Happy Thanksgiving, fellow Americans! To celebrate, I published this chapter early (it's cause I'm so bored so all I've done is write)! It's not a mistake (like I'm so prone to do). Here's the full chapter, three days early!

By the way, if you ever see that a chapter called "Word Count" has been published on this book, it's an accident. I write the chapters in a different part to gauge how long they are, excluding the author's notes. I never mean to publish that chapter!

If I could, I would change Al's name to Arthur Rubeus, for the two people closest to a dad in Harry's life (And anyway, Arthur is Ginny's dad, and Molly got a kid named after her! And Hagrid was the most loyal person in the whole series except possibly Hermione!). Definitely not after Snivellus! But seriously, I see why he didn't name Al "Remus" (which would have made the most sense if not for Teddy), but why "Albus"? Why "Severus"? Albus Dumbledore was a great wizard, yes, but he wasn't perfect and there were many, many people who loved Harry much more. Snape? Ugh, don't get me started. You want to relive my Snape rant, you go find it again.

~~~~

Why did it have to rain today?

It's hard enough to catch the Snitch when there's good weather. But it's near impossible in the rain. My hair was hanging wet in my face, and my only comfort was knowing that the Hufflepuff Seeker was having just as hard a time as me.

The crowd was just as large as always, which was a little surprising, considering the conditions. The wind was blowing hard enough to blow the Quaffle away from the Chasers, and I was having a hard time keeping my broom steady. Fred and James and the Hufflepuff Beaters looked like they couldn't even hit the Bludgers in the direction the wind was coming from, but when they hit it the opposite direction, the wind blew the Bludgers far past the intended target. I could only hope that the wind would be in my favor when I saw the Snitch.

The score wasn't incredibly interesting. Gryffindor would score, then Hufflepuff, then Gryffindor, then Hufflepuff. Patrick Shaw's commentary was half, "And she loses the Quaffle to... The wind, I think," and half, "And they score, tying the match again." Bridgette Copeland, the Hufflepuff Seeker, was shivering about ten yards away from me. For once, I wasn't doing my normal trick-dives. The rain was cold, the wind was whipping my hair and robes about and making it hard to stay upright, and I was perfectly miserable. I honestly didn't care who caught the Snitch as long as I could go inside before I caught pneumonia.

So, when Bridgette dived, I wasn't prepared, and she had about a five second head start on me. If the weather had been fair, that would have been more than enough for her to catch the Snitch, because it wasn't far away. However, the weather was anything but fair. I tore off after her. My lighter weight and swifter broom worked in my advantage, despite the weather, and I managed to catch up to her.

Bridgette and I were neck and neck, weaving through the other players in pursuit of the Snitch. Slowly, I began to inch forward. Having a faster broom really had its advantages.

Finally, I felt I was close enough to grab it. I reached out, and my fingers brushed it. The rain had made it slippery. Before I could grab it, though, I saw a Bludger barreling towards me. I dove a few feet to avoid it, and when I popped back up, Bridgette had caught up to me. We both reached for the Snitch, and for a few critical seconds, I had no idea who would get it first. That was until my fist closed around the little golden ball.

I think most people cheered just out of sheer excitement that they could hurry back inside. That's what the two teams were doing, anyway. I don't know that anyone really cared who had caught the Snitch, just that the Snitch was caught and we could change out of our soaking robes and warm up inside with several cups of hot chocolate.

We all trudged across the muddy pitch to the changing rooms, and I think the changing rooms cleared out in record time. No one wanted to hang around here today.

I walked (well, ran) up to the castle with James and Mackenzie. I knew I was unwelcome, at least with Mackenzie, but I didn't care. James didn't mind my being there, of course. He was almost oblivious to Mackenzie's moods, which was a little funny.

Once we reached the castle, I went off on my own to Gryffindor Tower. There was a first year, Mitch Schreider, I think, standing outside the portrait hole, so I assumed there was some sort of illegal activity going on. Probably spoons, but I wouldn't put it past some of the older kids to do drugs of some sort. Did the wizarding world have its own drugs? I hopped through the portrait hole and discovered a game of spoons in full swing. As I walked up, Brigitte Myers grabbed a spoon, setting off the chaos that normally ensued. I spotted Al and Rose sitting a little apart from everyone, and went to join them.

"Good job today!" Rose exclaimed as I walked up.

"Thanks. Could you even see what happened in the rain?"

"Well... No, but I'm sure you were great."

I smiled and sat down next to Albus. "What're you doing?"

"Homework," Albus said, sighing. "I hate Potions."

"Well, you can stop taking it in sixth year," Rose said matter-of-factly. "Right now, unless you want to just fail, you have to deal with it."

"Oh, I haven't written that essay yet, either," I said, glancing at the title of Al's parchment.

"It's due Monday!" Rose exclaimed, staring at me in disbelief. "You two are ridiculous. How did you ever pass last year?"

Al glanced at me. "Well... We had help..."

Rose looked confused for a second, then she gasped, he face turning white. "Oh, oh, right..."

There was an awkward silence. I wondered how I'd managed to not fail last term, since I'd been basically on my own. Last year, Wren had always made sure all three of us had our assignments done, which was helpful. I missed that more than I cared to admit.

Before any of us had restarted the conversation, we were interrupted. James walked up, grinning. "Guess what?"

"What?"

"I have detention."

Rose gave him a weird look. "How lovely."

"I hexed Ciara. It was definitely worth it."

"Nice!" I said, giving James a high five. Rose shook her head at me, but didn't say anything.

Al looked up from his essay. "Which spell did you do?"

"Oh, Engorgio. It was hilarious."

"Hey, at least Jaycee can be annoyed at someone else now for a change," I said.

"Yes, that's exactly why I did it," James said, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, one of you needs to keep the Map and the Cloak tonight, and next week, because Filch will find them if I have them."

"Map?" Rose asked, frowning. "What are you-"

"You probably don't want to know," I assured her. I volunteered to hold onto the Cloak for a while, and Albus took the Map. James quickly and inconspicuously handed them off, and within minutes we were heading down to the Great Hall for dinner.

After dinner, James left for his detention, whistling and cheerful. He still claimed it was worth it. I had a feeling he'd change his tune once he showed up and Filch proclaimed that he had the honor of cleaning out the boys lavatories with his toothbrush.

As Al and I mounted the stairs to the common room, I suddenly stopped.

"What?" Al asked, stopping a few steps above me.

"I think I'm going to go to the library tonight."

Al frowned in confusion; our curfew was only about an hour from now. When he realized I meant to sneak out, he shook his head. "No, Astra, you can't."

"I haven't gotten to go for three weeks!"

"Two of those weeks we weren't even here," he pointed out.

"Still! What better time than now? I can't go during the Easter holidays. We have to make up everything we missed then."

That was true enough, and Al knew it. "Still, though. Dad made us promise not to sneak out with the Cloak!"

"No, he made us promise not to let him catch us sneaking out with the Cloak. Big difference."

Albus shook his head. "You're hopeless."

"I'm not going to get caught, Al."

He frowned at me for a while, the shrugged with a sigh. "Fine, whatever. If anyone asks me, I know nothing."

"A lot of good that'll do. You're a terrible liar."

"Glad you have so much faith in me," he said, with a grin. I rolled my eyes and followed him up the stairs.

Right before curfew, I slipped out through the portrait hole. I threw the Cloak over myself and hurried down the corridor, not bothering about the noise yet. Technically, I was still allowed out for ten more minutes.

I hung out around the library doors until I saw Madam Pince shoo the last people out of the library and leave herself. Once she was out of sight, I quickly slipped through the door.

Every time I'd managed to come to the library, I'd simply chosen a shelf and gone though every book on it, looking in the back at the references to see if my mother was mentioned. I had asked to see the records, but Madam Pince refused. I don't know what sort of spell Rose cast on her to get them the first time. As it was, I was really wishing I knew where they were kept right now. It would certainly save a lot of hassle.

I found where I'd left off last time, nearly four weeks ago, and slowly began the tedious task of pulling the books down one by one and searching the back for any Isobel Mark.

It had been nearly two hours when I finally decided to give up for the night. I put the last book up and tiptoed out of the library. Chances were, Filch wasn't patrolling right now, since he had James to supervise. Though, actually, James's detention might already have been over. I still had to look out for Mrs. Norris. If only I'd thought to borrow the Map as well. Oh well. I was invisible, and it doesn't get much better than that when avoiding caretakers and their feline friends.

I suddenly heard footsteps in front of me. They were coming from a corridor that crossed the one I was in, about ten yards ahead. I quickly tiptoed up to the corner and peaked around. They were much to light to be Filch.

James was walking down the corridor. I smiled and started towards him, forgetting I was invisible. So, when he starting looking around in confusion, I had no idea what was going on.

"Is someone there?" James asked.

I was about to say yes when I realized I could take this opportunity to scare the living daylights out of him. I inched around behind him and suddenly grabbed his robe.

To James's credit, he didn't scream. He simply stifled a yell, then turned around and pulled the Cloak off me. "I knew it was you."

"Was that why you sounded so scared a minute ago? 'Is anyone there?'" I laughed.

James rolled his eyes and stuffed the Cloak in his bag. "Shh. Filch is in the dungeons, but I don't know where Mrs. Norris is. Have you got the map?"

"No, Al has it."

"What were you doing out here?"

"Library." That was enough of answer for him to get the idea. We walked together in silence for a while. Suddenly, James yelled and tugged his bag forward.

I stared at him. "What're you-"

As I said it, James's bag seemed to get a mind of its own and appeared to pull itself off his shoulder. James grabbed the strap and pulled it forward. Then he kicked out behind him, and I heard a muffled grunt.

The bag wasn't trying to get away on its own. Someone was trying to steal it. Someone invisible.

As soon as the invisible person grabbed at James's bag again, and I had an idea of where the guy was, I launched myself at him, punching and kicking for all I was worth. James soon joined me. As soon as possible, though, he shoved the bag in my arms. "Run! Back to the common room!"

"And just leave you?"

The invisible person started trying to pull the bag out of my arms, and James jumped at where he thought it would be. There was a thump as the invisible person hit the floor, and James seemed to be sitting on air. When nothing stirred for a few moments, James got up. "I think I knocked him out. Come on!"

He took his bag back, and we took off. When we reached the portrait hole, James made me go in. "You're not supposed to be out here right now. Dad'll take the Cloak."

I recognized the logic in that, but I hovered just inside the common room until James climbed through about twenty minutes later.

"He was gone," James whispered to me. "Whoever it was was gone when we got there."

"That's disappointing."

"Dad's upset. Not with us, but that someone got into the school."

"Did you tell him what we think about Pouri?"

"Yeah. He didn't believe me."

Now that was disappointing. I suddenly got a worse thought. "Should we tell him about the letter?"

James rubbed the back of his neck, staring past me into space. "I don't know..."

I sighed. I didn't want to. But we probably needed to. "Tomorrow, we can ask Al about it. Vote, or something."

"Good idea," James said. He yawned. "Night, Astra."

"Goodnight."

~~~~

"Attention, Gryffindors!"

Everyone in the common room turned to Victoire.

"The Fat Lady has asked me to tell you that she will be changing the password every day from now until the end of the year."

Five or six people asked why, but most just started whispering to their friends. Victoire didn't seem to know why the Fat Lady was doing it, but I wondered if Mr. Potter had told the painting about the invisible assailant last night. And that meant that all of Gryffindor House (and indirectly the rest of the school) would know all that had happened by dinner time.

"Listen!" Victoire said loudly. "She'll tell me the password for the next day the night before, and I'll let all of you know before breakfast, all right? Don't leave for breakfast until you know what the password is."

"And what is it?" Fred called.

"I'm getting to that," Victoire said. "Professor Potter also wanted me to say that you should whisper the password to her, not shout it or whatever you do. We don't want anyone overhearing. Anyway, today's password is 'Inpugnantem insurgit.'"

Most people hurried out to ask the Fat Lady what exactly was going on. James grabbed my arm and Al's, and started pulling us over to one of the chairs. He stopped when Albus almost fell over Dean Malfoy.

"Oh, sorry," Albud said immediately, helping the first year to his feet.

"It's okay," Dean said. He seemed distracted. After a second, he asked, "How am I supposed to remember a new password each day? It took me three days to get this one down!"

"You could write them down," Al suggested. James was tugging on his arm, trying to pull him away from Dean and into the chair. Albus ignored him. "As long as you don't lose the parchment it's on, that should be fine."

Dean considered that a minute. "That's a great idea. Thanks!" Then he dashed off. 

Al finally turned his attention to James. "What? Do you guys know what happened? Why're we getting so many new passwords?"

"Sit down, and all will be revealed," James said mysteriously, before pushing Al into the chair.

James and I took turns interrupting each other about everything that went down last night, and James shared his worry that the passwords wouldn't keep Pouri out of the common room. After all, the Fat Lady recognized all the teachers. James thought there might be a special password for them just to prove they weren't using Polyjuice Potion or anything, but Pouri would know that, of course.

"So, we were wondering what you thought about showing Dad the letter."

Al gave us a weird look. "I've been for telling him from the start."

"Well... True," James conceded. "I still think we shouldn't. So, Astra, up to you."

I looked out the window, hoping the answer would be written in the clouds or something. No such luck. I'd been bouncing back and forth from yes to no all night, and I still didn't know. My conscience said yes. My brain also said yes. But I still didn't want to. And feelings have a way of making people ignore their brain and their conscience.

Maybe he can use the letter to find Wren, a little voice in my head suggested. So you aren't doing this for yourself, or anyone else. It's all for her.

And there was my answer. "I think we should," I said quickly, before I lost my resolve.

"Perfect!" Al actually jumped out of his seat. "Let's go!"

I'd kept the letter in pocket since I'd gotten it. Along with the locket I still wore around my neck, it was the only thing I had from her. I didn't want to part with it, but I knew he'd probably give it back as soon as possible. I slid the letter out of my pocket and handed it to Albus.

The three of us left the common room together and stopped by Professor Potter's office. He wasn't there, of course, and we hadn't really expected him to be. Still, all of us seemed to much prefer to give the letter to him in private than in the crowded Great Hall.

"After breakfast, then?" James asked. Albus and I nodded. I was starting to feel sick with anticipation. What if he got mad at us. I couldn't remember Mr. Potter ever being very mad at me, and I was worried. What if he decided he didn't want his sons to be around me anymore? What if he had me expelled for being a a bad influence? What if I had to go back to the Lewises indefinitely?

I ate just about nothing, of course. Al didn't look much less worried than me. James, farther down the table, was the only one making an effort to appear like nothing was wrong.

I was about to simply get up and go wait in the entrance hall when I saw Adalyn and River coming our way. I had a sudden urge to duck under the table. As it was, I simply ducked my head and pretended not to see them. Maybe they would just pass me.

Of course not.

"Astra!"

I turned and forced a smile as River said my name. "Hi, River. Adalyn. Listen, I've got to-"

"Hey, we were wondering if you could teach us some tricks on how to be a good Seeker."

"Please," Adalyn added. "You're so great at it..."

I sighed. I did not want to do that. "I don't know, guys... Why don't you just have Cedric show you what he knows already? He's pretty good. And I'm busy-"

"We haven't even told you a time," River pointed out stubbornly.

I mentally face-palmed. "Well... I'm just busy all the time..."

River sighed. "Please?"

"Please?" Adalyn echoed. "It would be so amazing."

Just then, James walked up. "Al, Astra, Dad's leaving. Come on."

Thankful for any excuse to leave, I immediately stood up and said goodbye to the two first years. Albus and I followed James out of the hall.

Just as I predicted, Mr. Potter was not at all happy that we hadn't told him about this immediately. However, he was more disappointed than angry, which was almost worse.

"So, they want James, Astra, and the Cloak. But you have no idea who 'they' are,"

"We think Pouri-"

"I heard last night James," Mr. Potter cut him off. "Headmaster Pouri is a good man, James. I'm sure he's not mixed up with all of this. The question is why they want you two."

I glanced at James, who shrugged. To our surprise, Albus spoke up. "Maybe blackmail. Like, if they can't get the Cloak, they could kidnap them, and make the Cloak the ransom."

We all stared at him. I hadn't even thought of that, and I never would have suspected that Albus would think of it first.

"That's very likely," Mr. Potter conceded. "So, now that we know that whoever this is who keeps trying to steal your bag simply wants the Cloak, I really think I ought to hold onto it."

"Hold on a minute," James protested. "If these people wants Astra and me for ransom, then maybe it's best that I keep it. Because if they kidnap me and find that I don't have it, they'll demand you give it to them. But if they kidnap me and I do have it, they'll just let me go. What do you care more about? Me and Astra, or some old Cloak?"

Mr. Potter opened his mouth, then closed it. For a minute, he just frowned at James. "Did you really have to put it like that?" he finally asked.

James grinned. "See? We'll be really careful with it, Dad. In fact, we'll lock it up in Astra's trunk. Wren said they don't know which one Astra is, so they won't even know where to look."

Mr. Potter looked like he wanted to argue, but finally he sighed. "Fine. But if you get anything else from Wren, I want to know immediately. We're still trying to find her, and anything sent by her could be helpful."

We all nodded our understanding. I couldn't stop smiling. That wasn't anywhere near as bad as I'd been expecting.

~~~~

I'm so excited! We're getting close to the end, and soon there will be not one but two completed books in the Second Generation Series! And I think I'll probably finish it this year, which would be two books done in less than six months, which is absolutely amazing for me! Yay!

Ugh, the book I'm reading right now (Ten Thousand Pieces of You, which is really good) is first person present tense, and since I'm writing first person past tense, it's messing me up! If you noticed anywhere where I got my verb tense wrong, could you let me know? Thanks!

I'm currently on my weeklong Thanksgiving break (unfortunately this isn't normal), so I'm working ahead! So the next chapter might get released early too, not in five days like normal.

Question of the day: What's your favorite spell and why? How would you use it?

Eye of rabbit,
Harp string hum,
Turn this water
Into rum

*BOOM*

*coughing noises*

Vote *cough* and comment *waves away smoke* please!

~Ellie