Only a few days were left until the end of the winter break, and Albus Severus Potter still hadn't come up with a plan to get the Time-Turner. Several days had passed since he overheard his father's conversation with Aunt Hermione, and the only option Albus came up with so far was to sneak into his father's office and go from there. The boy decided that he would tell Scorpius about his plan after he already had the Time-Turner in his possession. The time was running out, so it was now or never.
His father apparated to work every day at 8 am, and Albus already knew that the Time-Turner was most likely in his father's home office. 12 Grimmauld Place was protected by ancient magic, which meant it was the safest place for the Time-Turner, besides the Ministry and Hogwarts. Albus knew that tomorrow his mom was going to visit Aunt Hermione (he eavesdropped on them when they were talking through the fireplace); his father was, as usual, leaving for work at 8 am; and the Potter children were invited to visit the Weasleys that day as well. It was the most perfect time to enact his plan. Albus had already made sure that he would stay home, telling his parents that he wasn't feeling well. He reassured his mother that it was nothing serious and he just needed to rest. There might not be another opportunity like this, so it had to be done. Tomorrow he needed to try his luck at finding the Time-Turner.
The next morning, as planned, Albus stayed in bed, and his family members gradually left the house. After seeing her husband and children off, Mrs Potter looked into her son's room to check on his well-being.
"Albus," the boy's mother came inside the room and sat on the edge of his bed. "How are you feeling, darling?"
"Already better, Mum. But I'd better stay in bed a little longer." Albus looked at his mother with a miserable expression on his face.
Ginny grew up with Fred and George and could always recognise when someone was lying, and Albus was definitely not sick. That boy was up to something, but Ginny decided to let him do his mischief in peace and leave the house. Mrs Potter stood up from the bed and said, "I hope you feel better, Al. I'll pop to see Hermione for a bit and then come straight back to you." Ginny kissed her son on the forehead and left the room.
Albus was so ecstatic that everything was going according to his plan that he didn't notice his mother's knowing gaze. As soon as Albus heard the sound of Apparation, he immediately threw the bed covers off him, jumped off the bed and went to check around the house and see if everyone truly left. After confirming that he really was alone, Albus Severus Potter went to his father's office.
Leaving her son's room, Ginny decided to check what the cheeky boy was up to. She went down to the living room and Apparated so that her son would hear the sound. But the witch decided to come back after some time using the fireplace in Hermione's office and travel back home quietly so she could see what mischief her son was up to.
Albus, oblivious to his mother's plans, walked up to his father's office and paused with his hand on the door handle. Heart pounding, the young wizard took a deep breath, gathered his courage, and finally opened the door.
His father's office was, to put it mildly, in "creative disarray." The desk was littered with parchment, and so were the sofa and coffee table nearby. Albus looked around, searching for a place where his father could have hidden the Time-Turner. Potter Jr. decided to start with the desk and move on from there. Albus quickly glanced over the parchment and began to carefully open the desk drawers.
Fifteen minutes into his search, the boy found absolutely nothing useful. The drawers were filled with quills, bottles of ink, and, you guessed it, more parchment. There were also old muggle newspapers and Daily Prophet issues dated at least a couple of years back. In one of the drawers, the boy found an old snitch, which is, of course, very exciting and all, but not what he was looking for. Albus was so immersed in his search that he completely forgot that he had left the door ajar. Rustling inside the drawers, he did not hear the quiet footsteps approaching the office.
Mrs Potter carefully stepped out of the fireplace and decided to confirm that her intuition hadn't failed her. And, of course, it hadn't. Albus's room was empty, which made Ginny smile and shake her head. When she left her son's room and started quietly descending the stairs, the witch heard a quiet rustling coming from Harry's office. Approaching the office, Ginny grinned, seeing that the door was slightly open. Albus was definitely a Potter; look at him finally becoming a troublemaker. Ginny quietly stood next to the slightly open door, trying to guess what exactly her son was looking for that required so much secrecy. The witch pressed herself to the wall near the door, which allowed her to observe what was happening while remaining invisible to her son.
Albus finally finished looking through the drawers and began to examine the neighbouring bookshelf. Where could the Time-Turner be? There must be some kind of hiding place, but where? Albus began to sort through the books to see if maybe there was some kind of safe, but no luck so far.
After a couple of minutes of searching, the boy picked up a strange-looking book, which was surprisingly light for its size. Weird. The wizard tried to open it, but it was sealed. Turning the book in his hands, the young man noticed words in gold ink that started appearing on the cover.
"If your heart is pure and light,
And your mind is star-like bright,
I will reveal my hiding spot,
You only need to say one word.
I might be little, but I'm mighty
Can make you master of the time.
But if you want to be my owner,
You'll need to open up your mind.
Remember. You only have one try.
Fail the riddle, lose the time. "
The words shimmered and disappeared from the book cover. In their place appeared the words of a riddle.
"The symbol of mourning, the afterlife, death,
An underworld flower that thrives in the dark,
Its life's dedicated to the mistress of death,
Imprisoned in the underworld to be Hades's lark.
This flower is known to you, never you fear.
It's brewed into potion, clear as tears,
If you do it just right, then a deep, dreamless sleep
Will swallow you under, and make you appear,
Like you've stopped your existence, that your life is forfeit."
Albus finished reading the words and started thinking aloud about the answer,
"Right. So what do we have? It's a flower that grows in the underworld and is also a symbol of Persephone, who was imprisoned there. It's added to some kind of a sleeping potion. A potion for a dreamless sleep? No, that doesn't sound right."
Albus reread the riddle. "Ah, right. Not just any sleep, but a kind of sleep which is similar to death." The boy closed his eyes, searching his memory for the right answer.
"The Draught of Living Death!" the young wizard exclaimed happily, opening his eyes. "So, what are the ingredients in the Draught of Living Death? Father told me something about this potion before. Come on, Albus, think… Right! Infusion of wormwood, Sopophorous Bean, Valerian roots, and the powdered root of a flower. What is its name?" thought Albus, trying to recall his father's story. And then it came to him. "Asphodel! That's it!"
Albus picked up the book and pressed his palm to the riddle. "Asphodel," said the boy. The riddle shimmered and disappeared, the cover beginning to glow slightly. There was a light click, and the book opened.
Ginny, who still stood in the doorway, grinned. So, the rumours were true and there really was one Time-Turner left. If Ginny deciphered the riddle correctly, then it was a Time-Turner hidden in the magical book. The witch would wait for her son to take the object out of the book, just to be sure.
Albus carefully opened the book. It was hollow inside, fashioned specifically to be the Time-Turner's hiding place. The young wizard carefully took the magic object out, holding it by its golden chain. Words appeared in the space where the Time-Turner lay. Albus read them out loud,
"You have solved the riddle. Now,
Time is yours; command it. But remember,
Don't ever treat it recklessly, don't throw away the seconds.
You only have five minutes each time you walk the past."
Albus finished reading the words and slipped the Time-Turner into his pocket. Mrs Potter carefully left her hiding space by the door and quietly walked back to the fireplace. The witch had a lot to think about. Judging by the riddle, it wasn't her husband who composed it. Ancient mythology and potion ingredients sounded more like Hermione. It was very curious why Albus needed the Time-Turner in the first place. Ginny was not going to interfere with her son's adventure. On the contrary, she was going to help him and make sure he was safe. It would also be necessary to distract Harry so that he did not notice the missing object.
Albus carefully put the now-empty book back on the shelf and looked around the room. Everything seemed to be in its place, or at least still scattered around just like before his arrival. The young wizard quietly left the office and closed the door behind him. He had to return to his room as quickly as possible because his mum could return at any moment.
As soon as her son ran up the stairs, Mrs Potter grinned and disappeared in the green flames.
The Christmas break was finally over, and it was time to return to Hogwarts. After Albus's successful trip to his father's office, the wizard was impatient to see Scorpius and tell him everything. After all, now that they had the Time-Turner, they could travel back in time to when their fathers studied. They would be able to find out the identity of the mysterious girl who Mr Malfoy was talking about. Albus hoped that his friend learned the rest of the story because it would be difficult to find the girl only by the description they had right now. Another important thing to consider was which time period to travel to because, according to the magic book's rhyme, they would only have five minutes. Anyway, even if they failed, they could just try again. There was no limit on the number of times they could travel to the past, just the minutes they could stay there.
Albus said goodbye to his parents and boarded the train. The young man immediately went searching for the right compartment and found Scorpius sitting by the window, deep in thought.
After what Draco had told him, Scorpius firmly decided to find that girl. The young wizard promised himself to find her and tell her the whole truth about what happened all those years ago. Lost in his thoughts, Scorpius didn't immediately notice Albus come in.
"Hi!" said Albus cheerfully and sat down on the bench opposite his friend.
"Hey, I didn't see you there." Scorpius smiled. "How was your break?"
"You will not believe me when I tell you." Albus had a mischievous grin on his face.
Scorpius looked at his friend in surprise.
"I found a way to help your father," said Albus and looked at his friend with a huge smile.
"What? How?" Scorpius couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"First, I wanted to ask you something. Did you find out the rest of the story?"
"Yeah, he told me everything. It's a heartbreaking story. But now, at least, I know all the details." Scorpius sighed sadly.
"I know how we can find out the girl's identity. But before we do that, we need to sum up all the details we currently know about her."
Scorpius looked at his friend with hope in his eyes and began to retell the story. Albus listened intently, tucking away all the details that could help them. The ending of the story turned out to be incredibly sad, and when Scorpius finished, both boys were silent for a while.
"Well, what do you think?" Scorpius spoke first.
"I have to say that this is a devastating story. But now I'm even more convinced that we have to do it," Albus said in a firm and decisive voice.
"Do what?" Scorpius didn't quite understand what his friend was hinting at.
"Return to the past."
Scorpius's eyebrows shot up, and his eyes widened to the size of tea saucers. "What do you mean? How are we going to go back in time?"
Albus looked out of the glass door, checking that there was no one outside. He put his hand in his trouser pocket and pulled out a chain with a golden hourglass.
"Is that what I think it is?" Scorpius couldn't hold back his emotions.
"Yes." Albus smiled. "And with the help of this Time-Turner, we will find the girl your father loved."
The thoughts in Scorpius's head started racing and quickly replaced one another. Now they had a real chance to help his father. Unbelievable! They only needed to choose the right period of time and they will be able to see this girl with their own eyes.
"Where did you get it?" asked Scorpius, taking the Time-Turner to have a closer look.
Albus grinned and told the story of how he found the Time-Turner in his father's office. With every added detail, Scorpius became more and more amazed by his best friend's cleverness. When Albus finished his story, Scorpius asked him, "And your father will not notice that it's gone?"
"I don't think so. He wanted it for some reason, but with the amount of work he has now, Dad isn't going to have the time to use it. You should have seen the amount of paperwork in his home office! I'm afraid to think of what is going on in his other office." Albus chuckled. "But we need to get it done before the banquet in honour of the victory over Voldemort. We will go home the day before the banquet, and I will have to put the Time-Turner back into its hiding place."
Albus sat upright in his seat and said, "Alright, let's list all the facts we have at the moment. We don't have time to lose. The sooner we can draw up an approximate portrait of the girl and determine the period of time we need, the sooner we can start testing returning to the past. In the magic book that the Time-Turner was hidden, there was a rhyme saying we can only return to the past for five minutes, so we'll need to time ourselves as well."
"Okay, then let's think about what we have. First, this girl studied with my father in the same year but was in a different house. Second, she came to the Yule Ball in a pink dress with some Bulgarian, and she had a ginger friend." Scorpius started ticking down the facts.
Albus picked up that train of thought. "We also know that she loves to read, her favourite flowers are pink tulips, and she is a muggle-born. She also fought in the Battle of Hogwarts and now is married and has two children." Albus nodded to himself. "Good. Now, let's remember the main events of the story. That way, we can choose the time and place that we should travel to where we see her face and finally unravel her identity."
Scorpius pondered that for a moment and said, "Well, for starters, I think it's best to try the Yule Ball."
"Perfect. But it will be hard. I think there were a lot of girls in pink dresses there." Albus thought about it.
"True, but it's worth a try. Father said that she outshone everyone then and turned everyone's attention to her. So I think that we need to start from there." Scorpius was starting to get really excited. Could it be that he would finally know the name of his father's love?
"Right. And then we should go back to the time our parents were in their fifth year," started Albus.
"February 14th!" said Scorpius and smiled brightly. "But Father said that it was just the two of them there. Even when they were walking back to the castle, there was no one around. They might notice us, and no one can know that we are from the future." Scorpius frowned.
"You don't have to worry about that. No one will see us." Albus smiled mysteriously.
"What? How?" Scorpius looked at his friend in surprise.
"My father's Cloak of Invisibility will help us with that." Albus smiled broadly and high-fived his friend.
Hogwarts was already visible outside the train windows, and the spirit of adventure filled the air.