Albus Potter and the Forgotten Eighth Horcrux

The Uproar Begins

Transfiguration seemed to drag by. Professor Finnigan rambled on and on about Animagi, the ability to morph into an animal at will. This bored Albus, for his father had already told him all about Animagi, and how his own Transfiguration teacher was able to morph into a cat.

History of Magic was surprisingly interesting, mainly because he was learning about Voldemort and his horcruxes. Albus wanted to learn as much as possible about him. The ghost that stood in the front of the room who spoke in a monotone voice was Professor Binns, the teacher.

"-and thus, The Dark Lord was destroyed once and for all. Any questions?" asked Professor Binns. A plump boy from Slytherin with brown, curly hair and skin almost as pale as Professor Gulland's white robe raised his hand. "Yes, Mr. Umbridge?" questioned Professor Binns.

"Well, my grandmother was a very important woman during those times. She told me that horcruxes are serious Dark Magic and that You-Know-Who could still be alive as we speak, regaining strength from a single horcrux!" the boy exclaimed in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Umbridge," mumbled Professor Binns, as pondered on the name for a few moments, "Dolores Umbridge is your grandmother?" he asked worriedly. The boy nodded, as he slyly smirked.

"Alexander, your grandmother is a two-faced pillock! She would know all about horcruxes, wouldn't she? She wore one right around her neck! It says it right in this book!" yelled a tall, brunette girl from the back of the classroom, as she rose from her seat, holding up her textbook. She was from Ravenclaw, but Albus had never really noticed her. Suddenly, Alexander Umbridge turned around in his seat, whipped out his wand, and pointed it directly at the girl.

"Incendio!" he exclaimed, as a jet of fire shot out of his wand and struck the book in her hands. It immediately set on fire. The girl shrieked, and dropped the book on the ground. Edgar was sitting next to her, so he pulled out his wand and pointed it at the book, which lay ablaze on the concrete floor.

"Aguamenti." he said calmly. A stream of water jetted out of the tip of his wand, extinguishing the fire. Edgar slid his wand back into his pocket, with a satisfied look on his face.

"Mr. Umbridge! Miss Straytus! Stop this nonsense immediately!" ordered Professor Binns, as he rushed over to stand in between them. Albus didn't know what good that would do, for the spells would go right through him, but both of the students reluctantly sat back down, glaring at each other. "Five points from Slytherin and Ravenclaw, and Gulland will be hearing about this!" he shouted, as he returned to his desk. Professor Binns made everybody sit in silence for the remaining five minutes of the class.

Once everybody was dismissed to lunch and left the classroom, Albus stayed behind. He walked up to Professor Binns' desk.

"May I help you?" the ghostly man asked.

"Yes, well, I was thinking about what Alexander said, about there being another horcrux, and I was wondering if you believe such a thing is possible?" Albus questioned.

"Absolutely not! When your father killed Voldemort, his body disintegrated entirely. He turned into absolutely nothing." replied Professor Binns.

"Physically, Voldemort was gone, correct, but you said that a horcrux stores your soul. Souls cannot be physically seen." Albus interrogated. Professor Binns paused for a moment.

"Why do you ask such a thing?" he inquired. Albus froze and thought a little bit, but Professsor Binns' intimidating, stern look made him come clean.

"I found a letter. When I was a walking to Herbology yesterday. Professor Creevey wrote it for my father. He wrote about how he saw the Dark Mark the other night and how he's concerned about my father's scar hurting again. He said he thought that Voldemort may have had another horcrux and is back...back for me." said Albus. Professor Binns was silent.

"Go to lunch, please. We'll talk more about this later." he said in a low voice. Albus nodded, and left the room.

Instead of going to lunch, Albus headed up the staircase towards the Ravenclaw common room. He answered the riddle, which was about Gringotts Wizarding Bank, without an issue. Once he got to his dormitory, he reached into his robe pocket and pulled out the letter from his father. Albus ripped it open and quietly read it aloud.

"Dear Albus, I'm sorry, I just couldn't send you off to Hogwarts with you knowing that my scar hurts and Voldemort is possibly returning. I don't want you to know much more than you already do, but being a witty Ravenclaw, I can only imagine that you're trying to learn everything that you can. Don't you worry about it, nobody will hurt you. Focus on your schoolwork. As long as you stay inside the castle, you'll be okay. Many people at Hogwarts care about you, and are keeping a watchful eye out for you and your brother. Your aunt, uncle, mother, and I are going horcrux hunting, just incase. I sent a letter to James as well, informing him on what's going on. Please keep this information private. I'll see you both around Christmas time, good luck! I love you very much. Dad."

Albus heard a floorboard creak behind him, so he turned around to see Hannah, standing in the doorway. She had a shocked expression on her face. Albus walked up to her and hugged her shaking body tightly.

"He's back?" she whispered into his ear.

"I-I didn't know anybody was listening. Please, don't tell. He's not back for sure, it's just that my father's scar has been hurting and Professor Creevey saw the Dark Mark the other night. If we stay in the castle, we'll be okay." Albus assured. Hannah silently began to weep into his shoulder. Albus rubbed her back comfortingly.

"You'll be okay. Nobody has any reason to hurt you." he said.

"Nevermind me, I'm worried about you," Hannah replied, stepping back to look at him in the eyes. "because I care about you." Albus blushed and hugged her again.

They walked out of the common room together in silence, and down to the Great Hall. Albus pushed the doors open, to see just about every student in the room holding a newspaper in their hands. James came running up to Albus and Hannah, holding a newspaper himself. He shoved it in Albus' face.

The headline was "THE RETURN OF HE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED" Albus' heart sank. He continued reading the article. "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named ... possibly returning? According to an anonymous source, Albus Potter, son of Harry Potter, is worried that he, as well as all of us, may be at risk. Accusations say that Harry Potter's lightning scar given to him by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named himself has been hurting him lately. The last time he had gotten a burning sensation in his scar was when dueling He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named during The Battle of Hogwarts on May 2, 1998. Coincidence? We don't think so. Another accusation says that Hogwarts' Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Dennis Creevey, reported seeing the Dark Mark conjured late Monday night. The Ministry of Magic is currently on the case, and more evidence is trying to be discovered of The Dark Lord's possible comeback."

Albus lowered the newspaper, only to see thousands of pairs of eyes staring at him, as if he were Voldemort himself. The Great Hall had gone silent.

"Damn you, Binns." Albus whispered to himself.