The dark brown mares walked steadily yet cautiously through the dense forest. It had been raining for nearly four hours. The man lead, his sword hung from his saddle and his bright green eyes scanned everything before them from behind his round spectacles. The hood of his long dark cloak covered his helm but his young serious face was clearly visible. The woman appeared more withdrawn, the hood of her cloak pulled far forward. Her eyes were locked on her companion while her mind was elsewhere. A third figure was barely discernable, tucked tightly up against the woman rode a small thin girl who looked fearfully about while clinging to the woman's fine robe. Though the rain fell fast and hard both they and their mounts were completely dry.
They passed another sign which read, "Magic users will be put to death!" He smirked and continued on, this was forbidden country to their kind but that was nothing new to them. The risk was to anyone who tried to stop them. Their quest had been successful the icon they had been sent to retrieve lay safe within her saddlebag; soon they would be home.
He thought again of the roving bands of brigands patrolling this forest, someday he swore they would be stopped, for now they served a purpose they knew not. The great hedge finally appeared before them and he sighed softly, they would be safe soon. He turned right to follow the hedge looking for the correct entrance. She made a soft sound and instantly his sword gleamed in his hand and he swung his mount around. Behind them half a dozen brigands skidded to a stop in the mud. They were a ragged bunch, all afoot and poorly equipped.
He stood in his saddle and threw back his cloak revealing the gleaming plates of armor beneath. Suddenly her voice spoke in his head, "Try not to kill them, they are only doing what we want them to do." He replied instantly, "Of course my love, they must learn to fear us though." With that thought he flipped his head causing his visor to close and charged the ragged line of brigands.
She pulled back the hood of her cloak revealing her long curly brown locks. A barrier flashed into existence around her then faded to invisibility. She thought to her companion, "Ward up, they cannot touch us love."
His reply came as he crashed into the first brigand, "Good, make sure there are no more lurking about." He deflected the poor thrust of the brigands spear and crashed the pommel of his bejeweled sword into the man's forehead. With a clatter he crumpled to the ground. The knight rode on and the next brigand soon met the same fate. The other four attacked him simultaneously. For a moment he wished he had taken the time to get his shield from where it hung upon his horse. Then he met the third man's mace with his sword and in that meeting the mace shattered. While the man looked dumbfounded his mates' weapons skidded across the knight's armor.
The woman's voice cut through the downpour, "Veckus!" he felt the wave of force flow by him, like he was standing in a swiftly flowing river. Suddenly the four brigands were all thrown back ten feet to land sprawled in the mud.
The knight looked at their stunned expressions, "Yes we are, now leave us be!" He backed his mount until a brief shimmer told him he was within his companion's ward. Then he stopped and sheathed his sword before flipping his visor up once again. He sat casually in his saddle while the four remaining brigands went and carried off their two unconscious companions.
Simple enough-They could have hurt you!-Not with you here my love. He felt her blush though she said no more. When the brigands had vanished into the woods he spun his mount to face the hedge once again. He saw the girl shiver, in fright not from cold and his companion pulled her tight once again. He started riding along the hedge once again and the ward shimmered briefly and vanished. They rode in silence again and soon found the eastern entrance to the maze. He turned confidently and rode in through the tall stone archway. Once inside the rain stopped and the sun came out. From outside it had looked just as gloomy inside as it had been outside.
They rode quicker now, the way through the maze was apparent only to their kind. Soon they emerged from the maze through another stone arch. Before them a truly welcome sight, the castle Hogwarts. There were no guards, truly none were needed with the hedge about. The bustling town of Hogsmeade stood clustered at the base of the great hill which the castle stood upon. A thousand years of peace and prosperity had blessed this region. He thought back, to a time before the hedge and shuddered. For a thousand years this place had been secluded from the world around it. Their guiding mission; to carefully collect all those who held the spark of magic in their veins, train them to conceal it when needed, or use it when no other choice was acceptable.
The present Lord, Albus Dumbledore, cautioned against open displays. Non magical folk could not understand that there were good and bad magical folk. To them all magic was bad, to be shunned and stamped out ruthlessly. That was why they had brought the girl with them, her parents had discovered she caused strange things to happen and had taken her into the forest to die, a sacrifice to their ignorance.
Burrow?-Yes let's drop Vady with Molly.-All right. He turned down a path towards a tall rickety house. Though their own children had long since outgrown their home Molly and Arthur collected and nurtured all the lost ones that the Hunters brought back. "Here is your new home Vady."
The little girl dared to look out from where she was hiding behind the cloak. There were nearly a dozen children running about. Some were coasting around on brooms, others were hard at play in the garden. Supervising it all was a plump woman who seemed to be everywhere at once. She spotted them coming down the path and quickly called her charges to order. The children all moved quickly to obey her and formed a line along the path leading to the house.
She greeted them when they drew near, "Harry, Hermione, so good to see you both returned safely. Found another for me I see, well we'll soon put her to rights. You two just can't seem to return without some waif along for the ride can you. Well all's the better I reckon."
Harry smiled back at her and waved to the children who were managing to stand nearly still, four of them waved back cheerfully. "Thank you Molly, we do seem to find them don't we."
Hermione passed the shaking girl into Molly's safe hands, "Her name is Vady, I haven't discovered if that is short for something else yet but she is a strong one. Vady?" The girl looked up at her. "You will be safe here and you can trust Molly, listen to her and we will check up on you later all right?" The girl nodded slowly, Hermione smiled back then turned her mount around. Harry stood waiting for her and together they rode back to the main road into town.