The Next Generation

A Potter, a Malfoy, and a Granger-Weasley

Albus's last subject of the day was Defense Against the Dark Arts, which he had with the Slytherins. Their teacher, Professor Gallaghan, asked them all to pair up with someone from the opposing house. Nearly everyone in the room looked frustrated and disappointed at this order, but Albus caught Scorpius's eye and winked. When everyone had found a parter, some very grudgingly, Professor Gallaghan began talking.

"Today we will be working on a spell commonly used in dueling. Stupefy stuns the opponent, or temporarily renders them unconscious. Now, face your opponent, and on the count of three, cast the spell. One... two... three!" Several wands shot out jets of lights towards their opponent, including Albus's wand, but most of the class seemed unable to perform the spell. Just in time, Scorpius ducked, avoiding the spell. "Now, I expected very few of you to be able to perform the spell correctly on your first attempt, but to those of you who have, well done. For the remainder of class, we will practice this spell, but only this spell. If you have still not managed to cast the spell by the end of class, practice it for homework. I will be walking around, examining you each individually."

"How'd you do that?" Scorpius asked, impressed.

"Dunno, I just did. Take a try," Albus replied.

"Ok, stupefy. Stupefy!" he shouted again, with more force, and Albus fell into blackness. A minute later he woke up.

"Nice job!" said Albus, standing up.

"Thanks," Scorpius replied "Now we both have that out of the way. Hey, did you have Astronomy yet?"

"Yeah, how are we supposed to understand any of that stuff?"

"Oh, I was hoping you might get it more than I did. Do you wanna work on it later? We could always meet up at the library," said Scorpius.

"Yeah, sure. How about we head there after dinner?"

"Alright. Here comes Professor Gallaghan, we'd better start practicing," said Scorpius. Albus nodded, and they each performed the spell for Gallaghan, who nodded his approval.

"Well done, boys! Half of the class still hasn't succeeded," he told them, then moved onto the next group.

When the class was dismissed, everyone rushed to the great hall for dinner. After finishing his meal, Albus headed to the library. Scorpius walked in a few minutes later, and they sat down in a corner of the room. There were hardly any others there, due to it being the first semester, so only the usual tests were taking place. Even then, he glimpsed Rose walk past. She appeared to be scanning the books on the top shelf to their right.

"She's always here, isn't she?" asked Scorpius.

"Yup," Albus replied as he watched her pull "Famous Magical Figures" and "Wizarding Battles of the Last Century" from the shelf. "What does she need those for?" he asked, gesturing to the two thick books she had clasped tightly in her arms. "Binns hasn't assigned us any of that!"

"It's beyond me why she'd want to do extra studying, if that's what she's doing," he replied. Albus nodded. "Anyways, let's get going on Astronomy. If we start now, we might be done by morning," he joked. They both pulled the homework out of their bags, and pored over their papers.

"What are we even supposed to do?" Albus asked, several minutes later.

"Dunno," said Scorpius, "I guess we'll just have to guess." A voice sounded from directly behind them.

"Not cheating, are you?" It was Rose.

Albus exchanged glances with Scorpius, then said, "I don't suppose you could help us?"