THE BURROW - ATTIC - NIGHT
[The Daily Prophet tumbles within a makeshift campfire of blue flames, but magically doesn’t disintegrate. Anna teases the fire with the tip of her wand, where The Chosen One? mingles with Theo and Cassiopeia's haunted face in the flames.]
Lucius, Regulus and Narcissa look at them worried. Evan and Barty look empathetic, too.
Rose: Mum wasn't letting me go this year, she sort of lost it last week. Said I had no business going back to Hogwarts. That it’s too dangerous.
"She is right! You almost get killed every year." Said Lily. Others agreed.
Anna: Oh come on...
Rose: Dad stepped in, told her she was being barmy. Took a day or two, but she came round.
Anna: But we’re talking about Hogwarts. Voldy is scared of Dumbledore. What could be safer?
Rose: There’s been a lot of chatter lately. That he’s gotten... old.
Anna: Rubbish. He’s only -- what? A hundred and fifty. Give or take a few years. [Silence. Nod. Then the two break out laughing.]
Marauders join.
[Grow quiet again. Anna takes another poke at the Prophet. Cassiopeia and Theo’s haunted face appears briefly, then is gone.]
WEASLEY’S WIZARD WHEEZES (DIAGON ALLEY) - SHOPPING BAG - DAY
[Bearing Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes clutched in the hand of a boy being pulled by his mother through the throng packed sardine-tight in the store.It’s utter madness: Ever-Bashing Boomerangs whip through the air, Dr. Filibuster’s Fabulous Wet-Start No-Heat fireworks spit sparks, and Nose-Biting Teacups bare tiny porcelain teeth. Fred & George Weasley, in screaming magenta, stand upon a counter, selling to the masses:]
Fred/George: Step up! Step up!
George: We’ve got Fainting Fancy...
Fred: Nosebleed Nougats...
George: And just in time for school...
Fred: Puking Pastilles! [A boy stops chewing, turns pale green -- literally.]
"It's awesome!" Said Sirius. James nodded.
Fred/George: Into the cauldron, handsome. [Together, with the tips of their toes, Fred and George launch a sloshing cauldron down the counter, drop down on either side of Anna, who is still wearing Sirius's jacket, begin to steer her through the store.]
Fred: What’d you think, Anna?
Anna: Amazing.
George: (to a browsing boy) Pocket that and you’ll pay in more than Galleons, my friend.
Fred/George: We’ve got eyes in the back of our heads. [The boy, working a screaming YO-YO, blanches as Fred and George turn, reveal they do in fact have eyes in the back of their heads -- phony, but unnerving.]
Barty, James and Sirius laugh.
[As the eys winka, the tiny boy bolts.]
George: Bloody urchins. [Anna eyes a display of orange and black lumps.]
Anna: Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder?
Fred: A real money spinner that. Handy if you need to make a quick escape.
"I want that!" Said James.
Fred: Hello, ladies! [George drops one of the lumps in Anna’s hand, turns to Rose, who peruse a display of “Wonder Witch Love Potions.”]
George: Yes, they do really work. [Anna looks toward it.]
Anna: You shouldn't sell something like that. Is it even legal? Selling love potion?
"It shouldn't be." Agreed Lily.
Fred: Why not? It's good prank.
Anna: Fred, Everyone isn't as innocent as you two. [Fred, George and Rose look at her with disbelief on innocent part.]
"Innocent." Snorted James and Sirius.
Anna: Love potion is dangerous. It takes away your choice. It might be used for much worse things than simple pranks. [Fred and George share a look.]
"Oh." Said James.
"Why isn't it illegal?" Asked Sirius. No one knew the answer.
George: We haven't thought about that.
Fred: We'll stop selling it.
Anna: Good choice. [Just then a huge boy (Cormac McLaggen) passes behind Anna and, with his eyes, takes the full measure of her. Noticing, she turns, receives a faint smile as he moves on.]
Marauders glare at him.
Rose: How much for this? [A tiny wooden man ascends a tiny gallows and... drops. George rides a rolling ladder into frame, drops next to Fred.]
Fred/George: Five Galleons.
Rose: How much for me?
Fred/George: Five Galleons.
Rose: But I’m your sister!
Fred/George: Ten Galleons.
James and Sirius laugh.
Rose: C’mon. Let’s go. [The duo head for the door.]
DIAGON ALLEY - LATE AFTERNOON
[The sun fades over an iron archway -- Welcome to Diagon Alley! -- as Anna and Rose pass beneath. All around them, shops sit silent, windows boarded-up or shattered. People scurry by, avoiding the scary faces of the witches and wizards who peer out from the security posters plastered to every lamp post. Bellatrix is there: “known Death Eater,” And Greyback: “Werewolf.” And Lucius Malfoy: “Caught.”]
Gryffindors and Regulus glared at Bellatrix. Remus glared at Greyback, too. Narcissa grabbed Lucius's hand.
Anna: How is it Fred and George are doing it? Half the alley’s closed down.
Rose: Fred reckons people need a laugh
these days.
"I will become twins' godfather. I have to talk to Arthur." Said James.
"No, I'll become!" Said Sirius.
"You are already my daughter's godfather!" Said James.
"So?" Said Sirius. They glared at each other, than nodded together.
"We'll both become godfather. Each twin each if us." Said James and Sirius.
"Do you even know Arthur?" Asked Lily.
"No, but dad does. I'll get to know him." Said James. Sirius nodded.
Anna: He's right about that. [Anna eyes the poster of Bellatrix, her mocking halfsmile with hatred.]
Rose: Oh no. Look. [Anna follow her gaze to the wreck that is Ollivander’s Wand Shop.]
"That's worse than our time." Said Lily.
"Everyone got their wands from him, what will happen now?" Said Remus.
Anna: But everyone got their wands from Ollivander. Young. Old...
Rose: Good. Bad. Speaking of which...
[Across the avenue, Cassiopeia, Theo and Narcissa pause, glance around, then slip quickly down an alley.]
Anna: Rose!
Rose: Is it just me? Or do Theo, Cassiopeia and mummy look like people who don’t want to be followed? [Anna is too busy staring at Cassiopeia worried to hear what Rose said.]
Lucius glares at Rose.
SHOP FRONT - MOMENTS LATER
[Rose ducks inside a shop front. At the end of the alley, a single shop glimmers dully: Borgin & Burkes. Narcissa, Theo and Cassie enter, greet a stooped man
(Borgin). He points. Cassie walks to a lacquiered cabinet, plays her fingers over its glassy surface. Narcissa speaks and Cassie turns, finds Borgin holding the curtain to the back room aside. Cassie and Theo hesitate, then follow.]
"Where is Anna?" Asked James.
"Probably fell behind." Said worried Lily.
Rose: Where’s Anna?
"That's what we want to know." Said Barty.
ANOTHER ALLEY - DUSK
[Anna moves through the shadows, alone, peering down side streets, each darker than the next, lost, but holding it together, when... a shadow flickers overhead. She looks up, sees a figure (Greyback) leap from one roof to another.]
Remus looks worried at Anna.
[She stands perfectly still, then... hears voices.]
OTHER ALLEYS - DUSK
[Rose races down one passage then another. Stop.]
Rose: Where the hell is she?
BORGIN & BURKES - BACK COURTYARD - DUSK
[Anna creeps to the end of a narrow passage, toward the voices, and finds herself... behind Borgin & Burkes. Figures encircle an old cauldron, among them Greyback, Bellatrix, Narcissa, and in the very center... Cassiopeia and Theo. Anna squints against the brilliance of the fire, the figures twisting like Giacomettis. Cassie and Theo extend their left arms...]
"You think it is..?" Asked Regulus. Narcissa nodded gloomly.
[when a shadow falls over Anna, fingers find her arm. She wheels, terrified.]
Anna: Bloody hell.
"Don't do that!" Said Lily, holding her hand to the chest.
Rose: Sorry. [Just then, the cauldron explodes with light. Instantly, the group, including Cassie and Theo, disperses.]
Rose: What just happened?
Anna: Let's get out of here. [Rose stares at the smoke drifting from the cauldron. A sound rises, growing more powerful and the roar of a...]
HOGWARTS EXPRESS–LATE AFTERNOON
[... Train overtakes us, the scarlet stack of the Hogwarts Express churning furiously towards the horizon.]
Luna: Quibbler...? Quibbler...?
"Hogwarts time." Said Sirius.
HOGWARTS EXPRESS - AISLE– LATE AFTERNOON
[Luna Lovegood moves down the aisle wearing a pair of red and blue cardboard glasses (Spectrespecs) identical to the ones modeled by a witch on the cover of the current issue of The Quibbler, a stack of which Luna clutches to her chest.]
Luna: There’s an article on Wrackspurts this month. Quibbler...? [The loitering students ignore her.]
Barty, Evan and Regulus glare at students.
COMPARTMENT - SAME TIME - DUSK
[Anna and Rose sit together. Anna has a book entitled Advance Rune Translation open on her lap, while Rose lets Anna’s invisiblity cloak play through her fingers. Neville is sitting next to Rose.]
Rose: It was a ceremony. An initiation.
Anna: Stop, Rose, I know where you’re
going with this --
Rose: It’s happened. They're one of them.
Marauders glared.
"She warned Anna." Defended Barty.
Anna: You’re barking. What would Voldemort want with Malfoy and Nott? They are sixteen!
"It's not a problem for him." Muttered Regulus.
Rose: So what’s they doing in Borgin and Burke’s? Browsing for furniture?
Anna: It’s a creepy shop. Poorbloods like creepy things.
Sirius nodded at that.
Neville: I think Rose is right. [Anna rolls her eyes.]
Anna: Of course you do, she is your girlfriend!
Rose: Malfoy is yours!
Anna: (glaring) And? [Neville interrupts.]
Neville: Both of their fathers had been Death Eaters. You-know-who goes for whole family sets. Their families are in his inner circle and they are influential purebloods. It makes sense.
Rose: Besides, you saw it. With your own eyes.
Anna: I told you. I don’t know what I saw. And i would apprecate if you didn't accuse my girlfriend without proof! [Anna rises, snatches the cloak from Rose's hands.]
Anna: I need some air.
Rose: Anna! [Neville stops Rose.]
Neville: Let her! She'll come back.
YOU ARE READING
Anna Potter and the Half-blood prince
Fanfiction[Book 6] The story follows Anna's sixth year at Hogwarts as she receives a mysterious textbook, overcomes obstacles with her girlfriend, and attempts to retrieve a memory that holds the key to Lord Voldemort's downfall.
