'And Weasley passes to Webb, Webb to Smith, Smith back to Webb and back to Weasley and – SHE SCORES!' Ton's voice rang throughout the stadium.

The Gryffindor end of the pitch roared as Molly made a victory lap on her broom. It was an interesting game by Hogwarts Inter-House Cup standards, Albus had to admit. Gryffindor was behind Hufflepuff by a measly twenty points now; at any moment, this game could be decided. Whoever won this match by a wide enough margin got to keep the House Cup for that year.

Albus was sat next to Scorpius in one of the middle rows halfway along the pitch. He felt it would be the safest spot, away from the Gryffindors where Drake, McLaggen, and Gordon would surely have taken the opportunity to pester Scorpius and himself while most of the teachers' gazes were on the pitch. He liked it this way anyhow since it allowed him a broader view of the game.

'Now Sharif has the Quaffle. He throws it to Mortimer; Mortimer throws to Johnson who – OOOOF – nice Bludger work curtsey of McAndrew!'

The Hufflepuffs made a collective 'aaaaargh' sound as their Chaser dropped the Quaffle.

'You could almost say he got McAnd-drilled – '

'Harrington!'

'Sorry Professor! And Weasley has the Quaffle again… She throws to Smith who takes it back towards the Hufflepuff goalposts. Nobody's there to block him – GO GRYFFINDOR! – Smith launches the Quaffle AND – gets saved by Sharif…'

Now it was the Gryffindors' turn to make a collective 'aaaargh' sound.

As the match continued Albus' eyes wandered over to his brother high up in the air above. James was scanning the pitch for any signs of the Golden Snitch. His sickly green face atop scarlet robes gave him the appearance of a slice of watermelon. Albus stifled a giggle at that thought.

James playing as Seeker for the Gryffindor team made Albus quite ambivalent about the match. On the one hand, he wanted his brother to win the game as that would mean their father would buy him the Nimbus 3003 (which Albus might get to have a go on), on the other hand, he really didn't want to see Drake and company's smug faces if their team won the cup.

Unlike Albus, Scorpius had no qualms about which team he supported.

'Go Hufflepuff!' He yelled as the Hufflepuff Chaser Mortimer sped past their seats.

'Mortimer speeds past Smith – he's rushing through to the Gryffindor goalposts – Nowak's waiting for him there – for the love of God Nowak get a good night's sleep next time, you haven't blocked a single shot yet!'

'Harrington!'

'Sorry Professor McGonagall! And Mortimer shoots and… SCORES!'

The Gryffindors booed and chanted loudly.

'Seventy-forty to Hufflepuff. Gryffindor's got to play better if they want to keep up – reminder, they have to win this match by at least a hundred points if they're to win the cup!'

'Only three more good shots and we're in the clear,' said Scorpius.

'James can still catch the Snitch before then, he's good at that – ' retorted Albus.

'Not by the looks of it if you ask me. He barely moved this entire time – I can't believe you're still rooting for Gryffindor!'

'I'm not – My brother and cousin are on that team…'

'So what? Your family could use a bit of humbling if you ask me,' muttered Scorpius. 'Plus, imagine the look on McLaggen's stupid face once they lose – HA!'

'Johnson is now with the Quaffle. He approaches the Gryffindor goalposts again with intent and – OOOO – clear Bludger shot right in the face by Gupta! You could say he got Goop-ted!'

'HARRINGTON!'

'Yeah, I agree Professor that was a weak one, I'll up my game next time!'

Madam Taranis' whistle sounded over the laughing crowd. She called a time out as she checked and tended to Johnson's wounds.

'Come on, that was clearly a foul!' called Scorpius at the judge.

'I don't think it was, to be honest,' muttered Albus.

A few moments passed and Madam Taranis blew her whistle to continue the match. It seemed that the Gryffindor Chasers were about as good at shooting goals as the Hufflepuff Keeper was at blocking them. All the while the Gryffindor Keeper (Jacob Nowak) was struggling to keep up with the other team's Chasers. This fact seemed highly evident to James, whose increasingly darkening shade of green hinted at the amount of stress he was under.

'Wake of Hufflepuff is now with the Quaffle. He's speeding up on his trusty Firebolt Supreme – bit of a waste of a good broom if you ask me – '

'Harrington! I'm warning you!'

'–Wake keeps speeding forward with the Quaffle – dodges a Bludger sent by McAndrew – Weasley is racing behind him, he's approaching the Gryffindor goalposts – come'on Nowak! – AND… he scores… Eighty-forty to Hufflepuff…'

Albus noticed Nowak spitting in frustration. He really didn't seem to be at the top of his game today.

'Haha!' yelled Scorpius triumphantly. 'Now they only need t – OH NO.'

With a loud shriek James dove right down with immense speed. The Hufflepuff Seeker, Jones, who was only a short distance below James, noticed the other Seeker's move and rushed in the same direction. The entire stadium seemed to collectively hold their breaths – including the players themselves – as the two Seekers entered a tight race after the barely visible Golden Snitch.

'WOOOOOOO here we go! The Snitch has been spotted!' Screamed Ton into the magical megaphone. 'Jones is right behind Potter in the race for the Snitch. With both Seekers using the Comet 400 broom model, this will be a tight one!'

James encircled the goalposts as the Snitch spun and zigzagged between them. As he was catching up to the tiny golden ball, one of the Hufflepuff Beaters hit a fast Bludger in his direction. James dodged it at the last second.

'Wooooo! You're gonna need to do better than that to kick J.S.P off his broom BOI!'

'Harrington!'

'Potter is gaining on the Snitch, he's barely a foot behind – look at that hair blowing in the wind, it's glorious – he's nearly there. Extending his hand AND – '

The Gryffindor supporters in the crowd exploded with cheers so loudly, that Albus couldn't hear the rest of Ton's commentary. James had caught the Snitch. It was over. On Albus' right, Scorpius let out a slurry of colourful swear words. At one of the higher rows around the Gryffindor side of the pitch, Albus noticed the sickening sight of Drak, McLaggen, and Gordon jumping up and down in a frenzy.

James stumbled a little as he got off his broom, seemingly not fully comprehending what had happened. One by one his Gryffindor teammates rushed over and jumped off their brooms into a group hug that obscured him from view.

Albus could hardly believe it. His stupid older brother had just won Gryffindor the House Cup on his first year as a Seeker at only 14 years of age. He tried getting up from his seat to see better but the Gryffindor team had completely enveloped James.

A moment later, however, they all scattered hastily as James got down on his knees and retched violently onto the pitch.

Later that evening Albus and Scorpius sat at their usual spot next to the window in a corner of the Slytherin common room. Scorpius' face was buried in a book chapter that was assigned by Professor Selwyn to read by tomorrow and Albus was staring blankly into the green depths of the lake.

After a few moments in which the boys sat in silence, Albus' Nuntillud vibrated violently and startled Scorpius.

'Ooooh anything from Rasmi?' asked his friend as Albus picked up his device.

For over a month, Albus had been sending a constant stream of messages to Erasmus with short writings of what he'd seen and noticed around the castle. Which, to be frank, wasn't much. No strange occurrences had caught Albus' eye and – except for the general unease at the fact that one of the students at the school had been kidnapped and attacked a month prior – everything had seemed normal around the castle. Rasmi, in turn, had shared some of his assumptions and speculations about Montgomery and the Child with Albus. Things such as where the Transfiguration teacher had gone to during the last Wizarding War and whether he had anything to do with a Dementors breach. Though he did believe Montgomery was involved with something around the castle, Rasmi had refused to consider him as a possible candidate for the Lost Child himself. Albus, who still suspected him, was determined to prove Montgomery's true identity. He tried following his professor around whenever he got the chance. To Albus' frustration, his Transfiguration teacher had often departed quickly and stealthily at the end of his classes which made it impossible to catch up to him.

'Nah it's just James,' replied Albus. 'He says: "Did you see me Pygmy Puff? How I caught that Snitch like a pro?"'

Scorpius snorted. 'And puked all over the pitch like a "pro"?'

Albus chuckled. He pulled his quill out of his bag and wrote: 'Sure. I also saw your breakfast from an hour earlier…'

'Hahaha fair enough. It's the stress of the game… sometimes you gotta just let it all go you know?'

'Are you partying it up in Gryffindor tower now?'

'Party's starting in a bit. Few of the older lads smuggled some butterbeer from Hogsmeade. Hey, listen Pygmy Puff, if you and your little blond friend wanna join us at the party at the Gryffindor common room I'm sure I can get you in.'

Scorpius, who had been reading the entire conversation upside down from across the table, shook his head violently.

'Nah we don't really feel we'll be welcome there but thanks!'

'Alright suit yourself P.P. See you around.'

With not much else to do other than stare at the fish and Grindylows outside his window (he had finished the assigned reading the day before), Albus resigned himself to his comfortable four-poster bed.

The next morning Albus woke a little earlier than usual and went up for breakfast without Scorpius. He figured his friend would rather sleep a little longer seeing as he had gone to bed much later. He sat down in his usual seat at the Slytherin table and helped himself to a big portion of Flavius' Flavourful Fascinations breakfast cereals. He saw Michael Poults at the Ravenclaw table shooting worried looks at him from the corner of his eye. Albus rolled his eyes and concentrated on his cereal.

Ever since their little venture into the Forbidden Forest, Michael Poults had kept a healthy distance from Albus and Scorpius – which the boys had appreciated greatly. Though in the weeks that followed he had been quiet and more reserved, by now he had gotten back to his old, obnoxious, and infuriating self. The only two people in the entire castle Poults would not approach were Albus and Scorpius. I guess at least one good thing came out of this horror show, thought Albus to himself.

Albus ate his breakfast in silence for several moments before a presence behind him made him jerk around. Big, dumb, and mean, Albus' least favourite Gryffindors all stood right behind him smiling triumphantly.

'Hey Phoney Potty, I didn't see you cheering for Gryffindor yesterday,' said Drake in a venomous tone.

'What's the matter? You don't like your brother anymore?' Asked Gordon, the tallest and dumbest of the three.

'He's not his real brother though, is he? Potty here is adopted. He wouldn't be in the snake house otherwise!' Chortled McLaggen.

'Yeah, and he would be supporting our team and not the sitting around with Blondemort trying to think of ways to hex good Gryffindors right?' Gordon teased again.

'I guess us wizards are just better at controlling our emotions than you trolls…' replied Albus under his breath, trying to turn back to his cereal.

'What was that?' raged Drake as he grabbed the back of Albus' robes. 'You better watch your mouth Potty or – '

'Hey! wha's goin' on over there?!' Called a deep voice from the Great Hall's entrance.

The frighteningly large figure of Hagrid approached the four boys at a fast pace. Drake quickly let go of Albus and gestured to his mates.

'Not so fast Mr Drake!' boomed Hagrid. 'Twenty points from Gryffindor! I though' you've been warned abou' this sor' o' behaviour. If I catch yeh laying hands on another student again it'll be detention, am I bein' clear?'

The sheer enormity of Hagrid and his anger would have made braver boys than Johnathan Drake tremble. He managed a weak mumble before leading his two mates back to the Gryffindor table. Drake did manage to sneak in one last nasty look at Albus, however.

'Are yeh alrigh' Al?' Asked Hagrid in a much warmer tone.

'Yeah, I'm fine, thanks Hagrid.'

'Don' mention it. I saw them three fer wha' they were the momen' they go' here those little brats… givin' Gryffindor a bad reputation if yeh ask me. Lemme know if they're botherin' yeh eh?'

'Yeah… I'm happy that Gryffindor won. Really. It's just a shame my brother has to share a house with these knobs.'

'Well, knobs tend ter grow up in the end,' said Hagrid with a smile. 'Jus' ask yer friend's dad. Hey, why don' yeh come over to me hut fer tea this afternoon at four? Bring yer friend Scorpius too, he's a good lad.'

'Sure, Hagrid we'd love that,' answered Albus.

'See yeh then!' Called Hagrid as he strode over to the staff table.

Shortly after, Scorpius arrived and sat across from Albus. After he finished up his breakfast, the two boys passed their time playing Gobstones in their favourite courtyard and walking around the lake. May brought with it a warmer, more comfortable weather and even the occasional sunny day, which meant that Albus and Scorpius could now enjoy the fresh air of the grounds without covering themselves in thick winter cloaks. They watched several fourth-year girls playfully tickle the giant squid's tentacles while giggling merrily.

After lunch, the two decided to descend back to their common room for another game session (this time Wizard's Chess). They were walking down the flight of stairs which passed by the entrance to Professor McGarth's office when they suddenly heard a voice – a very familiar voice – coming from within.

'…your stubbornness is frustrating me, Miriam,' said Professor Montgomery. 'If you do not wish for things to get much, much, worse you –'

'I would like you to leave please, Leviticus. I'm not interested in anything you have to say any longer,' came Professor McGarth's voice shortly after. 'Do what you will but mark my words: if you do, it'll be the end of you.'

Professor Montgomery chuckled maliciously. 'As you wish, Miriam.'

Albus heard Montgomery's steps get closer to the door. Without thinking, he grabbed Scorpius and pushed him back up the steps and against the wall. The door to McGarth's office opened and closed and Montgomery seemed to be standing there for a moment before rushing down the stairs and further into the dungeons.

Albus looked at Scorpius who nodded encouragingly. The boys crept as silently as their shoes would permit them, followed Montgomery from a distance. He took turns hastily and went deeper and deeper into the labyrinth that was the Hogwarts dungeons. After several minutes of this feverish, silent chase, Montgomery halted abruptly in the middle of a particularly damp and dimly lit corridor. Albus and Scorpius observed him from the far corner where the two hallways (or passages) met (or converged). It seemed like a dead end to Albus. He couldn't understand what Montgomery would be doing in –

The Transfiguration teacher jerked his head around his shoulder sharply. Now it was Scorpius' turn to grab Albus and shove him through a dark door and into a nearby dungeon.

Albus' heart pounded. He leaned against the cold stone wall of the dungeon to catch his breath.

'Do you think he saw us?' Asked Scorpius, sounding slightly panicky.

'No idea, but it's rude of you to burst in like that without knocking, you know?' said a voice from nearby which made Albus' heart drop to his pants.

On the floor in the middle of the tiny dungeon sat James, Fred and Ton around a large cauldron filled with a thick, dark mud-like liquid that bubbled slowly.

'Wha – what in Merlin's nose hairs are you doing here?' Inquired Albus, eyeing the massive cauldron on the floor.

'That's not really any of your business Pygmy Puff,' answered James.

'What're you doing creeping around here anyhow?' Asked Fred.

'We're following Montgomery,' whispered Scorpius urgently.

'Montgomery? What the – ' started Ton, however James silenced him with a serious look.

'What's he doing down here?'

'We don't know, but we heard him talking to McGarth, and he stormed out of her office and – '

'Well then what're you waiting for? Get back out there!' Exclaimed James as he leapt off the floor and marched over to the dungeon door.

The door creaked open as Albus, Scorpius, and James looked around the corner to the corridor in which Montgomery had stood only seconds earlier. It was empty.

'What the – he was right here I swear!' Called Albus as he looked around.

'Maybe there's some sort of secret passage in here,' said Scorpius as he walked over to the wall at the end of the hallway. After feeling around for a few moments (with puzzled looks cast at them by Fred and Ton) the three boys decided it was no good.

'He must've led you here on purpose to get rid of you,' theorised James.

'Maybe…' replied Albus in frustration.

'Anyway, go back to your common room, alright? I'll let you-know-who know about this,' muttered James.

After some more baffled looks from Fred and Ton, Albus and Scorpius walked back to their dorm disappointed. They weren't in the mood for Wizard's Chess anymore, however. This was time for speculation.

'What do you reckon Professor McGarth's got to do with it?' Asked Scorpius.

'No clue. But it sounded like he was threatening her, didn't it? Maybe he wants her to brew him a special potion? So he could poison McGonagall? Or my dad?'

'But she wasn't having it huh? Bet it takes more than this git to scare McGarth.'

Albus wished he hadn't promised the groundskeeper they would come visit that day. He wanted to spend more time speculating with Scorpius. He felt rude to cancel on Hagrid, though, and so three hours later the two of them walked out of the dungeons and out onto the slightly chilly grounds toward the old wooden cabin.

They knocked on the door and were welcomed by a hearty 'Come in!' from Hagrid. The gamekeeper poured them some hot tea into bucket-sized chipped mugs.

'So how've the two o' yeh been?' Asked Hagrid as he sat down on one of his chairs with a creak. 'Havn' seen ye in a while.'

'Er… We're good. Everything's going fine,' muttered Scorpius. He was always slightly awkward around Hagrid.

'Good, good…' replied the groundskeeper. ''em boys, drake an' his lot, aren't bugging yeh anymore I hope?'

'Er…' Scorpius turned to Albus.

Albus, who hadn't been paying much attention to the conversation, looked up from his mug and said 'Oh yeah they came over to pick on me this morning. I haven't told you Scorp. That's when Hagrid invited us over.'

'Oh…'

They sat in silence sipping their tea and gnawing through Hagrid's rock cakes. Albus' mind was on Montgomery again. There was bound to be some way he could find out more. Maybe he could write to Rasmi after this and ask him whether there were any new leads…

Then a realisation struck him. A potential path of investigation was staring him right in the face. He knew for a fact that his father tended to keep a certain someone out of the loop regarding investigations he conducted. Someone who was particularly prone to blabbing about things that he shouldn't. Someone who would surely not pass through Rasmi's mind as a potential witness in the castle. Someone who, nevertheless, knew a lot about the comings and goings of everyone at the school…

'Hagrid?'

'Hmm?'

'Did you notice anything weird or unusual about Professor Montgomery lately?' Albus inquired in the most casual tone he could muster.

'Professor Montgomery? Ah well, no' in particular…' answered the gamekeeper. 'But then again I haven' exchanged more'n a few words with 'im in quite a while… I wouldn' say he's odd, just a little broken like all of us. Poor bloke Leviticus… it isn' easy growin' up like he did, yeh know…'

'What do you mean?' Asked Scorpius, picking up quickly on what Albus was doing.

'Well, it turns ou' the man who's raised 'im his entire childhood wasn' actually his real father yeh know? His ol' man didn' wan' 'im. An his mum, she died giving birth to 'im. Now tha' ought ter rattle a lad.'

Albus looked at Scorpius quickly. His friend's eyes were as big as Bludgers.

'H – Hagrid?'

'Hmm?'

'H – How do you know all of this?'

'Well, he told me tha' a while back at the Hog's Head over a whiskey. Told me he wen' lookin' fer his dad back in ninety-seven bu' he couldn' find him. Probably dead if yeh ask me…'

'We gotta go,' declared Albus as he and Scorpius got up from their seats suddenly.

'Bu' – wh – yeh jus' go' here?!'

'Sorry Hagrid, we'll explain later!' Yelled Albus as he and Scorpius dashed through the door and out into the cold evening air.

'D'you have your Nuntillud with you?' Asked Scorpius as they ran back towards the castle.

'Way ahead of you,' replied Albus as he pulled his Nuntillud and a quill out of his robes (he had made a habit of always keeping these items on his person lately).

He quickly scribbled 'Erasmus van Helmont' and 'Montgomery's dad is not his REAL one. He threatened things would get worse. Come now' underneath.

'We can't run around looking for him throughout the castle. I reckon we should just stand and watch his office while we wait for Rasmi,' reasoned Albus.

The boys made their way to the small office off the first-floor corridor. They stood at the corridor with their wands in their hands. Albus watched the door to the office while Scorpius guarded the other end of the hallway.

After several moments, Albus glanced at his Nuntillud again. There was no reply. Rasmi probably hadn't seen the message yet.

'You know, I don't think he's in there,' muttered Albus. 'Can't hurt to have a look around, can it?'

Scorpius looked slightly frightened. 'After you…' he mumbled.

Albus approached the door with Scorpius close behind. He turned the handle to the office and was surprised to find out it wasn't locked. As he pushed the door ever-so-slightly ajar, Albus looked at his friend who nodded. He pushed it further. A creak sounded from within the office – as if someone got up from their seat. Instinct took over Albus. Just as they trained for the forest the two boys slammed the door open and shouted 'Flipendo!'

Montgomery, who had been reaching for his own wand, launched backwards and hit the wall behind his desk with a sickening thud.

The two boys stood there for a moment processing what had happened. Their Transfiguration teacher laid unconscious at the other end of the room with his wand in his limp hand.

They moved inside the office, observing Montgomery's lifeless form when another man's voice spoke behind them.

'Nice one. Heh…'

They turned around to see a very large man with small dull eyes, long muscular arms, a dumb face, and a thick beard.

Before they could react any further the man shouted 'Petrificus Totalus! Petrificus Totalus!' and Albus felt his body go stiff. The two boys fell hard on the floor, unable to move. They watched in horror as the man moved closer and leaned over them.

'Oh boy, now we're in real trouble aren't we, hehe…' he chuckled stupidly. 'Bet you didn't think I would be here to – '

'Expelliarmus!' called a voice from the doorway behind him.

With a flash of red light, the man's wand was sent flying through the air. Molly and her friend Riya walked inside the office; their wands raised and pointed at the large man.

'How many times am I going to have to save you from doing something idiotic?' Asked Molly in frustration, while Riya relieved the boys of the Full Body-Bind Curse.

The large man raised his hands in the air with a wide grin. He began laughing maniacally.

'What's so funny?' Asked Molly.

'It's too late for you now hehe…' he replied. 'You have no idea what's coming!'

Albus got up and grabbed his Nuntillud from inside his robes. A message on it read 'Stay put. Be there soon. Ras.'

'Yeah well,' retorted Albus. 'You have no idea what's coming either.'

Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry!

I had so much on my plate this week that I just couldn't get to finish the chapter in time :(
So there you have it three days late XD
A potential new job and a move to a new city will do that to you...
Anyway, I'm back and with a bang. Things are about to get real in this book as we're approaching the end and the last showdown.
Can you guess what's coming?
Hope you all enjoyed this one!
Paul

PS - check out my Tumblr for updates: .com