==== VILLAINS ====

==== MINISTRY OF MAGIC – LONDON – UK – DECEMBER 19TH – 2021 A.D. ====

The entire Auror department was moving at high speed. Everyone there was grabbing shield cloaks, wands, sneakoscopes and anything else that might offer some protection. Harry, followed by Ron and Teddy, moved through the department quickly.

"Location is Hogsmead Villiage, he was spotted there by a portrait in the Three Broomsticks, Apparently he's still inside. He is to be considered armed and extremely dangerous! We are bringing him in alive!" Harry commanded.

He waited until all the Auror's had assembled in front of him, ready to move.

"There is no direct floo connection at the moment because of maintenance so we'll head for Little Hangleton then floo from there to the Village. Once there, set up a perimeter and move civilians away from the area as quietly as possible," Harry began heading out of the office. "nobody moves into the Three Broomsticks until I give the order!"

The fact that the entire Auror department was moving through the ministry caused up quite a stir. It was rare to see something so important that it required the attention of so many law enforcers. They immediately went straight for the Atrium floo points and began disappearing into bursts of green fire.

They arrived in the lobby of what looked like a large and very old hotel for wizards and witches. There were several foreign looking families walking around together floating luggage. Harry ignored their looks of surprise as he walked past them. They headed for another batch of floo points at the opposite end of the lobby.

There were only 3 floo points at the end of the Lobby forcing the Auror's to line up. Without a word spoken, they started flooing to Hogsmead Village. It was at that moment that something struck Teddy. Why would Albus be in Hogsmead village? He had been able to avoid detection for over 3 weeks and suddenly he turns up, putting himself out in the open for all to see. It didn't make sense.

Albus wasn't afraid of them. He had no reason to be. He had abilities that no one else in living history had but he wasn't stupid either. It was this thought that nagged at Teddy more than anything. Combined with the adrenaline and fear that was starting to show it's self, Teddy was so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he almost didn't realize he was the only Auror left in the Lobby. All the others had already Floo'd away.

He stepped into the fireplace, grabbed the powder and spoke clearly. "Hogsmead,"

Nothing happened.

He grabbed another hand full of powder and tried again but was met with the same result. He stepped out, confused and looked at the fireplace.

A cold feeling suddenly gripped his insides. This wasn't coincidence. It was a trap!

He turned to rush back to the other floo points but was stopped in his track by an incredibly strong hand that clamped around his throat and lifted him off his feet.

In front of him was a purple haired woman with a devious grin on her face. Her smile revealed a pair of razor sharp K-9's in her mouth. From behind her stepped someone even more terrifying.

"Hi Teddy," Albus said sadistically.

"He stinks like a wolf!" Amelia growled.

"That's because he's part wolf," Al laughed. "he can't transform though and he's going to be a good little doggy for us, aren't you Teddy?"

==== HOGSMEAD VILLIAGE – SCOTLAND – UK - DECEMBER 19TH – 2021 A.D. ====

The sun was setting quickly behind the snowy mountains that surrounded the Village.

The Auror's had already begun clearing the area of anyone that could get hurt in the event of a fight breaking out. They moved around the streets as quickly as possible but staying away from the Three Broomsticks.

Harry looked into the distance. Ahead was the Three Broomsticks but something was wrong. If Albus was in there, no one else would be. After the WWN reports, people would have come running out the moment he walked in. Instead it looked like any other day.

"Where's Teddy?" Ron asked.

Harry looked around but couldn't spot him. Something hit him. This was all wrong!

He bolted towards the pub.

"Harry wait!" Ron chased after him.

Harry burst through the door, looking around frantically. In the far corner he spotted a man with messy black hair facing the wall. He moved towards it carefully with Ron and several others following. As he got closer it became all too obvious. It wasn't a man, it was a manikin.

Harry grabbed it by the shoulder and turned it around. Pinned to it's chest was a piece of parchment that simply had 'HA HA HA HA HA HA' written all over it in red ink.

"Get back to the ministry!"

==== MINISTRY OF MAGIC – LONDON – UK – DECEMBER 19TH – 2021 A.D. ====

Witches and Wizards were starting to cluster around the floo points looking confused. Apparently the entire network had gone down. They had started trying every single fireplace, one after the other but had met with no success.

There was a green burst from a floo point a few feet away.

"Ah, this one's working," A wizard said heading over to it.

He stopped when he saw Teddy Lupin standing in the opening. He move aside and gave a small bow not noticing the gun pressed to the back of the Auror's head.

Albus appeared directly behind him. "Don't mind if we do!" He pistol whipped Teddy hard over the back of the head, knocking him out cold. He let him slump to the ground and stepped out as more bursts of green fire exploded behind him.

Gunfire rang out across the Atrium as Amelia, Lincoln and Aurora began firing into the air. Both Amelia and Aurora had a wand in one hand and an automatic weapon in the other. Scorpius didn't join in on the fear mongering.

Terrified people froze on the spot of hit the deck. Some tried to go for their wands but weren't quick enough. They were disarmed or punched to the ground before they could get a single spell off.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen, we are tonights entertainment!" Albus grinned. "I hear you've been looking for me?"

Anyone that had doubts about whether or not Albus was indeed a psychopath lost them instantly.

A pair of Wizards suddenly made a brave dash for their wands. They took aim at Al's chest.

"Easy there!" Albus said quickly. "Let's not blow this out of proportion," He opened his jacket showing everyone that his body was wired with explosives. "C4 and spell fire really don't make good bedfellows,"

The two wizards certainly weren't willing to risk blowing up the entire Atrium. They dropped their wands , raised their hands and were promptly smacked to the ground by Lincoln.

"I got just one question...," Albus moved around the room, looking at the faces of the frightened people. "where is my dear old aunt?"

Nobody said a word.

Scorpius looked worried. Although he trusted Albus, Hermione was still Rose's mother and if anything happened to her, it would destroy his girlfriend.

"Nobody?" Al looked annoyed and continued to move closer to the hostages. "She's about this tall, lots of hair, really annoying voice, ring any bells?"

Still nobody said anything.

"Hmm," Albus grinned. "I guess we came to the wrong place then,"

He started fiddling around with the explosives on his chest causing a few whimpers of fear to come from the crowd.

"What are you doing Albus?"

He turned to see Hermione standing just next to the fountain of Magical brethren. He grinned.

"Hermy, Hermy, Hermy Jean! Where have you been?" He chimed in happy madness while walking towards her.

"Let these people go Albus, they're nothing to do with this!" She begged.

"If you behave," He grabbed her by the arm and headed towards the elevators. Amelia, Lincoln, Scorpius and Aurora followed them while keeping their guns and wands trained on the hostages.

They got into the elevator and pushed the button for the Department of Mysteries. The doors closed and the lift began to move down.

"What a rush!" Albus laughed.

"What's happened to you Albus?" Hermione breathed. "Why are you doing this?!"

"Why? Because it must be done. That's what you people never realized. You always thought it was about what was right and what was easy but sometimes it's about what's necessary," He said happily.

"This is not necess -"

"You know you should really be thanking me Hermione. I mean, what did you do before I turned up? Nothing! The glory days were over for you guys before I started this. Let's face it, your life hasn't been this interesting until you started screwing my father!"

Hermione wasn't the only one that looked petrified with shock. Scorpius's face mimicked her own.

Albus laughed. "You should really learn to keep your voice down,"

Hermione knew now that it would take only a fraction of annoyance to set Albus off and that she would most likely be his prime target. Her best chance of survival and the survival of everyone else in the Ministry was through cooperation.

The lift bell chimed and a cool voice said: "Department of Mysteries," The doors opened and they stepped out.

"Albus...I...I don't expect you to forgive me but -"

"Good, because I'm not going to," Albus stated simply.

"Please don't punish innocent people for my mistakes," She pleaded.

"Ahh, innocent people get caught in the crossfire all the time Hermione," He looked to Aurora. "It's what known as Collateral Damage," They moved down the deserted corridor quickly.

After a few turns they arrived outside the a heavy black door marked: Achieves. Unspeakables and Authorized Personnel only.

"Open it," Albus commanded.

Very slowly, Hermione took out her wand and pressed the tip of it to the door. The sound of several heavy locks being unlatched could be heard. As soon as the door opened, Amelia snatched Hermione's wand away from her and pocketed it.

"Let's make this fast, I don't wanna be here all d...," Albus broke off. Something had caught his attention.

It was almost like a whisper from over his shoulder. He moved, like a zombie, down the corridor following the strange sound that seemed to somehow be calling him.

"Al...," Aurora called but Albus wasn't listening. They watched him continue down the corridor in confusion.

A feeling of warmth and comfort started to flood through his body. He closed his eyes and simply used his ears to follow the whispers.

When he opened his eyes he was looking straight at black door. The whispers were coming from behind it.

"What's behind this door?" He asked.

"We don't know...," Hermione answered carefully. "It's never been opened..., Dumbledore said that it houses...love,"

The Locked Door. He had heard about it many times but he'd never been this close. He reached out and pressed his hand to it. Suddenly the beautiful and blinding image of the door made of light flashed in his mind. He hadn't felt that close to it since he had actually died.

"Lincoln, come here!"

Lincoln walked over. As he came closer his attention seemed to be pulled towards the door as well. He stood next to Al and laid his hand on the door.

"You feel it?" Albus asked.

"Jesus! It's be right under our noses the whole time!"

"Albus! We don't have time for this!" Aurora yelled snapping Lincoln out of his trance.

"She's right, we need to move," He said trying to move Albus away from the door. "Al, it's not going anywhere, we'll come back!"

Albus felt somehow wrong for leaving it. They belonged together. And just walking away from it seemed so much harder all of a sudden. Like he was being pulled towards it. Every single step he took seemed to take more effort.

He gave it one final look before stepping inside the Achieves. Immediately he caught the scent of something he recognized. Someone else was in the Achieves room with them.

He held up his hand to stop the others from leaving his protection as he scanned the dark room. Inside, much like the Hall of Prophecies, there as row upon row of ridiculously high shelves, packed to the brim with file folders. A copy of almost every single bit of information that came through the ministry was in that room. He listened closely trying to get a fix on the 6th breather. He tapped Lincoln on the arm and pointed for him to move down the shelves. Amelia went in the opposite direction.

"Where do you store the info you can't classify?" Albus asked.

"Miscellaneous," she pointed. "that way."

Albus pushed her in the general direction. She led the way down the aisles towards the section they were looking for.

The miscellaneous section was divided up into several subsection. Artifacts, Events, Locations, Magic, Magical Creatures, People and Unknown. Luckily those sections were arranged in alphabetical order otherwise it would have taken 500 people a month to search through the shelves.

They headed straight towards the People section. Scorpius and Aurora began looking through the many names on the sides of the file folders while Albus continued to watch for unseen person lurking in the room with them. Whoever it was, they had heard the locks on the door snap open and were now hiding somewhere inside.

"Shit!" Scorpius blurted.

"What?"

"There's got to be 30 Athena's here!" He said.

"Take em all," Al said simply.

Aurora quickly cast an Undetectable Extension Charm on her bag and they began grabbing files off the shelves and stuffing them inside.

Suddenly there was a clatter of noise from the other side of the room. Someone was sprinting down one of the aisles, breathing hard. Albus moved so quickly it barely registered.

The runner was bolting for the exit.

A man in his mid 40's shot towards the door but just seconds before he could get through he froze on the spot still in mid sprint. Albus could hear the mans heartbeat go into overdrive.

With a flick of his wrist he turned the man around to face him causing Al to grin. "I was so hoping that we'd run into each other again," It was the man that had thrown the grenade at him during the attack in Venice.

Lincoln and Amelia ran up behind Al but relaxed when they saw that it was under control.

"He one of them?" Lincoln asked.

"Yep," Al smiled. "and I'm willing to bet that he's here for the same thing we are,"

Amelia walked over and started patting him down to see if he had any files on him. After a second she stepped back, shaking her head at Albus.

Scorpius, Aurora and Hermione walked over to the door where Al still had the Cleric trapped. He released his hold on him causing the man to suddenly fall to his knees. He was shaking and breathing hard.

Albus walked over a whispered into his ear. "You have one chance to walk out of here with your life. I'm going to ask you a question and unless I get the answer I'm looking for, they will be cleaning you up with a sponge. Am I understood?"

The man nodded his head quickly. He was terrified and Albus loved it.

"Where is Athena?" He whispered.

"We...we...don't know," The man stuttered.

"Wrong answer,"

Albus clammed his had around the Cleric's head and started to squeeze! The man gurgled a scream as the pressure on his skull became unbearable.

"STOP!" Hermione cried but it was too late.

The sickening crunch filled the air. Hermione screamed in complete horror. Al's shield had stopped the blood from even touching him. The body slumped to the ground, the left hand twitching slightly.

Scorpius had to put his hand over his mouth and look away and he tasted vomit creeping up his throat.

"He couldn't have hurt you! He...he was un-unarmed!" Hermione whimpered, tears falling from her eyes.

"That just makes him stupid...," Al remarked. "well this has been a productive visit after all,"

Hermione couldn't believe it. She had never imagined him capable of such merciless violence.

"Did you get em all?" He asked Mal.

Scorpius nodded his head, breathing heavily and trying to stop his nausea.

"You okay?"

"Yeah...," Scorpius swallowed still endanger of puking up. "that was pretty much the most awful thing I've ever seen but...I'm good,"

"Well, he tried to blow my head off, I just returned the favor," Albus chimed. "come on, we're leaving,"

A few hundred feet above their heads, Harry, Ron and the other Auror's had finally made it back to the Ministry by way of Apperating down the country. They were coming in quickly through the staff entrance.

The Atrium was deserted now. The hostages had fled through other entrances and exits or had taken to hiding on the other floors. Harry immediately spotted Teddy still lying unconscious on the ground. He rushed over to him.

"Teddy! Can you hear me?!"

Teddy slowly stirred and groaned. He grabbed the back of his head feeling around to see if it was bleeding.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked frantically.

"I've been better!"

"Where is he?"

"I don't know. He hit me as soon as they were in. I heard something about the Department of Mysteries just after they grabbed me," Teddy said getting to his feet.

"Get to the hospital!" Harry ordered.

"No, you need all the help you can get!"

"Do you have a wand?" Harry already knew the answer.

"No," Teddy sighed. "they left it back in Little Hagleton,"

"So go back and get it," Harry said quickly. He wanted Teddy out of harms way.

"Harry!" Ron yelled. He pointed towards the elevator that was on it's way up from the lowest level of the Ministry.

The assembled in front of the lift door forming a kind of firing squad with all wands pointed directly a head.

They watched nervously as the floor number above the lift counted down to their confrontation. The sound of a Ping rang out and the doors opened.

It was empty except for a single wooden stick lying on the floor. Hermione's wand.

A second Ping sounded out. The elevator to Harry's right had arrived. The doors were barely open before gunfire erupted from them. Several Auror's cast shield charms while other jumped and ducked for cover. Albus stepped out first, unloading his automatic pistol into Harry's shield. Rounds bounce off around the Atrium as Lincoln and Amelia dashed out, still firing.

Al's weapon clicked empty. He slammed a fresh clip in and continued to fire while Aurora and Scorpius made run for the Floo points on the wall. They ran straight for the only Floo point still working and disappeared into the emerald flames.

Al's weapon clicked empty again. He jammed in his last magazine but didn't fire. Instead he turned to see Hermione, still taking cover in the corner of the elevator. He held out his hand and she was lifted through the air towards him. He threw her in front of himself using her a human shield.

Lincoln and Amelia stopped firing. At the same time, Harry looked up to see Al's new hostage.

"Let her go Albus! You don't want to hurt her!" Harry yelled.

"Your mind reading skills aren't exactly the best, Dad! Drop the wands or we find out just how brainy Hermione really is!" He pushed the hot gun barrel against her temple.

"You're not well, Albus! You don't know what your doing! We wanna help you!" Harry pleaded still staying protected by his shield.

"Thanks for the offer but I've got more than enough help already!"

"Get that gun away from my wifes head!" Ron roared.

"We're your family! Please don't do this!" Hermione cried.

Albus paused for a second looking conflicted. "You know what...your right...I may have over reacted," He lowered the gun and pushed Hermione towards the Auror's. Ron immediately ran to her aid with his wand still trained on Albus.

"Maybe your right, Harry...I've misbehaved...," Albus sighed looking ashamed. "maybe I do need help...," He looked down at his feet. "but not half so much as you need sunglasses...,"

Just as Albus raised his arm into the air, Lincoln span and grabbed Amelia by the wrist. He phased causing both of them to turn nothing more than white gassy outline of two people. The most blinding white light imaginable suddenly erupted from his fist, like an enormous flash bang grenade!

Harry, Ron, Hermione and the other Auror's turned away covering the eyes.

The light vanished as quickly as it had arrived but it had been enough to seriously disorientate the Auror's. None of them could focus or reacquire Albus as a target. Harry desperately tried to get his baring.

He picked up on the unmistakable bursting sound of a floo point being used. Then a second.

His vision started to return. Standing next to the floo point with a grin on his face was Albus.

"The choice between what's right and what's easy, that's how you've always lived, so this should be easy for you!" He laughed. "Rebuild half the Ministry or try and disarm the bomb, your choice!" He pointed to the bomb vest that he had been wearing. It was now lying on the ground with the timer ticking down from 3 minutes 36 seconds. "Take your time!"

Albus was gone with a blast of green flames.

Harry rushed over to look at the bomb more carefully. He had no idea how to disarm a weapon like this and something told him that Expelliarmus really wouldn't do the trick.

"Everybody out now!" Harry ordered the Auror's, some of which were still having trouble seeing.

The Auror's began heading for any exit they could. Harry glanced back at the timer. 2:51

"Harry, come on!" Ron shouted.

Harry looked at him then back at the bomb. It would take years to re-build the Ministry. He couldn't let it happen. "Go, I'll be fine," He lied.

"Harry! You have no idea what your doing! None of us know how to disarm a bomb! That's why he brought it!" Hermione yelled.

"You just want us to leave and let it blow up?!"

"There's nothing we can do!"

2:02

"We can move it!" Harry tried.

"Where?" Ron asked.

Harry's brain worked frantically.

"The Veil!" Hermione yelped.

Harry pointed his wand at the bomb pack, levitating it over to the open elevator. He ran inside and hit the button from the Department of Mysteries, his eyes pinned to the timer. 1:41.

The lift wasn't moving fast enough. It took 30 seconds just to clear 4 floors and he needed to get to the 8th!

After what seemed like an eternity, the doors opened on the Department of Mysteries. He bolted out and down the corridor, 33 seconds left on the clock!

He sprinted past the Archives and then the Locked Door.

21 seconds.

Through the rotating room and into the Time room.

9 seconds.

He wasn't going to make it. The door was at the very end of the narrow room. He was beaten. He clutched his eyes shut.

3...2...1...

A noise that sounded almost like a spring filled his ears but that was all. There was no explosion or sudden trip back to the Train Station. He was alive.

The timer read 0:00 and a small switch had flicked out of the side of it. Around the switch was a tiny piece of parchment. Harry, still in utter shock and shaking, pulled the piece of parchment and read it.

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!

It was a hoax. Albus was never going to blow up the Ministry, he just needed time to escape!

==== HOGWARTS – SCOTLAND – UK – DECEMBER 19TH – 2021 A.D. ====

Albus arrived in the Gryffindor fireplace and stepped out where Aurora, Scorpius, Lincoln and Amelia were waiting.

"What a rush!" Al grinned.

Lincoln and Amelia sniggered while Aurora wrapped her arms around him and kissed him.

They moved quickly out of the portal to avoid any students that might be up late. They went straight for the headmasters office. The doors had barely opened before Rose shot through and flung her arms around Scorpius, kissing his still transfigured face.

"Are you alright?!"

"I'm fine," Scorpius nodded. He had already decided to never mention what happened back at the Ministry. Al had warned him that he would like it but he never expected anything like that!

"Al, are you sure we should be back here?" Scorpius asked.

"Well it's the last place they'll think to look and I'm not staying for long," Albus said quickly.

They walked inside quickly allowing the doors to seal behind them. Amelia and Aurora quickly removed the charms allowing their faces to return to normal. Scorpius wasn't sad to see his odd appearance depart.

James, Violet, Lynx, Hugo, Lily, Tannis and the Bobs were all their and seemed to be expecting some kind of play by play account of what happened. Instead over 30 files folders were dumped onto the floor in front of them.

"Your not gonna tell us what happened?" James asked.

"No. Start going through those, look for anything to do with electrical phenomenon," Albus said taking off his jacket.

Everyone grabbed a hand full of files and started to read. "Err...Albus," Bob one said. "Just so that Bob and myself aren't mistaken...we help you and you won't kill us?"

Albus looked a little puzzled. He looked at Lynx and Violet. "What did you tell them?"

"Pretty much everything...," Lynx admitted.

Albus sighed. "I promise I won't kill you," He assured.

"Can we get that in writing?" Bob Two asked.

"Or in an Unbreakable Vow?" Bob One suggested.

"I'm not making any Unbreakable Vows!"

"Alright then..., can we come with you the next time you rob your dads vault?" The Bobs looked very hopeful at that.

"Err...sure...,"

"Sweet," They said together before grabbing a few files from the floor.

"Athena Bellows...96 years old, I kinda doubt it," Lincoln mumbled and threw the file away from the others.

"Athena Oken...this is a man!" James blurted. "What kind of man gets named Athena?!"

"A sensitive man!" Bob Two said in the campest voice possible causing James and Hugo to chuckle.

"Athena Coolridge, died in Azkaban," Lily said tossing the file away.

Pretty soon the pile of useless information was bigger than the unchecked one.

"Wait...I think I've got a winner," Lynx said. "Athena Gorski...what is that Russian?"

"Polish," Al corrected.

"13 Years old. Wanted in connection with the deaths of 2 men and a woman in Lubin, Poland," Lynx continued. "Unidentified woman died from blood forced trauma caused by severe head injury..., 2 Unidentified men killed by sudden cardiac failure most likely caused by massive electric shock!"

"That's our girl!"

"Last spotted in the Brazil 6 months ago. There's nothing new after that,"

"Well, at least we have a starting point!" Amelia said.

"True, but we don't know how much the Cleric's know either. They made not have tried to kill her but I seriously doubt that they would stop watching her." Albus said.

"Well, maybe if you'd question him a little better...," Scorpius said a little too loudly. Albus shot a glare at him.

"Questioned who?" Rose asked instantly.

"It doesn't matter," Albus grumbled.

"Albus...what did you do?" Rose sounded like she didn't actually want to know.

Albus sighed, reading himself for the barrage of lectures he would undoubtedly receive. "We ran into a Cleric in the Ministry, I decided to was more prudent not to give him the chance to try and kill me again!"

"You killed him?" Rose breathed.

"Yes! He was one of the fuckers that attacked us in Venice!" Albus growled.

"Well clearly you care more about your vengeance than anything else!" Rose cried.

"I care about your safety! And none of you will be truly safe until they're all dead!" Albus roared. "This is for your protection!"

"And who's gonna protect us from you?!" Rose screamed, tears falling from her face.

That drove Albus back a step. He could smell her fear. The people he loved the most we terrified of him. He had no retort or defense against that. This was never part of the plan. They were supposed to trust him and support him. Luckily, the damage to Aurora's face hadn't effected her abilities to read Albus like a book. She walked over, stepping in front of him and glaring at Rose.

"It won't matter. We'll be out of your lives soon enough," She said coldly.

"Your leaving?!" Lynx gasped.

"Well it's pretty obvious that you don't want Albus around anymore and I won't let him go it alone again!" She hissed.

"I didn't mean it like th -"

"I know what you meant!" Aurora cut Rose off. "If you don't have the stomach for this stuff then we'll leave. You can blame whatever involvement you've had on us!"

Silence filled the headmasters office. Rose, still teary eyed, looked ashamed while everyone else simply didn't know what to say. Albus hadn't looked so vulnerable in a very long time.

"I'm going with you," A voice broke through. Everyone, including Aurora, Lincoln and Amelia were pretty shocked to see that it had actually come from Hugo!

Rose's face was pale white now. She couldn't move, let alone speak.

"No, Hugo," Albus said quietly. "you don't want to be a part of this,"

"I can fight! Everyone thinks I'm stupid! I'm not! I can help! And I don't want you to go!" Hugo yelled. It was probably the first time any of them had seen him display such determination.

"We know your not stupid, Hugo," Aurora smiled. "but we're doing this to try and make sure that no one else has too,"

"That doesn't mean you have to do it alone!" Lynx added.

"I'm not telling you to leave Albus!" Rose finally cried. "But you can't carry on like this!"

Lincoln came to Al's aid this time. "Rose, if we thought that we could survive and keep you all safe just by being good and peaceful we would do it. But that's not the world we live in. That was your parents world. Ours is darker and colder and more lonely than any other. Trust me, I wish it wasn't the case but it is,"

Rose had never looked so ashamed in her life.

"Nobody is throwing anyone to the wolves here," Tannis spoke softly. "It's simply a lot to take in... But you know that if you ever need help, we're here for you,"

Albus nodded.

"Err...Al," Bob One interrupted. "did you invite the Auror Department up here?" He was looking out of the headmasters window

"Oh Shit! How many?" He sighed.

"All of them, I think," Sure enough, 45 Auror's were making their way up from the Hogwarts Gates towards the castle.

"Last place they'd think to look huh?" Amelia remarked.

"What?! I control Gravity, I'm not Psychic!" Al snapped back.

"Everybody get into the Room of Requirement. Burn those flies, even Gorski's," Albus commanded, standing up. He checked his pistol but remembered that he had run out of rounds at the Ministry. He threw the gun to Lincoln.

"What are you gonna do?" Lincoln asked.

"I'm gonna have a little chat with my dear old dad!" Albus grinned.

"Albus," James walked over looking worried. "He's our father...don't do anything to make me hate you,"

"There's 45 of them James, it's not them you need to worry about!"

"What do you mean, they can't even hurt you?!" James snorted.

"I haven't been tested against everything and I've certainly never taken on 45 people at the same time! "

Concern washed over Aurora's face. "Albus...,"

"I'll be fine," He kissed her. "but if I'm not... If I'm not back in 30 minutes, no matter what's happened, you take all this lot and you...come and you rescue me!"

Aurora laughed. For a moment she thought he was going to be selfless and tell her to stay away, but that wasn't part of the plan.

Albus gave her one final loving kiss and headed for the door.