The world twisted again.
Light shattered across Albus's vision as the Time-Turner spun wildly in his hand. The sensation of time travel was becoming painfully familiar now — the violent pull of history dragging them forward through years they no longer recognized.
Wind roared in their ears.
Voices echoed.
Memories that did not belong to them flashed like lightning in the darkness.
Then suddenly—everything stopped.
---
Albus crashed onto cold stone.
For several seconds he simply lay there, breathing heavily.
Scorpius groaned nearby.
"Please tell me… we didn't make things worse."
Albus slowly sat up.
They were inside the entrance hall of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
But once again…
It was different.
The walls were decorated with dark green banners.
A serpent symbol was embroidered into the fabric.
Silver torches cast a cold light across the floor.
Students walked past them in neat lines.
Every single one wore the same badge.
The symbol of House Slytherin.
Scorpius whispered,
"That's… unusual."
Albus frowned.
"Where are the other houses?"
There were no red Gryffindor banners.
No blue Ravenclaw flags.
No yellow Hufflepuff colors.
Only green and silver.
---
They walked deeper into the castle.
The atmosphere felt strangely controlled.
Students moved quietly.
Teachers watched them carefully.
Something about this place felt… disciplined.
Powerful.
Scorpius stopped suddenly.
"Look."
At the end of the corridor hung a series of large portraits.
Important figures in wizarding history.
Albus immediately recognized several of them.
But one portrait in particular made his heart skip.
A tall wizard with pale blond hair and cold grey eyes stared proudly from the painting.
The name beneath the portrait read:
'Lucius Malfoy — Minister for Magic'
Scorpius blinked.
"My grandfather?"
Albus nodded slowly.
"Looks like he won the war in this timeline."
Scorpius stared at the portrait in disbelief.
"In our world he barely escaped prison."
They continued walking.
The next portrait made things even stranger.
'Draco Malfoy — Supreme Magical Advisor'
Scorpius swallowed.
"That's my dad."
The realization hit both of them at the same time.
The Malfoy family controlled the government.
Scorpius whispered,
"So… my family rules the wizarding world."
---
Suddenly footsteps echoed behind them.
They turned.
A tall teacher approached quickly.
She wore elegant black robes.
Her silver hair shimmered under the torchlight.
Albus immediately recognized her.
Delphi.
But this Delphi looked older.
More powerful.
More confident.
Students moved aside respectfully as she passed.
Scorpius whispered,
"Uh… that's not good."
Delphi stopped in front of them.
Her eyes examined them carefully.
For a moment she said nothing.
Then she smiled slowly.
"Well."
"That didn't take long."
Albus froze.
"You remember us?"
Delphi laughed softly.
"Of course I do."
She folded her arms.
"Time travelers are very easy to notice."
Scorpius frowned.
"So you knew we would end up here?"
Delphi tilted her head.
"More or less."
Her voice was calm.
Controlled.
Almost amused.
"You see… every time you boys change the past…"
She stepped closer.
"The timeline moves closer to the future I want."
Albus felt a cold wave of realization.
"You planned this."
Delphi's smile widened.
"Oh yes."
She leaned closer.
"You thought you were saving Cedric Diggory."
"But in reality…"
"You were helping me reshape history."
Scorpius stepped back.
"Why would you want that?"
Delphi's expression darkened slightly.
"Because the wizarding world was built on a lie."
Albus clenched his fists.
"What lie?"
Delphi's eyes gleamed with something dangerous.
"The lie that the Dark Lord truly lost."
She looked up toward the castle towers.
"History remembers Lord Voldemort as a monster."
Her voice grew colder.
"But some of us remember him differently."
Scorpius whispered,
"You're one of his followers."
Delphi smiled again.
"Something like that."
Then she said quietly—"I've spent years studying time magic."
"And now…"
Her gaze locked onto the Time-Turner in Albus's hand.
"Thanks to you… the path is finally opening."
Albus realized something terrifying.
Every change they made to history was weakening the timeline.
Breaking it.
Allowing Delphi to reshape it.
Scorpius whispered,
"We've been helping the villain this entire time."
Delphi nodded calmly.
"Exactly."
---
Outside the castle, thunder rolled across the sky.
The timeline trembled again.
Because the more they changed history…
The closer Delphi came to creating the future she truly wanted.
---