The man swore under his breath as his face contorted.  His round face was elongating and his black hair lightened to a brownish shade.  He stumbled around and kicked off his shoes as his feet grew too large for them.

When the kitchen came into view, Albus saw John and Kaden rummaging around in the refrigerator.

    "We could combine this with that,"  Kaden was saying.

    "That is disgusting,"  John commented,  "But brilliant."

    John and Kaden emerged from the refrigerator carrying various containers.  They set them down on the counter and then turned around.

"Quiet down,"  Kendrick said,  "There was a reason why I enacted that last year.  More than just school unity, that is.  I wanted the school to become more united because of an event that is taking place this year.  An event that will put us into competition with other magical schools-"

"You should do that Divination homework,"  Amanda said,  "You know, the one where we predict what happens to us next Wednesday."

    "Already did it,"  John announced.

    Albus, Matt, and Amanda all stared in shock at John.  John never ever did homework early.  He was always the one finishing the last lines of an essay as the teacher took attendance.

Albus stared at Rose.  He had never seen her like this.  Usually Rose was rational.  "Rose, I'm serious.  Take a break."

    "No,"  Rose said adamantly.

    "The players from Puddlemere United?"  John suggested after a few minutes.  "You know, if Rose, Amanda, and Linda joined us, we'd have enough people to be the entire team."

    "Why not the Cannons?"  Matt asked.

    "Because they're awful,"  John groaned.

"Well, I can't blame Matt for not wanting her in there,"  John lowered his voice even more,  "He always sleeps there before the you know what.  He's not going to want her to know about it."

    "I can't blame him either,"  Albus agreed.

    "You do know what this means, right?"  John asked.

    "What?"

    "We're going to have to take our own notes in class now,"  John groaned.

"We're surrounded by your dad,"  John laughed as another miniature Harry Potter walked by.

    "This is just weird,"  Albus muttered, shaking his head.

    "It's kind of funny,"  John laughed even harder.

"Just talk to them, Rose,"  Amanda said,  "To be honest, I'm sick of you ignoring them."

    Rose looked a bit taken aback.  "All right, fine."  She shoved her books into her bag a bit harder than necessary and stood up.

"That's enough for tonight,"  Balladanis said as he eyed Albus.  Albus had a feeling that he looked absolutely exhausted.

    "Looks like I'm the better dueler,"  Malfoy said once they were out of the room.

    "That's not what it meant,"  Albus muttered,  "We didn't even duel each other.  I could beat you in a real duel."

“Yes!”  Xenophilius Lovegood shouted back.  Arthur stood aside as the man walked in and then shut the door behind him.  “Quite the storm we're having!  Just thought I'd stop by and see if this place was still standing.”

    “Quite the storm, yes,”  Arthur agreed,  “I heard the Muggles lost electricity. Fascinating.  I wonder what they do without it.  But yes, the house is still standing.”

“I didn't think it would be this bad,”  John groaned,  “There is no way anyone could see anything in a crystal ball.”

    “Palmistry was better,”  Amanda said,  “And Trelawney makes the whole thing worse.”

    “Trelawney could make Defense bad,”  Albus replied.

“Quite difficult, I'd expect,”  Balladanis replied,  “Come with me, all of you.”

    Albus groaned inwardly as he followed Balladanis down the street.  They had gone all year without Kaden getting them into trouble, but Albus should have known better than to think they could go the whole year.

“I still don't particularly want to go to class tomorrow,”  Matt said,  “Whether I've finished the essay or not.”

    “You're going to finish it,”  Rose told him,  “You've got two inches left.”

    “Finished,”  Albus announced.

    “Excellent,”  John said as he grabbed Albus's essay,  “I'll copy bits of yours.”

    “I wish he'd just let us become Animagi,”  John muttered.

    “John, I honestly don't think you could become an Animagus,”  Rose replied, “You'd wind up with a permanent tail affixed to your arse.”

    “That wouldn't be that bad,”  John grinned,  “Always thought it would be cool to have a tail.”

“He's going to be sacked,”  Matt said adamantly and then turned to John, “You're not going to his extra help session tonight, are you?”

    “Not if I was paid twenty Galleons,”  John replied,  “Well, ok, maybe if I was paid twenty Galleons, but not for less than ten.  What about you, Albus?  Going to go to your dueling lesson?”

“Albus,”  John said as they got up from the table,  “I've got a few pairs of omnioculars in my trunk.  I want to see it up close when Linda catches that Snitch.”

    “Let's go get them, then,”  Albus replied.

    Rose rolled her eyes.  “Meet us down at the pitch.”  She and Amanda turned towards the door as the boys ran up the grand staircase.

    “Why didn't you just bring them to breakfast?”  Matt asked.

A cold wind blew over them and Albus shivered.  It was the kind of cold that chilled him to the bone.  Hoping that it wasn't going to rain, or snow (wasn't it winter in Australia?), he looked to the sky.  There were no clouds, but what Albus saw was much worse than clouds.

Albus had never seen anyone glare at anyone else with such hatred and loathing as Matt's dad glared at Lubar.  And that included when his Uncle Ron talked about the Malfoys, or his mum when somebody mentioned Vernon and Petunia Dursley.