Chapter 112: Infiltration, Kidnapping, Shrieking Shack (1/2)
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The link is also in the synopsis.
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[The chapter is edited by my Editor: Alan_Loo/AlanL]
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Three men stood at a shady and hidden corner of Hogsmeade. The three men had arrived individually and converged at the position they had been given.
”Do you know what we're going to do today?” asked one of the three men.
Another man glanced at the one who had said that and asked back, ”Are you new? Is this your first time?”
”I have been on one of the sweeps for muggles and muggleborns, but there were more people than this...” he looked at the other two and said, ”... If you get what I mean.”
The third man joined the discussion and shared his own experience. ”This is different from the sweeps. If I am correct, this is going to be something different.”
”... So you don't know what we are going to do today?” asked the first man.
The other two looked at each other before shrugging and shaking their heads.
”No, I was just asked to arrive at this place at a certain time,” answered the second man.
”The same instructions for me as well,” said the third man, but then he asked. ”Were you guys asked to bring that?”
”The uniform, you mean?” asked the man and pulled out a matchstick bag from his robes.
”Yeah, the uniform. I mean, if that was asked... Do you think we have to?”
As the three men talked, an invisible Rivers Lock, under cover of a Disillusionment spell, was listening and observing the three men. These three men had been selected from the Accionites that had responded to his calls.
All three were chosen because they were easy to control and had something that would help him in what he was trying to accomplish.
But before he revealed himself, Rivers wanted to see how these three reacted to the other; how were they feeling today; what did they discuss, the information they exchanged, and other traits that would help him decide on the finer details of the plan.
Rivers never shared the complete plan with anyone. He always made sure that other than him, no one knew the entire picture. This way, he could limit the flow of information and isolate leaks if anyone decided to switch to the other side.
And today, these three knew nothing other than the fact they were asked to bring their Hogwarts uniforms with them.
'These three will work. Yes, these three will do just fine,' thought Rivers and decided that it was time to start.
He dropped the charm and revealed himself, startling them and caused them to take out their wands.
”It's good that all of you are here on time. It would've been unfortunate if you were late,” said Rivers before glancing at the wands and then at their owners. ”Drop the wands. I'm your leader today.”
The three breathed a sigh of relief and withdrew their wands back into their robes.
”Do you have the orders,” asked one of the men.
”Yes, I do. I received the orders from one of the higher-ups; they said that this is quite important,” replied Rivers and began establishing his image among the three.
”Alright, who is A, B, and D,” asked Rivers.
The three told Rivers about their assigned alphabets.
”I see; here you go. These are your potion vials,” said Rivers as he handed them potion vials with the letters A, B, and D and kept the vial with the letter C.
Of course, he already knew about their letters, but he wanted to establish that he was just one of them and was assigned to be the leader. That is why he gave himself the alphabet C, as that would imply that he wasn't unique or separate from them.
”What are we going to do?”
Rivers took out a shrunk-down uniform from his robes and showed it to them.
”I think you have already guessed it, but we are going to Hogwarts,” he lifted his vial and continued. ”These are reverse-aging potions. They will return your outer appearance to your Hogwarts years. We're going to drink these, put on our uniforms, and go inside the castle.”
”How are we going to get inside Hogwarts? Today isn't a Hogsmeade weekend,” asked the second man.
Rivers put on a fake yet flawless grin as he answered. ”Through the Shrieking Shack.”
All three men shivered and looked at each other in worry. The building was famous for being haunted. None of them had ever approached the abandoned building in their school years.
”I have been briefed that there's a secret tunnel in there that opens up in the castle grounds. We are going to use that tunnel and get inside to complete the mission.”
”... What are we going to do inside?” asked the third man.
The other two men also looked on with the same curiosity, wondering what they were about to do inside Hogwarts.
Rivers dropped the grin and revealed today's objective in simple words.
”We are going to kidnap the Boy-Who-Lived and kill him in front of everyone...” he paused and put on a proud expression. ”... For the Dark Lord.”
The three young, pureblood men, who had joined Novellus Accionites because they believed the Voldemort ideology, nodded and felt the fear of entering the Shrieking Shack lessen as they felt they were doing something revolutionary.
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- (Scene Break) -
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”Are you sure we aren't going to be recognized?” asked one of the Accionites, looking uncomfortable in the state he was.
He looked around the castle and, if the situation had been different, he would've felt nostalgia. Nonetheless, right now, all he felt was anxiety.
Rivers looked at the man, who looked uncomfortable, and nodded. ”No one will be looking at your faces. You can hide behind your clothes, and people will turn blind. Within the school, if you have a uniform, no one will give you a second look.”
All four people had entered the castle wearing Gryffindor-styled Hogwarts uniforms. Rivers was also wearing a Gryffindor-styles robe, but he had been Slytherin in his time at Hogwarts. The three men had been chosen because they had been from Gryffindor and knew some key areas of the castle like the Gryffindor Tower.
”Tell me, where would be the best place to grab and stun a Gryffindor student?” asked Rivers, his body relaxed.
Rivers had ordered one of the men to take him to the places where Gryffindors frequented so that he could scout the places where the nabbing could take place.
He had left the rest of the group to one of the places he had found in his school career that wasn't frequented by students.
”I would say that the base of Gryffindor Tower is a good place. Every lion will have to pass through there to get to the common room,” replied the Accionite grunt.
Rivers hummed in thought before scratching the location out of the viable options. ”No. If every Gryffindor goes through there, then the chances of being seen are high.”
”How about the passages around the Quad, especially the ones near the suspension bridge? We can wait at the ones that lead to the Gryffindor Tower and get the brat there,” offered the man-turned-into-child.
Rivers rolled his eyes in a way such that the grunt couldn't see it and internally sighed.
”Not there; students from all houses walk those passages. Too much risk and exposure,” said Rivers, keeping his voice straight to hide the contempt towards the stupid plan.
As they passed the Great Hall, Rivers' eyes caught the notice wall, which had, understandingly, all kinds of notices on it. He stopped and walked towards the wall to get a good look.
The man-child grunt followed Rivers and gave the wall a cursory glance while Rivers read every notice, and it seemed it was the right move because he found something good.
”I found the perfect place,” smiled Rivers, and a plan immediately formed in his mind.
”Huh, where?” asked the grunt in confusion.
”The Gryffindor team booked the pitch from after lunch till the closing time.” Rivers pointed out the notice that mentioned the pitch's schedule.
”Harry Potter, the youngest seeker in Hogwarts' history,” River's smile widened as he decided how he was going to pull his plan.
”This is going to work.”
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- (Scene Break) -
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”Ugh, I'm so tired!” groaned Fred, wiping his body down with a towel.
”Oliver is going to kill us at this rate,” continued George as he put a fresh shirt on his body.
The Quidditch practice had just ended, and in the boy's locker room were the Weasley twins, Fred and George, along with Harry Potter. They were changing out from their Quidditch gear. While the captain was out to lock the ball kit into the storage closet.
Harry sighed and stretched his hands above, trying to elevate the tension after keeping them at the broom for the entire practice. He was tired but not as much as Fred and George, who had to be on alert for the bludgers all the time and had to use extra energy and stamina in hitting the bludgers with their Beater bats.
”Hey, did you hear about the new Ravenclaw chaser? What's his name,” asked Fred. He turned to George expecting an answer, but the other twin also couldn't recall. ”I don't know, but they're saying that he is the real deal. The Ravenclaw Keeper can't stop him from scoring.”
They both turned to Harry and asked in unison,
” ”Harry, do you know??” ”
Harry shut his locker and spat out the name of the newly added Chaser of the Ravenclaw team. ”Eddie Carmichael.”
Harry didn't like Eddie since their previous meeting. He hadn't talked to Eddie after that, but whenever their eyes would meet, Eddie would raise up his chin and look at him as if he was looking down at him.
”I mean, let the bloke play a game before putting him over the shoulders. Playing in practice and in a game is different,” grumbled Harry.