The silence inside the library felt suffocating.
Albus stood frozen beside the shelf, staring at the boy in front of them.
The boy who looked exactly like Scorpius.
Same pale face.
Same sharp cheekbones.
Same silver-blond hair.
But the expression was completely different.
Cold.
Confident.
Cruel.
The alternate Scorpius Malfoy folded his arms slowly.
"So," he said softly, "this is interesting."
He looked directly at the real Scorpius.
"I don't remember having a twin."
Scorpius swallowed hard.
"I'm not your twin."
The other Scorpius raised an eyebrow.
"Then what exactly are you?"
Before Scorpius could answer, one of the other students spoke.
"Head Boy, should we report them?"
The title felt strange.
Head Boy.
The Scorpius of this world clearly held power here.
Albus glanced at the silver serpent badge pinned to the boy's robe.
A symbol of loyalty to the regime of Lord Voldemort.
Evil Scorpius waved the other students away.
"No."
His eyes never left the two intruders.
"Leave us."
The students obeyed immediately.
Within seconds the library was empty again.
---
Evil Scorpius stepped closer.
"You both look… confused."
Scorpius tried to stay calm.
"Maybe we just transferred here."
Evil Scorpius smiled slightly.
"That would be impressive."
He leaned closer.
"Considering Hogwarts hasn't accepted transfer students in years."
Albus realized something.
This version of Scorpius was extremely intelligent.
Every word was calculated.
Every reaction carefully observed.
Finally Evil Scorpius said quietly,
"You don't belong in this timeline."
Both boys froze.
Scorpius whispered,
"You know about timelines?"
The alternate Scorpius smiled.
"Oh yes."
He walked slowly around them.
"You see… in this world, people study time magic very carefully."
He leaned close to Scorpius.
"And I know exactly what a time traveler looks like."
---
Albus's heart pounded.
"How?"
Evil Scorpius shrugged.
"Because the Dark Lord has always been fascinated by time."
He gestured toward the window.
"After defeating Harry Potter, he spent years researching magical time manipulation."
Albus felt his stomach drop.
"After defeating my father?"
The alternate Scorpius looked at him curiously.
"Oh."
"So you didn't know."
Silence filled the room.
Then he said calmly,
"Yes."
"Harry Potter died in the war."
The words hit Albus like a physical blow.
For a moment he couldn't breathe.
His father.
Dead.
Killed by Voldemort.
Because of something they had done.
Scorpius looked at Albus with deep concern.
"We have to fix this."
Albus nodded slowly.
"We will."
---
Evil Scorpius leaned against the bookshelf.
"You know what fascinates me?"
He studied them carefully.
"You clearly changed something in the past."
Scorpius sighed.
"Yes."
"And now history looks different."
The other Scorpius smiled.
"But here's the interesting part."
He tapped the history book Albus had been reading.
"The key change was Cedric Diggory."
Cedric Diggory.
Albus nodded slowly.
"We humiliated him during the Triwizard Tournament."
Evil Scorpius laughed quietly.
"That explains it."
He picked up the book.
"In this timeline, Cedric became one of the Dark Lord's most powerful followers."
Scorpius whispered,
"We turned a hero into a Death Eater."
Evil Scorpius nodded.
"Exactly."
---
Then he said something unexpected.
"You should probably fix that."
Albus blinked.
"You're… helping us?"
Evil Scorpius smiled.
"Oh no."
His voice dropped to a whisper.
"I'm just curious."
He leaned closer.
"Imagine what happens if you change time again."
His eyes glittered.
"Maybe the next world will be even worse."
Scorpius shook his head.
"You're insane."
The alternate Scorpius chuckled.
"Possibly."
Then he pointed to Albus's pocket.
"The Time-Turner."
Albus froze.
"How did you—"
"I told you."
He tapped his temple.
"I study time magic."
---
Suddenly the library doors burst open.
Several black-robed guards rushed inside.
Evil Scorpius had summoned them silently.
He stepped back calmly.
"Take them."
The guards raised their wands.
Albus shouted,
"Run!"
He grabbed the Time-Turner and twisted it wildly.
Magic exploded around them again.
The world shattered into spinning light.
The guards vanished.
The library disappeared.
History began shifting again.
---
Somewhere inside the twisting storm of time…
Albus realized something terrifying.
They had just changed history once.
And it had created a nightmare world.
Now they were about to change it again.
But there was no guarantee the next timeline would be better.
---