"The Rowles were pretty extreme Death Eaters," Scorpius said, the wheels in his brain turning. He turned his wand on Delphi. "Give it back. Give us back the Time-Turner."
The silvery-haired girl blinked and cocked her head to the side, confused.
"What?"
"Scorpius?" Albus looked between the two. "What are you doing?"
"I don't believe you were ever ill," Scorpius declared, gray meeting brown. "Why didn't you come to Hogwarts before now? Why are you here now?"
Delphi spluttered, clearly searching for her next words. "I'm trying to bring my cousin back!"
Scorpius recoiled, as he finally figured out the final clue. "They called you the Augurey. In-the other world-they called you the Augurey."
A smile, in spite of itself, grew on Delphi's face.
"The Augurey? I rather like that."
"Delphi?" Albus asked softly, slowly, afraid of the answer.
Scorpius whipped out his wand, and she drew her own wand.
"Expelliarmus!" she cried, and the wand came spinning into her own hand. "Albus."
"But why?" Albus demanded. "Who are you?"
"I am the new past," Delphi said as the smile grew back onto her face. "I am the new future. I am the answer this world has been looking for."
With that, she raised the Time-Turner. Scorpius and Albus shared a look, and dived at her before she could turn it. Albus held her down while Scorpius quickly grabbed the Time-Turner and leapt to his feet before Delphi could.
"Give it back!" she cried, pushing Albus off of her and trying to grab at Scorpius while Albus tried to pull her off of Scorpius. "You can't do this! Not when we're so close!"
"Close to what? Recreating the worst world you could possibly imagine?" Scorpius demanded.
"No!" Delphi shrieked, looking smaller than she was and much more vulnerable. "Stopping my father from ever hurting anyone ever again."
The Astronomy Tower went silent. Albus, Scorpius, and Delphi stared at each other, the three fourth-years not sure what to say to each other. Footsteps came, and Scorpius hid the Time-Turner in his robes. Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley approached, wands drawn.
"I heard shrieks, and you're out of bed after hours," Harry said. "Explain yourselves."
"It's my fault," Delphi said immediately. "I wanted to talk to Albus in private, and, well. . ."
She blushed convincingly.
"Then why did Scorpius tag along?" Harry asked. "Seems a bit odd for some private chat-"
"I didn't know she meant that kind of private," Albus said nervously, a little too quickly.
"And why are you on campus this late and not staying with your uncle?" Hermione asked. "And what was so important that you needed to come onto campus yourself after hours?"
"I-I-" Delphi looked between the adults, not sure what to do, and clearly panicking. "I was asking what happened with the Time-Turner!"
She slapped her hand over her mouth, suddenly not sure how much she'd revealed.
"You gave them the idea to go back in time?" Harry demanded.
"Look, we had bad ideas back in the day, but none at this level," Ron muttered.
Delphi looked about to cry.
"Miss Diggory, I'm afraid we're going to have to question you," Hermione said imperiously. "And I'll have to contact Amos-"
Delphi's face went white. "No, you can't-"
"We can and we will," Harry informed her.
"Don't worry, you're just a kid," Ron said. "It's not so bad for you."
"Don't encourage her," Hermione snapped. She looked to Albus and Scorpius. "You two, go back to your dorms. We'll handle you two in the morning. As if you haven't caused enough trouble!"
Albus gave a protesting look, but a brave nod from Delphi reluctantly encouraged him to follow Scorpius into the Slytherin dungeons. Delphi stood tremblingly, looking like a songbird swooped up by a hawk.
"State your name," Harry began.
"Delphini Diggory," Delphi answered, looking at her hands.
"Why can't I find your files anywhere in the system?" he asked.
Delphi blinked. "What?"
"There's no Delphini Diggory in the system," he repeated. "Hermione checked personally. And, when we did a little digging with Amos, we discovered powerful Confunding Charms. He doesn't have any siblings, none that had children, anyway."
Even though Delphi wasn't restrained to her chair, she felt so trapped, she might've been.
"However, we did find a connection to a case tied to Euphemia Rowle about her missing child-for two months, now," Harry continued. "You match her description and photograph, minus the hair, of course. You'd be about that girl's age. And you do go by Delphi. Like Delphine Rowle."
Delphi was fighting the tears at this point. She couldn't meet his intense green eyes. Her entire story was falling through.
"I also know that Madam Rowle didn't want her child attending Hogwarts," Harry continued. "And I overheard you telling Albus that you didn't go to Hogwarts. So tell me, Miss Rowle, why are you so obsessed with Cedric Diggory and that Time-Turner?"
"I can't tell you that, sir," Delphi said, forcing herself to meet his eyes. "Just please don't make me go back. Please."
Harry sighed, recognizing himself in this girl, recognizing the voice he used when asking to stay at Hogwarts every summer. He glanced at his scars. I must not tell lies. He sighed again, and sat down, leveling himself with the kid. She's just a kid.
"Delphi," he said softly. "I need you to tell me what's wrong. I can help you-I will help you. But you need to tell me. I'm offering you all the protection I can. Did Euphemia Rowle. . . Hurt you?"
Delphi met his gaze, and sensing that he was telling the truth, nodded.
"Tell me," he said simply. Delphi took a deep, shuddering breath, and began.
She told stories of the augury, of skipped meals, of insults and bruises and scars and the endless training. Stories that reminded him of his own childhood in Number 4 Privet Drive.
"You're a Metamorphamagus?" he asked when she told him of how Euphemia trained her in those arts.
"Yes," she said, and she turned around, showing with her low-back feathery top a pair of silvery wings tipped with green. She turned back around and showed her white forearm with small white scars across it. Before Harry's eyes, the shadow of the Dark Mark appeared.
He looked to Delphi concernedly.
"What was Rowle training you for?" he asked.
"To complete the prophecy," she said, trancelike.
"What prophecy?" Harry asked wit a frown.
"I will rebirth the dark," she whispered, still in a trance. "I will bring your father back."
Harry felt cold and his scar suddenly burned.
"Who's your father?" he asked, unsure of how to proceed.
She looked at him with those brown eyes, and he saw a flash of red in their depths. "Lord Voldemort."