, silently hoping that somehow Bella’s memory of the incident had been erased and she would perhaps consider mouthing another word to him for the rest of her life.

“Just so we’re clear: I hate you.” And with that, Albus parted ways.