A few weeks into her job, the routine was starting to become easier for her. She no longer felt so exhausted at the end of the day, as she knew how to better balance her routine. From working as an assistant, Miriam gradually relearned and remembered many different defensive spells she had long since forgotten since she had left the school. Perhaps this was another reason why Dumbledore wanted her to stay - so she could remember the defensive spells she would surely need to fight Tom.
As she was preparing to head home one evening, Miriam was called into Dumbledore's office for an emergency meeting. Fear tugged at her heart as she traveled the well-worn route to Dumbledore's office. What was the emergency meeting about? Did her friends die? Was this why he wanted to see her? But he said Tom wanted to keep them alive to lure her back into his grasps....
Anxious, Miriam headed up to Dumbledore's office. She stopped dead at the door when she saw the grave look on his face. Her heart plummeted into her stomach as she took a seat opposite him. Steeling herself for the bombshell, she received quite the shock when Dumbledore asked if she had learned anything in the past few weeks. Surprised, Miriam nodded her head and told him that she'd re-learned many defensive spells from her time helping the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, on top of remembering things from the other classes. Dumbledore seemed pleased, and the grave expression on his face changed slightly. Miriam noticed his change of expression and asked, "Is that why you had me help the teachers? Did you want me to remember all the spells I learned so long ago?"
Dumbledore nodded his head. "I also want you to be able to help with any injuries your friends may have faced while under your brother's watch until they can be safely sent to St. Mungo's, which was why I had you help in the infirmary."
"But why did I have to become liaison? What was the whole point of that?"
"We were short staffed in that area," Dumbledore replied, trying to lighten the general atmosphere of the room, but Miriam was not in the mood for light-hearted fare. All she was interested in was learning when they were going to fight Tom. Whenever it was, she knew she would be ready for him this time.
Sensing her urgency to get things rolling, Dumbledore continued. "Of course," he said. "However, in order for you to save your friends, you would have to bait Tom and draw him out into the open, and that will not be an easy task."
"Whatever it takes to save Sophie and Marcella - "
"You do understand that you be putting yourself in a huge amount of danger and -"
"I don't care!" Miriam exclaimed, leaping up out of her seat in frustration. "I just want them to be safe."
"Will you be willing to join me and the others in achieving our mission tonight?" he asked.
"Anything," she replied. "I'm ready for anything."
"Good. For tonight will certainly not be trouble-free by any means."
~*~
The night cloaked them in total darkness as they moved forward. Miriam remained huddled under her hood as Dumbledore lead them on. She did not know any of the other people in the group - they had remained covered - but she felt a little safer with them around. They were supposed to be Apparating to Little Hangleton, but one of the scouts had been sent out to check for any signs of trouble in the vicinity before they left. The person came back with reports that there were strange hooded figures walking around. Because of this, Dumbledore felt that it would not be safe to Apparate right inside Little Hanlgeton for fear of alerting Tom.
Instead, they Apparated into the woods that surrounded Great Hangleton and walked along a dirt road on the outskirts of the city.
Miriam held her wand tightly in her hands for protection, afraid that every breaking twig was Tom and his followers waiting to ambush them. Her heart sat firmly in her stomach as what tonight would hold entered her thoughts. War was not something to walk into unnecessarily, as there was bound be innocent lives lost - and Miriam did not want to lose her best friends (or anyone else for that matter). Before long, the moon was high in the night sky, when a large ivy-covered mansion overlooking a small church and graveyard came into view. They had arrived.
"All right," Dumbledore said, holding an arm out to stop the group. "Before we go on, we need to find out how to enter his hideout. Miriam, do you remember what it looked like on the inside while you were in his presence?"
"It - It was cavernous, and it was dark. The only light came from a few torches and whatever moonlight shone through. There were many rooms.... I just remember running through the woods as I escaped. But if you asked me to be more specific, I couldn't. I don't remember much about that night."
Dumbledore nodded his head as he looked around at his surroundings, but Miriam knew that he was formulating a plan.
"It is my guess that you were somewhere underground, Miriam. A hidden place where it would be most difficult to enter."
He separated from the group and strolled over to the old graveyard where he began searching for something only he knew about. Miriam watched as he walked around the cemetery, mumbling something to himself. Stopping in front of a weathered tombstone, he knelt down and ran a long finger over the inscribed words. After a few moments, he walked back to the group. "We have to turn back."
"Why? What's wrong?" someone asked. Miriam didn't like the way things were going.
"The entrance to his lair is not located here in the cemetery. But there are directions hidden inside the letters if the tombstones. Each one points to the direction in which we just came, back through the forest."
~*~
It seemed to take hours to get wherever they were going. Miriam was sure Tom knew that they were here. He had a sixth sense where it concerned her, and it was unnerving to think that he always seemed to know where she was or what she was doing. But she remained quiet nonetheless. Obviously Dumbledore knew where to go. So she followed him without complaint, hoping that it wouldn't be too late.
When Dumbledore stopped abruptly, he said in a low voice just loud enough for them to hear, "We're here."