Author's Note: Thank you, livvylane and this-is-not-lyra, for reviewing! I know it's been ages since my last update, but I've really been extremely busy. From now on, new chapters will come much faster again! As compensation, here is an extra-long chapter! Enjoy!

Albus gulped. The small, dark shapes standing around him with daggers in their hands looked quite awesome. Although he was surely filled with fear, it didn't paralyze him. Albus racked his brain for any spells he had learned which could be useful in this situation, but nothing came to his mind. Which spell could possibly work against so many enemies? In addition, there was something else pressing his mind.

"You expected me?" he asked in disbelief. "But my Uncle Percy…"

Some goblins cackled cruelly. The malicious voice, coming from one of the goblins, who was apparently something of a leader, answered him.

"Your beloved Uncle Percy has no idea of all this, you stupid child. Do you think it is beyond our capabilities to fake a letter?"

Automatically, Albus glanced down at the Stone and the instrument in his hands.

"Ah," said the malicious goblin. "Yes, our Magimeter is quite useful, isn't it? And yes, before you ask, this is the actual Resurrection Stone. If you might please give it back? It's quite valuable, you know," he canted.

Albus was shocked. Everything had been a trap all along. Quentin had been right; the whole mission was madness. Albus still had no clue how he could possibly escape the goblins. To win time, he kept the conversation alive.

"So it all was a trap?" he asked, concealing the fear in his voice with difficulty. "What do you want to do with me?"

"Beyond your understanding," answered the malicious goblin disdainfully. "Now, enough talking, hand over the Magimeter, the Stone and, last but not least, your wand. Now."

But Albus had thought of something else, and he wanted to stretch the conversation anyway. "What about Molly? Did you kill her, too?"

"Maybe, maybe not," hissed the malicious goblin indifferently. "Now, your wand, or we use our daggers."

Albus hesitated. He was very reluctant to hand over his wand; it felt like a part of him. On the other hand, the goblins definitely looked as though they meant business.

Desperately, he threw the fragile-looking instrument as far as he could between the trees. Without hesitating, he threw the Resurrection Stone at full power in the opposite direction. He didn't really expect much from it, but there was still the slight chance that the goblins would be distracted for a moment.

Their reaction was different, however. None of them moved to go after the Magimeter or the Stone, but many of them hissed angrily or came a little closer, their daggers threateningly brandished.

"The game is over, Potter," said the malicious goblin. "Now hand over your wand, or we will kill you, as we did with your beloved Uncle Percy's wife, in case you remember."

Albus' inner conflict culminated. A part of him was screeching to hand over the wand, as the goblins were definitely capable of killing him. But the other part of him, a part that was getting stronger and stronger, told him that it had been only his own idiocy that had brought him in this situation. Maybe it was just defiance; maybe it was the desire to be brave like his father, the desire to prove himself; maybe it was the rational thought that the goblins wouldn't kill him in any case, as they obviously wanted him alive. Maybe it was for Molly, in case the goblins really killed her in some way. Probably it was a mixture.

He looked around. One of the goblins was cowering on a branch of the nearest tree. Strangely enough, for a split second, it reminded Albus of a monkey, a baboon. He met his final decision and pulled his wand out of his pocket. He raised it and performed the spell coming to his mind, gathering all his willpower.

"Lumos Solem!"

A blazing light erupted from his wand and everything went white. Albus had been ready for it and kept his eyes firmly closed, concentrating hard on maintaining the spell. The goblins shrieked in agony; obviously, the glaring light afflicted them a lot more than Albus. He didn't hesitate for a second and blindly stormed into the direction where the fewest goblins had been. Bodies of goblins bumped against him; Albus even felt a dagger scratching his side, but he didn't stop and continued running for his life, while holding his wand upwards and maintaining the Sunlight Charm, although he slowly started to tire.

He ended the Charm and after about a minute running blindly through the undergrowth as fast as he could, accidentally bumping against a few trees on his way, Albus finally paused, panting. He didn't have the energy left to run any longer; the Sunlight Charm had drained him additionally. He felt a stinging pain in his side. Apparently, the wound the goblin's knife had caused was deeper than he had initially expected, it was bleeding quite briskly.

At least, he couldn't hear the angry shouts and screams of the goblins anymore. Still, they couldn't be too far, and no doubt they had already started searching for him. He had to get out of this forest as fast as possible, that much was obvious; however, Albus had no idea where he was. The moon gave a faint light, but Albus assumed that he was still deep in the forest. If he could only alert his father or anyone at Hogwarts to rescue him; alas, every try to call attention to himself would only attract the goblins or anything even worse, whatever was luring in this forest.

It made no sense to stumble around through the forest anymore, not knowing where the castle was. Albus saw only one possibility: He had to find a good hideout and wait for the sunrise. The treetops seemed to be a suitable place; there, he would be reasonably safe from the goblins and other wild animals. Furthermore, he would maybe be able to see the castle, if the tree was high enough. Glad to have a plan, Albus set off to look for a preferably high tree to climb up.

O

The teacher saw the blinding light and heard the screams of the goblins. Obviously, the boy had escaped by himself. That was impressive; actually, the teacher himself had planned to distract the goblins with an extra-strong Sunlight Charm, as they liked the darkness and couldn't cope with too much light. The boy's flight would make things a lot easier; the teacher concentrated for a moment and cast a very powerful Bait Charm, which would lure the goblins in the completely wrong direction. Not that those filthy monkeys were any threat, but the teacher still preferred not to be interrupted.

Now the teacher only had to find the Potter boy. He couldn't have gone very far; besides, he hadn't made any effort to cover his tracks. It would be a very simple task to chase him down, and finally kill him. The teacher had already planned everything; when the boy was dead, the teacher would disfigure his corpse and exhibit it publicly. The teacher only had yet to decide whether Diagon Alley or the entrance of the Ministry of Magic was the better place. In any case, chaos would finally erupt.

O

Albus was slowly getting desperate. He had tried to climb on a promising tree several times, but without any success. Albus had never been good at climbing, and his wound, which was now bleeding stronger than ever, had proved extremely obstructive. Unfortunately, he didn't know any useful spells to make his task easier, either. Not that he hadn't tried out this and that; he had even cast "Wingardium Leviosa" on himself, to fly to the treetop. However, he had failed spectacularly; the spell had thrown him a few feet in the air, before he had fallen to the ground most painfully.

The only good thing that could be said about his situation, was that the goblins were nowhere to be seen. Albus was extremely relieved about this circumstance, as he strongly doubted he would be able to escape them for a second time. Still, this feeling was phenomenally outweighed by exhaustion, pain and desperation. He had lost any feeling for time, and he had no idea where he was. It was still pretty cold.

He continued stumbling through the forest, almost in trance. After what felt like hours, he sat down in the shrubs. Had Quentin and Scorpius alerted a teacher by now? Albus hoped so; it seemed his only chance to get out of this cursed forest one day. But there was also a fair chance that they still didn't want him to get caught and gave him the chance to return unnoticed.

Slowly, the sun started to rise. Relief rushed through his veins; the darkness had been extremely annoying. With new courage, he got up. Maybe he would be able to find a way out of the forest now. He had hardly set off, when a cloaked figure appeared in front of him. Thankfully, it seemed to be a man, a teacher - he was saved. Obviously, Quentin and Scorpius had finally alerted someone at the castle. The man stepped into the light, and Albus recognized the lanky figure at once: It was his Potions teacher, Professor Pyrites.

"Professor!" cried Albus. Professor Pyrites turned to face him. Slowly, he drew his wand and directed it at Albus.

"Sir…?"

"Avada Kedavra!" shouted Pyrites instantly.

A jet of green light flew at Albus, who instinctively dived out of the way. Just like Professor Arrington had taught him, he watched Pyrites' movements and also avoided a second and a third Killing Curse.

Albus knew that he wouldn't be able to dodge the spells much longer; he was still extremely tired, and the wound at his side was starting to hurt again. He couldn't believe it - first the goblins, and now Professor Pyrites? Had the whole world turned against him?

Suddenly, thin cords shot from Pyrites' wand, and next moment, Albus was bound hand and foot. Desperately, he struggled against his bonds, but he couldn't move at all.

"You're quite a piece of work, Albus Potter," hissed Pyrites. "Oh yes, absolutely. But now you will die, won't you? Indeed! Avada Kedavra!"

"Induco Magnetum!" shouted another, very familiar voice. The jet of green light from Pyrites' wand curved in the air and struck a nearby tree, which burst into flames. "Relashio!"

The cords came loose, and Albus whirled around. Professor Arrington stood behind him, his wand directed at Pyrites, his face white with anger.

"Arrington," snarled Pyrites. "Now I have to bring the big guns in. Ignis Daemonis!"

Flames of abnormally large size appeared with a roaring, billowing noise and shot towards Albus and Professor Arrington. They took the shape of fiery monsters and beasts such as snakes, dragons, eagles and chimaeras, constantly mutating into other beasts. Arrington quickly leaped in front of Albus and wielded his wand like a whip.

"Partis Temporus!"

The flames parted in front of Arrington and rushed past them, consuming large parts of their environment and spreading in all directions.

Albus feared that the fire would be completely out of control soon, and apparently Pyrites shared that feeling, as he whispered something Albus didn't understand and drew the flames back into his wand. Arrington took the chance and quickly cast a Patronus; the huge, silver American eagle rose high into the air and flew away. Pyrites, who had by now miraculously removed the Fiendfyre, fired a spell at the Patronus, but it soared right through the silver eagle, who was already almost out of sight, leaving it unscathed.

Pyrites cried out in anger and began firing spells at Arrington, who delved into the duel with the same energy. Albus had already seen a few duels; his father had sometimes taken him to watch duelling tournaments. Once, he had even seen his father himself taking down a dark wizard who had tried to invade their house. None of this duels, however, had come even close to resemble the fight he was witnessing now. Arrington's reflexes were excellent, but Pyrites moved so fast that Albus could barely see it. None of them was speaking the incantations loudly, so Albus didn't really recognize what exactly they were doing.

Suddenly, Pyrites shouted an incantation, and Arrington and Albus were thrown back by an incredibly forceful blast of air.

"Albus! Get out of the line of fire! Hide, but don't run away!" shouted Arrington.

Quickly, Albus ran behind a huge tree and anxiously peeked around it to watch the duel. Arrington seemed to be struggling to hold himself. Pyrites moved with inhuman speed and fired continuously jets of light or flashes at the Transfiguration teacher, who somehow managed not get hit by a single of them, dodging or blocking them and often transforming branches and other objects in his environment to impede Pyrites' spells. Nevertheless, he was clearly on the defensive; he had no time to start attacks on his own, and Albus feared that if the duel continued like that, his resistance would sooner or later crumble.

"Potter!" squeaked a voice behind Albus, who whirled around. At first, he was shocked, because the tiny figure that had appeared behind him distantly resembled a goblin. Then he noticed, however, that it was none other than Professor Flitwick, who hurried towards him, his wand at the ready.

"Mr Potter! Who is the good guy here?" asked Flitwick, pointing at the fight, where Pyrites had just sent a jagged lightning at Arrington. The Transfiguration teacher stopped it in mid-air, somehow reshaped it and sent it back at Pyrites, who had to leap out of the way in order to not get knocked over by the pulse of energy.

"Pyrites tried to kill me! Professor Arrington saved me!" shouted Albus. "You have to help him, Professor!"

But Flitwick was already running past Albus to join Professor Arrington. His spell hit a tree directly next to Pyrites. The tree immediately came to life; its branches were already reaching out for Pyrites, while its roots were trying to trip him up. Pyrites snarled angrily, quickly dodged a curse from Arrington and set the tree on fire. Almost simultaneously, he shot a glaring jet of purple light at Flitwick, who was caught completely off-guard by the Potions master's incredible speed and didn't react in time. The purple flash struck him right at the chest, and he collapsed lifelessly to the ground.

"NO!" cried Albus and was already on the way to the Charms Professor, when a Killing Curse missed him only by a hairbreadth.

"Stay were you are, Albus!" yelled Arrington, sounding highly stressed. Albus hurried back behind his huge tree, which Pyrites set on fire at once. Albus yelped and jumped backwards, when suddenly the earth started to shake. Albus was knocked to the ground; from the corner of his eye, he could see that Pyrites and Arrington had also lost their balance. The Transfiguration master quickly changed into his Animagus form, an American eagle, and flew to Albus, settling right in front of him. Around them was an inferno of flames; the fire had already spread to nearby trees. Behind Pyrites, who had gotten back to his feet, appeared Tyron Smethwyck.

A loud noise erupted from Smethwyck's wand, and a jet of black light soared from behind towards Pyrites, who once again displayed an insanely fast reaction and dived not a moment too soon. Arrington, who had transformed back into his human form, raised his wand again, at the same time with Smethwyck. Pyrites seemed to realise that his situation was getting difficult, moved his arms like a whirlwind, his cloak billowing, and - vanished.

Arrington quickly made complicated wand movements and silently performed a few spells. "He's gone!" he shouted. "I have no idea how, but he isn't anywhere near us anymore!" With this, he grabbed Albus, levitated the unconscious Professor Flitwick in the air and dragged them away from the flames, which Smethwyck was just trying to control. Arrington joined him, and together they managed to eventually put out the fire.

Smethwyck growled irritably. "Where has he gone?"

"No idea," said Arrington, looking startled as well. "As far as I can feel, Minerva didn't lift any of the wards. Every kind of magical transport should be impossible. We haven't left the school grounds. This is really worrying. If he can get out as easy as this, he might as well be able to get in. But be that as it may, we have to return to the castle at once. I'm worried about Filius."

Smethwyck grunted. "We should be careful. Pyrites might have allies in the castle, or come back himself."

Albus shook off his temporary state of shock. "Sir! There are still goblins around! With daggers! I just barely escaped them, before I met Pyrites."

Smethwyck snorted dismissively. "As if goblins would be any threat after this madman! I'm worried about wizards, boy, about Killing Curses fired at you, not about a couple of goblins!"

"Still, goblins in the forest are certainly no good news," murmured Professor Arrington. "But we'll talk about all that in length - when we are back at the castle. But you're right, Tyron - we must be very careful. Minerva is right now the only person at Hogwarts we can trust, before we have clarified this."

Together, they set off and soon left the forest. Albus was very relieved to see the castle again, after he had been desperately stuck between trees for hours. Arrington lead them to a side entrance behind the greenhouses.

"We should make sure, that Longbottom isn't in the proximity," said Smethwyck. "He often roves about here at this time."

"You mean Neville? Surely we can trust him?" asked Albus disbelievingly.

To his surprise, it was Professor Arrington who answered.

"Tyron is right, we shouldn't take any risk. Everyone could be under the Imperius Curse; Neville has children, he might have been extorted - not that I consider that likely, of course," he added quickly, when he saw the shocked expression on Albus' face.

"But, then - how can we sure that Professor McGonagall isn't under the Imperius Curse, too?" asked Albus.

"Because it would be an entirely hopeless endeavour to try to cast the Imperius Curse on Minerva McGonagall," answered Professor Arrington simply.

"Indeed," growled Smethwyck. "Although I must say I'm surprised you sent the Patronus to me of all people, Aaron. I didn't think the day would come you would ask for my help."

Arrington only snorted and led them into a corridor Albus had never seen so far. They finally reached a wall in front of them, but Arrington murmured something incomprehensible, and the wall had gone. Moments later, they stood in front of the gargoyle, which guarded the Headmistress' office.

"Isobel," said Professor Arrington, and the gargoyle jumped aside. They climbed up the staircase and reached the door to the office. Arrington knocked.

"Come in," said Professor McGonagall.

Quickly, they entered the office and carefully closed the door behind them. Smethwyck at once drew his wand and silently performed spells.

"Oh, Aaron, it's you and - what's the matter with Filius? And may I ask, what you are doing, Professor Smethwyck?" asked Professor McGonagall, surveying the still unconscious Professor Flitwick, Albus' ragged cloak, Professor Arrington's multiple bruises and Smethwyck's spellwork with a very surprised expression.

"Tyron is setting up some extra security for this room. I honestly don't know what exactly is the matter with Filius," said Professor Arrington. "It was Pyrites, Minerva. Pyrites attacked Albus in the Forbidden Forest, I came just in time to save him. Then Filius came to help me - I don't know how he knew what was happening, I had only sent a Patronus to Tyron - but Pyrites hit him with a purple jet of light, and Filius was knocked out. We have to get him to St Mungo's at once! He is obviously not dead, but a simple 'Enervate' didn't work either. I thought you might create a portkey from this office here to St Mungo's; that would be the fastest way to get him there. Everything else can wait."

Professor McGonagall seemed to have about a thousand questions, but she pulled herself together, nodded and summoned an old hat. She pointed her wand at it and clearly said "Portus."

The hat started glowing blue and shivered slightly.

"Professor Smethwyck, may I ask you to take Filius to St Mungo's?" said Professor McGonagall.

Smethwyck grunted, grabbed with the left hand Professor Flitwick, with the right hand the portkey and vanished.

Professor McGonagall turned to Albus and Professor Arrington and sighed.

"You are the third generations of Potters I witness attending Hogwarts, Potter, and you seem to have the same tendency to get into trouble like your father and grandfather. What in Merlin's beard happened?"

"I would like to know this, as well, Albus," said Professor Arrington. "How did you get to the forest at the first place?"

Albus breathed deeply and regretted it instantly, as the wound at his side hurt again.

"Hospital wing, Potter," said Professor McGonagall promptly, but Professor Arrington shook his head.

"Absolutely not," he said sharply, drew his wand and aimed it at Albus' wound. "Tergeo! Vulnera Sanentur - Vulnera Sanentur - Vulnera Sanentur."

The deep cut healed rapidly by itself.

"Thanks," said Albus relieved.

"Well, then at least sit down, Potter, you look like you are going to collapse any moment," said Professor McGonagall, and Albus gratefully took a seat.

He told them everything, beginning with the faked letter and the goblins' instrument, Quentin trying to stop him, Scorpius holding up Hagrid. He described how he had found the Resurrection Stone and how he had gotten away from the goblins.

"And then," he finished, after giving account of his odyssey through the Forbidden Forest, "then Professor Pyrites appeared and fired Killing Curses at me, but I managed to dodge them. Then he conjured ropes and bound me and finally wanted to kill me, but Professor Arrington appeared and somehow made his curse crash into a tree instead of me."

Professor Arrington immediately took over. "I can tell the story from here," he said.

"I used Magnetism, Minerva. Remember my research on this subject last year? I transfigured the tree into a magnet, so the curse curved in mid-air and hit the tree. Then Pyrites conjured Fiendfyre - I think that answers who is responsible for the assault on the Hogwarts Express. And, by the way, probably also who killed Firenze. Anyway, I used Partis Temporus to save us, and Pyrites almost lost control of the Fiendfyre and called it back. And then - then we duelled."

"Philandros… I can't believe it… And he escaped?" asked Professor McGonagall.

Professor Arrington snorted. "Hardly. He attacked me like a madman, Minerva, and he almost took me down! You should have seen him - I don't know how he managed to move that fast, he must have cast a few dangerous spells on himself - at least, I had managed to send a Patronus to Tyron. That was, frankly, my only hope, because I don't know how much longer I could have defended myself, let alone Albus. Pyrites is really incredibly powerful."

"If you only sent a Patronus to Professor Smethwyck, then what about Filius?"

"That's really a good question," answered Professor Arrington.

"Probably Quentin and Scorpius alerted him," interjected Albus. "They must have been worried because I didn't return, and Professor Flitwick is our Head of House."

"That makes sense," agreed Professor Arrington. "Filius cast a spell at a tree, which immediately attacked Pyrites. Really impressive charmwork, I must say. Unfortunately, Pyrites reacted quicker than I would have thought any human possibly could and practically simultaneously dodged the branches, avoided my spells, set the tree on fire and cursed Filius. Eventually, Tyron arrived and Pyrites miraculously vanished into thin air. Once again, I have no idea how. I only hope that he can't come back to the grounds as easily as he got away. That's it."

Professor McGonagall remained silent for some time, visibly struggling to digest what Albus and Arrington had told her. Finally, she said, "we must alert the Ministry. We need a broad investigation at once. Auror protection. Who knows who else is involved in this. And something has to be done about those goblins. No one can leave the castle for now."

Professor Arrington nodded. "I will lock the portals and go to the Ministry at once to talk to Madam Weasley and Mr Potter about it. Although I doubt that any of his Aurors would last longer than ten seconds against Pyrites. And I will leave a Patronus for Tyron. Maybe he knows a few additional wards against magical transportation."

"Very well. Then I have time to floo to St Mungo's now and visit Filius, before Harry arrives" answered Professor McGonagall.

"Be careful. You are one of the leaders of the Wizarding World, Minerva. They might aim for you as well," said Arrington.

Professor McGonagall's mouth became very thin. "I should hope that I'm not such an ancient invalid that you consider it unsafe for me to enter a hospital, Aaron," she said coldly. "As for you, Potter, you will be pleased to hear that you are just like your father. Still, your behaviour was unbelievably foolish. Professor Flitwick is seriously injured because of your complete lack of judgement. You are very lucky to be alive. I will decide about your punishment later. For now, you go to the hospital wing."

With this, she raised her wand, and a Patronus in the form of a tabby cat ran out of her office. "I'm calling for Professor Longbottom," explained Professor McGonagall. "He will escort you to the hospital wing and make sure that no one penetrates there. Don't be ridiculous, Aaron, he's Albus' godfather."

A minute later, Neville arrived. Obviously he had run the whole distance to Professor McGonagall's office, as he was panting and sweating. Arrington drew his wand and aimed straight at Neville. "What is the title of the book in which you read about gillyweed for the first time? Answer me!"

"Er - 'Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean'," answered Neville hastily.

"Induco Patronum!" said Professor Arrington, still pointing his wand at Neville. "Just in case you had been under the Imperius Curse," he explained.

"What? I - Headmistress? Is everyone alright? What happened?" gasped Neville.

"Pyrites ran amok, Filius is at St Mungo's, but we can talk about that later. For now, Professor Longbottom, please escort Mr Potter to the hospital wing and stay there, make sure that no one gets inside. I expect that Harry and a few Aurors will arrive soon," said Professor McGonagall.

"All - all right," said Neville puzzled and put a hand on Albus' shoulder. "Come on, lad," he said. "Let's get you to the hospital wing. You look terrible."

Gratefully, Albus followed his godfather to the hospital wing. "You can tell me everything later," said Neville. "For now, you need rest."

Albus took the potion for dreamless sleep that Madam Pomfrey gave him - the last thing he thought was that its purple colour looked quite ugly - before he finally fell asleep.