Albus Potter and the Cursed Destiny

Chapter 50

Act Three, Scene Thirteen 

The Forbidden Forest

Albus was somewhere in the middle of the Forbidden Forest. When he was in the common room,  he had seen a white flash of light, almost like multiple white sparks charms, reflecting on the lake, clearly from the forest, so he followed it. 

Albus (whispering forcefully): Lumos! 

His wand flared with light and he proceeded. From what sounds like a few feet away, he hears what sounds like the thump of hooves. He holds his wand at the ready, going ahead cautiously. A few steps, then he finds himself faced by the mysterious centaur.

Mysterious Centaur: You seem troubled, young one. It is quite the night to be so. Earlier, while gazing unto the stars, I saw an omen. The moon showed me a tragic death as the bird flies closer to its prize as the Cursed Nightfall looms ever closer.

Albus: Whose death? 

Mysterious Centaur: It is unclear whose death the foretold by the stars. My warning is this, child. Get away from the forest. It holds only danger and darkness. 

Albus (thinking quickly): I came to try and stop the Augurey. I'm from the auror office in the Ministry— big name, extremely secretive. I need to be going now. 

Mysterious Centaur: Be careful of the flash of green. 

The mysterious centaur leaves the forest clearing. Through the blinding white light and fog of the night, Albus sees flashes of light blue. His dad had told him about this spell when he was younger— it was the human-revealing charm. Everything rational in him urged him to hide, but his irrational part— his thirst to be noticed and liked— his thirst to be like his father— won out, so he went in the direction of the light.

Flashes of green— the killing curse— bounced around the forest. The Augurey was nearby. He knew it. All the trees and overgrowth shielding him from their view  had been incinerated. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a cottage and ran for it.

The Augurey (coldly): Avada Kedavra!

A whoosh in his face, a flash of green light, and a thump. Then the forest was silent except for the creatures which inhabited it. All at once, about twenty arrows soared at the misty shield obscuring the Augurey from view. 

The Augurey: Accio! 

The incantation of the summoning charm reverberates through the forest, but nothing happens. Albus feels around for the nail, which was the only known object of value directly available to him. He relaxes when he feels it in his pocket. 

As the centaurs advance, only then is Albus able to see the exact target of the killing curse. Spread-eagled on the ground, mouth open in a cry of terror and eyes open wide, was Hagrid. He stared sightlessly up at the sky. Albus knew what the Augurey would do if she found the body again. She would decompose of Hagrid's body. 

Man's Voice: Finite Incantatem! 

It seemed even the general counter-charm couldn't break the fog spell. Albus couldn't see very well at the moment, but he knew it was an auror from the Ministry. Unfortunately, the Augurey seemed to have reached that conclusion as well.

The Augurey: Obliviate. 

Albus couldn't say he saw the memory charm, but he felt its path. By instinct, he leapt aside with Hagrid's body. The auror also seemed to have dodged the memory charm. Unbeknownst to anyone, even Scorpius, Albus had been practicing spells just in case of a scenario like this.

Albus: Wingardium Leviosa! 

The spell just came to him by memory— one that had saved the lives of his father, uncle, and aunt against a troll in the girls' bathroom. However, due to the fact that the Augurey was nearly impossible to see, he could only predict that the spell missed. 

The Augurey: Sectumsempra! 

Ministry Auror (simultaneously): Depulso! (a beat) Protego! 

Albus finds himself being pushed away from the path of the spell by an unseen force. Before the could fully get up, though, the voice of the Ministry auror cut through the air.

Ministry Auror: Stupefy! 

As the light collided with his stomach, Albus got pushed back and whisked into unconsciousness.