The castle groaned like a wounded giant.
Stone dust rained from the ceiling of the corridor as another violent tremor shook Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Albus grabbed the wall to keep his balance.
"Something is seriously wrong with the timeline."
Scorpius looked around nervously.
"Seriously? That's your observation?"
A loud crack echoed somewhere deep within the castle.
Students screamed in distant hallways.
Torches flickered wildly as magical energy pulsed through the walls.
It felt as if reality itself was tearing apart.
Scorpius whispered,
"This place is falling apart."
Albus nodded grimly.
"The timeline is collapsing."
---
They ran down the corridor.
Every step echoed through the castle as more stones began breaking loose.
The magical world itself was unstable now.
Each time they had changed history…
The timeline had become weaker.
More fragile.
Now it was breaking completely.
Scorpius turned a corner sharply.
"Where do we go?"
Albus thought quickly.
"The Owlery."
Scorpius blinked.
"The Owlery?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because if we can send a message to my father—"
He stopped suddenly.
Both boys froze.
Albus realized something terrifying.
In this timeline…
Harry Potter was dead.
Scorpius noticed the same realization.
"Oh."
"Right."
Silence hung between them for a moment.
Albus forced himself to focus.
"Then we find the library."
Scorpius sighed.
"Again?"
"Yes."
"Again."
---
They reached the moving staircases.
The magical steps were behaving strangely.
Instead of gliding smoothly into position like they normally did…
The staircases jerked violently.
Two sets of stairs crashed into each other with a thunderous sound.
One staircase collapsed entirely.
Stone blocks tumbled down into darkness.
Scorpius backed away quickly.
"I officially hate time travel."
Albus grabbed his arm.
"Come on!"
They sprinted up another staircase that was still stable.
But the castle continued to shake.
Portraits fell from the walls.
Some paintings screamed as their frames shattered.
Others simply vanished.
As if they had never existed at all.
The timeline was unraveling.
---
When they finally reached the library doors…
They burst inside.
The vast room looked even worse than before.
Shelves had fallen.
Books were scattered across the floor.
Several sections of the ceiling had collapsed.
But one thing still remained.
The restricted section.
Scorpius pointed.
"Time magic books."
Albus nodded.
They ran toward the section and began pulling books from the shelves.
Ancient spellbooks.
Historical records.
Magical theory texts.
Scorpius flipped through one rapidly.
"There has to be something about stabilizing timelines."
Another tremor shook the room.
A large crack appeared across the ceiling.
Albus opened another dusty book.
Inside were diagrams of magical clocks and timelines.
He whispered,
"This might help."
Scorpius leaned closer.
"What does it say?"
Albus read quickly.
"Temporal disturbances can cause unstable reality fractures."
Scorpius blinked.
"In English?"
"It means time is breaking."
"Yes, I figured that part out."
Albus continued reading.
"If a Time-Turner is used repeatedly at critical historical events…"
He paused.
Scorpius frowned.
"What?"
Albus looked up slowly.
"It says the timeline can eventually reach a 'collapse point'."
Scorpius swallowed.
"And what happens then?"
Albus turned the page.
His face turned pale.
"It says…"
"Reality resets."
---
Another loud explosion shook the castle.
The ceiling cracked open further.
Cold wind rushed into the library.
Scorpius stared at him.
"Reality resets?"
"Yes."
"What does that mean?"
Albus closed the book slowly.
"It means…"
"If the timeline breaks completely…"
"Everything disappears."
The words echoed in the ruined library.
Scorpius whispered,
"You mean the wizarding world?"
Albus nodded.
"The past."
"The present."
"The future."
"All erased."
Scorpius sat down heavily on a broken chair.
"That's… not ideal."
Albus ran a hand through his hair.
"No."
"It's not."
---
Suddenly the library doors opened again.
Both boys turned.
For a moment they feared it was Delphi.
But instead a group of students entered.
Slytherin students.
They looked nervous.
One of them spoke carefully.
"Are you the time travelers?"
Scorpius blinked.
"That's a surprisingly specific question."
The student nodded.
"Professor Delphi told us to watch for you."
Albus stepped forward.
"Where is she?"
The student pointed toward the castle towers.
"She went to the astronomy tower."
Scorpius frowned.
"Why there?"
The student hesitated.
Then whispered,
"She said she was preparing to travel to the moment when everything changed."
Albus's heart skipped.
"The Battle of Hogwarts."
Scorpius whispered,
"If she changes that…"
Albus nodded grimly.
"Then Voldemort wins."
Scorpius stood up quickly.
"Then we stop her."
Another crack split the library ceiling.
The entire castle shook again.
They didn't have much time left.
---
Outside, lightning illuminated the towers of Hogwarts.
And somewhere above them…
Delphi held the Time-Turner.
Preparing to travel to the moment that decided the fate of the wizarding world.
The moment when Harry Potter defeated Lord Voldemort.
If she changed that moment…
Everything would belong to darkness.
---