9. Back at Hogwarts

"Arthur later died of his wounds." Filch said as he recounted the story of King Arthur's death.

"He gave his sword to Merlin after imprinting the trial on it, and Merlin hid the sword in the Black Lake." He finished.

"What of Mordred? Did he die?" Scorpius asked the older man.

"It's unknown if the man survived his wounds. Many members of the table believe he was slain." Finch answered.

"And what do you think?" Scorpius asked.

Filch looked up at his Lord before answering.

"I think that you will need to prepare to face evil forces in this world that have never been seen before." Filch responded, evading the original question. Scorpius didn't push him on the matter, letting the man keep his secrets.

"Once you get the sword Excalibur, we will call a meeting with the other seats," he said as he gestured to the other Nine places.

"And you will finally take your official place as lord of the Order." He said as he began to walk from the room. He stopped by one of the many alcoves of the room and grabbed something from the foot of the knight that represented Arthur, then quickly hid it in his pack. Scorpius didn't see any of this, preoccupied with gazing at his inheritance.

After discussing some more trivial matters concerning the Order, the pair left the temple, and started their journey back to Hogwarts castle. They spent the night at the dilapidated cabin on their way back, spending the rest of the evening training once more.

The next morning, Scorpius stretched to alleviate the aches and pains last night's training had given him. They departed before the sun came up, and soon found themselves back on the train to Hogwarts.

"This is…" Scorpius said to Filch, pausing as he thought on his next words. "All so unexpected. All so much to take it."

"It is." Filch replied, pulling out a newspaper that he had purchased when getting on the train.

"But you must take it all in stride, Young Lord. You will learn soon." He said, smiling over the paper at the young man.

"Bad business, this." He said, showing Scorpius the front of the paper as he turned his attention back to it. The front page showed a black and white picture of a man holding an Azkaban prisoner identification plack. The man had black hair that came down to his ears, along with a black mustache. He glared at whomever had taken the photo of him, then started laughing hysterically.

"There's a full on manhunt for this… Sirius Black." He said.

Scorpius' eye narrowed as he heard the name. Sirius was his mother's cousin, who had been disowned from the Black family. He had only met him one or twice before, and had no opinion on him other than he was cousin to his mother, and that bitch Bellatrix.

"Does it say what the Ministry is doing about the problem?" Scorpius asked as he looked at the living picture.

"It says the Ministry is sending out the Azkaban guards to look for him."

Filch sighed as he continued to read the paper, wondering how this would affect his order, and the school.

"I'm sure it will have nothing to do with us." He said unconcerned as he went back to reading.

-

"This will affect us greatly." Dumbledore said as a select few staff stood in his office, which Filch and Scorpius were a part of.

"But Headmaster," McGonagall protested. "We can't just let Dementors roam around the school. Think of the students!" She said, looking at the Headmaster.

"What choice do we have Minerva? Fudge has already given his permission." Dumbledore said as he collapsed back into his chair, exhausted from the whole ordeal.

"He has assured me that the Dementors will keep their distance from the school, and that we will have full authority to banish them from its halls should it be necessary." He said, looking at the head deputy.

She looked extremely displeased, but understood there was nothing she could do at the moment.

"I'm sorry," Dumbledore said to the gathered few. "I have matters to attend to. Please, I must ask you to excuse me." He said standing up and walking deeper into his office.

The staff left, going back to their duties, preparing their lessons, and preparing for what was to come.

Scorpius and Filch walked out of the office with the group, returning to what they needed to do as well.

"What the bloody hell is the meaning of this!?" Filch asked in an irritated voice, having returned to his grouchy old man persona.

"What the hell does he expect us to do if we encounter a Dementor hm? Ask it to go away nicely!?" He said.

In truth, there was a certain amount of anxiety he felt in the manner. He was a Rune Knight of course, and had faced many things that would frighten ordinary wizards to death, but never had he faced a Dementor.

The problem wasn't that he feared he couldn't deal with them, but rather he feared how Scorpius would deal with them. He had only begun his training with the sword, and hadn't mastered any of his Rune abilities yet.

"I'm sure that we can procure some items the wizard guards use at the prison. They have rings that give off the same effects as the Patronus Charm. I'll see if the Headmaster can get some of them."

"Thank you Ma'am." Filch said, as he and Scorpius broke off from the group to go do their duties.

-

"A bloody outrage!" Hagrid said as Scorpius helped him plant his pumpkins in his garden.

"What are those fools thinkin, havin those things round here?" The big man said as he sat on his haunches, looking up to the sky as it began to rain lightly.

"I'm not sure, but it's got a lot of people upset. The Headmaster said that Black might come here for some reason. Something about what he was muttering in his cell." Scorpius said as he scooped dirt into the hole to cover the seeds.

"Aparently he was saying "hes at Hogwarts" over and over again. They fear that he'll come here."

"Hagrid, are you sure we're supposed to be planting these now? Won't they die in the winter?" He asked as he also sat on his haunches.

"Normal pumpkins yes, these?" He gestured around him.

"No. Thems special seeds. Meant to grow for a long while." He said, finally standing to his feet and placed his hands on the small of his back as he stretched.

The man grunted as he looked around him and, seeing that all was done, thanked Scorpius, and walked back to his hut.

"You know," The big man said as he called out to Scorpius.

"I'll have to introduce you to some friends of mine when they get here for school. I think you'll like em." He said, not waiting for Scorpius's response.

Scorpius just shrugged and walked back to the castle.

As he walked into his room, he found an owl waiting for him with a letter. He quickly walked to the owl and took the letter from it, and gave it something to eat.

"My dear Scorpius.

How I've missed you. Life here isn't the same with you gone, as the house feels empty with you missing. It's so strange to cook for myself only." The letter began.

"After you left, Lord Malfoy and Draco came to our house. Apparently Draco had seen you at the closing feast and had demanded to know what was going on. Not sure why they came to me though." Scorpius knew the moment he had taken the letter that it was from Cynthia. He would recognize her hand writing anywhere, and he thought he could also hear her voice in his head as he read.

"Surprisingly, it seems Professor Dumbledore has made good on his promise of protection, as Lord Malfoy left without any use of force or anything. Though, Draco looked very unhappy as they walked out.

What have you been up to? Are you keeping yourself safe and out of trouble? Please tell me you are eating at least twice a day. Lord Malfoy has been more generous with the supplies he has given to the servants. I've been able to feed myself, and even have some leftovers! It's quite curious." Cynthia wrote.

"Your mother came to the house as well. She was very timid when talking about you, but she did ask me to tell you…" Scorpius could tell Cynthia had paused before she wrote the next few words, seeming to ponder if she should write them or not.

"That she loves you. And that she is sorry." The letter read.

Scorpius looked up from the letter as he pondered on those words. What good did his mother's love ever do for him? She had watched as he had been beaten, and tortured. He owed her nothing.

He looked back down to the letter, seeing he had slightly crumpled it in his hand. He put it on his thigh and stretched it out, getting rid of the wrinkles as he patted it with his hand.

"I know this must be hard for you to read. But please. Don't hate your mother. She was a frightened woman trying to survive. I understand that she cast you away, but what else is someone like that to do? It was selfish, of course, but please try. For me." Cynthia wrote as she pleaded his mother's case.

He could never be mad at Cynthia, but he was a bit perplexed at her for defending his mother.

"I'm doing ok here Scorpi. I hope you are doing so as well at Hogwarts.

I await your letter.

Yours always. Cynthia."

Scorpius set the letter down on the table next to his bed as he thought about what he had read. He took deep breaths to calm himself, and felt the anger drain from his body.

How dare his mother ask for forgiveness. She had stood by and done nothing. She was a coward, and that's what she would remain to him.

Scorpius quickly wrote his response back to her, as he grabbed a paper and quill. He then gave it to the owl before picking the creature up and walking out of the castle and sent it away. He was elated to get her letter, and eagerly awaited her response. He had simply told her of his work in Hogwarts, leaving out everything to do with Runes for fear that the letter might be caught by Lord Malfoy.

He quickly got back to his duties of cleaning, helping the elves if they needed it, and finally, helping any teachers if they required it as well. He was well liked by most of the Professors for his hardworking nature, and honest manners. Though he had been told by McGonagall that he could be to submissive on occasions.

He thanked her for the advice, and decided that he needed to be more assertive.

The only teacher that avoided him was Snape. Every time they would meet, Snape would stiffen, and seem to try and ignore him completely.

Dumbledore had pulled him into his office and had explained that he knew Snapes history, and had asked Scorpius to trust that he had a good reason for keeping him here.

"I'm sorry Headmaster, but you don't elicit the most trust. I know you seem like a nice old man, but I know there is something going on behind the scenes here." Scorpius had said.

The Headmaster nodded as he looked down at his entwined fingers that were in his lap.

"How about this, Scorpius. you…" He stopped as he thought about his next words.

"You owe me, for taking you away from the Malfoys. And that debt will be forgotten if you trust me on this matter. Moving forward in the future however, I will be more telling of the situations. But for this one, I am invoking your debt." He said.

Scorpius gave a sour look at the old man, but he couldn't complain at the old man's ruthlessness.

He felt he could argue that he didn't want to come in the first place. Indeed, Dumbledore had approached him with the proposal of leaving. He thought, however, of all he had gained. His Runes, the order, and even better treatment for Cynthia.

"You win this time, old man." Scorpius conceded.

"But next time, I expect to be kept in the loop." Scorpius said as he walked from the office, not seeing the harmless playful smile Dumbledore had on his face.

Time passed as the school year came closer to starting. The Dementors finally came to the castle, but they kept their distance. Dumbledore had secured a few of the rings that acted as constant Patronus Charm, and gave two of them to Scorpius and Filch. The two of them felt much more comfortable with them on, and were able to go about their days as normal.

Soon, it came time for the year to start, And with it, the Rune of Foresight.

(A/N: Hello everyone! I had a quick question for you all. How much do you want the MC to be involved with the "golden trio"? I've read a lot of HP ff that seem as though the MC becomes Harry's sidekick and whatnot, so I'm curious on your thoughts. Thank you!)