“So...a student was talking to Dolohov?” Harry asked, as he and Ron sat in front of the fire, back in the Gryffindor common room. Professor Flitwick had released everyone from the pitch after receiving word that the coast was clear, five minutes after Ron returned.
“Yup,” Ron said. “That confirms it, then...there’s a student “ or students “ that’s talking to the Death Eaters in the forest. We have to find out who, and quick.”
“Well, it may not be too long, now,” Ron commented, as Professor Potter walked into the room. He posted something on the bulletin board, and walked back out again. Ron and Harry, as well as a few other students, walked over to the board and read the notice:
The next Hogsmeade weekend will be held on October 18. Students are hereby banned from all shops south of the Three Broomsticks shop for your own safety.
“Aw, man!” Harry said, reading the last part. “Zonko’s is south of the Three Broomsticks! I wanted to go there! Why are they banning it, anyway?”
“All those shops farther south are on the edge of the forest,” Ron murmured, looking out the window to confirm...in the distance, they could see Hogsmeade, beckoning to them, in a sense. “They probably still think there’s Death Eaters in the forest.”
“So what are we going to do?” Harry asked.
“We wait,” Ron said, deep in thought. “At the next Hogsmeade weekend, we’ll make our move.”
***
The next morning, Dolohov’s capture was wide-spread news. Obviously, the staff at Hogwarts couldn’t do anything to keep the Daily Prophet from getting involved, since they were a Ministry-owned paper and they had turned Dolohov over to the Ministry. Ron and Harry read the headlines at breakfast of the Prophet morning edition that Ron’s owl had delivered. A large picture of Dolohov’s face was portrayed on half of the front page, over the heading:
INFAMOUS DEATH EATER CAPTURED
Yesterday morning, former Death Eater Antonin Dolohov was captured by Hogwarts staff. The 52-year-old was found in the Dark Forest on the edge of Hogwarts grounds at around 11:00 A.M. yesterday. The Hogwarts students were in attendance at a Quidditch match between Hogwarts houses, and they were kept safe by other teachers as Dolohov was confronted and captured.
“Dolohov was not endangering any students at the time of the capture,” the famous Hogwarts professor Harry Potter, 31, told the Prophet. The defeater of the Dark Lord Voldemort in 1998, Potter now teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts at the school, where his son and nephew currently attend.
Potter assures the Prophet that the forest has been searched for any other Death Eaters. “We have done several tests and scans of the forest,” he says, “and we have found no further traces of Dark magic.”
Dolohov will be sent straight back to Azkaban without bail, and will be guarded by security guards, who have guarded the prison since the Dementor Rebellion of 1996.
According to Minister of Magic Rufus Scrimgeour, Dolohov will (ctd. on page 12)
Harry and Ron went over the article a few times, even scanning page 12, but nowhere did they mention the student that was meeting with Dolohov yesterday. “That settles it, then,” Ron declared, setting down the paper. “There is something up with one student, and the teachers are trying to keep it quiet. If they won’t do anything about it, we will.”
“We can’t take on dozens of Death Eaters at once, Ron!” Harry said. “Even your dad had help when he took them on thirteen years ago, and he barely survived!”
“Yeah, but we don’t have to take them on,” Ron said. “I figure the Death Eaters are hiding somewhere nearby that a magical scan couldn’t detect. In that case, we need another plan...and I think I’m starting to get an idea...”
***
As the next few weeks progressed, nothing else spectacular happened in regard to the Death Eaters. There was an interesting morning when the students came down the stairs for breakfast to witness Professor Potter refusing loudly to speak with reporters that had arrived at the school, and sent them out the door. Other than that, it was an uneventful period of time, and Ron and Harry were back to the old routine of homework, Quidditch, and classes, with not much time for anything else.
‘
However, with the prospect of Hogsmeade coming up, Harry and Ron were optimistic. “We can visit some shops first, and then carry out the plan,” Ron said under his breath during Charms, two weeks before the visit. “I don’t think the student would just get it over with as soon as possible “ they’d want to stay with the Death Eaters for a while and get the inside scoop of goings-on...plans, schemes, all that stuff.”
Harry nodded. As two weeks went by, the boys had already formed an elaborate plan. On Saturday morning, they dressed warmly, grabbed the glasses, and walked down for breakfast. After they ate, they went out in front of the school, where Filch was collecting permission slips from students. Harry and Ron were glad that the first and second years were being allowed into Hogsmeade now, as the third-years-and-up rule had been changed about five years ago. They handed Filch their slips, submitted to a Secrecy Sensor search, and got into a carriage and rode into the town.
Harry and Ron immediately began browsing different shops. They went to The Three Broomsticks and bought butterbeers, then went to Honeydukes to stock up on sweets. Then they went to Dervish and Banges, where they browsed the cool instruments and devices on sale, and the Quidditch supply shop, where Ron bought a pair of rain-resistant goggles and Harry purchased some Keeper gloves.
After a quick lunch at a small café, Harry and Ron decided to carry out their plan. Ron took out his glasses and put them on. He was immediately overwhelmed: he could see everything, 360 degrees up, down, left and right. His legs wobbled as he looked at his feet and saw that he could see through the ground, and saw a faint yellow glow far below, at the Earth’s core. His father was a genius.
“Okay, let’s go,” Ron said to Harry. The Inseparable Duo slipped into an alleyway between two shops, and into the Forbidden Forest beyond the shops. The hustle and bustle of students chatting and walking behind them slowly faded away, and soon they were in total silence, except for their crunching feet.
Ron looked around the forest, amazed. He could see for miles through the trees...a rabbit was being hunted by a fox two miles away...a herd of centaurs marched along five miles to their left...if a tree fell, Ron would know before they could see or hear it. However, he tried to focus his attention on anything out-of-place. He found nothing.
“Are you sure we won’t get attacked by anything out here?” Harry asked in a frightened voice, glancing around nervously.
“Harry, I can see for miles,” Ron replied. “The closest threat to us is the centaurs five miles away...unless there are Death Eaters around, of course.”
The boys looked for about a half-hour, but found nothing. Disappointed, Ron turned to Harry. “Let’s go back,” he said glumly. He located Hogsmeade through the trees, and they started walking.
Suddenly, Ron saw something out of the corner of his eye. He turned sharply to look through the lenses in that area. His heart leaped; a hooded figure had Apparated into the forest about a half-mile away.
“I see someone,” Ron hissed to Harry, who immediately tensed up. Both boys pulled out their wands and pointed them upwards. “Accio brooms!” they hissed. After a minute of waiting, their Firebolts glided in next to them, hovering in front of them. They mounted the brooms in silence, and took off in the direction of the hooded figure above the tree line.
Harry couldn’t see through the thick tree branches, but Ron was keeping an eye on the figure. Right before they were right above the person, he disappeared from Ron’s view. “Wha...” Ron said. He swooped down low to skim the branches, now able to look between them. The figure was nowhere in sight. But something else caught his eye.
“Harry! We need to land and look at this closely!” Ron hissed. They dove between the branches, and touched down softly. Harry looked at Ron quizzically as his cousin laid flat on his face, looking at the ground.
“What? What are you looking at?” Harry asked, watching his cousin. Ron finally sat up to look at Harry.
“We found them,” he announced. “They have a hideout underground.”
Author’s Note: Sorry if this chapter was a bit short, but I’ll make it up to you by making a longer one for Ch. 14. As you may be able to tell, the story is drawing nearer to a climax...this is a fairly short fic. I’m going to try to wrap it up in about 20 chapters or so. By the time you read this, you will probably have finished Deathly Hallows. Hopefully, the end of the series doesn’t mean the end of your fan fiction reading, but obviously not, if you’re reading this. Ch. 14 coming soon!