A/N: So we have a new one here from Lordsteinman (me, you fools). Well, in all technicality, this is a joint project between me and buffyobssessed, with random bits written in by carlisle-cullen-for-life. when she feels like it. These chapters, which I think will be about nine, or ten, were entirely written by me, possibly with an 'epilogue' written by buffy-obssessed. It's like a prequel to the main story published as a stand alone. Any confusions and I'll confirm the details. But yeah, here we go.
This is the story of the year leading up to Albus Potter's first year at Hogwarts. The main story (which will be published on a joint profile) will continue straight on from the end of this, and will be the story of his first year at Hogwarts.
Warnings: Here be angst. As in proper, intense angst. If you don't like it, stop now, because it gets really emotional in later chapters.
Chapter 1
1 Year Ago
Albus Severus Potter always knew he was different, but it wasn't until he was ten years old, that he really began to understand why.
Ding, ding.
The wailing of the alarm clock at five-thirty in the morning was the last thing anybody would want to hear, never mind Albus Potter.
Let's just say he wasn't a morning person.
Albus groaned, loud, before turning on his side, in order to face the clock. He slammed the snooze button with his fist, and then rolled over back to sleep.
"Al! Al, wake up!"
It couldn't have been more than two minutes later when he awoke once again. His mattress was moving from under him, and the duvet was sliding away from on top of him. He could also hear a loud, inane shouting in his ear, although it was difficult to make out the words…
Was his bed revolting against him?
Slowly, he opened his eyes, and saw that his bed was not in fact revolting, because James Sirius Potter was stood at the end of it. He was dressed in his checkered pyjamas, and was bouncing hard, on the edge of Albus' bed, dragging the soft duvet off his back.
"James go away," Albus mumbled; "It's the middle of the night."
"Get your butt out of bed; we need to get breakfast." James called, talking as if he were stood next to a dead person, which, considering Albus' sensory perception in the morning, probably wasn't as ridiculous as it sounded.
"It's half-past five!" Albus groaned. "Go back to sleep for an hour or two. Or six."
"Albus, you know we're getting up early today – we're going to Hogwarts!" At no point during the animated conversation, did James stop jumping, and the duvet was now splattered on the floor, much to Albus' contempt.
"No," Albus corrected, "You're going to Hogwarts. I'm getting up absurdly early, then taking a pointless trip to a filthy train station, then coming home again. The only thing I get out of this trip, is ridding myself of you, which, quite frankly, can be done with very little participation on my part."
James just grinned, knowing his brother was merely cranky after being woken up. He leapt, gallantly of the bed, and made for the door, calling, "Mum's making toast, if you're not down in five minutes it'll go cold."
The whole family was at the dinner table, when Albus plodded down the stairs. Ginny had a small plate, with two pieces of buttered toast, whilst Harry's was loaded to the point that they were all falling off the sides.
Lily sat there, looking almost as tired as Albus felt. She was munching, slowly, her eyes, gaunt, and swollen. There was a space between her and James, who looked so awake, the casual onlooker would swear he'd had twice as much sleep as the the rest of the family.
Albus sat down, quickly, and started slowly eating the buttered toast. It tasted somewhat rubbery, but that was probably because his taste buds weren't due to start work properly until at least eight am.
There was complete silence for a few minuted, as nobody was awake enough to engage in pointless conversation. Then, quite suddenly, a cloud of ash spluttered down the chimney chute, then faded, revealing a large brown tawny owl, speeding towards the kitchen table. It landed, carefully, then extended a leg in Harry's direction. He looked annoyed, but not surprised to see an owl this early in the morning. He carefuly untied the letter from the from the owl's bony leg, and opened the envelope, as it flew away, elegantly.
"That's a high speed ministry owl," Albus noted, watching, remembering a book he'd read, which had explained the obvious differences. "It must be urgent."
"Nothing important," Harry shrugged. "Just general stuff."
"By high speed owl? At half–five in the morning?" Albus butted in, sceptically. He took a bite of toast.
"Mind your business," Harry ordered, trying to look calm, whilst subtly attempting to signal his wife out of the room, by nodding his head in the direction of the door, so they could have a 'private' conversation.
Luckily Ginny picked up the hint. Not so luckily, so did Albus. Both Harry, and Ginny stood up simultaneously, and headed for the door, making it even more blatantly obvious that they wanted to be alone. What were the chances of that happening as a coicedence, really?
A minute later, Albus followed suit, murmering something to his siblings about "Finished breakfast," and "Getting dressed." With that he walked out, into the hallway, and stood next to the closed lounge door. From inside he could hear the hushed voices of his parents.
"You can't go into the office today, of all days," he heard Ginny exclaim. "For starters, it's a Sunday, and James is starting school today!"
"It won't take all day," Harry reasoned. "Look, I'll take you guys to the station, and see James off, then I'll go."
Ginny groaned, considerately.
"We've been trying to get our hands on these guys for months!" Harry exclaimed. "They think we might have a lead, and this opportunity won't come around again."
Ginny didn't respond.
"Come on Gin," Harry pleaded, using his wife's favourite pet name (and not because of the alcoholic connotations). "The auror's are strethed so thin at the moment, hunting down the powers spike. There's only four of us on the team already, and one of them isn't even an auror! They really need all the manpower they can get, because these people are dangerous."
"Fine," Ginny snorted, "But it doesn't mean I have to like it."
He said dangerous, Albus thought to himself, as he sat down in the car, on the motorway, heading to London's King's Cross. He was wedged in between a much too excited James Potter, and a sleeping Lily Potter, during a journey that was proving longer and even more uncomfortable than expected. Harry was in no was used to driving muggle vehicles, and it showed; even Ginny could be seen gritting her teeth, and rolling her eyes on occasion.
Throughout the lengthy 'trip,' Albus spent much of the time pondering what he'd 'overheard' outside the lounge. In truth, he'd never been told what it was his father did for a living; the subject was often avoided. He knew that Harry was an 'Auror,' but he knew not what an auror was, or what an auror did. The most any of the children had been told, was Harry worked for the ministry. Up until now, Albus had just assumed it wa boring, bog-standard office work. Nothing exciting, but Harry had said 'dangerous.'
Even though they all knew that harry had been somewhat of a hero in his youth, (However long ago that was!) Albus couldn't imagine his father doing anything particularly strenuous these days.
Was Harry's job as normal as he made it out to be? Either way, Albus had to know. He didn't like being left in the dark, and he planned to find out one way or another. If only on principle.
"What do you do at work Dad?" Albus asked, quite innocently, despite having low hopes of getting a staight answer.
There was a shocked silence in the car, for a few seconds; the question was never asked. Probably because each time it was met with such blatant indifference.
"Ask me later, son" Harry said, flatly, "I'm concentrating."
Almost immediately after saying that, the car drove over a speed bump, at top speed, and jolted. Everyone in the car shook, and Ginny looked as if she were about to shoot her husband. Everyone knew she was the better driver, but decided, in order to keep Harry's pride intact, to let him do it anyway. She seemed to be regreting it.
"Yes, Dad," James said, wincing, "You just carry on concentrating."
"Honey, I think the point of speed bumps is to slow down." Ginny advised, kindly.
"Right," Harry said, completely focused.
Albus rolled his eyes; even though he was expecting to hear some excuse or other, a didn't stop the annoyance, when his father so blatantly avoided the question.
"Okay then," he pressed on, regardless, "Mum, what does Dad do?"
They weren't getting out of that one easily.
He could see Ginny visibly squirming, and looking almost pleadingly towards her husband for assistance. He looked equally uncomfortable, even if he wasn't the one to answer.
"Al dear, your father does important work for the ministry." She gave the most basic answer possible, whilst the awkwardness of the situation painted a grin on even James' face.
"I know that," Albus continued, "But what is so important that Dad's spent over half of the holidays at work. We hardly ever see him!"
Harry sunk into his seat; apparently the guilt trip had struck a nerve. Albus could just imagine how his father's cheeks were reddening now, as they did oh so often.
"Dad's very busy at the moment." Ginny countered. "He'll be home during Christmas." She looked at her husband, squinting evilly, "Won't he?" She spoke the last two words to Harry, and added a healthy dollop of spite to her voice, just to make him feel that little bit better.
He sunk even lower.
At that point, Albus knew he was getting no more from his parents, so he folded his arms, moodlily, and sat back in his seat.
It's so unfair! He thought. As if it wasn't bad enough that he never got to see his father, he wasn't allowed to know why!
It sucks to be ten years old, he concluded.
Little did he know, life was about to get a whole lot worse.
By the time the car had finally reached the station, it was a quarter to eleven. Everyone chipped in to carry James' luggage, who at eleven years of age (albeit twelve in November), had no chance of carrying it all alone.
It was clear already, how excited James was to be finally starting Hogwarts. Somehow, however, the mood was not being echoed by the rest of the (extremely tired) family. Albus and Lily were still shattered, and the two parents seemed to be annoyed at each other, probably concerning this morning's letter. The letter that Albus knew not to be 'General stuff,' thanks to his earwigging skills.
That's an acquired skill by the way, refined by years of practice.
James was chatting, ammicably, yet none of the family was listening; the most response he received was that of Ginny, saying 'Yes Dear,' in the appropriate places.
"So what house is James gonna be in?" Lily asked, quite innocently, making attempt at conversation.
"Gryffindor." James responded proudly, as the family picked up his luggage, and made his way to the nearby trolley stand.
"I wouldn't get your hopes up," Harry warned, "There are four houses for a reason." Even as he said it, Harry was relatively sure he would make Gryffindor. He possessed all the desirable traits, even if some of them were yet to manifest themselves fully…
They each dumped their share of James' luggage onto the trolley, once they reached it, with the miniature owl, 'Einstein,' at the top. The owl had been a gift for james' eleventh birthday, in anticipation of him starting Hogwarts. James had yet to get through a feeding session with the animal, without any cuts on his fingers. Generally, Albus ended up doing it for him. For some reason he was good with animals.
Anyway, Einstein would be fed with the other owls, in the owlery upon reaching Hogwarts, so James would no longer need to worry about it.
The family began to move towards the barrier, of which harry had spoken many times. Apparently this station was where his parents had first met, Ginny gawping like the ten year old girls she was. Funny, she was the same age Albus is know.
They were fast running out of time now. Albus was practically running to keep up with his parents, and Lily wasn't doing much better. The thought of James missing the train, and thus, having to stay home, did spur him on just a tiny bit though.
"We need to make this quick," Albus overheard his father muttering into Ginny's ear; "I'm meeting the team across the road in twenty minutes."
Ginny just hissed at him
They reached the barrier, in what seemed to be record time, and shot through it, like bullets from a gun.
Then they saw the train.
It was more than Albus could have ever imagined. It was so beautiful; the gleaming red paint seemed to shine, like it's own light source, and the large letters, that spelt 'The Hogwarts Express,' seemed almost three- dimensional.
A second later, James was gone, and he was charging into the carriage, totally gung-ho. Then he was leaning out of the window, and Ginny was wishing him goodbye.
It all went past in a blur really, because Albus wasn't really concentrating, and James seemed eager to get rid of them. He remembered his mother hugging James, and telling him how much they'd all miss him, at which Albus snorted. Then Harry started delivering a lecture's worth of advise, that no human could be expected to recall.
It was all very textbook; James and his parents engaged in the same conversation, that was occuring uo and down the length of the train. The moment was bittersweet, because most of these families wouldn't be seeing each other until the Christmas holidays.
Still, Albus wasn't listening. His very inquisitive ten-year old mind was busy hatching a plan…
There was a slight feeling of aftershock in the air, as Harry, Ginny, Albus, and Lily assembled out of the barrier. Ginny was in some sort of denial, claiming, "They all grow up so quick!"
Again, he rolled his eyes, so far, in fact, they were danger of getting stuck; trust his mother.
"Are you sure you're okay to get back?" Harry asked his wife, insinuating his plans to leave, and soon.
"I can drive you know," Ginny repled, with a hint of snide in her voice, that just served to intensify Harry's guilt. Then, she shot Albus and Lily a humorous look, which clearly said, "A downside better that he can."
They giggled.
So, Harry promptly kissed his wife goodbye, and started walking away, still looking bright red. Ginny seemed satisfied with her work.
Then, suddenly, it was time for albus' time to come into action. He'd vowed that he would find out what it was his father was so dearly protecting, one way or another. Be it the easy or hard way. They'd tried the easy way in the car.
Now it was time for the hard way.
"Mum, I'm going to the loo," Albus informed her. He deliberately informed her, as opposed to asking, because he knew there was a strong chance she would tell him to wait until they got home. He couldn't afford for that to happen. Thus, he proceeded to walk away, before she was able to give an answer. Besides, it was easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.
With that, he was running off, and as you may have guessed, Albus was not heading for the toilets, instead he was following his father into what was a dangerous, and potentially exciting scenario.
There was no time to think, and no opportunity to back down. He knew he'd get hell for it later, but he had to know, he just had to.
He really had no choice.
His father was walking through the station, and heading for the main exit. Albus followed, keeping his distance, in case Harry turned around.
When they were in the fresh air, harry began to move faster, due to the loss of crows. So much so, that Albus found himself struggling to keep up. He even thought he'd lost his father at one point.
They moved stealthily through the muggle street, and Albus could see his father's wand just visible, and thus, accessible.
It was clear that Harry was well trained; his beady eyes were wide open, and ready for anything. His hand hovered within the holly and phoenix wand, and looked as if it could grab hold of it, faster than the eye could move. He moved quickly, and efficiently, making it clear he had places to be.
Ten minutes later, Harry was sat calmly around a table with what semmed to be three other Aurors. Or as he discovered earlier, two aurors, and one that was 'not even an auror.' Albus couldn't hear what they were saying, because despite it being an open aired café, he couldn't stand to close without looking suspicious.
By now, Ginny would have probably been worried sick, and chances were, he was going to be grounded until this time next year. Either way, he was wuite safe at the moment, because whilst ginny may have guessed the nature of Albus' 'escape,' she didn't know where Harry had gone, and unconsciously led Albus.
There was more hushed chatter, and Albus was straining to hear, when he remembered an extendable ear in his pocket, which incidently had been 'commandeered' from Uncle George's stock room. Albus' attitude to stealing, was it if the owner didn't notice it's dissapearance, it wasn't important anough for them in the first place, to be worth keeping. Albus knew it was dangerous using the ear, because Harry would recognise the contraption almost immediately, but Albus had to try; the whole escapade would be pointless otherewise.
Slowly, he unravelled the stringy object, then tossed the end in the direction of Harry's table. For a moment, he held his breath, convinced that he'd be caught, but nobody seemed to notice.
Jackpot!
Slowly, Albus exhaled, then inserted the other end into his ear, and began to listen:
"Our sources tell us that they're hiding in that dingy shack on Linder road." A deep husky voice explained. "If we catch them off guard, we can stun 'em, quick, and take 'em in. Easy." The man finished.
Are we gonna have reinforcements or not?" Albus recognised his father's unique voice, speaking with a slightly worried tone.
There was a pause, which Albus assumed was filled with the nodding or shaking of a head.
"We're stretched too thin; the whole office is working on the other project." The deep voice spoke again, giving no indication as to what the 'other' project was."
"It's being going on all summer," Harry moaned. "We've been stretched like St. Mungo's Emergency Department on a Friday night for six weeks solid. My own son asked me why I've been away all summer this morning, and I can't even tell him why."
Albus cringed at the reference, though it was consolidating to know that it was ministry regulations that were restricting him, not ridiculous parental rules.
"Couldn't it all be just a big mistake?" Harry concluded.
"No," another, female voice butted in. "Our sources are never wrong."
"It'd help us aurors tenfold, if you guys told us what the hell is going on in the Department Of Mysteries." Harry complained with murmers of agreement from the two remaining (male) aurors, Apparently, the female operative worked in the Department Of Mysteries. Clearly Albus wasn't the only one who didn't know what happened in the area if the Ministry. She seemed to know more than she was allowed to let on.
"You know we can't tell you, it's called the Department Of Mysteries for a reason. I'm quite happy to come and help you guys catch a bad guy or two. Trust me, I need a break from all that."
"Anyway," a fourth voice spoke. Albus could see that he was a tall man, with a high pitched voice, and a slightly gourmless expression spoke. "The other project is the biggie. If this power ohenomenal power is let loose, before we can stop it, we'll have another Lord Voldemort on our hands. The race is to ind, and extinguish it, before the problem gets that far. Problem is, we don't have a clue who or what it is."
That was a bit intense, Albus thought. Extinguish it, really! What if the power wasn't hell bent on world domination, like Voldemort had been,
"What if it's not evil?" Harry asked, voicing Albus' own thoughts. Great minds think alike…
"It's not possible." The female spoke, her cold words hitting everybody's nerves. "That kind of power dominates and corrupts. You can't control the power; the power controls you."
She wasn't challenged, even though nobody fully believed her.
Then Harry groaned, for what seemed like the tenth time that morning. Apparently Ginny's bad mood had rubbed off on him. "Why does everybody else get phenomenal power, whilst we get a few ex-death eaters in a shack?"
"Tell me about it." The bearded man added, "My partner gets to lead the team that's searching for it. While I'm here."
"Is that Dawkins?" Harry asked, innocently, though everybody could hear the resentment in his tone. Harry clearly wasn't going to insult Dawkins in front of his partner, but it was obvious that they didn't get on.
They had definitely said ex-death eaters, Albus thought to himself, after pondering the term. They were bad, really bad. On the upside, if Harry was hunting the bad guys, that made him one of the good guys-right?
There was a brief nod, from the deep voiced man, in response to Harry's question.
"We can't shut down the day-to-day runnings of the auror office, just because something big comes up." The woman interrupted the silent correspondance.
There was a murmer of agreement, which Harry's voice was conveniantly absent from.
"Besides, if we shut everything down, people will start asking questions. We can't afford for this to get out. There'll be riots; everything will think Voldemort's back, or something stupid like that."
"So we know it's definitely not him." The deep voice spoke again, putting stress on the last word, to avoid saying the name. The fear was evident, even after so many years.
"I'll let you in on a little secret, as you've allowed me on this field trip of yours." The woman spoke again, her speech turning into a hushed whisper. Albus had to strain to hear her, even through the extendable ear, which naturally amplified sound. "If any of you speak a word of this, , I'll murder you in your sleep. After losing my job."
She was deadly serious.
"If this was any old person, we wouldn't have been able to pick anythingup, until it was too late. We got the spike…. Through the trace."
There was a gasp from everybody on the table. Apparently the term 'trace' meant something significant, though Albus had never heard the term before.
"So it's… a child?" Harry stuttered.
Her voice sounded somewhat hoarse, as she confirmed his suspicion.
"Are you telling me that the whole Auror Department is going on a full scale man hunt for a child!"
It sounded barbaric, even to Albus. And they planned to extinguish this threat. What did that mean!
"I don't like it any more than you do." She muttered. "We've got spies up at the school, as of the new year. Our main problem is we don't know who it is. Chances are, it'll be a sixth or seventh year, for it to have that much power."
There was silence for a minute, as the gravity of the revelation hit home.
Then the gruff, manly voice concluded, "We need to focus on our missio. I say we move out."
There were a few silent nods, and a grunt that sounded like "Uh-huh," before they all got up, and walked slowly away.
Linder Road was so downtrodden, and decrepit, that Albus had trouble determining which of the 'houses' was the aforementioned shack. The road was a deep brown, almost completely coated inrubbish, and the path wasn't much better.
Each of the houses seemed to have at least one broken window, and many of them were literally collapsing under their own weight.
In such an empty street, Albus knew it would be impossible to hide, so he waited at the top, whilst the four aurors made their way to the very last house on the street. He stared around the corner, watching as the door bkew into splinters (his father's handiwork, he was proud to stay), then charged inside.
He waited for a minute, then ran down the street, stopping outside 'the shack.' He walked carefully around the edge, then found a dirty window, that was low enough to the ground that Albus could easily peer through. Luckily, because the window was so dirty, anybody inside would have to look twice if they wanted to see him staring through. He had a safe vanage point, which didn't require him to go inside the house. Even he knew that would be stupid; he didn't know any spells.
Inside what seemed to be the lounge, harry and the other three aurors had burst in on the four death-eaters. The death-eaters looked like death warmed up. They were all drugged up, and hadtrack marks running up on down their exposed arms. They wore only a set of rags, that seemed to be personalised to each person. They looked so malnourished, that a simple knockback jinx would easily knock them out cold.
The four aurors stood in defensive positions-wands raised, and feet opened shoulder-width apart, for balance. They moved closer, and watched as each death-eater stood up, and raised their respective arms in the air.
On one scarwny, female wrist, Albus could just see the dark mark, that, eighteen years ago, would send shivers down the spine of even the bravest man. It had been tatooed on the wrists of all Voldemort's followers, back when the death-eaters had a purpose. Nowadays, they were a mere annoyance; a samll shadow of the group that had once struck fear into the hearts of men.
Rounding them up was merely pest control, which seemed to be what they were doing now.
The aurors were slowly advancing on the four inhabitants, careful not to make any sudden moves, and provoke an attack. These people might have been weak, but that didn't mean they wouldn't have a traick or two up their sleeves.
Either way, they looked resigned to deep surrender. Albus was almost bored looking at it; Harry had said dangerous!
Then suddenly, there was a deafening 'crack,' and ten more death eaters appeared in various positions around the room, surrounding the four aurors.
There was a cackle from the witch whose dark mark Albus had spotted, as the four original death eaters drew wands. "Look who's surrounded now," she giggled, as fear registered on all four of the aurors' faces.
"Crap." Harry cursed. Albus gulped, immediately taking back his words. The situation must be bad, because he'd never heard his father swear before. Now he was worried.
Then all hell broke loose.
Stunners and killing curses flew everywhere across the room, as they tried to hopelessly defend themselves against the odds. The logic was simple; it would be easier to die fighting than to be captured by these people.
"Bloody hell!" Harry cried. "I told you we needed reinforcements."
There was a flash of green light, and the witch from the Department Of Mysteries dropped to the ground, dead.
Some field trip.
It was only when Albus saw somebody die, that he really began to understand how much of an idiot he'd been, following his father. Albus couldn't do magic; he didn't even have a wand! If one of these people came here, he'd be killed faster than he'd be able to say 'transfiguration.'
Now it was clear why Harry hadn't told them what it was he did. The scene was horrifying; Albus wanted to go back to blissful ignorance, back to a naivety that he was no longer blessed with. The world wasn't the place he once thought it to be, and he didn't want to have to deal with it. He know knew the true meaning of the phrase, "You really don't want to know."
A bright jinx flashed across the room, and embedded itself into Harry's shoulder, who screamed in agony, and collapsed over onto the floor.
By now, Albus was sobbing, he could do nothing to prevent the scene unfurling in front of him. He would be stupid to go in; he'd only get killed. But nor could he leave his father here to… he'd never felt so helpless in his life. All he could do, was sit and watch, as good people were massacred.
The silent tears rolled down his face, as he began to imagine the single, inevitable outcome to this scenario. He knew chances of his father emerging alive were practically non-existance, and unless Albus ran now, he would probably go the same way.
But he oculdn't bring himself to do it. He couldn't abandon his father. Hie didn't care whether he lived or died at this point.
Then came the pain.
It felt like his every cell was burning from the inside out, as comething intense, something dangerous coursed through his veins. It pumped through him, like adrenalin, but hotter, faster.
And lord, did it hurt.
He felt like he was bursting apart from the heat. He screamed like he'd ever screamed before, high pitched, and deafening; his veinswere alive, dancing about mockingly. His eyes were clenched shut, the pure agony of whatever was happening, shooting thruogh the very core of his being.
Was this some sick curse, that a dark, twisted death-eater had inflicted.
It sure felt like it.
Then he was writhing, like a snake, cringing and jolting with every beat of his heart.
It felt like a century later, when the pain finally subsided. Tentatively, he opened his eyes, coughing away the last remnants of the blazing heat from his throat, then stood up.
Everything had changed; he felt different, stronger, capable.
Powerful.
He looked into the window, and what he saw scared him. His reflection had changed, his features twisted; a dark, cold expression. And his eyes…
His eyes were pitch black.
It was then that he lost control, feeling nothing but pure, penetrating hate. Hate for every person, every creature. Again he looked inside, and felt it. The deep resentment for every person in the room, aurors and death eaters alike. He knew what had to be done. The people were all so small.
His eyes squinted, almost subconsciously, and the window shattered, splintering into a million small pieces. Some pierced his skin, some didn't; it didn't really make any difference, because they didn't hurt.
He climbed in the window, watching as each of the people inside stopped to stare at him. They raised wands, but he laughed. They were so tiny; did they think they had any chance against him! A curse came his way; a jet green flash of light. He raised his arm, and it was gone.
"Albus get out of here!" There was a man, crumpled on the floor, and screaming to him. He had jet black hair, and rounded glasses. There was something very familiar about him. Was it that gleaming scar on the forehead? He lay there with a bleeding gash on his arm, pleading towards Albus.
Regardless of the familiarity, Albus laughed again; the man couldn't control him! He an arm, preparing to kill the man, when a dozen curses came his way. He growled; these people were a nuisance. Then his hands were in the air, and the spells flew back to their owners, all of which dissaparated, leaving Albus alone with three other men. One was the man laid on the floor, who had spoken earlier, dircetly to Albus. There was a tall, lanky figure stood in the corner of the room, and a bearded wizard, adopting a defensive position behind Albus.
"Urm Potter," the large hairy man spoke from behind Albus, "I think we've found what the Department of Mysteries were looking for." Then he raised his own wand, and hurled a jinx towards Albus.
"ERESCO!" 'Potter' screamed, aiming his wand not at Albus, but at the bolt of purple light, flying throught the spells vanished on contact, with a resounding 'crack.' "That's my son!" he cried, as the magic dissapeared.
"Have you got any better ideas?" The gangly auror cried. He had his wand raised in defense.
As if that would make a difference.
"Protego," the man uttered, after Albus gave him a murderous glare. Was this a precaution? Albus blinked, again, and watched as the shield dissolved. The man flew backwards, and hit the wall, falling unconscious.
Oh the thrill; it felt som amazing; he needed more.
"Albus stop, please." The pleading voice of that bespeckled fool was grating on his nerves.
"Potter, we're going to have to stun him, whoever the hell's son he is. Otherwise he'll kill us both." The only other remaining person in the room spoke again, whilst moving stealthily around from behind Albus.
Potter, and his colleague moved closer together, the former finally getting up off the floor. They each had their wands in hand.
"No, Warrer, let me talk to him." Potter spoke again, without taking his gaze off Albus.
'Warrer' gritted his teeth, then rolled his eyes. "If we get killed…"
For a moment, Potter looked like he was about to say something, as Albus flexed his fingertips, threateningly.
Then, for a second time, that morning, reinforcements arrived, appearing with an echoing 'crack.' This time they were ministry officials, as opposed to downtroddedn death eaters.
Albus grinned; a challenge.
The fifteen new aurors surrounded him, scattered evenly eround the room, each with their wands pointed directly at him.
"Stand down boys," a confident wizard, who seemed to be the leader spoke to Warrer and Potter. "We'll take it from here."
"Dawkins," Warrer yelled. "Am I glad to see you?"
"Leave him alone!" Potter screamed, to the surprise of the reinforcements.
"Potter, do you know how dangerous he is!" Dawkins cried back, talking as if to a little child. It was clear these two hated each other. Not that it mattered; they'd all be dead in a minute anyway. Growling, Albus looked around, staring at the aurors, marking the weakest.
"That's my son, Dawkins!" Potter cried, still keeping both eyes fixated on his son.
There was a series of shocked gasps around the room.
"You knew about this! Someone yelled.
"Potter, this… thing is dangerous; we can't have another Lord Voldemort." Dawkins called, his voice dripping with murderous malice.
"I swear to God Dawkins, if you kill my son, I'll personally hunt down every member of your GOD DAMNED FAMILY!" Potter was shouting now, which angered Albus somewhat.
There was silence for a moment, as Dawkins considered the threat.
Then, quite suddenly, there was a cry of "STUPEFY," from the corner of the room, effectively ending the dispute. Warrer had his own arm raised, and a jet of red light was shooting towards Albus.
Again, he merely blinked his eyes, it rebounded, then ricocheted off the back wall embedding itself into another auror's back. Albus stretched out his palm, and smirked, as a jet of emerald green light shot it's way into Warrer's chest. It made contact in barely a second. Warrer was dead before hitting the floor.
"That's it," Dawkins screamed, angered at the demise of the auror. He looked at his team, and snarled:
"Kill 'im."
"NO" Potter screamed, charging his way towards Albus.
Too late, the curses were already coming, bursting from almost every wand in the room, and flying towards him, coming closer, ever closer.
He ducked; lightning speed, and the spells collided above his head, with an almighty sound.
He looked up-Potter was charging towards him, with all the power of a raging bull. Albus stood, and opened his palm, embracing the contact. He chuckled, as the clumsy man hurled into the cold, stone wall.
Quickly, Potter stood up, turned around, and looked Albus in the eye. "Albus please."
He groaned; the old man was tiresome, and needed dealing with. He slowly walked over to the crumpled lump on the floor, as cold, brutal realisation dawned in the eye of it's shaking lunged, anticipating the kill-
"STUPEFY!"
Potter's curse took him by surprise. It struck him in the chest, and everything went black.