Chimaera Of Judgement

10: On The Other Puddifoot

Somehow, with no help from Albus and Rose, the grand tale of their detention in the Forbidden Forest had circulated throughout the school by lunchtime the following day. He had a sneaking suspicion this was Ryan Macmillan's doing, being that most of the snippets of story he heard painted Ryan in the light of conquering hero - though when they caught him in the courtyard between classes, regaling a group of second-years with his deeds of daring do that somehow involved an enchanted dagger and a phial of Re'em blood, he reverted to the true account.

"Just having a bit of fun," he muttered.

The Saturday after they narrowly escaped death by way of the strangest automobile accident in history was the first Hogsmeade weekend of the year. Though he'd been many times before, Albus found himself excited; their raid on his Fizzing Whizbees had depleted his store of sweets, and he thought he might buy Rose a pair of socks from Gladrags for laughs. Meanwhile, Lily was beside herself.

"Oh, I can't wait to get out and about on my own!" she gasped animatedly at anyone who would listen - mostly her friend Kayla Sylvanus, whom was almost equally enthused. "Of course, we've been to Hogsmeade before with Mum and Dad, but this- this is freedom!"

"I'd like to be free of her incessant prattling," Hugo confided in Albus, who tried not to grin where his sister could see him. "She won't shut up about it! Myself, I'm only truly interested in seeing the Shrieking Shack up close. Unfortunately, Father won't let us anywhere near it, he says it has 'bad mojo', whatever that means."

A heady wind buffeted them as they queued up at the gates, Mr Urran standing there with his checklist of those students allowed into town. Albus spotted Jasper Zane a few students along, ducking next to a particularly large Ravenclaw sixth-year. He asked Rose to save his spot, then strode forward to his shoulder, whispering, "Give it up, Zane - who do you think you're fooling?"

The boy gasped, brown eyes locking with Albus's green ones, then scurried off toward the castle.

"That was mean," Rose admonished. "Gave the poor kid a right start."

"Hey, what if Urran gave him a detention? I just figured, as a prefect, it was my duty to save him from himself."

She shrugged. "I suppose. Seriously, were we dumber than trolls when we were ickle firsties?"

Their first stop was Honeydukes, a treasure trove of all things abominably sweet - and even things that weren't, like blood-flavoured lollipops (one of which Rose tried to shove into his mouth). He'd emptied his schoolbag in anticipation of bringing a full load back to his dormitory, but forced himself to only fill it up a third of the way with things like Chocoballs and Licorice Wands. There were other stores to visit, and he didn't want to run out of room.

As per usual, the Hogsmeade branch of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes was packed with students, buying Fanged Frisbees and love potions, or else looking at them and wondering how they were going to get them past Mr Urran. Among these was his sister Lily, whom he wasn't sure he liked hearing talk about love potions at all. Tranky Thomas could be seen near the back of the shop, holding up a Muggle "magic wand" with passing interest. Albus, for his part, bought a new pack of Exploding Snap cards, a Wall-Flower and a Decoy Detonator, and was picking up one of their Vanishing Hats to examine it more closely when he saw movement through the shop window.

"I think my Extendable Ears need replacing," said Rose, scrutinising a clear bag full of flesh-coloured string. "Should I splurge on- hey!"

"Rose," he hissed, pulling her to the glass and pointing. "What are they up to?"

Scorpius Malfoy and his gang of Slytherins were smirking and chuckling, their heads close together just across from the joke shop. One of them gesticulated wildly - Genevieve, perhaps? After a few moments, they clutched their cloaks more tightly around their necks and set off up the High Street.