Chapter 3: The Snake's Move

Albus Potter slouched on a recliner he had summoned in his room at Naumkeag School of Witchcraft and Wizardry watching John Wright run up to him, James Potter following behind. He knew what was coming but wasn't ready for it. The conversation would make it real.

"Where's Ashley?" John demanded.

"I don't know," Albus said, barely above a whisper.

"What do you mean you don't know?" John said.

"I don't know. I wasn't there. Scorpius said she had been taken, I can only think that Travers took her."

"John, please," James said, pulling him away from Albus.

"LET GO OF ME!" John said. "What are you doing then?" he said, turning back to Albus. "You said you loved her! If she is gone, why are you here? Why are you doing NOTHING?"

"WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO?" Albus said, springing to his feet and getting in John's face. "Ashley is with Travers. We don't know where he is. I am continuing my plan to find him, the plan we had in place before this. We find him; we find her."

As John sat down, James conjured a chair for him. "She's really gone, isn't she?" he said. Albus nodded, sitting down himself. "What now?" John said, tearing up.

"We find Travers. I wanted to grab you and Hugo from the group of 6 to make 4. Then I was going to head to Laveau. He is now the Headmaster there; they might know where he is."

"I should have been there," John said.

"Don't kill yourself over this," James said, conjuring a seat between the two. "There is nothing you could have done. Scorp is better than any of us and he was powerless."

"Scorpius Malfoy is a Malfoy. He is a Slytherin. It can't be trusted that he did everything in his power." John said.

"You don't believe that, do you?" James said. Both John and Albus said nothing.

"We have work to do. John, go get Rose, we need to get going," Albus said, finally ending the silence. Albus watched John walk back out of the room. Out of the corner of his eye he saw James begin to turn to him, begin to say something. But James never got the chance because Albus' arm caught fire, his head began to explode and the world went bright red and then black.

Albus blinked and noticed that he was standing in the foliage surrounding a circular meadow which he somehow knew was in Tennessee. There was a small puddle in the middle of the field. A man was standing in the clearing just to the right of him. Albus looked at the man, and immediately recognized him as Adam Travers. Albus could sense that he took out his wand, even though he couldn't feel it.

He looked to the man's right and saw a girl stunned and lying as if thrown down at Travers's feet. The girl was slightly bruised and her robes were torn as if she had been dragged through several fields. Of course, she had been dragged through several forests and fields after she had been kidnapped. The girl was Ashley Wright. Ashley rolled over and Albus could see that her nose had been broken.

Albus saw a wand rise in front of him and point itself at Travers.

Suddenly a man apparated directly in front of Travers. "Here as requested, master," the man said. Albus got a good look at the man. He was tall, pale and had red slits were there should have been eyes.

Lord Voldemort.

The wand lowered and Albus' host backed silently into the foliage.

"Yes," Travers said. "Grindelwald has been killed. I need you to lead my army here."

"Killed?" Voldemort responded. "How?"

"A young boy named Albus Potter," Travers said. "But it is of no matter. You will be able to deal with the boy. The Potters are your specialty of course."

"I've heard of them," Voldemort said. "Who's the visitor?"

Travers turned to Ashley. "Albus's girlfriend. I was able to sneak up and kidnap her yesterday."

"If you were able to kidnap her why do you need me to deal with the boy?"

"Because the boy wasn't with her at the time. Her guardian wasn't paying attention. He was easy to get rid of. But Albus and I have a connection. I sensed his presence at the Battle of Naumkeag; I'm sure he sensed my presence. I cannot sneak up on him, you can."

"Was her guardian working for you?" Voldemort asked.

"No," Travers said. "I don't work with anyone who is alive."

"So, what's the plan?" Voldemort asked.

Travers turned again to Ashley. "She is. The Potter boy will do anything to save her. He is in love with her. I will use that. I will take her to Laveau and 'invite' him to come. If I have her, he will fight when I want, where I want, how I want and who I want; namely you. I can be the defender for once. With an army of 500 inferi and you at the head I can't lose."

Voldemort thought for a few moments. "So he will do anything to save her?" he asked. Travers nodded. Voldemort's wand was out in a flash, quicker than even Albus thought he could do. Voldemort raised the wand on Travers and said "Imperio!"

The spell hit Travers and his face gently washed from shock to a glazed over look. He blinked a couple of times. "The Potter boy will do anything to get his girlfriend back. And once I have him, Harry Potter will do anything to get him back. Even give me the body of Nicolas Flamel. But in order to do that, I need you and your army in London."

"I," Travers said, stuttering, "I am needed in London. My army will be on the first flight out of Memphis."

Voldemort smiled. "Yes, it will," he said. Then he turned and vanished. Travers looked at Ashley. The wand reappeared in Albus' sight. "Stupefy!" he heard his host yell. A red jet shot out of the wand toward Travers just as he grabbed Ashley and vanished. The spell went through the air where Travers had been, but it missed him. "No!" Albus heard the host say again, but already Albus was leaving the scene behind.

"Al, Al are you ok?" a voice said. Albus opened his eyes to see James standing over him on the floor in Naumkeag. He could make out the concerned looks on the faces of John Wright and Rose Weasley.

"I came as quickly as I could," said Charlie Weasley as he entered the room with Headmistress Canon.

"I'm fine," Albus said. "It's just a dream."

"A dream?" James said. "You nearly stunned us all!"

"Yeah, and you were convulsing. You kept yelling for Ashley," Rose said.

"I saw her. Travers got her. He's going to London, we have to go now," Albus said.

"London," Canon said. "Why would he go there?"

"Voldemort placed him under the Imperius curse. Voldemort now controls the army since he controls Travers. America is no longer under threat from Travers. We need to get to London."

"Wait," James said. "Dad always said the dreams came from the viewpoint of Voldemort. You said you saw Travers."

"Not all the dreams," Albus said. "Remember he had one in his fourth year from the viewpoint of a muggle. I had a host. My host tried to rescue Ashley. I should have been nicer to him."

"That's nice and all, but where exactly are you going in London?" Charlie asked. "Percy just sent me a note. All London's under lockdown. No one can get into the Ministry in preparation for an attack by Voldemort. You can't just apparate into the ministry."

"Then we'll go to the Leaky Cauldron," Albus said.

"And then what?" Canon said. "Your army is coming back. You'll need them in London. How will they find you?"

"We'll leave someone at the Leaky Cauldron."

"And break up a group of four?" Rose said.

"I can stay at the Leaky Cauldron," Charlie said. "But I can't leave my dragon here. Only I can handle him."

"Then we ride to London," Rose said. "If you think your dragon can take us all that is."

"He can," Charlie said.

"All right then, it is settled," Albus said standing and starting to leave the room.

"You said that you should have been nicer to your dream's host," James said as they walked down the hallway. "Do you know who it was?"

"Yes," Albus said. "I recognized the voice when he sent the spell. He was trying to save Ashley."

"Who was it," John asked, intrigued.

Albus looked up. "Scorpius Malfoy."