As if frozen, the two of them gazed in the direction where they had seen the shadow between the trees.There in the shadows - unseen - curious eyes rested upon the young women...

  The evening had drawn across the canopy of the sky, and still, there was no sign of either of them.

  Dippet had fallen into a state of panic by now.

  "By Merlin's beard - Tom, this cannot be!", he stammered to himself.

  "Where in the world could they be? If they had gotten lost, the Patronus would have found them!" He gazed lost in thought into the dense green of the forest that surrounded them from all sides.

  To Tom, on the other hand, a kidnapping now seemed increasingly likely. For where else could they be? A wizard must be up to no good here in the woods and had Disapparated with the two of them. There was no other real possibility.

  The sun shone gently onto the green canopy of the forest.

  "I think it is better if we return to Director Dippet and your knight of the heart," Menie whispered softly.

  Luna nodded, her gaze fixed on the spot where she had seen the shadowy creature. Then she turned to Menie, who was already waiting for her with the basket filled with berries.

  "Something feels strange....," Luna breathed quietly.

  "Yes, something is not right here. So please, let us leave this part of the forest as quickly as possible."

  "No... I mean, it doesn't feel like a threat, but rather....," she stammered awkwardly. "It is as if time has stood still...."

  Menie raised an eyebrow in surprise. She already knew that Luna sometimes had strange ideas about the world and its creatures. But this was truly an impossibility... unless a very powerful wizard had maniputed time. At the thought, a cold shiver ran down her spine.

  "Come!", she called out to Luna urgently. "I want to leave this pce as quickly as possible."

  Luna nodded without a word and followed the rapid steps of the young teacher. Silently they walked side by side; only the rustling of the old fallen leaves filled the silence of the forest.

  "Strange. We should have reached the campsite long ago," Menie whispered.

  "Surely we have just lost our way," Luna replied confidently.

  "I have an idea! Let us retrace our steps to the spot where we made that strange observation. Perhaps, from that starting point, we will find the right path."

  "NEVER - NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS! Am I going back there!"

  "But perhaps it will help us find the right way from there," Luna persisted stubbornly.

  The young teacher exhaled audibly. "Fine. But only this once. If we still haven't found the way by then, we are still not going back to that strange pce again."

  Luna nodded. And so both hurried through the dense green back to that very spot....

  "By Merlin!" Tom cried, looking searchingly in all directions. How could it have escaped him - the Heir of Slytherin - that someone was up to no good here?

  "And Tom? Have you found any trace of the two of them?", Dippet came running toward him.

  Tom shook his head resignedly.

  "The search spells have failed again. I simply don't understand it. If the two had been kidnapped, the spell would have shown me the pce where they are being held captive," Dippet mused to himself.

  The evening gently drew the first stars into the sky, announcing the approaching night.Lost in thought, Tom looked at the tree with the carved star, when suddenly a deafening bang shattered the silence....

  By now, they had reached that strange part of the forest again. Luna recognized it by the tree with the star.Menie turned in all directions.

  "Do you hear that?", she whispered to Luna.

  Luna listened for a moment but could hear nothing unusual.

  "No. What exactly did you hear?"

  "I don't know... it was as if I heard voices from somewhere far away...."

  Luna perked up. "Perhaps Tom and the Director are already looking for us," she called out, beaming with joy.

  "Hello! Is anyone there? Director, can you hear me!", Menie almost screamed. But as always, there was no answer. The forest remained shrouded in silence.

  Resigned, the young teacher sank onto the soft moss. Her thoughts raced feverishly about how they were going to find their way out of here, while Luna watched the surroundings intently.

  An explosive sound made them both jump. All at once, the sun-drenched sky over the forest was gone. The first stars were already shining in the firmament, and a cool, dark blue had flowed gently into the vault of heaven. It was night...

  Scared to death, Menie screamed out loud. What dark magic had they fallen victim to? It raced through her mind. Panicked, she jumped up and collided with something in the darkness....

  Or rather, not something, but someone. Her wand in her hands, she was ready to checkmate her opponent.

  "Miss Menie?", the figure she had collided with blurted out.

  "Director Dippet!", the young teacher cried with immense relief.Tom also came hurrying over.

  "Director Dippet, what happened? Just a moment ago it was broad daylight!"

  "It has been dark for a long time, Miss Stone," Tom interjected. "We have been looking for you and your sister for hours. We already thought that some wizard was up to no good here. But tell us, what happened?"

  "We were here in this spot in the forest most of the time. Only once did we try to find a way back to the camp. But we didn't find it. So I suggested that we go back to this very spot. To find the right way from this starting point. And as I see, it worked in one way or another," Luna smiled to herself.

  "You're something else. I died a thousand deaths when we came back here....", Menie grumbled at Luna.

  A bell-like ugh escaped Luna's throat.

  "As I told you before, we were not in danger."

  "That's what you think. And what about that strange shadow, or the voices I heard?", the young teacher wanted to know.

  "I can't tell you where the voices came from, unfortunately. But I almost think I know who the strange shadow behind the trees was," Luna threw her head back and looked into the deep blue night sky. "Father Time! Your mischief was not alright. Please moderate your high spirits a bit next time. Otherwise, my sister will have a heart attack," she shouted high into the endless canopy of the sky.

  The jaws of Menie, Dippet, and Tom felt as though they hit the ground at the same time.

  "Well, your little sister truly has an extremely vivid imagination, Miss Menie," the Director chuckled.

  "You don't say..." she snapped.

  "What? Why are you all staring at me as if I were crazy?", Luna looked inquiringly at the small group.

  Tom merely raised his eyebrows, the Director began to ugh, and Menie shook her head. With a sigh, she called out to Luna, "Come. It's time we go back to the camp. I don't want to know what prowls through these woods at night. Today's little adventure was more than enough."

  "I found it quite exciting. After all, who can cim to have made the acquaintance of Father Time?"

  "How do you even come up with that?", Menie finally wanted to know.

  "Well, the shadow behind the trees. The feeling of being watched. I'm sure Father Time was ughing up his sleeve at us," Luna giggled softly. Then she skipped a little ahead of the others, while the moon smiled down from above on the small scene in the forest.

  Menie and Dippet were, as usual, speechless.

  "Like a child," it went through Tom's mind. His lips formed a smug smile. For he would kiss that child out of her tonight....

  "Don't even think about it! Tonight she stays with me," Menie grumbled at him from the side. Almost as if she had read his thoughts.Only with effort could Dippet suppress a ugh.

  "Come along, Tom! Let's get comfortable in the camp first!", he called out to him, as Tom's expression turned slightly sour. "That cursed witch! She would drive him out of his mind and his control once more," the Heir of Slytherin thought before hurrying after the others through the night.

  Far away, behind the veil of worlds, Time ughed softly to itself. A fine bit of mischief it had bestowed upon the two young witches....