Thanks for reading, and/or reviewing! I really appreciate it. There you go - ten full pages in Times New Roman font, size 12. A first for me. Not that you'd be interested, anyway. Reviews would certainly be loved. :D

I do apologise if you found this confusing. Also, please note that the Death Eaters mentioned later on were not killed in the Battle of Hogwarts - they were either defeated, or incarcerated, as J. K. Rowling has not specified. In this story, they had been sent to Azkaban instead. I also want to clear this up - in this story, Maximum Ride, meets the next generation of Harry Potter, which is probably in the late 2010s (old generation in the 1990s). However, as I am not very sure which year Max Ride is supposed to be in, in this story, the flock will be in the 2010s, alright? I hope that that will be fine with you guys, and that it doesn't cause that much of a trouble.

Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride, Harry Potter, or any characters associated with the stories. I would also like to credit Harry Potter wiki - I did my research, kay. :D (A lot, might I add.) And to Fuzzylogic11 (or her dad) for the "assume" saying.

Chapter 2: Two Worlds Collide

I've been rich and I've been poor. It's better to be rich.

-Gertrude Stein

The moment Scorpius heard one of the two conversing people say "six flying bird kids and a dog with wings", he immediately bolted upright his head almost hit something.

They had to be kidding him, weren't they? Bird kids? A dog with wings? Surely not! Pure and utter crap, it had to be. Seriously.. What were the chances of that being possible?

Then again, he was a wizard after all. The very fact he could light a wand was a miracle itself and yet, Muggles did not really believe in magic either. The concept of normal human beings and dogs with wings was as alien to him as the concept of people being able to do magic, moreover a Ministry of Magic, to a Muggle.

Nevertheless, it was really simply too absurd to believe! Really! They had to be pulling his legs.. This had to be just some sick prank those strangers were playing on him. Just your typical random strangers pulling a random prank on a random person that they have never met. Yeah.. Makes so much sense, doesn't it? Scorpius winced as another contradiction appeared in his head - how would they have known that he was there in the first place?

And what in the world were flyboys, erasers and emm-geeks, whatever those were called? Really, erasers? Those thing Muggles use to rub stuff off their paper? Were they really that harmful?

Scorpius groaned; all this deducing was making his brain tire. This day was getting weirder by the moment - first the mystery of his father's decision, and now this bird kid thing? Seriously.

Well, eavesdroppers would never gain anything good out of eavesdropping anyway. He should have listened to his mother's incessant nagging and saved himself the trouble of puzzling over the mystery of these "bird kids". How stupid and childish of him to do so.

Scorpius groaned again and pressed his hands to his throbbing temple. That was it - he was going to forget he ever heard of these ridiculous things and return back to his mother - she would have obtained the ward number for his father by now, anyway. The Muggle system was absurdly slow.

Scorpius turned around and headed towards the lift, walking slowly and purposefully. Just as he was about to enter, a blood-curdling shriek of horror stopped him dead in his tracks. His face instantly paled - the voice belonged to a little girl. A little girl. And he was positively sure it came from the room he had been so close to just now.

The door of the lift closed in front of his face as the lift moved on to another level to accommodate other people. It sort of made his mind up for him - he immediately turned around and ran as fast as his legs could carry him back towards the room.

A little girl. That scream.. It could haunt nightmares. It wasn't the sort of playful screams little kids shout when playing with each other. This noise - it was as if someone had set the Cruciatus cur.. Dumbledore's boxers! No! The Unforgivable Cruciatus curse, on a young, little girl?

At least - Scorpius slowed his pace - that was what he assumed it was..

And as his mother had said: When you assume you make an ass out of u and me.

What if he ran back in, only to make a fool out of himself? Why had that little girl screamed? Scorpius shook his head and mentally reprimanded himself for pausing and wasting time; whatever it was, he intended to find out.

The short distance seemed to take so long to cover. He finally reached the door and slammed it open, causing everyone in the room to turn their heads in his direction. Scorpius managed a sharp intake of breath; his eyes certainly met a rather unpleasant, not to mention unexpected sight indeed, and everything paused as if time itself had purposefully gone slow-mo especially for Scorpius to digest the situation before his very eyes. It was as if in that few seconds, his senses had heightened considerably.

There were a total of seventeen people in the room.

Seventeen people; one receptionist, nine other people cowering in a corner, and seven very well involved people. And a jet-black Scottish-looking dog with wings hiding under a chair. Wha - with wings? So maybe that had been true after all!

A girl with dirty-blonde hair was holding a robed man by the wall in a death grip with her right hand around his neck. Scorpius was astonished to see that in her left hand, she held a sleek black wand which appeared on the dangerous brink of being broken anytime soon. Her eyes, full of cold determination, met his, and Scorpius felt that he certainly wouldn't like to be on the bad side of that girl.

Besides the two people who had his main attention, around her were several children ranging from the ages of probably fifteen to eight. They had all obviously been in the midst of doing different things - two of the boys were huddled in a corner over a pile of odd objects, a little girl, who seemed to be the youngest of the lot, was clutching her head in agony and had seemingly ignored his entrance. An older, black girl was by her side, probably attempting to comfort her. And a dark-skinned guy with dark hair was staring at him with a curious expression in his eyes.

The girl - why was she clutching her head? But a bigger problem was the one where the oldest girl of the lot was seemingly choking an aged wizard to death. Scorpius absorbed the image of the old wizard; squat, lumpy, with white hair growing in clumps on his head and a nasty lopsided leer playing with his face despite the position he was in.

Scorpius was shell-shocked when he realised he recognised the man. So familiar.. Where had he seen him before?

Then, time decided to move on again, leaving Scorpius with no time to ponder. Everyone started moving, and noises started seeping back in. That one moment of pause had probably been an adrenaline rush that had allowed him to asses the whole situation in less than a minute, maybe.

The wizard had made use of the distraction Scorpius had provided and managed to escape the clutches of the girl with the dirty-blonde hair. She hissed menacingly at him, moving several steps backward.

"Accio wand," the wizard summoned, and with eyes wide with shock, the girl watched as the wand flew back to it's rightful owner.

The wizard wheezily giggled, and the dark-haired guy winced. Around the room, the two girls were still huddled in the corner, and the two guys had a triumphant look on their faces. The other passersby were staring at the middle three figures, frightened as rabbits in a crocodile tank. His attention then snapped back to the elderly wizard, who was brandishing his wand at Scorpius carelessly. Scorpius hand immediately wrapped around his wand, and he took it out immediately.

Scorpius was stunned, not not the spell, but the feeling, when the wizard laughed again at him. The wheezy sound was rather disturbing.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? Scorp.. Scorpio Malfoy, eh? Whatever your name is. Grandson of Lucius Malfoy, I see. Well, well, well. How very nice of you to join us. And, I very well thank you for creating that distraction that let me be free of the grip of that nasty piece of work," the wizard gestured towards the girl. She narrowed her eyes at him, but after eying the wand suspiciously, she took several steps back.

Scorpius stood stock still, his mind rendered of thoughts.

That voice..

That was the voice of a man so familiar, whose name had somehow slipped his mind. A Death Eater.. condemned to Azkaban for the rest of his life after the final Battle of Hogwarts. The voice of the man his father had tried desperately to keep him from for the past twelve years. The voice of the sibling to Alecto Carrow, killed by Harry Potter in an attempt to assassinate him once and for all.

Amycus Carrow sneered at Scorpius.

Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.

-George S. Patton

I've met psychopaths, I know a talking dog with wings, I've fought against human-wolf hybrids, heck, I am a kid with bird genes in me - and these things are weird enough as they are. Trust me, they are.

And now, things just got stranger.

When Angel screamed, everything else left my mind as I rushed towards her. Even I forgot about the weird cracking sound. She was in bloody agony, I could tell, and I tried talking to her and comforting her. She clutched her head with both hands, and started rocking herself backward and forwards. The rest of the flock were immediately surrounding her.

"Angel, are you alright?" I asked, starting to become aware of the people watching us with concern. "Angel?"

She looked up at me with wide, frightened eyes, and raised a shaky hand to point behind me. "Max," she whispered, fear in her voice.

I whipped my head around and saw a man.

He was old, He was dressed rather ridiculously, in fact. He was wearing robes - yes, robes - and in his hand was this black stick he was brandishing like a sword or something.

"Hello," he sneered, and giggled. It sounded kind of wheezy, and made me wince inwardly. He was short and rather fat, and white hair sprouted from his head in random places. A whitecoat? Not really likely, but there was still a chance.

And, despite the fact that I was one without a sense of fashion, what is with those robes?

"Who are you?" I asked sharply, and slipped into a fighting stance. He giggled again, making me wince. I shot a sideways glance towards Fang and noted that he was headed towards the person from an angle where he would not be seen by the man.

"Max?" Nudge called me, worry etched in her voice.

"What?" I replied. I certainly was not going to turn my back on this man - who knows what he could do? I had learned not to underestimate people. "Who are you?" I called again.

"Your worst nightmare," he laughed, and pointed his stick thing at me. "Petrificus totalus!" he shouted, and a ball of light shot out of that thing towards me. I dodged it in the nick of time - it flew past my ear behind me.

What the heck?

Just then, Fang pounced on the old man. He gasped in surprise, and I immediately dashed forward, pushed the man against the wall, and wrapped my hand around his neck, remembering to grab his stick thing with my other hand.

"Who. Are. You," I said with clenched teeth. He gasped for air, but laughed. Fang stood by my side, watching with cold eyes.

"Answer her," he ordered, his voice low and calm. The oldie rolled his eyes.

"Max?" Nudge called again. Her voice was full of unmistakable worry, but I ignored her. There was some serious business to handle here.

"I am going to ask you this question one, last, time," I shot him a look. "Who. Are. You."

The man opened his mouth to answer, but just then, the door slammed open and I turned my head towards the direction. A young boy, probably thirteen or something, stood at the door, examining the room. He was also dressed in robes, and had blonde hair and a pale, pointed face. His eyes met mine, they were grey, before darting around the room in an unnaturally fast speed.

I shouldn't have made the mistake of turning towards him.

That one moment of distraction allowed the old man to kick me in the guts, causing me to let him go. I cursed - that man has got some leg power.

"Accio wand," he ordered, and the stick thing - a wand? - flew out of my hands into his. What?!

This was either some elaborate trick, or else we were actually facing off with some serious business here.

Magic?

There was no such thing as magic.

The boy took out another similar stick, and held it out in front of himself, eying the man warily.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? Scorp.. Scorpio Malfoy, eh? Whatever your name is. Grandson of Lucius Malfoy, I see. Well, well, well. How very nice of you to join us. And, I very well thank you for creating that distraction that let me be free of the grip of that nasty piece of work," the man gestured towards me. I hissed, and narrowed my eyes. Would it be worth it if I attacked him? I had no idea what Gazzy and Iggy were doing - god knows, they were probably creating a bomb. I chanced a look behind, to see that Nudge was beside Angel, who seemed to be in the same state of agony as before.

I decided not to risk it and took several steps back - I didn't know the capabilities of this old man.

The boy's eyes widened considerably after the man spoke.

"Amycus Carrow," he breathed. The man's grin widened and he started giggling that disturbing giggle of his.

"Very right, boy," he said. "Still remember me after all those visits, eh? I'm honoured."

The boy made no response; he seemed to be calculating the best thing to do at the moment. The two people were so caught up with each other, I decided that this was the best moment to leave. I signaled at Gazzy and ordered him to U and A. He tapped Iggy and whispered into his ears.

Fang shot me a look, which I then remembered the reason we were in the hospital in the first place.

What about Iggy and his eyesight? We definitely wouldn't come back to this place again after we left. Crap.

"What are you doing here?" the boy asked, pulling me out of my thoughts. I watched them, engaged in their dangerous world with stick-things with probably dangerous light balls.

Eh.. That turned out kind of wrong.

"Now, now, hasn't your Daddy taught you not to meddle in other people's business?" the man asked. The boy's face darkened.

"Don't you pull my father into this," he said, his voice dangerously low. "What are you here for?

The man smiled maliciously. "That's for me to know and for you to find out, if you can."

The boy scowled. "I'm not afraid of you."

"Well, sadly for you, the feeling's mutual," the man said. "Avada kedavra!" he shouted, and a green ball emitted from his wand. The boy stood there, stock still in shock, and the with a loud crack, the man disappeared. He just.. disappeared, as if he had never been there at all.

"No!" Angel screamed, and rugby-tackled the boy to the ground, the green thing narrowly missing them by an inch.

They stayed on the ground for more than a minute, probably because of the shock. After that, we all rushed towards the pair. Angel, my baby, what had happened to her?

The boy shook his head and pulled himself up, before offering Angel a hand. She took it and stood up, just as I reached her.

"Thanks," the boy said to her. She nodded in response.

"Angel, are you alright?" I asked, worried, pulling her into my arms.

"Angel!" Nudge exclaimed, and hugged her.

"Why were you screaming just now?" her brother asked worriedly, as he squeezed her into a bear hug. Fang and Iggy hugged her, such that Angel was in the middle, followed by me, Nudge, Gazzy, Iggy and then Angel. A bird kid sandwich.

"Guys, I hope you don't plan on killing Angel just after ..that," I remarked, and everyone pulled away instantly.

"What am I, your next door neighbour?" Total trotted up, Celeste in his mouth. "I took really good care of Celeste."

"I'm alright now," she said. Now.. But what about before? "Thanks, Total."

"I'm - "

"Scorpius Malfoy," Angel interrupted. "Yes, Total is a talking dog with wings, and you're not hallucinating."

The boy shot her a weird look, and cleared his throat.

"Uh.. Yeah, okay."

"What happened, anyway?" Iggy asked. "We were about to finish Big Boy II."

I stared at him, incredulous, before it actually sank in.

"Are you CRAZY?!" I exclaimed. "You couldn't have possibly been.. of course.. blowing up a hospital.. seriously.." I muttered. Iggy chuckled nervously.

"Chill, Max," Fang uttered. Then, Scorpion Mailboy or whatever his name is, cleared his throat, catching all our attention.

"I.. I think.." he hesitated. "I think you better come with me."

"And why should we?" I asked the younger boy.

"Because, Amycus was a Death Eater, who escaped from Azkaban a few years ago. He came here for a reason, and I believe it's you." He assessed all of us, eyes flicking from one person to another. "He made a mistake Disapparating like that, and no doubt he'll be back."

Death Eater? Azkaban? Disapparate?

Apparently, he saw the confusion on all our faces.

"I'll explain on the way, how's that?"

"How about all those people?" Nudge asked, gesturing towards the other passersby who were whispering to each other conspiratorially and shooting us furtive glances.

"The Obliviators will handle them," Scorpionboy said. "Now please, any longer and Carrow will be back."

I was tempted to ask him about those Obliviator things, but I looked at Angel, and she nodded, giving the all-clear that he didn't harbour any ill intent.

I shot everyone an uneasy glance, but we followed him anyway, his robes swishing as they swept the floor.

The universe is made of stories, not of atoms.

-Muriel Rukeyser

The old, burly form of Antonin Dolohov paced back and forth around the room, and several eyes followed him as he did so. He appeared to be tensely waiting for something; news, a person, perhaps?

He shot the large grandfather clock another occasional glance, and scowled. It was already twenty minutes past eleven at night, and the thing he had been waiting for was long overdue.

"It seems that our dear friends have decided not to join us," he uttered, a trace of bitterness and contempt blatantly obvious in his voice.

"Perhaps he ran into several.. problems," suggested Rabastan Lestrange. Walden Macnair laughed, his voice raspy.

"I still don't get why you gathered us," Augustus Rookwood said in the patronizing bored tone of his that he always used, and leaned back against the old armchair he was seated in.

"Yes," Macnair agreed, "why gather a bunch of old, wrinkled Death Eater Azkaban escapees?" Several murmurs of agreement followed his question.

"Speaking of escaping, how did you manage, Macnair?" Lestrange asked. "I planned my with young Avery here." He gestured his head towards Avery and he gave a squeak of acknowledgement - despite his old age, he was still weak, and easily manipulated.

"Yes, and you caused security to be tighter for the next two months. Aurors came down to check on us every other day. Harder for me to escape, you know," Rookwood remarked. "After that though, it was very easy, in fact. Really, that Ministry never learns."

"Agreed," Macnair said. "They never even knew the Dementors were the ones who let us out until all of us escaped, I heard."

"Really, eh. 'Twas no wonder those Dementors didn't stop us." Avery giggled nervously.

"Stop acting like a girl," Lestrange shot. "Look at you, old hair, balding and all, and still the old, weakling Avery." Avery made a noise and retreated back to his chair, making no other noise. Lestrange ignored him and addressed the rest of his fellow Death Eaters. "Rowle was lucky; he was the last before they finally got rid of the Dementors."

"And it appears as if he has decided to abandon us," Dolohov finally spoke. He stopped pacing and took a seat. "So much for being trustworthy. Drink, anyone?" Dolohov summoned several glasses and a bottle of wine, and the old men toasted to the fall of their Dark Lord. There was a moment of silence, as they reminisced about the old, dark days, working for their Lord.

"So you must be wondering what I gathered us here for," Dolohov started, but before he could continue, his fellow Death Eater interrupted him.

"But really, Antonin, Spinner's End? Not to mention in Severus' home?" Lestrange asked snidely, wrinkling his nose.

"What really happened to Severus, eh?" Macnair queried. "Heard he got killed."

"He was a traitor to the Dark Lord," Rookwood hissed, and Macnair was not the only one who stared at him in surprise.

Just then, someone knocked the door, and Dolohov started, before scurrying to the dark, wooden door and opening it with a loud creak.

The silhouette of Thorfinn Rowle loomed up against the dark night outside. Behind him was a smaller female form, who was looking around nervously. Dolohov broke into a wide smile, despite the fact that they were very, very tardy.

"Really, Thor, how late can you get?" Dolohov asked, and gestured the two figures outside to enter. The woman looked around, her nose in the air.

"Someone was tailing us," Rowle said calmly, as he walked in and took a seat next to Lestrange. An alarmed expression appeared on everyone's faces.

"I hope you haven't lost your touch, Rowle," Rookwood said. "I, for one, do not plan on returning to Azkaban. And what is she doing here?" He gestured violently towards the woman, who scowled at him. She continued standing, unsure of whether she should sit or not.

"Take a seat, please do," Dolohov said politely. "I'm glad you could join us."

"Of course," she smiled, showing three gold teeth.

"How much longer are we going to have to stay here, Antonin?" Avery squeaked.

"Very much, I'm afraid," remarked Macnair. "Look at that expression on his face." Indeed, Dolohov's face seemed to have lightened up considerably.

"I long for the warmth of a bed," Lestrange sighed. "We aren't as young as we used to be, Antonin. If you have some great marvelous plans against Harry Potter in mind, count me out. I have had enough of him." He stood up, cracking a few back bones in the process.

"This has nothing to do with that brat, though I would very well like to watch him suffer for all he has done to our Lord. We are here to discuss several matters, regarding the Dark Lord. But firstly, Ms. Skeeter, are you with us or are you not?" Dolohov questioned, staring intently at her eyes. She met his gaze, and a smile began to form on her face.

"Anything for a story," Rita Skeeter said, and adjusted her rhinestone glasses.

"Excellent," Dolohov said. "Now, Ms. Skeeter, if you could enlighten us about what you heard at the Hog's Head that night."

"With pleasure," she began, patting her stiff hair. "However, I must correct you, Dolohov. I had not been at the Hog's Head - I was lurking around, yes, lurking, I must admit, in the house of a certain Hermione Granger. Aberforth Dumbledore Flooed her, and merely discussed a few vague facts."

"But a few vague facts can make a difference," Macnair said, and the other Death Eaters leaned forward attentively as Rita Skeeter began to tell them a tale, beginning with rumours of a new prophecy by a seer by the name of Sybil Trelawney.