Ch 8 Warnings from a Wanderer
Harry floated lazily over the Quidditch field. The last few weeks hadn't turned out nearly as well as he had hoped. While he and Hermione were technically staying at the Weasleys, it seemed like they spent more time at Hogwarts than at the Burrow. Harry came every morning for training sessions with Dumbledore after he and Hermione had finished their sparring session with Saldar. Hermione came as well, to read in the library-Dumbledore had given her complete access to the Restricted area. They spent most of the day there, since the Weasleys all seemed to be very busy. The twins seemed to have their hands full with the shop and it seemed as if even Ron and Ginny were working full time there as well. Arthur, Bill, and Charlie seemed to have never ending tasks to do for the ministry, and even Molly was rarely home. Sometimes Harry read with Hermione looking for clues about Atlantis, other days, like today, he flew around on his Firebolt. But not even that seemed to be lightening his spirits today.
Returning to the bedroom he shared with his Gryffindor roommates through an open window, he put his broomstick back in its case and looked back out the window. On an impulse he jumped through the window and shapeshifted to his dragonform as he fell towards the ground. Catching a draft, he soared upward and headed for the Forbidden Forest. Circling for a moment, reveling in the onrush of sensations his heightened senses were picking up, he dove towards the tangled branches.
Swooping, diving, rolling, Harry flew through the tangled canopy, dodging and twisting agilely and avoiding gnarled limbs and entangling vines. Minutes later, Harry perched on a limb and soaked in the images his senses provided him from the world around him. Grawp's presence was easy enough to detect, the unicorns and centaurs more difficult. He had passed several tree nymphs, a few had seemed to notice his presence as he flew by. Just off to the right, however, Harry detected something odd. The normal sounds of the forest, the normally bright music of bird songs, punctuated by the flapping of wings and the velvety brushing of ferns by larger animals, seemed somewhat subdued, though not completely silent. Harry went to investigate.
Perching on another branch overlooking a small clearing, Harry watched and waited in complete silence, cloaked in his form of invisibility. Suddenly, silently there emerged from the underbrush a tall, roughly dressed figure. He paused at the edge of the clearing, paused to lift his nose as if smelling the air, and then continued across the open forest. His long, grey overcoat hung off his shoulders, brushing lightly against the leaves and branches but making no sound. Harry noticed the wary stride of the man and recognized the balanced, relaxed attitude of a capable adversary. The man's blue eyes continued to dart everywhere, constantly looking for possible danger. Though Harry could see no wand or visible weapon, he detected a sense of strength and danger about the man. After all, anyone who would wander right through the heart of the Forbidden Forest alone and unarmed had to be either very foolish or very powerful. He didn't seem to be a fool. And if he continued to follow his present course, it would lead him straight to Hogwarts.
Harry decided to follow him, and if he got nearer, he would warn Hermione and Dumbledore. Maintaining his invisibility, Harry alternated between flying and teleporting to keep an eye on the intruder. Once or twice, he noticed the man turn his head towards him, and Harry quickly teleported away.
A quarter mile from the edge of the forest, Harry mindspoke to Hermione. "Mione. Please tell Dumbledore that we have some company arriving through the Forbidden Forest."
"Who?"
"No idea. But he's walked through the heart of the forest by himself while avoiding the most dangerous threats. I thought you should know."
"Thanks, I'll tell Dumbledore."
When the man and Harry broke out of the forest and looked across to the castle, Harry saw Dumbledore sitting in the middle of one of the remaining green patches of field, with an empty chair in front of him, and a small table with some snacks, a pitcher, and several glasses. Harry noticed that the man's pace quickened, and he seemed a little more relaxed. Harry stayed cloaked and followed the man, about ten feet behind him and to his right. When the man stopped in front of Dumbledore, Harry transformed back and pointed his wand at the stranger while staying invisible.
"Samuel, it is a pleasure to see you again. I trust you are well. Please, have a seat. Would you care for something to eat? Or a drink perhaps? Please, relax. You have nothing to fear here."
The man called Samuel stood for a minute, then laughed. "Getting too old to defend yourself, Dumbledore? Need a pair of bodyguards to watch over you now? Tell the girl to calm down. That's a lovely fragrance she's wearing, by the way-smells like dust and paper. I haven't figured out what you had tracking me in the forest yet-it's got tremendous skill, but it's still a little sloppy."
"Hermione, Harry. It's quite all right. Please, come and sit down with us." Dumbledore then waved his wand and two more comfortable chairs appeared. Hermione, standing several feet to the side of Dumbledore, pulled off Harry's Invisibility Cloak, put her wand away, and stood by Dumbledore. Harry uncloaked himself and moved next to Hermione. Both looked intently at the stranger named Samuel as he poured himself a glass to drink.
Grimacing, Samuel swallowed as he sat in the chair. "Pumpkin juice, Dumbledore? I've crossed half this damn island for juice?!? Please tell me you've got better stuff than this hidden in that school of yours!"
"Perhaps, but I believe it is a little early in the day for stronger drinks, Samuel."
"Well, yeah, I guess. What are those, cookies? Toss me a couple would you, sweetie?" asked Samuel, looking at Hermione. "Any of your elves know how to grill a decent burger or just fish `n chips? I'd kill for a double cheeseburger with extra bacon and onions right about now." Chomping on the biscuits, Samuel looked at Hermione and Harry, who were in turn studying him quietly.
"Hermione and Harry, huh? That would make you Granger and Potter." He looked them up and down quietly for a moment. "You don't look half as formidable as the papers make you out to be. But what are you doing here? Isn't school out for the summer? Shouldn't you be at a press conference or endorsing a new brand of broomsticks or meeting with your fan clubs or something? You know, cashing in on your fame?"
Harry's mouth closed in a tight line. "I've got better things to do with my time then waste it talking to reporters. And I don't know who you think you are, but I would suggest that you show a little more respect towards Hermione and Professor Dumbledore."
Samuel smiled and chuckled tauntingly, "You going to make me hero? What about you Missy? Any words of advice or veiled threats? What's the matter, cat got your tongue? Or does he do all the talking for you?"
"If you would say anything halfway intelligent, I would be happy to respond," snapped Hermione.
Dumbledore chuckled. "Ah, Samuel, I see you have not lost any of your considerable charm. However, I think that if you got to know Hermione and Harry a little better, you would find them to be quite different from what some of the papers make them out to be."
"Whatever. Let's cut to the chase Dumbledore, I've got some important news for you. Tell the dynamic duo to get lost so we can talk in private."
Though Dumbledore's eyes flashed briefly, he politely asked, "Harry, Hermione, would you mind giving us some privacy for a few minutes, please?"
Controlling his temper, Harry muttered, "No problem, sir." Hermione pulled him away and they walked back up to the castle. They had barely reached the front doors, when Hermione paused, and then pulled Harry back towards the field.
"I think Dumbledore wants us back for a minute."
"Were you eavesdropping?" At Hermione's faint smile, Harry thought, "Fine, we'll head back, but something about that guy really gets on my nerves. I'd as soon punch him as look at him."
As they walked back, they could see that Samuel was talking very animatedly with Dumbledore. Hermione looked oddly for a moment at the profiles of the two mages as they faced each other and then turned simultaneously to watch Harry and her walk towards them.
"Thank you two for returning. I am afraid that the information Mr. Hunt has brought me may involve the two of you as well. Before I ask Samuel to share that with you, let me provide a little background for the both of you. As you may have guessed from his accent, Samuel is American, not British. He therefore does not have any ties with our Ministry of Magic here in Great Britain. Because of that, he has been very helpful to us in the Order of the Phoenix in countering Voldemort's moves here and on the continent. During most of the recent war, Samuel has been hard at work trying to prevent Voldemort from gaining additional allies and trying to undermine the alliances he did make."
"It would have been much easier had I known that Potter and Granger here were working on their own set of alliances," interrupted Samuel.
"Yes, we have already been through all of this. That is in the past now. We need to move on," commented Dumbledore.
"Did you really think that the vampires or the harpies were going to fight on our side? How many other groups did you waste your time on?"
"It was worth a try," insisted Hermione.
"Besides, they didn't help Voldemort's side," added Harry.
"More because of dumb luck, than anything. If you had launched your final battle any later…"
"That is enough. Voldemort has been defeated. Could it have gone more smoothly? Perhaps. But that is not important right now. What is important is the information you are bringing us now, Samuel. Please tell Harry and Hermione what you have already told me."
"Very well. I'm not sure if you know, but the Death Stalkers have been very busy on the continent tracking down the remaining allies of Voldemort who were supposed to show up for the big showdown. I have been doing the same thing on my own."
"By yourself?" gasped Hermione.
"Of course," snapped Samuel.
"Samuel is a Grey Warlock, the American version of an Auror," explained Dumbledore. "And one of the best, I might add. We were very grateful for his assistance."
Samuel glanced at Dumbledore, then he looked at Harry and Hermione oddly. "Was. I'm not exactly a team player." Then he straightened in his chair and looked at both Harry and Hermione more seriously. "As I was tracking down various allies of Voldemort, I came across a mid-level Death Eater named Schraeder. During the interrogation, he informed me of some very dangerous allies that Voldemort had tried to enlist. Voldemort had been unsuccessful, thank goodness, during the war in recruiting them. But Schraeder told me that several had been recruited about two weeks ago."
"But who could have done that?" asked Harry.
"Who did the recruiting is less important right now than what was recruited. They, whoever that is, have enlisted the help of the Yonnua."
"Assassins?!?!" cried Hermione.
"You know of them?" sputtered Samuel in amazement.
"Not much. I came across a reference to them for an essay I was doing last year. It seems that during the late nineteenth century, there were several groups of radical wizards looking to shake things up by bringing down the various Ministries and creating a new social order of magic. Some of them tried to enlist the aid of the Yonnua, but were never heard of again. Some wizards also think they may have been involved in some of the political assassinations of Muggle leaders at the end of the nineteenth century usually attributed to the Anarchists, but nobody has been able to prove anything definitively one way or another."
"Glad to hear it. The fewer that know about them, the better," responded Samuel. Turning to Dumbledore, he asked again. "Are you sure you want them to know? They're awfully young and this is pretty serious stuff."
"Please continue Samuel. They are young, but they have handled some fairly serious stuff on their own. Besides…" with his eyes twinkling as he gazed at Hermione, "if you do not tell them, you will simply force them to discover the information for themselves."
Hermione blushed slightly and quickly hid her guilty look.
"Fine, you're the boss old man. Anyways, the Yonnua are the perfect assassins. They're shapeshifters. Do not confuse them with boggarts and don't even think about using a Riddikulus spell on them. They're much more lethal than boggarts, or even dopplegangers. They can assume the shape of anything they kill, not just a human form like a doppleganger. But in addition, they can absorb the memories and behaviors of the victims, making them impossible to detect. You might be able to trip up a doppelganger, catch it in an inappropriate behavior. But not a Yonnua, it's like they can clone everything about the victim.
Normally, Muggles don't have to worry about them, except for their victims, obviously. What I mean is that they have never involved themselves with the affairs of humans before." Here he paused and glanced at Hermione. "Or at least that I've heard of. The Yonnua are completely wrapped up in their own scramble for power. They seem to be concerned with only two things, survival, and killing every other Yonnua they find. Their entire existence seems to be a never ending game of cat and mouse, with every Yonnua constantly hunting down and eliminating every other Yonnua they can find. Sometimes they kill humans to hide among human society, most of the time they hide as various types of animals."
"Why haven't they involved themselves in human affairs?" asked Harry. "It sounds like they could do pretty much whatever they wanted."
"Be glad they haven't. Personally, I don't think they believe we have anything to offer them. Or maybe a lack of coordinated goals between them. Like I said, all they seem to care about is killing each other."
"But you specifically mentioned Muggles. Couldn't they cause problems for the wizarding world as well?" asked Hermione.
"I suppose so, but, according to Schraeder, the Yonnua can't absorb magical powers, so there is no advantage for them to target wizards or witches-or magical creatures for that matter. In fact, by trying to impersonate a magical being and then being unable to use magic would increase the risk of exposure and murder by one of their fellow Yonnua. Thankfully they don't have the ability to cast spells-their ability to transform their physical appearance and to absorb memories seems to be their only gifts, though they are powerful ones."
"So why was Voldemort trying to recruit them?" asked Harry.
Looking steadily at Harry, Samuel replied evenly. "I'm not sure. Maybe Voldemort simply wanted to create problems among the Muggles. Or maybe he didn't know about it. Maybe not all of the Death Eaters thought he would be able to take you down. Maybe they were plan B."
"But if they've never bothered with interfering in Muggle or Wizarding affairs before, why now?" asked Hermione.
"It seems that someone working for Voldemort found something that sparked their interest. Schraeder told me that they discovered that if viewed with infravision, the mind of a Yonnua glows much more brightly than a normal human would. They figured it had something to do with the absorption of the victims' memories or the fact that they could hold memories from many different victims. Some nonsense about increased blood flow or neural connections or something."
"Yes, of course. That makes sense," commented Hermione. Dumbledore glanced at Hermione and nodded in agreement.
Looking at Harry, Samuel rolled his eyes and continued, "Anyways, they then created an item, a set of magical glasses, that would allow any Yonnua to have infravision. Of course, they would have to get the glasses recharged, which is how Voldemort planned on keeping their loyalty. With those glasses, it would be very easy for any Yonnua to discover and kill as many other Yonnua as he pleased."
"Hmm. But how did the Yonnua detect each other before if not through the use of infravision? I thought you said they didn't have magical abilities and…"
"I don't know and frankly, I could care less. Do I look like some sort of encyclopedia to you?" snapped Samuel.
"Well, how do you know all of this about the Yonnua?" demanded Hermione.
"I've told you-I interrogated Schraeder," replied Samuel forcefully.
"That's your only source?" questioned Hermione incredulously.
"Back to the more important questions," urged Harry, "Do you how many were hired? And who are they supposed to kill? And who is calling the shots?" asked Harry.
Samuel shrugged. "Well, Schraeder was in charge of this recruitment project and, after he successfully made agreements with two of the Yonnua, as seems to be standard procedure for Death Eaters, he killed everyone below him that worked on the project. I believe the only other one who knows anything about this is his immediate superior, but I couldn't find out who it was. But there can't be too many left. Most of them perished in the final battle with Voldemort and, as far as I understand, some are still being held in your wizard prison-what was the name?"
"Azkaban," supplied Harry. "Yeah, there's still about two dozen there. But it couldn't be one of them. Even when the Dementors abandoned the prison to attack Hogwarts, nobody was able to escape because the Order left some members close enough to the prison just in case that happened. They've been under constant guard since then, right Dumbledore?"
"Well, until the final battle, there was always someone from the Order at the prison in addition to the other guards. However, since then, the guard staff has been provided solely by the Ministry, but as I understand it, nobody has been allowed visitors since the battle at Hogwarts," explained Dumbledore.
"Maybe we could try talking to Schraeder again. Where is he?" asked Hermione.
"Dead. Tried to escape. Died in the attempt. But at least he's no longer a threat."
Hermione looked closely at Samuel. Samuel returned the gaze coolly.
"I didn't kill him on purpose, if that's what you're insinuating, Miss Granger. I would have liked to continue questioning him-I still need to know who's in charge now and who the targets are. Now that job is a lot tougher. In case you've forgotten, we're still in a war. But that doesn't mean I stoop to their level and start acting like one of the monsters we're fighting and start killing people just for the sheer pleasure of it."
"I didn't mean to imply…I mean…but isn't the war over? I mean we defeated Voldemort and his army."
Glancing at a grim-faced Harry and a somber Dumbledore, Samuel replied, "Ask them if the war against evil ever ends. For every Grindelwald and Voldemort that goes down, some other scumbag wizard will surface and try to make a name for himself." He then stood and headed to the castle. Stopping by Dumbledore's seat, he reached down and placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed lightly. "It's good to see you again old friend, though I wish it were under better circumstances. I'll head to my regular room, if that's alright. I'm going to hit the sack for a short catnap-I'm beat."
Dumbledore invited him to dinner later that evening in the Great Hall. Samuel nodded and then strode to the castle without another word. Harry and Hermione watched him go before Harry turned sharply to Hermione. "What if Voldemort or one of his Death Eaters had another research project going on? What if it's one of his Death Eaters that is looking for one of the artifacts from Atlantis?"
Hermione gasped as Dumbledore's eyes narrowed in thought. "That is possible, Harry. There may be other groups like the one that was headed by this Schraeder…"
Harry's fist clenched as he stared at the castle in frustration. "It never ends does it? I thought Voldemort's evil would be finally finished when I defeated him, but no, his stupid followers keep on causing new problems."
"We do not know whether they are involved or not Harry. If it's not, it simply means someone else is trying to step in and take their place as Samuel pointed out. As long as people have choices, there will always be those who prefer evil to good. That means that there will always be a need for people like you and Hermione, people who are willing to stand up and fight against them in order to protect those who cannot. We simply do the best we can, Harry. We can do no more," offered Dumbledore.
Hermione stepped near and slid an arm around his waist comfortingly. "Don't worry Harry, we'll find them. We'll get the artifact before they do." Harry just nodded silently.
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Harry was happy to see most of the Weasleys in the Great Hall that night. He was even glad to see Ron, who was in a particularly happy mood. Hermione and he had grown somewhat tired of Ron's fluctuating moodiness and were trying to give him some space. Apparently Dumbledore had invited all of the Weasleys to join them for dinner. Several of the teachers were there as well. They were about to start eating when Samuel appeared in one of the doorways. He had shed his long grey coat and was wearing a light grey shirt with black pants. He had pulled his long hair back into a ponytail and shaved his stubble. Judging from Ginny and Hermione's gasps, he looked quite different.
As he walked towards the table, Hagrid let loose a bellow and swept him off his feet in a huge bear hug.
"Tis good teh see yer, Sam!" boomed Hagrid.
"Yeah, same here. Now let me go, you hairy grizzly, before you crush all of my ribs," gasped Samuel.
"Sorry, sorry, jus' glad teh see yer is all!" laughed Hagrid.
"Well, well. Looking worse than usual, aren't we Hunt? I thought we cut ties with the bloody Yanks years ago," sneered Snape.
"Ah, Snape. How wonderful to see you again. I thought for sure that Voldemort would take down all of his buddies with him when he fell again, including the traitors. Guess that was asking for too much, eh?"
Dumbledore quickly stepped between the two. "Ah, I see you two remember each other well. There will be more time to catch up later, I am sure. There are a few others I thought you might be glad to see, Samuel."
"Has Snape ever gotten along with anyone?" thought Hermione.
"Well, if Snape hates him that much, there must be a lot about him that we would like." replied Harry.
"I trust you remember Arthur and Molly. These are their children, Charlie, Bill, Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny."
"Of course. I'll never forget what they did for me."
"And Professor McGonagall, of course."
"M'am," he replied and gave a deep bow. "A pleasure, as always." Hermione glanced across the table and saw that Ginny was watching the three of them as well with close interest. Especially Samuel.
"And…"
"Hawkeye!"
"Moony!"
Samuel and Lupin embraced in a hug and pounded each other's back. Resuming his seat, Dumbledore smiled. "Come, now that we are all present, let us dig in."
Harry, Hermione, and the younger Weasleys spent most of the dinner trying to figure out how Samuel fit in with everybody. Harry was just glad to see everyone around him enjoying themselves. Worries about artifacts from Atlantis, assassins, and why the Weasleys seemed to be avoiding him washed away during the enjoyment of the meal.
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