Thank you so much for the continuous reviews and interest in the story. I have been completely overwhelmed by the family/work combination, with all the crushing consequences for any creative effort. However, I did promise that I will finish the story and I will! :) Anyway, here is another chapter. He is quite a kid, our Albus!
Chapter 2. Albus Potter.
Albus had understood long ago that he was not like other eleven-year-old boys, and took full advantage of it at every opportunity. What set him apart from his peers and from other kids in general was that he feared practically nothing and no one. Except, maybe, dogs – and not all of them at that.
After all, it would be rather difficult to frighten someone who saw his mum die, who remembered his father wail in grief, who looked a horrid werewolf in the eye, and who remembered the bared teeth of a dog that was about to rip his throat out.
It is difficult to get genuinely afraid if you can use Legilemency to learn things you were not meant to know or to make people do what you really need them to do. And what is there to fear when you have magical dreams in which you can always get help or the best of advice, and when your father is a great wizard who's been telling you for years that a house elf is always there to rescue you out of any pickle should you but call his name?
Keeping in mind Dirk, who was now supposed to be having some R&R, what with Dad not taking him along on the trip, Albus was not at all frightened, unlike an ordinary child would be, upon realizing that the stranger next to him had Apparated both of them somewhere other than where he'd originally said he would. Instead of freezing in fright, he jumped back, away from the liar, pulling his hand from the man's grip.
The dusk had fallen, and the boy's thoughts turned to Bertie, alone on the porch of a locked house. She must be worried. Really, he should have been alarmed himself to find himself with a stranger on the edge of the woods, with no houses nearby, no lights in sight, only the gathering twilight and dark trees.
And when one's wand suddenly flies out of his pocket and into the hand of a grown and apparently strong man, and a wizard to boot, one ought to get scared; yet somehow, he was not.
"I have never heard of a café in the woods," Albus remarked politely, ignoring the trajectory of his wand. A wizard's power is not in his wand, according to Grandpa Albus. One has to find the strength within, and Al has always tried to do just that, for he wanted to be as extraordinary a wizard as Grandpa Dumbledore. Or, at least, as his father.
"You hang out with the wrong crowd, Albus Potter," the man smiled, appearing completely at ease. "Shall we do without screaming and Stunning spells?"
"Do you wish to hold me hostage or to kill me?" Al inquired almost conversationally, thrusting his hands in his pockets. Even Scorpius would be proud of him now, with his belief that cold resolve could disarm any foe.
"Most likely, the former," the man shrugged his shoulders, but Albus saw could see that he was slightly taken aback. "Are you not frightened at all?"
"Theo always said that it was silly to worry about things out of your control," Albus mirrored his kidnapper's gesture, causing him to frown. "Is anything wrong?"
"You," the man muttered, but then seemed to cast his doubts aside. Al must have disappointed him by failing at his role of an abducted child. Oh well, it was Marie Victoire who was the actress in the family; Albus, on the other hand, never liked the plays where someone was supposed to suffer. "All right, let's go…"
"I hope it's not far," Al replied, "because my brother is always put out with me when we go somewhere together. He says that I walk too slowly."
"Keep quiet," the man asked, pointing the direction with his wand. Al nodded and headed down the path, barely noticeable among the trees. "I'd rather you hollered and wept. I would have had an excuse to Stun you…"
"Well, I am sorry for that," Albus snorted, looking back at the wizard. Being Stunned was not at all his preference. Being kidnapped was a different matter; it was even interesting. He knew that this was all very serious, but still failed to be frightened. "What do you need me for?"
"I'll find something," the man was walking slowly, pointing his wand ahead of him. "And if you do something stupid…"
"You'll Stun me, I get it. Even Broon would have caught on," Albus remarked. Something strange was going on: Bertie's mum had fallen ill, Bertie herself was somewhere at large, Rose and Theo had vanished, a stranger at Jim's house – who, to top it all off, dared to touch Jim's broomstick, which hardly anyone was allowed to do. And now this kidnapping…
Grandpa Albus always said that there was no such thing as a coincidence. Therefore, it was all connected somehow. And thus, the plan (one absolutely had to have a plan if an Adventure was at hand) was: learn everything he could and then bail – by any means necessary; or, as Plan B – bail right away…
Can this man possibly know that capturing Albus Potter is no easier than Peeves, the Hogwarts poltergeist? Well, that is, according to Grandpa Arthur, to the boy's tentative agreement.
"Are we there yet?"
"Listen, will you stop pretending that you enjoy what is happening to you?" the wizard said in a slightly raised voice, walking closely behind him. Leaves rustled underfoot, the forest a dark wall ahead.
"And what's there not to like so far?" Albus shrugged his shoulders, trying to force himself to become frightened, even a little. Again, it didn't work. "Hiking does kids good…"
The kidnapper swore under his breath, and Albus smiled: it is so easy to knock the coolest customer off balance if you know what he expects. Albus was even able to make Scorpius lose his cool, difficult though that was, as a rule. Perhaps, that was why Albus was so attached to Lily's husband – after all, it is nice when one does not yell at you and chase you away, as James usually did, but rather behaves as though you are no nuisance at all.
Finally, Albus saw their destination. If not for his freshly made plan, he could have long darted for the bushes and disappeared; or, the danger of being Stunned notwithstanding, turned toward his kidnapper and poked around in the mind of the strange bloke whose best idea first thing in the morning was to abduct a little boy. Another option would have been to make him do something Albus wanted; that was nothing new to him.
"I like your house," the boy remarked, stopping and staring at the mansion that was visible from the high point where they stood. The ground sloped gently toward the house, with the forest behind them now. The house seemed light and airy; in the garden, surrounded by a stone fence, Albus saw two house elves wrapped in kitchen towels, busy planting a bush. "Will you hold me there?"
"Be quiet and keep walking," the wizard asked again calmly, nudging Albus in the back.
"I am hungry," the boy said, really feeling hunger.
The kidnapper ignored the words, making Albus shrug his shoulders. They walked briskly down the slope, and with each step the wall before them grew, becoming insurmountable. Yet, even the wall failed to scare the boy. He had no intention to find himself behind it.
"Is this your home?" Albus asked, guessing he had a few more minutes.
"What's it to you?"
Well, he must not be very good at twenty questions. Al acknowledged that and decided that his time was up. Who knows what is behind that gate. It is not advisable to enter them. Given that the wizard would not Apparate right inside the mansion, it must be problematic within the perimeter. Much like the Malfoy Manor, according to an James' and Scorpius' occasional comments.
They stopped before the tall wrought iron gate, with the letter "D" elegantly woven into the pattern, and Albus resolutely turned toward his kidnapper, taking him by surprise: he seemed to be trying to unlock the gate.
It was not even that hard: getting into a relaxed, unprotected mind (after all, he is no Theo or Xenia, or even Jim and Rose); sifting through a few vague images and then focus on a particular, dark one; then getting right out, leaving the person engrossed in his memories. Albus noticed in passing the wizard's contorted face, and then turned and dashed for the nearest bushes, whispering: "Dirk, I need you right away!"
"Master Al has taken up sprinting?" the elf materialized with a loud clap, and Al, without slowing down, grabbed him by the hand, pulling him along. "What…?"
"Apparate to that forest, quickly!" Albus whispered urgently, sensing that the wizard would come to faster than they could hide. "Now!"
In a couple of seconds they stood amidst the trees, hidden from sight. From here, they could see the mansion and the wizard by the gates. The man was looking around him, his wand pointing from side to side.
"Master Al…"
"Wait, please," Albus asked quietly, watching the unsuccessful kidnapper use his wand to open the gates. He could now see the elves who had been gardening. "Right, it appears we have a problem…"
Albus knew that the elves were being sent out to search the woods: the man must not have seen the house elf next to the boy, who could transport him far from the place.
"Dirk, can you Apparate to the other side of the mansion? Not into the garden, but on the outside of the wall…" Albus had not given up the idea to find out what was going on.
"Master Al, your father…"
"Don't make me give you a direct order; you know I dislike doing so," Albus asked, taking the house elf's big hand in his. "Nothing risky; I promise."
Dirk nodded.
There was nothing interesting on the opposite side of the mansion, except for a better view of the house and the windows that faced the grove on the other side of the wall.
Albus was thinking intensely. The thought of getting inside brought with it an uncomfortable inkling that he would be walking into a cage. He must listen to the voice of reason, instead heeding the siren call of adventure… Who had said that? Sounded like something Rose would say.
"Master Al, look!" Dirk pulled on his sweater sleeve and pointed at one of the windows. Looking out was the most beautiful girl Albus had ever seen. Yet, he seemed to have seen it just a few moments ago – in his kidnapper's memories.
"Why is she so sad?" he asked himself, looking at her golden hair, even more dazzling than Xenia's, and her big sad eyes, even more expressive than Rose's. "Maybe she's been kidnapped, too?"
"No, Master Al, no…" Dirk latched onto the boy's arm, shaking his head frantically. His big ears flopped onto his cheeks. "You mustn't; you mustn't…"
"Am I a Potter or what?" Albus asked, glaring at the house elf.
The girl was no longer by the window, but Albus was now determined to find out who she was and whether she needed help. It was one thing to be reluctant walk into the enemy's lair for fear of your own safety; it was quite another when you must do it to help another person, especially a girl.
"I am going," the boy said, looking at the distraught Dirk. "And don't you dare stop me. I forbid it.
The elf sighed in defeat, but then his ears lifted and his eyes flashed:
"I am going with you."
"As you wish," Al shrugged his shoulders, thrusting his hand in his pocket before recalling where his wand had been taken. Well then, he now had two reasons to enter his enemy's home.