Albus Potter and the Mystery of Eloise Elfenben #Wattys2017

Albus Potter and the Mystery of Eloise Elfenben- Prolougue and Chapter One

Albus Potter and the Mystery of Eloise Elfenben

Prologue

Eloise Elfenben sat crying on the floor in a small room lit dimly by one small candle. It had almost run out of wax, and would only last a while longer. Suddenly, the tall door flew open, and a chill settled over the room. A dark figure stood in the doorway, towering over even Eloise's tall stance.

"Ahh, Eloise, I regret what I must do, but eavesdropping on coworkers schemes cannot go unpunished."

"Salazar, you don't have to do this! We could work together to create arrangements we could both agree on! Fire does not combat fire! Salazar, please, turn the other cheek!" She was frightened, of course, but was determined not to let it show. She would die standing tall, unafraid, and set a standard for her students. But of course, she knew that Salazar would cover up for his actions with some ridiculous lie, but that was why she had her box. She knew that one day, far into the future, the four students would find it. Then, all would be well.

As her expression faded, and as the jet of green light hit her chest, a bright blue liquid seeped into a small ivory box from Eloise's lifeless body. Then the doors to the room closed, and the box floated onto a small white table, as a periwinkle carpet grew out of the floor like grass.

And the candle went out.

Chapter One

Light streamed into Albus's window. His immediate instinct was to fall back asleep, but something stopped him. Confused, he tried to remember what was keeping him awake. He heard his sister Lily in the other room crying. "But I want to get a wand!"

The answer hit him hard, in the stomach, and left him gasping for breath. Today was the most important day in his life, the day he was getting his wand.

Last week, Albus, like his family had been saying for years he would, received his acceptance letter from Hogwarts. He had been endlessly congratulated by friends and family, while he had been thinking, but not daring to ask aloud, "If you had known all along I would get in, why are you so happy that I did?"

He immediately jumped out of bed, and pulled on some clothes. He tripped over partly his own feet, partly items clustered together on the floor of his room as he rushed to get hold of a comb to run through his hair. He ran into the bathroom, turning on the new electric light the family had recently installed. After the Global Reveal of wizardry, wizards had started using Muggle Technology, and vice versa. Somehow Albus managed to brush his teeth, his hand shaking with excitement, and ran downstairs. The rest of the family was already gathered around the fireplace, Floo Powder in hand.

"Well someone woke up early!", James, Albus's brother teased. He was entering his third year at Hogwarts. Although the two boys looked strikingly similar, with their jet black hair stuck out at random points on their heads, and that they were both tall and lanky, they were nothing alike. James enjoyed mischief, and could sometimes be mean- spirited. Albus, on the other hand, was quiet, and did not talk unless he had completely thought it through first.

Harry poured some Floo Powder into Albus's outstretched hand. He was careful not to let it spill to the floor, as Lily's was. Lily Luna, the Potter's youngest sibling, was dressed in all pink. Pink jeans, pink t-shirt, pink sweater, pink robe, and pink sneakers all matched her unfortunately pink eyes, puffy from crying. She'd be all alone this year, the last to be sent off to Hogwarts. All wizarding children hated Muggle School, and eagerly looked forward to the day when they would receive their acceptance letter.

One by one, each family member stepped into the large fireplace, let their powder drop to the floor, and shouted clearly, "The Burrow!"

The family had early on decided that they would travel to the Burrow instead of directly to their destination, as there were religious extremists groups who had figured out how to track Floo powder travel, and specifically targeted wizards going shopping for supplies in Diagon Alley. Since Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione lived closer to the new entrance to Diagon Alley- it had been replaced to deter said extremists- the Potter family would travel to the Burrow first, and would then use Muggle transportation the rest if the way.

Albus found himself in the living room of his aunt, uncle, and cousins. Apparently, no one else had eaten breakfast either, as they were all seated at the dining room table. Molly and Arthur, Albus's grandparents, had moved into a smaller house when Arthur retired, and Ron, Albus's uncle, had inherited it.

"Hey Rose!" Albus was excited to see his cousin again, seeing as she was the only other member of the family his age.She was dressed in a pair of bright red sweatpants, a grey Weird Sisters hoodie, and had her short hair tied up off the back of her neck, so she must have been taking advantage of the clear morning to play quidditch with her father.

"Albus!" Rose dropped her knife and fork- which she had been using to cut a sausage- and rushed over, nearly toppling him over. "It's so good to see you!"

"I'm so excited!"

"Which wand do you think you'll get?"

The two cousins chatted endlessly as they reached for plates and scooped piles of food onto them. Sausages, potatoes, toast, and fluffy pancakes that seemed to melt in your mouth lined the table, and soon everyone was almost bursting. Albus felt his stomach start tying knots in itself as he thought about the excitement of what was to come.

This must have been apparent on his face, as Aunt Hermione reached over and took his hand. She smiled and whispered, "Feeling nervous,huh?"

He nodded, his mouth seemingly unable to work.

"Don't worry," Aunt Hermione comforted him. "You are already a very talented young boy. Success is the only thing that could possibly await you at Hogwarts."

Rose rolled her eyes at Aunt Hermione's grandeur, but Albus felt genuinely comforted. She was right, what was the worst that could happen? The Dark Times of Voldemort had ended, there was peace between Wizards and Muggles, and there was more wizarding children than ever before.

"Alright guys, we should get moving pretty soon," suggested Uncle Ron, forking the last bit of waffle into his mouth. "Who has the car keys?"

Uncle Ron had only just scraped passed his Driving Test, and still had trouble parrrallel parking. However, after the Global Reveal, it was now legal to use magic in front of Muggles, so all he had to do was reposition it using a spell that sounded something like, "Wing guardian Levi-hose" and made Aunt Hermione smile and look down at her wedding ring for some reason.

It took them a little while to sneak past the line of reporters waiting at the entrance, but once they had gotten into Diagon Alley, they ran into an older woman whom his father seemed to know.

"Why hello Rita!" he exclaimed. Albus was confused, didn't his father hate Rita Skeeter in his fourth year? He must know something about her, he thought. This was confirmed when Rita kept sneaking glances at Aunt Hermione that somehow always ended at the kids.

"I was wondering if I could get an interview," she explained in somewhat of a clipped voice. His father agreed, and soon she was asking question after question, and afterwards Albus found that he couldn't quite remember what she had even asked, except that they all seemed to focus on the kids.

What house were they hoping for? Have you gotten your wands yet? When did you first show signs of magic? All the questions seemed to be the same ones everyone always asked, except for this time Albus was finally included in the questions about Hogwarts.

Soon they met up with the rest of the family at Weasleys Wizard Weazes.