He studied it carefully although it's shape and texture were so familiar to him now.

It's emerald eyes glinted as the light flickered through the trees rushing past outside the window.

"There has to be some way for us to take advantage of-"

The door of the compartment opened a crack and immediately, everything went black.


Chapter 29

Stolen

At the creaking of the door, James tensed. Then the compartment flooded with darkness and he began fruitlessly turning his head all around trying to make something out -

'Peruvian instant darkness powder!' He thought immediately.

He was well-familiar with the product. His uncle sold it in his joke shop and James himself had used it on more than one occasion as park of an elaborate prank.

He heard Alex cry out and Blue try to stand. A hot blast of air caught his left shoulder and his muscles froze. He had been hit with a stunning spell. He tried to open his mouth but even his jaw was stuck closed. There were footsteps and he felt rough hands grab him but, despite how close the intruder was, James couldn't see a thing.

The darkness pressed on his desperate eyes as the unseen hands prized the statue from his grip. He hadn't realised but when the door had opened, he had automatically hugged the treasure to his chest. Now, his arms locked across his body, it was gone and he was left clutching at air.

As the footsteps retreated quickly, there was a hiss and then a yelp. James felt Valkyrie brush across his knee and heard voices, muffled grunts that he could neither make out nor identify. The compartment door slid shut again with a swishing noise and James knew that the intruders, whoever they were, had left.

The darkness around him began to swirl slightly as the magic began to die. James strained against the stunning spell and stiffly, he managed to force his arms back into motion. He was able to blink again but his jaw was still locked. He felt Valkyrie slither onto the seat next to him and saw her slim, long shape moving through the black.

As the space turned gray he managed to differentiate between the sooty air and the darker shapes of Alex and Blue. The stunning spell wore off completely and he let out a cry of frustration,

"They took it!" He yelled, standing up on wobbling legs.

The figures of his friends stirred and he knew the spells had worn off them to. The light from the window spread slowly across to the door and the darkness faded and retreated into the shadows.

Angry, James slammed his fist against the wall as Alex and Blue stood up, looking distraught.

"We'll catch them, come on!" Said Alex forcefully.

"They'll be long gone by now." Muttered James, his mind going at a hundred miles an hour.

Who had come in? How many were involved? How did they know about the statue? Where had they gone? Why did they want it? - His thoughts filled with questions but no answers.

"Then we'll search the whole train." Insisted Alex.

"What's the use? We don't know who we're looking for." James demanded, his eyes wide.

He looked to Blue desperately; he was the one who called the shots when they were under pressure, he was the one who could keep his head screwed on and think logically. Blue looked grim,

"We're just outside London..." He told them.

The truth hit James like a wall and he stumbled back into his seat.

"There's no point in searching the train now," Blue continued steadily as he too sat down and looked across at James gravely, "We need to try and work out who they were and why they wanted the statue - did they take anything else?"

"No." Said Alex finally sitting down too and looking defeated, "Not from me at least, they just stunned me and that was all." He shrugged.

Blue nodded.

James looked at him desperately again.

"We'll work it out." Blue said reassuringly.

James nodded but he didn't feel so sure.

"Here's what we do know;" Blue continued looking serious and thoughtful, "they're students, older than we are - they were able to perform those spells silently. So they must have been sixth or seventh years. I don't know how they knew about the statue or why they want it but chances are they'll bring it back with them to Hogwarts after the holidays."

James listened carefully and thought hard. Valkyrie slithered onto his lap and he stroked her slowly.

"They saw this as a good opportunity to attack us. This train carriage is almost completely empty and there usually aren't any teachers on the train." Blue thought out loud.

Valkyrie began to hiss and James looked down into her glassy eyes.

He sat up straight, his expression hopeful, "Blue! Alex! Valkyrie says she bit the intruder!" He told them excitedly.

"Does that mean they're going to die?" Asked Alex frowning.

"Of course not." James dismissed with a wave of his hand, "Non-venomous, remember."

James must have told Alex this a million times but still the other boy watched the snake with a look of suspicion.

"But whoever Valkyrie bit," James continued ignoring his looks, "Is going to be in some pain, not to mention they'll be worried. They couldn't have seen what bit them in the dark."

"You know what James," Blue said, smiling at their new clue, "I'm beginning to like that snake of yours."


The train station bustled with eager parents and excited, squealing younger siblings. Albus and Philip stepped off the train into the crowd, dragging their luggage behind them.

"Ah!" Philip said with a grin, "I can see my parents over there."

"Say hi to them for me." Smiled Albus as he waved him off.

Philip grinned and waved back at him as he made his way through the the crowd. Albus turned and found James at his side. They pushed their way through the swarms of students until they spotted Lily looking around hopefully, trying to see them. James grinned broadly and, leaving his trunk beside Albus, he darted up behind her.

Lily let out a small, startled scream as James grabbed her round the waist, then seeing who it was, she turned and squeezed him tightly in a hug,

"Ow, Lily, my ribs!" Cried James in mock pain but Lily only hugged him tighter.

Albus made his awkward way over with both the trunks and dropped them with a 'thunk' at his siblings feet.

Lily finally looked up and let go of James. Albus smiled at her and she immediately grabbed him too in a vice-like hug. Albus laughed and hugged her back.

"Come on!" Lily insisted, when the hugging ritual was over.

She took each of her brothers by the hand and they grabbed their luggage as she dragged them across the station to where their parents stood waiting. Albus knew that James would, under normal circumstances be incredibly embarrassed by their little sister's actions but it seemed that, in the spirit of the season, even James could put up with a little bit of humiliation for the sake of little Lily.

After more hugs and luggage hauling and 'you need a haircut!'-ing, the Potters made their way out to the car park at Kings Cross. Though they tried not to draw too much attention from the surrounding Muggles, the owls perched merrily on top of their trolleys attracted many curious looks.

The Potters always drove out to Kings Cross station at the start and end of term as it was difficult to travel magically with so much luggage and no way to reach the station interior magically. As they loaded the trunks into the boot of the car, Albus saw his friend Amanda leaving. She was seated in the back of a handsome silver car with a tall man and a blond haired lady in the front.

Albus waved to his friend happily and she smiled out the window back at him. Then, the Potters hit the road. They stopped briefly at their own home to drop off some of their luggage, James and Albus swapping heavy trunks for tightly packed backpacks, and then they began the long car ride down to Devon.

It didn't feel long though. Lily was, as usual, full of questions and Albus had plenty of stories to tell. After a while, James became unusually quiet and contented himself by staring out the window looking thoughtful. Albus decided to leave him alone. His brother could often become moody around the holidays if he got bored.

By late afternoon they had reached the small village of Ottery St Catchpole. On a slope just outside the village stood a tall, rickety building, home to Albus's Grandparents. The Burrow was the Potter-Weasley family's traditional gathering spot. The tents were already sitting happily on the lawn, waiting for the arrival of their holiday residents.

Once inside Albus could see that most of his cousins had already arrived. Uncle George's young family were gathered in the cosy living room with Rose's brother Hugo and Lucy, the youngest of Percy's kids. Meanwhile, the kitchen was warm with the smell of baking as the eldest of Albus's cousins sat around chatting with the adults and cooing over the new baby.

As his grandmother fussed around him, Albus quickly noted who was yet to arrive. Molly, Freddy and Dmitriy would be on their way down with their mother, their father and other siblings already there, Harry's godson Teddy, an honourary Weasley, would probably turn up that night or the next morning, obviously Uncle Charlie, who lived in Romania and his family wouldn't be there and after that, all that was left was Uncle Ron and Rose.

Albus smiled to himself. There was nothing he liked more than his family coming together for the holidays.


James had been at his grandparents for only one afternoon and he was already bored. His cousin, Freddy, had been sent up to one of the bedrooms with the flu and James didn't have too much time for his other cousins. The younger children, including Albus and Lily, were running around the garden chasing gnomes and the older ones were sitting around chatting or, in the case of Molly, silently reading in a corner.

He considered heading down to the garage to see Blue but decided against it as Blue woud probably want to spend some time with his brother Conall. Anyway, he would see him plenty over the next week or so and there wasn't anything Blue could tell him that would satisfy his restlessness that stemmed from the robbery on the train. If there was one thing James hated, it was sitting around doing nothing when there was a crisis and it was a crisis.

Someone had attacked James and his friends, they had stunned them and stolen from them. James didn't know who was behind the attack or why they wanted the statue and that made him feel powerless and even a little scared. What was so important about that statue anyway?

Someone, fearing for their life, had hidden it in a forest and left a maze of riddles for a friend to follow and find it but, for whatever reason, they never had. James himself had discovered the statues power to let non-parseltongues hear and understand snake language. Had Frankie Forrest known what it could do when he hid it? Was this it's only magical ability? Had the people who had stolen it known what it was and what it did or were they just after it's value? After all, it was made from gold.

What if they sold it? Where could it be by now?

'Shut up!' James told himself firmly. The questions were making his head spin.

He decided what he needed most was a distraction and reluctantly, he headed out into the garden to show the little kids what gnome catching expertise really looked like.


Albus sat in the living room after dinner, he was tired after a day of running around outside with his cousins. He was squeezed in between Lily and Dmitriy on the floor of the packed room. Uncle George was sitting in an armchair with all the cousins facing him and eagerly listening to his descriptions of the pranks he had pulled during his time at Hogwarts.

"I hope this isn't giving ideas to James or anyone." Dmitriy muttered worriedly looking at Albus.

Albus didn't reply, he doubted James needed any help.

"Is Freddy still upstairs?" He asked.

Freddy had the flu and Albus felt sorry for him.

"Yeah. He wants to come down but Granny doesn't want him exhausting himself." Dmitriy replied.

"He'll be better soon with Granny taking care of him." Albus said confidently. Their Granny had always been a very strict but attentive nurse to any of them who were unwell.

It grew late and outside it became dark. Just before dinner, the cousins had been forced indoors when the weather, which had been dark and threatening for most of the day, had finally broken and the rain poured down. Now the winds blew hard against the windows and the rain continued to fall down heavily as in the distance, thunder rolled.

Eventually the children were forced out of the living room by their parents and an umbrella charm cast over each of their heads so that the rain would just run off the clear shield around them. Albus begged his parents to let him stay a little longer.

"Please! Rose isn't even here yet." He protested.

"Well, Ron said they might be a little late." Harry said, "But you can see Rose in the morning."

"Rose said she'd be here tonight!" Albus insisted.

Ginny looked a little worried and turned and went into the living room again, Harry stayed in the hall with Albus.

"Come on, Al." He said softly, "One more sleep won't hurt and Rose will be here when you wake up."

Truly miserable but fighting a losing battle, Albus went out to the tent which he shared with James, Dmitriy, Lorcan and Hugo.

In the morning, Rose still wasn't there.


I never revealed the results of the poll (for favourite character)! In first place, it's Albus. In second, James. In third, Philip!