The Next Dark Lord

Operation Mutt Rescue Pt. 3

"I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good".

Hermione carefully looked at the marauder's map to check if the coast was clear. Seeing no one out on her way, she made her way to the humped witch statue that formed the entrance to the secret passage to the Honeydukes in Hogsmede. Making sure that the invisibility cloak is tight around her, she made her way there quickly. Down she went the slide inside the statue and started walking briskly.

Shortly, she could see a silhouette of a person in distance, and she picked pace. Soon she could make out Remus' face in the meagre light from her wand. When she was a few feet away from him, "See this line, Hermione?", Remus spoke indicating the line a foot in front of him. Hermione nodded and he continued, "That is the start of the ward line on my side. Stand five feet behind the line at all times. We don't want Albus wondering why you are crossing the ward line and sneaking to Hogsmede."

"He is not in a condition to monitor the ward line but let us not take any chance in case he has charmed the information into a notebook or parchment", said Hermione and stopped at the distance he indicated and marked the position with a line of her own. Conjuring a chair, she sat down and looked expectantly at Remus. Remus followed suit and sat down before he started speaking. He explained his idea for procuring a property and what he had done so far and showed her the pictures of the property. "Tomorrow this time we should have the property ready and under Fidelius. We can have Dobby pop Sirius tomorrow night", Remus finished.

"No, let us wait one more day. The headmaster wants to meet again on Saturday. He said he'll show something very important to defeating Voldemort. Rescuing Sirius during that time has two advantages. One, whatever he wants to share will not be interrupted; God knows that man has to share what he knows with others. Two, he will not be immediately available even if someone notices. Additionally, Snape will not be present in the headquarters. The slimy bastard has been hiding in the headmaster's office during the sessions Dumbledore has with us", said Hermione.

Remus thought for a few seconds and said, "That makes sense. Once Fidelius is up, I'll call Dobby and give him the secret and he can show it to you once you are alone. And what did you mean when you said Albus is not in a condition to monitor the ward line?"

Chuckling lightly Hermione recounted what happened that morning. "I don't feel sorry for Dumbledore but be careful. Your safety is important to us", Remus said. Hermione nodded and fell silent thinking about what Remus said.

"What will happen if Dung double crosses you or gives away the information that he procured a property for you through fake paper trail? Even if Sirius is safe behind fidelius, you'll be hunted by both parties if they hear. And you also said you have a way to get into the headquarters without arousing suspicion?", Hermione asked.

"Both are kind of tied together. I was going to remove the memories from Dung's mind anyway leaving just enough to know to save himself. But that scoundrel tagged me with a tracking charm. I transferred it to another object and left it in Leaky Cauldron. But he has to be taught a lesson. I'm going to mess up Dung a bit before turning up at the headquarters carrying him. I spoke to your father in the evening, and he said this could be a good opportunity to interrogate someone to find how rotten the order is."

"Similar to what you said to me, I don't care about Dung. Hearing him at the headquarters over the summer, I'm sure he will sell anybody for the right price. I'm can't imagine why Dumbledore keeps people like him in the order. But please be careful. If he has already tagged you, there may be backup waiting and it could become an ambush", Hermione cautioned.

Remus nodded and said, "If there isn't anything else, I will leave. Your parents asked me to tell you to be careful. They'll be waiting to hear from me and question me about how you are. Do you want me to skip the happenings of morning?".