A Master Of Mischief ~ George Weasley Love Story ~ Book 1

Chapter 33

**Maddie’s POV**

                                  

“Hey,” I come down from her dormitory with my bag, “I’m going away again.”

“And I suppose you won’t tell us where you’re going?” George asks.

“Nope,” I shake my head.

“You’ve been leaving and coming back every few days since late April,” he says, “it’s now the middle of May. Are you ever going to stay here more than a few days?”

“Yep,” Maddie says, “as far as I know, this is the last time I have to go.”

“Well, hurry up then,” he says, kissing me, “and hurry back.”

I grin and hurry off through the castle. Tonks is waiting with Dumbledore and McGonagall in the Entrance Hall.

“Ready?” she asks.

“Yep,” I grin.

“Good luck, Miss Black,” McGonagall says.

“Thanks Professor.”

I take Dumbledore’s arm and we disapparate. We appear in a dark forest. Remus, Kingsley, and two witches and a wizard I don’t know are there waiting for us.

“Miss Black,” Kingsley says in his slow, deep voice, “your last exam is tracking. A wizard has travelled through this forest in the past three months. You will have to map his path out and, if possible, find him. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Good,” Kingsley nods to the party, “we will wait. Good luck.”

They all dispparate. I take a deep breath and gather my thoughts. An owl hoots softly somewhere to my left.

“Lumos,” I mutter. I carefully begin examining the surrounding area for clues. I find a trail of foot prints that leads from the base of a tall tree into a small clearing where they suddenly disappear.

“Travelling by broom,” I mutter to myself. I climb into the trees as high as I can go and look at the tops of them.  The trees on the eastern side have ruffles tops.

“Heading east,” I say. I climb through the trees, occasionally straying off the course of ruffled tops, just in case. After about three hours the ruffled tops end. I look around, and spot a patch of missing bark. I climb down to the ground and follow the tracks. They meet with another set of footprints. He met someone. The two sets of footprints are all mixed up. I bend carefully over them, trying to distinguish the sets.

Crack.

I jump slightly.

“Knox.”

Once plunged into darkness I back up against a tree and hold very still, listening. It could have just been a deer, or-

A blaze of red light flies past me. I roll to my right and hide behind another tree. I see a shadow move a few metres to my left and lift my wand, ready to defend myself. A blue spell flies past from my right. As quietly as I can, I climb up into the tree. Looking down I can’t see anyone. I aim my wand at a tree about a hundred metres away. It explodes and I hear a yell. I see a shape move away from the tree, then the forest is silent once more. I wait for what seems like a year before carefully making my way back to the ground. I stay close to the tree, chewing my lip. I need light to check for my attackers, but I can’t light my wand because it’ll give me away. I need something that will light the forest, move around and-